Mechanic

The Mechanic is a human from the Marvel portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Stallone's next big role.

Nestor Forbes, known as the Mechanic, is the head of a stolen car ring. Don't call him a "thief". Already having developed a considerable criminal reputation on his own, he becomes even more dangerous when he steals tools from the Autobots. It is debatable how much this additional power helped him deal with a deep-seated phobia of law enforcement officials.

Fiction

Marvel The Transformers comics

Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

Nestor Forbes wasn't just a car thief, but the creator of a small criminal empire, calling himself "the Mechanic". During a transaction at A-1 in which he was ambushed by the police, Forbes accidentally stumbled into the Autobot, Ratchet, while attempting to escape. Ratchet, eager to avoid capture himself, was forced to use a cryogenic sprayer and a laser scalpel as weapons against the pursuing police vehicles right in front of the stunned Forbes. Forbes immediately jumped on the opportunity, and removed Ratchet's tools to use for himself. He then attempted to invade the Ark in search of more alien technology, but was chased away by Prowl, whom Ratchet repaired just enough to seize upon Forbes's phobia of law enforcement. However, Forbes managed to get away with a power booster rod, in addition to the tools he had previously stolen from Ratchet. Funeral for a Friend!

Forbes soon resurfaced as the head of a substantially increased operation. In an attempt to retrieve the Autobots' stolen property, Grimlock ordered Blaster and Goldbug to locate the Mechanic. Meanwhile, the police were also hot on the Mechanic's trail, after he had stolen a communication dish from the Portland international airport, and made short work of security with his stolen weapons. Forbes incorporated the dish into a new hideout, one where he would customize paying customers' cars into war machines. The final component needed for his operation to be fully equipped was a super computer, which he easily acquired during his next heist. As he was making his escape however, he found himself boxed in by an approaching police convoy and the Autobots Blaster and Goldbug. After Forbes proved more than a match for the pair of Autobots and the police put together (but working at cross-purposes), Blaster chose to defy Grimlock's orders regarding the humans and formed an alliance with them. Working together, the Autobots and the police tracked down the Mechanic to his headquarters, where Forbes unleashed all of his customers' modified cars on them. But a wide-blast from Blaster's electro-scrambler left the vehicles in disarray, and the Mechanic's pursuers were able to take down his entire operation. Forbes himself was able to escape again with the power booster rod and Ratchet's medical equipment. Mechanical Difficulties!

Eventually, Forbes left his life of villainy behind and got a job at a KWIK-FIT in Derby. Darn 'n' Blast #308

Animated cartoon

The Wraith kept the Mechanic in check. The AllSpark Almanac

Notes

• The Mechanic's real name is only partly revealed in "Funeral for a Friend!", as the sign on his garage reads "Forbes's Garage". His name was fully shown to be Nestor Forbes in "Mechanical Difficulties!".
• Like Robot-Master/Donny Finkleberg, Bob Budiansky based the Mechanic on a fellow employee, in this case a Marvel editor [1]. However, it is unknown at this time just which editor the Mechanic was based on.

External links

• Transformers #308 Letters Page on Transfans.co.uk