Hatchet (DOTM)

Hatchet is a Decepticon Dread from the Dark of the Moon portion of the movie continuity family.

When you meet anything that's going to be human and isn't yet, or used to be human once and isn't now, or ought to be human and isn't, you keep your eyes on it and feel for your hatchet.

Decepticon master strategist Hatchet is most famous for formulating devastating counter-attacks against Autobot defenses. Yet as a member of the Dreads infiltration and assassination team, he also plays another role, taking on the dirtiest jobs available personally and exterminating his targets with a brutal and efficient finality.

Fiction

Dark of the Moon adaptations

Hatchet was one of the many Decepticons stationed on Earth's Moon. When Sentinel Prime was being retrieved from the wreckage of the Ark, he quietly emerged from the Moon's surface and secretly hitched a ride on the Autobots' shuttle back to Earth. Dark of the Moon Dark of the Moon #1

Dark of the Moon film

This is what we call a hatchet job.

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.

After Sentinel Prime was retrieved from Earth's moon and reactivated, Megatron put into motion the plan that had been waiting in the wings for hundreds of years. With the human Sam Witwicky believing that the Decepticons wished to capture Sentinel and force him to use the control pillar to activate his space bridge, the Dreads were sent to pursue the Autobots. After Crowbar disposed of Seymour Simmons, Hatchet and Crankcase leaped to attack, only for the Autobots to break suddenly and deploy their Stealth Force mode. Hatchet was targeted by the Autobot Dino, who embedded his anchored blades into the Decepticon's back, and corralled Hatchet into the firing line of Bumblebee and Sideswipe. After Hatchet was pounded with Autobot ordnance, Dino tossed the Decepticon into the oncoming side of the highway, where he slammed into a passing car and was destroyed. Dark of the Moon

Toys

Dark of the Moon

Machines are worshipped because they are beautiful, and valued because they confer power; they are hated because they are hideous, and loathed because they impose slavery.

• Decepticon Hatchet (Cyberverse Commander Class, 2011)

• ID number: Series 1, 007
• TakaraTomy ID number: CV21
• Accessories: 2 attack drones/alpha-rez cannons
• Known designers: Joe Kyde (Hasbro), Hisao Nishimoto (TakaraTomy)

Released in the third wave of Dark of the Moon Cyberverse Commander-class toys, Hatchet transforms into a modified Eurofighter Typhoon jet rather than his on-screen SUV alternate mode. He includes two attack drones that can be carried under his wings in vehicle mode or transformed into two cannons, one single- and one multi-barreled. These cannons can then be combined end-to-end to form a larger two-handled rifle. Despite being a quadruped, his claws are still designed to be able to hold Cyberverse-scale weapons. His jet mode has flip-out landing gear in the nose.

Most likely to save space, his lower legs are not fully transformed in-package (the official photos also depict him mistransformed this way.). The instructions also don't mention it, but Hatchet can stand very well on two legs, being able to hold his weapons in his hands without balance issues.

In an undocumented step of his transformation, the flap behind his cockpit (at the base of his robot mode tail) flips back to cover much of the open space in his torso. In a total design fluke, this cavity is large enough for a Human Alliance pilot figure, making Hatchet function like a Human Alliance toy.

• More information on Hatchet at TFU.info

Buzzworthy Bumblebee

You cannot believe now that you'll ever feel better. But this is not true. You are sure to be happy again. Knowing this, truly believing it, will make you less miserable now.

• Hatchet (Deluxe Class, 2022)

• Movie: Dark of the Moon

A stock render of Hatchet's robot mode was uploaded by legit wholesaler NDA Toys on October 13, 2022 under the co-branded Buzzworthy Bumblebee/Studio Series line, but was removed from the listing less than 24 hours later.^[1] For over a year there would be no release or even acknowledgment by Hasbro of his existence....until it was revealed that it was canceled by Target due to the poor sales of previous Buzzworthy Bumblebee Deluxes.^[2] While never listed, it's likely he would've used the ID number of "94BB" which was missing from the line.

Hatchet ultimately survived his cancellation, released in the mainline Studio Series over two years later (below).

Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

Studio Series

I have a friend, he thought—I have a friend now. A hungry friend, but a good one. I have a friend named fire.

• Decepticon Hatchet (Deluxe Class, 2025)

• Movie: Dark of the Moon
• Hasbro ID number: 94 / 117
• Accessories: tail, "High Speed Chase" backdrop
• Known designers: Evan Brooks (Hasbro)^[3]

Studio Series Hatchet was released in the first wave of 2025, finally finishing off the Studio Series Dreads after seven years. He turns into a licensed Chevrolet Suburban for the first time, sharing the wheels and some engineering with the previous Dread molds. Like Crankcase, Hatchet lacks Decepticon insignias. He features neck and jaw articulation, and a separate tail piece that stores under the vehicle mode. He includes a cardboard backdrop display depicting the Dread chase scene from Dark of the Moon.

Like Rise of the Beasts Wheeljack, Hatchet unusually features an image of his vehicle mode instead of his robot mode on the front of his box. The robot kibble underneath is visible on the otherwise realistic image of the Suburban, and the robot mode art uses Crowbar's head for some reason. While the box and backdrop give him the ID number "117", his instructions and product description still use his original number of "94". His instructions are also blue with the Predacon insignia, possibly due to a mix-up with his wave-mate Double Punch.

Hatchet suffers from a design flaw where the vehicle panels on his front legs are only held on with friction and are prone to popping off during transformation.

Hatchet was revealed at New York Comic Con 2024.

Notes

Once you start doing something bad, then it's easy to take the next step—and in the end, you're a moral sewer.

• In early production, the Dreads were announced to be a pair of modified Chevrolet Suburbans. Photos of only two prop vehicles were even taken on-set.^[4] In the final movie, all three Dreads use identical Chevrolet Suburbans as their alternate modes, with individual robot modes between the three of them. For the toy line, Hasbro decided to give them individual alternate modes as well, which is why only Crankcase turns into a Suburban.
• An early working name for him was "Dirtbag".^[5]
• Several Dread Assaulters identical to Hatchet appear in the Dark of the Moon video game. Likewise, three giant versions of Hatchet with back-mounted guns were present in the opening battle scene of Dark of the Moon.
• At some point during the production of The Last Knight, there was going to be a Decepticon sharing the same body-type as Hatchet that would appear alongside Dreadbot and Berserker. According to Josh Nizzi's Instagram account^[6], this guy would have (possibly) been a member of the Dreads. Ultimately, Hatchet's doppelganger was removed from the final cut.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Hatchet (ハチェット Hachetto)

References