Breakdown (WFC)

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

Breakdown is a Decepticon from the Aligned continuity family.

He ain't nobody's leg any more.

Despite a level of skill to match any Decepticon warrior's, Breakdown is almost crippled by a persistent paranoia, especially when he is in crowds. He is much happier working alone, away from the eyes he is sure are watching him at every moment. That said, he is quick to come at Megatron's call, as his fear of his powerful leader may be the only thing outreaching his agoraphobic tendencies.

After spending most of his time on Cybertron in a smaller form, the scout later upgraded to a bulkier, more threatening body following a clash with Bulkhead, a clash which initiated a heated rivalry between the two. Breakdown has brought that rivalry to present-day Earth, where he assists Knock Out in his various misdeeds.

“	Never run when you can fight.	”
—Breakdown, "Operation: Breakdown"

Fiction

Prime comic

His self-esteem ruined by his small size, Breakdown resorted to steroid use.

Breakdown was on Earth when he received Starscream's signal. He found the air commander buried under rubble by a little Autobot, whom he promptly pummeled. An even smaller, blue Autobot shot at Breakdown, which pleased him, because it meant he was going to kill two Autobots today. At Starscream's insistence, Breakdown got him out of the rubble, and they began chasing and shooting at the Autobots. Breakdown finally cornered them and overwhelmed them with his missile launcher. As they lay dying and Starscream was about to finish them, Optimus Prime got the jump on him and shot Breakdown into the face of a mountainside, causing him to flee to fight another day. Transformers: Prime (graphic novel)

Prime cartoon

Voice actor: Adam Baldwin (English), Atsushi Imaruoka (Japanese), Sang-hyeon Eom (Korean), Fabio de Castro (Portuguese), Christoph Banken (German), Walter Rivetti (Italian), Petri Hanttu (Finnish)

Breakdown had a long history with the Autobot known as Bulkhead, Deus ex Machina to the point one would call them "archenemies". During their rivalry, Breakdown caused Bulkhead great pains. Operation: Breakdown

"Shiny. Let's be bad guys."

When Starscream requested that Knock Out and Breakdown come to the Nemesis, Breakdown was much too busy trying to track down an energon trace. He reached an excavation site in Greece, where he encountered an old friend—Bulkhead—and spotted a depiction of an Energon Harvester on an ancient fresco. After breaking the fresco with Bulkhead's head, Breakdown proceeded to the Nemesis, where Soundwave located the device in a museum. As the Autobots had surrounded said museum, Knock Out and Breakdown drew them around to the front for a fight, where Breakdown caused Bumblebee and Arcee to collide with each other and sent Bulkhead flying into Knock Out. This distraction allowed Soundwave to sneak in the back and steal the Harvester. The Harvester was successfully obtained, and Breakdown and Knock Out accompanied Starscream to the energy vein in Greece to test it out. When Bulkhead turned up there to stop them, the two Decepticons attacked him but came off decidedly second-best, as Bulkhead managed to make Breakdown hit Knock Out by accident which allowed Bulkhead to steal Knock Out's Energon prod and use it to shock Breakdown into submission. They fled once the Harvester was destroyed and the other Autobots turned up. Deus ex Machina

If you're going to give him as a present to Megatron, be sure to wrap him up and put a little bow on him.

Breakdown was buffing Megatron's corpse body when Starscream asked him where Knock Out was. Knock Out, it turned out, had been street racing with the humans again. Some time later, Knock Out radio'd Breakdown to let him know there was another street race on. Much later still, Knock Out contacted him with the news that Bumblebee' human friend had been captured. Breakdown joined the other 'Con in setting a trap for the Autobots in a storage facility. Once Bumblebee and Bulkhead turned up, Breakdown ambushed them. He was able to hold his own against the two Autobots until Knock Out announced he was bugging out, and the distraction resulted in Breakdown being knocked into a wall by Bulkhead. Returning to the Nemesis, Breakdown bore silent witness to Starscream's "cosmetic punishment" of Knock Out. Speed Metal

Foefist!

During a Decepticon plan to melt a glacier to find some energon, Breakdown was hanging around on the hull of the ship when Bulkhead and Arcee appeared nearby. On Knock Out's order, he jumped from the ship and started fighting the two Autobots, unaware that it was a diversion while Optimus Prime scaled a nearby cliff face. He was still fighting them when Optimus caused the heat ray atop the ship to explode and was sent flying by the blast wave. Out of His Head

While out scouting an energon source, Breakdown took the opportunity to ambush Bulkhead. Though the Autobot fought back vigorously, Breakdown overcame him and was about to deliver the killing blow when he was zapped by an energy beam from a nearby helicopter. He came around to find himself a captive of the human organization MECH, the leader of which, Silas, informed him that they wanted to take him apart for his technology. Breakdown was defiant, but the MECH technicians disabled his pain receptors and began dismantling him, including removing his right eye. He was stunned when he was rescued not by the Decepticons, but by Bulkhead. The pair emerged from the rail tunnel to face the main MECH force, and when Silas's helicopter again fired its energy weapon, the 'Con knocked Bulkhead out of the way. After Starscream arrived and chased MECH off, he demanded Breakdown destroy Bulkhead. Breakdown was initially reluctant, but Starscream talked him into it. Though Bulkhead bested Breakdown and used his body to bash the Vehicons, Breakdown was still able to retreat, and Starscream later told him to remember the rescue when the time came to choose between Megatron's leadership and Starscream's. Operation: Breakdown

Major Bludd knows how you feel, Breakdown.

Breakdown took to wearing an eye-patch as a reminder of his failure. When Soundwave detected a magnetic signature, Breakdown saw the chance to redeem himself and insisted on being the one to retrieve the polarity gauntlet. Once there, however, he found himself under attack by Airachnid, who also coveted the device and made a failed attempt to trap him underground. The two fought over it until Arcee and Bulkhead arrived and joined in the party. Breakdown was able to use the gauntlet to magnetically stick the two Autobots together, but while he was on his way back to the Nemesis, Airachnid ambushed him and webbed him to a derelict gas station. He was freed when the Autobots turned up and the gauntlet was triggered, yanking him off the wall. At one point during the following battle, he got hold of the weapon and used it to hit Bulkhead with an oil derrick. After some more fighting, Airachnid tried to make a getaway with the gauntlet and Bulkhead threw her at Breakdown. Breakdown was forced to return to the ship without the gauntlet, but made up for it by presenting Megatron with Airachnid, who had become stuck to his back. Metal Attraction

Knock Out and Breakdown were sent with some Vehicons to secure a Cybertronian data cylinder, which the Autobots were also after. Breakdown not only got to fight, but got to be on the winning side for a change. Unfortunately when they got back to the Nemesis, they discovered that the cylinder's contents had already been discharged. After Megatron went to try and find Bulkhead, whose noggin held the data, Knock Out detected where Bulkhead was hiding out, and thus he and Breakdown went to the monster truck track. Bulkhead went and hid in the car park, so the two Decepticons started searching in their own ways—in Breakdown's case, smashing random vehicles. They eventually found Bulkhead, but the cylinder data was lost in the process. The pair were ready to take out some revenge until the arrival of more Autobots forced them to retreat. T.M.I.

The pair teamed up again to transport energon around. Though Breakdown was keen to GroundBridge out of there when the Autobots turned up, Knock Out reminded him that they were under orders to lead the Autobots on a chase so the foe would deplete their energon reserves. When Ratchet turned up and bashed their Vehicon escort around, Breakdown was ready to take on the newcomer, but he and Knock Out had to leave after the other Autobots attacked them. Some time later, Breakdown was chatting to a miner when Ratchet entered the cavern. The rematch was short lived as Ratchet overpowered Breakdown. Stronger, Faster

Breakdown and Knock Out watched Soundwave and Airachnid dispute over whether Megatron would return from a visit with Unicron. When Megatron came back to the ship, Breakdown was on the bridge to greet him, though the others had to restrain him when he saw that Megatron was being accompanied by Optimus Prime whom Megatron addressed as "Orion Pax". One Shall Rise, Part 3

The Decepticons, including Breakdown and Knock Out, hit a military base and managed to get away with the energy source they needed for their new space bridge, though they did accidentally let Arcee get on board the ship. Orion Pax, Part 1 Breakdown attempted to contact the Vehicons at the space bridge and, though he had trouble getting through at first, was told everything was fine. Orion Pax, Part 2

STOP! Pick up the Hammer Time!

Sent with Knock Out to retrieve a hidden Cybertronian treasure, Breakdown was no doubt pleased to run into Bulkhead again. Operation Bumblebee, Part 1 After their previous success, Breakdown and Knock Out went to secure the Forge of Solus Prime. Breakdown again found himself fighting Bulkhead, but during a moments distraction, Bulkhead hit him with the Forge. After Megatron secured the Forge, Breakdown retreated through the GroundBridge. Operation Bumblebee, Part 2

"We have a crime scene here."

Breakdown was assigned to accompany Dreadwing and Airachnid on a mission, the purpose of which was to get rid of Airachnid. Breakdown's quick temper proved their undoing, as Airachnid goaded him into attacking her. After spending a short amount of time trying to unstick the webbing from his face, Breakdown pursued her, leaving Dreadwing webbed to a tree. Though he caught up with Airachnid, it proved to be a trap, and she swiftly dismantled him. A short time later, a MECH team discovered him in pieces. They elected to bring the remains back to base. Crossfire

After Silas was badly crushed, the MECH Surgeon intended to use Breakdown's body to revive him. Nemesis Prime

Knock Out would continue to hunt Iacon relics in Breakdown's memory, Tunnel Vision though he missed Breakdown's buffing. Hurt

While Breakdown was offline, MECH worked to rebuild and partially repair his body. Eventually, his body was reactivated and integrated with the remains of their leader, producing what Silas declared a "Cybernetic Life Augmented by Symbiosis", or "Cylas". This had the side-effect of bringing Breakdown's life signals back online, though they appeared corrupted to the Decepticon sensors. Cylas made good use of Breakdown's body, at least until he failed Megatron and was consigned to Knock Out's dissection table. The Human Factor

Cylas had become Knock Out's guinea pig for virtually any test he could think of. Knock Out had no qualm about experimenting even further on Breakdown's corpse, believing that his deceased partner would approve of the situation's irony. Cylas became a new form of Terrorcon who fed on a host's Energon, and the ensuing plague ravaged the Decepticons' ranks and numbers. Eventually, Cylas was finally killed when he freed Airachnid, leaving Breakdown's inactive body a lifeless and, ahem, empty husk. Thirst

Toy bios

Breakdown wore the powerful Apex Hunter Armor, which was armed and upgraded with ancient weaponry given by the Predacons. Apex Hunter Armor with Breakdown

Titan Magazines Prime comics

Breakdown and Knock Out took over a TV studio which was filming Down and Out, and modified the course into a death trap which they then invited Optimus Prime and Bulkhead to take part in. To ensure they complied, they put the show's crew and audience into a box suspended over a pit of spikes, and Breakdown held on to Chuck Chuckles's unconscious form as extra insurance. Unfortunately for the pair, the death trap was less than deadly, and the two Autobots had brought Arcee, who shot the floor out from under the two Decepticons. It's a Knock-Out

Games

Transformers: War for Cybertron (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)

Voice actor: Crispin Freeman (English)

"I always feel like somebody's watching meeeeee!"

Breakdown joined Megatron and Soundwave in the invasion of Iacon, attacking the Stellar Galleries behind the Autobot's front lines in order to acquire the Omega Key. When it turned out Zeta Prime had moved it, Megatron lead them on a run-and-gun mission through the city to the Vaults itself. Breakdown seemed most comfortable during their time in the train tunnels, even challenging Soundwave to a race. However, when Megatron told him in a paternalistic voice to "try not to get crushed by the trains", Breakdown was confused, wondering aloud if his leader had made a joke. After utilizing Dark Energon bombers to blast their way into the Vaults, the squad came up against Zeta Prime himself. He was utilizing a vast machine that rendered him unassailable, allowed him to control portions of the ceiling so they dropped to crush anyone in the room, and generated an arbitrary number of energon clones bearing his likeness that battled savagely in melee combat. Soundwave's interest in the clones caused Breakdown to deride him as a total nerdlinger, but he didn't have any words of mockery when Soundwave discerned the machine's weakness: a core that rapidly overheated and so had to open up to cool off. Even in defeat, however, Zeta Prime had put one over on the Decepticons, as they took from him not the Omega Key, but the device that activated it. And the Key was cranky about being woken up from its nap.

Though he had shot another soldier for daring to contradict him verbally, Megatron probably realized Breakdown's last-ditch maneuver to avoid crashing into Omega Supreme against Megatron's orders had saved all their lives, and so did not summarily execute him. Nor was Breakdown shot for his constant whining during the team's cat-and-mouse chase with Omega Supreme through the upper spires of Iacon towards a platform studded with some anti-air guns, which would hopefully give them a chance to fight back against the robot of unusual size. They managed to crack open Omega's armor with the emplacements, causing him to crash, but the behemoth remained on his feet—literally, as he transformed to robot mode to continue the fight. Breakdown continually expressed amazement and frustration at the seeming unstoppability of Omega Supreme, but Megatron's confidence was proven justified, as they sabotaged the means by which the giant had been repairing himself, apparently bringing him down. Seemingly unable to believe it despite having participated in the fight, Breakdown could only note, "Uh... all hail Megatron!" Yet even then, Omega Supreme was not defeated, badly damaged though he was. At that point, however, he was unable to continue repairing himself and his armor was badly damaged, allowing concentrated fire to finally overwhelm him.

Breakdown remained at Megatron's side as he tamed Omega Supreme, gaining access to Cybertron's core and infecting it with Dark Energon. Transformers: War for Cybertron

Transformers: War for Cybertron - Decepticons (DS)

Breakdown is an unlockable character for the Nintendo DS version of War for Cybertron. He can be unlocked by beating Dam 6 in Arena Mode.

When Megatron and his Decepticons destroyed a dam they had been using, Breakdown confronted them. Breakdown declared if Megatron could prove to be tougher than he was, then he'd join the Decepticons. Breakdown was eventually defeated, and, true to his word, he joined the Decepticons. Transformers: War for Cybertron

Transformers Online

Breakdown found Zhàn Rèn Xuányì to be creepy. Transformers Online

Toys

Cyberverse

IT'S... hammer time?

• Breakdown (Cyberverse Legion, 2012)
  • Series/Number: 2 / 006
  • Japanese ID number: EZ-14
  • Japanese release date: 6-30-2012
  • Accessories: Blaster

Part of the second wave of Series-2 Legion-class Cyberverse, Breakdown transforms into an armored car as per usual. He comes with a large triangular-barreled cannon based on his roof-mounted vehicle-mode cannon, which has multiple 3mm posts and holes so it can be combined with other weapons and vehicles. As he is a Legion class toy of a bulky, broad-shouldered character, he is really, really, really short even compared to other Legions, let alone his rival Commander-class Bulkhead.

This mold was also redecoed into Fallback.

• More information on Cyberverse Legion Breakdown at TFU.info

I'm still alive?

• Apex Hunter Armor with Breakdown (Cyberverse Vehicle, 2013)
  • Series/Number: 3 / 002
  • Accessories: Large missile-firing blaster, four missiles, small blaster

Part of the first wave of Prime: Beast Hunters Series 3 Cyberverse Vehicle playsets, the "Apex Hunter Armor" comes with a green redeco of Legion Class Breakdown. He retains the purple blaster accessory.

Prime

At least when you drop a buttload of cash to import it, you get a good toy.

• War Breakdown (Voyager Class, 2012)
  • Japanese release date: 6-30-2012
  • Japanese ID number: AM-12
  • Accessories: "Zamu" Arms Micron

Only available in the Japanese Prime line, "War Breakdown" transforms into his massive armored truck mode. He features a single C joint bar at the rear of the truck, and as part of the line-wide Arms Micron gimmick, Breakdown has an incredible number of 5mm post-holes to attach Arms Microns to. He comes with his packed-in partner Zamu, who transforms into Breakdown's wrist-mounted hammer (though it actually attaches to the truck-mode roof bit which flips up over his wrist, but it's a close enough approximation).

According to Aaron Archer, while the mold is available for Hasbro to use, its production cost is in "no man's land," which stymies Hasbro's ability to put it in their normal price points. As of this writing, there are no plans to release the mold stateside. Why Hasbro elected not to make a toy of one of the show's few bad guys and left it up to Takara... we couldn't tell you.

This mold was differently redecoed/retooled each time into Swerve and Silas Breakdown.

• More information on War Breakdown at TFU.info

• War Breakdown at Alfes's blog

Merchandise

McDonald's

• Breakdown (Happy Meal, 2012)
  • McNumber: 6

Happy Meal Breakdown is a nontransforming SUV. Rotating the rear-mounted spare tire rotates the roof to reveal a cannon resembling the one he possessed on the show.

Notes

Hammer this Superman!

• Breakdown's model is usable in War for Cybertron multiplayer as the Racer-type chassis for Scout-class characters. His parts are also available in Fall of Cybertron, now classified as Saboteur-type components for the Infiltrator class (although his wheels can also be used by Destroyers).
• Promotional blurbs for the episode "Deus ex Machina" mentioned that Lugnut would be in the episode. Given that Breakdown acts as a rival for Bulkhead in the finished episode—which Animated Lugnut was played up as for Bulkhead in the original Animated Cartoon Network promotional material—the fandom concluded that Breakdown was meant to be Lugnut at some point in the episode's production. The Hub's Mike Vogel challenged this notion at BotCon 2011, claiming that Lugnut had been Knock Out's original name, which had been changed because "Lugnut" wasn't "sexy" enough for the character. The Prime Season 1 Blu-ray commentary, however, corroborated the original theory: Breakdown's place in the show was originally intended to belong to Lugnut, since a fiercely loyal Decepticon bruiser was desired, but the show creators wanted a land-based Decepticon instead.
• Breakdown's license plate in "Deus ex Machina" is DGOT 441.
• Despite trying to kill Airachnid, Breakdown has admitted to having a strange infatuation with her. That didn't last.
• Breakdown's color scheme is an homage to Generation 1 Breakdown.
• Breakdown's body parts are available to use in the Hub website's Vector Sigma Bot Builder online game. Normally, you cannot configure a generic 'bot using all Breakdown parts, but you can see what one would look like at right through the magic of Photoshop. While all the characters in the game are hue-shifted from their normal coloration, Breakdown ended up noticeably less-different than his peers, essentially just having a different face color.
• Breakdown is almost a foil to himself. During the War For Cybertron he was displayed as a small, potty mouthed whiner who utilized a Cybertronian race car as his alt mode. During his time on earth he is a strong, bulky, no-nonsense armored SWAT van. I guess steroids will do that too you.

Arms Up Modes

In the Japanese Prime toyline, Breakdown has named powered-up modes when given various Arms Microns in certain configurations:

• War Mode (ウォーモード Wō Mōdo)
  • Arms Microns: Jida, Noji, Zamu

Breakdown's box-back Arms Up mode is just him using the Big Scissor weapon. Yep! Despite all his other link-points, it's just him using a hand-held weapon. Imaginative.

Foreign names

• Japanese: War Breakdown (ウォーブレイクダウン Wō Bureikudaun)
• Mandarin: Dǎjī (China, 打击, "Strike")