Barricade (WFC)
From Transformers Wiki
The name or term "Barricade" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Barricade (disambiguation). |
- Barricade is a Decepticon from the Aligned continuity family.
Barricade has got a bit of a mouth on him. Whether it's smashing through an Autobot roadblock or hunting down his latest quarry, he rarely lets an opportunity to taunt, criticize or demoralize someone go by. And no, not even his fellow Decepticons are safe... not even Megatron. One would think this would mean a short end to his career, but apparently not. The Decepticon leader has taken to tolerating his loud mouth, perhaps due to his sheer effectiveness and tenacity in his job as an enforcer of Decepticon law, but possibly also because his scolding of the other Decepticons sometimes works in Megatron's favor.
Barricade's favorite tactic is taunting opponents until they start chasing him, and then leading them through hazardous areas that they don't have a chance of surviving, while he will escape without a scratch. As a hunter, he keeps his opponents off-guard and nervous by talking a lot, citing them with whatever crimes he thinks they've committed against the Decepticons. Backed by his giggling partner Frenzy, the pair excel in lethal obnoxiousness.
Contents |
Fiction
Aligned novels
Barricade ran the day-to-day events of Megatron's gladiatorial ring/revolutionary movement/emerging army. When Orion Pax came to Kaon for his first face-to-face meeting with Megatron, Barricade and Lugnut "greeted" him at the entrance to their headquarters. Throughout Orion's tour of the headquarters, Barricade followed and got lippy with the archivist, but was rather curtly cut off by Megatron. Exodus
Ask Vector Prime
In Uniend 610.23 Zeta, Ask Vector Prime Barricade scouted the outskirts of Tyger Pax, and engaged Autobots Bumblebee and Cliffjumper when he spotted them, until a kick to the head from Bumblebee knocked him out. Bumblebee at Tyger Pax
Transformers: The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe
Barricade was one of the many Decepticons that pursued the Allspark to Earth. He participated in an enormous battle against the Autobots in a human settlement. The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe
Kre-O cartoon
Barricade and Scorponok carried a large weapon over to Hightower to be set up. When Wheeljack and Cliffjumper invaded the work site, Barricade helped in their capture, only to be pelted with molten cheese when they turned out to be a diversion. He and the other Decepticons were subsequently strung up in a net. Quest for Energon, Part 2
Timelines
Barricade had gone through Howlback, Garboil, and Nightstalker as partners before they all requested transfers to other precincts. Then he finally found a true partner in Frenzy. TFSS 2.0 Barricade's profile card
With Frenzy at his side, Barricade chased down Fisitron on war crime charges, including killing all of Outpost Thetarus's crew with Cosmic Rust. When Fisitron noted that Oilslick was the more likely one to be guilty, Barricade admitted it was probably so, but he preferred to turn over an Autobot to the Decepticon Crown Justices. Timeless
Games
Transformers: War for Cybertron (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)
- Voice actor: Steve Blum (English), Patrick Borg (French), David García Vázquez (Spain-Spanish), Kajetan Wolniewicz (Polish)
In the last days of Zeta Prime's tenure as Autobot leader, Barricade was the pilot of a Decepticon spaceship that Megatron ordered to attack the Trypticon Station for its rumoured supply of Dark Energon. At his leader's command, Barricade crashed the ship directly into the station, serving at his master's side along with Brawl.
Throughout the infiltration, Barricade openly questioned Megatron's plan until an annoyed Megatron gave him a verbal slap. When the Neutral Air Commander Starscream tried to destroy the Dark Energon, the three Decepticons made a desperate push through the last of the defenders allowing Megatron to claim the Dark Energon. Quickly mastering the substance, Megatron infused Barricade and Brawl with its power before he used the crystals to force his way to the station's command centre where Barricade bore witness to Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp defecting to the Decepticons.
Megatron eventually came to believe that he could use Dark Energon to bring all of Cybertron under his control by infusing the substance into the core. Once the Decepticons had gained access to the core chamber, Barricade was part of the honor guard who witnessed Megatron corrupt the core, cowering from the debris that the core's corruption shook loose. Transformers: War for Cybertron
Transformers: War for Cybertron (DS)
Barricade often sparred with other Decepticons in Kaon Stadium. When Soundwave discovered the location of Trypticon Space Station, Barricade was part of the crew of Megatron's ship during the attack. He was very concerned when the station defenses reduced the ship's shields to 15%, and told Megatron it was a big risk to take over a legend. Despite Barricade's worries, they took the station and obtained Dark Energon. Following tests, Barricade asked Soundwave what happened to the failed test subjects, but Soundwave's reply didn't reassure him. He reluctantly submitted to an infusion of Dark Energon at Soundwave's hands.
Starscream discovered the existence of the Energon Bridge, which they could use to repower Trypticon station, but they would need all of the Dark Energon they had left to reach and reactivate it. Barricade was skeptical that they should risk everything on Starscream's word, but went along with the plan anyway. They reactivated the Energon Bridge, but the Autobots severed the link to the core, and secured it with the Omega Key. As the Decepticons attempted to track the Key down, Barricade expressed doubt that anyone would follow Starscream, but the Air Commander was convinced his time would come.
They found the key, but to Barricade's alarm, it merely activated Omega Supreme, who kicked all of the Decepticons out of Iacon. Barricade was convinced they should retreat, but at Megatron's urging, the Decepticons moved forward and managed to defeat the giant. They subsequently infused the core of Cybertron with Dark Energon. Transformers: War for Cybertron (DS)
Transformers: Cybertron Adventures
After Soundwave detected an Autobot incursion into the datacore where information was being held on Dark Energon, Megatron dispatched him and Barricade to intercept the Autobot thieves. Barricade sent the Autobots running right into a collision with Soundwave...and Megatron's fusion cannon.
Later on, Barricade was tasked with the assault on Iacon by Megatron, but soon fell behind the faster-moving Seekers, Thundercracker and Skywarp. Despite having to break through the city's defenses on his own, Barricade soon entered Iacon and began weakening the city's structural supports for the Seekers' air strikes. He was confronted by Sideswipe during his demolition, but broke off during the fight to accompany Starscream to the council chambers. Starscream's brilliant plan was hindered, however, by the fact that the council had already been evacuated before he and Barricade arrived. Transformers: Cybertron Adventures
Transformers: Battle Tactics
Barricade participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was a Super Rare character who could be recruited after collecting 300 units of Cybermetal, 95 units of Transmetal, 60 support cores, and 5 cores of this character. Transformers: Battle Tactics
Toys
Kre-O
- Cycle Chase (Kreon, 2012)
- Set number: 36954
- Pieces: 75
- Accessories: Scoped pistol, "Ultimate Dark Energon weapon" cannon part
- Part of the second series of Transformers Kre-O sets, Kreon Barricade comes with his three-wheeled assault cycle, being chased by a trio of Autobot Troopers. He is based on Barricade's War for Cybertron appearance, and uses the same helmet as Kreon Ironhide. He comes with a clear-purple blaster and, as with other Transformer Kreons in this series, Barricade comes with his own extra clear purple "Energon" torso piece. This piece was apparently intended to feature the Barricade tampographs at some point, but like all of the extra torsos in this year's assortment, it's been been left unimpressively blank. His motorcycle comes with a sidecar with a pressure-mounted missile launcher, and the sidecar can be rebuilt into a robot drone.
- Brick Box (2015)
- Set number: B2578
- Pieces: 75
- Accessories: Scoped pistol, "Ultimate Dark Energon weapon" cannon part
- Part of the "red box" line for discount stores in the US like Dollar General and Big Lots, this "Brick Box" is just the "Cycle Chase" set repackaged and sold for a mere $5. Good deal! As with all the Brick Boxes, this set lacks the instruction manual. It does retain the decals for the bike and barricade... not the robot Barricade, the rail-thing barricade.
- Despite the box claiming it only has 73 pieces, it does in fact have the full complement of 75. We counted.
Timelines
- Barricade w/ Frenzy (TFSS 2.0, 2014)
- FSS2 number: 1
- Accessories: Launcher, missile, "Frenzy" partner
- The first release in the 2014 Transformers Figure Subscription Service, Timelines Barricade is a redeco of Prime: Beast Hunters Deluxe Class Prowl (itself a retooling of Smokescreen) in a deco based on his Transformers Universe game design (featured at the top of the page). He transforms into a McLaren MP4-12C police car, and comes with a spring-loaded missile launcher. The launcher can peg via 5 mm post onto his hands, light-bar, and on either side of his spoiler.
- He also comes with his smaller partner Frenzy, who turns into a circular-saw weapon, similar to how Barricade's live-action-movie inspiration had a saw-weapon and a smaller partner named Frenzy.
Studio Series
- Gamer Edition Barricade (Deluxe Class, 2023)
- Game: War for Cybertron
- Hasbro ID number: +02
- TakaraTomy ID number: SS GE-03
- Accessories: neutron assault rifle, "Dark Energon" backdrop
- Known designers: Sam Smith (Hasbro), Shuhei Umezu (TakaraTomy)[1]
- Studio Series "Gamer Edition Barricade" is based on his appearance in the War for Cybertron game, transforming into a "Cybertronian car" in 15 steps and includes a neutron assault rifle that can be attached atop his vehicle mode or store on his robot mode's back. Like other Gamer Edition figures, his right forearm can be detached to equip his rifle or other Gamer Edition weapons to emulate the way characters' arms transformed into their weapons in-game. Unfortunately, there is no storage for the detached forearm. Barricade's color scheme is based on his concept art, evidenced by the larger use of black compared to his final game model. Oddly, his Decepticon insignias are also inaccurate, using the movie franchise's design as opposed to the original insignia design which the game used.
- Barricade's articulation is unusually limited for a Studio Series figure. His elbows and knees are restricted to a 45 degree range, which combined with his limited ankles, feet molded in a wide A-stance, lack of heel supports, and his highly-obstructive hip and shoulder kibble, make it difficult to pose him even a little bit. The inner-flaps built into his forearms also keep his wrists forced at an outwards angle. Barricade is also out of scale with other Studio Series War for Cybertron figures, being larger than he should be in both modes while conversely, the neutron assault rifle is severely undersized compared to the game model.
- Hasbro stock photography has Barricade mistransformed in robot mode; his front wheels are meant to be rotated up to his hips, although keeping them positioned downwards does improve his articulation slightly.
- Barricade was retooled into Gamer Edition Decepticon Soldier.
Notes
- In the map of Cybertron from the "Binder of Revelation" included in Transformers Vault, Barricade is listed as having lived in Iacon.
- Barricade's War for Cybertron game design is based on his Generation 1 counterpart while borrowing some design cues from the live-action film version. In Exodus, he's described as essentially being the film version, having a black and white colour scheme and ruby-red optics. His Universe design is purple but has film design cues again such as the placement of the wheels on his arms and police lights.
- In Cybertron Adventures, Skywarp and Thundercracker make fun of his inability to fly by stating he likes to hold his arms out to the side and say "VROOM!" when he is by himself.
- Barricade is the only male character from the console War for Cybertron game to not return for Fall of Cybertron, even as a multiplayer chassis. Nonetheless, one of the pieces of loading-screen trivia lets us know that Barricade is the most skillful Decepticon driver and got his name from plowing through Autobot roadblocks. Barricade's models, textures and portrait were found in the data of Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark, but ultimately went unused.
- Not only is Barricade's pack-in partner a namesake of one of Soundwave's minions, Barricade's bio indicates his former partners were also named after cassettes. This is either an incredible coincidence or a consequence of Barricade being partly based on the Movie Barricade, who was partly based on G1 Soundwave.
- Barricade was to be included in the game Transformers Universe as his concept art was released alongside Prowl's in 2012. However, Switchblade took his place leading the Decepticons. Barricade's game model can be found in the files, but he was never officially released and many of his abilities are missing within the game files, indicating he was still being developed.
See also
References
- ↑ Design notes on Gamer Edition Barricade from Hasbro designer Sam Smith on Instagram