Mechanical Maniacs - Transmetal 3 Armour

These are notes for the Mechanical Maniacs' Transmetal 3 armour. These armours were introduced in Series 8 and were designed by Rich.

Within the fiction, the Mechs had requested armour upgrades shortly after Life After Life (Topman especially desiring armour that's not "older than his iPod"). The first armours to be seen were Hard's and Magnet's after new characters assumed those roles (and their own armours damaged in the Series 7 finale). The rest were held back until the Mechs' Transmetal 2 armour was destroyed due to budget restrictions.

The actual designer of the armour in the series is unknown, but it probably a team of scientists and technicians.

Attacks that saw little use during int he Transmetal 2 armour are absent int he Transmetal 3 versions. Consider that efficiency in design.

Neeldegal[]

Nedlegal's armour was the first designed and it's closely based off her Transmetal 2 armour with mainly the addition of a beret instead of a bulky helmet.

Needle's backpack can be yanked off using the straps, providing her with spare Needle Cannon cylinders. They have to be changed every 1,000 rounds to let the nanomachine "factory" inside them time to re-cooperate. The gear-like cylinders rotate much like a revolver cylinder, though there are no spent cartridges to be ejected like a regular firearm. Hence, the Needle Cannon remains an actual cannon.

Needle Cannon - Basically a high-powered chain gun. No reload time, armour piercing rounds, dual barrelled. Rain of death, pretty much.
Needle Beret: In addition to the standard Needle Mace, each of the three individual spikes on her head can be launched attached to a long chain. These spikes can serve as grappling hooks as well as weapons.
Cactus Armour - She can extend multiple spikes from various points on her body, aiding her in melee combat and saving her from holds.
Heavy Armour - Aside from Hardman, she has the toughest armour on the team, aiming her well-suited for any direct combat.
Forearm Needles - Note how her forearm spikes stick out at a 45 degree angle, lending themselves to more aggressive melee attacks.
Shiny Shield - In addition to attacking her needles can also form a shield.

Magnetman[]

Magnetman has been completely revised from his Transmetal 2 look, yet the physics behind his powers hasn't changed. Still, while Kenta was aggressive and used his powers in a variety of ways, the Sheriff has a more straight-forward way of doing battle and, as a consequence, has fewer moves.

Note that the cartridges are produced in Magnet's forearms, and come out via a hole at his wrist. The bullet itself bares a resemblance to the old school Magnet Missile, only much smaller. The front section of his forearms spin when he uses his magnetic powers, and the front section moves backwards when dispensing new cartridges.

Trick shot: Sheriff Mags prefers to use a gun, but uses his magnetism to control the bullets. He enjoys using magnetism to show off. The downside is that he can forget to refill his gun. He uses "Magnet Bullets" as opposed to "Magnet Missiles".
Magnet Field: Magnetman can use a field of magnetism as a shield. Like Kenta, he can use this to crush opponents as well, but prefers not to and is far less skilled at it than his aggressive predecessor.
Magnetic attraction: Magnetman can attract opponents towards him. He can use this same power to draw himself to metal walls or ceilings.

Geminiman[]

Geminiman's flamboyant persona is exemplified by his newly remodelled knight-like armour. He now carries a Beam Saber, however it's more for decoration than actual combat. It splits apart in the middle of the handle, and the two ends have the same shape as the end of his buster. On the sides of the buster projector are three of his triangular plates, which stay folded when the beam isn't on, and open when it is. It sort of resembles a simplified flower...An "icy rose", if you will.

There is e a transparency effect in his armour, with those signature triangular shapes being a translucent chrome-blue with circuitry visible behind it. The rest of his armour is brightly polished silver.

Gemini Laser: Primary Weapon, High Powered Laser that bounces off surfaces until a target is hit.
Arm Cannon: Secondary Weapon, Basic arm cannon that Geminiman occasionally uses if he believes the situation requires some form of rapid-fire or when he is unable to use the Gemini Laser.
Cloning:Like the name suggests, Geminiman clones himself thus making it easier for him to manipulate an opponent's movement at the cost of making him an easier target. Geminiman can produce up to six clones at a time.
Shooting Star: Using concentrated energy from the Gemini Laser, Geminiman powers up his fist or foot and delivers a powerful blow on the enemy.
Gemini Shield: Geminiman forms a crystal shield on his forearm which is capable of blocking almost any form of attack. However, he is unable to move or even attack when the shield is active.

Hardman[]

His overall structure is now made up of more solid pieces than the outgoing Hadrian model, giving an impression of added rigidity at the cost of mobility. He no longer has the "plate kilt" of Hadrian, instead having his hips contained in a solid, thick piece of armour. He also does not have the traditional "anus rocket", with the jet propulsion systems now being exclusively contained in his legs, hidden within a heavily armoured structure mounted to his calves/heels. The huge structure immediately tell you that nobody is going to push this guy around.

The gear motif is especially obvious with Hardman now, with his knees and elbows featuring large, partially exposed gears.

His Hard Knuckle is kept locked in place by three gears in his forearms, which unlock to allow the Hard Knuckle to jet forward. His hands are more human in appearance now, and can extended forwards in order to grab things, or retract into the very large armoured cuff for protection. When he launches his Hard Knuckle, the three gears on his forearms spin backwards, unlocking the front portion for firing. The Hard Knuckle is once again jet propelled, as opposed to the TM2's magnetic propulsion. This is closer to the original game depiction, as well as another nod to Ben's previous identities.

He can also fold his whole head into his torso for protection, while the vast amount of camera and sensory equipment feed him info from all angles. This is a slight nod to Heatman, while the detailing in the "pit" atop his head is an inverted Fireman reference. He can actually go about his entire life in this mode if he wanted to. I actually kind of prefer him in this mode because it gives him a very menacing, monolithic look.

He still has his Hard Cannon attack, with his entire shoulder assemblies rotating backwards via the oversized hinges on his back, unlatched with the lock on his chest (between the large "eye" on his torso and his face). It is advisable for Ben to have his head in "lock down mode" when firing the cannon. When he fires his Hard Cannon, that bar across his chest pops out and slides to the side, acting as a lock. The gears on his back pull backwards his entire upper torso assembly, arms and all (think "Ariga's Skullman"). He should also have his head pulled into lock-down mode to avoid being burnt by the massive muzzle flash when firing the cannon.

The whole idea with the new Hardman was to make him sleeker, but at the same time make him appear even more indestructible and meaner in the process. The curved surfaces help deflect attacks, and the broad flat areas are made of such thick material that there's little worry of a breach. A guy like Hardman doesn't really need to move too fast, so I concentrated less on making him look like he can win footraces and instead making him look like he could go toe to toe with Superman. The are no more exposed cables or unnecessary gaps in his armour to give the impression of a weakness to be exploited.

There's a cluster of jets in those shielded portions attached to his calves. That's how he does his big jumps to do the Hard Press. He also pulls his head into his body when doing the Hard Press, giving him a huge, flat surface to smash whatever is underneath him absolutely flat, and there's a big camera and sensor cluster on top of his head so he can see as he's coming down.

Hard Knuckle - He has quite precision control over his hands in flight, to the point he can use them to grab things over great distances, even opening the fridge and getting a beer while still sitting on the couch. Depending on how big you consider him to be, these things can either cause a lot of pain, or outright flatten a target.
Hard Press - He rockets up into the air, then rockets down head-first. A secondary thruster in his head helps him get back up.
Cannon - Chest doors open up, and there's a cannon. Launches one spiked cannonball and then needs to be reloaded.
Really Heavy Armour - Hardman's armour is incredibly thick and a good defence against attacks. However, it also requires slow, deliberate movement. As Hardman, Ben is unused to this kind of movement and there is a learning curve before he can become a truly effective fighter.

Topman[]

The shape of his boots has been redone, and I also moved the back wheel out backwards, and to add a bit more weight to the design I added a large external brake that features an inverted gear motif.

Top Bombs have been added into his belt, in a trio arrangement. They'd regenerate after being taken off.

His gauntlets were also tweaked, with the forearm deflectors being lengthened and given a pliable appearance. I also eliminated the inner elbow pad thing, and got rid of a few more straps on his arms and legs to lessen the roller derby look.

Top Spin: Topman's classic offensive/defensive technique, Topman uses high speed to spin in place. This can cause great damage if it connects with an opponent and can also repel many attacks.
Top Bombs: Classically Topman removes the top from his head and hurls it at opponents. Now his tops are located in his belt and cause small explosions on impact.
To maximize the potential of his powers, Topman is now a student of capoeira, a rhythm-based martial art that relies on near-constant motion that combines defence and offence. Making use of static fields as a result of his kinetic collecting, Topman’s strikes are fast, confusing, and far more deadly than most people give him credit for.

Snakeman[]

This is Snakeman if he were designed by Apple. The idea is to convey a sense that Snake is a creature that is more connected to the data stream than the others, so his design is more reminiscent of a cleaner, sleeker Euro style, but with obvious callouts to his original design.

One thing not apparent in this sketch is that the white armour on his forearms, legs, and chest has a translucent look, and onto that is a green glowing hexagonal grid that both conveys a high tech look while also carrying on the snake skin motif from the TM2 design, only its far more neat and organized.

His helmet is actually very close to the original Inafune design, only sleekened to make it fit with the rest of his body. I even did away with the top pair of fangs, just like his original design. I'm also thinking about having a screen projected in front of his face (but within the mouth of the helmet) that will give him information and make him look more like a "snake man" rather than a guy in a snake suit.

The basic idea behind him is that Snake has now been more specialized to his security and observation role. This will fit in prominently in the next Season as he investigates CATCH22. I imagine him becoming a bit like Batman in that he's becoming more of a detective.

In addition to his traditional Search Snakes, he can now execute digital Search Snakes to mine for information automatically. These digital Search Snakes can also be used for espionage against defensive systems, like taking out security cameras.

Also note the visor, which projects a hologram in front of Snake's face, feeding him more of the information he craves like candy. Or Dr. Pepper. His lower helmet fangs also function as communication microphones, aside from being the origin of the hologram.

Snakeman also has reverse busters on his legs. They simply allow Search Snakes to exit Snakeman's body discretely.

Snakeman no longer has the specialized Search Snakes from his Transmetal 2 days. Since the War Snakeman has also tired of sniping and no longer carries a rifle of any sort.

Can interact with computers using his tail; is the dedicated hacker of the group. His Search Snakes can also hack into computers.
Snakeman now has Search Snake ports on the back of his legs for stealthy Snake deployment.
Snake Armour - Not very good for defence, this new scaly armour is designed for stealth and contortion. Snake can mask his heat signature, reduce sounds from his body, and squeeze into very tight hiding spots, making him very hard to detect.

Spark Chan[]

Spark Chan is now more hands-on, literally. Her can conduct electricity, since I wanted to keep her design rather sleek and clean (although she still has her electrodes as well). The two exceptions to that rule are her collar and her wrist gauntlets.Her backpack generator is a copy of one of the building blocks from Spark's stage.

Spark Chan's electrodes are now made of a transparent material that you can see the electricity moving through. It is kept stored outside of her forearm, and slides through her gauntlets when active. I opted not to use a metallic texture because she's still a pacifist, and I've grown wary of having her with very menacing looking metal stabbing implements. The clear plastic with a semi-blunted tip goes a long way to making it look like she's serious about using the Spark Shot to stun enemies instead of killing them.

Also note that in addition to changing her hair style, she now has blondish streaks in her hair. Combined with her reddish lipstick, that's the colour scheme of the common mango.

Sparkman[]

Sparkman is quite literally a walking, talking electrical generator, perfectly capable of either generating or storing electricity for any number of purposes. With his spark shock, Leon can gain control over how a machine functions. He can use it to grind it to a halt, or override it to do whatever he wants (within its abilities, of course). He can't gain control over intelligent machines, but he can still immobilize them, if only momentarily. He can also change the polarity of his charges to give allies boosts in strength and vitality, ostensibly making him a medic.

In combat, can discharge discharge electricity in a variety of different ways, including firing several smaller sparks in several directions, one larger more powerful spark, lightning bolts, crescent-shaped arcs, blinding flashes, or even a moderately strong forcefield. All his attacks are fired from sharp electrodes that fold and unfold into Leon's arms for whenever he needs them. Leon is always experimenting with new ways to master his abilities.

As an engineer, Leon's pride and joy are his hands, which can turn into any tool he requires. Anything from a simple hammer or a wrench, to a plasma cutter/welder torch, to something as audacious as a chainsaw. As far as he knows, there's not a single door on the planet he can't open either by overriding it with his spark shock, or tampering with the lock with his hands. His body is adorned with several secret compartments he uses to store whatever components he thinks he might need for repairing, modifying, or sabotaging any devices he might encounter. Again, as the field medic, he makes sure to bring some spare parts for his friends, in case he needs to make field repairs. All his compartments are vacuum-sealed, so his components don't get damaged as he moves around.

In addition to his hands, Leon has a visor that performs a few different functions. First, it lets him see electricity flowing, so he knows exactly where to tap into. His visor also scans and stores several different schematics he's looked at, so he can access them whenever he needs them. And of course, he uses it whenever he's welding. When he's not using it, he can fold it back inside his helmet.

His helmet is basically a stylized version of the original Sparkman helmet, complete with electrode. He also has electrode-looking pieces over his ears, as opposed to the usual Megaman round port things. A one-way screen covers his face, which is also framed with three bars. When not in use, the screen can retract fully into the top portion of the helmet, while the bars can either partially retract to cover his mouth, or retract entirely into the sides of the helmet.

His face is basically that of Ash Williams, though a bit younger in appearance, and with hair that swoops backwards. He may or may not sport a five o' clock shadow at this point.

The boxes that adorn his chest can open up to distribute whatever Leon stores in them. When closed, they're vacuum sealed to prevent items from rattling about.

One his biceps, thighs, and midsection we see more of the tri-bar feature from his helmet. Between these bars are pairs of vents, which are needed as Sparkman's generator system produces extreme heat. Sparkman can collapse these bars, similar to his partially collapsed face mask mode, if leaving these vents open produces a hazard.

His boots are rather plain at this point, though there is a ribbing type of texture used around his calf area. This recalls similar ribbing from an actual spark plug, which is also usually white in color. His feet are rather large, with big armor plating, and thick rubber soles for grounding. His knee guards can also open up to reveal items, similar to the boxes on his chest.

His forearms feature his spike conductors, which can be completely retracted. When needed, they can pop out and extend. The spikes are supported by a sliding bar bracket. Not rendered yet are the wires that provide power to the spikes, or the Tesla coil that extends from the elbow area when maximum power is needed. As the Tesla coil is prone to damage, it is not left deployed unless needed, though strong (lethal) shocks require time to generate power.

His back will feature two more boxes, as well as a generator. Otherwise, its pretty much what you see already.

His under suit is rubber insulated, and the areas that require more flexibility have a grid pattern stitched into them (which is a stage reference, as parts of Sparkman's stage background featured a blue, chain link fencing pattern). Also featured is brightly colored piping that shows power flowing.

Spark Shock: Spark's signature move from the games, Spark can send out small sparks which stun or hurt opponents or he can charge up for a powerful electric blast.
Thunder: Sparkman can also send thunder-like blasts of electricity.
Magic Hands: Spark's hands can be reconfigured to give him different tools for repairs.
Visor: His visor also scans and stores several different schematics he's looked at and can also see currents of electricity.

Shadowman[]

Note that compared to the others thus far, Shadow appears even more like an ancient ninja, with a less ornate costume. Not pictured here is his usual scarf (which will be included in the final design) and the ornate etchings on his shin and forearm guards, which will likely have those dragonfly stage baddies, since those are the most "ninja" themed foes from his stage.

The reason for Shadow being so much more plain than the rest is because I figured that he's reached a level in his career where he just doesn't need much else. He's finally mastered his innate abilities to the point that he can match traditionally more powerful Mechs like Mags and Hard, and can out think Gemini on a consistent basis. He's becoming more Bohemian as he acquires years, wanting and keeping less and less as he begins to strive for more value with his existence. This also troubles him, as he continues to see more and more of his old friends die and leave over the years, leaving him yearning for the freer days of pure adventure.

He also keeps his closed eye. I contemplated giving him an eye patch, but decided against it. His head mounted Shadow Blade is a little more scaled down, and lacks the strap of the TM2 version. His sword goes from being a ninjato to a shortened katana, which is more historically accurate. Its hilt is a Shadow Blade in a circle.

When not in battle, he'll wear a gappa (travelling cape), similar to Ariga's Shadowman, but reflecting a sense that our Shadowman is ready to leave at any given time.

Of course, the biggest change with Shadow isn't his appearance, but rather his power upgrade. His Shadow Blades are now projected directly from his alien skeleton, passing through his various bio-mechanical layers, where ever he chose them to come from. They can pass through any known matter, can disappear into shows and reappear out of others, and can either stun or hurt his target as he wishes. He also possesses this ability for his own body, and do so with an object he holds, such as his sword. This power is manifested as a simple shadow- not very visible in bright sun or low light, but still there.

Its very similar to his abilities with TM2, but the difference here is that its a skill, a mindset, that he has mastered, and is no longer relying on Earthly technology to augment it or aid it in any way. He's also become very quick with it, able to disappear and re-emerge from shadows he hadn't yet seen, simply by "swimming" through them and seeking them out. He has thus far been able to vanish and re-emerge as far as one mile away, limited only by his Earthy technology not being able to withstand longer trips than that in one go.

In short, Shadow is only harmed because either he makes a mistake, is caught completely off guard, or he wants to be. As far as he knows, its the very peak of his power.

Shadow Blade: Shadowman's signature attack. Shadow Blades can now phase through matter and can be throws into shadows, only to appear out of other shadows (an extension of his Shadow Warp technique).
Shadow Warp: Shadowman can disappear into the shadows and reappear out of other from up to a mile away. A longer trip would damage his systems.
Ninjitsu: Naturally Shadowman can use ninjitsu and has various martial arts moves, including the slide from MM3. He can also cling to walls and the ceiling as an extension of this.
Sword: Shadowman now wields a shortened katana.
Arm Cannon: Shadowman retains an Arm Cannon for use in emergencies.
Hologram: As with prior transmetal armors, Shadowman can create a hologram of himself to trick opponents.