Hydra (BW)

Hydra is a Predacon from the Beast Wars Neo portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

We'll have lots of friendly fun!

Hydra (ハイドラー Haidorā) is desperate. Desperate for his leader Magmatron's attention and commendation. Despite possessing an keen tactical cleverness and being the fastest Predacon alive, he never quite made an impression on Magmatron as his personal rival, Guiledart, did. Indeed, while Guiledart now serves as Magmatron's right-hand man, Hydra's been assigned by his lonesome to the Predacon outpost of Porcupine, where he passes the time by cracking terrible jokes to Ope, his attendant droid and only company. The same jokes. Over and over and over.^[1]

Hydra doesn't possess any remarkable weaponry, but his Wing Shot does come in handy sometimes.

Fiction

Beast Wars Neo cartoon

Voice actor: Ryō Naitō (Japanese)

No, I'm not Lazorbeak. Check out the fangs!

Hydra was the same age as Guiledart and the two immensely disliked each other to the point of often butting heads. One instance had Guiledart trick Hydra with a claim that the Maximals were nearby and surprise attacked his rival. By eighty years later, the unlucky Hydra became the only Predacon assigned the remote fortress planet of Porcupine that he built, where he had little to do to pass the time besides repeat lame jokes to Ope a thousand times and use parts from ships he attacked to expand the planet. He was tricked again by Guiledart at the planet and, at some point, Guiledart became Magmatron's second in command, which drove Hydra into deep envy.

Seventy years after Guiledart and Hydra's last quarrel, Hydra and Ope discovered an Angolmois Capsule hidden within the Porcupine's mechanical workings. This was detected by Big Convoy's Maximals on the Gung Ho and when Magmatron's Predacons on board the Dinosaur found the Maximals heading in the direction of Porcupine, the Emperor of Destruction contacted Hydra, and the Pteranodon confirmed the existence of the Angolmois Capsule to his superior. Delighted, Magmatron told Hydra to safeguard it from the Maximals till he arrived.

With the Gung Ho in range, Hydra sicced Porcupine's defenses on the Maximals, but some ingenious tactics from Big Convoy allowed the Maximals to escape, albeit not without some damage to the ship. When the Dinosaur arrived, Big Convoy deduced that Porcupine would not use its defense with the Predacon ship in range, and distracted the crew of the Dinosaur while sending in Heinrad and Colada to infiltrate the ship. In the meantime, Magmatron sent over Guiledart to retrieve the capsule, which upset Hydra. The teleportation, however, unexpectedly also brought along Colada and Heinrad.

Hydra responded to the newly arrived Guiledart by attacking him, intending to become Magmatron's lieutenant in Guiledart's place. Guiledart tried to convince the distrusting Hydra of the presence of the two Maximals and their theft of the Angolmois Capsule, but his begging fell to deaf ears till Heinrad called him out for his unnecessary suspicion. The Maximals were able to depart the planet with the Angolmois Capsule thanks to Big Convoy's long-term planning and Magmatron attempted to destroy the Gung Ho with the Dinosaur's cannons, but the Maximal ship was able to strafe the blast, which ended up hitting and destroying Porcupine. Hydra and Ope were sent flying off into empty space; the former did have one last joke to share and, while it was new, the latter found it unfunny. Lonely Hydra

Porcupine was rebuilt in an improved form, and Hydra went to work searching for another Angolmois Capsule, contacting Magmatron when he did. Spurred by the threat of the Blentrons' true goal, Magmatron ordered an immediate departure to Porcupine, despite Guiledart's and Archadis's misgivings. Once his leader arrived, Hydra attempted to pile on the brown-nosing for a promotion, but the Emperor was more concerned with defeating the Blentrons and using the capsule as bait for a confrontation. When the Blentrons arrived, Hydra attempted to use the planet's defense against the trio, but everything proved ineffective. When the Blentrons made it to the planet's main chamber, Hydra attempted to put up a fight with the other Predacons, but his Wing Shot made nary a scratch and he was shot down by Drancron and about to be stomped on by Elphaorpha before Magmatron attacked the monstrous Transformer. While he put up more of a fight, Magmatron was seemingly no match for the Blentrons, and a panicking Hydra tried to get them to retreat, which was overruled by the vehement Magmatron. The Maximals, chasing the Blentrons, arrived and the ensuing chaos forced Hydra to send the capsule into space. His decision, made to save Magmatron, was not appreciated by his leader and all Predacons present teleported to the Dinosaur.

Hydra's Porcupine was soon destroyed again, this time by the Blentrons. Pursue the Blentrons!

Beast Wars Neo comic

Working with Hardhead, Hydra placed a bomb in the Angolmois Capsule room of the Gung Ho, later planning to steal the Angolmois Energy. When the two crashed into the bridge to finish off the Maximals, one of Hardhead's careless gestures with his sword slashed open Hydra's chest. The fatally injured Predacon demanded an apology from Hardhead; in response and to atone for his mistake, the dim-witted Predacon committed seppuku, despite Hydra's protests that there would be nobody left to steal the Angolmois Energy. Bleeding out on the floor, Hydra, with his dying breaths, noted that they were at least able to complete their mission of planting the bomb. His death was ultimately in vain as Longrack and Heinrad later deactivated the bomb. A Battle Fought Alone

2006 IDW Beast Wars continuity

Hydra was a born underachiever, which was at odds with his attempts to overachieve at everything. Fortunately for him, he didn't let his constant failures get the better of him, and continued to strive so that one day, he might actually accomplish something. Beast Wars Sourcebook #2

Beast Wars: Uprising

Hydra was communications specialist aboard the Dinosaur, one of the few Cybertronian ships allowed to patrol the spaceways by the Human Confederacy. A friendly and likable 'con, Hydra lamented his past assignments manning remote outposts solo, and appreciated the post aboard a ship. He often passed the time playing cards with his fellow enlisted Predacons, remaining a tense distance from the Maximal officers.

The Dinosaur picked up a garbled Cybertronian distress call from the planet LGC-8803, which Hydra cleaned up for first officer Longrack. Learning of the presence of potentially valuable marooned prisoners on the planet, the Captain ordered an excursion to the planet. Meanwhile, Hydra's equipment picked up a second unknown Cybertronian signal, this one emanating from Cybertron. Longrack dismissed it, as any official word from home would come through the Captain or their Builder political officer, Synapse, but Hydra and Killer Punch managed to convince him to let Hydra spend time cleaning up the signal before they reached LGC-8803.

What Hydra discovered was astonishing. The Games had fallen, and the Proto-races had begun an outright rebellion against the Builder Assembly. Hydra felt the need to share this information with someone, but was discovered by Synapse before he could reach anyone else. The Builder used a magnetic disruptor coil to kill Hydra and destroy his memory tapes all in one strike. Intersectionality

2005 IDW continuity

A member of Onyx Prime's, Hydra was part of a group that attacked Throttlebots while they were marooned on the backwater planet of Regalis V. The Dead Come Home, Part 1 When Prowl's reinforcements arrived, he battled Stardrive and was subsequently blown to bits when she unleashed her Dire Wraith powers. The Dead Come Home, Part 2

Toys

Beast Wars

Wishes he would transform into an actual hydra. That way, the extra heads could keep him company!

• Hydra (Basic, 1999)

• ID number: D-33
• Release date: January ??, 1999
• Accessories: "Wing Shot" gun
• Known designers: Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)

Part of the first wave of Beast Wars Neo products in Takara's Beast Wars toyline, Hydra is a slight repaint of Beast Wars Basic Class Lazorbeak (himself an all-new tooling based on the original Terrorsaur toy), adding silver to his face, wings, and legs. He transforms from a sort-of Pteranodon thing to robot via a one-step spring-loaded autotransformation gimmick; activated by lifting up his beast head.

Hydra's "Wing Shot" pistol stores in a little space behind his robot head in beast mode and can be held in his robot mode hand. Unfortunately, unlike Hydra in the cartoon, his beast mode hands can't hold his weapon.

The Lazorbeak mold was also used to make later runs of Terrorsaur in the UK, as well as Dinobots Terranotron. The original tooling was used to make Fractyl and Age of Extinction Strafe.

• More information on Hydra at TFU.info

• Backwater Showdown: Rockbuster VS Hydra (VS pack, 1999)

• ID number: VS-33
• Release date: January ??, 1999
• Accessories: "Wing Shot" gun

Hydra was also available in the "Backwater Showdown" (背水の対決 haisui no taiketsu) two-pack with Rockbuster, also released in the first wave of Neo toys.

Both toys are identical to their individual releases.

Notes

• The Beast Wars: Uprising incarnation of Hydra is a "virtual redeco" of the Combiner Wars Deluxe Class Terrorsaur toy.

References