ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON
SUB-GROUP: STUNTICON

FUNCTION: WARRIOR
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 22

“The first one to cross the finish line lives!”

Profile: Drag Strip would rather be scrapped than lose. It doesn’t matter
what the competition is he’s involved in – racing, fighting or even just trading
insults – Drag Strip always aims to come out on top. Maybe it’s because he needs
to feel important, maybe he enjoys humiliating others. It makes no difference;
to beat an opponent, he’ll pull the nastiest, most underhanded tricks. And he
relishes his victories – he makes certain everyone within earshot knows about
them. He loves to gloat. His fellow Stunticons feel he’s a selfish, egotistical
boor and would just as soon not have him around. Even Decepticon Leader Megatron
finds him insufferable and would sooner smelt him than talk to him. But he knows
that as rotten as Drag Strip is for the Decepticons to be around, he’s even
worse company for the Autobots. And that, in Megatron’s opinion, is a character
trait to be much admired.

Abilities: In car mode, Drag Strip can reach speeds of 250 mph and comes
equipped with a plasma energy blaster that shoots an explosive ball of energy
a distance of 2000 yards. In robot mode, he uses a gravito-gun that enhances
the gravitational field of a localized area so that anyone walking into the
area would either be crushed by the increased gravity or have his body ripped
apart as the gravity pulls him from different directions. He combines with his
fellow Stunticons to form the giant robot, Menasor.

Weaknesses: In car mode, Drag Strip is prone to overheating, particularly
at high speeds. His cooling system has been known to explode. He also suffers
from the ill will of many of his fellow Decepticons, a definite liability in
battle when he might require their cooperation.

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: STUNTICON
FUNCTION: SCOUT

FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 22

“Keep your optical sensor to yourself.”

Profile: When Breakdown is in his car mode, he thinks everyone else
is staring at him. Not just living creatures such as other Transformers and
humans, but humans’ cars, stoplights… anything mechanical. Heavy traffic can
be a particularly nerve-wrecking experience for him. His circuits sometimes
get so overloaded with worry that he even stalls out. The root of his concerns
is that someone will see him for what he really is – an alien on a strange world.
Despite his earthly disguise, Breakdown is constantly aware that underneath
the hood he is different, and the thought haunts him. He’d be happier if he
were a human – that way he feels he could just anonymously fit in anywhere and
be in a better position to help conquer the Earth!

Abilities: The rumbling vibration produced by Breakdown’s engine while
he’s in car mode can cause mechanical failures in other vehicles. He can travel
at speeds of up to 220 mph. In robot mode, he uses a weapon of a similar nature
– a concussion cannon – to get the same results, except with the cannon he’s
better able to target his prey, and the effects are more devastating. He combines
with his fellow Stunticons to form the giant robot, Menasor.

Weaknesses: Often Breakdown’s extreme self-consciousness negatively
affects his performance, particularly in his role as a scout in which he must
venture into numerous tension-producing situations. He also suffers from his
own mechanical problems – a sometimes leaky fuel pump in both car and robot
modes that can grind him to a halt.

ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON
FUNCTION: DECEPTICON AEROSPACE COMMANDER
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 1

“Conquest is made of the ashes of one’s enemies.”

Profile: Starscream makes no secret of his ambition to overthrow
Megatron as Decepticon Leader. He is ruthless, cold-blooded and cruel. In that
sense the two rivals are very much alike. But he has a vain side that clearly
distinguishes him. He considers himself the most sophisticated and handsome
of the Decepticons. He exudes a high-class, urbane air that provides a certain
irony to his murderous tendencies. He looks down at Megatron for being antiquated
in his military strategy. Starscream believes the Decepticons should rely more
on guile and speed rather than brute, destructive force to defeat the Autobots.
Megatron overlooks the potential threat Starscream represents for one very good
reason: Starscream is very good at his job.

Abilities: Starscream is one of the fastest flyers of the
Decepticons, reaching speeds up to Mach 2.8. He can climb to sub-orbital altitudes
of 52 miles and nose-dive down to near ground level in mere minutes. This makes
him particularly effective in surprise attacks and hit-and-run actions. He can
shoot cluster bombs a distance of 40 miles, each of which can level an area
10,000 feet square. His null-ray rifle can interrupt the flow of electricity
in any circuitry it hits for periods of up to two minutes, effectively preventing
the operation of many machines dependent on those circuits during that period.

Weaknesses: Starscream overrates himself sometimes, and finds
himself in situations that are more than he can handle. His nose-dives often
overload his gyro-circuitry leaving him disoriented briefly. But, overall, he
is a very tough nut to crack.

ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT
FUNCTION: AIR & SEA ASSAULT
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS: GENERATION 2 # 1

“I like the sea far away and my feet on the ground.”

Profile: Broadside is very uncomfortable about transforming to aircraft
carrier or jet mode, and with good reason. Floating on water upsets his gyro-balance
circuitry, making him feel as if he’s functioning at less than peak performance
– the mechanical equivalent of seasickness. And he’s even more distressed while
flying since he has a natural fear of heights. He strongly detests these Earthen
forms and is quite vocal about it. But, despite everything, he manages to overcome
these problems in battle. He is an effective and valiant warrior, and his fellow
Autobots value him for these qualities. They just wish Broadside would do his
job without griping so much about it.

Abilities: In aircraft carrier mode, Broadside expands his form to a
1200-foot length, giving him the capacity of landing jet aircraft and carrying
other Autobots and vehicles. Having little offensive capability of his own in
this mode, Broadside relies on these “passengers” for protection.
His titanium-steel hull and deck protects him from most artillery fire, but
he’s vulnerable to high-energy beam weapons. An internal fusion reactor powers
him in this mode, allowing him a speed of 40 knots and a range of 15,000 miles.
In jet mode, he can reach speeds of 1800 mph and has a range of 2500 miles.
He can project a powerful electric field around his jet form that will jolt
anything within 1.5 miles of him with 80,000 volts. Of course, for this weapon
to be effective, his target has to be electrically grounded somehow. In robot
mode, he carries a high-energy plasma-pulse gun and a vibro-ax that shatters
whatever it cleaves into by emitting powerful high frequency vibrations.

Weaknesses: Aside from the aforementioned seasickness, fear of heights,
and lack of offensive capabilities while in carrier mode, Broadside also suffers
severe corrosion when exposed to salt water for extended periods. His armored
skin flakes and peels if he’s at sea for longer than two days.