Roadblock (G1)

Roadblock is a Decepticon from the Generation 1 continuity family.

I'm going to beat me up while running over myself with myself.

Roadblock is the boogeyman of the Decepticon Army. Squad leaders keep their subordinates in line by using Roadblock as a threat—"March in a straight line while ransacking the city, or I'll have you transferred to Roadblock's command." Roadblock is utterly without fear in battle, and demands nothing less from the soldiers under his command. Many have theorized that Decepticons charging the Autobot position may actually be running away from Roadblock rather than towards the enemy. The fear he creates in other Decepticons is a great motivator in battle, and has also pushed more than one soldier to rise in the ranks as quickly as possible, in hopes of outranking Roadblock so that they never have to serve under him in battle again. These go-getters quickly realize the truth, though... even Roadblock's superiors are afraid of him.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

Roadblock served on Banzai-Tron's flagship, manning the ghost shield that kept them cloaked in preparation for a surprise attack on the Autobot prison Garrus-9. Spotlight: Arcee

Regeneration One

When the resurrected Scorponok returned to Cybertron with a Gene Key capable of turning Autobots into Decepticons, Roadblock joined up with his forces and was posted as a guard outside the Civil Defense Hub along with Guzzle. Roadblock was in the middle of telling Guzzle a story about the Mecannibals when Grimlock appeared and knocked them both flat. Natural Selection, Part Five

Later, Carnivac, Snarler and Roadblock assembled at Soundwave's command as the Mayhem Attack Squad on Cybertron. The Autobot communications officer Blaster had discovered Soundwave's subliminal agitator signal in Cybertron's undernet, and Soundwave needed him silenced. The Mayhems moved to eliminate Blaster while he recovered at the Garage. When they struck, however, the Mayhems were overwhelmed by Blaster and his fellow patients, allowing Blaster to spread word of Soundwave's deception. Destiny, Part Two

Commercial appearances

No one will ever see my face!

Ensconced in his outer shell, Roadblock was pursued across a rocky battlefield by Skyhammer. As the Autobot swooped past, Roadblock's inner shell and robot form both emerged from the outer shell and opened fire on the impudent Autobot. Mega and Ultra Pretenders commercial

Toys

The Transformers

So many ways I can kill you!

• Roadblock (Ultra Pretender, 1989)

• Accessories: 2 lasers, dual blaster
• Known designers: Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)

Roadblock's toy includes a transformable inner robot, a transformable humanoid inner shell, and a non-transforming outer vehicular shell.

The inner robot is fairly diminutive, about the same height as the original Mini-bots but less massive. It follows a similar aesthetic to the larger Pretenders, with thin limbs and a simple transformation into a half-track tank that is still rather obviously a folded-up robot; the transformation scheme is virtually identical to that of Groundbreaker. His hand-held weapon mounts on top of him in this form. The robot can fit inside the humanoid shell, sit in the cockpit of the shell's wind cruiser form, or man the guns of the outer shell.

The inner robot's arms, head, torso and feet are composed of a gold plastic that is notorious for suffering from Gold Plastic Syndrome, breaking even under minimal stresses, such as placing Roadblock's gun in his fist. The arms are especially prone to having the pegs connecting them to the torso crumble in the socket.

The inner shell is an armored humanoid demon creature. Like Thunderwing's, it is not clear if it is meant to be organic or mechanical. The shell is articulated at the shoulders and elbows. Roadblock's robot form fits into its back, though it remains visible from behind. The shell has a simple transformation scheme to a "wind cruiser" mode, with an open cockpit that Roadblock's robot form can sit in to act as a pilot. The shell is equipped with two guns which it can carry in either mode.

Both robot and inner shell fit inside the second shell, a large, non-transforming siege tank and battering ram. The tank includes mounting points for all of Roadblock's weapons, and a large cannon that extends on a mount. Two pegs allow Roadblock's robot form to stand atop the tank and man the guns.

No version of this mold or character was released in Japan.

• More information on Roadblock at TFU.info

Notes

• The back-of-the-box artwork for the Ultra Pretenders appears to use Masakatsu Saito's concept artwork for Roadblock as a basis.

Foreign names

• French: Bulldozer (France), Barricade (Canada, "Roadblock")