Brakedown (Cybertron)
| The name or term "Brakedown" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Brakedown (disambiguation). |
- Brakedown is an Velocitronian Autobot from the Cybertron portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Brakedown might be the oldest living inhabitant of Velocitron the Speed Planet. The retired racer sometimes acts like a doddering old fool... okay, he acts like that a lot... which has led a great many to believe he's just a stupid old mech whose transmission has fallen out far too often.
But there's a ton of knowledge inside his head, hard-learned from years and years and years of racing and winning against the best. He's old because he's hard. His manner is pretty easygoing and peaceful, and he'll often say seemingly innocuous things without thinking that hit others close to home, making them re-examine themselves and their actions. This happens often enough to give the impression that the "forgetful old coot" appearance is all an act, especially since he tends to follow such statements with the self-deprecating "but I'm just an old man, don't mind me." And he's more than willing to put the pedal to the metal and race when needed.
Currently, he's accompanied by the young Clocker, who has big dreams of being a champion racer himself. How Brakedown got talked into this arrangement is anyone's guess.
- Japanese name: Autolander
- Russian name: Надлом
Fiction
Cybertron cartoon
- Voice actor: Michael Dobson (English), Kenichi Mochizuki (Japanese}
Brakedown is one of the oldest living Transformers on Velocitron, the Speed Planet. Because of this, Megatron sent his local hooligans, Ransack and Crumplezone, to work him over in case he knew anything about the Cyber Planet Key. The two punks confronted Brakedown and his apprentice, Clocker, out in the desert. As they were preparing to rough him up, however, the planet-hopping Autobot known as Hot Shot intervened on their behalf, driving off the thugs. Space After hearing of the Autobots' mission to find the Cyber Planet Key, Brakedown insisted that Clocker accompany Hot Shot and Red Alert on their search. Rush
Once Hot Shot deduced that the trophy for the Planet Cup race was in fact the Cyber Planet Key, Brakedown and Clocker did everything they could to help Hot Shot prep himself for winning that race. They removed his self-analysis modules in order to lighten his overall weight. Speed Later, however, Brakedown and Clocker decided they had made Hot Shot too light as he literally started to fly around the turns. Time
Hot Shot continued pushing himself too hard, in both training and upgrades, so that he was seriously burnt out by the time Optimus Prime and the other Autobots arrived on Velocitron. Brakedown allowed them to rest and recuperate at his place while Optimus read Hot Shot the riot act for getting involved with the locals. As Hot Shot began wallowing in self-pity, Landmine tore him down a little more with some harsh words. Red Alert couldn't believe what he was hearing, but Brakedown explained that Landmine did right; Hot Shot's ego normally wouldn't have let him give up, and Landmine's criticism gave him just the shot he needed to come back from the brink. Brakedown and Clocker agreed to help the Autobots run defense for Hot Shot while he raced for the Planet Cup. Hero Brakedown and the others tried to keep Ransack and Crumplezone from causing too much chaos while Hot Shot concentrated on beating Override and Dirt Boss. Race
The racing continued with a more unusual obstacle route and cityscape for the course. The first obstacle reduced the track to a single, narrow lane through a series of curves. Brakedown flew his old man flag proudly on those curves, taking up the road and blocking Crumplezone from passing him. The veteran racer held strong throughout the race and finished within the top six competitors. Detour As the next leg of the tournament began, Brakedown lined up with Hot Shot and the other Speed Planet racers. Savage The next race was through the Diablo Desert, making heat the most important obstacle to overcome. Well, that and the giant sand vortexes of doom. During the race, Hot Shot got himself trapped in one of the quicksand-like pits, and Brakedown came along to rescue him. Brakedown couldn't extend far enough to get Hot Shot from the mouth of the pit, and so he removed the belt from his coolant system to increase his reach. Hot Shot was pulled to safety, but as they continued through the course, the searing heat inevitably caused Brakedown to falter now that his coolant system was down. Hot Shot almost dropped out of the race because he refused to finish without Brakedown, but the old racer reminded him of how important this race, this mission was to the entire universe. Sending Hot Shot on his way, Brakedown waited in the desert for the rescue teams to pull him out. (Yes, yes, Brakedown had a breakdown. You're so funny for pointing that out...) Sand Brakedown continued to work with Hot Shot's pit crew for the rest of the tournament. Champion
After Hot Shot won the tournament and the Autobots successfully collected the Cyber Planet Key, Brakedown and Clocker remained on Velocitron while Override actively joined Prime's team in the search for the other Cyber Planet Keys. After Starscream stole the Omega Lock and inserted the third Cyber Planet Key himself on Earth, it opened a Space Bridge tunnel all the way from Earth to Cybertron and the black hole, manifesting at Speed Planet and Jungle Planet along the way. Brakedown and Clocker were seen warily observing the black hole as it materialized in the skies over Velocitron.Revelation
At Override's request, Brakedown and Clocker were able to locate the legendary starship Ogygia, which first brought the Transformers to Velocitron millennia ago. The Autobots were then able to use the starship to travel to Gigantion after Starscream in the Atlantis. Warp The two were later seen regarding the black hole with Dirt Boss, as Primus continued his efforts to hold back the expansion. City
As Galvatron claimed the power of the united Omega Lock, and the threat of the giant black hole reached its apex, Brakedown and Clocker joined Override and the entire population of Velocitron as Autobot warriors standing at Optimus Prime's side against the forces of evil. Homecoming In the battle that followed, Galvatron super-charged the few Decepticons who remained loyal to him. Brakedown and the other Velocitron warriors were forced to compete against a giant-sized Crumplezone. Despite the Decepticon's newfound power, though, Brakedown and the other smaller Transformers maintained the speed and maneuverability that defined their planet, and beat Crumplezone back and forth around the track. End
Following the destruction of the black hole, Brakedown and the other Velocitronians helped maintain the planetary thrusters which brought Jungle Planet back into its proper orbit. Unfinished Another race was held on Velocitron to choose the planet's new champion, and Hot Shot won once again. Brakedown decided to join the new Space Bridge initiative Optimus Prime had conceived, and crewed aboard the Hyperborea with Evac and Backstop. Beginning
Cyber Key Code content
Brakedown has been training Velocitronian racers for close to a million years. He even trained Override and made sure she became the leader of Velocitron.
Toys
Cybertron
- Brakedown (Scout-class, 2005)
- Japanese ID number: GC-13
- Accessories: Engine-saber, Velocitron Cyber Key
- Part of the Speed Planet theme, Brakedown transforms into a Cybertronic (Velocitronic?) funny-car. His front engine block, which becomes his robot-mode weapon, contains a Cyber Planet Key-activated flip-out blade, though activating this while the block is in its vehicle-mode placement is pretty much out of the question thanks to the positioning of the key jack. He comes with a silver-bordered Speed-style Cyber Planet Key; the Hasbro version has the Key Code "s5f3" stamped on the back.
- The Hasbro and Takara versions of Brakedown have some slight color differences; among others, the Hasbro version uses metallic copper paint for detailing as opposed to Takara's dark brown. Hasbro Brakedown also has an additional Autobot sigil on his robot mode that the Takara version lacks.
- Optimus Prime (Bonus bundle, 2006)
- Accessories: Engine-saber, Velocitron Cyber Key
- Late in the Cybertron line, Wal-Mart got exclusive cases of Leader-class toys with a bonus Scout-class toy attached to the top. The original Brakedown was one of these freebies, affixed to the original-deco version of Optimus Prime.
- Brakedown GTS (Scout-class, 2006)
- Accessories: Engine-saber, Velocitron Cyber Key
- Brakedown was redecoed for the late Cybertron line in blues and grays, an homage to the first "really old fart" toy-character in Transformers, Generation 1 Kup, due to the vehicle mode being a partial homage to Kup's appearance in The War Within. He also got a new Key Code, "s9k1".
Universe (2003)
- Brakedown (Scout, 2007)
- Accessories: Engine-saber, Velocitron Cyber Key
- Brakedown was one of several Cybertron Scout-class toys re-released on Universe card-backs and sold through discount chains like Kay-Bee Toy Works. This release is identical to the US original.
Universe (2008)
- Brakedown (Scout, 2010)
- Series: Cybertron Series
- Accessories: Engine-saber, Velocitron Cyber Key
- Brakedown would see a straight re-release again in the 2008 Universe toyline, though oddly enough not until well after the line had vanished from shelves. Brakedown, Brushguard and Backstop appeared as a special display in late 2010 at Walmart stores, with a price tag of a whopping $4 a pop.
