2009年1月20日星期二
Swindle (Transformers)
Swindle originally appeared as a member of a group of five Decepticons known as the Combaticons who were able to combine together to form a larger robot known as Bruticus. As a basic sized combiner limb, Swindle could become the arm or leg to any similar combiner Transformers; he was usually found to be the right leg of Bruticus.
Whereas other Decepticons were motivated by lust for power or sheer love of carnage, Swindle's sole motivation was turning a profit. With the born personality of a salesman, Swindle would sell anyone anything - be they weapons, parts or bits of his own comrades. Swindle is also the brightest among his fellow Combaticons, describing himself as a "one-robot black market", Swindle would even sell his goods to the Autobots if he thought he could get away with it.
Marvel Comics
The Combaticons first U.S. appearance in issue 24 of the U.S. Marvel comics was unexplained in the American comic, however it is assumed that they were created in the same way as the Stunticons were through Bombshell's cerebro-shell attached to Optimus Prime tapping the energies of the Autobot Matrix of Leadership.
The company 'Energy Futures Industries' was a hydrothermocline plant which the Decepticons wanted to steal for their own energy resources. Megatron and the Combaticons launched an assault only to encounter the Protectobots and Optimus Prime. With both teams now combined into Bruticus and Defensor, the human Ethan Zachary offered a solution - that the two teams battled inside a computer program. Not wanting to destroy what they had come to steal Megatron agreed. Predictably the Combaticons' bloodlust was turned against them as their disregard for the programs' sentient beings led to Swindle and Brawl being destroyed by First Aid. However, the Decepticons still won as Optimus Prime felt he had cheated by endangering innocent life in the game and destroyed himself.
Megatron would go increasingly insane after this, infuriated that he hadn't killed Optimus Prime with his bare hands. With Swindle attempting to warn him of a U.S. army, he was flattened by Shockwave. Shockwave convinced an increasingly deranged Megatron that Optimus Prime might yet live, Swindle and most of the other Combaticons were sent to look for Prime, leaving Megatron to be attacked by the Predacons.
Swindle would continue to make sporadic appearances throughout the U.S. and U.K. comics, attempting to place charges to destroy Galvatron (with Swindle nearly getting scrapped by a rigged jeep in the process), clashing twice more with the Protectobots as Bruticus, attacking the Autobot leadership contest between Grimlock and Blaster and nearly killing Brawn (commenting on how his parts would have a bright future), and being part of the staff of Club Con, the Decepticons' fake holiday resort. They were not shown to be deactivated by the Underbase powered Starscream, but as they were not seen again in the G1 comic, it is likely.
He would appear in the Generation 2 comic a number of times (presumably revived with Nucleon), showing Megatron the scale of Bludgeon's plan to capture the Matrix. Unfortunately he was destroyed with the rest of the Combaticons when the traitorous Starscream led the forces of Jhiaxus to the Warworld's weak spots.
Blitzwing
Blitzwing is a Decepticon triple changer, capable of transforming into a Type 74 main battle tank and a MiG-25 jet fighter. His fellow Decepticon triple changers are Astrotrain and Octane.
A battle-loving Decepticon warrior, Blitzwing frequently uses his jet mode to strafe land-bound Autobots, then quickly transforms to tank mode to finish them off with his powerful energy mortar. In robot mode, he prefers to use his electron scimitar to fight foes one on one.
Marvel Comics
Blitzwing would first appear in the Transformers comics in the Target 2006 arc of the U.K. comics. Along with the other Triple Changers, Macabre, the three Insecticons, and the seekers Dirge, Thrust and Ramjet, they are the Decepticons' most feared killers and have to be taken out before a major Autobot uprising can take place. Megatron inadvertently scuppered the plan by summoning the Insecticons to Earth.
Blitzwing's first appearance in the U.S. comics would be in issue 29, sent to Earth along with Astrotrain and Octane to retrieve a crashed shuttle which was carrying fuel for one of Ratbat's operations. However, the shuttle was infected with Scraplets, a plague of sentient micro-robots that ate metal and the dying pilot then accidentally infected them. After battling with Blaster and Goldbug, they became infected as well. Goldbug eventually found the cure — water, but Blaster refused to let Goldbug spray them, reluctant to save the Decepticons. The Scraplets took matters out of his hands, however, and formed into one huge creature. Options spent, Goldbug cured all four Transformers and let the heavily-armed Decepticons deal with it. The three Triple Changers then escaped with the cargo. It should be noted that Blitzwing is portrayed as being mindlessly cruel.
With the influx of new toys, like Headmasters,Targetmasters and Pretenders, older Decepticons like Blitzwing appeared less. He was part of Ratbat's forces, launching a major raid on the Autobots to recover various captured Decepticons before being cleaved in half by Grimlock.
Presumably repaired, he was next seen battling Scorponok's Decepticons and then the Autobots. He was then deactivated by the Underbase-powered Starscream and did not appear again in the U.S. comics.
He has appeared sporadically in the U.K. comics; at one point recovering the clone of Megatron from the Thames with Dirge, Thrust and Ramjet for Shockwave to battle Galvatron. He also appeared in the Earthforce stories as part of the Decepticons of Megatron and Shockwave's forces, in one notable instance leaving Octane to be blasted by the U.S. army after it was revealed he had simply been chasing a car out of sheer spite — unaware that the car was actually Jazz. In the alternate movie-themed future of the U.K. comics he is indicated to be the leader of the Triple Changers.
Animated series
Blitzwing was a minor character who appeared in the second and third seasons of the animated series; very rarely did he stand out other than as a fierce warrior known more for his strength and abilities than his intelligence. On one occasion, he and Astrotrain managed to take command of the Decepticons by freezing Megatron and Starscream — but when they were defeated by the Autobots, Megatron forcibly resumed command at gunpoint.
After this Blitzwing was seemingly let back into the Decepticons, being sent alongside Astrotrain in "Prime Target" to forge an alliance with the big-game hunter Lord Cholmondeley, although Cholmondeley had no interest in the Decepticons, merely wishing to hunt the ultimate prey, Optimus Prime.
In The Transformers: The Movie, Blitzwing was present at the Battle of Autobot City, targeting Hot Rod and Daniel Witwicky. He was taken out by Kup, who engineered a collision between him and Shrapnel, with the two of Decepticons falling off a mountain. During the actual attack on the city, Blitzwing narrowly escaped from being hit by an oncoming Optimus, who was running down Decepticons in his trailer truck mode. Blitzwing was later seen fighting with the Decepticons on who would be Megatron's successor.
Blitzwing had a somewhat significant part to play in the 5-part episode "The Five Faces of Darkness". When the defeated Decepticons were accosted by the Quintessons to launch an attack on Cybertron, Blitzwing stayed behind, awaiting the return of Galvatron. Later, when Galvatron and the Quintessons joined forces to defeat the Autobots, Galvatron sent Blitzwing to report back to the Quintessons. It was then that Blitzwing discovered the Quintessons' treachery and their plan to paralyze all the Transformers and take Cybertron for themselves. When Blitzwing tried to warn Galvatron, the fearsome Decepticon leader didn't believe him and knocked Blitzwing down, telling him to "tell it to the Autobots". Blitzwing told Rodimus Prime about the Quintessons' plan, and stopped a group of Sharkticons sent to trigger the shut down mechanism. Galvatron followed them, thinking Blitzwing a traitor, and triggered the shut down himself, causing all the Transformers to freeze. The Quintessons came down to claim Cybertron for themselves, but Spike Witwicky destroyed the fail safe device, unfreezing the Transformers. Galvatron, now realizing their treachery, chases after the Quintessons, who barely escape. Galvatron was about to restart the fighting between the Decepticons and the Autobots, but Blitzwing stood in the way, threatening him. Backing down, Galvatron left with the other Decepticons, telling Blitzwing that he was no longer welcome in their ranks, and would suffer for his betrayal. The Triple Changer however refused an offer to become an Autobot.
Blitzwing would appear twice more as a part of the Decepticon forces in later episodes, but it is unclear if these were animation errors or not. The episode "Starscream's Ghost" was originally written for Blitzwing, but was hastily rewritten to star Octane (who was a new toy at the time).
Transformers: Headmasters
He is clearly shown fighting alongside his fellow Decepticon Triple Changers again in the Japanese anime, The Headmasters. Maybe he was reintegrated on Decepticon's ranks with the parole of Scorponok
Brawn (Transformers)
Brawn is one of the strongest Autobots in the Transformers television and comic series based on the popular toy line produced by Takara and Hasbro. His vehicle mode is a Land Rover Defender 4x4. Brawn has not had a mass market release toy for several years and until recently, the character has not been featured in the modern Transformers Universe.
The original toy that became Brawn was originally released by Takara in 1983 as part of the Micro Change subset of the Japanese Microman line. He was released in the US in 1984 by Hasbro as one of the first assortment of American Transformers toys.
Brawn's character biography describes him as "the most macho" of the original eighteen Autobots and one of the strongest despite his small size. He is further described as agile and second in physical strength only to Optimus Prime, able to lift weights of up to 190,000 lbs. and strong enough to level a small building with a single punch. His physical resilience is also high, enough to resist artillery fire, but he has an innate weakness to attacks based on electromagnetic waves. Brawn loves rugged and hostile environments and is always up to test his mettle against a new challenge.
Brawn's biography in Marvel Comics' 1986 Transformers Universe mini-series further expands on his character, explaining that Brawn is often teamed with Bumblebee on missions due to their complementary skills, and that while his never-say-die attitude improved the Autobots' morale, he is somewhat less than accepting of those less "tough" than him, a fact made known by how badly he treated Perceptor in the Season 2 episode Microbots .
Though Brawn's toy was not packaged with a weapon and his character biography doesn't specifically mention Brawn carrying one, the Generation 1 animated series saw him equipped with a laser pistol.
Omega Supreme
Known for his great strength and greater courage, Omega Supreme is the Autobots’ last line of defense against the Decepticons. He will stand unwaveringly against overwhelming odds, and although outwardly grim, he is known by those with enough insight to actually relish the enormity of his task – Omega knows that if he falls, it is unlikely there will be any remaining Autobots to take his place, but he would not have it any other way.
In robot mode, Omega Supreme has incredible strength, able to shatter a mountainside with a single blow and lift 300,000 tons with his clawed arm. In place of his left hand, he is armed with a plasma blaster that can pulverize steel, supplemented with an additional laser cannon mounted on the rear of his head with a range of fifty miles. Intensely durable, his armoured hide is resistant to all energy beam and non-nuclear explosive attacks. When he transforms, Omega splits his body into three components – his body becomes a laser cannon tank, which acts as perimeter patrol for the rocket base formed by his legs and backpack, which is in turn capable of launching his third component, a rocket formed from his arms, into planetary orbit. Although immensely powerful, Omega is physically slow and his rocket mode is grossly fuel inefficient.
Animated series
Omega Supreme’s story begins eleven million years ago, when the multi-faced aliens called the Quintessons controlled Cybertron, using it as a factory to produce robotic slaves. When this robotic race turned on their masters, the Quintessons created the Dark Guardians, huge robotic sentinels designed to crush the rebellion (rendered in a blue/grey and red color scheme reminiscent of the original ToyBox Mechabot 1 figure). The tide of battle turned, however, when – with the aid of several Transformers displaced in time from 2006 – the rebellion’s leader, A-3, deactivated the Dark Guardians with the “coda remote” device hidden in his slave brand. Subsequently, without their protectors, the Quintessons were overthrown and forced to flee Cybertron.
The Quintessons’ robotic slaves renamed themselves the Autobots and Decepticons, and soon went to war. The Autobots were eventually able to claim victory through the invention of transformation, and the resultant era of peace, known as the Golden Age of Cybertron, was policed by the reprogrammed Dark Guardians, now simply called Guardian Robots and redecorated with a blue and white color scheme.
One of these Guardian Robots, through an unexplained means, attained true sentience like that of other Cybertronians and was the only one of his kind to display the ability to transform. Bearing a unique grey, red and yellow color scheme, this robot, named Omega Supreme, was the guardian of the beautiful Crystal City, and was friends with the six robots who had created it. Unfortunately for Omega, these six robots soon became the evil Constructicons when they were reprogrammed by Decepticon leader Megatron and his creation, the Robo-Smasher. Turning on Omega, they lured him away from the city and destroyed it in his absence, leading him to hunt them down and try to forcibly restore them to their original selves. Omega soon discovered, however, that not only could Megatron’s reprogramming not be reversed, but also that the Constructicons possessed the new ability to combine their bodies and minds into the gigantic Devastator. As Omega and Devastator grappled, the Robo-Smasher attempted to reprogram Omega himself, and although he was able to wrench the device free, it affected his mind, taking away all feelings save for the hate he now felt for the Constructicons, and the revenge he desired against them. Abandoning conventional speech, Omega adopted a clipped, emotionless, analytical manner of talking, always taking the form of suffixed words and short phrases. When the Constructicons fled Omega’s wrath by leaving Cybertron in a starship, Omega pursued them across the galaxy.
In 1985, Omega Supreme discovered that the Constructicons had joined up with Megatron’s forces on Earth, and made for the planet, joining with Optimus Prime’s Autobots. Biding his time until he could face the Constructicons again, Omega played the role of soldier, his first mission as part of Prime’s troops taking him to the moon to battle Astrotrain. Later, when attacked by Decepticons coated in the invulnerable alloy Electrum, Omega was badly damaged, but when the Autobots responded in kind, Omega was also coated in the alloy and defeated their foes.
Later still, Omega transported Jazz and Perceptor to Saturn’s moon, Titan, and crash-landed, teetering on the edge of a precipice. Having expended too much energy in the journey to transform and save himself, Omega had to rely on his companions to obtain electrical crystals to restore his power, enabling him to assume robot mode and aid in saving the moon’s natives from the Decepticons.
It was on Omega’s next mission that he was afforded his opportunity for vengeance. Discovering that the Constructicons were mining an asteroid, Optimus Prime requested Omega investigate, only to learn of his secret history with the Decepticon team. It was on this occasion that Omega chose to speak in complete sentences for the only time since being altered by the Robo Smasher, in relaying what happened between him and the Constructicons to Prime. Sending Omega on the mission anyway, Prime’s trust proved misplaced, as Omega disconnected his communicator and attacked the Constructicons directly, shattering the asteroid during the battle and revealing that it contained an alien creature which promptly attacked San Francisco. Rather than defend the city, however, Omega pursued the Constructicons and only halted when Prime entered the conflict, forcing the Decepticons to retreat and convincing Omega to save San Francisco, claiming that there had to be more to life than revenge.
After an adventure transporting the Autobots to Japan to pursue the energy imp Kremzeek and having his systems overloaded by the electrical critter, Omega Supreme was called upon to transport a team of Autobots to Cybertron in an attempt to prevent Megatron from using the mega-computer Vector Sigma to bring his new Stunticons to life. Although they did not succeed, they instead opted to create a new team, the Aerialbots, to counter the Stunticons. Having been injured in battle, Omega exploded upon his return to Earth and almost perished; Ratchet and Sparkplug Witwicky were able to rebuild his body in time for him to aid Superion in battle with Menasor.
In a series of scenes cut from the finished Key to Vector Sigma episodes, Omega Supreme receives his injuries from a battle with Shockwave, which is referenced by Ironhide in the second part. He sets about repairing himself enough to get the other Autobots back to Earth, but considers his own chances of survival non-existent. It is this spirit of self-sacrifice that convinces the Aerialbots to aid the other Autobots, not Sparkplug’s determination as in the broadcast version.[citation needed]
In his last recorded adventure in 1985, Omega Supreme was once again used to transport an Autobot team to Cybertron to investigate chronal disturbances. His energy sapped by the trip, Omega shut himself down to recharge, and was consequently unable to aid the Autobots in their battle against a reactivated, Decepticon-controlled Guardian Robot. Omega’s activities over the next twenty years are unrecorded, and he was unfortunately not present at the Battle of Autobot City, but in 2006 in his last appearance in the series, he flew an Autobot team to the Planet of Junk to stop a Quintesson plan to control minds via the Junkions’ television broadcasts. It may be that his sole purpose in being in the episode was to abate any concerns as to whether he had been destroyed, because his presence was needed during the attack on Autobot City. The Autobots had been using Sky Lynx for interstellar travel during the third season. He was also mentioned in "Grimlock's New Brain", when Grimlock told the other Dinobots that Omega was away on a mission, forcing him to build a shuttle to investigate Unicron's head.
Omega Supreme was voiced by Jack Angel in the US.
Like many multi-component characters, Omega Supreme typically demonstrates impossible transformations. Most often this involves the Autobots traveling to a location in the rocket, made only of Omega Supreme's arms, the rocket will then split in two and the rest of Omega Supreme's body seems to magically materialize out of the ground. Other times, Omega Supreme's rocket would blast off, leaving the rest of him behind. And when his rocket reaches its destination, his rocket would land. The rocket's landing would of course cause a lot of smoke to appear. And once the smoke clears, the rest of him would mysteriously be there.
Marvel Comics
Although Omega Supreme’s Marvel Comics origin was distinctly different, by pure coincidence his origin is still connected to the Constructicons. Eager to replicate the Constructicons’ unique combining ability, the Autobot engineer Grapple succeeded in creating Omega Supreme; although comprised of fewer components than Devastator, he was immediately given the task of guarding the Ark while the Autobots attempted to acquire more information on the combination process, and successfully fended off a large Decepticon attack, defeating, deactivating and capturing Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Buzzsaw, Rumble and Frenzy.
Omega later established a series of defenses for the Ark, controlled by a Power Booster Rod, which was stolen by a human criminal named the Mechanic.
In "King of the Hill!", Perceptor summoned his fellow Autobots Blaster, Hot Spot, Jetfire, Omega Supreme, Ratchet and Silverbolt in order to decide who should take leadership of the Autobots. After an attack by the giant Decepticon Trypticon the leader was chosen - Grimlock.
Omega was present when Grimlock and Blaster battled for leadership of the Autobots, and later, after Optimus Prime's return, was part of the force that was attacked by the two Decepticon factions under Ratbat and Scorponok, being taken out by Buzzsaw.
When the reactivated Starscream acquired the almighty power of the cosmic database, the Underbase, and attacked Earth, Omega Supreme aided in the defense of Buenos Aires, even catching the monument from the city’s boulevard when Starscream hurled it, but was ultimately struck down and deactivated by the villain.
Omega did not reappear in the Marvel Comics continuity, though his remains were seen being worked on by Autobot medic Ratchet in an attempt to bring him back on-line. There is no indication that, unlike most of Starscream’s other victims, he was reactivated by Nucleon. (Though chances are, had the toyline and comic continued, that would have been the case.)
Unusually in the Transformers comic, Omega Supreme's speech bubbles are often rendered in larger, bolder text to convey Omega Supreme's sheer size and potency.
Dreamwave Productions
In Dreamwave Productions’ continuation of the Generation One universe, Omega’s origins were similar to the animated series; he was one of the Omega Sentinels, the Dreamwave universe’s version of the Guardian Robots, which guarded the city of Iacon on Cybertron (and were rendered in the Dark Guardian/Mechabot 1 color scheme). After the disappearance of Optimus Prime and Megatron’s forces, Omega Supreme and Jetfire were dispatched to locate them, following a homing beacon towards Earth.
After a lengthy trip in suspended animation, their craft was attacked by Scourge, and crashed in the Arctic, where Jetfire was frozen in an avalanche, and Omega remained in stasis in the crashed ship.
Attacked by his own deranged clone, Sunstorm, Starscream recovered Jetfire and thawed him out in order to recruit his and the Autobots’ help, only to then turn on them. Jetfire proceeded to reactivate Omega Supreme, who bested a weakened Sunstorm in combat and then tried to apprehend Starscream, but the Decepticon freed Sunstorm from the power-dampening siphon that was inhibiting him, and Omega was forced to return to battling him. Apparently defeating him again, Omega moved in for a closer inspection and retracted his visor to see clearer, but was then blasted directly in the face by Sunstorm and collapsed. Though removed from the battle, Omega survived, watched over by Cliffjumper as he recovered. He was later seen aiding in the construction of Autobot City.
Dreamwave’s bankruptcy and subsequent closure meant that no further stories of his were told.
iBooks Novels
In a trilogy of novels set within the Dreamwave comic universe – which may or may not be in continuity with the comic books themselves – an Omega Sentinel appeared, having been sent from Cybertron in search of Jetfire and Omega Supreme. The sentinel crashed on Earth ahead of them and went into stasis, and was later recovered by the Decepticons after their awakening in 1984. Recolored by a gold and black paint scheme, the sentinel was kept in reserve by Megatron and was eventually loosed onto the battlefield during a war with a bodiless alien race known as the “Keepers,” and was destroyed. Later reconstructed with its original colors, the sentinel regained its Autobot heritage by connecting with the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, and sacrificed itself pushing Devastator and itself through a portal into space.
Devil's Due Publishing
Omega Supreme would also appear in the third Devil's Due crossover between G.I Joe and the Transformers, where he would be seen acting as the principal defense system of the Autobot capital city. Unaware that the rogue human military cyborg Serpentor (possessing Megatron's memories) had united the Decepticons from their civil war in the absence of Megatron or Shockwave, the Autobots would be taken by surprise by the Decepticon attack. Omega valiantly beat off Sixshot's air attack and the Decepticon Triple Changers, but would fall to a combined attack by Menasor, Predaking and Piranacon. He was later seen helping to rebuild Capital City at the close of the series.
IDW Publishing
Omega Supreme's first IDW Publishing appearance was a cameo in The Transformers: Stormbringer, where one of Optimus Prime's flashbacks showed him fighting against Thunderwing alongside Optimus, Megatron and Trypticon. His first proper appearance was in the Spotlight issue on Optimus Prime . A distraught Optimus seeks to confide in Omega Supreme, and travels to a hidden location for an audience with him. Prime believes he had a vision of a previous matrix-holder, Nova Prime, whom Omega knew. Omega reveals that Nova was part of the first Ark's crew and corrupt. They are interrupted by an attack from Monstructor, wanting revenge against Omega Supreme for imprisoning him. Omega is nearly killed and barely escapes with help from Optimus. Omega revealed that Monstructor was the first combiner, created by Nova Prime's strategist, Jhiaxus. The combination process worked improperly though, devolving Monstructor and his components into monsters. When Nova and Jhiaxus disappeared, Omega took it upon himself to imprison Monstructor and they now seek revenge. Monstructor shows up and Omega reveals to Prime a weak point which causes him to separate. Prime seeks to get help for Monstructor's component team with warning from a badly injured Omega Supreme.
Additionally, Omega Supreme was featured in the graphic novel edition of IDW's The Transformers: The Movie comic book adaptation. In the additional scene, occurring concurrently with the Decepticon attack on Autobot City, Omega is shown defending the Ark against an assault from Decepticon combiners.
Popular culture
The Omega Supreme toy appeared in the October 2nd, 1986 edition of the Family Circus comic strip.
In the Godfrey Ho directed film Ninja Terminator, an Omega Supreme toy appeared in a bizarre scene where it seemed to have the gift of speech, giving a stern warning to the two rival ninjas.
Toys
Generation 1 Omega Supreme (1985)
Released in the Transformers toy line in 1985, the Omega Supreme figure was unlike many other Transformers toys of the time. The incredible popularity of the Transformers forced Hasbro and Takara to look beyond old Takara and Bandai figures to fill out the line. A few figures, including Shockwave, Jetfire, Omega Supreme, Roadbuster, Whirl, Chop Shop, Venom, Barrage and Ransack were among the molds licensed from other companies. Omega Supreme was originally produced by a company named ToyBox under the name of “Mechabot 1.”
As the licenses to produce many of these toys are now expired, Hasbro and Takara no longer have legal rights to produce many of these figures. However, Takara merged with Tomy in 2006 to form Takara-Tomy. It was later discovered that Tomy possessed the rights to some of the ToyBox figures, including Omega Supreme and Sky Lynx. As a result of this discovery, Omega Supreme was reissued in 2008.
Unicron
Unicron is a fictional character from the Transformers universe and toyline. Created by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie as the film's main antagonist. Neither Autobot nor Decepticon,Unicron is a prodigiously large robot whose scale reaches planetary proportions, and he is also able to transform into a mechanical planet. He travels the galaxy as a sort of vagabond, seeking worlds to consume for nourishment.
Transformers: Generation 1
The character Unicron first appeared in the opening scene of 1986's The Transformers: The Movie, immediately making clear his driving goal by consuming the small world of Lithone in the year 2005. Subsequently, when the battered bodies of Decepticon leader Megatron and several of his troops were set adrift in space by Starscream following a furious battle with the Autobots, Unicron appeared before them and offered Megatron a deal: in exchange for a new body, and new troops, Megatron would destroy the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, the only thing that could stand in Unicron's way. Thus, Megatron became Galvatron, and began to carry out his assigned task, although he was loath to do so. When Galvatron showed any signs of opposition to Unicron's will, Unicron inflicted agonizing torture on his servant, even from a great distance, to coerce into obedience. Following Unicron's consumption of Cybertron's two moons, Galvatron successfully obtained the Matrix, believing he could use it to bring Unicron under his control. Attempting to open the Matrix to intimidate Unicron, Galvatron only prompted his transformation into robot mode, and was swallowed by the planet-eater. Unicron proceeded to lay waste to Cybertron, halted briefly when the young Autobot, Hot Rod, crashed a Quintesson spacecraft through his eye. Finding Hot Rod inside Unicron's body, Galvatron suggested an alliance against their common enemy. However, Unicron inflicted his mental torture upon Galvatron, forcing him to fight Hot Rod. Hot Rod took the Matrix from Galvatron during the battle, and became Rodimus Prime. Rodimus threw Galvatron into space, and opened the Matrix within Unicron, destroying his body, leaving only his head drifting in space.
Animated series
In The Transformers: The Movie, Unicron (whose lips never moved when he spoke) was voiced by Orson Welles. Unicron proved to be Welles' final role, as he died a few days after completing work on the project; rumors persist that Welles did not complete recording of all his lines, and that Leonard Nimoy filled in for him, but director Wally Burr and actress Susan Blu refute the claim. There were two early attempts to produce Unicron toys for the Transformers toyline, featuring voice clips from Welles himself, but the results never made it to production. It was not until 2003 that a production Unicron toy was finally issued. For the 20th anniversary of the original movie, Diamond Select released an eight and a half inch tall statue of Unicron and Rodimus Prime.
The third season of the Transformers animated series continued Unicron's story from where the movie left off, as the planet-eater's deactivated head settled into orbit around Cybertron, a grisly monument to the moons he had destroyed. His head was soon visited by Cyclonus, who accessed the memory bank to discern the fate of Galvatron, who had been hurled from Unicron through space by Rodimus Prime. Some time later (Episode 81: "Ghost in the Machine"), the ghost of deceased Decepticon Starscream reactivated Unicron's head and entered into a bargain with him, performing three labors in exchange for the restoration of his body. Starscream (inhabiting and controlling Scourge's body) gathered for Unicron Metroplex's eyes (breaking one and replacing it with one from Trypticon) and Trypticon's transformation cog, and then began connecting his head to Cybertron, which would become Unicron's new body. Starscream demanded that Unicron restore his own body so that he could complete the required connections; but once Unicron had done so, Starscream, somewhat predictably, double-crossed him and refused to finish the job. Unicron's head was subsequently blown off into space by an explosion instigated by the Autobots.
Later, when searching for a new supply of anti-electrons, the Decepticons ventured to Unicron's head, where Cyclonus and Scourge accidentally awoke the slumbering demi-god. At the same time, Grimlock - who had gained super-intelligence through an infusion of anti-electrons - had constructed from pieces of Unicron's head the Technobots, and one of their number, Strafe, severed enough of Unicron's neural connections to shut him back down.
Although Unicron himself did not appear again, his origin in the animated series was later revealed. Unicron was created near the beginning of the universe by the diminutive genius known as Primacron, who intended for him to devour all life in the universe, leaving a blank slate that Primacron could use as he saw fit. However, Unicron turned upon Primacron, deciding that he would rule the universe and subsequently setting out to achieve that goal.
Unicron's head was seen one last time as Primacron's new creation had crippled Cybertron. This time the head looked very old and almost stone-like, underlining that Unicron was finally dead.
In interviews, Flint Dille mentioned that, if the series had gone on to a fourth season, it would have featured Unicron teaming up with the Quintessons.
In the series, Unicron was voiced by Roger C. Carmel.
Marvel Comics
Unicron was a fallen god from before the universe existed, who sought the ultimate peace that would be granted by the destruction of all life. Amazingly, Unicron accomplished this task, wiping out all life, planets, stars and nebulae, even "the stuff of space itself" (possibly a reference to dark matter) in the universe and leaving only nothingness and void. His lust for destruction finally sated, Unicron entered a deep sleep - but he had not been thorough enough. Tiny fragments of the old universe reacted with each other, and a new universe was born. As Unicron slept, the core of this new universe - somehow a sentient being - became aware of Unicron's threat and created a defender to battle his evil - Primus, the Lord of Light. Unicron awoke to find himself surrounded by another universe, and simply began to destroy it again.
He and Primus clashed many times, the force of their battles wiping out the very life Primus had been created to protect. To stop this physical destruction, Primus shifted the battle to the astral plane, where he fared little better, forcing himself into what seemed to be a sacrifice play - in shifting the battle back to the physical universe without time to properly generate their energy forms, Primus entrapped both himself and Unicron in two barren asteroids. But this was not the end of Unicron - over the eons, he learned to psionically shape his asteroid, and transformed it into a metallic planet, and then again into a gargantuan robot. Primus, fearing that to follow suit by forming himself in a similar manner would simply pick up the conflict where it had left off, sought an alternative way to defend the universe against the threat of Unicron by turning his asteroid into the planet Cybertron; a planet that he populated with robotic beings that, like Unicron, could alter their forms. And thus were born the Transformers.
Marvel UK
The origin in American Marvel Comics was not revealed immediately, however. Unicron's slightly convoluted comic tenure began in the United Kingdom's exclusive Transformers comic series, which interspliced its own original stories with reprinted American material. Jumping at the chance to work with a new cast of characters not involved in the American comics, writer Simon Furman decided to cannibalise the best elements of the movie and work them into his stories, creating a future universe based on the movie's events, but different from the cartoon. In the first use of this timeline, in the mega-serial, Target: 2006, Galvatron travelled back in time in an attempt to escape the control of Unicron, but Unicron was able to ensnare the minds of three Autobots - Hot Rod, Kup and Blurr - and send them back in time after him to foil his plot. Though Unicron's role in the story itself was suitably minor, it offered the first glimpse of his greater mental power.
In the comics' version of post-movie events, Unicron's head did not enter Cybertron's orbit, and instead crash-landed on the Planet of Junk. Still active, Unicron used his vast mental powers to enslave the minds of the Junkion natives, who set about rebuilding his body. Cyclonus, Scourge and the bounty hunter, Death's Head, also fell prey to him, and he used them to exacerbate the stalemated war on Cybertron to keep the Autobots busy, so that they would not learn of his impending resurrection. When Death's Head fought back against Unicron's mental control, however, Unicron rewarded his temerity by revealing the comic book version of his origin. Death's Head then aided Rodimus Prime, projecting his mind into Unicron's where they battle, until Unicron's head was destroyed by explosives, and his essence was sealed within the Matrix. Rodimus and several other future Autobots subsequently travelled back in time to 1989 and participated in the "Time Wars," but when they attempted to return to their own time afterward, they discovered that disruptions to the timestream had erased their future, and replaced it with one where the Decepticons ruled Cybertron. In this dark future, Unicron's essence emerged from the Matrix and briefly took over Rodimus Prime, before he was thwarted by the removal of the Matrix from Rodimus's body. In 2010, however, Unicron attempted this again and succeeded, controlling Rodimus's body and reshaping it into his own image, before being defeated by Rodimus's own force of will.
Marvel U.S.
In 1989, Simon Furman began writing the U.S. Transformers series in addition to the UK comics, and immediately set in motion an epic Unicron-themed story. The alterations made to the timeline by time-travel and disruptions to the fabric of reality in the UK comic set the comic book universe on a path that would not lead into the movie/post-movie timeline originally depicted as its future, and Unicron soon made his presence known to the Transformers much earlier than 2005.
A battle between the Autobot Classic Pretenders and the Decepticons' Mayhem Attack Squad at the centre of Cybertron had the unfortunate side effect of waking the slumbering Primus, who was struck by a stray laser blast and awoke with a scream. Although he immediately sank back into slumber, Primus's scream echoed throughout the universe, to the fringes of known space where Unicron heard it. Now aware of his old enemy's location, Unicron immediately headed towards Cybertron, but, seeking a herald to sow chaos in his name ahead of his coming, used his formidable powers to send three agents - Hook, Line and Sinker, forward in time to an alternate future version of 2009. In this timeline, Unicron had succeeded in consuming Cybertron in the year 2005, and Galvatron and the Decepticons ruled Earth. This timeline's version of Galvatron was pulled back to 1990 by Hook, Line and Sinker and press-ganged into Unicron's service, but, like his predecessors, turned on his master by forcing Emirate Xaaron to awaken Primus in hopes of destroying Unicron. Primus possessed Xaaron's form and attempted to hold off Unicron, but he was weak, and his attack was a ruse, leading to his own destruction, which in turn (along with a direct attack by Galvatron) succeeded in galvanising the Autobots and Decepticons to attack Unicron together. Ultimately, they did little damage, and many Transformers died (including Waverider) before Optimus Prime was able to use the Matrix to destroy Unicron, exploding his body from within.
Bumblebee (Transformers)
Bumblebee (known as Bumble in Japan, Moscardo in Portugal, Űrdongó in Hungarian) is the "little brother" of the heroic Autobot faction, constantly striving to prove himself in the eyes of the taller, stronger robots that he respects - especially his leader, Optimus Prime. So strong is this admiration toward others, he takes risks that put him in danger. Although a bit of a wise-cracker, he is a capable and reliable messenger and spy, his small size allowing him to go places that his larger comrades cannot. He is highly fuel efficient, has great visual acuity, is particularly adaptable to undersea environments and transforms into a Volkswagen Beetle. He was later reconstructed in a stronger, more mature form as Goldbug.
Bumblebee is established as the smallest of the first year Autobots, but his actual size varies greatly in the various media, ranging from the same size as other Autobot cars to barely taller than a human. His only official height was in an early issue of the Marvel comics where it is stated he is 15 feet tall.
Bumblebee's primary function in the original Transformers animated series and comics was to serve as the "young" character with whom the youthful viewing audience could identify, and he would befriend the Autobots' primary human ally - the young son of the Witwicky family (Buster in the Marvel comic - see issue #1 - and Spike in the cartoon) - to this end, a concept that persists into the 2007 live-action film. Although a well-known character because of this, Bumblebee is quite unusual in that, unlike many other Transformers, his name has not been re-used and applied to unrelated characters throughout the ensuing twenty years of Transformers media, due to the loss of the trademark until recently. His role as the "young yellow character", however, has inspired other Transformers characters with the same role such as Cheetor and Hot Shot.
Marvel Comics
When the Autobots and Decepticon awakened on Earth in 1984, Bumblebee was part of the first team of Autobots sent out to investigate the planet. Eager to be the first to encounter a local life-form, Bumblebee unfortunately got his wish when he was injured in a battle with the Decepticons at a drive-in movie theater, and - stuck in car mode - was found by the young human, Buster Witwicky. Buster took him back to his family's automotive garage, where his father Sparkplug repaired the car, and was shocked when it transformed into a robot. Bumblebee arranged their first meeting with Optimus Prime, and his role as a "liaison" of sorts between the Autobots and humans continued as he participated in the first meetings with millionaire industrialist G. B. Blackrock, eventually leading to a deal between them that saw Blackrock supply the robots with fuel.
After some smaller roles showing new Autobot recruits around and searching for Decepticon activity, Bumblebee took the spotlight again when he came to question his usefulness to the Autobots, and abandoned them without explanation. Unfortunately, this occurred just as Decepticon leader Shockwave had targeted Bumblebee as the weakest link in the Autobots, planning to mind-control him and use him against his comrades. Taking refuge from Decepticon pursuit in a used car lot, Bumblebee was subsequently stolen by two teenagers, who took him on a joyride through the city. This attracted the attention of both Autobots and Decepticons, and after saving the teens from a Decepticon attack, Bumblebee himself was saved from them by the Autobots, convincing him of his worth to them.
When Bumblebee was assigned to watch over the launch of the mobile Power Station Alpha, also guarded by the daring special mission force G.I. Joe, a Decepticon attack prompted him to transform in order to save a civilian boy, only for the Joes to mistake him for a Decepticon and open fire, destroying him. Learning of their mistake and allying with the Autobots, the Joes set about trying to rebuild Bumblebee; with the aid of Autobot medic Ratchet, Bumblebee was reconstructed as Goldbug.
Charged with hunting down the petty criminal known as the Mechanic, who had stolen some Autobot equipment, Goldbug and Blaster opted instead to remove themselves from the tyrannical command of then-leader Grimlock. A run in with the Decepticon Triple Changers led to both robots becoming infected with the metal-eating disease known as the Scraplets, but with the help of human Charlie Fong and the Autobot Throttlebots, a cure was found in the form of water, and they were saved. Their respite was short-lived, however, when the group, low on fuel, was caught up to by the Protectobots, under Grimlock's command, and Blaster was captured. The abandoned, immobile Throttlebots, including Goldbug, were then captured by the government-sponsored Rapid Anti-robot Assault Team (RAAT), who intended their destruction. Sympathetic to their plight, RAAT operate Walter Barnett removed their brain components and installed them in toy cars while their bodies were destroyed.
After managing to escape the Predacons, Goldbug returned to the Autobots' volcano base, only to discover that the Ark had been restored and had blasted off. Blindsided by Decepticon leader Ratbat, Goldbug's toy body was blasted, but soon found by the Autobot Headmasters - freshly arrived from the planet Nebulos - who used their technology to construct his body for him again. The group soon learned that the brain patterns of Optimus Prime (who had died sometime before) had been preserved on computer disk by a human named Ethan Zachary, and Goldbug took the disk to Nebulos, where Prime was restored to life as a Powermaster.
Subsequently, Goldbug was among the Transformers who was deactivated while defending the Earth against the cosmically-powered Starscream. Bumblebee's body was seen among the deactivated Autobots Ratchet was doing his best to revive in Transformers #56, "Back from the Dead".
While Ratchet diligently worked to restore the deactivated Autobots to life, his attempts constantly met with failure. In the midst of his work, he was captured by believed-dead Decepticon leader Megatron, who demanded he rebuild Starscream as a Pretender. Ratchet succeeded in this task, but while Megatron left him unattended to observe Starscream's attack on Earth, he was able to use the prototype Pretender shells to restore to life Grimlock, Jazz and Goldbug, who he restored to being Bumblebee out of personal preference.
During a battle with the Decepticon Mayhem Attack Squad, Bumblebee, Jazz and Grimlock were transported to the center of Cybertron, where they discovered the slumbering form of their creator and deity, Primus. The battle that followed caused Primus to briefly awake with a scream, alerting his ancient enemy Unicron to his location. Aware that Unicron was now bearing down on Cybertron, the Autobots began a search for the Creation Matrix, the only force capable of stopping the chaos-bringer. Bumblebee, Jazz and Grimlock followed a lead to VsQz, third moon of the planet Cameron, where they ran afoul of both a monstrous creature created by the corrupted Matrix energy, and the mighty Decepticon Pretender, Thunderwing, who defeated them and claimed the Matrix for his own. They were later rescued by their fellow troops, and Thunderwing was defeated.
Bumblebee put in one further appearance in the U.S. Marvel comics. In a nightmare alternate universe where Unicron had destroyed Cybertron, and Galvatron and the Decepticons ruled Earth, Bumblebee was shown in flashback as one of the casualties of the Decepticon conquest, being killed by Scourge.
In the expanded universe of the Transformers comic published exclusively in the U.K., which reprinted the American series with new stories spliced in between, Bumblebee had a lead role in several other stories. In one, he went AWOL to track down and capture Ravage, in the process running into a Decepticon trap and needing rescuing. Later on, he was part of the Dinobot Hunt; on his own, he rescued three Autobot prisoners and disabled the Decepticon's means of mentally controlling Sludge.
As the U.K. series did not reprint G.I. Joe and the Transformers (in which the above account of Bumblebee's transformation into Goldbug occurred) until much later, a new story was penned that reimagined the change in a very different way, as part of the U.K.'s larger running time travel storyline. When the deranged future Decepticon leader Galvatron travelled back in time to 1987, the bounty hunter Death's Head pursued him. The mass-shifting inherent in the time-travel process caused the Autobot First Aid to be displaced to limbo when Death's Head arrived, which alerted Bumblebee to his presence. Wanting to keep the fact that he was in the past a secret, Death's Head blasted Bumblebee, completely destroying him, but his remains were soon happened upon by the Junkion, Wreck-Gar, also from the future. Putting his advanced mechanical skills to work, Wreck-Gar soon rebuilt Bumblebee as Goldbug and the upgraded Autobot joined in the battle against Galvatron, at one point facing him one-on-one (and losing) before Ultra Magnus intervened. Goldbug had a few additional adventures dealing with Galvatron's threat in other U.K.-exclusive stories.
After the time-and-space-shattering events of the Time Wars, the U.K. comic introduced an alternate timeline that chronicled the adventures of the Autobot Earthforce, a group of pro-active Autobots under Grimlock's command, who were dedicated to safeguarding Earth while Optimus Prime's contingent dealt with the threat of Unicron. Bumblebee was a member of the Earthforce, performing such notable missions as helping Ironhide stop the Decepticons' plan to rebuild Devastator as an individual being.
Animated series
Bumblebee holds the distinction of being the second-ever character to appear on-screen in the original Transformers animated series, while on a mission to recover a small clutch of energy conductors with Wheeljack, illustrating the energy crisis holding sway over their home planet of Cybertron. Bumblebee was subsequently among the Transformers aboard the Ark as it set off searching for new worlds and new energy sources, which crashed on Earth, causing the Transformers within to be trapped in stasis for four million years. Awakening in 1984, Bumblebee distinguished himself by helping Ironhide quell a raging river and using his small size to help Sparkplug Witwicky plant explosives in the midst of a Decepticon mining operation.
He later befriended Sparkplug's son Spike, but their first adventure together was not a pleasant one, as they were both kidnapped by the Decepticons, and Bumblebee was brainwashed into luring the other Autobots into a trap.
As a regular character throughout the show's first two seasons, spanning 1984-1985, Bumblebee's escapades were almost always carried out alongside Spike. His adventures have taken him back to Cybertron, to the prehistoric Dinobot Island, the sunken city of Sub-Atlantica, a world of alien giants, a debaucherous gambling asteroid locale and more. He has been scorched by acid rain, fought as a mindless gladiator, been mauled by a monstrous alien cat, quested for "robotic insecticide" and, in one of his most significant roles, was one of the few Autobots to survive a brainwashing scheme by the Decepticons, leaving it up to him to save his comrades.
In the episode 51, "Prime Target" the big game hunter Lord Cholmondeley captured a secret Soviet jet, leading to panic of possible war. Cholmondeley then set his sights on the ultimate trophy, the head of Optimus Prime. In order to lure Optimus in Cholmondeley captured Bumblebee and several other Autobots. Optimus Prime accepted Cholmondeley's challenge and defeated the big game hunter and freed the Autobots.
In the episode 59, "Trans-Europe Express" a charity auto race from Paris France to Istanbul Turkey was held. The Autobots Bluestreak, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Smokescreen, Sunstreaker, Tracks and Wheeljack participated along side several human racers including Augie Canay. Meanwhile Megatron had been able to discover the whereabouts of the Pearl of Bahudine, the power core of a Cybertronian weather control machine. Megatron had the Stunticons eliminate the Autobots from the race while stealing Augie's car to use its experimental engine's metal to make a control device for the pearl. Bluestreak, Tracks, Bumblebee and Augie were able to stop the Decepticons by unleashing the power of the pearl, but to stop the pearl Bumblebee had to destroy it. Augie had the gold shell of the pearl sold and the money given to charity when he learned the race was a fake set up by the Decepticons merely to get his car.
By the time of The Transformers: The Movie, set in the Earth year 2005, the Autobots had been forced off of Cybertron, and Bumblebee and Spike manned Moonbase Two on one of the planet's satellites as the Autobots prepared a strike to take back the planet. The attack was scuppered by the sudden appearance of the giant planet-eating robot Unicron, who consumed Moonbase One as Spike and Bumblebee looked on in horror. As Unicron turned on their moon, the pair set a cache of explosives to detonate in his maw and abandoned the base in a small shuttle, but the detonation failed to even scratch the chaos-bringer and he inhaled their ship. Deep in his digestive system, the pair were trapped on a conveyor that would drop them in an acid vat, but they were saved by Spike's son Daniel, and they and the other Autobots escaped Unicron's body as it was destroyed through the power of the Autobot Matrix of Leadership.
Bumblebee was one of the few characters from the beginning of the series to continue appearing in the show's third season, set in 2006, where he could regularly be found performing duties in Autobot City on Earth. He and Spike were reunited for an old-school adventure when the ghost of Starscream invaded the city in order to steal the eyes of the giant Autobot Metroplex, but they were unable to stop the villain from accomplishing his task.
When the body of the deceased Optimus Prime was recovered from space by a pair of Transformer-hating human scientists who intended to use it to lure the Autobots into a trap, Bumblebee was part of the rescue team lead by Rodimus Prime to recover it. Entering the lab, some of the Transformers were exposed to rage-inducing alien spores that caused them to run wild, and although Bumblebee avoided infection, he was seriously damaged by the rampaging Superion. A member of the alien race called the Quintessons subsequently repaired and restored Optimus Prime to life in order to stop the "Hate Plague", and also worked his technical wizardry on Bumblebee. The little Autobot had been so severely damaged, however, that he required an entire reconstruction. In his new, shiny body, he commented that he had gone beyond just being Bumblebee, and was now a "gold bug", prompting Optimus Prime to redub him "Goldbug." As Goldbug, Bumblebee traveled with Optimus Prime to the planet of Chaar in order to secure a heat resistant alloy that could protect him from the plague, only to be infected on the mission and later cured when Prime used the power of the Matrix to purge the plague.
Goldbug also enjoyed a brief appearance in the fourth and final season of the series, defending Autobot City and Cybertron against a massive Decepticon attack. Because of a scene showing Bumblebee instead of Goldbug, it still makes him one of only nine characters to appear in all four seasons of the show.
After the animated series ended in the U.S. Bumblebee appeared in animated form in the commercial for the Classic Pretenders.
Bumblebee made a cameo in the pilot of the Transformers: Animated series on a historical video being viewed by Optimus Prime. This historical video was stock footage from the original animated series.
He made several further appearances in the Japanese-exclusive series, Transformers: The Headmasters, which supplanted the fourth American series, and appeared to die while attempting to stop a metal-warping meteor from crashing into Cybertron, only to turn up alive and healthy later on in the series. The role of a young human and small Autobot friend in this series was taken over by Daniel and Wheelie.
Books
Bumblebee was featured in the 1985 audio and book adventure Satellite of Doom.
Bumblebee appeared in the 1986 story and coloring book The Lost Treasure of Cybertron by Marvel Books.
Dreamwave Productions
When Dreamwave Productions introduced their re-imagined version of Generation 1 continuity for the 21st Century, Bumblebee was present for the Autobots' new adventures once again. The War Within, set in Cybertron's past, chronicled Bumblebee's early adventures in the Battle of Altihex and the defense of Iacon in the face of an attack by Shockwave.
When Optimus Prime and Megatron vanished in an early spacebridge experiment, causing the Autobots and Decepticons to splinter into smaller factions, Bumblebee remained with the Autobots under Prowl's command.
As ever, Bumblebee was among the Transformers trapped in stasis aboard the crashed Ark who was reactivated on Earth in 1984. Although not depicted in fiction, the general events of the television series pilot seemed to take place in the Dreamwave continuity - with Bumblebee meeting and befriending Spike Witwicky.
The war on Earth ended in 1999, however, when the Autobots successfully defeated the Decepticons and attempted to transport them back to Cybertron aboard the Ark II. Thanks to sabotage orchestrated by American military general Robert Hallo, however, the Ark II exploded after exiting orbit, and the Transformers fell back to Earth. Hallo's plan to take control of them was foiled by his former partner Adam Rook, who rounded up several deactivated Transformers, Bumblebee among them, and put them under his control, intending to sell them on the black market as weapons of mass destruction. During the auctions, Bumblebee was among the Transformers sent to attack the Smitco Oil Refinery as a demonstration of their power. Megatron liberated himself from Rook's control and soon did the same to the other Decepticons, who took some pleasure in dismantling Bumblebee and the other Mini-Bots. Rescued by their reactivated Autobot comrades, Bumblebee and co. were soon hale and hearty again and dispatched to stop Megatron's plan to cyber-form the Earth with a metallic virus.
A year later, Shockwave arrived on Earth, having successfully unified Cybertron and intending to arrest Prime and Megatron's forces as war criminals. Bumblebee was among the Transformers captured by Shockwave, and was later part of the team who joined the underground Autobot resistance on Cybertron.
Following the liberation of Cybertron from Shockwave’s rule, Bumblebee was assigned to help reinforce Jazz’s team on Earth and was placed in command of the Autobot supply shuttle Orion, with a team under his command for the first time. Upon arriving in the Earth system from transwarp space, they witnessed the arrival of the deranged clone of Starscream, Sunstorm. When the resultant conflict with Sunstorm caused most of the Autobots and Decepticons on Earth to knocked out of commission, Bumblebee and Jetfire tracked the madman to beneath the Earth's surface, where Bumblebee was knocked out and saved by begrudging Starscream. Jetfire subsequently seemed to die battling Sunstorm, shaking Bumblebee's resolve so badly that he decided to leave the Autobots.
Turning to Spike for advice, the pair went on a drive in Cincinnati, where they debated responsibility and saved a woman from some muggers. Bumblebee apparently remained unconvinced, but Dreamwave's subsequently bankruptcy and closure left his story unfinished. The profile series, More Than Meets the Eye, featured entries for Bumblebee as both a Pretender and as Goldbug, but gave no in-story reason for his upgrades to these forms and they never appeared in the fiction of the series.
In the alternate Dreamwave Transformers/G.I. Joe storyline set in World War II, Bumblebee was formatted to turn into a motorcycle with sidecar.
Hound (Transformers)
The toy that was to become the Autobot Hound was originally released as part of the Japanese Diaclone series by Takara.
A first generation Autobot, Hound (Dépisteur in Québec and Canguro in Italy) was released into Transformers' first year - 1984 and was one of the smallest of the standard sized Autobot cars. Hound's alternate mode is that of a 4X4 military jeep, and comes with three different weapons - a Missile Launcher, a Machine Gun and a Hologram Gun.
Hound is known for his love of the planet Earth, his tracking skills, and the ability to project highly realistic holograms.
Animated series
During the first season of the cartoon, Hound served as the Autobots' primary scout and recon soldier, a role which suited him well because he quickly grew to love the varied natural landscapes of Earth. Hound was also instrumental in the creation of the original 3 Dinobots, as he captured holographic images which served as rough blueprints for construction of Grimlock, Slag, and Sludge. However, after a spurt of early appearances - perhaps most notably in relaying the pilot's backstory to Spike - Hound became increasingly absent from the show, showing up only when his holographic powers were necessary.
Hound's first appearance came in "More Than Meets the Eye", a three episode pilot created to launch the toyline onto television. Oddly enough the role of Spike's companion was filled by Hound in these episodes rather than Bumblebee. Hound was the first to introduce Spike to the concept of "transforming" and also gave Spike a tour of the nearby desert while beguiling him with tales of Cybertron. Hound would also end up being rescued by Spike, who nearly drowned in the process of saving him. While resuscitating Spike on the shore, Hound makes the mistake of thinking that the human Spike had "flushed his engine". Hound would be among the main cast of the pilot, almost playing as large of a role as Optimus Prime himself.
This changed however when the show moved into its regular season. Bumblebee became Spike's companion, and Hound took a backseat. However he was not without his notable appearances.
In "Heavy Metal War", Hound is responsible for providing a hologram of a large, menacing robot designed to intimidate Devastator. This helped turn the tide in the battle against the Decepticons in that episode.
The episode "City of Steel" featured another major role for Hound. He and a few other compatriots were charged with tracking and collecting the missing parts of the Optimus Prime. These parts had been disconnected and used in various parts of Megatron's reconstruction of New York.
Hound made a brief cameo appearance in The Transformers: The Movie where he, along with Sunstreaker, stood next to Optimus Prime before Prime confronted the Decepticon forces. It can be assumed that Hound did not survive the two attacks on Autobot city, as he did not make any post movie appearances. Transformers: The Movie story consultant Flint Dille elaborated that it was necessary to “tie off” the 1984 Transformers toyline, due to it being discontinued.[1]
Hound was last seen in Takara's Japanese only Transformers: The Headmasters series, that included archive footage of TF:The Movie. The Autobot also has some lines on the first episodes. Japanese Transformers guides thus report that Hound has in some way survived the movie, however, because it also features Transformers that were pronounced deceased, that is considered speculation.
Marvel Comics
Hound also appeared in the Marvel Transformers comic, where his role was much the same as in the animated series. During the UK-only story Crisis of Command, Hound and Mirage combined their special abilities to capture the Decepticon spy, Ravage. Later, during the Target: 2006 story arc, a spy mission alongside Jazz went badly awry, resulting in the capture of Jazz. From then on, Hound was an outspoken critic of Jetfire's headstrong tactics against Galvatron. Later, in the full US/UK continuity, he was among the scores of Autobots deactivated by the Underbase powered Starscream.
Hound's body was seen among the deactivated Autobots Ratchet was doing his best to revive in Transformers #56, "Back from the Dead".
However, he was resurrected at some point (presumably with Nucleon), as he appeared in the Transformers: Generation 2 comic as one of the few Transformers not dominated by the hate inducing parasites. It is unknown if he survived the final battles against Jhiaxus and the Swarm.
Audio books
Hound was featured in the 1985 Transformers audio books Autobots' Lightning Strike and Laserbeak's Fury.
Dreamwave Productions
When civil war broke out on the planet Cybertron between the Autobots and Decepticon factions, Hound joined the Autobot cause. After Decepticon leader Megatron killed the Autobot leader Sentinel Prime, a new Autobot leader was chosen by the Council of the Ancients. Hound was present when Optronix was given the Matrix and reformatted into Optimus Prime. Three Decepticon assassins attempted to kill Optimus, but were unsuccessful. Optimus then ordered a planet-wide evacuation of Cybertron (Transformers: The War Within #1). Hound was among those who reluctantly prepared for the evacuation (Transformers: War Within #2).
When Megatron and Optimus Prime disappeared in an accident with a space bridge, the Autobot and Decepticon forces splintered into smaller factions. Hound stayed with the Autobots under the leadership of Prowl. When Prowl and his team of Autobots confronted Trypticon, Hound, Tracks, Trailbreaker and other Autobots showed up as reinforcements (Transformers: The War Within - The Dark Ages #4).
Hound was among the Autobots who followed Optimus Prime on his mission on board the Ark. They were attacked by Megatron's ship, the Nemesis. After being boarded the Ark crash landed on Earth, where all on board were preserved in emergency stasis. In 1984 a volcanic eruption awakened the Ark's computer, Teletran-1, and it repaired all on board. It reformatted Hound in the form of an Earth Jeep.
Eventually the combined forces of the Autobots on Earth, and their human allies were able to capture the Decepticons. A ship called the Ark II was built to take the Cybertonians back to Cybertron, along with some human companions. Optimus left a small portion of his Matrix with human Spike Witwicky, promising to return with Spike's father from Cybertron one day. The Ark II exploded shortly after takeoff. The human allies were killed, but the Cybertonians were lost in the ocean, again in statis lock.
Hound and others were recovered by a rogue military unit and reprogrammed as slave war machines. Megatron broke free and then freed his fellow Decepticons and Grimlock. Hound and the other Autobots who were found by Lazarus were abused by Megatron's troops, but were eventually freed by Optimus Prime.
Hound returned with most of the Autobots from Earth to Cybertron as prisoners of Ultra Magnus. Prowl's team returned from Cybertron and Hound aided with construction for the new Autobot City in Alaska (Transformers: Generation One III #10).
Devil's Due Publishing
Hound also appeared in the first G.I Joe vs the Transformers crossover from Devil's Due Publishing. Here the Ark was discovered by the terrorist Cobra Organization. Here Hound turned into a Cobra armoured car. After the Transformers were freed, Hound tried to assist Bumblebee and Wheeljack in reaching Megatron's energon producing facility, but was confronted by its guardian - Devastator, who blew Hound in half with one blast. His death was soon avenged, as the giant combiner was mobbed and taken down by the other Autobots and G.I Joes.
IDW Publishing
Hound appeared in issue #2 of Megatron Origin. In this story, set on ancient Cybertron he was a member of an Autobot security force in the city of Kaon. His squad was hunting the operators of gladiatorial contests in the degenerate slums, particularly Megatron.
Hound made his first IDW Publishing appearance in the Spotlight issue on Galvatron, where it was revealed that he had been put in charge of guarding Thunderwing's inert corpse with Leadfoot, Skram, Road Rocket, Warpath and Sideswipe under his command. Clashing with Sideswipe over his desire to find his brother Sunstreaker, Hound soon had other things to worry about as a mysterious Transformer arrived and decimated his unit. While Hound survived, he had failed in his duty, as Thunderwing's body had disappeared. This version of Hound is more officious and serious than in other continuities.
Hound appeared in Spotlight: Doubledealer where he was among the Autobots fighting Thunderwing on the planet Corata-Vaz.
Other media
Lisa Simpson appeared as Hound in one opening sequence to the Simpsons alongside the rest of the Simpson Family rendered as Autobots. Hound also appeared in the first episode of Transformers: Armada while hearing the alarm.
订阅:
博文 (Atom)