Skullcruncher (G1)
- Skullcruncher is a Decepticon Headmaster from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Skullcruncher is both slow on his feet and slow witted. He has a nasty habit of grinding his teeth before attacking his foes, making a noise so loud and obnoxious it tips the enemy off to his whereabouts instantly. Because of this personality defect, few Decepticons wish to be partnered with him.
What Skullcruncher does do efficiently is eat. While he thinks they taste rather yucky, Skullcruncher will gleefully scarf down as many Autobots as he can during battle, often ceasing to fight until he's finished chewing his meal. He wouldn't want to choke or anything.
Skullcruncher is binary bonded to the Nebulan Grax.
- Japanese name: Skull, Grax (see below)
- Italian name: Spaccaossa ("Bonecrusher")
- French-Canadian name: Broyeur ("Shredder")
- Chinese name (Taiwan version of RTM dub): Kū-lǒu (骷髏, "Skull")
- Chinese name (China): E Long (鳄龙, "Alligator-saur")
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Skullcruncher was one of Scorponok's soldiers on Cybertron. He was first seen eagerly driving a group of Autobot prisoners towards the smelting pool. 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 transceiver 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 accomodate 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! Skullcruncher and the Decepticon Headmasters had another brief battle with their counterparts Worlds Apart! but, 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 convertor, 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 remained a part of the Decepticons throughout the next few months. He was seen running in panic with many other Autobots and Decepticons at the sight on Unicron on Cybertron. 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!
American cartoon continuity
- 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 (Nebulon? Whatever). 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
Japanese cartoon continuity
- Voice actor: Kōji Totani (Japanese)
The Headmasters cartoon
The Headmasters manga
IDW comics continuity
Skullcruncher was part of the Nebulos infiltration unit, working for Darkwing and Dreadwind when Thunderwing attacked the planet. Stormbringer issue 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 issue 3
Toys
Generation 1
- Skullcruncher (Headmaster, 1987)
- Japanese ID number: D-58
- 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 aligator. 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 actualy makes it look more like a short club.
Trivia
- 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.
- Skullcruncher did not transform into an alligator mode in his IDW appearance, but rather a wheeled tank. Also, he probably had not binary bonded with anyone.
