Breakdown is extremely paranoid: he thinks that everyone and everything is out to get him. He prefers to do his duties in anonymity. He whines like there is no tomorrow, which he may think is true. He is very fast and often wants to race with other Decepticons, and Breakdown's ego is second only to Starscream's.
But these days, Breakdown seems to have gotten over his paranoia and works as Knock Out's medical assistant. He has also taken on a more bulky appearance and loves to smash anything he's directed at. Even after losing an optic to some human pests he's still eager to prove his worth to the Decepticon cause. He also has an unspecified history with Autobot Bulkhead
- "Boo hoo. I'm shedding lubricant."
- ―Breakdown displays his caring nature to Miko.
Fiction
Prime cartoon
Template:Voiceactor
He was among the Decepticons looking for the Energon Harvester on Earth that can be used to directly retrieve energon from its source without having to be mined. He attacked Bulkhead while the Autobot and Miko were exploring an Energon deposit. He left before finishing Bulkhead off due to being summoned by Starscream. He then took part in the museum heist to recover the harvester. Later, he was covertly disabled by Bulkhead while the Autobot attempts to recover the harvester from Starscream. Deus ex Machina
He buffed out the carbon scoring on Megatron's chassis while he was hooked up to life support and reported to Starscream that the only change in Megatron's condition was cosmetic. Later, he protected Knock Out from the Autobots when he took a local human hostage and was knocked out when Bulkhead hit him with a light post. Speed Metal
When Starscream attempted to melt through the polar ice caps to get to a buried Energon deposit, Knockout dispatched Breakdown to distract the Autobots, who were trying to stop them from melting the ice and subsequently raising sea levels. Out of His Head
Breakdown later attacked Bulkhead in Russia but was subdued and captured by M.E.C.H.. While in their custody, Breakdown shouted that when he escaped he would crush them all, and once his pain receptors were disabled, Silas ordered for one of his optics to be removed. The missing eye was used as part of a bomb for the Autobots. Breakdown was about to be completely disassembled until he was saved by Bulkhead, who had realized if anyone was going to kill Breakdown it was going to be him. After the two fought their way out of the base, they were attacked by M.E.C.H. vehicles. Starscream and a squad of Seekers arrived and drove M.E.C.H. off, and Starscream allowed Breakdown to return to the ship on his own so as to make Megatron believe that he escaped by himself and told Breakdown to remember this when the time comes to place loyalties. Operation: Breakdown
Later, Breakdown opted to obtain the Polarity gauntlet for Megatron, to redeem himself after getting captured and nearly disassembled by M.E.C.H. It is also shown that, after the incident, he wore a type of eyepatch to cover his missing optic. While trying to obtain the weapon, he finds that not only the Autobots but also Airachnid were attempting to gain it, Airachnid doing so for her own purposes. In the end, he failed to obtain the gauntlet, but was able to present Megatron with Airachnid, who had been magnetized to his back. Metal Attraction
He was later sent to obtain a Cybertronian data cylinder for Megatron, but it was after they obtained and scanned it that they learned Bulkhead had absorbed all of its information. Breakdown and Knockout were then sent out to obtain Bulkhead's head so he could obtain the formula for Synthetic Energon. Knock Out was about to cut his head off after Bulkhead unintentionally painted him, but the data was ejected from Bulkhead and into space by Miko, and the two retreated when Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Arcee showed up. T.M.I.
Later, the Autobots once again show up when he, Knock Out, and several Vehicons were mining for Energon. The two attempt to escape, with the aerial Vehicons using missiles to create a blockade in the chasm to keep the Autobots from following, but Arcee manages to pass by and continue to chase. After knocking her down, the Vehicons nearly kill Arcee when Ratchet, having boosted his power with Synthetic energon, shows up and defeats all of them, while Breakdown and Knock Out watch. Breakdown wanted to fight Ratchet, but retreat when the other Autobots climb the blockade.
Some time after, Breakdown was assigned to one of Megatron's other energon mines and is discussing an alien love interest with a Vehicon when Ratchet shows up at the mine. He is eager to challenge him, but is defeated. He later attempts to tell Megatron about the presences of Ratchet when he falls unconscious right in front of him. Stronger, Faster
Some time after Unicron was defeated, Knock Out and Breakdown were sent to retrieve the power source for their new Space Bridge. They manage to do so, but, while they retreat, Arcee managed to drive through their GroundBridge and onto the Nemesis. They only watch as she drives right past them. Orion Pax, Part 1
After heading to the location of another Iacon tracking beacon, Knock Out drives out of the cave with the artifact leaving the beacon, a shield generator. Bulkhead opts to go after him, but is forced to fight Breakdown and allow a transform-less Bumblebee to chase him. Operation Bumblebee, Part 1
After finding this artifact, the two are sent to a mountainous region to retrieve another artifact. The one that they discover this time is the Forge of Solus Prime. Optimus Prime, Bulkhead, and Arcee try to fight the Decepticons, but Knockout uses his shield generator to try and push them off the cliff while Bulkhead fights Breakdown. During the fight, however, Bulkhead uses the forge to bat Breakdown into Knock Out, disabling the shield. However, Megatron then arrives and threatens to shoot Bulkhead if the Autobots do not surrender. They do, but as soon as Megatron leaves with the hammer Optimus Prime and Arcee open fire on the other two, though they escape. Operation Bumblebee, Part 2
He was later assigned by Megatron, with the help of Dreadwing, to kill Airachnid. However, when he preemptively attacked her upon being insulted, she shot a web in his face. He later was able to remove the web and shoot her, and followed a trail of leaked Energon to find her, defenseless; however, when he tried to kill her, his arm was shot by a web from an Insecticon under her control. He was then struck down and killed by Airachnid. His destroyed body was later found by M.E.C.H., Crossfire who took it back to their base and repaired it. Nemesis Prime
Games
War for Cybertron
- "Are you insane? Uh, I mean, yes, brilliant Megatron."
- ―Breakdown almost buys it.
Breakdown assisted Megatron in his search for the Omega Key, which granted access to Cybertron's core, and helped defeat Autobot leader Zeta Prime. However, it turned out that the Omega Key is actually only a locator device for the actual key, Omega Supreme, guardian of Cybertron's core.
Breakdown then joined Megatron and Soundwave on their mission to locate and annihilate Omega Supreme. After Omega chased them through Iacon, Breakdown assisted in defeating Omega Supreme by battling him on both the rooftop with anti-aircraft guns and in the Arena with combined small arms fire. He then helped with the corruption of Cybertron's core with Dark Energon.
Toys
- Breakdown (Voyager Class, 2012)
- Breakdown (Cyberverse Legion, 2012)
Notes
Concept art of WFC Breakdown and his altmode
- Breakdown's apparent paranoia is a direct reference to his Generation One counterpart.
- He is playable in the last three levels of the Decepticon campaign.
- Breakdown was one of the 4 playable characters in the War for Cybertron Multiplayer Demo.
- In the War for Cybertron game, his transformation seems very gappy, the wheels actually hover in the air while he's transforming.
- He thinks Soundwave is a nerd.
- Far removed from the whiny, paranoid runt seen in War for Cybertron, Breakdown is a hulking brute of a Decepticon who works as Knock Out's assistant both in Decepticon medicine and Autobot dismemberment. He is usually seen with Knock Out, however, he does go out of his way to attack his rival Bulkhead on occasion.
- Breakdown is so far the only Decepticon who both respects and is respected by Starscream. In "Operation: Breakdown", Starscream sent a search them to rescue him from MECH. Starscream penalizes Knockout for failure in Speed Metal and Knockout does not treat Starscream as formally as he demands. Starscream received either death threats or injuries from the Vehicons, Megatron, Airachnid, and Skyquake.
- Following his capture by MECH, Breakdown has not yet had his optic replaced despite being a medical assistant. Either they don't have any spares lying around or they're all different colours to his.
- It is also possible that Megatron ordered Knock Out to deny Breakdown a replacement as a form of punishment for getting captured in the first place, or that Breakdown made the descision himself, as a reminder of his own mistakes.
- Airachnid made mention of Breakdown's capture and their past acquaintance, while striking her deal with MECH. The voice actors for Airachnid and Breakdown (Gina Torres and Adam Baldwin respectively) previously worked together on the television series Firefly and the movie Serenity.
- Breakdown has refered to Airachnid as 'intriguing', proving that he has found her interesting perhaps in a romantic way.