Fortress Maximus (RID)

Fortress Maximus is an Autobot Headmaster Titan from the Robots in Disguise continuity family.

Friend to all children! But not a giant turtle.

Fortress Maximus, also known as Brave Maximus (ブレイブマキシマス Bureibu Makishimasu), is a colossal Autobot guardian hidden on Earth to protect the planet from evil. Immense in strength, unmatchable in firepower and impregnable in durability, Fortress Maximus's only weakness is his compassion for children.

Fortress Maximus does not appear to be sentient in and of himself, but rather, is controlled by Cerebros. Even Cerebros himself does not make his own decisions, instead operating on a tri-lateral recognition program that defines the actions he will take. Cerebros on his own will only respond to an Autobot energy signature, and when combined with Fortress Maximus, will react only to the bio-energy of human beings. To prevent his power being used for evil, his recognition program operates on "harmonic resonance," which allows him to sense the intentions of those that would command him. He will not follow commands of an evil or self-serving nature; consequently, due to their worldly innocence, human children are particularly adept at controlling him.

Fiction

Cartoon continuity

2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon

Voice actor: Steve Blum (English), Masayuki Kiyama (Japanese), Oleg Kutsenko (Russian), Wan-gyeong Seong (Korean), Pietro Mário (Brazilian Portuguese)

...Well, actually, if he keeps sitting in green liquid, he might become a giant turtle.

And I'll form the head!

Fortress Maximus was hidden on Earth eons ago in order to protect the planet, slumbering in stasis beneath the surface of the planet, where Metro City would come to be built. Koji Gets His Wish The various keys that would enable his reactivation—the O-Parts, the Orb of Sigma, and his Headmaster component, Cerebros—were scattered across the globe and sealed within ancient structures, suggesting that ancient human civilizations had some hand in the process. A Friendly Contest Peril from the Past Maximus Emerges Although his existence went on to slip into the realm of legend amongst most of the populace on Cybertron, certain high-ranking Autobots and Predacons were well aware of the truth behind the story, and, in the mid-20th century, a team of six Autobots were sent to Earth to reactivate Maximus, Koji Gets His Wish only for their ship to crash into the mountain that would come to be known as Castle Peak, trapping them all in stasis. The Decepticons

Around the beginning of the 21st century, the Predacon leader Megatron was dispatched to Earth by the Predacon Council to acquire Fortress Maximus. Surprise Attack! Attacking the International Scientific Symposium, he captured archaeologist Dr. Kenneth Onishi, Battle Protocol! whose research had led him to discover the trail that led to Fortress Maximus. The Secret of the Ruins The Predacons' battles with their Autobot enemies steadily led to the discovery of several O-Parts, which fell into Autobot hands. The Ultimate Robot Warrior Sky-Byte Saves the Day The Autobot craft in Castle Peak, however, was uncovered by Megatron, who co-opted the Autobots within into Decepticons, led by Scourge. The Decepticons

While tunnelling beneath Metro City, the Build Team found themselves affected by a strange energy field that caused them to hallucinate and fight amongst each other, eventually forcing them to withdraw. Investigating, the Autobots discovered that the cavern beneath the city contained Fortress Maximus, and that the energy field was a defense mechanism designed to keep away any intruders. Fortress Maximus Exposure to Maximus's energies reawakened Scourge's memories of his original mission to reawaken the fortress, but his Decepticon programming twisted the mission; he now sought to acquire Maximus's power for himself. As Optimus Prime held him off, the Build Team relocated Maximus—in his city mode—to a concealed structure in the middle of Metro City, hiding him from their enemies. Koji Gets His Wish

I forgot that I am supposed to kill enemies, not friends!

Clash of the Really Big Hands

During this battle, Doctor Onishi was freed from the Predacons, Koji Gets His Wish and equipped the Autobots with tracking devices that allowed them to quickly and easily acquire all the remaining O-Parts. A Friendly Contest United, the O-Parts led to the Orb of Sigma, resulting in a battle that ended with Megatron's seeming demise. Peril from the Past The Orb in turn led to Cerebros, whom the Decepticons and Predacons—now led by Scourge—were able to capture. Having discovered the hiding place of Fortress Maximus, Scourge utilised the Autobot portion of his energy-signature to activate Cerebros, who then brought Fortress Maximus online. Maximus, however, proceeded to run wild, stomping his way through Metro City unheeding of Scourge's commands. When the Autobots' human ally Koji called out for him to stop, he obeyed. Transforming back to city mode, Maximus vanished beneath the Earth, and the villains absconded with Cerebros once more. Maximus Emerges

Realising that Koji had been able to control Fortress Maximus because he was human, Scourge amplified the portion of his bio-signature that was human. Thus, when Maximus reappeared in the Sahara desert, Scourge was able to fully seize control of the giant Autobot once more. In response, the Autobots gathered a mass of human children together to override Scourge's command of Maximus. The Human Element Deciding that he required a human of his own to control Maximus for him, a case of mistaken identity led Scourge to kidnap Koji's friend Carl; nevertheless, Maximus was successfully activated and piloted by Carl when he resurfaced in a jungle. By this point, Megatron had returned—having actually been upgraded to Galvatron by the power of the Orb of Sigma's pyramid—and Scourge chose this moment to reveal his treachery, ordering Fortress Maximus to crush his former leader. However, Carl's selfish desire to defeat the villains himself and show up Koji caused Maximus to power down, and the Autobots arrived in time to save him and finally rescue Cerebros from Galvatron's forces. Fortress Maximus, however, vanished once more. Mistaken Identity

Ka-BOOM!

With the Autobots having acquired a full understanding of Fortress Maximus's activation protocols thanks to Cerebros, their base was then attacked by the Predacons and Decepticons, the latter having been reprogrammed back to loyalty by Galvatron. In the midst of the ensuing battle, Wedge's selfless courage and determination to defeat Galvatron resonated with Cerebros, and he summoned and activated Fortress Maximus. Galvatron combined with his ship, the Megastar, and battled with Maximus directly, but was defeated when Maximus unleashed his Maximum Firepower attack and blew the ship to smithereens. Surprise Attack!

...He was so ugly that everyone died. The End.

Galvatron survived the barrage, however, and restored his strength by affixing himself to Maximus and draining the giant robot's energy, supercharging himself. Galvatron's Revenge Omega Prime proceeded to challenge Galvatron to a final battle at the Earth's core. Koji, meanwhile, contacted as many children as he could, instructing them to send their energy to Fortress Maximus to re-power him; Maximus absorbed and re-channeled the energy to Omega Prime, manifesting in the form of the Matrix Blade, which Prime used to finally defeat Galvatron. With the Predacons and Decepticons at last beaten and captured, Fortress Maximus transformed to starship mode and transported the villains back to Cybertron to be incarcerated at the asteroid prison colony. The Final Battle

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Legends comic (1)

When Vector Sigma granted the Dimensional Patrol the new Neo Brave Maximus, Plasma and Brave were transferred to it. The old Brave Maximus was given to the Autobots on Earth, with Master and Zebres as control units and solitarium as a power source. LGEX Scourge Prologue

Robotmasters

After taking the Predacons to prison, Brave Maximus returned to Earth. When construction of Autobot City began in 2003, Maximus formed the core of the fortress. Later, in 2004, Maximus (also known as "Autobot Base" at the time) had his central systems re-written to comply with the new solitarium-based enhancements made to Autobot City. 2007 TakaraTomy timeline

I want to tell you about the Transformers! This character article is a stub and is missing information on their fictional appearances. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it. Robotmasters web prose

Kiss Players

Continuity, shmontinuity.

"Kiss Players? Oh slag, there goes the planet."

In 2007, after a year-long anti-Transformer campaign by the Earth Defense Command, the Kiss Players singing group went on a tour to help improve human-Transformer relations. It was while they were visiting Brave Maximus—now apparently separated from Autobot City again—for a performance that the mysterious Sparkbots suddenly appeared and demanded that the human group members kiss them. When they complied, they and Maximus were all whisked away on a whirlwind tour of time and space, with Maximus serving as their transport and base as they collected fragments of the so-called "Allspark" from famous Autobot and Maximal leaders through Transformer history. Sparkbots Volume 1 Notably, he did not demonstrate any signs of intelligence or independence during the journey. Sparkbots Volume 2 Sparkbots Volume 3

Near the end of the adventure, while being piloted in pursuit of a mysterious golden hand that had taken several Allspark fragments, Maximus accidentally struck the "Wall of Time". With its passengers scattered across dimensions, Maximus was hurled back in time four million years and crash-landed on the planet Master. His planetfall was observed by a group of Cybertronians who had migrated there, and their leader, Fortress used the technology of Brave Maximus to refine his own "Headmaster" theory, creating Transtectors, including his own gigantic one, Battleship Maximus. Sparkbots Volume 5

Meanwhile, after briefly adventuring in another universe, the Kiss Players returned to their home dimension and accompanied Primus back through time to prehistoric Earth. There, it was revealed that they had not been collecting fragments of the Allspark, but portions of the scattered lifeforce of Unicron. Resurrected by the Sparkbots, Unicron was then destroyed by Primus and his lifeforce was sealed deep within the planet. Sparkbots Volume 5 The heretofore unknown origin of Brave Maximus was then revealed when Primus created him Ruination Chapter, Part One to serve as the eternal guardian of Unicron's lifeforce. Kiss Players

Legends comic (2)

During his stay in the Legends Universe, Fortress recalled his discovery of Brave Maximus's wreckage as well as the deactivated remains of Zebres and Master within, and how these events led to the creation of Transtectors and the Battleship Maximus. Bonus Edition Vol. 31

Unite Warriors

At the trial of the Commandos, the Autobots of the post-Cybertron Alliance era recounted how the Commandos were originally sent to the past to reactivate Brave Maximus. Ruination Chapter, Part One

Ask Vector Prime

In Viron 704.08 Gamma, Omega Prime and Fortress Maximus put an end to the universal consumption campaign of Unicron, a seemingly non-singularity Transformer warlord who had united his consciousness with Planet X. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/28

Toy bio continuity

In Viron 102.0 Beta, Galvatron, having been upgraded into "Megatron Megabolt", gained control of Fortress Maximus, the Autobots' secret defense base. However, Optimus Prime, with the aid of Optimus Primal the Protector, eventually emerged victorious over Megabolt Maximus. Megatron Megabolt toy bio Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/30

Shell Game continuity

In Viron 704.31 Epsilon, Brave Maximus was rendered inert when Ruination killed the Emissary. New Decepticon leader Megazarak created Megabolt from Megatron's remains to hijack Brave Maximus, but Unicron's abduction of Megabolt prevented this from coming to fruition. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/30

Toys

Car Robots

Dammit, I'm just a redeco.

• Brave Maximus (Cybertron Base, 2000)

• ID number: C-027
• Accessories: Radar scope

Car Robots Brave Maximus is an extensive redeco of Generation 1 Fortress Maximus, essentially replacing much of Fortress's lighter colors with darker ones to create a sort of "city at night" deco. The retail release of Brave Maximus did not include all of Fortress Maximus's accessories, missing his two hand guns, Cog's components, and the two Master Swords.

Despite this, Brave Maximus retains all of Fortress Maximus's functionality, being able to transform from his 22 inch tall robot mode to battleship mode to city mode and back again. In city mode he features a rotating radar, a jail cell, a working elevator that leads to a button-activated car launcher, and two manual car launchers on his arm-ramps. The Spychangers are the only figures from the toyline that interact with him particularly well, although his two arm-ramps can also launch the Autobot Brothers. In particular, the Spychanger toy of Scourge fits in the robot's control room perfectly, allowing you to replicate the scenes from the cartoon, as well as actually providing an "evil" figure to lock in the jail cell. Of course, Spychanger Scourge wasn't part of the Car Robots toyline, and Brave Maximus wasn't part of Robots in Disguise (see below). Still, Japanese fans were eventually able to buy chibi-Scourge the way they buy many US-"exclusive" toys, as a "USA Edition" in its American packaging.

The back of Brave Maximus's instruction leaflet features a color play mat that the city connects to for use with other Car Robots/Robots in Disguise toys.

In 2003, "Braver Maximus" was released in South Korea by Sonokong. This release unfortunately has the central tower's Autobot symbol sticker pre-applied upside down (oops!).

This mold was also used to make Grand Maximus and Cybertron Base.

• More information on Brave Maximus at TFU.info

• Cybertron City (Campaign prize, 2000)

• Accessories: "Head Robo", "Mini Robo", "Photon Rifle", "Mini Laser Rifle", "Radar Scope", "Laser Space Gun"

A campaign prize version of Brave Maximus, titled "Cybertron City", was promoted as a prize for the "Your Room Is a Cybertron Base! Campaign" (君の部屋がサイバトロン基地だ！キャンペーン) that ran from March 16 to June 30 in 2000. It includes redecoes of Fortress Maximus's accessories that were not included in the general release (sans Master Swords), and is packaged with a redeco of Cog characterized as Gadep.

Robots in Disguise (2001)

• Fortress Maximus (exclusive import, August 2002, April/May 2003)

• Accessories: "Cerebros" Headmaster unit, "Emissary" large Headmaster unit, mini laser rifle, radar scope

In May 2002,^[1] Hasbro began to solicit a United States release of Car Robots Brave Maximus as Robots in Disguise Fortress Maximus. The toy was to have been exclusive to six retailers: FAO Schwarz would have been its sole brick-and-mortar retailer, while the other five were online retailers BigBadToyStore,^[2] ActionFigureXpress,^[3][4] Marz Distribution,^[5] Total Science Fiction (A.K.A. Robobase),^[6] and Entertainment Earth.^[7] Product copy from ActionFigureXpress indicated that this release would have been sold in its original Japanese Car Robots packaging,^[8] with those sold by FAO Schwarz possibly having had English-language sticker labels applied to said packaging based FAO's retail practices with imported toy items at the time.^[9][10]

Fortress Maximus was originally solicited for release in August 2002, but the toy's failure to pass the standard industry drop tests put its release on hold, as confirmed by Hasbro employee Andrew Frankel at BotCon 2002, who still hoped for the toy to see release the following year.^[11][12][13] In line with this delay, the Hasbro product code assigned to the figure suggested a new planned release for Spring 2003, between April and May.^[14] By September 2002, however, the figure's release was confirmed canceled.^[15] In 2006, Frankel elaborated at Iacon One that the drop test failure was met not only by the figure but also the packaging, which "couldn't take this beating."^[16] Other likely contributors to the cancelation were the fact that FAO Schwarz (the only US brick-and-mortar toy retailer at the time that could have carried such a large, big-ticket item) was already on the decline by 2003, having closed many of its stores before declaring bankruptcy later that December; the fact that, by late 2002, Robots in Disguise no longer had a presence either on television or at mass retail, having long since been succeeded by Transformers: Armada; and the fact that Hasbro had switched their attention to the release of a different big-ticket item that was planned to be the centerpiece for Armada—Supreme class Unicron—which would have already been in development by late 2002 and whose thunder would have likely been stolen by the release of the much larger Fortress Maximus coming just two-to-three months ahead of Unicron's July 2003 release.

Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

Robotmasters

• Cybertron Base (Contest prize, 2004)

• Accessories: "Zebres" Headmaster unit, "Master" large Headmaster unit, Brave's "Mini Laser Rifle", radar scope

First Prize in a Robotmasters contest where only 10 were awarded, Cybertron Base is completely identical to the retail-release Car Robots Brave Maximus toy, down to what accessories are lacking from the other incarnations of the mold, coming only with the two head-robots, a radar dish and the gun for the mid-robot. His head modules are renamed Zebres and Master.

Cybertron Base was shipped in a fairly plain white box, and came with newly-printed instructions. He also came with exactly the same paperwork packet as Car Robots Brave Maximus, including unchanged instructions, a Car Robots catalogue, and the Brave Maximus bio card. What with all these similarities, Takara's decision to consider the "Cybertron Base" of Robotmasters as the same character as Car Robots Brave Maximus in their 2007 timeline makes a lot of sense.

Notes

• According to the toy's profile card, Brave Maximus's robot mode is 350 meters tall (1,148 feet).
• Most websites list Steve Kramer as Fortress Maximus due to the fact that he provided the voice of Cerebros, but from the small number of lines he actually speaks, it does not appear to be Kramer behind the microphone.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Brave Maximus (ブレイブマキシマス Bureibu Makishimasu), Cybertron City (サイバトロンシティ Saibatoron Shiti, "Autobot City"), Cybertron Base (サイバトロンベース Saibatoron Bēsu, "Autobot Base")
• Italian: Fortezza Maximus
• Korean: Braver Maximus (브레이버맥시무스 Beureibeo Maeksimuseu)
• Portuguese: Fortaleza do Poder (Brazil, "Fortress of Power")
• Mandarin: Jùwúbà Fútè (巨无霸福特, "Extremely Gigantic Fort")
• Spanish: Fortaleza Máxima (Latin America)

References