Knockdown (Classics)

Knockdown is an Autobot-allied Mini-Con or Maximal from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Splatters are a bit like bouncers really, except that they use more force.

Knockdown is a member of the Mini-Con Dinobots, and the team's strongest fighter. Surprisingly coming from such a fearless and nigh unstoppable 'bot, he doesn't really like to fight and would like little more than to use his formidable strength to make Cybertron beautiful. But when push comes to shove, his preferred method of dealing with a foe is to grab his opponent and literally holding them at arms length until they've calmed down or, if that doesn't work, knocking their head against something hard to make them stop. Said hard item usually being his head. He loyally follows Swoop after the death of his former leader.^[1]

Fiction

Classics

Knockdown was one of the Dinobot Mini-Cons created on Cybertron by the Last Autobot to prepare the planet for the Autobots' eventual return. He worked with his fellow Dinobots Hacksaw and Terrorsaur, often on missions to eradicate the dangerous Mutant population that still existed underground.

After a night of Mutant hunting, Knockdown was kicking back at his moonlighting gig as a bouncer for Maccadam's Old Oil House. He happened to overhear arguing in one of the back rooms, and made his way over to check it out. A serverbot caught him outside and innocently shooed him away, but the brief glimpse and snatch of conversation he got troubled Knockdown. Not knowing what else to do on his own, Knockdown reported his suspicions on the exchange to Hacksaw.

What began as a curiosity became deadly serious when an explosion the next day took the lives of several Mini-Cons, including the race's leader, Modus Prime. The only survivors of the incident were Broadside, Sledge, and Wideload...the three Mini-Cons Knockdown had seen conspiring in Maccadam's. Along with the Clear Skies Team, Night Rescue Team, and the other Dinobots, Knockdown met with Hacksaw to discuss what smelled strongly like a conspiracy among their own people.

Broadside could not cover up his involvement in the next death, Hacksaw's, but by then the damage had been done. The Mini-Con populace began choosing sides, with Knockdown and his allies championing the cause they were built for on one side, and those in favor of Broadside's isolationist tendencies on the other. And so, civil war broke out again on the planet of Cybertron... The New World

Beast Wars: Uprising

During the early stages of the Grand Uprising, Knockdown was among those trapped in The Proton Blaster when a battle between the Resistance and the Builders occurred outside. Head Games

Toys

Classics

"Triceratops!"
"Okay, but I don't usually like ceratops."

• Dinobots (Mini-Con Team, 2006)

Part of the first wave of 2006 Classics Mini-Cons, Knockdown transforms into a robotic Triceratops. As a Mini-Con, he has a "Powerlinx" socket on his side that allows him to connect to larger toys with compatible Powerlinx pegs.

There are some paint application differences between the Knockdown pictured on the card-back and the final product. One possibility is that since the molds were originally intended to be in two-packs rather than three-packs, the number of available paint applications (which are carefully monitored) per piece was larger in the two-pack arrangement, necessitating some omissions for the three-pack release.

He was only available in a Mini-Con Team three-pack with Swoop and Terrorsaur.

• More information on Knockdown at TFU.info

Notes

• A Mini-Con called Knockdown was planned for release in one of the Cybertron Mini-Con Versus Packs as part of the Night Rescue Team, facing off against Predator Attack Team member Terrorsaur. His bio describes him as a mighty but clumsy bot, but he might not necessarily have used the Triceratops mold.^[2]

References