Dinobot (G1)

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

The Dinobots are an Autobot subgroup from the Generation 1 continuity family. In some continuities, before they arrive on Earth, they are known as the Dynobots.

Call them the boy-band of the Autobots and prepare for a world of pain. From left to right: Slag, Grimlock, Swoop, Sludge and Snarl.

The Dinobots are a rowdy, arrogant, lowbrow, disobedient band of warriors that some Autobots would rather scrap than deal with. They're also one of the most devastatingly powerful and close-knit combat units in the Autobot army, being incredibly powerful in robot mode and taking alternate modes based on dinosaurs, the most powerful creatures to ever roam the Earth.

Most of them dislike Optimus Prime, so whether or not they follow the Autobot leader's orders depends on what those orders are. This attitude extends to the rest of the Autobot army, with most being viewed as too weak or cowardly to take the steps needed to get the nastier jobs done. Only a handful of individuals are viewed by the Dinobots as true allies and even they don't really understand them. This attitude has very much pushed the Dinobots to the fringes of Autobot society. This has resulted in an extremely powerful sense of camaraderie and friendship among the team. Few Autobots are closer. As so many battered, bruised and beaten Decepticons can attest, if you confront one Dinobot, you confront them all.

The group's members are:

Grimlock (the leader)
Slag (the bad boy)
Sludge (the dim one)
Snarl (the quiet one)
Swoop (the sensitive one)

In some universes, they occasionally gain extra members, who have included:

Paddles (the "Pete Best" one)
Grimmaster (the one-man band)
Skar (the tragic motivating backstory)

In at least one universe, the Dinobots can combine to form a monstrous super-robot called the Beast. (Grimlock explicitly states that this is not the case in another universe, though he has been known to stretch the truth. Hopefully not here though.)

We watch each other's back, we stick together through thick and thin, and no one ever tells us what to do!Grimlock sums his group up, Maximum Dinobots #2

Fiction

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

From left to right: Terrible Dactyl, Stego, Bronto Thunder, Tricero and Ghengis Rex

Built on Earth by Wheeljack and Ratchet, the Dinobots were a subgroup of Autobots with great physical power but very limited intelligence. Early on in the cartoon they are played as very dangerous (though dim) wildcards, whose great power makes them a huge advantage to the Autobots when they can be persuaded to cooperate. However, beginning with The Transformers: The Movie and in the following third season, the Dinobots are portrayed almost exclusively as comic relief: goofy childlike morons whose (arguably even greater) stupidity made them a detriment to be babysat, rather than an advantage to be courted. No in-continuity reason for this shift in their mentality is ever given, though it has been the subject of fan speculation.

The Dinobots were modeled after the dinosaur fossils that Ironhide found in the volcanic caves near the Ark. Grimlock, Slag, and Sludge were built first. S.O.S. Dinobots After some initial troubles, their performance pleased Optimus Prime enough that he had two more built, adding Snarl and Swoop to the ranks. War of the Dinobots

The Dinobots' creation is the source of a small continuity clash in the cartoons. See the Notes section below for more.

The Three Dinobots, immediately after accidentally killing the Invisible Swordsman.

The Dinobots' role was simply to pulverize anyone or anything that was too strong for the Autobots to handle on their own. In the process, they frequently mouthed off, rebelled and started brawls inside of Autobot Headquarters (and the occasional dinosaur-shaped city).

At one point, the Dinobots became sick of only being used as the hammer of the Autobot army, so they deserted, saying that they would fight when they wanted to. However, the Dinobots were called in when the Autobots and the Decepticons began suffering from Cybertonium depletion. During the battle with the Constructicons, they were accidentally sent to Cybertron, where they briefly reduced Shockwave to the role of chew toy. Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1 However, Shockwave altered the Dinobots' memory circuits and forced them to work in the Cybertonium Pit. Spike Witwicky and Carly managed to rescue them, and the Dinobots decided to follow Optimus Prime's orders... until such time that they decided not to do so. Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2

During the Battle of Autobot City, the Dinobots were dispatched to defeat Devastator. Despite their incredible strength, Devastator manhandled them. During Galvatron's subsequent attack, Kup and Hot Rod literally had to drag them aboard the shuttle, which was shot down over Quintessa. The Dinobots managed to avoid being captured and met Wheelie, who helped them find Kup and Hot Rod. Later, the Dinobots literally kicked the butt of a god. The Transformers: The Movie

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Five Faces of Darkness Chaos Dark Awakening Thief in the Night Madman's Paradise Grimlock's New Brain Call of the Primitives

Marvel Comics continuity

The Dinobots in the Marvel comic were not created on Earth, as in the cartoon, but were a distinct and pre-existing unit of five Autobot soldiers who were aboard the Ark when it crashed to Earth. The comic Dinobots, while not exactly Perceptor-grade, were significantly more intelligent than their cartoon counterparts. (Their commander, Grimlock, served as overall Autobot Commander on more than one occasion.) However, they were not as strong as their cartoon counterparts, either.

Generation 1

Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

In the early days of the war, Divebomb chafed under the leadership of Optimus Prime on Cybertron as part of the Elite Flying Corps. He was humiliated by a Decepticon who took his name, and worse, he was rescued by the commanding officer he hated. What's in a Name?

He joined up with four other Autobots to form a rogue group of warriors who each felt that Optimus Prime was an inferior leader, so they secretly made plans in the event that they wanted to leave Cybertron. To that end, they snuck into a Decepticon spaceport, stole three of their battlecruisers, and parked them in the Rad Zone. A Savage Circle Despite disliking Prime's leadership, they all somehow wound up as part of his crew aboard the Ark to clear a path for Cybertron through the asteroid belt it was passing through. Weakened by the mission and ambushed by Megatron's Decepticons, Prime crashed the Ark and all aboard into the nearest planet.

Shortly after the crash, the Ark's computer detected Shockwave landing on the planet in the Antarctic land-out-of-time that would one day become known as the Savage Land. The Ark used the last of its capabilities to revive these five warriors and rebuild them to transform into the Savage Land's dominant lifeform: dinosaurs. The Last Stand They were then dispatched aboard a shuttle to deal with the Decepticon and in the battle they trapped in a tar pit and remained dormant until Ratchet revived them in the 1980s. They returned with him to confront Megatron, but the Decepticon leader made short work of the Dinobots, leaving Ratchet to defeat him alone. Repeat Performance!

On their way back to the Ark, the Dinobots encountered humans for the first time and Ratchet told them a story about the battle on Sherman Dam. Decepticon Dam-Busters! When they arrived they were confronted by the battle droid Guardian, reprogrammed by Shockwave to defend the spacecraft against any intruders. After beating the snot out of Swoop, the mechanoid ran into the depths of the Ark and the other Dinobots set after it. The Wrath of Guardian! Realising that Guardian was armed with a thermonuclear bomb, Ratchet and Wheeljack managed to prevent Grimlock from destroying Guardian by remotely activating the headless body of Optimus Prime and knocking Grimlock's gun away. As per Shockwave's programming, Guardian came hunting for the Autobots and engaged them in battle while the bomb counted down to detonation. Ratchet repaired Swoop just in time to fly Guardian far from the Ark, but he cut it far too fine and was seemingly destroyed in the explosion. Upset at the loss of their comrade the other Dinobots left, heading north. The Wrath of Grimlock!

A human scientist called Peter Morris recovered Swoop's remains from Lake Dena and used his neural relay link to control the Dinobot. When this was discovered by a security guard, Morris used Swoop to kill him, then decided to finish off the rest of "Blackrock's robots". With the element of surprise (and missiles) on his side, the human-controlled Swoop wrought havoc amongst the Autobot lines but his hated former commander Optimus Prime managed to snap him out of it and once free of the neural relay link, Swoop returned to Morris's lab to seek vengeance against the human. When the Autobots followed, Swoop once again began attacking them mindlessly and they were forced to subdue him with Morris's help. Examining the Dinobot, Ratchet diagnosed that his primary cybo-dendrons had burnt out due to having spent four million years in a tar pit. Realising that the other Dinobots were most likely undergoing the same condition, Optimus Prime announced that the Autobots would have to round them up. The Icarus Theory

Splitting into teams to search for each Dinobot, the Autobots spread out across the country. Mirage, Brawn, and Trailbreaker managed to track down and deactivate Snarl (with a little help from the United States military) in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, but were spied on by Laserbeak who reported the situation back to Soundwave. In Littlewood, California, Sludge had been discovered by a human news team led by Joy Meadows while Windcharger, Gears, and Cliffjumper searched fruitlessly for him, but all four Autobots were ambushed and captured by Soundwave, Skywarp and Scavenger. Jetfire, Jazz, and Ironhide had better luck capturing Slag in Old River Valley, Idaho, detecting the spy Laserbeak and using him to block Slag's flamethrower breath. Meanwhile, Soundwave had located Grimlock in Doonstown and set Sludge on him, turning the town into a war zone and leading to Bluestreak, Huffer, and Sideswipe being taken out of the fight. Further Autobot casualties were only prevented by the arrival of Optimus Prime with reinforcements from the Ark and all four Dinobots were left in a vegetative state. Dinobot Hunt!

Ratchet returned the Dinobots to the Ark and repaired their cybo-dendrons but they remained in their respective comas, each dreaming of fighting against their own personal demons. Victory! When they did wake up, they were confined to the Ark because their alt-modes were too conspicuous but then Sludge saw Joy Meadows on a television broadcast and the Dinobots decided to up sticks and look for her anyway. They found her in the middle of a Triple-I ambush and rescued her, agreeing to provide an interview regarding the truth about the Transformers' presence on Earth. Swoop left to pick up Joy's camera crew but was tagged with a homing beacon by Triple-I, which led the Decepticons straight to them. After a brief but fierce battle in which the Dinobots were aided by the mechanoid Centurion controlled by Professor Morris, Soundwave located Joy's incriminating footage and destroyed it. With no cause left to fight, the Decepticons left the Dinobots and Centurion to sulk. In the National Interest

A short time later, Centurion discovered the re-arrival in the past of the time travelling Galvatron but the future Decepticon leader was too powerful for him and tore the mechanoid limb from limb. This angered Grimlock and the Dinobots who attacked Galvatron in turn, but even with the assistance of Blaster's resistance cell, Professor Morris's neural relay link and Shockwave's Decepticons it was a close-fought thing and only Galvatron's reluctance to fire on his own troops brought it to an end. Leaving the Cybertronian Autobots with directions to the Ark, the Dinobots gathered up Centurion's remains and carried on their way. Fallen Angel

The Dinobots continued hiding out in the Cascades, stealing fuel from humans and sending Swoop out to spy on the Autobots at the Ark. Learning that Optimus Prime was dead, Grimlock decided to return and seize command for himself. Bursting into the Ark, he denounced Prime's style of leadership as weak and insisted only the strongest should lead but was soundly rebuffed by the assembled Autobots. Meanwhile Ratbat, the Decepticons' fuel auditor on Cybertron, had sent Trypticon through the space bridge to annihilate the Earthbound Autobots once and for all. Outside the Ark, the Dinobots stood back and watched the slaughter for a while until Trypticon threatened Rachel Becker, a palaeontology student who had taken an interest in the local Transformer activity, which drove Grimlock to defend her. Following their leader's example, the other Dinobots charged, battling Trypticon until his fuel quota for the trip was expended and Ratbat recalled him to Cybertron. For showing courage and compassion in during the battle, the grateful Autobots then elected Grimlock as their new leader. King of the Hill!

After selecting the perfect crown to wear as leader, Grimlock sent Blaster and Goldbug out to retrieve the Mechanic but when they failed to apprehend him, they promptly deserted. Mechanical Difficulties! Calling a meeting of all available Autobots, Grimlock was snarkily reminded by Wheeljack that they were all out hunting for the deserters or working on seemingly pointless tasks, such as repairing Centurion. Just then, Blades called in to say that he'd detected a Transformer's life sign coming from the sewers beneath London. Travelling there with Centurion to apprehend the deserters Grimlock found himself face-to-face with none other than Megatron (or at least a clone of him that believed itself to be the real thing) and engaged him in battle alongside members of the human military team Action Force. Ultimately it was only thanks to Centurion's sacrifice that Megatron was defeated. Ancient Relics!

The Predacon group shot is *over there*.

Later at the Ark, Swoop recognised his old rival Divebomb on a television news report and set out to find him, seeking vengeance. The two tussled but Divebomb was quickly backed up by his fellow Predacons who then took it in turns to beat the snot out of Swoop. Grimlock and the rest the Dinobots followed not far behind and turned the tables on the Predacons before Swoop intervened and allowed the Decepticons to go free, saying that he couldn't allow Grimlock to fight his battles for him. Grudge Match!

At the Ark, Wheeljack had finished putting the finishing touches to his Geothermal Generator but Grimlock was more interested in Slag's report of a RAAT ambush on the Throttlebots, sending the Protectobots to retrieve Blaster and Goldbug. Used Autobots Grimlock also had Wheeljack working on two other projects—preparing a variable voltage harness with which to punish the deserters and making the Ark space-worthy once more. When the Protectobots were delayed in returning Blaster thanks to a Combaticon attack, Grimlock ordered the launch of the Ark, catching up to Blaster along with a group of human children aboard a mode locked Blast Off. Child's Play When Grimlock captured the shuttle he found that Blaster had escaped, so the Dinobots put the children on trial and forced them to "walk the plank" as a ploy to draw him out. Even though Blaster had the support of the Ark's Autobots and Wheeljack's buddy Sky Lynx rescued the children from deep space, the Dinobots had them surrounded and Blaster was forced to surrender to Grimlock. Spacehikers!

Grimlock threw Blaster into the variable voltage harness and seemingly forgot about him until the Ark ran into the crew of the Steelhaven and Forktongue Maxiface made contact. Enraged that a puny human led his band of Autobots and worse, that they were sheltering the deserter Goldbug, Grimlock challenged Fullstrength Motleypuss to settle the matter through the archaic Code of Combat. A duel was arranged on the moon with Blaster standing in as Fruitloop Multipuck's champion and the Dinobots cheered on their leader as the two combatants fought. Their enthusiasm was short-lived, however, as Onslaught chose that moment to lead Ratbat's Decepticons in a full-scale assault on the assembled Autobots, causing massive casualties among their number and damaging the Ark. Grimlock and Blaster put aside their differences and united to lead a counterattack, driving the Decepticons away but leaving the Autobots stranded on the moon as the Steelhaven had returned to Nebulos, hoping to restore Optimus Prime. Totaled!

Following his resurrection, Prime led the Autobots and Dinobots to Earth aboard a shuttle to deal with Galvatron once and for all, as the time rift the future Decepticon had inadvertently created was threatening the very fabric of space and time itself. Storming outside to defend Highbrow from Scorponok's Decepticons, Prime, Snarl and a group of other Autobots were transported away to Limbo to make way for Rodimus Prime and his troops from the future. Misunderstanding the situation, Swoop, Slag and Sludge attacked them but were convinced to stand down when Goldbug was injured, prompting the future's Ultra Magnus to call a truce and Optimus Prime to use the power of the Matrix to speak to his troops. United with the future and present Autobots and Decepticons, the Dinobots confronted Galvatron, now allied with (the clone of) Megatron. After a vicious battle, Megatron fled and Galvtron was sucked into the time rift. Time Wars

The Dinobots were next called upon to fight the Underbase-powered Starscream in Tokyo. Slag, Sludge, Swoop and Snarl were quickly taken out and while Grimlock managed to knock the treacherous Decepticon out of the sky for the Predacons to attack him, they were no match for the super-powered Seeker and only the Decepticon Pretenders could stand against him. When Grimlock rushed to join the battle, Starscream suspended the Pretenders' fire, then threw him into its path, blowing him apart. Dark Star

Some time later Grimlock was brought back online on Cybertron by Ratchet, using Pretender technology stolen from Megatron. All the Familiar Faces! While Grimlock, along with the restored Bumblebee and Jazz easily defeated Megatron's underlings, they failed to save Ratchet when Megatron's base exploded. Skin Deep Grimlock, Jazz and Bumblebee briefly joined the Autobot resistance movement on Cybertron before attempting to return to Earth via trans-time dimensional portal. They were thwarted when the the latest incarnation of the Mayhem Attack Squad infiltrated Autobase and sabotaged the portal, teleporting all six Transformers (and the Micromaster Rescue Patrol) deep into the heart of Cybertron, where the Autobots discovered the resting place of their god, Primus. Yesterday's Heroes! During a battle within the centre of the planet one of Octopunch's shots ricocheted off Grimlock's back, striking Primus in the face and waking him, a few seconds before they were all teleported to Earth. Primal Scream Rejoining Optimus Prime's forces, Grimlock warned him about the impending Unicron and went on to form a team with Jazz and Bumblebee to search for the lost Creation Matrix. They discovered it on the moon VsQs, where Optimus Prime's funeral barge had crashed, but were defeated by Thunderwing who claimed the Matrix for his own. Dark Creation

Frustrated by his defeat at Thunderwing's hands and humiliated at having to be rescued by the Autobots, Grimlock sought out a way to revive the rest of the Dinobots and discovered that the answer apparently lay on the planet of Hydrus Four in the Styrakon System, where scientists had discovered a new source of energy called Nucleon. He went to Optimus Prime to request permission to investigate this potential life-saving fuel but was turned down flat by the preoccupied Autobot leader. Grimlock tore up a room in the Ark to vent his anger and was caught in the act by Waverider who went to report this to Optimus Prime, but was told to wait as Prime had an important announcement to make. Meanwhile, Grimlock was caught taking the Dinobots' bodies from the life-support medlab in subchamber B on level 4 of the Ark. Sympathising with Grimlock's position, he let his guard down for a second and was floored by the Dinobot leader, who proceeded to steal an All-Terrain Turbo-Transport and blast clear of the Ark just as Prime was announcing his intention to surrender to the Decepticons. Eye of the Storm

On Hydrus Four, Grimlock enlisted a local mechanoid as his guide and learned that Nucleon had driven the first three patients insane, leaving them to jealously guard the medi-center that was its source against all that approached. Easily making his way past the first two guardians (though they scared away his guide) Grimlock found himself face-to-face with the third, a diminutive robot who told Grimlock that contrary to appearances, the guardians were there to protect unaffected robots from Nucleon's terrible side effects. Testing the Nucleon for himself and feeling great, Grimlock dismissed the warning that "time will tell" and began to revive the other Dinobots. The Pri¢e of Life! However, even as they were making preparations to leave Hydrus Four and Snarl was thanking him for the Nucleon boost, Grimlock's leg began to seize up and he thought back to the mechanoid's warning. ...All This and Civil War 2

Returning to the Ark, the Dinobots found not just the ship but the entire planet was devoid of Transformer life, apart from a strange signal in two parts. With Slag and Sludge pumping Nucleon into the Ark's life-support medibay and Swoop able to pilot the Ark by himself, Grimlock ordered that they set course for Cybertron even as his hand began to lock up. The Void! Upon arrival, they found that the battle with Unicron was in full swing, so Grimlock chose to smash the Chaos Bringer in the face. With the Ark. When Prowl berated him for this reckless action, Grimlock kicked him out of the Ark and then jumped out after him with the Dinobots, eager to join the fight. On the Edge of Extinction!

With Unicron defeated by the power of the restored Matrix, a dying Optimus Prime named Grimlock to be his successor as Autobot leader. A distraught Prowl passed on the news, making Grimlock swear to the Autobot code to protect all life, but the practical Grimlock was more concerned with finding and locating the rest of the deactivated Autobots still aboard the recently stolen Ark. Heading out with the rest of the Dinobots to look for it, Grimlock's seizures suddenly became more serious as his entire body locked in place and he was unable to move—just as they were approached by a frantic Hi-Q being chased by a horde of Demons. The other Dinobots formed a circle around their leader but found the Demons were tough opponents and that they were being beaten back. Hi-Q, however, saw that the Nucleon was engineering a metamorphosis within Grimlock and used his Powermaster skills to accelerate the process, allowing the Dinobot leader to be reborn in a new, all-powerful Action Master form. This newfound power caused most of the Demons to flee but Grimlock had caught one and was about to kill it when he was reminded of his oath to protect all life by Hi-Q. Letting the Demon go, he returned to his Dinobots and revealed the price he had paid for his Nucleon upgrade—Grimlock was no longer able to transform. Still Life!

Exodus! A Savage Circle The Last Autobot? End of the Road!

Earthforce

These stories do not fit into the normal Marvel continuity. See Earthforce for details.

In an alternate timeline, Grimlock found a way to revive his fellow Dinobots after their destruction in the Underbase Saga. They returned to Earth to battle a new splinter group of Decepticons under Shockwave's command. Despite the Dinobots emerging victorious, Optimus Prime berated Grimlock and his team for their brutal tactics, flying in the face of the "Autobot Code". Two Steps Back! This led to a confrontation between Grimlock and Prime that ultimately deteriorated into a physical brawl, but they were too evenly matched and ended up laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Prime relented and allowed Grimlock and the Dinobots the autonomy to defend the Earth as they saw fit, providing they show some restraint. Along with Bumblebee, Jazz and five Autobots recently revived by Galvatron, they formed the Earthforce. Break-Away!

They landed their shuttle in Canada, where the Earthforce prepared to battle the Decepticons. To emphasise to his troops that they would not be fighting the war Prime's way, Grimlock literally threw a copy of the Autobot Code out of the window. Once upon a Time... Not long afterwards, Grimlock received a transmission from Shockwave, challenging him to a duel. Grimlock accepted, unaware that it was an April Fools' Day prank by the other Dinobots, and trekked out miles into the wilderness only to find himself face-to-face with a Shockwave-shaped snowman. He took out at least some of his frustrations on two passing Predacons, then ran back towards the other Dinobots carrying an enormous snowball. Snow Fun!

Snarl went on a mission with Wheeljack to investigate the suspect Sleepfast nightlights, only to discover that they were a scheme of the diabolical Mindwipe. They defeated the hypnotic Decepticon by using his own technology against him, though Snarl wasn't so impressed by Wheeljack's punning. The Living Nightlights! Later, Grimlock made a deal with the Survivors, lending them aid to rescue their Decepticon comrade Carnivac in exchange for them joining Earthforce under his command. Where Wolf? Acting on an anonymous tip-off, Grimlock and the Earthforce travelled to Memphis airport to defeat the duelling Megatron and Shockwave. Internal Affairs!

After Wheeljack had finished constructing the Earthbase, with its hugely impressive security systems, the Dinobots found themselves locked out. While Prowl and the recently revived Aerialbots battled their way inside, Grimlock helped by, er, holding Wheeljack upside down by one leg. The House that Wheeljack Built! Soon afterwards, Soundwave staged a full-scale Decepticon assault before the grid could be repaired, putting Earthforce on the defensive. The Dinobots finally got to go out and kick some butt, with Grimlock taking on Octane, Slag roasting Scrapper and Swoop bombing Long Haul. They soon drove off the Decepticons. Divide and Conquer!

By sheer bad luck, Slag's emotional dampers happened to fail while Optimus Prime was conducting an inspection of the Earthbase leading to a series of comic episodes as Grimlock attempted to distract the Autobot commander from his fellow Dinobots' efforts to bring the rampaging monster under control. The 4,000,000 Year Itch! Then it was Grimlock's turn to get murderous as Prime had the insufferable Tracks repaired in Wheeljack's Body Shop and assigned him to the ranks of the Earthforce. Makin' Tracks! He was also less than impressed when the Mayhem Attack Squad escaped from the Earthbase's cells under Inferno's watch. Shut Up!

When Wheeljack diagnosed Snarl with the fatal disease Corrodia Gravis, the Dinobots had to seek out Starscream, the only Transformer capable of giving him a compatible systems boost. Assassins To make matters worse, when they found him he was under attack from the Mayhems and they quickly found themselves under attack from Megatron and Shockwave. External Forces! Forced to choose sides, Sludge and Swoop went to protect Starscream from the Pretender assassins while Grimlock and Slag dealt with the two former Decepticon leaders. After Slag charbroiled Megatron and Grimlock plunged his energo-sword through Shockwave's chest, they gave up the fight and took off. Starscream then agreed to the systems boost in exchange for Grimlock's promise to help if Megatron tried to assassinate him again. The Lesser Evil!

After Superion went crazy due to a cerebro-shell, Grimlock and the Autobots were forced to give an interview and a guided tour of their base to the reporter Irwin Spoon in exchange for his help removing the shell from their friend. Inside Story! Grimlock was less than thrilled. He probably was relieved when the nosy human got kidnapped and brainwashed by Bombshell and the Stunticons—at least Grimlock got to skip his interview! Front Line!

In 1992 Snarl once again fell victim to Corrodia Gravis and the Dinobots took him back to the Savage Land to retrieve the control crystal from their old shuttle in an attempt to save his life. They found that a human named Professor Embrey had used the crystal to save some of the area's dinosaurs from a disease that was killing them. Unwilling to trade Snarl's life for the dinosaurs', the Dinobots instead transferred his mind into a Stegosaurus until they could find an another way to save him. Destiny of the Dinobots!

Marvel UK future timelines

In 2008 the Dinobots were stationed on Cybertron when the Decepticons staged a brazen and unprovoked attack on the Autobot location, prompting an incredible battle. The Dinobots led the counterattack and started to tear through the enemy. Realising that the battle was a distraction engineered by Unicron to keep the Autobots away from the planet Junk, Rodimus Prime withdrew the Dinobots from the battle and they set off to confront him.

Unfortunately Unicron had mentally enslaved the Junkions to rebuild his body out of their planet, so to prevent this, Grimlock brought the Dinobots down to the planet and attacked the Junkions, slaughtering them wholesale. The Legacy of Unicron!

Later, Grimlock was part of Rodimus Prime's crew who came to Earth to free Autobot City from Quintesson occupation. Space Pirates!

"Another Time & Place"

Generation 2

Generation 2 (UK)

Classics

Classics continues from the Marvel US series, and does not include the UK stories or any subsequently published stories.

Regeneration One

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Colorforms audiobooks continuity

The Dinobots, led by Snarl, arrived at Doctor Heath Blaisedale's solar plant in time to take part in a fight to defend the plant against the Decepticons. Unfortunately in their enthusiasm, as well as fighting off the Decepticons, they completely trashed the solar reactor which it had taken ten years for the doctor to construct. Sun Raid

The Beast Within

The Dinobots combine into the Beast to fight the Decepticons, but the Beast is so savage and kill-crazy that the Autobots have to kill it. The Beast Within

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

A Dinobot by any other name would still kick your ass

It was established that Grimlock once commanded a splinter faction of Autobots known as the Lightning Strike Coalition, which included the Dynobots. It was also established that following this, these five robots used the Cybertronian designation "Dynobots". The War Within: The Dark Ages

The Dynobots traveled to Earth separately from the rest of the Autobots. Grimlock emerged on his own, and the Ark Autobots found him battling the Insecticons. The fate of the other Dinobots was unknown, but somehow Megatron had captured them and kept them in stasis in a secret base. After being freed, they traveled to Cybertron and helped liberate it from Shockwave's control. War and Peace

G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers continuity

The Dinobots were originally five present-day Autobots who were sent back in time by Teletran 3 and reformatted into dinosaurs. When G.I. Joe traveled back in time, they recovered the Dinobots, who proceeded to beat Shockwave's Decepticons three ways from Sunday. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II issue 4

Grimlock was later sent to Earth to oversee the decommissioning of Cybertronian technology The Art of War #1, where his team found that human scientists had used the deactivated Megatron's technology to create the evil Serpent Organic Robot. The Art of War #2 Grimlock and the others followed this new threat back to Cybertron, only to be captured and imprisoned by the Decepticons. The Art of War #3 He was eventually freed by his G.I. Joe allies The Art of War #4, and helped defeat Serpent O.R. Meanwhile, Snarl was seen among the Autobot troops fighting against Serpent O.R.'s army. The Art of War #5

Legends anthology

The story "Paddles" features a sixth Dinobot of the same name. This is also the only appearance of the character. Paddles

IDW Generation 1 continuity

This section covers fiction that is ongoing. It will be added to as the story progresses. If it isn't current, you can help by updating it.

Crash and Burn!Dinobot unit motto, Maximum Dinobots issue 1

Grimlock and Slag were soldiers even before the war, and met each other when they were both thrown in a brig for pissing off their commanding officers (shooting them in Slag's case). Bonding over their mutual desire to get things done and ignore the rules, they decided to form their own strike team: the Dynobots. In a personal quirk, however, Slag didn't want them to be seen as a proper team. Maximum Dinobots #2 Their newly formed team of misfits became members of the Primal Vanguard under Nominus Prime and (somehow) model soldiers, acting as a Covert Strike Force with a spotless and admirable service record until one mission went wrong. While searching for terrorists beneath the Toraxxis Plains, the group ran into strange cyber-morphic predators, leading to an encounter that killed their medic Skar and left the others unstable and with dangerous monstrous altmodes scanned from the beasts. Upon their return supervisors wanted to study them to learn about Skar's method of dynamic altform adaption, but the team feeling broken and betrayed broke free and went on the run. Underworld

Following their disappearance from the public eye, the Dynobots began competing in underground gladiator fights at the Forge in Kaon. When Megatron put out a call for combatants, the Dynobots were amongst those who were shown grudging respect by the Predacons as opposed to the remainder of the "amateurs" in the crowd. Megatron Origin #3

While fighting in the Ring of Trials, the Dynobots witnessed a call from Optimus Prime to rally against the Decepticon tyranny on Cybertron. Broadcast For reasons known only to themselves, they responded to the call and aided Prime's new Autobot army in Iacon by crushing some Decepticon tanks. Endgame While they began wearing the Autobot insignia after the battle, the Dynobots couldn't stay with Prime's forces. By this time their beastly altmodes were influencing their minds by turning them increasingly aggressive, causing them to stop transforming out of fear that they might eventually snap and become the vicious monsters they had scanned. Unwilling to endanger the people of Cybertron with their presence, the team turned to a life of crime in an attempt to gather enough money to make it offworld. Derelicts

The Dynobots' biggest heist was an attempt to steal several tankers worth of energon from the Toraxxis mega-refinery. Wreckage Unfortunately, Scorponok's Decepticons had the same idea, leading to a battle between the two groups of robbers. Annoyed by Grimlock's bossy attitude, Slag briefly left the Dynobots during the heist but came back to his pals in time to help them fight the Decepticons. Faces of Darkness Grimlock triggered the refinery's alarm to summon the Autobots then tried to disappear in the chaos, but was chased down and attacked by Scorponok. He defeated the Decepticon by resorting to using his altmode, only to be arrested by Optimus Prime in the aftermath, causing him to turn desperate and threaten to blow up the refinery. While he didn't go through with it, Scorponok did. Rage The destruction of Toraxxis scattered the Dynobots, leaving Grimlock alone. Fallout He rejected any help offered by the Autobots, but the other Dynobots found him and convinced him to give Optimus Prime a chance. Prey They came with Kup to Starsreach Spaceport, where an unfortunately timed Decepticon attack caused Grimlock to lose control again. Massacre He was able to calm down, but the incident was the last straw for the Dynobots, who had had lost all hope for themselves and left Cybertron. Unleashed However, they soon changed their minds and returned in time to help the Autobots fight Trypticon, an ancient monster and creator of the cyber-morphic predators. Annihilation After the Dynobots fought off Trypticon's minions and Grimlock aided Megatron in taking the beast down from within, they returned to the Autobots in hopes that their scientists could finally cure their cursed altmodes. Belly of the Beast

Eons later, the Dynobots followed Shockwave to prehistoric Earth on a revenge-fueled crusade, after Optimus had told them to get over it already. The planet's energon fields forced them to take on the forms of the local animal life, and thus protected, they attacked Shockwave on the surface. Sadly, it did not protect the Dynobots from Shockwave's energy blasts, which melted the artificial skin and caused the Dynobots to go into stasis lock due to excessive energon radiation. Due to a deadman's switch, The Dynobots' ship, the Skyfire, blasted a volcano that buried everyone in molten lava. They were unearthed ten thousand years later by a human archaeological dig Spotlight: Shockwave which was taken over by government agents. Escalation #5

Though Grimlock was the first to be brought back online, he was freed from Skywatch's control through a virus implanted by a Machination spy (under orders from Scorponok). Scorponok wanted Grimlock to join him, but Grimlock refused, fought Scorponok and escaped, vowing to find and rescue the other Dynobots. Scorponok, however, planned to take control of the Dynobots himself and use them to assassinate Grimlock. Spotlight: Grimlock

Reactivated by Skywatch, the Dynobots were put through their paces, seemingly to great success (secretly because the Machination had "helped" set up Skywatch's neural nets). When Grimlock appeared in Fallon, the town was cordoned off and the "Thunder Lizards" were sent to engage him. Maximum Dinobots #1 The resulting clash caused massive damage to Fallon, helped along by Scorponok causing the neural nets to fluctuate so he could increase the conflict between the Dynobots.

Eventually they were allowed to have their sentience so they could find out Grimlock had set up the deadman's switch, which left them buried on Earth, without telling them. While feeling some guilt for what he did, Grimlock defended his actions by saying "er, hello, we're vicious amoral rule-breakers, of course I did it". Which worked. Maximum Dinobots #2

Rightfully so, the Dynobots were pissed with their leader, and walked away after Swoop read Grimlock the riot act. When Grimlock was attacked and almost destroyed by the Sunstreaker clones, however, the team reunited once again for battle. Although fighting valiantly, they might have been destroyed, if not for the intervention of the Monsterbots, whom were earlier contacted by Grimlock. Maximum Dinobots #3

Aboard the Monsterbots' ship, the Dynobots wondered why Grimlock would side with the outcasts. They gave Grimlock a stern look when he exited the cockpit. The Dynobots didn't see the point of fighting Scorponok, but Grimlock said that Scorponok made it their fight when he turned the Dynobots against him. Snarl disagreed, saying that it has always been Grimlock's fight, that he and the other Dynobots went along with him, and that it was now Grimlock's wounded pride at stake. After the Monsterbots blasted away the defenses, Grimlock exited the ship, saying that there was no way he could let this go, and that with or without the Dynobots, there would be a reckoning for Scorponok. The Dynobots decided that arguing is pointless and followed Grimlock. When Hunter O'Nion pulled the cords from Sunstreaker's head, shutting him down, the clones ceased to function. Sludge cried out in victory, but the moment is short-lived as Scorponok blasted Sludge into stasis. Maximum Dinobots #4

Hey, he's sayin' what we're all thinkin'!

Grimlock stared down at Sludge's dead body, brooding about how it was his fault Sludge was dead... while a battle between Scorponok and Shockwave (for rights of revenge upon Grimlock) raged on around him. Eventually Snarl, Slag, and Swoop decide to get to the Monsterbots' ship while the getting was good, but Grimlock stayed behind with Sludge. Grimlock tried infusing some of his spark energy into Sludge to revive him, but it seemed to have no effect. Shockwave got the upper hand and let Scorponok escape, and in frustration, Grimlock attacked Shockwave. Grimlock and Shockwave were too busy fighting to notice the return of Slag, Snarl, and Swoop, who reasoned that, while helping Grimlock might not be much of a cause, it still beat being no better than the Monsterbots. They were noticed by Sludge, however, who seemed to have recovered due to Grimlock's treatment after all. The four of them dove into the fray proper, but Grimlock ordered them to go after Scorponok instead. When Hot Rod was about to get squished by Scorponok, the remaining Dynobots showed up in just the nick of time. At Hot Rod's urgings, Swoop severed the connections keeping Scorponok's head conscious. But before the Dynobots could kill the rest of Scorponok, Ultra Magnus showed up and told them that Scorponok would be revived and made to answer to a tribunal instead. He then said they should purge the entire Machination facility, gather up all related Machination technology, and get as far away from Earth as possible as soon as possible—a plan that the Dynobots, Hot Rod, and Hunter were all perfectly OK with. Ultra Magnus later told Grimlock that having Scorponok and Shockwave in custody could help offset Grimlock's own sentence, and that the other Dynobots' warrants had been canceled, and Grimlock was content with that and the fact that Sludge was alive again thanks to him. On Earth, the other Dynobots meanwhile happily repaired the Skyfire. Maximum Dinobots #5

Slag, Sludge, Snarl and Swoop spent the next few years wandering through space, at some point changing their team name to the Dinobots and appointing Slag their new leader. When the war finally ended, they returned home to Cybertron and were recruited by Ironhide for a mission to search the wilderness for the missing Aerialbots. They found traces of fighting, but before they could do much investigating the Dinobots were overcome by a strange influence and violently turned on each other and Ironhide. Dinobot Hunt! The source of the influence was Megatron, who was using them as test subjects for a mysterious energy that could turn Transformers into combiners, but the Dinobots' egos proved too strong to be easily subdued and merged. Before the Dawn They eventually stopped fighting amongst themselves and instead teamed up on Ironhide, but he was saved from them by the intervention of Superion, another result of Megatron's tests. Night and the City

After recovering from Megatron's influence, the Dinobots followed Ironhide and Superion back to Iacon Before the Dawn where they joined the other Autobots in defending the city from a Decepticon uprising. Plan for Everything When the battle was over, Starscream convinced the city's neutral population that both the Autobots and Decepticons were bad news, and the Dinobots found themselves exiled into the wilderness alongside the rest of their faction. Heavy Is the Head There, they tussled with the Constructicons until they revealed themselves to be friendly, after which the two teams put their differences over some energon. Second Exodus