Torca (BW)

Torca is a Maximal from the Beast Wars portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Torca's Fuzor body equips him well for land and water. His massive size belies his combat skill. Hand-to-hand combat with Torca is a challenge; his huge tusks can swat most Predacons with ease. His towering presence on the battlefield emboldens comrades and drains enemy morale. Off the battlefield, Torca is actually one of the most quiet, contemplative, even bashful beings one could imagine. He's certainly a 'bot who subscribes to "actions speak louder than words".

Fiction

3H comics

Torca was a member of the Maximal High Council after the Great Transformation. He, along with his fellow council members disbelieved Optimus Primal when he warned them of the threat of Unicron. Homecoming

2006 IDW Beast Wars continuity

Torca was one of the protoforms jettisoned from the Axalon on prehistoric Earth. He was activated and put in chronal phase by Razorbeast at Magmatron's request, but was protected from Magmatron's Predacon shell program by Razorbeast's viral code. The Gathering #1

Soon after awakening, he joined up with K-9, Bantor, Stinkbomb, Armordillo, and Noctorro. During their journey to meet up with Razorbeast, Torca got stuck in some mud and needed the help of his new travelling companions to free him. The Gathering #2 After following Razorbeast's signal for days, and picking up more Maximals along the way, Torca exploded into battle (sporting a painted Maximal symbol on his shoulder!) against Magmatron's Predacons. The giant Fuzor tipped the scales, allowing the Maximals to win that altercation. The united group awaited rescue from Cybertron. The Gathering #4

When the Predacons performed a full-scale assault on the Maximal base some time later, Torca hid underground until they got close, then bursted out and started kicking skidplate. The Ascending #1 However, while his massive bulk helped the ground troops, he wasn't particularly effective against the airborne Predacons. Fortunately, backup arrived in form of Grimlock and Lio Convoy's Pack. The Ascending #2 The battle was interrupted when Shokaract's minions, the Blendtrons, infected Razorbeast with Angolmois and turned him into a raging monster. Torca helped calm Razorbeast down by holding him down with a foot, but ended up getting a few cuts from the boar's tusks. He and many other Maximals then returned to Cybertron to fight Shokaract himself. The Ascending #3 During the battle, Torca was nearly hit by a mighty blast that incinerated three of his comrades, but ultimately lived to witness the end of Shokaract and his minions. The Ascending #4

Beast Wars: Uprising

Torca was on guard at the Ferromax Detention Center when a small group of Maximals broke in to free Dynobot. Thanks to their impercepton shield, all he noticed was a brief light. Prologue

Precursor World

An orca-elephant creature was among the native fauna of the Green Planet; it cowered in fear behind another creature when the planet, and its defenders the Green Order, were attacked by Sea Phantom. God Neptune comic 1

Toys

Beast Wars

• Torca (Deluxe Fuzor, 1998)

• Accessories: Water cannon
• Known designers: Daniel Sanfilippo (deco artist), Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)

Part of the third wave of third-year Beast Wars Deluxes, Fuzor Torca transforms into a fusion of an orca and an elephant. The beast's back becomes Torca's hand-held water-squirting gun in robot mode, and moving this assembly while still plugged into his back makes his tusks pinch in and out a little bit. His dorsal fin is the trigger for this weapon, and the water-squirting gimmick is accessible in either mode, making Torca blow water out of his blow-hole while in beast mode.

Torca can suffer from Gold Plastic Syndrome.

Torca was later redecoed to make the Beast Wars Neo character Elphaorpha.

• More information on Torca at TFU.info

Notes

• The sculpt and design for the beast modes of Torca (and likely Bantor) have a somewhat dubious history. An eagle-eyed fan spotted the distinctive beast form amidst the online portfolio of a concept designer around 2002. Upon contacting the designer ("Khang" as per the signatures on the art), he was unaware that his designs had been put to use.
• In Beast Wars: The Gathering, Torca is one of the few Transformers to not have a typical insignia. His insignias in beast form are mutated and blotched to match his Fuzor skin.
• According to Torca's toy bio, there's such a thing as Predacon poachers (who are discouraged in going after Torca because of his impenetrable armor hide and unmatchable power). Who'd have thunk it?
• The evil redeco Elephorca got a profile in Transformers (Titan) #16... which used pictures of Torca, confusing thousands of small kids.
• The non-toy Beast Wars: Uprising incarnation of Torca is physically modeled on Timelines Clench.