ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT
SUB-GROUP: HEADMASTER
HUMAN COMPONENT: DUROS
FUNCTION: GROUND ASSAULT

FIRST APPEARANCE: HEADMASTERS # 1

“It’s either my way – or no way.”

Profile: The only way to get Hardhead to follow advice is to persuade
him he came up with the idea himself. He knows only one way to do anything –
his way. He’s as stubborn as a Buick with a six year old battery on a cold winter’s
morning. He doesn’t talk too much, but when he does he’s usually brief and to
the point, never sparing the emotions of others. Some would say he’s businesslike,
others would say rude. Soldiering is his life; the primary reason he left Cybertron
was because he had become disenchanted with the Autobots’ military tactics,
not because he sought peace. On the battlefield, he’s just as stubborn as anywhere
else. Retreat is a dirty word to him – he’ll fight until there’s nothing left
of his enemy… or himself.

Duros is ideally matched to Hardhead. The Nebulan enjoys warfare as much as
the Autobot. For years, Duros had served as the chief of security for the Nebulan
Ruling Council. But he found the job fairly boring – Nebulos had been at peace
for so long that the opportunity for action was rare. The binary-bonded pair
quickly discovered their mutual interests and put aside any lingering distrust
of each other. Of all the Autobot Headmasters, Duros and Hardhead get along
the best, but Duros’s eagerness to embrace warfare has alienated many of his
fellow Nebulans, including most of his family. Even his wife has become estranged
from him. Duros is a dependable, resourceful warrior who rarely shows emotion
– to do so might reveal the pain that the wreckage of his personal life has
caused him.

Abilities: In tank mode, Hardhead has a maximum road speed of 155 mph.
He’s impervious to most armor-piercing artillery and is resistant to most thermal
and electromagnetic beam weapons. His range is 450 miles. He carries a 120mm
laser-guided gun that shoots a variety of incendiary, sonic and explosive shells.
In robot mode, he uses two shatterblasters, guns that shoot diamond-hard crystal
shards that can shred a foot-thick steel wall with one burst. His tank mode
exhaust gases can melt the finish of any vehicle or robot following too closely
behind him.

Weaknesses: Although resistant to most exterior fire, Hardhead often
suffers internal injuries from the recoil of his own weapons.