Barricade (C.O.P.S.)

Barricade is a cartoon character in the C.O.P.S. (Central Organization of Police Specialists) series from Hasbro which ran from 1988-1989.

Character profile

Barricade is a great peace-maker among the C.O.P.S. A calm, cool-hearted officer from Detroit, Michigan, who always maintains his cool when things heat up. Always soft spoken, this peace-loving officer would rather reason and negotiate peacefully with his foes than resort to violence on them. He is seen wearing his crowd controlling uniform while carrying a state-of-the-art defensive device known as the MULE that can harmlessly take down a wild, angry person, bust through walls, and knock down doors as well. His toy character profile stated that he grew up with ten siblings-and one bathroom. Being the oldest, he was in charge of making sure that everyone waited their turn, giving him a lot of experience in crowd control even before he became a cop. When the lever is pressed, this device can extend the cushion part of the MULE at any target and retract when the lever is released. Highway uses it, too sometimes as seen in a few episodes such as in "The Case of The Baffling Bugman" for example. In the toy series as well as in the comics, Barricade is also seen carrying a large shield for protection as well.

Character Highlights

The Case of The Bogus Justice Machine

Barricade is seen hanging around Mace frequently. A real odd couple, with one being a quiet type, the other a hot-headed type. In this episode, Head City Councilman Vargas instigated the manufacturing of the Instant Justice Machines and programed them to enforce the law of Empire City the wrong way. The machines arrest people for minor offenses while setting free crooks such as Berserko and Ms. Demeanor who commit the most major of offenses. To make matters worse, Vargas is bribed by Ms. Demeanor through Big Boss into using the Justice Machines to replace the C.O.P.S. team as the head law enforcers of Empire City.

To get to the bottom of this corruption, Mace and Barricade are sent to infiltrate a factory belonging to Vetrocon, the company that manufactured the law-enforcing robots. When they bust inside, the two real law enforcers end up getting captured by the robots and held prisoner at the warehouse area of the building. They are later freed when Barricade befriends one of the robots named JIM who was standing guard over the two C.O.P.S., and persuaded him to release both of them from the bonds, promising him he will not get deactivated if he does release them. He did so just as their friends were barging into the factory to not only rescue Mace and Barricade and defeat the robots but to also apprehend Vargas as well.

When the C.O.P.S. cornered Vargas in the control room of the factory, Vargas suddenly warned the team to get back, threatening to push a button that will cause the factory to self-destruct. Mace, the hot-head, began making all sorts of violent threats against Vargas with a strong intention to jump on him. But Barricade quiet and restrain Mace and peacefully negotiates with Vargas into giving himself up to the C.O.P.S., which he did after he gave everyone a scare when he had his finger an inch closer to the button. Barricade knows there are always a way to settle matters in peace without resorting to violence to solve problems. This is something even Mace learns as well.