Regarding Grimlock

For my part, here how I could see the character of Grimlock coming to the battlefield.

To make it work, I had to stray a bit off the Grimlock we know for its beginning. He is a bit more like jetfire there.

I wont pretend to make a movie worthy narrative, so Ill work it from Grimlock perspective.

Here we go :

Millions of years ago, before the great war even started, Grimlock was working in the Cybertronian institute of science.

Being a bit of brawler at hearth, he had trouble staying out of trouble on cybertron. That why he prefers deep space assignments,

nobody to get in trouble with there.

Travelling through the stars, his sensors got a weird magnetic field around a planet. He decides to investigate.

However, he failed to anticipate the effect of it on its telemetry and ends up crashing on the planet.

When he comes back to its senses, he is glad to be in one piece. He hears a loud noise behind him.

He turns around just in time to see a set of strange looking hooks coming at him. They nearly tear his arms off.

He manages to escape without further damage.

From far away, he observes what attacked him. It moves like a life form, yet so unlike anything he ever saw.

He starts is self diagnostic to see if he can go back into space. The answers is negative, his propulsion systems is completely shot.

Without means to repair it, he'll have to remain here until he finds another alternative. He looks back at those strange life forms.

He'll have to learn to survive among them long enough to find a way off this rock.

He sets off to create a new alt form for himself, capable of fighting these creatures if need be.

The one who attacked him seems the most adapter for that and the mass is about right.

His new alt form is still more cybertronian than native. Should be enough to fight off anything that comes his way.

He starts exploring to find materials that he could use. His work was difficult. The natives kept coming at him to fight.

Even the most peacefull looking. The alt mode is obviously causing this. He manages to capture one to study.

He discovers that these carbon based machines. He spent some time trying to duplicate the external appearance.

He finally acheives a skin that doesn't attract the natives.

In his exploration, he finds material that would work to create an older propulsion system design. The catch is that he needs his

old alt mode back to integrate it. But he cannot do with his current one. Having 2 alt modes, that's insane. He sets out to find a solution, but in the end,

he doesn't have what it takes to make it work.

As the years go by, he is getting more and more confortable in his native alt mode. The freedom of just walking in the forest.

He likes the occasionnal battle with the biggest native. He becomes pretty good at it. He miss less and less talking to others.

No use for that here, strength is good enough. He likes that.

On day, the biggest native he ever saw challenges him. Great, a challenge!

During the course of the battle, the native manages to push him in a tar pit.

He realise that he is unable to get out of it. It's just too deep.

He puts himself is stasis, hoping that the unstable land mass will free him someday.

Today

An exchavation team working on a skyscrapper has found a large metallic mass in the ground.

"What the hell? It's going to cost us. Get that out of there!" says the senior worker.

After hours of digging, the mass finally out.

"Who would build a robot T-rex just to bury it here? ask one of the workers.

The warmth of the sun initiate the reactivation sequence of Grimlock.

Grimlock is still hazy from his long stasis lock. He is enough there to realise that something is wrong, too different.

He gets up. Notices that there is a new kind of native around and they seems pretty agitated.

He checks his skin only to find out it is completely gone. Must have been in the ground a long time indeed.

He initiate the repairs sequence and sets to get out of this predicament.

Where there was trees, there are weird structures. Need to get out of here fast.

Very soon the skin will be back, it should help.

The disruption forces the Optimus Prime and his men to get out of hidding.

When they arrive to scene, they see a fully fleshed T-Rex. From could it come from?

No matter the humans must be protected now. Optimus rams one of he feets too kept it from going further, while the others Autobots transforms.

They open fire on it. The T-Rex screams in pain. It starts running past Optimus still in truck.

Under a wound, he manages to see the ancient Cybertronian institute of science logo.

He fails to call off the other Autobots before the T-Rex jumps in the river and disapears.

On a far away shore.

Grimlock climbs back on the shore. He doesn't understand that new world. He will in time, but not now. He transforms in robot mode to tend to a wound.

Starscream having seen the whole scene recognize him. He gets to the ground and approaches him carefully. He tries to talk to him. Only to be answered by non sense.

Grimlock sighs, its been so long since he spoke last. He recognize starscream from the institute.

Starscream is pretty sure that Grimlock is unaware of the war. He gather up all is patience in dealing with Grimlock. Its worth it, Grimlock has showed his fighting capability with the Autobots.

After a while, Grimlock manages to do basic talking. Starscream tells him about the war and the evil attempt of the Autobots to take the allspark for themselves. After talking to him, starts doubting that he is psychollogically stable enough to even be a Decepticon.

Grimlock has trouble wrapping his mind about the concept that Cybertron has been ravaged by war. He chooses not to tell starscream, remembering is less than ethical behavior in the days.

Having some some damage to repair, he asks starscream for some replacements parts. Among those, he finds something that would solve his alt mode problem. He secretly starts to work on acquiring an new alt mode to blend in this time period.

Starscream plans an attack on the Autobots and ask the others decepticons to join up on him. Grimlock goes to the location. When out of sight, he turns into his third alt mode.

On the battlefield, he stops to observe what happens. He soon realizes that Autobot are trying to protect the natives.

When a Decepticon attacks a group of native, Grimlock launches into battle the only way he knows, with fury.

He turns in his T-Rex mode and tears appart that decepticon. After seeing this, Starscreams starts retreating. He doesn't to risk fighting Grimlock.

The Autobots tries to calm Grimlock before he brings to the city down.

That's pretty much it. I know that the characterization need work.

I think that story frame could work well to introduce Grimlock.

The triple changing could work because of the ability to cover the T-Rex mode with flesh, thus hiding the vehicule bits.

The flesh thing could be done like in Terminator.