Ironhide

Ironhide is the name of several different fictional characters in the Transformers universes. According to the original creator of the Transformers names, Bob Budiansky, Ironhide was named after the television series Ironside.

Transformers: Generation 1
Ironhide (Rhino in Canada, Falco in Italy, Vasököl (Ironfist) in Hungary, Bronevik inRussia) is portrayed as a toughened old Autobot who has seen his share of battle.

Animated series
The character designers for the cartoon redesigned Ironhide's body, which is now the best-known of all his appearances. He was originally depicted as being a black 72' GMC. Despite being known for being part of the Autobot security detail and Optimus Prime's bodyguard, Ironhide was most often seen in the capacity of a warrior, often fighting in battle without Optimus Prime, or a specific work site/person/cargo to protect. He was also used as an officer, leading a team of Autobots just as would Optimus's advisers, Prowl and Jazz. Ironhide seemed to develop a bond with the Autobots' human allies, engaging with them on a friendly basis as much as protecting them. Ironhide was in love with the female Autobot Chromia.

In the "More Than Meets The Eye" three parter that launched the animated series, Ironhide was shown assisting Bumblebee in stopping a Rumble created flood. Later, tired of being constantly a step behind the Decepticons, Ironhide impetuously took off after them - only to be brought back down to Earth with a bump by a teleporting Skywarp. Ironhide's most prominent appearance was in the second season episode The Immobilizer. Distracted by Spike's friend Carly (who was a big fan of the Autobots) while on guard duty, Ironhide inadvertently allowed the Decepticons to steal Wheeljack's latest invention - a weapon that could freeze anything it fired at, including Transformers. Guilt-ridden and believing himself to be too old to be of any further use, Ironhide resigned from active service, against the wishes of Optimus Prime. However, when Carly was captured by the Decepticons trying to make up for what had happened to Ironhide, the veteran Autobot went to her rescue and saved her from the Decepticon base. After being frozen and unfrozen by the Immobilizer (after Carly and Brawn sabotaged it) Ironhide personally destroyed the device and returned to active duty.

Ironhide fulfilled his role as Prime's bodyguard in the episode "Transport to Oblivion." While battling Megatron at a power plant, Prime accidentally knocked the Decepticon leader into a generator, giving him a temporary "power boost." Megatron took advantage of the boost, knocking Prime down and temporarily stunning him. He then transformed into his gun mode, ordering Soundwave to destroy the Autobot leader. Ironhide, leaping forward, took the shot himself, saving Prime's life. Rather than pursue the withdrawing Decepticons, Optimus ordered the team back to base because of how badly Ironhide had been hit. The grouchy Ironhide was not at all pleased with needing some "R&R" (what Ratchet said was needed for one of his components--"removed and rebuilt"). Ratchet humorously threatened to disconnect Ironhide's vocal circuits if he kept complaining. Ironhide made a full recovery and was available for duty soon thereafter.

In "A Prime Problem", Ironhide took temporary leadership of the Autobots when they could not decide on which Optimus Prime was which, as Megatron had made a perfect clone of Optimus Prime to fool the Autobots into venturing down into a dangerous chasm. In "The Search for Alpha Trion", when Optimus Prime returned to Cybertron alone to saveElita One, Ironhide leads Inferno and Powerglide after him. On Cybertron the Autobots are briefly reunited with Chromia, Moonracer and Firestar to defeat the Decepticons.

Ironhide is killed in The Transformers: The Movie as the Decepticons invade an Autobot shuttle in which Ironhide, Prowl, Ratchet and Brawn are traveling to Earth. Before the shuttle departed, Spike asked Ironhide to tell his son, Daniel, that he misses him, and that he will be coming home as soon as they 'kick Megatron's tail clear across the galaxy.' Despite his "heavily concentrated armor in his front section", he falls as result of a number of blasts from the invading Decepticons and several shots to the chest from Megatron in his 'gun' mode, wielded by Starscream. When Megatron reveals to Starscream how he is going to attackAutobot City on Earth and wipe them out forever, a wounded Ironhide clutches at Megatron's leg and yells, "No!!". Megatron answers with the famous words: "Such heroic nonsense", and kills Ironhide offscreen with a point-blank blast to the head from his fusion cannon. A few scenes later, Ironhide appears to be attacking Autobot City with the Decepticons, but this is actually a mis-colored Reflector.

Movie plot

Main article: TransformersArriving on Earth at the same time as Optimus Prime, Jazz and Ratchet. Scans a GMC Topkick pickup truck and reconfigures his alternate mode to a new camouflaged form before meeting up with the other Autobots at Bumblebee's location. The Autobots then return to Sam's house and retrieve the glasses (containing the location of the Allspark) whilst attempting to hide from Sam's parents, which results in his mother's and father's prized gardens being destroyed by Prime's massive feet and Ratchet cutting off the neighborhood's power after accidentally colliding with an electric transformer. At one point, he becomes so frustrated that he asks Optimus if he can "take them out". He then gets a stern scolding from Optimus, who is frustrated at Ironhide's overuse of cannons. Unfortunately, that same evening a secret government organization, Sector 7, arrests Sam Witwicky, Mikaela Banes, and captures Bumblebee. Ironhide appears somewhat 'trigger-happy' throughout the film, and often pulls out his arm-cannons when he wishes to show off to new people, such as when he is first introduced to Sam, he draws his cannons out, and makes a classic Clint Eastwood impression, quoting "You feeling lucky, punk?", or to get rid of things which annoy him, like Sam's dog Mojo when it urinated on his foot and Sam's over-protective and inadvertently interfering parents. Optimus Prime, at one point, gets so annoyed with Ironhide's trigger finger that he right out asks "What is with you?!". He is also shown to be slightly contemptuous towards the humans; he questions Prime as to why they should protect the human race, describing them as "primitive" and "violent", only to be reminded that the Autobots were not so different from them once. Ironhide is, despite being easily the bulkiest of the Autobots, a tough warrior endowed with surprising agility, shown in the final battle when he transforms, flips forward, and dodges Brawl's missiles while doing a helix twist at the same time. He was also able to maneuver through the city, and flip over a nearby human without injuring her, rocket jumping over her right after transforming. Ironhide plays a large role in the final battle: when Bumblebee is unable to fight, he provides cover despite being outnumbered three to one. He battles Brawl alongside Jazz and Ratchet. Ratchet and Ironhide cover Sam as he runs to a nearby building to deliver the Allspark to the military. The two cover him from Blackout and Starscream, driving off both, but being disabled by Starscream. In too much pain to continue on, Ironhide orders Sam to "get to the building." After the battle is over, Ironhide brings the remains of his destroyed autobot brother Jazz to Optimus Prime. Ironhide then gives Captain William Lennox a ride home, and is seen alongside Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Optimus watching the sunset or watching Sam kiss Mikaela at the end of the film.

Main article: Transformers: Revenge of the FallenHe goes to Shanghai, China, with NEST and is the first Autobot to transform to robot mode to fight the Decepticons. He chased after the giant Decepticon Demolishor and helped in taking him off-balance, and is then seen alongside Optimus Prime when they execute Demolishor, calling him a "'punk-ass Decepticon'". Later on, Ironhide is with the Autobots helping Sam escape the forest from Megatron. Still later, he is angered by the arrival of military vehicles to threaten to Autobots, and he and the others are deported by the U.S. government once Ironhide convinces the others to stay as Optimus would want them to. He goes to Egypt, and leads a team to search for Sam along with the Arcee sisters in the village ruins. After locating him he tells Sam to head for the others while he holds back some attacking Decepticons. When the U.S. airforce carpet bombs the village, Ironhide narrowly gets out of the way, dropping his cannons to lighten himself, and survives the battle.

Main article: Transformers: Dark of the MoonIronhide first appears when he receives a weapons upgrade from Que. Here he also warns Director Mearing that Optimus is in a bad mood after learning of the discovery of the Ark amd asks if they checked the ship's crash vault. He is present when Optimus revives Sentinel Prime with the Matrix of Leadership, and appears late in battle when the Autobots escorting Sentinel are attacked by the Dreads. Ironhide rams them in his truck mode and quickly transforms, while the Dreads need a moment to recover. Ironhide andSideswipe enter a standoff with the two and all four drop their weapons, agreeing to let the Dreads go, but Crankcase throws an explosive spear into Ironhide's shoulder. Ironhide recovers one of his guns and shoots Crowbar in the face then throws the spear into Crankcase's mouth, killing them. Ironhide kicks Crankcase's body (on top of a car) into a car repair shop where it explodes and Ironhide comments "class dismissed." Back at NEST HQ, Sentinel reveals to the Autobots and their allies that he has made a deal with Megatron to enslave mankind to save Cybertron. While doing so, he shoots Ironhide in the back twice with his cosmic rust-cannon. As Ironhide cringes in his pain, he expresses in shock at what Sentinel has done, and Sentinel responds by relieving him of duty before delivering the fatal shot to the chest. With Bumblebee forced to take cover from Sentinel's attack, Ironhide dies as he disintegrates to rust dust.