Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers: Difference between revisions

* [[Audience Surrogate]]: According to [[Word of God]]: "[Ironfist is] a fanboy, just like you. He blogs; he enthuses; he [[Squee|squees]]."

* [[Author Catchphrase]]: Simon Furman's infamous "Furmanisms" are parodied; Ironfist's datalogs feature many often-repeated phrases colloquially known as "Fisitronisms." When Skyfall told him about this he was a little upset, since he hadn't been doing it deliberately.

** Stalker is so very much this. He might even be sicker than Overlord.

* [[Backpack Cannon]]: Ironfist and Guzzle are both weird versions. Ironfist's lightformer cannon is worn like a backpack but he has to take it off to use it, and Guzzle never uses his tank mode turret in robot mode (though its barrel is smoking on the cover to the trade, which is also this article's page image) - probably because it would be almost impossible to aim.

* [[Baddie Flattery]]: Don't worry, Rotorstorm, Overlord thought it was funny. {{spoiler|Won't stop him from shooting you in the face, but he laughed.}}

* [[Batman Gambit]]: {{spoiler|Prowl's entire plan, then again, it's his normal modus operandi.}}

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: Ironfist is probably the only Wrecker in ''history'' to be a pretty nice guy. He's a weapons designer and the use of most of his work is considered a war crime. A military tribunal is held over his cerebro-circuitry seeking bullets, and a disgusted Trailbreaker puts it this way - "Most weapons can be used to wound. To disarm. [...] Your weapon kills, every time." He invented Gideon's Glue, the horrific napalm-like substance that took and shattered many ''Autobot'' lives at Babu Yar, as well. Ultimately he may be responsible for more deaths than all of the other Wreckers ''combined''.

** He suffered depression and pangs of guilt because of all the damage his creations caused however. And Gideon's Glue wasn't his fault; he was ashamed of its creation and thought he destroyed every sample, but {{spoiler|Skyfall}} had already sold some to the Decepticons.

* [[Driven to Suicide]]: Arguably, {{spoiler|Topspin, by extension of the torture Twin Twist is going through}}.

** {{spoiler|Skyfall drinks a hidden sample of Gideon's Glue rather than face [[Torches and Pitchforks|an angry mob]] who have found out that he was responsible for Ironfist's death.}}

{{quote| "'''Fisitron'''": It's a story of sacrifice and betrayal. And of good people dying in '''''stupid, pointless ways'''''.}}

* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: Snare's motivation

* [[Extreme Melee Revenge]]: Used by Perceptor's team against Overlord after he kills {{spoiler|Rotorstorm}}, to little effect. Look closely at the panel where they're lunging at him - Topspin ''drops his gun''.

* [[Eye Scream]]: Stalker holding a scalpel up to Impactor's optic is made no less freaky by Impactor being a robot. {{spoiler|Ironically, ''Impactor's'' the guy who shoots Overlord in the eye with a harpoon in the very next issue. And then there's Overlord who rips off Springer's face along with one of his optics.}}

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Pyro''': [[It Has Been an Honor|I figure that dying to save people you care about]] [[Heroic Sacrifice|is the most that anyone can do]].}}<br />

{{spoiler|'''Ironfist''': I think you have your motto.}}<br />

* [[Gorn]]: Death is rather unambiguous here. {{spoiler|'cept with Guzzle.}}

* [[Green Eyes]]: Snare and Stalker.

* [[Hand Cannon]]: The Judge

* [[Harpoon Gun]]: Impactor has one. [[Arm Cannon|It replaces his right hand.]]

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|Topspin and Twin Twist. Arguably, Pyro.}}

* [[He Who Fights Monsters]]: Impactor, originally a [[Knight Templar]], is pushed to the brink thanks to [[The Psycho Rangers|Squadron X]].

** In a [[Tear Jerker|sadder example]], {{spoiler|Ironfist is revealed to have shot himself in the head with a prototype brain-seeking bullet several months ago. It was working its way towards his brain through the series, causing the fainting spells. Long thought an accident, the text story in the back of the trade reveals that it was sabotage - and Ironfist's "friend" Skyfall was behind it.}}

* [[Horrible Judge of Character]]: {{spoiler|Of all the Autobots Ironfist could have befriended, Skyfall really should've been at the bottom of the list.}}

** Even more jarring when {{spoiler|we find out Ironfist was a victim of one of those bullets as well.}}

* [[I Call It Vera]]: Guzzle's [[Weapon of Choice]] is a whopper of a handgun called "the Judge."

** [[Word of God]] says that neither "deaths" were truly fatal, and it usually takes the destruction of the head to kill a Transformer here (hence why Guzzle survived).

* [[Improbable Piloting Skills]]: Rotorstorm manages to fly two vehicles through heavy enemy fire '''simultaneously'''. He's ''just that good''.

** "Sweet."

* [[Irony]]: After Springer's team lands, extracts from Fisitron's unofficial Wrecker's training guide are superimposed over the team disobeying each and every one of them.

* [[Kick the Dog]]: Pyro. {{spoiler|He claims that Verity and humans in general are worthless because they're so fragile, and insists that Ironfist be the one to take a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] because the death just isn't cool enough for him.}}

* [[Killed Mid-Sentence]]: {{spoiler|Snare}}, while asking for a [[Mercy Kill]].

* [[Late Arrival Spoiler]]: In ''record time.'' The cover for the second printing of issue #1 spoils the last page.

* [[Ludicrous Precision]]: Shockwave, as usual: "You've had control of the ''Last Resort'' for 11 months, three weeks, four days, 15 hours, 55 minutes and 11 seconds, and only ''now'' do you choose to reunite me with my body?"

* [[MacGuffin]]: The Wreckers are assigned to rescue someone, or something, called "Aequitas." {{spoiler|It's a computer used to "calculate guilt," the judge and jury of Garrus-9. The Wreckers are ''not'' impressed.}}

* [[Morton's Fork]]: See [[Sadistic Choice]].

* [[Mythology Gag]]: The Wreckers are a comics-exclusive team of second- and third-string Autobots who often serve as a [[Redshirt Army]]. Their [[Psycho Rangers]], Squadron X, consist of every toy-less [[Red Shirt]] and [[Sacrificial Lion]] Decepticon from the Marvel US and UK comic series.

* [[Naive Newcomer]]: Ironfist.

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Names To Distrust]]: "Why should I trust you? You're a Decepticon. Named ''Snare.''"

* [[Pint-Sized Powerhouse]]: Guzzle might verge on [[Super-Deformed]], but he's ''tough''.

* [[Powered Armor]]: Verity Carlo picked up a suit of armor sometime between her last appearance and here.

* [[Power Walk]]: When Springer and the rest of the Wreckers welcome the new recruits.

* [[The Psycho Rangers]]: Squadron X

* [[Rashomon Style]]: The Battle of Pova. The joke is in the name - POV(a).

* [[Reality Ensues]]: In-universe, when Ironfist realizes, after a minor [[Heroic BSOD]], what the Wreckers [[Redshirt Army|ultimately are]].

* [[Restraining Bolt]]: Megatron had Shockwave upload a virus into Overlord's cerebral circuitry that prevented Overlord from even considering how to defeat Megatron. Shockwave removes the virus in exchange for his freedom from Garrus-9.

* [[The Reveal]]: {{spoiler|Ironfist was living on borrowed time. Verity Carlo was the one who wrote the Wrecker's Last Stand datalog as Fisitron. And Prowl's [[Batman Gambit]] was not for Aequitas' data to be recovered, but for it to be destroyed and lost forever.}}

* [[Sacrificial Lion]]: Arguably, Fortress Maximus {{spoiler|and the Wreckers as a group.}}

* [[Sadistic Choice]]: When someone wins twelve fights in Overlord's gladiatorial arena, they get two choices: {{spoiler|commit suicide, or fight Overlord. As Snare points out, [[Person of Mass Destruction|it's not really a choice]].}}

* [[Squee]]: A sig image of Ironfist shouting "SQUEE!" was noticed and referenced by co-writer and artist Nick Roche on [http://nickroche.blogspot.com/2010/02/wreckers-awareness-week.html his blog].

* [[Stepford Smiler]]: Rotorstorm, who is trying to hide the fact that he's horribly scarred by his past experiences in the war. His bravado covers up a world of self-doubt and insecurity.

* [[Stupid Good]]: Ultra Magnus. {{spoiler|A duly appointed enforcer of the Tyrest Accord, it should have been in his best interest to verify the content of the dataslug that contains Aequitas' records, or at least make a backup of it. Instead, he [[Batman Gambit|decided to trust]] [[Manipulative Bastard|Prowl]] to do the right thing, by giving him the only existing copy.}}

** [[Memetic Mutation|He just can't deal with that right now.]]

* [[Switching POV]]: While the POV changes several times through the history, {{spoiler|part 5 is made to look like Ironfist is narrating the events, only to find out it is Verity, after he died on the way back from Garrus-9}}.

* [[Synchronization]]: {{spoiler|Topspin and Twin Twist}}

* [[Tank Goodness]]: Impactor and Guzzle.

* [[Tear Off Your Face]]: {{spoiler|Overlord does this to Springer. He survives, but is in critical condition on life support.}}

* [[War Is Glorious]]: Ironfist's idolized view of the Wreckers, and seemingly {{spoiler|Pyro's ultimate desire}}.

* [[War Is Hell]]: An odd choice for a franchise that takes [[Refuge in Cool]], but the series' reception indicates that it works pretty well.

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: The [[Batman Gambit]] mentioned above - the morality of the goal is iffy enough to begin with, the methods {{spoiler|(sending a team that included several severely mentally scarred 'bots on a literal, but known only to him, suicide mission)}} were beyond the pale.

* [[What a Senseless Waste of Human Life|What a Senseless Waste of Life]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by the authors themselves in a podcast, where they mention that part of the theme is "good people dying in pointless ways". Also lampshaded in-universe by {{spoiler|<s>Fisitron</s> Verity.}}

* [[The Worf Effect]]: Before readers find out that he was nearly an official [[Person of Mass Destruction]], Overlord [[Curb Stomp Battle|dispatches]] Fortress Maximus with blinding speed.

* [[Writing Around Trademarks]]: Not necessary in the book, but it is possible that Roche & Roberts created Ironfist's "Fisitron" pseudonym so that Hasbro could make a new toy for him without bumping up against trademark issues with the [[Marvel Comics]] character of the same name. This is exactly what happened when a toy of a ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' version of Ironfist came out.