I was watching the G1 episode "Starscream's Brigade" recently and it got me thinking when Bruticus and Devastator engaged in a short battle. Who is the stronger of the two and who would win one on one? What about combaticons vs Constructicons as individuals?

 

I would say Devastator would be the Stronger of the two for a few reasons.
First of all, Devastator is made of several Large Construction Vehicles, and would be much Heavier (If Blast-off were simply counted as a Jet) than Bruticus.
Second of all, Devastator is made of SIX vehicles whereas Bruticus is made of only five.
Third, Devastator retains some intelligence in his combined form (PREPARE FOR TOTAL ANNIHILATION!) whereas Bruticus Loses much of his Intelligence when the combaticons combine. Devastator could Outsmart Bruticus any day by launching a Subterranean Surprise Attack, whereas Bruticus would just use Brute Force to try and smash through the Green Titan.
While Bruticus Packs far more Firepower than Devastator (due to 4 of his component Parts being Military Vehicles), He has to be told what to do. Otherwise, he would just stare at a wall. Devastator still retains some independence in his gestalt form.

 

I would say that Devastator is stronger in terms of raw power, but Bruticus is better armed, more coordinated, faster, and more skilled generally. Of course this is all relative, since Combiners are all pretty slow, and pretty dumb, but Bruticus is supposed to be one of the better synchronized teams.

Devastator, being one of the "earlier" combiners, is probably a bit more primitive all around, but by his nature, I'd expect him to be stronger. I know size is somewhat nebulous in Transformers, the Constructions are all very large vehicles. They are one of the physically strongest teams in Transformers (second only to the Dinobots), and there are six of them who combine to form Devastator. However, we have no actual numbers for Devastator, so we can only speculate.

Bruticus on the other hand (like many of his fellow Scramble City combiners) does have actual numbers to tell us how strong he is. He's actually physically weaker than Menasor or Defensor, and probably Superion too... though I think he's probably a more reliable and effective soldier than those others, who all have clear mental deficiencies.

So yeah... in a fight? Brute strength vs. greater combat versatility... I might give it to Bruticus, though if Devastator landed a few hits, that could turn the tide.

zmog

 

Disagree on this. When you read the original bios for Devastator and Bruticus, it's clear that both of them are a bit on the dim side. However, it is stressed that what makes Bruticus special is the degree of cooperation between his components (incidentally, the Combaticons are the sub-group with the highest Skill and Intelligence average)... as long as they don't have to improvise they're fine with one task at a time.

And subterranean surprise attack??? Good luck. Devastator would be more likely just to start punching things, and keep punching till he or his enemy falls down. Devastator is the epitome of "brute strength". Bruticus is more like the highly trained soldier who says "Yes Sir!" and does his job, but left on his own has no clue how to deal with new situations. But if either of them were going to "launch a surprise attack" I think it would be the guy whose brain incorporates Onslaught's strategic ability, Swindle skill for misdirection, Blastoff's long-range tactics and Vortex's psychological warfare... just as long as they make the plan BEFORE they combine.  

Here, read these:

Basically, you don't want EITHER of them handling any delicate machinery, or running the daycare for the afternoon. However, mentally Bruticus is the better bot. He just can't really respond to changing conditions, so on a battlefield, he needs supervision... but in a situation where all he has to do is "destroy that green guy", I think he'd do just fine.  

zmog

 

Menasor would show up and trounce them both.

 

I find myself shifting between opinion on this. Devastator may be stronger, but then again he is more primitive. I think Devastator gets the edge with intelligence and strength, but Bruticus most definently wins in terms of firepower and possibly skill too.

 

I thought "Starscream's Brigade" made it pretty clear. Bruticus is the strongest soldier of the combiners, just not so strong he can't get sucker-punched by Menasor. I feel as if he's the best-armed as well.

As individuals, the Combaticons are soldiers, while the Constructicons are engineers. I feel like that fight is pretty straight-forward.

 

Another good point. Makes me rethink this topic. Bruticus is definently better equipped and looks slightly bigger physically, even if he can be weaker.

 

Slightly ontopic -

In the Rebirth episodes... Despite the Constructicons still being around, Onslaught said to Galvatron - "Yeah, we built that rocket engine for you, Galvy, even though... you know... that's not really our thing. But there you have it. How are the Constructicons doing with those battle plans by the way?"

 

bruticus.. the word itself best describes who is powerful by brute!

 

Nah. Devastator is just not that intelligent. Strong yes, but I'm SURE that Bruticus is smarter. I think the point is that Bruticus WOULD be the perfect soldier, if only he were able to think for himself. You tell him to go over there and assemble a wall... he'll do it, like a good soldier, and then come back and wait for his next task.

Tell Devastator to build something, and he'll probably smash it anyway... because that's all he's really good for.

Remember, only HALF the Constructicons are smart... Bonecrusher, Scavenger and Long Haul are just dumb muscle. The Combaticons are almost all extremely intelligent... they only have one guy dragging them down.  

Yeah, I think this comparison was made before... a fight between those guys would be like a brawny construction worker fighting a marine. Neither are expected to do much thinking. One guy is stronger, and the other guy actually knows how to fight. It could go either way, but my money would be on the Marine.  

All the combiners have pretty serious weapons. The stats on Devastators solar rifle are crazy, but on the other hand, if Bruticus can use Onslaught's launchers, that's more firepower than half the Decepticon army right there.  

But this is the thing... Bruticus is NOT the strongest combiner. Defensor and Menasor are officially stronger. Superion and Abominus are probably stronger. Computron is officially weaker (by around 10 tons). Devastator... well, he mixes it up with Omega Supreme, so I'm thinking he's probably one of the strongest of the bunch.

But... Bruticus is probably the best fighter of the bunch. Well, after Predaking at least.

Does Bruticus look bigger to you? I never thought of him that way. I always saw Devastator as bigger.

Seriously?? Is that a real line from the Cartoon? Because if so, that's hilarious!  

zmog

 

Good points and may I add that is becoming an interesting conversation on the topic of combiners. And to answer your question, yes, I have always that physically Bruticus appears to be bigger. It may be an animation error, but when I see them two in the same place it just looks like Bruticus would at least weigh more. Maybe it's the vehicle parts from onslaught, vortex and brawl that make him look bigger than what he is. I'm not sure.

 

Either way, I would take my Hercules Devastator over any Bruticus toy

 

"Best fighter" is closer to what I meant by "strongest soldier."

 

So, who would be the strongest out of these combiners, Abominus,Predaking, LioKaiser? I think Devastor is the strongest by the way, but not as skillful as Bruticus.

 

Bruticus is a soldier/warrior. Devastator is a bully. Funny thing is, Devestator is my favorite gestalt (with Bruticus a close second) but I realize that Bruticus would take Devy apart. I think the only Decepticon combiner that would beat Brutie more often than not is Predaking.

 

Yeah, the scaling, especially on the old cartoons, is a bit wonky anyway. I think the heavy-duty machines used in Devastator's design always influenced me in terms of imagining his size. Also, his animation model emphasizes height, while Bruticus is a more square-ish shape. If you scale them to the same height, yeah... you're right, Bruticus would look thicker.

Yeah, re-reading your comment, I see what you mean. Cheers.  

Abominus has never had a proper english bio, so it's hard to say how strong he is. I always assumed he would be very strong, and very savage (his Japanese bio implies that he's not much more than a beast).

But compared to Predaking? Hmmm... I always kind of considered him to be the top Combiner all around. His lift is implied to be well over 500 tons, which makes him twice as strong as any of the other combiners with listed strength levels (barring Piranacon and his absurd 4 million tons, which I pretend doesn't exist  )... but still much, much weaker than Omega Supreme or Metroplex.

I don't know much about Liokaiser, but I've always heard him discussed as the best Combiner... though that may reflect his skills more than his raw power.

zmog

 

Menasor vs Bruticus would be like an insane asylum inmate against a Green Beret.

Menasor had to get the drop on Bruticus to take him out.

 

I don't think Menasor would do too much damage to Bruticus. Menasor has never struck me as a very powerful Combiner. At least in an individual view, combaticons vs stunticons? I'd give it to the combaticons every time.