Chief Charlie Burns

"I want to be that."

- Cody Burns on his father, "Family Business

Chief of security for Griffin Rock, Chief Charles "Charlie" Burns is a staunch ally of Optimus Prime, and one of the few people on Earth to know the secret of the Cybertronians' presence on their planet. Even Heatwave, leader of the Rescue Force Sigma-17 bot team, takes orders from him, and for good reason: Chief Burns is very, very good at his job. He always keeps his cool, is quick with a plan and improvisation when things go awry, treats everyone with compassion and kindness (though he's no softie when it comes to giving out speeding tickets or arresting lawbreakers), and the city appreciates him for his hard work. Charlie is the father of four: Kade, Graham, Dani, and Cody. All four of the Burns children (well, three young adults and one child) are members of Griffin Rock's emergency response team, protecting the citizens from fires, floods, disaster, crime, and distressingly frequent runaway malfunctioning science experiments. And Chief Burns takes parenting as seriously as he takes rescue work, if not moreso. He's always ready to offer a kind word or advice to his kids... or any of the Rescue Bots, who he sees as part of his family as well. Chief Burns is partnered with the police-bot Chase, who deeply respects Charlie's commitment to law enforcement, even if he doesn't quite get the "compassion" part, but the Chief is definitely having a positive effect on the Autobot.