Overkill (G1)

Overkill is a Decepticon Mini-Cassette from the Generation 1 continuity family.

"When we take over Cybertron, I'm gonna have a whole harem of girl-bots! Blue ones, red ones..."

As you might guess from the name, Overkill is all about excess. Sometimes this works to his advantage, such as when his endless tirades and theatrics distract his foes in combat. Sometimes excess works to his disadvantage, such as when he gets so caught up in showing off that he becomes distracted in combat. And sometimes it just makes him look silly, swinging and blasting at a fallen foe long after the fight has ended.

Though he talks a better game than he fights, Overkill's dinosaur mode is strong enough to be a decent threat... except when the circuits that control his size-change from cassette to dinosaur malfunction (as they are wont to do) and he finds himself stuck as an audiotape-sized dino. Awwww!^[1]

Fiction

Ghosts appear and fade away...

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

In 2006, during a battle on Earth's Moon, Overkill was one of the many "primitive" Transformers who answered the call put forth by Primacron's assistant in response to the threat posed by Tornedron. Call of the Primitives

The Headmasters comic

After the Decepticons abandoned Earth, Soundblaster remained behind with his cassettes. He jumped the Witwicky family out of nowhere, and had Overkill and Slugfest keep them hostage while he taunted their protector, Chromedome. While his back was turned, though, Overkill and Slugfest were overwhelmed and defeated by Daniel Witwicky. The Headmasters #8

Madman The Transformers comic

In the year 2001, Overkill, along with Slugfest, Ratbat, Beastbox, and Squawktalk, were dispatched by Soundwave to locate the Matrix of Leadership, which Optimus Prime had buried somewhere at the construction site of Autobot City, prior to the mass Autobot evacuation of Cybertron. Slugfest had to explain what "excavation" was to the dull witted Beastbox, though Squawkbox ended up finding the Matrix. However, Slugfest and Squawktalk were then run over by Hot Rod. The Transformers

Legends comic

In the late 1980s, Overkill and Slugfest infiltrated the Ark and destroyed its alarm system, leaving the Autobots unaware that the rest of the Decepticon forces were approaching. Slugslinger's Ambition

G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers

As part of Serpent O.R.'s Decepticon forces, Overkill attempted to prevent a group of Autobots and Joes from escaping Decepticon headquarters. While trying to devour Hawk, he bragged about his future girl-bot harem and let slip that Serpent O.R. had captured Optimus Prime, only to be violently blinded by Snake-Eyes. Despite his claims that he didn't need his eyes anyway, Overkill fell to the ground unconscious. The Art of War #5

Toy bios

Overkill reinstalled his cerebro-circuitry into a larger, more dangerous body. Doing so released him from his status as a partner and slave to Soundwave. He was now free to indulge in his destructive whims. Universe toy bio

Lil Formers

Overkill was one of the absurd amount of minions Soundwave ejected out of his chest, all in a row, in preparation for a fight. Lil Formers

Classics

My first in-fiction Marvel continuity appearance!

In a gambit to counter a string of humiliating defeats by Grimlock, Overkill's leader had this new body built for Overkill. Overkill's chronic failure to grow larger in robot mode had become a permanent condition, sidelining him from the battlefield. This new body carries an armored interface housing in its chest allowing Overkill to be inserted in cassette mode, effectively overcoming his disability.^[2]

After the war officially ended on Klo, Overkill was one of the handful of Bludgeon's Decepticons who scattered to the far corners of the universe. He, Drag Strip, and Acid Storm were waiting on a dusty planet when Springer's rogue team of Autobots attempted to hunt them down. At Fight's End

Recordicons

Overkill pronounced himself the most fearsome of the Recordicons, towering over all the others. Of course, Buzzsaw simply had to frighten him to make him emit a high-pitched shriek, which completely undercut his argument. Recordicons #22

2005 IDW continuity

When Rewind said Chromedome was acting like Optimus Prime, why the hell did it have to be this one?

Following the end of the Autobot/Decepticon war, Overkill was part of Snap Trap and Hun-Gar's combined forces occupying Temptoria, and he was also huge. He took part in the battle when a large part of the Lost Light crew visited the planet in search of the Circle of Light, and at one point was fighting Skids, Chromedome, and Steeljaw. Before & After

Regeneration One

Overkill was present on Cybertron when the Dark Matrix creature attacked the population and was converted into a shadow-leech alongside Soundwave, Howlback, Slugfest, Squawktalk, Beastbox, and Wingthing. Their combined form menaced Ravage before he was rescued by Shockwave and Starscream. King of Shadows The shadow-leeches ceased to be a threat once Rodimus Prime defeated the Dark Matrix creature. The War to End All Wars, Part 5

Titans Return marketing material

As a Titan Master, Overboard could sabotage a larger bot's systems by pushing them dangerously beyond maximum capacity, giving them a powerful but costly boost. Titans Return Overboard online bio

Games

Transformers Legends

Transformers: Earth Wars

The Game Full of Death and Suffering...! This character article is a stub and is missing information on their video game appearances. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it. Transformers: Earth Wars

Transformers Roleplaying Game

Overkill was a melodramatic Mini-Cassette who threw himself into overwrought displays of dominance. Decepticon Directive

Toys

The Transformers

That's one horny T. rex.

• Slugfest / Overkill (Mini-Cassette multi-pack, 1987)

• Accessories: left & right motion missile pods
• Known designers: Takashi Matsuda (TakaraTomy)

Sold in the fourth year of the original Transformers toyline, Overkill transforms from a blue and white microcassette into what his cardback bio calls a "Tyrannosaurus" (the actual toy more resembles a ceratosaur, with a prominent nose-horn T. rex lacks). He has two non-firing chromed "motion missile" weapons which attach to his robot-dino mode. In cassette mode, he can fit in the chest compartment of the Soundwave or Blaster molds (and a few other toys of those characters).

He was only available in a two-pack with his partner, Slugfest.

• More information on Overkill at TFU.info

• Overkill (Cassettron, 1987)

• ID number: D-109
• Accessories: left & right motion missile pods, tape case
• Known designers: Takashi Matsuda (TakaraTomy)

In Japan, Takara's Overkill was available only by himself. Like all Japanese releases of the cassettes, he also came with a clear-plastic "tape case" to store in.

Timelines

Me Grimlo—er, me Overkill, not kisser!

• Overkill (Deluxe Class, 2007)

• Accessories: missile launcher, missile, tail-flail

At BotCon 2007, customization class attendees received unpainted, unassembled sets of Classics Grimlock parts (in Grimlock colors) to be painted up and assembled to look like Overkill. White paint over vast swathes of darker plastic? Good luck!

This mold transforms from robot mode to a mechanical Tyrannosaurus rex. His spring-loaded bayonet blaster can fire a clear projectile, as well as peg via 5 mm post onto his hands and back. His beast mode tail becomes a 5mm-held flail weapon in robot mode.

As a redeco of the Classics Grimlock mold, Overkill suffers from a few common issues carried from the mold: the size of the peg that locks his arms in place is too small in relation to the peg-hole, making it difficult to keep him transformed. The black shoulder flaps above this assembly are meant to tab into these and lock the whole thing together, but the flaps don't align properly and the tabs themselves are too short to even reach the slots. In addition, the bayonet blaster has a hair-trigger and his fist holes are a few fractions of a millimeter too small to accommodate standard 5 mm post accessories that most modern Transformers toys use.

Universe (2008)

Juicy-Fruit Overkill. Now in Spearmint flavour.

• Overkill ("Special Edition" Deluxe, 2008)

• Accessories: missile launcher, missile, tail-flail
• Known designers: Joe Kyde (deco artist)

Classics Grimlock was once again used as the base to make the 2008 Universe "Special Edition" version of Overkill, in response to the BotCon customization class figure above.^[3] Unlike that version, this toy has actually been redecoed in bluish-white and blue plastics. Like the other "Special Edition" figures, Overkill comes in a black book box-style packaging with monochrome art.

Though an Asian/Australian exclusive, Overkill was available for purchase in the United States via Hasbro Toy Shop, and was eventually sold at clearance prices at Marshalls stores.

Hasbro's stock photos for Overkill, specifically its mis-transformed legs, resulted in the character's stumpy proportions in Transformers: Earth Wars. This likely came about due to said photos being used on this wiki page for about twelve years.

• More information on Universe Overkill at TFU.info

Device Label

Surprised they didn't do Grimlock instea—oh wait.

• Overkill (Device Label, 2009)

Planned for the Takara Device Label series of toys that were also actual working computer accessories, Overkill would have transformed from a working USB laser mouse into a light grey and blue mechanoid raptor.

An early BigBadToyStore solicitation for him was almost immediately supplanted by a solicitation for Grimlock, once better information was had.

Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

Encore

• Great Cassette Operation Vol.3 (Multi-pack, 2009)

• Encore number: 19
• Accessories: left & right motion missile pods, tape case

Overkill was reissued for the first time in over twenty years, along with Rumble, Frenzy, and Laserbeak, as part of TakaraTomy's Encore line. This version also came with a tape case.

In 2014, Overkill and the rest of the Cassettes were re-released as a lucky draw prize (along with the previous two box sets) for the Transformers Celebration 2014 event held at Ikebukuro Sunshine City store's Toys"R"Us, though this was very likely to be remaining stock.

Titans Return

Guess they went overboard with the K word.

• Overboard (Titan Master, 2016)

• Accessories: dinosaur/dragon/blaster vehicle
• Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro)

Part of the third wave of Titans Return Titan Master class toys, "Overboard" (renamed either for trademark reasons or because the word "kill" is inappropriate to today's standards, or both) is a straight redeco of Titan Master Crashbash, transforming into a robot head compatible with any Deluxe-or-larger Titans Return toy. So far, he is the only Titan Master figure in the Hasbro line to be a straight-up redeco of another character's figure rather than a partial retooling.

He comes with a redeco of Crashbash's beast/weapon accessory, which can transform into a dragon (which can be ridden by Overboard in bot mode), a dinosaur (which is completed by Overboard forming its lower jaw and arms) or a gun that can be used by larger figures. His vehicle partner's dinosaur mode is redecoed to resemble Overkill's original Mini-Cassette colors.

The stock photo depicting the combined dinosaur mode is mistransformed, with the face of his head mode pointing forward, so that the shell wings did not close properly. In an interesting twist, this makes his feet into a more convincing and poseable lower jaw and the cheek guards somewhat resemble his original toy's missile pods (though super small in comparison), at the expense of having no arms.

Overboard was reissued for the fifth wave of Titan Masters alongside Ptero, Apeface, and the new Ramhorn. Like his wavemates, Overboard never saw wide release in Malaysia, due to shelfwarming in the first and second waves.

This toy was repurposed as the Shattered Glass incarnation of Nestor and Squeezeplay.

Notes

• Overkill had the preliminary names of "Gouge" and Crusher.
• Overkill's robot mode is drawn without his weapons attached in his only appearance in the cartoon. A lot of the season three and four character models showcased the characters without their weapons/accessories attached to better show off the details that would be hidden by them. Instead, some of the models featured dotted lines that pointed towards the places that they should be placed on the body (other examples of this can be found with the Technobots and Sixshot), however, Overkill wasn't one of these examples to use the dotted line method, instead, his weapons just float to the side of his character model. That being said, this appears to have resulted in Overkill being depicted as if his weapon placements were optional, unlike the previous cassette Transformers to appear in the show. As it happens, Marvel's The Transformers Universe character profile for Overkill featured his weapons attached—and unlike Slugfest—the weapons were actually placed in the correct places.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Overkill (オーバーキル Ōbākiru)
• French: Mâchoire ("Jaw")
• Mandarin: Shālù (China, 杀戮, "Massacre")

References