Devcon (G1)

Devcon is an Autobot from the cartoon portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

It's turkey and jerky!

Devcon is a self-proclaimed bounty hunter, one of the successful few during the years of the Great War. Harboring an intense hatred of Decepticons, he spent his time fiercely hunting those who were too dangerous for the other Autobots to consider. Who he works for or who he would even collect money from for his "finds" is unknown.

It's possible for Devcon to survive for extended periods without refueling due to his incredibly efficient internal systems. This is often what allows him to outlast the efforts of his prey. The origin of his legendary tracking skills are unknown; much of his past is a mystery. In his original body, he has an arm-mounted plasma blaster and a head-mounted laser cannon. His space cruiser mode is capable of long range interstellar flight.^[1]

He used to be friendly, courteous, and jovial, but his post-Great War career as an Imperial Peace Marshal apparently made him a bitter cynic.

Fiction

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

Voice actor: John Stephenson (English), Hirotaka Suzuoki (Japanese), Liu Qin (Chinese), João Francisco Turelli (Brazilian Portuguese), Éric Legrand (European French)

 

Devcon left his home planet Cybertron millions of years ago, "during the Great War". He was a nice guy, dedicated to his job, but lonely.

In 1985, Devcon tracked Astrotrain, Dirge, and Ramjet to the gambling asteroid Monacus. When the Decepticons unknowingly evaded him, he headed to a bar and ended up laying the smack down to a pair of thugs who were picking on Slizardo, the henchman of a local mob boss. In doing so, he caught the attention of fellow Autobot Smokescreen and the alien gambler Bosch, who were down on their luck following a bad bet. Devcon was pleased by the presence of another Autobot, and sat down to drink with the pair. Devcon's life story was interrupted by Slizardo trying to pledge his eternal loyalty to him.

After helping Smokescreen and the other Autobots on Monacus (and declining an offer to join the Autobots on Earth), Devcon flew off into space with Slizardo in tow as his new sidekick. The Gambler

Wings Universe

Alas, poor Steve! I knew him, Ginrai.

During a "Decepticon uprising" in the early 21st century C.E., Devcon was an Autobot bounty hunter who took down all the members of Axor's group except for Axor. This caused the Decepticon to develop a paranoid need to be ready for anything, even when he joined the renowned pirate group known as the Star Seekers. Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur

Primal Prime removed Devcon from the Wreckers for his failure to follow orders. To Prime's chagrin, Ginrai snatched up Devcon soon after and put him back to work for the Cybertronian Knights, using the same tactics Primal Prime found abhorrent.

While hunting for Flamewar, Devcon and Apelinq tracked her handiwork to a safehouse for delegates from the Twin Star Continuum.

When the Knights were reluctantly called in for a mandatory meditation session and lecture from Alpha Trizer, Devcon said he heard that the Wreckers would not take the mission. He further quipped to Flare-Up that 'bots had been bored into stasis lock by such sessions, but Apelinq deemed that rumor to be an exaggeration. Apelinq's personal logs

Devcon later tracked Flamewar to the Galadria Space Bridge Outpost in the Delta Prysmos Sector. The mercenary happened across the Star Seekers, pirates led by Cannonball who had just time-traveled to the "present". They intended to use the space bridge nexus to access Unicron's head, and use it as a massive energon siphon to drain Cybertron dry. As Flamewar joined the pirates, Devcon posed as one of the Dread Pirate Crew to mingle as they passed through the Space Bridge to Unicron. He signaled Ginrai and the Knights for backup, but was found out by the voracious Hunter and Olin Zarak. Still, reinforcements arrived and the Knights teamed up to defeat and apprehend Flamewar and the pirates. Hoist the Flag

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Legacy VS500 Collection Special Comic

Devcon was a spectator for the second week of the Speedia 500 on Velocitron. Velocitron Speedia 500 Part 3

Legends comic

In 2039, Devcon reconnected with Smokescreen. The former Autobot had suffered a breakdown and turned against his comrades. Devcon told Smokescreen and his new partner Dreadwing that it was possible to compromise in the name of peace. With Devcon's support, Smokescreen and Dreadwing agreed to make an effort to find peace with other Cybertronians. Transformers Legends Final Chapter "Epiloge"

3H comics

Used to be Charlton Heston, now he's Lobo.

Devcon was a jerk who ditched that Slizardo loser out an airlock first chance he got. At the end of the Great War, Devcon retired from his seemingly payless bounty hunter gig and signed on as one of the Maximals' Imperial Peace Marshals.^[1]

Hundreds of stellar cycles later, Devcon was critically damaged during the Vehicon takeover of Cybertron and forced to transfer his Spark into one of Mirage's "chase-model drones". Betrayal In need of a ride, he later snuck aboard an Autobot shuttle the Wreckers had stolen to leave Vehicon-controlled Cybertron. After attacking and defeating Packrat, Sonar, and Mol for no reason, he was confronted by the rest of the Wreckers when they were alerted to his presence. Departure Fractyl and Arcee were also quickly dispatched before Rodimus could calm him down.

Devcon proceeded to sow dissent amongst the already-fractured Wreckers with his abrasive, snarky personality. After landing on Archa Nine and failing to keep the Divine Light out of the hands of the traitorous Cyclonus, the Wreckers gladly built Devcon back into his original body so he could go away. Betrayal

Assholes finish first, losers!

Having sworn vengeance against Cyclonus, Devcon, knowing he needed help, sought for someone willing to assist him at Spaceport CSSB-16. Though not enough in a hurry to skip on some enjoyment, he swiftly got the Dinobots to join forces with him. Disclosure He was left unimpressed by the condition of T-Wreck's ship. The Wreckers: Finale Part 1

As Sentinel Maximus and Cryotek began their epic battle, Devcon and the Wreckers were left to deal with Cyclonus, Cryotek's pet Deployer Chro, a borrowed swarm of Sharkticons, and a legion of drones created by the Divine Light. Typical Wrecker odds. Even their vaunted tenacity started to slip, however, as more and more heroes fell in battle or just vanished mysteriously. With the drones destroyed and Rodimus occupying Cyclonus, Devcon and the newly arrived Cheetor were the only ones left standing against the mutated Deployer. A stray shot left Devcon stunned and helpless, and he would have been destroyed by Chro if not for the well-timed arrival of Tigatron and Arcee with reinforcements. The Wreckers arrived in time for the final conflict between Sentinel Maximus and Cryotek, but were unable to stop their leader from sacrificing himself to carry Cryotek through a portal into the featureless void, opened by their treacherous ally, the Quintesson Al-badur. With Rodimus dead and Maximus gone, it was a pyrrhic victory at best.

After the invasion was quelled, Devcon planned to take off for deep space again. As security chief of Cybertron, Rattrap offered him a position with planetary defense, but the bounty hunter declined. Devcon finally admitted that he had at least given Slizardo a space suit and survival kit before dumping him out that airlock, and that maybe he'd seek the little guy out to restart their partnership after all. Wreckers: Finale Part II

Devcon was a Child of Primus.^[1]

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Invisible derelict.

Devcon was sitting against a pipe near an entrance to the Old Slave Trails on a Shockwave-controlled Cybertron. Passive Aggression

Kre-O online manga

Devcon had himself a hearty laugh when Megatron attempted to replicate Optimus Prime's new clear-torso'd power-up via a see-through negligee. Wheeljack's Bizarre Invention! Optimus Power Up!?

Beast Wars: Uprising

At some point during the war, Devcon became a binary bonded Headmaster with his partner, Slizardo. Continuing his role as a bounty hunter and peacekeeping agent, Devcon accepted a mission to hunt down the Cybertronian space pirates known as the Star Seekers after the Armistice and Great Push severely limited Cybertron's Allowed Zone in space. Teamed with another Headmaster pair, Devcon and his partners defeated the Star Seekers and brought them back to Cybertron for trial. Star Dasher's profile

Toys

Expanded Universe

Somehow even snarkier than this wiki.

• Devcon (2002)

• Accessories: Two missiles

At BotCon 2001, a hand-painted Vehicon Mirage, representing Devcon as seen in the Wreckers comics, was one of several future exclusives that attendees could vote to have produced for BotCon 2002. He evidently lost the vote, as the ultra-sized Jetstorm as G1 Cyclonus was produced the following year. The mock-up was put on display along with many other unmade Wreckers toys in the BotCon 2002 art room.

• Image gallery of the hand-painted sample of the Botcon figure, purchased from Jon Hartman by Transformers at the Moon

Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

Universe (2003)

• Devcon (2005)

• Accessories: Missile

Among the submitted proposals for 3H's OTFCC 2005 exclusives was Energon Slugslinger (with a new head) as Universe Devcon. Whether it actually would have been produced had 3H kept the convention license is unknown.

Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

Timelines

Fun Pub tempts fate.

• Pirates vs Knights (BotCon 2014 box set)

• Accessories: 2 handguns

Exclusive to BotCon 2014, Timelines "Knight Devcon" is a retool of Generations Scourge, and transforms into a jet loosely based on the Boeing X-48 blended wing body concept aircraft. He comes with two weapons that are both held via 5mm post, and can combine via C joint. These weapons can store inside each of his cape halves/aircraft wings. The weapon with the clip can also attach to the 3mm bar of his head-mounted laser. You can get the weapon to peg into the screwhole on his elbow to approximate the cartoon model's arm-mounted cannon, but it's a really really tight and shallow fit. Like many, many aircraft-based Transformers, Devcon possesses landing gear in his alternate mode. There is a pair of flaps near the middle of his underside that can unfold to display six wheels, and underneath his robot mode head is a seventh landing gear wheel that can be flipped out.

Devcon's new headsculpt is very similar to, but different from, the Devcon-esque "pretooled" alternate head that ultimately was used for the Platinum Edition "Decepticon Sweep". Fun Publications was not made aware that the Devcon head existed, thus the redundant retooling.

He was only available in a box set with fellow knight Ginrai and the pirates Cannonball, Ferak, Tornado, Scorponok, and Olin Zarak.

This toy was also redecoed with the mold's alternate head into TakaraTomy Generations Ratbat and Timelines Serpent O.R..

• More information on Devcon at TFU.info

Legacy

Back to the Cold War.

• Autobot Devcon (Deluxe, 2023)

• TakaraTomy name: Autobot Defcon (オートボットデフコン)
• TakaraTomy ID number: TL-44
• TakaraTomy release date: 2023 October 28
• Accessories: Blaster, 2 Thrusters
• Known designers: Mark Maher (Hasbro), Ittoku Kuwazu and Shogo Hasui (TakaraTomy)^[2]

Released in the sixth wave of Legacy Deluxes, Legacy: Evolution "Autobot Devcon" is a heavy retooling of the Studio Series Blurr mold into an animation-accurate version of the character, turning into a Cybertronian aircraft in 13 steps. His Evo-Fusion technology is his two detachable thrusters, which can be attached to his handheld blaster to form a "laser cannon". They can also be worn on his back as a jet pack, or otherwise rest on the back of his calves. Devcon can be transformed with his thrusters on his legs, though it can result in them facing upwards.

Designer Mark Maher wanted to include Slizardo with this figure, but unfortunately could not fit it into the budget.^[3]

Despite what the stock renders depict, the 5mm hands are left unpainted in the actual product.

Devcon's shipping wave barely hit brick-and-mortar stores at all, and many online retailers did not get Devcon in their orders from Hasbro, instead receiving solid cases of the individual characters Tarantulas, Axlegrease, and Beachcomber. Devcon remained scarce months after, leading to rumors that the toy may have been pulled out of the wave in mid-distribution, possibly related to the concurrent preorder cancellations of the Nacelle Amazon exclusive. Perhaps Devcon truly is cursed after all!

• Designer commentary on Legacy Devcon from Mark Maher on Instagram

Notes

• Devcon's name is a play on the word "DEFCON", an acronym related to military alertness. Although unconfirmed, it is thought that, along with the embargo on the word "nuclear", the writers of the Generation 1 cartoon were not allowed to use the actual word DEFCON in light of heightened Cold War tensions at the time, thus requiring a made-up soundalike word.
• Devcon's inclusion in the Wreckers comic was due to writer Rob Gerbracht being a big fan of the character. A serialized web series written in the style of Gerbracht's Apelinq's War Journals was planned to describe the fall of the Peace Marshals and Devcon's escape from torture at the hands of Cryotek. These were among many ideas that went unrealized as 3H Productions inched closer to its eventual demise. Devcon's deep-seated anger and hatred of Cyclonus, oddly alluded to throughout "Betrayal", subsequently went unexplained beyond a general distrust for Decepticons.
• Like all non-toy robot Kreons in the Kre-O comics, Devcon is made from existing Kre-O parts. He actually eschews a helmet-piece like the others, so a standard small pistol can be plugged into the hole on the top of a Kreon head-piece. Neat, huh?
• The Headmaster Beast Wars: Uprising incarnation of Devcon was never visually depicted, but a possible look for him and Slizardo can be seen in editor Jesse Wittenrich's mockup.^[4]
• Devcon was created by Michael Charles Hill in his first writing job for the franchise. There was no bounty hunter character in the Transformers cartoon and the script for "The Gambler" called for one, so Hill took the initiative. He would regret not bringing Devcon back in more episodes, as the thought had never occurred to him.^{[citation needed]}

Foreign names

• Japanese: Defcon (デフコン Defukon)
• French: Devcan
• Mandarin: Devcon (Taiwan, 戴夫康 Dài Fū Kāng), Díwúshuāng (China, 敌无双, "Peerless")
• Russian: Piston (Пистон)

References