The ThunderTank was a mass-produced siege tank used by the ancient ThunderCats when they served under Mumm-Ra. Panthro found one within Mumm-Ra's crashed pyramid and claimed it as his own. After rescuing the surviving ThunderCats, it became their primary mode of transportation and, later, the ThunderCats' mobile base. Unfortunately, the tank was later destroyed.
History[]
When it first appeared, it was out of fuel, which led to the ThunderCats acquiring the Thundrilium to run it.
It is a very fast vehicle; however, it also does not appear to have as much armor or firepower. It has a head-shaped cockpit with retractable roof surrounded on either side by two parallel wheeled and clawed outriggers. It has a rear section mounted on treads, which contains an enclosed passenger section that opens with a tri-sectioned door in the back like an armored personnel carrier. This section contains bench seating along both side walls and a small communication screen on the front wall for talking to the cockpit. Two square hatches just behind the cockpit and between the air intakes allow any cats inside to exit out the top.
The flashback in Legacy shows that Mum-Ra's forces had many ThunderTanks at their disposal. Presumably, Panthro must have stolen his from within the Black Pyramid after he survived Grune's attack.
In New Alliances, the ThunderTank was heavily modified, making it larger, more advanced, and more powerful.
Powers and Abilities[]
Among the weapons displayed so far by this version of the ThunderTank are an energy cannon mounted in the 'mouth' of the tank, claws mounted on the sides, and a bank of seeker missile tubes.
The cannon demonstrated in the tank's initial appearance at the end of Song of the Petalars, but not shown clearly, appears to be mounted in the head of the tank behind the teeth. The mouth opens by pivoting up and the cannon fires a green blast of energy that is easily capable of dispatching Warbots.
The claws are mounted on the wheeled sections to either side of the head. In the episode Berbils, they are shown to be more than ornamental when they lift up and launch forward using rockets for propulsion and strike with enough force to knock over Conquedor's vehicle while it was charging directly into the attack. They are also equipped with tethers so they can be returned to their place on the tank.
First demonstrated in the episode Sight Beyond Sight, the missile bank is shown to be activated by a large button on the control panel in front of the passenger seat and presumably the driver seat in the cockpit. It was first activated by accident by WilyKat during a race because he thought it might make the tank go faster. A panel opened somewhere on top of the rear section to reveal 20 small recessed firing tubes. All 20 missiles fired upward out of these tubes and acquired targets with sensors in their nose cone that looked like the Eye of Thundera even expanding from the characteristic slit to wide open circles once locked on. Unfortunately, they targeted the only vehicles around, which were piloted by Tygra and Lion-O, who managed to evade them.
In The Duelist and the Drifter, Panthro and Tygra were attempting to attach the Book of Omens to the Thunder Tank as a guidance system. As of Sight Beyond Sight this system is shown to be working to guide the Thundercats to the crystals.
In Berbils, the Ro-Bear Berbil species build a brand new engine from scratch for the ThunderTank, making it more powerful and faster than ever.
Trivia[]
- In New Alliances, the ThunderTank was heavily modified, making it larger, with more room in the rear section, and beefed up Weapons.
- Differences Between the Original and 2011 Series aside from the appearance being less sleek and more fearsome looking than the original ThunderTank, there are various differences between the two. Mainly being:
- The tank is larger and aesthetically different. (i.e. There are much rougher with portions sticking out such as intakes and four round thrusters on the back section.)
- The whole tank is also more angular with slanting lines and long curves.
- The face is also longer with a sharp pointed beard-looking forward end.
- New to this version are the eyes featured as bright red headlights.
Gallery[]
