When Fortress' group of Autobots left the Earth, only the Autobot Pretenders were left and soon, they have to reveal themselves to fight the Decepticons once more under the command of Metalhawk. But when Ginrai and the other Godmasters start to arrive it becomes clear that they are the major players of this new battle as it is down to the humans to save their own planet from destruction.
CAB
The Prince of the Republic of Karin, Cab is first seen in the second episode and is caught up in the Transformer war when the Seacons attack him and the other residents. Surviving this, Cab joins the Autobots and eventually becomes a Headmaster Jr, and his transtector is a red fire truck. Cab is eager to fight and often ignores common sense in favour of just rushing into attack which often gets him into trouble, and his friendly rivalry with Shūta doesn't help these matters, although he gets a bit more mature about halfway through the series and onwards. He also has two pets, a parrot and an armadillo.
CHROMEDOME
Making a very short appearance in the fourth episode, Chromedome is with the other Autobots in space fighting against the Decepticons in space. He is the one who sent the six Headmaster Jrs transtectors to Earth, although he doesn't know that three of them were stolen by the Decepticons. Chromedome sends a message to Hawk saying that he doesn't have much time to talk but wishes him and the others good luck in protecting the Earth.
DIVER
Part of the Autobot Pretender team, Diver traveled with the others to Earth and helped seal away their Decepticon counterparts, but now that they have returned he helps the Autobots once more. Diver is the second most seen Autobot Pretender after Hawk, and is the only one who seems to have a job: he is the manager of a U.S. ocean research institution.
FORTRESS MAXIMUS
As seen in the final episode of The Headmasters, Fortress has headed out into space with some of the other Autobots to continue the fight against the Decepticons. In this series, he is seen in one episode after sending a (heavily distorted) message to Hawk, telling him that the Decepticons are sending something dangerous to Earth and they must be cautious.
GINRAI
A 19 year old trucker from Japan, Ginrai has moved to the USA after finding his home country too cramped but his life changes forever when he puts on a pair of strange braces and finds that he cannot remove them, and shortly after this event it is revealed that he is a Godmaster -and whilst he has his doubts about taking part in the Transformer war at first, it soon becomes clear that he has no choice but to join the Autobots and eventually becomes the leader of them. Later on in the series, he finds a large trailer for his cab Transtector and finds out he can unite with it to form Super Ginrai, which is a much bigger robot. This mode is not powerful enough to take on Black Zarak however, so the Autobots create God Bomber, which can unite with Super Ginrai to make God Ginrai.
GRAND MAXIMUS
Something that Fortress Maximus forgot to mention in the previous series was that he had a brother, called Grand Maximus. Grand became a Headmaster on Planet Master like his brother but then to complicate things he decided to also become a Pretender, and now he fights the Decepticons in space. When the threat of Black Zarak looms on the Earth, Grand heads over to help Ginrai and plays a part in designing the God Bomber power-up and also does a lot of fighting. He looks exactly like his brother in his robot modes, apart from his bigger robot mode is a lot smaller than his brother's. One extra factoid about his Pretender mode is that he always keeps his battle suit on, his human form is never clearly seen in the series.
HAWK/METALHAWK
Leader of the Autobot Pretenders, Hawk gets the rest of his team together to fight the Decepticons once again and is pretty much in charge of Autobot activity on Earth until Ginrai takes over that position. Known as Hawk for his human form and Metalhawk for his robot mode, he also keeps the Headmaster Jrs in check whilst helping Ginrai out in any way he can.
LANDER
Lander is the Autobot pimp master of the series, as he's mentions the girls he dates a couple of times, although due to his commitments as a Autobot he often has to cancel them. Aside from this fact nothing else about what he does for a living is ever really revealed, but his robot mode can transform into a nifty looking Cybertronic car.
LIGHTFOOT
Having seen Ginrai's TV broadcast, Lightfoot contacts him after having had dreams about a robot and soon enough it is discovered that he is also a Godmaster. He instantly joins the Autobots and despite only being 17 years old he eventually becomes Ginrai's second in command, and is seen a few times leading the other Autobots into battle. His father also owns the British Motors company.
MINERVA
Minerva is the only female on the Autobot side and becomes a Headmaster Jr in the fourth episode, and her main role in the rescue team is to provide medical support to any who need it. Whilst she's afraid of fighting at first she soon gets the hang of it and takes on various Decepticons at several points in the series, whilst also trying to keep Shūta and Cab out of mischief.
PHOENIX
The last of the Autobot Pretenders, Phoenix is the one who doesn't show up that much since he doesn't seem to live in Japan or the US. In fact, what he does is a bit of a mystery although in the first episode, he is shown taking off in his jet mode with what appears to be a air force base behind him, so maybe he works there.
RANGER
The third Godmaster the Autobots get, Ranger works as a...ranger and enjoys living up in the mountains rather than the busy cities. But one day he finds a mysterious rock and hauls it down to his cabin, and when the other Autobots find him they realise that he is one of the guys they are after. After learning about the evil Decepticons the hard way, Ranger joins the Autobots and usually works with the other Godmasters.
ROAD KING
Another Godmaster, Road King is a champion F-1 driver and has been winning many races thanks to his magical car which has the apparent ability to repair itself during a race. This gets noticed by the Autobots and they soon figure out that he is indeed one of the Godmasters that they have been searching for. Road King has no arguments with joining them and plays his part in helping Ginrai defeat the Decepticons.
SHUTA
The son of Dr. Gō, Shūta is the main kid character of this series and eventually becomes a Headmaster Jr, along with Cab and Minerva. After the death of his Dad, Shūta is extremely eager to fight and isn't that pleased when he is told that he will instead be part of a rescue operations unit, further hampered by the fact that his transtector is a police car, which isn't something he can do much rescuing with, but he gets on with it and does get to participate in most of the major battles against the Decepticons.
SIXKNIGHT
Initially, Sixknight is a Transformer who isn't part of either the Autobot or Decepticon factions, and is a wandering warrior who has never lost a battle and simply enjoys defeating any opponents he comes across. He arrives on Earth and gets into a fight with Ginrai, but is beaten by the Autobot's super form, and after this battle has has a lot to think about and joins the Autobots, helping them out when he can. He is the third strongest warrior the Autobots have, as he can take on Godmasters OK (he takes on Hydra and Buster at the same time in one episode, for example) but he is destroyed in a battle with Devil Z near the end of the series.
CAMEOS
All of the following appear in the fourth episode when the part taken from The Headmaster's intro sequence is played: Brainstorm, Hardhead, Highbrow, Hot Rod and Raiden.
One of the few (only?) series in Transformers history where there are more Decepticon characters than Autobot characters. Just thought I'd mention that. The Decepticons don't want to drain the Earth of energy or destroy it, but they'd rather wipe out humanity and then use the planet to build a new Decepticon kingdom.
BLACK ZARAK
With his plan failing at the last second, Zarak left the Earth and headed out into space with the other Decepticons, and created a new body for himself which was much smaller than his previous one (which had been destroyed by Fortress Maximus). When he completed his new body, he headed back to resume his position of leader of the Decepticons, but he was captured by Devil Z, who brainwashes him into doing anything he says. Black Zarak is born and is the most powerful Decepticon in the series, and when the Decepticon base is destroyed, Devil Z merges with him and takes over his mind. However, Zarak is finally destroyed by God Ginrai in the final episode, although this won't be the last we see of him...
BLOOD
The leader of the Decepticon Pretenders, Blood can change from a bat like humanoid to a robot, which can transform into a Cybertronic jet. He is shown to have some magic power which lets him resurrect the dead early on in the series but after this he becomes a bit of a joke (as do the other Decepticon Pretenders) when Hydra and Buster show up. He also has a bit of a rivalry with Dauros, leaving it up to Gilmer to calm the two of them down. Blood is also the first Decepticon seen in the series.
BROWNING
One of the smallest Decepticons around, Browning is a gift that Giga gives to Cancer, and he can transform into a small pistol which comes in quite handy a couple of times. Despite his size he doesn't let anyone give him or his master any stick and tries to offer Cancer advice when needed.
BULLHORN
The brawn behind the three Decepticon Headmaster Jrs, Bullhorn just likes to get into a good fight and doesn't really care for much else. He also appears to be incapable of making decisions on his own, preferring to just follow Wilder around and do as he says, although the two of them both eventually join the Autobots after they are nearly killed when the Decepticon base explodes.
BUSTER
Buster and his brother Hydra and both Godmasters who side with the Decepticons, and cause major trouble for the Autobots when they first appear in the series. Buster is always with Hydra on whatever missions they are sent on, but when the Autobots start to get Godmasters on their side the brothers get into trouble, so much so that Buster agrees with his brother to let Devil Z turn them into robots, therefore getting rid if their human "imperfection". Even when this is done the two still cannot beat God Ginrai and at the end of the series, Buster heads with his brother into space with Overlord.
CANCER
Cancer is the youngest human to join the Decepticons, and is part of the Headmaster Jrs team. It becomes apparent fairly early on in the series that he does not actually seem 100% committed to the side though and eventually when he learns that Black Zarak is going to attack his home country of China he heads off to go and stop him but fails, which later leads on to him leaving the Decepticons for good and joining up with the Autobots instead.
CLOUDER
The final Godmaster, Clouder is unique because his master-braces do not match up -one brace has an Autobot insignia on it, the other Decepticon. This gives him the ability to transform into either an Autobot or a Decepticon, but he joins up with the Decepticons and is made into a spy. His actions lead to the destruction of the Autobot base, but when the Decepticons betray Clouder he decides to leave them and Ginrai lets him join the Autobots instead. What Clouder did before he became a Godmaster is not clear but it seems that he had some kind of military connections. How he actually found the Godmaster transtector and master-braces is, again, something that is never explained.
DAUROS
Dauros is the dumbest one of the Decepticon Pretender group, and has a rivalry with Blood (although he never wins in their battles). Other than these two facts there isn't a lot more to say about him other than he often ends up getting hurt. After he and the other two Decepticon Pretenders see that Devil Z seems to have turned on his own troops, the three of them take off and head into space.
DEVIL Z
The new leader of the Decepticons, nothing is ever revealed about who or what Devil Z is in the series itself, and there is very little information on him other than he is a super energy from the far reaches of space. Devil Z reaches the Earth and devises a plan to use humans to create the ultimate life-forms: Godmasters! But when his minions begin to fail him he instead turns his attention to eradicating all human life and using the planet Earth to create a new Decepticon world. When the Decepticon base is destroyed, Devil Z takes over Black Zarak and comes close to putting his plan into reality but is eventually destroyed by God Ginrai.
GIGA
Lord Giga is the second in command of the Decepticon forces, a position that he shares with his wife, Mega. As his own troops fail him on the many missions he gives them, he eventually reveals that he and Mega are Godmasters and can unite into a giant robot called Overlord. This is the mode that Giga is seen in the most in the series, and he has a grudge against Ginrai, although he never gets to settle the score against him as he is killed by Devil Z in the final episode of the series.
GILMER
The last of the Decepticon Pretenders, Gilmer is the one who usually has to stop Blood and Dauros from destroying each other and his fish monster form means that he's quite good when it comes to combat in water. After Hydra and Buster arrive though his abilities are nothing compared to the Godmasters, and near the end of the series he flees from the Earth along with the other two Pretenders.
GUARDMINDER
Guardminders are a legion of troops completely loyal to Devil Z and Black Zarak, and are the ones responsible for creating the super weapon which was to be used to destroy all human life on the Earth. Many of these Decepticons are destroyed by the Autobots, and when the super weapon is obliterated, the surviving Guardminders retreat into space and are never seen again. Whilst most of them are gray, there is one yellow Guardminder who serves as the leader of them all.
GULF
A horrible looking super fish, the Gulf units are part of the Seacon group and it only takes on of them to merge with the other Seacon types to form into King Poseidon. Gulf is the first Seacon seen in the series.
GUZZLE
Guzzle is part of the Decepticon Sparkdash team, along with Jabile and Sizzle. Like the Seacons, there are many of them and they are all mindless drones who simply obey Black Zarak. They always use fire breath to attack the Autobots and they are always destroyed pretty easily.
HYDRA
Hydra is Buster's older brother and comes across as even more cocky, and always lets the Decepticon Pretenders know just how much better Godmasters are. When he first appears he causes a lot of trouble for the Autobots but soon it becomes clear that he's nothing but talk, particularly when the Autobots get Godmasters of their own. Near the end of the series Hydra is so fed up with losing to Ginrai all the time that he convinces his brother to let Devil Z turn them both into robots, so their imperfect human forms will be gone. Even when this is done the two of them still cannot defeat Ginrai, and at the end of the series he and Buster head out into space with the other surviving Decepticons.
JAVIL
Another Sparkdash, this one is as ugly as the others and also likes to use fire breath as it's main attack.
KING POSEIDON
The only true gestalt in this series, King Poseidon is the end result of whenever the Seacons unite. He is first called into action to destroy Ginrai, but is defeated by the Autobot's super form. Any time after this, he always seems to get his butt kicked by anyone, although late on in the series he comes close to killing Metalhawk only for Ginrai to defeat him once more.
KRAKEN
The flying one of the Seacons, Kraken units are seemingly just as easy to be blown apart by the Autobots as any of the other drones.
LOBCLAW
Part of the Seacon team, the Lobclaw units just scream a lot and always end up getting destroyed, just like any other Seacon.
MEGA
Lady Mega is Giga's wife and is joint second in command of the Decepticon forces on Earth. After plotting many schemes which all end in eventual failure, she and Giga reveal that they have Transtectors that can unite into a large robot called Overlord, although whenever they do this it's Giga who always does all the talking. She also seems to see Cancer as her own son. Mega is killed by Devil Z in the last episode of the series.
OVERBITE
Another type of Seacon unit, this one has giant pincers but these aren't much use against the likes of the Autobot Godmasters, who have no problem in destroying Overbites. Along with just about any other type of Seacon really.
OVERLORD
When Giga and Mega combine their tank and jet Transtectors, they form Overlord, a massive robot who's power is only second to Black Zarak. In this mode, it is always Giga who does the talking even though both Giga and Mega are part of the robot. When Overlord first appears he almost destroys Super Ginrai and is quite a big threat to the Autobots for the rest of the series. Overlord is turned into a fully functioning Transformer without Giga and Mega by Devil Z, but after Devil Z is destroyed, Overlord takes command and leads the surviving Decepticons out into space.
SIZZLE
The final unit of the waste of space Sparkdash team, Sizzle is this bird type monster and has the usual flame breath like the others.
TENTAKIL
Another Seacon, this one gets special points for being extra ugly and making the worst screaming noises out of the lot. When they aren't being blown to smithereens by the Autobots, a Tentakil can unite with the other Seacons to form King Poseidon.
TURTLAR
Another Seacon, Turtlar is the special one in the group since he can actually speak properly and is the one who always gives the order to transform into King Poseidon when needed. He has a grudge against Ginrai because he's always been beaten by him, and in the penultimate episode he is seen retreating swearing revenge against the Autobot leader, although he never gets this.
WILDER
The leader of the three Decepticon Headmaster Jrs, Wilder was a former bike gang member who wants revenge on another gang who nearly killed him one night. He does actually get his revenge thanks to the power he gets form being a Transformer, after this he takes a liking to shooting at Autobots instead, especially Shūta. When the Decepticons leave him and Bullhorn to die in the soon to explode base without telling him, he eventually sees the error of his ways and joins the Autobots, although he doesn't want to admit this.
CAMEOS
All of the following appear in the fourth episode when the part taken from The Headmaster's intro sequence is played: Mindwipe, Sinnertwin, Sixshot, Skullcruncher and Weirdwolf.
OTHER CHARACTERS
There aren't that many other characters to cover for this series, since it's just all about the Autobots and Decepticons, who both have humans on their sides. But here are a couple of guys who appear in more than one episode:
DONQ
Donq is Cab's crazy grandfather who really wants him to go to the International School in Japan so he can have a proper education, and thanks to the Autobots he gets his wish. He appears a little later on in the series where he is upset over the condition of Cab's friend Copo, although thankfully she eventually gets better thanks once again to the Autobots.
DR. GŌ
Gō is Shūta's father and not a whole lot is ever revealed about him because he dies in the second episode. What is known though is that he somehow knows Metalhawk and also knows all about the Transformer war that is going on, having gone as far as building a massive hidden base for the Autobots. Before he dies he tells the other Autobots that they must use "them" which is referring to Transtectors which are later given to Shūta, Cab and Minerva.
