Lockdown (Transformers)

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Lockdown is a Decepticon from the Transformers franchise.

History

Animated

Cartoon series

The original version of Lockdown was featured in Transformers: Animated as a bounty hunter most often employed by the Decepticons, though Sentinel Prime employed him on at least one occasion as well. A former student of Yoketron, Lockdown's villainous choices resulted in his disgrace, and his holographic bust was left deactivated alongside those of such notables as Dai Atlas and Ultra Magnus. Lockdown seems to have developed a particular contempt for his former master, and soon struck down Yoketron and stole the many Protoforms in Stasis pods under Yoketron's watch and delivered them to Megatron. Some time after, he hunted down and captured the Autobot intelligence agent Arcee and Ratchet, a medic dispatched to treat her after she was wounded. Lockdown was hired to deliver Arcee-and the codes to Project Omega that she carried-to Megatron as well, but was prevented from doing so when Ratchet used his EMP tool to apparently wipe Arcee's memory.

Lockdown would appropriate Ratchet's EMP tool, the first of many upgrades that he would "acquire" from his victims and through the proceeds from his successful missions. Eventually his career took him to Earth in search of Optimus Prime, whom many Decepticons blamed for the apparent demise of Megatron. He succeeded in capturing Prime and relieving him of his axe and grapple cables, only to find that Optimus' crew included his old foe Ratchet, who managed to reclaim his EMP tool and rescue Optimus and his equipment. Lockdown was forced to flee, but was later contracted for another job: hunting down the renegade Decepticon Starscream. In this mission he would deal with interference-and temporary assistance-from another former student of Yoketron's, the Autobot ninja Prowl.

Lockdown supplied Prowl with a number of upgrades for their work together, but Prowl eventually realized he was falling into the same amoral trap as Lockdown and rejected the bounty hunter's further aid; Lockdown later departed after Starscream employed a plan involving bomb-equipped duplicates of himself. Though not mentioned by name, he was almost certainly the "mutual bounty-hunting contact" referred to by Swindle when the black-market arms dealer contacted Megatron to sell a technology freezing weapon he had duped the Society of Ultimate Villainy into helping him assemble. Lockdown himself later reappeared after Sentinel Prime hired him to help capture various Decepticons at large on Earth, only to turn on his employer after making a deal with Dirge. This engagement led to another confrontation with Prowl, who recognized Yoketron's stolen helmet among Lockdown's equipment and demanded its return only to be caught in a booby trap. However, Prowl was able to employ the art of Processor Over Matter-a technique Lockdown himself had never mastered-to free himself, and reclaimed both the helmet and the upgrades Lockdown had granted him previously before forcing Lockdown into retreat.

Lockdown was not seen again in the cartoon series.

Films

Hunt for the Decepticons

The online Hunt for the Decepticons animations depict a Lockdown who is quite similar to his Animated counterpart.

Age of Extinction

The official movie version of Lockdown appears as a main antagonist in Transformers: Age of Extinction, where he has captured the Dinobots and is looking to add Optimus Prime to his collection as well.