Protectobots (G1)

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The Protectobots are a fictional emergency, search and rescue team of five Autobots in the Transformers toyline. They transform into civilian service and emergency vehicles and combine to form the combiner Defensor. Their Decepticon counterparts are the Combaticons.

Transformers: Generation 1

Protectobot members

The five Protectobots are:

• Hot Spot
  He transforms into a Mitsubishi Fuso fire engine.
  He forms the torso of Defensor.
  He is an energetic warrior and leader who leads by example.
  He is always active and wants his troops to be active too.
  His motto is "Rust never sleeps and neither do I."
  He was voiced by Dan Gilvezan.
• Blades
  He transforms into a Uh-1 Iroquois helicopter.
  He forms the right arm of Defensor.
  He is a "rough and tough" warrior who prefers close combat with his enemies.
  He often at odds with the other, more peace-loving, Protectobots.
  His motto is "War is a dirty game... and I'm a dirty player!"
  He was voiced by Frank Welker.
• Streetwise
  He transforms into a Nissan 300ZX police car.
  He forms the left leg of Defensor.
  Like his name, he is a "street-savvy" law enforcer who knows his job.
  His motto is "You have to know where you are before you know what to do."
  He was voiced by Peter Cullen.
• Groove
  He transforms into a Honda Goldwing GL1200 Motorcycle.
  He forms the right leg of Defensor.
  He is a steadfast pacifist who hates violence of any kind.
  His motto is "War is always a problem, never a solution."
  He was also voiced by Frank Welker.
• First Aid
  He transforms into a Toyota Hiace ambulance.
  He forms the left arm of Defensor.
  He is devoted to helping and saving lives.
  He hates to see any machine, whether living or non-living, suffer even the slightest.
  His motto is "An ounce of maintenance is worth a pound of cure."
  He was voiced by Michael Bell.

Their combined mode of Defensor  was one of the second generation of Transformers combiners (along with the Aerialbots, Stunticons, Combaticons, Predacons Technobots, and Terrorcons).

As such, they have the ability to merge to form a gestalt, with any of the 4 smaller members becoming any limb.

In the comic and cartoon mythoses, however, most gestalts have one default transformation. Defensor has one each in the American and Japanese versions.

Animated series

Unlike the Aerialbots, Combaticons, or Stunticons, the Protectobots were the only combiner team from the pre-movie episodes that were not given an origin story. They first appeared in the episode "The Revenge of Bruticus," although they were not heavily featured and do not merge into Defensor until the episode "B.O.T", where they battled the Combaticons, with Defensor defeating the Combaticons' combined form of Bruticus. When Bruticus reappeared (having been rebuilt by Swindle after he sold his comrades' parts). Defensor engaged him again and was on the verge of losing when nearby humans used the robot B.O.T to force them to disengage.

Interestingly, they were the only group of Autobots to have a base away from the Ark, they resided in a converted building in a nearby city. Throughout the second and third season, the Protectobots were utilized mainly for assisting human civilians during battles or crisis caused by the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. However, they often were engaged in battle as well both on Cybertron and Earth, including a trip to Unicron's severed head to investigate its reactivation by the ghost of Starscream.

The Protectobot who made the biggest impact on the series was without a doubt their medic, First Aid. It was apparent that he took over the duties as chief medical officer for the Autobots after the death of Ratchet during the movie. This led to another prominent appearance for the Protectobots in the third season episode "The Ultimate Weapon", where First Aid's failure to stop Swindle from stealing Metroplex's transformation cog led to his resignation from the Autobots, leading the other four Protectobots to soldier on, even battling Menasor at one point as Defensor with only one arm. Eventually, after the Autobots stole back Metroplex's cog, Hot Spot convinced First Aid to return, as he was the only one who understood how to install it. He did so, allowing Metroplex to defeat Trypticon. After this the Protectobots were reunited as a team.

Rodimus Prime ordered the team, as Defensor, to be the rear guard as he led a team to retrieve the body of Optimus Prime, in the two part third season finale "The Return of Optimus Prime." Unfortunately, a trap had been sent, and Ultra Magnus and the Aerialbots were quickly infected by the Hate Plague. The Aerialbots, as Superion, engaged Defensor, and rather than waste energy in a futile battle with their comrades, the Protectobots withdrew, but with Superion in pursuit. Defensor attempted to evacuate a bridge in a nearby human city, desperately trying to keep some distance from Superion. They were unsuccessful, however, as Superion was successful at not only infecting Defensor but causing him to split, at which time the mad Protectobots quickly began to fight each other. They were cured along with everyone else when the resurrected Optimus Prime unleashed the power of the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, ending the plague once and for all.

The Protectobots were last seen supporting Ultra Magnus in a last ditch effort to stop Galvatron in the fourth season. They failed and were gunned down. It is assumed that they were restored along with Ultra Magnus when the Golden Age of Cybertron was ushered in.