Transformers Generation: Barricade

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Barricade

Affiliation Decepticon

Sub-Group Cyber SlammersMicro VehiclesDeluxe Vehicles

Partner Frenzy

Alternate Modes Saleen S281 Police patrol car

Series Transformers movie toys

English voice actor Jess Harnell [5][6][7]Keith David (video game)

Barricade first featured in 1990 as part of a Decepticon race track patrol team, his vehicle mode being a Formula One racing car.

Barricade learned how to take care of himself while running with Cybertron's most vicious racing gangs, and he brings that same brutal edge to his position as leader of the Race Track Patrol. His troops know that the slightest mistake will result in a merciless dressing down in front of the others, and they strive to meet his exacting standards. His hard-nosed, abusive leadership style doesn't do much for morale, but he figures it's for their own good.

Barricade is the commander of the team and pushes the other members. His only fictional appearance is in the Dreamwave comics Micromaster series.

Originally named "Runner", Barricade was created as part of a cross-factional experiment in which new Micromasters were allowed to function as neutrals, and to choose their own affiliations. Barricade quickly saw the potential rewards of joining the Decepticons, and earmed the new moniker "Barricade" in recognition of his blockade-running tactics.

Barricade eventually became disillusioned by how the Micromasters were treated, and joined up with Decepticon Micromaster agitator Skystalker.

In the 2007 live-action movie, Barricade is a Decepticon that transforms into a Saleen S281 Extreme (a modified Ford Mustang) police car, making him similar in appearance to the G1 Autobot Prowl, who was actually in the first draft of the movie treatment before the writers thought that a Decepticon police car would be a better idea. He is a hunter/scout of the Decepticons, choosing his vehicle mode to easily hide among the humans as a symbol of authority. His persona appears to be that of the cliché "bad cop", as he fiercely interrogates Sam Witwicky once he locates him. In the game his weapons are Gatling cannons and plasma lasers, but he mainly elongates his arms to reveal spinning spikes in his hands and uses them as close-combat striking weapons, and also as a steel flail, similar to nunchuks. When in car mode he can simulate the appearance of a human driver, the same holographic model (referred to as "Mustache Man" on-set and in the credits) that "pilots" Blackout and Starscream.

In leaked versions of the script, this character was originally codenamed Brawl - he even appeared with his name on some of the concept art. The name was later changed to Barricade when the official list of Transformers appearing in the movie was released; the name Brawl would go to another Decepticon. His rear quarter reads "To punish and enslave" a parody of the classic police slogan "To Protect and Serve". The front quarter police logos have the Decepticon symbol on them and the writing "Pacis Quod Alcedonia", Latin for "Still, Halcyon Days of Peace", and "Incorporated since June 1865".

The official guide to the Transformers video game says he's 16 feet tall. The Transformers U.K. magazine states he is 16 feet 3 inches tall, weighs 2.2 tons and has a maximum speed of 300 mph. An early interview with Michael Bay states that he is 18 feet tall. The deluxe toy suggests he is 19 feet tall at the shoulders.

The Legends 2-pack with Cliffjumper and Recon Barricade says that Cliffjumper and Barricade are old rivals. Cliffjumper often taunts Barricade into making mistakes.

Other than Scorponok and Frenzy, Barricade is the only non-military Decepticon. In fact, he and his partner Frenzy seem to be the only Decepticons who can blend into a civilian environment.

Some speculation has occurred as well to Barricade being another version of Soundwave, as one of Soundwave's partner's in the Generation 1 series was also named Frenzy. Barricade shows this quality by the sound of his voice almost being a fully robotic state (with almost no human traits to it at all), and with where Frenzy emerges from is similar to his G1 counterpart (transforms from cassette mode into robot mode by ejecting from Soundwave's chest).

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PROLOGUE

Four million years ago, on a distant planet called Cybertron, life existed in the form of sentient robots which could think and feel, called Transformers. The race of Transformers was divided into two main clans. Autobots (known as Cybertrons in the Japanese cartoon), led by Optimus Prime, wished for peaceful co-existence. Decepticons (known as Destrons in the Japanese version), under the command of Megatron, sought conflict and universal conquest. Both sides were embroiled in an ages old war for supremacy.

With both sides running low on energy, the Autobots, aboard the Ark, sought out a new source, but the Decepticons, aboard their space-cruiser (later given the name Nemesis in the Beast Wars animated series), ambushed them in hopes of gaining a decisive advantage. The Decepticons boarded the Ark and the ensuing space battle resulted in both the ships crash landing on a pre-historic Earth, the Ark crashing into the side of a dormant volcano. (The fate of the Nemesis is subject to retroactive continuity. For the full story, see the Nemesis article.)

Four million years passed while the Autobots and Decepticons lay dormant aboard the Ark. In the Earth year 1984, the volcano housing the Ark erupted, reawakening the ship's computer, Teletraan I, which then set out a probe to scan Earth life, and modified the Transformers so as to give them alternate modes that could blend in on Earth, but the probe did not recognize carbon-based life, and instead chose vehicles like a truck for Prime and F-15 Eagles for 3 Decepticons.

The Autobots and Decepticons, now stuck on Earth, continued their war more ferociously than ever. The Decepticons wished to drain Earth of all its resources, converting it into energon for their use, while the Autobots were committed to stopping them, and to protecting the human race. This era would later be referred to by Transformers as the "Great War." The war was almost ended as soon as it began, as the Decepticons gained an early lead, and were even able to build a space cruiser to leave Earth, however Autobot intervention prevented them from escaping orbit.

New allies were gained on both sides. Humans Sparkplug Witwicky, and his son Spike Witwicky, allied with the Autobots, while the human Doctor Arkeville sided with the Decepticons. Jetfire and the Insecticons were discovered already living on Earth. Both sides even built new allies to join their cause, the Autobots building the Dinobots and the Aerialbots, and the Decepticons building the Stunticons and the Combaticons. They were later joined by some allies who had been elsewhere in the universe including Omega Supreme and the Constructicons.

Despite wild gimmicks on both sides, including attempts to build better weapons, to undermine history through time travel, and even a temporarily successful attempt to warp Cybertron into Earth's orbit, neither side gained an overwhelming advantage, despite the Decepticons being defeated by the Autobots in nearly every episode. In the long run however, the Decepticons took the lead in the Great War, creating a Space Bridge that allowed them to warp individual Transformers to and from Cybertron at any time. This allowed them to claim rule of Cybertron, which gave them the winning edge for many years.

All of this changed in 2005, over 20 years after the start of the Great War. The Decepticons launched a surprise attack on Autobot City, on Earth. Countless Transformers lost their lives in the battle for Autobot City, but the Decepticons were repelled thanks to Optimus Prime's victory over Megatron, a victory that came at the cost of his own life.

Megatron and the other wounded Decepticons were abandoned by the stronger members of the team, in part due to Starscream's desire to usurp Megatron as leader. The god-like Unicron found them drifting in space. He rebuilt Megatron as Galvatron, and sent him on a quest to destroy the Matrix of Leadership. The Autobots' new leader, Rodimus Prime, was able to stop the Decepticons however. In his first battle as leader, he destroyed Unicron, reclaimed Cybertron for the Autobots, and expelled Galvatron into deep space.

The Decepticons, without focus and dangerously low on energon, retreated to the burnt out world Charr. It was there they waited, until Cyclonus discovered Galvatron was simply expelled and not killed. Upon rescuing Galvatron, the Decepticons renewed their efforts to vanquish the Autobots and to claim complete control of Cybertron.

Transformers Generation

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Barricade

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