Headmaster unit
| This article is about . For other uses of "Headmaster", see Headmaster (disambiguation)|The name or term "Headmaster" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Headmaster (disambiguation).}} |
- The Headmaster unit is a piece of technology from the Animated continuity family.
The Headmaster unit is the Headmaster's ultimate invention which he uses to control robots.It possesses a veritable arsenal of on-board weaponry, with grenades, missiles, and lasers, the latter of which can be used for combat or to decapitate his robot victims. The control unit can also transform from head to bipedal robot.
Fiction
Animated cartoon
Henry Masterson grew up tinkering with Sumdac Systems robots and got a job as an engineer for them at a relatively young age. His genius caught the attention of his superiors, and he eventually had the honor of presenting his "Headmaster" project, a human-piloted transforming battle suit that could remove and replace the heads of automatons, to Isaac Sumdac himself. The demonstration went awry when the Headmaster unit proved to be too heavy for his robotic test subject, making it collapse and sending its weaponry towards Detroit. Sumdac, incensed by Masterson's plans to put his invention to military use, fired him in a fit of Donald Trump-esque rage.
Masterson apparently absconded with his Headmaster prototype and went off to sulk and play with his Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Robots. He decided that having his own company would be "wicked sweet", as would exacting his revenge on Sumdac. Needing a robot sturdy enough to support his control unit, he chanced upon a news report on Bulkhead. The emo jerk ambushed and decapitated Bulkhead and subsequently went on a rampage in the Autobot's body.
He demolished several Sumdac police drones en route to a solar power plant. Dubbing himself "the Headmaster", he hijacked local television broadcasts to deliver his ultimatum: Unless he was paid $700 billion, personally delivered by Isaac Sumdac, he would set the solar fusion reactor to overload, which would result in the obliteration of the entire state of Michigan (including Masterson himself). Sumdac arrived in a tractor trailer, accompanied by his daughter, Captain Fanzone, and a small convoy of vehicles. Sumdac offered Henry the money, but the Headmaster grabbed him and announced his intention to take the ransom money and destroy the city of Detroit anyway, then use the threat of future robot attacks to sell his Headmaster units to the military.
When he checked the trailer for the money, he found only the enraged head of Bulkhead. The convoy of vehicles revealed themselves as the Autobots and engaged the Headmaster in combat. After taking a pounding from them, the Headmaster unleashed the weaponry of his control unit. He managed to corner Optimus Prime and began to slice the Autobot leader's head off. Prevented from doing so thanks to an ambush by Bulkhead's severed head, the Headmaster was soon felled by Prowl. Masterson decided to flee, but his flying Headmaster unit was knocked out of the sky by the still-disembodied Bulkhead. With the Autobots distracted by the overloading reactor, the Headmaster transformed his head unit into robot mode and fled. Headmaster
Once Porter C. Powell took control of Sumdac Systems, he was quick to rehire Masterson in the interest of reaping that lucrative arms market for which Isaac lacked the taste. Powell gave Masterson Sari's bedroom as his office while in the process of kicking her out of it. Masterson was quick to make himself comfortable and started planning renovations to hook the place up for some major gameage. Powell wasn't about to let his employee just slack around, though, and put him to work on a new Headmaster Unit project, even giving him Tutor Bot and Sparkplug to outfit with smaller Units and laser-shooting upgrades.
The Headmaster wanted more than just little bots to tinker with, however, and stole Sentinel Prime's body, upgrading it as well. He would have gotten away with it, but Optimus managed to track him down, defeat Sentinel's possessed body, and take the Headmaster to justice. At least, he was almost brought to justice, until Powell showed up and wriggled his employee out of a legal loophole. The Return of the Headmaster
When the Decepticons completed the space bridge that would transport them to Cybertron, Decepticon leader Megatron had Lugnut and Blitzwing retrieve a Headmaster unit from Sumdac Tower to coerce Bulkhead into helping them repair the bridge. A Bridge Too Close, Part I During a battle between the Decepticons and Starscream and his clones, Isaac Sumdac of all people used the Headmaster to body-jack Starscream, only to be decapitated by an unimpressed Megatron. A Bridge Too Close, Part II
Furious that his Headmaster unit had been absconded with, Masterson was unintimated when Sari returned to Sumdac Tower with Isaac in tow, informing the Sumdacs that the Autobots would return his Headmaster unit to him and or "heads would roll". At which point Optimus Prime picked him up from behind and asked for clarification on whose heads would be rolling. Furious at their actions while running the company, Isaac Sumdac immediately fired both Porter C. Powell and Henry Masterson.
Enraged that he had been fired again, Masterson tracked his Headmaster unit to the mine, where he discovered Starscream's body, ready to be taken over. After a brief fight with Bulkhead the next day, Masterson returned to Detroit, then listened in on Isaac Sumdac's phone calls. Learning that Sumdac was heading to meet Sari at Burger Bot, Masterson ambushed the "happy family", only to be interuppted by Optimus Prime again. A struggle followed, destroying the Burger Bot in the process. Finally, Prime taunted Masterson into transforming, saying that a "n00b" like him might have trouble with it. Screaming that nobody called him a "n00b", Masterson iniated a transformation, only for his Headmaster unit to be crushed and shot off Starscream's body when it began. As Starscream's body flew into the river, Masterson was captured by Optimus Prime and turned over to the police. Lets see how far his slang gets him in prison. TransWarped
Following the battle, Masterson's battered Headmaster unit was brought to Isaac Sumdac's laboratory, where the professor expressed distress over how it seemed to be watching him wherever he stood. When Sumdac and Bulkhead started constructing a space bridge in the room, an accident tore a hole in the floor, sending the Headmaster unit plunging through several floors of Sumdac Tower alongside a forklift and a few AllSpark fragments. Reacting to these two components, the fragments gave life to Dirt Boss; a Constructicon with the ability to take control of other Transformers' motor functions. Three's a Crowd
Toys
Animated
- Bulkhead (Leader, 2008)
- A non-transforming Headmaster accessory comes packaged with Bulkhead, able to snap into place over the head of the figure and alter its electronic sound and light gimmicks. Once attached, the Headmaster will scream "Total ownage!" and all of Bulkhead's lights (normally yellow) turn red. The Headmaster can attach to all other Animated Leader class figures, although Megatron's instructions do not refer to this feature, and the Headmaster does not alter his electronics. In comparison, Ultra Magnus's instructions do call out of the gimmick, but the Headmaster still apparently does not unlock any new sounds or lights.
- While box photography show the Headmaster accessory with show-accurate solid pink antennae, the final production version has clear plastic antennae. Although this is presumably intended to utilise a light-piping style technique in order to light up from Bulkhead's flashing lights, it... doesn't work very well.
Notes
- Because the Headmaster unit is not a Transformer, its transformation sound is very different.
- Derrick J. Wyatt incorporated a number of features common to a number of Headmaster heads into Masterson's robot, although his pointy bits and coloration are a loose homage to Loafer.
- Wyatt stated that the anime series Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann did not have any influence on the design of Headmaster's head-robot, as Wyatt had not seen the series till most of the first season of Animated was complete. He expressed regret, as in retrospect, he'd have liked to include some of the Gurren Lagann design elements.<ref>Comments section of "Back from Botcon" in Derrick Wyatt's blog</ref> (eventually he did)
- Masterson is every phony Internet tough guy you've ever met.
References
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