The Autobots fired the first salvo the Titan-class arms race by unleashing Metroplex, the giant Autobot that kind of transformed into something that looked like a city but really looked like Metroplex sitting down. Titans-class, by the way, are Transformers way too big and way too expensive for the average kid to afford. (I inherited my Metroplex from the next door neighbors, who came from a much richer family than us.)

In the far off future of 2005, the Decepticons responded in kind by commissioning the Constructicons to retrofit a human city into TRYPTICON, a Decepticon city-former who was basically Godzilla.

But not just any Godzilla! This was Godzilla… as voiced by Brad Garrett!

Among Trypticon’s many heinous crimes: pulling a Carmen Sandiego and stealing the Eiffel Tower. Attempting to steal the Kremlin. Allying with Middle Eastern criminal dictatorships. (An episode that caused Casey Kasem to walk off the show due to its negative Arab stereotypes.). Attacking an innocent cruise ship on the assumption that it was an invading force. Driving out and leaving homeless the countless civilians who used to call Trypticon home. Getting possessed by ghost Starscream (who was delivering his body to Unicron so that Unicron could be reborn).

Though aligned with the Decepticons, Trypticon would often find himself aligned with the other Transformers that turned into beasts or creatures: be they the stalwart Dinobots or the Combiner team the Predacons.  Grimlock even brings Trypticon back to life after they faced off with an energy creature… who was, incidentally, Unicron’s little brother.

If you still have your red see-though decoder strip, here are Trypticon’s stats: