Brakedown (Cybertron)

The name or term "Brakedown/Breakdown" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Breakdown (disambiguation).

Brakedown is an Velocitronian Autobot from the Cybertron portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

He has a 10+ in "Old".

Brakedown might be the oldest living inhabitant of Velocitron the Speed Planet. The retired racer sometimes acts like a doddering old fool... okay, he acts like that a lot... which has led a great many to believe he's just a stupid old mech whose transmission has fallen out far too often.

But there's a ton of knowledge inside his head, hard-learned from years and years and years of racing and winning against the best. He's old because he's hard. His manner is pretty easygoing and peaceful, and he'll often say seemingly innocuous things without thinking that hit others close to home, making them re-examine themselves and their actions. This happens often enough to give the impression that the "forgetful old coot" appearance is all an act, especially since he tends to follow such statements with the self-deprecating "but I'm just an old man, don't mind me." And he's more than willing to put the pedal to the metal and race when needed.

Currently, he's accompanied by the young Clocker, who has big dreams of being a champion racer himself. How Brakedown got talked into this arrangement is anyone's guess.

Fiction

Cybertron cartoon

Voice actor: Michael Dobson (English), Kenichi Mochizuki (Japanese), Arto Nieminen (Finnish), Marco Kröger (German), Guy de La Berg (Swedish), Luis Vicente Ivars (Castilian Spanish), Rolman Bastidas (Latin-American Spanish), Guillaume Orsat (French), Tomasz Marzecki (Polish), Beomki Hong (Korean)

Duck could see he was getting too close to the buffers. "Look out!", Duck shouted. But it was too late.

Brakedown was one of the oldest living Transformers on Velocitron, the Speed Planet. Because of this, Megatron sent his local hooligans, Ransack and Crumplezone, to work him over in case he knew anything about the Cyber Planet Key. The two punks confronted Brakedown and his apprentice, Clocker, out in the desert. As they were preparing to rough him up, however, the planet-hopping Autobot Hot Shot intervened on their behalf, driving off the thugs. Space After hearing of the Autobots' mission to find the Cyber Planet Key, Brakedown insisted that Clocker accompany Hot Shot and Red Alert on their search. Rush

Once Hot Shot deduced that the trophy for the Planet Cup race was in fact the Cyber Planet Key, Brakedown and Clocker did everything they could to help Hot Shot prep himself for winning that race. They removed his self-analysis modules in order to lighten his overall weight. Speed Later, however, Brakedown and Clocker decided they had made Hot Shot too light as he literally started to fly around the turns. Time

Hot Shot continued pushing himself too hard, in both training and upgrades, so that he was seriously burnt out by the time Optimus Prime and the other Autobots arrived on Velocitron. Brakedown allowed them to rest and recuperate at his place while Optimus read Hot Shot the riot act for getting involved with the locals. As Hot Shot began wallowing in self-pity, Landmine tore him down a little more with some harsh words. Red Alert couldn't believe what he was hearing, but Brakedown explained that Landmine did right; Hot Shot's ego normally wouldn't have let him give up, and Landmine's criticism gave him just the shot he needed to come back from the brink. Brakedown and Clocker agreed to help the Autobots run defense for Hot Shot while he raced for the Planet Cup. Hero Brakedown and the others tried to keep Ransack and Crumplezone from causing too much chaos while Hot Shot concentrated on beating Override and Dirt Boss. Race

Note this is Dirt Boss, not Buzzsaw.

The racing continued with a more unusual obstacle route and cityscape for the course. The first obstacle reduced the track to a single, narrow lane through a series of curves. Brakedown flew his old man flag proudly on those curves, taking up the road and blocking Crumplezone from passing him. The veteran racer held strong throughout the race and finished within the top six competitors. Detour As the next leg of the tournament began, Brakedown lined up with Hot Shot and the other Speed Planet racers. Savage The next race was through the Diablo Desert, making heat the most important obstacle to overcome. Well, that and the giant sand vortexes of doom. During the race, Hot Shot got himself trapped in one of the quicksand-like pits, and Brakedown came along to rescue him. Brakedown couldn't extend far enough to get Hot Shot from the mouth of the pit, and so he removed the belt from his coolant system to increase his reach. Hot Shot was pulled to safety, but as they continued through the course, the searing heat inevitably caused Brakedown to falter now that his coolant system was down. Hot Shot almost dropped out of the race because he refused to finish without Brakedown, but the old racer reminded him of how important this race, this mission was to the entire universe. Sending Hot Shot on his way, Brakedown waited in the desert for the rescue teams to pull him out. (Yes, yes, Brakedown had a breakdown. You're so funny for pointing that out...) Sand Brakedown continued to work with Hot Shot's pit crew for the rest of the tournament, ultimately ending with Hot Shot's victory and the Autobots successfully collecting the Cyber Planet Key. Champion

Though Override actively joined Prime's team in the search for the other Cyber Planet Keys, Brakedown and Clocker remained on Velocitron. After Starscream stole the Omega Lock and inserted the third Cyber Planet Key himself on Earth, it opened a Space Bridge tunnel all the way from Earth to Cybertron and the black hole, manifesting at Speed Planet and Jungle Planet along the way. Brakedown and Clocker were seen warily observing the black hole as it materialized in the skies over Velocitron. Revelation

At Override's request, Brakedown and Clocker were able to locate the legendary starship Ogygia, which first brought the Transformers to Velocitron millennia ago. The Autobots were then able to use the starship to travel to Gigantion after Starscream in the Atlantis. Warp The two were later seen regarding the black hole with Dirt Boss, as Primus continued his efforts to hold back the expansion. City

As Galvatron claimed the power of the united Omega Lock, and the threat of the giant black hole reached its apex, Brakedown and Clocker joined Override and the entire population of Velocitron as Autobot warriors standing at Optimus Prime's side against the forces of evil. Homecoming In the battle that followed, Galvatron super-charged the few Decepticons who remained loyal to him. Brakedown and the other Velocitron warriors were forced to compete against a giant-sized Crumplezone. Despite the Decepticon's newfound power, though, Brakedown and the other smaller Transformers maintained the speed and maneuverability that defined their planet, and beat Crumplezone back and forth around the track. End

Following the destruction of the black hole, Brakedown and the other Velocitronians helped maintain the planetary thrusters which brought the Jungle Planet back into its proper orbit. Unfinished Another race was held on Velocitron to choose the planet's new champion, and Hot Shot won once again. Brakedown decided to join the new Space Bridge initiative Optimus Prime had conceived, and crewed aboard the Ogygia with Override and Quickmix. Beginning

Cyber Key Code content

Brakedown has been training Velocitronian racers for close to a million years. He even trained Override and made sure she became the leader of Velocitron. Brakedown Cyber Key Code content In his younger days, Brakedown also used to repair the massive road repair automatons that forever roamed the many highways of Velocitron. It takes a keen mind, nimble fingers and super-charged engines to be able to keep up to speed with the repair-bots to work on them mid-stride, something which this old-timer has accomplished over the last million years.

Following his upgrade by Coby, Brakedown decided to take up his old mechanic job. Breakdown GTS Cyber Key Code content

Cybertron toy bios

With the help of Coby and the application of some Earth technology, Brakedown was upgraded into a form in which he felt one thousand years younger and track-ready once again! Brakedown GTS toy bio

Toys

Cybertron

Always wins the race to be first in line at the earlybird buffet. (Hasbro version shown)

• Brakedown (Scout Class, 2005)

• Takara name: Autolander
• Takara ID number: GC-13
• Takara release date: February 10, 2005
• Accessories: Engine-saber, Velocitron Cyber Key
• Cyber Key Code: s5f3
• Known designers: Eric Siebenaler (Hasbro), Takio Ejima (TakaraTomy)

Part of the Speed Planet theme, Cybertron Brakedown transforms into a Velocitronian dragster. His front engine block, which becomes his robot mode weapon, contains a Cyber Key-activated flip-out blade, though activating this while the block is in its vehicle mode placement is pretty much out of the question thanks to the positioning of the key jack.

He was first released in the third wave of Takara's Galaxy Force product as "Autolander". This version of the toy features metallic brown paint detailing (that doesn't show up terribly well against his dark brown plastic), and his rear wheel hub-paint is only on the central shaft and spokes. He also lacks an Autobot symbol, as he's technically not an Autobot.

The Hasbro version, later released in the third wave of Cybertron Scout Class toys, has metallic copper paint detailing (that stands out a lot better against the brown plastic), though the paint stripes on the top of his chest do not extend down to his pectorals like on the Takara version. On the other hand, his rear-wheel paint includes the ring on the outside of the spokes, plus he has a small Autobot symbol on his chest. On top of that, his Cyber Key has a Cyber Key Code stamped on its back.

This mold also served as the model for the vehicular body of Beast Wars: Uprising Labrat.

• More information on Brakedown at TFU.info

• Optimus Prime (Leader class "Bonus Bundle", 2006)

• Accessories: Engine-saber, Velocitron Cyber Key
• Cyber Key Code: s5f3

Late in the Cybertron line, Walmart got exclusive cases of Leader-class toys with bonus Scout-class toys attached to the tops, sold at the regular Leader-class price. The original Brakedown was one of these freebies, affixed to the original-deco version of Optimus Prime.

He has a coffee coupon!

• Brakedown GTS (Scout Class, 2006)

• Accessories: Engine-saber, Velocitron Cyber Key
• Cyber Key Code: s9k1

Released in the ninth wave of Cybertron Scouts, Brakedown was redecoed into an homage to the first "really old fart" toy-character in Transformers, Generation 1 Kup. Appropriate, as the vehicle mode design was already a partial homage to Kup's appearance in the Dreamwave The War Within comics.

• More information on Brakedown GTS at TFU.info

Universe (2003)

• Brakedown (Scout, 2007)

• Accessories: Engine-saber, Velocitron Cyber Key
• Cyber Key Code: s5f3

Brakedown was one of several Cybertron Scout-class toys re-released on Universe card-backs and sold through discount chains like Kay-Bee Toy Works. This release is identical to the U.S. original.

Universe (2008)

$4? Must be a senior citizen's discount.

• Brakedown (Scout, 2010)

• Series: Cybertron Series
• Accessories: Engine-saber, Velocitron Cyber Key
• Cyber Key Code: s5f3

Brakedown would see a straight re-release again in the 2008 Universe toyline, though oddly enough not until well after the line had vanished from shelves. Brakedown, Brushguard, and Backstop appeared as a special display in late 2010 at Walmart stores, with a price tag of a whopping $4 a pop.

Notes

• A preliminary Japanese name for the character was apparently "Indy", referencing the type of race car. It's possible this was the working name used by Hasbro and Takara during co-development of the toy, before any finer points of characterisation were worked out, as it was very common for working names to be literal descriptions of alt-modes like this.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Autolander (オートランダー Ōtorandā)
• Hungarian: Üzemzavar ("Breakdown")
• Korean: Autolander (오토랜더 Otolaendeo)
• Russian: Nadlom (Надлом)