Nickel

Nickel is a Decepticon from the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Nickels is called "Nickels" because she looooves nickels. These are three pennies spray-painted silver.

Nickel is a medic and maintenance 'bot, serving the Decepticon Justice Division, aboard the Peaceful Tyranny. The D.J.D. may be a ruthless, merciless death squad, and Nickel may be a tiny thing, but she won't hesitate to tear into them with a string of invective if they skip out on their upkeep and maintenance.

Besides being an effective medic, she is also very skilled in the art of... ahem, hand gestures and nonverbal communication. They tilt toward the obscene.

Just because I'm the size of an energon cube doesn't mean I can't put you in your place.Nickel, "The Permanent Revolution"

Fiction

IDW Generation 1 continuity

Nickel was born from a hotspot in Prion, one of the Titans who left Cybertron in its ancient past, searching for planets to colonize. Sometime eons later, the Black Block Consortia came to Prion and wiped out the entire population of mechanical beings... or so they thought. Nickel was the lone survivor of the genocide, and when the Decepticon Justice Division came across the scene and Nickel, she found the Decepticons' promise of organic genocide appealing. Subsequently, she came to work for the D.J.D. as a medic and something of a surrogate "mother", telling them off for neglecting their hygiene and maintenance, and endearing herself to the crew.

Following the D.J.D.'s punishment of Blip, they learned of Megatron's abandonment of the Decepticon cause and that he had joined the Autobots. At first, Tarn attempted to take his own life by overdosing on Nuke, but seeing Nickel's worried face as he neared death made him reconsider. She then accompanied the D.J.D. when Tarn courted Deathsaurus and his troops for a single purpose—war against Megatron, the traitor. The Permanent Revolution

The Sun in Flight

When on the planet of the Necrobot with the DJD hunting Megatron, Overlord began mocking Tarn, suggesting that he made alliances because he was a coward. To Overlord's face, Nickel told Tarn to ignore the Phase_Sixer. Kaon then rushed in, full of concern for The_Pet. Tarn ripped his head off for his compassion, horrifying the tiny femme.Your Fierce Tears

Notes

• With her introduction, Nickel became the first female Decepticon to appear in the IDW Generation 1 universe.
• Nickel's appearance as a female Transformer from a colony other than Caminus follows on from several hints in "ONoffON" and "The Sum and Its Parts" that gender was present on ancient Cybertron, explaining its continued existence in the colonies and suggesting modern Cybertron is the exception rather than the norm.
• Nickel is technically a quad-changer. Her buggy car alt mode allows her to travel on land, the submarine form in sea, and a flying mode to take her to the skies.
• Nickel is, according to the author, a Minicon.