Drillers are a race of non-sapient Cybertronic tentacle monsters and the largest subterranean lifeforms native to the planet Cybertron.
Biology[]
Anatomy[]
The Driller resembles a giant mechanical snake or worm and is armed with several tendrils tipped with saws and pinchers. Due to their fossorial lifestyle their heads are drill-shaped, hence their name.
Powers and abilities[]
Through the use of their tentacles and drill-shaped heads, Drillers are capable of burrowing through the ground or through buildings with ease. Ultimately, they are capable of great destruction and carnage on any scale.
Behavior[]
While Drillers are typically wild Cybertonian animals, they can be tamed and domesticated into beasts of burden. They are mainly used for mining jobs.
However, the Driller owned Shockwave owned is bred specifically for militaristic use. Having been partially reengineered into his chario and with the persona of a loyal dog, this Driller is considerably larger than a typical member of its species.
History[]
Background[]
A Driller was drawn to the surface by the fresh energy flowing through the planet after Sentinel Prime's Autobots revitalized Cybertron by re-energizing the AllSpark. At the outskirts of Thetacon, it attacked some Hatchlings and their protector Starscream. Megatron and Shockwave saved them from the creature, forcing it into retreat.
However, the Drillers had left an impression upon Shockwave, who deemed it "magnificent". His studies of it eventually led to Drillers being tamed and used as beasts of burden. Shockwave's fascination with Drillers was so great that he even kept one such as a "pet", which he would train and equip for military purposes.
During the civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons, Shockwave occasionally summoned his Driller into battle. When Shockwave travelled to Earth in the early 1900s, his Driller was brought to Earth with him.
2010s[]
In 2010, the Driller was contained in a cage built by Shockwave and his partner Astrotrain. When its master was about to get killed by Optimus Prime during the Decepticons' invasion of Philadelphia, the Driller suddenly showed up and saved him. Recognizing the creature, Ironhide told Prime that they were in a big trouble if his suspicious over the creature's identity were true.
After three years of relatively quiet Decepticon activity, the Driller was summoned alongside its master to attack Optimus Prime when NEST was called to Chernobyl by Alexi Voskhod to retrieve what was later revealed to be a fuel cell from the Ark located within the facility. This attack was only misdirection on the Decepticons' part, as they actually wanted the Autobots to find the fuel cell. After Optimus retrieved the fuel cell from the Driller, it quickly retreated underground.
Later on, the Driller was present during the Decepticons' invasion of Chicago, proving to be a deadly threat from below as it separated Optimus from his trailer. When Shockwave discovered Robert Epps in a toppling skyscraper, he ordered the Driller to flush out Sam Witwicky, Carly Spencer, and a team of ex-NEST operatives led by Epps. Crawling its way in and through the building, the Driller caused the already-damaged skyscraper to snap in half by having the top section slam onto another building.
When the Driller went in to finish the humans, Optimus attacked it in midair using the jet pack and upgraded weapons from his trailer. The Driller's reach with its tentacles was hindered by the building as it attempted to fight back. Optimus counterattacked it by slamming his entire body through its neck, killing it. Its partially severed body crashed to the street below, prompting a revenge-crazed Shockwave to retaliate by downing Optimus.
Five years after the Battle of Chicago, the Driller was listed as "deceased" by the CIA taskforce Cemetery Wind. Though Brains stated that the remains of Decepticons killed in Chicago were recovered by KSI and melted into Transformium to be used for their made-made prototypes, it is unlikely that this applies to the Driller due to it being a non-sapient Cybertronian lacking the art of transformation.
Notes[]
- Drillers resembles both the Trans-Organic known as the Dweller from the Generation 1 cartoon, as well as an aquatic Decepticon featured in unused concept art by Ben Procter for Revenge of the Fallen.
- During the production of Dark of the Moon, the Driller went under the working name "Colossus". It is also called "the Worm" in the Japanese Transformers Heat Scramble card game.
- According to the special effects team, Shockwave's Driller is the length of three football fields, making it roughly 1080 feet long.
- Some Drillers would have appeared in Transformers: The Last Knight, where they would have joined Grimlock in ambushing the Transformers Reaction Force convoy, according to some concept art.