Bulkhead (Prime)

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

Bulkhead is an Autobot from the Prime portion of the Aligned continuity family.

Miss me?

Bulkhead looks huge and menacing, but he's only the former. Once you get to know him, he has a gentle soul. He's afraid of hurting things smaller and more fragile than him, but his new human friend, Miko Nakadai, has helped him grow past that. He has a low tolerance for jerks and bullies, and is quite happy to let people like that stew in the trouble they've made for themselves, but his better impulses—or at least, needling from those around him—always sway him into helping in the end.

After a long road trip, feels good to get out of the car, stretch my legs, and kick some tailpipe!Bulkhead on crushin' Cons, Convoy

Fiction

Exiles

Bulkhead was a Wrecker and one of the last Autobots to get on the Ark. Transformers: Exiles

Prime comic

Bulkhead was present at the Autobot base when Cliffjumper and Arcee arrived for the first time. Transformers: Prime

Prime cartoon

Voice actor: Kevin Michael Richardson (English), Takashi Nagasako (Japanese), Karl Schulz (German), Pietro Ubaldi (Italian), Yeong-Ung Jeong (Korean), Salvador Serrano (Spain-Spanish), Salvador Reyes (Latin American-Spanish)

Originally Bulkhead was a construction worker. Deus ex Machina During the Great War, he joined the Wreckers, and battle alongside Wheeljack and many others. Con Job He also had rivalry with Breakdown. Deus ex Machina Bulkhead left the Wreckers early on in the war to join Team Prime. Con Job

Soon after the Autobots arrived on Earth, Bulkhead accidentally stepped into some power lines. Arcee was impressed with the dance he did as a consequence. Scrapheap

And then Takara's engineers get a headache.

Bulkhead was pulled away from a woodland area to back up Cliffjumper, but when the team arrived at the battle site, Cliffjumper and the Decepticons were gone. Sometime later, Bulkhead scared off some Vehicons, who were fighting Arcee and Bumblebee. Bulkhead returned to base, and was there when three humans were brought in. Miko questioned him at length about how cool he was. Darkness Rising, Part 1 During a subsequent visit by Agent Fowler, Bulkhead crushed one of Ratchet's tools as part of a demonstration, much to his comrade's annoyance. Bulkhead was part of the ultimately unsuccessful mission to retrieve Cliffjumper from a Decepticon energon mine. After they returned to base empty-handed, Optimus assigned Bulkhead to watch over Miko Nakadai. Darkness Rising, Part 2

No, Bulky, the slogan is get some nuts!

Miko managed to persuade Bulkhead to do some off-roading on the way back to base. Once there, Optimus and Ratchet left on a mission, placing Arcee in charge. Arcee promptly left to go patrolling with Bumblebee, leaving Bulkhead in charge. During an impromptu visit by Fowler, Bulkhead managed to prevent him reporting the three kids, but when Fowler was subsequently captured by the Decepticons, Bulkhead was compelled to mount a rescue mission. He GroundBridged to the Nemesis, only to find the three kids had followed him. Darkness Rising, Part 3

Be thankful she didn't do more than heave on your car parts.

After trying to make sure the kids were safe, Bulkhead climbed aboard the Nemesis and began trashing Decepticons before discovering Miko had stowed away inside his chest compartment. Inside the ship, the pair eventually ran into Arcee and Bumblebee, who'd rescued Jack and Raf from some more guards. The three Autobots stuck the kids in a store room while they located Fowler in the brig and chased off Starscream. Mission accomplished, they returned to base, where Optimus told off Bulkhead. After Jack decided he was better off without the Autobots in his life, Bulkhead took Miko to visit him. Darkness Rising, Part 4

D'awwww.

Once the Autobots pinpointed the location of the Decepticon space bridge in orbit, Optimus, Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead traveled there by GroundBridge, though the height made Bulkhead nervous. They battled hordes of flying Decepticons, until Ratchet figured out a way to destroy the space bridge, and Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee did so while Optimus kept Megatron busy. They safely GroundBridged back to Earth moments before the explosion. Darkness Rising, Part 5

Bulkhead assisted Miko with her science project, holding up her model of the solar system so she could paint it. Unfortunately Ratchet decided to take over the project, relegating Bulkhead to the role of transport. Masters & Students

Bulkhead and Bumblebee brought a strange pod back from the Arctic with them. It later turned out the pod contained Scraplets, which Bulkhead was particularly frightened by, and Miko was amused by him screaming like a little girl as they hunted for the critters. There turned out to be too many for the Autobots to deal with, but after the kids repaired an energon fuel line for the GroundBridge, Bulkhead used himself as bait to draw them through to the Arctic, where they froze. Scrapheap

"Guy love, that's all it is, Guy love, He's mine, I'm his, there's nothing gay about it in our eyes."

Bulkhead was overjoyed when Wheeljack arrived on Earth, however Wheeljack's uncharacteristic silence during Bulkhead's war stories made the latter Autobot suspicious. After Bulkhead questioned Wheeljack on the Battle of Darkmount Pass and Wheeljack got an important detail wrong, the new arrival was unmasked as a Decepticon imposter. The real Wheeljack arrived and he and Bulkhead threw the imposter out via the GroundBridge. Bulkhead turned down Wheeljack's offer to go exploring the galaxy. Con Job

"You go on, Bulk, we'll cover the rear."

Bulkhead took part in a convoy when Fowler needed transport for a hi-tech Dynamic Nuclear Generation System device. When the convoy was attacked by MECH, he reluctantly remained in vehicle mode in accordance with Optimus's orders, but when they were attacked by flying Vehicons, the Autobots were forced to use their robot modes anyway. Convoy

Bulkhead chastised Miko for neglecting her education, and when an energon trace was detected in Greece, he attempted to use the mission as an educational field trip. Their education was cut short as Bulkhead's old enemy Breakdown arrived and the pair fought. Back at base, he alerted the other Autobots to the Energon Harvester he'd seen depicted in an ancient fresco, and the device was soon tracked down to a museum. The Autobots surrounded the museum while the kids were sent in to steal the Harvester, and fought Knock Out and Breakdown. The Decepticons got away with the Harvester. Bulkhead went alone to Greece, where he managed to single-handedly defeat Knock Out, Breakdown, and Starscream, destroying the Harvester in the process. Deus ex Machina

Wheeljack is gonna be so jealous.

Bulkhead covered poorly for Jack and Bumblebee when the pair went street racing, and was forced to go with Arcee to find them. He got to fight Breakdown again, flattening the Decepticon with a lamp post. Speed Metal Bumblebee and Bulkhead played basketball together in the base, though Bumblebee's behavior was very odd. Bulkhead, Optimus and Arcee traveled to the Arctic to find a lens the Decepticons had stolen from a telescope in Hawaii, and ended up tangling with a heat ray the Decepticons had built with it. They succeeded in destroying it, though it turned out Megatron had been resurrected in the meantime. Out of His Head

Optimus took Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Ratchet to investigate a Dark Energon reading and found Starscream attempting to resurrect Skyquake. During the following ruckus, the Autobots found the kids had followed them and tried to send them back to base, only for them to disappear in a GroundBridge accident. It was only when Bulkhead spotted a text message on Miko's phone that Ratchet could engineer a way to get the kids back from the other dimension they were trapped in. Shadowzone

Out scouting an energon signature on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Bulkhead was ambushed by Breakdown. Though he fought back, he was overcome and later came around to find Breakdown gone and Miko calling to him over the comm. After returning to base, they established that Breakdown had been captured by MECH, and Bulkhead was happy for it to stay that way. Optimus, however, launched a mission to rescue the Decepticon, and Bulkhead was surprised when Prime accepted his wish to stay off the rescue team. Bulkhead remained at base with Fowler and Miko, the latter of whom was firm in her belief that Bulkhead should have gone along, and managed to persuade him to go and try to rescue Breakdown himself. In Russia, Bulkhead followed a MECH car to a disused railway tunnel and broke in to find Breakdown. Though the 'Con was surprised to see him, the pair emerged from the tunnel together to face the MECH forces, and Breakdown even saved Bulkhead from being blasted by Silas's energy weapon. When Starscream turned up with Vehicons, Breakdown was instructed to destroy Bulkhead, but the Autobot easily pummeled the 'Cons until Optimus turned up. Prime was impressed that Bulkhead had put aside his differences to rescue Breakdown, but Bulkhead was merely happy to have gotten the opportunity to hit Breakdown some more. Operation: Breakdown

Bulkhead was at the Autobot base when Jack and Arcee brought Jack's mom in to introduce her to everyone. Crisscross

Ratchet assigned Bulkhead to investigate a magnetic disturbance, and Arcee, irritated by Jack's mom's questioning, decided to come along too. Also Miko somehow sneaked through the GroundBridge after them and talked them into letting her tag along. When they came across Breakdown and Airachnid fighting over a weapon, Bulkhead got Miko to stay put, and the two Autobots joined in the fight. After Breakdown blasted them both with the weapon, a polarity gauntlet, Arcee ended up magnetically fused to Bulkhead's back. With no other alternative, Bulkhead followed the 'Cons on foot, finding them at an abandoned gas station. During the ensuing battle, Breakdown dropped an oil derrick on Bulkhead, temporarily knocking him out, but also demagnetizing him. Airachnid tried to escape in her helicopter form, but Bulkhead grabbed her and threw her at Breakdown. He and Arcee returned to base triumphantly with the gauntlet. Metal Attraction

Arcee and Bulkhead were sent to investigate an old energon mine, but found it was abandoned. When Miko decided to explore, Bulkhead chased her in. While he was taking some samples for Ratchet, a cave in occurred. Bulkhead did his best to protect Miko, but ended up supporting the ceiling so it wouldn't fall on them. With the air likely to run out and his arms failing, he instructed Miko to bang a rock on his foot to make noise and they were eventually found... by Starscream. When the Decepticon threatened Miko, Bulkhead gave him a swift kick, and Jack arrived on a Decepticon mining drill to rescue Miko. Alone with Starscream, things looked grim for Bulkhead until Arcee came to his rescue. The two Autobots found the kids and left the mine, though they did briefly consider finishing the Decepticons. Rock Bottom

Bulkhead joined the others in investigating a wrecked Decepticon ship. When they found Starscream all webbed up and wanting to switch sides, Bulkhead thought it was a bad idea. The Decepticon pointed them towards the other half of the crashed ship, where Airachnid had gone. Prime took Bumblebee and Bulkhead to check out the rear section of the ship, and they were attacked by Airachnid, wielding an experimental Decepticon weapon that froze Bulkhead in his tracks. Bulkhead was locked in position until the Autobots retrieved the weapon and Ratchet used it to unfreeze him. Partners

This is art!

Miko and Bulkhead sneaked into a monster truck rally together. A week or so later, they were reviewing the footage Miko had taken on her phone when Bulkhead was called into the field to help secure a Cybertronian data cylinder. He was, of course, followed by Miko, and during the battle she inadvertently activated the cylinder, discharging it into Bulkhead's brain. Though at first Bulkhead seemed fine, he began writing complex equations for synthetic energon, and it rapidly became clear that the cylinder's energy was overwriting his mind. While the other Autobots attempted to secure the cylinder, Miko tried to help Bulkhead retain his memories by taking him to the monster truck track. They were found there by Knock Out and Breakdown, who tried to take Bulkhead's head, but during the attempt, Miko again triggered the energy to discharge from Bulkhead into the sky. Bulkhead was left in a comatose state until Miko managed to wake him with her guitar playing. T.M.I.

During a mission to intercept Knock Out and Breakdown, Bulkhead, Prime and Bumblebee were separated from Arcee. When they caught up with her, they found that Ratchet had dealt to the Vehicons attacking her, having amped himself up on the synthetic energon he was working on. Back at base, Ratchet managed to throw Bulkhead through a wall while demonstrating the fight with the Vehicons. Their medic accompanied them on another mission, but his changes in personality began to concern Bulkhead and the others. After he knocked Bulkhead flying and went off on his own, the other Autobots were forced to track him down before he could damage himself. Stronger, Faster

When an ancient prophecy looked like it was imminent, Arcee and Bulkhead wonder how seriously they should take it. They accompanied Optimus to a military base to stop the Decepticons attacking it, but when they were faced with Raf being gravely injured, Arcee and Bumblebee were sent back to base with the boy, while Prime and Bulkhead stealthily infiltrated the Nemesis. After bashing some Decepticons, they found the stolen power source and Bulkhead bridge back to base, leaving Prime to go and face Megatron on his own. Back at base, Bulkhead watched as Ratchet and June Darby fought to save Raf's life. One Shall Fall

Bulkhead got the job of keeping Megatron distracted while Arcee and Ratchet got Optimus out of a zone flooded with Dark Energon. Such was Megatron's surprise that Bulkhead managed to hit him a bunch of times before the Decepticon leader recovered and Bulkhead had to retreat through the GroundBridge. Back at base, the Autobots and their human friends puzzled over the natural disasters suddenly plaguing Earth, and discovered that Unicron resided at the center of the Earth. Bulkhead and the others began investigating the sites of the earthquakes that had struck when the Dark Energon volcano erupted. One Shall Rise, Part 1

Though Optimus ordered the other Autobots to remain at base, Bulkhead, Arcee and Bumblebee joined him anyway. As they tried to find safer ground, they battled increasingly larger stone Unicrons, until they encountered a colossal one. Bulkhead and Bumblebee zoomed behind it to try and blast it, but it knocked them both aside with a single swipe. As they tried to prevent it stepping on Optimus, and to their great surprise, help came in the form of Megatron, who offered to help them fight Unicron. When Optimus gave the three Autobots the choice of whether to accompany him and Megatron to Earth's core, Bulkhead opted to go for Miko's sake. He, Arcee and Bumblebee greeted Megatron to the Autobot base at gunpoint, keeping their weapons firmly trained on the Decepticon leader. Before long, they were again stepping through the GroundBridge into Earth's core. One Shall Rise, Part 2

As they moved through Unicron's internal structure, Bulkhead felt the Dark Energon more keenly than the others, and during their fight against Unicron's antibodies, almost fell from the walkway they were on. Teamwork by Optimus and Bumblebee saved him. They reached Unicron's spark chamber and Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee stayed outside to fend off the antibodies. Following Unicron's defeat, they entered the spark chamber, only for Optimus to fail to recognize them, and they had to GroundBridge back to base without him. One Shall Rise, Part 3

The Autobots puzzled over how to get their leader back but made little progress. When Fowler warned them of an attack on a military base, Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee went to try and deal with it, but Knock Out and Breakdown succeeded in getting away with the power source they needed. Orion Pax, Part 1 Bulkhead and the others scoured the globe for the space bridge, but it wasn't until Ratchet and Bulkhead were contacted by a wounded Starscream that they obtained information on the space bridges location. The Autobots stormed the energon mine housing the space bridge and secured it so that they could send Jack and Arcee to Cybertron. Orion Pax, Part 2 Ratchet, Bulkhead and Bumblebee monitored Jack's progress from the Earth end of the space bridge. When Megatron arrived to take back control, Bulkhead attacked him and was easily thrown aside, twice. Luckily it all turned out, and Bulkhead and the others returned to base with Optimus Prime restored. Orion Pax, Part 3

Bulkhead and Bumblebee were responding to an ancient Autobot signal separately, but when Bulkhead arrived, he found Bumblebee unable to transform as his T-cog had been taken. They quickly worked out MECH was responsible. Bumblebee later talked Bulkhead into taking him on another mission, on which they ran into Knock Out and Breakdown. Bulkhead got to fight his arch-nemesis again while Bumblebee chased Knock Out. Operation Bumblebee, Part 1 He almost had to perform T-cog transplant surgery, but was judged unfit by Ratchet. He did get to go on an artifact retrieval mission, and spent some time hitting Breakdown before getting hold of the Forge of Solus Prime and using it to knock the Decepticon flying. Unfortunately moments later Bulkhead was bushwhacked by Megatron who got away with the Forge. Operation Bumblebee, Part 2

Bulkhead was overjoyed when Wheeljack returned to Earth, but when his fellow Wrecker decided to recklessly go after Dreadwing, Bulkhead opted to go along. The encounter ended with Bulkhead a hostage with a bomb on his chest as a lure to draw out Optimus. Though Wheeljack tried to defuse the bomb, Bulkhead opted to go the self-sacrifice route, and was only stopped from doing so by Wheeljack, who had realized Optimus was right. Wheeljack and Optimus forced Dreadwing into defusing the bomb, saving Bulkhead's life. Loose Cannons

Plot details for Crossfire follow. Spoilers have expired, you may remove this tag

Bulkhead accompanied Ratchet as they got more information from Starscream. This led to an Optimus-led mission to an abandoned energon mine in South America, where they found Megatron fighting an Insecticon. When the fight was finished, the Autobots surrounded the exhausted Megatron, but were prevented from finishing him off by the arrival of Dreadwing. Though they trashed a bunch of Vehicons, Megatron and Dreadwing escaped them. Crossfire

Titan Magazines Prime comics

"I need practise like Optimus needs a face."

As Ratchet unveiled the Safe, Bulkhead was unimpressed that he thought they needed more training. He threw himself into it though, deciding that the best defense was to smash everything he could. In doing so, he inadvertently uncovered and activated a nuclear missile which had been hidden in the base. Unimpressed, Optimus ordered him to hold up the ceiling while Ratchet and Raf dealt with the missile's warhead. Afterwards, Ratchet suggested Bulkhead and Raf design a new Safe. The Safe and the Failsafe

Optimus took the other Autobots, including Bulkhead, on a trip to Valley of Fire State Park. War Story

Bulkhead struggled to decorate a Christmas tree, while enduring a mocking from Arcee and Jack. When Fowler arrived with the news that the Decepticons had taken over a nuclear-powered ship, Bulkhead offered him a "Cybertron-size" mince pie. He and Arcee were left to mind the base with the kids while the other went to deal with the Decepticon problem, and the kids suggested the pair try to find something they had in common. They eventually discovered their mutual love of ice skating, and turned the base into an ice rink. Ice Breaker

Bulkhead played Invasionauts II with Raf, until suddenly the game put Raf into a hypnotic trance and made him open the GroundBridge. Bulkhead was sure he'd get blamed for this somehow, and explained to Optimus that it was only a minor problem, but moments later the Vehicons started coming through. Bulkhead fought them alongside the other Autobots until Raf was able to loop the GroundBridge, sucking the Decepticons back through. Tinker, Tailor, Gamer, Spy!

Agent Fowler woke Bulkhead with the news that the President of the United States had been kidnapped. Bulkhead and the rest of the Autobots visited the Grand Canyon where he and Ratchet protected Air Force One while the others defeated Starscream and rescued the President. All the President's 'Bots!

Commercial appearances

Voice actor: Kevin Michael Richardson (English)

Bulkhead was phoned up by the human Strawberry Shortcake, who invited him to the Berryfest Princess Parade to have glittery sparkles dumped on him. Unable to get a word in edgewise, he told Optimus that the call was for him. Strawberry Shortcake and Bulkhead

Bulkhead and Megatron joined Strawberry and the ponies Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash in scatting "Deck the Halls". Bulkhead's extended scat sequence, however, did not find favor among the Autobots or Megatron, causing him to awkwardly laugh it off. The Hub Carolers Undeterred, Bulkhead rejoined this multiversal musical grouping in singing "Jingle Bells". The Hub Carolers (Second spot)

Toys

Prime: First Edition

Let's hope those aren't truck nutz.

Any color green is good, right?

• Bulkhead (First Edition Voyager, 2011/2012)
  • Number: 002
  • Accessories: "Energon battle mace", stand

Part of the first wave of Prime "First Edition" Voyager-Class toys, Bulkhead transforms into an SUV. He comes with an "energon battle mace" that can either peg into his hands, or replace one of his hands when either is flipped into his arm, thus switching it out for a wrist peg-hole. These peg-holes have additional sculpted detail matching the animation model of Bulkhead's stubby arm-blasters, indicating an undocumented "firearm mode" configuration for the toy's wrists, akin to "First Edition" Cliffjumper's guns. The mace itself also features a plain peg-hole at the top, and is stored in vehicle mode by pegging it onto the trunk. The patch of clear black light-piping plastic (gang-molded to the rest of his show-accurate clear black parts) on his head is neutered by having his eyes painted, in equally show-accurate light blue. As with all First Edition toys, he features a cardboard stand.

In an effort for him to fit in his packaging, he is usually mis-transformed: the panel on his back is hinged up to his head, while the wheels connected to his panel-chest, normally splayed out as a pair of "wings" and tabbed into the sides of the back panel, are left folded up and untabbed on his sides. His headlights, normally swiveled and angled up on his chest, are also left untransformed. The soft, black, slotted struts his hood panels are attached to also aren't pegged completely into the tabs below his front windshield-chest, with the results being that his crotch piece tabs only lightly to his waist, detaches easily, dislodges when the front bumper is hinged forward into the indent on its back, and that many packaged Bulkheads are encountered with their flies open.

The Japanese TakaraTomy release of Bulkhead features darker green plastic and paint.

First Edition Bulkhead never made it to shelves in the United States, forcing US fans to import the Hasbro version from Canada.

Prime

File:Cyberverse commander bulkhead.jpg

• Bulkhead (Cyberverse Commander, 2012)
  • Accessories: "Battle mace"

This Cyberverse-scaled Bulkhead is cast partly in translucent plastic so that the toy can be lit using the electronic lights featured in the larger playsets. He also comes with a translucent "battle mace" weapon and a pack-in file card (the card is only present in the US release).

At this point, one wonders if we're buying a figure with an accessory or an accessory with a figure.

• Bulkhead (Voyager, 2012)
  • Accessories: Light-up weapon

This toy of Bulkhead is a new-mold Voyager Class figure, and, in keeping with the other "Robots in Disguise" Voyager figures, will include a light-up weapon.

Merchandise

Mcdonald's

Tastes like cardboard! ...oh, it is cardboard.

• Bulkhead (Happy Meal, 2012)

• McNumber: 5

Happy Meal Bulkhead is a nontransformable offroad vehicle! He comes with three paper discs which can be inserted under his hood. When the roof is pulled back, one is expelled.

Notes

It's really weird the longer you look at it.

• Bulkhead is of course an homage to Animated Bulkhead, even using a wrecking ball-like mace.
• When Derrick J. Wyatt was briefly brought in early in the design process of Prime, Bulkhead was originally intended to be Ironhide. However, as the show evolved, the writers said they realized that they were essentially writing a new Bulkhead, and the character was brought in. Later, on a featurette on the Transformers: Prime Season 1 Blu-Ray, Rik Alvarez admitted that because of the death of Ironhide in Dark of the Moon, they didn't want to confuse kids with a living Ironhide. It's likely that the former story was a cover for the latter, for spoiler reasons.
• For such a big guy, he runs really fast.
• Bulkhead's chin piece is actually a cover for his lower lip, as is evident whenever he smiles.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Bulkhead (バルクヘッド Barukuheddo)

External links

• Bulkhead's character page @ Hubworld.com