ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT
FUNCTION: MILITARY STRATEGIST AND ANALYST
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 1

“Logic is the ultimate weapon.”

Profile: He is quiet, competent, and very loyal, but perhaps his most
valuable trait is his almost endless patience. Once Prowl is assigned a task,
he will keep at it until it is accomplished. He works with proven facts, not
imagination or guesses. If he has any doubts, he will radio Optimus Prime, his
commander, before proceeding. He hates doubts in any form, and he strives to
make everything he encounters reasonable and logical. He believes it only when
he can explain it. On a personal level he is friendly, but not too sociable.
He’s a listener, not a talker, unless someone says something unreasonable. Then
he will demand an explanation.

Abilities: Prowl has the most sophisticated logic center of all the
Autobots, giving him the ability to analyze any combat situation almost instantaneously
and then advise on the optimal course of action. For example, Prowl can observe
800 moving objects, compute their probable paths of movement, and determine
the proper countermove in .05 seconds. From his shoulder cannons he can shoot
wire-guided incendiary missiles that reach temperatures of 12,000 degrees Centigrade
upon explosion. He also carries a semi-automatic rifle that shoots pellets filled
with a highly corrosive acid. Its range is 300 yards.

Weaknesses: His dedication to logic and reason makes Prowl particularly
vulnerable to the unexpected. Irrational and inexplicable situations can really
scramble his circuits, sometimes to the point of total shutdown of his mechano-cortex
center, leaving him temporarily dysfunctional.

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: AUTOBOT
FUNCTION: DEMOLITIONS
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 1

“Might over microchips.”

Profile: Brawn looks on Earth as essentially a hostile environment – and he loves it. He is the most macho of the Autobots. He delights in challenges and when he faces one he becomes fully alive. He is strong, rugged and very agile – which is why he is frequently teamed with Bumblebee when the Autobots are in a mountainous environment – but it is his enjoyment of the challenge that makes him valuable to his leader, Optimus Prime. He won’t be discouraged and that helps the morale of the rest. He is hardy and enjoys a good joke, if it is not too subtle. His main fault is that he tends to be contemptuous of those not as tough as he.

Abilities: Brawn is one of the strongest Autobots. He can lift up to 190,000 lbs. and knock down a small building with one punch. His endurance and resistance to artillery fire are among the highest of the Autobots.

Weaknesses: As the Autobot with perhaps the least sophisticated circuitry – most of his components focus on his strength – Brawn is very vulnerable to attack by electromagnetic and other types of waves. His eagerness to show off his strength often results in his using it improperly and without thinking. He’s been known to destroy an entire building before realizing it’s the wrong one.

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: AUTOBOT
SUB-GROUP: TARGETMASTER
HUMAN COMPONENT: PINPOINTER

FUNCTION: WEAPONS SUPERVISOR
FIRST APPEARANCE: HEADMASTERS # 1 (Crosshairs), HEADMASTERS # 4 (Pinpointer)

“Don’t shoot until you see the wires in their eyes.”

Profile: Crosshairs had a long career on Cybertron as the Autobots’
chief armory manager. He procured, maintained and supplied to his brethren the
latest and most lethal weapons. But he grew more and more disgusted with himself
as more and more Decepticons were consigned to the scrapyard, the awful result
of his labors. He reasoned there were better ways to use his time than stockpiling
implements of death. He quit the weapons business and joined the Autobot band
led by Fortress Maximus. When Fortress Maximus renounced war, Crosshairs was
one of the first to agree with him and one of the most vocal of his supporters.
However, events on the planet Nebulos soon forced these Autobots to take up
arms against the Decepticons again, and Crosshairs grudgingly went along. Given
his prior experience, he was appointed weapons supervisor by Fortress Maximus.
He’s meticulous, cautious – some would say overcautious. Although he’s less
than happy with his job, he’s very caring about it, and mindful of his limited
resources. He doesn’t like to waste ammo; he won’t take a shot unless he’s sure
he can’t miss, and encourages others to do the same.

Pinpointer was a biomass recycling engineer on Nebulos. As such, he shares
his binary-bonded partner Crosshairs’ concerns for efficiency and avoiding waste.
He’s very businesslike and can be brief in his words to the point of appearing
rude. But he is very reliable and an ideal Targetmaster.

Abilities: Pinpointer transforms into a dual rocket-propelled grenade
launcher who can lock on a target in less than .0003 seconds, but usually trusts
Crosshairs to tell him when to shoot. He can be fired by hand or mounted on
and operated by Crosshairs in vehicle mode. In vehicle mode Crosshairs has a
maximum speed of 160 mph and a range of 750 miles. He’s built for traversing
very rough terrain and has superior durability.

Weaknesses: In weapons mode, Pinpointer often suffers from nausea and
dizziness as a result of the exhaust fumes he inhales from his own grenade firings.
This can severely reduce his accuracy. Crosshairs sometimes becomes emotionally
overcome by the rampant destruction he witnesses in battle, hampering his combat
effectiveness.

ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON
SUB-GROUP: TERRORCON
FUNCTION: SHOCK TROOPER
FIRST APPEARANCE: HEADMASTERS # 3

“Compassion is the currency of losers.”

Profile: With not a trace of mercy to be found among his microchips, Cutthroat, not surprisingly, enjoys a reputation for mindless savagery and excessive destruction. His antics even shock some of his fellow Decepticons in their extremeness; his preferred fighting style is lashing out with wings, beaks and claws until he’s reduced his adversary to metal ribbons. Though many of his allies privately bemoan the energy wasted in Cutthroat’s lethal zeal, none has had the courage to attempt to talk to him about it. They know that if they antagonize Cutthroat, he might just as soon turn his insatiable lust for destruction on them as on the Autobots.

Abilities: In creature mode, Cutthroat can leap up to four miles and, if he catches the right breeze, has been known to glide for short distances. He can shoot a stream of 800 degrees Fahrenheit flame from his mouth. His beak, wings and claws can slice through all but diamond and a few rare iron alloys. In robot mode, he carries a double-barreled magnetizer, which charges any metal target it hits with powerful, opposite magnetic fields so that the target literally tears itself apart. He combines with his fellow Terrorcons to form the giant robot known as Abominus. He prefers not to do this since he considers Abominus too “tame” for his tastes.

Weaknesses: Cutthroat often recklessly uses his difficult-to-control leaping and gliding abilities, and consequently, often ends up in situations where he does not have the advantage. His excessive use of force often leaves him depleted of energy and vulnerable to attack.

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.