Tailgate (G1)
| The name or term "Tailgate" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Tailgate (disambiguation). |
- Tailgate is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Tailgate is not exactly all there. He's actually a very good processor in his head, capable of handling an amazing array of technical and combat skills... it's just buried under layers of mental issues. He's broadly unfocused and easily distracted, and often gets impulsive, irrational obsessions. Call him a coward and he's likely to get offended and do something stupid and self-destructive. And his timekeeping sucks.
Easily his most distinctive mental issue is his inability to tell the difference between a non-living Earth machine and sentient robotic life such as himself. While it's a mistake many other Cybertronians have made at first, typically they learn quickly and let it go. Not Tailgate. He get incensed, and is quite vocal in his desire to free the "enslaved" machines of Earth.
That boy ain't right.
To keep him focused, he acts as a scout —despite the fact it is one of the few areas he has no great talent for— with strict orders not to break cover for any reason. In this, he is aided by a ridiculously powerful iron-cobalt magnet installed behind his bumper, which he can use to tailgate closely beside other vehicles and travel far into enemy territory using minimal fuel.
Fiction
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers comic
With the Autobots being framed by the Decepticon Trailer Brigade for numerous crimes, Kenji was feeling a bit dejected at how his schoolyard chums were suddenly turning on them. Tailgate appeared to give him a lift home from school and attempted to cheer him up, reminding him that as an Honorary Autobot he had nothing to worry about. Their drive was interrupted by a crowd gathering around a display put on by a pair of robed figures (secretly Rumble and Frenzy), decrying the Autobots and preaching the heroism of the Decepticons. The rest of the Autobots soon arrived to straighten things out. Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #7
Tailgate later responded to a distress signal sent from Powerglide, who was fighting to rescue a puppy that was brimming over with Decepticon super science from the Combaticons. Dying from its wounds, the dog transferred the super science into Powerglide, giving him brief access to Scramble Power. Along with the other Minibots, Tailgate merged with Powerglide into a Minibot combiner and swiftly defeated Bructicus. Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #8
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice actor: Ted Schwartz (English), Ken Shiroyama (Japanese), Jorge García (Latin American)
Tailgate was one of a group of Minibots stationed at the Ark in 2006. When the Constructicons built Trypticon out of a human city, Mount St. Hilary and the Ark were the first stop on his journey to destroy Metroplex. Tailgate and the other Autobots on duty rolled out to defend the Ark with all the firepower at their disposal. It didn't go very well. The Ark was left devastated in Trypticon's mighty wake, and Tailgate's troops were beaten and scattered by the colossal dinosaur. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5
Marvel UK Generation 1 comics
Tailgate was one of the Autobots working with Emirate Xaaron and Ultra Magnus's covert cell on Cybertron, and was briefly seen when Optimus Prime came to Cybertron and rallied the troops for an assault on Darkmount. Resurrection!
He eventually finished his training at the Autobot Military Academy, but upon graduation was provoked into joining Flattop and Subsea in venturing underground, in order to prove his courage. When a group of Cybertronian Mutants attacked and slaughtered his fellow cadets, Tailgate stood his ground. A blast into Smeltdown's chest-furnace obliterated most of the sewer-dwellers, leaving only the ape-like Rotgut. However, a little quick thinking, and Tailgate was able to use the larger machine's bulk against him, flipping Rotgut into the pyre left in Smeltdown's wake. Thus, he proved he was not a coward... and also not very good at watching his friends' backs in a fight. Pipes and Outback eventually arrived as Tailgate surfaced and let them know of his fellow cadets' fate.
Unfortunately, Tailgate's actions inadvertently woke something worse than the Mutants... Underworld!
Dreamwave Generation One comics
Tailgate was among the Autobot civilians who watched Shockwave's anti-Optimus-Prime propaganda broadcasts. Cold War Didn't seem to do the trick, though, as he was later seen training alongside several Autobot recruits against auto-combatants following Shockwave's defeat. None of them fared particularly well in training, however, much to Prowl and Ironhide's dismay. Black Sunshine
Wings Universe
Tailgate was present at the first "meeting" of Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus nine million years ago. Battle Lines, Part 6
IDW Generation 1 comics
Tailgate was a bomb disposal 'bot in the Primal Vanguard, over six million years ago. Hangers On He was later meant to be on Nova Prime's Ark mission, but a rash detour saw him crippled in a pit at the Mitteous Plateau. According to him, if he wasn't there for the launch, the mission was doomed, and so he tried to detonate his energon rations in the hope of being detected. Despite passing out over and over, he did finally manage it... six million years later, outside the Lost Light launch, and he had a panic attack when he saw his explosion had damaged Whirl. The Autobots, not knowing who Tailgate was, took him on board the Light since he'd mentioned "the launch". How to Say Goodbye and Mean It Ratchet "had him carbon dated", bewildered by the antique systems he had.
When Tailgate came to (and seeing he hadn't killed "Nut-Job", as he mistakenly thought Whirl was called), he heard from Swerve just how long he'd been offline, to which he SLIGHTLY over-reacted. Swerve ended up 'adopting' him as a mate, filling him in on the future and begging him to show off his alt mode. The two were caught up in an attack by strange robots chanting "nineteen eighty four", robots that Tailgate seemed quite interested in. Later, during a crew gathering, Swerve finally convinced Tailgate to attempt to transform.Hangers On Tailgate got stuck during the transformation, leaving him temporarily without legs.
A Sparkeater was reported to be on the loose aboard the Lost Light and Rodimus ordered everyone to pair off and lock themselves in habitation suites. Tailgate noticed his old crewmate Cyclonus and asked for some help getting to a room. Cyclonus carried the half-transformed Tailgate there and quite rudely dumped him on the ground. As the Sparkeater situation unfolded outside, the two former crew members of the original Ark discussed the six million year gap in history they missed. Cyclonus described the Autobot-Decepticon conflict to Tailgate as he understood it. Later in the medibay, as Ratchet was unsticking his half-transformed body, Tailgate declared that he would like to be a Decepticon! The Chaos of Warm Things
Word got around the Lost Light about Tailgate's aims, and Ultra Magnus asked Rodimus to set the "confirmed Decepticon sympathizer" straight. Rodimus hooked Tailgate up with Rewind, who beamed a compressed visual history of the civil war directly into Tailgate's head. Sobered by what he saw, Tailgate realized that the Decepticons were the "bad guys". He returned to his quarters and fumed at Cyclonus for not giving him a clearer picture of the two factions. When Tailgate impotently struck Cyclonus on the arm, his icy roommate reciprocated with a vicious backhand. Leaving their room, Cyclonus kicked the downed Tailgate on his way out, leaving him cowering on the floor. Life After the Big Bang
Tailgate later requested Ultra Magnus that he wanted to learn the Autobot Code. However, he was tortured by reading its thousands of pages. He then got interested in if there was a clause nineteen-eighty-four since the giant robots that chased Skids had stated it over and over again and was informed that the clause related to the supposedly non-existent "thought warfare". How Ratchet Got His Hands Back
Afterwards, Tailgate went to Swerve's bar and asked Cyclonus if he could join his table but was told to be left alone. He joined some of the other Autobots and asked Chromedome how he met Rewind but didn't get an answer. Then, he told everyone about his boring Autobot Code lesson with Ultra Magnus. Interiors
 Spoiler warning: Plot details for Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations follow. |
Ultimately, he passed his Autobot Code exam, albeit with a grade below what he was used to. Asking Cyclonus to attend his Act of Affiliation, a step on the way to the full Rite of the Autobrand, he was seemingly ignored - although his fellow Ancient Cybertronian would secretly attend. At the ceremony itself, however, Rodimus was briefly possessed by a Metrotitan and, rather than drawing his probationary Autobot symbol, scrawled "Set Me Free" in Old Cybertronian on his chest. Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations
Later, he watched one of Rewind's old public information films, "Proteus' Promise", with several other members of the crew. Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?
Toys
Generation 1
- Tailgate (Mini Vehicle, 1986)
- Japanese ID number: C-61
- Tailgate is a white-and-blue retooling of the 1984 Autobot Windcharger, transforming into a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am sports car. His head sculpt is much more elaborate than the earlier toy's (which shared the Microchange sculpt), and his chest sticker bears an odd resemblance to a portable radio.
- The original version of this mold is used by Camaro and Rook as well as the Mexican versions (yes, plural) of Tailgate—i.e. regular Windcharger redecoed only and not retooled. Tailgate's toy was used as the model for the non-toy comic character Wipe-Out.
- Bumble & Minibots (Multi-pack, 2008)
- Encore number: 10
- In 2008, Tailgate was reissued in the Transformers Encore line, bundled with Bumblebee, Pipes, Swerve and Outback. This version of Tailgate has extra paint details on his face.
Notes
- In the pre-Toy Fair 1986 catalog, Tailgate is featured with a yellow car body, a black chest/torso, and a red face. Fellow 1986 Mini Vehicle Hubcap is featured with a white car body. Hmmmmm.
- Tailgate's ability to magnetize himself using his front bumper being similar to Windcharger's makes sense when you realize the former's a retool of the latter.
Foreign names
- French: Hayon (Canada)
