Grimlock (G1)


 * Me Grimlock am Autobot Dinobot in Generation One and Maximal in Beast Wars portion of the Generation One continuity family.



Some Autobots wonder why Grimlock is even on their side. Dim-witted and sluggish, his disposition is much more suited to the Decepticons. After all, he values power and strength over wisdom and compassion, and furthermore, he doesn't really get along with most Autobots. When faced with a problem, his usual responses are to slice it with his energo-sword, tear it to pieces with his bare hands, or outright eat it. He is more willing to accept casualties than most of the Autobot leadership, and doesn't seem particularly concerned about the fleshies either. These things, coupled with his dislike of Optimus Prime, have led to a defection or two on Grimlock's part. He'd have no problem offing the Autobot leader if he thought he could get away with it, though.

What the Autobots don't realize is that the only thing he hates more than weakness is those who abuse their strength, meaning when push comes to shove, Grimlock will always fall in on the right side of the fence. And despite their disagreements, Grimlock holds a respect for Prime's strength and leadership.

Grimlock is the leader of the Dinobots, a small but powerful strike squad. Grimlock himself is extremely strong and durable, and is one of the few Transformers who can not only stand toe-to-toe with Optimus Prime and Megatron, but actually give them a run for their money. Despite his strength and prowess, Grimlock continually struggles with his pronouns.

"Me Grimlock no bozo, me Grimlock King!"

- Grimlock


 * Preliminary names: Tyrannobot / Trapjaw / Jawbreaker / Tyrex
 * Chinese name: Gāng Sǔo (鋼鎖, "Steel Lock")
 * French name (Canada): La Menace ("The Threat")
 * Hungarian name (The Movie): Mogorva ("Grimlock") in one of the dubs
 * Italian name: Tiran
 * Portuguese name (Brazil comics): Trancoso / Grunhido ("Grunt")
 * Portuguese name (Portugal cartoon): Implacável
 * Russian Tv dub name (6th channel): Смельчак ("Daredevil")

Generation One
While the Autobots remained dormant inside Mount St. Hilary, the Ark detected Cybertronian life. Dispatching a probe, the Ark learned that Shockwave had come to Earth and was wandering the Savage Land. The Ark used data gathered from the Savage Land to convert five of the dormant Autobots into the Dinobots. They traveled to fight Shockwave, but all combatants became trapped in a tar pit. The Dinobots were later freed by Ratchet and joined the Autobots from time to time, but they were usually seen wandering on their own under Grimlock's orders. At one point, the Dinobots had reverted to their base instincts due to their primary cybo-dendrons having burnt out (from all that time in the tar pit), so the Autobots had to go round up them. ''Decepticon interference led to Grimlock having a good old rumble with  Sludge that destroyed the town of Doonstown and left several Autobots badly injured. After being repaired by Ratchet, Grimlock dreamt of defeating Megatron before waking up and hitting the road for some adventures with the Dinobots and Joy Meadows.''

Grimlock was a powerful and arrogant warrior who believed he knew best. He ascended to the post of overall Autobot leader on several occasions, growing in the process and eventually, despite their original conflict, becoming Optimus' hand-picked lieutenant and likely successor. Early on, Blaster was a major thorn in his side, deserting his command. Later, he tended to fight with the straight-laced, logical Prowl.



Grimlock first showed an interest in becoming Autobot leader after the death of Optimus Prime and set off for the Ark with his fellow Dinobots to lobby for him. Finding the Autobots in battle with Trypticon, he entered the battle after a good deal of hesitation and the grateful Autobots proclaimed him their leader. The power instantly went to his head (literally, as he started wearing a crown) and his bullying style of command and lack of regard for humans soon alienated Blaster and Goldbug to the extent that they deserted.

''Enraged by the betrayal, Grimlock sent out patrols to search for him but instead they found Megatron and Grimlock ended up battling the returned Decepticon commander alongside Blades, Centurion and Action Force. He later led the Dinobots into battle with the Predacons to save Swoop and was prepared to kill Divebomb to stop him humiliating Swoop.''

When Wheeljack approached Grimlock with a new fuel idea that meant they would no longer be dependent on humans, Grimlock retorted that they would take what they wanted and then sent the Protectobots to track down Blaster and Goldbug. When they failed to return, he took the Ark into space in pursuit of Blast Off, who had been captured and comandeered by Blaster. Blast Off was captured but Blaster was not onboard, having been helped by four human children. Grimlock sentenced them to death as a way of drawing Blaster out but instead they were rescued by Sky Lynx. Grimlock led the Dinobots in pursuit until Blaster surrendered to protect them.

Grimlock sent up base on the moon while he inflicted punishment on Blaster. Increasingly paranoid, when Fortress Maximus' Autobot faction, including Goldbug, arrived on the scene, he saw them as a threat to his command, especially since they were planning to revive Optimus Prime, and challenged Fortress Maximus to a duel for leadership of the Autobots. He ended up fighting Blaster instead but in their absence the rest of the Autobots were attacked by Ratbat's Decepticons. Grimlock and Blaster ended up putting their differences aside and teaming up to turn the tide of the battle. The experience seemed to have a humbling effect on Grimlock and he accepted the command of a returned Optimus Prime.

One of the many casualties in an Underbase-powered Starscream's rampage, Grimlock was brought back on-line by Ratchet using Pretender technology stolen from Megatron. While Grimlock, along with Jazz and Bumblebee, handily defeated Megatron's minions, he was unable to save Ratchet when Megatron's base exploded.

Afterward, Grimlock, Jazz and Bumblebee briefly joined the Autobot resistance movement on Cybertron before attempting to return to Earth via trans-time dimensional portal. However, Thunderwing, seeking to crush the resistance's momentum, sent the latest incarnation of the Mayhem Attack Squad to destroy the three Autobot Pretenders. Infiltrating Autobase, the three Decepticons sabotaged the portal, teleporting all six Transformers (and the Micromaster Rescue Patrol) deep into the heart of Cybertron, where the Autobots discovered the resting place of their god, Primus.

Grimlock at first thought it was all a Decepticon trick and was skeptical that the Transformers even had a god. When the Keeper appeared, Grimlock demanded the ancient Transformer "prove it" by telling them the story of the Transformers' origin. The Keeper's story (complete with holographic slide-show) was suitably convincing, but unfortunately gave the Mayhem Attack Squad time to sneak up on the Autobots, and another battle ensued. The outnumbered Decepticons were no match for Grimlock and company, but Octopunch's last-ditch shot ricocheted off the Dinobot's back, waking Primus. A few seconds too late, the Autobots in Autobase repaired the portal, sending the lost Transformers to Earth. Grimlock immediately demanded they find the Earth-based Autobots to warn them of Unicron.

After rejoining Optimus Prime's forces, Grimlock, Jazz and Bumblebee formed a team in the search for the lost Creation Matrix. Traveling to VsQs, where Optimus Prime's funeral barge had crashed, the three began to search an abandoned science station for any clue as to the Matrix's whereabouts. While Bumblebee searched the computer logs, Grimlock went looking for the science team—only to discover they had all been killed. Before the Autobots could formulate a plan, Thunderwing attacked. Grimlock's first reaction was to attack, but not even all three of them could defeat the Decepticon leader. Instead, they were "saved" by the Matrix Spawn, which became Thunderwing's new target. The three Autobots searched the wrecked station independently and recovered the Matrix. Low on energon, the three attempted to return to their shuttle, but the moon's heavy gravity slowed them down, allowing Thunderwing to overtake them, defeat the three weakened Autobots and claim the Matrix for his own.

After Thunderwing's defeat, the Autobots sent a shuttle to VsQs to rescue Grimlock and the others, who were low on energon and on the verge of stasis lock. Grimlock was none too grateful for his rescue, instead berating himself for failing to destroy Thunderwing and guilty that he was alive while the other Dinobots were still deactivated. However, without Ratchet or the Matrix, the Autobots knew of no way to bring back their fallen. Grimlock sought Optimus' permission to travel to Hydrus Four and investigate the rumors of the substance Nucleon. When Optimus refused, Grimlock stole a shuttle and the bodies of the Dinobots and went anyway, which everyone really should have seen coming.

Once on Hydrus Four, Grimlock sought out the medi-center on the island of Farooth, where the well of Nucleon was kept. Along the way, he encountered the substance's three guardians, zombie-like mechanoids who attempted to bar visitors from tapping the Nucleon. Two engaged him in combat, but Grimlock dispatched them easily. Unlike destroying Decepticons, he could take no pleasure in his victories, which seemed pointless. He began to question his motives: Was he really trying to save the Dinobots, or just prove himself a better leader than Prime? By the time he reached the island of Farooth, Grimlock simply wanted the grim business done with.

At the well, Grimlock encountered the final guardian. The Hydrusian didn't want to fight, but instead warned him that Nucleon always came with unexpected side effects. To quell the doubts that had plagued him since his arrival, Grimlock decided to test the Nucleon on himself, plunging a hand into the well. Feeling a surge of power and no immediate side effects, Grimlock decided it had to be safe and went to work reviving the other Dinobots, ignoring the Hydrusian's parting words, "Time will tell."

With the Dinobots revived, Grimlock loaded up as much Nucleon as he could and returned to the Ark.  The Dinobots found it empty, as Primus had teleported the Earth-bound Transformers back to Cybertron. Electing not to waste time looking for the others, Grimlock ordered Swoop to set course for Cybertron while Sludge and Slag pumped the Nucleon into the Ark ' s life-support pods. The Dinobots were unaware that the life-support pods also held Megatron, as Grimlock had departed before Ratchet's rescue.



Grimlock was the first Transformer to begin feeling the Nucleon's effects. Before he even left Hydrus Four, he began suffering erratic joint locks. He tried to hide the symptoms as long as he could, but after Unicron's defeat, they began to worsen, until his entire body seized up during a battle. Hi-Q came to his rescue, recognizing that the Nucleon was still transforming Grimlock's body. Hi-Q accelerated the process, as the Nucleon granted Grimlock a new, more powerful body, but at the cost of his ability to transform.

Optimus Prime died from injuries sustained in the war, and named Grimlock his chosen successor (although Grimlock still had to put up with Dumb Prowl as his self-appointed advisor and conscience). While Prowl began naive negotiations with the Decepticons for continued peace, Grimlock had his Dinobots arrange precautionary measures against any treachery. Sure enough, the new Decepticon leader Bludgeon sabotaged the Autobot ships on Cybertron and took off to loot and plunder with his army. Thanks to Grimlock, though, the Autobots not only had a set of ships held in reserve, but the Dinobots had also placed tracking devices on the Decepticon shuttles, leading the Autobot pursuit force right to the planet Klo. Unfortunately, Grimlock's knack for forward-thinking ran a little short here, and he led his Dinobots into a trap as soon as the troops arrived on Klo. It seemed the Decepticons had discovered Grimlock's tracking device and anticipated their arrival. One massacre later and the only Autobots left alive were Grimlock, Prowl, Slag, Kup and Blaster. Despite their misfortunes, they managed to overcome the Decepticon hunting party sent after them, and carried the battle back to Bludgeon and his men. Luckily, a miracle arrived in the form of a resurrected Optimus Prime and his new friend, the awesomely powerful Last Autobot, who began spontaneously reviving all the Autobots who fell in battle with the Decepticons. Facing an ever growing number of fully recharged Autobots, Bludgeon fled with his remaining Decepticons, and Grimlock and the Autobots stood victorious.

Marvel UK future timelines
''Following their adventures on Quintessa and the war with Unicron, Grimlock and the Dinobots were stationed on Cybertron during the Autobot war effort to consolidate control over the planet. In 2008, the Decepticons staged a brazen and unprovoked attack on the Autobot location, prompting an incredible battle. Grimlock led the charge of his Dinobots, and literally began to "munch metal". When Smokescreen returned to Cybertron from the planet Junk with information, however, Grimlock exited the battle to attend a war room meeting with Rodimus Prime, Kup and Ultra Magnus. They learned from Smokescreen that Unicron had survived their last encounter, and his head had been drawn to Junk, where he then took over the minds of the Junkions and began forcing them to rebuild his lost body out of their planet. Realizing that the Decepticons were just pawns being used by Unicron to distract them, the Autobots realized the true battle awaited them on Junk. Rodimus Prime questioned whether he could pull enough troops away from the battle at hand to be of any use on Junk, but Grimlock reminded Roddy who he was talking to, and assured that his Dinobots would be more than enough firepower. Rodimus agreed, and brought Grimlock, Scattershot, Smokescreen and the rest of the Dinobots with him to confront Unicron. While Scattershot and Smokescreen distracted Unicron in the shuttle, Grimlock brought the Dinobots down to the planet and stopped the mind-warped Junkions from making any further repairs on Unicron's body. ''

''Later, Grimlock was part of Rodimus Prime's crew who came to Earth to free Autobot City from Quintesson occupation. ''

Earthforce
''In one alternate timeline, Grimlock found a way to revive his fellow Dinobots after their destruction in the Underbase Saga. This method may or may not have involved Nucleon, as it did in the main timeline, and Grimlock apparently did not or could not bring back the means for restoring all the Autobots in the Ark's life pods. With the Dinobots back together they came on strong, battling a new splinter group of Decepticons that had sprung up on Earth under Shockwave's command. Grimlock personally brought down both Shockwave and the Battlechargers himself. Despite their victory, Optimus Prime harangued Grimlock and his team for their brutal tactics, flying in the face of the "Autobot Code". This led to a shouting match between the two Autobots where Grimlock threatened to take his Dinobots and quit the Autobot army altogether. The situation deteriorated further into a physical brawl, but ultimately Prime and Grimlock knocked some sense into each other. With Unicron inching ever closer to Cybertron, Optimus Prime decided that the Autobots aboard the Ark were needed elsewhere, yet Earth still needed defenders. Therefore he promoted Grimlock to Autobot Commander: Earth. Grimlock was given his Dinobots, his fellow (former) Classic Pretenders, and the five Autobots recently reawakened by Galvatron as troops. In return for their autonomy, all Optimus Prime asked for was to show some restraint.''

''He was probably kidding. Or concussed. Whatever. ''

''From the beginning, Grimlock made it clear to his troops that they would not be fighting the war Prime's way. To get things done right, they'd have to toss the Autobot Code out the window. To demonstrate what he meant by this, Grimlock picked up a copy of the Autobot Code and tossed it out the window. Grimlock isn't big on metaphors. ''



''Shortly after Earthforce started up, Grimlock received a transmission from Shockwave, challenging him to a duel leader-to-leader. Grimlock vigorously accepted, and traveled 300 miles away to the coordinates Shockwave transmitted, deep in the Canadian wilderness during a snowstorm. Only problem was...he couldn't find Shockwave. Grimlock wandered around in the snow and ice for awhile until he found him, or rather, he found a snowman shaped like Shockwave with a sign out front saying "April Fools! -- Slag, Snarl, Sludge, Swoop". Two Predacons patroling the area had the misfortune of coming across Grimlock right at that moment. What happened next was censored by the Comic Code Authority, Mothers Against Violence, and viewers like you. He later headed back to the base with the biggest snowball he could carry. (Wonder what he was going to do with it?) ''

''Later, Grimlock made a deal with the Survivors, lending them aid to rescue their Decepticon comrade Carnivac in exchange for them joining Earthforce under his command. ''

''After Wheeljack finished the construction of Autobot Earthbase, Grimlock gave him a hearty slap on the back as congratulations on a job well done. After they learned Wheeljack had effectively locked them out of the base with the defense grid fully active and hunting for targets, Grimlock hung Wheeljack upside-down by his ankle and smothered his face in the snow. (Centuries later, the good guys are apparently still this dumb.) As if that weren't enough, Soundwave staged a full-scale Decepticon assault before the grid could be repaired, putting Earthforce on the defensive. Grimlock took his Dinobots out to kick butt, and threw his energo-sword right through Octane's wing. They soon drove off the Decepticons. ''

''It was just one annoyance after another for Grimlock when Optimus Prime came to inspect the newly finished Earthbase. First, he and the Dinobots had to hide the fact that Slag was an unbridled killing machine unfit to wear the Autobot symbol. That wacky Slag -- always killin' folk. Then Dumb Prime wanted to use Wheeljack's Bodyshop to revive one of the most obnoxious Autobots on Grimlock's hit list -- the vanity-obsessed Tracks. Grimlock tried to sabotage the revival process several times, but eventually Tracks was brought on-line anyway, while Grimlock got forcibly and painfully dragged through the auto-restoration machine. To make things worse, Prime assigned Tracks to Earthforce, meaning Grimlock had to put up with him permanently. ''

''When Snarl was diagnosed with the fatal disease Corrodia Gravis, Grimlock and Earthforce had to seek out Starscream, the only Transformer capable of giving his Dinobot comrade a compatible systems boost. To make things even more complicated, they found the Decepticons at war with each other at their Louisiana headquarters, with Megatron, Shockwave and their Mayhem assassins trying to take out Starscream and Soundwave. Forced to choose sides, Grimlock sent Sludge and Swoop to protect Starscream from the assassins while he and the others dealt with the two former Decepticon leaders. After Slag charbroiled Megatron and Grimlock plunged his energo-sword through Shockwave's chest, they gave up the fight and took off. Starscream then agreed to the systems boost in exchange for Grimlock's promise to help if Megatron tried to assassinate him again. ''

''After Superion went crazy due to a cerebro-shell, Grimlock and the Autobots were forced to give an interview and a guided tour of their base to the reporter Irwin Spoon in exchange for his help removing the shell from their friend. Grimlock was less than thrilled. He probably was relieved when the nosy human got kidnapped and brainwashed by Bombshell and the Stunticons -- at least Grimlock got to skip his interview! ''

Another Time and Place
In the months that followed the war on Klo, as more and more Autobots began to succumb to the Nucleon's effects and lose their ability to transform, Grimlock's guilt over his actions grew. When he heard the medical facilities on Hydrus-Four had reopened and discovered a means of reversing Nucleon's effect, he jumped at the chance. Taking his fellow Dinobots back there, Grimlock and his comrades ran smack into a Decepticon trap. Bludgeon and his crew had followed the Dinobots to Hydrus-Four and cut in ahead of them, taking control of the med-facility and installing a Holocaust Trigger device, which totally overwhelmed the Dinobots' equilibrium as they entered, knocking them out. Grimlock awoke hours later to find Bludgeon's sickly-skullhead grinning at him, as the Master of Metallikato planned to use the Nucleon to revitalize his warriors and bring the Great Megatron himself back to life. Luckily, Optimus Prime and Prowl arrived with a rescue party in time to stop the macabre resurrection ceremony from being completed. Bludgeon was destroyed, and Prime and Grimlock personally ripped apart the half-reanimated Megatron. Normally, it never ends, but this time it truly did.

Generation 2
After the coming of the Last Autobot, much of the Autobot army scattered. Grimlock took command of a small commando team, leading strikes against Decepticon outposts across the galaxy. After encountering seventeen conquered worlds, cyberformed into "little Cybertrons", Grimlock realized the problem was greater than he had originally imagined and contacted Optimus Prime. After comparing notes in an abandoned base, the Autobots were captured by Jhiaxus. While Optimus began to despair after learning Jhiaxus' origins, Grimlock refused to give up, bolstering the Autobot leader's spirits as they led an escape from Jhiaxus' flagship.



Despite his loyalty to Autobot ways, Grimlock still chafed under Optimus' leadership. Disobeying his orders (which somehow still surprised Optimus), Grimlock led a raiding party against Jhiaxus, seeking to destroy the Twilight. Unfortunately, the Dinobot failed to anticipate Jhiaxus' increased security measures, and the mission cost Red Alert and Mirage their lives. Their deaths forced Grimlock to question his methods and his attitude toward Optimus Prime. He admitted that he envied Prime for the loyalty he inspired in the Autobots, and that this, not the leadership of the Autobots, was what he'd truly desired. Thus, no one was more surprised than Grimlock when Optimus Prime placed the Dinobot in command while he traveled back to Cybertron.

Grimlock's command status proved invaluable when Optimus met Megatron on Earth alone, intending to form an alliance against Jhiaxus. Megatron beat Optimus half to death, and Prime only lived because Grimlock disobeyed orders and led an Autobot brigade to Earth. When Megatron finally agreed to the alliance, Grimlock showed a great dislike for having to work with him, as well as the insults Megatron threw his way.

Eventually, the Empire attacked Autobase on Earth, with Grimlock gunning down scores of its troops. The alliance between Autobots and Decepticons gave Grimlock a chance to work alongside two new Rotor Force members, Leadfoot and Manta Ray, both of whom were impressed with Grimlock's style. With the Empire came the Swarm, and with both Optimus and Megatron out of contact, it fell to Grimlock and the Predacon Razorclaw to organize the Transformers in a desperate defensive action. They utilized a combination of shield generators, sky snipers, thermal mines...basically anything they could throw at the Swarm. His plans allowed the Autobots to hold out just long enough — barring a few casualties, like his comrade Slag — for Megatron to arrive with the Rheanimum that ensured their survival. During this operation, Manta Ray deliberately ignored Razorclaw's orders in favor of Grimlock's and, when the Predacon attempted to execute him for treason, Leadfoot cut Razorclaw in two, securing them as new recruits for the Autobots.

In the end, Optimus Prime united with the Swarm and cleansed it of its dark impulses. The Swarm was dispersed, and Grimlock celebrated a victory with his united forces.

In the convention-exclusive story "Alignment", which ties up plot threads from Generation 2'', Grimlock sacrifices himself in the final battle against the Liege Maximo. (Despite being written by Simon Furman, this story was not approved by Hasbro and was produced for an unofficial convention, so is non-canon by rule.)''

Fun Publications Classics comics


He liked to call Ultra Magnus "Little Prime".

American cartoon continuity

 * Voice Actor: Gregg Berger (US), Takurō Kitagawa (Japan), Edgar Fruitier (French Canadian)



When mysterious tremors shook the Autobot base, Wheeljack's investigation revealed strange objects behind a rock wall. After removing the wall, the Autobots found a cave full of dinosaur bones. The Autobots decided the idea of dinosaurs was interesting and researched the prehistoric beasts. Wheeljack and Ratchet asked Optimus Prime if they could build robot dinosaurs, and Prime agreed this was a good idea, only God knows why. Grimlock, Slag, and Sludge were built and unveiled to the Autobots, but the Dinobots were dimwitted and violent, and they attacked their makers, Frankenstein's monster style. Grimlock blasted Teletraan I with his fire-breath, damaging it. Optimus Prime decreed that the Dinobots "must be destroyed." However, Wheeljack convinced him instead to lock them away, and the trio were herded back into the cave and buried alive.

Later, the Decepticons took over a hydroelectric plant, and when the Autobots arrived to stop them, the Autobots were defeated and captured. Wheeljack, Ratchet, and Bumblebee, left behind at Autobot base to finish repairing Teletraan-I, decided to go against Optimus' orders and release the Dinobots, but not before upgrading their brains to be smarter and more obedient. After the Dinobots were reactivated, Wheeljack asked them to save their friends. Grimlock said he would obey...this time. They successfully attacked the Decepticons and freed the imprisoned Autobots. Optimus forgave Wheeljack, Ratchet, and Bumblebee for disobeying his orders and welcomed the victorious Dinobots back to the Autobots.

After a meteor surging with unknown energies struck the Earth, Optimus ordered the three Dinobots to guard it. He was so pleased with the Dinobots he asked Ratchet and Wheeljack to build two more. Meanwhile, Megatron was frustrated at the Dinobots' success and sent Soundwave to probe them for potential weaknesses. Reading the Dinobots' minds, he discovered that Grimlock was arrogant and believed he would make a better leader than the weak Optimus Prime. Megatron decided to use this to his advantage and approached them himself. He played to Grimlock's jealousy and agreed with him that the strongest should be leader. The Dinobots declared Optimus Prime their enemy.



Realizing the meteorite was due to explode, Optimus left to warn the Dinobots, but they attacked him. Instead of destroying him completely, however, Grimlock carried him to the Decepticons, who had stolen the meteorite during the battle. Megatron was angry that Optimus Prime was not destroyed, and Starscream suggested that despite Grimlock's arrogance, inside he was still compassionate (or as compassionate as Grimlock could get). Grimlock didn't take this well and blasted Starscream right in the chest. They were interrupted by the two new Dinobots, Snarl and Swoop, whom Megatron ordered the original three Dinobots to attack. At the climax of the battle, the meteorite exploded, but Optimus Prime pushed Grimlock out of the way, saving him. Grimlock realized the error of his ways, and the Dinobots forced the Decepticons into retreat. Grimlock then apologized for his jealousy.

--> The Decepticons joined forces with Sub-Atlantica and staged a full-scale attack on Washington, D.C.. The Autobots were overwhelmed, forcing Wheeljack to call for the Dinobots' assistance. Grimlock expressed his frustration at being called whenever the Autobots were in over their heads. With their help, the Autobots were able to overturn the Decepticons' advance and plunge the now-burning city of Sub-Atlantica back into the sea. This pattern of the Autobots' dependence on the Dinobots repeated when the artificial intelligence TORQ III, put under Decepticon control, turned all machines against Mankind. With every piece of help he and his troops gave, Grimlock was never slow to add a scathing remark about the inabilities of the Autobots. That said, he was not unwilling to admit the failings of his own troops, either. He willingly took them to the time-displaced "Dinobot Island," where they trained in the wilderness and helped stop a Decepticon raid on the prehistoric paradise, with Grimlock inspiring the native dinosaurs to help them fight the Decepticons.



The final straw for Grimlock came when he and the Dinobots were injured in a Decepticon trap at an airfield. (Even though he got to grab Megatron in his jaws and hurl him through a window.) Enraged, Grimlock refused to take orders from Optimus Prime any more and led the Dinobots away from the Ark. When the Autobots began to suffer from Cybertonium deficiency, Spike Witwicky and his girlfriend Carly attempted to persuade the Dinobots—who continued to function perfectly, as they had been built on Earth without Cybertonium—to steal some of the mineral from a Decepticon shipment coming in from Cybertron. Although Grimlock was willing to let the Autobots die and decided to crush the humans, he recognized the Cybertron connection to the Cybertonium. Instead of securing the element, Grimlock opted to lead the Dinobots to Cybertron itself, where they were captured by Shockwave. . He altered the Dinobots' memory circuits and put them to work in the Cybertonium mines, where they remained until Spike and Carly repaired them. Grimlock and Spike faked having an argument, compelling the guards to lower the energy fences to remove the troublesome humans—only to be obliterated by the Dinobots. Grimlock led the group back to Earth, where the Dinobots agreed to follow Prime's orders again—until such time as Grimlock didn't feel like it.



In the year 2005, Grimlock and the other Dinobots were stationed on the Autobots' Moonbase 1, seemingly overseeing weapons production. When word arrived from Earth that Autobot City was suffering a massive Decepticon attack, they traveled to Earth with Optimus Prime and were dispatched by the Autobot leader to take on Devastator. Though they attacked fearlessly, the giant combiner robot was able to repel the initial air attack made by Grimlock and Sludge's subsequent frontal assualt. Devastator eventually succumbed to a forward charge made by Slag, which forced Devastator to the ground. Swoop's follow-on attack was highly ineffective however.

After fleeing Galvatron's attack on Autobot City, the Dinobots, along with Kup and Hot Rod, crashed on Quintessa, and were separated from the two Autobots. During their search, the Dinobots met Wheelie. Grimlock initially didn't like the rhyming little robot, but soon grew quite fond of him, letting him ride on his back. Eventually, the Dinobots managed to locate where Kup and Hot Rod were being held by the planet's rulers, the Quintessons. The Dinobots entered the Quintessons' execution room with all the grace they could muster, and Grimlock immediately declared his desire to munch metal. After the Dinobots saved Hot Rod and Kup from the Sharkticons, a Quintesson judge ordered the Sharkticons to execute the Dinobots. Grimlock stomped his foot on the ground and ordered the Sharkticons to execute the Quintessons. They complied with the Dinobot's order. Heading for the planet of Junk, Grimlock watched the Autobots and the Junkions celebrate their new friendship. The party was ended when a Junkion kissed Grimlock, causing him to reassert his status as "king". Later, Grimlock made one of his life's greatest accomplishments by literally kicking the butt of a deity, only to realize shortly afterwards that he needs a new strategy.



By the Earth year 2005, it seemed apparent that Grimlock had undergone some degree of a personality change, becoming more childish and petulant, rather than brutish and stubborn. Throughout 2006, he regularly participated in missions with his fellow Autobots rather than the other Dinobots, battling on the planets of Chaar, Goo, Dredd and Eurythma. He and Daniel Witwicky were transported to the other-dimensional realm of Menonia, where Grimlock was duped into fighting on the side of the tyrannical Quintesson Mara-Al-Utha, and later, he helped to sniff out the "dinosaur transform static" that implicated Trypticon in the theft of world monuments. Later in the year, when Decepticon leader Galvatron had Cybertron infused with function-inverting anti-electrons, a dose of the particles gave Grimlock super-intelligence. During a mission to Unicron's disembodied head, where the Autobots were outmatched by the new Decepticon Terrorcons, Grimlock used components of Unicron's head to construct the Technobots to battle them. Even combined as Computron, the Technobots felt they could not match the Terrorcons, until Grimlock transferred his super-intelligence into Computron, reverting to his old self and allowing the Technobots to claim victory.

Grimlock's greatest victory came when he and a large number of other Transformers with animal transformations were summoned to a world at the center of the galaxy by the ex-assistant of the ancient genius, Primacron, creator of Unicron. The assistant had assembled these "Primitive" Transformers in the hope that their simple instincts could defeat Primacron's newest creation, Tornedron, but one by one they fell to him, with Grimlock apparently crushed under Trypticon. Grimlock survived, however, and followed Tornedron back to Primacron's lab. When Tornedron turned on his master, like his predecessor had, Primacron's complicated plans and equations could not find a way to stop him. Grimlock, on the other hand, randomly flicked a switch which reversed Tornedron's energy polarity, undoing the damage he had done and dissipating the creature. Dancing around and laughing over his successful saving of the universe, Grimlock decimated Primacron's lab, which he decided was the smartest thing he'd ever done.

Season 5
Grimlock piloted the shuttle bringing Optimus Prime to an important meeting and took a wrong turn, making Prime very late. Prime subsequently took him to have his brain circuits upgraded.

The Headmasters
In the year 2011, the Decepticons invaded Cybertron in full force. Grimlock was deployed by Wreck-Gar to fend off the invaders. He was seen fighting alongside his fellow Dinobots as well as the Throttlebots against the invading Decepticons. However, they didn't fare too well against the Decepticon Headmasters, as they were all quickly put to sleep by Mindwipe's hypnosis attack.

Transformers PD-Type
Star Saber recruited Grimlock as backup for a duel with Deathsaurus. Grimlock became bored watching the two of them fight in the sky, but when Star Saber finally succeeded in knocking Deathsaurus to the ground, Grimlock ate his head while Star Saber looked on, pleased at the outcome of his clever plan.

Binaltech
After the Dinobots were defeated and deactivated on Earth by a strange alien virus, Grimlock was rebuilt using Binaltech technology to save his life. He hates his new Ford Mustang form. No teeth to munch metal, ya see.

Dreamwave comics continuity
Years ago, before the war, Grimlock was part of a cage-fighting arena. He and Starscream fought beside and against each other on numerous occasions. Starscream believed Grimlock was a natural born killer, but Grimlock really just carried a lot of rage and needed an outlet.

When the war began, Grimlock sided with the Decepticons. Then, after a while, he switched sides and went to the Autobots. Nobody is quite sure why or what happened. He eventually became leader of a squad including Ironhide, Kup, and Wheeljack.

By the time Sentinel Prime was killed and a new leader had to be chosen, the Autobots were losing the war, and Grimlock was growing impatient with the Council of Ancients' strategy. Grimlock called a secret meeting with Prowl, Jazz, and his running crew: If the new Prime wasn't up to doing what had to be done, then they'd do it for him—and take the Prime out in the process.

Optimus Prime, having defeated a team of Decepticons by himself, still didn't settle Grimlock's nerves. Prime's decision to evacuate Cybertron did it; Grimlock had enough. He left and went to brood by himself. Starscream and his Seekers dropped by while Grimlock was alone. Starscream baited Grimlock, telling him he was a Decepticon inside and was just in denial. He gave him a choice: Go to Sector Zero-Six and help the Seekers take out the Autobot command post, or warn the post about their arrival. Grimlock, out of spite, instead evacuated the Autobots from the base and planted a bomb with a message: "Me not like Optimus Prime or Autobots that much...but me like you and yours even less!"

While he was on his way back to Iacon to help with the defense, Prowl ordered him away, instead telling him to go find Optimus Prime. Grimlock decided that it was a good opportunity to give the new Prime a piece of his mind. While he and the team went deep into Cybertron's core to find Prime, they found out about Megatron's plan to win the war and turn Cybertron into a mobile battle station with which to conquer the universe. Grimlock split up his team: He would go find Optimus Prime, and the rest of the team would shut down the transformation system for Cybertron.

To his surprise, Prime abruptly was standing next to him. Prime ordered Grimlock to help him find Megatron. Grimlock shoved his energo-sword into Prime's hands and gave clear instructions: If Megatron is the problem, then fix it. When the crisis was over, Grimlock no longer questioned Optimus Prime. He knew that Prime had figured things out, and though he hadn't executed Megatron, he wasn't going to spend his time in the war running away.

During the Dark Ages, Optimus Prime and Megatron were seemingly destroyed in a space bridge explosion, and Grimlock broke off from the Autobots led by Prowl and formed the Lightning Strike Coalition. Grimlock was targeted, along with Jetfire, Blitzwing and Hot Spot, by The Fallen, who wished to use their apparently unique Sparks to help in his revival of Primus, which would allow Unicron to locate him. The Fallen sent Bludgeon, Mindwipe and Bugly, who arranged for Grimlock to receive a communication between Jetfire and Shockwave. Believing Jetfire was intending to defect, Grimlock headed for the meeting. However, when the Chaos Trinity arrived and captured Jetfire, Grimlock jumped out of the shadows and attacked. The Fallen had to watch his followers take a sound beating. After dispatching the mystics, Grimlock attempted to execute Jetfire. The Autobot scientist was saved only because the Fallen himself soon arrived. Grimlock being Grimlock, he launched himself at the Fallen, but was completely overwhelmed. He woke up later strapped to a table and had to listen to Jetfire trying to convince him to help them both escape. Grimlock broke free with ease and was part of the multi-faction army that attempted to halt the Fallen's plans.

Later, Grimlock served both as leader of the Dynobots and the right-hand bot to Ultra Magnus, who had taken control in Optimus' absence and had managed to secure a truce with Shockwave. Grimlock was less than happy about this, partly because he didn't trust the Decepticons, and partly because he had no idea what to do with himself in peacetime. He never got to find out, as the truce was betrayed and Grimlock was apparently killed when he dove in front of a blast meant for Magnus.

Millennia later, on Earth, Megatron captured the other four Dinobots, a fact which he used as leverage to get Grimlock to turn traitor and join the Decepticons after they were reactivated by Lazarus. His only real contribution to the Decepticons was being beaten up, and beaten down by Trailbreaker.

It didn't last very long, though, as Shockwave soon showed up with his Triple Changers. Grimlock's true loyalty became obvious when he stopped Blitzwing from blowing off Optimus's head by grabbing his tank turret and bending it into a pretzel with one hand. After that, Shockwave sent Megatron off to Cybertron, prompting Grimlock to rejoin the Autobots in the Ark. When Optimus' group surrendered to Ultra Magnus, some of the Autobots remained on Earth, Grimlock among them. He headed for the frozen north, and then freed the other Dinobots from Megatron's holding tank. Stealing a Decepticon shuttle, the Dinobots then headed for Cybertron, meaning to free Prime and his group. After a rough landing, they acquired some transportation from Octane and hurried to Iacon. There, Grimlock did his part by leading a massive Dinobot assault on Shockwave's complex, before breaking off to take care of the Decepticon leader himself. Blitzwing again got in his way, however, and Grimlock was forced to battle both, a battle that was going his way until Ultra Magnus shot him in the face. Perceptor repaired him, and Grimlock did his part for the rebellion by giving Hot Rod some back-up. For a third and final time, he fought Blitzwing, this time taking out the Decepticon with ease, grabbing him by the tank turret and throwing him into a Guardian. Leaving the main conflict, Grimlock followed Shockwave, Optimus and Ultra Magnus and ended up saving the Autobot pair, stating he'd hate to lose the chance to pay back the "stuffy traitor". Prime thanked Primus, but Grimlock said Prime should be thanking him.

While the main group of Earth Autobots returned, the Dinobots remained on Cybertron to give Ultra Magnus some needed muscle.

The Beast Within
In a devastating battle with the Decepticons, Grimlock made the decision to combine with the other Dinobots to form the "Beast".

IDW Beast Wars comics
"Shadows lengthen. The twilight of the Cybertronian race gathers. The end is nigh."

- Shokaract

"Reminds me of the good ol' days."

- Grimlock



Grimlock was less than thrilled about being forced to go through the Maximal downsizing. To add insult to injury, the resulting peace meant he had no outlet for his warlike tendencies. As such, he frequently volunteered for any dangerous, potentially risky or outright suicidal missions, and when forced on to a science or exploration vessel, he preferred to spend the entire trip in stasis, rather then dealing with the prolonged activity. He has a personalized reformatting chip that deliberately seeks out only the strongest, deadliest beast modes (alive or extinct) on a planet.

Grimlock was among the Axalon ' s protoforms when the ship crashed on Earth. When Razorbeast and Optimus Minor were attempting to "rescue" Megatron from Magmatron, the Predacons detected a spark signature that was apparently off the scale, big and mad. Grimlock showed up and acted as the perfect distraction, making very short work of the Predacons. (Apparently, he was in a very bad mood after waking up and took it out on the Preds.) Magmatron offered Grimlock the chance to withdraw, and when the incredulous Grimlock refused, the Predacon general attacked. Magmatron narrowly arose as the victor by use of his triple beast modes. Grimlock was knocked out, but later helped to construct the Maximals' new base.

Later, when Prowl remarked they had work to do on Earth, with Ravage's Predacon militia still a threat, Wolfang reminded him that they had Grimlock on their side. . The bot in question was patrolling the jungle around the base at the time and bumped into the three-mech team of Manterror, Retrax and Snapper. He only noticed Manterror and Retrax however, as Snapper was being crushed under his right foot at the time. While Retrax rolled for his life, Manterror had to face Grimlock on his own, and lost his wings for his trouble. This little group turned out to be a distraction, however, intended to lure the Maximals' big gun away while Ravage led an all-out strike on the base.

The former Dinobot wasn't about to be left out in the cold, however, and he returned to base ready for "the main course," which consisted of crushing Spittor under his foot and tearing apart Iguanus and half a dozen other Predacons. Still, even with him and Torca working overtime, things might have gone poorly without Lio Convoy's arrival.

When Lio Convoy and Ravage led a joint force to stop Shockaract, Grimlock accompanied them. The former Autobot and former Decepticon had a moment of antagonism when the fight started. But once the battle got underway, Grimlock fell in with the Convoys. As Shockaract declared the end of the Cybertronian race, Grimlock seemed to reminisce, even as he transformed to his beast mode and led a charge. He was one of the survivors, although presumably, he would be a victim of Megatron.

Devil's Due 'G.I. Joe vs the Transformers'' continuity
"It just isn't a proper party without Grimlock around. That guy is nuts"

- Hot Rod



Grimlock and his team were transported to Earth's prehistoric past by a malfunctioning Teletran 3. A joint Cobra/G.I. Joe team traveled through a time portal to bring them back. Unfortunately, Shockwave's Decepticons blocked their return. Just as Shockwave's victory appeared complete, Roadblock and Lady Jaye successfully opened up the final time portal, and the humans returned, with some heavy artillery in the form of the five Autobots, now reformatted in huge, powerful dinosaur bodies. Grimlock took the lead by knocking Shockwave through a wall, and beating the tar out of the 'Cons, alongside his new Dinobots, their new abilities more than a match for the Decepticon forces. When the Decepticons retreated, Grimlock transformed and requested an audience with Optimus Prime.

Grimlock was part of the small team sent to help with the Joes' decommissioning of their Cybertronian mechs. Grimlock was more than a little vocal about his distaste for the post, and lack of interest in the humans. He was, however, willing to help the Joes fight Cobra, when the latter attacked en masse...even if he complained about helping the weak fleshlings. When Cobra Commander was cornered in an underground facility, Grimlock did his part by terrifying him into talking. They were interrupted when Serpent O.R. appeared, and attempted to take control of both Grimlock, and Roadblock's robot. Grimlock resisted, but Roadblock's robot turned around and punched him in the face. Grimlock responded by ripping its arm off.

IDW comics continuity
Grimlock is the leader of the Dynobots, a group of close knit hunters and guardsmen who, in no small part due to Grimlock's influence, prefer to work outside the Autobot rulebook.

At the start of Megatron's rise to power, the Dynobots turned out to an open casting call for Megatron's underground gladiatorial games, and got a good deal more respect from the Predacons than the other attendees. It turned out to be a recruitment drive for the Decepticon army. What they thought of that is unknown, as Autobot security forces raided the party soon after.

After Shockwave destroyed a cache of energon the Dynobots had been hoarding, causing them severe energon burns and equally severe humiliation, they swore revenge. So, against orders from Optimus Prime, they followed Shockwave when he left Cybertron to stabilize "ultra-energon" deposits he had sent to other worlds as a precaution against the depletion of Cybertron's own energon reserves.

When Shockwave reached his first destination—Earth, at the end of the last Ice Age—the Dynobots destroyed his ship, but Slag revealed that the high energon levels of the planet would put them in stasis lock, since they hadn't come prepared like Shockwave. Slag then came up with the idea that they should scan the local life forms and create alt-modes based on those animals, but with synthetic flesh coatings to protect against the high levels of energon radiation. Grimlock was completely against the idea, but since Slag couldn't come up with something better, he relented. However, he refused to take on the form of the weak mammalians that dominated the planet, demanding "something with some... bite." Scanning fossil deposits, Slag found the remains of some extinct reptilian animals and brought up a holographic representation of one to see if Grimlock approved. What popped up was a Tyrannosaurus Rex, which Grimlock seemed to fall in love with the moment he saw it. The choice made, Grimlock took the Tyrannosaur as his altmode and had Slag find more dinosaurs as templates for the rest of the Dynobots.



On transporting down to the planet's surface to confront Shockwave, they gained an initial advantage, as Shockwave's logic was unable to comprehend the effort and risks they had taken for their revenge. However, when Shockwave recognized this weakness, he shut down his logic processors and executed a "rage" program to enable him to operate on pure instinct. He shrugged off the Dynobots' attacks and beat them severely, ending the assault by burning off their organic coatings. Unable to accept another defeat, Grimlock transformed to robot mode and fought against his imminent stasis lock to no avail.

However, before leaving the Dynobots' ship, he had enabled a "dead man's switch" designed to take Shockwave with them if they were defeated. When he entered stasis lock, this failsafe activated, firing on a nearby dormant volcano and causing an eruption which buried Shockwave and the Dynobots under ash and lava. Thousands of years later, their entombed bodies were discovered by a human archaeological team.

In 2007, Skywatch took over jurisdiction of the dig site and excavated Shockwave and the Dynobots.

When the Reapers attacked the Decepticons, Skywatch decided to awaken the most advanced of their "Eureka Six", which turned out to be Grimlock.



Grimlock's reactivation was sabotaged by an agent of the Machination and when he awoke, they had no control over him. He escaped the facility, confused and angry. His escape was engineered by the head of the Machination, Scorponok, who wanted Grimlock to join him in the Machination plot to dominate the Earth by running interference and delaying Megatron's plans long enough for the Machination to put their plans into action.

Grimlock considered for a second, but refused the offer for two reasons: he could turn Scorponok in to Ultra Magnus for redemption, and as revenge for Scorponok once robbing an installation the Dynobots were guarding. The two fought and Scorponok quickly gained the upper hand, possibly due to his Headmaster upgrade but also perhaps due to the fact that all of Grimlock's weapons and systems were out of power. Grimlock was able to activate his transporter chip, which beamed him back to his ship, the Skyfire, which was buried deep in ice somewhere. Grimlock hoped he could use the ship to find the other Dynobots.

Grimlock became a central tool of Scorponok's plans. The hybrid Decepticon planned to scape goat Grimlock, dropping him into situations where humans would be terrorized and normal military forces cowed. Then the Machination corp of Sunstreaker clones would move in to neutralize him to earn some sort of economic or popular influence. Yeah, like that makes a lot of sense, as Hot Rod point out, No one with half a microchip would actually count on the Dynobots for a plan. Grimlock, understandably, doesn't seem to like the idea, but does enjoy the rather constant wave of toys they send his way to vent frstration. Eventually Grimlock defeats so many baby Sunstreakers that the Machination has to send the other four Dinobots under mind control to stop him. That doesn't quite work either.

After a bit of arguing over the nature of anarchic command structures, the group eventually comes together in harmony, or at least synchronous chaos.

After being freed by the Monsterbots, a small slip of the tongue reveals to the four lesser Dinos that Grimlock, surprise surprise, hadn't exactly followed proper procedure in pursuing Shockwave and the lot of them were not fugitives. Something fairly juicy would be needed to keep them out of prison, like say the head of a cross faction desired psychopathic mad scientist with delusions of grandeur and an old fat man in his brain. The Dinos and Monsters go after Scorponok head on (no pun intended), defeating endless waves of drones. Hunter O'nion eventually cuts out the real Sunstreaker from the loop, shutting down the troops. But don't celebrate just yet, Sludge, oops too late, he got blasted by Scorponok, tough luck. And that's not all, when you accept the mission to defeat Scorponok and his endless army of cheap Autobot knock offs, you can get a revenge seeking Shockwave for free, act now!

The Monsterbots take a hike but the remaining Dinobots stick together. Grimlock, having seen his comrade Sludge take a pounding finally starts to understand the point of compatriots and gives up a portion of his life force to revive the fallen Sludge. Swoop eventually cuts Scorponok down to size with a little beak surgery, while Grimlock finally wins one over Shockwave.

When Ultra Magnus shows up it is probably the greatest haul of his life: Megatron's chief scientist and former second in command, the most wanted robo criminal Scorponok, six Rogue Autobots (Hot Rod playing under the radar at the time in searching for Sunstreaker), and an MIA hero all ready to go. A little bit of confession and reason though puts Hot Rod, Slag, Sludge, Snarl, and Swoop in good with the higher ups. Grimlock accepts, as payment for their freedom, his own conviction and goes off to Garrus 9.

Grimlock is now on the loose and reportedly quite insane after watching too many episodes of the Overlord Psychtorture Revue.

Trivia



 * There is a Grimlock toy placed in the showcase in the dinosaur section of the Natural History Museum in London, United Kingdom.


 * In the original Diaclone commercial for Grimlock, it showed him spewing fire from his mouth. Guess why that was removed, huh?


 * Grimlock is generally regarded as Simon Furman's signature character.


 * According to Marvel UK #107's letters page, Grimlock considers the 23rd of August 1986 his birthday. It's the date he took over the Transformers letters page. He also thinks he could take out Soundwave in a fight.


 * Grimlock's function is Lieutenant Commander instead of Dinobot Commander on his Pretender Classic and Alternator toys. Lieutenant Commander is Sky Lynx's rank. Deal with it, egobot.


 * Grimlock once had the words Big Grim scrawled on his right shoulder.


 * Grimlock's beast mode in The Gathering does not actually match any dromaeosaur on record, seeming to combine elements of both the dromaeosaur body type with that of a carnosaur or tyrannosaurid. A fuzor, perhaps? The Titan comic profile in issue 14 seems to have tried to rectify this by calling him a Megaraptor. Which is fine...except Megaraptor was recently revealed as a misidentified carnosaur. Let's face it, a wizard did it.


 * In The Ascending Issue 3, Grimlock is shown fighting in his robot mode. His tail weapon appears to take the form of a blaster. In Issue 4, he is the only Transformer, Maximal or Predacon, the same height as the two Convoys.


 * Grimlock has his very own fanboy, Noise, who someday wants to grow up and be just like hima godless killing machine.


 * Grimlock's speech impediment is caused by varying conditions, depending on continuity. To explain the difference in UK/US writing styles, Marvel (in the 1989 free booklet "Transformers: The Facts") explained it as a ruse. In the cartoon it was a result of primitive thought processes. In Dreamwave MTMTE, it is confirmed as the result of a virus, while IDW considers it caused by a damaged vocal processor. Devil's Due didn't bother explaining, they just got him in the "Me Grimlock's" during part three.


 * In every instance in which Grimlock is drawn by Pat Lee, Grimlock's eyes/visor protrude past his faceplate, rather than sitting behind it like normal. This becomes especially pronounced (and  comical) towards the end of Dreamwave's Prime Directive.


 * Grimlock is the only Dinobot from the original series whose name doesn't start with an s. The others also all have higher pitched voices while Grimlock's is much lower.


 * Grimlock has his own achievements named after him in the game Transformers: War for Cybertron. It is called "Grimlock Smash" and can be attained for destroying all the Decepticon symbols in the Autobot campaign.


 * Grimlock can be seen in the Least I Could Do comic strip, standing on the freeway and holding up traffic in the middle of morning rush-hour. During this stand-off, the strip's main protagonist, Rayne Summers, hurls an expletive at the Dinobot leader, and Grimlock takes offence.


 * He is also the only one to have a carnivore dino-mode: a Tyrannosaur. Snarl's, Slag's and sludge's dino-modes were herbivores: Stegosaur, Triceratops and Brontosaur, and Swoop's mode was a fish-feeder: Pteranodon.