Transformers Character Guide: Decepticons

One of the big movies of this summer is Transformers. Finally the Transformers are coming to the big screen and this time as a live action movie. Many things will be different about the movie. Some characters from the cartoon will be in the movie, some won't and some will be in the Transformers movie but will look different. Regardless of whether they are in the movie or not I thought it would be a good time to refresh your memories on some of the Decepticons (those are the bad guys).

Constructicons
The Constructicons were a group of Decepticons, each of who were construction vehicles. Scrapper is a wheeled front-load shovel, Bonecrusher is a bulldozer, Scavenger is an excavator, Mixmaster is the concrete mixer, Hook is a crane, and Long Haul is a dump truck. All five Constructicons combine into one larger Decepticon called Devastator.

Insecticons
The Insecticons were much like the Dinobots in that they are a group of Transformers that are their own group, except that instead of dinosaurs they are insects. Shrapnel is a stag beetle, Kickback is a grasshopper and Bombshell is a weevil. The Insecticons do not form a larger Transformer like the Constructicons.

Megatron
Megatron was the biggest and baddest Decepticon of them all. Megatron was the main villain of the Transformers and turned into a gun that the other Decepticons could hold and shoot. Megatron was a very aggressive leader but also very rational and strategic.

Ramjet
Ramjet's name is very fitting, Ramjet was a jet that rammed into things. Much like a kamikaze pilot Ramjet is thought to be a brave warrior but never afraid to just crash into things and destroy them using himself as a weapon. Ramjet was not very intelligent though and often acted before thinking.

Skywarp
Skywarp was one of the three jets in the Transformers cartoon along with Starscream and Thundercracker. Skywarp had the ability to warp places which made him the master of sneaking around. Unfortunately Skywarp is one of the least intelligent Decepticons so he has to always be monitored by either Megatron or Starscream.

Shockwave
Shockwave is the Decepticons' military operations commander. Shockwave is second in command behind Megatron and is the only one that could possibly match Megatron in power. In the Transformers movie Shockwave remains on Cybertron while the Decepticons are on Earth. Shockwave transforms into a 35 foot long ray gun.

Soundwave and the Cassettes
Soundwave is the Decepticons' Communications Officer and one of the favorite Transformers. Soundwave transformed into a boom box. There were other Transformers that turned into cassettes. Often these tapes were sent to spy on the Autobots and record their conversations. Then the tapes would come back and Soundwave would play the conversations. Some of the cassettes were Ravage, who also turned into a jaguar, Laserbeak how turned into a condor, and Rumble who turned into a miniature Decepticon.

Starscream
Starscream was one of the Decepticons that turned into a jet. Starscream is very smart and ruthless but also a coward. Starscream often came up with plots, including trying to overthrow Megatron for leadership of the Decepticons, but also backed down from a fight when confronted.

Thundercracker
The three jet Decepticons often attacked together meaning that Thundercracker, Starscream and Skywarp often flew together. Unlike Starscream, Thundercracker was loyal to Megatron and often undermined Starscream's authority and informed Megatron on Starscream's plots.