Tailgate (G1)

Tailgate is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.

That's my purse! I DON'T KNOW YOU!!

The naïve Tailgate needs to be liked. It's hardly the most unique of flaws, but he has an unfortunate, childlike tendency towards extremes. Placed in a situation with Autobots who don't know him from Primon, this sanitation 'Bot will spin a tall tale the height of a Titan in an attempt to impress his fellows before it all comes crashing down. And it ultimately will—while he's a 'Bot with a spark of gold, he's broadly unfocused, frequently distracted and easily led, and often gets impulsive, irrational obsessions. And his timekeeping sucks. In spite of this, he sometimes acts as a scout, with strict orders not to break cover for any reason. He is aided by a ridiculously powerful iron-cobalt magnet installed behind his bumper, which he can use to follow closely behind other vehicles and travel far into enemy territory on minimal fuel.

Easily his most distinctive mental issue is his occasional inability to tell the difference between a non-living Earth machine and sentient robotic life such as himself. While it's a mistake many other Cybertronians have made at first, typically they learn quickly and let it go. Not Tailgate. Once he gets it into his head, his compassion turns to rage against the "enslavers", and is quite vocal in his desire to "free" the machines of Earth.^[1]

That boy ain't right.

Fiction

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

Voice actor: Ted Schwartz (English), Ken Shiroyama (Japanese)

"That machine is alive I tell you! Aliv—" "WE KNOW, TAILGATE!"

Tailgate was one of a group of Minibots stationed at the Ark in 2006. When the Constructicons built Trypticon out of a human city, Mount St. Hilary and the Ark were the first stop on his journey to destroy Metroplex. Tailgate and the other Autobots on duty rolled out to defend the Ark with all the firepower at their disposal. It didn't go very well. The Ark was left devastated in Trypticon's mighty wake, and Tailgate's troops were beaten and scattered by the colossal dinosaur. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5

Japanese cartoon continuity

Legends comic

In 2015, Tailgate and Swerve fought Trypticon in a battle that went poorly, with Tailgate being easily kicked aside and Swerve stomped into the ground. As Tailgate picked Swerve back up using his Mini-Con partner, Groundshaker, a Rattrap visiting from another universe asked the two Minibots why they'd even taken on such a huge enemy. The Autobots responded that size has nothing to do with it, telling Rattrap that their Mini-Cons were just as small as him, but nevertheless valuable allies. Bonus Edition Vol. 8 After Tailgate mentioned that his partnership with Groundshaker let him work with bomb disposal, Rattrap got curious about what Mini-Cons were, prompting Tailgate to explain the history behind the little 'bots. The enamored Rattrap then wanted to be a Mini-Con too, and had an uncomfortable Tailgate wield him into battle with Trypticon. Tailgate/G1 Mini-Con Chapter Eventually, the two heroic Minibots successfully defeated Trypticon. LG-43 Trypticon Project Chapter

Generations Selects Special Comic

In 2050, Tailgate and Groundshaker joined the Earth-made robots called Selectors in their rebellion against human control. Volcanicus comic 2

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers comic

Rumors help him grow. Paranoia nurtures him.

With the Autobots being framed by the Decepticon Trailer Corps for numerous crimes, Kenji was feeling a bit dejected at how his schoolyard chums were suddenly turning on them. Tailgate appeared to give him a lift home from school and attempted to cheer him up, reminding him that as an Honorary Autobot he had nothing to worry about. Their drive was interrupted by a crowd gathering around a display put on by a pair of robed figures (secretly Rumble and Frenzy), decrying the Autobots and preaching the heroism of the Decepticons. The rest of the Autobots soon arrived to straighten things out. Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #7

Tailgate later responded to a distress signal sent from Powerglide, who was fighting to rescue a puppy that was brimming with energy from the Combaticons. Dying from its wounds, the dog transferred the energy into Powerglide, giving him brief access to Scramble Power. Along with the other Minibots, Tailgate merged with Powerglide into a Minibot combiner and swiftly defeated Bruticus. Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #8

Wings Universe

Tailgate was present at the first "meeting" of Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus nine million years ago. Battle Lines, Part 6

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel The Transformers comics

"I'M NOT A COWARD!"

Tailgate was one of the Autobots working with Emirate Xaaron and Ultra Magnus's covert cell on Cybertron, and was briefly seen when Optimus Prime came to Cybertron and rallied the troops for an assault on Darkmount. Resurrection!

He eventually finished his training at the Autobot Military Academy, but upon graduation was provoked into joining Flattop and Subsea in venturing underground, in order to prove his courage. When a group of Cybertronian Mutants attacked and slaughtered his fellow cadets, Tailgate stood his ground. A blast into Smeltdown's chest-furnace obliterated most of the sewer-dwellers, leaving only the ape-like Rotgut. However, a little quick thinking, and Tailgate was able to use the larger machine's bulk against him, flipping Rotgut into the pyre left in Smeltdown's wake. Thus, he proved he was not a coward... and also not very good at watching his friends' backs in a fight. Pipes and Outback eventually arrived as Tailgate surfaced and let them know of his fellow cadets' fate.

Unfortunately, Tailgate's actions inadvertently woke something worse than the Mutants... Underworld!

Regeneration One

It doesn't get much better than this. Sorry, Tailgate.

Tailgate participated in the defense of Iacon against the onslaught of the Blitz Engines and the Decepticon crew of the Warworld. He didn't have time to do much of anything except get shot by Needlenose. Destiny, Part Five He survived, and travelled to the Hub Network with Rodimus Prime to battle Jhiaxus and survived that too. Almost immediately upon returning to Cybertron, however, he was attacked and killed by a shadow-leech. Ouch. The War to End All Wars, Part 5

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Tailgate was among the Autobot civilians who watched Shockwave's anti-Optimus-Prime propaganda broadcasts. Cold War Didn't seem to do the trick, though, as he was later seen training alongside several Autobot recruits against auto-combatants following Shockwave's defeat. None of them fared particularly well in training, however, much to Prowl and Ironhide's dismay. Black Sunshine

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: More than Meets the Eye #1

It's a scratch, he'll just walk it off... oh, right.

Tailgate of Rivets Field was forged from a hot spot that ignited six million years ago, two weeks before the launch of the Ark. This Calamitous Life During this time, he lived in an era of peace alongside the likes of Nova Prime and Omega Supreme. All Good Things Assigned the role of fourth-class sanitation 'bot, he was tasked with cleaning out the craft's coolant tubes before take-off, Cybertronian Homesick Blues but ran late to the job and made the mistake of trying to make up the time by short-cutting across the fragile Mitteous Plateau. The terrain collapsed out from under him, leaving him badly damaged and trapped underground, but he soon hit upon the plan of detonating the trailer-full of energon rations he had brought with him in hopes of blasting his way out. Unfortunately for him, he kept repeatedly passing out as he set this up, and with his chronometer damaged had no way of measuring the passage of time. He finally succeeded six million years later, and was dragged from his pit by a group of Autobots who were on their way to depart the planet on the starship Lost Light. Suffering a panic attack and passing out when he saw his explosion had damaged Whirl, the unconscious Tailgate was brought aboard the Lost Light by the Autobots, since he'd mentioned "the launch" and they had no idea who he was. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It

Due to an accident with the quantum engine, the Lost Light was duplicated and another Tailgate woke up to bond on a different Lost Light. What did he do? We dunno because the Decepticon Justice Division showed up and killed everyone! The Road Not Taken

Just your average kick-boxing, bomb disposing, metaphysics and epistemology student, and I once caught a fish this big!

Ratchet soon discovered Tailgate's age when he studied his ancient systems, and called Swerve in to carbon-date him. Tailgate woke up before that was necessary (happily observing that he hadn't killed "Nut-Job", as he mistakenly thought Whirl was called), so Swerve instead gleefully took it upon himself to inform him how long he'd been offline. Hangers On Tailgate was horrified and heartbroken: by all rights, he should have been found in days, but the length of his absence made it clear he was so unimportant that nobody had noticed or cared he was missing. Since there was nobody around who knew the truth, and since he had always wanted to do something big and heroic with this life, Tailgate decided to make up a dramatic, overblown past for himself. Cybertronian Homesick Blues He and Swerve went for a walk, during which he claimed that the damaged "Waste Disposal" decal on his arm actually read "Bomb Disposal", and that he had been part of the Primal Vanguard, though Swerve was more interested in seeing his alternate mode. After Tailgate was introduced to Chromedome and Rewind, the group were caught up in a battle between the amnesiac Skids and some strange robots, in whose repeated chanting of "nineteen-eighty-four" Tailgate took an interest.

A little later, back on the Lost Light, Swerve finally convinced Tailgate to attempt to transform, Hangers On but he wound up getting stuck halfway. It was at this inopportune moment that the crew were ordered back to their rooms, since a Sparkeater had been reported loose aboard the ship; spotting Cyclonus, another Transformer from his time, Tailgate asked for some help getting to a room. Cyclonus carried the half-transformed Tailgate there and quite rudely dumped him on the ground. As the Sparkeater situation unfolded outside, the two ancient 'bots discussed the six million year gap in history they missed; Cyclonus described the Autobot-Decepticon conflict to Tailgate as he understood it, romanticizing the Decepticons' position enough that later, as Ratchet was unsticking his half-transformed body, Tailgate declared that he wanted to be a Decepticon! The Chaos of Warm Things

Tailgate goes to see his KRAK dealer.

Learning of Tailgate's aims, Ultra Magnus insisted that ship's captain Rodimus set the "confirmed Decepticon sympathizer" straight, so Rodimus recruited Rewind to beam a compressed visual history of the war directly into Tailgate's head. Sobered by what he saw and realizing that the Decepticons were the "bad guys", Tailgate fumed at Cyclonus for misleading him and impotently struck him, leading his icy roommate to reciprocate with a vicious backhand. Leaving their room, Cyclonus kicked the downed Tailgate on his way out, leaving him cowering on the floor. Life After the Big Bang

Determined to be one of the "good guys", Tailgate requested that Ultra Magnus teach him the Autobot Code. By this point, Tailgate had edited his own Autopedia entry to reflect the false history he had created for himself—claiming he had studied metaphysics under Omega Supreme, was a champion kick-boxer who graduated from the Ibex School of Epistemology, helped invent the idealised heat engine, coordinated a search for the long-lost Luna 1, and he was part of Nova Prime's inner circle, encouraging him to explore space—and the impressed Magnus agreed to educate him. Alas, Tailgate was soon to discover this meant an excruciating slog through an intense analysis of ten thousand pages of text. He was briefly interested in section 19, subsection 80, paragraph four because it reminded him of the robots that attacked Skids, How Ratchet Got His Hands Back but by and large the experience was a gruelling one, and he moaned long and loud about it in Swerve's bar, especially once he discovered there was an abridged version of the Code. Interiors

After the Lost Light was impacted by a discarded thumb from Metroplex, and was subsequently repaired, Tailgate attended an award ceremony honoring Brainstorm, Chromedome and Highbrow for their part in saving the ship. He chatted with Chromedome during the celebration, and noted how the three honored Autobots had head-related names. Later, Tailgate was having a conversation with Huffer when they, along with nearly everyone on board the Lost Light were frozen in place due to one of Brainstorm's experimental weapons accidentally going off. After he recovered, he was awarded a Rodimus Star "for exceptional endurance in the face of adversity". The Reluctant Specialist

Ultimately, Tailgate passed his Autobot Code exam, though he professed it was not with "his best grades ever". Asking Cyclonus to attend his Act of Affiliation, a step on the way to the full Rite of the Autobrand, he was seemingly ignored - although his fellow Ancient Cybertronian would secretly attend. At the ceremony itself, however, Rodimus was briefly possessed by a Titan and, rather than drawing his probationary Autobot symbol, scrawled "Set Me Free" in Old Cybertronian on his chest. You, Me, and Other Revelations

Tailgate loved "Movie Night" in Rewind and Chromedome's quarters, where he watched such films as the old public information piece "Proteus's Promise", with several other members of the crew Who's Afraid of the DJD? and would later recall it as the happiest time of his life. Before & After He was invited to listen in on Rewind's third communal storytelling session, part of an attempt to help the damaged Rung regain his memories; Tailgate had to interrupt Drift to ask what a Relinquishment Clinic was, Post Hoc and was particularly impressed by the skills of one Orion Pax Patternism even though he hadn't realized that Orion was actually Optimus Prime, despite the notes he'd been making to keep track of all the characters. An Intimate Beheading

Tailgate joined a mission to Temptoria to investigate the possibility that the Circle of Light were being held there. While the larger Autobots roughed up the occupying Decepticons, Tailgate and Rewind investigated the contents of The Battery only to find that the Decepticons didn't have the Circle and were merely converting the native life forms to energon, and had rigged up a bomb. Before & After Now forced to actually dispose of a bomb, Tailgate tricked Rewind into telling him how to actually do it. Cybertronian Homesick Blues Unfortunately he accidentally triggered a timer, and when he refused to stop work and escape, he had to be physically thrown from the room by Cyclonus. Cyclonus and Rewind were caught in the bomb's explosion, and Tailgate dragged the severely-damaged Cyclonus back to the Lost Light's medibay on his own. Observing the other Autobots leaving offerings of innermost energon for Rewind, Tailgate attempted to leave an offering for Cyclonus, only for it to be rebuked. Cyclonus did seem to have a change of heart after seeing Rewind's offerings, and helped Tailgate pick up the pieces of the shattered vial. Before & After

"Congratulations! It's a beautiful baby boy... We think.

Some time later, he went to the bars on Hedonia with his usual crowd (his psycho-reactive holomatter avatar taking the form of a human baby). Cybertronian Homesick Blues After abandoning Swerve with a drunken Ultra Magnus, Tailgate and the others explored a gift shop. Tailgate grew bored as Skids tried on hats but decided not to wait outside with Whirl, who was banging his head on a display case. Signal to Noise When Rewind was about to show a recording of the Ark-1 opening ceremony that included the naming of its original crew, Cyclonus suddenly flew into a "drunken rage" that disrupted the proceedings. Tailgate ushered the others away so he could calm him down; after they had departed, it became clear Cyclonus had done this so the others wouldn't realize Tailgate wasn't part of the crew. Cyclonus revealed he had known from the start that Tailgate had been lying, and the little 'bot broke down and admitted to having falsified his past, and his grief over being a nobody. Cyclonus took pity on Tailgate and taught him how to sing an Old Cybertronian anthem. Cybertronian Homesick Blues

While lounging around in the ship's oil reservoir, Tailgate, Swerve, and Rewind took to discussing the cool alternate modes of their crew-mates, and entered into a wager to see who could be the first to solve the longstanding mystery of what Rung turned into. Tailgate tried to trick Rung into transforming by holding an "alt mode party", claiming they were all the rage back in his day, but since Rung hailed from the same time as him, it proved an unconvincing gambit. Interviewed by Rewind for a documentary movie about life on the ship not long thereafter, Tailgate continued making up accolades for himself, but openly admitted to never having been happier than he was on the ship, and looking to the future with glee. Little Victories

Tailgate and Cyclonus remained close after their experiences on Hedonia; Tailgate was in the ship's workshop crafting a new horn to replace Cyclonus's missing one when the 'bot in question angrily came storming in after learning that their quarters were to play host to "Movie Night". Under Cold Blue Stars That concern melted away in the face of Overlord's subsequent rampage through the ship; Cyclonus and Tailgate sat together during the funeral for the crewmembers who died in the chaos. After the ceremony, Tailgate went to help Ratchet to care for the dying Ultra Magnus, but accidentally scanned himself with Ratchet's "death clock", which announced that Tailgate had only three days to live. The Gloaming

The Hope is a Lie

An examination by Ratchet revealed that he had a terminal case of cybercrosis, and Tailgate elected to trust only Cyclonus with the news, though Cyclonus seemed almost disinterested in the tragic announcement. Tailgate went to Swerve's Bar to drink away his sorrows, oblivious to the massive portal that the Lost Light was about to travel through. When Luna 1 was discovered to lie on the other side of the portal, an evidently distressed Cyclonus made up for his behavior by inviting Tailgate onto the team who would explore the moon. He insisted it was just for the experience, with the caveat that despite Luna 1's reputation as a "Miracle Moon", Tailgate must not hope for a cure. The Fecund Moon

On arrival on Luna 1, Tailgate was captured and imprisoned with most of the Lost Light away team, becoming separated from Cyclonus who remained free. As none of the others knew he had less than three days to live, Tailgate's claims of impatience and panic at being in captivity were dismissed. House of Ambus Things looked brighter once their co-prisoner Minimus Ambus revealed that he was really a healed Ultra Magnus; when Tailgate asked how he could have cheated his impending death, Minimus declared that the Chief Justice Tyrest, who has using the moon as a base, had doctors that could apparently work miracles. The Divided Self

Chekhov's semicolon!

Tailgate's clock was down to one day and twelve hours by the time Getaway sprang the group from the cell, by which time he could no longer walk and had to be carried by Rodimus, though he played off his paralysis as seized-up servos. Reuniting with Ratchet, Tailgate told him of the moons' "miracle medibay", but Ratchet solemnly informed him that only Tyrest's medical minion Pharma could really use the tools within it. The group proceeded to confront Tyrest and were all apparently immobilized by a "thought weapon" that paralyzed their bodies. Arm the Lonely Tailgate's cybercrosis, however, had rendered him deaf to the frequency of the suggestion weapon. He managed to jump Tyrest and jab him in the head through the "cleansing" hole Tyrest drilled in his own brow. Tailgate deactivated the weapon while Tyrest was distracted, only to be taken hostage by the Chief Justice. Though he urged Rodimus to open fire, admitting his terminal condition, Tailgate was saved moments later by Minimus Ambus. As the room was swarmed by Legislators responding to Tyrest's distress call, Tailgate put his knowledge of the Autobot Code to good use, using Tyrest's computer to amend and repeal the law in its totality. He barely had time to celebrate his achievement before collapsing.

Whomsoever pulls the sword from the Tailgate, they are the one

The next day, back on the Lost Light, Tailgate asked Cyclonus to spare him a lingering death by terminating him, but Cyclonus refused. Though a cure was subsequently found, thanks to Tyrest's collection of esoteric medical equipment, Tailgate's spark had faded to a point where the process would no longer be viable. However, on Whirl's suggestion, Cyclonus used his Great Sword to directly transfuse energy into Tailgate's spark, boosting it to a condition that allowed the small 'bot's life to be saved. This Calamitous Life Tailgate underwent a period of recovery. The Sound of Breaking Glass

After about six months, Tailgate was fully recovered from his cybercrosis, and could even fully transform again. He playfully charged Cyclonus when he first got out of the medbay, demonstrating his new signature move of "finger to the head". Tailgate was surprised by all that had gone on in his absence, including the new captain Megatron and Swerve's using one of the Legislators as a bouncer. Words Hang in the Air He'd learned from his experiences ahahahaha just kidding, one of the first things he did was talk up his actions on Luna 1 at the bar. Getaway began talking to him, telling him his heroics were Prime-worthy and when Tailgate admitted to having lied about his old job, the agent bonded with him over his own dull past (Tailgate didn't notice Cyclonus storm out). Predestination: A Beginner's Guide All of this was a trick: Getaway needed a patsy for Megatron to be tricked into assaulting or killing, as part of his plan to get the ex-Decepticon off the ship and in a prison cell. Tailgate was the easiest person to groom. The Lopsided Triangle

This was all interrupted when the ship had to be abandoned on account of vanishing Predestination: A Beginner's Guide and Tailgate was stuck on a crowded Rodpod with twenty others. When they started vanishing too, Tailgate (pumped up from false bravado from his recent praising) immediately aimed his guns at an amused Megatron—causing a standoff that, to Tailgate's horror, included Cyclonus too. As the vanishings went on, erasing all the original crewmembers, Tailgate had time to see all the other escape ships disappear before he too was claimed. Twenty Plus One The cause was identified as the Lost Light running across the duplicate Lost Light (where Nautica and Nightbeat came across the other Tailgate's corpse) and everything was fixed. And the quantum duplicate Rewind was back too! slaughterhouse The Road Not Taken And then Getaway told him he thought he could be a Wrecker! Stet Tailgate would've been really pleased about all this if he and everyone else hadn't been whacked unconscious by poisoned engex at Swerve's! slaughterhouse The Road Not Taken

Tailgate was fixed up and made part of a time-travel team (due to a compatible spark), pursuing the poisoner Brainstorm before he could alter the timeline. That meant he got to meet ORION PAX OMG. He squeed about how awesome he was for trying to save infant sparks (and tried to get Cyclonus to agree) and then actually got to work with him! All Our Parlous Yesterdays They went further back to pre-war Rodion and Tailgate had to take control of Cyclonus's comms while the ancient stared into the distance. When Tailgate babbled about the time-travel mechanics freaking him out, he found out Cyclonus was silent because of the chance to once again see an undamaged Cybertron.

For want of a curly straw...

Cyclonus then apologised for hitting him. "Noted", replied Tailgate.

A further time-jump took them to Maccadam's New Oil House, waiting to see what happened. He listened to pre-war Megatron's poetry, had a drink, and asked for a curly straw. Rung getting him a curly straw started a bar fight that got Megatron arrested, so it's important to know that Tailgate is responsible for the Great War. Stet Their final trip went to Megatron's birth and Tailgate was amused to see he was born in a Con facility (as in -structed Cold). During the whole time travel chaos, it was Tailgate who suggested "why don't we use time travel to send the Lost Light a message from the post telling them not to do all this bad stuff?". Predestination: An Expert's Guide That message made it to the day the Lost Light launched, but too late to stop them. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It A ticked off Cyclonus pointed out that all of those bad things turned out well, including that Tailgate himself didn't die of cybercrosis.

Once back in the present day, Tailgate and the crew watched Back to the Future Part II and it was so awesome Predestination: An Expert's Guide that he went and got his own hoverboard and annoyed the crap out of the Lost Light crew by zooming about on it inside.

Gaslight, starring Tailgate of Rivets Field as Paula

He and Getaway got together to go Legislator fishing in the oil reservoir, starting with a friendly booze-up in Mirage's bar "Visages". After telling him a slight fabrication of their recent time travel escapades, Getaway just happened to accidentally mention that Cyclonus had been saying mean things about Tailgate behind his back. Tailgate was horrified to learn Cyclonus had been insulting him for being scared on his death bed but don't worry Tailgate, Getaway's got your back and another drink would help even if you don't want it and oh don't mention to Cyclonus that he told you this, eh? Our Steps Will Always Rhyme

At Thunderclash's pre-wake, Tailgate used the hoverboard to kill it on the dance floor! The Sensuous Frame Afterwards, at a subsequent EarthDance party at "Swerve's", he had "The Power Of Love" requested and planned to ask Cyclonus to dance with him. When Cyclonus refused and said begging him would be embarrassing, Tailgate muttered "like I don't normally embarrass you" under his breath and went off to dance with Getaway (not noticing Cyclonus had changed his mind). The Frail Gaze

Later, he presented First Aid with a farewell present from the crew despite the fact the medic's absence was only temporary. Soon after he was drafted into the team sent to 'Swearth' in order to save Swerve from an unknown illness and while on the strange sitcom world, he found a comic book series detailing the crew of the Lost Light's adventures. By the time the others had arrived back he was on issue #21 and pointed out that Swerve had opened Brainstorm's briefcase. For the benefit of the mission he skipped to issue #43 (The Swerve disappears story) and discovered a 'story so far page' by the bartender that explained everything. Rung realised the comic book was Swerve's way of reaching out to them and Tailgate witnessed the combination of the three neighbours into Swerve. When Swerve refused to say where the issue was, Tailgate deduced that he had found his happy place and didn't want to leave. After Cyclonus gave Swerve a moralising speech, Tailgate noticed Swerve's shoulder wound and he declared the story wrapped up. The One Where They Go to Earth

Tailgate was one of the dozen or so Autobots who landed on the Necroworld, home of Censere, hoping to find out more about the mysterious neutral Transformer. The Not Knowing

After months of manipulation, Getaway began to start the Conjunx Ritus and wow Tailgate, they could be Conjunx Endura and all it would take now is for him to do the "Act of Devotion", proving he really wanted it. Maybe he could, say, use those wicked cool mnemosurgery needles you totally said you wanted to put a special anti-villain virus in Megatron! But it's OKAY if you DON'T, I guess, they'd just have to start the whole ritual again, if they wanted to...

Tailgate Mega Evolves after exposure to the Tailgatenite.

Tailgate duly broke into Megatron's hab-unit with no idea his 'Ravage detector' was a fake and he would have been killed if Whirl, Getaway's co-conspirator, hadn't had an attack of conscience and alerted Cyclonus. When saved, with Cyclonus risking his life against the Light security team, Tailgate realised that he'd unwittingly started the Conjunx Ritus on the Tetrahexian during his assumed death—holding his hand (Act of Intimacy), confessing his fear of death (Disclosure), giving him the gift of a replacement horn (Proferrence), and being saved with Cyclonus's own spark energy (Devotion). When Cyclonus was shot into stasis lock, a frightened and grieving Tailgate's glowing eyes, his constant tic, built into The Lopsided Triangle a wave of spark energy that unwittingly woke up Thunderclash but left Tailgate comatose. Speak, Memory: Part 1

It is I, Super Tailgate! (And I am cute, too!)

When he finally came round, the ship was under lockdown as the monstrous Sunder, the Tetrahex Ripper, a mnemosurgeon gone psychotic who could hack your mind on sight. While walking around the ship, he found Getaway's cell and was left furious about how the 'bot wouldn't even talk to him after all he'd done (unaware his mouth had been removed to stop him talking his way out of the cell) and punched the wall in anger.... shattering the windows. Tailgate found himself dragged into the fight against Sunder and showed another feat of strength when he hurled the Rodpod at the villain, crushing him! Which he had not expected. After the battle, Velocity found that Tailgate was an outlier: his spark was "uniquely susceptible to mutation as a result of the background radiation generated by quantum travel," and a stress-caused mutation had made him super-strong and super-durable. All coming up Tailgate! Speak, Memory! (Part 2)

A time fissure had been discovered at Swerve's and allowed everyone to briefly look back at the past, seeing the departed. Tailgate chose to look back at Pipes and Drift, where he learned, with visible sadness, that Drift had introduced Pipes to him because the other minibot had been looking for a romantic partner. No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases

During a movie night, Tailgate and some of the other Lost Light crewmembers watched a documentary about Sentinel Prime and his death during the earliest days of the war. Brainstorm commented that the ruthless Sentinel was, in many ways, the first Decepticon - a comment that confused Tailgate, as he had only heard good things about the former Prime. The Last Autobot

If you're an evil 'con, I will punch you for fun!

With his great strength, Tailgate was a key player in the liberation of Millarium and POWER PUNCHED a Rust Giant that was threatening Rodimus. Shortly after, it all changed: Tailgate and a dozen others were hit by a psychic attack eminating from an unknown location, with Tailgate hearing Cyclonus in pain and blaming him for what happened with Getaway. The group and some others tracked the signal to the Necrobot's home planet, only to find a Decepticon attack force waiting for them... and when the Light was contacted, Tailgate and his comrades learned the rest of the crew had let Getaway out and had a mutiny against Megatron and anyone deemed a 'sympathiser'. To Tailgate's horror, the Decepticon Justice Division were on the planet and closing in. How Bright Their Frail Deeds He naively hoped that the 'fortress' they were in was stopping the Decepticons rushing in but it turned out to be a deliberate psyops tactic to let them stew. There was luckily a way out, the Necrobot's teleporter! Problem is, a search had found stasis pods of organics (Tailgate not believing it mattered why the Necrobot had had them) in the fortress and teleporting would abandon them. Megatron gave a stirring speech in favour of staying to guard the innocents and Tailgate, with all the others, agreed to stay. The Sun in Flight

When Ratchet returned, he investigated Velocity's description of Tailgate's unusual mutation, raising the concern that several other Transformers exposed to this pulse had experienced devastating system crashes. Meanwhile, Tailgate himself put his great strength to work as he began demolishing sections of the Necrobot's fortress to produce raw material for Brainstorm's inventions. Tailgate later re-convened with the other Autobots in the center of the fortress, where Whirl and Cyclonus revealed that the Necrobot's storm shield prevented them from firing the fortress's weapons. At Close of Day Instead, Velocity came up with the idea of triggering another mutagenic spark spasm, which would temporarily transform all the Cybertronians nearby into super-strong Outliers. Skids unwittingly sacrificed himself thanks to his traumatic memories, but as he perished the radiation from his spark super-charged the Autobots.

The Autobots charged forward to take down the Decepticons, although Tailgate found that his foes weren't willing to play along with his witty banter. Rage, Rage The upgrade soon wore off, and Tailgate retreated back to the Necrobot's fortress with the other Autobots as Megatron took down the members of the DJD one by one. When that business as over, Tailgate was present to witness the return of Roller, Terminus, and several other Transformers who had vanished throughout history—in reality abducted by the time-travelling Necrobot and brought to the present day. Do Not Go Gentle

Tailgate's developed a... ahem... punchier personality.

At daybreak, he showed off his super-strength by lifting Roller and boasted about his combat prowess to the time-scooped. Cyclonus pulled him aside to quietly inform him that it was wrong to grandstand when not everyone had made it out alive and he bore some responsibility for Skids' loss. That's when time-scooped Decepticon Fangry, irritated that Autobots were celebrating Decepticon deaths, 'oops! pardon me' bumped the two to start a fight. When Tailgate later found Cyclonus to be heavily damaged, he stormed off to batter Fangry, ignoring his partner's cries to leave it. Some Other Cybertron Tailgate found Fangry and proceeded to brutalize him finishing with throwing the Decepticon against the Memorial to the Disappeared with enough force to rupture the Decepticon's neural cluster an act which terrified the other Decepticons into fleeing. Cyclonus then showed Tailgate the corpses of the many Decepticons the minibot had killed to try and get him to better understand his new powers only for Tailgate to collapse from a lack of Energon. Anomie When Cyclonus arrived to help Whirl missing half his body, Whirl realized that Tailgate was responsible forcing Cyclonus to confess that, while recharging, Tailgate attempted to tear out his own Spark, forcing Cyclonus to intervene and becoming damaged as a result. Despite Cyclonus' protests, Whirl told Tailgate the truth behind Cyclonus' damages. Bad Moon Rising Tailgate and Whirl arrived in the main room where Tailgate stoically greeted Cyclonus. Modes of Production When Necroworld returned to its own universe, Tailgate was the first to welcome back the group. This Machine Kills Fascists

When Rodimus hit on the (somewhat disturbing) plan to supersize the corpse of the Decepticon Skip to create a large enough spacecraft to escape Necroworld, Tailgate got to work manually converting the now giant Decepticon into starship mode. He was approached by Cyclonus who confessed his fear that Tailgate may be manipulated again as Getaway once did to him only for Tailgate to brush him off, insisting that no one would manipulate him again and invited Cyclonus to leave him alone. When the boarding call came, Tailgate informed Cyclonus that he was staying behind even trying to return the innermost energon that Cyclonus had donated as the minibot no longer believed the two had a future together. Once the ship launched, Tailgate confessed to Kaput his reasons for staying behind, namely not wanting to hurt Cyclonus anymore and asked if Kaput could make him normal once again. After days of study, Kaput hit on a possible answer. Seal Tailgate in an isolation chamber for six months and flood him with neutronic radiation to try and get his Spark back to normal. Despite the risks, Tailgate agreed yet no sooner had he entered the chamber did Fangry slay Kaput and reset the timer on the chamber as revenge for Tailgate humiliating him. Instead of six months, Fangry buried Tailgate for another six million years. Fangry promptly cut the communication line and buried the entrance to the chamber with the grass and flowers covering Tailgate's resting point. After Megatron

When the Luna 1 Autobots arrived on Necroworld, Fortress Maximus discovered the isolation chamber and summoned Cerebros to examine it. The group used Beak's super-optics to glimpse inside the chamber and found evidence suggesting the minibot had succumbed to spontaneous Spark combustion. Maximus informed Rodimus of the grim news who then informed Cyclonus. News of Tailgate's demise proved the last straw before all the tensions aboard Skip came to a boil. Sardines

Tailgate eventually found himself in what appeared to be the Afterspark and proceeded to wait for Cyclonus to find him. Cyclonus lived up to his expectations after he and the rest of Team Rodimus found themselves in the same place. MetastasisTailgate and Cyclonus swapped stories of what had happened to them after their parting. Tailgate awoke in this place depowered and with only a vague memory of his last moments underground. When Cyclonus told Tailgate that he hadn't died on Skip but rather when Tailgate told him to leave, the minibot declared that the two would now have a new deal: they were never to separate again. The God War But when it was revealed that the planet Team Rodimus had found themselves on wasn't the Afterspark, but a telepathic euthanasia clinic the bots realized it was likely that Tailgate was really just another construct. After Rodimus and crew shut down the clinic's systems, Cyclonus declared his love for Tailgate. Tailgate embraced him and told him to protect him as the constructs faded. However, seemingly miraculously, Tailgate remained even after the clinic's systems had completely died. They didn't have much time to celebrate though, as they were immediately set upon by a group of sparkeaters that were former members of the Lost Light's crew! You Are Here

As Team Rodimus and the Scavengers debated what to do, Tailgate suggested firing on the sparkeaters and making a run for it. He was present to watch Brainstorm get vomited on by the sparkeater Perceptor, and later joined the group that fell back to Ward Zero as a defensive holding point. Tailgate stood watch over the window while others gathered supplies to barricade the door. During his watch he had a brief exchange with Cyclonus over comms, where Cyclonus promised to return to Tailgate safe and Tailgate tried to convince him not to kill Getaway. A Dance Before Dying After the sparkeater programs had been deactivated and the victims brought under medical care, Tailgate was present looking outside, just in time to see the fabric of space-time get torn wide open! Lūstrāre

The entire crew of Team Rodimus, the recovering Lost Light crew, and the Scavengers evacuated onto the Lost Light and make a quick departure. Despite Crankcase's best efforts in piloting, the ship was inevitably drawn into the rift, causing Tailgate to panic. The ship safely exited the other side of the rift (with the slight problem of having no engine power), but the crew was baffled by the sight of five Cybertrons. Setting down on the nearest Cybertron and disembarking, Tailgate asked Cyclonus if he was feeling alright. Cyclonus did not have a clear answer to give, as the location they'd landed in was Upper Tetrahex, the place where he was forged during ancient times. Not long after, they were greeted by the Black Block Consortia and The Grand Architect in rapid succession. Nautica's quick thinking saved them from a quick execution, and Tailgate was among those listed by The Magnificence to come aboard The Grand Architect's Worldsweeper. Regardless, the entire crew was allowed to board, finding themselves in a landing bay. While waiting, conversation turned to The Magnificence, which seemed to call to Rung. It evidently forced him to involuntarily transform, to which Tailgate wondered if the sound made by the ordeal was Rung's voice or his body. Farsickness

I want to tell you about the Transformers! This character article is a stub and is missing information on their fictional appearances. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it. The Return of the King The Unremembering A Spark Among Embers How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2

Prevenge

Voice actor: Susan Blu (English)

Tailgate was suffering through one of Ultra Magnus's lectures on the Autobot code when his teacher was suddenly whisked away through a trans-dimensional portal. Tailgate was left to ponder if he had caused the portal to open with his brain... for about six seconds, after which Ultra Magnus reappeared. Ultra Magnus told Tailgate that they could call it a day on the lecture, so long as Tailgate promised never to speak of what had just transpired. Prevenge

Prime Wars Trilogy marketing material

The Autobot Tailgate could enhance his fuel efficiency by linking with Prime Masters. Power of the Primes Tailgate packaging bio

2019 IDW continuity

At some point, Tailgate posed in a group photo with many Cybertronians, including Blast Off. Open Comms

Velocitron Speedia 500

Looking for Cyclonus, but all he could find was a Scourge.

Tailgate was one of many spectators for the Speedia 500 race on Velocitron. Velocitron Speedia 500 Part 2

Games

Transformers: Battle Tactics

Tailgate participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was a Common character that could be recruited for 16 units of Cybermetal. Transformers: Battle Tactics

Toys

The Transformers

White Rider.

• Tailgate (Mini Vehicle, 1986)

• Takara ID number: C-61
• Known designers: Hideaki Yoke (TakaraTomy)

Released in the third year of Hasbro's The Transformers toyline, Mini Vehicle Tailgate is a white-and-blue retooling of the 1984 Autobot Windcharger, transforming into a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am sports car. His head sculpt is much more elaborate than the earlier toy's (which shared the Micro Change sculpt), and his hood has been altered with an indent for a heat-sensitive rubsign.

The initial releases of all Mini Vehicles and Special Teams in 1986 were part of a promotional campaign that featured reflective iron-on patches as part of a contest. Later in the year, packages without bonus patches were released.

He was released in Takara's version of the line in a small box with a collector's card, rather than a bubble-card like the Hasbro version.

The original version of this mold was used by Camaro and Rook. Tailgate's toy was also used as the model for the comics-original character Wipe-Out.

• Patent info, price guide, and further reading on Tailgate at Transformerland.com
• More information on Tailgate at TFU.info

• Tailgate (Mini Vehicle, 1987)

In the Mexican Transformers line produced by IGA, Tailgate was released as a straight redeco of Windcharger, sold on Tailgate cards. He came in two different but similar color schemes: white with metallic-blue, and yellow with metallic-blue. The reasoning for the yellow version may lie in the Toy Fair 1986 catalog, which shows a prototype Tailgate in yellow.

IGA appears to have done this old-mold-new-colors move with the other third-year retools (Hubcap, Outback, Pipes and Swerve), though so far Tailgate and Swerve are the only ones that have been confirmed with carded samples.

IGA Transformers also eventually made their way to a variety of European markets, slightly decreasing their rarity.

• TFSquareOne article detailing the Mexican version of Tailgate

Encore

Immediately, something like scales fell from Tailgate's eyes, and he could see again.

• Bumble & Minibots (Multi-pack, 2008)

• Encore number: 10

In 2008, Tailgate was reissued in the Encore line. This version of Tailgate has his visor painted bright blue, plus the insignia sticker on the robot mode has been cut to the contours of the insignia, rather than the simple trapezoid fitting the plate it is attached to on prior versions (despite what Takara's stock photos of the toy showed). Unfortunately, this version suffers from mold deterioration- his legs can't align correctly for vehicle mode, causing them to not be flush with his car roof.

Tailgate came in a five-bot multipack, bundled with Bumblebee, Outback, Pipes, and Swerve.

Generations

I'm the one that loves the purple oni.

• Autobot Tailgate & Groundbuster (Legends Class, 2014)

• Series / Number: 02 / #008
• Known designers: Joe Kyde (Hasbro)

Part of the sixth wave of 2012-onwards Generations Legends Class toys, Thrilling 30 "Autobot Tailgate" is roughly the size of a Cyberverse Commander Class toy. He transforms from a white muscle car into a robot mode largely based on Nick Roche's design for IDW's More than Meets the Eye comic, with some blue flame-decals on his hood likely inspired by his Prime counterpart. He comes with Groundbuster (based on the Micromaster Neutro), who transforms into a robot, a bomb disposal skid loader,^[2] and an extended claw for Tailgate to wield via its 5mm post, or mount onto the peg-hole on Tailgate's hood in vehicle mode.

This mold was retooled into Generations Windcharger and Timelines Nightracer. It also served as the basis of the non-toy Shattered Glass incarnation of Tailgate.

• More information on Generations Tailgate at TFU.info

Legends

It makes your whites slightly darker, and your brights also slightly darker.

• Swerve & Tailgate (Multi-pack, 2015)

• ID number: LG08
• Release date: January 24, 2015

Legends Tailgate is a redeco of Thrilling 30 Legends Class Tailgate with a closer resemblance to his original toy, with changes such as a darker shade of teal, an Autobot sigil on his stomach and black car mode windows. He also lacks the flame deco on his hood but instead features a silver-painted grill. Tailgate and "Groundshaker" were sold exclusively in a two-pack with Swerve and Phaser.

Power of the Primes

Hi, it's me! I just think household electronics are people! What's a Cyclonus?

• Autobot Tailgate (Legends Class, 2017)

• Takara ID number: PP-34
• Takara release date: October 27, 2018
• Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro)

Part of the second wave of Power of the Primes Legends Class figures, "Autobot Tailgate" is a retool of Power of the Primes Windcharger with a new head. He transforms from a robot into a fictionalized Pontiac Firebird Trans Am sports car that is based on his Generation 1 toy. He also features an opening canopy on his alternate mode to let any Titan/Prime Masters to ride in.

Tailgate and the rest of his wave were released at retail in Singapore, and subsequently in the United Kingdom, and later, the United States, before Hasbro even acknowledged their existence, let alone before online retailers were permitted to sell their stock.

Vintage G1

• Tailgate ("Legion Class" reissue, 2018)

Part of the first wave of the Vintage G1 line, this reissue of the Tailgate Mini Vehicle is very similar to the Encore release, with the light blue visor, but has a few more small changes. The vehicle mode rubsign is an all-new type used on the Vintage G1 toys; the insignia only turns red rather than the mood-ring multicolor of older rubsigns, plus the silver border is mirror-level reflective. This version also has production information tampographed onto the sole of his right foot.

Like all Vintage G1 figures, Tailgate was exclusive to Walmart in the United States and Canada, but has thus far only been available from the Walmart website in the US. He was also available at general retail in Hong Kong, and exclusive in Australia to the website of fashion chain Cotton On. Oddly, the Australian release came in multilingual packaging intended for the European market, a rare but not entirely unheard of occurrence. Unfortunately, due to the limited space on the back, the iconic Tech Spec card is omitted, replaced by parental warnings in 24 languages about the possibility of breakage due to excessive force, and that parts are not designed to reattach.

Although originating from the 1986 range of Mini-Vehicles, Vintage G1 Tailgate's back-of-card artwork features the original 1984 mural, rather than the 1986 "Metroplex" mural present on Vintage G1 Hot Rod's box.

Notes

Little. Yellow. Different.

• In the pre-Toy Fair 1986 catalog, Tailgate is featured with a yellow car body, a black chest/torso, and a red face. Fellow 1986 Mini Vehicle Hubcap is featured with a white car body. Hmmmmm.
• Jim Sorenson and Jesse Wittenrich floated the idea of repurposing Tailgate's prototype toy as a new body for the GoBot Slicks, paralleling Hubcap as Rest-Q, but no decision was made prior to Fun Publications losing the Transformers Collectors' Club license.
• Fan speculation about IDW Tailgate's gender—always presented as male—broke out across Tumblr when a More than Meets the Eye promo called him "The Ingenue", a term for a female stock character.^[3] This was completely unintentional but Roberts was "pleased" to find out what he'd accidentally done.^[4] He went on to approve of Susan Blu being cast as Tailgate in "Prevenge" when it was run by him pre-BotCon, and said at an Auto Assembly panel that he was convinced Tailgate's baby-holoform was a girl. It can happen even though it's not on the Hub!
• According to James Roberts' notes in The MTMTE Notebooks, Vol 1, Tailgate's role in More Than Meets the Eye was originally intended for Powerglide, but was given to Tailgate after the latter appeared briefly in The Transformers #26, when the role called for the bot in question to be 'hibernating' underground at the time.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Tailgate (テイルゲイト Teirugeito, テイルゲート Teirugēto)
• French: Hayon (Canada)
• Mandarin: Dǎngbǎn (擋板, "Tailgate")

References