Bruticus tirelessly guards the prisons of the Predacon leader Megatron. He's got just enough brains between his three heads to do his very simple job: make sure Autobot prisoners don't escape, and if they do, smash them.
Bruticus transforms into a Cerberus, a mythical three-headed dog. His robot mode continues the motif, with three different dog-shaped faces on his head. his beast-mode hind legs, which end up on his robot mode back, can unfold into a second pair of arms, each one brandishing a (non-removable) melee weapon. His triple tail becomes a flail weapon for robot mode.
Bruticus' mold was originally developed to be a Maximal for the Beast Machines series. When that series was cut short, apparently the toy had made it far enough into the development process to continue. He has a flip-up chestplate that reveals indications of an intended spark-crystal-activated gimmick (as all second-year Beast Machines toys had). But this gimmick was seemingly abandoned, and it is unknown just what it was meant to do; it has been suggested, due to the shoulder design of the figure, the gimmick would have involved some kind of lunging attack with the two side heads (the ones that turn into the main robot arms) in beast mode when the center head was pressed down.
Universe (2008)[]
Predacon Bruticus (Ultra, 2008)
Accessories: Tail-axe, key
Bruticus is a redeco of CybertronScourge, transforming into a robotic dragon. Pressing the button on his neck activates a electronic roaring sound and red LED in his head. Inserting a Cyber Planet Key into the slot on his back activates a Generation One transformation sound effect and flips out two smaller dragon heads, one on each side of his neck. Pressing the button on his neck now activates a laser blast sound (along with the LED lights).
In robot mode, he is armed with a massive axe formed from his tail which can be held in either fist. Inserting a Cyber Planet Key in robot mode is the same as in beast mode, giving him shoulder-mounted dragon-heads.
Notes[]
Bruticus was the first Transformers color layout done by Aaron Archer.
It is possible, though difficult, to arrange the "bat wings" of Bruticus' robot head to effectively make any of his three faces the "primary" one (the one that faces forward); what this accomplishes is unknown, aside from an obscure Quintesson reference.
Similarly, the transformation design of Bruticus' figure gives it an unofficial "centaur" mode; what this accomplishes, aside from being quaint, is equally unknown.
Copies of Bruticus' design artwork, along with a handful of other Hasbro Beast Machines and Transtech design drawings, periodically show up for sale at BotCon.
Though it is likely a coincidence, around the time of this figure's release, a certain movie was showing in theaters that featured another three-headed dog.
