Ironhide Totally Explained

Everything about Ironhide totally explained

Ironhide is the name of several different fictional characters in the Transformers universes.

Transformers - Generation 1

Ironhide (Rhino in Canada, Falco in Italy, Vasököl (Ironfist) in Hungary) is portrayed as a toughened old Autobot who has seen his share of battle.

Animated series

The character designers for the cartoon redesigned Ironhide's body, which is now the best-known of all his appearances. Despite being known for being part of the Autobot security detail and Optimus Prime's bodyguard, Ironhide was most often seen in the capacity of a warrior, often fighting in battle without Optimus Prime, or a specific worksite/person/cargo to protect. He was also used as an officer, leading a team of Autobots just as would Optimus's advisors, Prowl and Jazz. Ironhide seemed to develop a bond with the Autobots' human allies, engaging with them on a friendly basis as much as protecting them. Ironhide was good friends with the female Autobot Chromia.
   In the "More Than Meets The Eye" three parter that launched the animated series, Ironhide was shown assisting Bumblebee in stopping a Rumble created flood. Later, tired of being constantly a step behind the Decepticons, Ironhide impetuously took off after them - only to be brought back down to Earth with a bump by a teleporting Skywarp. Ironhide's most prominent appearance was in the second season episode The Immobilizer. Distracted by Spike's friend Carly (who was a big fan of the Autobots) while on guard duty, Ironhide inadvertently allowed the Decepticons to steal Wheeljack's latest invention - a weapon that could freeze anything it fired at, 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 trying to make up for what had happened to Ironhide, 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.
   Ironhide fulfilled his role as Prime's bodyguard in the episode "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 advantage of the boost, 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 wasn't 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.
   In "A Prime Problem", Ironhide took temporary leadership of the Autobots when they couldn't decide on which Optimus Prime was which, as Megatron had made a perfect clone of Optimus Prime to fool the Autobots into venturing down into a dangerous chasm.
   In "The Search for Alpha Trion", when Optimus Prime returned to Cybertron alone to save Elita One, Ironhide leads Inferno and Powerglide after him. On Cybertron the Autobots are briefly reunited with Chromia, Moonracer and Firestar, defeat the Decepticons and save Elita.
   Ironhide is killed in as the Decepticons invade an Autobot shuttle in which Ironhide, Prowl, Ratchet and Brawn are traveling to Earth. Before the shuttle departed, Spike asked Ironhide to tell his son, Daniel, that he misses him, and that he'll be coming home as soon as they 'kick Megatron's tail clear across the galaxy.' Despite his "heavily concentrated armor in his front section", he falls as result of a number of blasts from the invading Decepticons and several shots to the chest from Megatron in his 'gun' mode, wielded by Starscream. When Megatron reveals to Starscream how he's going to attack Autobot City on Earth and wipe them out forever, a wounded Ironhide clutches at Megatron's leg and yells, "No!!". Megatron answers with the famous words: "Such heroic nonsense", and kills Ironhide offscreen with a point-blank blast to the head from his fusion cannon. A few scenes later, Ironhide can supposedly be seen fighting during the aerial shot of Autobot City, but this is actually just a miscolored Reflector flying past in the upper-right corner of the screen.
   It is speculated by some that Ironhide may have formerly been Dion, the best friend of worker robot Orion Pax, who was himself rebuilt into Optimus Prime by the ancient Autobot, Alpha Trion. Their apparent longstanding relationship could be seen to support this idea, but it was never officially touched upon. Ironhide was, at least, an established character at the time of the episode "War Dawn" (unlike Ultra Magnus who is also seen as a likely Dion). Still, Magnus has many points in favor of his being Dion as well (including an official recognition/homage to the idea in the second Dreamwave G1 miniseries) and in the end, the issue remains unresolved.

Marvel Comics

Ironhide's first appearance in the comics resembled his toy but was soon updated to his more anthropomorphic animated form. In US #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 learnt 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, 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 U.K. 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 G1 form, seemingly dying alongside Smokescreen.

Audio books

Ironhide was featured in the 1985 audio adventures Megatron's Fight For Power, Autobots Fight Back and Laserbeak's Fury.

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, Corahda, 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.

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 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.
   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, 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 isn't shown, his body resembles that of the classic G1 look, indicating his alternate mode is now the familiar Nissan.

Transformers: Timelines

A remold of the 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.
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.

IDW Publishing

In IDW Publishing's new mini-series, 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 interesting to note here that it's 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, 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.

IDW Beast Wars

According to initial postings on the message board as IDW Publishing, the writers of their Beast Wars comics plan to make a profile of this Ironhide in their comics which will give the character a background. He was later 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 profile book writer Ben Yee later confirming that it's indeed a later incarnate of the G1 era character.

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.

Toys

Generation 1 Ironhide � The Ironhide toy originated as a toy before the actual Transformers toyline began, in a line called Diaclone. As with many Diaclone toys, the vanette (the term mini-van wouldn't be used until the first Dodge Caravans were sold in 1984) toy was released in 1984 as a new character called Ironhide. Not being designed to be a sentient robot in the Diaclone line (he was piloted by a tiny driver figure who sat in the driver's seat), the toy of Ironhide didn't have a proper head, instead having a pilot's seat behind his windscreen. A sticker with a face on applied to the seat was to represent the head. This toy wasn't the most suited to be a Transformer but the character of Ironhide went on to become one of the best-known identities in Transformers. According to store listings there were plans to reissue Trailbreaker and Ironhide as commemorative toys in 2005, but due to poor sales of the line, they were never released. However in late 2007, Ironhide did make it into a toy reissue as a part of the TakaraTomy Encore series. An extra feature of this Encore release is a cardboard cartoon-style Ironhide head which can be mounted on top of the toy's windshield in his robot mode.

Remolded into Ratchet.

Power Master Ironhide � In Europe, Ironhide received a further upgrade as a "Power Master" (not to be confused with the Generation 1 Powermasters) where he now transformed into a Hummer. The European Power Masters (also called Powered Masters) were simple pull robots with pull back motors which propelled them in either form, like the Generation 1 Throttlebots, but they'd only go forward when their weapons were inserted into their base.

This version of Ironhide is described as being a battle-tested veteran with heavy armored plating.

Transformers: Generation 2 Ironhide (1995) � For Generation 2, Ironhide was reformatted into a silver Ford pickup truck. Although he received a new bio and motto, he still functions as security. The toy was a recolor of the Autobot Motormouth.

Ironhide's tech spec described him as a stubborn survivor and incredible strength. He's been upgraded from his old armored form to a lightweight alloy frame with a major boost in speed. Ironhide has never appeared in this form in any official fiction.

Beast Wars Ironhide (1997) � Packaged together with Beast Wars Prowl and Beast Wars eagle Silverbolt.

This toy was later redecoed into Beast Wars Second Santon.

Timelines Ironhide � A BotCon exclusive remold of Energon Towline.

Transformers: Universe Ironhide (2008) � At BotCon 2007 Hasbro mentioned there's a possibility that Ironhide will be released in the Transformers: Universe/Classics 2.0 range in 2008.

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 can't urinate. In this cameo, a modified RobotMasters Optimus Prime was used to portray Ironhide, since the original G1 Ironhide's robot mode beared little resemblance to the cartoon character.

2007 Transformers film

In the Transformers live action film Ironhide appears as a modified GMC Topkick C6500 pickup truck. (External Link

), replacing Arcee in the cast list. Peter Cullen, who provided the voices for both Optimus Prime and Ironhide in the original animated series, doesn't voice Ironhide in the film. Ironhide is described as being Prime's oldest friend and the weapons specialist of the team. He is a tough soldier who has substained many injuries. His right eye has a large scar surrounding it. Also before arriving to Earth, he also substained a broken ankle. According to the tech specs of his toy, he was built during the Battle of Tyger Pax and is one of the oldest Autobots. His weapons include laser cannons mounted on each forearm, with missiles connected around the outside of the right forearm laser cannon. In the video game adaption he's a machine gun and plasma cannon.
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's 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.
Ironhide's weapons 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. The vehicles used for Bumblebee, Ironhide, Jazz 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.

Transformers: The Game

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 "Cyber-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's killed by Blackout.

Titan Books

The Titan Transformers U.K. Magazine would reveal Ironhide's role in the departure of the Allspark from Cybertron. When it was jettisoned into space he, Ratchet and Jazz hit the pursuing Megatron with a tractor beam, dragging him back to Cybertron. They were no match for his firepower, but the Decepticon leader, realizing they were just stalling him, called in Brawl (Devastator). He proved impervious to their firepower, and seemingly eliminated them all with a foldspace warhead, with Megatron commenting they were "lost in space".
In a later issue, set after the events of the film Ironhide aids the human military in hunting Scorponok.

Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday

Ironhide appeared in the prequel novel . 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.

Movie plot

Arriving on Earth at the same time as Optimus Prime, (in a pool, to which a young girl asks him if he's the tooth fairy) Jazz and Ratchet. Ironhide quickly sneaks away to a driveway, scans a family's GMC Topkick pickup truck and reconfigures his alternate mode to a new camouflaged form before meeting up with the other Autobots at Bumblebee's location.
   The Autobots then return to Sam's house and retrieve the glasses (containing the location of the Allspark) whilst attempting to hide from Sam's parents, which results in his mother's and father's prized gardens being destroyed by Prime's massive feet and Ratchet cutting off the neighborhood's power after accidentally colliding with an electric transformer. At one point, he becomes so frustrated that he asks Optimus if he can "take them out". He then gets a stern scolding from Optimus, who is frustrated at Ironhide's overuse of cannons. Unfortunately, that same evening a secret government organization, Sector 7, arrests Sam Witwicky, Mikaela Banes, and Bumblebee.
   Ironhide appears somewhat 'gun-happy' throughout the film, and often pulls out his arm-cannons when he wishes to show off to new people, such as when he's first introduced to Sam, he draws his cannons out, and makes a classic Clint Eastwood impression, quoting "You feeling lucky, punk?", or to get rid of things which annoy him, like Sam's dog Mojo when it urinated on his foot and Sam's over-protective and inadvertently interfering parents. Optimus Prime, at one point, gets so annoyed with Ironhide's trigger finger that he right out asks "What is with you?!". He is also shown to be slightly contemptuous towards the humans; he questions Prime as to why they should protect the human race, describing them as "primitive" and "violent", only to be reminded that the Autobots were not so different from them once.
   Ironhide is, despite being easily the bulkiest of the Autobots, a tough warrior endowed with surprising agility, shown in the final battle when he transforms, flips forward, and dodges Devastator's (Brawl) missiles while doing a helix twist at the same time. He was also able to maneuver through the city, and flip over a nearby human without even touching her, rocket jumping over her right after transforming. Ironhide plays a large role in the final battle: when Bumblebee is unable to fight, he provides cover despite being outnumbered three to one. He battles Devastator alongside Jazz and Ratchet in the movie, and engages in a battle with Starscream, with the aid of Ratchet. However, damage sustained in the brief brawl with Starscream leaves both him and Ratchet unable to further protect Sam. After the battle is over, Ironhide brings the remains of his fallen comrade Jazz to Optimus. Ironhide then gives Captain William Lennox a ride home.

Movie toys

Movie Fast Action Battlers Cannon Blast Ironhide (2007) � A Deluxe sized toy meant for quick transformation and younger children. This toy of Ironhide measures 12 centimeters long, while an actual Topkick with measures 625 centimeters long, giving this toy a scale of about 1/52.

This toy was among the movie toys to be bootlegged by Chinese toy makers. A nearly identical toy, minus the Autobot logo, was sold under the name "Steel General" in 2007.

Movie Fast Action Battlers Pulse Cannon Ironhide (2008) � A white repaint of Fast Action Battlers Ironhide.

Movie Voyager Class Ironhide (2007) � A Voyager sized toy with high details, on the same scale with Leader Class Optimus Prime, Deluxe Class Bumblebee and most of the Deluxe figures. Features Automorph technology and is equipped with two forearm-mounted cannons that can be linked to form one larger cannon. This toy of Ironhide measures 18 centimeters long, while an actual Topkick with measures 625 centimeters long, giving this toy a scale of about 1/35. With a robot mode 18 centimeters tall, this real robot would stand 21 feet tall.

This toy is noted as resembling the Generation 1 Autobot Trailbreaker, so much so that fan-based companies have produced sticker sets to make him into a custom Classics Trailbreaker.

3D Battle Card Game Ironhide (2007) � Ironhide is among the characters which appeared in the 1st wave of Transformers 3D Battle Card Game by Wizards of the Coast.

Movie Voyager Class Offroad Ironhide (2008) � A blue repaint of the Voyager class Ironhide figure.

Movie Legends Class Ironhide (2008) � A prototype of the Legends class Ironhide toy was seen on a tour of Hasbro in 2007. It is packaged in a two pack with Desert Blackout and is a new mold not a repaint.

Premium Voyager Ironhide (2008) � A redeco of the Voyager Ironhide with metallic paint.

Transformers: Animated

A recent photo shows Ironhide will be an upcoming character in Transformers Animated. His appearance appears to be based on his G1 appearance, and he also appears to be based on Ratchet's Cybertronian form, meaning he may be a repaint of Ratchet like in the G1 toys.
Ironhide appeared in the Transformers Animated episode "Mission Accomplished" voiced by Corey Burton. He contacted Ultra Magnus and revealed the Decepticons had begun an uprising, destroying a space bridge in the process. Before he reveal all the details however, his transmission was cut short.

Further Information

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