Zig Zag
Zig Zag is the left leg of the giant Puzzler. His incredible super-speed gives him a leg up on other GoBots.
Fiction[edit | edit source]
Challenge of the GoBots cartoon[edit | edit source]
The six robotic Puzzlers were built on Earth by Cy-Kill as a counter to the Guardian Power Warrior, using the car dealership of Larry E. Cocoa as a front. For the next stage of his plan, Cy-Kill had Cocoa sell the vehicles to unsuspecting customers. However, Larry's wife Hilda felt the Cocoas deserved more money for their part in the scheme, and when a distracted Cy-Kill was indifferent she seized the remote that controlled the Puzzlers and the pair escaped in the remaining unsold car. With Cy-Kill, Crasher and Cop-Tur in pursuit, Larry drove while Hilda jabbed at the remote control, unwittingly activating the other five units - much to the distress of the driver of Zig Zag, who found his car smashing into walls. All six converged and the Cocoas were thrown out as the cars converted to robot mode then combined to form Puzzler. In the chaos Cy-Kill took back the remote but the Guardians were able to call up the Power Warrior Courageous to shake the robot apart. Auto Madic
GoBots newspaper strip[edit | edit source]
Along with his fellow Puzzlers, Zig Zag was summoned to join Cy-Kill and Herr Fiend in the Arctic as the next stage of the Renegades' plan to conquer Earth. GoBots
Fun Publications[edit | edit source]
Transformers Timelines[edit | edit source]
During the Diaspora, Zig Zag and the other members of Puzzler escaped to Level 16 with the members of Fossilsaurus. Cultural Appropriation
Renegade Rhetoric[edit | edit source]
During his exile in Axiom Nexus, Cy-Kill came across the abandoned base of Alpha Trion where his acolyte Topspin had replaced the sparks of several key Transcendent Technomorphs with their lowtech counterparts. The original sparks were kept in cold storage at the base, and found by Cy-Kill and his Renegades. Along with technology stolen from Shockwave, Cy-Kill brought the sparks back to his home reality. Renegade Rhetoric, 2015/10/21 Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist, 2015/12/05 Cy-Kill discovered the means of using these "positronic energy matrices", as he called them, to bring life to his old Puzzler drones by encasing them in a laser containment field and animated by Space Lightning drawn down by Rogue Star and its Stellar Fulminator Rod. What's more, each new Renegade had access to Mighty Skills as a result of their unique origins. Zig Zag, who came from the spark of Blurr, demonstrated Super Speed.
The Renegades schemed to ambush and destroy the Power Warrior Courageous with their new combiner advantage. Monsterous was openly deployed to rampage through Philadelphia, with the hope of drawing out the Guardians and then having Puzzler attack from the opposite side, flanking Courageous when it arrived. Unfortunately, the Guardians realized Cy-Kill's plan after he liberated the wreckage of Puzzler from Gobotron. They kept Rube from reaching Courageous, leaving Cy-Kill with only Monsterous and a one-legged Puzzler. The Renegades retreated in embarrassment. Six Heads are Better than One Zig Zag was one of the Renegades who seized a drydock servicing the Guardians' Command Center fleet. In Zod We Trust The Renegades planned to interrupt the tri-planet alliance treaty on Quartex. Using the power of Puzzler, Monsterous, and the newly activated Nemesis, the Renegades overpowered the Guardians' two combiners Courageous and Fossilsaurus. Combiner Wars Part 1 Once they regrouped, however, the Guardians and their allies came up with a plan to defeat Cy-Kill's combiner advantage. Combiner Wars Part 2
Ask Vector Prime[edit | edit source]
In one reality, Zig Zag and the Puzzler components were permanently fused into their gestalt form by Bio Ranger Iga. Their individuality was lost, but a grateful Puzzler joined Iga as his Cybernetic Subjugation General. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/15
"Echoes and Fragments"[edit | edit source]
As Sideways and Gong played havoc with the walls of reality, the Renegades launched an all-out assault on Autobot City on Earth. Later, after the combined Renegade and Decepticon forces fled Earth onboard Astrotrain, Zero disposed of Megatron and declared himself the new leader. The Puzzler troopers objected, and attempted to claim command with their Mighty Robot gestalt. Zero was nevertheless successful in the end, and the Puzzlers blew trumpets at his coronation later that night. Echoes and Fragments
Toys[edit | edit source]
GoBots[edit | edit source]
Puzzlers[edit | edit source]
- Zig Zag (Puzzler, 1985)
- Giant Puzzler Leg
- Accessories: none
- Zig Zag was released by Tonka in the second series of GoBots, and converts from robot to Nissan Fairlady 300ZX sportscar in 4 steps. The toy was a repackaging of the Fairlady 300ZX figure from Machine Puzzler from Bandai's Machine Robo line, with no significant changes. Zig Zag has articulation in the shoulders and waist, though the joints are prone to wear and like fellow leg Rube his legs can get wobbly. He also becomes the left leg of Puzzler.
- Zig Zag was made available during the second series as part of the Puzzlers assortment (#7256) and remained available for the rest of the line's life on toy shelves.
- For bilingual Canadian packaging the same name was retained.
Puzzler Set[edit | edit source]
- Puzzler (Giftset, 1985)
- Renegade Robot Giant
- A straight import of the Machine Robo Machine Puzzler, the six components of Puzzler were also available together in a boxed set. They are identical to the individual releases.
Robo Machine[edit | edit source]
Puzzlers[edit | edit source]
- Zig Zag (Puzzler, 1985)
- Giant Puzzler Leg
- ID number: 5
- Accessories: none
- Zig Zag was released in Europe as part of Robo Machine with no significant changes from the American release.
Machine Men[edit | edit source]
Puzzlers[edit | edit source]
- Zig Zag (Puzzler, 1985)
- Giant Puzzler Leg
- ID number: 5
- Accessories: none
- Zig Zag was released in Australia as part of Machine Men with no significant changes from the American release - though the whole team was assigned to the Friendly faction.
Notes[edit | edit source]
- In the character's sole Challenge of the GoBots appearance it was an unnamed non-sentient robot controlled by remote, and had no speaking role.
- Some catalogues showed a prototype version of Zig Zag, featuring a different blue chest and a more prominent sliding button for the head.
- Zig Zag's Cybertronian-style from the "Cataclysm universe" is modeled on Streetwise from the Combiner Wars toyline.