ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT
FUNCTION: SCOUT
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 1

“Observe everything, remember even more.”

Profile: Hound would just as soon be sniffing around the Grand Canyon
or Big Sur as he would a secret Decepticon base. Perhaps more than any other
Autobot, Hound takes pleasure in being on Earth. Unlike his home planet, which
is entirely composed of metal and machinery, he finds the natural wonders of
Earth endlessly fascinating, and uses his topographical skills to store every
sight he sees within his memory circuits. Hound’s bravery, fearlessness, and
loyalty are unwavering, like any good advance scout. But his secret desire is
to be human.

Abilities: While in his jeep mode, Hound uses his turret gun to sweep
over the landscape from horizon to horizon, like a radar scope, and, with the
help of internal 3-dimensional simulation circuitry, stores this information
as a topographical map. Error distortion is no more than one inch per 150 feet
distance from point of data collection. In robot mode, Hound’s turret gun becomes
an infrared radiation collector. It can detect heat differentials as small as
.02 degrees Centigrade, and he uses this ability in tracking machines as well
as humans. Hound’s shoulder-mounted hologram gun can project 3-dimensional grid
laser light images of terrain maps stored in his memory. He sometimes also can
use it to cast simple illusions.

Weaknesses: Hound’s infrared tracking ability can be countered by thermal
interference. High frequency electromagnetic waves can distort or completely
destroy his map-making ability. Sophisticated manipulation of such waves can
even result in the recording of false images within his memory circuits.

ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT

FUNCTION: TRANSPORT & RECONNAISSANCE
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 1

“Earth stinks, but Decepticons stink worse.”

Profile: Gears is the complainer in the group. He absolutely hates the
Earth and everything about it and he is eager to let the others know this. He
is a self-proclaimed misfit, the type who finds fault in everything and everyone,
even himself. That is one of the reasons Optimus Prime finds him useful: Gears
is so sour-tempered that the rest of the Autobots cheer themselves up by trying
to cheer him up. Only Optimus knows that Gears’ complaining is an act. Gears
realizes his function is to force his companions to see what’s good about a
situation, and he performs accordingly.

Abilities: Gears has tremendous strength and endurance. He is often
used to tote heavy loads for long distances. He will even carry several of his
comrades to conserve fuel. He can launch himself to a height of 20 miles and
then float back down to the ground by creating a compressed air cushion under
his feet. This makes him an excellent reconnaissance agent and his ability to
detect infrared wavelengths allows him to work night or day.

Weaknesses: Since Gears has limited maneuverability when launched, he
makes an easy target if spotted. Although his sour personality is mostly an
act, a reminder of his home planet, Cybertron, can often depress him and negatively
affect his performance.

ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT
SUB-GROUP: HEADMASTER
HUMAN COMPONENT: ARCANA

FUNCTION: BIOMECHANICAL ENGINEER
FIRST APPEARANCE: HEADMASTERS # 1 (Brainstorm), HEADMASTERS # 2 (Arcana)

“The strongest tyrant cannot crush freedom of thought.”

Profile: Brainstorm is so full of ideas that often he’s disclosing the
next one before he’s finished explaining the first. His mind seems to work at
a fevered pace. Even when he’s not consciously applying himself to thinking
creatively, a part of his subconscious circuitry proceeds on its own – he often
interrupts conversations, battles, even himself with typically irrelevant, but
brilliant, pronouncements. On Cybertron, he felt unappreciated, since warriors
were valued far more than robot geniuses. He’s found Nebulos to be more fertile
ground in which to plant his ideas. His most significant contribution so far
has been devising a way to install the humanoid Nebulans into headless Autobots
to create the Headmasters.

Arcana’s genius is a bit more mysterious. Trained as a medical doctor, the
Nebulan quickly rose to the top of his field, but he found his job unchallenging,
so he turned his attentions to studying the ancient lore of Nebulos. He became
learned in many sciences that had long been repudiated, which earned him the
disfavor of many of his medical colleagues. Arcana combined some of that ancient
knowledge with his modern medical skills to bio-engineer Nebulans, including
himself, so they could transform and become the heads of the Autobot Headmasters.
Working with Brainstorm, Arcana made Fortress Maximus’s vision of the Headmasters
a reality. He is the oldest Nebulan among the Autobot Headmasters, and the wisest.
He is also the most remote – no one truly can fathom the workings of Arcana’s
mind, not even Brainstorm, who shares it.

Abilities: In jet mode, Brainstorm has two solid-fuel after-burning
turbofan jet engines that propel him to a maximum speed of 5200 mph. He carries
two high-energy photon pulse cannons on either side of his nose module, which
he can also use in robot mode. His range is 8000 miles.

Weaknesses: Brainstorm’s mind sometimes works so fast that he overheats
and shorts out sections of his cerebro-circuitry, which often leaves him disabled.
In jet mode, his engines are also prone to overheating. If driven too hard,
they burst into flame. If Brainstorm is lucky, he can manage to glide back to
the ground without crashing.

ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT
SUB-GROUP: DINOBOT

FUNCTION: DESERT WARRIOR
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 4

“Only in war is there happiness.”

Profile: An Autobot of few words and fewer opinions, Snarl grudgingly
follows the orders of Dinobot leader Grimlock and leaves the thinking to others.
He’s generally unhappy and a loner, and his uncommunicative nature only adds
to his feelings of isolation. Only the thrill of battle can elevate his spirits.
In fact, few of his comrades experience the joyous heights that Snarl attains
while locked in mortal combat. But for him war is an all too brief respite from
the twin devils that haunt his miserable existence: the ungainly dinosaur form
the Ark has bestowed upon him and the knowledge he may never see his beloved
Cybertron again.

Abilities: His unique design makes Snarl particularly useful in sunny,
arid environments. The large golden plates protruding from his spinal assembly
are solar collectors. Although he can operate without sunlight, solar energy
can increase his strength tenfold and his endurance to a virtually limitless
degree. A swipe of his tail can shatter a 20-foot concrete cube. His heavily
armored hide makes him resistant to most missile fire.

Weaknesses: Snarl’s dependency on sunlight makes him extremely vulnerable
to attack at night. Although he can use the same fuel the other Autobots use,
he operates at only a fraction of his strength when he does. He is also very
slow and his uncooperative behavior patterns sometimes hinder his effectiveness
in dangerous situations.

ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON

SUB-GROUP: POWERMASTER
HUMAN COMPONENT: HI-TEST
FUNCTION: AIR DEFENSE
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 42

“Fear is a friend whose presence is felt long after he’s left!”

Profile: Dreadwind is the proverbial “deactivation of the party,”
a mournful presence always first to look on the bleak side of things. Grim and
gloomy, he always acts as if his best friend has become permanently inoperative.
Most other Decepticons avoid him like the plague, knowing that however buoyant
their mood, Dreadwind is sure to bring them to Earth with a bump! As ominous
as a storm cloud and as chilling as a winter breeze, Dreadwind somehow manages
to convey his doom-laden message when he’s in battle, even in jet mode! Foes
have been known to feel despair at Dreadwind’s approach, even at a vast distance.
Dreadwind doesn’t appreciate the advantage this gives him in battle; it just
serves to further depress him. He’s been known to wade through a battlefield,
blasting Autobots and shouting, “Why does no one like me?” But Dreadwind
has been known to come close to reveling (in his own low-key way) in the carnage
he wreaks, knowing that perhaps his only true friend is fear. He sees it in
the visual receptors of enemies and feels slightly better himself. Though the
two profess to hate each other, and certainly detest combining to form Dreadwing,
Dreadwind and Darkwing are the perfect partners in crime, almost trying to outdo
each other in the bleakness stakes. The same cannot be said of Dreadwind’s binary-bonded
human component, Hi-Test. He’s a thrill-seeking, overachieving perfectionist
who can’t understand Dreadwind at all! How can he be so gloomy when there’s
so much wonderful badness in the world? Hi-Test does his best to bully Dreadwind
into enjoying himself, or at the very least concentrating his morose mind on
the job at hand.

Abilities: In jet mode, powered by his high-performance Powermaster
engine, Dreadwind can reach speeds up to Mach 2.6, and is able to climb to sub-orbital
altitudes. When combined with his fellow Powermaster Darkwing, as the vehicle
Dreadwing, they become capable of space flight, reaching light speeds and beyond.
His jet mode is armed with air-to-air missiles, thermal melters, rapid-fire
machine guns and lasers. He’s a flying armory with a vast capacity for devastation.
In robot mode he’s more cumbersome and less effective, presenting an easy target.
But at close quarters, his bulky strength and multi-shot wrist guns give him
an advantage.

Weaknesses: All of Dreadwind’s weaknesses stem from his continual brooding
and permanent depression. He’s so busy feeling sorry for himself, he tends to
forget he’s in the middle of a battle, leaving himself wide open to attack.