Lockdown (Transformers)

Lockdown is the name of several characters from the Transformers franchise. He is usually depicted as a ruthless bounty hunter nominally aligned with the Decepticons.

Transformers: Generation 1

Lockdown
Decepticon
Information
Function Bounty Hunter
Rank 5
Alternate modes Muscle car
Series The Transformers

Lockdown will pay top dollar to get what he wants. Like any bounty hunter, he's all business and does whatever it takes to haul his bounty in. He runs a very tight ship and is straight to the point. So he's not afraid to tell his colleagues exactly what he thinks of them, for better or for ill.

IDW Publishing

In "Drift issue 2", when the infamous Decepticon Deadlock failed in a mutiny against his commander and deserted, Megatron called on the bounty hunter Lockdown to find him and return him to the Decepticons. Lockdown, with the help of some slave traders, found Deadlock on an unassuming planet where a mysterious third, neutral faction had been in hiding for eons.

In "Drift issue 3", Lockdown explained to Deadlock that even though Deadlock's former boss, Turmoil, wanted Deadlock dead, Megatron felt that Deadlock was too important to his plans to have him be destroyed. The slave traders had other ideas, and noted that there were other Transformer deserters somewhere on the planet, ones who must have partially rebuilt Deadlock. In exchange for helping find Deadlock, they demanded to be led to the hidden Transformers; if not, they would take Deadlock for their own purposes. Lockdown suggested that Deadlock lead the hidden Transformers into an ambush, and commented that Megatron's faith in Deadlock had best not be misplaced. However, when they met Deadlock at the arranged site, he had an army of Transformer deserters with him ready for a fight, plus he had been completely rebuilt and renamed himself "Drift".

In "Drift issue 4", Lockdown was furious at Drift for abandoning the Decepticon cause, and scoffingly dismissed him as an "idealist" when Drift claimed he found something better to fight for. Their personal combat was interrupted when the lead Slaver killed Drift's mentor, Wing, and Drift broke off to avenge his friend. After he killed the Slaver, and Dai Atlas arrived with a fresh crowd of third faction warriors, Lockdown chose to depart in the face of overwhelming odds.

In "The Reluctant Specialist", at some point Lockdown was put in charge of a team of Titan Hunters by Chief Justice Tyrest, who tasked them with hunting down and killing Metrotitans for their parts. In order to retrieve a Titan fragment, they boarded the Lost Light while the entire crew was paralyzed. ...the entire crew except Trailcutter, that is. Though Trailcutter's forcefield powers were shorted out at the time, unbeknownst to the Decepticons, he bluffed Lockdown and his team off his ship with some creative use of its gravity generators and his magnawheels.

In "This Calamitous Life", some months later Lockdown and his Titan Hunters confronted the crew of the Lost Light again when they found Luna 1, Tyrest's headquarters. The Fecund Moon Rodimus led them on a merry chase across the moon and through the corpses of their titan victims, but Lockdown was eventually able to capture the intruders and bring them before Tyrest. House of Ambus The Titan Hunters were later ordered by Tyrest to suppress the attacking Circle of Light, who had escaped confinement thanks to Cyclonus and Whirl. Arm the Lonely Once Tyrest was defeated, Lockdown and his crew fled Luna 1.

Transformers Animated

Lockdown
Decepticon/Neutral
Information
Sub-group Activators, Deluxe Vehicles
Function Bounty Hunter, Decepticon Warrior (Blazing Lockdown)
Rank 4 (Takara)
Partner Megatron
Motto "Run all you want. It'll make the chase more fun."
"My sensors detect your fear." (Blazing Lockdown)
"They'll never see me coming." (Stealth Lockdown)
Alternate modes Muscle car
Series Transformers Animated
English voice actor Lance Henriksen
Japanese voice actor Akio Ōtsuka

Lockdown is a rogue Transformer from the Transformers Animated series. Though labeled a Decepticon in the toyline, he is actually a rogue bounty hunter with no allegiance to the Autobots or Megatron (though he was referred to as "a disgrace to the glorious name of Decepticon" in the past by Lugnut). In truth, he was originally an Autobot CyberNinja who trained under Yoketron. He was disgraced by his master and later returned to kill him as his first job as a bounty hunter, stealing Yoketron's helmet and most of the protoforms he guarded. Since then, he only captures Autobots for him in return for upgrades, which he will take from employer and prey alike. One such hunt led to him crossing paths with Ratchet, whose encounter with Lockdown was a painful experience.[1]

He transforms into a muscle car that can be simply described as a combination of two types: A Chevrolet Corvette C3 (the rear of the vehicle) and a 1960s Mercury Cougar (the front of the vehicle). The windows and rooftop of the vehicle are borrowed from various muscle cars made between the mid to late 1960s. These combined features make Lockdown much more like a 1960s-style Cougar rather than a 1970s-style Corvette, which is actually a sports car and not a muscle car like the 1960s Cougar, which is based on a 1960s Ford Mustang.

Lockdown is capable of generating an oil slick, smoke screen, and thanks to a device he stole from Ratchet during the war, an electromagnetic pulse generator which can knock out electronics, including other Transformers except Ratchet himself. The generator was later regained by Ratchet.

Derrick J. Wyatt recently stated that Lockdown was originally going to be a Frankenstein's Monster type creature; A mis-mash of different Transformer parts.[2] Despite many fan belief, Lockdown's face is not modeled after Death's Head, whose name was used for Lockdown's personal spaceship.

Animated series

Lockdown first appeared in "Thrill of the Hunt", in which he hunted down Optimus Prime for the one who hired him, Blitzwing. He once again ran into Ratchet, who overcame his past pain to avenge Arcee and save Prime in a struggle that ends with the Death's Head crashing into a river.

Lockdown makes his next appearance as a "star" in the series when after the bounty for Starscream in episode 23, "A Fistful of Energon". Following in the tracks of Starscream, he alights on the Moon. Unexpectedly, he finds himself to be forestalled by the Autobot Prowl, which has already discovered the gaol-breaker and handcuffed him. Two tough "hunters" begin to make their showdown with regard to who will take the "quarry". But while they fight, Starscream succeeds in releasing his stasis cuffs and in running away. Then Lockdown reluctantly teams up with Prowl even providing him with armor upgrades for the mission. So they both set out back to Earth in search of the fugitive. Here they meet Starscream very soon, but there's something wrong with him… Nevertheless, Lockdown captures Starscream and tows him to Megatron, in spite of Prowl's protests, mentioning that Megatron pays more than the Elite Guard. Indeed, Megatron is satisfied very much with the traitor being in his mercy at last and intends to punish him exemplarily. But before he has time to put his intention into effect, the Autobots burst in, bringing just one more Starscream. It appears that both Starscreams are nothing but the self-destructing clones. During a SNAFU Lockdown is removed safely, though rewardless. Later he gets through to Prowl and offers him to become his business partner but meets with a refusal.

Lockdown is briefly alluded to in the episode "SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy". The Decepticon Swindle implies that he picked up Megatron's radio frequency from Lockdown, referring to him as "a mutual bounty-hunting friend", becoming like an Autobot one day.

Lockdown returns in the third season episode "Five Servos of Doom", exchanging captured Decepticons for various items with Sentinel Prime until the Liar Starscream clone pays him enough Energon to get him to switch targets. During the fight with Prowl, Lockdown reveals his relation to Yoketron to him while gloating of his actions. Prowl fights him, equipped with his old armour, and wins, but Lockdown escapes yet again.

Lockdown was seen in a brief flashback in "This is Why I Hate Machines", which was actually recycled from his debut episode.

Toys

A simple scout-class version of the character with a push-button transformation.[3]
Also sold in Japan as part of the "Super Collection Vol. 1" gift set alongside Activators Optimus Prime, Ratchet and Megatron.[4]
A blue redeco of the original Activators Lockdown.
First mentioned on a Walmart computer listing in July 2008.[5]
A Deluxe class toy, Lockdown is unique in that his robot mode stands as tall as most Voyager class toys. Comes with gauntlet that holds his hook and EMP generator. It is possible to fit the EMP generator on Ratchet's forearm.[6][7]
This toy was featured in issue #17 of the Transformers Collectors Club magazine.[8][9]
A clear plastic remold of the Lockdown figure. He is featured in a 3-pack along with Animated Legends Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.
A redeco with a new paint job and a chainsaw on the gauntlet instead of a hook.
The mold for this figure is also used for the BotCon 2011 exclusive Deluxe Wildrider.
The 2010 Japan release version of Takara Tomy is virtually identical to the Hasbro release, with the exception of a purple Decepticon emblem.
Also bundled with TA-04 Deluxe Ratchet.
The Japan release version of Blazing Lockdown is virtually identical to the Hasbro version.[10]

Transformers Cinematic Universe

Lockdown
Bounty Hunter, but sometimes Decepticon
Information
Sub-group Deluxe Vehicles
Function Bounty Hunter, Mercenary
Rank 8
Partner Steeljaws, Harold Attinger, James Savoy, Cemetery Wind, Creators
Motto "Autobots, Decepticons, like little children. Always fighting, making a mess out of the universe. Then I've got to clean it up" ,"I don't care."
Alternate modes Lamborghini Aventador
Series Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Age of Extinction
English voice actor Mark Ryan[11] (Age of Extinction)
Joey Camen (2011 video game)
Bronco O. Jackson (Cyber Missions)
Gregg Berger (Rise of the Dark Spark)
Japanese voice actor Tsutomu Isobe (film)
Tatsuhisa Suzuki (Q Transformers: Mystery of Convoy)

Lockdown is the main antagonist of Transformers: Age of Extinction. A ruthless mercenary and former Decepticon who transforms into a grey 2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Coupe,[12][13] he works for a race he calls "the Creators" who built the Transformer race. In the film he keeps some of the aspects of his Transformers: Animated self such as his hook hand, but with a more humanoid face that can shift into a large cannon which he uses to snipe his targets. He commands a group of mercenaries, which include alien humanoid Cybertronians, possibly former Decepticons, and techno-organic wolves known as Steeljaws, from a large ship. He imprisoned several alien specimens from different planets. Inside is a smaller separate ship called the "Knight's Temenos" which he used as a trophy case. Lockdown has all the knights (save for Optimus Prime), including the Dinobots, imprisoned on the ship.

This incarnation of Lockdown is inspired by the Animated character. According to the Hasbro Battle Bios for Arcee and Ratchet, Lockdown is their enemy.[14][15]

Lockdown is officially listed as standing 24 feet tall on the Hasbro web site.[16]

Animated series

In Hasbro's Cyber Missions, Lockdown is played by Bronco D. Jackson. In Cyber Missions #3, Lockdown is seen rampaging through Mission City (famously known as the location for the climax of the first film). Ratchet intercepts him by tailing behind and trying to blast him with his EMP generator. However, it shorts out, giving Lockdown a chance to knock him while he was already down. Lockdown then stole Ratchet's blaster and sped off.

In Cyber Missions #7, Lockdown returns, infiltrating NEST HQ in Diego Garcia. Sideswipe and Ratchet (who was recovering from the encounter) were the only ones left at base. Lockdown easily gets past the electric fence and the security cameras (disabling both with the stolen EMP). Soon, he faces Sideswipe. The speedy Autobot (who traded his shattered twin blades for twin blasters) was able to blast the EMP generator off his wrist, sending it flying back to its original owner, Ratchet (fully recovered). Lockdown attempted to retreat, but he was instead heading towards the Medical Bay, where he was captured and sedated.

In Cyber Missions #11, Lockdown teams up with Barricade against Ironhide.

Film series

Lockdown is tasked by the "Creators" to retrieve Optimus Prime and destroy any Transformer that opposes him. He enlists Harold Attinger, a paranoid CIA op wanting all Transformers on Earth including Autobots exterminated, and his unit Cemetery Wind to assist him with capturing Optimus, giving him safe passage through Earth on his mission and promising Attinger a "Seed", a device capable of cyberforming any material into metal, for his assistance. Lockdown assists Attinger's right-hand James Savoy with hunting down the Autobots including Leadfoot. He also sets a trap for Optimus in Mexico City which he is able to escape from. Lockdown assists Savoy's team in hunting Ratchet and kills him when he refuses to reveal Prime's location. Attinger later meets with Lockdown to know why Optimus escaped Mexico City for which Lockdown blames Attinger's men's interference and when Attinger asks who Lockdown works for, the mercenary replies "Every galaxy I've traveled, all you species are the same. You all think you're the center of the universe. You have no idea." Lockdown and Savoy later track Optimus to the Yeager farm where Cade Yeager and his daughter Tessa have recently been hiding him and Lockdown destroys the house when Optimus flees with the Yeagers before chasing him to a factory where they briefly battle but Optimus, despite his injuries, evades Lockdown. Later, Lockdown arrives during Optimus's battle with Galvatron and captures him and Tessa, telling him that his Creators want their creations destroyed but want him back to do his intended job. Lockdown had Optimus imprisoned with the Dinobots (referring to them as "knights"), but was briefly delayed from taking off due to the Autobots arrival ordering his Steeljaws to hunt them down but eventually managed to take off, but the Autobots found Optimus and detached the Knight's Terminus, Dinobots included, and Lockdown ordered the ship turned around. Later, Lockdown arrived in Hong Kong after the Autobot/Dinobot alliance destroyed Galvatron's army, and he used his ship's magnet with Attinger's approval to capture all the Autobots and Dinobots causing much destruction in the city, but Optimus destroyed the magnet. Lockdown ejected from the ship to Optimus's location to battle him in person but just as Optimus looked like gaining the upper hand in an evenly contested battle, he was distracted by Cade being held at gunpoint by Attinger and though he killed the CIA agent, the distraction allowed Lockdown to impale him with his own sword. Bumblebee and Cade both engaged Lockdown while Tessa and her boyfriend Shane freed Optimus. Optimus then impales Lockdown through his chest from behind, then slicing his head in half, finally killing him. Optimus then used Lockdown's last grenade to destroy the remaining KSI drones/Decepticons while his remaining crew in the shuttle flee to get back to safety.

Related film media

IDW Publishing

Lockdown first appeared in Transformers: Nefarious #5 he was among the Transformers captured by the Initiative and mind-controlled into doing their bidding. When Optimus Prime and the Autobots assaulted the Initiative's mobile headquarters, the brainwashed Lockdown, Thrust and another Transformer battled Bumblebee, Jolt, Dune Runner and Knock Out. But they were eventually subdued.

Unite for the Universe

Lockdown appeared in Bludgeon's Revenge he was part of Starscream's small group who planned to apply Project: Unite to Decepticons. After reporting to Starscream that Skystalker had found that some Autobots were approaching their base in Greece, he moved out to attack them and cut down Breacher. His victory was short-lived, though, as he was swiftly defeated and captured by Sea Spray and Sideswipe.

Titan movie comics

Five years before the Battle of Chicago, Lockdown was part of a three-Con team with Drift and Knucklehead on Cybertron. While Drift wanted to take an Autobot outpost with minimal bloodshed, Lockdown thought this was sissy hippy crap and they should just bomb everything (even though that would mean having no outpost to capture); when they sneaked instead, he disobeyed orders and decided to execute prisoners out of hand. Drift stopped him, giving a gleeful Lockdown the chance to claim the guy was a traitor and kill him off. Knucklehead and Drift sent him down into a molten moat, swearing revenge on them both. Of course, he couldn't actually kill them when Megatron was still in charge or the big boss would be unhappy. As we saw further up the page, Lockdown had come to Earth and in 2011 he fell in with Megatron again. Soon after the big boss was killed at Chicago and Lockdown immediately murdered Knucklehead. Drift, now an Autobot, would find the corpse on the moon and knew the hunter had become more powerful than before Transformers: Age of Extinction #1.

Video games

Lockdown appears as a playable character in the Wii, Nintendo DS, and 3DS versions of the video game prequel to Dark of the Moon.

In the DS version, Lockdown, on Megatron's orders as relayed by Starscream, broke into a NEST facility and stole information from the super-computer relating to NEST operations in the Pacific. When he had finished basking in his victory, he sent the data to Starscream, who ordered Lockdown to investigate a reactivated Sector 7 base, and the Decepticon ended up tangling with Mirage. He was later called on again to provide a diversion by destroying communication arrays in an Autobot base as part of Megatron's plan to reactivate Shockwave.

In the Wii/3DS version, he took part in the Decepticon's attack on Detroit, breaking into a NEST facility in order to upload a virus. He managed to flee the base after Optimus arrived, and was then ordered back to Decepticon HQ, as Megatron had new orders for him to carry out.

Lockdown appears in Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark, this time portrayed as a Decepticon. He serves as the main villain of the Age of Extinction portion of the game. Some time during his stay on Earth, Lockdown tracked down the Dark Spark as it made its way toward the planet. The Autobots realized the destruction the relic could cause and moved to retrieve it, only to be stopped by the bounty hunter. Intercepting the Autobots, Lockdown grabbed the Dark Spark first and took it for himself. Despite Optimus Prime's pleas, Lockdown was more interested in the profit he could make from its power. As Prime attempted to tackle Lockdown and take the artifact, Lockdown activated its power and froze the Autobots in place long enough to escape.

Later, the Autobots attempted to infiltrate Lockdown's base but were unsuccessful. Drift was captured while Bumblebee escaped, but only long enough to find an alternate path to retrieve his colleague. Lockdown sent a titan after them to prevent their escape, but the Autobots were able to slip out and regroup.

Finally breaking into Lockdown's base, they discovered he had been using the power of the Dark Spark to create a time bridge to go back in time and prevent the Autobot's victory at the Battle of Chicago. In doing so, he would revive the war and with it his main source of income. Optimus once again pleaded to rethink, citing the destruction that Earth would have to endure if the war were to continue, but as usual Lockdown didn't care. Optimus once again tried to tackle Lockdown, who activated the Dark Spark's power again to stop him in mid-air. Lockdown monologued his plan rather than finish Prime off, who was able to break free of the Dark Spark's power. The two fought to a standstill until Drift was able to move in and cut the Dark Spark from Lockdown's chest. Fumbling to catch it, Lockdown instead knocked it into Drift's hand long enough for Optimus to activate the Matrix of Leadership and blast it into the time bridge. Lockdown took the opportunity to escape, swearing that "this isn't the end". Lockdown is shown to have his own soldiers like Lockdown Flyers, Lockdown Guardians, Lockdown Rocket Troopers, Lockdown Shotgunners, Lockdown Snipers, and Lockdown Soldiers.

Toys

A new version of Lockdown, whose appearance was influenced by a combination of his Animated appearance and the general aesthetic of the live action films.[17]
Also available in a white redeco as Axor.[18]
An all-new mold of Lockdown that transforms into a Lamborghini Aventador. His gun can attach over his head to simulate his face transforming into a cannon.[19] Has a silmilar transformation with Dark of the Moon Deluxe Class Roadbuster.[20]
A small toy that instantly transforms from car to robot at the push of a button.
A 12-inch non-transforming figure with limited articulation.

Transformers: Bot Shots

Lockdown
Decepticon
Information
Function Bounty Hunter
Rank 6
Alternate modes Muscle Car
Series Transformers: Bot Shots

Lockdown is a relentless bounty-hunter who never stops until he gets his man—and a trophy or two.

Toys

Part of the third wave of Bot Shots, Lockdown is a teeny little "road warrior"-ish car with a spring-loaded automatic transformation to robot mode triggered when his front bumper is pressed. He has a "spinner" in his chest that shows his three attack types and power levels. His head appears to be based more on the Revenge of the Fallen Lockdown than the original.

Lockdown's main car body, arms and legs are also used by Bot Shots Barricade, Bumblebee, Mirage, Prowl and Topspin.

A redeco of the original Lockdown mold now with yellow and red highlights a la Animated Blazing Lockdown, this version of Lockdown was available in a five-pack with similar redecos of Megatron, Shockwave, Starscream and Barricade.

Kre-O

Lockdown
Decepticon
Information
Function Bounty Hunter
Series Kre-O Transformers

Lockdown is a Decepticon bounty hunter.

Toys

The Lockdown Air Raid set also includes a buildable Dinobot beast Slash.

References

  1. ↑ Jim Sorenson & Bill Forster (August 15, 2009). Transformers Animated: The Allspark Almanac. Idea & Design Works Llc. pp. 86–88. ISBN 978-1-60010-487-9.
  2. ↑ "A Delightful Tedium". derrickjwyatt.blogspot.com. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "TFA Activators Wave 2 Up For Pre-Order @ BBTS". Seibertron.com. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  4. ↑ Takara Tomy - Super Collection Vol. 1
  5. ↑ "Transformers - More Than Meets The Eye, Robots In Disguise - Transformers @ The Moon - www.transformertoys.co.uk". transformertoys.co.uk. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Toyfare magazine issue #128, April 2008
  7. ↑ "Transformers Animated". Tomart's Action Figure Digest (Tomart Publications) (164): 28–31. 2008.
  8. ↑ J.E. Alvarez (October–November 2007). "Eric Siebernaler Gets Animayed". Transformers Collectors Club magazine (Fun Publications). p. 4.
  9. ↑ "OAFE - Transformers Animated: Lockdown review". oafe.net. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Takara-Tomy October and November 2010 Toy Release Solicitations - Transformers News - TFW2005". tfw2005.com. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  11. ↑ Bay, Michael (May 8, 2014). "John Goodman And Ken Watanabe Join The Autobot Voice Cast in Michael Bay’s ‘Transformers: Age Of Extinction’". Michael Bay. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Michael Bay » Lamborghini Aventador". michaelbay.com. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  13. ↑ Anthony Vieira. "‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’ Toy Images Reveal New Characters". Screen Rant. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  14. ↑ http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/en_US/discover/Battle-Bios.cfm
  15. ↑ "OAFE - Transformers 2: Lockdown review". oafe.net. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  16. ↑ http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/en_US/play/details.cfm?guid=841165f8-19b9-f369-1057-0b57c1e069b6
  17. ↑ "SDCC 2009 - Hasbro Revenge of the Fallen, Animated, Exclusives Panel! Transformers News Reviews Movies Comics and Toys". tformers.com. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  18. ↑ "Hunt for the Decepticons Axor will be a white Lockdown remold - Transformers News - TFW2005". tfw2005.com. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  19. ↑ "Hasbro Website Updates Part 2: The Age of Extinction is Nigh! (Listings Updated) - Transformers News - TFW2005". tfw2005.com. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  20. ↑ "Deluxe lockdown us a dotm roadbuster retool? - TFW2005 - The 2005 Boards". tfw2005.com. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  21. ↑ "Walmart Listings for Transformers 4 Age of Extinction Toys - Transformers News - TFW2005". tfw2005.com. Retrieved 10 March 2015.

External links

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