ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT
FUNCTION: CITY COMMANDER
FIRST APPEARANCE: THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE # 1

“Consistency is victory.”

Profile: Ultra Magnus is all soldier. He is most comfortable
when he is carrying out Optimus Prime’s orders – giving it all of his magnificent
fighting skills, courage and gift for battlefield improvisation. And he is uncomfortable
when the mantle of leadership is placed over his broad shoulders. He sees himself
as a follower, not a commander, and is reluctant to assume authority until it
is clear that he has no choice but to lead. And when he does finally lead, he
is resolute, fair and courageous beyond reproach. He is ever-ready to sacrifice
himself for the good of his companions and mission, and unstinting in his preparedness
so that his “people” will be as protected as possible.

Abilities: Ultra Magnus carries missile launchers capable
of hitting a target 30 miles away.

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: AUTOBOT
SUB-GROUP: HEADMASTER

HUMAN COMPONENT: MUZZLE
FUNCTION: DETECTIVE
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 62

“Truth is revealed in the smallest detail.”

Profile: Nightbeat is a tough, no-nonsense type who is not afraid to
break the rules to get what he wants. And usually what he wants is the solution
to some complicated mystery… and he’ll go anywhere to get it. He feels as
comfortable driving down a dark alley as he does cruising along a six-lane super-highway.
He has an intuition for finding the truth that defies all known theories of
programming. In trying to account for Nightbeat’s remarkable talent, Optimus
Prime suspects that the circuitry in the digital detective’s logic center may
accidentally have been wired in a way contrary to accepted robotic engineering
procedures. But the Autobot Leader is still at a loss to explain why Nightbeat
thinks the way he does. Nightbeat prefers to work alone. Most partners don’t
understand his methods and his reasoning, and often wind up hindering his investigations
more than helping them. But being a good soldier, he doesn’t complain about
his fellow Autobots… instead he tries to compensate for their investigatory
deficiencies by working even harder.

He is binary-bonded to Muzzle, a human who worked as a detective on Nebulos
until he was framed in a scandal that put him out of business. When he found
out that an Autobot with training in detective work was looking for a Nebulan
partner, Muzzle immediately volunteered. He considered this an opportunity to
continue doing what he loved to do the most. After undergoing the bio-engineering
procedure that allows him to convert to an Autobot head module, Muzzle quickly
discovered that he and Nightbeat have one of the smoothest-working binary bonds
among all the Headmasters. Muzzle’s eye for detail makes Nightbeat an even better
detective than he was without him.

Abilities: Nightbeat carries two photon pistols and a high-powered plasma
blaster with infra-red sight. He also has enhanced audio and video sensors that
aid in his investigatory work. From five miles away, he can hear a screw fall
and count the threads on it. In car mode he can travel at speeds of up to 620
miles per hour and has a range of 1500 miles.

Weaknesses: Nightbeat’s overconfidence in his abilities typically persuades
him that he can handle almost any situation by himself. Given his preference
for working alone, he often suffers damage that a more team-oriented Autobot
might avoid.

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
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: 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: AUTOBOT
FUNCTION: MAINTENANCE

FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 14

“You have to be rolling before you can be fighting.”

Profile: Everybody must submit to his maintenance schedule, even Optimus
Prime, and no excuse is ever good enough for Hoist. And he has a good reason
for being so strict: even though his job usually keeps him away from the front
lines, he knows how important it is that all the Autobot warriors are operating
at peak efficiency when they engage in battle. He genuinely enjoys his job,
as indicated by the jovial manner in which he performs it. And he’s good at
his job, too; whether the problem is a full engine overhaul or the smallest
leaky gasket, his comrades are confident that Hoist will find it.

Abilities: As a tow truck, Hoist can haul up to 400,000 pounds. In robot
mode, he is one of the strongest of the Autobots. From his wrist sockets, he
can launch heat-seeking missiles up to 4.5 miles. The full spectrum multi-sensor
module he wears behind his head can determine an object’s composition, density,
tensile strength, energy properties and often even its function with a mere
sweep of its triple beams. The beams have an operating range of 1200 yards,
making Hoist an effective and valued scout at times.

Weaknesses: Hoist’s dedication to his job sometimes blinds him to the
precedence that armed conflict often takes over it. He lacks speed in vehicular
mode, and has a high fuel consumption rate.

LLEGIANCE: UNICRON

SUB-GROUP: QUINTESSON
FUNCTION: ENFORCER
FIRST APPEARANCE: THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE # 2

“Everyone is guilty until proven innocent – and even then he’s guilty!”

Profile: As cruel as a weasel toying with its prey and as persistent
as a bloodhound on the trail of a fugitive, the Quintessons are the merciless
enforcers of Unicron’s will. They hunt down those who try to escape Unicron’s
wrath. Once the victim is captured, he is doomed. Guilty or innocent, the verdict
is always the same – death.

The Quintessons are composed of Guards, Gatekeepers, and one five-headed Judge.
The Quintessons are the cruel masters of the endless legions of Sharkticons
which carry out the Quintessons’ verdict.

Weaknesses: The Quintessons are few in number compared to the Sharkticons,
and deathly afraid of them, for if the Sharkticons should revolt, there is nothing
the Quintessons could do to stop them.