Hatchet (DOTM)

This article is about the Dark of the Moon Decepticon Dread. For the misinformed professor, see Hatchet (BWU).

Hatchet is a Decepticon Dread from the Dark of the Moon portion of the movie continuity family.

When you meet anything that's going to be human and isn't yet, or used to be human once and isn't now, or ought to be human and isn't, you keep your eyes on it and feel for your hatchet.

Decepticon master strategist Hatchet is most famous for formulating devastating counter-attacks against Autobot defenses. Yet as a member of the Dreads infiltration and assassination team, he also plays another role, taking on the dirtiest jobs available personally and exterminating his targets with a brutal and efficient finality.

Fiction

Dark of the Moon adaptations

Hatchet was one of the many Decepticons stationed on Earth's Moon. When Sentinel Prime was being retrieved from the wreckage of the Ark, he quietly emerged from the Moon's surface and secretly hitched a ride on the Autobots' shuttle back to Earth. Dark of the Moon Dark of the Moon #1

Dark of the Moon film

This is what we call a hatchet job.

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.

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 hundreds 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, the Dreads were sent to pursue the Autobots. After Crowbar disposed of Seymour Simmons, Hatchet and Crankcase leaped to attack, only for the Autobots to break suddenly and deploy their Stealth Force mode. Hatchet was targeted by the Autobot Dino, who embedded his anchored blades into the Decepticon's back, and corralled Hatchet into the firing line of Bumblebee and Sideswipe. After Hatchet was pounded with Autobot ordnance, Dino tossed the Decepticon into the oncoming side of the highway, where he slammed into a passing car and was destroyed. Dark of the Moon

Hatchet’s involvement in the preceding events, or events mostly similar, were also chronicled in the novels "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" and "Transformers: Dark of the Moon: The Junior Novel," the comic mini-series "Transformers: Dark of the Moon Movie Adaptation," and the storybooks "Bumblebee's Best Friend," "Dark of the Moon: Action Pop-ups!" and "Transformers: Dark of the Moon Mix & Match."

Toys

Dark of the Moon

Machines are worshipped because they are beautiful, and valued because they confer power; they are hated because they are hideous, and loathed because they impose slavery.

• Decepticon Hatchet (Cyberverse Commander Class, 2011)

• ID number: Series 1, 007
• TakaraTomy ID number: CV21
• Accessories: 2 attack drones/alpha-rez cannons
• Known designers: Joe Kyde (Hasbro), Hisao Nishimoto (TakaraTomy)

Released in the third wave of Dark of the Moon Cyberverse Commander-class toys, Hatchet transforms into a modified Eurofighter Typhoon jet rather than his on-screen SUV alternate mode. He includes two attack drones that can be carried under his wings in vehicle mode or transformed into two cannons, one single- and one multi-barreled. These cannons can then be combined end-to-end to form a larger two-handled rifle. Despite being a quadruped, his claws are still designed to be able to hold Cyberverse-scale weapons. His jet mode has flip-out landing gear in the nose.

Most likely to save space, his lower legs are not fully transformed in-package (the official photos also depict him mistransformed this way.). The instructions also don't mention it, but Hatchet can stand very well on two legs, being able to hold his weapons in his hands without balance issues.

In an undocumented step of his transformation, the flap behind his cockpit (at the base of his robot mode tail) flips back to cover much of the open space in his torso. In a total design fluke, this cavity is large enough for a Human Alliance pilot figure, making Hatchet function like a Human Alliance toy.

• More information on Hatchet at TFU.info

Buzzworthy Bumblebee

I have a friend, he thought—I have a friend now. A hungry friend, but a good one. I have a friend named fire.

• Hatchet (Deluxe Class, 2022)

• Movie: Dark of the Moon

Buzzworthy Bumblebee Studio Series Hatchet would have finished off the Deluxe-sized Dreads, turning into a Chevrolet Suburban for the first time. Hatchet appears to share some engineering with the previous Dreads in the line. Unlike the other Dreads in the line, he does not come with a weapon.

A stock image of Hatchet's robot mode was uploaded by legit wholesaler NDA Toys on October 13, 2022 but was removed from the listing less than 24 hours later. For over a year there would be no release or even acknowledgment by Hasbro of his existence....until it was revealed that it was canceled by Target due to the poor sales of previous Buzzworthy Bumblebee Deluxes.

Hatchet ultimately survived his cancellation, released in the mainline Studio Series over two years later (below).

Your bargaining posture is highly dubious. Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

Studio Series

• Hatchet (Deluxe Class, 2025)

• Movie: Dark of the Moon
• Hasbro ID number: 117

Studio Series Hatchet was released in the first wave of 2025.

Notably, he was released with the ID number SS-117 as opposed to the canceled figure’s SS-94, which leaves the toyline without the latter number.

Notes

Once you start doing something bad, then it's easy to take the next step—and in the end, you're a moral sewer.

• In early production, the Dreads were announced to be a pair of modified Chevrolet Suburbans. Photos of only two prop vehicles were even taken on-set. In the final movie, all three Dreads use identical Chevrolet Suburbans as their alternate modes, with individual robot modes between the three of them. For the toy line, Hasbro decided to give them individual alternate modes as well, which is why only Crankcase turns into a Suburban.
• An early working name for him was "Dirtbag".
• Several Dread Assaulters identical to Hatchet appear in the Dark of the Moon video game. Likewise, three giant versions of Hatchet with back-mounted guns were present in the opening battle scene of Dark of the Moon.
• At some point during the production of The Last Knight, there was going to be a Decepticon sharing the same body-type as Hatchet that would appear alongside Dreadbot and Berserker. According to Josh Nizzi's Instagram account, this guy would have (possibly) been a member of the Dreads. Ultimately, Hatchet's doppelganger was removed from the final cut.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Hatchet (ハチェット Hachetto)