Springload (RID)

"Thieves! You think you can follow me to the treasure? And then what? Wrest it away?! Never!"

- Springload in Rumble in the Jungle.

Springload is a Decepticon frog like Amphiboid treasure hunter. He turns into a Ford Bronco farming pickup truck. Springload is quite franklty insane a side effect of his relentless and fruitless pursuit of the mythical city of Doradus.

Season 1
Springload's long search for Doradus resulted in him trashing museum staff and guards alike. He was imprisoned aboard the Alchemor in a stasis pod, and broke free when the ship crashed on Earth. He resumed his search in a South American forest, attempting to interrogate stone carvings in the belief they knew where Doradus was. The Autobots Bumblebee and Strongarm tracked him down, pursuing him into a ruined temple. His acidic skin allowed him to break free of his pursuers and after the pair narrowly escaped a collapsing room, Springload believed they had died and become ghosts. Strongarm impersonated a spirit and told him he was unworthy to find Doradus, confusing Springload enough to allow Bumblebee to trap him in a stone box.

In One of Our Mini-Cons Is Missing, Springload was released from his pod by Quillfire, whose pod had been damaged in an accident, allowing him to escape. Seeing the Amphiboid's ferocity, the cowardly Quillfire quickly convinced Springload to join him (and provide protection) by claiming he was in touch with the spirits of Doradus. Escaping the scrapyard, the two eventually broke into a nearby human military base and commandeer a giant experimental tank; Quillfire assured his increasingly skeptical partner that the human vehicle would carry them to Doradus. The tank proved adept at keeping the Decepticons safe, up until the Mini-cons Jetstorm and Slipstream were deployed, slipping into the control room. Springload wound up accidentally kicking Quillfire in the scuffle, who accused his partner of harming "the leader of the revolution". Realizing that his companion had been lying to him all this time, Springload attacked him on purpose for his crime. The Mini-Cons basically got to stand back and let the two Decepticons take themselves and the tank out, with Springload thwapping a control panel with his tongue, electrocuting himself. The Mini-Cons then forced the now-quill-less Quillfire to carry Springload out of the tank, burning Quillfire's hands in the process. Both Decepticons were then put back into functional stasis pods.

Season 2
After Steeljaw broke into the scrapyard in Misdirection, he deactivated Springload's stasis pod, alongside several others, as part of a bid to bolster Glowstrike's forces. When Thunderhoof brought up Steeljaw's past failures at leadership, Steeljaw informed the Decepticons of his alliance with Glowstrike, and gave them coordinates to follow while he remained at the scrapyard. The escapees later reconvened at Steeljaw's coordinates, where they was inspected by Glowstrike, who seemed pleased by the new cadre of "elite warriors".

In Bumblebee's Night Off, Springload became convinced by Steeljaw that he would show him the way to Doradus, which opted Springload on a mission to a rail yard to secure some high-grade power cable, where he also managed to get the jump on Grimlock when the Dinobot found the cable first. As the tired Bumblebee managed to end up shooting Grimlock instead of Springload, the Decepticon jumped onto a nearby departing train and rode cackling into the night.

In Portals, Springload made a cameo as he gathered with Steeljaw's other remaining followers on the roof of the Island. Steeljaw updated them on his plans to overthrow Glowstike, until she and Saberhorn arrived to talk with Steeljaw alone.

In Decepticon Island (Part 1) and in Decepticon Island (Part 2), for reasons unknown, Springload was not present when the Autobots raided "Decepticon Island" and flash-froze its criminal population and he was therefore left at large on Earth.

Season 3
Months later, Springload appeared in Sphere of Influence as he found the Autobots fighting over an orb which he recognized as the Sphere of Doradus, a relic that -according to legend- contained a map to Doradus, revealed only to the one that would open it. The Sphere's mind-warping allure had the Autobots fighting each other to possess it, allowing Springload to snatch it away. His single-minded devotion to finding the city didn't so much shield him from the Sphere's effects as work in concert with them, thus he was able to operate at his normal manic level. He headed to the nearest particle accelerator, intending to use its energy beam to open the sphere and at last learn the location of Doradus. The meddling Autobots caught up with him again, and in the resulting struggle which they covered Springload and Grimlock punched him twice, the Sphere was smashed and Springload was captured. Set back yet again, Springload swore he would find Doradus someday...

Personality
Springload's main focus is finding Doradus, which he has gone as far as to ask statues and objects about the city's location. He is known to be quite dangerous around other Cybertronians, due to his acid covered skin. On his first search for Doradus on Earth, he even kept Bumblebee and Strongarm from pursuing him a few times. He also appeared gullible for falling for Strongarm's impersonation of a spirit thus leading him to be captured. When he was freed by Quillfire, he did not seem to be thankful only to still be determined in locating Doradus. He was goaded into Quillfire's talk of finding Doradus through hearing the spirits but soon realized he was lying during their chase, in a stolen human tank, by the Autobots.

Abilities
Springload's skin armor is covered in acid, which allows him to gain the advantage in taking down enemies at will. He has a long tongue that is also covered in acid. He is able to kick his enemies with his spring legs that allows him to hop like an actual Earth based frog.

Quillfire
Springload was freed by Quillfire, who had lied about hearing the "spirits" and tricked Springload into finding Doradus. Quillfire offered Springload an alliance as they managed to escape the scrapyard and hijack a military tank as their transportation. However, the pair were intercepted by Autobots and soon fought Drift's Mini-Cons inside the tank. When Springload accidentally kicked Quillfire, this resulted in Quillfire being seen by Springload as a deceiver who lied about the "spirits" and Doradus before attacking him. The pair's alliance came to an end and they were soon taken down by the Autobots to be placed back in stasis pods.

After being freed from their stasis capsule by Steeljaw, Springload and Quillfire seem to have no hatred against one another.

Season 1

 * "Rumble in the Jungle" (Debut)
 * "One of Our Mini-Cons Is Missing"

Season 2

 * "Misdirection" (Cameo, non-speaking)
 * "Bumblebee's Night Off"
 * "Portals" (Cameo, non-speaking)

Season 3

 * "Sphere of Influence"

Trivia

 * Springload seems to always ask statues or objects where Doradus is.
 * He shares the last word "load" in his name with Overload.
 * Speaking of, Springload's name has a lot of depth to it. Springload refers to 'spring loaded', containing a compressed or stretched spring pressing one part against another. This method can shoot missiles in toys, and it refers to his frog mode; he springs in the air. Next, 'Load' refers to his alt. mode, the truck; you can LOAD things in the bed. Finally, 'Spring' is also when frogs reproduce and become most active. Whew!

Gallery
Springload/Gallery