Twirl (Armada)

Twirl is a Mini-Con from the Legends of the Microns portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

This is totally awesome, like, ohmigosh!!

Twirl (トゥワール Tuwāru) is the youngest and least serious member of the Sonic Assault Team. To many, she is a flighty, featherbrained ditz who is more interested in dancing and interior design than anything else. They are so right. To those who can understand Mini-Con speak, she has a chirpy, airheaded manner.

Despite this, she is a valued member of the Team, even though Falcia constantly cuts her down verbally. Twirl takes it all in stride, as she knows deep down Falcia cares about her. She's also formed a bond with the Autobot Ravenus. Her weapon mode is incredibly powerful; it's possible the main reason she's on the team is simply so she doesn't fall into Decepticon hands.

Twirl is not Falcia and Redline's daughter, no matter what Twirl thinks. Both Falcia and Redline flatly and vehemently deny any claim of parentage. Falcia gets rather violent at the suggestion.

Fiction

Linkage

Twirl's Mini-Con storage panel was one of several held within Redline's internal compartment for safekeeping when the Exodus went down. When Falcia reactivated on Earth and found Servo, she followed him to the Super Stunt Team's new base and forcibly removed Twirl's panel from Redline. Linkage Part 5 When she left to rejoin her teammate Combusta, she was attacked by the Speed Chaser Team in Magnawing mode, and Twirl's panel was damaged. Linkage Part 6

Isn't this when Maury Povich usually shows up?

Twirl would have died there, but the Mini-Cons developed a plan to save her. They quickly put together a machine that would take energy from the spark frames of Redline and Falcia to create a new body for Twirl while the two sent their consciousnesses into the Linkage to retrieve Twirl's mind before it could diffuse and be lost forever. The plan was a success, and Twirl returned to full functionality. Linkage Part 7

She and Falcia accompanied Servo to the Autobots' base hidden in the mountains near the Cosmo Scope Research Center in Colorado, so he could tell the Mini-Cons who were under Autobot protection of their plans. Falcia threatened to flatten her after she made another remark about "family" when Falcia decided to stick with Redline for the time being rather than join the Autobots, as was her original plan. Linkage Part 8

Twirl and the other Mini-Cons set up machinery on one of the Hawaiian islands so Redline and Falcia could retrieve the Master Key and upgrade all Mini-Cons, freeing them from their servility programs and power-locks. The Speed Chaser team and Aqua Raider Team attacked to stop them, bringing with them the mutated Bulk Ravenus. Linkage Part 9 Twirl was incapable of resisting Ravenus' enhanced Powerlinx command and linked with the monster against her will. Linkage Part 10 During the link, she discovered Ravenus' true nature as an Autobot and begged the other Mini-Cons to spare his life after she was released from him by Kingbolt. Linkage Part 11

WHEEE!

After undergoing the Master Key upgrade herself, and helping in returning Ravenous to his pre-mutated stated, Twirl went to Cybertron with all of the other Mini-Cons to fight their creator, Unicron. Linkage Part 12 In particular, she fought alongside Ravenus, who joined the fight wanting to make up for the wrong he did in his addicted, mutated form. One year after the battle, she returned to Earth and helped form an independent Mini-Con city. Linkage Part 13

Legends World

Twirl was among the Mini-Con toys stolen by Megatron in the Legends World. Bonus Edition Vol. EX

Toys

Legends of the Microns

• Twirl (DVD Micron, 2003)

• Release date: October 29, 2003

Legends of the Microns Twirl is a redeco of the Air Military Mini-Con Team member Thunderwing, transforming into a (fairly unstealthy) "flying wing" stealth bomber. She also has a third, spinning-blade weapon mode: her Powerlinx port is on a freely-rotating joint, so she spins fairly well when attached to a Powerlinx plug, but it does kind of make a Powerlinxed jet mode kinda silly.

She was only available with the first run of the seventh Legends of the Microns DVD in Japan, and came with the seventh installment of the Linkage comic. Later pressings of the disc, however, did not include the toy or comic.

This mold was also used to make Ichibi, Seeker, and Razorclaw.

• More information on Twirl at TFU.info

Notes

• Linkage author/illustrator Hirofumi Ichikawa noted that he very specifically had Reese Witherspoon's performance in Legally Blonde in mind when writing Twirl.
• Also, Ichikawa briefly considered naming her Flatspin, but ultimately decided the name was too close to Flat-Out. "Twirl" suits her better, anyway.