Crankcase (DOTM)

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

Crankcase is a Decepticon Dread from the Dark of the Moon portion of the live-action film series continuity family.

The hunt has begun...

A rarity among Decepticons, Crankcase is known for his subtle and shadowy nature, though it would be a mistake not to see him as a threat. A member of the elite Dreads, the Decepticon’s top infiltration and assassination team, his specialty is hacking, data theft, and destructive sabotage of vital systems.

Fiction

Dark of the Moon film

Spoiler warning: Plot details for Dark of the Moon (film) follow. Please give an expiry date ({{spoiler|(story)|DATE}}) - either the date of the next episode/issue in the series or 30 days after release, whichever is sooner

After Sentinel Prime was retrieved from Earth's Moon and reactivated, Megatron put into motion the plan that had been waiting in the wings for thousands of years. With the human Sam Witwicky believing that the Decepticons wished to capture Sentinel and force him to use the control pillar to activate his space bridge, Crankcase, Hatchet and Crowbar were sent to pursue the Autobots. Despite their best collective efforts, Hatchet was quickly destroyed, and the remaining Dreads were soon confronted by the Autobot heavy-hitter, Ironhide, who stopped them in their tracks with a head-on collision. Faced with Ironhide's heavy weapons and Sideswipe, the Dreads seemingly capitulated by dropping their ranged weapons, but as soon as the Autobots followed suit, deployed spears to attack their enemies. Though his partner was initially successful in injuring Ironhide, Crankcase was destroyed when Ironhide forced Crowbar's spear through his head, slammed the Decepticon's body into an abandoned car, and kicked the wreckage into a nearby auto shop, which exploded. Dark of the Moon (film)

Toys

Dark of the Moon

Cyberverse

Don't worry, be happy!

• Crankcase (Cyberverse Legion, 2011)
  • Series: 1
  • Number: 003
  • Japanese ID number: CV11

Part of the first wave of Cyberverse Legion single-pack toys, Crankcase is a Legends-scale figure that transforms into a modified Chevrolet Suburban. This mode is lightly detailed but looks very much like the Deluxe version. For his size class, he has an incredibly detailed face mirroring the Deluxe version. Compared to others of his range, he is one of the taller ones. In a rarity for Legends-scale figures, he has weapons, which look like dual blades.

Deluxe Class toys

Pinsir, use Vicegrip!

• Crankcase (MechTech Deluxe, 2011)
  • Japanese ID number: DD04
  • Accessories: MechTech Blaster/Blade Claw

Part of the first wave of Dark of the Moon Deluxes, Crankcase transforms into a modified Chevrolet Suburban. As part of the MechTech series, he has a Blaster weapon that features a nasty grabby-claw action feature. He also has a pair of huge pincers above his robot-mode head that can also be flipped forward whilst in vehicle mode. His dreadlocks are supposed to be able to swivel, with the intent that they be swung behind his head to fit under his hood for vehicle mode, but in practise, this proved an either impossible or inadvisable prospect: on most, the gold paint applied has made them too thick to be rotated, running the risk of tearing the soft plastic. And even if you do get a Crankcase that doesn't have this problem, the tiny translucent plastic hinges to which the dreadlocks are connected won't last long. This means that they end up stuffed inside his chest in vehicle mode (this is how the toy comes packaged), competing with everything else for space and putting the car under enough tension that it feels like it's about to spring apart.

In an apparent running change, the otherwise long and pointed middle digit on each hand (as per the stock photo on the right) was shoddily cut off into a noticeably thick stump (compared to the more slender fingers remaining), often cut to a different length on each hand. It is unknown if this was done for safety reasons, an error during assembly, or maybe Hasbro decided that long, extended middle fingers just weren't a tasteful design choice for a children's toy. Later releases, however, featured retooled hands with a much shorter middle finger.

The Japanese Dark Side Moon release features the remolded hands exclusively. It also comes packed with a character card and an accompanying transparent plastic card of his MechTech weapon for the MechTech Wars online game.

Notes

• Crankcase appears to be modeled after the eponymous alien hunter from the Predator series, possessing similar "dreadlocks", mandibles, fangs, and claws.
• In early production, the Dreads were announced to be a pair of modified Chevrolet Suburbans, and were referred to by fandom as twins. Photos were even taken on-set, but since then, there has been no word on a second Crankcase. The Dreads were then referred to instead as the trio of Crankcase, Crowbar, and Hatchet.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Crankcase (クランクケース Kurankukēsu)