Roadgrabber

Roadgrabber is a Decepticon from the Generation 1 continuity family.
The cockpit retracts into his groin. Seriously.

If Transformers were humans, Roadgrabber would be that creepy kid who likes pulling the wings off flies. There's nothing he likes better than to open fire on a group of Autobots and watch them die slowly and horribly. Nothing horrifies him more than suffering injury or death himself, though, so he'll do all this from the safety of his Pretender shell. He'll only leave it to watch his victims die up-close—and even then, only when they're in too much agony to fight back.

Fiction

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Transformers Comic-Magazin

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Roadgrabber and Gunrunner encountered each other at a dimensional bridge, and fell through it back in time to the Andromeda Galaxy. Headmaster of the Dimensions

2005 IDW continuity

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Don't come back anytime
I've already had your kind
This is your payback, RoadGrabber!

Roadgrabber and his armored assault chariot served under Turmoil's command for the Decepticons. He was present when their second-in-command, Deadlock, attempted an ill-fated coup. Drift #1

Sometime later, as part of a Decepticon infiltration unit on Nebulos, Roadgrabber witnessed the second coming of Thunderwing. Stormbringer #2 As the rampaging Pretender devastated the planet, Roadgrabber accompanied his teammates in a token gesture to fight the monster. Despite pummeling Thunderwing with their combined firepower, the Decepticons were powerless to stop him. In the course of the battle, Thunderwing hit Roadgrabber with Ruckus's corpse, sending him crashing through a building. Stormbringer #3

Wings Universe

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Roadgrabber was a thug who joined a small band of Decepticon rebels in Quarex during the early years of the war. A master of highway demolition, he employed a transforming exo-vehicle to smash through walls and barricades for his commander, Rage of the Stormtroopers. During a raid on Median, however, he was outmatched by the strategies of Onslaught and the Elite Guard. Tricked into attacking a blatantly weak part of the city's defenses, Roadgrabber tumbled into a pre-planned pit after breaching the outer barrier. He was buried further by Strika after a few well-placed laser blasts. Flames of Yesterday

Dug out of the rubble by Take-Off, Roadgrabber joined Gutcruncher's crew. While looking for a ship so they could go investigate an asteroid, Take-Off took Roadgrabber along as on a previous attempt, Take-Off had blabbed too much. The pair succeeded in hiring the Darklon, but soon after they left Cybertron, the Decepticons tracked Autobot signatures to the hold and discovered they'd fallen into an Elite Guard trap. While running through the corridors of the ship, Roadgrabber managed to enrage Charger to the point where his teammate almost throttled him to death. Roadgrabber and the rest of the gang were promptly stasis cuffed and thrown in the brig while the ship flew to the asteroid.

The Decepticons promptly escaped and got the upper hand, capturing most of the Autobots. They went to investigate the source of the readings they'd obtained, though Roadgrabber was sent back to the ship so that Gutcruncher could take a look for himself. Back on the Darklon, Roadgrabber captured the last of the Autobots, however when the others returned from investigating the crystal monolith, Sprocket overpowered Roadgrabber and the rest of the gang were likewise subdued. The four Decepticons were taken back to Cybertron as Elite Guard prisoners. A Team Effort

2019 IDW continuity

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Roadgrabber was a member of Security Operations on Velocitron, but also an undercover agent of Mayhem. He was on duty for Knock Out's inauguration and helped apprehend Minerva after she was framed for an assassination attempt on the new First Senator. Tread & Circuits Part 4

Commercial appearances

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Just call me Bot Hur.

Gunrunner was on the move inside his Pretender Vehicle, but Roadgrabber was on his tail! Gunrunner popped out of his vehicle, transformed into jet mode, and swooped around for an attack. Roadgrabber ejected himself from his vehicle and manned its chariot form to return fire. Pretender Beasts and Pretender Vehicles commercial

Toys

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The Transformers

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Herbie the Hate Bug
  • Roadgrabber (Pretender Vehicle, 1988)
One of the two Pretender Vehicles released in the fifth year of the original Transformers toyline, Roadgrabber transforms into a Cybertronic jet, using his vehicle shell's cannons as wings. He is designed to fold up and pack into his larger vehicle shell.
The shell's rear wheels are geared to activate the cannons' reciprocating "pom-pom" action when they are plugged into rectangular slots over the rear wheel hubs. The shell can also convert into a shielded "chariot" artillery piece that Roadgrabber can operate standing up, though in this configuration the reciprocating cannons end up in "dead" slots so they don't go rat-a-tat-tat anymore.
In the UK, Roadgrabber was available exclusively through Woolworths. No version of this mold or character was released in Japan.

Notes

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Foreign names

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  • Japanese: Roadgrabber (ロードグラバー Rōdogurabā)
  • French: Adhéro (France), Conductas (Canada)
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