Mindwipe (G1)
| "Mindwipe" redirects here. For the Decepticon from Revenge of the Fallen , see Mindwipe (ROTF). |
- Mindwipe is a Decepticon Headmaster from the Generation 1 continuity family. Blah!
No one knows the dead quite as well as the Decepticon hypnotist, Mindwipe. A mysterious and mystical one, Mindwipe claims to have the powers to commune with Transformers who have long since left this plane of existence. From Black Sabbaths to seances to super-conductive antennae, Mindwipe knows of many methods to reach those who now rest in peace.
Well...not really. He desperately wants to speak with the departed sparks of dead Decepticons, but all his labors to create antennae and receivers for the departed have had... "limited" success. In reality, all he's picking up are radio broadcasts of old Earth sitcoms, which he's actually become quite fond of. Still, some day, Mindwipe hopes to finally bridge the gap between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead.
Despite those shortcomings, Mindwipe is a formidable opponent, able to hypnotize and control both organic and mechanical lifeforms just by making eye contact, and with an eerie and potent precognitive "sixth sense." He is binary bonded to the Nebulan Vorath.
| “ | The powers of darkness are a more powerful weapon than all the toys your science can muster. | ” |
—Mindwipe, talking all spooky to Vorath, "The Rebirth, Part 2" | ||
- Japanese name: Wipe, Vorath (see below)
- Hungarian name: Agymosó
- French-Canadian name: Amnésiak
- Italian name: Pipistrello
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Generation 1
Mindwipe was one of Scorponok's soldiers on Cybertron. After Fortress 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. After kidnapping the Nebulans who called them to this world, Scorponok gave them to Mindwipe to use for his experiments. Mindwipe removed Monzo from his cage and placed him in front of a machine that enclosed the Nebulan in a polymer membrane bubble. After a shot from Skullcruncher's anti-gravity gun, Monzo went floating up through an opening in the roof, but the bubble popped, prompting Mindwipe to catch Monzo so as to not waste a "good laboratory animal."
But before further experiments could be performed, Lord Zarak, one of their Nebulan prisoners, suggested that the Decepticons binary bond with them to become Headmasters, so that they could match the power of the Autobots who had recently gone under this process themselves. When the Decepticons next met the Autobots in battle, Mindwipe was now bonded with Vorath, and the two sides were evenly matched. To tip the odds, Mindwipe hypnotized members of the Council of Peers and Zarak's daughter, Llyra, into getting enclosed in the same polymer bubbles that Monzo had previously. After the Autobots saved the Nebulans, Mindwipe and the other Headmaster Decepticons shot the Autobots in the backs. Lord Zarak presented himself, Mindwipe, and the others are Nebulos's true heroes. Love and Steel!
The Decepticon Headmasters struck next at the Mercury Gardens of Melanossus, where they faced the Monsterbots. Once the Nebulan partners combined with their Decepticon bodies, the Monsterbots were overwhelmed and forced to retreat. Vorath detached from Mindwipe again when the media arrived, while Zarak explained that even though the Gardens were destroyed in the process, this was a victory for Nebulos. However, Zarak didn't believe his own lies and ultimately led Mindwipe and the other Decepticons offworld to follow the Autobots to Earth. Brothers in Armor!!
Mindwipe detected the signal that the Autobots were drawn to on Earth, and found that it originated from an abandoned Autobot headquarters inside a volcano cavern. But Fortress Maximus's Autobots weren't far, and the Decepticons fought them once again. Mindwipe and the others were stampeded out of the volcano when Fortress Maximus picked up a new Headmaster partner, the Earth human Spike Witwicky. Trial by Fire!
While his scientifically inclined partner Vorath helped Scorponok create Pretender technology, Mindwipe watched silently in bat mode, probably muttering to himself about how magic is totally better. Pretender to the Throne!
Inevitably, Scorponok's band of Earthbound Decepticons met with Ratbat's band of Earthbound Decepticons, and a group including Mindwipe was given a really boring tour by Starscream of Ratbat's island headquarters. When the tour's star attraction, the kidnapped Buster Witwicky, unwittingly let slip that Ratbat was searching for a powerful artifact called the Underbase, Scorponok was enraged. Scorponok took Mindwipe and the others to confront Ratbat for hording such information, and a civil war broke out between the two Decepticon camps. Cold War! Soon the Autobots as well were drawn to the island base, and the Decepticons put aside their differences to fight the surprised Autobots. Mindwipe was quick to maul the hapless Beachcomber. Dark Star
Mindwipe once got really mad at Scorponok for allowing Starscream back onto the Decepticons, so when Starscream went AWOL, Mindwipe ran off and joined Starscream.
Yup. Move along. Nothing to see here.... Eye of the Storm
As part of the plan to overthrow Scorponok, he hypnotised Field Commander Soundwave with the intention of controlling the troops through him... at which point the Autobots poked a gun at him and said they'd really like it if Soundwave was advocating the Autobot-Decepticon alliance. Out of Time!
Earthforce
After having been thrown out of the Decepticon army for trying to hypnotize Scorponok into making him leader, Mindwipe devised a master scheme of his own. He manufactured thousands of thought-sensitive Sleepfast(TM) night lights, selling them to humans on the novelty that they actually turned on or off just by thinking at them. Little did the humans know, however, that repetitive use of the night lights had a subliminal mind-control effect. Over time, Mindwipe would have gained an army of human slaves! Luckily for Humanity, the Autobots Wheeljack and Snarl came to investigate, and they confronted Mindwipe in his storage facility. He was beaten by his own night lights when the Autobots suddenly thought "Lights on!" in a darkened room, turning on thousands of Sleepfasts(TM) at once and temporarily blinding the Decepticon.
Mindwipe was, to coin a phrase, bat-sh*t nuts. The Living Nightlights!
Generation 2
Mindwipe was still a part of the Decepticons after Megatron took back control of the army from Bludgeon. He was involved in the disastrous first encounter between Megatron's troops and Jhiaxus's Cybertronian Empire. After Megatron was literally knocked out of orbit by Jhiaxus and plummeted to the planet below, Mindwipe joined Soundwave, Drag Strip and Weirdwolf in looking for their fallen leader. He was in the midst of voicing the selfish but sensible idea of abandoning Megatron to his fate and gettin' the slag outta there when Drag Strip found their commander. New Dawn
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice actor: Stephen Keener (English), Eiji Itō (Japanese)
Mindwipe was one of the many Decepticons who attacked Autobot City. He used his hypnotic powers to send Lightspeed driving down into a lake. The Rebirth, Part 1
Mindwipe was later one of the Decepticons who underwent binary bonding to become Headmasters. Mindwipe found that his hypnosis could control Vorath, making his binary bonding the most advantageous of the Decepticon/Hive alliance. Mindwipe was also able to use his extra-sensory perception to reveal that Brainstorm was carrying the key to the plasma energy chamber.The Rebirth, Part 2
Japanese cartoon continuity
The Headmasters cartoon
- Voice actor: Naoki Tatsuta (Japanese)
Mindwipe was partnered with Weirdwolf and Skullcruncher under Galvatron's command, and he used his hypnotic attack (which he called his "magic spell") on the Dinobots. He also put Skullcruncher to sleep by mistake. Thicko. Later, he tried to do the same thing to Hot Rod and Hardhead, only to be knocked flat on his back by the Autobot Headmaster. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky
The Headmasters comic
The Headmasters #1Great Decisive Battle of Planet Beast!The Headmasters #2The Headmasters #6
Super-God Masterforce comic
Several years after the Decepticons' departure from Earth, Mindwipe 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
Dreamwave comics continuity
During the Dark Ages, when Optimus Prime and Megatron were believed to have been killed in a space bridge test, Mindwipe was part of the Chaos Trinity that attempted to use dark science to manipulate events in their favor. When the mysterious, frighteningly-powerful being known as The Fallen arrived and offered them dark powers in exchange for their services, they agreed. Fragmentation The three managed to initiate a serious surge in factional engagements, in an attempt to isolate the Angles of Dissolution that the Fallen needed. During their attempt to secure Jetfire, Mindwipe managed to put the Autobot scientist into a trance, while Bludgeon and Bugly put Shockwave out of commission. When Grimlock, another target, surprised them, Mindwipe was confident he could do the same to Grimlock.
He got thrown into a wall for his troubles. The Fallen had to pull their exhaust ports out of the fire. Revelation
When they went to secure Hot Spot, Mindwipe turned several of the Protectobots against their teammates. Confrontation However, Shockwave tracked the Chaos Trinity down, bringing Soundwave, Ravage, the Insecticons, the Seekers, and Trypticon as well. Mindwipe believed that it was time to retreat, but found that Bludgeon had already fled. Mindwipe was then slagged by Shockwave. Conflagration
Toys
Generation 1
- Mindwipe with Vorath (Headmaster, 1987)
- Japanese ID number: D-86
- Accessories: "Vorath" Headmaster trainer, "Viper Pistol"
- Mindwipe transforms into a robotic bat. In this mode, Vorath fits into his chest compartment. The tail gets in the way and prevents the bat from standing in an upright position, unless one swings the tail to the front (as seen in the picture), which, while hilarious looking, isn't the correct orientation. One solution is to unscrew the toy and flip the tail over so it angles upwards. Doing this doubly benefits the beast mode in that the tail now acts as a sort of third leg for stability.
- In robot mode, Vorath forms his head; attaching him activates a tumbler mechanism that displays an abbreviated set of Tech Specs behind the robot-mode chest panel. Mindwipe and Vorath are both cross-compatible with any other Generation 1 Headmaster body/head.
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... except for Mindwipe's. Damn it.
