GRIMLOCK

Affiliation: Loosely associated with the Autobots, but primarily loyalty lies with the Dinobots

Function: Dinobot Commander
Alt mode:  Tyrannosaurus Rex
Weapon: Guardian Blaster

First Cartoon Appearance: none, perhaps will be included in a future Hasbro.com " webisode"

First Comics Appearance: Transformers Collectors' Club, The Official Magazine, Issue #13 (comic story portion)

Character profile as published in Transformers Collector Club, Official Magazine, Issue 13 Feb/March 2007:
Grimlock knew Bludgeon's words on Kia were meaningless. Exile? With Megatron and the other Decepticon leaders rusting in junk heaps across the galaxy, the Decepticons would never fade quietiIy into the night. Exile was merely an excuse for consolidation of power. No matter where Bludgeon went, chaos and death would follow, and so Grimlock would as well.

Taking the Dinobots and a group of trusted Autobot volunteers with him, he left Cybertron over Optimus Prime's objections, knowing all the while that if Prime really wanted to'stop him, he could. His refitted Decepticon battle cruiser, Graviton, left Cybertron with a full crew and armories bursting at the seams with the most powerful armaments he could muster. More than a match for any of Bludgeon's ships, Graviton would become the most feared profile in the Decepticons' targeting database,

Over the years, Grimlock spent lives of his troops whittling down. Bludgeon's army - stopping them wherever they went, keeping them on the run, "punishing them every time :~ they paused to rest. Grimlock made it his personal goal to track down and smash every last Decepticon. He and his crew swore an oath that they would never return to Cybertron until Decepticons never again set foot on a planet's surface.

Years went by without a single word from home, until the day a transwarp communications drone tracked the Graviton into orbit around Vaine. Optimus Prime was ordering Grimlock to return - not to Cybertron, but to Earth. A signa! had been intercepted by one of the Sol system listening posts - a signal that carried a dreaded, familiar voice. It seemed Megatron was alive, and summoning his warriors back to his side. Leaving Ultra Magnus in charge, Grimlock took one of the shuttles - and left without hesitation to rejoin the Autobots on Earth. If there was to be a reprise of this old, famiar story, Grimlock would see to it that he was the one to write the final chapter.

Weapons and Abilities: Grimlock's upgraded Guardian Blaster fires a focused ionized quark plasma burst. This burst is formed by energy harvested from baby pocket universes formed in a dimensionally folded magnetic cage. The universes are destroyed forming the blast, giving each shot functionally limitless energy, though the dimensional transfer is not one hundred percent efficient.

Weaknesses: Aside from his poor attitude in the face of authority and his slow speed, he's pretty much the toughest and strongest there is. His Guardian Blaster takes nearly three seconds to recharge between shots.

official character profile from package tech spec:  "Me Grimlock!"  Grimlock keeps a collection of the parts he's torn off his Decepticon enemies.  His super-thick ultramantium skin in both robot and dinosaur mode is coated in energy absorbing materials making him nearly impervious to damage.  There are many who might say much the same thing about his mind.  He is actually quite smart, but a programming flaw in his speech centers gives him only the most basic communications skills.  He dislikes the weak, but is dedicated to the protection of those he views as lesser creatures.  The only thing he hates more than weakness, in fact, is those who exploit the weak.

To the left, the art of professional graphic artist Matt Kuphaldt, who was nice enough to share with us some of his work including other Transformers illustrations on his official website.