TRANSFORMERS: Revisiting the Characters of Generation 1 - BRAWN

 TRANSFORMERS:  Revisiting the Characters of Generation 1

    "Might over microchips!" - Brawn, 1984.

AUTOBOT

Name - BRAWN

Function - Demolitions

Series Debut - 1984 / Wave 1

Sub-Group - None

BACKGROUND...

    Brawn was one of the original Autobots marooned on Earth long ago.  As he sees it, this new world is a "hostile environment" and he is eager to face the challenge of discovering it.  Despite his small size, Brawn is the second strongest among the Earth Autobots.  One punch from him could bring down a small building!  He has a "tough guy" personality to go along with his strength and sometimes harbors resentment over those weaker than himself.  

    Brawn transforms into a dark green armored jeep.  This vehicle mode is capable of handling extremely rough terrain.  His heavy armor will protect him from various types of artillery fire, but unfortunately he is susceptible to attack from electromagnetic waves.

    Brawn participated in multiple missions on Earth to thwart the Decepticon's schemes.  He was noted for being the Autobot that got his hands on Megatron's fusion cannon and blasted him with it.  Later, in 2005, following the Decepticon's takeover of Cybertron, Brawn was stationed on one of Cybertron's moons, helping his Autobot brothers to prepare for a future assault to retake the planet.  Unfortunately, while attempting to make an energon run to power the attack, Brawn ended up as the first casualty in the Battle of Autobot City.

MY THOUGHTS...

    Brawn was a great character!  When the easiest, most accessible Transformers for a kid to buy are the smallest ones - how great was it that Brawn was the second strongest?  This little mini-car looked tough with his dark green armor plates!  You could really imagine him throwing down on the Decepticons!  

    Way back when, the neighborhood kids and I would have these big backyard battles with our action figures every Saturday during the summer.  To grow my army quickly, I would get my allowance on Friday and go buy 2 mini-cars.  I bought Brawn and Bumblebee at the same time.  Plus, at the time they had the bonus mini-spy promotion running.  So for just over $6, I had 4 Transformer cars!  Brawn was a great asset to my team with his strength and armor!

    Me, personally, I dispute Brawn's death in Transformers: The Movie.  He had been shot by Megatron's fusion cannon before in the episode "Fire on the Mountain".  He was hit straight in the chest and he survived just fine.  Who knows though?  I guess it's possible Megatron was low on power that day...

    Standing-in for the original G1 Brawn, is Titans Returns Brawn from 2017.  This was a great homage to the original's cartoon look.  Instead of the claw-like hands of the G1 toy, they gave him nice, big, Decepticon-punching fists!  A very cool figure!

Mini-cars from the original G1 catalog!!

    (Information on the character's lore was taken from the Sunbow Transformers cartoon series, including the Movie and the figure's original Tech-Spec.)