Protectobot (G1)
| This article is about the Autobot subgroup from the Generation 1 continuity. For the subgroup from Universe, see Protectobot (Universe). |
- The Protectobots are a sub-group of the Autobots from the Generation 1 continuity family.
The Protectobots consist of:
- The energetic Hot Spot (leader)
- The savvy Streetwise
- The bad boy Blades
- The easy going Groove
- The pacifistic First Aid
This team of emergency, rescue and law enforcement vehicles are dedicated to the protection of humans and their homes. To this end, they will respond to any manner of mundane human emergency and help in any way they can.
They combine to form the giant Defensor, who embodies the team's ideals of protecting human life.
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Generation 1
The Protectobots were first shown in a vision show to Buster Witwicky and Optimus Prime by the Matrix. After seeing the vision he ordered the creation of both teams of Autobots seen in it, the Protectobots and Aerialbots. Second Generation!
The Protectobots' first known mission involved accompanying Optimus Prime to stop the Decepticons from stealing a hydrothermocline. They eventually battled the Decepticons within a game world called Multiworld, wherein they trounced the Combaticons with some help from the game's native inhabitants, then as Defensor killed Megatron by dropping them both off a bridge. Megatron cheated, however, and was able to re-create himself in the game. Optimus Prime defeated him for good, but in the real world decided that he'd lost the game as he harmed the video game's natives in doing so. As the game's terms called for the losing leader to be destroyed in the real world, Prime was blown to bits, and the stunned Protectobots hauled his remains back to the Ark in silence. Afterdeath!
The Protectobots later were sent by Grimlock to track down the "traitorous" Blaster and Goldbug. Goldbug was captured by humans, but Blaster was secured after a fight with the Combaticons. Used Autobots A second battle followed as the Protectobots returned to the Ark; as Defensor, the Protectobots were defeated, and saved only because Blaster was freed by some human children. Moved by his example, the Protectobots freed Blaster, and watched as he took the children for a ride in space aboard the captive Blast-Off. Child's Play
Streetwise subsequently battled Starscream on Earth. Stargazing
The Protectobots are curiously absent from the subsequent giant battle on the moon, Totaled! implying that they were never retrieved from Earth; in fact, they are never shown again in the G1 series — not even to get blown up in the Underbase Saga. However First Aid was subsequently showed as having been deactivated, The Greatest Gift Of All! presumably in the Underbase battle.
Generation 2
The Protectobots seem to have been split up; Hot Spot led an assortment of other (non-Protectobot) Autobots on a mission to stop Megatron on Earth, which ended with his self-destruction to avoid capture by Cobra.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team was under Grimlock's command as he took on the second-generation Cybertronians. They joined a mission to destroy the Cybertronian flagship Twilight; Grimlock hadn't quite thought things through, however, and the mission ended with the Autobots held captive. A subsequent rescue mission by Optimus Prime freed the Autobots.
Groove later joined the Aerialbots, Hot Rod, and the Dinobots in a training exercise on a deep space asteroid. Blades suffered rotor damage when he was shot by Rumble on Earth, as part of a Grimlock-led assault force against Megatron's Decepticons to back up Optimus Prime's truce-seeking mission.
American cartoon continuity
Japanese cartoon continuity
Dreamwave Generation 1 comics continuity
As one of the powerful and contested combiner teams, the Protectobots were supposed to remain neutral. However, when the Ultracons recruited Devastator and turned him loose on their enemies, the Protectobots felt they had no choice but to respond. As Defensor, they counter-attacked the Constructicon combiner, but the fragile industrial area around them was being destroyed. Eventually, they succeeded in taking down Devastator as individuals, through careful teamwork.
After the battle, the team tried to figure out why their combined form still wasn't living up to his intellectual potential. Before they could find an answer, the Chaos Trinity attacked the team's secret base. Hot Spot was unwilling to use Defensor, afraid of a repeat of what had happened before. The team was defeated, and Hot Spot taken prisoner. The War Within: The Dark Ages
Toys
Generation 1
- Protectobots (1986)
- The Protectobots are fairly standard Scramble City-style toys: four simple, small figures, and one larger leader who forms the central torso.
- Unlike the Aerialbots and Stunticons who slightly preceded them, the smaller Protectobots do not share a standard transformation scheme. All feature shoulder swivels as their only notable articulation; some have knee joints, but they are rendered useless by their fused uni-feet. Three of them do have an odd fist design, with the post-hole on the side rather than the top; their guns feature L-shaped grips to compensate All four small members of the team come with add-on weapons for their vehicle modes. They share a color palette dominated by whites, reds, light grays, and black.
- The team is also notable for having a small amount of kibble storage -- Defensor's chest plates can attach to Hot Spot in vehicle mode, and the combiner's head is integral to Hot Spot.
Universe (2008)
- Blades (Voyager, 2008)
- A redeco of the Cybertron Evac mold.
Other
- A new team of Protectobots was issued as part of the 2005 Universe lineup, but in the absence of any fiction apart from a background cameo, it is unclear if they are meant to have any relation to the Generation 1 characters.
