Huffer

Huffer, as described by Bumblebee, looks at the world "through sludge-colored windshields." Huffer is dour. He says very little and when he does speak, it's usually to grumble. Huffer's pessimism extends even to his job specialty. He'll grumble that it can't be done and then build the most complex mechanized fortress imaginable. Sometimes it seems he can whip up a suspension bridge out of bobby pins and glue. Huffer isn't too sociable, but in any sort of difficulty he is absolutely reliable. Optimus Prime knows that Huffer secretly misses Cybertron and longs to return there.
A complex system of sensors in his arms allows Huffer to test various materials, some of which he uses in construction, for various properties such as tensile strength, heat resistance, elasticity, etc. Although lacking weapons, he is extremely strong and can lift 40,000 pounds. His mathematical and geometrical abilities exceed those of all the other Autobots and help him in his construction designs.
Huffer is prone to severe bouts of depression as a result of his homesickness. At these times he is often inconsolable and of little value to the other Autobots.
==Animated series==
In the 1984-1985 series, Huffer was occasionally seen being entrusted with Optimus Prime's trailer unit, especially in cases where Prime was weakened or injured. Huffer also was frustrated by the fact that whatever he built ended up being destroyed by Decepticon combat. It was his wish to build something that would not be destroyed in the war somewhat like Grapple who wishes to build something that doesn't get trashed. Huffer also seems to actually enjoy repairing Decepticon messes as seen in the episode "Countdown to Extinction" when he cheerfully calls out with a smile," Yo Gears, get with it. Put that slab in right or we're gonna be here when the big dipper gets rusty."
In the episode "Prime Target" the big game hunter Lord Cholmondeley captured a secret Soviet jet, leading to panic of possibly war. Cholmondeley then set his sights on the ultimate trophy, the head of Optimus Prime. In order to lure Optimus in Cholmondeley captured the Autobots Tracks, Bumblebee, Jazz, Beachcomber, Grapple, Blaster and Inferno. Windcharger and Huffer were able to avoid being trapped. When Cosmos learned of the location Cholmondeley was keeping the captured Autobots Optimus Prime accepted Cholmondeley's challenge to meet him alone. Although interrupted by the Decepticons Astrotrain and Blitzwing's attempt to ally the Decepticons with Cholmondeley, Optimus defeated the big game hunter and freed the Autobots. Cholmondeley and the stolen jet were given over to the Soviets by the Autobots as punishment for his actions.
Huffer's only appearance in the movie was when Hot Rod destroyed a roadblock he, Bluestreak, Sunstreaker, Hound, and Kup were attempting to set. Later Arcee stated that if they closed the door then Hot Rod and Kup would be trapped outside the city.
In the 1986 episode, "Dark Awakening", Huffer was said to be among the dead Autobots that were interred at the Autobot mausoleum. The names that Daniel mentioned, along with Huffer, were the names of Autobots that were killed in The Transformers the Movie. However, Huffer's apparent death was not depicted in the movie or any episode. Shortly after the mausoleum's introduction, the zombie body of Optimus Prime set the mausoleum to self-destruct, presumably destroying what remained of Huffer's body. A robot similar to Huffer subsequently appeared in the episode "Carnage in C-Minor", albeit colored like Gears. Since this wrongly-colored Huffer is shown not only next to an equally-dead Brawn and a Constructicon, but also in an episode riddled with animation errors, Huffer's appearance here is not given much weight by many fans, but accepted by others.
Animators on the series would occasionally swell the ranks of the Transformers with duplicates of certain characters, (such as Reflector in Transport to Oblivion, and Shockwave in Five Faces of Darkness), duplicates intended to represent generic Transformers. Its possible that the alternative Huffer seen in Carnage in C-Minor was one such duplicate, as was Brawn.
==Marvel Comics==
Huffer was one of the original Autobots seen in the introductory miniseries, joining Optimus Prime aboard the Ark and being reactivated on Earth after four million years. He featured heavily in the fourth and final issue of the miniseries. On learning Sparkplug Witwicky had provided the Decepticons with fuel while their prisoner, Huffer wanted him executed as a traitor, coming to blows with Ironhide. He was later one of the five Autobots Optimus Prime selected to be kept operational with their limited fuel reserves to combat a Decepticon attack. Huffer helped fight off the attackers, including rescuing Bluestreak from Megatron, until the Decepticons collapsed after Sparkplug poisoned their fuel. Moments later, Huffer and the others were also knocked offline by an attack from Shockwave.
Huffer appeared in the early UK-exclusive stories set during the miniseries, reacting to a malfunctioning Brawn's rampage in "The Enemy Within" and being involved in a Decepticon attack in "Raiders of the Last Ark". He was shown to be active again in US Issue #9 after Ratchet had repaired most of the Autobots and had a featured role in the following issue. Annoyed that Huffer was spending all his time trying to contact Cybertron, acting leader Prowl assigned him to a team led by Ironhide sent to investigate the new Constructicons. Along the way, Huffer befriended a trucker, Bomber Bill, whose rig had been stolen by the Constructicons. The team discovered the Decepticons had built a new communications dish, which Huffer was reluctant to destroy since it was a chance to contact Cybertron. His hesitation allowed Soundwave to send part of his message before Huffer drove him off.
Huffer was part of the large convoy of Autobots who tried to liberate G.B Blackrock's aerospace plant in Issue #12 only to get ambushed by a fake Optimus Prime. The US title treated Huffer and the others involved in the battle as offline but he continued to appear in the next few UK-exclusive stories, helping erect a Christmas tree for Buster Witwicky in "Christmas Breaker". In "Dinobot Hunt", he was part of a team including Sideswipe and Bluestreak sent to search for the feral Dinobots. Stumbling across a battling Grimlock and Sludge, Huffer tried to separate them but was left badly damaged and inactive.
His only other appearance was in US Issue #41, where he was among the Autobots assembled to watch a duel between Blaster and Grimlock on the lunar surface. He was probably among those deactivated in the subsequent battle with Ratbat's Decepticons.
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