Skullcruncher (G1)
| This article is about the Generation 1 Decepticon. For the Aligned Decepticon, see Skullcruncher (RID). |
- Skullcruncher is a Decepticon Headmaster from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Skullcruncher would be an apex predator and darling of the battlefield if it weren't for one little thing: He has an idiosyncratic habit of grinding his teeth before launching an attack. The racket this nervous tic produces is so loud and obnoxious it actually tips the enemy off to his whereabouts. So as one can imagine, few Decepticons wish to be partnered with him and his more enviable qualities go unnoticed and unappreciated.
Perhaps because of this feeling of dismissal, Skullcruncher has developed something of a binge-eating disorder. Or, rather, an "Autobot binge-eating disorder". While he thinks they taste a little yucky, Skullcruncher will ravenously scarf down as many Autobots as he can during battle, making him positively terrifying to the opposition. This image as a mindless, cannibalistic monster has only further solidified Skullcruncher's reputation as a big, dumb beast no one wants to hang out with.
Skullcruncher is binary bonded to the Nebulan Grax.
Sometimes he is known as Skullsmasher.
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Marvel The Transformers comics
Skullcruncher was one of Scorponok's soldiers on Cybertron. He was first seen eagerly driving a group of Autobot prisoners towards the smelting pool, begging his commander to allow him to torture the captives en-route. Fortress Maximus and his band of interlopers jumped them, however, and the Decepticons were forced to retreat. Ring of Hate! After Maximus's unit abandoned Cybertron, Scorponok received word they had come to the planet called Nebulos, and brought a strike team to that world in order to exact revenge. Skullcruncher joined his leader in assaulting the planet's capitol, Koraja, and demonstrated a little-seen fire-breathing ability as the Decepticons tried to penetrate the city's walls. Later he transformed to robot mode and issued the Decepticon rallying cry.
| “ | Let's stomp these creatures til we're knee-deep in pink slime! | ” |
The Decepticons' forward momentum was halted, however, by the arrival of the new Autobot Headmasters. Fortress Maximus and several of his crew members had binary bonded with their Nebulan allies, creating two-in-one warriors. The increased skill and accuracy gained from this combination sent Skullcruncher and the other Decepticons fleeing into the night. Broken Glass! In the remote Plains of Thok, Scorponok's Decepticons made camp at the industrial complex whose hyper-galactic tranceiver had first alerted them to the Autobots' presence. Forced to admit the value of the Headmaster process, Scorponok allowed himself, Skullcruncher, and several other Decepticons to undergo the process, binary bonding with Lord Zarak—political rival of Fortress Maximus's Nebulan partner—and his entourage. Skullcruncher was binary bonded with Grax, the industrialist who owned the communications complex, and had modified it to accommodate the hyper-galactic transmitter. Joining with such a refined businessman did little to boost Skullcruncher's fighting style at first, as Fortress Maximus still managed to fight off both him and Weirdwolf at once, and then used Skullcruncher as a club to knock Scorponok around. Only by threatening civilian hostages were Scorponok and his men able to get the drop on the Autobots. Love and Steel!
When the Autobot Headmasters attempted to rescue the Autobot Targetmasters from the Decepticons, their evil counterparts were sent out after them to feign a defeat, and lure them into an ambush helmed by Scorponok. During the initial fight, Weirdwolf and Skullcruncher chased down Chromedome until he outpaced them, forcing the slower Decepticons to settle with surrounding Hardhead instead. Before he had a chance to move in and do some damage, Skullcruncher was blasted by one of Hardhead's teammates, and crumpled to the ground. The rest of the Decepticons were shortly thereafter "defeated," allowing Scorponok to eventually corner the Autobots within the Fortress of Despair. Worlds Apart!
As the war continued to escalate on Nebulos, both sides decided to quit the planet and moved on to planet Earth after receiving a distress signal. Brothers in Armor!!
Once they arrived on Earth, the Decepticons raced the Autobots to Mount St. Hilary, former landing site of the Ark and location of the distress signal. The two Headmaster teams did battle in the volcano caverns. Skullcruncher was heard mocking Weirdwolf's bizarre Yoda-esque speech pattern during the fight, but to be fair he also demonstrated an odd quirk of "grrr"ing before each sentence. Do alligators growl? Trial by Fire!
After the Autobot named Highbrow got the drop on Scorponok and stole his head, leaving the Decepticon leader incapacitated, Skullcruncher and his comrades hunted down Highbrow until he reached an Autobot shuttle parked in nearby canyons. They recovered the stunned Lord Zarak and reconnected him with Scorponok, restoring their leader. Moments after they did so, however, Skullcruncher and five of his teammates were shunted into Limbo thanks to the time-traveling arrival of Soundwave and the Terrorcons from 2009. They remained out of action until the war with Galvatron ended, and the time storm was abated. Time Wars
When Scorponok's army made first contact with Ratbat and the other Decepticons active on Earth, Skullcruncher and the Headmasters went with their leader as his entourage. A breakdown in negotiations led to combat, as Skullcruncher and the group began fighting with the Predacons, and later Ratbat's entire base. Cold War! The Decepticons stopped their civil war and teamed up with the Autobots when it was discovered that Starscream had orchestrated the whole affair to distract from his pursuit of the legendary Transformers knowledge database, the Underbase. In the wake of this event, Scorponok assumed command of all Decepticons and, with Skullcruncher's help, placed a new headquarters, including an Energon converter, under a swamp near New York City. King Con! Sometime later, Skullcruncher responded with a team of Decepticons to MacDill Airforce Base when the Air Strike Patrol got into trouble with the Autobots. The Resurrection Gambit! The whole event was orchestrated from afar by Megatron to eliminate Optimus Prime and his rivals in the Decepticons. Skullcruncher didn't know any of this, but that didn't keep him from getting beaten up a lot, first by Optimus Prime All the Familiar Faces! and later by a reconstructed version of Starscream. Skin Deep
Skullcruncher was brought to Cybertron by Primus, along with all of the other Earth-bound Autobots, and stood in the far back as Primus spoke to the Transformers through Emirate Xaaron. The Void Once Unicron attacked, he was seen running in panic with many other Autobots and Decepticons. On the Edge of Extinction! Later, he was on the planet Klo when Optimus Prime first arrived with the Last Autobot to rescue the besieged Autobot forces. End of the Road!
Regeneration One
Twenty-one years after the battle of Klo, Skullcruncher remained a member of Bludgeon's forces, assisting in the genocide of the inhabitants of Torkulon. Loose Ends, Part 3 Later, he was still at Bludgeon's side aboard the Warworld as the Decepticon leader unleashed his Blitz Engines against Cybertron's Autobots, descending to join the battle on the planet's surface alongside Fangry, Krok, Weirdwolf, Horri-Bull, Stranglehold, and Octopunch. Unfortunately for Skullcruncher, the Blitz Engines were defeated by the Dinobots and Demons, Soundwave was incapacitated by Blaster, Monstructor was torn apart by Omega Supreme and Bludgeon himself was thrown through the windscreen of the Warworld by the Autobots' new leader Rodimus Prime. Under the command of Ultra Magnus, the Autobots rallied and quickly claimed victory. Destiny, Part Five
Afterwards, any Decepticons not killed in the battle were taken into Autobot custody and were then most likely converted into shadow-leeches by the Dark Matrix creature, along with (almost) the entire population of Cybertron, while Rodimus Prime and his Autobots were off-planet fighting Jhiaxus at the Hub Network.
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice actor: Chris Latta (English, casting only)
Skullcruncher was one of the many new Decepticons from around the universe gathered by Galvatron to go after the Plasma Energy Chamber in 2007. The Rebirth, Part 1 He later accompanied Scourge and Cyclonus to the planet Nebulos. His honored leaders then volunteered him to have his head ripped off and stuffed with organic material. Remarkably, this somehow increased his combat skills. The Rebirth, Part 2 When Scorponok came to life, he quickly told Skullcruncher to attack Arcee, as she was carrying the Plasma Energy Key. Once the key was retrieved, Skullcruncher and his fellow Decepticons boarded Scorponok and left Nebulos for Cybertron. When Cerebros and Spike Witwicky returned to Cybertron, Skullcruncher joined in on the attack, but was forced to pull back when the Autobot spaceship turned into a battle station. The Rebirth, Part 3
Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Headmasters cartoon
- Voice actor: Kōji Totani (Japanese)
Four million years ago, Skullcruncher was among a group of diminutive Cybertronians who departed Cybertron under the leadership of Fortress, seeking to escape the eternal war that had consumed the planet. The Mystery of Planet Master Alas, engine trouble caused their craft to crash land on the planet Master, an inhospitable world whose murderous environments and wildly changeable atmospheric conditions threatened the lives of the Cybertronians. Fighting against the odds, the Cybertronians made several technological quantum leaps to survive on Master, including the creation of larger, lifeless Transformer bodies called transtectors. Skullcruncher and many of his comrades underwent rigorous physical and mental training to master the art of transformation, learning to transform into heads that connected to the transtectors and placed them under their control. The Four-Million-Year-Old Veil of Mystery Skullcruncher was one of ten warriors who became one of these "Headmasters", but he and several other warriors soon began to chafe under Fortress's leadership, and ultimately rebelled against him, siding with a traitor named Scorponok. Via the Decepticon ninja Sixshot, Scorponok soon forged an alliance with the Decepticon leader, Galvatron. The Mystery of Planet Master
In the year 2011, Skullcruncher and his fellow Headmasters Weirdwolf and Mindwipe joined Galvatron's Decepticons in a massive attack on Cybertron, seeking to seize control of the destabilized Vector Sigma and establish a Decepticon hold over the planet through the computer. Unfortunately for Skullcruncher, he failed to impress Galvatron on this first foray when he made the first demonstration of his vulnerability to Mindwipe's hypnotic powers, and fell asleep in the middle of the battle. A kick from his new leader woke him up so he could participate in an attack on the Autobots' computer base, but before the villains could enter the facility, Fortress's Autobot Headmasters arrived on Cybertron to stop them. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky In ensuing battle, Skullcruncher battled Highbrow and Hardhead, but was forced to retreat alongside the others when Fortress brought the firepower of his battleship, the Maximus, to bear. The Mystery of Planet Master
Soon after, Skullcruncher journeyed with Galvatron to Earth to help interfere in the Autobots' search for the missing Matrix of Leadership, which could restore balance to Vector Sigma. The villains caught up to Hot Rod just as he located the Matrix, but Computron stepped in to keep them busy while Hot Rod escaped to Cybertron. Skullcruncher and company pursued, leading to a showdown in Vector Sigma's chamber, where Hot Rod used the Matrix to become Rodimus Prime again. Skullcruncher and the Decepticons wisely fled, rather than face the combined might of both Rodimus and Optimus Prime. Birth of the Fantastic Double Prime
The Great Transformer War
In the closing days of 2010, while significant Transformer battles were being waged on Earth and across space, Skullcruncher and the other Decepticon Headmasters were running from their Autobot counterparts on the planet Master. The Decepticons appeared to flee by leaping into a chasm, but moments later, they burst up through the ground to catch their pursuers unaware. Unfortunately for the villains, the Autobots were able to sneak away under cover of the dust cloud their emergence created, leaving Weirdwolf and Skullcruncher to mistakenly beat up Mindwipe. The Decepticons soon realized their error, but the Autobots then crashed into them in vehicle mode, ending the fight. At that point, the Decepticon ninja Sixshot arrived and instructed them to follow him back to Chaar. The Decepticons fled into space, but the Autobot Headmasters quickly gave chase aboard the battleship Maximus, heading for Cybertron rejoin the larger Transformer war. The Great Transformer War #3
The Headmasters manga
Shortly after their failure to seize control of Vector Sigma, Galvatron led Skullcruncher and the Decepticon Headmasters in a rather direct plan to destroy Battleship Maximus: They would lure it into space, and then throw a bomb into one of his open doors. Unsurprisingly, this plan met with failure when the speedy Chromedome was able to snatch the bomb right out of Mindwipe's hands before he even had the chance to hurl it. The Headmasters #1
Skullcruncher and the Decepticons later made a return to planet Beast, where they were able to capture Highbrow and Brainstorm. The Decepticon Headmasters wanted to take the two Autobots' transtectors for themselves, but their evil scheme was foiled by the Beastformers' human ally Kane, who threw rocks at them and got them to chase him, thereby giving the Autobots time to escape. The Autobot Headmasters then caught up to their evil counterparts, and blasted them before they could deal Kane any harm. Great Decisive Battle of Planet Beast!
Super-God Masterforce cartoon continuity
Super-God Masterforce cartoon
Archive footage of a battle in space involving Skullcruncher was used to educate the future Headmaster Juniors about the Master Wars. Birth! Headmaster Jrs
Transformers Legends comic
Super-God Masterforce manga
Several years after the Decepticons' departure from Earth, Skullcruncher appeared on Athenia with the other Decepticon Headmasters, working with the new Decepticon Godmasters to disrupt the coronation of Ginrai as Supreme Commander at the behest of their new secret ruler, Devil Z. The Battle Begins! The United Earth-Space Troops
Ladybird Books continuity
The Decepticons, including Skullcruncher, went to Nebulos in search of energy. When they found that there was an endless supply of cosmic energy available at the pole, they moved Scorponok there. The Autobots soon attacked, and Apeface and Skullcruncher were sent out to mount a defense, only to find that the ice under their feet was melting and slippery thanks to the Autobots' lasers. A few moments later, the whole base sank. Decepticons at the Pole
The Transformers Adventure Game Books
Swamp of the Scorpion
Skullcruncher and his Nebulan ally Grax were under the command of Lord Zarak while the later attempted to steal Nebulos's oil. Opposing him was a young Nebulan and the Autobot Highbrow. The outcome of the battles that ensued depended on your decisions! Swamp of the Scorpion
Desert of Danger
Skullcruncher helped his fellow Decepticons Weirdwolf and Mindwipe and their Nebulan partners in a plot to smuggle onto Nebulos an army of Attack Squad robots. Whether or not this plot succeeded depended on the decisions that you made! Strangely, Skullcruncher's own Nebulan ally, Grax, was nowhere to be seen during these events. Desert of Danger
IDW Generation 1 continuity
At some point during the war, Skullcruncher served alongside Krok on board a Decepticon Warworld. Some Of My Best Friends Are Autobots Later, he was part of the Nebulos infiltration unit working for Darkwing and Dreadwind, when Thunderwing attacked the planet. Stormbringer #2 Skullcruncher was less than enthused with the idea of attacking the giant Pretender, but Darkwing insisted they make a showing of protecting their investment in order to avoid Megatron's wrath. Skullcruncher rolled out with Ruckus, Crankcase and Roadgrabber, but was apparently destroyed by an energy blast from Thunderwing. Darkwing and Dreadwind fled Nebulos shortly thereafter. Stormbringer #3
Somehow Skullcruncher managed to survive that and went on to create a new persona for himself as a comedian styled The Self-Hating Decepticon after the war ended. On his No Hard Feelings tour he performed "edgy" material that referenced—amongst other things—the mysterious phase 3 of the infiltration protocol, Megatron's defection to the Autobots and his captaincy of the Lost Light, the Decepticons' strategy regarding Phase Sixers and some Monoformer who named himself after his pet. Thanks to lucrative merchandising deals, he quickly became a billionaire.
Some time later, Crankcase and Fulcrum watched a recording of one of his performances aboard the Weak Anthropic Principle on the planet Tebris VII. Some Of My Best Friends Are Autobots
Transformers United
Skullcruncher was part of a squad of Decepticons that waited in ambush for the Autobots on the planet Nebulos. Hidden away in inner-space, the Decepticons took the small Autobot unit by surprise, but dispersed when their leader Straxus was taken out. The Fierce Fighting on Planet Nebulos
TransTech
Interviewing Grimlock to replace Vector Prime's Axiom Nexus News column, Rook thought Grimlock was hilarious, deeming Grimlock "a real Skullcruncher". Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist
The Power of the Titan Masters
Skullsmasher, Grax, and Rot-Gut travelled to Caminus, where they stole some secret Autobot codes. Pursued by Blaster, Stripes, and Rewind, the Decepticons eluded their pursuers by having Rot-Gut combine with Skullsmasher's body, allowing Skullsmasher to fire a cloud of toxic rust. Skullsmasher was later seen participating in Soundwave's all-out attack on Cybertron. Titans Return: The Power of the Titan Masters
Commercial appearances
- Skullcruncher was among several Transformers who left the war on Cybertron behind, to blast their way to the distant planet Nebulon! After arriving on the alien world and surrendering to the native Nebulons, he removed his head and allowed one to fuse with it. The battle between Autobots and Decepticons then resumed on this new world. Headmaster comic book commercial
- Skullcruncher rushed into battle alongside Mindwipe and Weirdwolf while their Headmasters partners rode atop of their beast modes. They came to blows against their Autobot Headmaster counterparts in the middle of a Nebulan city. Headmasters commercial
- Skullcuncher trained under the watchful eye of Grax. His training mostly involved smashing stone sculptures of their Autobot enemies. Decepticon Headmasters commercial
Games
The Transformers (PS2)
- Voice actor:
While the Autobots were searching the Lazalt Ruins, they found Skullcruncher guarding a large stone door. Asking aloud what took them so long, he transformed from crocodile mode to robot mode and announced that he was gonna chomp them up. Optimus was unimpressed, and Skullcruncher lost the ensuing fight against the Autobots. Skullcruncher fled in beast mode, vowing the Autobots wouldn't get the key necessary to open the door. Optimus Prime was surprised they'd need a key, but an inspection of the door proved it true. Suspecting that Skullcruncher might have the key in question, Optimus sent the Autobots after him. Spotting his pursuers, Skullcruncher transformed back to robot mode and answered Prime's demand for the key by sending a horde of enemies after them. Fighting their way through, the Autobots gave the Headmaster another pounding. Deciding he'd had enough, Skullcruncher returned once more to crocodile mode and retreated, leaving the key behind him. The Transformers
Transformers Legends
Skullcruncher and Snapdragon grew tired of waiting around Decepticon headquarters, and decided to set up a false distress signal to lure Autobots into a trap. Hot Spot, Blades, Groove, and Streetwise responded to the false alarm and, despite the duo's schemes, rebuffed the Decepticons' assault. False Alarm Skullcruncher and Apeface pursued a group of Autobots to Earth with the aim of obtaining the Key to the Plasma Energy Chamber, however the Autobots saw them off with the help of the EDC. Last Stand of the Earth Defense Command
Toys
Generation 1
- Skullcruncher (Headmaster, 1987)
- Japanese ID number: D-85
- Accessories: Grax Headmaster unit, "Demolecularization gun" and sword/tail
- Skullcruncher transforms into a green and pink robotic crocodile, at least according to his packaging; his head implies he's actually an alligator. Skullcruncher includes one of the most bizarre alt mode cockpits among the Headmasters for his partner Grax, a small molded seat at the back of his alt mode mouth below the large canopy that serves as this mode's eyes, his entire upper jaw serving as the hatch to access it. The sword/tail's shape actually makes it look more like a short club.
- In robot mode, his chest panel flips down to reveal a three-stat spring-loaded Tech Spec meter activated when a Headmaster is plugged into his neck. This gimmick works with any other Headmaster "pilot" figure, and will display different levels dependent on which Headmaster figure is plugged in.
Generations
- Skullsmasher (Deluxe Class, 2016)
- Accessories: "Grax" Titan Master, rifle, tail/blaster
- Part of the first wave of Titans Return, Skullsmasher (new name likely due to trademark issues) transforms into a robotic crocodile. He comes with his Titan Master partner Grax, who can fit inside a compartment in Skullsmasher's beast mode back or transform into his robot mode head. As with other Titans Return toys, Skullsmasher can accommodate any compatible Titan Master figure. Unfortunately, many releases of Skullsmasher have loose leg joints and/or hip joints and the soft plastic flap on his back that covers Grax's hatch can be difficult to open. Skullsmasher's tail and gun can be combined together to form what appears to be either an armed speedboat or a gun emplacement for a Leader Class figure's base mode. Grax or any other Titan Master class figure can man it in either case. In robot mode, Skullsmasher's tail can be carried in his hand or plugged into one of his shoulders.
Legends
- Skull (2016-07-23)
- ID number: LG22
- Accessories: "Grax" Headmaster, rifle, tail/blaster, dragon/dinosaur/gun
- Legends Skull is a redeco and a retool of the Titans Return Skullsmasher mold, featuring a paintjob more faithful to the G1 toy, a headsculpt based on the one seen in the The Headmasters cartoon, and also comes with Batora, a redeco of the Titan Master vehicle which originally came with Crashbash.
| Titans Return mold: Crashbash | ||
|---|---|---|
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Titan Master: Accessory: | ||
Merchandise
Transformers Caramel
- Skull (1987)
- A soft-rubber figurine of Skullcruncher was available as part of Kabaya's Transformers Milk Caramel line of "candy toys" in yellow, red or blue. Like all the figures from the Headmasters assortment, the figure was permanently attached to a flat base that had a rubber stamp of Skullcruncher's face and name on its underside.
Notes
- In the television commercial for Marvel Comics' Headmasters limited series, the Autobot and Decepticon Headmasters are shown having different head designs than the ones their Nebulan partners would later turn into. These designs were seemingly never used in any other piece of Transformers media. The models for most of them, however, turned up in the excellent Transformers Generations guidebook.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Skull (スカル Sukaru), Grax (グラックス Gurakkusu, see above), Skullcruncher (The Rebirth, スカルクランチャー Sukarukuranchā)
- French: Broyeur (Canada, "Shredder")
- Italian: Spaccaossa ("Bonecrusher")
- Mandarin: Kū-lǒu (Taiwan Omni Productions dub, 骷髏, "Skull"), È Lóng (China, 鳄龙, "Alligator-saur")
