Leader-1 (Armada)

The name or term "Leader-1" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Leader-1 (disambiguation).

Leader-1 is a Decepticon Allied-Mini-Con from the Armada portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

This is every freakin' day of his life.

Leader-1 was once a wise and benevolent leader of the Mini-Con settlements on Cybertron, but when Megatron appropriated the Mini-Cons for his evil purposes, he kept Leader-1 as his own personal attendant. Megatron was cruel to the peaceful Mini-Con, delighting in his misery, and all Leader-1 could do was silently plot his escape.

Slowly, maliciously, a dark corner was being tugged at within Leader-1's mind, as he realized he enjoyed his growing love for domination and sadism. One day, he insists, he'll do away with Megatron once and for all, in the most humiliating and painful way possible. It will be a delicious irony.

Japanese name: Barrel

Fiction

Armada cartoon

Leader-1 is adorable.

Metamorphosis Early in the search for the Mini-Cons scattered across Earth, Megatron found a Mini-Con storage panel near the Decepticons' base on the moon. He activated the panel and was pleased to see Leader-1 appear, as he was Megatron's personal Mini-Con from before their escape. Returning to the base, Megatron chastised the other Decepticons for missing a Mini-Con who was right under their noses. Leader-1 punctuated Megatron's displeasure with an incredibly powerful laserblast from his chest.

Leader-1 spent most of his time perched cutely on Megatron's shoulder, only springing into action when Megatron needed to unlock one of his powerlinx features.

Megatron used Leader-1 in his gun mode against Hot Shot and Sideways when they invaded the Decepticon moon base. Conspiracy

After Megatron was upgraded into Galvatron, Leader-1 was never seen again.

Dreamwave Armada comic

Leader-1's head design changed from artist to artist (no biggie), issue to issue (it's possible), and sometimes page to page (whaa?).

Leader-1, head of Mini-Con village D10, was one of the Mini-Cons whose entire village was captured by the Decepticons at the beginning of the war one million years ago. He managed to get a distress call sent to Hot Shot, who then showed it to Optimus Prime. Dreamwave Armada issue 1 When the Mini-Cons escaped from the Decepticon fortress, Leader-1 had the misfortune of being with Megatron at the time, and thus had to serve him for the next four million years. Dreamwave Armada issue 2

When Megatron left for Earth to hunt down the escaped Mini-Cons, he took Leader-1 with him. During a battle between Megatron and Optimus Prime, he and several other Mini-Cons were powerlinxed to their cruel master. Dreamwave Armada issue 5 After losing the battle, Megatron tried to force more power out of poor Leader-1, which only served to weaken the Mini-Con. Luckily, a chance for a bit of revenge opened up shortly afterwards when Megatron captured the Air Defense Team. The Decepticon ordered Leader-1 to jam any distress calls from the captured Mini-Cons, but he happily ignored that order, allowing Sparkplug to learn about the kidnapping. Dreamwave Armada issue 6 He later combined with Megatron during another clash with the Autobots. Dreamwave Armada issue 7

Eventually, Leader-1 and the rest of the Mini-Cons on Earth were suddenly compelled to gather around a mysterious monolith, which took off into space after they all entered it. Dreamwave Armada issue 8 The Mini-Cons were taken to a fortress on the moon, where they were imprisoned. Leader-1 suspected that someone had decided to end the war by getting rid of all of them, but soon learned that it was Dualor who had summoned them. Dreamwave Armada issue 9 When the Decepticons assaulted the fortress, Leader-1 shot the Destruction Team in the back and took over the control room Dreamwave Armada issue 10, immediately contacting Megatron and giving him directions through the fortress. Ultimately, it turned out that Leader-1 had plans of his own, as he led Megatron into a security chamber and sealed the doors, before turning all of the automated weapons on him. As he gloated about finally getting his revenge for millions of years of indignity, pain, suffering, and torment, Dualor came to and punched him. This brief interruption provided enough time for Megatron to escape and tear his way into the control room, recapturing Leader-1. Dreamwave Armada issue 11

After being forced to spend some time in the Punishment Cube, Leader-1 was ordered to analyze the Decepticons' malfunctioning space bridge. The Mini-Con found that there was some kind of stress on the inter-spatial network, and scratched it up to outside interference. Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4 He later reported to Megatron that the Autobots had sent a probe into sub-space to search for the missing Optimus Prime. Worlds Collide, Part 2 of 4 Leader-1 was powerlinxed to his master during his battle with a interdimensional visitor. Worlds Collide, Part 3 of 4

Leader-1 ultimately regained his freedom when Megatron released him and the other Decepticon-held Mini-Cons in order to battle Unicron. And, as Megatron was slowly, tortuously, and systematically disassembled and destroyed by Unicron's internal defense systems, Leader-1 ended up having the last laugh. The End

More Than Meets The Eye

When Megatron somehow gained a more powerful form and renamed himself "Galvatron," he discarded Leader-1 in search of an even greater enhancement. More Than Meets The Eye: Armada

Panini Armada comics

Leader-1 was in Megatron's grasp as far as four million years in the past. Friends and Foes! He was power-linked to his master when the Decepticons first arrived on Earth and clashed with Optimus Prime First Encounter!, and Leader-1's power would've allowed the Decepticon to win if Sparkplug had not decided to help Prime. Friends and Foes! Pretty much the same thing happened a while later, when Megatron tried to stop Prime from sending his Mini-Cons back to Cybertron. No Way Back!

Leader-1 was present at the Decepticon base in Silver Ridge when Sparkplug and two other Autobot Mini-Cons broke in and offered to save them from Decepticon captivity. Leader-1 was deeply grateful to Sparkplug...for surrendering himself to the Decepticons! Knowing that Megatron would reward him if he delivered more Mini-Cons to him, Leader-1 grabbed Sparkplug and ordered Crumplezone and Swindle to capture the others. The Autobot Mini-Cons fought back and managed to escape, and later pondered if Leader-1 and the others had been corrupted or if the Decepticons had just "let out something that was already there." Into the Lions' Den!

After the Decepticons relocated to a base on the Moon, Leader-1 reported to Megatron that Cyclonus was returning from a failed mission. As it turned out, Cyclonus was possessed by the Destruction Mini-Con Team, who attacked the base. Leader-1 power-linked with Megatron in order to fight back against the possessed Decepticon, but the link was severed when Starscream brought out the sonic destabiliser. Dawn of Destruction!

Fun Publications Cybertron comics

During the chaotic times of the Unicron Singularity, Leader-1 was part of an army of insurgent Mini-Cons fighting against the Mini-Con Council of Sages over control of one of Cybertron's moons. Revelations Part 4 When a team of Autobots joined the fray, he attacked Sentinel Maximus alongside the Deep Space Mini-Con Team. Revelations Part 5

Toys

Armada

The toy's head doesn't ever change appearance...

• Megatron w/ Leader-1 (Ultra-Con, 2002/2003)
  • Japanese ID number: MD-01

Available only with the larger Megatron toy, Leader-1 transforms into a Cybertronic buggy with twin top-mounted blasters. He also has multiple "gun" configurations that allow him to be mounted on Powerlinx plugs or held in the hands of most toys with a 5mm hand-hole.

This mold was also used to make Clench and Caliburn. He shares engineering with the Cybertron new-mold Mini-Con Drill Bit.

• More information on Leader-1 at TFU.info

...Well, okay, but just this one time.

• Megatron Supermode w/ Spark Barrel (Ultra, 2003)
  • Japanese ID number: MD-08

In Micron Legend, Megatron kept the same Mini-Con in his new form, as opposed to Armada where it was a new character. This version of Leader-1 is basically identical to Clench.

• More information on Spark Barrel (well, Clench) at TFU.info

• Black Megatron w/ Barrel (Black) (Ultra, 2003)

A contest prize limited to 100 pieces, Megatron and Leader-1 were redecoed in primarily black with dark purples, grays and olive-greens. The contest was listed in the June 2003 issue of Tele-V Magazine in Japan.

• Megatron with Leader-1 and Cyclonus with Crumplezone (Built to Rule, 2003)

Built to Rule Leader-1 is made out of building block that can be reconfigured from a reasonable robot to an inaccurate buggy to anything you can think of (as long as it's limited to the few pieces he's made up of). He was only available with the largest Transformers Built to Rule set, which also included Megatron, Cyclonus and Crumplezone.

• More information on Built to Rule Leader-1 at TFU.info

Merchandise

Mega Super Collection Figure

• Micron Legend Micron Megatron (2002)

A small soft-plastic mini-PVC of Leader-1 came with the Mega Super Collection Figure version of Megatron.

Notes

• Leader-1's name is a homage to Leader-1, leader of the Guardians from the Tonka GoBots toy-line/cartoon of the 1980s.

• During the course of American dub of the Armada cartoon, several characters were mistakenly referred to as "Leader-1". Sparkplug in particular seemed to bear the Leader-1 brunt.

• An abandoned character concept for Leader-1 was revealed by the Hasbro team during their panel at OTFCC 2003. The idea was that Leader-1 would have been deranged, thinking of himself as being the dominant one in his Mini-Con/Bulk partnership, with Megatron actually being HIS minion. This, obviously, was not used.