Leadfoot (G2)

The name or term "Leadfoot" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Leadfoot (disambiguation).

Leadfoot is an Autobot from the Generation 2 portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Without this, there could have been no Cars.

Leadfoot is a speed machine who always manages to keep his cool no matter how fast he's going. Despite his function as a "defense specialist", he's most notable for using his incredible speed and sensor-deflecting armor for infiltrating enemy bases, then ripping them apart with his "rotoprop" weapon.

Well, maybe the best defense is a good offense. You know who said that? Mel, the cook on Alice.

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Generation 2

"That car really motors!"
"'Cause I'm a transformin' rotor!!"
Erm, sure, Leadfoot.

Like the rest of the Rotor Force, Leadfoot was originally one of Megatron's next generation of Decepticons, animated by the stolen power of the Creation Matrix. He first saw combat on Tykos, when the Decepticons raided a rheanimum gas mine. New Dawn

Allying with the Autobots against the Cybertronian Empire swiftly changed Leadfoot. He and Manta Ray first partnered with Tracks to ambush Cybertronian flyers, earning the Autobot's praise. Total War! More critically, Leadfoot saved his friend's life when Razorclaw decided Manta Ray was insufficiently loyal, decapitating the Predacon before he could kill Manta Ray. Leadfoot thought nothing of saving his partner, as Autobots have to stick together. A Rage in Heaven!

In the Generation 2 comic, Decepticon speech bubbles were marked by triangles, while Autobots were marked by rectangles. Leadfoot and Manta Ray began with Decepticon bubbles, but were clearly Autobots in the last issue, once they switched sides.

IDW comics continuity

How do you think LEADFOOT feels, jerk?

Leadfoot was one of the Autobots guarding Thunderwing's remains at Thunderhead Pass on Cybertron. While on post, he tried to stop Sideswipe from requesting a transfer to Earth, then went back to duty while Hound sorted Sideswipe out. Unfortunately for Leadfoot, as he was on patrol, a mysterious being arrived to take Thunderwing. Leadfoot was taken by surprise as the powerful transformer grabbed him by the throat, and seconds later he was dead. Sideswipe, who was to relieve Leadfoot as punishment, arrived to find his comrade's lifeless body and swore revenge. Spotlight: Galvatron

On their way to Garrus-9, Hound's team sent telemetry on Leadfoot's death to the Ark 32. After examining the data, Nightbeat observed that it was as though a virus of "unlife" had attacked and destroyed every living cyber-cell in Leadfoot simultaneously in a fraction of a nano-klik. More importantly, Nightbeat found this somehow familiar... Devastation issue 6

Timelines: Wings of Honor continuity

Leadfoot was one of many new Transformers created on Earth after 2006, when the war with the Decepticons had left the solar system for the further reaches of space. At the Cyberfactory, a new generation was born out of human, Nebulan, and Cybertronian technologies. Leadfoot and others like him were created as "citizens of Earth", but it was only a matter of time before conflict broke out. Leadfoot joined a legion of new Autobots under Pyro's leadership against Clench and his criminal Decepticon Syndicate.

In 2010, Leadfoot was one of the first responders to the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, which had been taken over by the Syndicate. They were driven off by the Decepticons and their Sharkticon hordes, however, and Pyro was captured in the process. In a second strike, Leadfoot and the majority of the team kept Double Punch and the other Decepticon guards busy out front, while their emergency commander Rapido slipped in the rear to rescue Pyro. Leadfoot's team was placed in dire peril once the Decepticons began upgrading themselves with forestonite, but luckily the Go-Bots and a large squad from Autobot City arrived as reinforcements. Aquafend then sent him and Manta Ray to the roof to fight through Ransack and Powerdive and shut down the complex's wind turbines. The foursome were presumably still there when the forestonite gas raced through the planet's ventilation systems, giving super-powered upgrades to all Transformers present. Generation 2: Redux

Commercial appearances

Voice actor: Garry Chalk

Leadfoot was speeding around a race track when it was attacked by the Laser Rod, Sizzle. He transformed to robot mode in order to fight back and defend the speedway enthusiasts. Leadfoot also considers himself a "transforming rotor". How this belief relates to the secular notion of "naturally-occurring gears, levers, and pulleys" is unknown.

Toys

It's actually less counterintuitive than it looks.

Generation 2

• Leadfoot (Rotor Force, 1994)
  • Accessories: Engine/launcher, 2 rotor discs

Among the first of the totally-new molds designed for Generation 2, Leadfoot transforms into a Lola T93 Indy car... with a giant rotor on top. Hmm. His "Rotor Force" engine block is a manually-wound spinner that launches his flying disc into the air. He graciously came with two in case you lost one. This assembly becomes a hand-held weapon for robot mode.

• More information on Leadfoot at TFU.info

Notes

• Leadfoot is unique among the Rotor Force in that his alternate mode is not one that would normally have a large rotor or propeller.
• Maybe "defense specialist" means he's really good at getting through them?

Foreign names

• European: Hotfoot