Gravedigger

Gravedigger is a Decepticon Constructicon from the Generation 1 continuity family.

It's hard to tell, but he's flipping off the reader here.

Gravedigger is the smug, sadistic sort who enjoys lording his power over others, but is not the sharpest tool in the shed. He has a weakness for obscene gestures.

As one of the Constructicons, he specializes (presumably) in excavation. He is the young brother of one of the group's more famous members, Bonecrusher. As a member of the Master Chaos group, he operates under the codename Buildmaster.

Fiction

Find Your Fate Junior

Gravedigger was among the Constructicons excavating Mount Lomas to create a secret base. When Skids and Bumblebee were captured, Gravedigger gleefully explained the Decepticons' evil plan "since you are going to die anyway." Surprisingly, Gravedigger was right: Skids and Bumblebee were disassembled and their parts used to construct the Autobot Memorial Power Plant. When their comrades came looking for them, they too were captured and used for scrap. Ouch. Dinobots Strike Back

Cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

The purple guy in the back or the green guy in the back. Take your pick.

Gravedigger joined Bonecrusher, Hook, Long Haul, Mixmaster, Scavenger, Scrapper and Hauler in creating. Megatron. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4

Wings Universe

Wings Universe is based on the Generation 1 cartoon, but deviates from it in cosmetic ways and continuity points.

A green robot fought on the side of the Decepticons in battle. This might have been Gravedigger. Battle Lines, Part 5

United EX

Gravedigger joined the Decepticons under the command of the mysterious High Regent Scrash, seeking the means to restore his older brother Bonecrusher following his encounter with some molten lava while battling Dai Atlas. As a member of the "Master Chaos" sub-group, he was refitted with a new body that would allow him to interface with Power Core drones and took the name "Buildmaster".

Buildmaster took ownership of the Construction Drones after they were stolen from the Autobots by Dozermaster, and used them in defense of the Decepticons' base when the Autobots attacked. He burst from the ground with his drones in tow, catching Assaultmaster unawares, and warning him to leave the mysterious materials they have excavated from the area alone. The two combined with their individual drones and set to fighting, but as Buildmaster was gaining the upper hand, he was attacked by Grimmaster. Unearthed Future

Toys

United EX

• Buildmaster Prime Mode (11-17-2012)
  • ID number: EX 06
  • Accessories: Decimator Drone, Dominator Drone, Eradicator Drone, Annihilator Drone

Buildmaster is a redeco of the Power Core Combiners Steamhammer toy, rendered in the classic purple-and-green of the original Constructicons and their many descendants. He transforms into a bulldozer, and can also assume a "Prime Mode" where he becomes the torso of a super robot, capable of using any auto-transforming Power Core Combiner drone-machine molds for limbs.

He comes with four construction vehicle drone-limbs, redecos of the Constructicon drones. Each one has a square socket for a Power Core Combiner connection; when attached via the blue plugs on a Commander figure, the drones automatically transform into a super-robot limb, and snap back to vehicle mode when disconnected. Despite the universal connector, each drone can only form one limb type (but can be swapped from left to right):

• Decimator Drone (drill) — Arm (Buildmaster's right)
• Dominator Drone (front end loader) — Arm (Buildmaster's left)
• Eradicator Drone (plow) — Leg (Buildmaster's right)
• Annihilator Drone (steamroller) — Leg (Buildmaster's left)

The drones are all named to evoke the original Constructicons' combined form, Devastator. In particular, the Dominator Drone is named for the dominator discs that were used to take control of Devastator in the Generation 1 cartoon episode, "The Core".

Notes

• "Gravedigger" was a preliminary name for the Constructicon Scrapper, as indicated by both the Generation 1 cartoon series bible and the shooting script for the episode "Heavy Metal War" (which includes the line "Gravedigger, I'm picking up computer signals from above!"). It seems probable that the writer of "Dinobots Strike Back" was working from that outdated guideline when he used the name, and that the artist compounded the error by drawing Long Haul instead of Scrapper, thereby turning Gravedigger a distinct entity.
• Writer Andrew Hall decided to give Gravedigger a turn in the spotlight for the Transformers United EX toyline, opting to assign his identity to the Buildmaster toy. With this addition of an eighth named Construction to the Japanese cartoon continuity, an identity was at last provided for the long-mysterious "eighth Constructicon" who appeared with the others in a dodgily-animated scene in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4" (the seventh having been retroactively designated as Hauler in 2003).