Transformers: Generation 1

Gears is anti-social, a self-proclaimed misfit. His tech spec indicated he acted this way to cheer others up as they attempted to cheer him up. However, his portrayal in the animated series indicated he tended to annoy his comrades with his constant complaining. Despite this he never shirks from battle with the Decepticons.

Marvel Comics

"The only thing Gears wants to learn about this planet is how to get off it. I hate this place already. I just know you're going to use me as a mobile transport unit again, once we have to set up. Nuts, let's go home." - Gears in Marvel Transformers #1

Gears is notable in the Marvel Comics series as the Autobot who teamed up with Spider-Man

Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...

 in #3 of the series. The two went off to save Sparkplug Witwicky from the Decepticons, and Spider-Man's presence allowed Gears to take down Ravage and Soundwave

Soundwave (Transformers)

Soundwave is the name of several characters in the various series Transformers series. His most famous disguise is that of a microcassette recorder and has an iconic voice done by a vocoder.-Transformers: Generation 1:...

, before confronting Megatron himself, who blew the floor out from under him. Spider-Man's web failed to catch Gears, and he plummeted to the bottom of a cliff. He was eventually repaired by Ratchet

Ratchet (Transformers)

Ratchet is the name of several characters in the Transformers universes. According to the original creator of the Transformers names, Bob Budiansky, Ratchet was named after the character of Nurse Ratched from the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The name Ratchet is almost always portrayed as...

 and teamed with Windcharger

Windcharger

Windcharger is a fictional character and was one of the original toys in the Transformers line when Hasbro started producing them in 1984.-Transformers: Generation 1:...

 and Cliffjumper

Cliffjumper

Cliffjumper is the name of several characters from the Transformers line of toys. His name is usually associated with an Autobot whose toys are often red repaints of Bumblebee toys.- Transformers: Generation 1 :...

 on the Dinobot Hunt; unfortunately he was injured again in a Decepticon ambush.

He went on to battle the Decepticons on many other occasions, becoming less prominent as time went on. He was eventually deactivated during the Underbase powered Starscream

Starscream (Transformers)

Starscream is a fictional character in the Transformers franchise. He is one of the most prolific characters in the Transformers fictional work, appearing in almost all incarnations of the story. Starscream is usually portrayed with the same characterization...

's rampage.

Gears was seen among the Autobots being repaired on the Ark when Optimus Prime sent Landmine and Cloudburst on their mission to obtain computer chips to repair fellow Autobots in issue #52, "Guess Who The Mechannibals Are Having For Dinner?"

Animated series

Gears was among the original Autobot crew of the Ark which crashed on Earth. In "More Than Meets the Eye" his infrared sensors, a feature of his tech spec, allowed him to track down Ravage

Ravage (Transformers)

Ravage is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. Due to the inability to trademark the common word "ravage", he is sometimes called Battle Ravage, Command Ravage or Tripredacus Agent...

, although he left the actual capturing of the Decepticon to others.

Gears' most prominent appearance came in the episode "Changing Gears". Megatron stole a chip from Gears to complete his Solar Needle, a weapon that could pierce the sun itself. The removal of the chip altered Gears' personality from cranky to jovial, and he willingly assisted Megatron in completing the device. However, this eventually backfired on the Decepticon leader as he held Optimus Prime at gunpoint. Prime asked Gears to do him a favour - and he did, sabotaging the device. After the Decepticons were defeated, Gears was restored to his previous personality, and reverted to moaning as the other Autobots drove off without him.

Gears didn't make anymore prominent appearances. A debate can be made that Gears was one of the two Autobots who was dropped into the pool of acid before Jazz, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, and Spike were saved by Spike's son, Daniel. Although amongst most fans, Gears' only appearance in the film was on Moon Base 1 sitting next to Ironhide before he leaves.

Audio books

Gears was featured in the 1985 Transformers audio book Autobots' Lightning Strike.

Dreamwave Productions

When civil war broke out on the planet Cybertron between the Autobot and Decepticon factions, Gears joined the Autobot cause. When Decepticon leader Megatron and Autobot leader Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime is a fictional character from the Transformers franchise. Prime is the leader of the autobots, a faction of transforming robots from the planet Cybertron. The autobots are constantly waging war against a rival faction of transforming robots called Decepticons...

 disappeared in an accident with a space bridge, the Autobot and Decepticon forces splintered into smaller factions. Gears stayed with the Autobots under the leadership of Prowl.

Learning that the Decepticons were testing a new mobile command base at the Praetorus Wharf, Prowl led Cliffjumper

Cliffjumper

Cliffjumper is the name of several characters from the Transformers line of toys. His name is usually associated with an Autobot whose toys are often red repaints of Bumblebee toys.- Transformers: Generation 1 :...

, Gears, Jazz

Jazz (Transformers)

Jazz is the name of a fictional character from the various Transformers universes. He is usually portrayed as a music loving robot and talks with a slang accent. He is also a good friend of Optimus Prime's...

, Skids and Sideswipe to investigate. What they discovered was Trypticon

Trypticon

Trypticon is a fictional character in the Transformers toyline.-Transformers: Generation 1:Trypticon is the Decepticons' principal command base. He has three modes: a city, a mobile battle station, and a Tyrannosaurus rex. In each mode, he has a variety of weapons...

 (Transformers: The War Within - The Dark Ages #3). They were only saved when Shockwave

Shockwave (Transformers)

Shockwave is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers series. Throughout his incarnations, he is usually distinguished by a laser cannon in lieu of one of his hands and his distinctive face, which is featureless save a single robotic eye...

 called the giant away to combat the Fallen

Fallen (Transformers)

The Fallen is a fictional character in the Transformers universes. According to Hasbro, he was formerly known as Megatronus Prime, and is a multiversal singularity, meaning that while he exists across the multiverse, he has no alternate-universe counterpart.-Character history:Although the Fallen's...

.

Gears was among the Autobots who followed Optimus Prime on his mission on board the Ark and crash landed on Earth. In 1984, when the Ark's computer re-activated, it reformatted Gears as in the form of an Earth truck.

Eventually the combined forces of the Autobots on Earth, and their human allies were able to capture the Decepticons. A ship called the Ark II was built to take the Cybertronians back to Cybertron along with some human companions, but the ship exploded shortly after takeoff. The human allies were killed but the Cybertronians were lost in the ocean, again in stasis lock.

Gears returned to Cybertron with Optimus Prime and most of the Autobots to face charges after Ultra Magnus

Ultra Magnus

Ultra Magnus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers storylines.-Transformers: Generation 1:The greatest Transformer of them all. A commander could want no finer a soldier than Ultra Magnus...

 told them that the war had ended. Eventually Gears returned to Earth to help with the construction of Autobot City.

Devil's Due Publishing

In this reimagining of the Generation One story, the Ark was discovered by the terrorist Cobra Organization

Cobra Organization

Cobra Command, commonly referred to as Cobra, is the fictional nemesis of the G.I. Joe team in the Hasbro action figure toylines G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6, as well as their related media....

, and all the Transformers inside were reformatted into Cobra vehicles remotely controlled by the Tele-Vipers. In this storyline Gears turned into a Cobra flight pod.

Toys

• Generation 1 Gears (1984)

The original Gears toy was based on the Microman toy line. He was released with a normal Autobot symbol in 1984, and with an Autobot rub sign in 1985. The rub sign version of Gears was re-released in Japan in 2004. One of the earliest Transformers toys.

This toy features an embossed "M" on his hood, a holdover from his Microman toy line roots.

Gears was remolded into the Autobot Swerve

Swerve (Transformers)

Swerve is the name given to several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. Swerve is always depicted as an Autobot land vehicle with red color. Up until 2008, there has never been a Transformer named Swerve with his own original mold - he has only been a repaint or remold from someone...

, and then the original mold was recolored into the Japanese exclusive named Smallfoot

Smallfoot

Smallfoot is the name of both a Rapid application development toolkit and an embedded operating system designed and released by Caldera Systems/The SCO Group in both Unix and Linux formats. Created for use in embedded environments such as point of sale systems and gaming, the toolkits are used to...

.

Gears was released as a toy named Pick-Up in South America and came in several color variations.

• Generation 1 McDonalds Gears (1985)

One of the four original McDonalds Happy Meal Transformers toy from 1985, this toy was just a solid statue of the character in robot mode.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Gears is featured in the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 American science fiction-action film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to the 2007 film Transformers and the second installment in the live-action Transformers series...

toy line. His toy bio describes him as being very similar to his Generation 1 self: A complainer who always finds something negative to say about a situation. His first alternate mode is a silver Cadillac Escalade

Cadillac Escalade

The Cadillac Escalade is a full-size luxury sport utility vehicle sold by the General Motors luxury brand, Cadillac. It was the division's first major entry into the popular SUV market. The Escalade was introduced for the 1999 model year in response to German and Japanese competitors and to Ford's...

, similar to a vehicle seen during the freeway brawl between Optimus Prime and Bonecrusher in the first film.

His second alternate mode is a blue SUV

Sport utility vehicle

A sport utility vehicle is a generic marketing term for a vehicle similar to a station wagon, but built on a light-truck chassis. It is usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on- or off-road ability, and with some pretension or ability to be used as an off-road vehicle. Not all four-wheel...

 that is a cross between a Chevrolet Suburban

Chevrolet Suburban

Chevrolet offered a station wagon body, built on the 1/2 ton truck frame. This model was specifically built for National Guard units and Civilian Conservation Corps units. Much of the body was constructed from wood, and could seat up to eight occupants....

 and a Toyota Sequoia

Toyota Sequoia

The Toyota Sequoia is a full-size SUV produced by Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana in Princeton, Indiana. It is derived from the Toyota Tundra pickup truck but differs in its use of an independent rear suspension. It is priced between the mid-size 4Runner and Toyota's flagship Land Cruiser...

.

Toys

• Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Autobot Gears (2009)

A silver redeco of the Deluxe class Stockade, from the previous movie's toy line

Transformers: The Movie toy line

The Transformers movie toys were released in conjunction with the 2007 Transformers film, comics and video games, and expanded on the characters and story in them. They were manufactured and sold by Hasbro worldwide, except in Japan by Takara Tomy....

.

• Transformers Speed Stars Stealth Force Autobot Gears (2010)

A non-transforming blue SUV that mechanically opens its panels and reveals hidden weapons at the push of a button. Features launching missile mounted on the roof. The box art shows an illustration of his robot mode, which is similar to his movie Deluxe form, but colored blue.