Prowl (Energon)

Prowl is an Autobot from the Energon portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

Takin' Take it GO! SONIC!

Prowl is an Autobot who values logic over almost anything else. He’s a ‘bot who would rather carefully analyze his foe than rush into combat, and he hates the idea of unruliness. Prowl, despite all of this, is prone to lapses in judgment himself. Although being regarded as a team player, his utter obedience to logic often causes him to become suspicious of his allies, hindering group cohesion. With all of this being said, however, Prowl is a respected soldier with a passion for justice. After being selected by Rodimus to join him on his voyage through space as his, admittedly inexperienced, security officer, Prowl has quickly risen through the ranks and now works alongside both Rodimus and Optimus Prime. Hopefully, now as a part of two teams, Prowl can get over his more suspicious nature.

Although he sometimes struggles working with others, in some universes Prowl serves together with Checkpoint or Longarm.

Fiction

Toy pack-in comics

Prowl, with Inferno and Ironhide, built an energon tower.

Later, Prowl, Landmine, and Inferno surveyed a hill as a possible site for an energon tower. Landmine asked Optimus Prime for permission to construct the energon tower, but the Autobot leader denied the request, citing Decepticon activity in the area. Such "activity" soon involved the Autobots when a flock of Divebombs attacked them. Faced with insurmountable odds, Inferno was forced to Powerlinx with Prowl. Megatron soon joined the attack, but Powerlinx Inferno was able to shoot down the Decepticon leader. The Divebomb attack was revealed to be a distraction when Insecticons, having absorbed all of the energon underground, erupted from the ground. Unable to handle all of the Terrorcons, the three Autobots were forced to flee. Energon Volume 2

Cartoon continuity

Energon cartoon

Voice actor: Alistair Abell (English), Makoto Yasumura (Japanese), Christian Jernbro (Swedish), Luis Miguel Perez (Latin American Spanish), José Carabias (Castilian Spanish), Joonas Suominen (Finnish), Péter Szokol (Hungarian, 2nd dub), Jacek Kopczyński (Polish)

Prowl was a young, inexperienced security officer on Rodimus's exploration ship. He left Cybertron eons ago with his leader to bring peace and justice to the galaxy. On their long trek through the universe, Prowl and Rodimus's crew came to Planet Q, and swore an oath to protect it from harm. They were absent from the planet the day Unicron arrived to devour it, however, and failed to uphold their promise. This loss weighed heavily on Rodimus, and when he heard of Alpha Q's return countless years later, he renewed their association. Learning that Unicron's power could be used to restore lost planets, Rodimus, Prowl and Landmine dedicated themselves to fulfilling their original promise and helping Alpha Q gather enough energon to recreate his world. The Legend of Rodimus Alpha Q: Identity

As they first reached Earth's solar system, Prowl and the others confronted Scorponok and the Terrorcons on Mars. The Legend of Rodimus Later, they appeared on the moon, watching over a battle between Megatron and Optimus Prime. Rodimus ordered them not to get directly involved in the skirmish, but they had no choice when Demolishor and Cyclonus tried to kidnap the energon-sensitive youth, Kicker Jones. From a concealed location, Rodimus, Landmine, and Prowl blasted at Cyclonus, forcing him to veer off and avoid grabbing Kicker. The warriors three vanished before Kicker could figure out where the shots came from, and who saved him. Kicker Beware! Prowl's team also intervened when Megatron attempted to destroy Earth with artificial comets, commandeering some of Alpha Q's Terrorcons to ram the first comet into obliteration. Energon Grid

During their first encounter with the Autobots under Optimus Prime's command on Mars, Rodimus tried to convince Hot Shot to leave Alpha Q to his own affairs. When that failed a fight broke out, and Prowl used an energon lasso to wrap energy beams around Ironhide's bullbar and fling the latter Autobot and Kicker into the air. He then powerlinked with his leader so that Rodimus could become his powerful Powerlinx Rodimus form, who quickly defeated Ironhide. After a brief pounding, Rodimus and his crew departed before Ironhide or Hot Shot could stop them. Rodimus Friend or Foe?

Real classy.

When Megatron put Scorponok's life in peril to lure Alpha Q out into the open, Rodimus and his crew stepped in to fetch Scorponok instead. Landmine initially stressed caution over approaching Scorponok's manacled form, as the situation just screamed "trap". Rodimus agreed, but when he told Landmine and Prowl to wait in the ship as back-up while he retrieved Scorponok alone, the troops found they could not let their leader go out on his own. Sure enough, Starscream and the other Decepticons emerged to attack Prowl and the others. Combined with Powerlinx Rodimus, however, Prowl helped disable the entire Decepticon force until Megatron ordered a retreat, leaving them alone with Scorponok. Go for Unicron!

Prowl accompanied Rodimus to the Miranda II for a parley with Optimus Prime. Rodimus attempted to explain how Unicron was merely a tool, and could be revived for good as well as evil, but Optimus was unwilling to take the risk. Rodimus stormed off, returning to his ship with Prowl and then back to Alpha Q at Unicron's head. During the trip, they noticed Ironhide had hitched a ride to track them back to their base. Prowl expressed some reluctance to continue assisting Alpha Q, especially when the creature spotted Ironhide and began to threaten him, but Rodimus and Landmine silenced him. They owed Alpha Q and his lost planet a debt of honor, and that was the end of it. A Tale of Two Heros Prowl watched over the captive Ironhide in Alpha Q's throne room after Scorponok secured the infiltrator, and later piloted Rodimus's ship out to meet Kicker, who was searching for his partner. They ferried him back to Alpha Q, and the boy was ultimately able to negotiate an alliance between Alpha Q and the main Autobot team. Battle Stations Alpha Q: Identity Despite the peace between Kicker and Alpha Q, Optimus Prime wasn't willing to blindly accept Rodimus and the alien after their past misdeeds. Prowl and Rodimus confronted the hostile Optimus in Powerlinx mode until Kicker stepped between them and ended the hostilities. Shockblast: Rampage

As the collected Autobots met with Alpha Q, he lost control of Unicron's head as it reflexively reached out searching for more energon. With Optimus Prime's permission, Rodimus commandeered a team of Omnicons to travel to Unicron's core and release energon stars into it in order to satisfy him. Prowl and Landmine accompanied the expedition and, eventually, they fought through a maze of lethal energon-absorbing spikes to reach their goal. Survival Instincts Later he fought alongside the other Autobots in defense of Cybertron's energon towers in an attack led by Shockblast. Each One Fights... A highly-successful Terrorcon raid delivered enough energon to Megatron to transform Unicron and directly threaten Cybertron. Prowl and the Autobots made an effort to breach Unicron's defenses and attack Megatron within. Unicron Unleashed

Prowl and the rest of the Autobots raced through Unicron's corridors in an attempt to locate Megatron. They fought through many Terrorcons and the remnants of the Decepticon military. Open Fire! During their trek, Rodimus renounced his command status, making Optimus Prime officially in charge of all the Autobot forces. Landmine and Prowl followed their leader's direction and pledged themselves to Optimus and his cause. As Alpha Q began accumulating massive amounts of energon in his portion of Unicron, Optimus sent Hot Shot, Landmine and Prowl out into space to ensure his escape. Instead, Alpha Q's positively charged portion of Unicron met with Megatron's negatively charged portion, creating a tear in the fabric of space. Landmine and the Autobots attempted to avoid its pull, but the rift was too strong. Landmine was struck by debris and carried into the rift. Hot Shot and Prowl combined then went after him. Ripped Up Space The trio were trapped in the debris field near Unicron on the other side of the void until they spotted Rodimus's banner, and followed it to clear space. Prowl rejoined the Autobot team on Iron Planet, and helped drive off a Decepticon attack. Imprisoned Inferno They began a search for Unicron, but broke off the mission to aid the Miranda II in defense of Jungle Planet. Jungle Planet

As the Autobots prepped for an energon tower being delivered from Cybertron, Prowl helped clear a landing spot on Jungle Planet for the tower to touch down. When the Terrorcons staged an assault, he defended the energon in order to buy time. Prowl and Ironhide tried to double-team Scorponok, but even together they had little luck against the powerful general. Eventually the energon tower landed and powered up, sending out a destructive wave that cleared the Terrorcons from the planet. Bulkhead Next, the Autobots prepared to establish an energon grid between the various planets. Prowl joined Ironhide and Cliffjumper on Rock Planet as they fought off Scorponok and his Insecticons. Later, during the second attempt at raising the Ocean Planet tower, he lay in wait with Rodimus and Landmine under the seas to prevent Mirage from toppling the new tower at its base the same as he did for the first. In the end, all the towers were raised and the grid came online. Farewell Inferno

Prowl stood solemnly by when Optimus dispatched Jetfire to bring Inferno's raw spark back to Primus for repairs. Later, he and Rodimus's team remained behind to guard the planets protected by the Autobot energon grid while Prime led another force to the new Planet Q. Return! Our Scorponok

Once Circuit Planet was up and running, Prowl participated in the first Autobot Grand Prix for some R&R with his buddies. Unfortunately, he had the worst luck during the race. When Downshift lost control on the track, he crashed into Prowl and caused a major pile-up. Prowl earnestly checked on the other racers to make sure they were okay, but Downshift barely spared them a glance before getting back in the race. Filled with a righteous fury, Prowl took off after Downshift, swearing to catch him and beat him on behalf of all the victims of his carelessness.

...Then Ironhide bounced him to the curb and he never got back in the race. Oh, well. Crash Course

"Why am I always the bottom half?"

After Wing Saber located Unicron's body, Prowl and the Autobots staged an assault on the Planet-Eater, but were unable to keep Megatron from making Unicron fully operational again. A fleet of energon tower were sent from Cybertron like javelin to impale the now-mobile Unicron. Omega Supreme The energon towers failed, and so Prowl and the Autobots attempted to gain access to Unicron's interior to strike back from the inside. They were driven off when Unicron plowed into the planetary energon grid, though, and were unable to prevent Unicron from reclaiming his head from Alpha Q's Energon Orb. A Heroic Battle

As Unicron began to awaken, Prowl and the Autobots could do little more than keep the lesser Decepticons occupied. The Power of Unicron With Unicron fully operational again, the war quickly moved beyond the power of individual Autobots to influence. As Unicron destroyed Blizzard Planet, Prowl was one of many Autobot warriors caught in the planetary backlash, and sent to sick bay for repairs. Optimus Supreme Prowl's stasis tank was moved to a medical facility on Cybertron along with his fellow patients, Downshift and Bulkhead. Ambition

"Yay! I'm finally the top half... Hang on, this ain't right."

At some point, during an Autobot combat training simulation, Prowl and Downshift tag-teamed against the Decepticon duo, Demolishor and Snow Cat. Prowl was sick and tired of always having to be Rodimus or Hot Shot's "bottom", and was ready to finally act as lead Autobot and merge into Powerlinx Prowl. Unfortunately for Prowl, Downshift had a similar idea, and the two hapless Autobots ended up linking into a two-headed mess of a Powerlinx combination. The Decepticons easily defeated the bickering Autobots. Distribution

When the Decepticons took over Cybertron and flooded it with deadly energon gas, the medical facility became one of the last bulwarks of Autobot resistance on the planet's surface. Prowl and his fellow patients eventually reunited with the Autobots' main force as their Terrorcon attackers were driven off. Decepticon Army

As the energon gas flow was turned off, Rodimus returned from space and he and Prowl powerlinxed once again to battle Galvatron's forces. Ironhide Team Rodimus and Prowl fought the Decepticons on Cybertron until Six Shot set off a massive explosion that tossed them injured into space. When Optimus acquired a boost of energon to stop Cybertron's progression towards Alpha Q's world, Rodimus coordinated the Autobots to run interference for him. Rodimus and Prowl fought Galvatron one-on-one to prevent him from attacking Optimus while he was busy holding back the planet. Formidable

In the next stage of the Autobots' plan, they went to work devastating the energon towers under Decepticon control. Rodimus, Prowl, and Landmine reunited as a commando unit, fighting against Bruticus Maximus and Constructicon Maximus. Galvatron Terror When Galvatron assumed unbelievable size thanks to Super Energon, Team Rodimus attempted to mitigate the damage he was causing before he abandoned the planet. Galvatron began towing Cybertron out into space, Prowl's team continued to war with the Decepticons, fluttering around Galvatron like skirmishing insects. Galvatron's tether to Cybertron was eventually cut by a team led by Kicker, but Galvatron continued forward. Destructive Power

Prowl remained Powerlinxed to Rodimus during the battle, but when the situation moved beyond their ability to contribute, he and the Autobots kept in a holding pattern around Jungle Planet as the massive Optimus and the Unicron-possessed Galvatron made war on each other. Spark

Prime could not overcome Unicron on his own, however, and needed the Combination Sparks of all his fellow Autobots to face the final conflict. Rodimus led the Autobots in stepping forward to give up their individuality for the greater good of the team. Prowl's body was converted into pure energy as he became one with his spark, so that it could in turn become one with all the other Combination Sparks, revitalizing Optimus. Filled with the strength of all his men, Optimus united with Omega Supreme in the ultimate Powerlinx, grappling with Galvatron until the Decepticon leader shrugged off Unicron's influence and plunged into the sun. Prowl and the other Autobots then separated, and were restored to their individual forms. The Sun

Force of Habit

During the crisis caused by the Unicron Singularity, Prowl was operating on board the Iron Hope. Under Ultra Magnus's command, the Iron Hope coordinated the various Autobot exploration ships looking for Cyber Planet Keys throughout the known universe. Force of Habit

Energon comic

Prowls; for when your second-in-command needs a second-in-command.

Prowl was among the Autobots on Cybertron, ten years after the battle with Unicron. This Evil Reborn When Optimus Prime disappeared after stepping into a space bridge, Prowl spoke to Jetfire about the mysterious disappearance. Multiplicity Soon, when the Terrorcon invasion of Earth began, Prowl alerted Jetfire of the attack. Prowl stepped up to command the Autobot detachment for Tokyo, Japan. Multiplicity, Pt. 2 He held the line against a horde of Cruellock drones until being saved by Megatron, who laid waste to the invading horde until it retreated off-planet. Multiplicity, Pt. 4

Prowl was later stationed at Mars Base with three other Autobots. In a plot to get the Autobots to shut down Earth's energon grid, Alpha Quintesson sent the Four Horsemen to attack Mars. Prowl fell in the following battle. Armageddon Part 3

Kre-O online manga

Prowl was present with Inferno as Red Alert forgave the other Inferno for his sulkiness. Must have been a confusing day for him. Dive Into the Fire! The Rescue Operation of Friendship

Games

Transformers: Battle Tactics

How come the rookie gets the deadliest napalm in the game??

Energon Prowl participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was an Epic character who was available as a reward to 50 leagues in the "Energon: Episode 2" event. Transformers: Battle Tactics

Toys

Energon

INSIDE OUTSIDE GO SONIC

• Prowl (Combat Class, 2004)

• Takara name: Red Alert
• Takara ID number: SC-11
• Takara release date: March 18, 2004
• Accessories: Missile launcher, missile
• Known designers: Eric Siebenaler (Hasbro), Takashi Kunihiro (Takara), Guido Guidi (package and card art)^[1]

Released in the second wave of Energon Combat Class (Deluxe) toys, Prowl combines elements from the various earlier versions of vehicle mode Prowls; he transforms into a Cybertronic (Armada Prowl) police vehicle (durhey) styled after an F-1 racer (Machine Wars Prowl), plus he has kanji found on Tokyo police cars (the 2001 Robots in Disguise franchise Prowl). He is armed with a transparent blue spring-loaded missile launcher that is mounted on the side of his vehicle for storage. Prowl also shares the same base transformation scheme as the Armada Mini-Cons Mirage and Swindle (and any of their respective repaints). There are some conflicting depictions of his spoiler/chestplate configurations between his appearances in media, his instructions, and his stock photography (see below); it appears the way it is shown in the instructions is—for once—the intended/correct configurations for all of his modes.

As a Combat Class Autobot, he can also form the top or bottom half of a Powerlinx combination with any other compatible Energon Autobot to form Powerlinx Prowl, though he looks better attached to fellow Combat Class toys than the much bulkier Mega Class toys.

Takara's Super Link Red Alert release is basically identical to the Hasbro's Prowl, with only a few differences in the plastic shades, specifically the lighter gray used for his legs and head. He was also part of two store promotions in Japan upon release, each one offering a different exclusive energon weapon free with purchase. Buying him at JUSCO stores netted you the Energy Axe Violet Cluster Edition, while Ito Yokadio gave you the Energy Spear Rodeo Magenta Edition.

• More information on Prowl at TFU.info

BLUE UH LURT!

• Prowl with Longarm & Starscream with Zapmaster (Multi-pack, 2004)

• Accessories: Disc, 2 hand-attachments, missile launcher, missile

Available only at Sam's Club wholesale shopping club outlets, this version of Prowl is a redeco of the Armada Red Alert mold, transforming into a Nissan Patrol rescue SUV. When a Mini-Con is attached to his hood-mounted Mini-Con port, the fenders open. Pulling back on the attached Mini-Con launches a rescue disk/missile and activates electronic lights and sounds. Similarly, when a Mini-Con is used on his emergency lights port and is pushed forward, the sirens flash and a voice chip proclaims "RED-ALERT! WOO-WOO-WOO-WOO!" (in a higher pitch than the original toy's). In robot mode, pulling back on the Mini-Con unlocks a shoulder-mounted missile/rescue grappling claw launcher, which can also be detached and held in his hand. His right leg guard contains several tools that can be attached onto his left wrist socket, while his left leg guard can be unfolded to become a Mini-Con repair bay. He comes with the Mini-Con Longarm, as well as Starscream and Zapmaster.

This mold was also used to make live-action movie Inferno.

• More information on 2-pack Prowl at TFU.info

Not blue anymore? Well, back to the Prick jokes then.

• Autobot S.W.A.T. Team (Multi-pack, 2004)

• Accessories: Missile launcher, missile

Part of a K-Mart exclusive set with Checkpoint, Prowl was redecoed into a black vehicle with white detailing, a kind of reversal of the more "traditional" Prowl colors, which makes his combination with Checkpoint look real nice.

• More information on S.W.A.T. Prowl at TFU.info

Notes

So fast he never happened.

• Prowl's instructions feature a head that is almost entirely different from the final sculpt, except for the tailpipes. It bears a striking resemblance to Armada Blurr. This same head design was shown in a magazine preview for the Japanese version of the Energon cartoon. According to Aaron Archer, the head was changed to a more "classic" look when they decided to go with the police theme and the name Prowl.^[2]
• There are a lot of conflicting depictions of Prowl's spoiler/chestplate configuration in his robot and vehicle modes between his fictional appearances, instructions, and even the toys' stock photography:
  • The instructions show the fully-extended "wings" of the spoiler being pulled out for every mode, except when he forms a torso.
  • His cartoon appearance has them left pushed in for every mode, except for the one time he transformed into a torso in the episode "Distribution".
  • His stock footage transformation sequence, on the other hand, shows them extended for his robot, vehicle, and combined modes, even though the rest of the episode wouldn't show it this way.
  • The stock footage transformation sequence for the aforementioned single instance where he became a torso did the opposite, leaving them pushed in the entire time.
  • His pack-in comic depiction shows the wings extended for both his robot and lower-body modes.
  • In the Dreamwave Energon comic, he only ever appears in robot mode, and switches between extended and retracted wings on his chestplate in some issues and panels.
  • His stock photography shows his wings extended for robot mode, but retracted in every other mode.
  • His card/package art by Guido Guidi (image at the top of this article) leaves them extended in robot mode.
  • What is, presumably, his canceled Dreamwave Energon: More than Meets the Eye profile art for his combined forms by Dan Khanna (line art) and Marcelo Matere (colors) has the wings extended for torso mode, and retracted for lower-body mode—much like his instructions depict.^[3]

In this case, it appears that the instructions (gasp) are the intended configurations of the chestplate in all of his modes.

• Prowl was incorrectly labelled as a Decepticon on a promotional poster released in 2004 in conjunction with the UK premiere of the Energon cartoon in London's Odeon cinema.
• Unlike most other cameo Kreons, Prowl appears to have a made-up helmet which is a Kre-Ofied version of his original counterpart's head with grey paint details.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Red Alert (レッドアラート Reddo Arāto)
• Hungarian: Portyázó ("Prowl")

References