Crackshot

CRACKSHOT

Allegiance: Autobot
Sub-Group: Minibots
Function: Gunner
Transformation: Tank

Strength: 10
Intelligence: 5
Speed: 5
Endurance: 9
Rank: 6
Courage: 10
Firepower: 10
Skill: 10

"Shoot for the moon - you may hit a Decepticon camp!"

Profile: Crackshot is the living weapon of last resort in Jaw Crusher's arsenal - his name fits his sharpshooting skills, and he possesses the firepower brutal enough to supplement that moniker. Crackshot's not one of the most intelligent team members in terms of being able to map out his own combat strategy and improvise under unforeseen circumstances, but if you show him where to shoot, the target will always get reduced to atoms by Crackshot. He's especially good at long-range firing, which makes it difficult for the enemy to get a particularly good shot back at him, since he also has a talent for staying in motion while shooting and his treads can often be charged to kick up enough clouds and silt that getting an exact bead on him through the resulting haze is next to impossible. Crackshot thrives on the heat of battle, or at least he has ever since Prometheus got done with him. He has almost no memory of who he was or what his function might have been before Prometheus remade him to the mad Decepticon's specifications, but he knows that Prometheus and his brood are nothing but trouble, and he has since become an invaluable asset to Crusher's Dozen despite his lack of social skills. This flaw is something that Moray and Drifter have taken it upon themselves to correct, and frankly Crackshot finds the attention a little embarrassing, but he can't bring himself to turn down the ladies. Not that he gets much time to practice being a more personable Autobot; Crusher often has need of Crackshot to undertake operations that will almost inevitably involve heavy fire exchanges and show of force in order to successfully perpetrate the obstruction of Prometheus' dreams of conquest. Crackshot accomplishes these tasks exceedingly well, in fact, too well for the comfort of some of his more low-key teammates like Geebee, who simply cannot stand being in the same range as Crackshot for his own personal reasons, or Nimbus, who often has to remind Crackshot that total destruction is not always a good thing. Then, of course, there are the likes of Isolde and Lowroad, who so take a shine to the use of lethal force that they comment to Crackshot not to take much stock in his other teammates' concerns. This divide only serves to make Crackshot more uneasy in terms of trying to become more connected to his comrades, since clearly there are two different philosophies in play here. In fact, the only member of the team who seems to give Crackshot any solid footing on which to conduct himself is Jaw Crusher, who knows that being able to relate to the rest of the team is as important as being able to mow down Decepticon drones by the dozens. Reluctantly, Crackshot has admitted to himself that if he is to be an effective soldier, he'll have to find a way to walk that line.

Abilities: Crackshot exhibits impressive speed for a vehicle of his design, able to traverse the rockiest terrain at a top speed of 50 miles an hour. He can pick off a turbo-fox at four miles with a single shell from his gun barrel, and utilizes a gaggle of shell types that include cryogenic, sonic, thermal, explosive, acidic, electrical, chemical, and just about anything that can cause incapacitation at Crackshot's range. Crackshot also possesses an armored hide that can withstand the most powerful explosive weaponry, and which adds to his own physical strength, making him a particularly dense foe to attempt to go through.

Weaknesses: Though heavily armored, Crackshot is not immune to high-powered cryogenic or sonic weaponry like Icebox's hand-mounted cryo-blasters. His rather simplified cerebral circuitry, possibly owing to lobotomization on Prometheus' part, makes him a perfect target for an electrical or sonic blast to the head; a good shot can take him offline for hours. His concern for Moray and Drifter can also be leveraged against him easily by his foes, making this ordinarily-tough Minibot even more vulnerable.

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My fifteenth re-painted TF Minibot character, a tan variation on Warpath. Warpath was one of the first Minibots I ever got (and by that nature, one of the first Transformers I ever got, as my parents didn't take a liking to getting me anything bigger like the ones my brother had...lucky creep), and also one of the first I ever saw on the G1 cartoon, so I've always had a bit of a fondness for the big lug.