Barricade (G1)

This article is about the racecar. For the police officer, see Barricade (IDW). For a list of other meanings, see Barricade (disambiguation).

Barricade is a Decepticon Micromaster from the Generation 1 continuity family.

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Barricade (aka Runner) learned how to take care of himself while running with Cybertron's most vicious racing gangs, and he brings that same brutal edge to his position as leader of the Race Track Patrol. His troops know that the slightest mistake will result in a merciless dressing down in front of the others, and they strive to meet his exacting standards. His hard-nosed, abusive leadership style doesn't do much for morale, but he figures it's for their own good.

Fiction

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Toy bios

Barricade was subservient to Motorhead, leader of the Race Track Patrol.

Zone story pages

The Autobot Race Track Patrol defected to the side of the Decepticons, becoming rivals to their former Micromaster comrades. Zone Part 9

Legends comic

In the aftermath of Trypticon's destruction at the hands of Dai Atlas, the Race Track Patrol recovered Full-Tilt's personality component and brought it to the Metrosquad. LG-43 Trypticon Project Chapter

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Runner was created as part of a cross-factional experiment in which new Micromasters were allowed to function as neutrals, and to choose their own affiliations. Runner quickly saw the potential rewards of joining the Decepticons, and earned the new moniker "Barricade" in recognition of his blockade-running tactics. He was "scouted" by Bombshock and other Decepticons, and soon began preaching the Decepticon way to any Micros who would listen. When the Meltdown Riots hit, Barricade convinced a number of Micromasters to join him and officially sign up with the Decepticon cause. Victims of the Revolution

Barricade eventually became leader of his own squad, the Race Track Patrol. After a time, however, he became disillusioned with the Decepticon leadership. The full-sized "guzzlers" hoarded the ever-scarcer energon supplies in the Decepticon camp, despite the significant contribution by Barricade and his men to recover that energon in the first place. Commander Shockwave did nothing but tell them to file a formal complaint, and so Barricade finally quit the Decepticons, taking the Race Track Patrol with him. Destined for Nothing

Out in the Wastelands, Barricade's team ran into their old rivals, the Autobot Hot Rod Patrol. Big Daddy and his crew had come to a similar conclusion about the Autobots, and were looking to strike out on their own. Both groups made their way to Little Iacon to regroup and ponder their futures. The Gray Race When Venom's Insecticons arrived in Little Iacon looking for the Hot Rod Patrol, Barricade broke tradition to side with a faction instead of his fellow Micros, in order to secure safe passage for his team. Back at Decepticon headquarters, Barricade discovered Skystalker (a high-ranking Micro newly returned from space) had secretly overthrown Shockwave and put the Decepticons on the path to total war. Recipe for Hate

Skystalker was preparing a skirmish to wipe out the guzzlers altogether, and he wanted Barricade and the Decepticon Micromasters to stand with him in the new world order that would rise up afterwards. Listening to Skystalker's speeches, however, Barricade came to realize just how much the Decepticons had duped him in the past, using him to recruit the other Micros, but never truly respecting him or his fellow 'bots. Barricade convinced his team to join up with the Autobot Micros who had been taken prisoner in Little Iacon, and they responded to the scene of the guzzlers' battle, bringing an end to the conflict. Victims of the Revolution

2005 IDW continuity

Gorlamite

Barricade was one of the denizens of Gorlam Prime who accosted Hardhead and Nightbeat when they arrived on the planet. Spotlight: Hardhead

Cybertronian

"Me? A bad cop? Poppycock."

The Barricade who appears in Phase 2 of the 2005 IDW continuity is a composite of the Micromaster Barricade and the police car Barricade. For full details of his exploits, see the above-linked article.

Beast Wars: Uprising

Barricade and the rest of the Race Track Patrol were among the Builders guarding Fortress Maximus when the Resistance attacked, and all four were killed in combat with Corahda. Head Games

War for Cybertron Trilogy marketing material

With Cybertron's fate sealed and the Autobots gone, the Decepticons followed them closely through space aboard the Nemesis in pursuit of the AllSpark. Earthrise webpage Stingracer, Runner, and Motorhead were dispatched to follow Fireguard, Roadburner, and Windstorm to Micron, where they would sabotage their mission to collect the powerful yet dangerous plasma energy and seize it for themselves.

The Autobots took advantage of the dense population of Micron to hide out until they were ready to take the plasma energy. As Micron was the most secure planet in the universe, the plasma energy generators were protected enough for both sides to struggle to reach them. The Decepticons made contact with the plasma energy first, only to be effectively disintegrated by the unstable energy for their troubles when the generator overloaded. Encounter 2: Micron Micromasters

Games

Transformers Legends

Barricade was part of a convoy led by Motormaster which attempted to deliver the final component for a super weapon to Decepticon HQ. The Aerialbots successfully intercepted them right as they neared their goal, and the four Decepticons had to destroy the weapon to keep it out of Autobot hands. Eagle Eyes

Toys

The Transformers

Probably owned by a collector named PlayBoy217.

• Race Track Patrol (Micromaster Patrol, 1990)

• Takara name: Race Track Patrol Team
• Takara ID number: D-341

Released in the seventh (and final) year of Hasbro's US Transformers toyline (sixth and not-final year in European markets), Barricade transforms into a blue and magenta Ligier JS31 Formula-1 race car. Barricade is gang-molded with his teammate Roller Force, sharing the same plastic colors.

He was only available in a four-pack with his teammates Ground Hog, Motorhead, and Roller Force.

In Takara's markets, the Team was released as the "Race Track Patrol Team", released in the Zone portion of Takara's Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers toyline. They are physically identical to their Hasbro counterparts. They are one of a whopping two Decepticon regular-retail releases in the entire Zone toyline, the other being Metrotitan. This makes them the only Hasbro Micromaster team to keep their Decepticon faction in Japan.

• More information on Barricade at TFU.info

War for Cybertron: Earthrise

Everybody! Everybody!

• Micron Micromasters (Galactic Odyssey Collection, 2021)

• Known designers: AJ Piejko-Brown (packaging)

Part of the Encounter 2 set of the Earthrise Galactic Odyssey Collection, representing Micron, "Decepticon Runner" is a redeco of fellow Race Track Patrol member Roller Force, transforming from a robot into an off-road buggy with a racing spoiler. He comes with the final Race Track Patrol member, Motorhead, intended to complete the team for hardcore collectors. He can combine with his accomplice to form a wieldable weapon, with Decepticon Runner forming the main gun while Motorhead forms the ammunition storage.

Decepticon Runner is part of a six-pack exclusive to Amazon, bundled with Autobots Fireguard, Roadburner, and Windstorm, and fellow Decepticons Motorhead and Stingracer. Despite being labeled as "Encounter 2" in the Galactic Odyssey Collection, this was the third set to be officially revealed. The reasons for this delay are unknown.

Notes

• The IDW Decepticon version of Barricade uses the design of War for Cybertron Barricade... who, while partially based on the movieverse Decepticon, also draws heavily on the Generation 1 Decepticon Micromaster. Which page the IDW Decepticon belongs on is iffy, but this wiki has decided that the police function wins out for a separate page.
  • The decision is actually handy, what with Barricade being renamed "Runner" for his Earthrise toy being pretty significant. The toy's name change is not a case of trademark loss/protection, as is the usual reason for a name-change. Hasbro very much had "Barricade" thanks to the IDW Decepticon mentioned above, who got two toys not only in Siege, but also in the same Earthrise subline as the Generation 1 character.
  • Ultimately, this shows that Earthrise Runner is probably the first time a character introduced in Generation 1 gets a name change for reasons other than trademark or issues with the name in other markets. In this case, a later character with that name has effectively supplanted them as "the" character associated with the name. Therefore, Hasbro wanted to keep the two characters definitely distinct. Helpfully, this version of Barricade already had a preexisting alternate name originating in the Dreamwave Generation One continuity.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Barricade (バリケード Barikēdo)
• French: Muraille (Canada)
• Italian: Barracuda