Rhinox

Rhinox is the name of three fictional characters from various Transformers universes.

Beast Wars
Rhinox's character in the Beast Wars television series is very different from how the toy was depicted. As one of the first year toys, the toy of Rhinox was created before the television series came along, and his character was written by Hasbro. These characterizations were largely thrown out the window by the television series producers.

Rhinox's original tech spec portrayed him as an immensely tough and territorial Maximal dedicated to battling the Predacons. His Transmetal tech spec showed that he appreciated his increased mobility, pulling high speed attacks on the Predacons and showing off with wheelies. His 10th Anniversary Tech Spec was more in-line with the show portrayal.

The show bible for Beast Wars describes Rhinox as a straight man who is inspired by Bud Abbott.

Rhinox was a Maximal and Optimus Primal's oldest friend, although it seems Rhinox has known Rattrap for even longer, stating he was his best friend in the episode A Better Mousetrap. His beast mode is in the form of a large brown rhinoceros (it rarely appeared in the second season, and was never seen in the third). He has two machine guns as weapons, which fans have nicknamed the “Chainguns of Doom”, though technically they are more akin to Gatling guns. He usually stays in the base and acts as an engineer and second in command of the Maximals. Rhinox created the Maximal Base's automated defense system, dubbed Sentinel.

Rhinox seems generally as capable of leadership as Optimus Primal, and Optimus Primal has told him as much. However, Rhinox abhors the babysitting and loss of independence that come with being a full-time leader. He is indisputably loyal to Optimus Primal; their mutual respect is so strong that Rhinox is the only Maximal that Optimus Primal seeks advice from (causing mild, intermittent jealousy among a few other Maximals). In extreme situations the Maximals often turn to him first – (for example in Possession when Cheetor and Rattrap are faced with a massive battery of autoguns they both call for "Rhinox!"). This is perhaps most notable in Optimal Situation when Optimus orders them to pursue Megatron to save the base, but it takes Rhinox to get them moving (telling them he can handle the repairs by himself). Rhinox's true abilities come out when, in the episode Dark Designs, he is reprogrammed into a Predacon – only to outwit and damage every other Predacon, much to the dismay of Megatron. Rhinox is the only Maximal whose form does not physically change or evolve for the duration of the series; though in the toyline he did become a transmetal. He spent much of the second and third season minding the Maximal Base rather than going out on missions.

He has a brilliant mind, a thirst for peace, and an astounding vigor and a resolve to do whatever it takes to maintain that peace. He does whatever it is that is asked of him, even though the requests often made of him are impossible. But being the ever resourceful engineer, Rhinox finds a way. Rhinox also contributes in countless other ways, he is considered to be second-in-command to Optimus Primal and also often serves as the enforcer, keeping the troops in rank. His great size and strength is another one of his advantages, in addition to his incredibly quick thinking. These attributes have saved the Maximals countless times throughout the series. Rhinox also seems to have either a fear of flight (though has been seen flying and even piloting other ships) or more likely, a fear of heights, as seen in "The Agenda part 3" where he hesitates on get on Optimus Primal's flying board, and his reactions once he is on.

Rhinox's voice actor attended Botcon 2006 at the Lexington Convention Center for the 10th anniversary of the TV series.

Beast Wars season one
Rhinox was defense officer of the Maximal ship called the Axalon, commanded by Optimus Primal. Their mission was one of exploration and to get rid of the abomination called Protoform X, but things didn't go as planned. With crewmates Cheetor and Rattrap, the Axalon chased the Predacon criminal Megatron through transwarp space after the theft of the Golden Disk. The Maximals and Predacons crashed on prehistoric Earth, where high energon levels threatened to destroy the crew unless they adopted organic alternate modes. Rhinox was given the form of a rhino in "Beast Wars Part 1".

Rhinox's talents would be displayed at multiple points in the Beast Wars. He would be the one principally responsible for saving the life of the protoform that would become Airazor, developing a paternalistic bond with her. Rhinox also created Sentinel, a security computer that could defend their base from the Predacons. Later, after being blinded by an energon explosion caused by Scorponok, Rhinox displayed his leadership abilities and coolness under pressure when he guided a similarly blinded Rattrap, Dinobot and Cheetor back to base, showing them how to let their other senses help them and drive off the opportunistic Predacons.

In "The Probe", Rhinox stayed behind the base to make a disc to contact a probe from Cybertron, while the other Maximals were being forced to be in beast mode by Tarantulas's new device. When he got to them was in time for him to knock over Megatron before he could destroy them. But when he was typing the code to contact the probe, he was transformed into beast mode by the "LENS", who then destroyed the Maximal device built to contact the probe. The Maximals too would have been destroyed if only it wasn't for Cheetor and Tigatron's timely arrival.

His most prominent episode in season one was in "Dark Designs", when he was turned into a Predacon by Megatron, only for the personality shift to prompt Rhinox to attempt to usurp Megatron by taking out all the other Predacons. When Megatron found out he sent his last two functioning warriors, Scorponok and Terrorsaur, but Rhinox was able to pit them against each other, defeating both of them before taking out Megatron, only for the Predacon leader to return Rhinox to his Maximal programming when he was gloating. After he was turned back, the other Maximals came and rescued him. They (with Waspinator's inadvertent help) destroyed the machine that turn him into a Predacon during their rescue.

His other prominent episode was in "The Low Road", when he was infected with a cold-like virus which nearly destroyed him and the other Maximals. Dinobot and Rattrap managed to get the counter virus from Tarantulas, resulting in a defeat for the Predacons. Megatron would later describe it as the most humiliating defeat of his career, given that the fight culminated in Rhinox defeating the Predacons by emitting a powerful fart after consuming bean vines that had been growing around the Maximal base to blow the Predacons out of their own headquarters.

Rhinox was damaged by Tarantulas and Blackarachnia during a Predacon attack in the first season’s finale, and was subsequently offline for Primal's heroic sacrifice.

Beast Wars season two
Rhinox was among those unaffected by the Quantum Wave which turned many Cybertronians into Transmetals. It's theorized by fans that he didn't change because he was in a cryo-regeneration chamber at the time (after being damaged by Tarantulas and Blackarachnia), and was protected from it. However in the toy line he WAS released as a Transmetal and his tech spec stated he was changed by the Quantum Surge, but due to limitation in the show production, the producers kept Rhinox in his original form.

Rhinox becomes the new leader of the Maximals after Optimus's apparent death. It was revealed that even the Predacons respect him (perhaps after the events of "Dark Design) when the newly Transmetal Megatron flees rather than face a furious Rhinox, angered by Optimus's death at Megatron's hands. Rhinox even ventured (alone) into the "Other side of the Matrix" ("where all are one") using the hole in space/time left by the Vok Planet Buster's destruction, retrieving Optimus Primal's spark and placing it in a new Transmetal body. After Primals resurrection, he relieved his leadership back to him.

Rhinox continued to battle the Predacons and use his medical skills. When Transmutate's stasis pod fell to Earth it was Rhinox who determined that she could be a potential threat (much to Silverbolt's disgust) and also realized that Dinobot's wounds were fatal after his climactic battle with the Predacons. When Megatron attempted to alter history, Primal and the other Maximals pursued him to the Ark, relying on Rhinox's great strength to force the doors of the damaged Ark open. However, they were too late. Megatron had shot Optimus Prime in the head and all of time began to destabilize.

Note: The only time he was seen in beast mode in season two was in "Other Visits (Part 1)" when they showed every one transformed from their beast mode, and finally in "Code of Hero" when he was running towards Dinobot with the other Maximals to aid him to fight the Predacons.

Beast Wars season three
Megatron's plan was thwarted when Blackarachnia unexpectedly switched sides, allowing Rhinox and the former Predacon to repair Prime's body while Optimus Primal safeguarded his Spark. He then tried to use Teletraan I defense weapons, to only fail and propose to get Sentinel at the old base. He later defended the Ark alongside Rattrap, only being saved by Depth Charge's timely arrival, and managed to help Blackarachnia in her switch to a Transmetal II body.

In the series conclusion, as Megatron attempted to use the Decepticon ship Nemesis to destroy the Ark and humanity, Rhinox realized that the Dinobot Clone’s transmission meant that history was still being written. Taking the Omega Delta Autobot shuttle, Rhinox managed to crash it through the bridge of the Nemesis effectively ending Megatron's threat, and with it, the Beast Wars. After this, Rhinox returned with the other Maximals back to Cybertron. It is interesting to note that throughout the third season, Rhinox was not seen once in beast mode. This can be explained because once the Vok weapon was destroyed, it rid earth of most of the unstable energon caches, therefore nulling the need to revert to beast mode. It should also be noted that none of the transmetals had the need to revert to beast mode, other than covering ground, because their new, altered forms protected them from the energon exposure, as did their beast modes.

Beast Machines
Unfortunately for the Maximals, Megatron broke free of his bonds in transwarp and arrived on Cybertron ahead of them, taking over the planet. When the Maximal surivivors inside the Autobot shuttle reached Cybertron, it was shot down by Megatron's forces and landed on the planet. The Maximals were chased by Megatron's Vehicon drones, who threw canisters of Megatron's transformation-freezing virus at them. All those Maximals whose bodies had been altered during the Beast Wars were transformed back to their original bodies and frozen in their beast modes. Rhinox and Silverbolt, however, had their sparks captured by Megatron.

Megatron used Rhinox's spark to give life to one of the original three Vehicon generals: Tankor. As Tankor, Rhinox was a simple-minded powerhouse who never felt any emotions other than rage. His spark remained dormant inside of Tankor for some time, conscious and aware, but never capable of reaching the surface. It wasn't long before Cheetor and Rattrap discovered that their former comrade was trapped inside the technological titan.

By hacking into Rhinox's memory and using further persuasion, the two Maximals were able to recover Rhinox. When Rhinox was freed, he encountered Optimus Primal in the Matrix. Optimus was delighted to see his old friend, but the feelings weren't mutual. Rhinox claimed that he now embraced his role as Tankor, and that he was willing to help Megatron in his quest to purge Cybertron of all organics to make a purely technological world. Although the other Maximals tried to reprogram him after this revelation, Optimus told them to stop, for he claimed that if they tampered with Rhinox's mind, then they would be no better than Megatron. Optimus’ failure to help Rhinox would haunt the Maximal Leader for a long time afterwards.

From that moment on, Rhinox, AKA Tankor, would scheme not only against the Maximals, but Megatron as well. He believed that since Megatron was partly organic, he was not fit to rule over a purely technological planet. He reprogrammed Megatron's Diagnostic Drone so that it would serve him and with its help obtained the Key to Vector Sigma, a weapon which could turn all organics into technological matter. He then faked his own death in front of the Maximals so he could continue his schemes without interference from them or Megatron. By using the Diagnostic Drone, Rhinox tricked Megatron into giving only the tank-drones the Key. However he later found out that they no longer respond to his commands. When Optimus Primal was fighting Megatron in the season’s finale, Rhinox interfered and blasted Optimus with the key, revealing to all that he was still alive. He then tried to destroy Megatron, but was restrained by his own body; Megatron revealed that Rhinox couldn't destroy him as it was hard-wired in his datatracks, and that he'd known of Rhinox's treachery all along. Optimus then used the Plasma Energy chamber to combine with the energy from the Key to Vector Sigma. The resulting energy wave destroyed Rhinox, and his spark rejoined the Matrix, where he was able to meet Optimus one last time to share his regret for his misdeeds.

3H Enterprises
Rhinox was one of the stars of the 1997 BotCon Convention Comics, a story set near the end of season one of the Beast Wars television series. In the convention comics plot, Inferno and Blackarachnia watched as the Predacon scientist Fractyl attempted to invent energon armor capable of protecting them from energon build up. Although seemingly successful, the armor was stolen by the Maximal thief Packrat. Blackarachnia and Fractyl realized the energon armor was flawed and could destroy the planet if it came in contact with large amounts of energon. Inferno pursued Packrat, but since Packrat didn't need to assume beast mode with the armor on, he got the upper hand in the fight with Inferno. Hearing the battle, Airazor, Cheetor and Rhinox joined Packrat. Fractyl convinced Rhinox that the armor was a threat to them all. Rhinox was able to talk Packrat into giving up the armor, which Fractyl aided them in doing. When Blackarachnia arrived with Megatron, Packrat suggested that Fractyl pretend to be attacking the Maximals, who fled. Megatron was impressed with Fractyl's new found battle prowess.

Even with the death of Tankor in the Beast Machines storyline, Rhinox would return in the story of Transformers: Universe.

In Transformers: Universe #3 Alpha Trion and Primus claim they need Primal to choose his troops from any Cybertonians, past or present, and he chooses Rhinox and Depth Charge, who are brought back to life. Although Rhinox is happy to have a second chance to redeem himself for his acts as Tankor, Depth Charge isn't pleased with being brought back from the dead. Subsequently Rhinox would appear as Primal's lieutenant in the 2004 BotCon voice actor play, using his technical expertise to build a device that stops Unicron pulling Transformers from other dimensions. However, this caused an Autobot shuttle piloted by Bumblebee, Cosmos and Tracks to become lost in Rhinox's time. The Autobots would assist Rhinox' forces (Rattrap, Silverbolt and Waspinator) to defeat the Decepticons and send both the Autobots and several other timelost groups back to their own times and realities.

Although 3H Enterprises losing the license would forestall the conclusion to the Universe storyline, an explanation of sorts would be found in issue 8 of the Transformers Collectors Club magazine Cybertron/Robots in Disguise, where Optimus Prime told the tale of how Unicron's forces were defeated in one last battle by Optimus Primal's forces, as Unicron disappeared due to the black hole opened in Transformers: Energon. Here Rhinox was able to finally face his demons, battling and defeating the alternate Tankor serving Unicron.

Fun Publications
Rhinox would appear in the BotCon Timelines tale Dawn of Futures Past, as the engineer of the Axalon. With his work seemingly cut out keeping the other two crew members in line, he was soon called upon to restore the Axalon after it was attacked and crippled by Laserbeak and Buzzsaw. With the former Decepticons distracted by another Maximal ship, Rhinox was able to get the ship's engines and guns online in time to destroy the Predacons. His engineering expertise was soon called upon again to save the lives of the other Maximal ship's pilot and passenger by performing a remote spark transfer to the blank protoforms in the Axalon's cargo hold. Rattrap refers to him (insultingly) as a "big rhinoceros", foreshadowing his later transformation in the Beast Wars.

IDW Publishing
Rhinox had a biography printed in the Beast Wars Sourcebook by IDW Publishing.

Toys

 * Beast Wars Deluxe Rhinox (1996)
 * This Deluxe sized toy came with a mutant mask and a sword which never made it to the animated series. The original toy of Rhinox came with a duel spinning mace weapon, but the show depicted this as an automatic chaingun weapon.


 * According to DVD extras from one release of the Beast Wars animated series a working name for this toy was "Ironhide".


 * Beast Wars Deluxe Transmetal Rhinox (1998)
 * Rhinox did actually have a Transmetal body, desipite the series. This figure was available packaged together with Transmetal Tarantulas in Japan. The Hasbro version of this toy has the word Rhinox on it, while the Takara version had the word Cybertron on it.


 * Beast Wars Rally's Rhinox (1998)
 * A simple fast food premium available at Rally's and Checkers restaurants.


 * Beast Wars Fox Kids Rhinox (1999)
 * A redeco of the original Rhinox toy in grey and red.


 * Beast Wars Fox Kids Transmetal Rhinox (2000)
 * A redeco of the Transmetal Rhinox toy in blue and grey.


 * Beast Wars Deluxe 10th Anniversary Rhinox (2006)
 * In 2005 the original Rhinox toy was one of the toys selected for the Beast Wars 10th Anniversary toyline. He was repainted in more show-accurate colors. He came packaged with one of the six pieces used to make the Transmutate toy.


 * Timelines Deluxe Rhinox (2006)
 * A pre-Beast Wars Rhinox toy was made for BotCon 2006. The toy was a redeco of Transformers: Cybertron Landmine. A Maximal who knows much about his Autobot Ancestors, Rhinox values the ideals they fought for and wears their sigil on his chest as a constant reminder of this. (Presumably BotCon forgot to remove the insignia)

Transformers: Armada
In the later Transformers: Armada series, which is set in a different Transformers universe from Beast Wars and Beast Machines'', Rhinox was one of five Transmetal Beast Warriors who appeared in Armada. Their toys were re-colored and modified to include Mini-Con powerlink points. Each was then partnered with one or more re-colored Mini-Cons from the Adventure and Street Speed Teams. Rhinox was partnered with Armorhide and was the only one of the four to appear in animated form.

Animated series
This Rhinox had a cameo appearance in the cartoon series in episode 52, "Mortal Combat".

Dreamwave Productions
Rhinox appeared among the Autobots in the Dreamwave Productions Armada comic book series. He was among the team of Autobots led by Jetfire who investigated mysterious Space Bridge activity at the Decepticon Headquarters—unaware it had been taken over by the Heralds of Unicron.Bludgeon was still present and stalked Jetfire's team. Rhinox survived relatively unscathed, unlike Blurr and Dropshot, and helped to eventually destroy the samurai-like former Decepticon.

He fought against Unicron at the end of the Armada series and was abducted by the Chaos Bringer along with Airazor, Cheetor, and Terrorsaur.

Armada Rhinox appeared as a minion of Unicron in the Transformers: Energon comic book series. Rhinox became "War", one of the Four Horsemen of Unicron.

Armada Rhinox also was set to appear in the unreleased issue 33 of the Transformers: Energon comic series.

Toys

 * Armada Rhinox with Armorhide (2003)
 * The transmetal Rhinox toy was remoled and released as an Autobot, partnered with the Mini-Con Armorhide.

Transformers Animated
In Transformers Animated, a rhinoceros appears at the end of the episode "Predacons Rising", paying homage to Rhinox. With the rhino are a gorilla, a cheetah and a rat - each one paying homage to Optimus Primal, Cheetor and Rattrap, respectively.

Transtech
Rhinox is a scientist on Transtech Cybertron.

Fun Publications
Rhinox appeared in "Withered Hope", where he testified to the Senate on matter of the Gobot's dimensional travel.