Bulkhead (Transformers)

Bulkhead is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All incarnations of Bulkhead are Autobots.

Transformers: Energon
Bulkhead is the name of an Autobot helicopter who is a homage to Generation 1 Springer.

According to Quickstrike's bio, he and Bulkhead are cousins.

According to Aaron Archer, Bulkhead's goggles-and-mustache look was inspired by Paul Teutul Sr. from American Chopper.

Animated series
Bulkhead first appears in episode 30 of the Transformers: Energon animated series, "Jungle Planet".

Bulkhead commands the team of Cliffjumper and Downshift. He could also enter a 'brute mode' by combining with a section of his helicopter mode, seen only fleetingly in a few episodes.

He last appears in episode 51, "The Sun".

Dreamwave Productions
Bulkhead first appears in issue 27 of the Dreamwave Productions Transformers: Energon comic.

He originally appears as part of the Autobot reinforcements under Jetfire who head to Earth to fend off the Terrorcon invasion. Bulkhead is part of the team who travelled to Los Angeles to battle the Insecticon clones, alongside Perceptor, Cliffjumper, Landquake and Tow-Line. They are in danger of being overwhelmed by the sheer number of clones until they are rescued by a surprising source - Megatron, resurrected in a new body by Optimus Prime. Megatron decimates the Insecticon clones, leaving the Autobots to help with the devastation.

Fun Publications
Bulkhead appears in the text story from Fun Publications called Force of Habit. This story explains where he was during the events of the Cybertron story. Ultra Magnus is the commander of various Autobot ships sent to other planets in search for the Cyber Planet Keys. Bulkhead serves as captain of the Eclipse which is sent to Gamma Kreuger.

Toys

 * Energon Mega Bulkhead (2004)
 * The Japanese release of Bulkhead has a variety of minor plastic-color differences, mainly making him a little more primary-colored and turning his legs a more blueish-gray. This has the effect of making him very dimly look like Springer, who the Japanese version is named after.
 * Bulkhead was later redecoed into the Autobot Quickstrike.

Transformers Animated
Bulkhead is a main character in the Transformers Animated series that debuted in 2007 on Cartoon Network. He is the only Autobot among the main five character cast whose name does not originate from a Generation 1 character. In the 2010 Japanese version of the series, he is known as Ironhide.

Bulkhead's original vehicle mode was a Cybertronian bulldozer. After coming to Earth he was given the vehicle form of a green SWAT truck. He has a retractable line and wrecking ball in both hands. He is easily one of the strongest of the Autobots, but he isn't very smart, and though he's a natural builder who loves to make things, he can also be very clumsy. That combined with battering ram arms make him the ultimate "Demolition Bot." Bulkhead has extending telescopic eyes and a storage compartment in his stomach. Since arriving on earth, Bulkhead has gained a keen interest in art.

According to the show creators, Bulkhead is inspired by the Marvel Comics hero The Thing.

It should be noted that in the Japanese translation of Transformers: Animated, the story has been changed to make it a prequel to the 2007 Transformers film. They made Bulkhead an earlier version of the film character Ironhide.

Animated series
Flashbacks in the episode "Autoboot Camp" reveal that Bulkhead was originally an energon farmer, who became a Space Bridge technician. He was given his name by Sentinel Prime, who referred to him as "all bulk and no brains." In boot camp, he met and befriended fellow recruit Bumblebee.

As stated by Shockwave in "A Bridge too Close" Pt 1, it is revealed that Bulkhead scored higher than any other Autobot in a space bridge aptitude test, despite lacking any other seemingly discernible talent.

In the episode, "Blast from the Past", Prowl takes Bulkhead to a remote island in order to train him in hopes that Bulkhead will control his clumsy self. But when the newly-created Dinobots go on a rampage, he falls back on his demolition skills to defeat them.

In the episode "Along Came a Spider", Bulkhead is attacked by the Decepticon Blckarachnia, who duplicates his strength for a short time.

In the episode "Sound & Fury", Sari Sumdac's new toy musical robot, Soundwave, seems to have an evil streak - and the ability to control other machines - but Bulkhead is the only one to see it. Under Megatron's command, Soundwave upgrades himself and kidnaps Sari, but is seemingly destroyed by Bulkhead.

In the episode "Survival of the Fittest", Sari is seemingly kidnapped by the Dinobots. So Prowl and Bulkhead head to a mysterious island to investigate - with a highly suspicious Captain Fanzone on their tail. The orchestrator of these events is revealed to be Meltdown, who Bulkhead is severely damaged by.

In the episode "Headmaster", Henry Masterson, a disgruntled ex-Sumdac Industries employee, uses his new technology to hijack Bulkhead's body and hold the city for ransom. Even though Bulkhead gets his body back, Headmaster gets away, but not before removing some dampening rods from the core of the city's power generator. To thwart Headmaster's plan, Bulkhead makes a robot out of scrap, then Sari uses her key to activate it. The robot succeeds in stopping the core from reaching critical mass, but is melted beyond repair. As a memorial, the robot becomes part of Bulkhead's gallery show.

During "Velocity", he finds out that Sari has been watching pirated T.V. and wants himself and especially Bumblebee to "set a better example" for her, simply because she looks up to them. He also finds out that Bumblebee is headed for the next underground race just to beat the blue racer and hold on to the title of the "fastest thing on wheels". He follows Sari and Bumblebee to a race but is frozen by Blitzwing.

In the episode, "Rise of the Constructicons", Bulkhead befriends Scrapper and Mixmaster, a pair of construction vehicles brought to life by Allspark energy, but the Decepticons have their scanners set on the duo for their latest construction project. The two side with the Decepticons for the better oil. They then invade the Autobots' hideout, attempting to steal the Allspark. Bulkhead hands it over, but also gives them contaminated oil, which causes them to go haywire and lose their memory banks.

In "A Bridge Too Close", Bulkhead is captured by Megatron, and threatened with a Headmaster unit into helping the Decepticons complete their Space Bridge. Apparently, Bulkhead was Cybertron's top Space Bridge technician, having scored higher than any other Autobot, but is determined to have no other skills.

In "Human Error", the Autobots are trapped in a virtual world where they become humans. Bulkhead takes the form of a heavy-set male caucasian with brown hair and wearing a green football jersey. This turns out to be an elaborate scheme by Soundwave to brainwash the Autobots and make them his pawns.

In "Endgame", Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Ratchet transwarp to the Moon, where they must rescue Arcee and regain control of Omega Supreme. During the battle, Bulkhead and Bumblebee defeat Shockwave, who attempts to ask for their mercy by transforming into his Autobot alter-ego Longarm.

IDW Publishing
Set shortly after the events of "Total Meltdown" was the Transformers Animated comic issue #2 by IDW Publishing. In it, Bumblebee and Prowl apprehended the Angry Archer as the villain attempted to steal money from a used car salesman. In doing so, they revealed the holographic trickery of the Detroit super hero known as The Wraith. With the secret of his power revealed, The Wraith lost much of the respect he used to command in Detroit. The Wraith attempted to stop Cyrus "The Colossus" Rhodes from escaping prison, but was unable to fool the villain now that the secret was public, forcing the Autobots to stop the Rhodes and making The Wraith look foolish. The Wraith then attempted to discredit Bumblebee at a college football game by trapping the Autobot with a car boot and using his holograms to make a fake Bumblebee attack the stadium. Bumblebee eventually escaped and the other Autobots helped capture The Wraith and he was placed in a mental institution.

Video games
Bulkhead is one of the playable characters in the 2008 Transformers Animated video game for the Nintendo DS.

Toys

 * Animated Activators Bulkhead (2008)
 * A Scout class toy with a one-touch transformation.
 * Also bundled in Japan (as Ironhide) as part of the "Super Collection Vol. 2" gift set with Activators Bumblebee, Grimlock and Starscream.


 * Animated Bumper Battlers Bulkhead (2008)
 * A Deluxe-sized toy car designed for younger children. Emits sound effects at the push of a button and when the front bumper hits an object, the upper portion opens to reveal Bulkhead's robot mode.


 * Animated Voyager Bulkhead (2008)
 * A Voyager Class figure that transforms from armored truck to robot. Gimmicks consist of a right arm that automatically flips forward at the push of a lever and a left arm that launches his wrecking ball.


 * Animated Leader Bulkhead (2008)
 * A larger-sized version of the Bulkhead figure. Aside from the addition of a turret and missile launchers, this version features light and sound effects. When the Autobot symbol button is pressed in vehicle mode, it emits police siren noises. The transformation sound is played when the turret is flipped open or closed during transformation. In robot mode, the Autobot symbol button plays three phrases, as voiced by Bill Fagerbakke ("Time for the big guns!", "You can do it, buddy," and "Sorry, my bad."). Other gimmicks include a gripping left hand and a spinning saw blade on the right arm. Size-wise, Leader Bulkhead is in scale with Activators Bumblebee and most of the Deluxe Class figures in the series.
 * The figure also comes with a Headmaster unit that snaps over the head and plays a voice clip ("Ownage! Total Ownage!") as performed by Alexander Polinsky, the voice of Henry Masterson. The Headmaster unit also fits on Leader Class Ultra Magnus and Megatron, but does not change their voice clips.
 * A special Toys "R" Us value pack of Leader Bulkhead comes with Animated Activators Bumblebee as a bonus.


 * Animated Voyager Mudbuster Bulkhead (not yet released)
 * A metallic green/black repaint of Voyager Bulkhead.


 * Animated Bumper Battlers Workzone Bulkhead (canceled)
 * A neon green repaint of Bumper Battlers Bulkhead with a decal on the side panel that reads "Bots at Work". Though it saw a limited release in Australia, Hasbro canceled production of the toy before it reached a general release.


 * Animated TA-03 Voyager Ironhide (Takara Tomy) (2010)
 * The 2010 Japan version by Takara Tomy is marketed as Ironhide. In addition, the figure sports a metallic green finish, as opposed to the original's matte olive green finish.
 * Also bundled with TA-16 Deluxe Soundwave.


 * Animated TA-43 Leader Ironhide Light & Sound (Takara Tomy) (not yet released)
 * The Japan release version of Leader Bulkhead by Takara Tomy is scheduled for release on October 2010. In contrast to the metallic finishes of the other Japanese Leader figures, this one will retain his original Hasbro colors, but will sport weathering effects. In addition, the English voice clips will be replaced with Japanese ones.

Transformers: Prime
Bulkhead is one of the main group of Autobots in the 2010 computer animated series Transformers: Prime.