Gears (G1)


 * Gears is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.



Gears hates Earth, a lush, green planet practically as unlike his cozy, gray, metallic homeworld as possible. He grumbles and complains about being shipwrecked on it -- complains and grumbles to a ridiculous extent, until he becomes a source of amusement, rather than negativity. This is usually his intent -- unlike his fellow Mini Vehicle Huffer, Gears has a desire to help his fellow Autobots see good in a bad situation. Still, he does get depressed from time to time.

Gears is strong and tough, not so much in lifting but in endurance, and carrying heavy loads with little effort, be they energon cubes, disabled Autobots, or potatoes for the farmers' market. He is fitted with infrared vision sensors.

In robot mode, Gears can release controlled bursts of compressed air from his feet, launching himself to altitudes over 100,000 feet, and floating back down. In doing so, he must be careful not to lose air pressure before coming close enough to the ground for a safe landing.


 * Nickname: Muscles
 * South American name: Pick-Up
 * French-Candian name: Rollo
 * Italian name: Mulo
 * Hungarian name: Fuvaros (meaning Hauler)

Marvel Comics continuity

 * (Note: Events in italics occurred only in the Marvel UK books.)

Shortly after arriving on Earth, Gears teamed up with Spider-Man, using his ability to launch himself upward using compressed air and fly alongside the superhero in an attempt to reach the mountaintop Decepticon fortress. When Gears ran low on power, he began to fall before Spidey caught him in webbing. Although Spider-Man's webbing is extremely strong, the Autobot's weight threatened to break it, and Spider-Man completed Gears' ascent using the webbing for assistance. After a fight with the Decepticons, Megatron caused Gears (and human Sparkplug Witwicky) to fall through a hole in the fortress. Although Spidey was able to rescue Sparkplug, and attempted to catch Gears as he had done before, the added momentum of the fall proved too much strain on the webbing, and Gears crashed to the ground. Gears was quickly patched up enough to tell the Autobots that Megatron had gotten what he wanted (a fuel conversion process) from Sparkplug. His complete restoration was seemingly interrupted when, following recriminations, Ratchet needed to drive Sparkplug to the hospital to treat his sudden heart attack.

When the Autobots overheard Shockwave's plans to drop the captured head of their leader, Optimus Prime, in a nearby swamp, Gears was among the Autobots who traveled to the swamp with Prime's body. However, the head was actually a decoy head, which, when attached to the body, caused it to go on a murderous rampage. Buzzsaw shot Gears right in the face!

''Gears was eventually restored, however, and joined Cliffjumper and Windcharger in searching for Sludge during the Dinobot Hunt. Their mission was suddenly cut short by the arrival of Soundwave and the Decepticons, who shot the Minibots in the back and took them prisoner. Bumblebee soon rescued his disabled comrades from the Decepticon cruiser, but they were too badly injured and remained inactive for some time thereafter. ''

Gears was repaired in time to witness a battle between Grimlock and Blaster for Autobot leadership on Earth's moon. While Autobots around him cheered vehemently for either combatant, Gears seemingly didn't really care, choosing to watch in stoic silence.

Gears was among the Autobots who answered Buster Witwicky's distress call from just outside the Decepticons' headquarters in the Arctic. Shortly thereafter, when an Underbase-powered Starscream announced that he would "destroy the cities of New York, Tokyo, and Buenos Aires," Gears was among the allied Autobot/Decepticon teams sent ahead to New York City. As Starscream approached, Goldbug led a team of Autobots which included Gears, and the entire team was destroyed with a "single wave of Starscream's hand"! Oops.

Gears's torso, head, and right arm were shown in the midst of attempted repairs while Optimus Prime explained the bleak condition of their fallen to Cloudburst and Landmine.

Animated continuity

 * Voice actor: Don Messick (US), Toshirō Ishii (Japan)

Gears was one of the original crew of Autobots on the Ark spaceship when it crash-landed on Earth millions of years ago. When he awoke in 1984, he was reformatted by Teletraan I so that is alt-mode was an Earth-based pickup truck. Not a combatant, he didn't participate in too many of the Autobots' most famous battles against the Decepticons, but he did his part despite his complaints. Gears' infrared sensors were useful in capturing Ravage when the Decepticon was caught trespassing at the Autobot headquarters.

Megatron stole a chip from Gears to complete his Solar Needle, a weapon that will pierce the sun itself. The removal of the chip altered Gears' personality from cranky to jovial. Nobody wanted to fix him, but, sadly, if they didn't the Solar Needle would destroy the sun. Tough choices.

In 2005, Gears was stationed on Moonbase One under Optimus Prime's command. It is unknown whether he left for Earth with Prime and the Dinobots to repel Megatron's attack on Autobot City, or if he remained behind. If he did, his chances aren't that good, as only Jazz and Cliffjumper were seen escaping from Unicron's smelting pits.

Dreamwave Comics continuity
Gears did not feature in the first volume of Dreamwave's Generation 1 series, though it is assumed he was present during the Ark II disaster and the events that followed it, as he is featured in the second volume "War and Peace" alongside other members of Optimus Prime's earthbound Autobots. Presumably, then, he was one of the Autobots too severely damaged by the Decepticons to be immediately reactivated in the first volume.

IDW Hearts of Steel continuity
Gears participated in the pursuit of Astrotrain, helped clear rubble, and got hammered by Decepticon artillery. His altmode appears to be a boxcar.

Coloring books
In The Autobot Smasher, Gears is hauling a load of potatoes with plans to sell them for oil and gas money. (Really.) He is tricked by the Decepticons into taking a detour, which leads him to their "Autobot Rest Stop" - a car crusher disguised with pillows and a set of curtains. Gears rolls into the Rest Stop and is enjoying himself when Soundwave activates the machine, crushing Gears flat.

Gears is later restored by Ratchet to no ill effect.


 * (Note: This coloring book was illustrated by Steve Ditko, co-creator of none other than... the amazing Spider-Man! Coincidence? Probably.)

Generation 1

 * Gears (Mini-Vehicle, 1984/1985/2004)
 * Japanese ID number: 85


 * Part of the first assortment of Autobot Mini Vehicles, Gears transforms into a blue and red "penny racer"-proportioned pickup truck of indeterminable model. The toy was originally from Takara's Microchange line in the same coloration. He was not made available as part of Japan's normal retail Transformers line until the 2004 reissue box set of "Minibots", also containing Bumblebee, Cosmos, Huffer, Powerglide and Warpath.


 * There were a few variations of Gears south of the border, where he was known as "Pick-Up". Initial releases had the same plastic colors but gave him a different robot-mode sticker, while later toys had the plastic colors changed to make him a red truck with orange robot parts. In some European markets, a maroon and white version was released, possibly to bring the character of Swerve over without the use of a new mold.


 * This mold was used to make the Malignus Pick-Up, the Autobot Small Foot and was retooled to make Swerve.

Trivia



 * In his first appearance, Gears sported a more humanoid character model that looked less like his toy than his final animation model. He would also use this model in the UK annual story And There Shall Come...a Leader!, while Sideswipe was inexplicably drawn with this model in the earlier UK story "The Enemy Within!".