Breakdown is aVelocitronian orDecepticon from the2005 IDW portion of theGeneration 1continuity family.

He's got thebiggest puppy-dog eyes.

Conjunx Endura withKnock Out,Breakdown is heavier and slower than what his speed-focused people onVelocitron idealize. Since his world's entry into theCouncil of Worlds, he has become part of cross-planet endeavors that his Conjunx has gotten involved in. Unlike Knock Out, he goes about his life with more humility towards others.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance:Windblade vol. 2 #5

INTENSE CHEERING ACTION

As a relatively slow and bulky Velocitronian, Breakdown faced prejudice from his fellow Velocitronians, a fact thatMoonracer mentioned as she explained the problems of Velocitronian society toWindblade.Windblade vol. 2 #4 The next day, Breakdown was inDelta watching theBenefit 500, and thus he cheered upon witnessing the offworlderBlurr's dazzling victory.Race Against the Light When Velocitron joined theCouncil of Worlds as a result of this victory, Knock Out became one of the planet's representatives and the pair emigrated toCybertron.Choose Me Knock Out stayed on Cybertron for the sake of his conjunx, as Breakdown was happy to find a place where heavyset 'bots like him could live without facing discrimination.The Chosen One OnChosen One Day, the two took a trip to the planet'sAcid Wastes.Choose Me

If no-one else can help, and if you can find them...

Some time later, he reminded Knock Out to be nice while dealing withMoonracer.07:00:00

When a wave of undeadTitans approached Cybertron, the two Velocitronians joined the efforts to repel the invaders; Knock Out using his superior speed to lure a Titan into his Conjunx's fusillade of heavy artillery.Ping Their efforts weren't enough, and the Cybertronians were soon pushed back against theSpire in the face of a seemingly endlesszombie onslaught. With no other recourse, Windblade hit upon a desperate idea to force the spaceboundCarcer to transform, and assembled a team to infiltrate the ship and wrest control of the Titan from its captainElita One.Desperate Times Breakdown was partnered withLightbright,Sparkstalker andBlurr. While searching for Titan'sbrain module however, they were intercepted and detained by Elita herself.Desperate Measures

Over the next few months, Breakdown landed a new job on Cybertron, becoming a lab assistant to the AutobotWheeljack.Schismatic Following theIron Ring's failed invasion of Cybertron and the rise ofNew Prysmos,First Strike #6, Knock Out revealed to Windblade that he'd stayed on Cybertron primarily for Breakdown's sake. Breakdown and Knock Out attended the debates together, and both participated in Windblade's victory party.The Chosen One

When you are aboard an alien construct of uncertain design and purpose, you touchnothing!

As part of Windblade's early maneuvers as the newly appointed leader of Cybertron, she sent the two to New Prysmos to figure out what had happened to theTalisman responsible for the creation of the alien city. As they approached the city's outskirts, Breakdown inadvertently discovered that some of the Talisman'smagic had pooled beneath the city when he poked a glowing crack in the ground (like any good scientist). Exposure to magic caused his arm to crumble to dust; before this infection could consume his entire body, Wheeljack was able to amputate the arm and the two retreated toIacon to recuperate. Breakdown was still convulsing whenKup andIronhide arrived. His encounter with the Talisman allowed the villainousDarkling Lords to realize that Cybertronians could be easily felled by their magic.Schismatic

Once Breakdown had recovered, he and Wheeljack were able to determine why Cybertronians were so vulnerable to magic, but concluded that they were unable to come up with any workable countermeasures before the Talisman burrowed its way toVector Sigma and remade the planet into a copy ofPrysmos. They reported this news to Ironhide when he returned; when the exiledSpectral Knights arrived, the Cybertronians reluctantly agreed to an alliance to save Cybertron.Cybertron No More

After Breakdown received a new arm, Wheeljack was able to investigate the magic further, and concluded that what the Prysmosians called "magic" was gamma radiation augmented by inconsistent variances, capable of breaking down Cybertronian molecular structure. From this, Wheeljack was able to design a counter-frequency capable of neutralizing the magic, temporarily reconstituting Breakdown's old limb before it began to break down again. Breakdown pointed out that this was only a temporary stopgap, but Wheeljack concluded it was their best chance at saving Cybertron.Desperate Measures The pair were able to construct a counter-frequency "bomb" that would neutralize the Talisman and recruitedQuickswitch to carry the weapon into the core of the planet.Good Men

Ultimately, a combination of magic and science were able to both neutralize the Talisman while also raising New Prysmos to the surface of the planet, recreating a portion of old Prysmos on Cybertron in the process. Wheeljack returned safely to Iacon, where he and Breakdown helped repairWaspinator, whose body had been magically mutated byVirulina. With the day saved, the three went out for a drink atMaccadam's.The Curtain

WhenUnicron attacked, Knock Out and Breakdown stood by asOptimus Prime and his fleet returned from their defeat atCaminus.Last Stand

My Little Pony/Transformers

When the Decepticons hatched a scheme to stealmagical artifacts fromEquestria, Breakdown remained behind to keep watch over thespace bridge, noticingFrenzy's interest in Equestrian culture. Among the artifacts that the Decepticons recovered as a crystal that heldKing Sombra's spirit, which was released during a skirmish between the ponies and Decepticons. The evilunicorn cast a mind-control spell which brought several Decepticons, Breakdown among them, under his control.The Magic of Cybertron

Later on, Breakdown was part of a group working to createenergon cubes from a natural energon spring when they were engaged by Knock Out,Ratchet andRarity. Knock Out attempted to use a paralyzing electrical on Breakdown, but though it temporarily downed him it failed to release him from Sombra's control. As Breakdown revived and attempted to retaliate, Rarity held him in place and revealed that she needed Knock Out's feelings for him to free him. Knock Out gave a passionate speech about how Breakdown was his better half which Rarity channelled to cast the spell which finally freed him from Sombra's control.The Beauty of Cybertron

2019 IDW continuity

Breakdown was head ofSecurity Operations for the Cybertronian colony ofVelocitron, and partner to the Ascenticon racer,Knock Out. Velocitron used theSpeedia 500 race to choose its First Senator, and a terrorist group calledMayhem threatened the race as a show of protest. Breakdown arranged for extra security precautions as a result of Mayhem's message. He also showed concern over theWreckers, a stunt show of non-citizens who arrived on Velocitron to enter the Speedia.Tread & Circuits Part 2 Mayhem did attack the race, though, causing the death of at least one racer. They also hacked the emergency bandwidth, cutting Breakdown off from the other racers. Security Operations was deployed onto the race course, but several more racers were critically injured or killed, and Mayhem mostly got away. Breakdown personally intervened to shoot a Mayhem terrorist namedAxer, incidentally allowing his partner Knock Out to cross the finish line and win the position of First Senator.Tread & Circuits Part 3

At the swearing in ceremony days later, Mayhem staged another attack on the Velocitronian Senate. Knock Out was shot during the raid, while Breakdown got the rest of the Senators to a safe place. One of the Wreckers namedMinerva was caught holding the weapon that shot Knock Out, and so she was arrested on suspicion. Only later was it revealed that the Ascenticons, Mayhem, and Security Operations had all been co-conspirators for the renamed Decepticon movement. Knock Out was set up to win the position of First Senator by eliminating the competition, and Breakdown's own Sec-Ops agents had served as Mayhem thanks to Pretender technology. Breakdown and Knock Out had successfully conquered Velocitron for the Decepticons.Tread & Circuits Part 4

Games

Transformers: Earth Wars

Arise, Breakdown Prime!

• Class: Warrior
• Lowest star rating: 2 stars
• Abilty: +80 max health and damage absorption for 6 seconds, then rush into combat dealing approx. 166 damage to buildings and walls along the way. Nearby enemies are slowed by 66% got the duration of the effect.
  • Cost: 4 ability points, plus 2 for reuses.

Toys

Prime

• War Breakdown (2012)

• ID number:AM-12
• Release date:June 30, 2012
• Accessories: "Zamu" Arms Micron

For unknown reasons, Hasbro chose not to develop a full-size toy of Breakdown for thePrime toyline. Instead, it fell toTakaraTomy to produce their own roughly Voyager-sized figure. Released in the fourth wave of TakaraTomy's version of thePrime line, "War Breakdown" transforms into a massive armored truck of made-up model. He features a singleC joint bar at the rear of the truck. As part of the line-wideArms Microngimmick, Breakdown has anincredible number of5 mm post-holes to attach Arms Microns (or other accessories) to. He comes with his packed-in partnerZamu, who transforms into Breakdown's wrist-mounted hammer (though it actually attaches to the truck mode roof bit which flips up over his wrist, but it's a close enough approximation).

"War Breakdown" was notionally available forHasbro to release in their line, but its production cost reportedly fell into a "no man's land",^[1] stymieing Hasbro's ability to release it at one of their normal price points. The mold would eventually be released by Hasbro in 2020 as a Hasbro Pulse-exclusive item for the U.S. and Canada (see here).

This mold was differentlyredecoed/retooled each time intoSwerve andSilas Breakdown, the latter of which was retooled further into theBotCon 2015Megatron.

• More information on War Breakdown at TFU.info

Notes

• This version of Breakdown is, of course, a continuity transplant ofPrime Breakdown. While he's depicted as Velocitronian much likeCybertronBrakedown in the 2005 IDW continuity,My Little Pony/Transformers portrays Breakdown as a Decepticon like many of his namesakes.
• While he was introduced midway throughWindblade vol. 2, Breakdown was left conspicuously unnamed, even being referred to only as "Knock Out's Conjunx" in theHoliday Special for some time. This was because there wasanother Breakdown already present in the 2005 IDW continuity.
  • It wasn't until the release of the preview forTransformers vs. Visionaries#1, which included a cast page, that he was officially confirmed as being named "Breakdown".
• Mairghread Scott has confirmed from the get-go that Breakdown is Knock Out's Conjunx Endura,^[2] likely a wink at fans who believed thatPrime Knock Out's relationship with his Breakdown was more than platonic.

See also

You look familiar...

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Versions of Breakdown have appeared in other continuity families, including:

• Breakdown, the bulky Decepticon and partner toKnock Out from theAligned continuity family.

For more information, seeBreakdown (disambiguation).

References