Torca (Beast Wars Transformers)

Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.

Name: Torca
Allegiance: Maximals
Sub-group: Fuzor
Function: Infantry general
Timeline: Generation 1 (Beast Era)

Toyline: Beast Wars

Profile:

Torca is the largest and most powerful of all of the Fuzors. The only thing more immense than his size and physical strength is the respect his fellow Maximals feel toward him. One of the older Maximals who was online during the times of the Pax Cybertronia and the Great Upgrade, Torca is something of a warrior poet, known for his wisdom on and off of the battlefield. On the battlefield, he is known for making wise decisions and staying cool under fire; off the battlefield, he is best known for his writings on theology and philosophy. Torca can frequently be found meditating under waterfalls, and it is rumoured that he is so spiritually attuned that he can commune with those who have become one with the Allspark. Such is Torca's reputation for strength and leadership that his mere pressence on a battlefield can intimidate the rank and file of the Predacon forces.

Abilities:

Torca moves with a swiftness that belies his gigantic size. His elephant / whale Fuzor form is incredibly intimidating and a formidable force on both land and underwater. Torca's primary weapon is a dorsal cannon that sprays a circuit-inhibiting liquid that can short out circuitry, allowing him to close in and engage in melee combat. Torca is lethal at close range, goring opponents with his massive tusks in beast mode or attacking with mixed martial arts in robot mode. This great strength, coupled with his thick, armoured hide, means that Torca is one of the most formidable Maximals.

Weaknesses:

In theory, Torca should have no weaknesses. However Torca is suffering from the early stages of Goldrake-Polyethylene Syndrome (GPS), a progressive and ultimately terminal condition that will make his external plating and internal systems incredibly brittle as it progresses. If wounded in battle, Torca is unable to fully heal in a CR chamber. His condition means Torca must pull his punches, as using his full strength puts his weakened systems under tremendous strain. Torca keeps his condition a secret, lest Maximal morale be shaken and the Predacons emboldened to attack.

Beast mode:

More information on Torca at TFW2005

Author notes:

The mighty Torca is one of those visually striking toys that looks really awesome and visceral. I utterly love that beast mode. It's a great realisation of the Doctor Moreau-ish thing that I feel the Fuzors were aiming to capture.

The great pity though is how fragile Torca is. The guy has loads of that fragile gold plastic and I've heard horror stories where he'll crumble to dust. Mine seems to be okay so far, but I treat him with extreme kid gloves. I'd love to get the Beast Wars Neo version so I can have one I can actually play with.

As far as the bio goes, the original packaging bio had Torca as a wise and respected commander who was super strong. I took that concept and expanded it, making him a full on Transformers version of Sun Tzu. The bio quote came later on and is a direct quote from the Art of War, but it really played into what I'd already written by way of the big guy's weakness.

That weakness - Goldrake-Polyethylene Syndrome - is a play on what fans call Gold Plastic Syndrome. It was a way to get the real world issues with the toy into the fiction and I think it creates an interesting story where you have a character who is slowly dying but for the cause is hiding it and presenting a strong exterior. The name I came up with is almost random words, Goldrake is the name used for Go Nagai's classic robot series Grendizer in some parts of the world and I used it since it sounds like "Gold". Polyethylene is another word for plastic, it's one of the types of plastic out there, so essentially the name of the disease is a slightly sci-fi version of the real world term.