Ironhide (Aligned)

Ironhide is one of the supporting characters of Transformers Aligned continuity. He is a battle-hardened veteran, one of the toughest amongst the Autobots. As one of Optimus' oldest and closest friends, Ironhide saw the great potential within Optimus to be more than what he allowed himself to be.
Ironhide is voiced by Keith Szarabajka. 
== Biography ==
Ironhide is the oldest Autobot on the team. He is the slowest Autobot on the team. He is also the meanest, toughest, orneriest Autobot on the team. He is most definitely yesterday's model, but he was built to last - seemingly forever. He is a soldier, first and foremost, but his tough exterior hides a deep compassion for life. He is one of Optimus' most trusted advisors on all matters.
== Weapons & Attributes ==
Ironhide carries a Scatter Blaster, has the abilities Dash and Whirlwind. He is a Leader chassis, but in the campaign, he is classified as a soldier. He is VERY strong.
== Story ==
Ironhide led a squad of Autobots to defend the Decagon during the Decepticon invasion of Iacon. With the loss of Zeta Prime, Ironhide's old friend Optimus was forced to take command of the Autobots, an act that the old soldier approved, as he was glad that Optimus was finally stepping up to take his rightful place in the Autobot hierarchy. After helping Optimus and his team by clearing a path for them to the Decagon (and taking down two Brutes, tearing one in half), he continued to lead the others to (successfully) push the Decepticons into retreat.
After Optimus became Optimus Prime, Ironhide and Warpath joined him on the mission to clear the core of Cybertron that was infected with Dark Energon. Ironhide constantly rebuked the young, aggressive Warpath's shoot-first attitude. Heading to the Omega Gate, the three Autobots found Omega Supreme being tortured with Dark Energon. Freeing the massive Autobot, Ironhide joined Optimus and Warpath in protecting Ratchet long enough to repair Omega to the open the Gate. Heading underground, the three Autobots found space slugs working to clear the Dark Energon crystals. When they were sealed off in a cavern, another slug came in and killed an attacking Decepticon, to which the old, knowledgeable Ironhide offered the universal greeting, but the slug simply ignored them and moved on with its task. The three Autobots then found a trio of slugs with Ion Displacer turrets on their backs, and provided cover fire for the slugs as they made their way through Cybertron. Unfortunately, a corrupted space slug attacked the trio, knocking them underground and killing the slugs. Regrouping at the core, they were attacked by the corrupted slug, and managed to defeat it. Unfortunately, the Dark Energon corrupted the Core, which could only purge the corruption by shutting down all systems, leaving Cybertron uninhabitable and forcing the Transformers to leave Cybertron. Before departing, Ironhide and Warpath witnessed Optimus receive a part of the Core's essence, the Matrix of Leadership.
As the evacuation went underway, Megatron used his orbital station to attacking fleeing transports. A group of Aerialbots under Silverbolt managed to shut down the station's cannon, only to learn that the station itself was a Cybertronian named Trypticon. Ironhide joined Optimus and Bumblebee in finishing off the monster. Though many Autobots managed to escape, a number of them, Ironhide included, stayed behind to fight against Megatron's schemes. Optimus commissioned the building of a new starship, the Ark, to take the Autobots from Cybertron, wherever they may go.
==Trivia==
* Originally, Ironhide was going to appear in "Transformers: Prime" as one of the main autobots but was replaced with Bulkhead because the creators learn of Ironhide's death in "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" and didn't want to confused kids with "a living Ironhid".
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