Crankcase (DOTM)

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

Crankcase is a Decepticon Dread from the Dark of the Moon portion of the live-action film series continuity family.

The hunt has begun...

A rarity among Decepticons, Crankcase is known for his subtle and shadowy nature, though it would be a mistake not to see him as a threat. A member of the elite Dreads, the Decepticon’s top infiltration and assassination team, his specialty is hacking, data theft, and destructive sabotage of vital systems.

Fiction

Dark of the Moon adaptations

When Sentinel Prime was being retrieved from Earth's Moon, Hatchet, Crowbar, and Crankcase surfaced quietly and secretly hitched a ride on the Autobots' shuttle back to Earth. Dark of the Moon Dark of the Moon Movie adaptation

Dark of the Moon film

Ironhide probably could have shot him about now and saved all that trouble of being stabbed.

After Sentinel Prime was retrieved from Earth's Moon and reactivated, Megatron put into motion the plan that had been waiting in the wings for hundreds of years. With the human Sam Witwicky believing that the Decepticons wished to capture Sentinel and force him to use the control pillar to activate his space bridge, Crankcase, Hatchet and Crowbar were sent to pursue the Autobots. Crowbar closed in on Seymour Simmons' car, transformed, reached in and tossed the former Sector Seven agent behind him as he bounded ahead to knock over a highway sign for the other two to use as a ramp.

However, despite their best collective efforts to slow down the Autobots, Hatchet was quickly destroyed, and the remaining Dreads were soon confronted by the Autobot heavy-hitter, Ironhide, who stopped them in their tracks with a head-on collision. Faced with Ironhide's heavy weapons and Sideswipe, the Dreads seemingly capitulated by dropping their ranged weapons, but as soon as the Autobots followed suit, deployed spears to attack their enemies. Though his partner was initially successful in injuring Ironhide, Crankcase was destroyed when Ironhide forced Crowbar's spear through his head, slammed the Decepticon's body into an abandoned car, and kicked the wreckage into a nearby auto shop, which exploded. Dark of the Moon

Toys

Dark of the Moon

Cyberverse

:D

• Crankcase (Cyberverse Legion, 2011)
  • Series: 1
  • Number: 003
  • Japanese ID number: CV11

Part of the first wave of Cyberverse Legion single-pack toys, Crankcase is a Legends-scale figure that transforms into a modified Chevrolet Suburban. This mode is lightly detailed but looks very much like the Deluxe version. For his size class, he has an incredibly detailed face mirroring the Deluxe version. Compared to others of his range, he is one of the taller ones. In a rarity for Legends-scale figures, he has weapons, which look like dual blades. Later releases use the Battle in the Moonlight retool (see below).

• Cybertronian Warriors (Cyberverse multi-pack, 2011)

A redeco and retooling (the same as the "Battle in the Moonlight" version described below) of the Legion figure in white, decoed to emulate the Metropolitan Police Department SUV that was hit by a Bumblebee stunt car during filming. Hilariously, the Bumblebee is given damage in the front of the vehicle mode. The set includes a Barricade in a deco similar to Crankcase's, as well as an Ironhide who is given a slightly altered version of its original deco.

• Battle in the Moonlight (Cyberverse multi-pack, 2011)

A slight retool and redeco of the original Legion class figure, this time in light gray (with a slightly lighter gray for the unpaintable plastic pieces such as the wheels, thighs and various joints and connectors), and gold windows, lights, and robot mode detailing. He was sold in a Walmart exclusive multi-pack with a repainted Legion class Ratchet and Commander Class Optimus Prime w/ Trailer.

This version sports several minor remolds from the original. The calves/ankles/support struts (it's weird because of the digitigrade leg thing with the support struts in front) have been remolded so you cannot extend the struts past the intended point on the top of the foot. The original version of the mold didn't have these pieces stopped, so you could keep extending them past the point where they were supposed to meet (making the toy taller, at the expense of the feet not looking the way intended). With the legs only extending the intended length, he is now one of the shorter-to-average sized Legion figures in the line (Ignoring the truck hood hanging over his head). The joint of the hood/roof/backpack, where it connects to the back, has also had more plastic added so it cannot move more than a millimeter or two back away from the back of the head, just enough to get the chest hood chunks past it during transformation. The original version had no restrictions, and could be pushed back all the way until the bottom of the roof hit the back of the thighs. (This made it a little less obvious that he had a truck hood behind his head, at the expense of a big empty gap at his back.)

Deluxe Class toys

Pinsir, use Vicegrip!

• Crankcase (MechTech Deluxe, 2011)
  • Japanese ID number: DD04
  • Accessories: MechTech Blaster/Blade Claw

Part of the first wave of Dark of the Moon Deluxes, Crankcase transforms into a modified Chevrolet Suburban. As part of the MechTech series, he has a Blaster weapon that features a nasty grabby-claw action feature. He also has a pair of huge pincers above his robot-mode head that can also be flipped forward whilst in vehicle mode. His dreadlocks are supposed to be able to swivel, with the intent that they be swung behind his head to fit under his hood for vehicle mode, but in practice, this proved an either impossible or inadvisable prospect: on most, the gold paint applied has made them too thick to be rotated, running the risk of tearing the soft plastic. And even if you do get a Crankcase that doesn't have this problem, the tiny translucent plastic hinges to which the dreadlocks are connected won't last long. This means that they end up stuffed inside his chest in vehicle mode (this is how the toy comes packaged), competing with everything else for space and putting the car under enough tension that it feels like it's about to spring apart.

In an apparent running change, the otherwise long and pointed middle digit on each hand (as per the stock photo on the right) was shoddily cut off into a noticeably thick stump (compared to the more slender fingers remaining), often cut to a different length on each hand. It is unknown if this was done for safety reasons, an error during assembly, or maybe Hasbro decided that long, extended middle fingers just weren't a tasteful design choice for a children's toy. Later releases, however, featured retooled hands with either the original longer middle finger, or a shorter-molded middle finger.

The Japanese Dark Side Moon release features the (Short-fingered? Long-fingered?) remolded hands exclusively. It also comes packed with a character card and an accompanying transparent plastic card of his MechTech weapon for the MechTech Wars online game.

Notes

• Crankcase appears to be modeled after the eponymous alien hunter from the Predator series, possessing similar "dreadlocks", mandibles, fangs, and claws.

Plenty of dread, but no wind.

• In early production, the Dreads were announced to be a pair of modified Chevrolet Suburbans, and were referred to by the fandom as twins. Photos were even taken on-set, but the final movie shows three Dreads, all of whom transform into Chevrolet Suburbans. In the toyline, only Crankcase has this alternate mode, while Crowbar and Hatchet transform into different vehicles.
• A Dread Enforcer identical to Crankcase appears as a boss enemy in the Dark of the Moon video game, and is also playable in the game's online multiplayer mode. But his alternate mode is a police car similar to Crowbar's toy alternate mode rather than a Suburban.
• No, he is not Dave Fennoy.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Crankcase (クランクケース Kurankukēsu)