ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON
SUB-GROUP: TRIGGERCON

FUNCTION: AIR DEFENSE
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 48

“Uninvited guests soon become smouldering wrecks.”

Profile: Before the war Windsweeper was head of the Department of Sanitation
on Cybertron. He took an almost perverse pride in keeping the streets and subterranean
circuit-tubes of his home world clean and in proper working order. He would
have violators – “litterbots,” as they were called – thrown into prison
for infractions as minor as dripping oil in public. In defense of his extreme
actions he would say, “A tidy planet is a mighty planet,” to his critics.
“Leaky-engined litterbot-lovers,” he would call them behind their
backs. So it is no surprise to anyone who knows him that today he still practices
what he used to preach, but this time in the service of the Decepticons. In
his air defense role he patrols the skies constantly, shooting down almost anything
he sees: insects, birds, wind-blown leaves, kites, Autobots, even other Decepticons
if they are not quick enough to identify themselves before he fires. He feels
that the sky is his home, and so he has the right to keep it as clean as he
wants… in his case, very clean. Among the Transformers, Windsweeper’s meticulousness
is notorious… as is his maliciousness.

Abilities: In jet mode Windsweeper has the ability to use the high-intensity
heat generators in the edges of his wings to melt and cut through solid steel.
Most often the steel is contained within the fuselages of enemy aircraft. He
has a maximum speed of 2100 miles per hour and a range of 5000 miles. In both
robot and jet modes he is also equipped with long-range infra-red scanners,
sensitive enough to detect a warm lug nut in a junkyard 20 miles away. He is
also armed with two powerful, lock-target, long-range laser cannons.

Weaknesses: Windsweeper’s natural revulsion to dirt, grime, and all
things untidy in general elicits a pronounced unbalanced behavior pattern in
him. He loses his ability for clear, logical thinking, he becomes agitated and
emotional, and on especially disturbing occasions he has been known to literally
blow a fuse. Basically, the best offensive measure to take against Windsweeper
is to throw garbage at him.

ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT
FUNCTION: SURVIVALIST

FIRST APPEARANCE: THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE # 3

“Only the fierce shall live.”

Profile: Wheelie is the “wild boy” of Quintesson – an Autobot-like
youth lost when his ship went down, the only survivor of his party, staying
alive by cunning and stealth and fearlessness. He speaks in odd, rhyming sentences
and despises the Sharkticons and Quintessons, who are his mortal enemies. He
is a staunch friend to the Dinobots, who take to him immediately, and a reliable
ally in difficulties for Hot Rod and Kup when they take on the Sharkticons.

Abilities: He fights only when he’s under attack and has to defend himself.
He uses a three-bladed knife and a sling which hurls fire stones when he must
attack his enemies or defend himself.

ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON
SUB-GROUP: COMBATICON
FUNCTION: INTERROGATION

FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 24

“I’m Vortex, fly me – if you dare!”

Profile: Vortex always gives you a ride to remember – in your nightmares!
He takes an evil, cackling delight in trapping Autobots inside him and taking
them on a spinning, dizzying flight of death-defying aerial stunts. As the Combaticon
interrogator, he finds it an extremely effective – and enjoyable – way of doing
his job. Autobots are easy prey to his techniques: Vortex grabs them off the
ground, lifts them in the air and attempts to coerce them into divulging secrets.
When Vortex is finished with the Autobots, he lets them plummet to the ground.
A free ride from Vortex is definitely not worth the price.

Abilities: In helicopter mode, Vortex can attain a speed of 300 mph.
His range is 1200 miles. He can whirl his rotor blades fast enough to create
wind funnels that spin at speeds of 200-300 mph, powerful enough to lift a locomotive
off its rails. He can suspend himself in the air in almost any position, which
allows him to direct these funnels anywhere he wants. In robot mode, he uses
a semi-automatic glue gun. It shoots capsules of highly adhesive liquid that
will cement anything it hits to anything its target touches. Vortex combines
with his fellow Combaticons to form the giant robot “Bruticus.”

Weaknesses: Although Vortex’s wind funnels can be a devastating weapon,
its use reduces his maneuverability and leaves him vulnerable to attack. It
also subjects his rotor blades to extreme stress and possible metal fatigue
and fracturing.