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To punish and enslave
~ Barricade's motto.

Barricade is a Decepticon that transforms into a police car, and a recurring villain in the Transformers Film series, appearing as a major antagonist in Transformers, a minor character in Dark of the Moon, and the tertiary antagonist of The Last Knight.

History[]

Backstory[]

Many years ago, as seen in Foundation, Barricade was a member of the Defense Force under the command of High Protector Megatron. He participated in missions to rid the planet of "malcontents" who protested against the new order, and like many of his peers, he did so ruthlessly. 

When alien hostiles attacked Cybertron after the discovery of a mysterious relic, in Defiance, Barricade and Scorponok were sent to perform recon. Following battle with the aliens Megatron changed significantly, altering the military's mission from one of protection to making war upon the hostile aliens and anybody who would stand in their way. As Megatron's ambition grew, he determined to eliminate Science Division leader Optimus, sending Barricade and a team of other Decepticons to slay Optimus's allies and bring him in. 

Barricade and Crankcase stood by as Brawl nailed the "traitors" with an explosive round; Barricade was eager to get into the fight, but was ordered back by the glory-hound Starscream so his aerial forces could swoop in to finish the job. This turned out to be lucky for Barricade, as Optimus managed to bury Starscream's team under a mountain of rubble. Though defeated, they all soon returned to Trypticon, where Megatron rechristened the Defense Force the "Decepticons." 

During the subsequent civil war between the Decepticons and Autobots, as seen in Planetfall, Barricade was one of the Decepticons working under Starscream who took part in a battle outside of Tyger Pax. As they were mopping up the remnants of Autobot resistance, Barricade amused himself by playing with the decapitated head of an Autobot, but, witnessing the AllSpark being jettisoned into space, he realised that Cybertron would soon die without it.

Megatron took off to pursue the AllSpark, as seen in The Reign of Starscream. When the Autobots departed to hunt down the AllSpark themselves, Barricade was part of the crew of the Nemesis assembled by Starscream to give chase. Confident in Megatron's abilities to deal with any Autobots, Barricade questioned both the need to hurry, and Starscream's motives for doing so, but was quickly reprimanded by Starscream for speaking out of turn. 

Ghosts of Yesterday[]

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Planetfall[]

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Transformers[]

After being active on Earth for some time, Barricade arrived to pick up Frenzy after the smaller Decepticon's attempt to hack into and sabotage the United States military network on Air Force One. From data Frenzy had acquired, the two learned of Sector Seven, "Project Iceman", and the "Witwicky", the discoverer of the entombed Megatron. Using the internet, the duo learned that Megatron had accidentally marked Witwicky's glasses with the location of the long-lost AllSpark—which were now being auctioned on eBay by his descendant, user ladiesman217.

Tracking the human to Tranquility, Barricade appeared in the path of Sam Witwicky as he was attempting to flee Bumblebee. Believing Barricade to be a legitimate police vehicle, Sam requested the "officer's" help, only for Barricade to transform right in front of him. As Sam fled, Barricade knocked him onto the hood of an abandoned car, then violently demanded information on "eBay item 21153". Sam and his female friend, who had been drawn into the encounter, managed to escape him when Bumblebee convinced the boy to trust him, and Barricade pursued both the Autobot and two humans to a junkyard. After temporarily losing and then regaining their position, he charged into battle, activating his blade, and dispatched Frenzy to chase down the humans. The battle worked in Barricade's favour until Bumblebee slammed him into an office, Barricade then rolled over and took back control by bashing his fists on Bumblebee's head. However, their battle ended with Barricade damaged.

Barricade had repaired himself by the time Frenzy (who infiltrated Sector Seven) transmitted both Megatron and the AllSpark's location to his fellow Decepticons. Knowing that the Decepticons were coming, the humans and Autobots tried to transport the AllSpark to Mission City for extraction, but Barricade and Bonecrusher caught up to them on the highway into the city. Barricade attempted to clear a path through the traffic by activating his sirens. Sam —riding inside Bumblebee—recognised Barricade, and in response to his call for action, Optimus Prime, Ironhide, and Ratchet realigned to block the Decepticon from getting to the human and the AllSpark. Barricade was last seen as Bonecrusher pulled ahead to attack Optimus. 

The Reign of Starscream[]

During the highway chase, Barricade attempted to close in on Bumblebee to "settle the score" with him, but was knocked off the road by Ironhide, causing him to crash into a pillar. Knocked offline by the crash, he missed out on the Mission City battle; he was conscious again by the time Starscream came looking for him. Informed that Sam had destroyed the AllSpark and Megatron, Barricade suggested recovering the lost Frenzy so they could access his data files on the boy. While Starscream returned to Cybertron, Barricade remained on Earth, watching over a Sector Seven research base. 

The Veiled Threat[]

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Tales of the Fallen[]

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Rising Storm[]

After the events of Revenge of the Fallen, Barricade was among the Decepticon troops that Shockwave sent to attack Sam's college in order to recapture a rogue Decepticon brain unit Brains. Barricade initiated the assault, smashing his way into Sam's dorm and renewing his rivalry with Bumblebee. The pair grappled and traded blows for the duration of the attack until Bumblebee ended the battle by slamming Barricade to the ground with a sickening crunch.

Dark of the Moon[]

Barricade was one of the Decepticons present in Chicago when Megatron and Sentinel Prime unleashed their plan to use a space bridge to bring Cybertron to Earth, and assisted in the takeover of the city. Under the command of Soundwave, he aided in rounding up several Autobots that had infiltrated the city, including his old foe Bumblebee, to whom he delivered a hard kick to the back. At the behest of the human traitor Dylan Gould, Soundwave ordered Barricade to execute the Autobot prisoners, starting with Que; Barricade shot the Autobot in the back. Wheelie and Brains intervened to prevent any further executions, causing a distraction that allowed the other Autobots to escape.

Following the Autobots' getaway, Barricade joined up with Shockwave, and was in the process of chewing out the Decepticon ground troops when he suddenly found himself blinded by sniper shots to his eyes courtesy of the Autobots' NEST allies. As he stumbled around in pain, the humans got in close and jammed a bomb into his leg, which brought him tumbling to the ground when it went off. He was last seen trying to crawl to safety as the human troops fired on him. 

The Last Knight[]

Having gained a new look in the intervening years, Barricade acted as Megatron's spy and scout in his search for the Guardian Knights' talisman. Perhaps unknown to him, he had long been under surveillance of the U.S. government. In the ruins of Chicago, he witnessed the talisman being bestowed to Cade Yeager by one of the Knights. He was however unable to claim it due to arrival of the heavily armed TRF, and he watched from a distance as they entered a stand off with Yeager and the Autobots.

He reported back to Megatron, incidentally annoying his leader by flashing his light in his face. He reported the events of his mission, and Megatron was angry he failed to retrieve the Talisman, which was needed to find the Staff they required. Barricade managed to salvage the situation, indicating he knew the TRF could lead them to the Staff. Based on Barricade's plan, Megatron used human hostages to broker a deal with TRF and secured the release of fellow Decepticons MohawkDreadbotNitro Zeus, and Onslaught. Barricade later joined his leader and cohorts in hunting Yeager. They arrived at Yeager's scrap yard but he had already fled to a nearby town and they followed. They were met with some resistance from Bumblebee, Drift, and Crosshairs and blasted by a trap set by Yeager. Barricade took point in pursuing Yeager through the town. Barricade ordered Yeager and Izabella to freeze, but was swiped through a wall by the newly-arrived Grimlock. After Dreadbot and Onslaught perished in battle, Barricade fled when Megatron gave the order to retreat.

He and his comrades then followed Yeager to England, knowing he was the key to finding the Staff. In London, he chased down the fleeing Bumblebee, who had Yeager and Viviane Wembly with him. He attempted to ram them but was blasted away by his Autobot nemesis. He transformed to catch himself but fell into oncoming traffic and was rammed by a large truck. Commenting on how much it hurt, he was too weak to continue the pursuit.

He later rendezvoused with Megatron and Nitro at Stonehenge, the site which would drain Unicron, who lay deep within the Earth, of his energy and revive the recently-arrived Cybertron. They soon came under attack from the humans and he returned fire. He later vanished, apparently having fled after Megatron and Nitro Zeus withdrew to Cybertron, yet again living to fight another day. 

Trivia[]

  • While Barricade is usually voiced by Jess Harnell (who also voiced Ironhide), an editing error in Dark of the Moon gave Barricade Soundwave's voice, meaning Frank Welker technically voiced him.
  • Barricade abruptly disappears from the first film during the highway battle, last appearing as Bonecrusher moves forward to engage Optimus Prime. As evidenced by adaptations of the film, he was supposed to join Bonecrusher in attacking him, and would have been destroyed by Optimus after Bonecrusher. IDW Publishing ignored his death from their comic adaptation, revealing in The Reign of Starscream that he had been forced off the road by Ironhide.
    • Barricade reappeared in several IDW comics before returning in Dark of the Moon, where he appears to be killed by N.E.S.T. soldiers, only to appear alive in The Last Knight. He was last seen being attacked by the British military before continuing his tradition of having an ambiguous fate near the end of every odd-numbered film.
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