Bulkhead (Energon)

This article is about . For other uses of "Bulkhead", see Bulkhead (disambiguation)|The name or term "Bulkhead" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Bulkhead (disambiguation).}}
Bulkhead is an Autobot from the Energon portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Hula warrior.

Bulkhead might seem like a daft old codger at first. And, to be fair, he kind of is. But he's also a seasoned veteran of countless battles, and is still more than capable in his role as an aerial defense soldier; precious few are his equal. His strength and firepower are backed by a long lifetime of hard knocks that have given him incredible skill and knowledge of aerial combat strategy.

Despite his age, he's impulsive and eager to spring into battle, loving a good brawl. This is in stark contrast to his cousin and occasional teammate, Quickstrike, who prefers a much more strategic attack plan to make sure battles are as short as possible.

Bulkhead is armed with a Weapons Drone unit that he can Powerlinx with, when his own built-in firepower just isn't enough.

{{#if:Bulkhead, "Jungle Planet"|
“ I may be old, boys, but I've still got what it takes. Age before beauty, gentlemen! ”
{{#if:Bulkhead, "Jungle Planet"|

—Bulkhead, "Jungle Planet"{{#if:|, {{{3}}}}}

}}

}}

Fiction

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Cartoon continuity

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Energon cartoon

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Voice actor: French Tickner (English), Nobuo Tobita (Japanese){{#if: Stefan Berglund (Swedish), Pauli Virta (Finnish), Luis Vicente Ivars (Castilian Spanish), Armando Volcanes (Latin-American Spanish)|, Stefan Berglund (Swedish), Pauli Virta (Finnish), Luis Vicente Ivars (Castilian Spanish), Armando Volcanes (Latin-American Spanish)}}
Plot points derived exclusively from the Super Link version of the Energon cartoon are in italics.

Bulkhead is old. REALLY old. He was still capable of serving as a commanding officer in the Autobot army, however, and was given the mission to find Optimus Prime and his team on the other side of the rift Unicron created near Cybertron. Bulkhead was given command of two young soldiers, Downshift and Cliffjumper, to help in his search for Prime. They followed the trail from Iron Planet to Jungle Planet just in time to fight the Decepticons. Bulkhead allowed the young bots to do most of the fighting, preferring instead to sit back and cackle like a maniac while watching the enemy. Jungle Planet He really got into the swing of things in the next battle, however, shaking his hip-cannons like there was no tomorrow. Cliffjumper tried to escort his (extremely) senior officer inside to safety, but Bulkhead wouldn't hear of it. When the Decepticons launched an attack on Jungle Planet, Bulkhead unleashed his Powerlinx brute mode to even the odds. Bulkhead

I feel as fit as a 140 year old!

Bulkhead and Jetfire were stationed on Ocean Planet as the Autobots established energon towers on all their new planets. Unfortunately they were ill-prepared for Mirage's underwater sneak attack, and the tower fell. The second tower sent from Cybertron was better defended, and the Autobots were able to bring it online. Bulkhead defended the tower against Shockblast, easily whipping the crazed Decepticon into shape with his rotors. Farewell Inferno On the reconstructed Planet Q, Bulkhead once again demonstrated his superiority to Shockblast, playfully smacking him around throughout the battle. Return! Our Scorponok

When the young bots arranged an Autobot Grand Prix on Circuit Planet, Bulkhead decided to turn the driving lesson into a combat lesson. Recruiting his fellow flier Jetfire, Bulkhead started unleashing his firepower (blanks, of course) on the unsuspecting racers. Crazy ol' coot. Crash Course

Frenzy of light: eject!

When Megatron finally got Unicron up and running, Bulkhead joined the Autobots for an all-out assault on the Planet-Eater. Omega Supreme As the battle continued, Bulkhead and the Autobots fought and failed to prevent Unicron from reclaiming Alpha Q's Energon Orb as his head, and the dark creature was made whole once more. A Heroic Battle Bulkhead, Jetfire, and Wing Saber kept the lesser Decepticons busy outside of Unicron while the other Autobots sought to reach Megatron's throne room and disconnect him from the Planet-Eater while the later was still dormant. Eventually the fighting became too severe, and the Autobots were forced to retreat to a safe distance while Optimus Prime and Omega Supreme prepared to battle Unicron personally. The Power of Unicron Unicron demonstrated his awesome power by consuming Blizzard Planet entirely. The Autobots were forced to struggle against the energy vortex he created, as entire chunks of the planet flew at them through space. Bulkhead and a half-dozen other Autobots were too seriously injured at this point to continue the war. They were placed in stasis chambers aboard the Miranda II in order to repair. Optimus Supreme

After Optimus Prime and Omega Supreme apparently won the war against Unicron, Bulkhead and the other damaged Autobots were taken back to Cybertron to complete their regeneration cycles. Ambition

When the Autobots engaged in a virtual combat game, Bulkhead was left out of the match-ups. Instead, he just made a brief appearance making commentary. Distribution

As Bulkhead, Downshift, and Prowl were recuperating, Cybertron was conquered by Galvatron, who flooded the surface with energon gas that repelled the Autobots back into space. A small team managed to infiltrate the planet through an opening in the gas, after which Ironhide and *snicker* Team Ironhide were dispatched to rescue Bulkhead and the others. Back in fighting form (and giving the nurse-bots a hard time), Bulkhead rejoined the action, striking out against Galvatron and his newest warriors. Decepticon Army As the fighting continued, he shared a foxhole with Prowl and Superion Maximus as they fought to keep the Decepticons occupied long enough for Optimus Prime to retake Cybertron's control center. Ironhide Team Reunited with his old crew, Bulkhead led Downshift and Cliffjumper on a daring charge against the Decepticon position. An enormous blast from the energon gas pipeline launched them all into space. Although damaged, Bulkhead and the others resolutely continued to fight, assaulting the energon towers to prevent Cybertron from destroying the planets it was passing by through space. Formidable

The Autobots had just reclaimed the control center for Cybertron when Galvatron bathed fully in the Super Energon pool, rapidly growing to Unicron size. Bulkhead sent his men out into battle while he remained behind with Dr. Jones to properly retake control of Cybertron's systems. Destructive Power He continued to work with Dr. Jones on Cybertron, monitoring Primus's recovery. Spark When Optimus Prime sent out a call to all the Autobots through their Combination Sparks, however, Bulkhead answered that call and returned to the front lines. His body was converted into pure energy as he became one with his spark, so that it could in turn become one with all the other Combination Sparks, reviving Optimus. Filled with the strength of all his men, Optimus united with Omega Supreme in the ultimate Powerlinx, grappling with Galvatron until the Decepticon leader shrugged off Unicron's influence and plunged into the Sun. Bulkhead and the other Autobots then separated, and were restored to their individual forms. The Sun

Force of Habit

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With the Unicron Singularity forcing the evacuation of Cybertron, Bulkhead and a number of Autobot leaders were summoned to the Iron Hope, where Ultra Magnus dispatched them across the galaxy to locate the lost Autobot colony worlds. Bulkhead was given commend of the Eclipse and sent to the Gamma Kreuger region. Force of Habit

Energon comic

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Bulkhead was a member of the Autobots who got involved in defending the Earth from the Terrorcon invasion. He joined Jetfire in Los Angeles, California, fending off the hordes of Insecticons attacking the city. Multiplicity, Pt. 2 He tore through the Insecticons with guns and rotors alike, but to his concern their best efforts barely thinning out the swarm at all. Multiplicity, Pt. 3 The Autobots held the line until they began running dangerously low on energon, preventing Bulkhead from using his weapons and forcing him to rely on his rotors alone. They were powered back up thanks to Rad White and the E.V.A, but hardly got a chance to get back to fighting before Megatron showed up and made short work of the Insecticons. Multiplicity, Pt. 4

Energon ceased publication before the story could conclude. The following would have taken place in unpublished issues.

Bulkhead was later one of four Autobots who manned Mars Base on Mars. He was forced to defend the base when Alpha Quintesson sent the Four Horsemen to attack it in hopes of forcing the Autobots to lower Earth's planetary defense shield so they could send reinforcements. Armageddon Part 3 Just as planned, the defense shield was lowered and Omega Supreme was sent to Mars to assist. Armageddon Part 4 He succeeded in defeating the Horsemen and saving the Autobots at Mars. Armageddon Part 5

Toy pack-in comics

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Damn, not more talking vehicles!

When Slugslinger and Sharkticon raided an Autobot energon refinery, Bulkhead and friends were waiting for them. Bulkhead sent out his Weapons Drone unit first to greet the invaders, and then he and Tow-Line introduced themselves as well, with laser fire. The coup de grâce came from Omega Supreme, and the Decepticon plot was left a total failure. Energon Volume 3

Precursor World

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A Warrior of the Seven Lights resembling Bulkhead was a member of the Green Order of the Primus Vanguard. He squared up when the dimension hopping pirate Sea Phantom attacked the Green Planet looking to plunder his commander Green Tender Convoy's Creation Matrix. God Neptune comic 1

Toys

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Energon

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Doc Ock called, he wants his harness back. (Hasbro version pictured)
Springer homage? Yes. Triple Changer? No.
(Takara version pictured)
  • Bulkhead (Command Class, 2004)
Energon Command Class (Ultra) Bulkhead transforms into a large Cybertronic assault helicopter somewhat resembling an Apache. He has a double-barreled spring-loaded missile launcher on each stabilizer wing, plus pulling the landing gear/trigger on his tail fin activates a gear that spins his rotor blades. Both gimmicks are available in robot mode, though the rotor mechanism becomes a weapon that can be held by his hands via 5 mm post. The rotors themselves can detach at the base, possibly for safety reasons. His left forearm can fit an energon chip via the spark crystal on its side.
Bulkhead, like Landmine, cannot Powerlinx with other Autobot toys; instead, his size-class' gimmick is to Powerlinx with extra parts to form a "Brute Mode" (or Powerlinx Bulkhead). In this case, Bulkhead comes with—what the instructions refer to as—a "Weapons Drone", that features electronic light-and-sound action. This drone can attach to the underside of Bulkhead's copter mode to form a sort of thruster pack, and in robot mode, it forms a large backpack, with the thrusters unfolding to become large cannon/claw arms. These arms also become legs for the drone's "walker" mode, giving it something to do when not attached to Bulkhead.
Care should be taken with the Weapons Drone, even when it is taken out of sealed packaging. The mushroom pegs that secure the drone's turrets to the main body have been known to shear off in some instances, leaving the turrets themselves attached by the LED wires from within the drone. It is most noticeable if the turret is wobbly; if one attempts to turn the turret, it will take the peg along with it, as this wobble likely means the peg has already partially sheared off. A way that could possibly prevent any breakages is to untighten the two screws on the undersides of the guns themselves immediately before making any movements on the joints, to reduce any unwanted excessive friction, so you don't shear the pegs off. If needed, remove the two screws entirely and dismantle the guns, check everything over, and see if there is any minor sanding needing done to the pegs. The two blue halves of the drone also appear to be glued, so excess glue that may have seeped out onto the pegs, gluing the guns in place may play a big part in this also. That being said, it is also not uncommon to find the drones' LED electronics corroded beyond use due to the included watch batteries leaking battery acid over time.
Takara's Super Link Sprung has a variety of minor plastic-color differences, mainly making him a little more primary-colored and turning his legs a more blueish-gray. This has the effect of making him very dimly look like Springer, whom the Takara release is named after. The electronics were also gutted for this release.
This mold was also used to make Energon Quickstrike.

Notes

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  • According to Aaron Archer, Bulkhead's goggles-and-mustache look was inspired by [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Paul Teutul, Sr.|{{#if:||Paul Teutul, Sr.}}]] from [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}American Chopper|{{#if:||American Chopper}}]].

Foreign names

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  • Japanese: Sprung (スプラング Supurangu)
  • Hungarian: Tűzfal ("Firewall")
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