X-Brawn

X-Brawn is an Autobot from the Robots in Disguise continuity family.

The eldest of the three Autobot Brothers, X-Brawn is also the toughest and most adventurous. A rugged outdoorsman and cowboy type, he loves driving off-road... and uphill, and underwater, and on staircases. He's not easily impressed by fancy firepower, preferring straightforward guts. He's chivalrous enough to apologize to women drivers before he ejects them through his sunroof.

Fiction

Cartoon continuity

2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon

Voice actor: Bob Joles (English), Masahiro Shibahara (Japanese), Oleg Kutsenko (Russian), René García (Latin American Spanish), Ricardo Juarez (Brazilian Portuguese), Lee Ho-in (Korean)

When contacted by T-AI during Megatron's attack on New York City, X-Brawn was acting as Kelly's SUV. He swiftly ejected her through his sunroof and joined the other two brothers at the Global Space Bridge. On arrival in New York, he saved Koji Onishi from being buried under rubble and proceeded to engage Slapper in combat. Said combat involved asking Slapper to measure the length of his tongue, while X-Brawn drove to the top of a building so he could strafe Slapper from above. The battle ultimately ended with Megatron abducting Koji's father, Doctor Onishi. Battle Protocol!

The Autobot Brothers were later assigned to intercept the Predacons, who were prowling Metro City and stealing batteries from cars. X-Brawn scaled a tower in an attempt to spot the enemy and subsequently turned up late after Sky-Byte retrieved an explosive device from a car. He was able to steal the device from Sky-Byte with his grappling hook but accidentally triggered its detonation sequence. Proceeding with all haste, he swung from building to building with his grappling hook and carried the device to the top of a radio tower where he tossed it as high as he could. Optimus Prime's power stream sent the device into orbit where it exploded without destroying anything (anything important, anyway). An Explosive Situation

Assigned to protect the Linear RFG bullet train, the Autobot Brothers found themselves tangling with the Predacons who were trying to blow up a rail bridge on the train's path. Ultimately they were unable to save the bridge, but the train was saved by Team Bullet Train. Bullet Train to the Rescue Together with Optimus, the brothers protected a Plutonium Energy Generator from the Predacons. They escorted the generator as it was transported across the city the next day, but were brought to a halt by a traffic jam engineered by Slapper. Fortunately the Spychangers were able to lend a hand and the Autobot Brothers got to sit back and watch the Predacons' defeat. Spychangers to the Rescue

X-Brawn was watching a Motocross race when T-AI told him to report to the Global Space Bridge as a ship was under attack by Predacons. Optimus joined the Autobot Brothers at the end of the space bridge, which was terminated some distance short of the troubled vessel. After a few attempts by his fellows to jump the distance, X-Brawn jumped into the water in vehicle mode and carried Side Burn out to the ship. While Optimus battled Sky-Byte, X-Brawn successfully repaired the ship, which returned to an even keel. The Hunt for Black Pyramid

When Megatron and the Predacon trio attacked Metro City, T-AI discovered that X-Brawn and Prowl were both out hunting for Side Burn, who was exploring some ruins with Koji. The pair eventually reached the ruins and were in time to stop Sky-Byte making off with a box, which turned out to contain Doctor Onishi's microchip. This held much valuable information and would help the Autobots greatly in the struggle to follow. The Secret of the Ruins

X-Brawn was once again acting as Kelly's car when he was assigned to quadrant 5, and had to unceremoniously dump her out a second time. As it turned out, Side Burn had been captured by the Predacons. Optimus, despite the remaining two brothers' protests that it was an obvious trap, went in and was captured as well. X-Brawn and Prowl heavily disguised their vehicle modes in order to creep close enough to get the drop on the Predacons, allowing them to rescue their comrades. During the ensuing battle, X-Brawn gave Side Burn a piggy-back ride to climb up a pile of junk. Sideburn's Obsession

The brothers were assigned to protect "Grandpa", an aging steam train. In the end Team Bullet Train did most of the work protecting Grandpa, but X-Brawn was busy stopping Side Burn from chasing red sports cars anyhow. Secret Weapon: D-5 All three brothers volunteered to enter the International Grand Prix in order to try and find Skid-Z, a recently arrived Autobot who had scanned a racing car and become possessed by the urge to compete in races. X-Brawn reveled in the mountainous terrain, but he, Optimus and the other two brothers found themselves holding up a huge rock dropped onto them by Megatron. Fortunately Skid-Z himself turned up and destroyed the rock, allowing them to chase Megatron off. Skid Z's Choice

X-Brawn was the first Autobot to be towed away by Tow-Line after the latter was reprogrammed by the Predacons. He used his grappling hook to try to get free, but only succeeded in jarring Tow-Line's circuits, confusing the tow truck into taking him to the wrong place and dropping him down a pit. He was joined by Side Burn and Rapid Run, and the trapped trio made some unsuccessful attempts to escape before they were rescued by a repaired Tow-Line and fought the Predacons once more. Tow-Line Goes Haywire

When the Predacons became convinced that the "Cave of the Dragon" harboured a powerful Transformer, X-Brawn and Prowl guarded it. All three brothers employed their acting skills to try to make the Predacons think that the disguises Optimus and Team Bullet Train were wearing were a giant transforming robot, and got fired on by Railspike for their trouble. The Ultimate Robot Warrior Called in to the Autobot Base, X-Brawn and the rest of the Autobots watched footage of their old adventures and speculated on where the Predacon base might be located. Hope for the Future

Optimus and the Autobot brothers went to Castle Peak to investigate what turned out to be a crashed Autobot spacecraft. Unfortunately they were unable to prevent Megatron stealing the six protoforms inside and taking them to a nearby military base where the protoforms were reformatted into Decepticon warriors. The Decepticons While subsequently on patrol near Sherman Dam, X-Brawn stumbled on the Decepticons and opened fire, only to be tossed into the lake behind the dam by Scourge. Proving unable to swim, he sank to the bottom and was eventually joined by his two brothers for a game of underwater "I Spy". The trio were freed when the Decepticons blew a hole in the dam and, in the ensuing fight, they aided Rail Racer in fighting off Ruination. Commandos

X-Brawn was enjoying a spot of off-roading on a fine, sunny day when he stumbled on Sky-Byte and his three Predacon cohorts drawing a huge Megatron image in the ground. Outnumbered, he hastily returned returned to base. There, T-AI had just discovered that a recently launched space shuttle was actually Movor—the Decepticon was tracking Autobots in the hope one of them would lead him to the Autobot base. X-Brawn contacted Side Burn, currently in the process of being tracked, and told him the red sports car he was chasing was at Pier 7B. When Side Burn arrived at the pier with the Decepticons on his tail, the Autobots were ready to pounce. Attack from Outer Space

Mega-Octane met with Optimus claiming that the Decepticons had rediscovered their Autobot sides. Although the Autobot brothers were skeptical, they babysat the Decepticons who were forced to do all manner of menial tasks. The brother finally admitted that perhaps the six Decepticons were honest after all. Of course, it wasn't long before the plot was revealed and the brothers were alerted to a brawl between Optimus, Scourge and Ruination. The Test

The three brothers were called to a power plant where they chased off Sky-Byte and the Predacons. Later X-Brawn was once again acting as Kelly's mode of transport when he was "bushwhacked" by the four Predacons, who surrendered the information that Scourge was going to raid the Bayshore power plant. Rushing there with his brothers, X-Brawn was soon notified by T-AI that the Decepticons had actually attacked the Crestline power plant instead. The three brothers rushed to the correct plant to find the Decepticons had already been seen off by Rail Racer. The Fish Test

Sent to a diamond mine, the three brothers were brought up short by an incomplete space bridge, and were introduced to the Build Team. Keen to prove themselves in battle the Build Team took over the mission at the mine. Wedge's Short Fuse Shortly afterwards, X-Brawn had another narrow escape from the Decepticons, nipping into the space bridge at the last moment. This event drove the Decepticons to locate the control system for the space bridge and sabotage it - the next time X-Brawn tried to use it, he ended up on the top of a building. A second attempt deposited him in the middle of a desert. The Global Space Bridge was eventually repaired, and X-Brawn arrived in the Arctic, where Landfill fought off Megatron. Landfill

In between all their adventures, the Autobots still had to perform some of the more menial tasks, such as regularly testing out the global space bridge. Lessons of the Past After being duped out of stolen oil by the Build Team, the Decepticons began attacking construction equipment. X-Brawn turned up to one such attack only for the Commandos to leave as soon as he arrived. A second attempt to confront the Decepticons had the three Autobot Brothers turn up in the middle of nowhere — the Build Team had sabotaged the Global Space Bridge so they could confront the Decepticons alone. A Test of Metal

While attempting to stop the Decepticons raiding an oil refinery, the three brothers were interrupted by a mysterious Autobot car carrier, who argued with them as the Decepticons escaped. Later they encountered the Autobot again and this time he scrambled their circuits and deposited them in a junk yard. Once they'd recovered, Optimus called them back to base for a systems check. Ultra Magnus Optimus confronted the Autobot named Ultra Magnus, himself and was soon overpowered. The Autobot Brothers rescued him from the battlefield and took him to an island to recuperate. A short time later, Optimus was attacked by the Decepticons, and the brothers found the portal at the end of the space bridge had been blocked by Sky-Byte. They eventually broke through only to witness Optimus and Ultra Magnus combining into Omega Prime for the first time. Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion!

Tracking Ultra Magnus, the Autobot Brothers spied him talking with Sky-Byte and assumed he was betraying them. The trio soon found themselves captured by the Predacons and were promptly freed by Magnus, who informed them he was pretending to defect in order to gain information. Returning to help Optimus against the Predacons, the three brothers found themselves being beaten on by Megatron. All three of them received a sudden power boost which was somehow channelled through Magnus, powering them up and enabling them to fight off the Predacons, with a little help from Omega Prime. The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus Some time later X-Brawn was sent to join his two brothers who were suffering an odd power drain and on the losing end of a fight with the Decepticons. X-Brawn joined in by kicking Ruination in the head. Once Optimus arrived, X-Brawn was able to carry his exhausted brothers to safety. Power to Burn!

The Autobot Brothers were sent to guard the subway below Metro City as the Build Team was searching for some mysterious ruins. The trio were confronted by the Decepticons, come to find the same ruins, and left them to the tender mercies of Team Bullet Train. Wandering further, they encountered Ultra Magnus and Side Burn was distracted by a hallucination of red sports cars, leading the group to the ruins themselves. Fortress Maximus To their surprise the ruins turned out to be Fortress Maximus, whom the Autobots set about concealing in Metro City. While patrolling to ensure the operation wasn't uncovered, the Autobot Brothers stumbled on Sky-Byte talking to Koji and confronted the shark. Koji discovered that the pod Sky-Byte had been carrying contained his abducted father and interrupted the fight to tell the Autobots that Sky-Byte had rescued his dad. The three brothers apologised to Sky-Byte, who realised his huge blunder and fled in panic. Koji Gets His Wish

Doctor Onishi and T-AI quickly worked out a way to locate the remaining O-Parts needed and soon the Autobot Brothers were locked in competition with the Build Team to find the most of the artefacts. Side Burn was particularly competitive and, when he was depressed at losing the competition, X-Brawn cheered him up by pointing out an approaching red car. A Friendly Contest Back in the Autobot base, T-AI merged with the O-Parts. She soon sent Optimus and the Autobot brothers, with Koji tagging along, to a remote part of the Sahara Desert in search of the Orb of Sigma. The foursome located the Orb under the desert and fought Megatron and the Decepticons for possession of it, eventually returning it to base. Peril from the Past

With information extracted from the Orb, the brothers and Build Team visited a temple from which they extracted Cerebros, the control robot for Fortress Maximus. They were confronted on exiting the temple by the Decepticons and Predacons who stole Cerebros. T-AI was unimpressed at the loss and berated X-Brawn at length. The Autobots were forced to go on the defensive against the Decepticons and guard Maximus' hiding place. Scourge managed to activate Maximus anyway, and the giant was only stopped by the intervention of Koji Onishi. Maximus Emerges

Scourge attempted to control Maximus in the desert by magnifying the human portion of his bio-signature. Again Optimus and the Autobot Brothers rushed there. While Side Burn looked after Koji and his Dad, X-Brawn and Prowl charged Ruination who swiftly defeated them. Maximus was subsequently halted by the arrival of the Build Team and Team Bullet Train with a thousand children. The Human Element Having thwarted one attempt by Scourge and Mega-Octane to kidnap Koji, the brothers were assigned to guard him. Koji wasn't keen on being guarded and swapped clothing with his friend Carl, leading to Carl being kidnapped by the Decepticons in another attempt to control Maximus. Optimus and the Autobot Brothers were able to rescue Carl and retrieve Cerebros into the bargain. Mistaken Identity

When the Decepticons located and attacked Autobot headquarters, the Autobots led them into a trap and engaged them in a fierce battle. The arrival of Galvatron's Megastar turned the tide in the Decepticons favour, until the Autobots were able to activate Fortress Maximus and destroy the battle station. Surprise Attack! Galvatron, however, was not through and began to drain energy from Fortress Maximus. The brothers attempted to shoot him down without success. After Galvatron managed to use cyber-bats to control Earth's children, Omega Prime called a retreat, but the Autobots were followed into the space bridge by the Decepticons. Galvatron saw this as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, and flooded the tunnel with molten lava. The Autobots, with the help of some urging from Koji, were able to escape the lava and confront Galvatron once more. Galvatron's Revenge The Autobots soon found themselves on the losing end of the battle, and shielded Optimus long enough for their leader to find Ultra Magnus and form Omega Prime. During the final confrontation between Galvatron and Prime, the rest of the Autobots were all held paralysed but provided Prime with moral support.

After Galvatron's defeat, X-Brawn treated himself to some off-roading. The Final Battle

Dreamwave Robots in Disguise comic

When Scourge and Sky-Byte led an attack on Arizona to drain the energy out of a vague and nondescript building in the middle of the desert, T-AI tried to call upon the Autobot brothers to help, but Prowl, Side Burn and X-Brawn were busy tangling with Megatron in Oregon.

Megatron eventually fled the battle, and X-Brawn arrived to help Optimus, only to find the situation resolved. Ultra Magnus...to the Rescue?

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

X-Brawn was present at the Dimensional Patrol's Neo Brave Maximus when it was attacked by the Combatrons as part of Black Convoy's attempt to rescue Devil Gigatron. He watched as Dark Ai hijacked the Autobots' own T-AI. LGEX Black Convoy Prologue

X-Brawn and the Dimensional Patrol later traveled to the Legends World at the request of Skids and Sky-Byte. They helped defend the inhabitants from the Zamojin army and the rampaging Majin Zarak. Legends World in Imminent Danger! Part One X-Brawn's adventures with the Dimensional Patrol would continue under the leadership of Devil God Fire Convoy. Epiloge

Shell Game continuity

In Viron 704.31 Epsilon, X-Brawn was one of Optimus Prime's loyal Autobot soldiers. On the eve of a critical confrontation with Megazarak, however, several of X-Brawn's comrades disappeared (as a result of Unicron abducting them to fight in the Universe War). Optimus and his remaining soldiers did all they could, but they ultimately fell to Megazarak's onslaught. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/30

Spychanger continuity

In Viron 1103.12 Gamma, when Sky-Byte accidentally poisoned all of Earth's energon, X-Brawn and the other twelve Autobots had to downsize into Spychangers. X-Brawn got the last laugh when he and Daytonus blew up the Predacons' energon stash! Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/18

TransTech

When asked if she knew anyone in Axiom Nexus with a X-Wing alt-mode, Andromeda responded that she knew X-Brawn. Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News, 2016/05/04

Toys

Car Robots / Robots in Disguise (2001)

• Wildride (2000) / X-Brawn (Deluxe Class, 2001)

• Takara ID number: C-002
• Accessories: Left & right running-rails/missiles, brushguard/knuckle
• Known designers: Hisashi Yuki (TakaraTomy), Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)

Part of the first wave of both the Takara Car Robots and Hasbro Robots in Disguise lines, X-Brawn transforms into a Mercedes-Benz ML320 SUV. In vehicle mode, X-Brawn features opening doors and a hood that reveals his engine block. In robot mode, his right fist contains a spring-loaded missile launcher; the lower "running rails" detach and serve as ammunition, or can be held in his left hand as melee weapons. Whichever missile isn't loaded can be mounted on his upper right arm; or both missiles can peg away on the underside of his roof, as seen in the cartoon, though doing so compromises the articulation of the kibble-heavy left arm. The chromed front brushguard also detaches to form a knuckle-blade weapon. Although the instructions suggest slotting this weapon over his fingers, doing so is a tight fit that also prevents his thumb from closing back down properly; it seems the bar was specifically molded to fit the opposite way to how the instructions depict it.

👁 (thumbnail)

👁 Image

Sadly, his oh-so-famous driver is not included.
(Hasbro version pictured)

There are several small but significant differences between the original 2000 Takara "Wildride" release of the toy and the 2001 Hasbro "X-Brawn" release. The most immediately obvious is the addition of an Autobot symbol to X-Brawn's hood. X-Brawn's engine is pure chrome silver, where Wildride's is more champagne-colored. X-Brawn's headlamps have been altered to be small circles, while the back taillights have been completely removed (so much for being street-legal!) in order to make him just legally-distinct enough from the SUV model it blatantly is otherwise. Both missiles have also been retooled for safety reasons; the "blade" has had its tip blunted and rounded off, and the "gun" has had the divots on the tip removed. This latter tooling poses a minor problem in vehicle mode, as this causes the missile to rest right up against the raised Autobot symbol on the car underside, pushing the railing down away from the car body. Turns out the gun's divots let it rest flush. Oops.

Sonokong also released this figure in a gift set with his brothers in Korean markets. This version of the toy is essentially a hybrid of the Hasbro and Takara releases, featuring the retooled lights and missiles of the Hasbro version with the deco of the Takara version. The packaging, like the rest of the Sonokong Car Bot line, is styled after Takara’s Car Robots packaging.

This mold was used to make 2003's Universe Ratchet. It was briefly planned to be used by 3H as Trailbreaker, but that never materialized.

• More information on X-Brawn at TFU.info
• Japanese blog post comparing the Takara, Hasbro, and Sonokong releases of X-Brawn

• Super Wildride (2000) / X-Brawn (Deluxe Class, 2001)

• Takara ID number: C-024
• Takara release date: September ??, 2000
• Accessories: Left & right running-rails/missiles, brushguard/knuckle

Released in the seventh and penultimate wave of Car Robots regular retail toys, Wildride now comes in a "Super Mode", featuring rally-deco paint that is very clearly inspired by the iconic Castrol livery most famously used in Toyota's World Rally cars from the late 90's.[1] While his running-rail and brushguard chrome are still silver, his hubcaps and engine are now a bright golden chrome.

The 2001 Hasbro release of this toy, released in the fifth wave of Robots in Disguise Deluxes, retains all of the retooling done to the mold for the prior Hasbro release, plus adds one important change: the "gun" missile has been retooled slightly, flattening part of the tip to allow it to sit flush against the raised Autobot symbol, so the running rail is properly aligned. Deco-wise, the only real difference between Super Wildride and X-Brawn is the same as with his non-Super versions: the Hasbro version paints over a significant portion of the headlights, and adds Autobot symbol to the vehicle mode, though this time to the roof. So yes, he retains the "Wild 24" text from his Japanese-market name and toy ID number.

• More information on Super X-Brawn at TFU.info

• 3 Super Car Robo Brother Set <Clear Version> (Multi-pack, 2000)

• ID number: C-024-S (Wildride only)
• Release date: September 24, 2000
• Accessories: Left & right running-rails/missiles, brushguard/knuckle

As part of the "3 Super Car Robo Brother Set" ( (スーパー)カーロボ3兄弟セット <クリアーバージョン>), a version of Super Wildride with clear-plastic car panels was available with clear-car-part versions of Super Speedbreaker and Super Mach Alert; the toys still use their Super Mode detail paint, but not the car-panel base-paint, and no other plastic colors were changed.

This exclusive set was first available at the Osaka Toys Land Show on September 24th, then again at Super Festival 19 on October 9th, both times for 6000 yen, with the set being limited to 1500 pieces total between the two shows. He was also available at BotCon Japan 2000.

• More information on Clear Wildride at TFU.info

• X-Brawn & Scourge (Basic Class two-pack, 2002)

A very simplified, Spychanger-styled version of X-Brawn's larger toy, he was only available in a Basic-sized package with a similarly-styled version of Scourge. This toy is noteworthy for being one of only four totally new molds designed for Hasbro's Robots in Disguise line (most of the others that had not been released previously were designed for other earlier lines, but were canceled).

This mold was used to make one version of Universe Hoist.

• More information on Spychanger X-Brawn at TFU.info

Notes

• According to Aaron Archer, the "X-" part of his name was not there for trademark reasons, as many fans hypothesized. They just thought adding it to "Brawn" sounded cool at the time.
• There is circumstantial evidence suggesting, like Goosher being "Wartoad" before "Slapper" and X-Car being "X-Tech" before "Crosswise", that there was some uncertainty over just what Wildride's English name was going to be. Though Hasbro filed a trademark application for X-Brawn in March 2001, they filed an application for "Strongarm" in April 2001... three years before the first Transformer named Strongarm would debut at retail. With X-Brawn's function being "Strong-Armed Fighter" and his gigantic arm, it is possible the name "Strongarm" was originally meant for him, though why it would have been applied for after his final retail name is difficult to say. On the other hand, in the same year, Hasbro did separately apply for the legally indistinguishable names Sideburn and Side Burn, four months apart...
• Inexplicably, the One-Step changer version of Age of Extinction Rollbar has a robot mode that is directly based on X-Brawn.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Wildride (ワイルドライド Wairudoraido), Super Wildride ( (スーパー)ワイルドライド Sūpā Wairudoraido), X-Brawn (Xブローン Ekkusu Burōn)
• Korean: Wildrider (와일드라이더 Waildeulaideo)
• Mandarin: Dà Hàn (China, 大汉, "Big")