(no subject)

[hammerhanded]

Player Information ;
Your Nickname: Surge
OOC Journal: sugarsurge
Under 18? No. 19.
Email/IM: HPlus Future (AIM) | Hplusfuture@aim.com
Characters Played at Singularity: HAL 9000, Doc/O'Malley, Kanaya Maryam

Character Information ;
Name: Breakdown
Name of Canon: Transformers: Prime
Canon/AU/Other Game CR: Canon
Reference: Transformers: Prime @ Wikipedia, Transformers: Prime @ TF Wiki, Breakdown @ TF Wiki
Canon Point: End of T.M.I (Episode 22)

Setting:
Aligned Continuity is basically made up of two books (Exodus and Exiles), two games (War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron) a prequel comic (it was called Transformers: Prime, so nothing to say here) and this T.V. show. So naturally it's kind of a clusterfuck. Especially the games bit, since a lot of the personality and events that happen in the game clash with what goes on in the series, thought to be fair the games happened a LONG TIME AGO. For the most part, I'll be working this so that anything in the series trumps whatever happens in other mediums.

So.

Once upon a time there was a planet called Cybertron, and apparently all that was on it were these two guys, Unicron and Primus. Unicron is basically Robot Satan and Primus is Robot God. They are constantly beating the shit out of each other because they have opposing ideals; Unicron wants to fuck everything up and Primus wants him to knock it the fuck off and also create stuff I guess. Eventually Primus gets so sick of his shit that he creates The Thirteen first Cybertronians and they literally beat Unicron so hard that he ends up in a coma. The Thirteen are basically dubbed the first Primes and Unicron is left to his space coma. Also left to drift in space, because I know that is what I do with my Robot Space Satans.

Remember that Unicron guy. He's important later.

So flash forward a really long time and you've got Cybertron, now inhabited by a race called Cybertronians because creativity is hard. Cybertronians are basically giant robots that can transform into an alternate mode to get around faster and also because it's really, really cool. The alt mode is usually suited to wherever they are at the time, so alt modes on Cybertron are different from the ones used on Earth. Furthermore, alt modes depend on what a Cybertronian scans when it comes to Earth technology, and on the Cybertronian itself. So some of them prefer flying alt modes while others prefer ground vehicles. What they can transform into also relies on their size, seeing as Arcee is only large enough to turn into a motorcycle, whereas Optimus Prime can become a semi-truck. These robots are basically created by the All Spark, which is sort of part of Primus or something because apparently he merged with Cybertron, and are spawned in waves by the Well of the All Spark (which is what grants them their spark/soul) as protoforms before actually achiving a more concrete form and taking on their Cybertronian alt mode for the first time.

Cybertronians live for a fucking long time, and by long I mean THOUSANDS OF YEARS. They run on a substance called Energon, which can be found in a liquid and crystalized ore state. Usually they put the liquid into cubes called energon cubes and then they put it in themselves. By drinking it or injecting it or something. It's not really all that clear. Energon powers everything from their engines to their guns to them and is also a finite resource, so naturally everyone flips their shit over getting some and a synthetic version of it is greatly sought after because renewable resources.

Energon also has a counterpart called Dark Energon, because like I said before, creativity is not the strong point of this series. Dark Energon is the fossilized blood of Unicron himself. Wooooo spoooooky. It's kind of vagues as to what its supposed to do, because apparently it sometimes works as a poison (shutting down Cybertron), but can also make them run like they're on steroids (Megatron. Just Megatron). Expoure to it is fatal to humans and can also bring Cybertronians back from the dead as Terrorcons for some reason.

Now we get to the Problem.

The Problem is that Cybertron is run on a caste system, which pretty much never goes well in fiction or real life. As soon as a protoform-ish thing or whatever emerges from the Well of All Sparks, they transform and get shunted off to a caste and are stuck there for the rest of their lives, because that's how caste systems work. Naturally a lot of them aren't happy with this, and one notably unhappy person is a illegal gladiator/miner named Megatronus. Megatronus is named after one of the Thirteen (the murdering asshole one A.K.A. The Fallen), and he thinks that having to spend your entire really long life stuck in the same shitty caste is bullshit. He thinks the entire caste system in general is bullshit, and a lot of Cybertronians agree with him. Particularly one named Orion Pax (because changing his initials too much would have been too hard).

Orion Pax is a data clerk who has basically realised that the caste system has been fucking over a lot of their species for a long time. He realized this because he is a data clerk and literally does nothing but read all the fucking time and he thinks it's time for a change. He and Megatronus basically become kawaii boifurendos best friends and endeavor to put an end to the caste system by taking it to the Council (Buncha old 'bots who think they know shit). That goes pretty well until Megatronus basically admits that rather than carefully dismatle the caste system, he wants a massive fucking revolution which would probably end with people who support the caste system slagged (and I imagine if you're high up on the caste system, you're not much for equality and if you are anyone, you are not much for dying). The Council are noticably not okay with this and tell him to get the fuck out.

Orion Pax pitches the same idea in a less violent manner.
He's all "Hey we need a new Prime to take care of this whole 'abolishing the caste system' thing."
And the Council are like "Oh is that a volunteer we hear?"
And OP is like "Um not really..."
And they are like "Too bad. Here is your special high-caste status sticker."
And OP is all like "But this is the opposite of what I wanted."
And then he and Megatronus get divorced. Also, Megatronus is Megatron now apparently.

Megatron isn't happy about OPs new promotion, so he the Decepticons basically go around fucking everything up while the Autobots are trying to stop them. So then War for Cybertron happens. Sort of. The canons get muddled in both design and events here, but the long and short of it is that the Cybertron is infected wth Dark Energon, the All Spark is jettisoned off into space, and Cybertron is a giant metal corpse. Some time during the core infection, OP is also given the Matrix of Leadership (a matrix that has all the wisdom of the Primes) by Primus later when he goes to dick around there.

So to make this brief, both factions believe in the same thing and instead of just getting shit done and abolishing the caste system, they've decided to beat the shit out of each other instead. Eventually this leads to the fucking up of Cybertron as we all know it. Then more shit happens, a lot of robots die, but none of this is important because it's not in the cartoon.

So we get to Earth.

The Earth in Transformers: Prime is pretty much the same as the one we have now. Countries are the same, races are the same, governments are (unfortunately) the same. Most of the massive differences have been made by ancient Cybertronians during the war that has been going on continuously, even though Cybertron is already destroyed and the caste system kind of doesn't matter when you are involved in a war. Earth was seen as a good hiding spot, and so during the war a lot of weird Cybertronian shit usually ended up there. Ships had a tendency to mysteriously crash on Earth, and Energon crystals were deposited on the planet as well, so much so that the planet ended up having a pretty large deposit of it everywhere from Greece to America. There was also a battle fought there apparently, where is where Megatron gets his first supply of Terrorcons.

So Team Prime and the Decepticons (members are in the references link) sort of converge on it, since it has some sweet fucking loot crammed onto it. Team Prime is basically there to get Energon and make sure that the Decepticons don't kill too many humans. They have a base near Jasper, Nevada that's in an old abandoned missile silo, because Nevada is just that boring. No one would look for giant robots that turn into cars in fucking Nevada. The Decepticons are there to get Energon and be fabulous and that's about it. They have a ship called the Nemesis that is untraceable for plot reasons. They're more destructive than the Autobots and are totally willing to murder and torture the fuck out of humans and ruin their cities to get shit done. They don't give a fuck.

Humans also have a stake in this that doesn't involve massive amounts of cover-ups, totally ignoring alien tech, and property damage. Remember that missile silo I told you about? Yeah, the reason that Team Prime is lodged in there is because they struck sort of a deal with the American government, who provides them with a base and a envoy (Agent Fowler) in exchange for them taking care of the Decepticon problem as quietly as possible. On the darker side of human organizations, we have MECH who's entire goal is basically terrorism for the sake of starting a new world order based on the advancement of technology. They're a special brand of assholes who are willing to go to extreme measures to see this happen, like kidnapping an innocent mother and also vivisecting Breakdown to see if they can reverse-engineer any technology from him/see what makes him tick. On the Autobot's side, you have three kids: Jack Darby, Rafael Esquivel and Miko Nakadai, who are there because they fucked up and got involved, like everyone who has ever teamed up with the Autobots.

Personality:

The one thing that is obvious about Breakdown right off is that he lacks a certain... finesse that most of the other Decepticons have. Lord knows he tries to be all slick and shit, bless his titanic metal busom, but he's not conniving or manipulative or charismatic because he's just kind of there to break shit and be boss as fuck. He's straightforward as all hell, lacks tact at the best of times and speaks as plainly as possible when he can. He's not exactly one for ulterior motives since he doesn't have the capacity for them or the desire and kind of pride nessecary to actualy cause that sort of scheming attitude. While he does have a lot of pride, it's all crammed into being a Decepticon and being really good at fighting. Breakdown doesn't like running unless ordered to or unless there is no other option becaue his pride typically won't allow for it and fighting is just really really fun.

But when it comes to following orders, he's really good at not giving any coy bullshit to whoever he's following at the time. With Knock Out, he seems to figure that they're more or less equals and that whatever Knock Out wants to do is sort of a guideline. He'll stay behind even if KO left a fight, but that's probably because Breakdown's totally used to him fucking off in the middle of a battle. Starscream is a leader to him, but not one he's all that terrified of. Not like Megatron. When Megs steps on the floor, Breakdown goes from heavy duty face-breaker to cowed little bitch. He doesn't have the gumption to be snide about Megatron behind his back, to his face or just at all. If he thinks the Decepticons have a shit leader (Megatron is just... yeah) there is no way he will ever admit it. Unless he's be dragging the Vehicons into combat, Breakdown would rather follow orders than lead the other Actually Important Decepticons.

In the games, Breakdown is apparently paranoid as fuck, which is totally flung out a plate glass window by the time of the cartoon. He dropped that entire shtick in exchange for hammer-hands and a sweet shoulder cannon, since paranoia is all well and good, but who cares if you don't have anything to protect against the inevitability. However, due to the canon point I am apping him from, Breakdown is pretty fucking racist against humans (not that he wasn't already) and not only does he not trust them, but he also actively dislikes them more than the usual 'you are completely insignificant' attitude that all the 'cons usually have. This might also come with a small bit of PTSD too, which is understandable. Even though he's gone through centuries of war and probably participated in more than his fair share of horrible tortures, being vivisected isn't exactly the sort of thing that anyone is going to be totally okay with. Chances are, if your name doesn't have the initials K and O, he is not going to want you anywhere near his inside bits even if you got that degree from the Cybetron Polytech Institute of Medical Bullshit.

Like most Decepticons, Breakdown really fucking likes what he does. He has a pretty large capacity for cruelty, spite and general dickish behavior. He likes wrecking the fuck out of things, making life difficult for his enemies, and general property damage on a large scale. He enjoys being a Decepticon, and probably even believes in the cause they're all so vaguely aligned with. Even when he was all grateful that Bulkhead helped him out, when given a choice between 'bots and 'cons, he took the 'con side with no issue. Redemption isn't a thing he considers an option for himself, because it's an option for people who feel bad about what they do. He's brutish and doesn't mind harming other life forms (e.g. humans) because he doesn't see them as significant to him at all unless they're in a position where hurting them will hurt someone else or unless they're proving to be a nuisance. As a Decepticon, he is extremely aware of how merciless his side of the fight can be to their own allies. When he gets captured by Silas, he doesn't harbor any illusions that Megatron would rescue him or pay a ransom for him, as he knows that soldiers are ultimately disposable.

Breakdown's got a sort of 'debts chould be repaid' system, though its more like a sort of 'an eye for an eye' which fits better with his general agressive attitude. While it's obvious by the end of Operation: Breakdown that he doesn't really want to fight Bulkhead while he's injured and after he was saved, he does it anyway because Starscream told him to, he follows orders, and Bulkhead is ultimately the enemy. Bulkhead got him out of MECH's lair, he saved Bulkhead from a plasma cannon to the face. Even steven. Starscream would have rescued him eventually anyway. In fact, a small chunk of Breakdown's motivations deal in his rivaly with Bulkhead. It's unknown what he did to make Bulkhead hate him so much, or if he hates Bulhead for any real reason that isn't AUTOBOOOOOT. The point is, they apparently hate the fuck out of each other, and not only would Breakdown kill him with no hesitation but he would also kill Miko just to piss him off. He regularly gets into fights with Bulkhead just 'cause, and constantly insults him but not the other Autobots because fuck those guys.

Abilities, Weaknesses, and Power Limitation Suggestions:

Breakdown is a giant robot, and one of the bulkiest in the series. Due to his stature, and the fact that he is a giant fucking robot (I cannot stress this enough and I really like stressing it), Breakdown is ridiculously stong. He can lift and throw really heavy objects like cars, stone pillars, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead. The strength does have a limit though, since he's seen unable to escape from Airachnid's webbing, and he probably couldn't toss around Megatron or snap the Empire State Building off it's foundations and throw it at Godzilla.

Along with his strength, Breakdown also has some SWEET WEAPONS built into his body. Because he's a giant robot. I felt this needed to be mentioned again. He has two hands that turn into hammers because reasons, but no hands that turn into guns. Apparently he decided to replace his gun hand with a shoulder mounted cannon that shoots both missiles and energon bolts (or whatever they are calling them these days).

As a Transformer, Breakdown can also TRANSFORM. Oh shit, what a surprise. He transforms into a massive SUV-Jeep armored car thing with an extra wheel on the back for some reason. I guess so he can change his own tire? Who the fuck knows. Maybe it's just there because Knock Out wanted to balance out his hilariously out of place cannon.

Oh, and speaking of Knock Out, Breakdown also works with him on a regular basis as his assistant. THIS DOESN'T QUALIFY HIM TO BE A MEDIC LIKE AT ALL. I mean, please, he has hammers for hands and only four fingers. It would be a hammerhanded attempt at surgery. However, he does know how to do minimal body work, like buffing, welding and metal working.

Inventory:
NOTHING but his massive robotits himself

Appearance:
Exhibit A: Fullbody
Exhibit B: Sweet Eyepatch
Exhibit C: Alt Mode

Age: Apparently he's pretty young by Cybertronian standards, but they live for a very very very long time. He's at least older than Bumblebee?

OC/AU Justification ;
If AU, How is Your Version Different From Canon, and How Will That Come Across?
If OC, Did You Run Your Character Through a Mary-Sue Litmus Test?
And What Did You Score?

Samples ;
Log Sample:

His optic flicks on and Breakdown imidiately tried to pul himself up only to find his body is just... not moving at all. He can feel the strain and the movement and it takes him a second more to realise that he's been shackled down to a large metal platform. Again.

He isn't the kind of 'con to just contain his rage and let it out in a nice cold fury, so instead he grunts and roars and pulls against the shackles on the table because this isn't going to happen again. It isn't because he isn't going to let it. He isn't sure who's responsible for this, but he's going to get out, he's going to find them, and he's going to pull their tiny little fleshling limbs off and watch as they try to move around on their stumps. All he can think is that it just fraggin' figures that this is what happens when he lets his guard down around humans. Still, another part of him reminds him that it's extremely embarassing to have been caught by them not once, but twice by humans.

He doesn't stop pulling and tugging on the restraints until he hears footsteps and realizes that they aren't the patter of little booted human feet, but the regular constant 'clank clank clank' of a large metal robot making it's way down a corridor. The more he listens, the more he's sure it isn't an Autobot, though he wouldn't put torture past them even if they follow things like "morals" and "ethics". It's actually unsettlingly familiar and after his attempt to puzzle out the sound overcomes his complete panic, he actually recognizes it.

"Knock Out?"

Knock Out. Oh thank Primus, it's just Knock Out and he's probably just overdue for an engine check or something. He quickly looks around the room with the rest of the time he's got to make sure he didn't knock anything important over with his struggling. The doctor doesn't like his tools to be dirty unless the circumstances call for it.

Network Sample:

[For those of you just tuning into this feed, you're getting the last sounds of a giant hammer smashing into small metal bodies repeatedly. For those of you who have been tuned in for the last 5 minutes, you have been listening to five minutes of this sound and must be bored, patient, or curious. Lucky you, since all of that is about to be satisfied because there is a large robot, with a yellow eye and an eyepatch putting his face absurdly close to the camera. He pulls back only to shove a massive hand holding the remains of one of Hypatia's drones. From the mangled makes, it looks like the kind that would operate a fire hose.]

I got three questions.

First, th' frag is this thing and are there more? 'Cause if I get anymore of that stuff sprayed on me, there's gonna be a lot more of these things endin' up smashed. And where's this place supposed to be anyway? Ain't anything I recognise and this definitely isn't our tech.

[Where was he?

Oh shit. Right. Third question.]

Any Decepticons on this floating piece of junk?

[Subtlety? No. Fuck you. This is Breakdown and it's called asking.]