ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON

SUB-GROUP: TRIGGERCON
FUNCTION: DATA COLLECTOR
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 48

“Things are never as good as they seem.”

Profile: Crankcase is a wheezing, whining ingrate who is about as welcome
as a rash of rust-rot, even among his fellow Triggercons. His favorite pastime
is complaining about everything and everyone. Nothing is good enough for him.
He delights in the misfortunes of others. Apparently, their misery makes him
feel superior in some misguided, muddle-headed way. This juvenile “I’m-better-than-you-are”
need in him stems from his youth, before he became a Decepticon. At that time
he was little more than a gangly collection of circuits and servo-motors, performing
a menial janitorial function in the Fuel-Spill Section of the Ministry of Energy
and Nutrition on Cybertron. More robust fellow workers mocked his feeble physique
and bullied him. Feeling alienated from and hatred of established society, Crankcase
eagerly joined the Decepticons when they began their war against the Autobots.
Megatron himself rebuilt Crankcase to give him increased bulk and strength.
Crankcase’s first action in his new body was to attack the Ministry of Energy
and Nutrition. Millions of years later, the fuel spill he caused has yet to
be fully cleaned up.

Abilities: Crankcase has a vast data storage capacity. His memory can
contain 400 trillion trillion bits of information, which are encoded in patterns
of light within microscopic crystal matrices. His titanium-steel alloy armor
is resistant to all explosive shells having yields of ten megatons or less.
Twin infrared probes can penetrate and analyze most unshielded electrical circuitry.
He is armed with two high-impact laser blasters and a distortion modulator that
scrambles internal electrical signals within most targets that it hits. It can
effectively cause temporary paralysis or uncontrollable, spasmodic seizures
within a victim. He transforms into a ground vehicle with the same armor and
sensor properties. In this mode his maximum speed is 90 miles per hour and his
range is 480 miles.

Weaknesses: In vehicle mode, Crankcase is prone to frequent tire blowouts.
On rare occasions, a sharp blow to his head module causes small data dumps in
different areas of his memory – a form of amnesia similar to the type found
in some humans who have undergone similar trauma.

ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON
FUNCTION: RECONNAISSANCE

FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 1

“My bite is worse than my bark.”

Profile: Given his reputation for civility and sophistication, it might
seem surprising at first that Buzzsaw is also one of the cruelest and most destructive
of all Decepticons. But his two sides are not contradictory. He carries out
his lethal tasks with the careful, reasoned approach of a fine artist, with
the cool precision of a neurosurgeon. He views every awful undertaking of his
as the beginning of a new masterpiece. Every opponent he defeats marks a completion.
And, like any true artist, nothing can sway him from his commitment to his deadly
craft. He will only end his career when the Autobots are no more.

Abilities: Using his optical sensors, Buzzsaw can pinpoint and photographically
record a thumbtack at 20 miles, making him invaluable on spy missions. He can
fly virtually soundlessly at speeds up to 250 mph for a distance of 1500 miles.
He’s equipped with twin mortar cannons that can fire five rounds per minute.
His most feared weapon is his beak, which, with its diamond-hard, micro-serrated
edges, he can use to carve up all except the most strong-skinned opponents.
And, like the artist he is, he uses his beak with great finesse.

Weaknesses: Buzzsaw has a tremendous ego. If one of his carefully planned
operations should go astray, ruining what he considers a work of art in progress,
he will often stop and sulk rather than improvise and proceed.

ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON
SUB-GROUP: CONSTRUCTICON
FUNCTION: MINING & SALVAGE

FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 10

“Everything is worth something, even me.”

Profile: Scavenger is driven by a manic urge to find things of value
in a desperate attempt to prove his worth to his comrades, particularly his
fellow Constructicons. And it makes no difference to him whether he has to dig
up a hillside or someone’s backyard – he could care less about personal property
– in order to accomplish his goal. But more often than not, what he brings back
is useless junk, which only reinforces his own image of uselessness to the others.
Decepticon Leader Megatron has gravely noted that, “such behavior would
be charming in a puppyoid, but ill-becomes a Decepticon warrior.” It is
only because Scavenger’s unique abilities sometimes prove to be of vital importance
that Megatron tolerates his continuing existence.

Abilities: In vehicular mode Scavenger’s power shovel is equipped with
a variety of magnetic, ionic, electrical and gas sensors that allow him to detect
the presence of a variety of materials within a 500-yard radius. He can also
emit sonic charges into the ground. By analyzing the echoes that come back to
him and using his other sensors he can determine with 80% accuracy the composition
of the ground underneath him to a depth of 1.2 miles. His power shovel and detection
powers combine to give Scavenger the ability to locate and uncover any number
of materials, from trace metals to fuel sources, that might be useful to the
Decepticon cause. He carries a missile launcher in vehicular mode and a laser
pistol in robot mode. When combined with his fellow Constructicons, he serves
as the right arm module in the giant robot known as Devastator.

Weaknesses: Scavenger’s abilities are diluted by his poor judgment,
which causes him to squander vast amounts of his fuel supply. He is also prone
to overtaxing his power shovel, causing it to break down from metal fatigue.

ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT
SUB-GROUP: CLONE
FUNCTION: SKY FIGHTER
FIRST APPEARANCE: –

“Gravity is the chain that binds us all.”

Profile: Nothing is good enough for Cloudraker. He’s jealous of his
clone brother Fastlane’s popularity with beings of all types. He wishes he could
scoot along on the ground like his brother does in dragster mode so that he
could have more opportunities to interact with others, while at the same time
he is terrified of being grounded. He flies as high as he can to escape this
fear, yet he is eternally frustrated by his inability to reach escape velocity
and achieve orbit. The fact that he is one of the fastest of all the Autobots
does little to console him. Even soaring through the skies is a problem for
him – an imperfection in his navigational systems afflicts him with claustrophobia.
The skies are too small for him! Cloudraker is a mass of crossed circuits. And
he’ll need years of psychological debugging before he ever fully straightens
out.

Abilities: In jet mode, Cloudraker has a maximum speed of Mach 2.8.
His range is 3200 miles. In robot mode he is armed with two gravity-rod rifles.
By altering the strength of the gravitational field around any object their
beams hit, the rifles can cause an object to either crash or float away. The
larger the object, the less effective are the rifles.

Weaknesses: All of Cloudraker’s various abilities are hampered according
to how emotionally distraught he is at any given moment. On the few occasions
when he can put all his problems behind him, he is a very effective warrior.
His major physical problem is a tendency to suffer “mode-lock” – the
inability to transform from one mode to another.

ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON

SUB-GROUP: CONSTRUCTICON
FUNCTION: DEMOLITIONS
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 10

“Hit it till it stands no taller than the dust.”

Profile: A rubble-strewn wasteland is Bonecrusher’s idea of a beautiful
landscape. Rare is the edifice that he feels is better off left standing. For
him, demolition is not merely a job – it is a performance. He loves to show
off for his comrades. And Megatron realizes that the fear and terror sowed by
this Constructicon’s wild ways are bonus by-products that can only help the
Decepticon conquest of Earth’s resources. Bonecrusher’s attitude about the world
around him can best be summed up by his personal credo: “Everything is
dust – or it will be when I get through with it!”

Abilities: In vehicular mode, Bonecrusher can exert a force of 800,000 pounds
per square inch at a speed of 30 mph, enough to knock down all but the most
heavily reinforced structures. His thick titanium-steel hide makes him virtually
invulnerable to anything that might collapse upon him as a result of one of
his charges. He can use a short-range concussion bomb launcher to aid his demolitions.
In robot mode he carries a laser pistol. He serves as the left arm module which,
when combined with his fellow Constructicons, forms the giant robot known as
Devastator.

Weaknesses: Bonecrusher’s eagerness to wreak destruction often results
in the loss of structures that had potential value for the Decepticons. Although
he is rarely harmed by the collapse of a building on him, he is sometimes buried
and finds it difficult to free himself at those times.

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.

ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON
SUB-GROUP: CONSTRUCTICON

FUNCTION: SURGICAL ENGINEER
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 10

“Strive for perfection even if others must suffer.”

Profile: With the care and precision of a fine jeweler, Hook performs
his job with a skill unparallelled among all the Transformers. It doesn’t matter
whether he’s reconnecting a damaged microchip or setting a two ton girder into
place – in each case perfection is his final goal. Perhaps because he is a perfectionist
he has a snobbish, supercilious attitude toward his fellow Constructicons, since
he considers them generally crude and dim-witted. Although Hook may not win
any popularity contests, there’s no denying his superior abilities and the important
role they have in the Decepticons’ evil schemes.

Abilities: In vehicular mode, Hook can use his crane to lift objects
weighing up to 20 tons. In positioning these objects, his error tolerance is
less than .00001%. In robot mode he shows equal precision repairing his comrades
as the Decepticon surgeon. He carries a rocket launcher in vehicular mode and
a laser pistol in robot mode. He serves as the shoulders and head module that,
when combined with his fellow Constructicons, forms the giant robot known as
Devastator.

Weaknesses: The extreme care Hook takes in performing his job often
slows down his work to the point of antagonizing his fellow Decepticons and
endangering whatever operation they are involved in. Overuse of his crane can
result in metal stress fractures.

ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON
SUB-GROUP: INSECTICON
FUNCTION: PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 17

“The mind is my playpen!”

Profile: Whether it refers to a robot’s or a human’s, Bombshell’s credo carries the same awful meaning – once he sinks his stinger into someone’s head, it’s unlikely that that someone will ever think for himself again. His ability to turn foes into helpless accomplices makes this Insecticon one of Decepticon Leader Megatron’s favorites. And Bombshell’s interest in his victim doesn’t end with mere control of his mind: Given his cruel sense or humor, Bombshell finds nothing more entertaining than to have his unwilling followers perform embarrassing and debasing acts, an amusement he eagerly shares with his evil comrades.

Abilities: In his insect form, Bombshell is particularly adept at using his tiny size to infiltrate human populations. He then uses his stinger to inject a tiny “cerebro-shell” into a human’s head. The micro-circuited device travels through the blood until it reaches the brain, whereupon it opens up and releases tens of thousands of connecting wires. The wires coil around nearby neural dendrites until the brain’s conscious functions are effectively rerouted through the cerebro-shell, which puts the mind of the victim under the remote control of Bombshell. He has a flying range of 5.7 miles in this form. In his larger robot form, Bombshell’s stinger is used in much the same way against other robots’ high-function mental circuitry. The major difference is that once the stinger is pressed against the metal casing of a victim’s head, the small laser torches on the side of the stinger rotate rapidly to carve a small hole in the casing, allowing the stinger to inject a cerebro-shell. He also carries a head-mounted mortar that can throw a 50-pound explosive shell 8 miles with very good accuracy.

Weaknesses: Successful removal of one of Bombshell’s cerebro-shells allows its possessor to use it against him by sending false signals back to him. Some tougher metals are impervious to his laser torches. Often, Bombshell will make the mistake of playing with his victim rather than paying more attention to more important matters, such as an Autobot assault.