Birdbrain

Birdbrain is a Decepticon from the Generation 1 continuity family.

You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out...

The special "eagle eyes" in Birdbrain's Pretender shell allow him to target and distinguish his prey in extreme detail from great distances... sometimes. The rest of the time, this talented warrior is led astray by the shell's defective sensor package, causing him to attack the wrong target entirely. He's not dumb or incompetent by any means, but his powerful outer Pretender shell just doesn't work the way it's supposed to, much to his frustration. If it could ever be fixed, he might gain respect from his fellows, instead of their mocking laughter.

He can combine with his fellow Pretender Monsters to form Monstructor.

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel The Transformers comics

I'm surrounded by idiots!

In an alternate future where the Decepticons had conquered much of Earth, Birdbrain and his fellow Pretender Monsters were led by Galvatron to the remains of New York City in an attempt to root out the last remaining vestiges of Autobot and human resistance. All they managed to find, however, was a human-made booby trap which buried Icepick under tons of debris.

Not much later, he and the others rejoined the Decepticons to defend the Decepticon Powerbase against an Autobot attack. Rhythms of Darkness!

Transformers '84

In the early days of the war on Cybertron, Birdbrain was part of Straxus's forces assaulting an Autobot fort in Iacon's Border Regions. When Autobots led by Ultra Magnus arrived to defend the fort, Straxus ordered his troops to seize as many prisoners as they could and retreat. Secrets & Lies #2

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Millions of years ago, Birdbrain was a member of Ratbat's Ultracon faction on Cybertron. He was among those who arrived at Tyger Pax to sign a peace treaty with the various other factions, shortly before the return of Megatron. The Age of Wrath

G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers

Birdbrain was among a group of Decepticons who made a deal with Cobra-La, receiving power-enhancing organic shells in exchange for defending Cobra-La's underground kingdom. They attacked a trio of Autobots aboard the submerged Arc II, Black Horizon, Part 1 of 2 then as Monstructor, defended the kingdom against surface attack by G.I. Joe. They were defeated when Monstructor's head was blown up by the Laser Squad. Black Horizon, Part 2 of 2

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: Spotlight: Optimus Prime

Apathetic aching argonauts

Millions of years ago, Monstructor was the first gestalt, constructed out of a group of six Transformers who would become known as the "Monstructor Six". Created by Jhiaxus under the direction of Nova Prime, they were intended to be the ultimate fusion of mind and body, a vast amount of intellect combined with unparalleled strength. Unfortunately, they were driven into insanity by the merging process (in part because Jhiaxus lobotomized them Before the Dawn) and raged out of control as Monstructor. As they caused devastation over Cybertron, Omega Supreme was forced to bring them down. All Good Things After Nova Prime departed Cybertron aboard the Ark, Omega locked them in a dimensionally-displaced prison to live out the rest of their horrid existence. Eventually, they escaped and tracked down and attacked Omega Supreme, but were defeated by Optimus Prime and split apart into their individual bodies. Despite Omega Supreme's protestations about the dangers of gestalt technology falling into Decepticon hands, Prime had them taken into custody in an attempt to repair their shattered minds. Spotlight: Optimus Prime

Beam us up. Scotty.

Birdbrain and his comrades were incarcerated at the Garrus-9 penitentiary where Jetfire attempted to carry out Optimus Prime's orders despite Fortress Maximus's misgivings about the whole endeavour. Thanks to a tip-off from the double-agent Dealer, Banzai-Tron's Decepticon Secret Service attacked the facility and absconded with the monsters. Spotlight: Arcee

The breakout of the "Monstructor Six" eventually made its way to the Autobot Orbital Command Hub, and from there to Optimus Prime. Although Earth was currently facing the threat of Megatron and Sixshot, Prime decided that they couldn't risk allowing the Decepticons to gain gestalt technology, and ordered Prowl's team to abandon Earth and head to Garrus-9. Devastation

However, the Decepticons were later attacked in turn by the minions of Jhiaxus and Nova Prime (now Nemesis Prime), who took the gestalt Transformers for the purpose of making Monstructor a guardian of a Nega-Core, a device crucial to Nemesis Prime's grand plans. The Autobot Arcee and the Decepticon survivors struck a deal to capture Monstructor. Spotlight: Hardhead They engaged Monstructor on Rotan, but Arcee left mid-battle to confront Jhiaxus. Spotlight: Sideswipe

Falling back into the hands of the Decepticons, Birdbrain and the others came under the command of Bludgeon. While hunting down Hot Rod, they were confronted by Kup's elite Autobot team, and combined into Monstructor to do battle with them. After Monstructor was downed by a precise shot from Perceptor, his components fled the scene with Bludgeon. Lost & Found

Bludgeon later patched up the weak spot and went to Arduria after learning of Jhiaxus's capture and used Monstructor to distract the Autobots while Bludgeon freed Jhiaxus. The plan worked, and they retreated in their separate components and continued Jhiaxus's mission of finding all of the Regenesis Ores. Syndromica (1) On Gorlam Prime, Birdbrain and his comrades fought Orion Pax's allies again to seize possession of Ore-2, the death ore. Homecoming They eventually brought all their accumulated ore supplies back to Cybertron, in order to help Shockwave complete his ultimate machine. The Dead Are Not Enough Although they formed Monstructor and fought Devastator to a standstill while Shockwave put his plan into motion, the gestalt was ultimately smashed to bits by the Lost Light. ...And the Damage Done

The team apparently managed to escape in the chaos, as months later Starscream noted that the Monstructor Six were still at large. The World of Tomorrow

Years later, the Monstructor Six resurfaced as Bludgeon's minions once more, joining their master during Unicron's attack on Cybertron. Though they were able to combine and overpower Victorion during the battle in Cybertron's upper atmosphere, Our Finest when the battle moved to Earth, Monstructor was tag-teamed and destroyed by Victorion and Superion, killing Birdbrain and the other members of the team. Ceremony

Ask Vector Prime

Birdbrain was presumably present as part of Monstructor when the combiner became one of Bio Ranger Iga's Thirteen Great Demon Generals. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/27

Precursor World

Birdbrain was among Purple Wicked Convoy's collection of monsters. When Megatron Omega and the Blue Order's Straxus twins came to the Purple Planet in an attempt to take the power of the Purple Matrix, the monsters attacked them before their master decided to ally with the three instead. God Neptune comic 1

Toys

The Transformers

Adorable death-beaked lion thingy.

• Birdbrain (Pretender Monster, 1989)

• Team ID number: PM6
• Accessories: laser rifle, shell, shell backplate, Monstructor waist
• Known designers: Kōjin Ōno (TakaraTomy), Masakatsu Saito (concept artist, robot), Keita Amemiya (concept artist, monster shell), Richard Marcej (packaging)

Released in the sixth year of the original Hasbro The Transformers toyline in the US (fifth in Europe), Pretender Monster Birdbrain is a Micromaster-sized robot that transforms into a beaked quadrupedal monster-thing. He can also form the mid-torso of the team's combined mode Monstructor.

He comes with a rubbery Pretender shell of a vulture-like bird-monster. The shell's solid-plastic back panel can also hold his pistol and the included Monstructor waist assembly, which sorta makes it look like a rocket pack. Thematic! This shell, like all the Pretender Monster shells, has a nasty tendency to "sweat" an oily residue over time, plus it is possible for them to develop spotty miscoloration. While some water and a little bit of hand-soap should take care of the slime, there's not much to be done about the spots should they appear.

The inner robot mold and combiner kibble were also used to make Rairyu.

• More information on Birdbrain at TFU.info

Age of the Primes

The thigh guy who can fly.

• Decepticon Monstructor (2026)

• TakaraTomy ID number: AOTP-EX
• Accessories: Left & right missile pods

Released to accompany the Age of the Primes toyline, Generations Selects "Monster Birdbrain" is a redeco and significant retooling of Legacy: Evolution Core Class Sludge with Legacy: United Rairyu's accessories, sporting a new head, chest, and alt mode head with vaguely organic features and tiny winglets inspired by his old Pretender shell. Birdbrain is the most faithful recreation of his original toy out of the six Pretender Monsters, and one of the more convincing alt modes since his transformation is mostly identical. He inherits the missile pods included with Rairyu, which form Monstructor's feet plates.

Sold within the "Decepticon Monstructor" gift set, Birdbrain forms the super robot's lower torso and thighs.

Notes

• Birdbrain's package art depicts him with Slog's Dual Rifle, while Slog's art depicts him with Birdbrain's Laser Rifle.

Foreign names

• French: Linotte (Canada, "Linnet")
• Hungarian: Madáragyú ("Birdbrained")
• Italian: Avvoltoio ("Vulture")