Hardshell

2012-05-30T07:20:12Z

219.89.255.178: /* Fiction */

{{faction|decepticon}}
{{disambig2|the Prime Insecticon|the Generation 1 Insecticon who is sometimes known as Hardshell|Bombshell (G1)}}
[[Image:HardshellTeaser.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Not fast enough to evade screencaps!]]
:''Hardshell is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[Aligned continuity family]].''
Among the [[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]], '''Hardshell''' is one of the most ferocious. He doesn't need to prove it through words, as his many battle scars, gained while off-lining many a [[Wrecker]], are ample proof.

==Fiction==
===''Prime'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[David Kaye]] (English)}}
Hardshell was among the Insecticons temporarily controlled by [[Airachnid]] who declared their allegience to [[Megatron (Prime)|Megatron]] and joined the crew of the ''[[Trypticon (Prime)|Nemesis]]''. {{storylink|Armada (episode)|Armada}}

Hardshell and his brethren were forced into stasis lock when the Nemesis became sentient and zapped the whole crew complement in stasis. {{storylink|Flying Mind}}

{{spoiler|Toxicity|June 26, 2012}}
When Megatron called for the most ferocious Insecticon, Hardshell put his name forward, and was sent with three other Insecticons to a volcanic region near the equator to search for an [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] relic. He encountered [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] and fought the Wrecker, but came off second best and lost a mandible into the deal. After recovering, he and his Insecticon companions found the relic containing a small amount of [[Tox-En]], an [[energon]] variant. They attempted to track Bulkhead, who had taken most of the Tox-En, and after following a false trail the [[Autobot]] had left, eventually caught up with him in a volcano's crater. Though Bulkhead was weakened by the Tox-En, he managed to expose Hardshell to enough Tox-En to severely weaken him. The Autobot hurled the Tox-En at Hardshell, knocking him into a volcanic vent. While the Tox-En was destroyed, Hardshell survived and blasted Bulkhead in the back as he stepped through the [[GroundBridge]]. {{storylink|Toxicity}}

==Games==
===''Transformers: Fall of Cybertron''===
[[Image:FOC-Hardshell.jpg|left|thumb|250px|I'm gonna drink 'til I reboot!]]
{{comingsoon}}
{{storylink|Transformers: Fall of Cybertron|Fall of Cybertron}}

[[Category:Fiction-only Transformers]]
[[Category:Insecticons]]
[[Category:Prime Decepticons]]
[[Category:War for Cybertron Decepticons]]

William Fowler

2012-05-30T07:17:14Z

219.89.255.178: /* Fiction */

:''William Fowler is a [[human]] from the [[Transformers: Prime (franchise)| Prime]] portion of the [[Aligned continuity family]].''

[[Image:DarknessRising2-Fowler.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Someone buy him a longer tie.]]

Special Agent '''William "Bill" Fowler''' is the type of guy that [[Theodore Galloway]] ''wishes'' he could be. A former US Army Ranger, he's the tough-talking, robot-dissing designated liaison between the [[United States of America|United States government]] and the [[Autobot]]s, who's got the guts to face down [[Starscream (Prime)|the Decepticons]] himself. And he doesn't need any military escort! He can pilot his own damn helicopter! And his own damn jet plane!

Fowler is leery about trusting the Autobots to handle the [[Decepticon]]s by themselves and believes that [[Earth]] can handle its own mess, but for now, while he chews them out and slags them off, he's willing to let them have a chance.

{{bigquote|Pretty big bearings... for a human.|Bulkhead|"[[Darkness Rising, Part 2]]"}}

==Fiction==
===''Prime'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Ernie Hudson]] (English), [[Kenji Nomura]] (Japanese)|[[Jin-uk Hong]] (Korean), [[Dario Oppido]] (Italian), [[Oliver Siebeck]] (German), [[Mario Filio]] (Latin American Spanish), [[Guilherme Lopes]] (Portuguese)}}

{{spoiler|Toxicity|June 26, 2012}}
Fowler was once a member of the Army Rangers. {{storylink|Nemesis Prime (episode)|Nemesis Prime}}. On one mission he was separated from his platoon behind enemy lines, so he resorted to leading the enemy astray to give him the opportunity to escape and regroup. {{storylink|Toxicity}}

Agent Fowler visited [[Autobot Outpost Omega One]] to chew the Autobots off over mass traffic accidents caused by [[Vehicon (Prime)|several]] [[Arcee (Prime)|odd]] [[Bumblebee (Prime)|vehicles]], and then demanded to know if this meant the Decepticons were back. When [[Optimus Prime (Prime)|Optimus Prime]] confirmed this, Fowler stated it was time to "wake up" the [[Pentagon]]; he was notably ''un''impressed by Optimus's claim that only the Autobots could stop the Decepticons, clearly not believing it, but to avoid mass human casualties he agreed to give them a shot at sorting it out.

[[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] angrily told Fowler that the Autobots knew how to use appropriate force, but when the agent was gone he noted with respect that Fowler had ''bearings''. Prime noted that Fowler's attitude was due to being afraid for his planet. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 2}}

[[Image:DarknessRising3-interrogateFowler.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"This is some nice steel. How about telling me who gave them to you?"<br>"Yo mama."]]

Another explosion had Fowler returning to the Autobot base, but he found only Bulkhead there. When [[Miko Nakadai|Miko]]'s guitar gave away the presence of her and her two classmates, he announced he was going to take them into federal custody, but Bulkhead prevented him from phoning his superiors. He stormed out and took off in his helicopter, making a report by radio. Unfortunately, the transmission was intercepted by the Decepticons, who captured him and strung him up by chains. Fowler proved difficult to interrogate, so [[Starscream (Prime)|Starscream]] got out an [[Energon prod]] to soften him up. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 3}}

Fowler was on the verge of breaking and telling Starscream where the Autobot base was, when weapons fire became audible outside the brig. Sensing rescue was near, he became awkward again, provoking Starscream into shocking him into unconsciousness. When he awoke, he was in a dazed, rambling state. The Autobots finally reached his location, only to become locked in a standoff with Starscream, until a random outburst from Fowler caused a distraction, and the Autobots chased Starscream off. Fowler rode back to base in Bulkhead, though his dazed state persisted and he became fixated on pie. Once they reached the base, he was given rudimentary medical attention. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 4}}

When the Autobots discovered that the Decepticons were using a radio telescope array in [[Texas]], Optimus suggested getting Fowler to put the installation on high alert, but Fowler was still too out of it to comply. He had recovered enough to cheer the Autobots on as they destroyed Megatron's [[space bridge]], and later thanked them for saving him from the Decepticons, and for saving the world, before he left the base. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 5}}

[[Image:Masters&Students-FowlerTopGun.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Wronski Feint his ass!]]
Responding to reports of strange transmissions, Fowler warned other pilots away from the area as he sped there in a new top-secret jet. He came upon the scene of a battle between Optimus, Bumblebee and the Decepticon [[Skyquake (Prime)|Skyquake]], the latter of whom seized the opportunity to [[scanning|scan]] Fowler's jet. Fowler retaliated by firing on Skyquake, but the Decepticon launched a number of heat-seeking missiles that Fowler was forced to use evasive maneuvers to avoid. He later came to Bumblebee's aid, picking up the small Autobot who had just disabled Skyquake in mid-air and was plunging toward the ground as a result. {{storylink|Masters & Students}}

[[Image:Convoy-Fowlerimpatient.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Why didn't Optimus just turn it off?]]
While transporting the [[Dynamic Nuclear Generation System]] in his jet, Fowler was shot down by what he assumed was a Decepticon. He angrily contacted the Autobots for help in shifting the D.N.G.S. and it was loaded into Optimus's trailer to get transported across country. When the convoy was attacked, it turned out not to be the Decepticons after all, but a human organization known as [[MECH]]. A MECH goon climbed onto Optimus's back to try and unhitch the trailer, and Fowler climbed out to grab the guy, but was unable to get any answers before the man was knocked out of his hand by a passing tree branch. Fowler was then contacted by the MECH operative [[Silas]] who explained they were taking the D.N.G.S. The Autobots passed the device safely off to a train, but a short time later were confronted by Vehicons. Optimus apologetically informed Fowler they'd have to break cover to fight, before placing Fowler on a rock. After Silas informed Fowler by radio that he'd worked out the D.N.G.S. was on the train, Fowler tried to warn Optimus, who was promptly clocked by a tree trunk. Fowler had to hang out on the rock for the rest of the mission, but was able to observe Optimus saving the train from where he was. {{storylink|Convoy (episode)|Convoy}}

Fowler was away when the Autobots attempted to obtain his help in retrieving an [[Energon Harvester]] from a museum. His answer phone claimed he was an intensive training retreat, though Bulkhead was unconvinced and believed him to be lounging at a poolside cabana. They eventually managed to get through to him, and he helped them slip a replica of the Harvester into the museum to replace the original, and also to retrieve Miko, who'd been detained by the museum's [[museum security guard|security guard]]. {{storylink|Deus ex Machina}}

After the Decepticons broke into the [[Kauai Naval Observatory]] in [[Hawaii]], Fowler contacted the Autobots to ask if they'd encountered any Decepticons wearing hula skirts. He was able to tell them that the lens stolen by the Decepticons had a tracking device on it, leading the Autobots to find it in the [[Arctic]]. {{storylink|Out of His Head}}

Fowler was at the Autobot base when they learned that [[Breakdown (Prime)|Breakdown]] had gone missing in the middle of a fight with Bulkhead. He relayed intel that MECH had been spotted on the [[Kamchatka Peninsula]] where the fight had taken place. Optimus immediate took a team to mount a rescue, leaving Fowler at base with Bulkhead and Miko. Bulkhead suggested they watch a film, which Fowler was heartily in favor of, but he subsequently fell asleep while they were watching ''[[Dinolizard vs. Five-Headed Ape]]''. {{storylink|Operation: Breakdown}}

Jack called in Fowler to fend off Airachnid and MECH, and he easily forced Airachnid into retreat with some troops. However, Airachnid was able to scan Fowler's assault chopper, much to Fowler's annoyance that his vehicle had been used for a Decepticon's alternate mode again. When Airachnid and MECH fled, he wasn't surprised to hear MECH had vanished without a trace, and began briefing June Darby on the situation with the Cybertronians, only for Jack to convince him to drop it for tonight. {{storylink|Crisscross}}

Fowler reported on a number of high-tech component thefts by the Decepticons. When he informed the Autobots that the Decepticons were attacking a military laboratory, Optimus told him to have the base evacuated to avoid any loss of human life. {{storylink|One Shall Fall}}

The first thing he did when a number of earthquakes struck simultaneously around the world was call the Autobots and let them know. By the time he arrived at their base, [[Ratchet (Prime)|Ratchet]] had traced the tremors to the Earth's core, and they quickly realized that [[Unicron]], whom Optimus explained was a dark entity from Cybertron's past, was at the center of the planet. Fowler suggested sticking explosives down the hole Unicron originally crawled into, but Optimus believed Earth had formed around Unicron's slumbering form. Fowler stuck around as the Autobots investigated the tremors. {{Storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 1}}

The humans listened as the Autobots battled giant stone Unicrons, and as Megatron arrived to offer to help the Autobots defeat Unicron. Fowler wondered what would stop Megatron calling in an air strike once he knew where the Autobot base was, but Prime was confident that GroundBridging Megatron in would conceal their position sufficiently. The humans hid when Megatron turned up, but when Raf ran out to confront their foe, Fowler found himself having to drag away Miko after she started yelling at the Decepticon leader. The humans all watched the Autobots and Megatron step through the GroundBridge into Earth's core. {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 2}}

[[Image:OneShallRise3-hug.jpg|right|250px|thumb|"I love this town!"]]
Frustrated at not being able to do anything, Fowler almost left the base to go get assistance from the Pentagon, but was distracted by Ratchet's tale of pre-Earth Optimus. When it turned out that Prime's team were all OK, Fowler was compelled to hug a startled June Darby. He and June were waiting at the GroundBridge with the kids, as the Autobots returned to report that Optimus had developed amnesia. {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 3}}

Fowler wondered if they couldn't just locate Prime the same way the US government located Fowler, via a subcutaneous microchip, but was told Optimus's signal hadn't reappeared. Some time later, when the Decepticons attacked a military base, Fowler alerted the Autobots, but to his frustration they were unable to prevent human injuries or the theft of a power source. Later, it became apparent that in order to bring back Optimus, Jack would have to travel to Cybertron via the Decepticon space bridge. {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 1}}

Fowler hooked Jack up with [[NASA]] to get him a space suit to wear on Cybertron. Not long after Jack and Arcee were sent, [[Breakdown (Prime)|Breakdown]] called Space Bridge Control, demanding a status report. Because [[Bulkhead (Prime)|two]] [[Ratchet (Prime)|of]] the Autobots there had voices that the Decepticon would recognize, and [[Bumblebee (Prime)|the third]] was mute, the task fell to Agent Fowler to imitate the [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]] stationed there and say that everything was okay, which went surprisingly well, even when he accidentally asked Breakdown how he was doing! {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 2}} He and the other humans monitored Jack's progress on Cybertron until the Autobots returned with their restored leader. {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 3}}

[[Image:LooseCannons Wheeljack and Fowler.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Grr.]]
After obtaining the possible coordinates of the MECH base, Fowler attempted to alert Prime, only to find Bumblebee was the only one available to take his call. He later yelled at Ratchet as well. {{Storylink|Operation Bumblebee, Part 2}} Detecting two [[Transformer]]s fighting near [[Omaha]], Fowler alerted Prime to the situation with his usual subtlety. The Autobots helped newcomer [[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] chase off [[Dreadwing (Prime)|Dreadwing]], though Fowler's jet was scanned by the Decepticon in the process. Fowler followed them back to the Autobot base to yell at them some more. {{storylink|Loose Cannons}}

Driving out of a military base, Fowler found himself under attack by what appeared to be Optimus Prime. He was only saved from being killed by the arrival of Bumblebee and Bulkhead, the latter of whom caught his car. Back at the Autobot base, it was quickly established the real Prime wasn't behind the attack, and Fowler fielded calls from the military as the imposter attacked [[Alden Military Base]]. Once they established [[Nemesis Prime (Prime)|Nemesis Prime]] was controlled by MECH, Fowler took part in an assault on the MECH base and kept Silas busy while Optimus finished off their experiment. {{storylink|Nemesis Prime (episode)|Nemesis Prime}} Fowler was called to a debriefing by [[Bryce|General Bryce]] regarding recent Autobot activities. He did his best to explain what was going on, though he eventually had to resort to getting Optimus to speak to the general in person before his superior's worries were allayed. {{storylink|Grill}}

When Optimus decided to take advantage of the ''Nemesis'' crash to attack the ship, Fowler insisted on coming along. Though the attack ended in failure, they discovered that the warship had achieved sentience and was heading for North America. Fowler and the kids GroundBridged aboard to try and download the Iacon database, but when they discovered that the ship was heading for [[New York City]], Fowler tried to access navigation and was knocked out by the defenses. After disabling the ship's intelligence, the kids helped him back through the GroundBridge. {{storylink|Flying Mind}}

{{spoiler|Toxicity|June 26, 2012}}
He was still incoherent as the Autobots started heading out to try to recover four artifacts {{storylink|Tunnel Vision}} but recovered once he had some coffee. He communicated with Bulkhead who had discovered [[Tox-En]] in a volcanic area and had to pep talk the Wrecker who was trying to dispose of the stuff. {{storylink|Toxicity}} During this he had to help Optimus by having a base in [[Antarctica]] evacuated. {{storylink|Triangulation}} Fowler had to get Bulkhead moving again by reminding him of Miko and his past struggles, helping Bulkhead to reach the crater. {{storylink|Toxicity}} He had to put the Autobot on hold again during a fight when he got a call from Miko and covered for the Autobots by deputizing [[Vogel]] over the phone. {{storylink|Tunnel Vision}} He followed Bulkhead through the rest of the Autobot's mission and had Raf open the GroundBridge, only for Bulkhead to come flying through with a smoking hole in his back. {{storylink|Toxicity}}
{{--}}

===Titan Magazines ''Prime'' comics===
[[Image:Titan4.1 Fowler with scientists.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]
After a bunch of alarms went off indicating that a nuclear warhead had just become live, Fowler scrambled with a team of scientists and government agents. They quickly arrived at the Autobot base, where Optimus asked how the missile had come to be left in the base. Fowler admitted it looked like a military failsafe in case the Autobots ever turned on the humans, and Prime firmly asked him to take the bomb with him when he left. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 4.1|The Safe and the Failsafe}}

Fowler was having a bad day—he was suffering from trapped wind, his car was under a snowdrift, his wife received a chicken instead of a turkey from the butcher, and the Decepticons had taken control of a [[Yamal|nuclear ship]] near [[Antarctica]]. Naturally, he took his problems to the Autobots. They could only help with the last one. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 4.3|Ice Breaker}} After the disappearance of [[Air Force One]], Fowler took the recovered black box to the Autobot base and played the ransom message on it to Optimus. To Fowler's relief, Optimus knew exactly where Starscream had taken the [[President of the United States|President]]. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 4.6|All the President's 'Bots!}}
{{--}}

===Commercial appearances===
Fowler had summoned the Autobots for a vague special mission. When Ratchet inquired as to backup for this mission, Fowler announced that [[Batman]] had agreed to join the mission. {{storylink|Commercial/Prime|Mission: Impossibly Awesome Marathon}}

==Notes==
[[Image:Convoy-Fowlerqueasy.jpg|thumb|250px|Half the time he's like this, and the other half he's a true badass.]]
*[[Michael Bell]] auditioning for "General Fowler" and [[Ratchet (Prime)|Ratchet]]<ref>http://voiceactors.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/transformers-gi-joe-hasbro-animated-cartoon/</ref> was the first piece of news the fandom received about ''Prime'', even before the title was revealed. Apparently Fowler transitioned from "General" to "Agent" at some point after that in production.
* Which agency Fowler's a Special Agent ''for'' isn't stated; since he specifically refers to the Pentagon as who he'd talk to and [[Crisscross|later]] calls his work "the agency", he's presumably with the Department of Defense's [[wikipedia:Defense Intelligence Agency|Defense Intelligence Agency]].
* The Autobots refer to him as their liaison with "the outside world", though he appears to just represent the United States.
* Fowler must have one ''awesome'' rank if he can decide on his own whether or not the Pentagon is to go on full alert!
* Agent Fowler spouts his own brand of colorful idioms infused with references to Americana when he is surprised or in a tight spot, including:
**"Well I'll be a bald eagle!" in "[[Masters & Students]]".
**"Sure thing buddy, right after you eat my star-spangled shorts." in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 3]]".
**"What in Uncle Sam's beard?" in "Darkness Rising, Part 3".
**"I don't care if Abraham Lincoln is back!" in "[[Loose Cannons]]".
**"Sweet Lady Liberty!" in "[[Flying Mind]]".
* When asked about Fowler's mouth and eyebrows "not animating right", panelists at [[BotCon 2011]] responded that he's "usually hungover".
* His vehicles have been [[scanning|scanned]] by the Decepticons three times now. He's beginning to get tired of it.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''William Fowler''' (ウィリアム・ファウラー ''Wiriamu Faurā'')

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, William}}
[[Category: Fiction-only characters]]
[[Category: Pilots]]
[[Category: Prime humans]]
[[Category: United States military]]

MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Hardshell

William Fowler