Transformers Generation 1/Characters/Decepticons

This character sheet is for listing the tropes related to Decepticons in the various Transformers Generation 1 continuities.

For the character sheet listing tropes related to the Autobots, see Transformers Generation 1. For the listing of tropes related to everyone else, see the main Transformers Generation 1 character sheet.

Megatron (メガトロン megatoron)
Function: Leader Alt. Mode: Walther P-38 Pistol

""Peace through tyranny.""

The original leader of the Decepticons and one of the most powerful Transformers in existence. - ""I do this only for the welfare of my Decepticons. It grieves me that you should profit from it.""
 * A Father to His Men: Believe it or not, albeit a gruff and angry one. Has worked with Optimus Prime on numerous occasions to protect his warriors.


 * Arm Cannon
 * BFG: He not only had one, but turns into one.
 * Big Bad: Is only not this when Unicron is about.
 * Epic Flail
 * Evil Laugh: The sheer creepiness of Megatron's Evil Laugh in the original animated series is in and of itself Nightmare Fuel.
 * Evil Overlord
 * General Failure: Megatron was more competent in the Five Episode Pilot, though.
 * Genius Bruiser: Has an Intelligence score of 10 out of 10.
 * Large Ham
 * One-Man Army: Megatron is frequently portrayed as unstoppable against Autobots on the battlefield. If an Autobot team doesn't have Optimus Prime or Grimlock with them, they may want to retreat.
 * Sizeshifter: His iconic Walter P38 form, which can be held by Decepticons or normal humans.
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Megatron is pretty territorial about who ends up offing Optimus Prime.
 * Villainous Friendship: Type 1 with his loyal left-hand-man Soundwave, who along with the Casseticons are the only sentients that he has shown to be fond of. He knew that Soundwave is the one person he could trust, and and hence could rely on him when mortally wounded.
 * Worthy Opponent: His rivalry with Optimus Prime transcends petty hatred into a deep respect and understanding: So much so that whenever they fight side by side for a common goal, they are unstoppable.

Starscream (スタースクリーム sutāsukurīmu)
Function: Air Commander Alt. Mode: F-15 Eagle Fighter Jet

""Conquest is made of the ashes of one's enemies.""

Megatron's infamously treacherous lieutenant. -
 * Big Bad Wannabe: On the few times he takes control, he just can't cut it.
 * Chronic Backstabbing Disorder
 * Dirty Coward: See above. He wouldn't shoot Megatron in the face if you held a gun to his.
 * From the comics: After being destroyed at the end of the Underbase saga, he was revived as a Pretender by a Not Quite Dead Megatron, Brainwashed, and almost defeated Optimus Prime and all of the Decepticons on Earth. But Ratchet had actually turned him into a reverse Manchurian Agent, hiding his true personality deep within his neural circuitry. Hot Rod shoots Starscream during the fight, and he immediately panics and begs mercy to Scorponok.
 * In the season 2 episode "A Prime Problem", Megatron made a clone of Starscream fight  Optimus. The real Starscream was running the clone on remote, and even the Autobots remarked how good a fight he was putting up that day.
 * The Dragon: Megatron's most iconic lieutenant.
 * Evil Sounds Deep: Averted. Starscream has the screechiest voice among the Decepticons.
 * Except in the Japanese version, see the Hey, It's That Voice! entry.
 * But he's at his most genuinely sinister when his voice does drop.
 * Fan Nickname: Screamer.
 * Also an In-Series Nickname.
 * Fatal Flaw: It's not greed or ambition (even though he has plenty of both) but Pride.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Fans of Mobile Suit Gundam may recognize his Japanese voice as the Memetic Badass Team Dad, Captian Bright Noa. You suddenly want to see him slap wimps into MEN OF DESTINY. It's also very much Playing Against Type.
 * His English voice actor was Cobra Commander.
 * It's All About Me
 * Joker Immunity
 * Not So Harmless: For all his flaws, Starscream is a dangerous combatant, with plenty of Autobots under his belt. This is the only reason Megatron keeps him around.
 * Palette Swap: With his Seekers (Thundercracker, Skywarp, Ramjet, Dirge, and Thrust)
 * Rage Against the Mentor: Some of Starscream's recent characterizations have this.
 * Smug Snake: Starscream believes himself to be smarter, deadlier, and handsomer than the rest of the Decepticons. He has frequently been portrayed as more interested in being Decepticon leader for the sake of the title than defeating the Autobots. Unsurprisingly, most of the Decepticons hate him.
 * The Starscream: Though that goes without saying.

Soundwave (サウンドウェーブ saundowēbu)
Function: Communications Alt. Mode: Tape Player

""Cries and screams are music to my ears.""

The Decepticon leader's right-hand bot, Communications Officer, spy wrangler, etc. - ""As you command, Megatron." "Soundwave: superior. Constructicons: inferior.""
 * Blackmail Is Such an Ugly Word: He's going to dig up any dirt you have on you and use it.
 * Communications Officer
 * Creepy Monotone
 * Depending on the Artist: In the Marvel comic, Jose Delbo would draw Soundwave with an actual face. Previous and later artists would depict him with his more well-known faceplate.
 * The Dragon: Always Megatron's most faithful and competent subordinate.
 * And everytime a new Big Bad surfaces in the comics, Soundwave keeps his Dragon status.
 * And when Megatron returns to Big Bad status, Soundwave moves right back in. Decepticon leaders come and go, but Soundwave is the one constant.
 * Evil Laugh: Very rare, and thus unsettling when he does it.
 * Loves the Sound of Screaming: According to his toy bio.
 * Loyal to the Position of Decepticon leader.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout
 * Memetic Mutation: Two quotes from Transformers: The Movie:


 * No Mouth: Mostly, see Depending on the Artist
 * Operation Blank: Soundwave would seem to use this trope, except his speech patterns meant he was simply issuing orders.
 * Robo Speak
 * Screams Like a Little Girl: Believe it or not.
 * Sizeshifter Transforms into a cassette player.
 * The Spymaster: He sends his little minions out to spy on the Autobots...and his fellow Decepticons.
 * Telepathy: His often forgotten power
 * Undying Loyalty: To Megatron. In the original screenplay its shown that he opposed Starscream's decision to throw the mortally-wounded Megatron off Astrotrain, and fought for Decepticon leadership just so he can force Astrotrain to go back for him. This was ufortunately cut to "save screentime."
 * Villainous Friendship: Type 1 with Megatron, whom he loves like a brother. There is a reason why Megatron begged for his help when mortally-wounded, as he is the only being, much less Decepticon, he could trust. Thankfully, this love is fully returned even when his leader became Galvatron, as he brought him back to life as Soundblaster after he died fighting Blaster.

Buzzsaw (バズソー bazusō)
Function: Spy Alt. Mode: Cassette Tape

""My bite is worse than my bark.""

-
 * Demoted to Extra: Since Buzzsaw came packaged with Soundwave, his Palette Swap Laserbeak saw much more screen-time in order to sell more toys.
 * Memetic Badass: A single comic book scene where he blasts Omega Supreme makes him be considered a formidable threat.
 * Palette Swap: of Laserbeak.
 * Sizeshifter

Laserbeak (Condor (コンドル kondoru))
Function: Interrogation Alt. Mode: Cassette Tape

""The only point I like in Autobots: Melting point.""

One of the Decepticons' premier spies. -
 * Adaptation Expansion: In the original cartoon Laserbeak appeared much more often than his counterpart Buzzsaw, and even gained Buzzsaw's role as a spy.
 * Informed Flaw: His tech specs tell he's a Dirty Coward, but he hasn't shown any cowardly tendencies.
 * Pirate Parrot: He sits on the shoulder of Soundwave or anyone who is the Decepticon leader at that time. Most noticeable in the comics. A joke in the tfwiki tells "Autobots pass the Matrix, Decepticons pass the Laserbeak".
 * Sizeshifter

Ravage (Jagar (ジャガー jagā))
Function: Saboteur Alt. Mode: Cassette Tape ""Today's Autobots are tomorrow's scrap metal.""

The Decepticons' spy and saboteur. -
 * The Bus Came Back: One of the few Generation I Transformers to appear in Transformers Beast Wars.
 * Panthera Awesome: His robot mode is panther-like
 * Sizeshifter
 * Undying Loyalty: To Megatron. In fact, Ravage was his first recruit.
 * The Unintelligible: He talks in grunts and growls in both comics and cartoon, even though he talked normally during the first few comic issues, and once in the Five Episode Pilot of the cartoon. The UK comics averted this and made him speak normal English.

Spectro


Function: Reconaissance Alt. Mode: Camera ""See and you can know, know and you can destroy.""

-
 * Depending on the Writer: Reflector is either a Transformer with three bodies in robot mode or just three independent Transformers who combine into an altmode.
 * Sizeshifter: The miniature 'Cons whom form a camera that can be held by robots.

Rumble (ランブル ramburu) & Frenzy (フレンジー furenjī)
Function: Demolitions (Rumble), Warrior (Frenzy) Alt. Modes: Cassette Tapes "Rumble: "Destroy what's below and what's above will follow." Frenzy: "Sow panic and surrender will bloom.""

A pair of robotic twins who are adept at destroying things. -
 * Depending on the Artist: Rumble is blue and Frenzy is black, or it is backwards? At one point, due to a limited palette, they both were blue in the Marvel comics.
 * Depending on the Writer: Rumble can create earthquakes and Frenzy sonic screeches, or both create earthquakes?
 * Inexplicably Identical Individuals: At least four unnamed look-alikes of Rumble and Frenzy turn up in More than Meets the Eye, Part 2. No explanation is given and they were never re-used.
 * Single-Minded Twins: They both are punks with a knack for destruction.
 * Sizeshifter
 * Those Two Bad Guys

Skywarp (スカイワープ sukaiwāpu)
Function: Warrior Alt. Mode: F-15 Eagle Fighter Jet ""Strike when the enemy isn't looking.""

A Decepticon flier who can teleport. Colored black and/or purple. -
 * Dumb Muscle: Easily one of the stupidest Decepticons. The only time Skywarp actually becomes a credible opponent for the Autobots is when a more intelligent Decepticon, like Megatron or Starscream, is present to supervise his teleportational shenanigans.
 * Inexplicably Identical Individuals: Four unnamed Seekers in variations of Skywarp's colors turn up in More than Meets the Eye, Part 2.
 * Palette Swap: Like Thundercracker, he's one for Starscream. Personality-wise, however, the three Seekers are drastically different.
 * Teleporters and Transporters: The only Decepticon with the built-in ability to teleport. While one might think this would make Skywarp a crafty and dangerous adversary, in truth the Seeker is far too dimwitted to employ his unique talents for anything more than pulling childish pranks, like pushing his comrades down a flight of stairs.

Function: Warrior
""The deadliest weapon is terror.""

A Decepticon flier who has doubts over the Deception cause. Colored blue.


 * Anti-Villain: He's uncertain he really believes in Megatron's cause. Or in the attacking and killing of humans.
 * Halfhearted Henchman: In the episode "Fire on the Mountain", Thundercracker is frustrated with Star Scream over a previous argument. During the main battle, Thundercracker has a chance of shooting down Skyfire and completing the mission. He hesitates, considering that Star Scream would get the credit of a successful mission. And that he has no reasons to want that. He then contemplates that the failed mission could be blamed on his hated superior officer. At that point Screamer himself takes action and Thundercracker loses his chance to undermine him.
 * Inexplicably Identical Individuals: Six unnamed seekers in variations of Thundercracker's colors turn up in More than Meets the Eye, Part 2.
 * Loud of War: His sonic boom could collapse structures and blow up enemy jets.
 * Palette Swap: for Starscream.

Function: Military Operations Commander
""Clarity of thought before rashness of action.""

A Decepticon as cold and logical as you could expect from a machine. -
 * Arm Cannon
 * Badass: He doesn't fight often, but when he does, RUN.
 * BFG: Also an aversion of Sizeshifter -- he doesn't change size in his gun altmode, so he becomes a robot-sized gun.
 * Big Bad: In comics only, but he shows he's a much better Decepticon leader than Megatron.
 * The Blank: His face consists of nothing beyond his eye.
 * Cyber Cyclops
 * The Dragon: Megatron's controller on Cybertron while he's away.
 * Dragon Ascendant: In the Marvel Comics, when Megatron went mad and killed himself.
 * Exact Words: Prior to Megatron leaving Cybertron in his care to purse the Ark, Shockwave swore that when he should return, Cybertron will be as he had left it. Four million years later, Cybertron remained essentially unchanged, with no technological advancements made.
 * Evil Brit: Well, he was meant to sound similar to David Warner of Tron.
 * The Evil Genius: Guess who designed the space bridge system?
 * Genius Bruiser: Can take on all the Dinobots and win with ease.
 * Memetic Mutation: The cover of Marvel issue 5 is one of the most copied in Transformers artwork.
 * The Stoic
 * Wild Card: Has no problem going behind the others backs.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In the Marvel comics to Megatron.

Function: Military Transport
""In confusion there is opportunity"

-
 * Big Bad Wannabe: In the Sunbow cartoon. His idea of leading the Decepticons was to create an army of drone trains, which could seem a good idea at first, but their A.I.s were too primitive for creative thinking. Contrast with Blitzwing, whose plan seemed dumb at first but ended being better and more successful.
 * Cool Train
 * Meaningful Name: He transforms into an astroship and into a train.
 * Sizeshifter: Stands shoulder to shoulder to Starscream in robot form; can transform into a space shuttle that can ''fit the entire Decepticon army" in his hull.

Function: Ground and Air Commander
""Destroy first, think later.""

-
 * Aborted Arc: See the Antivillain trope, below. He is exiled from the Decepticons and refuses to join the Autobots... but is later seen in some crowd shots with other Decepticons. Is this an oversight on the part of the producers? Or was the whole idea of his exile just quietly dropped? Maybe Galvatron just forgave him for some reason. Who knows...
 * This arc was going to continue in the episode "Starscream's Ghost", but his role was taken by Octane to promote the new character.
 * Anti-Villain: In "Five Faces of Darkness", it is shown that he cares for the survival of the entire Transformers race over Decepticon victory, and is willing to work with Autobots to prevent their mutual extinction at the hands of the Quintessons. Even after he is exiled by Galvatron for allying with Rodimus and betraying the Decepticons, he graciously refuses Rodimus' offer to join the Autobots and quietly accepts his punishment, such is his loyalty to his own brothers.
 * Cool Plane
 * Genre Savvy: He gives off the impression that he knows more about what's going on than anyone else. For example, in "Triple Takeover", he has the foresight to recruit a human who he sees as an expert in strategy. In "Five Faces of Darkness", he knows not to trust the Quintessons, despite having a fuzzy recollection of them.
 * It should be noted that the aforementioned human was an American Football coach, and yet Blitzwing's interpretations of his advice proved to be surprisingly effective.
 * Tank Goodness

The Constructicons
==== Function: Construction Engineer (Scrapper), Surgical Engineer (Hook), Material Fabrication (Mixmaster), Demolitions (Bonecrusher), Transport (Long Haul), Mining & Salvage (Scavenger), Warrior (Devastator) ==== "Scrapper: "My work is a monument to - and of - my enemies." Hook: "Strive for perfection even if others must suffer." Mixmaster: "How strong the steel, how quick the conquest." Bonecrusher: "Hit it till it stands no taller than dust." Long Haul: "A battle front is only as good as its supply line." Scavenger: "Everything is worth something, even me." Devastator: "Thinking and winning do not mix.""

A group of Decepticons who transform into construction vehicles and serve as the Decepticons' engineers. They are frequently portrayed as the first combiner team and combine into Devastator. -
 * Combining Mecha: their combined form, Devastator.
 * Dumb Muscle: Devastator sets the ground-rule in G1 that once Combiners become one, their conflicting personalities WILL turn the resulting giant into a retard as dumb as a box of rocks, no matter how smart each individual component may be. Devastator, case in point, is made up of 6 genius level engineers, only to be a roaring, screaming retard that can barely roar Crush! Kill! Destroy! without falling over himself.
 * Five-Bad Band:
 * Big Bad: Scrapper
 * The Dragon: Hook
 * Evil Genius: Mixmaster
 * The Brute: Bonecrusher
 * Dark Chick: Long Haul due no not liking his assigned job, and Scavenger due to being an underdog.
 * Leader Forms the Head: Actually averted with The Constructicons, the First of the Combiners. Scrapper, the Leader Shovel-dozer of the six warriors, actually forms the right leg of Devastator, whereas it is actually Hook the Crane who forms the Head instead.
 * Multiple Choice Past: Were they built on Earth? Are they Autobots reprogrammed by Megatron? Are they the Decepticons that built Megatron in the first place?
 * It doesn't help matters that, unlike most of the other examples on this page, all three of these wildly contradictory origins came from the cartoon itself.
 * Never Live It Down: Mixmaster's Verbal Tic from the "City of Steel" episode. He never used it before or again.

Function: Combaticon Leader (Onslaught), Interrogation (Vortex), Munitions Expert (Swindle), Ground Assault (Brawl), Space Warrior (Blast Off)
"Onslaught: "The mind is the greatest weapon." Vortex: "I'm Vortex, fly me - if you dare." Swindle: "Make Deals, not war." Brawl: "I was built to be wild." Blast Off: "I destroy Autobots by choice, not command.""

Five Decepticons who transform into military-based vehicles. They are Onslaught (leader), Blastoff, Brawl, Swindle and Vortex. -
 * Arms Dealer: Swindle
 * The Barnum: Swindle
 * Combining Mecha: They merge into Bruticus.
 * Dumb Muscle: As Bruticus.
 * Face Heel Turn: According to the Transformers: Wings of Honor comics, they were part of the Autobot Elite Guard.
 * Five-Bad Band:
 * Big Bad: Onslaught
 * The Dragon: Vortex. Not too obvious, but he yells orders whenever Onslaught is incapacitated.
 * Evil Genius: Swindle. Knows a lot about all those weapons he sells.
 * The Brute: Brawl. The most obvious one.
 * Dark Chick: Blastoff. His altmode and function keep him apart of the rest.
 * High Altitude Interrogation: Vortex.
 * Honest John's Dealership: Swindle.
 * The Strategist: Onslaught.

Function: Warrior
""Fear is the element that unites all losers.""

-
 * Blatant Lies: "Death comes to he who crosses me." See They Killed Kenny below.
 * The Dreaded: His morose and silent nature causes people to fear him, but if he finds himself in a situation over which he has no control, Dirge will find himself crippled and paralyzed with terror.
 * They Killed Kenny: He tends to die or get severely damaged a lot in every version of the G1 continuity in which he appears. A lot. The fandom, naturally, has picked up on this tendency and run away with it.

Function: Espionage (Kickback), Electronic Warfare (Shrapnel), Psychological Warfare (Bombshell, Venom), Thief (Chop Shop), Gunner (Barrage), Warrior (Ransack)
"Kickback: "Friend is another word for fool." Shrapnel: "Control electricity and you control the world." Bombshell: "The mind is my playpen." Venom: "Friends are more dangerous than enemies." Chop Shop: "I take no prisoners, just spare parts." Barrage: "Nothing left standing means nothing left to change." Ransack: "The sight of ruin only makes me crave more.""

Seven Decepticon-allied Transformers (Barrage, Bombshell, Chop Shop, Kickback, Shrapnel, Ransack and Venom) who have bugs as their altmodes. Most media tend to show only the three smaller ones (Bombshell, Kickback and Shrapnel). -
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies
 * Extreme Omnivore: Bombshell, Kickback, and Shrapnel are shown capable of and willing to eat anything.
 * Send in the Clones: The main three Insecticons are capable of creating clones of themselves. Often overlaps with Expendable Clone and The Swarm.
 * Verbal Tic: Shrapnel always repeats the last word of his sentences, sentences.
 * Psycho Electro: Shrapnel's main power is manipulating electricity, electricity.
 * Japanese Beetle Brothers: Shrapnel (stag beetle) and Bombshell (rhinoceros beetle), along with Chop Shop and Barrage, are a Type A example of this.

Function: Warrior
""If it flies, crash it!""

-
 * Use Your Head: Ramjet, as one would expect, likes to ram things with his conehead--in and out of vehicle mode. Case in point.
 * And (because of wingmates Dirge and Thrust), "using his head" he usually does.

Function: Stunticon Leader (Motormaster), Warrior (Drag Strip, Dead End), Terrorist (Wildrider), Scout (Breakdown), Super Warrior (Menasor)
"Motormaster: "These wheels are made for crushing." Drag Strip: "The first one to cross the finish line lives." Dead End: "We are all just food for rust." Wildrider: "Either you're out of my way or you're out of luck." Breakdown: "Keep your optical sensors to yourself." Menasor: "Leave no Autobot uncrushed.""

A group of automotive-based Decepticons who combine into Menasor. -
 * The Psycho Rangers: Of the Aerialbots. Played straight in the comics, but interestingly inverted in the cartoon, as the Stunticons were created first: Megatron originally built them because the Autobots thwarted his plans one too many times by being able to drive into places where Decepticon jets couldn't follow them, and he decided he needed his own fleet of cars. That they were mistaken for Autobots early in their existence was a nice bonus.
 * Dumb Muscle: Menasor is a retarded idiot like every other combiner, made worse by the fact that since ALL five components absolutely hate each other, he is a self-loathing retarded idiot.
 * Dysfunction Junction: Every one of them has a disorder of some sort.
 * Five-Bad Band
 * Big Bad: Motormaster
 * Bad Boss to his teammates.
 * Large and In Charge
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: He considers Optimus Prime to be his rival as "King of the Road" and goes out of his way to destroy him before Megatron can.
 * Small Name, Big Ego: Motormaster finally got his chance to go up against Optimus when he rammed the Autobot leader at maximum speed when they were both in their truck forms. The resulting collision gave Optimus a headache, but it gave Motormaster a smashed up grill, blown-out tires, a wrecked engine, broken windows...you get the picture.
 * Evil Sounds Deep: "Bottomless pit" deep, in this case
 * The Dragon: Drag Strip
 * Small Name, Big Ego
 * The Dark Chick: Breakdown
 * And he seems to hail from a Cybertronian equivalent of New York.
 * Evil Genius: Dead End, due to being the most mentally stable member.
 * Which should really say something about the Stunticons, as Dead End is a Nihilist.
 * The Brute: Wildrider
 * Ax Crazy
 * Insane Equals Violent: While this applies to all the Stunticons, Wildrider is the most overt example.

Function: Warrior
""My engines' roar is my enemies' song of doom!""

-
 * Dirty Coward
 * Small Name, Big Ego: Thrust believes himself to be far more competent than he actually is, and he wants you to know that he's coming.
 * Unfortunate Name: See the above Double Entendre, and keep in mind the fact that Thrust is a Conehead Seeker.

Function: City Commander
""My power is everything; defeat is absurd!""

The resurrected remains of the mortally-wounded Megatron, who was forced and literally reformatted into a new life of servitude by Unicron, the God of Destruction. He slays the usurper Starscream and wrestles the leadership of Decepticons from him. Though far more powerful than his past life, Galvatron was driven irrevocably insane after being trapped in a sea of lava, as the molten rock seeped into his head and literally fried his brain. What little remained of the proud warrior Megatron died that day, and in his place stood the raving madman Galvatron, who would just as soon turn his cannon on his men as he would the Autobots. - ""There will be no war today, Optimus Prime; you have earned Galvatron's respect.""
 * Arm Cannon
 * Ax Crazy: Galvatron is not mentally stable.
 * He goes so crazy that Cyclonus and Scourge take him to a planet designed to deal with psychotic people, but Galvatron ends up demolishing the planet.
 * Note, he "demolished the planet" not through force, but by being so flat out bonkers that the entire planet had a mental breakdown when it tried to analyze and cure him. Yes, the planet itself.
 * Bad Boss: Whereas Megatron was genuinely respected by his warriors, Galvatron was feared and hated for his erratic tendency to suddenly kill them for the most insignificant of slights.
 * BFG: Transforms into a futuristic howitzer cannon.
 * Big Bad
 * Deal with the Devil: Galvatron was born when Megatron signed an agreement of bondage to the Eldritch Abomination Unicron in his desperation to live... ...and yet in losing himself dies anyway.
 * The Dreaded: Whereas Megatron was consistently mocked and made a fool of by Autobots and humans alike, the mere mention of Galvatron conjures despair in the bravest of hearts: even his own warriors fear for their lives every waking moment.
 * Evil Laugh: With a gloriously-retarded-sounding one in the Malaysian-dub.
 * Evil Overlord
 * Graceful Loser:


 * Large Ham: It does not help that Frank Welker decided to give Galvatron a high-and-screechy voice, not unlike another screeching-and-effeminite mentally-retarded villain called Skeletor.
 * One-Man Army
 * Purple Is Powerful: Galvatron's color.
 * Samurai: The crests upon his head clearly invoke an imagery of the helmet worn by Samurai.
 * That Man Is Dead: Galvatron consistently acknowledges himself as a distinct entity from his past life, and in spite of possessing tenfold of Megatron’s already considerable hubris and ego, ‘’proudly’’ refers to himself with a name given to him by an entity that he hates and despises. As far as the Decepticons are concerned they also consider Megatron to be dead, and have a memorial built in his honor, even though at least Rumble clearly knows that he and Galvatron are "the same guy" (only in the most technical sense, of course).
 * Villainous Friendship: Type 1. His love for Soundwave as a brother is the ‘’one’’ thing of Megatron that is left in him. He showed genuine sorrow and anger at the death of the communications officer, and cared for him enough to bring him back to life as Soundblaster.

Function: Saboteur
""Compassion is the Autobots' downfall.""

A Decepticon created from the corpse of Bombshell (or Skywarp: The debates still continue after 26 years) by Unicron to serve as Galvatron's right-hand man. He is fiercely loyal to his leader. - ""Warriors such as you and I should meet their end in battle.""
 * Badass
 * Base Breaker: Bombshell or Skywarp? Who was Cylonus really? The occasional Internet Backdraft that spring from this debate is quite impressive to say the least.
 * The Dragon: To Galvatron.
 * Empathic Weapon: Nightstick.
 * Evil Counterpart: To Ultra Magnus. This is actually lampshaded by a Quintesson scientist in The Killing Jar.
 * From Nobody to Nightmare: His original form? Bombshell. As in, the Insecticon.
 * Noble Demon: Due to the lingering decency of his previous life as Skywarp, Cyclonus is a warrior who conducts war with as much honor-and-compassion as Galvatron would allow him, and respects his enemies enough to save them from ignonimious deths. As he explains to Ultra Magnus after rescuing him from the clutches of a black-hole.


 * Number Two: To Galvatron. It has been stated he could easily become a better leader than Galvatron any time he wanted to, were it not for his Undying Loyalty to the maniac.
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy
 * Sizeshifter: Even though he is as tall as Galvatron, Cyclonus can fit his leader quite comfortably inside his cockpit in plane mode....
 * What are you looking at me like that for? Look, fangirls, not everything has to be Ho Yay, okay!!
 * Undying Loyalty: to Galvatron.
 * Worthy Opponent: He respects Ultra Magnus as a brother-warrior, and the feeling is mutual.

Function: Assault Sentry
""I live for the taste of an Autobot's fuel line!""

A Sharkticon from planet Quintessa, Gnaw's loyalties lie with whoever feeds him. He must get lots of food from the Decepticons, then, as he proudly wears their symbol. -
 * Big Eater
 * Epic Flail: His weapon of choice in robot mode.
 * Everything's Even Worse with Sharks
 * Heel Face Turn: In at least one comic continuity, he's joined the Autobots and become Wheelie's best friend.

Function: Fueler
""He who has fuel, has power.""

-
 * Chronic Backstabbing Disorder. ASK Galvatron about Trypticon's vacation in Carbombya.
 * Dirty Coward
 * A Friendly Enemy to Sandstorm
 * The Starscream (Until he meets the ghost of the REAL Starscream who shows him how it's done.)

Function: Predacon Leader (Razorclaw), Gunner (Rampage), Ground Assault (Headstrong), Fueler (Tantrum), Aerial Assault (Divebomb), Warrior (Predaking)
"Razorclaw: "All good things succumb to those who wait." Rampage: "Those who conquer, act; those who are conquered think." Headstrong: "The best advice is not to listen to advice." Tantrum: "Anger gets me running better than any other fuel." Divebomb: "Conquer the skies and below you will fall." Predaking: "Destroy first, ask questions later.""

A quintet of wild and powerful Decepticons with powerful, savage animals as their beast modes. In some continuities, they are the forebears and original leaders of the Predacon faction from Beast Wars. Their members include their leader, Razorclaw (a lion), Divebomb (an eagle), Headstrong (a rhinoceros), Rampage (a tiger), and Tantrum (a bull). In all continuities, they are able to combine in order to form the mighty Predaking. -
 * Combining Mecha: See above.
 * Dumb Muscle: Predaking is arguably the mightiest of the G1 Combiners, yet is barely above a rampaging beast.
 * Five-Bad Band: Par for the course with Combiner teams:
 * The Big Bad: Razorclaw who, given that he is the most patient and analytical of the Predacons, pulls double duty as The Evil Genius.
 * The Dragon: Rampage.
 * The Brute: Headstrong and Tantrum.
 * The Dark Chick: Divebomb.
 * Evil Counterpart: A quintet of five vicious, near-feral robots with savage animal modes who refuse to listen to their leader's orders? Sounds like they fit the bill for the Dinobots to me.
 * Invoked by the rivalry between Divebomb and the Dinobot Divebomb Swoop. When they picked up their rivalry on Earth, the rest of the Dinobots and the rest of the Predacons joined in the fight. The Dinobots were less than impressed.
 * Informed Ability: Their combined form of Predaking is supposedly a nigh-unbeatable Genius Lightning Bruiser. In all the myriad continuities in which Predaking has appeared, however, the big guy acts like a dumb brute and has had perhaps one victory against anyone, and that was against the Combaticons.

Function: Fuel Scout
""The road is my dinner plate.""

The Decepticons' fuel scout, who tends to criticise the waste of fuel in each Decepticon plan. He's also one of Soundwave's tapes. -
 * Bat Out of Hell: Quite literally.
 * Big Bad: Briefly.
 * Sizeshifter

Function: Shock Troopers
"Runabout: "A pretty car makes an even prettier wreck." Runamuck: "The road is my playpen; cars are my toys!""

-
 * Dixieland Decepticon Tag-Team Twins.

Function: Sweep Leader
""Desolation follows in my trail.""

A tracker created from the corpse of Skywarp, he Serves Galvatron as the leader of the Sweeps, a battalion of huntsmen who track down and assasinate elusive Autobots. -
 * The Brute: Under Galvatron.
 * Dirty Coward: Much like Thundercracker was.
 * Empathic Weapon: Fracas.
 * Yes-Man: He bears the brunt of Galvatron's hideously-bad temper, as he is not one TENTH the warrior that Cyclonus is.

Function: Assault Base
""Total victory requires total destruction.""

-
 * Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: His robot mode resembles a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
 * Humongous Mecha: He is city-sized.

Function: Headmaster Commander
""Kindness is no virtue... and cruelty is no vice.""

Nebulan Lord Zarak, after being bio-engineered to transform into the head of a larger robot body, becomes Scorponok, leader of the Decepticons. - "Zarak: Huuuu... Puh-Prime? Did... Did... kuuuu... I do... good? Optimus Prime: Yes, old friend. You did good."
 * Alas, Poor Villain: His death at the hand of Unicron.


 * Big Bad: For most of the latter part of the comics and the Transformers Headmasters anime series.
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: under the alias "Mr Z"
 * Even Evil Has Standards
 * Humongous Mecha: His bigger robot mode is city-sized in some continuities. His smaller mode (as Lord Zarak) is an inversion of the trope.
 * Large and In Charge
 * Losing Your Head: He's a Headmaster. He tends to use the Scorponok name in his bigger mode and the Lord Zarak name in his smaller mode, though some have called him Zarak when in Scorponok mode.

Function: Saboteur
""Obnoxiousness is not a problem, it is an art.""

-
 * Everything's Better with Monkeys: His animal altmode. And that's it.
 * Losing Your Head: He's a Headmaster.

Function: Assault Team
""We're only halves of a whole, but double the trouble.""

-
 * Literal Split Personality

Function: Assault Team
""Believe in yourself, but only if you both agree.""

-
 * Depending on the Writer: He can split on two altmodes in most continuities, but in the Marvel UK comic he was more of a triplechanger.
 * Literal Split Personality: When he divides on his altmodes, they cannot agree on anything.

Function: Hypnotist
""Just one look from me and you've lost.""

-
 * Bat Out of Hell: His altmode.
 * Compelling Voice: He is a hypnotist, so this comes with the territory.
 * Evil Genius, mostly known for "brainwashing."
 * Losing Your Head: He's a Headmaster.

Function: Interceptor
""Keep shooting, eventually, you're bound to hit something.""

-
 * Empathic Weapon: Aimless.
 * Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: In his case, the inability to hit a target is a trait of the character.

Function: Warrior
""Too much destruction is never enough.""

Another of Soundwave's tapes, he's the dumbest and most violent of the group. -
 * Ax Crazy
 * Dumb Muscle
 * Tyrannosaurus Rex: When he's not a tape.

Function: Infiltrator (Pounce), Data Processor (Wingspan)
"Pounce: "Terror is the stage on which I perform." Wingspan: "Knowledge is the most deadly weapon of all.""

-

Function: S.T.A.G. (Solo Transformer Assault Group)
""Life is worth saving only as long as there are enemies worth destroying.""

A Decepticon who has six forms and is a one man army. -
 * I Gave My Word: The only reason such an honorable warrior like Sixshot would continue to work for a deranged genocidal maniac like Galvatron was his sense of sworn-duty to Megatron.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja: In the japanese Headmasters series.
 * Meaningful Name: Sixshot, being a Six Changer, has six forms--his robot mode, a tank, a gun, a spaceship, an off-road vehicle, and a winged wolf.
 * Noble Demon: Sixshot only serves the Decepticons out of a sense of sworn duty to Galvatron, and is actually a principled, decent and honorable warrior who does not kill children or innocents in cold blood. This hidden decency allows him to befriend Daniel later on, resulting in a Heel Face Turn.
 * One Bot Army: Sixshot is perfectly capable of holding his own against far more numerous opponents. Fitting, given that he is also a...
 * Person of Mass Destruction: In the IDW comics, Sixshot is one of Megatron's "Phase-Sixers", a trio of extremely powerful Decepticons who are expected--and perfectly capable--of razing entire planets to the ground whenever they see action.

Function: Swamp Warrior
""Autobots are like bad fuel - weak and greasy.""

-
 * I'm a Humanitarian: Skullcruncher has eaten both Nebulans and Transformers.
 * Losing Your Head: He's a Headmaster.

Function: Messenger
""Expect betrayal and your friends won't disappoint you.""

Yet another of Soundwave's tapes, this one in the form of a Stegosaurus. He's a paranoid moron who thinks everyone's out to get him. -
 * Absurdly Sharp Blade: The plates down his back double as this.
 * Conspiracy Theorist: He's absolutely sure all the other Decepticons are plotting against him behind his back.
 * Dumb Muscle
 * Mighty Glacier: Strength score of 9, Speed score of 1.

Function: Air Defense
""The only way to survive a duel with me is to not show up.""

-
 * Dirty Coward: His definition of a "duel" is shooting his enemy from behind and at a distance.
 * Empathic Weapon: Caliburst
 * Miles Gloriosus

Function: Interceptor
""If it doesn't get you dirty, it's not worth doing.""

-
 * Losing Your Head: He's a Headmaster.
 * Undying Loyalty: to Lord Zarak. It is considered his only redeeming feature.

Function: Terrorcon Leader (Hun-Grrr), Terrorist (Rippersnapper), Sentry (Sinnertwin), Foot Soldier (Blot), Shock Trooper (Cutthroat)
"Hun-Grrr: "Eat only what you need - destroy the rest." Rippernapper: "Autobots are an error I intend to correct." Sinnertwin: "The sound of ripping metal is music to my audio modules." Blot: "I'm not as bad as I look - I'm worse." Cutthroat: "Compassion is the currency of losers.""

A quintet of Decepticons who transform into monstrous, nightmarish creatures. And their mental states are just as monstrous and nightmarish as well. They're the rival team to the Technobots. They merge to form Abominus. -
 * The Psycho Rangers:
 * Big Bad Evil Genius: Hun-Grrr when he's not stuffing his face.
 * The Brute: Blot
 * Dark Chick: Cutthroat CRANKS IT TO 15.
 * Two Dragons: Rippersnapper and Sinnertwin
 * Verbal Tic: "Let's all speak like Grimlock!" (On and off during G1 cartoon.)
 * They're Even Heroes Have Heroes to Sixshot (during Sixshot's IDW comics continuity).
 * Weaksauce Weakness: Sinnertwin's afraid so small, furry animals despite being a scary two-headed orthrus.
 * Psychopathic Manchild: Rippersnapper takes his massive inferiority complex out on his Autobot enemies.
 * Extreme Omnivore: Hun-Grrr can eat almost anything and spits it out as missiles and weaponry.
 * Fat Slob: Blot is not really fat in fat standards. But he's still too dumb to do anything about it.
 * Speaking of Dumb Muscle: Abominus is so destructively dumb that a timer needs to be set before the Terrorcons merge. However, there was this one time during the "Hate Plague" episode where he manages to beat Computron (because the latter "thinks too much).

Function: Gunner
""Have gun, have fun!""

-
 * Empathic Weapon: Blowpipe, Lord Zarak's brother-in-law.
 * Meaningful Name
 * Trigger Happy

Function: Tracker
""My pleasure with my enemy's pain comes.""

-
 * Your Head Losing: A Headmaster he is.
 * Verbal Tic: Backwards he talks.

Function: Predator
""The greater the foe, the sweeter his fuel.""

-
 * Bat Out of Hell: His Pretender shell

Function: Strategist
""The greatest power is the power to control.""

-

Function: Hunter/Tracker
""A cunning smile is more devastating than the fiercest weapon.""

A Pretender whose shell and altmode are wolf-shaped. The original leader of the Mayhem Attack Squad, Evil Counterpart of the Wreckers. -
 * Anti-Hero: Post-Heel Face Turn in Marvel UK continuity. Somewhere between a Type II and a Type III (arguably a type IV in his revenge arc).
 * Anti-Villain: Before Heel Face Turn in UK comic continuity.
 * Badass
 * Blood Knight: (Marvel UK) As he says to Springer: "I'm a Decepticon warrior! The need to fight is in my oil." However, he comes to value the fight for more than its own sake whilst defending humans from his former Decepticon comrades.
 * Cruel Mercy: Stops Springer from killing Bludgeon, Stranglehold and Octopunch as he reasons "denying them their 'warrior's death' is the worst fate I could think of".
 * Defector From Decadence: Marvel UK. Breaks away from the Mayhem Attack Squad with his Pretender comrade Catilla and joins up with the remnants of the Wreckers to form the Survivors. Later comes to admire and value human life.
 * Enemy Mine: Teams up with the Wreckers to fight Megs and Galvy in Time Wars.
 * Even Evil Has Standards
 * Fire-Forged Friends: With Springer and the Wreckers as a result of their Time Wars team-up.
 * Heel Face Turn: Again, in Marvel UK continuity. Joins the Autobots and comes to appreciate the value of human life; however, he still retains his Decepticon ruthlessness when fighting his former comrades. See Cruel Mercy and Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
 * Noble Demon: In the Marvel UK continuity, he disobeys his orders to "kill any Wreckers left standing" after fighting with them against Galvatron and Megatron in Time Wars.
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy: Marvel UK.
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Takes out most of the New Mayhem Attack Squad after they kill his comrade, and fellow Defector From Decadence, Catilla. However, he spares Bludgeon, Stranglehold and Octopunch in the spirit of Cruel Mercy.

Function: Aerial Assault
""Things are never as bad as they seem - usually they're worse.""

-

Function: Mercenary
""The price of victory is never too high.""

-
 * The Mole: Undercover as an Autobot.

Function: Air Defense
""Fear is a friend whose presence is felt long after he's left.""

-
 * The Eeyore

Function: Tracker
""Leaders are for fools who need to follow.""

-
 * Big Badass Wolf: His altmode is a winged wolf.
 * Losing Your Head: He's a Headmaster.

Function: Naval Assault
""Ashes to ashes, rust to rust.""

-

Function: Firestorm Trooper (Cindersaur), Warrior (Flamefeather), Cryptologist (Sparkstalker)
"Cindersaur: "Crash and burn... and burn... and burn." Flamefeather: "The only good Autobot is a deactivated Autobot." Sparkstalker: "The smallest details reveal the largest secrets.""

The pyromaniac Cindersaur, the violent Flamefeather and the intelligent Sparkstalker, who can transform into a trio of fire-breathing beasts -
 * Ax Crazy: Cindersaur and Flamefeather, much to Sparkstalker's chagrin.
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: It's said that Flamefeather's greatest achievement in life was talking to someone for a full minute without going into a frothing rage.

Function: Ground Trooper
""Smash all that stands and trample the rest.""

-
 * A Load of Bull
 * Losing Your Head: He's a Headmaster

Function: Terror Trooper
""Sow the seeds of fear and victory is yours.""

-

Function: Aerial Warrior
""Get hip or get hit!""

-
 * Crying Wolf: Does this in the appropriately named Marvel UK strip Cry Wolf; his comrades don't take it well; Carnivac (HeelFaceTurned Decepticon with wolf Pretender shell and alt mode) uses Needlenose's fear and paranoia to his advantage, making the paranoid Decepticon the first target of his Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
 * Empathic Weapons: Sunbeam and Zigzag.
 * Evil Counterpart: Needlenose's interest on Earth culture makes him very similar to Jazz.

Function: Ground Assault
""Nothing lasts forever... so why not destroy it now?""

-

Function: Gunner
""Destruction has a beauty all its own.""

-
 * For the Evulz
 * The Sociopath

The Seacons
==== Function: Seacon Team Leader (Snaptrap), Underwater Excavations (Nautilator), Undersea Terminator (Overbite), Undersea Reconnaissance (Seawing), Amphibious Assault (Skalor), Underwater Demolitions (Tentakil), Undersea Warrior (Piranacon) ==== "Snaptrap: "Broken Autobots never mend." Nautilator: "Blame someone else before they blame you." Overbite: "There are two kinds of creatures: predator and prey." Seawing: "The darkest depths reveal the darkest secrets." Skalor: "I stink, therefore I am." Tentakil: "Embrace your enemies... until they're terminated." Piranacon: "Underwater, no one can hear you scream.""

A team of six Decepticons who transform into sea creatures. They are Snaptrap (leader, a turtle), Nautilator (a lobster), Overbite (a shark), Seawing (a manta ray), Skalor (a coelacanth) and Tentakill (a squid). -
 * Affably Evil: Tentakil, so very much.
 * Blood Knight: Snaptrap's favorite part of the hunt is the kill.
 * Butt Monkey: Nautilator. If not for the Seacons being relatively unknown, one would believe Futurama's Zoidberg is an Expy of him.
 * Combining Mecha: They form Piranacon
 * Egomaniac Hunter: All of them, and taken to such an extreme in Piranacon that Snaptrap had to install an automatic timer to insure that they'd separate after a certain amount of time to prevent them Piranacon from hunting all the time.
 * Empathic Weapon: Piranacon's a "Scramble City" Combiner with special hands. So any one of his limbs can become his gun.
 * Genius Slob: Skalor DOES NOT CARE about what other Decepticons think about his lack of personal hygiene.
 * Leeroy Jenkins: Nautilator. His physical abilities are certainly impressive...but he's such a moron that the rest of the Seacons end up Face Palming every time he gets himself in trouble and they have to rescue him.
 * The Load: The rest of the Seacons feel this way about Nautilator, since they've repeatedly had to fish his chassis out of the depths whenever he gets himself lost. Whenever they form Piranacon, the Seacons always make Nautilator serve as their weapon, rather than let him form a body part. As Snaptrap says, if Nautilator didn't occasionally find something useful when he got lost, they would have left him to rust a long time ago.
 * Never My Fault: Nautilator is, according to his tech specs, a "stumbling, bumbling amphibious foul-up." Of course, whenever he's called out for his screw-ups, he always tries to shift the blame to someone else.
 * "No Respect" Guy: Nautilator
 * Serial Killer: Tentakil is oh~so~smooth.
 * The Starscream: Seawing, inside the team.
 * Super Drowning Skills: Nautilator tends to rust easily, he can't navigate to save his spark, and he has trouble swimming. And he's a member of the Decepticons' underwater strike force.

Function: Siege Warrior
""Those who stand against me shall soon fall before me!""

-
 * Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny
 * People in Rubber Suits: In-Universe example. He used his Pretender shell to become a star in monster films.

Function: Assault Warrior
""Stealing isn't a crime, getting caught is.""

-

Function: Aerial Assault
""Respect your foes' abilities as you would your own.""

-
 * Empathic Weapons: Hairsplitter and Singe.
 * Lone Wolf
 * The Quiet One

Function: Interrogator (Beastbox), Translator (Squawktalk)
"Beastbox: "Speak now if you intend to ever speak at all." Squawktalk: "If you have nothing interesting to say, say it anyway.""

A Decepticon composed of the cassettes Squawktalk and Beastbox. -
 * Motor Mouth: Squawktalk can request a cracker in trillions of languages.
 * The Brute: Beastbox

Function: Saboteur
""Place brawn before brains and victory is yours.""

-
 * Losing Your Head: He's a Headmaster.

Function: Undersea Warfare
""Conquer the seas and the rest will fall!""

-

Function: Data Collector (Crankcase), Combat Assault (Ruckus), Air Defense (Windsweeper)
"Crankcase: "Things are never as good as they seem." Ruckus: I take a licking and keep on kicking." Windsweeper: "Uninvited guests soon become smoldering wrecks.""

Composed of the whiny Crankcase, the loud Ruckus and the neatfreak Windsweeper. They are part of the Mayhem Attack Squad. -

Function: Espionage
""The more tightly you hold a secret, the more we like ripping it a way.""

Consists of Whisper, Storm Cloud, Nightflight, and Tailwind. -

Function: Aerial Defense
""My price is too high and you're going to pay.""

-

Function: Electric Warrior
""To know your own limits, you must first know your foe's limits.""

A Decepticon martial artist whose Pretender shell is samurai skeleton. -
 * Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: A master of the Cybertronian martial art of Metallikato, and prone to preceeding his sentences with a heartfelt "Fools!"
 * Cool Tank: His altmode.
 * Dragon Ascendant: After Lord Zarak's death.
 * Fantastic Fighting Style: Metallikato
 * Ninja Samurai Skeleton Robot: Thanks to his Pretender shell.
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy: After becoming Decepticon leader, Bludgeon gives a Rousing Speech to the Decepticons, saying that they're warriors and shouldn't fight what's in their oil.

Function: Naval Warfare
""Terror is the ultimate weapon.""

-

Function: Fuel Depot
""An engine is only as powerful as the fuel that runs it.""

-

Function: Salvage
""Anything that can sink is worth sinking.""

A Pretender whose shell resembles a humanoid squid monster. -
 * Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He shot Grimlock, the shot bounced and awakened the dormant Primus, which warned Unicron about his presence so he coursed towards Cybertron. Thanks a lot, Octopunch.

Function: Aerial Attack Trooper (Birdbrain), Ground Assault (Bristleback), Demolitions (Icepick), Sonic Saboteur (Scowl), Combat Artist (Slog), Aerial Assault (Wildfly), Super Warrior (Monstructor)
"Birdbrain: "Anyone who is not a predator is considered prey." Bristlebck: "You can't tell a Decepticon by its cover." Icepick: "From today's rubble-strewn fields shall emerge a new Decepticon world!" Scowl: "Control sound, and the faintest whisper can be the fiercest weapon." Slog: "Destruction is the highest form of art." Wildfly: "Strike fear into your enemy, and you've won half the battle.""

Six pretenders whose shells and altmodes are monster-shaped. They are Birdbrain, Bristleback, Icepick, Scowl, Slog and Wildfly. -
 * Combining Mecha: They form Monstructor.
 * Mad Artist: Slog turns his enemies into alleged masterpieces.

Function: Ground Forces Commander
""To show fear is to admit defeat.""

-

Function: Aerial Defense
""Shoot first, aim later.""

-

Function: Aerial Assault Commander
""The bigger the boom, the better I like it!""

-

Function: Interstellar Assault
""Terror reigns from the skies, the hapless rule on the ground.""

-

Function: Advance Assault
""It takes force to push back the enemy, but speed clears the way.""

Composed of Detour, Blackjack, Hyperdrive and Road Hugger. -

Function: Enforcer
""Rule one is: There are no rules!""

-

Function: Aerial Espionage
""Cover yourself with lies and no one will find you.""

-
 * Big Bad: of the "Matrix Quest" arc.
 * Bad Boss: He seems to be this, risking his troops' lives to get the Matrix, but when he finally gets it and uses it to attack Spinister, he notices the corrupted Matrix is influencing him, since he wouldn't harm a fellow Decepticon.
 * From Nobody to Nightmare: In the IDW comics, his experiments with Pretender polydermal grafting technology made him unfathomably powerful and nigh-indestructable, at the cost of obliterating his sanity and turning him into a mindless engine of destruction. The Autobot and Decepticon armies took on Thunderwing, combined and in their entirety, and even then they still couldn't kill the monster he had become.
 * Person of Mass Destruction: While he wasn't the only factor contributing to Cybertron's decline, he was definitely the one to push things over the edge and leave the planet a barren, radiation-choked wasteland utterly inhospitable to Transformer life.
 * Sealed Evil in a Can: By virtue of having run out of energy and being locked within his own Pretender shell. That is, until Bludgeon and his insane Pretender cult roused the beast from its slumber...

Function: Bounty Hunter
""No prey is too large, no fee is too small.""


 * Bounty Hunter

Function: Aerial Counterattack
""The higher they fly, the faster they'll fall!""

Composed of Direct-Hit, Power Punch, Fireshot, Vanquish, Meltdown and Half-Track.

Function: Martial arts warrior
""To the victor go the profits""


 * Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Played with. He respects Bludgeon, but hopes to defeat him someday.
 * Fantastic Fighting Style: Crystalocution.

Function: Ground Infantry
""Persistence is the cornerstone of victory""

Function: Battlefield Fortification
""There's nothing like the feel of cold steel.""

Composed of Grit, Knockout, Sledge, Hammer, Stonecruncher and Excavator. Micromasters who form only half a vehicle and need to combine with their partner to form the full one.


 * Hates Being Touched: Hammer will kill you.
 * Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Excavator (quiet, introverted, withdrawn until there's a project to work on) and Stonecruncher (frat boy personality, loud and aggressive)
 * Berserk Button: Mess with Excavator in Stonecruncher's presence. Do it.
 * Boring but Practical: Sledge values function over aesthetics and doesn't even try to combine the two. This is because he's a "soldier first, builder second" and honestly doesn't care about construction beyond what it takes to get the job done.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
 * Sledge. He may seem gruff and antisocial, but if he sees his teammates struggling with anything then he's always the first to rush in to help.
 * Stonecruncher. He's loud and aggressive, but he honestly means well. So long as you're a Constructor, that is.
 * Blessed with Suck: Hammer can't move around in his own alt-mode unless he's attached to Sledge (or any other front-end micromaster).
 * The Rival: Hammer views the Constructors as being this toward the better-known Constructicons. And he's sure that his team is better.
 * The Quiet One: Excavator prefers being off by himself until there's something to build, at which point he suddenly comes to life.
 * The Fatalist: Grit is a strangely optimistic version of this, in that he figures that, okay, yeah, they're all going to die and everything they know and value is going to crumble to dust at some point or another because time is kind of a dick like that, but hey: He's certain that at least the Decepticon empire will continue to thrive.
 * Sleepyhead: Knockout. To the point of narcolepsy, though it really only happens whenever he gets excited about something. Sometimes he does this while in alt-mode and poor Grit has to haul him around until he wakes up.

Function: Air-to-ground support
""Conquest of the Autobots begins with control of the sky!""

Function: Foot soldier
""The road to conquest is best travelled one step at a time.""


 * The Beautiful Game: Of all things, was a former mecha-soccer star.

Function: Front Line Assault
""The ultimate force is the force of destruction.""

Composed of Bombshock (leader), Dropshot, Growl and Tracer.

Function: Mobile Assault
""There are two kinds of fighters, Decepticons and losers.""

Composed of Barricade (leader), Ground Hog, Motorhead and Roller Force.

Function: Demolitions
""We aim for nothing less than total victory!""

Function: Gunslinger
""A gun is only as good as the one who holds it!""

Function: Self Contained Nomadic Assault Machine
""I stand my ground... I accept any challenge... I am hungry for conflict.""

A legendary Decepticon leader and One-Man Army. -
 * A Father And Mother To Their Men: See Unholy Matrimony, below.
 * Canon Foreigner: He originates from Transformers Super God Masterforce, a Japanese series out of continuity with the American cartoon.
 * Depending on the Writer: Almost everything, including whether he's a Transformer at all! In the West, he is. In Japan, he's actually a "Godmaster," which is a human in armor emulating one. In Overlord's case, he's actually two armored humans fused together, one of which is a woman!
 * Gender Bender: See above.
 * No Export for You: He was only available in Japan and Europe.
 * One-Man Army
 * Unholy Matrimony: Giga and Mega (the male and female part of Overlord, respectively). They see the Decepticons (specially the Jr Headmasters, but the way older Pretenders too) as their sons.

Function: Massive assault specialist
""Annihilation equals victory!""


 * No Export for You: He was only available in Europe.
 * Palette Swap: of Wheeljack.
 * Powered Armor: His exo-suit, which aldo transforms into his buggy.
 * Shout-Out: to the French taunter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Function: Air Commandant (Skyquake), Leader (Falcon), Scientific Advisor (Skydive), Surveillance (Snare), Advance Fighter (Talon), Communications Expert (Stalker)
"Skyquake: "Break them, crush them - grind them to dust!" Falcon: "I despise weakness and spit on compassion." Skydive: "True cruelty is the highest form of art." Snare: "Fear? What's fear? It's all fun to me." Talon: "Don't get me mad... when I get mad, I get even." Stalker: "Hate till it hurts and then hate some more.""

Composed of Skyquake, Falcon, Skydive, Snare, Talon, and Stalker -
 * Card-Carrying Villain: Their quotes lend the impression that they're like this.
 * Six Bad Band:
 * Big Bad: Skyquake.
 * Large and In Charge
 * The Dragon: Falcon.
 * Evil Genius: Skydive.
 * The Brute: Snare and Talon.
 * Dark Chick: Stalker.
 * No Export for You: They were only available in Europe.
 * Palette Swap: Stalker and Soundwave zig-zag with this trope. Despite being intentionally designed to look like Soundwave, he was a brand-new mold with a different altmode. Since tape decks became outdated, Soundwave has been released at least twice as a repaint of Stalker, so Soundwave is the Palette Swap, but since Soundwave is an older, more recognisable character, Stalker tends to be regarded as the Palette Swap.

Straxus
""Mercy is not dispensed here, fools... only death!""

A Decepticon warlord who took command on Cybertron after Megatron and company disappeared. -
 * An Axe to Grind
 * Axe Crazy
 * The Caligula: Even by Decepticon standards. Which is really saying something.
 * Grand Theft Me: With a copy of Megatron's body in the Marvel UK comics. Sort of. It's complicated.
 * Toyless Toyline Character: During the original toyline run. He got a figure in 2010 as part of the Generations toyline.

Function: Aerospace warrior
""Unchecked power is the true path to divinity.""

-
 * A God Am I
 * Ascended Extra: He first appeared as an unnamed background character in the first animated episode.
 * Walking Wasteland: Sunstorm is so named because he is dangerously radioactive; his mere presence causes other Transformers to melt, corrode and die. This, combined with his physically and mentally unstable nature, has resulted in Sunstorm developing a massive god complex.