Freeway (G1)

Freeway is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Yo momma's kibble so big, even Unicron would go "Oh!"

A cruel and foulmouthed Throttlebot, Freeway is the Autobots' self-appointed "King of Comedy" and possibly makes himself quite unpopular as a result. No one is immune from his special brand of humor, not even high-ranking officers. He's always on the lookout for even the smallest and most trivial of mistakes; these can be an opening for him to unleash a torrent of pointed, mocking abuse. Freeway is convinced that he's absolutely hilarious. Point out that he's not really all that funny, and he'll do you even worse, insult your heritage, make scandalous suggestions about your progenitor, and claim you have no sense of humor and are, in fact, a wuss. Freeway will make himself laugh so hard that he blows a circuit and shorts himself out.

Freeway can dish it out, but he sure can't take it. Treat him the way he treats others, and Freeway will very quickly become angry, twisted and resentful. Very much a fuming ball of wires.

Fiction

Marvel The Transformers comics

In a rare case of correct coloring, Freeway actually is the blue one.

Thanks to a Decepticon Titanium-class Destruction Drone, Freeway and his fellow Throttlebots were captured during an attack on a fuel storage depot, and brought to the Chief Decepticon Fuel Auditor Ratbat. An outbreak of Scraplets had begun on Earth, and Ratbat ordered them to travel there and destroy all of the infected—or he would destroy the planet itself to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. Given new Earth-style vehicle forms and canisters of corrosive acid, Freeway stayed at the primary site of the infection with Chase and Searchlight, while Rollbar and Wideload went to track another Transformer who'd left the scene. Rollbar and Wideload eventually returned with Goldbug, his human friend Charley Fong, and a cure for Scraplets: the "rare chemical" water. With this knowledge, they managed to destroy all the Scraplets with help from another of the Earthbound Autobots' allies, G.B. Blackrock. The Cure!

Following that incident, Freeway and the rest of the Throttlebots joined Goldbug and Blaster as they traveled about the country. While Goldbug was watching tv, he learned that two Cybertronians had been discovered trapped in the cooled lava flow of Mount Verona. He led the group in the hopes of freeing one of the pair, fellow Autobot Ultra Magnus. But upon arrival, the group found the Combaticons already on-site, preparing the obliterate the entire area to eliminate the other trapped Transformer, Galvatron. Though at first willing to let their enemies rid the world of the mad tyrant, even at the expense of one of their own, the Throttlebots were forced into action when a trio of human women took it upon themselves to prevent Magnus's destruction. The Combaticons were driven off, though they swore revenge against Freeway's team for their interference. Ladies' Night

The Throttlebots continued travels only made them targets for virtually everyone—the Decepticons, the Autobot faction Goldbug had gone AWOL from, and the humans who hated and feared all Cybertronians. After escaping one of the Combaticons, Goldbug suggested they hide in a used car lot (because that worked so well for him before). Astonishingly the owner, Big Steve Ludwig, noticed a giant earthmover dump truck magically appearing on his lot, and soon put two-and-two together after receiving a notice from the local RAAT boys. After pouring sugar into the Autobots' gas tanks, he summoned the proper authorities. Freeway and the Throttlebots were carted off and taken prisoner by RAAT's parent organization, Triple-I. Used Autobots

Got anything funny to say about that, funny man?!

Still not recognizing the difference between Autobots and Decepticons, III's bigwigs publicly threatened to execute their prisoners if any more robot attacks took place. Guess what—the Decepticons were willing to call their bluff. After the inevitable raid, Forrest Forsythe ordered the Autobots crushed into cubes. However, a sympathetic (and borderline competent) agent named Walter Barnett realized Freeway and his friends were telling the truth about there being two factions of robots, and salvaged their cerebro-circuits before the execution, transferring their brain chips into electronic toy cars. Barnett then brought the Autobots in his care to meet with Buster Witiwicky, longtime friend of their Earthbound forces. The reunion was cut short by the Predacons, who had caught the Throttlebots' scent, and sought to crush them dead in their vulnerable state. The Throttlebots managed to outmaneuver their pursuers through a shopping center. Barnett and Buster were separated during the chase, with most of the Throttlebots winding up in Barnett's custody once more. Toy Soldiers!

Freeway and the Throttlebots remained in Barnett's possession for some time. The human brought the five of them to consult on a hostage situation, after Buster wound up on the Decepticons' island-base. Before they had the chance to dispense any advice, however, the island transformed into a spacecraft and launched, with Buster still on board. The Desert Island of Space! The Throttlebots were apparently returned to the Autobots at some point, and reconstructed into new bodies replicating their old ones. When an Underbase-powered Starscream announced that he would "destroy the cities of New York, Tokyo, and Buenos Aires," Freeway was among the allied Autobot/Decepticon teams sent ahead to Japan to try and stop him. He and the rest of the Throttlebots didn't get to put up much of a fight, as they were all destroyed by Starscream before even getting a chance to transform. Dark Star

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

Voice actor: Danny Mann (English), Akimitsu Takase (Japanese), Serge Bourrier (European French)

Seriously, guys! That's NOT funny!

Freeway and three of the other Throttlebots were part of the force sent by Rodimus Prime to recover the body of Optimus Prime. Freeway was amongst the very first to be infected by the Hate Plague. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1 While infected; he chased Rodimus Prime in a junkyard. He was cured when Optimus Prime was resurrected and used the Matrix to eradicate the Hate Plague. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2

While defending Autobot City on Earth from the Decepticons, Freeway demanded that Snapdragon back off. With a loud cry of "NO!", the Horrorcon kicked Freeway back into a wall, causing him to lose a rear wheel in the process. Evidently this was not a serious injury, as he was found fighting alongside his fellow Autobots a while later. The Rebirth, Part 1 Freeway participated in the defense of Cybertron after the Decepticons invaded there as well. The Rebirth, Part 3

Japanese cartoon continuity

The Headmasters cartoon

Voice actor: Hōchū Ōtsuka (Japanese)

Heh heh. Just pullin' your leg, there.

When the Decepticons attacked Cybertron in order to take control of Vector Sigma, Freeway and the Throttlebots were among the lines of defense. They fought bravely against the Decepticon Headmasters, but were swiftly defeated. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky They got a chance for a rematch when the Headmasters attacked Cybertron with their Madmachine, and Freeway and his comrades managed to hold the Decepticons at bay until the Madmachine was destroyed. The Great Cassette Operation

The Throttlebots were later called to Earth to scuffle with the Headmasters yet again, but snuck away from battle to destroy Metamorphose, a Decepticon meteorite, hoping to earn some glory in the process. This did not end well, as Metamorphose's metal-warping gravity fields immediately twisted their ship and its crew out of shape and sent them screaming through space. Approach of the Demon Meteorite Freeway and the others returned much later to destroy a Decepticon Death Tower on Earth, but didn't stand a chance against its guardian, Predaking. The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 1)

Legends comic

In 2021, a villain posing as Universal Peace Alliance chairman Spike Witwicky declared Goldbug a traitor and ordered the other Throttlebots to destroy him, a development that Freeway initially mistook for a joke. The team accompanied "Spike" to the Legends World to confront their leader, but couldn't bring themselves to go through with it and rejected the order. Bonus Edition Vol. 54

2005 IDW continuity

• First Appearance: Spotlight: Metroplex

Last comic standing.

The Throttlebots were stationed on the Orvus Base laboratory orbiting Salvvatan VI, serving as couriers for a top-secret research project. The base was attacked and destroyed by Sixshot. They escaped in a ship as the only survivors of the attack—with Sixshot in hot pursuit—eventually making their way to Salvvatan VIII.

Freeway and the others discovered supplies and Energon on the planet's surface within a mysterious city complex. Sixshot caught up with them and demanded the information the Throttlebots had taken from Orvus. They scattered, with Sixshot ready and eager to hunt them down. After being flung into the air in vehicle mode, Freeway righted himself, landed and tried to make a stand again Sixshot. The Decepticon simply leaped above Freeway, transformed to tank mode and fell directly on him. Sixshot tortured the pinned Freeway a bit by grinding him with his tank treads before turning his attention to the remaining Throttlebots. Spotlight: Metroplex Freeway did not survive the ordeal. The Dead Come Home, Part 1

Toys

The Transformers

Nice legs.

• Freeway (Throttlebot, 1987)

• Takara name: Runway
• Takara ID number: C-96
• Known designers: Takayuki Ishizawa (TakaraTomy), Takashi Matsuda (initial concept)

Released in the fourth year of Hasbro's US The Transformers toyline (third year in Europe and in Takara's Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers line), Throttlebot Freeway transforms into a Chevrolet Corvette. Like all Throttlebots, his primary gimmick is a pull-back motor that sends him zipping forward in either car or robot modes when placed on smooth surfaces.

The Throttlebots were part of the Decoy promotion in 1987, where the carded toys came with a soft-rubber figurine. The Throttlebots were the only team to come with either Autobot or Decepticon Decoys; the other toys in the promotion only came with Decoys of the same faction they belonged to.

In Japan, they were also the focus of the "Throttlebot Promotional Sales Campaign", where buying a Throttlebot at select Japanese retailers (sadly, we do not know which retailers these were) got the buyer one of six random all-white Autobot Master Warriors free. These promotional toys are now among the most expensive Transformers toys ever "mass"-released, if not the most expensive (especially when size is taken into account).

• More information on Freeway at TFU.info

• Freeway (Throttlebot, 1991)

Freeway was reissued in 1991 as part of the European-market Classics line.

For this release his rubsign indent was removed, and the heat-sensitive decal was replaced with a normal factory-applied paper faction sigil.

Notes

• According to Marvel Comics documentation from May 1986, "Detour" was a preliminary name proposed by Bob Budiansky for this character.
• A working name for the original Alternators Ford Mustang toy (which ultimately ended up as Grimlock) was "Freeway," according to various early store listings.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Runway (ランウェイ Ranwei)
• French: Autoroute (Canada)
• Italian: Saterbot
• Mandarin: Gāosùlù (China, 高速路, "Highway")