ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT
SUB-GROUP: HEADMASTER

HUMAN COMPONENT: SPIKE WITWICKY
FUNCTION: EARTH DEFENSE COMMANDER
FIRST APPEARANCE: HEADMASTERS # 1 (Fortress Maximus), TRANSFORMERS #
38 (Spike Witwicky)

“Prepare for war, but strive for peace.”

Profile: Valiant, courageous, powerful beyond measure, Fortress Maximus
is a warrior without compare, but one whose most fervent wish is never to have
to fight again. All his early life, Fortress Maximus trained as an architect,
becoming the creator of many of Cybertron’s proudest monuments. With his ability
to transform into vast construction bases, many of his creations were crafted
by his own hand. So Fortress Maximus learned to build, not destroy. When war
came, he did not hesitate to turn his gifts to the ways of combat, adapting
one construction base into a repair bay, the other into a battle station. But
as the war spread and he saw his constructions tumble and wall with countless
lives lost in the process, he began to see how pointless and counter-productive
battle was. He began to fight with only one aim in mind – to bring an end to
the senseless conflict. He would fight, but only out of necessity, only to save
other lives. Drawing inspiration from Optimus Prime, Fortress Maximus carried
on his noble work after Optimus disappeared, assuming Prime’s mantle of Autobot
leader. But as the war dragged on, so Fortress Maximus’s ideals dulled, his
purpose lost in one battle after another. Realizing he was losing his very self,
Fortress Maximus and a group of Autobots left Cybertron, bound for the planet
Nebulos, a world where they could live in peace. But the Decepticons followed,
bringing the war with them. To better combat the Decepticons and convince the
Nebulans of their honest intent, Fortress Maximus removed his head, letting
the Nebulan leader Galen replace it. Galen’s body was bio-engineered to combine
with an intermediary form and transform into a facsimile of Fortress Maximus’s
proud visage. Through his mind-link with Galen, Fortress Maximus rediscovered
his purpose. The battle would not be won by turning his back on it. So he returned
to the war, fighting once more, every battle a small step towards his ultimate
goal… the end of all hostilities.

When Galen was killed, the human Spike Witwicky took over as Fortress Maximus’s
binary-bonded partner. Spike, a college student, had no long term plans to continue
in this role, and eventually quit. But as he has continued to find out, the
binary bonding goes deep indeed and his own courage and commitment will be tested
to the full.

Abilities: In both robot and battle station mode, Fortress Maximus is
a walking armory. Retractable pulse cannons (emitting a strong ion beam capable
of disrupting and incapacitating internal circuits), twin automatic machine
gun batteries (wrist mounted in robot mode), twin laser-guided mortars (in lower
legs, robot mode), dual laser blasters (with a heat-seeking target lock system)
and a fusion-powered photon rifle make his firepower second to none. His battle
station is fully equipped with communication, detection and radar equipment,
while his repair bay has extensive re-fit facilities for almost any Transformer
and a wide range of spare parts. From either repair bay or battle station Fortress
Maximus can operate two remote controlled vehicles, Gasket and Grommet, using
them to supply instant battleground first aid/repairs or as offensive/defensive
combat units. When in robot mode, Gasket and Grommet combine to form the radio
controlled warrior/mechanic, Cog. Fortress Maximus’s head transforms into a
robot form called Cerebros, which is controlled entirely by his binary-bonded
partner. Despite his size, Fortress Maximus is both very strong and very fast.
Though seemingly awkward, his bulky configuration moves with well oiled ease.
His greatest asset, though, is his vast intellect and capacity for instant tactical
decisions. To him, crafting an attack is like blueprinting a structure and it’s
almost second nature.

Weaknesses: The many parts of Fortress Maximus, each requiring a portion
of his concentration, sometimes leave the whole vulnerable to attack. When guiding
Gasket and Grommet through a battlefield, he relies almost totally on automated
defense systems to safeguard him from attack. If incapacitated in robot mode,
Fortress Maximus has no choice but to utilize his second robot form, the much
smaller and infinitely more vulnerable Cog. Beyond these slight problems, Fortress
Maximus has no known weaknesses.

ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON
SUB-GROUP: POWERMASTER
HUMAN COMPONENT: THROTTLE

FUNCTION: AERIAL ASSAULT
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 42

“Things are never as bad as they seem – usually they’re worse.”

Profile: If Dreadwind is the ultimate pessimist, Darkwing completes
the equation by being a manic-depressive. He believes that life is one long
ordeal of pain and suffering, and that it’s pointless struggling against it.
However, where his brother-in-arms just sits back and lets this bleak outlook
get him down, Darkwing is no passive bystander. If he’s destined to suffer,
then by Primus he’s going to make others share it… only more so! His avowed
purpose in life is to make the lives of others worse than he believes his to
be! To him, death is getting off lightly. Better to leave a foe still alive,
in terrible pain. He somehow feels better knowing that others are suffering
more than he is. But there is a side to Darkwing that’s every bit as gloomy
as Dreadwind. No matter how well things are going for him, he’s convinced that
it’s not going to last. To Darkwing, the next personal disaster is always just
around the corner. If nothing else, this attitude keeps him alert to impending
attack. He’s partnered to Throttle, a (self-admittedly) low-life thief. He revels
in his chosen profession and loves mixing with society’s dregs. Throttle sees
this as simple honesty and appreciates that in others. If he doesn’t like you,
he’ll tell you in no uncertain terms. With Throttle, what you see is what you
get. In a way, that’s why he gets on okay with Darkwing (though Darkwing might
have something to say about that), because at least Darkwing doesn’t pretend
to be anything he’s not. So he’s a pessimist – so what?

Abilities: Darkwing’s jet mode abilities mirror Dreadwind’s almost exactly.
Darkwing combines with Dreadwind to form the vehicle Dreadwing, so they are
not so much two jets as two halves of the same jet. Fast and deadly, Darkwing
is similarly laden with weaponry, the most deadly of which are his two laser-guided
electro-kinetic blasters, which turn an enemy’s power against its owner. The
more powerful the foe, the more Darkwing can hurt him. Unlike Dreadwind, he
is mobile and lethal in robot mode, specializing in hand-to-hand combat.

Weaknesses: If he weren’t teamed with such a reckless hothead, Darkwing
could probably claim to have no weaknesses. As it is, Throttle is so keen to
prove himself that he over-exerts himself in engine mode, desperately trying
to outdo Dreadwind, and overheats. When this happens in the heat of battle,
it can have disastrous consequences, leaving Darkwing high and dry and a sitting
duck. Darkwing hates combining to form Dreadwing, and is often distracted by
continually bickering with Dreadwind.

ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT
SUB-GROUP: TRIGGERBOT

FUNCTION: AIR COMBAT
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 46

“Don’t fire till you see the lights of their eyes.”

Profile: The skies are unsafe for aviation when Dogfight is in the air.
He terrorizes friend and foe alike. Not one to take chances, he buzzes even
non-military commercial aircraft just to make sure that they keep their distance
from him. This wild, wicked sky-flying street fighter likes to go nosecone to
nosecone with his opponents in what he calls “a dance of doom.” He
generally doesn’t begin to fire until he’s close enough to count the rivets
in their fuselage. Sometimes he’ll even partially transform to his robot mode
in mid-air so he can punch it out with an enemy aircraft. It doesn’t take much
to get his fuel flowing – he’ll fly into action against a flock of pigeons if
they accidentally interfere with his radar. Optimus Prime has tried to calm
Dogfight down by instructing him in mechano-meditation, a discipline that teaches
the art of mastering one’s behavior by learning how to recognize and modify
the electrical pulses within one’s emotional cortex module. So far, the results
have been negligible. Dogfight’s aggressive outbursts are deep-rooted. They
stem from a moment of indecision in his youth. He was on air guard duty for
his village on Cybertron. While on a maintenance break on the ground, he saw
a squadron of jets approach in the distance just as an air tanker carrying vital
fuel relief was arriving. Before he could decide whether the squadron was friend
or foe, it destroyed the tanker. All the while, Dogfight remained on the ground.
Without the fuel many of his neighbors had to shut down for a long time, and
some have yet to fully recover. Because he hesitated to take action, Dogfight
blamed himself for this tragedy. Ever since, he’s never hesitated. And he’s
never met a Decepticon that he didn’t want to destroy immediately.

Abilities: Dogfight’s swept-back wing design allows him superior maneuverability
in jet mode. A state-of-the-art navigational system gives him the ability to
constantly adjust his speed, altitude and direction to compensate for the inherent
instability of this wing design. His maximum speed is 1700 miles per hour and
his range is 3000 miles. He is armed with two fusion reaction-powered blowtorch
blasters in both jet and robot modes. In jet mode the blasters are mounted under
his tail section and pointing behind him to surprise any enemy aircraft that
try to sneak up on him. He commonly leaves a twin trail of flame from the blasters
as he streaks through the air. His wingtips are serrated and can cut through
all but the toughest steel alloys. One of his favorite tactics is to fly close
enough to his opponents so that he can use his wingtips to slice off their wings.

Weaknesses: Dogfight is vulnerable to mid-air stalls during some of
his more dramatic flying maneuvers. So far he has been able to pull out of all
of them before actually crashing on the ground, but he’s come close to destroying
himself on several occasions.

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

FUNCTION: ELECTRONIC WARFARE
FIRST APPEARANCE: HEADMASTERS # 1

“War is the playground of the ignorant.”

Profile: Highbrow considers warfare a barbaric solution to problems,
worthy of only the most primitive sentient creatures. He believes civilized
folk should talk about their differences, a talent for which he seemingly has
an endless capacity. Hardhead claims that Highbrow’s voice box burns enough
fuel by itself to power all the Nebulan Autobots for a year. Although that is
doubtful, Highbrow does talk a lot and uses a lot of words that nobody understands.
Even Chromedome often finds himself fruitlessly searching through his extensive
vocabulary. Highbrow considers himself intellectually superior to the Nebulans
and other Autobots. They think he’s a self-righteous snob. Highbrow’s biggest
disappointment in life is that circumstance has forced him to lower himself
to participate in the very activity he most loathes – fighting.

Gort, Highbrow’s Nebulan partner, is quite a contrast. He’s a cheerful young
man with never an unkind word for anyone. Spurred by concern for protecting
his planet, he overcame his working-class origins as a stable boy for an exclusive
Nebulan country club that catered to the aristocracy to join the elite ranks
of the Headmasters. He is much admired by his comrades for his earnestness,
common sense and courage – except for Highbrow, who finds it a humiliating,
humbling experience to be binary-bonded to such a commoner. Young women all
over Nebulos are attracted to the boyishly handsome hero, but Gort remains steadfastly
faithful to his long-time girlfriend, Marita. Gort is the All-American boy of
the Nebulan Autobot Headmasters.

Abilities: In helicopter mode, Highbrow has twin three-bladed rotors
that enable him to lift up to 22,000 pounds of cargo, and, with the help of
two small vectored-thrust turbofan engines, reach a maximum speed of 1200 mph.
More accurately, Highbrow’s designation is a jet helicopter. He’s packed with
equipment designed to detect, monitor and record enemy communications; target-indicating
radar whose signals can be relayed to ground stations; magnetic, infrared and
audio sensors for detecting enemy robots and vehicles; and a variety of anti-detection
systems to protect himself. His range is 800 miles. In robot mode, Highbrow
uses two acid rainmaker rifles, which shoot streams of highly corrosive acid.

Weaknesses: Sometimes the thrust of Highbrow’s jet engines overpower
his rotors, sending him spinning out of control when in helicopter mode. Also,
Highbrow’s deep resentment of being controlled by Gort makes him less than cooperative
at times.

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: MONSTERBOT
FUNCTION: MILITARY STRATEGIST

FIRST APPEARANCE: HEADMASTERS # 1

“If it ain’t fun to do, it ain’t worth doing.”

Profile: Everything’s a joke to Grotusque, and – as he says – why shouldn’t
it be, when the only thing that frightens him is looking at himself in the mirror!
Though he doesn’t doubt Primus saw him as part of some great and noble scheme,
he does wonder what his creator was thinking of when he designed his creature
mode. A bit too much high grade energon the night before, is Grotusque’s opinion!
This goofy, irreverent outlook on life is as appealing as it is annoying to
his fellow Autobots. Sometimes, just sometimes, they wish Grotusque would take
something seriously. Even in pitched battle, in dire, possibly terminal situations,
he’s joking away. But it’s not bluster to hide his fear – Grotusque is not only
a topnotch warrior, his courage is legendary. No, it’s that Grotusque sees life
in general as a joke, and therefore sees no reason to view death any differently.
“Why shouldn’t combat be fun?” he’s been heard to utter. “If
it wasn’t, I’d be loath to do it!” Though he appears on the surface to
be offhand about his duties, Grotusque is a brilliant campaign planner, with
a sharp and analytical mind perfectly suited to the complexities of warfare.

Abilities: Though not immensely strong, and – when in robot mode – fairly
plodding, Grotusque’s razor sharp mind makes him a foe to be reckoned with.
He wields a specially modified vaporator, designed to gassify an opponent’s
fuel, leaving him to grind to a full stop. His creature mode tusks are made
from a hyper-dense alloy that, Autobot scientists believe, is all but indestructible.
In creature mode, Grotusque can fly (using his back wings) at speeds of around
45 mph. But the process is both awkward and fuel consumptive, and he prefers
to use his powerful hind legs to bound along, making leaps of around three miles
at a time.

Weaknesses: Grotusque’s dislike of his creature mode tends to make him
reluctant to use it more often than he has to. As a result, he tends to go into
battle in his more vulnerable robot mode, leaving himself more exposed to possible
injury. Also, Grotusque’s wings are quite fragile and are easily damaged.