Constructicon (G1)
| The name or term "Constructicon" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Constructicon (disambiguation). |
- The Constructicons are a Decepticon subgroup from the Generation 1 continuity family.
The Constructicons are the Decepticons' foremost designers, engineers and builders. They are also particularly notable for their status as the very first combining subgroup of Transformers. The individual members of the team are:
- Scrapper, (usually) the leader, a modest but masterful designer - front-end loader.
- Bonecrusher, a destructive berserker - bulldozer (and later front-end loader).
- Scavenger, who has some major self-esteem issues - power shovel.
- Mixmaster, a manic and somewhat crazed chemist - cement mixer.
- Hook, a snobbishly perfectionist engineer - crane.
- Long Haul, a hard-working transporter who longs to be on the battlefield - dump truck (and later crane).
They are able to merge their bodies and minds together to form the gigantic Devastator.
In several continuities, there are more Constructicons in addition to or in lieu of the primary six. The named ones include:
- Gravedigger, a Long Haul lookalike - dump truck.
- Hauler, an Autobot ex-Constructicon - crane.
- Erector, an Autobot ex-Constructicon - cab and crane trailer.
- Hightower, a stand-in for Mixmaster and Hook whose personality is a merger of the two - crane.
In the Universe war, a Micromaster Constructicon team includes Buckethead and Quickmix. Since Transformers in the Universe war come from all across the multiverse, these may be two more Primax Constructicons as well.
Members' color schemes are required to include green.[1]
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Seeking to bolster the size of his forces on Earth in 1985, Decepticon Commander Shockwave arranged for the construction of six new Decepticon bodies, which were then infused with life by the power of the Creation Matrix, tapped from the head of the imprisoned Optimus Prime. Thus, the Constructicons were born, and were immediately put to work building a massive radio transmission dish that Soundwave used to beam a message to Cybertron. When the Autobots attempted to interfere, the Constructicons revealed their hidden power and merged into Devastator to fight them off, allowing the message to successfully go through. The Next Best Thing to Being There!
The Autobots, intrigued by Devastator's unique combining power, attempted to replicate it with the construction of Omega Supreme. However, Omega was composed of only three components, unlike the six Constructicons that made up Devastator. The Autobots, needing additional data on combiner technology, conducted a raid on the Decepticon base, luring out Devastator so that they could study him further. Command Performances! This led to the construction of the new combiner team, the Aerialbots, capable of forming Superion, who Devastator battled during the Transformers' adventure alongside G.I. Joe. ...All Fall Down!
The Constructicons were later charged with hunting down Buster Witwicky, Devastation Derby! and again when the time-travelling Galvatron co-opted their services to build a gigantic laser cannon. Target: 2006
The team's special talents were not required again until they and the Predacons stole large amounts of rocket fuel and raw materials, with which the Constructicons rebuilt the Decepticons' mobile island headquarters as a spaceship. Toy Soldiers! With the entire Earth-based Decepticon army aboard the ship, under the command of Ratbat, they attacked an Autobot congregation on the moon. While the battle raged, the Constructicons penetrated the Ark and recovered the deactivated bodies of several Decepticons defeated in an earlier clash with Omega Supreme. Totaled!
In an alternate 2008, Mixmaster was briefly indicated to have ascended to leadership of the Constructicons. Space Pirates!
Earthforce
At one point the team had lost the ability to combine, and attempted to rebuild Devastator as a singular, separate entity. The Autobots Ironhide and Bumblebee arrived on the island to investigate, and Ironhide was able to bypass the security grid and plant explosives to destroy the site, and Devastator with it. Desert Island Risks!
The main Constructicon team worked for Megatron during the Decepticon Civil War, and Mixmaster happily dealt Syk to everyone - happily until Soundwave happily blackmailed him over it...
Classics
The Constructicons were among the troops that Megatron covertly rebuilt on Earth after Bludgeon's defeat and exile. Both Hook and Mixmaster were curiously absent from the team, with the enigmatic Hightower in their place. It's unclear why this was, but Hightower himself joked about stripping enough spare parts off of Grimlock to "build a new Hook." Crossing Over: Part 6
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
The Constructicons' origins are clouded. They were reportedly on Cybertron millions of years ago, though the accounts gel poorly. When Rodimus Prime took a near-death trip into the Matrix of Leadership, he saw a vision of Megatron's creation - by eight(!) apparent Constructicons. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4 But according to Omega Supreme, at the time that Megatron was building up his Decepticon army, the Constructicons were not Decepticons at all (though they were seen bearing the Decepticon symbol). They were the peaceful creators of the beautiful Crystal City on Cybertron, and Omega was both its guardian and their friend. However, Megatron secretly used the Robo-Smasher to reprogram the Constructicons into Decepticons, then he had them send Omega away on a fool's errand so they could demolish Crystal City.
The enraged Omega tracked the Constructicons down and reprogrammed them again, intending to return them to their previous state. But as the group returned to rebuild Crystal City, they attacked Omega while his back was turned. Megatron's programming was not to be undone, and he had also given them the ability to merge into Devastator. As they wrestled with Omega in their combined form, the Robo-Smasher latched onto Omega Supreme's head. Omega was able to fend off both his attackers, but his mental brush with the Robo-Smasher left him filled only with hate for the Constructicons, whom he pursued across the galaxy for millions of years. While this tale was only conveyed second-hand, some details would be corroborated in conversation between Omega and the Constructicons in the modern day. The Secret of Omega Supreme
In 1984, the Constructicons bolstered Megatron's forces on Earth (and Megatron referred to "the time we spent building them in these caverns," adding to the origin ambiguities). Scrapper designed a machine to transfer the other Decepticons' offensive powers to Megatron. While Megatron battled Optimus Prime, holding the attention of the Autobots, the Constructicons invaded the Ark to destroy Teletraan I. Unfortunately for them, the Ark was protected by the Dinobots, but by merging into Devastator, they became more than a match for their prehistoric foes. The return of the other Autobots and the discovery of Megatron's deception spelled the end of the battle, however. Hound distracted Devastator with a gigantic hologram, and Optimus Prime blasted the giant at just the right spot to force the Constructicons to disengage. They and the other Decepticons were then forced into a river of lava. Heavy Metal War
The Constructicons all managed to survive their magma bath mostly unscathed, except possibly for Mixmaster, who developed a manic personality and a fondness for repeating his words, which he had not displayed before. Regardless, the team was soon back at work again, performing such varied tasks as assisting in Megatron's reconstruction of New York City (which also involved turning Optimus Prime's scrapped remains into a robotic alligator) City of Steel and building a device to paralyze Transformers in their vehicular modes, as well as another to crush them. The Autobot Run
The Constructicons' history of mental manipulation continued when the Autobots planted dominator discs on them, which the Autobots activated when the Constructicons merged into Devastator. He instantly began fighting against the Decepticons, and Autobots took him back to their base. However, Megatron was secretly aware of the whole plot, even spying on the Autobots through the Constructicons' own eyes. Meanwhile, the Constructicons contentedly helped fix the battle-damaged Autobots and then accompanied them on a raid against the Decepticons, who were trying to drill into the Earth's core. During the battle, Megatron used a "control switch" to deactivate the discs, and as Devastator turned back against the Autobots, Wheeljack boosted the discs' power. This drove Devastator mad, and he began attacking everyone indiscriminately. The only thing that brought him back to sanity was the threat of the Decepticons' drill, which was seconds away from destroying the planet. He dove into the drilled hole and wrenched the bit to a standstill, saving the world. The Core
Afterwards, the Constructicons returned to their Decepticon roles, but treachery remained a running theme. Upon learning of the Autobot Grapple's solar power tower design, Scrapper and the Constructicons pretended to have defected from the Decepticons in order to help him and Hoist construct it. But upon its completion, they turned it and the two Autobots over to Megatron. In a demonstration of Scrapper's motto, Grapple and Hoist were imprisoned in the very structure of their tower. The Master Builders
Later, when the other Decepticons began to suffer from Cybertonium degeneration, the Constructicons, apparently working fine, took delivery of a shipment of the mineral via the space bridge, and as Devastator, failed to stop Spike and Carly from getting by them and traveling to Cybertron. Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1
When Omega Supreme learned that the Constructicons were active on Earth, he arrived on the planet and joined Optimus Prime's forces, biding his time until he could face his former friends again. That chance arose when the Constructicons were discovered mining an asteroid, and Omega was dispatched to investigate. Ignoring Optimus Prime's orders, Omega Supreme engaged the Constructicons, and in the battle, split the asteroid in two, revealing that it was an egg of sorts, incubating a monstrous alien creature, which promptly attacked San Francisco while Omega, ignoring the plight of the city, continued to battle the Constructicons. Optimus Prime then entered the fray, convincing Omega that saving the city was more important than revenge, and forcing the Constructicons to retreat. The Secret of Omega Supreme
The building skills of the Constructicons remained in demand; other creations around this time included an army of drone Transformers created from common Earth cars; Make Tracks various constructs for Blitzwing, including a throne constructed from deactivated Autobots and a massive maze; Triple Takeover and a giant ruby-powered laser cannon. Masquerade It's unclear how unique their combining ability actually was (especially if Devastator had been around since the Golden Age), but their gestalt-monopoly on Earth was undone with the creation of the Stunticons and their Autobot counterparts, the Aerialbots. These were soon followed by the Protectobots and Combaticons, the latter even defeating Devastator in battle as their merged form, Bruticus. Starscream's Brigade
Still, twenty years later in the Earth year 2005, Devastator was the Decepticons' primary weapon in the great Battle of Autobot City, tearing through the defenses and walls of the city and battling the Dinobots once more. On the return trip to Cybertron, it was Bonecrusher who advocated the "survival of the fittest" policy that saw many wounded Decepticons ejected from the shuttle, among them Megatron, prompting Scrapper to vote for the Constructicons as the new leaders of the Decepticons, arguing that Devastator was the most powerful robot. Hook took great offense to the notion that Soundwave would make a better leader than them. In the end, Starscream became the new leader of the Decepticons, and the Constructicons, as a sign of no hard feelings, provided the music by playing horns at his coronation. Starscream, desperate to get on with the ceremony, eventually shot their horns, showing that he still had hard feelings. How they were able to play the horns, as a number of them don't have mouths, is unknown. The Transformers: The Movie
In the remainder of this year and throughout 2006, the Constructicons maintained a smaller, but still present, role in the Decepticon army, lending their talents to the Decepticon/Quintesson alliance by constructing Trypticon out of a populated human city in only one night. FFOD, Part 4 Later, they built a planetary engine on an asteroid and battled on the planet Eurythma, Carnage in C-Minor aided in the overthrow of Paradron Fight or Flee and took part in an attack on Japan. The Burden Hardest to Bear Although brief, the Constructicons even played a part in the battle for the Plasma Energy Chamber in 2007, seen firing on Autobots with the Terrorcons. The Rebirth, Part 3
Origin inconsistency
As seen above, the cartoon presented several conflicting origins for the Constructicons. The series bible described the Constructicons as having "no explained origin",[2] but this only seemed to promote variant portrayals.
A straight reading of the "facts" appears to go: the Constructicons started out Decepticons, built Megatron, left the Decepticons, built the Crystal City, were Robo-Smashed back into Decepticons, ran around the galaxy for umpteen million years, ended up on Earth, and were (re)built by Megatron. However, there are issues with that narrative:
- There was no hint in Omega's flashback that they had ever been Decepticons before; their treachery was entirely unexpected. On the other hand, they did have Decepticon symbols throughout. Another possibility is that the Constructicons had built Megatron without realizing how evil he would be, which allows their early insignia to be chalked up as the animation error they most likely are.
- Even if Megatron's claim of "building" them just means "rebuilding", their Crystal City flashback showed them anachronistically already in their Terran vehicle forms, so what would he have rebuilt them into? On the other hand, that's just one more reason to doubt the veracity of Omega's flashback.
Making the issue either simpler or more complicated, depending on your view, the unreliable narrator rationale could negate much of the Constructicons' supposed history, between the vengeance-driven Omega's tale and the tripping Rodimus' near-death mystical vision. But the real-world truth of the matter is that different writers and haphazard animators gave us a mix of possibilities with no clear canon answer.
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers comic
The Constructicons helped Megatron secure an island paradise as the staging ground for their new fortress, Trypticon. When Superion and the Autobots arrived to kick them off the island, the Constructicons formed Devastator to fight back, but were swatted aside by Trypticon who wanted the kill for himself. After the Autobots tricked Trypticon into defeating himself, they forced the Constructicons to rebuild the forest they destroyed. Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #6
The Headmasters cartoon
The Constructicons are not shown doing much individually in the The Headmasters animated series other than acting as infantry for Galvatron. Their combined form of Devastator, however, is shown with much more frequency. In the first episode, Devastator is defeated by Optimus Prime with a single jump-kick to the back. They have a rivalry going on with the Trainbots.
Zone cartoon, comic, and story pages
Seeking to create a Decepticon Zone to counter the Autobot Zone, Decepticon Emperor Violen Jiger gathered together the Nine Great Demon Generals, upgrading them with powerful new armor and weaponry, then sent them forth to conquer planets. The Constructicons were among those summoned, but only in the form of Devastator. Zone Part 1 Zone Enter the New Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas!
G.I. Joe vs the Transformers
The Constructicons were among the Transformers aboard the Ark when it crashed on Earth at some point in the past. In the present, it was discovered by the terrorist organization Cobra, who reprogrammed the Transformers for their own needs. Naturally, the Constructicons were used for construction on Cobra Island, until Wheeljack hacked Cobra's computers and freed everyone. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #3 After enacting some revenge at their former captors, the Constructicons were ordered to defend the SPS Satellite controls from the Autobot and G.I. Joe troops attacking the island. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #4 However, not even Devastator's strength was enough to stop the attackers, and the combiner was defeated. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #5
Dreamwave comics continuity
Eight million years before the modern era, the Constructicons were tasked by Megatron to activate Cybertron's planetary engines. The War Within #2 When Megatron disappeared into the depths of the planet fighting Optimus Prime, Starscream temporarily took command and had Scrapper prepare a process for the resurfacing of Cybertron, which would transform it into a mobile war-world. Scrapper cautioned against such an action, but Starscream ignored him, and prevented him from stopping it when the process was underway. The War Within #5 After this, the Constructicons worked on the theory of mass intellect, and succeeded in stabilizing the neural-meshing, creating Devastator. However, the process was not as efficient as the Constructicons believed, as the technical geniuses of the Constructicons did not translate into Devastator, causing him to suffer from a serious "dumbing down" problem. Despite the drawbacks, Megatron was impressed with Devastator's destructive potential. Besides, being intelligent and powerful was overrated in Megatron's opinion. More than Meets the Eye #8 When Megatron and Optimus Prime were thought to have died in an early test of the space bridge transport system, and the Autobots and Decepticons splintered into several smaller factions, the Constructicons broke the treaty that had downgraded the combining teams to non-combat status by siding with Ratbat's Ultracons and battling Defensor. Escalation
It is apparent that the Constructicons were not aboard the Ark when it crashed on Earth four million years before the modern era, but they did eventually find their way to Earth and joined Megatron's forces there after they awoke in 1984. All the Transformers were rendered inactive in the explosion of the Ark II in 1999, but when they reactivated in 2001, Devastator was the main weapon in Megatron's attack on San Francisco. Rampaging through the city, he battled and defeated Superion, Prime Directive #4 but was defeated by Optimus Prime who blasted the titan point-blank in the face, sending him plunging into the ocean. Prime Directive #5
Over the following months, Starscream had the Insecticons secretly rebuild Devastator and the Constructicons without Megatron's knowledge. When Megatron vanished off the face of the Earth, Starscream took the opportunity to bring his secret weapon back into the light. Devastator made his return debut in the canyons of Nevada, where Starscream led the unwitting Autobot named Sideswipe right into a blast from Devastator's solar energy rifle. He was a major force in Starscream's control of Las Vegas as well, and battled Grimlock when the Dinobot commander attempted to free the city from Decepticon domination. Hardwired
When Megatron returned from deep space, Devastator unhesitatingly remained at Starscream's side, and was prepared to tear his former leader limb from limb at Starscream's command. When the Decepticons split into two factions between Megatron and Starscream, the Constructicons were steadfastly loyal to Starscream. They were captured, along with the rest of Starscream's men, when the Keepers settled in Las Vegas. Trapped inside an energy net, Devastator tried to bludgeon his way out at first, until Skywarp convinced the Constructicons to separate so they could dig their way out from underneath the field. Once they were freed, the Constructicons reformed Devastator as the Autobots and Decepticons united in an attempt to destroy the Keepers before the American government carried out the final solution and nuked Las Vegas off the map. Didn't work—the xenophobic President jumped the gun and fired off the nuclear missile early in the hopes of eliminating the Transformers as well as the Keepers. Still, the impending nuclear holocaust wasn't enough to deter Devastator's one-track mind, and he continued to hunt down the Keeper-possessed Bluestreak (since that was the one Autobot mommy and daddy would let him destroy at the moment). During the fight, the Keepers managed to trap Devastator and his massive comrade Omega Sentinel outside a protective field, while they engaged the smaller Transformers inside. This eventually meant that Devastator was too far away to be protected by Optimus Prime's Matrix-constructed shields when the nuclear missiles finally struck. The combined Constructicons suffered massive damage as a result. Annihilation
In the aftermath of the nuclear assault on Las Vegas, the Constructicons were trapped permanently in their Devastator form as a result of their injuries. Devastator was present in the Nevada desert when the American military forces ambushed the Autobots and Decepticons. After that, Megatron sent him and Omega Sentinel to keep watch on the Void gateway being built on Allister Greaves' property to allow the Keepers back into normal space. Optimus Prime and Megatron soon joined them there, and began the final battle against the Keepers' pawn, Franklin Townsend, and his puppets Bluestreak and Starscream. Devastator attempted to swat Starscream out of the sky, but eventually stopped when the Keepers' power faded and Starscream returned to his ever-so-likeable self. Instead, he was forced to contend with the far more formidable Omega Sentinel, who had broken free from Megatron's control and returned to his original Guardian programming. Ultimately, the Omega Sentinel sacrificed himself to stop the Keepers by plunging into the Void, and pulled Devastator with him. When the Keepers' control crystal was shattered, the Void was destroyed and Devastator fell back out into real space. He floated in the vacuum between Mars and Jupiter, in deep stasis lock. A secret American space venture, the starship Bounty, happened across the gigantic Decepticon on their mission, and made plans to bring him back to Earth. Fusion
Devastator eventually came to be possessed by the Earth Defense Command, and he was dissected and studied in their underground base. Generation One #0
IDW Generation 1 continuity
The Constructicons started out as the builders of the Forge, the arena for the illegal gladiatorial combat that Clench ran, and continued in that role when Megatron took over. They did not move the parts for the arena between venues, but rather built them on site, using any materials available—and that included Empties. Megatron Origin #2 After Megatron began his preparations for the Decepticon insurrection, the Constructicons turned their talents to modifying the gladiators into warriors. Megatron Origin #3 Once the rebellion began in full, the Constructicons helped conquer Kaon. Megatron Origin #4
The Constructicons participated in an attack on Zeta Prime's Citadel during a temporary alliance between the Decepticons and Orion Pax's Autobots. Overthrown They were later stationed in the industrial slagwerks of Galaxxon, where they watched a broadcast in which Orion Pax, now Optimus Prime, asked all Cybertronians to unite and fight against the new Decepticon rule. Broadcast
As the war began in earnest between the Autobots and Decepticons, the Constructicons remained loyal followers of Megatron. At one point they were stationed on Varas Centralus alongside Swindle and Sky-Byte, where they committed some atrocity that was enough to cause Sky-Byte to abandon the Decepticon cause. A Better Tomorrow Four million years ago, several Constructicons were part of a convoy bringing energon to the war effort, but the shipment was intercepted and captured by Optimus Prime and Ironhide. The Iron Age
Millions of years later, the Constructicons obtained combiner technology somehow and joined Megatron on Earth, where they defeated the local Autobot troops. All Hail Megatron #7 The Decepticons subsequently attacked New York City, where the Constructicons briefly pretended to "come in peace" before they started killing everybody. All Hail Megatron #1 As Devastator, they made sure to destroy all the tunnels leading in and out of the city. All Hail Megatron #2 Starscream subsequently convinced the Constructicons to join him in his rebellion against Megatron, and they attacked their former leader in the form of Devastator. All Hail Megatron #10 The battle was interrupted by incoming human jets and the returning Autobots, and Devastator was faced with the mighty Omega Supreme. All Hail Megatron #11 The Constructicons were defeated when Omega blasted a hole in Devastator's torso. All Hail Megatron #12
As the battered Decepticons fled Earth, the Constructicons seemed to have been left behind. Two years later, Scrapper joined a few other Decepticons trying to get off the planet New Arrivals, Old Encounters, while Scavenger was targeted for capture by Skywatch and the Autobots. The Hanging Sword He managed to stay hidden and think of a plan to get out of the country. The Impossible Knot Unlike Scavenger, Hook and Mixmaster ended up captured by Skywatch, but were rescued by Scrapper's group who had allied themselves with some rogue Autobots. A Rude Awakening The three reunited Constructicons then started building a starship for everyone to leave Earth with. Swindle wanted to speed things up by collecting some more of the construction experts, but Rodimus Prime refused as his Autobots feared that they might form Devastator again. Seasons in Flight
The Decepticons eventually betrayed the Autobots and tried to take the ship for themselves (with help from Menasor instead of Devastator), but were defeated. Skywatch captured most of them, but several Constructicons got away. Earthworks Among them was Scrapper, but he was soon hunted down and executed by Spike Witwicky, who was intent on ending the threat of Devastator forever. Scrapper
As the Decepticon army returned to Earth in full force under Megatron's command, one of their first acts was to lay siege to Skywatch and recover all the imprisoned 'Cons on the premises, including Scrapper's deactivated body. The Demolished Man Hook and Mixmaster were later seen among Megatron's assembled troops before he faced off against Optimus Prime. Enemy Mine
After Megatron and the Autobots traveled to Cybertron for war against Galvatron's army, the Decepticons eventually followed, presumably via Space Bridge. The Constructicons traveled with Scrapper's deactivated form and, despite his current state, were still able to combine and form Devastator, albeit with a dead limb. Devastator was still a force to be reckoned with, and so Sunstreaker armed his hoverchair with a copious amount of explosives, tricking Devastator into stepping on it. After a titanic blast, Devastator prepared to take revenge on the little Autobot when D-Void pulled him and the other Decepticons present into the mass of its "Deceptigod" construct. Chaos Part Three: Kings
The monster was defeated by Megatron, but the Decepticons were left weakened from the experience, and the Autobots soon captured and contained them. Fitted with inhibitor/deterrence chips to keep them under control, they were used to reinforce the Autobots during a NAIL riot. The Death of Optimus Prime The Constructicons later helped look for survivors in a blast crater after a mysterious explosion happened there. Stick Together They were then put to work building things for the Autobots and working in the reclamation tunnels, but turned on the Autobots once they began hunting Bombshell. After beating up his pursuer, Blurr, the Constructicons fought with Arcee until Prowl showed up and threatened to detonate their I/D chips. They just taunted him since Ratbat had made sure their their chips didn't work down in the tunnels, only for Prowl to use a secret passcode to reactivate them, blowing the Constructicons' heads off. Devisive Dirge, one of the few witnesses, would later tell Swindle and Needlenose of their deaths. A Better Tomorrow
Wings Universe
Nine million years before the Transformers came to Earth, the Cybertronian "race" known as the Constructicons decided to side with the Decepticons. Flames of Yesterday
Hook, leader of the Constructicons, had a seat at the council table of Decepticon Warlords. The Warlords had an acrimonious relationship with each other at best, but agreed to meet for War Councils to discuss the Decepticon movement and, particularly, the rising threat of the Autobot Elite Guard to all of them. He and Reflector, leader of the Photons, carried a motion for the assembled Warlords to share their plans and information with each other, for the greater glory of the Decepticons.
Or, rather, for the greater glory of Megatron. By the next council meeting, Hook, Reflector and Megatron's representative Shockwave were no longer present, having united under Megatron's banner after claiming the Warlords' secrets. A Team Effort
A group of Constructicons worked for Deathsaurus on the repairs of the Combaticons. Battle Lines, Part 2 Following Megatron's conquering of Deathsaurus's territory, Deathsaurus's Combiner technology was applied to Hook and his team to create Devastator, who joined in an attack on Iacon. Battle Lines, Part 5 The Autobots were able to take down Devastator using a combination of live cables and shooting him in the knees. Battle Lines, Part 6
Millennia later, during the Battle of Autobot City, Devastator breached a wall and faced Ultra Magnus with a small group of Autobots. The Autobots used a barrage of rockets to separate the Constructicons, who began fighting back, taking out Red Alert as the Autobots retreated. A Flash Forward
During the third Cybertronian war, the Constructicons were ambushed at Elevation Recostalus by a group of Autobots including Hauler and Erector, who disabled them before they could form Devastator. The group remained offline until 1984, when Megatron rebuilt them on Earth and appointed Scrapper as leader in Hook's place. Transformers I.Q. last issue review
Hall of Fame bios
Erector was kicked out of the Constructions for not being green. Transformers Hall of Fame
Commercial appearances
The Constructicons were contentedly allowing gullible humans to operate them on a construction site in the desert, until they abruptly decided to transform and merge into Devastator, sending the humans fleeing. Constructicons commercial
Years later, the Constructicons barreled into a power plant facility and started smashing stuff. Unfortunately, when they merged into Devastator and smashed open the ground, they prompted the Dinobots to come out of the earth's depths and attack. Grimlock grabbed Devastator in his jaws and tossed him aside. G2 Constructicons commercial
Toys
Generation 1
- The Constructicons were originally from Takara'sPre-Transformers Diaclone toyline, specifically the Construction Vehicle Robot subset. In the The Transformers toyline, they were sold individually as carded figures at the $6 price point, and also as a six-figure giftset. Each carded figure came with one or two pieces of combiner kibble for Devastator, which could also attach to the figure's vehicle mode to form an attack mode.
- The individual figures feature limited articulation, typical of smaller G1 figures; most can only swivel their arms at the shoulder, and cannot move their legs at all. Each came with a small laser pistol for the individual robot to use in addition to various Devastator pieces.
- In the United States, Canada and Japan, the Constructicon toys were originally available both individually on blister cards (with the additional Devastator parts split up between them) and as a boxed Devastator gift set that contained all six Constructicons and their accessories. On the European continent, the individual Constructicons were initially released individually by Hasbro's subsidiary Milton Bradley (MB) in 1985. Rumors are that an MB-branded Devastator giftset was also released in continental Europe, but thus far no packaged sample has surfaced.[3][4] In 1986, the Constructicons were re-released in Europe, albeit this time in "Hasbro"-branded packaging (but manufactured by Joustra). The main difference with all other releases thus far was that the Constructicons' main color was now yellow instead of green.[5][6][7] These are not to be confused with the later, non-combining yellow European Constructicons, nor with the yellow Generation 2 Constructicons (see below).
- The original Constructicons have the dubious honor of being the most heavily bootlegged Transformers toys in existence. Individually carded and packaged sets have persisted at Walgreens and other market six stores for years, both in the original green and purple and in entirely new decos, often without the kibble required for their combined form. Occasionally they receive delightfully creative new names like "Building", "Feeding", "Picking", "Sanitation", "Disguise", and "Ravage".
- Devastator (Action Master, 1990)
- Constructicons (1992)
- Another yellow set of European exclusive versions of the Constructicons, in colors very similar to the previous yellow European releases. The main differences were that these versions came with no Devastator parts, Hook and Scavenger were retooled so they could not neither connect to each other nor to Bonecrusher, and several of them featured gray plastic parts exclusive to these versions (although there were variants for some of them that changed those gray parts back to yellow).[8] These toys were also not individually named, as they came on standardized cards used for all six team members.
Generation 2
- Constructicons (1993)
- Redecos of all six Constructicons were released individually as part of the first assortments of Generation 2 products. The first—and seemingly more common—versions were yellow like the European version from 1986, but featured a lighter purple plastic, had all spring-loaded accessories (such as Devastator's forearms and fists) retooled to remove the firing gimmick, Mixmaster didn't include the single-tabbed missile, and both Hook and Bonecrusher featured a Generation 2-style Decepticon logo and the word "DECEPTICON" tampographed on them. Aside from that, the Generation 2 Constructicons were functionally identical to their Generation 1 predecessors.
- A later and seemingly less common run changed the yellow plastics to rich orange. It has been rumored that this release was only available in KB Toys stores, but not verified.
- Neither color version was available as a gift set.
Classics
- Constructicon Devastator (2007)
- Redecos of the Energon Construction Team released as a Walmart exclusive gift set, with the individual components named Scrapper, Bonecrusher, Long Haul, Scavenger, and Hightower. The combined form is named "Constructicon Devastator" for trademark reasons.
Notes
- About a billion freaking other toys have been redecoed in the Constructicons' familiar green-and-purple livery. Pretty much every construction vehicle mold to come down the pike has at some point been given a Constructicon-themed color scheme, been turned into some alternate universe version of a Constructicon, or has been subject to regular clamoring by the fandom for a Constructicon-themed rerelease. "Constructicon colors" is up there with "black repaint" as popular choices for redecos go.
- The Constructicons are the only Decepticons to appear in all four seasons of the American G1 Cartoon.
- Unlike practically every other Combiner, the Constructicons do not have a firmly identified leader. Most of them can make some claim to leadership.
- Scrapper: Most commonly assumed to be the leader due to having the most lines in the cartoon and constantly speaking for the whole group, as well as giving most of the orders. His The Transformers Universe profile lists him as Megatron's favorite Constructicon, and Dreamwave's More than Meets the Eye explicitly names him as leader. He also has the highest rank of the bunch.
- Hook: Forms the head and much of the torso, a trait shared by the other combiner leaders. He got the second highest number of lines and certainly seemed to be the one issuing all the orders in the non-flashback parts of "The Secret Of Omega Supreme". Is clearly defined as the leader in Wings Universe.
- Mixmaster: As noted above, he was briefly indicated to have ascended to leadership in 2008 Space Pirates!, and is seen giving the orders in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5" as well.
- Scavenger: Shockwave gives the Constructicons' orders to him in their comic debut as if he were the leader. The Next Best Thing to Being There!
- Bonecrusher: Led the Constructicons on their mission to recover the fallen Decepticons from the Ark. Totaled!
- Long Haul: Sorry, Long Haul, you lose again...
Foreign names
- Japanese: Buildron (ビルドロン Birudoron)
- Hungarian: Szerkesztettek (Marvel Comics), Konsztruktorok (second The Movie dub)
- Italian: Excavators
- Portuguese: Constructors (Brazil comic)
References
- ↑ Erector's Hall of Fame bio
- ↑ Cartoon series bible page on the Constructicons
- ↑ "Milton Bradley and the red TF Tracks" at TF-1.com.
- ↑ "MB Transformers Collection" at 20th Century Toy Collector.
- ↑ "French Connection" at the TF Source blog.
- ↑ "Europe's Strangest Attractions" at the TF Scource blog.
- ↑ "French TFs: G1 Yellow Constructicons" at Fred's Workshop.
- ↑ "1992 European Yellow Constructicons Variant" at TFW2005.
