This article is about the Generation One Quintesson shark-monster. For the Energon Decepticon submarine, see Sharkticon (Energon).

Sharkticons are Quintesson mass-produced enforcers from the Generation One continuity family.

Don't jump over them!

―Narrator in the Secret Files of Teletraan II

Sharkticons are big, dumb, plentiful and voracious—in short, perfect soldiers for the Quintessons. It's not unusual for the Quintessons to throw their captives into a big tank full of the feisty nippers after a mock trial just for chuckles. Though individual Sharkticons are not especially durable, like piranha, they swarm in en masse and can devour a full-sized robot in a few seconds with their razor-sharp teeth and claws.

One notable Sharkticon—if not the only notable individual Sharkticon—is Gnaw, friend to the young Autobot Wheelie.

"I am a swarm member. I don't like being alone."
―A Sharkticon's description of his race, Transformers: Call of the Future

Japanese name: Sharktron


Generation One

Animated Series


There's always a bigger fish.

Sharkticons were found on the Planet Quintessa, possibly as the planet's original inhabitants, and possibly built by the Quintessons. Regardless of their origin, there were still plenty of Sharkticons around after the planet was destroyed. The Quintessons were cruel masters to the Sharkticons, apparently having not learned their lesson about abusing servants with the Transformers. The Sharkticons once attacked the Quintessons just because Grimlock told them to do so. Then again, their only other option was to fight Grimlock and the Dinobots. Maybe they're not as dumb as previously believed. TFTM

During the brief Quintesson-Decepticon alliance which besieged Cybertron, a command team of Sharkticons were deployed to the deeper levels of the Transformer homeworld in order to find the master switch which would shut down all Transformers as part of the Quintesson master plan. Fortunately, the command team was intercepted by Rodimus Prime and Blitzwing, who prevented the trio from succeeding in their goal. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5.

The Sharkticons later became infected by the Hate Plague. A large group of them were chasing a Quintesson when Sky Lynx saved him. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1

Kiss Players


What, no tentacles?

When the time-traveling Kiss Players Marissa Faireborn, Shaoshao Li and Atari Hitotonari found themselves on a mysterious planet in the year 2011, their ship was captured and they were surrounded by Sharkticons.

Shaoshao attempted to placate them with the Universal Greeting she had learned from Hot Rod in 2006, but the Sharkticons swarmed over them while Shao cursed the Autobot as a liar.

Put on trial by the Quintessons, they were found "not guilty" and dropped into a pit full of even more hungry Sharkticons.

Only a last-minute rescue by Optimus Prime and Goldbug saved them from being devoured. Pity.

Dreamwave comic continuity

Wild and deadly, with a voracious appetite for energon, packs of Sharkticons are known to prowl Cybertron since at least the Great Shutdown, though their exact origins are unknown. One such pack attacked Shockwave shortly after he was reawakened, and only the intervention of Herald of Unicron Scourge saved his life. As thanks, Shockwave blasted his savior and used him as the basis for his twisted experiments. Gee.

Around the same time, a lone Sharkticon identifying itself as "Gnaw" was befriended by the Autobot survivalist Wheelie, and when its young companion joined the Autobot resistance movement led by Hot Rod, so did it.

Call of the Future

During Shockwave's reign of destruction, the Quintessons provided technology to allow the elite of the surviving Transformers to travel back in time to obtain the Zel Quartz before Shockwave learned of its existence. One Sharkticon came in secret with Galvatron and the Decepticons to help them. However, a destabilization in space-time occurred and when their shuttle crash-landed, all the Transformers were scattered. The Sharkticon found himself alone, which he disliked. Later, the Decepticons found it; it joined them until Starscream stole the Quartz and went off into space, causing the future Transformers, including the Sharkticon, to return to their own era.


Generation One

  • Gnaw (Sharkticon, 1986)
    • Accessories: Tail, "Maceration Laser"
G1 Gnaw toy

Believe it or not, he's the fat one.

Gnaw/Sharkticon transforms into a rotund, squat-limbed, shark-like monster. His beast-mode tail becomes a mace weapon for robot mode and is also the most frequently missing piece from many Sharkticons on the secondary market. Because of its fictional appearance as mass armies, it is one of the few Generation One army builder toys, though it is notably costly to use it for that purpose.
Though the toy is labeled as "Gnaw", much like the Scrapmetal toy, it can be considered either the individual character or one of the countless others of its type.


  • In Japan, the Sharkticon is considered an "Animatron", the Japanese name for the Predacons. It was also not available as part of the normal retail assortment, despite its semi-prominent fictional appearance. At first, it was a promotional item as part of a Beastformer giveaway. It was later made available in limited quantities, seemingly in US packaging, as a mail-away during 1988's Masterforce series.
  • When asked about the Sharkticon design in an interview, Floro Dery's reply was, "Sharkticon is a shark."[1] He's seen some pretty weird-ass sharks.
  • The Sharkticons never joined all of the other animal Transformers to fight Tornedron.
  • Although Wheelie introduced himself in the animated part of the commercial, his toy model never appeared in the live-action half. The mini-vehicles just weren't popular enough.


  1. TransFormers Philippines: Interview With Floro Dery

External links

I cannot remain in this unacceptable operational status!

