Coby Hansen

Coby is a human from the Cybertron portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

"You spin me right round baby, right round."

Coby Hansen, with his brother Bud, and their friend Lori Jiménez, live in rural Colorado. Although he is only a teenager, he assists the Autobots in the search for the Cyber Planet Keys and the fight to save Cybertron from the devastating Unicron Singularity.

Although Coby has his faults—Lori would be quick to point them out—two of his finest qualities are his concern for his family and friends (especially Bud), and his outstanding mechanical aptitude. Armed with only a few tools and general references, Coby was able to quickly comprehend the alien workings of a Transformer's internal systems, and repair the damaged Landmine, through whom the young mechanic and his friends became acquainted with the Autobots... and, all too soon, with the Decepticons.

Fiction

Cybertron cartoon

Voice actor: Sam Vincent (English), Yukiko Tamaki (Japanese)

We dare you to find a robot this cute.

When he was a small child, Coby and his parents went to an amusement park where he developed an obsession a great love of an ice cream float which he called "Green Gloop". He apparently loved it so much he wanted to buy a gallon of it or better, enough to fill a swimming pool. Collapse

You can just tell they love each other can't you?

Years later, the Hansen family were picnicking in the Rocky Mountains. Coby and his father rode dirt bikes through the forest, which annoyed Coby's friend Lori, whose family had moved to the Hansens' sleepy country town for the peace and quiet, which the Hansens were now disturbing. Before a full-scale argument could break out between Coby and Lori, Bud stepped in, calmed things down, and the three kids went for a walk. Suddenly a strange glow in the sky attracted their attention, and they watched as something came crashing down nearby. That something, as they soon discovered, was Landmine. Coby ran into town to get the proper tools for fixing the Autobot, finding them in Mr. Stanton's garage. When he was caught in the act "borrowing" the tools, Coby quickly made up a story that he was planning on mining for gold in the mountains. Mr. Stanton not only let Coby borrow his toolbox, but also let him take his ATV for the day.

The kids dragged Landmine out of his crater, and Coby put some of his mechanical knowledge to work repairing an injury in the Autobot's arm. As Coby got to work, Lori and Bud polished his armor, and Landmine told them of the events that led to his arrival on Earth. After avoiding a search party of adults (who had mistaken Landmine's footprints for bigfoot's), the group was attacked by Thundercracker. They were saved by the sudden arrival of Optimus Prime, who forced the Decepticon to retreat through a spacebridge. The other Autobots then all gathered at Prime's location, where they reunited with Landmine and introduced themselves to Coby, Bud and Lori. Fallen Inferno

Coby helped select a site for the Autobot base, noting that the thickness of the rocks and the natural metal deposits would help protect the Autobots from detection. During the blasting that preceding construction, Vector Prime discovered that the children were able to hear the Omega Frequency, the trans-sonic signal given off by the Omega Lock that was inaudible to the Autobots, which would make them invaluable in the search. Coby later assisted in getting the equipment set up inside the command center portion, and then helped spray the stealth coating inside the base, shielding it against detection from the Decepticons. Haven

Coby attempted to teach a group of Cybertronian refugees how to obey the local traffic laws, but inadvertently drew attention from a group of onlookers who were impressed with the alternate modes the refugees had chosen. This in turn drew the attention of a police officer; although the officer merely came to notify Coby that the spoilers on the vehicles are not street-legal, Coby panicked and created an even bigger scene.

The incident drew a reprimand from Jetfire, who was upset with Coby, Bud, and Lori for drawing so much attention to the refugees. The trio apologized and asked for a second chance, which they ultimately received. Coby then set about finding less conspicuous alternate modes for the rest of the refugees. Hidden

Coby, Bud, and Lori provided Landmine with emotional support as he recovered from his planetfall-related injuries. But when the Autobots went about scouring the globe to track down information on the Omega Lock, Bud and Lori left with them. This left Coby alone with Landmine, who was grateful for Coby's continuing efforts to maintain and rehabilitate him. With Coby's help, Landmine selected a large payloader vehicle as an alternate mode, after which the two went for a drive. While contemplating the serenity of the landscape, Coby asked Landmine about Cybertron, but Landmine wasn't up to talking about his ravaged home yet.

Landmine and Coby later reinforced the Autobots after they came under attack defending a museum in Mexico, at which point Landmine shielded Coby, Lori, and Bud from a stray shot. After Landmine used his Cyber Key to defeat the Decepticons, he asked Coby if he could fix him again. Coby happily obliged, and the two continued to confide in each other back at Autobot Headquarters. Landmine

When Coby and Lori visited the Autobot base, they found an angry Jetfire trying to figure out where Scattorshot had gone off to. Coby and Lori were themselves concerned, as Bud was supposed to meet them at the base after school. Coby and Lori briefly interrogated the Mini-Cons, but initially got no response.

Their efforts to find Bud were temporarily halted when the Decepticons attacked again, leaving Coby frustrated about having to watch the base as Jetfire's assistance was needed. However, his frustration turned to horror after he learned the truth about where Bud was: Scattorshot had taken his younger brother into orbit. Worse yet, the pair were now in danger, having been stranded in zero-gravity. The situation grew even more dire as Scattorshot and Bud began plummeting down into the atmosphere, forcing Coby and Jolt to themselves rescue the unlucky adventurers. They succeeded in bringing Scattorshot and Bud back to safety thanks to Jolt's limited teleportation capabilities. Space

Later, the children were called to a meeting, where Optimus discussed his next plan: putting an end to the Decepticons' continued attempts at tracking down their base. From the safety of the real base, Coby and the others watched as Thundercracker was lured to a decoy base, which he was allowed to destroy. Rush

Coby had a day out with Bud and Lori at the movies, though the flick wound up rattling his more sensitive disposition. After his friends startled him with a prank on their way out of the theater, they recounted the whole event to the Autobots, who all shared a hardy laugh at Coby's expense. Jolt, thinking the whole experience sounded exciting, asked if he could join the humans to the theater next time they went. They approved, suggesting he pass himself off as a cosplaying fanboy to blend in. Speed

Bored over their lack of recent activity, the kids decided to take the Mini-Cons to their homes for a "play date" of sorts. On their way into town, Coby and Bud narrowly avoided getting arrested for "joyriding" in Six-Speed and Reverb. By having the Mini-Cons use their holographic displays, they fooled the sheriff into believing that the President of the United States and her Vice-President were driving the vehicles. After making good on their escape, Coby and Bud took Jolt and Reverb over to their household, while Lori took Six-Speed to her's. Jolt was intrigued by Coby's family photos, prompting the boy to try and explain best he could the concept of "family" to the alien robot. Then the boys' parents returned home unexpectedly. Scrambling to hide his guests, Coby narrowly managed to keep their existence a secret from his dad. Having averted being found out by adults once again, Jolt and Coby enjoyed a sunset together... until the moment was interrupted by a tremor. After they met back up with Lori and Six-Speed, Jolt contacted Optimus for help, and analyzed the source of the geological disturbance. His scans showed that the nearby Mount McDermott was about to collapse into an underground reservoir, which would flood Rockville to disastrous results. The Autobots were unable to come up with a solution to save the town, but Coby was struck with inspiration. Remembering how he would drink "Green Gloop" through a straw as a child, he suggested the Autobots similarly siphon out the reservoir's contents before the terrain shifted. Using Optimus's firetruck mode as their means to drain the water, the Autobots were able to prevent further harm from coming to Rockville. The kids then returned to their families, with Six-Speed and Reverb chauffeuring the boys back home. Collapse

Vector Prime's next lead on Atlantis pointed him towards a tropical island, and so Bud, Lori, Coby, and the Mini-Cons tagged along for an impromptu mini-vacation. When the search turned up nothing, they moved on to the next location in the Sahara Desert. Displayed in the middle of some ancient ruins was what seemed to finally be the Omega Lock! But Megatron showed up and destroyed the Mini-Cons to get at the relic, forcing Vector Prime to use his temporal powers to undo their deaths. Megatron still got to the Lock, but it was proven to be another fake when a stray shot from Thundercracker blew it to pieces. Time

Feeling he needed to improve his knowledge of machines further to help the Autobots, Coby began spending more time at Mr. Stanton's garage. He wound up missing his older brother's departure from Rockville, instead winding up helping an excavator Autobot who had damaged himself. In thanks, the Autobot civilian suggested he help Optimus's team in their search for the Omega Lock. A network of volunteers was soon formed, and they quickly yielded results: one of them uncovering another iteration of the Atlantis seal in a nearby desert. She was attacked by Thundercracker on her way to the Autobots' base, necessitating Coby to fix her up while the Autobots fought off her aggressor. Though the inscription this civilian Autobot led the team to turned out to be another facsimile, it did provide them with the coordinates of the next Cyber Planet Key: the Jungle Planet. Thundercracker returned while the Autobots tried to send troops through Vector Prime dimension's gate though, and Overhaul was left stranded alone on the alien world. Despite this, more good news came to the team: another iteration of the seal of Atlantis had been discovered deep underwater... Search

Coby rode inside Hot Shot to help him win the Cyber Planet Key on Velocitron, keeping two important wires held together to allow him to keep at maximum speed. He also fixes up the 'bots when they're broken and is generally scolded at and fussed over by Lori for some crazy reason nobody can possibly guess.

Coby and Lori began dating following the Decepticons's defeat, and got married many years later. Beginning

Galaxy Force manga

Coby had read about the Transformers through various tabloids, and vehemently believed in their existence, despite both his younger brother and friend Lori being skeptics on the subject. This topic came up when all three were on a road trip and their car broke down; Lori kicked Coby's car out of frustration, prompting Coby to yell at her for "hurting" his vehicle. Coby's compatriots assured him that Transformers weren't real (and that Coby's car certainly wasn't one) when something came crashing down in the woods nearby... Wouldn't you know it, it was a Transformer! (Landmine, to be precise.) Though Coby was overjoyed that he had been right all along, Bud pointed out that the Autobot's arm was severely injured.

Coby set out to fix Landmine best he could with parts of his car, but he simply didn't have the tools or knowledge necessary to revive the fallen alien. Vector Prime then showed up, and fixed up Landmine instantly with his temporal powers. The children then began enthusiastically questioning the Transformers about who they were. But then Megatron joined the scene with a barrage of missiles. Coby was paralyzed with fear by Megatron's evil presence, and could do nothing but cower silently as the forest burned down around him. Optimus wasn't too far behind either though, and tasked Landmine with safeguarding the children while he dealt with his nemesis. Optimus was nearly defeated by Megatron's energy attacks, but Coby managed to snap out of his paralysis just in time to shout bolstering encouragements towards Optimus. With his resolve renewed, Optimus managed to land a mighty fist on his opponent. Megatron retreated, and Coby, Lori and Bud showered their saviors with thanks. Touchdown! Optimus Prime

Cybertron toy bios

Coby helped upgrade Brakedown into a form allowing him to take to the tracks once more. Brakedown GTS toy bio

Toys

Galaxy Force

• Sonic Convoy (Multi-pack, 2005)

Notes

• According to TV Aichi's Galaxy Force webpage, Coby is 14 years old at the beginning of the series.
• Early designs for Coby featured differently colored hair and clothing. His final model also appeared with a different, earlier color scheme in a Japanese magazine spread.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Coby (コビー Kobī)
• Korean: Coby Hansen (코비한슨 Kobi Hanseun)