Ironhide

Ironhide is a fictional robot superhero character in the Transformers robot superhero franchise. According to the original creator of the Transformers names, Bob Budiansky, Ironhide was named after the television series Ironside.
Transformers: Generation 1
Ironhide (Rhino in Canada, Falco (meaning "hawk") in Italy, Vasököl ("Ironfist") in Hungary, Bronevik in Russia) is portrayed as a strong and toughened old Autobot warrior who has seen his fair share of battle.
Reception
Ironhide was one of the favorite Autobots of IGN.
Animated series
Despite being known for being part of the Autobot security detail, Ironhide was most often seen in the capacity of a warrior, often fighting in battle with or without Optimus Prime, or a specific work site/person/cargo to protect. He was also used as an officer, leading a team of Autobots just as would Prowl or Jazz. Ironhide seemed to develop a bond with the Autobots' human allies, such as Spike Witwicky and Chip Chase, engaging with them on a friendly basis as much as protecting them. Ironhide had a close relationship with the Female Autobot Chromia.
In the "More Than Meets The Eye" three-parter that launched the animated series, Ironhide was shown taking down Soundwave aboard the Ark before it crash landed on Earth and later assisting Bumblebee in stopping a Rumble-created flood. He quickly grew tired of the Autobots constantly being a step behind the Decepticons and impetuously took off after them - only to be brought back down to Earth with a bump by a teleporting Skywarp.
In "Transport to Oblivion" while battling Megatron at a power plant, Prime accidentally knocked the Decepticon leader into a generator giving him a temporary power boost. Megatron took complete advantage of this by knocking Prime down and temporarily stunning him. He then transformed into his gun mode, ordering Soundwave to destroy the Autobot leader. Ironhide leaping forward, took the shot himself saving Prime's life. Rather than pursue the withdrawing Decepticons, Optimus ordered the team back to base because of how badly Ironhide had been hit. The grouchy Ironhide was not at all pleased with needing some "R&R" (what Ratchet said was needed for one of his components "removed and rebuilt"). Ratchet humorously threatened to disconnect Ironhide's vocal circuits if he kept complaining. Ironhide made a full recovery and was available for duty soon thereafter.
Ironhide's most prominent appearance was in the second-season episode "The Immobilizer". Distracted by Spike Witwicky's friend Carly while on guard duty, Ironhide inadvertently allowed the Decepticons to steal Wheeljack's latest invention - a weapon that could freeze anything including Transformers. Guilt-ridden and believing himself to be too old to be of any further use, Ironhide resigned from active service, against the wishes of Optimus Prime. However, when Carly was captured by the Decepticons, the veteran Autobot went to her rescue and saved her from the Decepticon base. After being frozen and unfrozen by the Immobilizer (after Carly and Brawn sabotaged it) Ironhide personally destroyed the device and returned to active duty.
In "A Prime Problem", Ironhide took temporary leadership of the Autobots when they could not decide on which Optimus Prime was which, as Megatron had made a perfect clone of Prime to fool the Autobots into venturing down into a dangerous chasm.
In "The Search for Alpha Trion", Optimus Prime learned that the Female Autobots, believed to be destroyed by a missile strike during the Ark's launch four million years ago, were still alive on Cybertron, he returned to Cybertron alone to save Elita One, his female counterpart and old friend. Later, Ironhide leads Inferno and Powerglide after Prime. On Cybertron the Autobots are briefly reunited with Chromia, Firestar, and Moonracer to defeat the Decepticons.
In The Transformers: The Movie, Ironhide, along with Ratchet, Prowl, and Brawn were sent by Optimus Prime to travel to Autobot City on Earth for a supply run on Energon. Before the shuttle departed, Spike Witwicky asked Ironhide to tell his son Daniel that he misses him and that he will be coming home as soon as they kick Megatron's tail clear across the galaxy. Later, on the mission to Autobot City, Decepticon forces led by Megatron penetrated the hull of the shuttle, about to attack the Autobots. Brawn and then Prowl were killed, and Ironhide and Ratchet attacked the invading Decepticons together. Despite this, Ironhide falls as a result of a number of blasts from the Constructicons and shots to the chest from Megatron in his gun mode wielded by Starscream. When Megatron reveals to Starscream how he is going to attack Autobot City and wipe them out forever, a wounded, but not dead Ironhide clutches at Megatron's leg and yells, "No!!". Megatron responds with the now famous words: "Such heroic nonsense" and kills him offscreen with a point-blank blast to the head from his fusion cannon. A few scenes later, Ironhide appears to be involved in an aerial assault on Autobot City with the Decepticons, but this is actually a mis-colored Reflector error. His remains were entombed in the Autobot Mausoleum, where he is visited and mentioned dead by Spike's son Daniel in the season 3 episode "Dark Awakening".
Books
Ironhide was featured in the 1985 audio adventures , Autobots Fight Back, and Laserbeak's Fury by , published by Ladybird Books.
Comics
3H Enterprises
The Beast Wars Ironhide made appearance in Transformers: Universe #3 as part of Magnaboss. In this comic Optimus Primal pleads with Magnaboss and the Maximal High council (which oddly includes Bantor, Air Hammer, Cohrada, Torca and Battle Unicorn) to take the threat of Unicron seriously, but they doubt his claims. Optimus Primal is detained, but Snarl breaks him out of the detention center.
In 2003, a Cybertronian task force under Shockwave announced that the war had ended on Cybertron and that Megatron and Optimus Prime's troops were all criminals for their violent acts. Ironhide was taken back to Cybertron, and after Shockwave was deposed he helped Prowl give combat training to the younger Cybertronian Autobots.
Devil's Due Publishing
In this alternate-continuity crossover between Transformers and G.I. Joe, the Ark was discovered by the terrorist group Cobra, and all the Transformers inside were reformatted into Cobra vehicles remotely controlled by Tele-Vipers (Cobra's communications officers). In this storyline, Ironhide turned into a Cobra HISS (HIgh Speed Sentry) tank.
Ironhide appeared in the second Devil's Due comic series, this time reformatted by Teletran-3 into a 1970s car and also in the third crossover, where he was part of the combined Autobot/G.I. Joe force that attempted to rescue Optimus Prime. Although his alternate mode is not shown, his body resembles that of the classic G1 look, indicating his alternate mode is now the familiar Nissan.
Dreamwave Productions
Ironhide spent his peacetime years as a construction engineer fashioning the vast bridges that connect Cybertron's many city-states. When civil war broke out on the planet Cybertron between the Autobots and Decepticon factions, Ironhide joined the Autobot cause.
In the War Within stories, Ironhide was shown during the war often teamed with the Dinobot Grimlock. Ironhide was present under Grimlock's at the battle of Altihex, where they proved unable to save the city. When new leader Optimus ordered the evacuation of Cybertron by the Autobots, Ironhide was among those who reluctantly prepared for the evacuation; he was subsequently part of Grimlock's team sent to rescue Optimus in Cybertron's depths and fought to stop Starscream from mechaforming the planet. When Megatron and Optimus Prime temporarily disappeared in an accident with a space bridge and both sides split into multiple factions, Ironhide joined the Lightning Strike Coalition under Grimlock. Working with the LSC, he helped steal a shipment of energon from Starscream at the Moon Alpha Space Port. It is worth noting that this Cybertronian incarnation of Ironhide represented the original toy closely, with his windscreen in front of his face.
Ironhide was among the Autobots on the Ark mission, who crashed on Earth and were awoken, reformatted into Earth forms, in 1984. After the Decepticons were defeated, the Autobots returned home in the Ark II, but the ship exploded shortly after takeoff and a deactivated Ironhide was one of those lost in the ocean. He was also one of those recovered by Lazarus and reprogrammed as slave war machines to be sold to the highest bidder. Megatron broke free and then freed his fellow Decepticons; the captured Autobots were abused, but eventually freed by Optimus Prime.
Fun Publications
Ironhide has been depicted in numerous stories by Fun Publications in different continuities. He has appeared as an old Autobot in their Beast Era stories, as well as appearing in the Classicverse and Wings of Honor settings.
Descent into Evil
A remold of the Energon Autobot Tow-Line, the original Ironhide makes his first appearance as a new toy in ten years as a BotCon exclusive. His body has been reconfigured by Optimus Prime and the Matrix into a form resembling a more advanced version of his old body (his Timelines toy). In the accompanying comic, Descent into Evil, set in a possible future he leads a group of Autobots, including his old friend Ratchet. Sent to investigate Deathsaurus' activities, they discovered his plan to create a massive army of Insecticon clones. After his team had been captured Ironhide took on Deathsaurus himself, hoping to distract him long enough to allow Ratchet to free the others. He failed and was captured by the larger Decepticon. However, he and Ratchet were freed by Ricochet, who was in fact an agent of Bumblebee, and had infected the Insecticons with a virus that slowly destroyed their clones. Ironhide was then instrumental in leading Autobot reinforcements to victory over the Decepticons.
Classicverse
At the command of Megatron a human city was attacked by Conehead seekers Dirge, Ramjet and Thrust. The city was defended by Ironhide, Jetfire, Optimus Prime and Sunstreaker.
Ironhide appears in "Beast Wars Shattered Glass Chapter One: Shattered Time" by Fun Publications. In this story Ultra Magnus and the Autobots aboard the Graviton battle Megatron and the Decepticons aboard the Talon. Both ships are pulled through a vortex into the past of Shattered Glass Earth as a result of their home universe being destroyed. Crashing they discover that dangerous energon readings outside the ship will place them in stasis lock. The Autobots devise organic alternate modes to protect them from the energon. The Decepticons create energon-absorbing armor for protection. Ironhide takes on the alternate form of an elephant (his Beast Wars toy).
Ironhide appears in the story arc Beast Wars Shattered Glass by Fun Publications. Ultra Magnus and his Autobots discover that their ship's high security storage rooms were damaged in the crash and the Autobot bodies in stasis pods were lost. They head out to recover the pods when they are attacked by Dirge and Seawing. They find the pods, but also discover that Megatron has gotten to them first. He's converted the three Autobots into Autojetter, Autolauncher, and Scylla, who are loyal to him. The Decepticons attack the Autobots, who are only saved thanks to the intervention of Depth Charge. Ultra Magnus orders the retreat, as there is nothing left for them to recover. Depth Charge informs the Autobots of his mission to save the multiverse.
The Autobots soon renamed themselves Maximals after Depth Charge's native faction, and together with the bounty hunter continued to battle Megatron and his forces. Notably, when Megatron's Seacons formed the monstrous Piranacon, Ironhide responded by combining with Silverbolt and Prowl to form Magnaboss. The group eventually encountered heroic Predacons, before traveling to the present of the Shattered Glass universe and being reunited with other surviving Autobots from their lost universe. Ironhide and his former Combiner partners chose to reassume purely technological forms, while Mammoth and Grimlock retained their beast modes.
Wings Universe
Ironhide is among the Autobots present when Megatron attacks Iacon with his new weapon, Devastator.
IDW Publishing
In IDW Publishing's comic miniseries The Transformers: Infiltration, Ironhide is part of an infiltration unit consisting of Ratchet, Wheeljack, Jazz, Bumblebee, and Sunstreaker, led by Prowl. He first appears saving Ratchet from Thundercracker. He was also part of the expedition to the Decepticon base to watch the duel between Megatron and a super-powered Starscream. It is Ironhide, not Prowl (who is in command) or Ratchet (who was arguing for it) who takes the decision to call in Optimus Prime. Although presented as Generation 1's Ironhide, he and Ratchet are shown transforming into full-sized Dodge/Freightliner/Mercedes Benz Sprinter vans, as opposed to the Japanese-manufactured vanettes.
In the sequel series The Transformers: Escalation, Ironhide was dispatched along with Sunstreaker to escort the humans back to their homes. Unfortunately, Sunsteaker was attacked by the Machination, an organization dedicated to acquiring Transformer technology, and apparently destroyed as Ironhide tried to get to him. Forced to back off as the humans recovered his remains, Ironhide took Verity and Jimmy back to base. Later he suggested to Prime that he be allowed to look for Sunstreaker, but was overruled - leading to a confrontation with Prowl. After discovering that Ratchet, Verity, and Jimmy planned to disobey orders again, Ironhide insisted on going with them. Locating the garage that had built the fake Sunstreaker, Ironhide was talked into letting Verity and Jimmy go in to have a look. When they failed to reappear, Ironhide went in personally - only to discover their gassed bodies, as a timer ticked down past three minutes. Ironhide and Ratchet managed to get the humans to safety, but Ironhide was too slow escaping, and was seemingly destroyed in the blast.
Ironhide did not feature prominently in the following instalment, The Transformers: Devastation, but his wreck was rescued from a junkyard by Hot Rod, Wheeljack, and Hardhead.
IDW Beast Wars
Ironhide was shown in the second volume of the Beast Wars: The Ascending miniseries to be part of the Maximal Imperium along with Silverbolt and Prowl. With civil unrest on Cybertron reaching a peak they called in Big Convoy to find out why.
Ironhide had a biography printed in the Beast Wars Sourcebook by IDW Publishing.
Evolutions: Hearts of Steel
An alternate version of Ironhide would appear in IDW's Hearts of Steel. When Starscream's plan is discovered Ironhide was one of those who followed Bumblebee's lead in following the Decepticon train convoy, shooting down Scourge, and was present at their defeat. Following this, he and the other Autobots went back into stasis.
Ironhide was among the Autobots who opposed the Decepticons serving the elder gods in the IDW Publishing Infestation 2: Transformers comic.
Dawn of the Predacus
Generation 1 Ironhide later appeared as a Maximal, part of a team of five-other members including Silverbolt, Unit-3, Prowl, and Tigatron-who combine to form the giant warrior Magnaboss. The Autobot veterans and their new teammates are forced to deal with a massive threat posed by the Tripredacus Council, who-with two of their most trusted operatives-form their own sinister Combiner, Predacus.
Marvel Comics
Ironhide's first appearance is in the comics resembled his toy but was soon updated to his more anthropomorphic animated form. In US Transformers #4, with the Autobots low on fuel and facing an imminent Decepticon assault, he was chosen by Optimus Prime alongside Huffer, Bluestreak and Mirage to be given all the remaining fuel and stand against the Decepticons. While Megatron's soldiers collapsed at the last moment due to poisoned fuel, the Autobots were abruptly offlined and the Ark captured by Shockwave.
Once reactivated, he was part of the team sent on a failed mission to prevent the Decepticons contacting Cybertron and battled the Constructicons for the first time.
He later worked alongside Jetfire in the Dinobot Hunt and learned to trust him despite his Decepticon origins; and he fought the Constructicons again at a demolition derby while working as a bodyguard for Buster Witwicky. Things took a darker turn when, in Target: 2006, Galvatron arrived and Optimus Prime was sent to Limbo. Losing to the future Decepticon and having taken a humiliating beating, it was Ironhide who made the decision to dig up & reactivate Megatron and have him assume command against Galvatron.
Ironhide was sidelined as a character in subsequent issues, though he was drawn as fighting against Ratbat's forces on the moon and in the Time Wars.
He was later deactivated, presumably during the Underbase battle, and reactivated by Grimlock using nucleon.
In the latter-day black-and-white UK stories, he was one of five Autobots who Galvatron accidentally reactivated whilst trying to find Autobots with flaws that he could exploit to gain as troops. It was revealed Ironhide had once thwarted a terrorist siege only for the police to almost mess it up, leaving him feeling frustrated with humans. The five defeated him and Ironhide became part of the Autobot Earthforce, where he went on to thwart Decepticon attempts to create an Actionmaster Devastator and help Jazz prevent Megatron & Shockwave from uniting their two factions.
Ironhide appeared in the Marvel Generation Two comics in his Generation 1 form, seemingly dying alongside Smokescreen.
TFcon comics
Ironhide appears in the TFcon 2012 live script reading prelude comic. In this story he appears on future Cybertron as a Maximal leader and refuses to let Depth Charge go after Protoform X.
Games
Ironhide is among the characters who appear in the TRANSFORMERS CVBERVERSE Battle Builder Game.
Other media
Ironhide appears in the Robot Chicken episode "Junk in the Trunk" voiced by Dax Shepard. When Ironhide asks Prowl about Optimus Prime's urinating problems, Prowl answers him by making a joke because he cannot urinate. In this cameo, a modified Robot Masters Optimus Prime was used to portray Ironhide, since the original G1 Ironhide's robot mode bore little resemblance to the cartoon character.
Other merchandise
Optimus Prime, Ironhide and Grimlock are the three Autobot figures available to play in the Monopoly Transformers Collectors Edition game.
Transformers: Robots in Disguise
Ironhide is the strongest of the Spy Changers. Usually a peaceful intellectual until he gets pushed to the limit, then stay out of his way. He's an expert in materials transport and carries a shockwave rifle. Like the original this Ironhide has a Southern accent.
Animated series
In the television series, the Spy Changers received little characterization - usually acting in a group to attack or perform whatever mission they had been assigned. Ironhide's best friend was fellow Spy Changer Mirage which was the basis of one particular episode called "Mirage's Betrayal". After an incident where Mirage, fearing collateral damage, allowed the Predacons to get away, the others on the team accused him of failure. A furious Mirage walked out, realizing the Predacons had put a bug on him. Ironhide attempted to talk him out of it, but snapped and punched him when Mirage threatened to join the Predacons (unaware he was just doing it for show). Later, Mirage called the Spy Changers to Megatron's latest weapon, having ostensibly joined the Predacons. He managed to communicate his true intentions to the other Spy Changers, and they destroyed the laser. A guilty Ironhide demanded Mirage hit him to even things out between them - but Mirage simply prodded his friend, claiming they were now even before challenging him to a race back to base.
Toys
* Car Robots Ox (2000)
:A redeco of the Generation 2 Autobot Motormouth.
* Car Robots Ox redeco
* Robots in Disguise Ironhide (2001)
:An American release of the Japanese Car Robots toy named Ox.
* Robots in Disguise redeco Ironhide
:This toy was later recolored into several clear versions, one of which was repackaged as the second Universe Hoist.
Transformers: Armada
Dreamwave Productions
According to the bio given in Dreamwave comics Ironhide was a supporter of the Mini-Cons joining the Autobots, and was joined with an Autobot warrior until he was killed by Terrorsaur. When Terrorsaur was taken by Unicron she was freed but felt an emptiness in her life and now misses him.
She is particularly strong and tough for a Mini-Con as well as being very smart. Her main weapon is her machine gun which fires armor-piercing rounds.
Ironhide is very emotionally needy.
Toys
* Armada Deluxe Terrorsaur with Mini-Con Ironhide (2003)
:Ironhide is a repaint of fellow Mini-Con Dune Runner.
Transformers: Energon
Ironhide is a young, reckless Autobot who idolizes Hot Shot. Dreamwave went out of business before the end of Energon could be reached, so any further tales of Ironhide would remain untold.
Ironhide appeared in the text story from Fun Publications called "Force of Habit". This story explained where he was during the events of the Cybertron story. Ultra Magnus was the commander of various Autobot ships sent to other planets in search for the Cyber Planet Keys
Transformers: Universe
A new version of Ironhide was created for the Transformers: Universe storyline. Oddly, his deco seems to be a homage to Generation 1 Trailbreaker.
3H Enterprises
This character appeared in the 2004 BotCon voice actor play, and was seemingly yet another new Ironhide taken from a parallel dimension to that of the Robots in Disguise fiction.
The Voice Actor Drama was written for OFTCC 2004 by Simon Furman, set after the events in the comics. Spy Changers Optimus Prime, Prowl, Ultra Magnus, and Ironhide were among those taken from their world via teleportation beam by Unicron and his Decepticon minions. The Autobot forces opposing Unicron attempted to deflect the beam, which left them all trapped on an uninhabited ice-world. The Autobot forces teamed up to overcome the Decepticons led by Reptilion. Presumably the Autobots were then returned to their own worlds.
Toys
* Universe Spy Changer Ultra Magnus with Ironhide (2004)
:The parallel-universe spanning Transformers: Universe line featured a black repaint of the Spy Changer version of Robots in Disguise Ironhide. This package was a Walmart store exclusive.
Transformers Cinematic Universe
In the 2007 , Ironhide appears as a modified GMC Topkick C4500 pickup truck, replacing Arcee in the cast list. Peter Cullen, who provided the voices for both and Ironhide in the original animated series, does not voice Ironhide in the film. Instead, he is voiced by Jess Harnell, who gave the character a Mid-Atlantic accent.
According to an early interview with Michael Bay, Ironhide stands at 26 feet tall, but the scale of his Voyager class toy would suggest he stands closer to 21 feet tall. The official guide to the Transformers video game says he is 22 feet tall. The Transformers U.K. magazine states he stands 22 feet 5 inches tall, weighs 3.8 tons and can travel up to 180 mph. He has a California license plate number 4PCI382. Ironhide also possesses a retractable faceplate that he activates when he goes into combat to shield himself from injuries.
The weapons in Ironhide's CGI model have over 10,000 pieces each. According to an interview with Industrial Light and Magic, Ironhide's guns alone have more pieces than some of the other Transformers in the film (Optimus Prime has 10,108 pieces).
The vehicles used for , Ironhide, and Ratchet were put on display by GM at the 2007 Detroit River Walk Festival a little over a week before the U.S. release of the film.
Books
Ironhide appeared in the prequel novel Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday. His character is a veteran and longtime friend of Optimus Prime. He is part of Prime's Autobot team searching for the Allspark, and voices the most displeasure at Prime's plan to communicate with the human vessel Ghost-1. With Prime and Bumblebee on the surface, Ironhide and Jazz battle the Decepticons, but Ironhide is put to flight by Starscream's return, only being saved by Ratchet's volley of fire from the Ark. In the final battle, he fights Bonecrusher, delaying him long enough for Prime to get a bead on Starscream, but is unable to stop Starscream from destroying Ghost-1.
Cyber Missions
Ironhide is shown fighting his rival Bludgeon, and also runs into Mindwipe.
Video games
In the video game, a conversation between Ironhide and Optimus Prime reveals that Ironhide was, at least partially, responsible for the destruction of a planet - or a moon - named "Kaiba-5". However, Ironhide responds by claiming, "Awww, that hunk of rock was gonna blow up anyway." In the Autobots storyline, he battles and defeats Brawl as revenge for the former killing Jazz. In the Decepticons storyline, he is killed by Blackout.
Ironhide is among the playable characters in the 2009 Revenge of the Fallen video game by Activision. In Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Ironhide Is able to play in more missions due to the character select feature.
In another Activision game, Transformers: Dark of the Moon: The Game, he is a default playable character. He has the right-hand mounted Autocannon, a Shotgun, and a full-automatic rifle called a Heavy Iron. He faces "Mixmaster", who is destroyed in the movie but appears in the game as a non-playable boss character.
Toys
All toys of this character are officially licensed from General Motors.
Transformers: Animated
A new Ironhide appeared in the Transformers: Animated series. He first appeared in the episode "Mission Accomplished". Ironhide, again, briefly appeared at the end of "Where is thy Sting?"
Ironhide's biography was printed in issue #24 of the Transformers Collectors Club magazine.
Transformers: Timelines (Shattered Glass)
An evil mirror universe version of Ironhide appeared in the Shattered Glass universe. This version of Ironhide works for the evil Optimus Prime.
Aligned Continuity
He appears in the novels Transformers: Exodus, Transformers: Exiles, and Transformers: Retribution, and is a playable character in the 2010 video game Transformers: War for Cybertron.
Robots in Disguise
In the episode Enemy of My Enemy, a picture of Ironhide was shown among the Autobots backlisted by new High Council for being a supporter of Optimus Prime following Cybertron's restoration after the Great War.

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