Hound (G1)

Hound is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes. He is sometimes referred to as Autobot Hound for trademark purposes.[1]

Transformers: Generation 1
The toy that was to become the Autobot Hound was originally released as part of the Japanese Diaclone series by Takara.

A first-generation Autobot, Hound (Dépisteur in Quebec and Canguro in Italy) was released into Transformers' first year - 1984 and was one of the smallest of the standard sized Autobot cars. Hound's alternate mode is that of a 4X4 military jeep, and comes with three different weapons - a Missile Launcher, a Machine Gun and a Hologram Gun.[2]

Hound is known for his love of the planet Earth, his tracking skills, and the ability to project highly realistic holograms. He secretly wishes to be human.[3]

Animated series
During the first season of the cartoon, Hound served as the Autobots' primary scout and recon soldier, a role which suited him well because he quickly grew to love the varied natural landscapes of Earth. Hound was also instrumental in the creation of the original 3Dinobots, as he captured holographic images which served as rough blueprints for construction of Grimlock, Slag, and Sludge. However, after a spurt of early appearances - perhaps most notably in relaying the pilot's backstory to Spike - Hound became increasingly absent from the show, showing up only when his holographic powers were necessary.

Hound's first appearance came in "More Than Meets the Eye", a three episode pilot created to launch the toyline onto television. Oddly enough the role of Spike's companion was filled by Hound in these episodes rather than Bumblebee. Hound was the first to introduce Spike to the concept of "transforming" and also gave Spike a tour of the nearby desert while beguiling him with tales of Cybertron. Hound would also end up being rescued by Spike, who nearly drowned in the process of saving him. While resuscitating Spike on the shore, Hound makes the mistake of thinking that the human Spike had "flooded his engine". Hound would be among the main cast of the pilot, almost playing as large of a role as Optimus Prime himself.

This changed however when the show moved into its regular season. Bumblebee became Spike's companion, and Hound took a backseat. However he was not without his notable appearances.

In "Heavy Metal War", Hound is responsible for providing a hologram of a large, menacing robot designed to intimidate Devastator. This helped turn the tide in the battle against the Decepticons in that episode.

The episode "City of Steel" featured another major role for Hound. He and a few other compatriots were charged with tracking and collecting the missing parts of the Optimus Prime. These parts had been disconnected and used in various parts of Megatron's reconstruction of New York.

Hound made a brief cameo appearance in The Transformers: The Movie where he, along with Sunstreaker, stood next to Optimus Prime before Prime confronted the Decepticon forces.

Hound was last seen in Takara's Japanese only Transformers: The Headmasters series, that included archive footage of TF:The Movie. The Autobot also has some lines on the first episodes. Japanese Transformers guides thus report that Hound has in some way survived the movie, however, because it also features Transformers that were pronounced deceased, that is considered speculation.