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{{bigquote| | {{bigquote|A battle front is only as good as it's supply line.|Long Haul's motto}} | ||
Revision as of 09:31, 10 August 2009
| The name or term "Long Haul" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Long Haul (disambiguation). |
- Long Haul is a Decepticon Constructicon from the Generation 1 continuity family.
The problem, as Long Haul sees it, is that he gets all the work and very little of the excitement and the glory that goes with being a Decepticon. He knows his job is important; he'd just much rather be on the front lines fighting shoulder to shoulder with fellow warriors than moving supplies and building installations to make sure those warriors continue fighting. Long Haul keeps these secret desires to himself though, as he's smart enough to know Megatron is not likely to be sympathetic and has no patience for grunts who question their orders.
He also serves as Devastator's crotch. Tough break.
| “ | A battle front is only as good as it's supply line. | ” |
—Long Haul's motto | ||
- French-Canadian name: Costo
- Portuguese name (Portugal comic): Doloroso
- Hungarian name: Hosszú Pofa
- Italian name: Macigno
- Portuguese name (Brazil comic): Puxador
Fiction
Cartoon continuity
- Voice actor: Gregg Berger (English), Masashi Ebara (Japanese), Gerd Wiedenhofen (German)
Some time in the past, Long Haul and the other Constructicons were responsible for creating Megatron. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4 Roughly nine million years ago, Long Haul and the Constructicons were friends of Omega Supreme in Crystal City on Cybertron. Their engineering skills were permanently turned to evil, however, once Megatron and the Robo-Smasher reprogrammed them into Decepticons. They were also given the combined form of Devastator, making them the physical equal of Omega Supreme in combat. After they destroyed Crystal City at Megatron's command, the Constructicons earned the everlasting ire of their former friend. The Secret of Omega Supreme
Long Haul was eventually summoned to Earth (built on Earth?) by Megatron and the Decepticons, and joined them in trying to destroy Optimus Prime and the Autobots. Their first scheme was to supercharge Megatron with the power chip rectifiers of his fellow 'Cons, so that he could defeat Prime in personal combat. Heavy Metal War Though they failed, the Constructicons would be involved in many of Megatron's schemes from then on, such as constructing of "New Cybertron" in Manhattan, where Long Haul got to carry around debris and paralyzed Autobot leaders. City of Steel
Long Haul was the most long-suffering members of the Constructicons, possibly even more so than Scavenger. He was constantly complaining about wanting a greater role in the group, either as a warrior or an engineer, but was inevitably relegated to "go fetch" work for Hook or Scrapper. It didn't help his mood any. At one point the Constructicons later built the Transfixatron to paralyze the Autobots in their vehicle modes, along with a metal-munching machine to devour them. Long Haul complained loudly about his job, but was cheered up when he got to feed Ironhide to the machine. He didn't even mind when the Autobots got loose, since it meant finally getting some action. The Autobot Run
Megatron later had the Constructicons build a giant drill, planning to collect energy from the Earth's core. When an accident was caused by Scavenger's faulty sensors, Long Haul was tasked with loading Mixmaster's mixing drum full of chemicals so that the crazed chemist could do a quick repair job. He didn't enjoy it one bit. A group of Autobots soon discovered the Decepticons, only to be chased off by Devastator. However, they soon returned with a plan—using dominator discs to take control of Devastator for their own needs. The Autobot Mirage shot a pair of discs at Long Haul and Mixmaster when they weren't looking, and as soon as the Constructicons formed Devastator shortly afterwards, the Autobots took control of him. Megatron's attempts at regaining his troops eventually led to Devastator going crazy and wrecking the controls to the drill, so Long Haul had to help stop it from breaching the Earth's core and shattering the planet. The Core
When the other Decepticons were suffering from Cybertonium depletion, Long Haul and the other Constructicons unloaded a shipment of Cybertonium sent by Shockwave. They failed to stop the Dinobots from using the space bridge to go to Cybertron. Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1 When the Constructicons deceived Grapple and Hoist into building a solar tower for them to take over, Long Haul thought he was finally going to get to build something. Hook sent him to carry solar panels around. The Master Builders Long Haul's greatest claim to fame was abandoning his job of guarding the recently discovered pool of electrum, forcing Dirge to do it by himself. Dirge was then promptly beaten up by Seaspray, and the Autobots gained control of the electrum. Oops. The Golden Lagoon
The Secret of Omega Supreme Triple Takeover Masquerade
In 2005, Long Haul and the Constructicons joined in the assault on Autobot City, and their power as Devastator was key to breaching the city's defenses. After the Dinobots arrived, however, Devastator was effectively nullified as the two groups kept each other too busy and out of the rest of the fighting. They joined the other Decepticons in beating a hasty retreat after Megatron fell in battle, and Long Haul was seen carrying the damaged Kickback with him. The Transformers: The Movie
Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1 Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4 Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5 Carnage in C-Minor Fight or Flee The Burden Hardest to Bear
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers manga
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 6
Scramble City
- Voice actor: Masashi Ebara (Japanese)
The Headmasters cartoon
- Voice actor: Ryōichi Tanaka (Japanese)
Zone OVA, manga and story pages
Seeking to create a Decepticon Zone to counter the Autobot Zone, Decepticon Emperor Violen Jiger gathered together the Nine Great Demon Generals, upgrading them with powerful new armor and weaponry, then sent them forth to conquer planets. Long Haul was among those summoned, but only in the form of Devastator. Zone Part 1 Transformers: Zone Enter the New Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas!
Marvel Comics continuity
Generation 1
Long Haul was created on Earth by Shockwave, combining the engineering material of G.B. Blackrock's hostilely-occupied aerospace plant with the power of the Creation Matrix that had been pilfered from Optimus Prime's head. The Constructicons were not only given individual life, but also the power to merge into Devastator. Their first mission was to construct and operate a intergalactic transceiver which, combined with Soundwave's broadcasting abilities, would enable the Decepticons to make contact with Cybertron for the first time in millions of years. The Next Best Thing to Being There! Despite some Autobot intervention, the transceiver was successful enough to open communications between Straxus of Darkmount and the Decepticons of Earth. The Bridge to Nowhere!
Long Haul found himself serving many masters over the following months. After Shockwave was deposed by Optimus Prime, the remaining Decepticons briefly came under Soundwave's command, and interfered with Autobot operations during the Dinobot Hunt. Dinobot Hunt! Shockwave and Megatron both attempted to regain power, and ended up having to share control and, after Omega Supreme wiped out a good portion of their forces, the Constructicons and Soundwave made up virtually their entire army. Command Performances! When Galvatron arrived from the future and removed Megatron from command, the Constructicons began serving the future Decepticon without much question, and built a massive space cannon for him. For some reason, Megatron didn't consider this enough of a treachery to annihilate Long Haul and his partners as traitors after regaining control. Target: 2006 Megatron would later be deposed entirely by Shockwave, who was then replaced in turn by Ratbat, but the Constructicons remained operational with the Decepticon army. Long Haul and the others were instrumental in one of Ratbat's schemes, where the Decepticons engaged the Autobots away from the Ark long enough for the Constructicons to sneak on board and recover the deactivated remains of their comrades who had been captured by Omega Supreme. Totaled!
Earthforce
When the Decepticon forces of Earth split, Long Haul and most of the Constructicons chose to work with Megatron instead of Shockwave. While patrolling the site of Megatron's ozone rocket, Long Haul and Mixmaster came across a pair of snooping Autobots. Despite being initially caught off guard, Prowl and Wheeljack quickly disposed of the two Constructicons. Starting Over! Later, at the Enclave, Long Haul was seen talking to Kickback before the "festivities" broke up the quiet little party. The Bad Guy's Ball! When Soundwave led the Decepticon in an attack on Autobot Earthbase, Long Haul took some heat from Swoop's bombing run. Divide and Conquer!
Generation 2
Long Haul made a brief appearance at the climax of the battle with the Swarm, helping the united Autobots and Decepticons construct trenches filled with thermal mines. A Rage in Heaven!
Classics
Dreamwave comics continuity
The Constructicons' origin in this timeline is unknown, but they were already active as evil Decepticons under Megatron's control when Sentinel Prime was killed in battle, and Optimus Prime rose in his place. Long Haul was first seen working with his fellow Constructicons in readying Cybertron to function as an interstellar "warworld" for Megatron, propelled out of orbit and through space using massive planetary engines they had uncovered. Their efforts were foiled by Grimlock and his commando unit. The War Within
Sometime later, the Constructicons created the first set of gestalt programming directives, and tested the directives on themselves to create Devastator. The inevitable spread of combiner technology, however, proved to be more than Cybertron could handle, as the massive super-robots ran the risk of damaging the planet's very infrastructure if left to battle unchecked. As a result, by the time of the Dark Ages these "Special Teams" were banned from operating as a unit in any one faction by the universally agreed upon Crisis Intervention Accord. Long Haul and the Constructicons were the first to break these accords, and become active again as Devastator as part of the Ultracons. It is unknown if other teams later broke the accords as well. The War Within: The Dark Ages
In the modern era, the Constructicons somehow joined Megatron on Earth after the Nemesis left Cybertron millions of years ago. Long Haul and the others were operating as Devastator in California battling the Autobots when they suffered serious damage and were believed destroyed. Prime Directive issue 6
The Constructicons were later revived by Starscream, and used as the groundwork for his new power base after Megatron vanished during a battle in Tokyo with the Autobots. Long Haul and the other Decepticons who chose to serve Starscream invaded the city of Las Vegas, making deals with the populace to make them voluntarily annex themselves as part of a new Decepticon government. Although most problems from within were dealt with by bribery or the occasional murderous beating, the Decepticons still faced plenty of problems from without. Grimlock of the Dinobots had made a secret deal with the President to acquire a "rogue" military force and retake Las Vegas, alongside his fellow Autobots Prowl and Bumblebee. The Constructicons were the first to face these invaders as they entered the city, attacking them in waves. Long Haul was in the process of easily overpowering Bumblebee when his comrades were all taken down fighting Grimlock and Prowl. This made Long Haul the center of attention, and he definitely suffered for it. While attempting to blast the 'Bee with a heat-seeking missile, Long Haul was skewered through the shoulder by a makeshift spear Prowl had forged out of a giant neon cowboy. Only in Vegas. With three Autobots and several Apache helicopters on his rear axle, Long Haul beat a hasty retreat deeper into the city, looking for back-up. Hardwired
Megatron eventually returned to Earth, but Long Haul and the Constructicons owed Starscream for reconstructing them, and so remained loyal to him when the Decepticons split into two factions. Of course, this only meant they were among the first to be captured by the Keepers when those aliens took over Las Vegas and turned Starscream into their puppet. Trapped behind an impenetrable force dome, Long Haul and the Constructicons attempted to batter their way out as Devastator using sheer brute force, until Skywarp offered a better idea. Reconverting into their separate modes, the Constructicons dug a tunnel out beneath the force field, enabling Starscream's faction to join the final battle against the Keepers. Acting as Devastator, they were too far away from Optimus Prime and his Matrix-induced force shield when the American nuclear assault was dropped on the Keepers, and were blasted into pieces. Annihilation
The nuclear blast left Devastator fused into his singular robot mode, leaving him unable to split back into Long Haul and his other components. Eventually, Devastator fell into the Void along with Omega Sentinel in the final conflict with the Keepers, and was left in stasis lock, drifting in the vacuum of space, after the Sentinel destroyed the Keepers' power source and shattered the Void back into real space-time. The starship Bounty, on a secret space mission from Earth, came across Devastator's remains and planned to tow him back to Earth. Fusion
The pieces of Long Haul and the Constructicons fell under the control of Earth Defense Command, and were held in their Roswell facility for study. Generation One issue 0
IDW comics continuity
Millions of years ago, after losing their engineering jobs during the automation of manual labor on Cybertron, Long Haul and the Constructicons began associating with the deathsport tournaments in Kaon. Instead of directly participating, Long Haul and his partners put their construction skills to work by building a new arena from scratch before each match. This enabled the gladiators to remain one step ahead of Sentinel Prime's security services, as they never operated in the same spot twice. Megatron Origin issue 2
In the modern era, the Constructicons are on Earth as part of Megatron's vague and unfocused plans for conquest that evidently no longer require the use of Facsimile Constructs or the securing of Ore-13 stockpiles. Long Haul almost ran over pedestrians in New York, prompting angry responses from the natives, until he and the other Constructicons transformed. The humans thought this was really cool, until the alien construction robot killing machines blew them up. Wishy-washy flesh creatures. All Hail Megatron issue 1
All Hail Megatron issue 2
All Hail Megatron issue 7
All Hail Megatron issue 10
All Hail Megatron issue 11
Toys
Generation 1
- Long Haul (Constructicon, 1985)
- Team ID number: 5
- Japanese ID number: 31
- Accessories: Laser Pistol, "Missile Mount"/Devastator waist, "Wing"/Devastator waist plate
- Long Haul transforms into a bright green off-road earth-moving dump truck. The dumping tray is articulated, but due to design, the forward lip of the tray (which hangs over the cab of the truck) is not actually connected to the tray itself. In contrast to the majority of truck-mode Transformers toys, he has dual rear wheels, which allows him to roll more easily. The "Missile Mount" and "Wing" can be attached to vehicle mode to create the Attack Truck.
- In robot mode, Long Haul is one bright green robot with purple arms and black fists, making him quite monochromatic. As with several of his teammates, due to his transformation sequence, Long Haul has a better-than-usual range of articulation for a Generation 1 toy.
- Long Haul becomes the lower torso of Devastator.
- Constructicon (Constructicon, 1992)
- Accessories: Laser Pistol
- This European exclusive version of Long Haul was yellow, but with the darker purple from the original toy instead of the lighter Generation 2 shade, and came with no Devastator parts. This toy was also not officially named, as he came on a card shared by the other Constructicons.
Generation 2
- Long Haul (Constructicon, 1994)
- Accessories: Laser Pistol, "Missile Mount"/Devastator waist, "Wing"/Devastator waist plate
- Generation 2 Long Haul is very similar to the European-exclusive release from 1992, being mostly yellow, but the shade of purple is paler, and he has a Generation 2 Decepticon faction sigil and the words 'Decepticon' tampographed onto him. Another version was available where the yellow was replaced with orange. Unlike the 1992 release, he comes with all the parts included with the original 1984 release.
Classics
- Constructicon Devastator (Multi-pack, 2007)
- Accessories: Energon claw, Decepticon-type Energon star
- Classics Long Haul is a green redeco of Energon Duststorm and Wideload, and his teammate Classics Hightower, only available as part of the Classics Constructicon Devastator giftset. Now a crane, Long Haul's crane arm extends out and can be fitted with a purple claw accessory. In robot mode the crane forms his left arm, and thus his otherwise-normal robot mode is rather awkward.
- He can also form a leg or arm to any Energon-series "Powerlinx Combiner" super robot, though his nominal placement is as the left arm of Devastator.
Merchandise
- Long Haul (Decoy, 1986)
Trivia
- In what can only be called "unfortunate hilarity", Long Haul's original vehicle mode character model seems to have been drawn with his toy's robot mode head still flipped up. Thus, in any fictional appearance using this model, Long Haul is a dump truck with a robot head sitting next to the driver's cab. This was especially awkward in the cartoon, when his "vehicle mode head" would disappear when he transformed, and his "robot mode head" would come from... somewhere else.
- Animation company AKOM seems to have gotten Long Haul's color layout mixed up with that of the similarly-named "U-Haul Robot" from "Five Faces of Darkness", as Long Haul appeared with that robot's orange-and-blue color scheme in both "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4" and "Fight or Flee".
