Bruticus

Transformers: Generation 1

The team's combined form of Bruticus is a successful merging of the minds of the Combaticons. He can destroy his enemies with ultrasonic waves; he can smash through metal bridges with his arms alone. He uses Onslaught's powerful sonic stun-gun. He is noted for being graceful, fast and willing to follow orders. That is also his weakness, without orders he will often just stand around, doing nothing. Despite this, Megatron wishes he had "A thousand more just like him." The Combaticons are so named for their military vehicle alternate modes, and their proficiency in combat, working together as a smooth unit.

Members

They are viewed as the counterparts to the Autobots' Protectobots, a team composed of rescue vehicles. In addition to their individual abilities the team can combine their bodies and minds together to create the giant warrior, Bruticus.

Bruticus (later called Bruticus Maximus)

The team's combined form of Bruticus is a successful merging of the minds of the Combaticons. He is perhaps the most successful combiner, in that he is not slow and awkward like some other combiners, and will follow commands instantly and without question, with terrifying efficiency and awesome strength. Megatron is pleased with his prowess, and wishes that he had an army of Bruticuses. The only problem is that without someone to tell him what to do, Bruticus will do nothing. While this is the depiction that Bruticus's tech spec offered, his animated appearances showed him as frequently able to act independently, and rarely listen to anyone - even their creator Starscream.
Voiced by Roger C. Carmel.

Onslaught

He transforms into an anti-aircraft truck.
He is the leader and as such he forms the head, torso and thighs of Bruticus.
He prefers to formulate strategies and tactics to defeat his opponents rather than sheer brute force.
However, when his plans fail, he can become a devastating force in battle, as his fury that his carefully laid out plans have been thwarted can inspire him to acts to violence.
Voiced by S. Marc Jordan.

Blast Off

He transforms into a space shuttle.
He forms the right arm of Bruticus.
Although he appears to be a cruel and ruthless opponent to the Autobots and a snob to his fellow Combaticons, but along with Swindle, he is intelligent as well he is in reality somewhat lonely, as his missions in stealth jet mode mode leaving in the sky above the battle so he feels isolated and lonely away from his combaticon counterparts.
Additionally, in the animated series, his wings form the chest plate of Bruticus', although the toy does not function in this manner.
Voiced by Milt Jamin.

Vortex

He transforms into a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.
He forms the left arm of Bruticus.
As the most out-and-out sadistic hothead of the Combaticons, he functions as their interrogator.
His favorite tactic is to trap Autobots in the huge wind funnels he creates in helicopter mode until they tell him what he wants to know.
He is known as Vorter in Japan.
Voiced by Johnny Haymer.

Brawl (later called "Decepticon Brawl")

He transforms into a Leopard Tank.
He forms the left lower leg of Bruticus.
While he is something of a loudmouth and the least intelligent, he is only telling the truth about his abilities.
He has an extremely short temper, provoking bursts of uncontrollable fury that leave him as little more than a berserker in battle.
Voiced by Tony St. James.

Swindle

He transforms into a FMC XR311.
He forms the right lower leg of Bruticus.
He is the most intelligent of the Combaticons.
He may look like he is the most friendly and of the group - in reality he would sell his companions in a heartbeat (and has!) if it meant he made some cash on the side.
He is blessed with a smooth tongue that means he can sell anything to anyone - even oil to an Arab sheikh.
Voiced by Johnny Haymer.

Marvel Comics

The Combaticons had no explicitly stated origin in Marvel Comics' Transformers series, but it can be safely assumed that they were given life by the energies of the Creation Matrix, tapped by the Decepticons through one of Bombshell's cerebro-shells implanted within Optimus Prime when the Protectobots were being created by the Autobots. The team's first mission saw Vortex being dispatched to scout the scientific facility responsible for creating the energy-generating device known as the Hydrothermacline, which Megatron and the team then attacked under cover of night, only to be met with opposition in the form of Optimus Prime and the Protectobots. Although both teams assumed their combined modes, facility staff member Ethan Zachary talked them into a different method of combat to prevent collateral damage - a virtual duel in the video-game realm of "Multi-World." The Combaticons were summarily defeated by the Protectobots and the game's digital inhabitants, but the contest ended in failure when Megatron cheated, forcing Optimus Prime to take an action that he would not in the real world, sacrificing the life of some of the game sprites. Believing himself to have cheated his own principles, Prime declared himself the loser of the game, and was destroyed. Unsatisfied with the victory, Megatron became increasingly paranoid, and severely damaged Brawl by crushing his head before surrendering to insanity and apparently destroying himself.

Some time later, the Combaticons tracked down the Throttlebots, a group of Autobots who were newly arrived from Cyberton, and had taken up with Goldbug and Blaster, two Autobots who had rebelled against the tyranny of their current commander, Grimlock. This resulted in another clash with the Protectobots, who had been dispatched to track Goldbug and Blaster down, with both forces meeting in a used car lot. The lot's owner tried to talk the two groups into an auction over the Throttlebots, rather than a fight, but Onslaught (unsurprisingly) refused to keep his part of the deal and battle broke out, with the Protectobots claiming victory thanks to some help from Blaster.

The Combaticons soon returned, attacking the Protectobots in a train yard as they were escorting the captured Blaster back to the Autobots' base. Bruticus and Defensor battled and Bruticus was winning the fight, until Blaster tricked him into believing that he was on his side, and collapsed a set of power lines on him, forcing the Combaticons to disengage. To pay back a group of human children for their help in the battle, Blaster allowed them to affix a mode-lock of Blast Off, trapping him in space shuttle mode, who they then used to take a trip into space. They soon came under fire from the Autobots' spacecraft, the Ark, and were pulled aboard, but when the misunderstanding was resolved, Blast Off himself was imprisoned. Blaster and Grimlock then engaged in a duel on the moon, during which Onslaught led a massive Decepticon attack against the Autobots, while the Constructicons liberated the captive Decepticons, including Blast Off, from aboard the Ark.

Despite the new appearances of their toy counterparts, the Combaticons continued to appear in their original color schemes throughout the new Generation 2 comic book by Marvel, which featured Onslaught sharing the pain of a destroyed Cybertronian due to a genetic link. The comic then offered the Combaticons their last hurrah, as they were attacked and destroyed by the forces of Jhiaxus (as well as the traitorous Starscream) while defending the Decepticons' Warworld.

Animated series

Millions of years ago, during the early days of the third Great War on Cybertron, a group of "Renegade Decepticons" attempted to overthrow Megatron and assume leadership of the Decepticons for themselves. Their coup met with failure, and as punishment for their treason, Megatron ordered Shockwave to extract the quintet's personality components and destroy their bodies. For millions of years, the Renegade Decepticons' personality components were held in the Decepticon Detention Center, Room 217, until 1985, when they were liberated by Starscream.

Starscream, having gone one step too far in his constant quest to depose Megatron and become Decepticon leader, had been exiled from the faction and dumped on the island of Guadalcanal, where he chanced to unearth some abandoned World War II vehicles left over from the battle there. Reminded of Blitzwing by a tank he came across, Starscream hit upon the idea of creating troops of his own, travelling to Cybertron and acquiring the Renegade Decepticons' personality components, which he installed into the refurbished vehicles, reconfiguring them into modern-day forms. Some of the 5 he had to change much: e.g. Blast Off the space shuttle and Vortex the helicopter were made out of crashed World War II fixed-wing aircraft, and Onslaught the missile truck out of a WWII-era half-track. Starscream deliberately neglected to equip the new bodies with energy absorbers, preventing the newly christened "Combaticons" from refuelling, forcing them to obey his commands so that they could acquire them. After two strikes, capturing several Autobots and Decepticons, and in the process, making Megatron think that the Autobots were responsible, the Combaticons took their captives' energy absorbers and re-energised themselves, before coming under attack from Megatron's forces after Megatron learns the truth. As the Constructicons formed Devastator, Starscream revealed the new power he had given the Combaticons for just that eventuality, as they combined into Bruticus and bested Devastator before finally capturing Megatron and forcing him to give up his power as Decepticon leader to Starscream. However, this victory is short-lived as Bruticus would later be blindsided by Menasor and defeated, allowing Megatron to regain his leadership. Many fans believe that their rivalry with the Stunticons is far more intense than with the Protectobots, due to Stunticon interference causing their first defeat.

Having regained his power back, Megatron strips Starscream of his ranks and exiles him and the Combaticons to an asteroid floating in deep space, but Onslaught soon conceived a plan for revenge and had Blast Off tow the asteroid to Cybertron. Enraged by his predicament and infuriated by the Combaticons' failure to perform, Starscream refused to participate and attempts to return to Earth under his own power. Nevertheless, the Combaticons successfully arrived on Cybertron and quickly and efficiently defeated Shockwave's sentinel army, seizing Shockwave who had been stunned while in his laser cannon mode, and actually wielding him as a huge hand-held weapon before blasting Shockwave into space and taking control of the planet. Wiring his missile guidance systems into the space bridge, Onslaught manipulated Earth's orbit and sent it towards the sun, which puts everyone in danger, including the Autobots and Decepticions residing there. It took the unlikely team up of Megatron, Optimus Prime and Starscream to stop the Combaticons, distracting them with a hologram projector long enough to reverse the Earth's fate, then allowing Prime to strike at Bruticus's built-in failsafe mechanism (Starscream had built it on the back of Bruticus in case the latter rebelled). Following the successful rescue of the Earth and defeat of Bruticus, the trio believed the Combaticons to be a danger to the galaxy and voted to destroy him, with Megatron delivering the fatal blast. However, in reality, Megatron had used the hologram projector to create an illusion of the blast to fool Optimus Prime and the Autobots on Starscream's advice, as Starscream pointed out Bruticus' power that Megatron can utilize to turn the war in favor of the Decepticons. Following the departure of Optimus and the Autobots, Starscream is reinstated back to his ranks as a reward, and the Combaticons are reprogrammed to serve only Megatron and no one else.

The Combaticons appear in the episode "Aerial Assault" (episode 58), which was seemingly aired out of order before the origin of the Combaticons.

The reprogrammed Combaticons were soon deployed on a mission to the Middle East, working with the local black market to smuggle jet parts to Megatron, which he used to build a drone jet army. Later, in battle with the Protectobots, Bruticus was heavily damaged, and rather than repair his comrades, Swindle opted to sell their parts to assorted "clients." The enraged Megatron ordered him to reacquire the parts so that Bruticus could wield their new gravity-manipulating weapon, but when Swindle could not find Brawl's personality component, a bomb was installed in his body to give him extra incentive. Brawl's component, meanwhile, had inadvertently wound up incorporated into a high school science project robot nicknamed "B.O.T.", which caused it to run amok, drawing in Swindle and a team of Autobots; Swindle was eventually able to remove the component, but B.O.T.'s creators then used him to destroy Bruticus's new weapon.

The Combaticons were not part of the Battle of Autobot City, but were on Cybertron when the world-eater, Unicron, attacked it in 2005, and, heavily damaged, were forced to relocate to the planet of Chaar with the other Decepticons when the Autobots reclaimed their home world. They participated in the Decepticon/Quintesson alliance's attacks on Goo and Cybertron, and later attempted to eliminate the Decepticon traitor, Octane, and destroyed an Autobot shuttle in hopes of scuttling a peace conference, as well as aiding in the invasion of Paradron and an attack on Japan. In 2007, the Combaticons were part of the invasion force that struck Cybertron, and went to work constructing a massive rock engine on the planet's surface, which, fuelled by the power packs of the defeated Autobots, moved Cybertron into the Sol system, where Galvatron's plan to use the Plasma Energy Chamber was foiled by Spike Witwicky and Fortress Maximus.

The Combaticons' voices were supplied by S. Marc Jordan (Onslaught), Milt Jamin (Blast Off), Johnny Haymer (Swindle, Vortex), Tony St. James (Brawl) and Roger C. Carmel (Bruticus). The characters continued to make brief appearances in the Japanese-exclusive Transformers: The Headmasters series, usually merged as Bruticus and battling other combiners, and Bruticus was one of the nine "Decepticon Generals" assembled by the insectoid Violenjiger in the single episode of 1990's Japanese Transformers: Zone series. Bruticus was perhaps the only one of the generals who survived the series, arguably making him one of the oldest surviving Decepticons from G1.

Manga

In the Transformers Manga #5 Galvatron and his Decepticons attacked the Prime Energy Tower. Galvatron ordered the Decepticons to form Menasor, Devastator and Bruticus and attack. Rodimus Prime counted on this move by ordering in Superion, Omega Supreme and Defensor. Galvatron then ordered in Predaking, knowing that Sky Lynx was elsewhere and couldn't counter them. Rodimus ordered the Omnibots to attack Predaking's legs. Tripping up the giant, he fell into the other Decepticon giants, winning the day for the Autobots.

Dreamwave Productions

Dreamwave Productions' 21st Century re-imagining of the Generation 1 universe took its inspiration for the Combaticons from the original animated series, casting them as Decepticon prisoners who were reduced to protoform stasis because they were too dangerous to be released.

Onslaught, Brawl, Blast Off and Vortex originally appeared as part of Shockwave's attack on Iacon in the first War Within series. At the same time Swindle was with Starscream, Motormaster, Runabout and Runamuck when Starscream examined Laserbeak's data to see Megatron's data on the state of Cybertron.

Later, when Optimus Prime led a rebellion against Shockwave's domination of Cybertron in 2003, Starscream took the opportunity to form a power base, taking the protoform Combaticons to Earth and outfitting them with new alternate modes taken from an abandoned military base, then leading them in an attack on the Ark in order to acquire parts to make the Decepticon space cruiser, the Nemesis, spaceworthy. Confronted in battle by Brawn, Bruticus was caught in an explosion as Ratchet self-destructed the Ark, but he survived the conflagration, only to be knocked out by artillery fire from an incoming Autobot shuttle. After a battle with the evil clone, Sunstorm, Brawn opted to work out some of his stress on Bruticus's unconscious body, punching the gestalt about the head until his comrades yelled at him to stop. Bruticus would return, battling Sky Lynx for Starscream's amusement - until the Predacons appeared in their combined form of Predaking. The two gestalts battled as Starscream fled and Bruticus lost. The ultimate fate of the Combaticons in the Dreamwave universe was not revealed, due to the company's closure.

Transformers/G.I. Joe

Bruticus would also appear in the Dreamwave G.I. Joe/Transformers crossover, but with a radically different origin. Here he was not formed from the five Combaticons or even a Transformer at all: he was a robot created by Destro and Starscream using a hybrid of Cobra and Decepticon technologies. Destro and Starscream planned to wait out the inevitable battle between the Autobots/G.I. Joe and Decepticons/Cobra, then use Bruticus to force whatever remained into submission to them. The assault proved successful, killing Cobra Commander. However, the plan was thwarted when Snake Eyes opened the Matrix, deactivating all Transformers - including Bruticus, who was partly created from their technology.

Devil's Due Publishing

The Combaticons would also make a brief appearance in the third crossover between G.I. Joe and the Transformers. They were seen trying to hold back the combined Autobot/G.I. Joe rescue force trying to recover Optimus Prime, while Onslaught was seen as one of the Decepticons that tried to stop Optimus Prime from attacking Serpentor, but was incapacitated by Prime wielding Razorclaw's sword.

IDW Publishing

Swindle made a solo appearance in the Spotlight issue on Ultra Magnus, as a free lance arms dealer apprehended by Magnus. He seems to be taking time away from being a part of the Combaticons team. The other members appeared in the issue on Arcee, being used as the vanguard of the Decepticon attack on Garrus-9. They easily wiped out all opposition before them, but encountered more of a problem with Arcee herself, who took out Brawl and Blast Off. Despite this, they were successful in abducting the Monstructor components for Banzai-Tron.

Toys

Generation 1 Bruticus

A Generation 1 gift set of the Combaticons and their merged form of Bruticus. Redecoed into Battle Gaia, as well as Ruination (Baldigus in the Japanese series) in the Car Robots/Robots in Disguise series.

Generation 1 Kabaya Gum Bruticus (1986)

Part of the original gum toy series by Kabaya. Three packs (Onslaught, Vortex & Brawl and Blast-Off & Swindle) are needed to complete Bruticus. Each package comes with a stick of chewing gum and an easy-to-assemble kit. The completed robot looks and transforms almost the same as the larger, original Takara version, but sports different paint applications.

Generation 2 Bruticus

This toy was never sold in one piece, and could only be assembled by obtaining the five individual Combaticons.

Universe Classics 2.0 Bruticus Maximus (2009)

A redecorated version of Energon Bruticus Maximus in the color of the Generation 1 Combaticons. In addition, the individual Combaticons retain their G1 names, now with Swindle and Blast off being a helicopter and tank, respectively.

Combiner Wars Bruticus

The Combiner Wars version of the Combiner, with a jet fighter version of Blast Off.

Combiner Wars Generation 2 Bruticus

A recolor of Combiner Wars Bruticus in Generation 2 colors; Blast Off also featured a different mold with a space shuttle alt-mode.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise

In the Transformers: Robots in Disguise line, the Combaticons and their combined form of Bruticus were repainted as the Commandos and their combination of Ruination. A new character unrelated to the original Bruticus appeared in the toy line. He was a red, black, and yellow cerberus that is reportedly a holdover from the Beast Machines toy line.

Fun Publications

Bruticus was a supporting character appearing in Fun Publications fiction "Gone to Far", a text-based story set on Transtech Cybertron. He attended the off-worlder uprising meeting planned by Gutcruncher.

Toys

Robots in Disguise Bruticus (2001)

A new mold originally planned for release in the Beast Machines line.

Universe Predacon Bruticus (2009)

A redeco of Cybertron Ultra Scourge.

Unicron Trilogy

The character Bruticus Maximus in Transformers: Energon is a direct homage to the Generation 1 Bruticus. He retains his form of combining out of five individual vehicles: an anti-aircraft truck (Barricade/Onslaught), two helicopters (Blackout/Blast Off and Stormcloud/Vortex) and two tanks (Blight/Swindle and Kickback/Brawl).

Animated series

The animated series does not refer to any of the components by name - in it, only the central body is intelligent, and the limbs are drones. The five robots transform only from vehicle mode into combined mode, never into their individual robot forms (apart from one out-of-continuity episode).

Bruticus Maximus was one of four combining Transformers sealed away in stasis beneath the surface of Cybertron to guard a hidden reservoir of Super Energon. Megatron, guided by Unicron, set out to search for it, and destroyed one of the immobile robots in his rage (strangely enough, a second Superion Maximus), only for the reservoir to then reveal itself. As the guardians awakened, Megatron immersed himself in the Super Energon to upgrade himself into Galvatron, and Bruticus Maximus and Constructicon Maximus immediately swore fealty to Galvatron as the one who had awoken them. Their "brother," Superion Maximus, refused, recognising Galvatron's evil and siding with the Autobots.

Bruticus Maximus added plenty of firepower to the Decepticons' side, and he and Constructicon Maximus had several clashes with the traitorous Superion Maximus, until the time for their final battle came, set against the backdrop of the struggle to stop the Unicron-possessed Galvatron out in space. Constructicon Maximus was deactivated by Superion Maximus, who then had his limbs destroyed by Bruticus Maximus, but transferred Constructicon Maximus's limbs to himself and used them to defeat Bruticus, along with a little help from the ghost of the "brother" Megatron had destroyed.

Dreamwave Productions

Although Dreamwave Productions' Transformers: Energon series was canceled before it was able to introduce Bruticus Maximus, art of him and the team members was seen done for the unreleased issues of Transformers Energon: More Than Meets The Eye.

Toys

Energon Bruticus Maximus (2004)

A gift set of Bruticus Maximus, featuring all five vehicles that transform into robots and combine into one. In the same fashion as the original G1 combiners, Bruticus Maximus can exchange limbs to any desired configuration (i.e. the tanks as legs and the arms as arms or vice versa, or one limb of each vehicle).

Transformers Cinematic Universe

Bruticus Maximus is the combined form of the Combaticons. He appearance is based on that of Generation 1 Bruticus/Bruticus Maximus.

Titan Magazines

The Autobots have faced the Combaticons before, and even the mighty Optimus Prime is careful not to get blindsided by the immense Bruticus.

Bruticus is made up of five Combaticons:

Onslaught (Torso)

Brawl (Left Leg)

Vortex (Left Arm)

Swindle (Right Leg)

Blast Off (Right Arm)

Toys

Revenge of the Fallen Bruticus Maximus (2009)

In 2009, a set of five was released as part of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy line. This marks the return of the five original Combaticons to the toy line since their last appearance in Generation 2. This version of the Combaticons is a redeco of the Energon Combaticon toys done as a direct homage to the Generation 1 toy colors. There are some changed in the line-up: Brawl is now called "Decepticon Brawl" for trademark purposes, Swindle is now a helicopter, Blast Off is now a tank, and the combined form is called "Bruticus Maximus" for trademark reasons. On each individual figure is an abbreviated version of the figure's names using letters and numbers.

Transformers: Power Core Combiners

In the 2010 Transformers: Power Core Combiners toy line, the Combaticons are non-sentient drones that are led by Bombshock. These drones can combine with him to become a larger robot by forming his limbs.

Transformers: Prime

Bruticus is the combined form of all five Combaticons. The combining technique limits Bruticus' processing power, making him a weapon Megatron just needs to point in the right direction.

Members

Onslaught - The Combaticon leader and the torso for combination mode. He appears in the Exodus novel, the multiplayer mode in War For Cybertron, and is a playable character in the multiplayer of Fall Of Cybertron.

Brawl - A Combaticon who serves as a force commander for Decepticons, and forms Bruticus's left leg. He is a playable character in War For Cybertron, and is a playable character in the Fall Of Cybertron game's multiplayer.

Swindle - A Combaticon, who forms Bruticus's right leg. He appears in the Fall Of Cybertron game as a playable character.

Vortex - A Combaticon, who forms Bruticus's left arm. He appears in the Fall Of Cybertron game as a playable character.

Blast Off - A Combaticon, who forms Bruticus's right arm. He appears in the Fall Of Cybertron game as a playable character in escalation.

Bruticus - The combined form of all five Combaticons, who in some fiction is named as Bruticus Maximus. Bruticus is a playable character in the game Fall of Cybertron.

Books

Bruticus appears in the novel Transformers: Exodus, having been one of Shockwave's experiments to create a combiner. Onslaught is one of them (the others are not named). He forms the torso of Bruticus Maximus. In one battle, Bruticus Maximus's head was ripped off, but as it was not Onslaught's head, it was capable of being repaired, and later returned in another battle.

Video games

Brawl appeared in the 2010 video game Transformers: War for Cybertron as a playable character in the first chapter. Onslaught was a downloadable character for multiplayer mode.

Bruticus and the Combaticons appear in the 2012 video game Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. The Combaticons are Onslaught, Brawl, Swindle, Blast Off, and Vortex. Bruticus is playable, and armed with a flamethrower (from his Blast Off arm), a melee shield (from Vortex), and a shockwave blast ability. When the Combaticons are attempting to take control of an Autobot transport full of Energon, Onslaught declares that they need to combine into Bruticus. After doing so, Bruticus begins attacking the Autobots and several key components in the transport's engines. Later the Combaticons form Bruticus so that the revived Megatron could enter an Autobot facility holding Trypticon. Bruticus is formed during the battle between the Nemesis and the Ark, and on Megatron's orders begins attacking the Ark's main engines. Soon Jazz arrives to stop him, and coordinating with Jetfire, uses his grappling cable to trip up the combiner so that Jetfire can initiate airstrikes on him. Soon Bruticus is blasted off the Ark into empty space.

Toys

Generations Fall of Cybertron Deluxe Combaticons (2012)

These are five deluxe class figures, based on the Fall of Cybertron characters, which are capable of combining in Bruticus. They will be available individually and in different boxsets including a special one for San Diego Comic Con which features most of the Combaticons in the correct colour schemes. SDCC and the Generations versions of Bruticus have been released. A newer version came out about the same time as the other releases. The newer release has the Generations figures with their G2 paint schemes, primarily an Amazon exclusive.