Hosehead... well, he's got a nice personality. He's a nice guy, kind and well-meaning, courageous and willing to carry out his dangerous search and rescue function. Sometimes he even does it quite well. But he gets very flustered under pressure, to the point that he can do as much damage as good. His binary bond with the Nebulan star athlete Lug seems to be improving this problem.
- French name (Canada): Boyau
Fiction[]
Marvel Comics continuity[]
Generation One[]
We found this mouse in a bottle of YOUR BEER, eh. Like, we was at a party and a friend of ours - a COP - had some, and HE PUKED. And he said, come here and get free beer, or he'll press charges.
Under unrevealed circumstances, Hosehead was binary-bonded to the Nebulan named Lug, and then taken prisoner by the Decepticons on Cybertron. As a field test for the new Decepticon lord Thunderwing, Hosehead was released free on Earth alongside his fellow prisoners Playback and Horsepower. Thunderwing was to hunt down and execute them in an uncontrolled environment. The Decepticon made the mistake of toying with his prey, however, killing Playback and then leisurely pursuing the others. Playback's death caught the attention of two Autobots from the Ark, Nightbeat and Siren. Horsepower was killed in the following combat, but the remaining trio of Autobots survived, besting Thunderwing with their wits, and became inseparable from then on as Hosehead joined the Ark's crew. The Big Shutdown!
There wasn't much to do. All the bowling alleys had been wrecked. So's I spent most of my time looking for beer.
Hosehead and Siren were part of Nightbeat's team of Matrix-hunters on the planet Pz-zazz. They helped Nightbeat unravel the mystery of the planet's missing life-force, but were subsequently captured by Thunderwing. Bird of Prey! Hosehead proved able to resist Thunderwing's Mindleech device, revealing nothing about the Matrix Quest. Kings of the Wild Frontier Hosehead and the others were subsequently freed when the device's equipment was damaged. They then worked together to stop Thunderwing's Matrix-powered rampage aboard the Ark. Hosehead deactivated the Ark's artificial gravity per Nightbeat's order, allowing suction to drag Thunderwing out of the ship. All Fall Down
Hosehead was among the casualties of the great battle with Unicron; his wrecked vehicle form is shown among the dead. Still Life!
Marvel UK future timelines[]
In an alternate 2009, Hosehead was one of the Autobots who had to abandon Cybertron to Galvatron and the Decepticons after the Time Wars rebooted history. To make matters worse, their ship crashed on Earth after their leader, Rodimus Prime, was possessed by Unicron's corrupting influence. Hosehead and Doubleheader were seen taking a shot at the insane Rodimus, but their fire bounced off his "aura of evil" and he blasted right back at them. Shadow of Evil
Dreamwave comics continuity[]
During the Age of Internment, Hosehead remained free from Decepticon rule under Blaster and Perceptor's resistance cell. He was working with Nightbeat on a strike team to capture and study a member of the Aerospace Extermination Squadron, when suddenly... The Age of Wrath issue 3
Toys[]
Generation One[]
- Hosehead w/ Lug (Headmaster, 1988)
- Accessories: "Lug" Headmaster driver, seat/helmet, "Accelerator Rifle", left and right "Laser Pistols"
I was like a one-man army, like Charlton Heston in Omega Man. You ever see it? Beauty.
- Hosehead transforms into a sweet fire truck of undetermined model. The area between the cabin and the rear of the truck has a seat that Headmaster unit, Lug, can sit on, but he can also be stowed inside the cabin itself. (This method isn't as secure, however.) The ladder base has a ratcheted joint, allowing it to rotate, while the ladder itself can extend out to 22cm in length and also has a movable compound nozzle. His head guns can be stored on the sides of the vehicle while his rifle can be plugged onto the ladder.
- In robot mode, like all Headmaster toys, Hosehead has a flip-down panel on his chest which covers a spring-loaded mini-Tech-Spec-meter which gives readouts for Speed, Strength and Intelligence. The tumblers are activated when Lug (or any other Headmaster unit) is plugged into his neck socket. Lug has Hosehead's face plainly visible on his back because, as a smaller Headmaster toy, he lacks the flip-down panel featured on larger Headmasters.
- This toy was released in Japan as the Headmaster Junior Cab, with little or no changes.
Notes[]
- For whatever reason, Hosehead's character model treats his "goggles" as a colorless transparent visor covering a pair of standard optic sensors, despite his toy having the same kind of outwardly-opaque visor as numerous other Transformers. Just more small Headmaster Autobot weirdness.
- In "The Big Shutdown!," the Marvel UK story which introduced Hosehead, neither Nightbeat nor Siren recognized him, and Hosehead even assumed Siren and Nightbeat were Decepticons until the truth was revealed. Apparently Hosehead never bumped into the other two when they were all on Nebulos getting Headmaster partners together.