Maccadam

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

Maccadam is a bar owner on Cybertron in nearly every continuity family.

Accorded Neutral Territory.

Maccadam is the manager of Maccadam's Old Oil House. He is largely unseen by the populace of Cybertron, leading to rumors among his more sozzled patrons that he might be one of the thirteen original Transformers. He has strict in-house rules against fighting within its confines.

Fiction

Generation 1 continuity family

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel The Transformers comics

This character appeared exclusively in the UK portion of the Marvel Comics continuity.

Spit and polish, that's the way.

Maccadam was working the night Quickswitch was meant to meet his Decepticon contact to receive information vital to the Autobot resistance. Unfortunately the party was crashed by a pair of Mecannibals (on the trail of Dreadwind and Darkwing) who had eaten Rocky. Quickswitch fought off the Mecannibals, levelling the building in the process. Out to Lunch!

Regeneration One

Following the effects of Scorponok's Gene Key on the populace of Cybertron, Maccadam was sweeping up debris outside his bar. Destiny, Part One

The Ultimate Guide

Maccadam was behind the bar at his joint, cleaning glasses as usual, while Zarak Maximus was working on the door and throwing out an unruly patron.

IDW Generation 1 continuity

"Actually, there is no Tipsy McStagger. He’s just a composite of other successful logos."

A figure that may have been Maccadam appeared on the sign of Maccadam's New Oil House in Iacon. Post Hoc

Aligned novels

Supposedly one of the oldest known Cybertronians, Maccadam was alive during the planet's Golden Age, and had operated his bar for almost that long; for whatever reasons, he chose to keep his identity a secret from the bar's patrons. While it was assumed that he was one of the staff, the mysterious Maccadam was, in fact, the bar's piano player. Early into the Great War, Maccadam did business with Autobots, Decepticons, and neutrals alike, but when Optimus Prime and his Autobots departed Cybertron, Maccadam refused to keep doing open business with the Decepticons and closed his bar, finding work with Ultra Magnus as his new informant. Using his vast social network and steady supply of drinks to coerce information out of his Decepticon informants, Maccadam became one of the Autobots' chief spymasters, helping to undermine Shockwave's rule over Iacon.

Eventually, Magnus and the Wreckers met with Maccadam during their mission to rescue Alpha Trion from Shockwave's custody, explaining the circumstances behind his impromptu career change to Wheeljack over the next hour. Maccadam helped the team lie low in his bar for some time, before eventually learning from his contacts that Shockwave had taken Alpha Trion prisoner so as to harness Vector Sigma, near the core of Cybertron, providing them with a map. Maccadam had been tailed by the Decepticons, however, and moments later his bar was surrounded by Ratbat's security forces — and so Magnus ordered Omega Supreme to cause a distraction by shelling Iacon from afar. While the Wreckers got to safety Maccadam was able to slip away to another one of his hideouts.

Shortly afterwards, a Quintesson invasion force arrived on Cybertron, prompting Maccadam to regroup with the Wreckers and Alpha Trion in his bar. Already aware of the malevolent aliens and their plans for the future of Cybertron, the bartender joined the Wreckers in their mission to destroy the Hall of Records so as to prevent the Sharkticons from seizing the building and harnessing the knowledge within. The group was soon cornered by Tyrannicon, but before the vicious general could foil their plan, he himself was killed by his troops when his Sharkticon soldiers turned on their master as their invasion fell apart. Retribution

Kre-O online manga

First Aid and Hot Spot had a conversation at Maccadam's bar, where he was cleaning a mug. Bad at Fighting? Rescue Team Protectobots, Dispatch!

TransTech

One of the more absurd rumors in Axiom Nexus about Galva Convoy was that he was Maccadam. BotCon 2015 Galva Convoy bio

Ask Vector Prime

On the eve of the Unicron War, Maccadam learned of Sideways and Gong's plan to destabilize reality after the two rubbed shoulders at his bar. Using his powers, the bartender was able to seek out his brother Vector Prime and warn him of the threat that the mischievous duo posed to space and time. Echoes and Fragments

Cyberverse cartoon

Voice actor: Dick Terhune (English), Robert Dubois (French), Sven Brieger (German), Pietro Ubaldi (Italian)

"You know what I blame this on the breakdown of? Society."

The proprietor and namesake of Maccadam's, the jovial Maccadam was a mech shrouded in mystery, being rumoured to be one of the Thirteen Primes and to know everything. Though welcoming to customers from all walks of life, Maccadam enforced a very strict "no fighting" policy.

In the years prior to the Great War, Maccadam became close friends with Bumblebee, welcoming his new friend Windblade and casually identifying her as a cityspeaker. When war broke out, Maccadam retained his neutrality, still welcoming both Autobots and Decepticons in spite of wartime tensions. One day, Bumblebee brought the Decepticon turncoat Deadlock to the bar only for Megatron to follow, threatening to start a firefight by killing the traitor. Before a firefight could break out, Maccadam loudly barged into the main room before assuming his monstrous alternate mode and declaring that there would be no fighting in his bar. Cowed, Megatron retreated with Maccadam telling Deadlock he was welcome to seek refuge in his bar for as long as he needed. When the Ark was due to launch, Bumblebee and Windblade visited Maccadam one last time. Offering the two a drink of energon from his own private supply, Maccadam revealed he would be staying behind on Cybertron while reassuring the two that, despite being apart, their friendship would endure.

When the two Autobots found themselves on Earth, they realized that Maccadam's habit of saying random nonsensicals had in fact been prophecies relating to their current adventure and the barkeep's way of helping them. Maccadam's

Notes

• A macadam is a type of pavement predating modern asphalt, made of crushed stone that's compacted into layers then bound with tar. Maccadam's name might have been derived from this, although it's spelled with an additional "c".
• 2004's Transformers: The Ultimate Guide put forth the idea that Maccadam is one of the Thirteen Original Transformers, and that his bar exists outside of the normal space/time continuum—but also notes that this is probably nothing more than the drunken ramblings of patrons. The idea was, however, legitimized somewhat by the Transformers Legends prose story "Prime Spark", which depicted the bar as a kind of multiversal meeting place, where the sparks of various Optimus Primes met after death.
  • The rumour was seemingly put to bed when Maccadam was not included in Hasbro's Aligned continuity family version of the Thirteen, but in 2015, the online Q&A "Ask Vector Prime" paid homage to the idea by suggesting the possibility he was really Thirteen member Alchemist Prime—a dual reference to Alchemist being the only Prime other than Alpha Trion who is said to have remained on Cybertron for a time in Aligned continuity, and to the fact Alchemist had been depicted as being fond of engex in IDW Publishing's comic books. Still, "Ask Vector Prime" made a point of presenting this as just as much of a rumour as the original statement in the Ultimate Guide; when Maccadam appeared in the 2014 novel Retribution, there was no indication of a shared past or any familiarity between him and Alpha Trion (with Trion having stated earlier in the book that Alchemist left Cybertron ages ago).
  • However, the 2018 Cyberverse episode "Maccadam's" would lean heavily into the Maccadam/Alchemist connection, with Bumblebee repeating the rumor of Maccadam being one of the Thirteen, the bartender's design bearing a strong resemblance to Alchemist, and a specific reference being made to "Lenses," Alchemist's personal artifact of power.
• The Cyberverse episode marked the first clear and explicit appearance of Maccadam in a visual medium. The mustachioed bartender seen at the head of this article and in other images was originally just a generic character who was only retroactively identified as Maccadam by implication, when the 2015 Transformers Collectors' Club magazine story "Out of the One, Many" featured a member of the Thirteen with his design, again nodding toward the idea that Maccadam was part of the group.
• In addition to the continuity families mentioned above, Maccadam's Old Oil House has also been shown to exist within the Unicron Trilogy, the Movie continuity, and the Transformers Animated cartoon. Logically, this means Maccadam exists within all those universes, but he hasn't appeared in any of them in person.
• Like all non-toy Transformers in the Kre-O manga, Maccadam uses actual Kre-O parts, specifically the ever-popular Hound helmet piece. His appearance and coloration, as well as his pose, is based on a piece of artwork from Transformers: The Ultimate Guide. The homage is further compounded by Sixshot, Phoenix, and Lander being in the background.