Ironhide (Energon)
| The name or term "Ironhide" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Ironhide (disambiguation). |
- Ironhide is an Autobot from the Energon portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Ironhide is a young Autobot who has stars in his eyes and a boundless desire to prove himself. Sadly, he's just a dork. Sometimes, he's a technically clever dork, but a dork nonetheless.
He has a penchant for saying the wrong things at the wrong times. Like when a friend dies.
Fiction
Toy pack-in comics
Ironhide, with Inferno and Prowl, built an energon tower. Energon Volume 2
Later, Ironhide was there to witness Optimus Prime welcome Wing Saber to the Autobots. Energon Volume 4
Energon cartoon
Voice actor: Matt Hill (English), Mitsuo Iwata (Japanese), Andreas Werling (Swedish)
Ironhide was a rookie soldier on Cybertron, training to become a full-fledged Autobot after the Unicron Battles. When the Terrorcon invasion began, he was at a sparring session with Optimus Prime, and volunteered to come along on the investigation of Mars City. Optimus agreed to bring him along, and the mission led to a full-scale assault in progress on Earth at Ocean City. It was there that Ironhide first met the energon-sensitive human named Kicker Jones. It was Kicker who alerted the Autobots to the Terrorcons' arrival, but he also nearly got himself killed by recklessly engaging them in battle. Optimus Prime told Ironhide to watch out for Kicker on the battlefield, and the two were soon paired up in a permanent partnership...one that neither of them approved of. Cybertron City
When the Terrorcons struck again at Lunar City, Ironhide was eager to jump into battle, but Kicker left him behind by flying to the moon with Jetfire. When Optimus Prime and Ironhide eventually followed, Ironhide rushed into battle alone and pounded his way through a number of Terrorcon drones. He got too cocky, however, and thoughtlessly reached for some raw energon, momentarily forgetting how volatile the substance was before an Omnicon refined it. The resulting energy backlash damaged Ironhide, and allowed several Terrorcons to escape unmolested with their stolen energon. Back on Ocean City, Ironhide blamed himself for the loss of the energon, but Optimus Prime pointed out that if Kicker had been backing up his partner like he had been ordered to, Ironhide wouldn't have been off alone. Chagrined, Kicker apologized to Ironhide by kicking him in the head. Energon Stars
Next, the Autobots prepared to reinforce their defenses at the remaining active energon mines on Earth: Ocean City, Desert City, and Plains City. Kicker correctly predicted the next Terrorcon attack would come at Desert City, and Ironhide and Kicker bridged there to rescue Hot Shot and Kicker's friend,Misha. Hot Shot was injured battling the new Terrorcon general, Scorponok, but Misha's Omnicon research team created a new refined energon star to revive him. As Ironhide and the group exited the mine to reach the wounded Hot Shot, they were confronted by Scorponok. Ironhide threw himself into battle with Scorponok -- the first of many struggles between the two warriors -- but was hopelessly outmatched. The Omnicons tossed him the star meant for Hot Shot, despite his protests, and with its power Ironhide succeeded in holding off Scorponok long enough for their escape. In the aftermath, Hot Shot was revived and Optimus decided to reward Ironhide for his valor on the battlefield. Ironhide received a Combination Spark, and was officially named a member of Team Prime. Scorpinok
Optimus Prime paired Ironhide with Kicker, in the hopes that the two would help to keep one another under control. Neither was very happy with the partnership at first, but eventually they became good friends.
Ironhide did manage to earn a Combination Spark after several battles, making him able to powerlink with Jetfire and later, Cliffjumper. Along with several other Autobots, Ironhide was reformatted into a new paint job to fight Unicron.
Ironhide underwent character growth due to the changes taking place in Scorponok, whom he looked up to initially. He would eventually lead a rookie team to their deaths against Scorponok, and nearly kill Scorponok in retaliation. In the end, he and Scorponok fought each other into a stasis. His life was saved when Scorponok carried his damaged body to Optimus Prime on Jungle Planet, in order to merge Ironhide's spark with Optimus Prime. He was restored to life afterward and was last seen with Kicker on Ocean Planet.
Energon comic
During the war, Ironhide was a prisoner, forced to use his technical skills to construct doomsday devices for the Decepticons. Unbeknownst to them, he designed failsafes into the devices, effectively neutralizing them automatically should they ever be activated. Aftershock
Much later, ten years following Unicron's defeat, Ironhide was added to Optimus' team. He served as chief architect during the construction of the armed cities built for Earth, and successfully managed to avoid being killed by both Scorponok and Megatron.
Force of Habit
During the Unicron Singularity crisis, Ironhide served aboard the Autobot flagship Iron Hope. He was a member of Ultra Magnus' bridge crew, and briefly questioned Magnus' decision to leave the imperiled crew of the Spanner to their own devices. He was called into action during a Decepticon attack on the ship, and battled a number of Divebomb- and Insecticon-type Terrorcons alongside RipTide, Smokescreen and the Land Military Mini-Con Team. Force of Habit
Toys
Energon
- Ironhide (Mega, 2004)
- Japanese ID number: SC-04
- Accessries: Missile
- Ironhide transforms into a blue Mazda Tribute, with distinctly penny-racer-ish proportions. He has a rather oversized red speaker/gun turret/high beam lights/thingamajig setup mounted on top. In robot mode, he is able to combine with most Autobot Deluxe and Mega size class toys, forming the top or bottom half of a super robot. In both modes, his turret fires a spring-loaded missile.
- The Japanese release, named Roadbuster, had some minor deco and colour differences; most significantly, the tan plastic parts were replaced by grey, even though they remained tan in the Energon cartoon. The major functional difference between the two toys is that the Japanese version does not have electronics, while the US release does, with sound effects activated by launching the missile.
- Ironhide became a major shelfwarmer during the Energon toyline's run, with some areas still having unsold Ironhides into 2006. His toy was often bundled together with Jetfire or Mirage.
- One undocumented feature is that one can flip his helmet over his face to hide it in vehicle mode. While it does not cover his entire face, it at least hides the top portion of his head.
- Energon Ironhide (Mega, 2004)
- Japanese ID number: SC-24
- Accessories: Missile, energon axe (crane & split-tire, Japanese release only)
- This redeco of Ironhide was intended to be an homage to G1 Hound, with green replacing the blue and blue replacing the red. He also features an army star logo similar to Hound's.
- The Japanese release, named "Roadbuster Wild", included an orange version of Strongarm's Energon Axe and, again, has no electronics.
- Ironhide (Happy Meal, 2004)
- This toy was exclusive to the McDonald's restaurant chain in the Netherlands, Australia, Bulgaria and the United Kingdom. He is a highly simplified version of the larger toy, with little to no articulation.
- His torso is hollow and stores a translucent energon cube. When a button is pushed, his energon cube activates the coolest siren and laser sounds. His Energon cube is interchangeable with the cubes from the other McDonald's Energon toys.
- Ironhide (Built to Rule, 2004)
Notes
- In Japan, Ironhide's Bio and Tech Spec function was listed as "Martial Artist" (武闘家). Uh... huh?
Foreign names
- Japanese: Roadbuster (ロードバスター Rōdobasutā), Roadbuster Wild (Energon Ironhide, ロードバスターW Rōdobasutā Wairudo)
- Hungarian: Vasököl ("Ironfist")[1]
References
- ↑ Acélfej ("Steelhead") in "Optimus Prime vs Megatron: The Ultimate Battle", but that translation is only used once from the three times his name is spoken.
