Longarm (Movie)
| The name or term "Longarm" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Longarm (disambiguation). |
- Longarm is an Autobot and a mass-produced drone-unit from the 2007 movie franchise in the live-action film continuity family.
Longarm is a chummy, nice, all around guy. "It never hurts to help" is his creed, and he enjoys working on protecting, repairing, and saving. After all, that's why he's an Autobot. He's almost too nice... he just can't figure out Decepticons at all. To be that angry, mean, treacherous, destructive, or emo, it all just seems like a huge waste of energy and time. But so long as he can protect his friends, and make them smile, then he can smile right back.
There's also units of drones that convert into tow-trucks of the same name. Both the Autobot and Decepticon armies make use of these drones, which are solid, dependable fighters, and can be particularly dangerous.
Fiction
Titan Magazines Transformers movie comics
In an alternate reality where the Decepticons conquered Earth, Longarm was part of the Autobot reinforcements. He understandably thought they were a wee bit doomed, unsure of how they were expected to defeat the vast Decepticon legions. Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 1 Nevertheless, he joined the others in landing on Earth, but in the battle at Savannah, Georgia, he was gunned down by the drone hordes. Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 4 His unmoving body had to be removed from the Decepticon facility by Ironhide. Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 5
Once repaired, he joined the other Autobots in constant defensive actions against the Decepticons, including protecting San Diego alongside Ironhide. Dark Spark
When the Autobots were fully mobilized to Cybertron to secure Nucleon, Longarm showed he'd developed heavy pessimism after his series of ordeals, grimly stating that it was likely the Nucleon was used up by the Decepticons and Earth was doomed. He was made pilot of the Straxus, and found out Earth was doomed when Unicron teleported into the solar system and shot the Straxus down... Return to Cybertron: Part 3
After Earth was not-doomed, Longarm was briefly seen entering the Autobot ship as they were ordered off Earth. Revolution Part 1
IDW Transformers movie comics
Following the destruction of Megatron and the All Spark in Mission City, Sector Seven took custody of the inactive Longarm and Salvage during cleanup operations. Alliance issue 1 They were taken to a secret base in the Nevada desert. The Reign of Starscream #3
The Veiled Threat prequel novel
Longarm was a grizzled old veteran from Cybertron who joined the Earth-bound Autobots. He seemed to genuinely enjoy being on Earth and liked his new home, to the point of using his headlights to play with feral cats while in tow truck mode. He and Knock Out faced off against several Decepticons in South America. The Veiled Threat
Longarm's whereabouts during the events of Revenge of the Fallen are unknown.
Toy bios
Template:Notemoviebio Longarm was brought to life by the Allspark during the battle of Mission City. Just minutes old, Longarm, driven by Mikaela Banes, came to the aid of Bumblebee who was injured and lost the use of his legs. He drove Bumblebee down the streets of Mission City while Bumblebee continued the battle against the Decepticons. Final Stand toy bio
As one of the "two newest Autobot recruits on Earth", Longarm joined Breakaway in hunting down Sideways and Rampage. While Breakaway fought Rampage, Longarm went after Sideways, chasing him through the streets in vehicle mode. The result of this battle is unknown. Autobot Strike Mission toy bio
Games
Battle for the Allspark online game
Longarm units have good Attack & Defense capabilities, but little on speed. The two sides' drones are differentiated by little more than the make of their noggins; Autobot versions use a facemask-with-optics model, while Decepticons have a lens-head version. Battle for the Allspark
Transformers: The Game
Longarms are particularly dangerous foes that appear many times against both Autobot and Decepticon. They are capable of swinging the tow-arms on their backs in a wide circle, extending their wrecker-hooks, which results in a devastating slam attack that can send even the larger Transformers sprawling. Since they are also shielded against most artillery in robot mode, this attack can only be interrupted by hurling something at them.
Aside from the previously mentioned facial differences, Autobot Longarms are white with blue detailing while Decepticon versions are white with yellow detailing. Transformers The Game (console)
Toys
Transformers (2007)
- Longarm (Deluxe, 2007)
- Japanese ID number: MA-15
- Accessories: Missile
- Longarm transforms into a Ford F-350 tow truck, capable of towing another toy thanks to his hook-arm. This arm becomes a hand-held "quagma cannon" spring-loaded missile launcher in robot mode that is affixed to his right hand via a screw. The missile launcher can also be used in vehicle mode, as a notch is cut out of the front bumper, presumably for making surprise attacks (since other drone characters have similar weapons). There is a single, nigh-insignificant automorph feature; the emergency lights on top of the gun/tow rig are geared to fold simultaneously. This makes Blackout's knees almost look interesting.
- Unlike all of the other "drone" toys in the line, Longarm's robot mode is totally different from the CG design developed for the game; even his head resembles neither the Autobot or Decepticon drone heads. And by "totally different," we mean "has Generation 1 Hoist's head." Longarm's designer, Alex Kubalsky, was forced to make up his own transformation scheme and robot design since Activision's reference materials had not arrived in time. When it eventually did, he altered the chest and arms of his toy design to more closely match the game design. Obviously, he left the head alone.
- The gun is not meant to be removable, but is easily unscrewed. The loose gun won't fit on the right hand without the screw, but will peg into the left hand via the connection used to hold the gun/crane steady in vehicle mode. The figure is still capable of full transformation and the loose crane fits tightly in vehicle mode. It is however difficult to transform him while keeping the loose gun attached to his left hand.
- Longarm features a minor mis-assembly problem, in that the strut between the crane section and the hook itself is reversed. It is easily fixed by popping off the hook and turning it around, then unscrewing the crane part and flipping the strut. This allows the gun to fit together much better, as depicted on the packaging.
- This mold was redecoed into Revenge of the Fallen Hoist.
- Towed to Safety (Multi-pack, UK 2007)
- Accessories: Missile
- This set, available in the UK in 2007, features an unaltered Deluxe class Longarm figure and a Deluxe class 1976 Camaro Bumblebee figure. The window box features a diorama background of the battle in Mission City that was also used in the Bumblebee Vs. Barricade pack.
- Final Stand (Screen Battles, 2007)
- Japanese ID number: SB-02
- Accessories: Missile
- This Screen Battles pack comes with a Longarm figure redecoed in the same paint job as the tow truck Mikaela Banes uses to tow Bumblebee to safety. The "Orson's Towing" markings have been replaced by the "Mike's Towing" markings seen on the actual truck used in the movie. Longarm's interior features a non-removable figurine of Mikaela where the driver's seat would be, plugged into one of the screw holes in the dashboard piece. The pack comes with a battle-damaged posable Bumblebee figure similar to the Robot Replicas toy.
- This set comes in a special window box featuring a diorama background of the battle in Mission City.
Revenge of the Fallen
- Autobot Strike Mission (Deluxe class figure multipack, 2009)
- Accessories: Missile
- Available as a Sam's Club-exclusive, Longarm was packed with Revenge of the Fallen Breakaway, Rampage and a "battle damaged" version of Sideways.
Merchandise
3D Battle-Card Game
- Longarm (3D Battle Card, 2007)
- Card number:
- In the 3D Battle-Card Game, the Longarm is on the Autobot side, but features the Decepticon-style head. Pieces punched out from two different cards can be assembled to form a tow-truck or a robot, while a third double-sided card gives its stats and attacks for each mode. He uses the same piece layout as Bonecrusher, just turned around in vehicle mode so the extension is in the back.
Notes
- Artist Ken Christiansen designed Longarm, along with the other new characters in the Transformers - The Game and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - The Game video games. Christiansen says on his blog that at the time, he didn't know the tow truck character he was designing for the video game was going to become a toy, and apologises to TakaraTomy designer Alex Kubalsky, who designed the Longarm toy without any reference images from Activision, the publisher of the Transformers movie video games.
- Longarm's vehicle mode is modeled after the tow truck Mikaela Banes uses in the movie to carry the damaged Bumblebee into battle. While the markings and paint job are similar, the truck in the film is of GMC make (specifically, an older model of Topkick, similar to Ironhide's alternate mode), while the toy is modeled on a Ford F-350.
- While the movie tow truck has "Mike's Towing" on the doors, the game model and carded release of the Deluxe-class toy have "Orson's Towing" instead, a reference to Transformers design director Aaron Archer's old screen name "ORSON" on the TFW2005.com boards, as confirmed at a BotCon panel. The Screen Battles multi-pack version returns to "Mike's" markings, however.
- Longarm's first appearance in official fiction (or a bot matching the appearance of his toy) was actually in the second issue of the Transformers Movie Prequel fighting in one of the flashback war scenes. Only in this brief cameo, he seemed to be a Decepticon.
External links
- Longarm concepts and final rendering, on Ken Christiansen's blog.
- Longarm at TFU.info
- 3D Battle Card Game at Wizards of the Coast
