Hook (G1)
| The name or term "Hook" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Hook (disambiguation). |
- Hook is a Decepticon Constructicon from the Generation 1 continuity family.
The snob of the Constructicons, Hook considers himself an artist. He looks upon the rest of the Decepticons almost as peasants, beneath him to a degree. Though full of himself, Hook is a master craftsman, having truly earned his insufferable ego. His high standards that he holds himself and others to means he takes extra care to ensure even the most simple of jobs is completed to the nth degree of perfection. Although Megatron acknowledges Hook's incredible skill, he gets impatient with the time it takes Hook to finish his work. Hook cannot understand the frustration at the delays this causes, he just sees it as doing the job right.
Hook condescends to join his fellow Constructicons in forming Devastator. It is only fitting that he should form the head and shoulders.
Fiction
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice actor: Neil Ross (English), Yoku Shioya (Japanese), Masashi Ebara (Japanese, The Transformers: The Movie only), Guillermo Romano (Latin American)
Hook, who was evil, helped build Megatron. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4 Later, Megatron used the Robo-Smasher to make Hook, who was good, evil. The Secret of Omega Supreme Finally, Megatron built Hook, who, with his fellow Constructicons, would attempt to deal with Teletraan I, only to be thwarted by the Dinobots. Bonecrusher would then reveal the Constructicons' ability to combine by forming Devastator, who was blasted by Optimus Prime into lava. Heavy Metal War
Hook and the other Constructicons would later appear in New York City, bringing down, then re-erecting the Empire State Building as a Cybertronian fortress. In the time between, he dismantled Optimus Prime, so it was a busy day for him. City of Steel He later helped build the Transfixatron. Before a second Constructicon device could be used to destroy the powerless Autobots that the Transfixatron had stuck in vehicle mode, they were rescued, and Hook and the other Constructicons were defeated by their own Transfixatron. The Autobot Run
"Uh oh. He's waking up. Better get him back to the subway station,"
The Constructicons then built a giant drill to tap into Earth's core, although Hook had to reprimand Scavenger for almost messing it up. During the mission, however, the Constructicons got dominator discs snuck onto them by a group of Autobots, with Wheeljack blasting one onto Hook with his shoulder cannon. When the Constructicons next formed Devastator, the Autobots activated the discs, taking control of the combiner and forcing him to defeat the other Decepticons. They then took Devastator back to Autobot headquarters, where Hook separated from him to help repair Jazz while simultaneously bragging about his skill. Eventually, Megatron nullified the dominator discs' effects, bringing the Constructicons back into Decepticon control just in time to stop their own out-of-control drill from destroying the planet. The Core
Hook, led by Scrapper, convinced Hoist and Grapple that they wanted to aid the two Autobots in a construction project to build a solar tower. Megatron was not at all happy to hear about this, but the Constructicons explained that it was just a ruse, and that they would turn the tower over to him when it was complete. They did, but the structure was subsequently ruined in a battle between Devastator and an attacking force of Autobots. The Master Builders A few Constructicons, including Hook, came with Megatron as he searched for their crashed spaceship in the jungles of South America. When they found it, Hook let Megatron borrow his cyberforceps so that he could cut loose the ship's powersource, the Heart of Cybertron. Hook was subsequently ordered to install the Heart inside Megatron himself, which he did flawlessly. Microbots
Hook and the other Constructicons later participated in an all-out battle against the Autobot forces, but in the aftermath everyone but Bonecrusher lay damaged on the ground. Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2 They were back in tip-top shape soon enough, which was good since all the other Decepticons were suffering from cybertonium depletion. Hook and the others took care of a shipment of cybertonium sent from Cybertron, but failed to stop the Dinobots from using the space bridge. Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1
Hook and the Constructicons later went into space to mine an asteroid. Omega Supreme, who had a vendetta against them, followed them and very nearly defeated Devastator. The Secret of Omega Supreme After Blitzwing and Astrotrain incapacitated Megatron and Starscream, the former promised to share leadership with the Constructicons if they helped build him a "zone defense"—a gigantic labyrinth outside his the football arena the Triple Changer had taken to be headquarters. Everyone but Scrapper ended up getting lost in their own maze, but eventually found their way back to Blitzwing and demanded their share of the bargain. When Blitzwing refused, they merged into Devastator and attacked him, but soon enough Megatron returned and defeated both of them. Triple Takeover When Starscream went against Megatron with his Combaticons, the Constructicons were called in against them, but Devastator was defeated quite utterly by Bruticus. Starscream's Brigade
Present at the Battle of Autobot City, Hook helped to breach the Autobot defenses as part of Devastator, who withstood an Autobot attack. After a second attack by the Dinobots, Hook was not seen again until the confrontation on Astrotrain over who should lead the Decepticons after Megatron's defeat. He believed that Soundwave was an uncharismatic bore and that nobody would follow him. Rumble did not take kindly to his comments. Hook and the other Constructicons made it back to Cybertron to be present at Starscream's becoming the new Decepticon leader. After a fanfare and the death of Starscream at the hands (or cannon) of Galvatron, Hook and his fellow surviving Decepticons joined in the hunt for the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. The Transformers: The Movie
However, Galvatron was vanquished and the Decepticons were driven off Cybertron. Hook and Constructicons were forced to take refuge on Chaar alongside most other Decepticons. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1 Eventually, the Quintessons offered them energy in change for attacking a group of Autobots on Goo, and the starved Decepticons happily agreed. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3 When Galvatron returned and allied himself with the Quintessons, Hook and the Constructicons were tasked with building Trypticon out of a human city. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4
The Constructicons proceeded to build a giant engine capable of moving an asteroid, but the asteroid was destroyed and instead they fell onto the planet of Eurythma. Carnage in C-Minor During the Decepticon assault on Paradron, Hook and the Constructicons tried to kill Ultra Magnus and Sandstorm, but failed. Fight or Flee They were briefly seen helping the Predacons attack Broadside in the Sea of Japan The Burden Hardest to Bear, followed by the Decepticon attack on Cybertron aiming to infiltrate the Plasma Energy Chamber. The Rebirth, Part 1
The Headmasters cartoon
Hook and the Constructicons were stationed on Earth in 2011, under the command of Sixshot. They attempted to prevent Ultra Magnus from sending reinforcements to Cybertron to help the Autobots fend off Galvatron's siege on Vector Sigma. Hook and his squad were ganging up on the Trainbots until Metroplex arrived and shooed them off with his superior firepower. Having failed to stop the Autobot reinforcements from departing, the Constructicons followed them to Cybertron. As Devastator, they tried to shoot Superion in the back, but Optimus Prime foiled their aim, making them hit Abominus instead. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky Devastator was involved in a combiner shootout on Cybertron until the Battleship Maximus arrived and annihilated the Decepticon combiners. The Mystery of Planet Master
Hook and the Constructicons were guarding the Decepticon Space Bridge on Earth, but failed miserably when Twincast single-handedly fought them off and stole a ride on the bridge. The Great Cassette Operation
Zone OVA, comic and story pages
Seeking to create a Decepticon Zone to counter the Autobot Zone, Decepticon Emperor Violen Jiger gathered together the Nine Great Demon Generals, upgrading them with powerful new armor and weaponry, then sent them forth to conquer planets. Hook was among those summoned, but only in the form of Devastator. Zone Part 1 Transformers: Zone Enter the New Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas!
Marvel Comics continuity
Generation 1
Early in the Transformers' war on Earth, Shockwave used the stolen power of the Creation Matrix to give life to the first of a new generation of Decepticon warriors, the Constructicons. Hook and the other Constructicons were immediately given a mission upon their coming online—construct a communications tower to transmit a message to Cybertron. A truckstop was raided for raw materials, which attracted the ire of trucker Bomber Bill, who, with the aid of the Autobots, managed to destroy the tower Hook and the other Constructicons had built. The Next Best Thing to Being There!
Hook and the Constructicons, after troubleshooting their union as Devastator, were sent by Shockwave to abduct Buster Witwicky. Their attack was called off to regroup when Soundwave discovered Buster held the rest of the Creation Matrix in his head. Devastation Derby!
After Megatron's retaking of Decepticon command, Hook and the other Constructicons were charged with building perimeter defences around their headquarters located at the base of a coal strip mine in eastern Wyoming. Devastator's services were again required when the Autobots staged a surprise attack, but they retreated once they had what they needed. Command Performances!
When Galvatron came back in time to 1986, he summarily dispatched Megatron and forced the Constructicons to help him in constructing a massive energy cannon which would be useful to him in the future. Despite working on his project, Hook and the others showed no other loyalty to Galvatron, and remained out of the fighting until the future Decepticons returned to their own time. Target: 2006
During Ratbat's command, an attack was ordered on the combined Autobot forces on Earth's moon while Blaster and Grimlock dueled for leadership. Under cover of battle, Hook and the other Constructicons retrieved the remains of several fallen and captured Decepticons. Totaled!
Earthforce
With Soundwave in command, Hook joined a massive Decepticon offensive against the Autobot Earthbase. Their goal was to kill some Autobots, while also distracting them as Starscream looted a human oil tanker in the Gulf of Mexico. Both goals proved fruitless, and the Decepticons were driven off. Divide and Conquer!
Marvel UK future timelines
When the Decepticons were forced into a suicidal assault on Autobase by Scourge and Cyclonus in 2008, Hook was among the many Decepticons seen in combat with the Autobots. The Legacy of Unicron!
Generation 2
Hook was seen onboard the Warworld among the Decepticons rallied by Megatron against Jhiaxus's Cybertronian Empire. New Dawn
Timelines Classics comics
Both Hook and Mixmaster were curiously absent from the Constructicons, with the enigmatic Hightower in their place. It's unclear why this was, but Hightower himself joked about stripping enough spare parts off of Grimlock to "build a new Hook." Crossing Over: Part 6
Dreamwave comics continuity
Nine million years ago, Hook and the Constructicons were helping Megatron in his plot to turn Cybertron into a mobile juggernaut, raging throughout the universe. He defended the engine controls alongside Thrust and Rumble against Grimlock's commandoes, but eventually gave up and scattered before the big boom. The War Within issue 6 Sometime later, he and the Constructicons were the first to break the Crisis Intervention Accord during the Dark Ages, joining up with Ratbat and the Ultracons in their Devastator form, and doing battle with Defensor and the Wreckers in the Tagan Heights. Escalation The Constructicons were eventually defeated, though the conflict devastated a large portion of Cybertron's biggest manufacturing area. Devastation
At some point after the initial launch of the Nemesis, Hook and the Constructicons wound up on Earth during the 1980's and began working with Megatron and his faction of Decepticons on that planet. Unfortunately, they were eventually captured and detained during Operation: Liberation in 1998, when the united human and Autobot forces brought them down. Earth's triumph turned to tragedy in 1999, however, as the initial flight of the Ark II back to Cybertron exploded in mid-air, apparently destroying all the Transformers on board. When the Decepticons reawoke in 2002, Hook was part of the initial assault on San Francisco along with the rest of the Constructicons as Devastator. Prime Directive issue 4 Despite their victory over the counterpart combiner, Superion, the Constructicons were eventually brought low by Optimus Prime himself. Prime Directive issue 5
Soon revived by Starscream's good graces, Hook and the Constructicons loyally served under the former Decepticon lieutenant commander after Megatron disappeared off the face of the Earth. The "spin the bottle" leadership of the Constructicons apparently fell to Hook in these days, and he and his team began operating out of Las Vegas, where Starscream had set up a base of operations called "New Centurion", after his home city-state on Cybertron. In defending New Centurion, Hook coordinated his dutiful minions Scrapper and Mixmaster against the invading forces of Grimlock and his Autobot comrades. The lofty Constructicon attempted to direct the battle from the air, but Prowl managed to knock Hook out of the sky, physically grappling with him and pulling the surgeon down to the ground below. Then Grimlock stepped on his head. It hurt. A lot. Hardwired
Megatron eventually returned to Earth, but Hook and the Constructicons owed Starscream for reconstructing them, and so remained loyal to him when the Decepticons split into two factions. Of course, this only meant they were among the first to be captured by the Keepers when those aliens took over Las Vegas and turned Starscream into their puppet. Trapped behind an impenetrable force dome, Hook and the Constructicons attempted to batter their way out as Devastator using sheer brute force, until Skywarp offered a better idea. Reconverting into their separate modes, the Constructicons dug a tunnel out beneath the force field, enabling Starscream's faction to join the final battle against the Keepers. Acting as Devastator, they were too far away from Optimus Prime and his Matrix-induced force shield when the American nuclear assault was dropped on the Keepers, and were blasted into pieces. Annihilation
The nuclear blast left Devastator fused into his singular robot mode, leaving him unable to split back into Hook and his other components. Eventually, Devastator fell into the Void along with Omega Sentinel in the final conflict with the Keepers, and was left in stasis lock, drifting in the vacuum of space, after the Sentinel destroyed the Keepers' power source and shattered the Void back into real space-time. The starship Bounty, on a secret space mission from Earth, came across Devastator's remains and planned to tow him back to Earth. Fusion
The pieces of Hook and the Constructicons fell under the control of Earth Defense Command, and were held in their Roswell facility for study. Generation One issue 0
Devil's Due G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers continuity
The ruthless terrorist organization known as Cobra dug dozens of Autobots and Decepticons out of their four-million-year resting place and began rebuilding them into a Cobra-controlled army. However, with Wheeljack and Bumblebee's help, the mind-controlled Transformers were awakened, and a very angry Hook crushed the Cobra machine he was carrying before moving onto the humans that had been controlling him. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers issue 3 After capturing Doctor Mindbender, Hook sorta felt like playing wishbone with the human, but opted for dropping him into Mixmaster's mixing drum instead. Unfortunately, he was robbed of this pleasure when Soundwave arrived and took the doctor to help him work the SPS Satellite. The Constructicons were subsequently ordered to defend the satellite's controls from the attacking Autobots and G.I. Joes. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers issue 4 Hook and the others combined into Devastator to fight off the enemies, but the giant was overwhelmed and defeated relatively quickly. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers issue 5
IDW comics continuity
After the Senate cut back significantly on the need for sentient workers in the realm of manual labor, Hook and the Constructicons found themselves out of work. They found new employment, however, in the underground gladiator tournaments of Kaon. Instead of personally participating in the death sports, the Constructicons maintained the arena itself, creating a new stadium at random locations just hours before each match began, using nothing more than the raw materials at hand. Megatron Origin issue 2 As Megatron's plans moved from gladiatorial combat to insurrection, Hook and the Constructicons turned their talents from arena building to weapon modifications. When the Seekers joined Megatron, Hook modified them to possess onboard weaponry. Megatron Origin issue 3
As the war began to sweep across Cybertron, Hook and the Constructicons remained loyal followers of Megatron. Four million years ago, Hook was working with Soundwave and his Mini-Cassettes to run interference for an energon convoy bringing fresh supplies to Megatron's army. The Iron Age
Millions of years later, Hook and his pals were eventually called to Earth, where they used their newly acquired combination ability to beat down the local Autobots. All Hail Megatron issue 7 As the Decepticons moved on to New York City, Hook was shocked to hear Scrapper declare that they were benevolent aliens who had come to preach to the humans about kindness and cooperation. He quickly got the joke, though, and shared a good laugh with Scrapper as they started killing fleshlings left and right. All Hail Megatron issue 1 After mysteriously failing to recognise Frenzy, whom he'd met yonks ago, Hook joined the other Constructicons in forming Devastator and attacking the city's tunnels. All Hail Megatron issue 2 The primary task of the Constructicons, however, was to build an unknown structure in New York (cannibalising the local buildings to do so). Hook made the supreme sacrifice here of actually being in that filthy cramped hovel. All Hail Megatron issue 3
When Starscream decided to take leadership of the Decepticons, Hook and the other Constructicons sided with him. They combined into Devastator and attacked Megatron, but failed to kill him due to an attack by human jets. All Hail Megatron issue 10 The jets were soon followed by a unit of Autobots, and Devastator met his match in Omega Supreme. All Hail Megatron issue 11 The battle ended with Devastator getting shot straight through the torso. All Hail Megatron issue 12
Hook survived the damage done to Devastator's chest, but was captured and deactivated by Skywatch. Two years after the battle in New York, Hook, Mixmaster and several other prisoners were retrieved from Skywatch by a group of Transformers attempting to get off the planet. The group's leader, the Autobot Hot Rod, assigned Jetfire to bring Hook's consciousness back. A Rude Awakening The Autobot was successful, and Hook joined Mixmaster and Scrapper in constructing a starship that was ostensibly for both the Autobots and Decepticons. Seasons in Flight
Of course, things didn't actually work out that way. Unable to convince Rodimus to let him reassemble the Constructicons, Swindle instead applied combiner technology to the Stunticons, creating Menasor. Hook and the other Decepticons turned on the Autobots, and Hook was seen in battle against Optimus Prime. (Losing.) After Menasor was brought down, Swindle escaped from the Autobots and Skywatch along with some Constructicons, possibly including Hook.Earthworks
Toys
Generation 1
- Hook (Constructicon, 1985/1986)
- Team ID number: 4
- Japanese ID number: 33
- Accessories: Laser pistol, Devastator head, Devastator head laser
- Hook was originally from Takara'sPre-Transformers Diaclone toyline, as Construction Vehicle Robot No. 3 Truck Crane. He transforms from a bright green robot to a bright green Nissan Diesel Unic truck crane. Hook can also form an Attack Crane mode by attaching Devastator's head and head gun behind the vehicle mode cab.
- When the Constructicon toys are combined into Devastator, Hook forms his upper torso.
- Devastator (Giftset, 1985)
- Japanese ID number: 37
- Hook was also available as part of the Devastator giftset that was available in several markets, including the United States, Japan and parts of Europe.
- Constructicon (Constructicon, 1992)
- Accessories: Laser pistol
- This European exclusive version of Hook was yellow, but with the darker purple from the original toy instead of the lighter Generation 2 shade, and came with no Devastator parts. It also lacked the peg used to connect with Bonecrusher. This toy was not officially named, as he came on a card shared by the other Constructicons.
Generation 2
- Hook (Constructicon, 1993)
- Team ID number: 4
- Accessories: Laser pistol, Devastator head, Devastator head laser
- The complete set of Constructicons were re-released and redecoed as part of the first assortments of Generation 2 products. The first—and seemingly more common—versions were yellow like the previous European release, but lacked the gray plastics, had brighter purple parts, had the "DECEPTICON" tampographs on each one somewhere, and --most importantly-- came with all the Devastator bits.
- A later and seemingly less common run changed the yellow plastics to rich orange. It has been rumored that this release was only available in Kay-Bee stores, but not verified.
Merchandise
- Destron Hero Collection 22 (Decoy multi-pack, 1985)
- In Japan, a purple rubber mini-figure of Hook was available in part of a massive multi-pack of similar mini-figurines. The number etched into his back is the sum total of his tech spec ratings, as these figurines were used as game pieces for a variety of Transformers board games in which this number had some meaning to how the game was played or something.
- Hook (Decoy, 1987)
- Decoy number: 42
- The Hasbro Decoy release of the Hook game piece is almost identical to the Japanese version, except the number on his back is a simple "checklist" number. Like all Decepticon Decoys, he was a randomly-chosen pack-in available with the carded Throttlebots, Combaticons, Stunticons and Terrorcons. Early Throttlebots were packaged with red Decepticon decoys: these are much rarer than the purple ones.
Notes
- Hasbro apparently lost the trademark to the name "Hook" some time ago, as it has not been used since 1993 despite several Constructicon-homage teams appearing after that point. "Hightower" has become the new default crane-bot name.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Gren (グレン Guren)[1]
- French: Toubib (Canada, "Doctor")
- Hungarian: Horog ("Hook")
- Italian: Rostro ("Beak")
- Mandarin: Hook (Taiwan, 虎克 Hǔ Kè)
- Portuguese: Gancho (Brazil comic), Anzol (Portugal comic, "Hook")
References
- ↑ This appears to be a "Rhinoxization" of the word "crane", which is rendered クレーン kurēn, in katakana. This type of thing is not uncommon in Japan.
