Brainstorm (Primax)

Brainstorm believes that all of society's problems can be resolved so long as ideas can be developed free of outside constraints. This is understandable, as Brainstorm is a never-ending font of ideas. Even when he isn't consciously working on one of his projects or even when he's in the middle of a fight, new ideas are the background noise of his mind. Brainstorm thinks so much, he sometimes causes his brain to overheat. He looks forward to a time when military demands no longer frame his creative output.

Brainstorm is at least partly responsible for developing the Headmaster process. It's sometimes hard to tell how much of it was his doing and how much was his Headmaster partner Arcana's, the two work together so seamlessly.

Brainstorm was quite different in Japan's Headmasters animated series. See below for details.


 * Japanese name: Cana (see below)
 * Italian name: Goblin
 * French name (Canada): Intélect
 * Chinese name (Taiwan): Burn

Marvel Comics continuity
After Optimus Prime and his troops aboard the Ark went missing, Brainstorm was one of several under the leadership of Fortress Maximus. Their faction was mired in a seemingly endless war with a band of Decepticons led by Scorponok, in a struggle so pointless and self-perpetuating that Fortress Maximus decided to leave Cybertron and its war and settle on the peaceful planet Nebulos. Brainstorm followed Fortress Maximus's lead, building the Steelhaven and departing their war-torn home.

It would not be so easy. The Nebulans were xenophobic towards the strange robots which invaded their world, and after several missteps in communication, Fortress Maximus, Brainstorm, and a handful of others surrendered their heads as hopeful proof of their benevolence and compliance.

When the Decepticons arrived on Nebulos, Fortress Maximus and Brainstorm convinced Galen to attempt the creation of hybrid warriors through a bio-mechanical engineering process. An experimental surgeon named Arcana constructed the necessary equipment based on the Autobots' theories and underwent the process himself along with several other Nebulans, binary bonding with Brainstorm.

''During an adventure that happened at some unspecified point that was logically impossible given the circumstances, Brainstorm and the other Autobot Headmasters fought the Decepticon Headmasters while the Autobot Targetmasters were held captive by the Decepticons. Mindwipe hypnotized Brainstorm, causing him to crash into Hardhead, and in general, the Autobots put up a terrible fight. But Brainstorm refused to give up and abandon their captured comrades. The four attacked the Decepticons' Fortress of Despair and were overwhelmed, but because the Autobots learned to work together with their new Nebulan partners, they were able to rescue the Targetmasters. ''

The new Headmasters managed to drive off the Decepticons, but also inadvertently created a new "arms race", as the Decepticons later created Headmasters of their own, and both sides also implemented Targetmaster warriors as well. Fearing things could only get worse for Nebulos, Fortress Maximus and Galen took the excuse of an intercepted distress signal from Earth to abandon Nebulos and prevent the war from causing any further harm to the planet.

On the way to Earth, Brainstorm re-engineered Fortress Maximus to be larger and stronger than ever before. Then, he and Arcana managed to triangulate the Autobot signal to Mount St. Hilary. This led into their first battle with Scorponok's forces on Earth and to the death of Galen.

As the Steelhaven orbited the Earth, Brainstorm was kept busy building Goldbug a new body, repairing the injured Fortress Maximus and assisting in the creation of the Autobot Pretenders. Unfortunately, those projects used up most of the group's available resources and prevented the proper recreation of Optimus Prime. The project proceeded despite Brainstorm's accurate warnings of failure.

''Brainstorm was displaced to Limbo along with a handful of other Autobots when Rodimus Prime traveled to the past with a group of Autobots of his own. ''

Later, he was one of the victims of a rogue Autobot Mark V Guardian droid, which resulted in him being thrown from the Ark and landing at the feet of Optimus Prime. Brainstorm's flaming body helped contribute to the Autobot leader regaining his desire to fight.

Brainstorm was killed when Unicron ravaged Cybertron in 1991. Even Brainstorm's vast intellect failed him when confronted with the devil himself, so he simply screamed and shot desperately until Unicron scooped him up. He was quite tasty.

American cartoon continuity

 * Voice actor: Michael Bell (English)

Brainstorm was first seen on Cybertron, touting his new theory that an integration of human and Autobot would dramatically enhance their fighting abilities. Most of the other Autobots, though, thought he was a crackpot. Things turned around when he and a group of Autobots met a band of freedom fighters while stranded on the planet Nebulos. With several comrades kidnapped and the safety of the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber in jeopardy, the Autobots arranged to bond with the Nebulan soldiers. Their heads were reconstructed to accommodate Nebulan passengers and then "transform" around their partners as personal battle armor.

With the help of their partners, the Autobot Headmasters freed their comrades and drove off the Decepticons. Unfortunately, their foes then joined forces with the freedom fighters' enemies, a group of evil machinesmiths called the Hive. They also created a new form of binary bonding called Targetmasters. The revitalized Decepticons returned and engaged the Autobots in battle anew. Mindwipe detected the key on Brainstorm and managed to disarm him. Several Hive agents then swarmed Brainstorm and removed the key from him, but he was able to run a full spectrum exo-scan on Nightstick, one of the Targetmaster partners, before they got away. With that information, Brainstorm was able to recreate the Targetmaster process for the Autobots.

Returning to Cybertron in pursuit of the key and the new Decepticon city-base, Scorponok, Brainstorm and the others joined forces with Optimus Prime, and their partners were instrumental in reversing the chamber's power to usher in a new Golden Age for Cybertron. In the aftermath, Brainstorm and the Headmasters returned to Nebulos to clear out the Hive's machines and restore the planet to peace and prosperity.

The Headmasters

 * Voice actor: Ryōichi Tanaka (Japanese)
 * Voice actor: John Culkin (English)

Atlus PS2 game
Brainstorm, believing he was the match of the Decepticon leader, challenged Megatron's march on Zel Samine as his forces made their way through an array of wind turbines. They handed his aft to him, leaving Brainstorm shocked and confused; how could his frontal attack against superior forces have failed?

He retreated to formulate a new plan.

IDW comics continuity
Brainstorm was in an early roll call of troops serving under Optimus Prime shortly after his elevation to Prime-hood and was present at a review when the new autobot leader first encountered (and was chewed out) by the veteran Ironhide.

Brainstorm briefly appeared among the Autobot troops fighting Megatron and the Decepticons on Cybertron in the distant past.

In the recent past, ie during the year leading up to a Decepticon defeat of the Autobots, Brainstorm served as a scientists and engineer aboard the autobot research station of Kimia. His research into the Pretender process led to several breakthroughs which caused Prowl to assign Perceptor to him in an effort to 'revive' the hero Kup.

Generation One

 * Brainstorm (1987)
 * Japanese ID number: C-104
 * Accessories: "Arcana" Headmaster pilot, left & right "High-Energy Photon Pulse Cannons"




 * Brainstorm transforms into a turquoise Cybertronic fighter craft. Both of Brainstorm's twin pistols attach to the front of his alt-mode's nosecone to extend it and augment it with two canard wings.  As with all larger Headmaster toys, Brainstorm features both a cockpit suitable for his partner, Arcana, to sit in and an abbreviated Tech Specs bar graph inside his chest hidden under a hinged panel.  When a compatible Headmaster head is plugged into the socket on Brainstorm's body, the bars will show three of that character's Tech Specs.