ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT

SUB-GROUP: HEADMASTER
HUMAN COMPONENT: LUG
FUNCTION: EMERGENCY RESCUE
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 62

“If at first you don’t succeed, keep trying.”

Profile: Hosehead always has the desire, but often lacks the ability.
Ready, willing and unable could be his motto. Although he has proven himself
to be courageous and skillful in the most desperate of situations, his eagerness
to be helpful at all times, even times when his help isn’t needed, has often
gotten him into trouble. He has rescued people after they already have been
rescued. He once doused a building with flame retardant chemicals after the
fire that had engulfed it had already been extinguished. He is famous for doing
the right thing at the wrong time. Some suspect that this chronic problem is
a result of crossed cerebral circuits. But those who know him best realize that
his bumbling behavior stems from insecurities within him born of his once being
a low-level microchip counter in a transistor factory on Cybertron. He joined
the Autobots because he believed that he could do more with his life. He’s been
trying – many would say over-trying – to prove his value to them ever since.

Hosehead is binary-bonded to Lug, a former all-star athlete on the planet Nebulos.
Lug’s experience of performing under the high pressure spotlight of competition
has proven to be a great benefit to the typically insecure Hosehead. Since Lug
was bio-engineered so that he could transform and assume the role of his Autobot
partner’s head, Hosehead has demonstrated a marked improvement in the manner
that he carries out his emergency rescue function.

Abilities: Hosehead transforms to a hi-tech fire truck. In truck mode
he is equipped with a hydraulic ladder, high pressure water hose, flame retardant
chemical foam, infra-red sensors for finding hidden sources of heat (such as
fires within walls and living beings) and emergency medical and repair equipment.
He has a maximum speed of 240 miles per hour and a range of 600 miles. He is
armed with two short-range laser pistols and an accelerator rifle. The rifle
works by accelerating any target it hits so that the target moves at uncontrollable
speeds, at least until it crashes into something. The rifle has a range of six
miles.

Weaknesses: Given the frequency that he engages in unnecessary tasks,
Hosehead often runs low on fuel.