| 1 | !![[center: [[Characters/TransformersGeneration1 G1 Character Index]]: [[Characters/TransformersGeneration1Autobots Autobots]] ([[Characters/TransformersGeneration1Autobots1984To1985 '84-'85]]) ([[Characters/TransformersGeneration1Autobots1986To1987 '86-'87]]) ([[Characters/TransformersGeneration1Autobots1988To1990 '88-'90]]) | [[Characters/TransformersGeneration1Decepticons Decepticons]] ('84-'85) ([[Characters/TransformersGeneration1Decepticons1986To1987 '86-'87]]) ([[Characters/TransformersGeneration1Decepticons1988To1990 '88-'90]])]] |
| 2 | |
| 3 | This character sheet is for listing the tropes related to ''Franchise/TransformersGeneration1'' Decepticons introduced between 1984 and 1985, most of whom made their debut in Seasons 1 and 2 of the Sunbow cartoon. |
| 4 | |
| 5 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 6 | |
| 7 | !!Nemesis Decepticon crew |
| 8 | |
| 9 | [[folder:Megatron (メガトロン ''megatoron'')]] |
| 10 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/megatron_7372.jpg]] |
| 11 | !!!'''Function:''' Leader |
| 12 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Walther P-38 Pistol |
| 13 | ->''"Peace through tyranny."'' |
| 14 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/FrankWelker (EN), Creator/SeizoKato (JP) |
| 15 | |
| 16 | The tyrannical, power-hungry leader of the Decepticons who aims to conquer Cybertron and then the rest of the universe. He also continues his search for energy from other sources, even if it's on planet Earth. His arrogance and stubbornness even in the face of defeat often mess up his plans, but his fusion cannon, sheer strength, antimatter powers, cunning and intelligence prove why he's a very formidable enemy to all who cross his path, including Optimus Prime. |
| 17 | ----- |
| 18 | * AdaptationOriginConnection: The third ''ComicBook/GIJoeVsTheTransformers'' miniseries, ''The Art of War'', has his remains used to create Serpent O.R. (that continuity's version of Cobra leader Serpentor). |
| 19 | * AdaptationalBadass: His IDW incarnation is a TookALevelInBadass variation. He went from being a lowly miner to a gladiatorial WarriorPoet to a ruthless WellIntentionedExtremist. It also helps that he has other alt-modes (a stealth bomber and a tank) aside from his iconic Walter P38 handgun form. |
| 20 | * AdaptationalHeroism: The original cartoon version of Megatron was a standard villain who simply wanted to TakeOverTheWorld and often mistreated his henchmen. Several other continuities since have tried to add [[FallenHero depth]] to his [[WellIntentionedExtremist character]] in an effort to portray him in a more nuanced light, especially IDW, in which he eventually becomes an Autobot by the end of the ''Dark Cybertron'' arc. |
| 21 | -->'''[[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Megatron_(G1)/2005_IDW_continuity TFWiki]]:''' Megatron [[LaResistance waged a battle to destroy the evil forces of the Senate]]! Then he [[KnightTemplar continued to wage a war]] against the evil forces of [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill freedom]], [[FantasticRacism organic life]], and [[TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget the very idea of an Autobot living]]. After some [[HeelRealization life-changing events]], he [[TheAtoner waged a war against the evil forces of his own past legacy]]. Currently, however, Megatron's revolution [[HereWeGoAgain has come full circle,]] waging a war against the evil forces of the [[FantasticCasteSystem Functionist Council!]] |
| 22 | * AdaptationalVillainy: His original toy was a Microman, superhumans that can transform toys into superheroes inside a kid's room. In ''Transformers'' canon, he is a brutal leader of the Decepticons. |
| 23 | * AntagonistInMourning: In Japanese ''G2'', his friend Kiloton was killed by humans after he was manipulated to go to Earth by Starscream. Megatron did not take this well, and declared a new war, and Optimus had to stop him. |
| 24 | * {{Antimatter}}: He can use this by interdimensionally linking up to a black hole. He rarely uses it though, since it's, y'know, '''[[AwesomeButImpractical antimatter]]'''. |
| 25 | * AntiVillain: |
| 26 | ** His reasons to start the Cybertronian wars differs in every continuity. His common origin is that he hates the power structure created by the Autobot High Council, and forms a rebellion. Another is that he was a miner who hated his job, and is a gladiator. Either way, he is usually the instigator for the wars to happen. |
| 27 | ** In the Japanese continuity, if he starts a war, it's usually not his fault. Outside forces will try to manipulate him, and he'll have no choice but to start a war that he doesn't want, even if [[FightingYourFriend Optimus has to fight him himself]]. |
| 28 | * ArchEnemy: To Optimus Prime as most incarnations portray them as this. |
| 29 | * ArmCannon: His iconic fusion cannon remains attached to his right arm and can pack incredible destructive power. With it, he provides the page image for the arm-mounted type. |
| 30 | * AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: |
| 31 | ** If him taking on Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Starscream and ''Devastator'' for Decepticon leadership and '''winning''' in "Triple Takeover" is anything to go by. |
| 32 | --->'''Megatron:''' Get this straight: ''I'' am Decepticon Leader. '''You''' are recyclable! |
| 33 | ** Subverted in the comics. He tries enforcing this on Shockwave, only for it to get turned on him pretty damn quickly. Though, as he was still recovering from injuries, it could be counted as a case of WorfHadTheFlu, as two issues later he's recovered enough to handle the Dinobots. |
| 34 | * AxCrazy: Cartoon Megatron was not particularly sane to begin with, but by the time of the movie now free from the restriction of being on a Saturday morning cartoon, he's more vicious than before, screaming about how he'll tear out Optimus's eyes. The comics confirm that the Megatron who became Galvatron really ''was'' insane (where do you think Galvy got it from?) and had been actually looking forward to death for some peace. But Unicron had other ideas. |
| 35 | * BackFromTheDead: Most incarnations won't stay dead for long. In the ''Battlestars'' manga, he was revived into Super Megatron after being buried in ice in ''Anime/TransformersHeadmasters''. |
| 36 | * BadBoss: |
| 37 | ** In the Sunbow cartoon. Though having a bit more pragmatism and camaraderie than standard cartoon {{Big Bad}}s, he still regularly chides and insults his henchmen; the sole exceptions are Soundwave and Shockwave, who, due to the two of them being both [[UndyingLoyalty loyal]] and [[TheReliableOne competent]], he treats with genuine respect. |
| 38 | ** It's also implied in "The Secret of Omega Supreme" that he brainwashed at least some of his troops into servitude with the Robo Smasher. |
| 39 | ** The comic version is just a bad boss in general, shooting or hitting his soldiers for talking back, ''including'' Soundwave. In one instance of insanity, he crushed Brawl's head. His emotional instability is why Shockwave regularly challenged him. |
| 40 | * {{BFG}}: He not only has one, but turns into one. In addition, the barrel of his gun mode appears on his back and can seemingly flip under his right arm (which is how the toy is meant to be transformed) and be fired. Usually wielded by Starscream or Soundwave when Megatron turns into one, twice he let Optimus Prime use him (once to launch [[MadScientist Dr. Arkeville's]] Exponential Generator into space before it could turn Earth into energy, once to shoot antidotes into the Insecticons before they could explode and kill everyone in Iron Mountain.) |
| 41 | * BigBad: |
| 42 | ** He's the Decepticon leader (well, one of them, but he's the most famous), and Optimus Prime's ArchEnemy. Generally, he's only ''not'' this when [[EldritchAbomination Unicron]] or The Fallen are about. |
| 43 | ** Subverted in the original Marvel comics: Megatron was just one of many warlords on Cybertron, and he's not the leader of the Decepticons on Earth for very long, and when he is, things don't usually go very well. Shockwave, Scorponok and Ratbat last longer in the job than he did. |
| 44 | * BigBadWannabe: Averted in the original 80s cartoon. Despite being a laughably incompetent GeneralFailure, Megatron lacks the necessary competition to fall fairly into this trope. He retains the role of BigBad simply because there is no other villain to put him in his place. The only competition he has is Starscream, who’s even more inept than he is. This all changes in the film when [[KnightOfCerebus Unicron]] shows up. |
| 45 | -->'''Megatron:''' Nobody summons Megatron!\ |
| 46 | '''Unicron:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Then it pleases me to be the first.]] |
| 47 | * BodyHorror: In the comics, he and Ratchet end up fused together after an accident involving a [[TeleFrag teleporter and some bombs]]. |
| 48 | * BoisterousWeakling: [[ZigzaggedTrope It depends]]. He can take down heavyweights like Grimlock with about three solid hits and managed to beat ''Devastator'' on his own, but when he fights Optimus Prime it's rarely an even matchup: Megatron is ''never'' able to beat Prime without cheating (e.g. going for a gun in a hand to hand fight or [[JustYouAndMeAndMyGUARDS summoning his mooks for backup]]). |
| 49 | -->'''Starscream:''' Megatron is a wimp!\ |
| 50 | '''Devastator:''' So is Starscream.\ |
| 51 | '''Starscream:''' [[FragileSpeedster Yes, but I'm fast]]! |
| 52 | * CharacterDevelopment: |
| 53 | ** His development from a CardCarryingVillain to a noble and selfless AntiVillain varies in each continuity. The one thing both English and Japanese continuities agrees on is his character development sticks, even if outside forces force him to enact another war he doesn't want, and he sees it as a necessary evil. Even Optimus, whom he regards as an OldFriend, knows him well enough that he doesn't another war in his hands. |
| 54 | ** In [[Manga/TransformersGenerationsSelectsSpecialComic Generation Selects Special]], he sympathizes with Rung who wanted the Selectors to gain independence from humans. Optimus thinks he wants to start a war, but Megatron tells him with his catchphrase and he isn't planning a war, which allows him to reconsider the treatment for the Selectors since they're sentient beings. |
| 55 | * ContinuitySnarl: In ''Generation 2'', his connection to Ratchet (where neither could survive without the other) is left unmentioned, which naturally meant there was no explanation for how Megatron could still be functioning after Ratchet seemingly died in the Ark's crash. |
| 56 | * CoolSword: Has a [[Franchise/StarWars lightsaber-esque]] sword in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie''. Some versions of the original figure (mostly Japan exclusive ones) give him a silver sword too. |
| 57 | * CreateYourOwnHero: |
| 58 | ** Manipulates Orion Pax into going to the energon hanger where he mortally wounds him, his girlfriend Ariel, and his best friend Dion. Alpha Trion would eventually rebuild Orion into Optimus Prime, his worst enemy. |
| 59 | ** Meanwhile, the Dreamwave comics and on have him kill the Prime before Optimus (Sentinel or Zeta), paving the way for Optimus. |
| 60 | * DeathByAdaptation: Several G1 continuities have killed him off. |
| 61 | ** ''Anime/TransformersHeadmasters'' has his reformatted self Galvatron die by being entombed in ice, though he'd later be revived as Super Megatron in the ''Battlestars'' story pages. |
| 62 | ** ''ComicBook/TransformersGIJoe'' ends with the Joes and the Autobots destroying him and the rest of the Decepticons. |
| 63 | ** The first ''ComicBook/GIJoeVsTheTransformers'' miniseries ends with his deactivation at the hands of Optimus Prime. |
| 64 | ** The Marvel Comics continuity SequelSeries ''Regeneration One'' kills him off at the end of the first arc. |
| 65 | ** ''ComicBook/TransformersDeviations'', a WhatIf take on ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'' has him perish instead of Optimus Prime during the battle at Autobot City, resulting in the Decepticons leaving his body behind on Earth and never giving Unicron a chance to reformat him into Galvatron. |
| 66 | ** He is dead by the end of ''ComicBook/TransformersVsGIJoe''. |
| 67 | * DrivenToSuicide: Subverted. Upon Optimus Prime's [[DeathIsCheap initial death]] in the Marvel comics, Megatron (rightfully so) believed Prime to be still alive and blew up the Space Bridge while he was riding it. [[spoiler:Except he was faking some of it. The space bridge exploding wasn't part of the plan, though, instead leading to LaserGuidedAmnesia.]] |
| 68 | * EmperorScientist: This guy ''invented'' (or at least [[{{Retcon}} rediscovered]]) transformation in the Marvel Comics, and is behind many doomsday machines of the week. In the Sunbow cartoon, he's also capable of making working Transformer bodies from human cars to create the Stunticons. |
| 69 | * EnemyMine: During G2, after his forces get slaughtered by Jhiaxus, Megatron decides to work with the Autobots. |
| 70 | * EpicFlail: Has a purple energon mace. |
| 71 | * EvilLaugh: The sheer ''creepiness'' of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMUjcr87XfM Megatron's Evil Laugh]] in the [[Franchise/TransformersGeneration1 original animated series]] is in and of itself NightmareFuel. |
| 72 | * EvilMentor: Pentius in the IDW comics. One can practically hear the {{Leitmotif}} of [[Franchise/StarWars a certain Sith Lord]] when the student finally surpasses the master: |
| 73 | -->'''Pentius:''' [[AdmiringTheAbomination At last... the student... becomes the master. You are... truly... monstrous.]] |
| 74 | -->'''Megatron:''' Farewell, Pentius. Know that your legacy of hate... [[StartOfDarkness shall live on in me]]. |
| 75 | * EvilOverlord: He's the leader of the Deceptions. |
| 76 | * EvilSoundsDeep: Courtesy of Creator/SeizoKato in the Japanese dub. Creator/JasonMarnocha also tended to voice him this way in the ''[[WebAnimation/TransformersPrimeWarsTrilogy Prime Wars]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersWarForCybertronTrilogy War For Cybertron]]'' trilogies. |
| 77 | * EvilSoundsRaspy: Creator/FrankWelker gave Megatron a fairly raspy voice. A few obscure audiobooks made him even raspier. |
| 78 | * AFatherToHisMen: He's this in some continuities, albeit a gruff and angry one. In the cartoon, he even worked with Optimus Prime on numerous occasions to protect his warriors. |
| 79 | -->'''Megatron:''' ''(as he teams up with Optimus to stop his drill from puncturing Earth's core)'' I do this only for the welfare of my Decepticons. It grieves me that you should profit from it. |
| 80 | * FallenHero: In some continuities, particularly IDW, he started out as a revolutionary who wanted to tear down Cybertron's caste system and create an equal society, before those instincts transformed into a mere lust for power and violence. |
| 81 | * FantasticRacism: He has a deep contempt for humans and considering them biproduct. Subverted in his later years in the Japanese continuity where he gets along with humans after making another HeelFaceTurn, and this is when he found out Kiloton was killed by humans and enacts a war for his fallen friend. |
| 82 | * {{Flight}}: Most media depict him as able to do this, despite not transforming into any form of aircraft. |
| 83 | * ForTheEvulz: |
| 84 | ** Why did comic Megatron start the war? He was bored with a peaceful Cybertron. |
| 85 | ** IDW Megatron ''claims'' to be this. [[spoiler:He's lying.]] |
| 86 | -->'''Megatron:''' I would happily wade across a river of corpses, chest-deep in rust and grease and engine oil, just to crush the spark of the last Autobot standing. And I would not do so simply as a means to an end. No. I'd do it, Prime, because it would give me '''pleasure.''' |
| 87 | * FriendlyRival: Post-HeelFaceTurn, he's on good terms with Optimus. In the Japanese continuity, both he and Optimus rule the newly repaired Cybertron together. |
| 88 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: In IDW comics he started out as a low-class miner. |
| 89 | * GeneralFailure: Cartoon Megatron has made some...well, questionable decisions during the war. Such as an overly-complex scheme involving [[HumongousMecha Bruticus]] firing at the moon causing it to shift Earth's tides to make a tidal wave that would flood a single dam causing a massive power surge... when, as an earlier episode proved, Rumble was all he needed. Even Starscream would tell Megatron when a plan was bound to fail, [[CassandraTruth but he would hear nothing to do with failure]]. He was [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness more competent]] in the FiveEpisodePilot, though. That said, he has many a NearVillainVictory, and the movie fully paints him competent enough that by launching one ambush, many significant Autobots are killed. |
| 90 | -->'''Starscream:''' Forgive me, but I believe your boast sounds vaguely familiar.\ |
| 91 | '''Megatron:''' [[NeverMyFault We've failed before through no fault of mine!]] But this time I shall not be denied. |
| 92 | * GeniusBruiser: Has an Intelligence score of 10 out of 10 and is capable of bashing Autobots into the ground solo. |
| 93 | * GlowingEyesOfDoom: Whenever he is ''very'' happy, making the accompanying EvilLaugh all the more creepy. |
| 94 | * GoodGunsBadGuns: The Walther P38 (which is his alt-mode) is a Nazi handgun. Coincidence? Probably, as his specific design was based on the gun used by [[Series/TheManFromUNCLE the heroic spy agency U.N.C.L.E.]] (specifically, the chrome version in Takara's Micro Change toyline). |
| 95 | * GrayscaleOfEvil: He's gray (sometimes silver) and black with small touches of red. His helmet is also black in the Marvel comics. |
| 96 | * GreaterScopeVillain: Of ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars''. Aside from leading the Decepticons (whom the Predacons are descendants of), [[spoiler:it's his recorded message on the Voyager's Golden Disk, which hundreds of years later ends up being stolen by a Predacon named after him, that ends up kickstarting the whole conflict on prehistoric Earth]]. |
| 97 | * HandCannon: ZigZagged, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_P38 Walther P38]] itself is a 9mm, semi-automatic pistol; Megatron is as StrongAsTheyNeedToBe. |
| 98 | * HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: In the Japanese continuity, his return to villainy will usually kickstarted not by him, but by outside forces. Once both him and Optimus finally find a way to maintain the peace they both sought, they will reconcile. |
| 99 | * HeelFaceTurn: In some continuities, he becomes an Autobot. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Yes, you read right.]] |
| 100 | ** In the Japanese continuity, between G1 and G2, he turned good and joined forces with Optimus. Then his old friend Kiloton got killed by some angry humans, and Megatron took it pretty hard. |
| 101 | ** In the 2005 IDW continuity, after ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersDarkCybertron Dark Cybertron]]'', Megatron has a true change of heart and becomes an Autobot. |
| 102 | * HeelRealization: In the IDW continuity, he describes one of these as motivating his HeelFaceTurn. |
| 103 | -->'''Megatron''': I once told Optimus that I kill for the sake of killing. I wanted to make him hurt me, you see, because when [[AllLovingHero he hurts others, he hurts himself.]] But, when those words were in my head, I didn't think I meant them, but when they left my mouth, I realized that I did. If the world thinks you're a monster, what does it matter? The world is wrong. But... when you start to think of yourself... as a monster... I grew to hate the person I'd become, and I decided the best way to leave that person behind... maybe the easiest way... was to become an Autobot. |
| 104 | * HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Why does he keep Starscream around, no matter how often he betrays? Because, in his own words, he's an ''idiot'' and he finds the attempts amusing more often than not, that's why. IDW did eventually give a justification - Starscream's treachery (and the inevitable consequences of Starscream getting in charge) keep Megatron from getting complacent. |
| 105 | * IHatePastMe: When Galvatron have stolen the Silver Matrix belonging to Primus and Star Convoy and evolving until he becomes Gold Megatron, his own future self thwarts his plans, along with Star Convoy until he reverts back to his Galvatron form. |
| 106 | * IKEAWeaponry: A Walther P38 with detachable telescopic sight, silencer, and stock, the latter two appear/disappear when he transform. |
| 107 | * InformedAttribute: His Energon Mace is technically speaking, a flail but as [=TFWiki.net=] puts it: |
| 108 | -->'''[=TFWiki.net=]''': When a gun turns into a robot two stories tall, and his fist that turns into a ball of energized spikes swinging from a chain, do ''you'' want to tell him he's calling it by the wrong name? |
| 109 | * LargeHam: Courtesy of the legendary Creator/FrankWelker. As a result, he's often seen yelling things at the top of his vocal capacitors while sounding raspy and bombastic at the same time. |
| 110 | * LaserBlade: Has one in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie''. |
| 111 | * LaserGuidedAmnesia: |
| 112 | ** In the Marvel Comics, when his suicide attempt failed, he was transported to the Dead End region of Cybertron and wandered around as an Empty. He got better when he saved Blackjack from a group of Autobots. |
| 113 | ** He also experienced this in the UK Comics after Straxus attempted a botched GrandTheftMe on him, and Ratbat sending him back to Earth expelled Straxus's mind from him. |
| 114 | * LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: In the cartoon, Megatron's vendetta with Starscream ranges anywhere from murderous hatred to petty comedic squabbling. The latter is particularly common when both Decepticons' plans go pear shaped. |
| 115 | -->'''Starscream:''' You're so clever, do something!\ |
| 116 | '''Megatron:''' If only to ''spite you''! |
| 117 | * LivingWeapon: When he transforms into his gun mode, he's generally wielded by one of his lieutenants. Soundwave and Starscream are some of his most frequent users. |
| 118 | * LosingYourHead: His ''Titans Return'' toy features the Titan Master Doomshot forming his head, granting him the ability to fire super-fusion fireblasts. |
| 119 | * MachiavelliWasWrong: In ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'', an injured Megatron has to [[AintTooProudToBeg beg]] [[TheDragon Soundwave]] just to not to leave him behind. Then when his Decepticon minions realize they could [[ColdEquation jettison the wounded]] on Astrotrain to make it go faster, Megatron is ThrownOutTheAirlock despite his pleas, not one Decepticon lifting a finger to help him. It seems once his forces had no reason to fear him, they had no reason to be loyal to him. This is contrasted with the Autobots going back for [[AFatherToHisMen Optimus Prime]], and showing reverence for him even in his final moments. |
| 120 | * MultipleChoicePast: He is often depicted as being a gladiator (sometimes a miner beforehand) before he created the Decepticon faction. However, the original cartoon and ''ComicBook/TransformersWingsOfHonor'' claim he was created for conquest by the Constructicons. Also different is how much of a WellIntentionedExtremist he is or if he just wants raw power. |
| 121 | * MultiversalConqueror: Some of his stronger incarnations are shown to be this, such as in ''Transformers: Alternity'' and ''Transformers Cloud''. |
| 122 | * MythologyGag: His Selects Super / Ultra Megatron toy also has a third face designed in homage to his ''The Last Knight'' counterpart. Fitting, giving both Megatrons are in new bodies given to them by sinister alien entities for their own agenda. |
| 123 | * NotSoHarmlessVillain: Despite being an infamous GeneralFailure, Megatron could still prove to be formidable and calculating, often losing to the Autobots by an inch, and sabotaging many of their attempts to get a permanent advantage over the Decepticons (eg. he instantly reversed around Mirage's attempt to turn them and the Insecticons against each other and also managed to steal or outmatch some of Wheeljack's gadgets such as the Immobilizer and the Dominator Disc). This really came into play by the time of TheMovie, where the Decepticons have actually started to dominate the war under Megatron's leadership, and in one unsuspected invasion, managed to destroy a lot of key Autobot soldiers. |
| 124 | * ObfuscatingInsanity: During the comics. The screaming breakdown after Optimus' death was all part of a ruse to fake his death. Pity shooting the Space Bridge point blank gave him some LaserGuidedAmnesia. |
| 125 | * OneManArmy: Megatron is frequently portrayed as unstoppable against Autobots on the battlefield. Barely a handful of Transformers (Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Shockwave) have been able to go up against him and live to tell the tale. The cartoon episode "Triple Takeover" showed he even took on Starscream, Astrotrain, Blitzwing '''and''' Devastator to come out the undisputed Decepticon Leader after a coup d'etat attempt. |
| 126 | ** He was especially formidable against human forces, particularly in the comics. About the only chance they could have against him without help from the Autobots is if he ran out of energy and shut down. A crossover with ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' had him battling ComicBook/IronMan and defeating him.[[note]]Iron Man was wearing a [[HumongousMecha Transformer-sized set of armor]] for this specific battle, but it's noteworthy that Megatron is roughly the same size as Ultimo, [[Characters/IronManCentralRoguesGallery one of the Armored Avenger's longstanding regular opponents]].[[/note]] |
| 127 | * TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Megatron is pretty territorial about who ends up offing Optimus Prime. |
| 128 | ** Deconstructed in the comics; Megatron may obsess over killing Optimus Prime but he has often left the killing up to subordinates so that he can focus his energies on Ratchet, who Megatron [[HeroicSpirit respected]] after Ratchet single-handedly beat him. |
| 129 | ** Then, in ''Regeneration One'', he is focusing on Optimus once again, wanting one final DuelToTheDeath on Earth. Either he kills Prime, or Prime kills him, and his failsafes launch Earth's remaining nuclear arsenal. |
| 130 | ** Used against him in the cartoon, when he gets overpowered by a juiced up Optimus and signals for help, Starscream objects to butting into the two leaders' sacred rivalry, and smugly watches Megatron takes an inevitable pounding. |
| 131 | * OutOfCharacter: In the "Kids Stuff" audio books, he verbally abuses Soundwave on a regular basis, treats his troops' ideas as his own, has a NeverMyFault attitude and takes offence at innocent statements. In short, he acts more like Galvatron than his canon personality. |
| 132 | * OutOfFocus: In the original G1 comics, he was often pushed aside in favor of having others lead the Decepticons. He was put out of commission after blowing up the Space Bridge, returned post-Underbase saga for a brief storyline, then was seemingly killed again, only to once again make a brief return, with only two appearances after that. |
| 133 | * PaintItBlack: His [[https://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/4/46/IDWongoing15_megatrons_new_body.jpg stealth bomber incarnation]] from [[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW the Mike Costa era]]. |
| 134 | * PetTheDog: In his various incarnations, Megatron has occasionally been depicted as being capable of kindness. |
| 135 | ** After he and Ratchet were unfused in the ''Classics'' continuity, Megatron keeps the crippled Ratchet around as someone to talk to. Ratchet feels that it's a CruelMercy and that he was just kept as someone to gloat to, but at the conclusion of the Decepticon civil war, Megatron has him placed in a CR chamber, healed, and left for the Autobots to rescue. |
| 136 | * RedBaron: "The Slag Maker," "The Emperor of Destruction". |
| 137 | * ReformedButRejected: Very few Autobots were willing to accept IDW Megatron after his becoming an Autobot. The crew of the Lost Light ignore him at best and insult him at worst. |
| 138 | -->'''Getaway:''' Seriously, can someone explain to me how the war can end with the '''instigator''' being [[KarmaHoudini allowed to go about his business as if nothing happened]]? The death camps! The massacres! The cities razed to the ground! Apparently all of them were just missteps - painful but necessary - on Megatron's path to self-discovery! |
| 139 | * SizeShifter: His iconic Walter P38 form can be held by Decepticons or normal humans. [[http://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/d/d7/Stargatebattles_giant_megatron.jpg Or even become as large as Optimus Prime]]. IDW's ''Escalation'' actually addresses the size-shifting: It consumes a ''lot'' of energy, which neither side has a lot of, so Megs hasn't used it in a while. |
| 140 | * TheStarscream: In the Marvel comics, Megatron was this to Shockwave and Scorponok after their [[KlingonPromotion Klingon Promotions]]. He was generally smarter about it than the trope namer, his attempt to whack Shockwave involved blackmailing Ratchet to sic the Dinobots on him (since they had beaten Shockwave before). He saw this as a XanatosGambit, since if they failed, he would still at least have the satisfaction of having effectively killed six more Autobots. He didn't plan on Ratchet [[TakeAThirdOption taking a third option.]] Ironically, he attempted to use a brainwashed Starscream to assassinate Scorponok, with Ratchet again putting a SpannerInTheWorks. |
| 141 | * StoryBreakerPower: One of his often-forgotten powers is the ability to use {{antimatter}} as a weapon. Though his original bio was written with the intent that it was a property of his fusion cannon, some continuities (i.e. the UK Marvel and IDW comics) depict Megatron himself as being able to create it. Given how violently antimatter reacts with matter, there's probably a good reason ''why'' said power is often forgotten by writers. |
| 142 | * SuperMode: In the Japanese continuity, he's resurrected during ''Return of Convoy'' as the imaginatively named "Super Megatron". When that doesn't prove enough, he gets another upgrade into "''Ultra'' Megatron". |
| 143 | * {{Synchronization}}: With Ratchet in the Marvel comics. Even after the two were separated, they were still linked on a sub-atomic level, causing them to feel each others' pain, and for their existences to be tied together. While the Generation 2 comics seemed to forget about this, ''Regeneration One'' didn't; not only did Megatron use Ratchet's medical knowledge to revive fallen Transformers as "zombie" soldiers, but [[spoiler:Kup was able to turn the tide against Megatron by killing Ratchet]]. |
| 144 | * TankGoodness: Modern incarnations of him usually transform into a tank instead of a Walter P38 pistol (mostly because changes in US law prohibit [[MerchandiseDriven the sale of firearm replicas in toy stores]], along with doing away with his contentious SizeShifting and need to be wielded by his troops) Besides the fact that the tank is the vehicle that maintains the spirit of his original pistol mode, it has precedence in the tank-like space cannon mode of his upgraded self Galvatron. |
| 145 | * ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: Part of Optimus' BatmanGambit was for Megatron to get fired up enough to defeat the usurpers for the title of Decepticon Leader in "Triple Takeover." |
| 146 | * VillainousFriendship: |
| 147 | ** Type 1 with his most loyal lieutenant Soundwave, who along with the Mini-Cassettes are the ''only'' sentients that he has shown to be fond of. Though ironically, it didn't keep Soundwave from letting Starscream expel Megatron into outer space in the movie. |
| 148 | ** He obviously trusts and even respects Shockwave (that is, his cartoon version; not so much in other continuities). We just don't see it as much since Shockwave never leaves Cybertron. |
| 149 | * VillainRespect: In the Marvel comic story "Shooting Star" Megatron is about to kill Joey Slick, the human who had been using him as a weapon against his will. However, Joey states that he's not afraid of him, due to having just confronted and knocked out the man he was most afraid of. Megatron is impressed enough to spare Joey's life, acknowledging that he's never seen such courage in a human before. |
| 150 | * VillainsWantMercy: In the movie, Megatron begs Optimus Prime to spare his life, [[ISurrenderSuckers while reaching for a blaster on the ground]]. |
| 151 | * ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: How he views his ideals after living in peace for so long only to cause a war due to outside forces. |
| 152 | * WarriorPoet: Used to be this in the IDW comics, even after founding the Decepticons. |
| 153 | * WellIntentionedExtremist: The first IDW version. Not so much any other. He first led the Decepticons to end the FantasticCasteSystem he deemed to be plaguing Cybertron's development as a society... until he, shall we say, goes off the deep end and just goes all out violent. "Peace through tyranny.", [[SarcasmMode indeed]]... |
| 154 | * WeUsedToBeFriends: With Optimus in the IDW comics. Averted elsewhere. While he did call Optimus "old friend" in both the Marvel comic and the Sunbow cartoon, it was always in a mocking, sarcastic tone, referring to their millennia-long [[ArchEnemy rivalry]] rather than a genuine past-friendship. |
| 155 | ** Their early history in the Marvel comics continuity is explored a bit more in UK exclusive storylines; they were rivals who regularly competed with each other in "[[GladiatorGames The Games]]" but to describe them as friends at this point would be a bit of a stretch. |
| 156 | * WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: His altmode is a pistol, which cannot aim or fire by itself and has to be held by someone. Some stories have suggested it'd be more powerful, but it's anyone's guess whether that's true or not based on [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy his in-show record]]. And he already has an arm cannon, anyway. This is just one more reason why his alt mode has since been anything else, usually a tank, which keeps the spirit of the pistol mode, but being a fully functional, independent, and dangerous vehicle on his own. |
| 157 | * WorldsStrongestMan: Megatron is the most powerful Decepticon (possibly excluding Shockwave) and one of the most powerful Cybertronians alive - the only Autobots who have a chance against him are Optimus Prime and Grimlock (though Ironhide and Brawn can also somewhat hold their own against him). |
| 158 | * WorthyOpponent: |
| 159 | ** His rivalry with Optimus Prime transcends petty hatred into a deep respect and understanding: so much so that whenever they fight side by side for a common goal, they are unstoppable. |
| 160 | ** More so with Ratchet in the comics; Megatron doesn't like Prime in the comics but he's AffablyEvil to Ratchet during their fights and will tell Ratchet that he respects him, something he'll never do to Prime. |
| 161 | [[/folder]] |
| 162 | |
| 163 | [[folder:Starscream (スタースクリーム ''sutāsukurīmu'')]] |
| 164 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/starscreamofficialart_2667.jpg]] |
| 165 | [[caption-width-right:205:Starscream]] |
| 166 | [[quoteright:205:[[labelnote:Click to see Pretender Starscream]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pretenderstarscream.jpg]][[/labelnote]] |
| 167 | !!!'''Function:''' Air Commander |
| 168 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' F-15 Eagle Fighter Jet; Armored Warrior (Pretender Shell) |
| 169 | ->''"Conquest is made of the ashes of one's enemies."'' |
| 170 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Chris Latta (EN), Creator/HirotakaSuzuoki, (JP) |
| 171 | |
| 172 | Megatron's over-ambitious, self-centered second-in-command and leader of the Seekers who often schemes to usurp leadership of the Decepticons for himself. Despite his ambitions, he's quick to beg if his plans are foiled, but he proves to be a fiercely competent soldier time and time again. |
| 173 | |
| 174 | Click [[SelfDemonstrating/{{Starscream}} here]] to read in his own voice. |
| 175 | ----- |
| 176 | * AdaptationalBadass: He's not a complete idiot (though he definitely has his moments) in the G1 cartoon, but his IDW counterpart is a flat-out [[AgentPeacock Agent Peacock]], even becoming a VillainWithGoodPublicity. |
| 177 | * AgentPeacock: He may be vain and flamboyant in the IDW comics, but he's ''definitely'' not someone who should be taken lightly. |
| 178 | * AllForNothing: |
| 179 | ** His attempts to become Decepticon leader will never last. Even if it did, Megatron would eventually disband the Decepticon faction in favor of the Cybertronian Alliance with Optimus Prime, which happened in the Japanese continuity. This causes him to set up a UriahGambit by getting Megatron's old friend Kiloton killed to start the war again. |
| 180 | ** In the movie, he finally got the chance to become Decepticon leader. Then Galvatron comes in and vaporizes him on the spot. |
| 181 | * AwesomeMcCoolname: A human character in the comics even commented on how cool his name is. |
| 182 | * BackFromTheDead: |
| 183 | ** In the cartoon universe, he can live on after death as a "ghost" thanks to having a mutant spark that is indestructible. In the episode "Ghost in the Machine", Unicron gave him his body back. |
| 184 | ** In the Marvel Comics continuity, after Starscream died during the Underbase Saga (taking many characters with him), Megatron had him brought back as a Pretender. |
| 185 | * BadBoss: Generally worse to work for than Megatron. He doesn't usually shoot his underlings, though he will threaten to do it, in-between berating and insulting them with every other breath, usually as they're trying to point out his plans are terrible. |
| 186 | * BadassBookworm: In the cartoon, he was a scientist and explorer prior to joining the Decepticons, and he often uses his smarts to his advantage. While not one of the physically strongest Decepticons, he can still prove a threat in combat with his null-rays. |
| 187 | * BerserkButton: Though he doesn't think highly of working under Megatron's command, he seems to get especially standoffish whenever his importance is questioned or unappreciated. Most of the times he tries to overthrow him to his face rather than through scheming behind his back are when Megatron goaded him over his uselessness. In "Enter the Nightbird" when Megatron deemed Starscream dispensable with his new weapon, the Seeker outright ''attacked him'' in a rage, making for one of very few cases the Seeker overpowered him and needed restraining. |
| 188 | -->'''Starscream:''' ''(seethes)'' You'd replace ''me''?? ''(slugs Megatron)'' NEVERRR!!! |
| 189 | * BigBadWannabe: The few times he takes control, he just can't cut it - he's not ''completely'' incompetent at leadership, but he's nowhere near as cruel or dangerous as Megatron. |
| 190 | -->'''Soundwave:''' You have no strategy, no subtlety. You are a missile with a mouth, Starscream! |
| 191 | * BosssUnfavoriteEmployee: Unlike the other Decepticons (whom Megatron is implied to have some small level of care for), Starscream is almost completely despised. Considering this is the TropeNamer for TheStarscream we're talking about, it's hard to blame Megatron. |
| 192 | * BrightIsNotGood: Starscream's color scheme is as deceptive as the rest of him. Don't be fooled by his bright red and blue paint job, he's an evil Decepticon, not a PrimaryColorChampion. |
| 193 | * BullyingADragon: Iconic for perpetually mocking and criticizing Megatron, vowing to knock him from his position right to his face. Despite Megatron's pragmatism, Starscream would often remember too late he'd only take his impudence for so long. |
| 194 | -->'''Megatron:''' Cross me again, Starscream, and I will reduce you to titanium fragments. |
| 195 | * ButtMonkey: A good deal of the comedy in the cartoon series is how much abuse Starscream takes almost every episode. Not that he doesn't deserve most of it. |
| 196 | ** He gets abused so much someone was able to make a 12 minute montage of G1 Starscream getting punched, shot, yelled at, run over, etc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXtEdUmwH3A |
| 197 | * CameBackWrong: In the UK comics, his time with the Underbase means he briefly comes back as a shambling corpse for a while. Then Megatron has him brought back properly. |
| 198 | * CardCarryingVillain: During G2, Starscream starts getting influenced by the Matrix, making him nice and helpful, causing him to scream at Megatron that he doesn't ''want'' to be good. |
| 199 | * CassandraTruth: Starscream often knows when a plan of Megatron's is not going to end well, but Megatron never takes his advice. Expect merciless shrieking and gloating when things inevitably ''do'' go wrong. |
| 200 | -->'''Starscream:''' [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim We had the Autobots disoriented! We could have eliminated them!]]\ |
| 201 | '''Megatron:''' [[BondVillainStupidity We'll do that at our leisure, when our more important work is done]]. You have had the ''only'' warning I intend to give. |
| 202 | * CharacterTic: In the IDW comic, Starscream upgrades his body [[UnlimitedWardrobe more frequently than any other character]] ([[MerchandiseDriven with the change often reflecting his toy at the time]]), suggesting an insecurity with his appearance. It's later confirmed to be an actual case of body dysmorphia. |
| 203 | * ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: He will backstab anyone and everyone to get ahead. Or he'll try, at any rate. And this has exactly the result you'd expect, towards the latter half of the comics - none of the Decepticons like or trust him, or even want him around, because they know he'll shoot them all in the back sooner or later. |
| 204 | -->'''Stardrive:''' What kind of monster are you? |
| 205 | -->'''Starscream:''' [[AtLeastIAdmitIt A goal-oriented one]]. |
| 206 | * CoDragons: Alongside Soundwave and Shockwave, Starscream is one of Megatron's highest ranking Decepticons. |
| 207 | * CoolPlane: His iconic F-15 form. Though he's had other jet forms as well, especially in the IDW continuity. |
| 208 | * CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: If not for his extreme cowardice and inability to fall in line, G1 Starscream would be a horrifyingly dangerous enemy. He's one of the fastest and most powerful Decepticons physically and can occasionally come up with well thought out plans. |
| 209 | ** In the cartoon: |
| 210 | *** Somehow, in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'', out of all the Decepticons in the big huge brawl, ''Starscream'' outlasts everybody else. WordOfGod later clarified in an interview that he hid in the corner until one person was left then sucker punched the winner. |
| 211 | *** In the episode, "Starscream's Brigade", Megatron actually kicks Starscream out - so he revives the Combaticons into bodies made from old UsefulNotes/WorldWarII vehicles, and he leads them to victory and overthrows Megatron, becoming the leader of the entire Decepticon army (if ultimately only for one minute). He was only thwarted because the Stunticons intervened---which they actually debated about even doing at first. |
| 212 | *** In the episode, "A Prime Problem", Megatron made a clone of Starscream fight a clone of Optimus. The real Starscream was running the clone on remote, and even the Autobots remarked how good a fight he was putting up that day. |
| 213 | ** In the Marvel comic: |
| 214 | *** He managed to absorb the Underbase while playing both sides, and killed off many, ''many'' Transformers, Autobot and Decepticon alike. |
| 215 | *** After being destroyed at the end of the above mentioned Underbase Saga, he was revived as a Pretender by a NotQuiteDead Megatron, {{brainwashed}}, and almost defeated Optimus Prime and ''all of the Decepticons on Earth''. But Ratchet had actually turned him into a reverse ManchurianAgent, hiding his ''true'' personality deep within his neural circuitry, and when Hot Rod shoots Starscream during the fight, he immediately panics and begs mercy to Scorponok. |
| 216 | * DeadpanSnarker: Mostly regarding Megatron or his comrades' incompetence. |
| 217 | * TheDeterminator: It's very hard not to appreciate Starscream's persistence. No matter how much he fails, it never gets him down. |
| 218 | * DidYouJustScamCthulhu: In "Ghost in the Machine", he talked Unicron into giving him a new body so he could connect the Chaos Bringer's head to Cybertron. Once he got what he wanted, Starscream refused to go through on his end of the bargain, mockingly telling Unicron "Do it yourself!". |
| 219 | * DirtyCoward: |
| 220 | ** He wouldn't shoot Megatron in the face if you held a gun to ''his.'' |
| 221 | ** It's also a plot point in the comic. Megatron has Ratchet revive him after the Underbase incident, as a BlankSlate, but Ratchet makes sure Starscream's personality will take over the minute he's badly hurt. Sure enough, the minute it happens, Starscream grovels and pleads to be spared, screwing up Megatron's plan. |
| 222 | * TheDragon: Megatron's most iconic lieutenant. |
| 223 | * DemonicPossession: If his body is destroyed, his Spark can wander about and take over other Transformers, ordinary machines, or even cyborgs. |
| 224 | * {{EMP}}: The main function of his signature null-rays is to disable electronic devices. |
| 225 | * EvilGenius: In the cartoon, he occasionally makes use of his former scientist side, like when he constructed an electric generator to recharge the Decepticons, made gunpowder to compensate for running out of regular ammo in "A Decepticon Raider In King Arthur's Court", and his creation of the Combaticons in "Starscream's Brigade". |
| 226 | * EvilIsNotAToy: Learnt this in the Marvel comics. While the Underbase isn't ''evil'', Starscream ended up being destroyed by the sheer power he had absorbed from it. |
| 227 | * EvilSoundsDeep: Inverted; Starscream has the screechiest voice among the Decepticons. When his voice ''does'' drop though, he's much more sinister and/or serious. |
| 228 | * {{Expy}}: In the first IDW continuity, Starscream is one of [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Loki]]: An intelligent, capable warrior who uses guile and stealth to make up for his lack of brute strength. Years of feeling overshadowed by more physically ideal warriors give him an InferioritySuperiorityComplex, turning him into a self-serving OpportunisticBastard who is perfectly willing to step on others to get his way. He eventually [[HeelRealization begins to struggle with the ramifications]] of his morally dubious actions, [[spoiler: and manages to stay on the side of good long enough to pull a HeroicSacrifice]]. |
| 229 | * FatalFlaw: It's not [[GreenEyedMonster greed]] or [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition]] (even though he has plenty of both) but {{pride}}, as well as overconfidence in his own skills, mainly as leader. |
| 230 | * FaustianRebellion: Bargained with Unicron for a new body in "Ghost in the Machine", then successfully betrayed him. |
| 231 | * FauxAffablyEvil: He may be a cowardly suck-up, but he's as villainous as you can get with Decepticons. |
| 232 | * FightingFromTheInside: In ''Regeneration one''. The zombified Starscream is able to resist Megatron's control long enough to tell Kup how to stop him (although it is later revealed that Shockwave allowed for this to happen). |
| 233 | * FreudianExcuse: In the IDW comics, many of Starscream's issues stem from the fact that he was [[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Reproduction#2005_IDW_continuity cold constructed]], and was consequently never able to assume the {{Animesque}} [[https://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/e/ef/Your_First_Mistake_-_Screamys_True_Form.jpg form originally intended for him.]] |
| 234 | * TheFriendNobodyLikes: Few of his fellow Decepticons can stand being around him, especially when he tries to betray Megatron. |
| 235 | -->'''Starscream:''' I still say [[WeNeedADistraction the diversionary attack on the solar plant]] was a waste of energy. |
| 236 | -->'''Skywarp:''' [[YouTalkTooMuch You waste more energy with your mouth]]. |
| 237 | * GeniusDitz: Played up in the cartoon. For all of his scientific knowledge, he's severely lacking in common sense and leadership skills. This can cause him to enter TooDumbToLive territory, and he would've probably been killed repeatedly off if G1 wasn't a kids show. |
| 238 | * HatedByAll: None of the Decepticons are willing to tolerate Starscream and are not keen on seeing him replace Megatron as their leader. This is because, for all of the latter's faults, Megatron himself is a fairly effective and powerful leader, unlike the cowardly and ineffectual Starscream. In the movie, when Starscream actually won a leadership fight and was crowned the leader of the Decepticons, only to get killed during the coronation, the Decepticons immediately accepted his killer, Galvatron (who is actually Megatron himself), as their leader, and none were sad to see him go. |
| 239 | * HeroKiller: In the comics, he manages to kill over ''thirty'' Autobots in the space of a single issue, thanks to absorbing the power of the Underbase. |
| 240 | * InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Very briefly, in the UK comics, after his resurrection. Starscream actually thinks, despite having wiped out no less that fifty-five 'bots on both sides during the Underbase fiasco, that the other Decepticons think he's a joke, taking their avoidance and whispering for mocking, rather than them staying the hell away lest he murder them. Eventually, he runs into a bunch of Autobots, who are also scared of him and try running away, which sends Starscream in a fury. And after murdering them, his usual confidence starts to return. |
| 241 | * InformedAttribute: His treachery was this in the original G1 comics; Though he did speak of overthrowing Megatron in the early issues, he never acted on those thoughts, and his critical injuries at the hands of Omega Supreme put him out of commission for a long time. It wasn't until the Underbase saga that Starscream finally got the chance to showcase his most famous trait, betraying both Decepticon factions for his own benefit. |
| 242 | ** In the G2 comics, Megatron actually stated that Starscream's record of deceit and betrayal was "legend". Kind of ironic, considering Starscream's Underbase scheme (his first real act of betrayal in the US comics) happened while Megatron was out of commission. ''Shockwave'' had actually betrayed Megatron more times in the original comic's run. |
| 243 | * InsaneTrollLogic: |
| 244 | ** In "Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1", he believed Megatron ''losing his voice'' was valid enough of a reason to take over as the new leader of the Decepticons. |
| 245 | ** Even worse, Megatron being temporarily stunned in "S.O.S. Dinobots" prompted him to declare that their leader had fallen and proclaim himself new leader. |
| 246 | * InSeriesNickname: Characters sometimes call him "Screamer". |
| 247 | * ItsAllAboutMe: Starscream is vain and self-centered, constantly letting his ambition get in the way of his actual competence. |
| 248 | * {{Jerkass}}: He's a self-centered jerk who can be just as rude and condescending to his fellow Decepticons as he is to Autobots. |
| 249 | * JerkassHasAPoint: Starscream at times, mainly thanks to his knowledge as a scientist, realizes when one of Megatron's plans will fail miserably and warns him about it, only for Megatron to dismiss Starscream's concerns and advice. A notable example came in the Dinobot island two-parter, where the Decepticons start collecting a massive amount of energon cubes thanks to the intense raw energies of the island, but Starscream recognized that the energy barrier surrounding the island and the dinosaurs in it was connected to the time-space continuum, and too much tampering would be disastrous. This naturally comes to occur and the Autobots, who never knew about the Decepticons' plans, intervened and stopped the Decepticons. Had Megatron pulled out when Starscream advised, the Decepticons would've made off with a huge bounty of energon. |
| 250 | * JokerImmunity: As the first iteration of one of the most popular and iconic ''Transformers'' characters, Starscream is rarely killed off. Even in the post-movie cartoon, he lives on with his indestructible spark. |
| 251 | * KarmaHoudini: In the original cartoon, his final appearance sees him successfully scam Unicron into giving him a new body and evading punishment from Galvatron. While he does get sent tumbling uncontrollably through space, he could easily escape this predicament. |
| 252 | * KarmaHoudiniWarranty: His spark lives on into ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', but the most he gets to do is possess Waspinator and then end up forced out when Waspinator's body blows up. His soul is last seen floating off to drift forever into the void in outer space, helplessly screaming vengeance. |
| 253 | * LargeHam: |
| 254 | ** Cartoon Starscream has a memorably screechy voice. |
| 255 | ** Comic Starscream is usually far more composed, but when he gets the Underbase, he spends many pages showing off his god complex, complete with constant pontificating about how great and powerful he is. |
| 256 | --->'''Starscream:''' You have dared to strike me, Transformers... and for that affront you shall pay most dearly! I sentence you to drift in interstellar space for all eternity, until you return to the cosmic dust from which you came! |
| 257 | * LightningBruiser: He's the fastest of the flying Decepticons (with a Speed rating of 9 out of 10), able to reach Mach 2.8 and fly as high as 52 miles. His Strength and Firepower are also listed at a 7. |
| 258 | * MeaningfulName: Bob Budiansky named Starscream such because he envisioned him frequently "[[SkywardScream screaming at the stars]]" whenever he fails, [[SanitySlippage slowly being driven mad]] by his inability to usurp Megatron or destroy the Autobots.[[note]]He also had difficulty pronouncing the original Japanese name, Ulchtar, and anticipated Western audiences would have this same problem.[[/note]] |
| 259 | * NiceJobFixingItVillain: In the first episode of the cartoon, Starscream decides to fire a few parting shots at the Ark out of spite. The force of the blasts jostles a deactivated Optimus Prime into the range of the ship's repair system, bringing him back online and allowing him and the Autobots to resume fighting the Decepticons. If Starscream hadn't done anything, the Decepticons would have had a clear run at conquering Earth. |
| 260 | * NotQuiteBackToNormal: ''Regeneration One'' reveals that Starscream still has a fraction of the Underbase's power within him. The power re-emerges when he does battle with Jhiaxus and his forces (as does the personalities of the archivists who gave themselves to the Underbase - whom Jhiaxus betrayed). |
| 261 | * NotSoHarmlessVillain: For all his flaws, Starscream is a dangerous combatant, with plenty of Autobots under his belt (and as CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass shows, he ''has'' come close to winning many times). This is the only reason Megatron keeps him around. The main problem is he foils almost as many of the Decepticons plans as he succeeds at. |
| 262 | ** Meanwhile, in the comics, Starscream manages to do incredible damage to both sides, taking out some of the most hardened badasses both sides possess. |
| 263 | * OneHitKill: His Null Ray shuts down nearly anything that runs on electricity, meaning he can defeat several Transformers with one clean hit. However, organic beings and powerful Transformers like Megatron, Optimus Prime, and Starscream himself will only get knocked backwards by the Null Ray. |
| 264 | * OurGhostsAreDifferent: Starscream possesses a mutant spark that is indestructible - allowing him to survive death as a "ghost". |
| 265 | * OutOfCharacterMoment: Humbly deferred to and took orders from ''Astrotrain'' in "The God Gambit". [[note]]Interestingly, Astrotrain is ''also'' out-of-character in the episode, acting more like Megatron than his canon personality. This implies Megatron was originally supposed to have Astrotrain's role, but Sunbow changed it in order to promote the new toy.[[/note]] |
| 266 | * PaintItBlack: When his spark possesses someone, their appearance may change to reflect him. This includes Atari Hitotonari's uniform turning black and [[WesternAnimation/BeastWars Waspinator's]] Predacon emblem turning into the Decepticon emblem. |
| 267 | * PaletteSwap: With his Seekers Thundercracker Skywarp, plus various miscellaneous generics and {{Canon Immigrant}}s. Downplayed with the Coneheads, whose designs are slightly modified. |
| 268 | * PayEvilUntoEvil: Since the Dreamwave days, he's got a knack for AssholeVictims a'plenty. |
| 269 | * PersonOfMassDestruction: He was temporarily one in the Marvel comic. After absorbing the cosmic power of the Underbase, he went on an infamous rampage where he destroyed dozens of Autobots and Decepticons before his power caused himself to blow up. [[BackFromTheDead He got better later on.]] |
| 270 | * PetTheDog: In the UK comics, he got reawakened at the time of Christmas Eve, and a kid tried to teach him the meaning of Christmas. Starscream was so homesick and depressed he couldn't even bring himself to crush a kid, so he reluctantly went along with him. Once he saved the van full of seniors, but he admitted [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk he did that only to mock Streetwise who tried to blast him and expected him trying to harm people]]. However, despite that, he ''sincerely wished a Merry Christmas to a kid'' before departing on his own. |
| 271 | * PutOnABus: Despite his usual prominence in the franchise, in the Marvel comics he was imprisoned in the Ark following a disastrous battle with Omega Supreme. While he was released over twenty or so issues later, the UK comic let him out much earlier, during their "Target: 2006" storyline. |
| 272 | * RageAgainstTheMentor: Some of Starscream's recent characterizations have this. |
| 273 | * RedOnesGoFaster: Has a significant amount of red detailing, and is one of the fastest Decepticons. |
| 274 | * RefuseToRescueTheDisliked: Even when not plotting Megatron's demise himself, he's frequently eager to [[IWarnedYou gloat at his failures]] and watch him fall to the Autobots. Reconstructed in "Divide And Conquer" where he uses [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou Megatron's protectiveness of his rivalry with Optimus against him]]. He ''does'' fetch Megatron out of there eventually, but only after enjoying watching a juiced up Optimus finish trashing his leader, considering this Decepticon loss quite WorthIt. |
| 275 | -->'''Starscream:''' ''(smirks)'' Such a pity. |
| 276 | * RiddleForTheAges: The obvious question of ''why'' Megatron keeps him around despite his treachery, incompetence, and lack of subtlety in wanting the top job is never answered in the original cartoon, since StatusQuoIsGod. Various writers of various continuities have addressed it in their own ways, either by making Starscream genuinely competent enough at his job to be a valuable asset to the Decepticons (most notably the first IDW continuity, where he was vital in Megatron's rise to power) or having him get kicked out or leave the Decepticons entirely (in ''Animated'' and ''Armada''). |
| 277 | * SissyVillain: To varying degrees, depending on the medium. Starscream is often shown to be a preening egotist, but with an undercurrent of petty spite and vengefulness that falls somewhere between 'foppish' and 'bitchy.' Pair that with his arrogance, flamboyant attitude, raspy-screech voice, tendency to whine and/or complain, and arguably the best looks among the original 1984 Decepticons, and you have some definitely headway into this trope. |
| 278 | * SmugSnake: Starscream believes himself to be smarter, deadlier, and handsomer than the rest of the Decepticons, when this is repeatedly shown to be inferior to several of his teammates much less his boss. No matter how many times he fails his ego is too bloated to realize this. He has frequently been portrayed as more interested in being Decepticon leader for the sake of the title than defeating the Autobots. Unsurprisingly, [[HatedByAll most of the Decepticons hate him.]] |
| 279 | * SnarkToSnarkCombat: Very frequently in the cartoon, he and Megatron exchange insults and criticise the other's lack of strategy; often arguing like a bitter married couple. |
| 280 | * TheStarscream: He constantly schemes to overthrow Megatron as leader of the Decepticons, [[TropeNamer though this really goes without saying...]] |
| 281 | * TerribleTrio: Part of the Seeker trio with Skywarp and Thundercracker. He also forms one with Megatron and Soundwave. |
| 282 | * TheyKilledKennyAgain: After getting destroyed the first time in the cartoon, he can barely keep a host or rebuilt body for a short time before getting blown up again. |
| 283 | * VillainWithGoodPublicity: In the IDW comics, after being elected as the leader of a neutral faction. |
| 284 | * WeUsedToBeFriends: Cartoon Starscream used to be chums with Jetfire, back before the war. They have a falling out after meeting up again on Earth. |
| 285 | [[/folder]] |
| 286 | |
| 287 | [[folder:Soundwave (サウンドウェーブ ''saundowēbu'')]] |
| 288 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/soundwave_9682.jpg]] |
| 289 | !!!'''Function:''' Communications |
| 290 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Micro-Cassette Recorder |
| 291 | |
| 292 | ->''"Cries and screams are music to my ears."'' |
| 293 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/FrankWelker (EN), Issei Masamune (JP) |
| 294 | |
| 295 | One of Megatron's most loyal followers, a communications officer who can deploy small cassette robots and read minds. |
| 296 | ---- |
| 297 | * AdaptationalBadass: Same deal as Megatron in the IDW comics, but in this case, his other alt-modes are based on armored cars. |
| 298 | * AdaptationalHeroism: The IDW comic's version of Soundwave is easily the most sympathetic among all of his incarnations; his [[DarkAndTroubledPast backstory]] is quite [[HomelessPigeonPerson tragic]] [[spoiler: and while he continues to self-identify as a Decepticon, post-''All Hail Optimus'' [[HeelFaceTurn he has renounced the faction's aims of conquest and become an ally of Optimus Prime and the Autobots.]]]] |
| 299 | * AdaptationPersonalityChange: His famous depiction in the [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Sunbow cartoon]] as Megatron's [[TheCreon loyal right-hand-man]] was an example of this; Bob Budiansky's original bio for Soundwave described him as an unscrupulous opportunist in it only for himself. This is a rare example where the changed personality has supplanted the original; in most subsequent iterations of ''G1'' and other ''Transformers'' incarnations, Soundwave's personality is almost always in line with the Sunbow version. |
| 300 | * AlienArtsAreAppreciated: He enjoys music, even calling the alien music from "Carnage in C-Minor" heaven. |
| 301 | * AllThereInTheManual: Soundwave's bio depicts him a telepathic robot who keeps notes on all of his fellow Decepticons for blackmail, and everyone hates him for this. Neither of these were used prominently his comic and cartoon portrayal (though the blackmail element ended up finally showing up during "Earthforce"). |
| 302 | * TheBadGuyWins: During his first stint as Decepticon leader in the Marvel UK comics, he actually manages to gain a victory, complete with appropriate BreakingSpeech. |
| 303 | * BackFromTheDead: In ''[[Anime/TransformersHeadmasters The Headmasters]]'', he's rebuilt into Soundblaster following a battle with Blaster, in which both combatants died. |
| 304 | * BenevolentBoss: Soundwave is rather respectful towards his cassettes, and are about the only thing that he shows protectiveness and admiration of, though how much he displays this varies from adaptation to adaptation. They, in turn, hold Soundwave in high regard and are happy to come to his aid. |
| 305 | * BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: He's going to dig up any dirt you have on you and use it. This is chiefly used in the UK Marvel comics during the "Earthforce" series. |
| 306 | * BodyHorror: In ''Regeneration One'', he and the majority of his cassettes are absorbed by the Shadow Leeches, turning them into a warped fusion of themselves. |
| 307 | * TheBore: In TheMovie, The Constructicons accuse him of being this, claiming that "No one would follow an uncharismatic bore like you". |
| 308 | * BreakoutCharacter: Soundwave's toy was incredibly popular in both North America and Japan and remained in production long after the other original ''Transformers'' line up had been discontinued. This meant that Soundwave was one of the few characters to survive both the original cartoon and the Marvel comic unscathed. He's well-remembered from the cartoon for being Megatron's most loyal and competent underling (alongside Shockwave), and for his cassettes being interesting characters in their own right, which in turn makes Soundwave more interesting. |
| 309 | * BrokenPedestal: IDW Soundwave did ''not'' appreciate Megatron betraying his ideals and [[HeelFaceTurn going over to the Autobots]]... [[spoiler:until ''All Hail Optimus''.]] |
| 310 | * CharacterCatchphrase: |
| 311 | ** "[Mini-Cassette], eject! Operation: [action]!" |
| 312 | ** "[[UndyingLoyalty As you command, Megatron.]]" |
| 313 | * CoDragons: Across continuities, he's usually this with Starscream and/or Shockwave. |
| 314 | * CommunicationsOfficer: This is his official function in the Decepticon army. |
| 315 | * TheCreon: Unlike most of Megatron's [[TheDragon lieutenants]], Soundwave is content with his position and has no desire to lead the Decepticons himself... [[DependingOnTheWriter usually.]] |
| 316 | * DarkAndTroubledPast: In the IDW continuity, he was originally a HomelessPigeonPerson who suffered from SensoryOverload, not knowing where he came from or even what his name was. Ravage, Buzzsaw and Laserbeak happen upon him, and Ravage's advice helps him to control his mind-reading through focus. After that, he lives with them on the streets, and they remain loyal to each other, even coming with him when he was employed by the Senate and later when he joined the Decepticons. |
| 317 | * DecompositeCharacter: In Dreamwave comics and ''WebAnimation/TransformersWarForCybertron'' animated series, Soundwave and Soundblaster are two different entities, with the latter being the clone of the former. |
| 318 | * DependingOnTheArtist: |
| 319 | ** While Soundwave's original toy has a yellow visor (which carried over to the Marvel comics), the cartoon opted to give him a red one, in line with all Autobots (the "good guys") having blue "eyes", and all Decepticons (the "bad guys") having red. Various toys and other incarnations have switched between the two at various points. |
| 320 | ** In the Marvel comics, Soundwave was consistently colored purple (evidently based on an early animation model), and Sarra Mossoff used the same coloring in the ''Generation 2'' series. In the UK comics, though, he was consistently colored blue. ''Regeneration One'' depicts him as blue, [[spoiler:but this is later shown to be an in-universe change as a result of being possessed by the Dark Matrix entity]]. |
| 321 | ** In some issues, José Delbo would draw Soundwave with an actual face. Previous and later artists would depict him with his more well-known faceplate. |
| 322 | * DependingOnTheWriter: Soundwave is usually Megatron's most loyal supporter, however, certain sources, like the UK "Earthforce" story and his original Tech Specs, write him as an unscrupulous conman in it only for himself. His use of blackmail varies from continuity as well. In the IDW comics he's usually a complete loyalist, however sometimes he's written as an opportunist. His speech patterns also tend to vary, from normal to stilted and robotic. |
| 323 | * TheDragon: He's Megatron's most faithful and competent subordinate. And every time a new BigBad surfaces in the Marvel comics, Soundwave keeps his Dragon status. |
| 324 | * DragonAscendant: With Soundwave's high rank he's been placed in charge of the faction from time to time. |
| 325 | ** In the UK exclusive future timeline depicted in ''The Space Pirates'' and ''Time Wars'', he has become leader of what's left of the Decepticons. His leadership style is essentially a mixture of what he considers to be the best qualities of his old bosses. |
| 326 | ** In the 2005 IDW continuity, Soundwave takes control of the Cybertronian-based Decepticons in light of Megatron's capture and Shockwave and Starscream's defection. From ''Dark Cybertron'' onward he remains the tenuous leader of one of the Decepticon splinter factions, [[spoiler:the one that allies with the Autobots]]. |
| 327 | * DroneDeployer: He keeps an army of Mini-Cassettes inside his chest, which he sends out for espionage and battle purposes. |
| 328 | * EnemyMine: Both Marvel and IDW have him work with the Autobots to deal with greater threats (though not without some blackmail in the case of the latter). |
| 329 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: His cassettes (barring Ratbat in the IDW continuity) and Megatron. As he puts it: |
| 330 | --> '''Soundwave:''' You do not understand '''LOYALTY!''' |
| 331 | * EvilLaugh: Very rarely, he does this in the cartoon. It's rather unsettling when he does it. |
| 332 | * EvilSoundsDeep: Cartoon Soundwave has Frank Welker doing his best Doctor Claw voice, with vocoder work on top of it to give it a deep echo. |
| 333 | * EvilVirtues: For all of his villainy, he's [[UndyingLoyalty extremely loyal]] to Megatron. For example, during the movie, he stayed by his leader's side when Megatron weakly ordered him to not leave him, and also carried him away from the battle as his comrades retreated from Autobot city. |
| 334 | * HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: In the IDW continuity, he eventually becomes an ally of Optimus Prime's Autobots. Despite this, he never stops self-identifying as a Decepticon, intending to remake the faction into one that fights for freedom rather than conquest, as Megatron originally intended.]] |
| 335 | * HiddenDepths: “Space Pirates” hints that Soundwave wants the war to end without further fighting, but thinks that it’s gone on for too long for peace to be an option. |
| 336 | * HomelessPigeonPerson: His backstory in the IDW continuity explains why he is called "Soundwave". |
| 337 | * InexplicablyAwesome: In the Marvel comics, Soundwave survives everything (being poisoned, the Underbase, ''Unicron'') with nary a scratch, becoming the ''only'' Decepticon to last all the way through the entire series, despite lacking any particular gimmick. |
| 338 | ** Note also that the Underbase saga had Soundwave very definitely fried... yet he was up and around later, with no explanation for how. Apparently, Soundwave's just too ''badass'' to die. |
| 339 | * InformedAttribute: His original bio states he's an expert at blackmailing his fellow 'Cons but this only showed up in ''Earthforce''. |
| 340 | * KilledOffForReal: At the end of [=ReGeneration=] One. He and his tapes with the exception of Ravage got assimilated by the Dark Swarm after his defeat against Blaster. |
| 341 | * KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: Soundwave's main weapon is a concussion blaster (one that transforms into a battery, no less!). |
| 342 | * LaserGuidedKarma: His Tech Specs note that because of his opportunistic blackmailing nature, he's a target of retaliation for fellow Decepticons, if they think Megatron will let them get away with it. |
| 343 | * LosingYourHead: His ''Titans Return'' toy gives him a Titan Master named Soundblaster (not to be confused with his rebuilt black form) who turns into his head. |
| 344 | * LovesTheSoundOfScreaming: According to his toy bio quote, but it's [[CharacterizationMarchesOn another character trait than never made it anywhere else]]. |
| 345 | * LoyalToThePosition: Of Decepticon leader. |
| 346 | * MachineMonotone: His cartoon depiction has this, as well as a vocoder effect applied to it. Comic depictions made after the cartoon tend to write his dialogue this way, too. |
| 347 | * MakeSomeNoise: Fitting for his alt mode, Soundwave can produce powerful, destructive bursts of pure sound. |
| 348 | * NoMouth: Mostly, see DependingOnTheArtist. Though it is implied he does have a mouth, since the cartoon makes his mouthplate move as if a mouth were underneath, plus his IDW backstory depicts him with a regular mouth before he is hired by the Senate. |
| 349 | * NotSoStoic: Though he gives off the impression of an emotionless robot in the cartoon, he does have moments of emotion (see ScreamsLikeALittleGirl, EvilLaugh, and PetTheDog). Also in "Child's Play", he tried to ''play baseball'' with Skywarp, while in "Microbots" he gets as drunk off his ass from Energon with the other Decepticons. |
| 350 | * NotSoAboveItAll: |
| 351 | ** In the G1 episode [[Recap/TransformersG1ChildsPlay "Child's Play"]], when the Decepticons invade a softball game as part of their latest space bridge scheme, he throws a player to Skywarp and urges him to "think fast!" |
| 352 | ** This unusually matter-of-fact/tongue-in-cheek response to ''Megatron'' of all people in [[Recap/TransformersG1TheGirlWhoLovedPowerglide "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide"]]: |
| 353 | -->'''Megatron''': Raise the forcefields! |
| 354 | -->'''Soundwave''': ''What forcefields?'' |
| 355 | ** In fact, his overtures at taking leadership as seen in the IDW comics and the movie prove that while he is content to serve under Megatron, he is more than ready to try to take up the mantle of leadership if the need arises. |
| 356 | * OperationBlank: Soundwave would seem to use this trope, except his speech patterns meant he was simply issuing orders to his Casseticons. |
| 357 | * OutOfCharacterMoment: He didn't lift a finger to save Megatron when Starscream had him ThrownOutTheAirlock in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie''. Especially after he just risked his neck to save Megatron in the first place. Apparently, this is the result of editing; a DeletedScene would've clarified that his subsequent bid for leadership was just so that [[UndyingLoyalty he could force Astrotrain to go back for Megatron]]. |
| 358 | ** In the "Kids Stuff" audio books, he's depicted as a whiny, simpering toady who lacks his traditional RoboSpeak. |
| 359 | * PaintItBlack: As Soundblaster, most of him is recolored black. |
| 360 | * PetTheDog: One time Soundwave released all his Cassetticons to watch a duel between Optimus Prime and Megatron. When Ravage sat next to him, [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Soundwave gave him a few pets on the head like Ravage was his pet cat]]. |
| 361 | * RelatedInTheAdaptation: He and Shockwave are brothers in ''ComicBook/TransformersVsGIJoe''. |
| 362 | * TheReliableOne: In the G1 cartoon and most of his depictions, Soundwave is one of the most competent Decepticons around, and which is an undeniable factor in why Megatron treats him well and has an VillainousFriendship with him. |
| 363 | * TheRival: |
| 364 | ** With Blaster, both being sound-based transformers, they even once had a duel that resulted in them ''both'' dying. |
| 365 | ** In the cartoon he would often fight Brawn for whatever reason. |
| 366 | * RoboSpeak: Though he doesn't ''always'' talk robotically in the cartoon, his iconic catchphrases do fall under this. |
| 367 | --> "Soundwave superior, Constructicons inferior." |
| 368 | * ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Believe it or not - he screams in the cartoon episode, "Roll for It", after being sent flying. |
| 369 | * ShoulderCannon: Has what appears to be a machinegun/missile launcher on his shoulder, formed from one of his alt-mode's batteries. |
| 370 | * SizeShifter: Transforms into a microcassette player able to be held by humans. Even more bizarre in the cartoon, [[http://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/3/37/Soundwave_shrinks.gif in which we see him quickly shrink in size after transforming]]. |
| 371 | * TheSpymaster: He sends his little minions out to spy on the Autobots... and his fellow Decepticons. |
| 372 | * TheStoic: Usually speaks in MachineMonotone and has both a visor and faceplate, leaving his face utterly expressionless. |
| 373 | * TactfulTranslation: In "Atlantis, Arise!" Soundwave translates what Nergal ''really'' said to his troops--instead of taking Wheeljack to the dungeons as Nergal told Megatron, he's to be taken to the labs to develop weapons against both Autobot AND Decepticon alike. |
| 374 | * {{Telepathy}}: Though an often forgotten power of his, Soundwave can read minds by monitoring electrical brain impulses. |
| 375 | * UndyingLoyalty: Unlike his CoDragons Starscream and Shockwave, Soundwave is consistently depicted as utterly loyal to Megatron. In the original screenplay of the movie its shown that he opposed Starscream's decision to throw the mortally-wounded Megatron off Astrotrain, and fought for Decepticon leadership just so he can force Astrotrain to go back for him. This was ExecutiveMeddling, unfortunately, cut to "save screentime" and in the final film, Soundwave is even shown among the Decepticons agreeing with Starscream on throwing Megatron to his death. Maybe Megatron recorded over Soundwave's favorite mixtape before hand? |
| 376 | * VillainousFriendship: |
| 377 | ** Type I with Megatron. There is a reason why Megatron begged for ''his'' help when mortally-wounded, as he is the only ''being'', much less Decepticon, he could trust. Thankfully, this love is fully returned even when his leader became Galvatron, as in ''[[Anime/TransformersHeadmasters The Headmasters]]'', he brought him back to life as Soundblaster after he died fighting Blaster. |
| 378 | ** Some continuities also have him have a Type I friendship with his cassettes, most prominently his backstory in the IDW comics. |
| 379 | * YesMan: To Megatron, but an unquestionably cool example. |
| 380 | [[/folder]] |
| 381 | |
| 382 | [[folder:Mini-Cassettes/Spy Cassettes/Recordicons/Cassetticons (Cassettron (カセットロン ''kasettoron''))]] |
| 383 | Soundwave's personal soldiers. They all have an alt mode of a micro-cassette and are stored in Soundwave's chest until deployment. |
| 384 | ---- |
| 385 | * DependingOnTheWriter: How sentient the animal cassettes are varies by continuity. They either act like normal animals [[TalkingAnimal or are intelligent and can speak]]. |
| 386 | * MechanicalAnimals: Sometimes, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw are not simply Transformers with bestial robot modes, but upgraded Cybertronian wildlife called Cryo-condors. |
| 387 | * PaletteSwap: Buzzsaw and Lazerbeak as well as Rumble and Frenzy (whichever one is which). |
| 388 | * UndyingLoyalty: In the original cartoon they are all fiercely loyal to both Soundwave and Megatron. |
| 389 | |
| 390 | !!Buzzsaw (バズソー ''bazusō'') |
| 391 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/buzzsaw_2047.jpg]] |
| 392 | !!!'''Function:''' Spy |
| 393 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Micro-Cassette |
| 394 | |
| 395 | ->''"My bite is worse than my bark."'' |
| 396 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Chris Latta (EN/JP) |
| 397 | |
| 398 | An egoistical, condor-like 'con who works as Soundwave's main bot for spying and enjoys making art out of his victims. |
| 399 | ----- |
| 400 | * AbsurdlySharpBlade: His beak, quoth his Tech Specs, is diamond-hard and can carve up almost any opponent. |
| 401 | * BreakTheHaughty: His ego is not the hardest thing in the world to break. |
| 402 | * BrutalBirdOfPrey: Evil robotic condor. |
| 403 | * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: His appearances in the cartoon weren't frequent to begin with (see below for why), but Season 3 forgot all about him. |
| 404 | * FauxAffablyEvil: He's civil and sophisticated, but also cruel and destructive. |
| 405 | * FeatheredFiend: Even though he doesn't have any feathers, this bird is still not friendly. |
| 406 | * {{Improv}}: He isn't good at it. |
| 407 | * KilledOffForReal: In the Marvel Comics, thanks to an Underbase-powered Starscream. |
| 408 | * MadArtist: Buzzsaw's idea of art is to display his victim's corpses in grotesque ways. |
| 409 | * OutOfFocus: Despite having the "Spy" function and being packaged with Soundwave, most tie-in media (mainly the cartoon) ignored him in favour of Laserbeak (ostensibly because so long as Soundwave was advertised, so was Buzzsaw, so he didn't need to appear as much). Became rather hilarious when later toys that had stuff packaged with them such as the Headmasters did get advertised. Somewhat averted in the comics, where he got roughly equal time with Laserbeak up until Buzzsaw was among Omega Supreme's victims, but even Laserbeak fell out of focus after that, despite escaping that battle intact. |
| 410 | * ParrotPetPosition: In the Marvel Comics, he was perching on Shockwave's shoulder when the latter was Decepticon leader. |
| 411 | * PutOnABus: In issue 25 of the Marvel comics, he's one of many 1984 Decepticons who were destroyed and imprisoned in the Ark. It wasn't until many issues later that he was rescued. |
| 412 | * SizeShifter: Goes from a normal sized bird to a microcassette (or a regular cassette in the cartoon). |
| 413 | * SmallNameBigEgo: To the point where he'll sulk if things don't go his way. |
| 414 | * StationaryWings: His wings are often still, with jet engines doing the flying for him. |
| 415 | * StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: Taken to ridiculous levels when in the Marvel Comics he takes down ''[[HumongousMecha Omega Supreme]]'', though it does serve as a measure of revenge for his [[CurbStompBattle earlier defeat]]. |
| 416 | * VileVulture: Like we said earlier: Evil. Robotic. Condor. |
| 417 | * TheUnintelligible: [[DependingOnTheWriter Sometimes]]. |
| 418 | |
| 419 | !!Laserbeak (Condor (コンドル ''kondoru'')) |
| 420 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/laserbeak_5424.jpg]] |
| 421 | !!!'''Function:''' Interrogation |
| 422 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Micro-Cassette |
| 423 | ->''"The only point I like in Autobots: Melting point."'' |
| 424 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Chris Latta (EN/JP) |
| 425 | |
| 426 | Another condor-like 'con whom Soundwave usually deploys for interrogation and the occasional espionage. He is cunning but will flee at the first sign of danger. |
| 427 | ----- |
| 428 | * BrutalBirdOfPrey: Like his friend Buzzsaw. |
| 429 | * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: He survived the Great Toy Purge that was ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'', but, save for a brief cameo in "Webworld," never appeared again, his spot in the cartoon and toyline taken by fellow Mini-Cassette Ratbat. |
| 430 | * CompositeCharacter: In the cartoon, Laserbeak took up Buzzsaw's role as the Decepticons' spy since use of Buzzsaw was rarely encouraged (as a result, Laserbeak's less family-friendly role of "Interrogator" was ignored). |
| 431 | * DirtyCoward: The main reason for his tactic of quickly attacking and quickly disappearing. He even shows hesitation in the episode, "Divide and Conquer", after being told to spy on the Autobots, specifically to report on a severely wounded Optimus Prime's condition. He does end up doing it though. |
| 432 | -->'''Skywarp:''' I think Laserbeak's chicken!\ |
| 433 | '''Megatron:''' He'll have more to fear if he refuses to obey me! |
| 434 | * FeatheredFiend: He's based on a bird and he's an evil Decepticon. |
| 435 | * KilledOffForReal: |
| 436 | ** In the Marvel comics, due to an Underbase-powered Starscream. |
| 437 | ** In the IDW comics he's killed by the legions of Unicron. |
| 438 | * LighterAndSofter: The cartoon version (and subsequently most other adaptations) is not the back-stabbing, [[MutilationInterrogation brutal]] interrogator assassin he's depicted as in his original Tech Specs. Rather, he's merely a spy. |
| 439 | * MutilationInterrogation: Is described as using his lasers to carve into prisoners until he gets what he wants to know. |
| 440 | * ParrotPetPosition: He sits on the shoulder of Soundwave or anyone who is the Decepticon leader at that time. Most noticeable in the comics. A joke on Website/TFWikiDotNet tells, "Autobots pass the Matrix, Decepticons pass the Laserbeak". This is usually due to his cowardice -- should the helm change, his loyalty to the previous leader will almost instantly disappear. |
| 441 | * PowerCrystal: His Tech Specs say his lasers are powered by ruby crystals. Running short of them can be enough to panic his systems into shutdown. |
| 442 | * ProfessionalKiller: He is often used as an assassin. |
| 443 | * RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: This Decepticon birdie is primarily red and black. |
| 444 | * SizeShifter: Goes from a normal sized bird to a microcassette (or a regular cassette in the cartoon). |
| 445 | * StationaryWings: Like Buzzsaw, Laserbeak's wings don't flap like real bird wings. |
| 446 | * StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: In some episodes he's easily defeated. In "A Prime Problem", he effortlessly manhandles Optimus Prime and Starscream. |
| 447 | * VileVulture: Same as Buzzsaw. |
| 448 | * TheUnintelligible: Speaks with bird noises in the cartoon. |
| 449 | |
| 450 | !!Ravage (Jagar (ジャガー ''jagā'')) |
| 451 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ravageofficialart_6770.jpg]] |
| 452 | !!!'''Function:''' Saboteur |
| 453 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Micro-Cassette |
| 454 | ->''"Today's Autobots are tomorrow's scrap metal."'' |
| 455 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/FrankWelker (EN), Yutaka Shimaka & Creator/FrankWelker[[note]] Yutaka Shimaka dubbed Ravage's one line in ''More Than Meets the Eye, Part 3'' and Frank Welker's sound effects were reused from the English version[[/note]] (JP) |
| 456 | |
| 457 | The Decepticons' spy and saboteur and one of the Mini-Cassettes. Despite being a beast robot, Ravage is one of Megatron's most loyal Decepticons, though he is aloof towards all others. |
| 458 | ----- |
| 459 | * BlindedByTheLight: Ravage doesn't take too kindly to bright light. |
| 460 | * CatsAreMean: A loyal Decepticon cat who turns his nose up to his comrades. You better believe he's mean. Notable exceptions are Soundwave and Megatron. |
| 461 | * CharacterFocus: Of all the Mini-Cassettes, Ravage is the most prominent, with an increased role in the Marvel comics, a reappearance in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' and ''Kiss Players'' as a Predacon, and a member of the Lost Light crew in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye''. |
| 462 | * CoolPlane: In addition to a Spy Tablet (in lieu of the outdated Mini-Cassette), his ''Titans Return'' toy has a jet mode. |
| 463 | * DisneyVillainDeath: Zig-zagged in the Marvel comics. During a fight with the Autobot Skids, Ravage fell down a mine shaft, and was presumed dead. He wouldn't resurface until nearly fifty issues later, as a member of Shockwave's rebel Decepticon faction (though he returned much sooner in the UK comics). |
| 464 | * FaceHeelTurn: In the Japanese G1 continuity, Ravage had actually been an Autobot Imperial Guard, before he became a Decepticon. |
| 465 | * HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: IDW Ravage is torn in half by Tarn in issue 54 of ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye''. [[spoiler:He manages to survive this, but eventually succumbs and dies.]] |
| 466 | * IWorkAlone: He operates best alone, and he's not shy about letting the other Decepticons know it. |
| 467 | * LastOfHisKind: One of the few remaining Decepticons in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', while by the end of ''Regeneration One'' he's not only one of the last 'Cons, he's the last known surviving Decepticon Mini-Cassette. |
| 468 | * TheNoseKnows: As a cat, he's got a good sense of smell. Useful for tracking down targets. |
| 469 | * PantheraAwesome: His robot mode is panther-like, and he's fearsomely competent for his size. |
| 470 | * RightHandAttackDog: A robotic jaguar who serves as a loyal hunter/fighter for Soundwave and Megatron. |
| 471 | * SizeShifter: Goes from being a normal sized jaguar to a microcassette (or a regular cassette in the cartoon). |
| 472 | * StealthExpert: He has an electromagnetic emission shield, walks without making a single sound and disappears in low light/shadow. |
| 473 | * TheStrategist: He's good at concocting newer, deadlier strategies. |
| 474 | * StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: He can fight evenly with Autobots or be knocked away by humans. |
| 475 | * TookALevelInBadass: He gets reformatted into a Predacon in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', giving him a humanoid form. |
| 476 | * UndyingLoyalty: To Megatron. In fact, Ravage was his first recruit in the UK Marvel Comics. His loyalty persists in ''Beast Wars'', centuries later; when he realises BW Megatron is actually following one of his namesake's plans, Ravage frees him, and turns against the Maximals. |
| 477 | * TheUnintelligible: As with Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, whether he can speak or not all depends on who holds the pen. While he's this in the cartoon, he did speak once, in "More Than Meets The Eye Part 3". |
| 478 | -->'''Ravage:''' The rocket base is one hundred and forty kilometers due west of the Autobot camp. |
| 479 | ** The above instance may have been facilitated by Soundwave, as Ravage was being "played back" while inside Soundwave's chest cavity. |
| 480 | * VillainousFriendship: Ravage is touted as one of Megatron's most loyal and faithful Decepticons. This is most obvious in the UK Marvel story, "Head Games", and in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' (though by then Megatron is an Autobot). To some degree, this also applies to Soundwave and his fellow Decepticon Mini-Cassettes. |
| 481 | |
| 482 | !!Rumble (ランブル ''ranburu'') and Frenzy (フレンジー ''furenjī'') |
| 483 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rumbleofficialart_4217.jpg]] |
| 484 | [[caption-width-right:205:Rumble]] |
| 485 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/frenzy_1132.jpg]] |
| 486 | [[caption-width-right:205:Frenzy]] |
| 487 | !!!'''Function:''' Demolitions (Rumble), Warrior (Frenzy) |
| 488 | !!!'''Alt Modes:''' Micro-Cassette |
| 489 | ->'''Rumble:''' ''"Destroy what's below and what's above will follow."'' |
| 490 | ->'''Frenzy:''' ''"Sow panic and surrender will bloom."'' |
| 491 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/FrankWelker (both, US), Ken Shiroyama, Creator/KatsumiSuzuki and Ken Yamaguchi (Rumble, JP), Creator/KeiichiNanba and Creator/{{Cho}} (Frenzy, JP) |
| 492 | |
| 493 | Two 'cons who look identical except for their colour schemes. They often enter the frontlines to engage the Autobots. Rumble can make tremors with his piledrivers while Frenzy can disorient his foes with his sonic screeches. |
| 494 | ---- |
| 495 | * AdaptationDyeJob: Rumble is red/black and Frenzy is blue, [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/FIRRIB or it is backwards?]] At one point, due to a limited palette, they were ''both'' blue in the Marvel comics. And at one point in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'', they were both red/black![[labelnote:*]]The production bible for the cartoon specifies Rumble as a "red robot", as does a FreezeFrameBonus in "Heavy Metal War" when Teletraan 1 shows some specs of Decepticons, indicating an error happened somewhere in production, suggesting the change in character colors was the fault of the staff at Creator/ToeiAnimation and stuck with the writers going forward. The Japanese version corrects this by reversing their names.[[/labelnote]] |
| 496 | * AdaptationalSuperpowerChange: Frenzy's sonic abilities were never used (or even mentioned) in the Sunbow cartoon. Instead, he had piledrivers like Rumble... which themselves were an invention of the cartoon, with Rumble's Tech Specs saying that his earthquakes are caused by transmitting low-frequency groundwaves. |
| 497 | * AxCrazy: Frenzy, as his name implies, has a few screws loose and is a battle-hungry warrior. His Tech Specs note that his manic attacks can be countered with cool logic. |
| 498 | * BashBrothers: The two fight Autobots well together, though whether or not they really are brothers depends on continuity. |
| 499 | * BattleCry: Frenzy uses his sonic powers as one. |
| 500 | * BloodKnight: To quote his Tech Specs, if Frenzy needed to breathe, war would be his oxygen. |
| 501 | * BoisterousWeakling: Neither one is physically very powerful, but this doesn't stop them from picking fights with larger opponents. |
| 502 | * BrownNote: Frenzy's sonic screeches disrupts electrical flows in other Transformers, causing malfunctions and imbalances. Humans don't fare much better, since they can reach 200[=dB=], ''over twice the human eardrums' threshold''. |
| 503 | * BuriedAlive: [[spoiler:Frenzy's final fate in the 2019 IDW comics, where he's trapped in his altmode under mounds of rubble. Landmine elects to leave him to be forgotten, as a result of him [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom causing the war and Cybertron's decline]] by killing Brainstorm]]. |
| 504 | * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Like Laserbeak, the two stopped appearing around Season 3 of the cartoon. The Marvel comics also had it out for them - though they're freed from the Ark after over twenty issues, they're never seen in any major capacity, not even getting killed in the Underbase Saga![[labelnote:*]]Frenzy did get a better deal in the UK comics, where he was freed earlier, but he too sort of faded away until ''Generation 2''.[[/labelnote]] |
| 505 | * DependingOnTheWriter: Rumble can create earthquakes and Frenzy has sonic screeches. Or can both create earthquakes? |
| 506 | * TheDividual: Rumble and Frenzy are incredibly similar and are often characterized together. In the cartoon they even had the same power-set. Though Rumble ends up appearing and speaking more often. |
| 507 | * DubNameChange: In the Japanese dub of the cartoon, Rumble became Frenzy and Frenzy became Rumble. The fact the cartoon swapped the colors of the characters (making Rumble blue and Frenzy red) probably had something to do with it. |
| 508 | * EarthquakesCauseFissures: Rumble's earthquakes sometimes make fissures. |
| 509 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: The Cons team up with the Subatlanteans in the episode "Atlantis, Arise!" When their King Nergill tries to detonate his kingdom with the Autobots and Decepticons still onboard when the battle goes south, Rumble says he's insane and brings the ceiling down on him. |
| 510 | * ForcedTransformation: Rumble is subjected to this in the episode "Sea Change"; he follows Seaspray and his Tlalakan friend Alana into the Well of Transformation, and is tricked by Alana into [[{{Transflormation}} turning himself into a tree]]. |
| 511 | * InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals: At least four unnamed look-alikes of Rumble and Frenzy turn up in ''More than Meets the Eye, Part 2''. No explanation is given and they were never re-used. |
| 512 | * LaserGuidedKarma: In the 2019 IDW comics, Frenzy is behind Brainstorm's murder, the impetus for much of what happens in the series proper. Towards the end, [[spoiler:he's BuriedAlive in a cave-in and left to be forgotten forever]]. |
| 513 | -->'''Landmine:''' You're everything that's gone wrong with Cybertron, Frenzy. Best if you're forgotten. |
| 514 | * LongRangeFighter: The duo are effectively this -- their physical strength is pathetic due to their size, and an enemy close enough to them has more or less won, but Rumble's earthquakes and Frenzy's sonic screeches make getting near them a difficult task. In addition, their Tech Specs give them a Firepower rating of 9. |
| 515 | * LoudOfWar: Frenzy uses sonic abilities that can create a high-pitch sound of an instantly-deafening ''200 decibels''. |
| 516 | * MeaningfulName: |
| 517 | ** Rumble makes earthquakes. |
| 518 | ** The IDW comics (mostly ''All Hail Megatron'') have Frenzy as TheBerserker. His powers occasionally drive him mad. |
| 519 | * TheNapoleon: Rumble is a tiny robot with a tough guy attitude. |
| 520 | * NerdInEvilsHelmet: Frenzy. Or rather, the other Decepticons ''see'' him this way: |
| 521 | -->'''Skywarp:''' Geek work's made for a geek! Like ''you''! |
| 522 | * PintSizedPowerhouse: While their physical strength is impeded by their size, their earthquake and sonic powers make them formidable opponents and difficult to approach. |
| 523 | * RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: One of the two is colored red and black. Whether they're Rumble or Frenzy differs, but you can bet that whoever it is, they're a Decepticon through and through. |
| 524 | * SingleMindedTwins: They both are punks with a knack for destruction. |
| 525 | * SizeShifter: They are normally no taller than Soundwave's hips. They transform into microcassettes. |
| 526 | * SuperScream: Frenzy uses his sonic powers as a "battle cry", creating high-pitched screeches that physically harm opponents. |
| 527 | * TankGoodness: Rumble's ''Titans Return'' toy gives him an extra tank mode (presumably, this is larger than his alternate Spy Tablet mode). |
| 528 | * ThisIsADrill: The IDW continuities both give Frenzy a pair of drill arms parallelling Rumble's pile driver arms. |
| 529 | * UndyingLoyalty: |
| 530 | ** To Megatron. In TheMovie, when Soundwave retrieves a fallen Megatron from the battle, Rumble is seen carrying his leader's precious Fusion Cannon. |
| 531 | ** To Soundwave, no doubt. |
| 532 | --> '''Rumble:''' Hey, nobody calls Soundwave "un-cruzimatic!"\ |
| 533 | '''Frenzy:''' Yeah, let's kick tailgate! |
| 534 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Frenzy in the 2019 IDW continuity: he's the one who murdered Brainstorm (whether by accident or on purpose), thus sparking the chain of events that leads to the Autobot/Decepticon war. |
| 535 | * VibrationManipulation: Rumble's arms can transform into piledrivers that cause powerful earthquakes when they strike the ground. This ability has earned him the position of the Decepticons' demolitions expert. In the cartoon, Frenzy was also given the same ability, rather than his original sonic attack. |
| 536 | * YesMan: Rumble is one of Megatron's more loyal Decepticons, and he eagerly follows his orders. Demonstrated in the cartoon's pilot, where he calmly reasons to Starscream that trying to overthrow someone as powerful and competent as Megatron just isn't worth the hassle. |
| 537 | -->'''Starscream:''' Everyone has a weakness.\ |
| 538 | '''Rumble:''' Yeah? Well, not Megatron. |
| 539 | * YourSizeMayVary: While the cartoon consistently depicted the two as being smaller than Soundwave, other G1 media tended to depict the pair as being just as tall as him. ''How'' small they are also varies; sometimes they're as tall as human adults, other times they're slightly or significantly larger. |
| 540 | [[/folder]] |
| 541 | |
| 542 | [[folder:Reflector/Refraktor (リフレクター ''rifurekutā'')]] |
| 543 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reflector-1_5568.jpg]] |
| 544 | [[caption-width-right:205:Viewfinder]] |
| 545 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reflector-2_6559.jpg]] |
| 546 | [[caption-width-right:205:Spyglass]] |
| 547 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reflector-3_6929.jpg]] |
| 548 | [[caption-width-right:205:Spectro]] |
| 549 | !!!'''Function:''' Reconnaissance |
| 550 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Camera |
| 551 | ->''"See and you can know, know and you can destroy."'' |
| 552 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Chris Latta & Ken Samson[[labelnote:*]]"Transport to Oblivion" only[[/labelnote]] (EN), Yoku Shioya & Creator/KeiichiNanba (JP) |
| 553 | |
| 554 | A trio of Decepticons who transform into a camera. They specialise in spying on their surroundings and enemies and blackmailing everyone. |
| 555 | ---- |
| 556 | * {{Blackmail}}: Is said to watch his fellow Decepticons and learn their secrets. He's impressed by his ability at this. |
| 557 | * BlameGame: Spectro blames others when something goes wrong. |
| 558 | * BlindedByTheLight: He can generate a bright flash to blind his enemies. |
| 559 | * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Rarely if ever featured after Season One, he was only used in Season One of the cartoon to boost the Decepticon ranks. He was banned from usage in the comics and from the cartoon once the second wave of Transformers started showing up on the show.[[labelnote:Why?]]This is because [[MerchandiseDriven his toy wasn't sold at retail - instead being given away as a mail-in order in 1986]]. Interestingly, the episode "Heavy Metal War" had Teletraan I show various Decepticons with their toy's respective product number - Reflector included. [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Talk:Reflector_%28G1%29 He was planned for retail at one point, but was deemed to be "too boring" in both modes for it to be successful there]]. In Japan, though, he was a general-retail item.[[/labelnote]] |
| 560 | * CombiningMecha: Of a sort - instead of three robots becoming one large one, they combine into a single small camera. |
| 561 | * CompositeCharacter: The version of Reflector that becomes ''Thrilling 30'' Skrapnel's gun is one guy named Reflector, which uses the original Viewfinder design. |
| 562 | * CreepyTwins: In the cartoon, they come off as creepy ''triplets'' due to being nigh-identical beings who perpetually SpeakInUnison with CreepyMonotone voices. |
| 563 | * DependingOnTheArtist: While Reflector's toy depicts the three robots with distinct designs, various fiction (including the cartoon) opts for a composite design, using the humanoid look of Spectro and Spyglass while using Viewfinder's color scheme (as well as his lens aperture on the "main" robot). |
| 564 | * DependingOnTheWriter: Reflector's character is somewhat nebulous - while he's three separate robots collectively known as Reflector, the cartoon instead interpreted him as one single robot who could create copies of himself. In addition, his Tech Specs only described Reflector as a single entity, wth no mention of his components' personalities. |
| 565 | * TheDividual: While the toy bio gives each a different personality they are almost always characterized as a single minded trio of individuals. |
| 566 | * DroppedABridgeOnHim: |
| 567 | ** In the Marvel comics, Reflector's sole appearance consisted of a single panel showing Spectro, Viewfinder and Spyglass among several poisoned Decepticons. |
| 568 | ** IDW Viewfinder literally has a bridge dropped on him prior to ''Spotlight: Wheelie''. |
| 569 | * FlatCharacter: He had no real personality in the Sunbow cartoon, and Spectro, Spyglass and Viewfinder weren't even given their own bios until years later. |
| 570 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: In the IDW-verse, Viewfinder is impaled by a shard of glass prior to the story's events. |
| 571 | * InconsistentSpelling: Due to his name [[ScrewedByTheLawyers not being available as a trademark]], he goes by Refraktor in modern media. |
| 572 | * InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals: |
| 573 | ** The cartoon depicted Reflector as three identical robots (with one having a lens aperture in his chest) that slightly resembled Viewfinder, all of which were simply named "Reflector", rather than the toy's individualy named and designed robots. |
| 574 | ** In addition, several Reflectors appeared in various crowd scenes in early episodes. They may or may not be the result of Reflector possessing the ability to [[SelfDuplication produce copies of himself]]. |
| 575 | * TheLeader: Viewfinder is the leader of the trio. |
| 576 | * LeaderFormsTheHead: Well, not a ''head'', but Viewfinder forms the lens, the central component, of the trio's camera mode. |
| 577 | * LightEmUp: Both Spyglass and their combined form can use the camera flash to temporarily blind their enemies. |
| 578 | * NeverMyFault: Spectro tries to pin the blame for his screwups on anyone and anything but himself. |
| 579 | * NoNameGiven: In Japan the individual robots do not have names. |
| 580 | * OutOfFocus: Reflector's use in the cartoon was actively discouraged by Season 2, and eventually he ceased appearing in scripts, only making appearances at the animators' discretion. In later years, toys and other incarnations of Reflector are very rare, it wasn't until the WFC Siege line that he was given a proper figure, before then he was an accessory to Megatron and Shrapnel and an expensive Botcon exclusive (retooled from Shockwave's legends figure). Even then the unique designs of the original Reflector toy have never been replicated since the 80s. |
| 581 | * RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: In toy form, Spectro is red and black. |
| 582 | * SecondaryColorNemesis: In the cartoon, they all have a purple and green color scheme. |
| 583 | * SizeShifter: They're miniature 'Cons whom form a camera that can be held by robots or humans. |
| 584 | * SelfDuplication: Reflector in the Sunbow cartoon could create copies of himself, two of which were almost always accompanying him. Several Reflector-esque Decepticons appear in crowd scenes in "More than Meets the Eye Part 2", as well as a few generics in certain episodes (such as "Divide And Conquer"). |
| 585 | * SmugSnake: Viewfinder is smug and self-assured. This comes back to bite him as he is incapable of recognising his own flaws. |
| 586 | * SpeakInUnison: He/they only speak at the same time, and in CreepyMonotone, in the cartoon. |
| 587 | * StealingTheCredit: Spectro is quick to take all the credit for any of the trio's successes. |
| 588 | * TerribleTrio: Reflector is made up of one, at least when he's not one robot with SelfDuplication powers. |
| 589 | * WeHardlyKnewYe: In the Marvel comics, the Reflector trio only appeared in the fourth issue, as background characters amongst a pile of poisoned Decepticons. |
| 590 | [[/folder]] |
| 591 | |
| 592 | [[folder:Skywarp (スカイワープ ''sukaiwāpu'')]] |
| 593 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skywarp_4248.jpg]] |
| 594 | !!!'''Function:''' Warrior |
| 595 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' F-15 Eagle Fighter Jet |
| 596 | ->''"Strike when the enemy isn't looking."'' |
| 597 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/FrankWelker (EN), Creator/MasashiEbara, Hirotaka Suzuoki, Yuu Shimaka[[note]] Two early episodes of The Transformers had Skywarp be miscolored as Starscream and Thundercracker when requesting permission to teleport. Japan took these miscolorings literally and had Starscream and Thundercracker's voice actors do the lines.[[/note]](JP) |
| 598 | |
| 599 | A mischievous, dimwitted Decepticon Seeker with the power of warping himself to other locations around him. Skywarp loves to abuse his powers by playing pranks on his fellow Decepticons, but in a battle he's useless without supervision and orders. |
| 600 | ---- |
| 601 | * AdaptationalBadass: Most variants are generally treated as a dim-witted henchman with a useful power but the 2019 version was one of the top soldiers of [[GreaterScopeVillain Exarchon]] and is viewed as a mysteriously dangerous foe by the other characters. |
| 602 | * ArcVillain: Of the Bumblebee miniseries in the 2005 IDW comics. He tried to gather up all sorts of weapons for Megatron's return, and gained a device to disable the Earth Autobots. |
| 603 | * BrainwashedAndCrazy: The ''3H'' comics see him get abducted by Unicron and turned into one of his minions during the events of "Universe", last seen getting slugged by Sideswipe. In contrast to when he was reformatted into "Cyclonus's Armada", this time he was legitimately corrupted by Unicron mentally. |
| 604 | * BroughtDownToNormal: After his IDW self suffered from a destabilizing body thanks to an injury interfering with his teleportation powers, the Earth Defense Command restored his form at the cost of his powers. He's not too happy with that. |
| 605 | * CoolPlane: An F-15 Eagle, to be exact. The early IDW comics updated him to the more modern F-22. |
| 606 | * DumbMuscle: Easily one of the stupidest Decepticons. The only time Skywarp actually becomes a credible opponent for the Autobots is when a more intelligent Decepticon, like Megatron or Starscream, is present to supervise his teleportational shenanigans. |
| 607 | -->'''Skywarp:''' [[IWillShowYouX I'll show you dumb]], Starscream!\ |
| 608 | '''Starscream:''' [[InsultBackfire You always do]]. |
| 609 | * TheGenericGuy: Of the Seekers; compared to [[TheStarscream Starscream]] and [[AntiVillain Thundercracker]], his [[DumbMuscle characterization]] is a little thin. |
| 610 | * HomingProjectile: Skywarp can fire heat-seeking missiles. |
| 611 | * InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals: Four unnamed Seekers in variations of Skywarp's colors turn up in ''More than Meets the Eye, Part 2''. |
| 612 | * InformedFlaw: While he's meant to be DumbMuscle, Skywarp's Tech Specs were accidentally switched with Starscream's (which has a high Intelligence rating), thus making his stupidity seem odd (one re-release of his toy even rewrote his bio to HandWave the discrepancy). |
| 613 | * {{Jerkass}}: Skywarp loves to play cruel pranks on his fellow Decepticons. |
| 614 | * KilledOffForReal: |
| 615 | ** A powered up Starscream bumps him off in the Marvel comics. |
| 616 | ** To a lesser extent, he's this in the cartoon, as despite being reformatted as either Cyclonus or... someone else (it's weird), Cyclonus shows little to no acknowledgement towards having ever been anyone but himself. |
| 617 | * MonsterProgenitor: The backstory of the 2019 comic revealed he was cloned by Shockwave in an attempt to replicate his teleportation ability, it failed but the clones (known as Skywarp drones) were useful as an army for Exarchon. This also prompted the creation of the sapient seeker clones (implied to be derived from him as well) [[SendInTheClones to combat them]] which is the origin for the seeker Decepticons like Starscream and Sunstorm. |
| 618 | * MoreDakka: Skywarp uses variable-calibre machine guns in combat. |
| 619 | * OutOfFocus: Despite having numerous redecos of Starscream toys homaging him, Skywarp has rarely made appearances in media (especially television) -- and when he does, he's more of a crowd-filling {{mook}} than a character with a strong personality. Even his most notable appearance to date, the IDW comics, took a while to make him stand out. |
| 620 | * PaletteSwap: Of Starscream and Thundercracker. Their color schemes come directly from Diaclone, but Skywarp's colors were newly created for ''Transformers''. |
| 621 | * PowerfulButIncompetent: Most of the time, his winning of the Decepticon SuperpowerLottery is hampered by being too dumb to use his teleportation ability effectively. |
| 622 | * ThePrankster: He prefers to use his teleportation powers for this, and often on his fellow Decepticons as well. |
| 623 | * RedBaron: [[spoiler:The 2019 incarnation calls himself the "Lord of Misrule"]]. |
| 624 | * ReformedButNotTamed: While he may be a Joe in ''ComicBook/GIJoe2016'', he's still a Decepticon and therefore not above extreme measures. In addition, he's only around humans because he wants his teleportation abilities repaired. |
| 625 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: Skywarp is a relatively inconsequential 'con in the cartoon, but him being revived before any of the Autobots allows him to reactivate the rest of the Decepticons on Earth. |
| 626 | * SpannerInTheWorks: During "Dark Cybertron", Skywarp loses control of his teleportation due to an injury he sustained from Arcee. This ultimately proved fortunate as once Metalhawk and Waspinator discover [[BigBad Shockwave's]] plans, he luckily appeared long enough to teleport the two (and knowledge of what they had seen) back to the city. |
| 627 | * {{Teleportation}}: The ''only'' Decepticon with the built-in ability to teleport. While one might think this would make Skywarp a crafty and dangerous adversary, in truth the Seeker is far too dimwitted to employ his unique talents for anything more than pulling childish pranks, [[MemeticMutation like pushing his comrades down a flight of stairs]]. |
| 628 | * TerribleTrio: A Seeker alongside Starscream and Thundercracker. |
| 629 | * TokenEvilTeammate: He winds up becoming one to ''ComicBook/GIJoe2016'', of all people, in the ComicBook/HasbroComicUniverse. |
| 630 | * UndyingLoyalty: The first thing he does upon being revived in the cartoon's pilot is ensure Megatron is the next Decepticon who gets revived. Later, in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'', he becomes Galvatron's unswervingly loyal and dedicated [[TheDragon dragon]], Cyclonus. Or possibly not. It's weird. |
| 631 | * VillainTeleportation: Skywarp, as his name implies, has the ability to teleport. Subverted in that it's only really effective when someone like Megatron or Starscream tells him how to use it -- he's a complete idiot otherwise. |
| 632 | * WildCard: In the ''3H'' comics set during the Beast Era, his allegiance seemed to keep flipping. First he ended up joining the Wreckers in opposing the Vehicons under Megatron, claiming he was "repaying a debt" and abiding by "Decepticon honor" when asked. Then he goes and attacks Ramulus and joins the side of the traitorous Cyclonus, only to then reveal it was all a plot to get revenge on Cyclonus for controlling him with the mental link, by which point he was back at the Wreckers side despite Rodimus wanting to throttle him now. Ultimately, his allegiance was entirely based on self-interest, and his main goal was getting payback for Cyclonus/Bombshell messing with his head. |
| 633 | [[/folder]] |
| 634 | |
| 635 | [[folder:Thundercracker (サンダークラッカー ''sandākurakkā'')]] |
| 636 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thundercracker_4105.jpg]] |
| 637 | !!!'''Function:''' Warrior |
| 638 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' F-15 Eagle Fighter Jet |
| 639 | ->''"The deadliest weapon is terror."'' |
| 640 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/JohnStephenson & Wally Burr (EN), Yuu Shimaka (JP) |
| 641 | |
| 642 | A Decepticon Seeker who can fly at extremely fast speeds and cause deafening, disorienting sonic booms but is rather doubtful of the Decepticon cause. |
| 643 | ---- |
| 644 | * AdaptationalHeroism: The first IDW's take on Thundercracker is depicted as a Decepticon TokenGoodTeammate who firmly believes in the ''original'' Decepticonism and has no problems hanging around with the Earthlings. |
| 645 | * AdaptationalVillainy: Thundercracker's doubts over the Decepticon cause are all but absent in the Sunbow cartoon, with most episodes depicting him more as a simple goon that obeys Megatron without question. |
| 646 | * AscendedExtra: Typically a background player, he has a much larger role in the IDW continuity, which is also the first time that his AntiVillain traits were used to full effect. |
| 647 | * AntiVillain: He's uncertain if he really believes in Megatron's cause. Or in the attacking and killing of humans. |
| 648 | * BloodKnight: Was portrayed as this in the original G1 comics. It's established here that he dislikes attacking humans as he believes they're not worthy opponents to him. In the cartoon however, he's downgraded into more or less a generic, somewhat dimwitted Decepticon henchman who for some unknown reason is still reluctant about attacking humans. |
| 649 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: The IDW continuity eventually makes him a TV-loving doofus (who is still a dangerous killing machine, just one that loves watching trashy TV). This even applies in his appearance in ''Transformers Vs. Terminator'' (probably not incidentally co-written by John Barber, who is responsible for said personality in the first place). |
| 650 | * CoolPlane: Just like his fellow Seekers, it's an F-15 Eagle. |
| 651 | * DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: The reason he joined the Decepticons, and continues to stay with them in spite of his misgivings; without a purpose of some sort, Thundercracker would find life unbearable. |
| 652 | * HalfheartedHenchman: He's not convinced that the Decepticons' goal of conquest is right, even though he remains on their side. |
| 653 | * HeelFaceTurn: In the IDW continuity, Thundercracker finally abandons the Decepticons to live peacefully on Earth [[spoiler:before eventually joining the Autobots full-time]]. |
| 654 | * HumansAreSpecial: He even says the quote for the trope page. In Issue #4 of ''The Transformers'', it's revealed Thundercracker survived being shot down by Skywarp and spent the subsequent three years wandering Earth. Initially, he was disgusted by the abundance of organic life on the planet. However, as time passed, Thundercracker experienced a deep change. After making a distress beacon and observing human culture through TV broadcasts, Thundercracker became fascinated by human society and its methods of preserving itself. Reflecting on the resilience and adaptability of the human race in the aftermath of Megatron's failed conquest, Thundercracker found himself marveling at their ability to rebuild and endure. Where once he had laughed at humanity's penchant for change and evolution, Thundercracker now viewed the Earth and its inhabitants with a newfound sense of appreciation and admiration. He came to recognize the beauty inherent in the active nature of their existence, a stark contrast to the stagnation that characterized Cybertronian society. |
| 655 | * InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals: Six unnamed seekers in variations of Thundercracker's colors turn up in ''More than Meets the Eye, Part 2''. |
| 656 | * {{Jerkass}}: He may not be fully committed to evil, but don't let that make you think he won't sneer at you. "Fire on the Mountain" even has him get lippy with ''Megatron''. |
| 657 | -->'''Thundercracker:''' What’s the matter, fearless leader? You and Starscream look real geeky! |
| 658 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite his elitist/abrasive qualities, he's arguably the only member of the Nemesis crew with truly redeeming qualities. This is especially true for his more sympathetic incarnations. |
| 659 | * KillItWithFire: His primary weapons fire ceramic bullets containing a highly flammable substance, which break open on contact and set the target ablaze. |
| 660 | * KilledOffForReal: |
| 661 | ** Yet another victim of the Underbase powered Starscream in the Marvel comics. |
| 662 | ** To an extent he's also this in the cartoon, as Scourge (who Unicron reformats Thundercracker into) doesn't acknowledge him being anyone other than Scourge. |
| 663 | * LoudOfWar: His sonic booms can collapse structures and blow up enemy jets. |
| 664 | * NobleDemon: Has traits of this, especially in the IDW 'verse where he doesn't find joy in human slaughter unlike his allies. |
| 665 | * PaletteSwap: For Starscream. |
| 666 | * PeerPressureMakesYouEvil: The only reason Thundercracker is still a Decepticon is because Starscream and the others have to repeatedly convince him he's where he belongs. |
| 667 | * PlayingWithFire: Thundercracker uses incendiary guns as a weapon. The cartoon occasionally depicted these as straight-up flamethrowers. |
| 668 | * StraightMan: Sometimes, like in "Countdown to Extinction", after Megatron and Starscream go missing, he's the one trying to get everyone to focus on fixing their base, and has to intervene when Skywarp gets into a fight with Rumble and Frenzy. Humorously Soundwave showed signs of TheStarscream by insulting Thundercracker's tentative command. |
| 669 | * TerribleTrio: With Starscream and Skywarp as the Seekers. |
| 670 | [[/folder]] |
| 671 | |
| 672 | !!1984/85 Decepticons |
| 673 | |
| 674 | [[folder:Shockwave (Laserwave (レーザーウェーブ ''rēzāwēbu''))]] |
| 675 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shockwave_8271.jpg]] |
| 676 | !!!'''Function:''' Military Operations Commander |
| 677 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Cybertronian Laser Gun |
| 678 | ->''"Clarity of thought before rashness of action."'' |
| 679 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/CoreyBurton (EN), Yuu Shimaka (JP) |
| 680 | A Decepticon as cold and logical as you could expect from a machine. Shockwave is Megatron's rival and another Decepticon [[TheStarscream who plots his control over the Decepticons]]. With intellect and power possibly matching even that of Megatron, Shockwave may have his day yet. |
| 681 | ---- |
| 682 | * AdaptationalBadass: Every adaptation tends to ramp his danger levels up just that little bit more. In the IDW continuity, he's a [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]] and a manipulative mastermind, [[spoiler:who is responsible for damn near everything that happens there]]. |
| 683 | -->'''Jetfire:''' His plans tend to be bad for everyone.\ |
| 684 | '''Aileron:''' Bad's a vague word, Jetfire. I mean, Pyra thinks Optimus is doing bad, but Starscream—\ |
| 685 | '''Jetfire:''' Shockwave once attempted to collapse all of space and time to a point—to not only destroy the universe, but to cause there to have never been one.\ |
| 686 | '''Aileron:''' Oh, you mean ''[[KnightOfCerebus bad]]''. Got it. |
| 687 | * AdaptationalHeroism: |
| 688 | ** Simon Furman's follow up to the old Marvel comics in ''Regeneration One'' had Shockwave ultimately pull a HeelFaceTurn and become a peaceful ambassador for Cybertron. |
| 689 | ** His IDW incarnation ZigZagged this. He's given a very sympathetic backstory as one of the only decent senators in a corrupt Senate, up until ''Shadowplay'' turned him into the amoral servant to logic he is. As such, Shockwave was given a number of humanizing moments showing that he was once a fairly kind and empathetic bot before the compassion was deleted out of him. However after the procedure Shockwave proceeds to commit his most extreme acts of villainy in the franchise, killing an untold amount of people for his own pursuit of science and destabilizing countless civilizations. Shockwave himself believes that he was EvilAllAlong and the procedure simply freed him but whether that's true or simply more proof that the Shadowplay has permanently changed him is ambiguous. |
| 690 | --->'''Shockwave:''' At the center of everything lies an infinite darkness. When I was young, I fought this. But then, Orion... I realized I must ''become'' it. |
| 691 | * AdaptationalWimp: In contrast to his Marvel counterpart, Shockwave in the cartoon was neither particularly powerful nor intelligent, standing out little from the other Decepticons in this regard. He was also far less ambitious, being a loyal servant of Megatron rather than a self-serving WildCard. |
| 692 | * AliensOfLondon: He was meant to sound similar to Creator/DavidWarner of ''Film/{{Tron}}'' according to Corey Burton, Shockwave's VA (who would ironically go on to voice Sark in ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' using his Shockwave voice). |
| 693 | * AndIMustScream: In ''Regeneration One'', Megatron incorporated him into the Ark's systems, forcing him to dedicate himself to coming up with battle strategies to repel attackers. |
| 694 | * ArmCannon: His left arm has a gun in place of a hand. |
| 695 | * ArchEnemy: Grimlock often sees him as one, though Shockwave, being the creature of logic that he is, generally doesn't care, making it more of a one-sided vendetta. |
| 696 | * AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: The robotically stoic Shockwave was gifted a robotically stoic face -- it bares a single, large optic that can barely emote, if ever. |
| 697 | * AtomicSuperpower: Shockwave's Tech Specs note that he can be powered with nuclear energy, which helps his high fuel usage. In addition, his laser gun mode can fire lethal beams of any energy across the electromagnetic spectrum, up to and including gamma rays. |
| 698 | * AwesomeButImpractical: His alt-mode is a giant ray gun, which can pack quite a punch compared to his regular ray gun, but also runs the risk of being nothing but a big target since it lacks mobility and durability. |
| 699 | * {{BFG}}: His alt-mode is a Cybertronian ray gun. Functionally, it's quite a bit different from Megatron's gun mode. Shockwave doesn't [[SizeShifter change size]] when he transforms into this mode, and he remains completely autonomous, able to freely hover in the air and fire without anyone operating him. However, should the need arise, the gun mode is the perfect size for a combiner to wield, as Bruticus does in "The Revenge of Bruticus." |
| 700 | * BadBoss: While not abusive like Megatron or Galvatron, his troops do harbor some fear of becoming guinea pigs in his latest experiments, and he is also not above executing those who fail him. |
| 701 | -->'''Shockwave:''' All life is equal. [[ColdEquation I merely assign it a quantifiable value]]—zero. |
| 702 | * BeamSpam: Being one-handed, when Shockwave fights, he generally relies on the firepower of his arm-cannon. More often than not, however, it's all he needs, it was powerful enough to cripple [[HumongousMecha Fortress Maximus]]. Video game adaptations where Shockwave is a boss will usually take this up to eleven. |
| 703 | * BeenThereShapedHistory: [[spoiler: Quite literally in the IDW comic! After being sent to the distant past, Shockwave assumed the identity of Onyx Prime and began to shape the entirety of Cybertronian history exactly as hhow he remembered it.]] |
| 704 | * BigBad: |
| 705 | ** Of the first chunk of the Marvel comics; he's in command of the Decepticons for longer stretches than Megatron and more competent in the role to boot. |
| 706 | ** Of the second Dreamwave Mini-Series, ''War & Peace''. |
| 707 | ** Of ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersDarkCybertron Dark Cybertron]]''. [[spoiler: The revelation in ''Optimus Prime'' that Onyx Prime was actually a time-displaced Post-''Dark Cybertron'' Shockwave, who orchestrated almost the entirety of Cybertronian history, arguably makes him this for the IDW continuity as a whole, as almost every event that transpires in the continuity can ultimately be traced back to Shockwave's actions.]] |
| 708 | * TheBlank: His face consists of ''nothing'' beyond his eye. In the IDW comics he originally had a normal face, but after angering Cybertron's corrupt leadership, he was arrested by Sentinel Prime and forced to undergo empurata to symbolize his status as an outcast. |
| 709 | * TheChessmaster: His IDW self enacts a plan millions of years old that would effectively make him a god. [[spoiler:And when that fails, he gets sent back in time and enacts ''pretty much the entire IDW saga''.]] |
| 710 | -->'''Shockwave:''' The strong will survive, Orion Pax. And we shall build a new Cybertron on Earth. Our tainted past will finally be put behind us, and a new future stands ready for the taking. A Last Empire, if you will.\ |
| 711 | '''Optimus Prime:''' [[YoureInsane You're mad]]. |
| 712 | * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: In the Sunbow cartoon, he totally disappeared after ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie''. While he was supposed to have been killed by Unicron, this scene was never actually animated, leaving his status by the movie's end questionable. |
| 713 | * CoDragons: Usually with Starscream and Soundwave, being on the same level of importance as them. |
| 714 | * CyberCyclops: Shockwave's face is nothing but a single yellow eye. |
| 715 | * DeathByAdaptation: While his intended death scene was cut from ''The Transformers: The Movie'', it did make it to IDW's comic adaptation ''Transformers: The Animated Movie''. |
| 716 | * DependingOnTheWriter: While he was originally a cold and logical commander [[TheStarscream seeking to usurp Megatron]], the Sunbow cartoon made him a loyal follower of Megatron. These days, however, you're likely to see the former depiction over the latter. |
| 717 | -->'''Starscream:''' For the longest time, it seemed like he and Soundwave were in a running competition to win the "Most Obsequious Decepticon" award, fawning over Megatron's every order, oozing loyalty like a bad Energon leak, and stopping any attempt to replace him as leader. But now I see what should've been obvious the whole time: Shockwave is run by logic, pure and simple. |
| 718 | * TheDragon: With a Rank of 9 and the function of Military Operations Commander, Shockwave is among Megatron's most important Decepticons. |
| 719 | * DragonAscendant: In the Marvel comics, having driven Megatron "[[SubvertedTrope to]] [[NotQuiteDead suicide]]". |
| 720 | * DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:By the end of ''Dark Cybertron'', Shockwave's emotions and morality return, and, horrified by what he has become, allows Optimus Prime and Megatron to kill him. However, it's revealed much later that he survived... and sadly didn't become a better person.]] |
| 721 | * EarlyBirdCameo: He showed up in the first episode of the cartoon, well over a year before his toy was released. |
| 722 | * EmotionsVsStoicism: While his logical approach to battle makes him dangerous, he is often confounded by emotional thinking and initiative. |
| 723 | * EquippableAlly: His ''Combiner Wars'' toy can be held by a Combiner figure, with the packaging associating him with Bruticus. |
| 724 | * EvilutionaryBiologist: Dreamwave Shockwave, who tinkered with Triple-Changers, creating the Duocons and Sixshot, and used Vector Sigma to make the Micromasters, for reasons that were never adequately clear. |
| 725 | * EvilCounterpart: He can be seen as the Decepticon equivalent of Prowl, with both being high-ranking and logic-driven tacticians. The IDW incarnations take it a step further, with both of them having tendencies to work outside their respective factions for the "greater good", [[spoiler: and the comparison only becomes more obvious when Prowl [[EyepatchOfPower loses an eye]] and gains an ArmCannon.]] |
| 726 | * EvilGenius: Shockwave has an Intelligence rating of 10, and is often depicted as being a scientist responsible for many of the Decepticons' weapons (such as the space bridge and even combiners). |
| 727 | * ExactWords: In the Sunbow cartoon, Shockwave swore to a departing Megatron that Cybertron will be as he had left it. Four million years later, Cybertron remained essentially unchanged, with no technological advancements made. |
| 728 | * FantasticRacism: Comic Shockwave's first impression of humanity: We're weak, [[HumansAreMorons stupid]] (his words), and illogical. The inferior of Decepticons in every way. |
| 729 | * FightingFromTheInside: In ''Regeneration One''. He was able to lessen Megatron's control over Starscream just enough for Starscream to tell Kup how to stop Megatron. |
| 730 | * {{Flight}}: He has rockets in his legs that allow him to fly in either his robot or gun modes. |
| 731 | * ForScience: Despite the specialty listed on his packaging, he is the Decepticons' resident Science Officer in most media. He created combiner technology in the Marvel comic, Triple Changer technology in the Dreamwave comic, and the Achilles virus and [[WesternAnimation/BeastWars the Maximals]] in the IDW comic. |
| 732 | * GeniusBruiser: He has strength and firepower equivalent to his intellect, and can even take on Megatron himself in a fight. |
| 733 | * GreaterScopeVillain: |
| 734 | ** In the Dreamwave Continuity, pretty much everything that happens beyond "The War Within" series is his fault. |
| 735 | ** [[spoiler:Exaggerated in the IDW continuity; his time as Onyx Prime means he's ultimately responsible for ''the entirety of Cybertronian history'', and thus basically every major event that takes place in the continuity, including ones orchestrated by his past (though chronologically future) self.]] |
| 736 | --->'''Shockwave:''' [[spoiler: I was always pulling strings. I gave Orion the capacity to carry a Matrix. I made him into Optimus Prime. He was the one who changed... when he stopped viewing my actions as just.]] |
| 737 | * GodhoodSeeker: Shockwave's plan in ''Dark Cybertron'' amounts to "ascend to godhood". |
| 738 | * HyperactiveMetabolism: Shockwave consumes fuel at a high rate, though he can usually work around this liability by using the radioactive materials in his torso reactor. |
| 739 | * ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Shockwave's aim in the Sunbow cartoon is really nothing special, despite having a {{BFG}} on his arm and as a alt-mode. Most of the shots he lands barely effect the Autobots. |
| 740 | * ItsPersonal: Subverted in the IDW comics. When he gets stuck in stasis for several million years, he's woken up and put on an ExplosiveLeash by the humans to stop all other Transformers. He attacks Grimlock out of revenge, and even fights his way through Scorponok to get it, but he spares Scorponok because he has no real reason to fight him. When he finally gets to Grimlock, they brawl, until Shockwave gives up the fight (when he gets the upper hand), because it was all just a distraction to have Soundwave deactivate the leash. He says he has no real quarrel with Grimlock and that he doesn't care about the stasis thing. Grimlock chooses to blow them both up with a grenade instead of letting him walk away. |
| 741 | * JokerImmunity: In the comics. The Marvel comics had him survive being entombed (an avalanche caused by the Dinobots, and later Optimus Prime knocking him into a quicksand pit) and nearly burning up in Earth's atmosphere after his flight systems were disabled in a space battle with Fortress Maximus. A UK exclusive story set in the future had him KilledOffForReal after his troops sold him out to ComicBook/DeathsHead, but it is implied that his present day self, [[TemporalMutability armed with the knowledge of his future murder, might be able to prevent it]]. |
| 742 | * KillAndReplace: [[spoiler:His IDW-self, having gone millennia into the past after ''Dark Cybertron'', kills a shepard named Onyx and impersonates him, becoming the Onyx Prime of legend.]] |
| 743 | * LaserGuidedKarma: |
| 744 | ** Shockwave spends the whole of the Marvel comics betraying other Decepticons and acting on his own agenda to be in charge. Then, at the finale of the series, he runs into Megatron ''and'' Galvatron, who've just decided to work together. |
| 745 | ** He also crippled Josie Beller, causing her descent into violent obsession and transformation into Circuit Breaker. During the second Decepticon Civil War, she finally spots him, and unleashes everything she has. Cue a blasted Shockwave dropping out of the sky. |
| 746 | ** In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersUnicron'', his long-range scheming comes back to bite him hard, as his followers betray him, and he is only saved when Prowl and Stardrive arrive to arrest him. |
| 747 | * LogicalWeakness: Literally; his dependence on logic means that more intuitive opponents can run rings around him. |
| 748 | * LosingYourHead: In the ''Classics'' continuity (a continuation of the Marvel US comics), Megatron removed his physical body and reduced him to [[AndIMustScream mere head put on storage]] to prevent any further usurpations. Occasionally, he converses with Shockwave's head when his intelligence is needed, but otherwise, he keeps him locked away. |
| 749 | * MadScientist: He’s usually portrayed as this to the Decepticons. |
| 750 | * MarkOfShame: In the IDW comics, this is the source of his "flashlight head" appearance. After opposing the corrupt policies of Senator Proteus, Proteus forces Shockwave to undergo a mutilation ritual where his face and one of his hands are forcibly amputated. This placed Shockwave at the bottom of the [[FantasticCasteSystem Cybertronian Caste System]], until the Decepticons abolished it. |
| 751 | * MultiArmedAndDangerous: His ''Siege'' Leader Class toy gives him a four-armed SuperMode. |
| 752 | * NothingPersonal: Shockwave's actions are never personal, just logical to their best outcome. When The Dinobots attack him out of a personal grudge, he struggles to comprehend why they would follow him so far through space, and waste so many resources over wounded pride. |
| 753 | * NumberTwo: Technically he's Megatron's number two on all things Cybertron related in a few adaptations, and Megatron, knowing that Shockwave wouldn't waste his time with trivial matters, generally treats his messages with importance. |
| 754 | * OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Shockwave is a cold, emotionless killing machine. When [[TranquilFury he does show emotion]]... ''run''. Shows up early in the Marvel UK comics. Buster manages to cause Shockwave to freak out, and it is terrifying to behold. |
| 755 | ** Later on in the Marvel comic, when Unicron starts trashing Cybertron, the magnitude of this threat means that even a creature of logic like Shockwave is telling his fellow Transformers ThisIsGonnaSuck. |
| 756 | --->'''Shockwave:''' Hypothesis? I--I have NO hypothesis. This is beyond analysis, beyond logic. My vast data grid simply cannot compute. However, I believe I can give an accurate probability projection: [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt I am 100% certain that Cybertron, and every Transformer on it, is doomed!]] |
| 757 | * PurpleIsPowerful: Shockwave, who is mostly portrayed as both physically and intellectually powerful, is predominantly Decepticon purple. His original Japanese "Astro Magnum" template was gray, but, like ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk before him, he was changed to a color that animators and illustrators would have an easier time working with. |
| 758 | * RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:In the IDW-verse, the Shadowplay punishment inflicted on him millions of years prior to "Dark Cybertron" is broken as his old, emotional persona returns. However, the only way the universe can be saved from his actions is to destroy him (as the chronal drive is inextricably bound to him and therefore cannot be detached. Sadly, although he survived, he ends up engineering the entirety of Cybertron's past as a "test model".]] |
| 759 | * RelatedInTheAdaptation: He and Soundwave are brothers in ''ComicBook/TransformersVsGIJoe''. |
| 760 | * SanitySlippage: UK comics Shockwave, thanks to Cyclonus telling him Cyc and Scourge will help Death's Head kill him, and inadvertently allowing Megatron and Galvatron to team up. Whoops. Touched on in the US comics, when Mindwipe wonders if his plummet to Earth knocked a few screws loose. |
| 761 | * SelfDuplication: Shockwave's cartoon bio mentions an ability to create duplicates of himself, but this never appeared in the show itself. He does, however, use it in ''VideoGame/TransformersDevastation''. |
| 762 | * SixthRanger: His ''Combiner Wars'' toy associates him with the Combaticons as [[EquippableAlly a weapon Bruticus can hold]]. This is in reference to how Bruticus briefly wielded him as a {{BFG}} during the Generation 1 cartoon. When the Combaticons' toys are redecoed in their Generation 2 colors in a boxset, Shockwave is also included with them with a new color scheme based on that of his Action Master figure. |
| 763 | * TheSpock: He claims that logic is the only master he serves, and takes a brutally scientific approach to warfare. Fittingly enough, he was written to be an evil version of Spock himself. In one instance, he secedes leadership back to Megatron when he points out that Shockwave has in fact screwed up. |
| 764 | * TheStarscream: Excluding his cartoon depiction, Shockwave is always scheming to overthrow the current Decepticon leader, regularly challenging both Megatron and Scorponok in the Marvel comic. However, unlike the glory-hound Starscream, he does so simply because he believes he's the more logical choice (and in stories where [[KlingonPromotion he succeeds]], he proves that he's not far off). |
| 765 | -->'''Shockwave:''' Megatron will brand me a rogue, a traitor, but such considerations are moot. In the war I envision, one of dislocation and attrition, ''resources'' will become paramount. |
| 766 | * TheStoic: [[spoiler:Though the IDW comics show that originally, he was the complete ''opposite'' of a stoic.]] |
| 767 | * TimeAbyss: [[spoiler:Thanks to time travel shenanigans, IDW Shockwave is one of, if not the oldest living Transformer in existence.]] |
| 768 | -->'''Shockwave:''' Those who claim living well is the best revenge have never explored the benefits of time travel. |
| 769 | * TragicMonster: In the IDW continuity. [[spoiler:Originally one of the only decent Senators in a corrupt government, Shockwave was an outspoken, emotional, friendly guy. Then his emotions were forcefully removed, turning him into an emotionless husk, and his face and hands were taken away and replaced with a blank mask and claws for no reason other than spite. This had the side effect of freeing him from morality, allowing him to choose the most logical path to saving Cybertron... culminating in his GodhoodSeeker plan that would be activated in "Dark Cybertron".]] |
| 770 | -->'''Shockwave:''' There is a finite amount of everything. Even identities. [[BecomingTheMask And I am no longer sure which version of myself was the real one]].\ |
| 771 | '''Prowl:''' [[KirkSummation They]] ''[[KirkSummation all]]'' [[KirkSummation were, Shockwave. All that was done to you, all that you did to yourself... all that you did to others. We are our actions... not our hopes]]. |
| 772 | * TraumaButton: In the Marvel UK storyline "Robot Buster", Buster Witwicky managed to temporarily blind Shockwave by throwing sand in his optic. The blindness reminds Shockwave of the millions of years he spent trapped under a pile of rocks following his battle with the Dinobots (and more recently, his submersion in a swamp after Optimus Prime defeated him), with nothing but darkness to keep him company. Shockwave completely ''[[NotSoStoic loses it]]'', and spends the rest of the story angrily attempting to kill Buster. |
| 773 | * UndyingLoyalty: Shockwave has total obedience towards logic and/or Cybertron. In the cartoon, he unusually had this towards Megatron, showing complete faith in the Decepticon leader (he apparently kept trying to contact him for ''four million years!''). |
| 774 | * UnexplainedRecovery: In the Marvel Comics run, he was knocked out of orbit and back towards Earth, with Shockwave himself noting that it was "only logical" that he would burn up on re-entry. This didn't stop him from returning just over twenty issues later, none the worse for wear. |
| 775 | * UngratefulBastard: In the Dreamwave comics, Scourge saves him from a pack of wild Sharkticons and immediately tries to warn him about the bad future he comes from. Shockwave returns the favor by shooting him and turning him into a lab rat. |
| 776 | * UnstoppableRage: In the IDW comics, the Dinobots attack him because he destroyed a cargo cruiser they were guarding. Shockwave is mystified at the fact that the Dinobots commandeered a spaceship, took energon and went on a perilous cruise across the cosmos after Shockwave just for revenge at this (minor in the grand scheme of things) offense to their pride. He simply stops trying to think and gets really angry. CurbStompBattle ensues. |
| 777 | * VerbalTic: Declarative: Comic Shockwave eventually gained a tendency to preface statements with an explanation of what they were. |
| 778 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: His fate has been unaccounted for after the movie and season 3, making viewers wondered what happened to him. There's actually two explanations regarding his survivability, but neither were animated: |
| 779 | ** The [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie first version]] was being killed by Unicron's hand. Literally, once the chaos-bringer arrives to Cybertron, and slamming his hand onto the surface. IDW adapted his death in the comic, but [[DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation is blown to smithereens]] by Unicron's EyeBeams. |
| 780 | ** He survives Unicron's assault, but is disgraced by Galvatron once the Autobots regain Cybertron from Decepticon control, and [[YouHaveFailedMe attempted to outright kill him for his failure]] despite his UndyingLoyalty. He then retreats to the Autobots as a refugee, and only joins them in an EnemyMine situation and not a HeelFaceTurn. His role was cut in favor of Blitzwing discovering the Quintesson's betrayal and exile. |
| 781 | * WhatIsThisFeeling: During ''Regeneration One'', Shockwave saves Starscream from Jhiaxus' forces, despite there being no logical reason for him to do so. To his surprise, Shockwave realizes that he is developing a sense of true camaraderie for Starscream. |
| 782 | * WildCard: He has no problem going behind the other Decepticons' backs or usurping Megatron. Some versions will even work with Autobots, if it's deemed logical enough. |
| 783 | * TheWorfEffect: Large, intimidating, and in control of plenty of drones, Shockwave seemed to be quite a threat in the Generation 1 cartoon on paper... except he would constantly have his ass handed to him with his opponents no worse for wear. |
| 784 | * YouHaveFailedMe: While Megatron would ([[DependingOnTheWriter usually]]) just beat the tar out of anyone who failed him, Shockwave was less forgiving. He would issue a polite warning for the first failure; if you screwed up again, you would face termination unless you could (logically) convince him you were a resource worth maintaining. Even Megatron found himself on the receiving end of this; though he managed to turn the tables. |
| 785 | -->'''Shockwave:''' [[AnyLastWords I will now allow you a few moments to beg for your life before I execute you for gross incompetence.]]\ |
| 786 | '''Megatron:''' Beg? It is you who should beg me, Shockwave -- for ''my'' forgiveness! [[{{Hypocrite}} If I am to be faulted for running into a trap, consider this -- you sat here and watched as a trap sprang up around you!]] Yes, Shockwave -- for if the Ark's apparent vulnerability was but a distraction from the true situation at Autobot base, then the Autobot raid here could be no less! Surely, the raid here had an ulterior goal! I can't say what it was, but I'm certain the Autobots achieved it, and I'm even more certain it is of great importance to them! As of Decepticons lost today -- [[WeHaveReserves they mean nothing! They can be replaced!]] But at least the Autobots now know they can never have a moment's rest as long as we are here to strike at them at any time!\ |
| 787 | '''Shockwave:''' [[SincerityMode Your argument is sound.]] I ''have'' failed...[[DragonAscendant and you have succeeded, Commander.]] |
| 788 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: In the Marvel comics to ''Megatron.'' |
| 789 | [[/folder]] |
| 790 | |
| 791 | [[folder:Astrotrain (アストロトレイン ''asutorotorein'')]] |
| 792 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/astrotrain_7073.jpg]] |
| 793 | !!!'''Function:''' Military Transport |
| 794 | !!!'''Alt Modes:''' JNR Class [=D51=] Steam Locomotive; Space Shuttle Orbiter |
| 795 | ->''"In confusion there is opportunity."'' |
| 796 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Jack Angel (EN), Takurō Kitagawa (JP) |
| 797 | A Decepticon who often serves as transport for other Decepticons. He is a Triple Changer - a Transformer with three alternate modes rather than the standard two. He specialises in creating confusion amongst his enemies, and he relishes in their fear and panic. |
| 798 | ---- |
| 799 | * BigBadWannabe: In the Sunbow cartoon. His idea of leading the Decepticons was to create an army of drone trains to collect Energon, which could seem a good idea at first, but their A.I.s were too primitive for creative thinking. Contrast with Blitzwing, whose plan seemed dumb at first but ended being better and more successful. |
| 800 | -->'''Thrust:''' Astrotrain couldn't lead rats to a garbage can. |
| 801 | * BiggerOnTheInside: As a space shuttle. Taken to ridiculous lengths in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie'', where not only can he fit in the entire Decepticon army, but there's also enough space for freaking '''Devastator''' to move around in! |
| 802 | * ConfusionFu: He loves to sow confusion and panic against enemies, and when you have three forms at your disposal, you can probably screw with someone effectively. |
| 803 | * CoolStarship: He turns into a space shuttle, and one that seemingly has [[BiggerOnTheInside TARDIS technology]]. |
| 804 | * CoolTrain: If outdated. Some modern toys have him become a bullet train instead. |
| 805 | * DependingOnTheArtist: The design of his chestplate and if he's colored dark gray or white depends on the toy. |
| 806 | * DisintegratorRay: His weapon of choice is an ionic displacer rifle, which breaks apart a target's molecular bonds. |
| 807 | * TheDragon: In the IDW comics, he replaces Starscream as the second-in-command of the Earthbound Decepticon Infiltration Unit. The fact that Soundwave and Shockwave were MIA at the time probably helped him get there. |
| 808 | * GodGuise: In "The God Gambit", he conned an alien tribe into worshiping him. |
| 809 | * JustTrainWrong: His train mode has no tender. His ''War for Cybertron: Earthrise'' figure finally amends this, giving him a tender that can also become a launchpad for his shuttle form, and a mini-armory to hold his robot mode's weapons. |
| 810 | * KilledOffForReal: |
| 811 | ** He's one of the '''many''' victims of a power-mad Starscream in the Marvel comics, though some of the different continuations have him survive or come back from it. |
| 812 | ** In the IDW series, [[spoiler:he gets hacked to bits by Arcee after Galvatron ditches him]]. |
| 813 | * LosingYourHead: His ''Titans Return'' toy has his head transform into a Titan Master named Darkmoon. |
| 814 | * MeaningfulName: He transforms into an '''astro'''ship and into a '''train'''. |
| 815 | * OutOfCharacterMoment: One of his focus episodes, "The God Gambit", has him ordering Starscream around and making rather grandiose speeches, a far cry from his usual role as a put-upon spacebus. It's believed his role and dialogue in that episode were intended for Megatron, of all people. |
| 816 | * RememberTheNewGuy: Astrotrain never received a proper introduction during the original cartoon's second season; he was presented as if he had always been with them on Earth. |
| 817 | * SizeShifter: Stands shoulder to shoulder to Starscream in robot form; can transform into a space shuttle that can ''fit the entire Decepticon army, even [[HumongousMecha Devastator]]'' in his hull. |
| 818 | * TheStarscream: He tried to be this in the cartoon episode "Triple Takeover". It... didn't exactly work out for him. |
| 819 | * SteamNeverDies: Transforms into a JNR Class C62 steam locomotive. He does get with the times with newer toys, where he's often a bullet train instead. |
| 820 | * VillainousValor: In the cartoon, he was brave enough to take on bigger, stronger opponents, such as Omega Supreme and Sky Lynx. |
| 821 | * VoiceOfTheLegion: A quirkier, more nasally example than most, but Astrotrain has a much louder reverb than the other Decepticons. |
| 822 | [[/folder]] |
| 823 | |
| 824 | [[folder:Blitzwing (ブリッツウイング ''burittsuuingu'')]] |
| 825 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blitzwing_8626.jpg]] |
| 826 | !!!'''Function:''' Ground and Air Commando |
| 827 | !!!'''Alt Modes:''' Soviet [=MiG-25=] Fighter Jet; Japanese Type-74 Assault Tank |
| 828 | ->''"Destroy first, think later."'' |
| 829 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Ed Gilbert (EN), Creator/KeiichiNanba (main, Season 2), Creator/KenyuHoriuchi ("Triple Takeover"), Yutaka Shimaka ("Cosmic Rust" and "Prime Target"), Creator/MasashiEbara (Season 3 and ''The Movie'') & Ken Yamaguchi (''Headmasters'') (JP) |
| 830 | Another Triple Changer, able to turn into a tank and a jet. Blitzwing is loud-mouthed, obnoxious, and has a cruel sense of humor only Skywarp could appreciate, but he can transform between his two modes fairly quickly, making him one of the most dangerous Decepticons... provided he doesn't get stuck mid-transformation. |
| 831 | ---- |
| 832 | * AbortedArc: After the opening five-parter of the cartoon's third season, he's exiled from the Decepticons and refuses to join the Autobots... but is later seen in some crowd shots with other Decepticons. Is this an oversight on the part of the producers? Or was the whole idea of his exile just quietly dropped? Maybe Galvatron just forgave him for some reason. Who knows. It's [[WildMassGuessing possible]] the arc was going to continue in the episode, "Starscream's Ghost", but his role was taken by Octane to promote the new character. |
| 833 | * AchievementsInIgnorance: In "Triple Takeover," Blitzwing mistakes football practice for battle simulations (he's not ''that'' far off) and kidnaps the coach to aid in defending against the Autobots. The thing is, it works a lot better than anyone would have thought, as it takes the Decepticons fighting amongst themselves[[note]]Specifically, a five-way battle royale between Megatron, Starscream, Blitzwing, Astrotrain, and Devastator for Decepticon leadership.[[/note]] for the Autobots to escape. |
| 834 | * AdaptationDyeJob: The biggest flip-flop is whether he has a purple (original toy) or silver (G1 cartoon) face. |
| 835 | * AntiVillain: In "Five Faces of Darkness", it is shown that he cares for the survival of the entire Transformers race over Decepticon victory, and is willing to work with Autobots to prevent their mutual extinction at the hands of the Quintessons. Even after he is exiled by Galvatron for allying with Rodimus and betraying the Decepticons, he graciously refuses Rodimus' offer to join the Autobots and quietly accepts his punishment, such is his loyalty to his own brothers. |
| 836 | * AtopAMountainOfCorpses: In "Triple Takeover", he defeated several Autobots and made a throne from their bodies during his brief reign as the Decepticon Leader. The Autobots were later rescued and repaired. |
| 837 | * TheBrute: Most versions. The Dreamwave version prominently, who during a supposed attempt to get the Autobots to stand down peacefully interrupts Ultra Magnus and tells Optimus if he doesn't surrender, Blitzwing will level a nearby city. |
| 838 | * CoolPlane: He turns into a jet as one of his alt-modes. |
| 839 | * CurbStompBattle: |
| 840 | ** In the Season 2 intro, he fires on Omega Supreme in tank-mode only for Omega to transform into robot mode and stomp on Blitzwing, crushing the guy and necessitating Scrapper to zoom in and use his alt-mode to take Bltizwing's remains away |
| 841 | ** In ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' issue 4, he's easily able to roll over and crush Warpath...despite the guy ordinarily being the same size as Blitzwing and able to fight him on even ground. |
| 842 | * DemotedToExtra: In many continuities where he isn't as important as the main cast, he falls into this. This is pretty noticeable in the IDW comics, where he's introduced in the very first arc, and he has numerous appearances, fights and dialogue in the series, but like Astrotrain, he never really takes center stage, compared to his teammates (The Seekers) and Megatron. [[note]]The Battlechargers were also introduced in the arc, [[spoiler:but they later died]].[[/note]] |
| 843 | * TheDragon: In the Dreamwave continuity, he's Shockwave's top thug. Toward the end of the run, he's fallen from grace, with the implication Sixshot is Shockwave's new favorite. |
| 844 | * TheExile: His final fate in the cartoon is being branded a traitor and banished from the Decepticons forever by Galvatron for allying himself with Rodimus Prime. |
| 845 | * TheFriendNobodyLikes: None of the Decepticons really like Blitzwing for being a loud and obnoxious bully. |
| 846 | * JerkAss: Is a completely unpleasant and cruel bot with an obnoxious sense of humor. |
| 847 | * KilledOffForReal: Dreamwave and the original Marvel Comic. |
| 848 | * KnowWhenToFoldEm: Once Galvatron has shown himself gullible enough to fall for the Quintessons' "Decepticon Matrix of Leadership" ploy and unwilling to listen to Blitzwing's warnings, Blitzwing knows the Quintessons' are the TRUE enemy the Transformers should be fighting that one time instead of each other. And after the Quintessons' defeat, he takes his lumps and leaves the Decepticons. |
| 849 | * LosingYourHead: Sometimes he's partnered up with a Titan Master named Hazard, who forms his head. |
| 850 | * MysteriousPast: In the cartoon's "Five Faces of Darkness" five-parter, it's hinted that Blitzwing had somehow met [[AbusivePrecursors the Quintessons]] before. Though the cartoon itself never followed up on this, Japanese media decades later would. |
| 851 | * OrcusOnHisThrone: In "Triple Takeover", he simply sits on a throne while the Autobots [[ItMakesSenseInContext try to make their way through his fortified football stadium]]. [[VictoryByEndurance They're so worn out when they get through that he beats them easily.]] |
| 852 | * RedemptionRejection: He politely declines an earnest offer from Rodimus to join the Autobots while helping them foil the Quintessons' plot. |
| 853 | * RememberTheNewGuy: Like many Season Two characters, Blitzwing was introduced without much fanfare or explanation. He even succumbs to Cybertonium depletion alongside the Season One cast (who had been inactive on Earth for four million years), suggesting that he was always there, but never seen. |
| 854 | * SensoryAbuse: His gyro-inhibitor rifle disrupts his opponents' sense of balance. |
| 855 | * ShapeshifterModeLock: A weakness he has is that he occasionally gets stuck while transforming between his three different modes. |
| 856 | * SizeShifter: A rarely-used ability compared to Astrotrain, but his jet mode can fit the entire Stunticon team, as shown in "Cosmic Rust". |
| 857 | * TheStarscream: On occasion. The original cartoon even gives him a chance at claim Decepticon leadership... but it doesn't end well. |
| 858 | * TankGoodness: One of his altmodes is a tank. |
| 859 | * TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: Japanese media claims that Blitzwing was once one of many Quintesson tank drones known as "Overcharges", until he was convinced to forge his own destiny (by his own future self). |
| 860 | * VillainRespect: At the end of "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5", he refuses Rodimus' offer of switching sides while admitting his respect for him. A huge step up from previously calling Hot Rod "auto-brat" in [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie the movie]]. |
| 861 | * YellowPurpleContrast: Blitzwing is easily identified by his bright yellow helm and a mostly purple paintjob. |
| 862 | [[/folder]] |
| 863 | |
| 864 | [[folder:The Constructicons (Buildron (ビルドロン ''birudoron''))]] |
| 865 | A group of Decepticons who transform into construction vehicles and serve as the Decepticons' engineers. They are frequently portrayed as the first combiner team and combine into Devastator. |
| 866 | ---- |
| 867 | * DependingOnTheWriter: |
| 868 | ** The cartoon went in and out with the Constructicons' loyalty. In some episodes they were loyal and enthusiastic followers of Megatron, in others they were perfectly willing to usurp his position. [[MultipleChoicePast Don't even ask about their origins.]] |
| 869 | ** Who actually leads the Constructicons? While Scrapper is often depicted as their leader, Hook is sometimes their leader too, and even Mixmaster showed some authority once. Then you have the suggestion that there is no leader, and that all of them are on equal standing.[[note]]Scrapper is their Chief Engineer, which is not necessarily the same thing as a Captain.[[/note]] |
| 870 | * TheDividual: As popular as they are and while their profiles give them individual characteristics, they're never given much characterization apart from each other in media. At best, Scrapper being often the leader who speaks on their behalf makes him slightly more level-headed. |
| 871 | * TheEngineer: All of them serve as the Decepticons' go-to base/weapon developers. One of their (literal) biggest feats is the creation of Trypticon in the cartoon. |
| 872 | * FaceHeelTurn: Cartoon Megatron reprogrammed them into Decepticons and gave them the ability to combine. [[MultipleChoicePast Possibly.]] |
| 873 | * MultipleChoicePast: The Sunbow cartoon gave the team three wildly different and contradictory origins. Were they built on Earth? Are they Autobots reprogrammed by Megatron? Are they the Decepticons that built Megatron in the first place? Fun Publications stated all three are canon in ''ComicBook/TransformersWingsOfHonor'': Hook had to align the Constructicons with the Decepticons to get needed materials but seven Constructicons got fed up with the arrangement. These seven went underground and built Megatron to help them seize power (Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4). However, Megatron decided he wanted power for himself and used the Robo-Smasher to reprogram the Constructicons (The Secret of Omega Supreme). Finally, the Constructicons were heavily damaged in an ambush and rebuilt on Earth with Hook being demoted to second-in-command while Scrapper was made leader but Megatron didn't bother to change the way the team combined (Heavy Metal War). |
| 874 | * PaperThinDisguise: ...yeah, guys, great disguise, no-one will bat an eye at construction vehicles painted ''bright green and purple''. This even gets lampshaded in the original IDW continuity where this is how Spike Witwicky found Scrapper to kill him. At least a European rerelease had them painted a more realistic yellow. |
| 875 | * TheRival: To several different Autobot factions and characters throughout the franchise. |
| 876 | ** The original rivalry was between the Dinobots and the Constructicons, both amongst the first specialized teams within the opposing factions. The Dinobots were the Autobot's powerhouses while Devastator was the Decepticon's original superweapon. Numerous continuities pit them against each other. |
| 877 | ** The cartoon also created the rivalry between Devastator and Omega Supreme. The two were both factions' first massive characters, dwarfing their contemporaries and as such, they would typically fight one another on a more even playing field. Their backstories even intertwined with the Constructicons creating the Crystal City and Omega guarding it. While most other combiners had a designated rival combiner (Bruticus vs. Defensor, Superion vs. Menasor, Abominus vs. Computron) Devastator was paired off with Omega. |
| 878 | ** Devastator would also sometimes play as the evil counterpart to Superion as they were the first combiners for their respective factions. The rivalry wasn't presented much in the cartoon (which was more likely to pair Superion with Menasor), but future stories capitalized on the dynamic. |
| 879 | ** The on-package bio for Raiden, a ''[[Anime/TransformersHeadmasters Headmasters]]'' anime original Autobot combiner, states that he dislikes Devastator. This is likely a nod to both combiners having a shared origin in the ''Diaclone'' toyline before their figures were ported into the ''Transformers'' franchise. However, in the anime itself, Raiden is seen fighting Predaking far more frequently. |
| 880 | ** When the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con rolled around, two exclusive box sets of figures were created for the convention. One was of Devastator with a retooled visorless head and several deco changes to the individual Constructicons, including vacuum metalized purple parts. The other contained special redecos of Arcee, Chromia, and Windblade with new oversized weapons meant to combat combiners. The [[https://tfviews.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/combiner-hunters-100.jpg box art]] for the latter set depicted Devastator being reflected on the blade of Arcee's sword, and [[https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/06/05/transformers-hasbro-unleashes-the-combiner-hunters-at-sdcc product]] [[https://tformers.com/sdcc-2015-transformers-combiner-hunters-official-images-price-and-details-on-arcee-chormia-winblade/26795/news.html blurbs]] for it stated that the three female Autobots were aiming to take down Devastator. Fans were thus incentivized to purchase both sets and pit them against each other. |
| 881 | * SecondaryColorNemesis: Their green and purple color scheme, while odd for construction vehicles, is quite fitting for a team of evil Decepticons. |
| 882 | * VillainousValour: Certain episodes such as "The Core" gave the Constructicons blatant showings of camaraderie. |
| 883 | |
| 884 | !!Scrapper (スクラッパー ''sukurappā'') |
| 885 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scrapper_2535.jpg]] |
| 886 | !!!'''Function:''' Construction Engineer |
| 887 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Payloader |
| 888 | ->''"My work is a monument to - and of - my enemies."'' |
| 889 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MichaelBell (EN); Toshio Ishii (Seasons 2 and 3), Yutaka Shimaka ("Heavy Metal War") & Creator/KeiichiNanba (''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'') (JP) |
| 890 | The Architect of the Constructicons. Scrapper designs the creations his teammates are tasked with building. He forms the right leg of Devastator. |
| 891 | ---- |
| 892 | * AffablyEvil: Despite being the Decepticons' top fortress designer, Scrapper is surprisingly modest. Doesn't stop him from [[HumanResources using the corpses of Autobots in the construction of said fortresses]]. |
| 893 | * EvilSoundsRaspy: Michael Bell gave him a raspy voice in the Sunbow cartoon. |
| 894 | * HumanResources: Scrapper tends to incorporate his enemies' corpses into his buildings. |
| 895 | * KilledOffForReal: In the IDW series, Scrapper is killed sometime after ''ComicBook/TheTransformersAllHailMegatron''. As such, the Constructicons have had a few replacement members (though eventually Scoop ends up being his permanent replacement). |
| 896 | * LeaderFormsTheHead: The Constructicons are known for actually averting this trope, as Scrapper forms a leg while Hook forms the head and upper torso. |
| 897 | * ThinkNothingOfIt: Scrapper is humble and easygoing about praise for his work. If he wasn't the kind of person to take enemies' corpses and integrate them into his structures, this would actually be a pleasant character trait instead of a terrifying one. |
| 898 | |
| 899 | !!Hook (Gren (グレン ''guren'')) |
| 900 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hookofficialart_486.jpg]] |
| 901 | !!!'''Function:''' Surgical Engineer |
| 902 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Nissan Diesel Unic Truck Crane |
| 903 | ->''"Strive for perfection even if others must suffer."'' |
| 904 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Neil Ross (EN), Yoku Shioya (Seasons 2 and 3), Kōki Kataoka ("Heavy Metal War"), Creator/KeiichiNanba ("Microbots"), Creator/MasashiEbara (''The Movie'') & Creator/MasaharuSato (''Headmasters'') (JP) |
| 905 | The team's craftsman and mechanic, Hook prides himself on his surgical precision, viewing each of his creations as a work of art. He forms the head and shoulders of Devastator. |
| 906 | ---- |
| 907 | * InsufferableGenius: Hook is a skilled craftsman, but his snobbish attitude and perfectionism hasn't won him many friends. |
| 908 | * TheLeader: According to ''ComicBook/TransformersWingsOfHonor'', he was Warlord of the Constructicons and after he and the others were rebuilt on Earth, he was demoted to second-in-command while Scrapper was made leader but Megatron never bothered to change the way the Constructicons combined, hence why Hook forms the head and torso and Scrapper forms one of the legs. |
| 909 | * TheMedic: Hook occasionally acts as one, as indicated by his Surgical Engineer function. |
| 910 | * NumberTwo: Is usually portrayed as Scrapper's second-in-command. |
| 911 | * ThePerfectionist: Hook demands that his job be done flawlessly, often leading to construction taking far longer than it should. That he's damn good at said job regardless keeps him around. |
| 912 | |
| 913 | !!Mixmaster (ミックスマスター ''mikkusumasutā'') |
| 914 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mixmaster_7553.jpg]] |
| 915 | !!!'''Function:''' Material Fabrication |
| 916 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' [=F12=] Concrete Mixer |
| 917 | ->''"How strong the steel, how quick the conquest."'' |
| 918 | The primary chemist for the Constructicons, Mixmaster is particularly skilled in creating powerful acids and solvents, which can be weaponized should a combat situation arise. He forms the left leg of Devastator. |
| 919 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/FrankWelker (EN), Yutaka Shimaka (main, Season 2), Creator/MasashiEbara ("Heavy Metal War"), Takurō Kitagawa ("The Core") & Ken Shiroyama (Season 3) (JP) |
| 920 | ---- |
| 921 | * EvilGenius: Though all Constructicons have an eye for engineering, Mixmaster is sometimes depicted with a background in science, being a chemist. On account of the group usually being depicted as TheDividual it doesn't come up very often. |
| 922 | * MadScientist: Mixmaster is likened to a chemistry lab on wheels, and he uses a variety of acids and bonding agents to dissolve anything and recombine it into something else with his cement truck mode's drum. |
| 923 | * VerbalTic: "City of Steel" has him repeat certain words (or syllables), three times. While absent for the rest of the series, it has become commonly accepted in other continuities and the fandom. |
| 924 | * YouDontLookLikeYou: While the robot mode of Mixmaster's ''Combiner Wars'' figure remains largely faithful to his G1 depiction, the figure's vehicle mode is instead a more modern front discharge concrete mixer, which dispenses concrete from the front of the vehicle rather than the rear. This is especially notable as the other Constructicons in the set largely retained their G1 vehicle modes. As such, ''Combiner Wars'' Devastator's left foot is formed from the vehicle's ''rear engine'', rather than the cab. The ''Unite Warriors'' version of Devastator, however, includes some additional paint applications to the engine to make it more resemble a truck cab, in service of giving Devastator a more G1 accurate foot. |
| 925 | |
| 926 | !!Bonecrusher (ボーンクラッシャー ''bōnkurasshā'') |
| 927 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bonecrusher_8632.jpg]] |
| 928 | !!!'''Function:''' Demolitions |
| 929 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Bulldozer |
| 930 | ->''"Hit it till it stands no taller than dust."'' |
| 931 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Neil Ross (main) & Creator/MichaelBell ("The Autobot Run") (EN), Creator/KeiichiNanba (main, Seasons 1 and 2), Creator/ShowHayami ("The Core), Yoku Shioya ("The Autobot Run" and Season 3) & Toshio Ishii (''The Movie'') (JP) |
| 932 | The strongest of the Constructicons, Bonecrusher serves as the team's Demolition specialist. He forms the left arm of Devastator. |
| 933 | ---- |
| 934 | * TheBrute: The most physical member of the team, often serving as their primary muscle when they are not combined. |
| 935 | * DumbMuscle: Strength of 9, Intelligence of 3. He's not going to win any accolades for dissertations anytime soon. |
| 936 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: Bonecrusher tends to get buried in rubble while demolishing buildings. He's usually unharmed, but is left stuck until his comrades can dig him out. |
| 937 | * MightyGlacier: Bonecrusher has a Strength rating of 9, but his Speed is at 2. |
| 938 | * OmnicidalManiac: Bonecrusher's idea of a beautiful landscape is a rubble-strewn wasteland. Naturally, Devastator is also this given how his one purpose is to commit total destruction. |
| 939 | |
| 940 | !!Long Haul (ロングハウル ''ronguhauru'') |
| 941 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/long_haul_5784.jpg]] |
| 942 | !!!'''Function:''' Transport |
| 943 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Hitachi DH-321 Mining Truck |
| 944 | ->''"A battle front is only as good as its supply line."'' |
| 945 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/GreggBerger (EN), Creator/MasashiEbara (main, Seasons 1 and 2), Toshio Ishii ("The Golden Lagoon" and ''Scramble City''), Yutaka Shimaka ("The Core"), Takurō Kitagawa ("The Autobot Run"), Creator/ShowHayami (Season 3) & Ryōichi Tanaka (''Headmasters'') (JP) |
| 946 | The transporter for the Constructicons, Long Haul's raison d'être is to ferry construction materials from one work site to the next. This is to his chagrin, as he would prefer to actually help build something. He forms the torso of Devastator. |
| 947 | ---- |
| 948 | * DudeWheresMyRespect: Despite being a genius-level engineer in his own right, like the rest of the Constructicons, the Decepticons largely overlook this and consign him to hauling supplies and building materials for their construction projects. Needless to say, Long Haul is hardly pleased with this. |
| 949 | * GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Long Haul is largely known for his unglamorous role hauling construction materials and supplies for the Decepticon. The truckbed of his ''Combiner Wars'' figure has various ports and slots intended to accommodate the kibble that becomes Devastator's forearms, chestplate, and {{BFG}}, meaning that out of the team, he's stuck hauling those bits around in vehicle mode. |
| 950 | * SourSupporter: Long Haul understands the importance of his role as the Constructicons' materials transport, but that doesn't mean he's happy with it. |
| 951 | -->'''Long Haul:''' REMOVE! REMOVE! ALWAYS REMOVE! I didn't join this outfit to be a dump truck! |
| 952 | * YouDontLookLikeYou: Downplayed, but Long Haul's ''Combiner Wars'' toy makes him significantly stockier and chunkier compared to his original toy and depictions in the comic and cartoon. Though labelled as a Voyager, said figure has the size and heft to approach Leader class. This is all in service to the fact that as Devastator's lower torso, Long Haul has to provide much of the combined form's stability. Additionally, while his truckbed traditionally forms his legs, it instead ends up on his back on said figure. |
| 953 | |
| 954 | !!Scavenger (スカベンジャー ''sukabenjā'') |
| 955 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scavenger_4678.jpg]] |
| 956 | !!!'''Function:''' Mining & Salvage |
| 957 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Power Shovel |
| 958 | ->''"Everything is worth something, even me."'' |
| 959 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/DonMessick (EN), Takurō Kitagawa (main, Seasons 2 and 3), Yoku Shioya ("Heavy Metal War"), Creator/MasashiEbara ("The Core") & Creator/KeiichiNanba ('"TheMovie'') (JP) |
| 960 | The Mining and Salvage specialist for the Constructicons. Perceived as the team's weakest member, he is eager to prove himself as a worthwhile contributor to their projects. He forms the right arm of Devastator. |
| 961 | ---- |
| 962 | * {{Beachcombing}}: Scavenger's shovel has a variety of sensors that can detect metals and fuels. He constantly tries to use this ability to find valuable things in an attempt to prove his worth to the team. |
| 963 | * ButtMonkey: His attempts to gather resources often end with him just finding worthless junk, his teammates think he's a loser and his efforts to improve his standing typically fail. |
| 964 | * TheFriendNobodyLikes: Poor, poor Scavenger. Were it not for his shovel's ability to detect fuel and metal (as well as the fact he forms one of Devastator's arms), both Megatron and the Constructicons would've left him in the dust long ago. In Classics on the other hand, he's a lot bigger and is the one who forms Devastator's head and torso! |
| 965 | * IJustWantToBeSpecial: Scavenger constantly tries to prove his worth to the team, which only reinforces the poor sap's image as a loser in his teammates' eyes. |
| 966 | * IneffectualSympatheticVillain: He's treated like a loser and has very few successes to his name. His sole moment of glory involved shooting Prowl in the 1986 movie, and even then that's been shown to be a fluke--he later gets run over by a twelve-year-old Daniel Witwicky, of all people. |
| 967 | * TheLoad: He often fails at his salvaging jobs, finding worthless junk instead of valuable resources. The only reason the other Constructicons and Megatron haven't slagged him is probably because he's occasionally found something useful, and because he's needed to form Devastator. |
| 968 | * SensorCharacter: Scavenger's shovel has magnetic, ionic, electrical and gas sensors, allowing him to detect underground resources. |
| 969 | * TookALevelInBadass: Much bigger in ''Classics'' and is the one who forms Devastator's head and torso here. |
| 970 | |
| 971 | !!Devastator (Devastor (デバスター ''debasutā'')) |
| 972 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/devastatorofficial_4324.jpg]] |
| 973 | !!!'''Function:''' Warrior |
| 974 | ->''"Thinking and winning do not mix."'' |
| 975 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Arthur Burghardt (EN); Seizo Kato (series, ''Scramble City'' and ''Headmasters''), Yutaka Shimaka (''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'') & Hirohiko Kakegawa (''Zone'' OVA) (JP) |
| 976 | The combined form of the Constructicons, deployed when the team seeks to destroy rather than create. Though his actions are limited to what all six of his components agree upon, his sheer size and strength make him one of the most feared warriors in the Decepticon ranks. |
| 977 | ---- |
| 978 | * AdaptationalBadass: The IDW version of Devastator is treated as a dangerous threat, despite being a [[SuperPrototype combiner prototype]]. In ''Combiner Wars'', it took '''three combiners''' working together to beat him. |
| 979 | * AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: Devastator's construction theme reinforces the idea of ''building'' a bigger robot quite nicely. This, in turn, helped introduce the concept of combiner teams during the original toyline; Devastator was the franchise's very first combiner figure. His tech specs also tie into the construction theme, saying that he can demolish a bridge (many bridges being complex feats of engineering) with a single punch. |
| 980 | * {{BFG}}: Devastator sometimes has a gun the size of his arm. This would mean the gun is as big as a Transformer. The 2019 IDW continuity gives it an origin as an anti-air cannon Devastator appropriated. |
| 981 | * TheBrute: Devastator is often depicted as the heavy hitter of the Decepticons and one of the most physically powerful Transformers on their side. |
| 982 | * CombiningMecha: The original, and one of the most iconic. He's unique for having a body made of six members instead of five. |
| 983 | * CuttingTheKnot: Devastator is really only good for smashing things, but sometimes that's exactly what's needed. And he's very, very good at smashing things, especially Autobots. |
| 984 | * DecompositeCharacter: A late Marvel UK story featured the Constructicons (who had somehow lost the ability to combine) attempting to recreate Devastator as a singular entity. |
| 985 | * DependingOnTheArtist: Devastator's cartoon model had two different head designs - one with two distinct small eyes (seen in "Heavy Metal War") and one with a red visor. The latter seems to have been adopted as the official design. Both interpretations are used in the 2019 IDW run, with the two eyed version representing the Constructicons being in control of the gestalt, while the visor represents Devastator's own personality taking over. The ''Combiner Wars'' figure features the visored face, while the version exclusive to San Diego Comic-Con retools the head to the two eyed version. The [=SDCC=] head was used for the ''Unite Warriors'' version, but given a retool that included a flip down visor, allowing the head to sport both looks. |
| 986 | * TheDreaded: The Movie treats him as the Decepticons' ultimate weapon (due to being produced before Bruticus and Menasor came along), causing Kup (who is usually unfazed by anything) to whisper his name in horror once the Constructicons combine. |
| 987 | * DumbMuscle: Devastator sets the ground-rule in G1 that despite their immense power, the strain and difficulties in syncing the minds and personalities of their component transformers always results in Combiners having some sort of mental deficiency. Devastator, case in point, is made up of six genius level engineers, all of whom have to unanimously agree on what action to take in order for Devastator to function, leaving him a plodding brutish monster who's left easily distracted and confused if bombarded with too many conflicting stimuli at once. |
| 988 | * EvilSoundsDeep: Both his English and Japanese voice actors gave him a deep, metallic voice. |
| 989 | * EyeBeams: Can inconsistently fire beams out of his giant visor in the G1 cartoon. In "The Autobot Run", this is used as a TractorBeam rather than standard laser beams. |
| 990 | * FlawedPrototype: Devastator is usually the first Decepticon combiner, and the first combiner at all. He also usually has the brains of a particularly stupid lump of rock. Inverted in the IDW comics, which instead portray him as a SuperPrototype. |
| 991 | -->'''Springer:''' You really were first off the production line, weren't you? Six of the sharpest minds on Cybertron, mushed into "[[HulkSpeak Devastator smash]]".\ |
| 992 | '''Top-Spin:''' Hey -\ |
| 993 | '''Whirl:''' - that's progress for you. |
| 994 | * HeelFaceBrainwashing: Underwent an infamous bout of this in the cartoon episode "The Core". |
| 995 | * HumongousMecha: Devastator towers over several Transformers, who themselves are on the large side. |
| 996 | * KilledOffForReal: Devastator is killed (and thus all the surviving Constructicons including Scoop) near the end of the original IDW run, torn apart by Victorion's gravity powers. |
| 997 | * LeaderFormsTheHead: Averted with the Constructicons, the first of the combiners. Scrapper, the leader shovel-dozer of the six warriors, actually forms the ''right leg'' of Devastator, whereas it is actually ''Hook'' the crane who forms the head instead. In the Wings Continuity, he was the leader, but after a defeat, he was demoted, and Scrapper given the position. In Classics on the other hand, due to the way the Constructicons were rebuilt, Scavenger is the one who forms the head and torso. Following Scrapper's death in the first IDW run, Prowl takes charge of the group, and is integrated into the combination, replacing Hook as the head and shoulders (with Hook taking the deceased Scrapper's position as a leg). |
| 998 | * MightyGlacier: Since Devastator is limited to actions all his components agree on, he has a slow reaction time. But he brings ''a lot'' of hitting power to the table. He can also shrug off hits that would pulverize most Decepticons, even direct attacks from the Dinobots. |
| 999 | * NonStandardCharacterDesign: Has a couple unique traits as the first of the combiners, like his body being composed of six bots and his feet being formed from the alt-modes of Scrapper and Mixmaster rather than being specialized foot pieces. |
| 1000 | * PowerOfTheSun: His gun is solar-powered. |
| 1001 | * SizeShifter: Devastator is shown to be several times larger than his components, so this is implied. A few continuities make it an explicit ability of his (and of combiners in general), however. |
| 1002 | * SplitPersonalityTakeover: In the 2019 IDW continuity, Devastator is an entirely separate persona from the other Constructicons, and when they combine, he takes over the wheel. At first, the Constructicons are freaked out by this, but with some "advice" from Bombshell, they decide not to fight it. |
| 1003 | * SuperPrototype: The IDW comic portrays him as this in comparison to other combiners, hailing from a time before the Enigma of Combination made combiners ridiculously easy to spontaneously create. He is consistently shown as capable of standing toe-to-toe against several other combiners simultaneously. |
| 1004 | * ThisIsADrill: The original Constructicon figures came with two drills, which could be used as missiles. These drills are used by Devastator in ''VideoGame/TransformersDevastation'', albeit as replacements for his hands [[TurnsRed midway into his fight]]. |
| 1005 | * TheWorfEffect: Hailing from a MerchandiseDriven show like Transformers, the fearsome Devastator would usually be the go-to character to have the newest toy [[CurbStompBattle curb stomp]] to show just how powerful he is. |
| 1006 | * YourSizeMayVary: While Devastator is big, ''how'' big he is varies wildly. Then you have his Action Master toy, which depicts him as being the same size as Megatron (did the Constructicons shrink?)! |
| 1007 | [[/folder]] |
| 1008 | |
| 1009 | [[folder:Dirge (ダージ ''dāji'')]] |
| 1010 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dirge_8498.jpg]] |
| 1011 | !!!'''Function:''' Warrior |
| 1012 | !!!'''Alt Modes:''' Delta Wing F-15 Eagle Fighter Jet |
| 1013 | ->''"Fear is the element that unites all losers."'' |
| 1014 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Bud Davis (EN), Creator/KeiichiNanba (JP) |
| 1015 | A Seeker who forms part of the "Conehead" trio. Dirge is a gloomy and mournful master of fear who puts even other Decepticons off, but if he's lost control of a situation, he succumbs to fear himself. [[TheyKilledKennyAgain He's also prone to dying repeatedly over several continuities.]] |
| 1016 | ---- |
| 1017 | * AscendedExtra: Like many minor characters, Dirge was given screen time in the 2005 IDW series. He had a sizable role during the first few arcs of RID before settling in as a recurring background character. It was one of the few times Dirge was characterized as an entity of his own rather than a crowd filling mook. |
| 1018 | * BadassBoast: "Death comes to he who crosses me." Ironically, it becomes less badass when one knows Dirge has a nasty habit of dying in many continuities. |
| 1019 | * BrownNote: Dirge's engines are able to spark fear and dread in anyone who hears them. |
| 1020 | * TheChewToy: In the IDW-verse, lots of bad things happen to him. He's been injured in an explosion, almost executed, mind-controlled, shot, and put on Cybertron's most wanted because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. |
| 1021 | * CoolPlane: A modified F-15 Eagle that has a delta wing. |
| 1022 | * DependingOnTheArtist: As the picture above shows, the original toy of Dirge depicts him as having his nosecone down. The cartoon and most other media, however, depict it pointing upwards instead. |
| 1023 | * DirtyCoward: When his ability to sow fear is overcome, he gets scared himself. |
| 1024 | * TheDreaded: His morose and silent nature causes people to fear him, but if he finds himself in a situation over which he has no control, [[{{Irony}} Dirge will find himself crippled and paralyzed with terror]]. |
| 1025 | * TheEeyore: Dirge constantly acts gloomy, morose and mournful, something which gives his fellow Decepticons the creeps. |
| 1026 | * PaletteSwap: Like all Seekers, he's a recolored Starscream. However, as part of the Conehead trio, Dirge has a pointy head, formed by leaving the jet mode's nosecone up when transformed. Succeeding toys adopted the Conehead design in different ways. Dirge also has a distinct set of wings -- specifically, delta wings with a front canard -- which he keeps oriented downward when transformed. Notably, he's the only Seeker to lack rear stabilizers of any sort. |
| 1027 | * RememberTheNewGuy: As with many Season Two characters, he appeared without comment or an explanation partway through the season (though an early draft of the ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' episode "Nemesis Part 2" would have suggested he and his fellow Coneheads were on Earth with the Season One cast all along). |
| 1028 | * SoleSurvivor: His IDW incarnation, in an act of irony, is the only Conehead Seeker to ''not'' get killed off (at least until Unicron arrives and AnyoneCanDie). |
| 1029 | * TerribleTrio: Along with fellow Coneheads Thrust and Ramjet. |
| 1030 | * TheyKilledKennyAgain: He tends to die or get severely damaged a lot in every iteration of G1 in which he appears. A lot. The fandom, naturally, has picked up on this tendency [[CharacterExaggeration and run away with it]]. |
| 1031 | -->'''Starscream:''' Dirge died.\ |
| 1032 | '''Skywarp:''' Dirge? Aw, hell, I kinda liked that idiot. |
| 1033 | * UnexplainedRecovery: He seemingly bites it in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'' when Unicron bites him, but turns up alive and well in Season 3 of the Sunbow cartoon. |
| 1034 | [[/folder]] |
| 1035 | |
| 1036 | [[folder:The Insecticons (Insectron (インセクトロン ''insekutoron''))]] |
| 1037 | |
| 1038 | Seven Decepticons who have bugs as their altmodes. Most media tend to show only the three smaller ones (Bombshell, Kickback and Shrapnel), but occasionally the more-obscure Deluxe Insecticons (Venom, Barrage, Chop Shop and Ransack) may appear. |
| 1039 | ---- |
| 1040 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: All of them change into insects, but the "big" part is especially evident in the Sunbow cartoon, where they don't change size in their altmodes. |
| 1041 | * BigEater: Their depiction in the cartoon made them {{Extreme Omnivore}}s that can, and will, devour anything. |
| 1042 | * ColourCodedForYourConvenience: The three smaller Insecticons are unified by a black, purple, and yellow color scheme. The four "Deluxe" Insecticons avert this by having different colors even from each other, [[AdaptationDyeJob save for]] their appearance in ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyTransformersFriendshipInDisguise'', where all seven Insecticons show up with the same color scheme. |
| 1043 | * DependingOnTheWriter: |
| 1044 | ** Their loyalty to the Decepticons varies across mediums. While the original toyline and the Marvel comic portrayed them as rank-and-file Decepticons, the cartoon opted to instead show them as Decepticon-allied mercenaries, only tagging along with other Decepticons when there's something in it for them. |
| 1045 | ** Who leads the Insecticons? Ostensibly it's Venom, but in fiction where the Deluxe Insecticons are absent, it gets more complicated. The cartoon initially presented Shrapnel as the group's spokesperson, but as the show progressed, Bombshell got more and more focus. Meanwhile, Kickback's toy has the highest Rank of the three small Insecticons at 7. |
| 1046 | ** While the Insecticons are ostensibly Decepticons who turn into robotic insects, ''VideoGame/TransformersDevastation'' depicts them as a separate breed of Cybertronian, with little indication that the "main" three Insecticons ever show up. |
| 1047 | * EatingMachine: In the cartoon -- uniquely among Transformers, they can eat and derive energy from biological food. This means they attack crops like a swarm of real insects. In "The Insecticon Syndrome," there's a real danger they'll cause a worldwide famine. Of course, they can consume other energy sources like oil and such -- but, again uniquely, they don't need to convert it to electricity or energon first. They can just eat it. Megatron can then extract the energon they produce by doing so. |
| 1048 | * ExtremeOmnivore: Bombshell, Kickback, and Shrapnel are shown to be capable of and [[HorrorHunger willing to eat anything]]. |
| 1049 | * HordeOfAlienLocusts: Quite literally in the cartoon's case, where they have the ability to create clones and have voracious appetites. |
| 1050 | * ImAHumanitarian: In some continuities, the Insecticons can and will eat other Cybertronians given half a chance. |
| 1051 | * JapaneseBeetleBrothers: Shrapnel (stag beetle) and Bombshell (rhinoceros beetle), along with Chop Shop and Barrage, are a Type A example of this. |
| 1052 | * KilledOffForReal: |
| 1053 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'' leaves this ambiguous. The trio are wounded at the Battle of Autobot City and ejected into space for Unicron to use as raw material. Skywarp and Thundercracker were effectively dead but the Insecticons showed up later in the movie and in the subsequent episodes. [[UncertainDoom Whether this is an issue with their clones or just an error is ambiguous.]] |
| 1054 | ** In the 2005 IDW comics, Bombshell was fatally stabbed through the head by Arcee in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise''. |
| 1055 | ** In ''Transformers Vs. The Terminator'' Kickback is killed in an altercation with the Autobots, Arcee fatally kicking him. |
| 1056 | * TheLeader: Venom is said to be the Insecticon leader, but in fiction where the Deluxe Insecticons don't appear, Shrapnel seems to take the role. |
| 1057 | * MechanicalInsects: Per the name of their group, Insecticons are Decepticons who transform into robotic insects. |
| 1058 | * NoOntologicalInertia: In the cartoon, if the control beam for the Insecticons' clones is disrupted, said clones will disintegrate. |
| 1059 | * OutOfFocus: The main three Insecticons were introduced in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersAllHailMegatron'' as major players in the Decepticon ranks. However after that their roles got smaller and smaller, being recurring minor soldiers in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW,'' and Bombshell having a role in the Decepticon's resurgence in the opening arcs of ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise''. After that, Bombshell was killed and Kickback and Shrapnel would only occasionally show up in crowd shots. |
| 1060 | * SendInTheClones: The main three Insecticons are capable of creating [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Insecticon_clone clones of themselves]]. Often overlaps with ExpendableClone and TheSwarm. |
| 1061 | * SizeShifter: The Insecticons are sometimes shown to be able to shrink down to the size of an actual insect. |
| 1062 | * TheSwarm: The Insecticon clones are often depicted as a huge, menacing swarm. The IDW comics also show an army of failed Insecticons known as, fittingly enough, the Swarm. |
| 1063 | * ThemeNaming: For some reason, the three primary Insecticons are named after the dangers of an exploding bomb. |
| 1064 | * UnexplainedRecovery: While the three small Insecticons are heavily damaged and reformed into the Sweeps (and possibly Cyclonus) in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'', Shrapnel shows up perfectly fine on Junkion. All three even appear in the opening five-parter of Season 3. Their duplication abilities may have something to do with this, but it's never explicitly spelled out. |
| 1065 | * VillainDecay: They got hit with this hard in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'', especially Shrapnel, who is taken down three times over the course of the Battle of Autobot City. |
| 1066 | * WildCard: In the cartoon. While they worked alongside the Decepticons multiple times, they would often be quick to doublecross their allies and pursue their own agenda at a moment's notice. |
| 1067 | |
| 1068 | !!Shrapnel (Sharpnel (シャープネル ''shāpuneru'')) |
| 1069 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shrapnel_4106.jpg]] |
| 1070 | !!!'''Function:''' Electronic Warfare |
| 1071 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Stag Beetle |
| 1072 | ->''"Control electricity and you control the world."'' |
| 1073 | -> '''Voiced by:''' Hal Rayle, Wally Burr (one line in Traitor) (EN), Creator/MasashiEbara (main), Creator/ShowHayami ("Traitor"), Yoku Shioya ("The Revenge of Bruticus"), Toshio Ishii (''The Movie'') (JP) |
| 1074 | The strongest of the small Insecticons, Shrapnel is a twisted, sadistic master of electricity. |
| 1075 | ---- |
| 1076 | * FlechetteStorm: One of his weapons can fire a metal sphere that splinters into thousands of needle-thin, razor-sharp fragments. |
| 1077 | * ILied: "Target: 2006" has an Autobot try to buy his life by giving Shrapnel information. Once he gives it up, Shrapnel tortures the schmuck to death ''anyway''. |
| 1078 | * LogicalWeakness: His electrical attacks aren't as effective if his target is protected by an insulator. The trio's first appearance in the cartoon features the Autobots neutralizing Shrapnel's attack via the rubber tires of their vehicle modes. |
| 1079 | * LovesTheSoundOfScreaming: It's music to this twisted Insecticon's audio receptors. |
| 1080 | * PsychoElectro: Shrapnel's main power is manipulating electricity, and he considers the noise of war and screaming to be music. |
| 1081 | * ShockAndAwe: Shrapnel's antennae can attract lightning bolts, which he can then shoot out from his hands. |
| 1082 | * {{Technopath}}: Shrapnel's insect antennae can uplink with machines, allowing him to control them. |
| 1083 | * ThunderBeetle: He's an Insecticon who transforms into a stag beetle, and he can use electric powers on massive scale. |
| 1084 | * VerbalTic: Cartoon Shrapnel always repeats the last word of his sentences, sentences. |
| 1085 | |
| 1086 | !!Bombshell (ボンブシェル ''bonbusheru'' or ボムシェル ''bomusheru'') |
| 1087 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bombshell_6868.jpg]] |
| 1088 | !!!'''Function:''' Psychological Warfare |
| 1089 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Rhinoceros Beetle |
| 1090 | ->''"The mind is my playpen."'' |
| 1091 | -> '''Voiced by:''' Creator/MichaelBell (EN), Ken Shiroyama (JP) |
| 1092 | With his cerebro-shells giving him mastery over the minds of others, Bombshell takes malicious glee in what he can force his victims to do against their will. |
| 1093 | ---- |
| 1094 | * TheEvilGenius: Bombshell is often depicted as having some degree of scientific capability. In the G1 cartoon, he upgraded and reprogrammed Nightbird. In the 2005 IDW continuity, he was responsible for the creation of the Cerebro Shells and completed the Decepticon's work on both the space bridge and combiner technologies. |
| 1095 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: If one of Bombshell's cerebro-shells is removed from a victim's head, it can be used against him. |
| 1096 | * MindControlDevice: Bombshell uses cerebro-shells, which he can inject into his target's heads (be they robot or human) and use to control them as he wishes. |
| 1097 | * WeaponizedHeadgear: He shoots his cerebro-shells from the tip of his beetle horn, which rests atop his head in robot mode. |
| 1098 | |
| 1099 | !!Kickback (キックバック ''kikkubakku'') |
| 1100 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kickback_4923.jpg]] |
| 1101 | !!!'''Function:''' Espionage |
| 1102 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Grasshopper |
| 1103 | ->''"Friend is another word for fool."'' |
| 1104 | -> '''Voiced by:''' Creator/CliveRevill (EN), Toshio Ishii (main), Yutaka Shimaka ("Taitor" and "The Insecticon Syndrome"), Masashi Ebara ("The Revenge of Bruticus"), Yoku Shioya (''The Movie'') (JP) |
| 1105 | The master of kicking things, this Insecticon also uses his charm to manipulate others into doing his bidding. |
| 1106 | ---- |
| 1107 | * {{Blackmail}}: Kickback's ''modus operandi'' is making friends, digging up anything they don't want getting out, then using it to get them to do his bidding. His Tech Specs note that humans are particularly susceptible to him. |
| 1108 | * ExtremityExtremist: In grasshopper mode, he can unleash powerful kicks. |
| 1109 | * FalseFriend: Kickback establishes himself as friends to people he wants to use for his own ends via blackmailing them. |
| 1110 | * InASingleBound: Can jump really high in grasshopper mode. |
| 1111 | * MeaningfulName: Kickback is getting repayment for a favour, usually from something illegal. Fitting name for someone who loves blackmail. Also, he can kick people ''really'' hard. |
| 1112 | * OutOfFocus: Shrapnel's powers make him distinctive, Bombshell's abilities for controlling people gets a lot of use, and Kickback... is just sort of there, though he tends to switch back and forth with Shrapnel as leader. |
| 1113 | * PunnyName: Kickback is technically named after recoil, such as the type one might find in a cannon...but as a charming yet shameless manipulator who blackmails people, he also happens to be named after illicit bribery commonly disguised as 'facilitation fees.' |
| 1114 | |
| 1115 | !!Deluxe Insecticons |
| 1116 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/venomofficial_8618.jpg]] |
| 1117 | [[caption-width-right:205:Venom]] |
| 1118 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/barrage_102.jpg]] |
| 1119 | [[caption-width-right:205:Barrage]] |
| 1120 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chop_shop_4430.jpg]] |
| 1121 | [[caption-width-right:205:Chop Shop]] |
| 1122 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ransack_1604.jpg]] |
| 1123 | [[caption-width-right:205:Ransack]] |
| 1124 | !!!'''Function:''' Psychological Warfare (Venom), Gunner (Barrage), Thief (Chop Shop), Warrior (Ransack) |
| 1125 | !!!'''Alt Modes:''' Cicada (Venom), Rhinoceros Beetle (Barrage), Stag Beetle (Chop Shop), Locust (Ransack) |
| 1126 | ->'''Venom''': ''"Friends are more dangerous than enemies."'' |
| 1127 | ->'''Barrage''': ''"Nothing left standing means nothing left to change."'' |
| 1128 | ->'''Chop Shop''': ''"I take no prisoners, just spare parts."'' |
| 1129 | ->'''Ransack''': ''"The sight of ruin only makes me crave more."'' |
| 1130 | Comprised of the leader Venom, the destructive Barrage, the kleptomaniac Chop Shop, and the bloodthirsty Ransack. This separate team of Insecticons are rarely seen with the main trio, even in continuities where both groups appear. |
| 1131 | ---- |
| 1132 | * AdaptedOut: The Deluxe Insecticons (Venom, Chop Shop, Ransack and Barrage) didn't appear in the [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers cartoon]], nor did they appear in the Marvel comics (although Venom and Chop Shop did appear in the UK comic's ''Time Wars'' story). This was likely done for reasons similar to the controversy behind Jetfire/Skyfire - the toys were from Bandai, and including them would be giving Takara's competitors free publicity. |
| 1133 | * BloodKnight: Ransack loves to fight and destroy, and is always ready for the next battle. |
| 1134 | * TheFriendNobodyLikes: Barrage isn't very popular among the Decepticons thanks to his destructive tendencies, and considering the Decepticons aren't too big on mercy themselves, that's saying something. |
| 1135 | * HollywoodAcid: Venom's stinger is able to make acids that dissolve metal. |
| 1136 | * {{Irony}}: Venom specializes in poisons and acids and has a stinger, yet cicadas are not poisonous insects nor do they sting. |
| 1137 | * OmnicidalManiac: When Barrage is sent into battle, he's not stopping until the entire ground is smouldering rubble and every last opponent, be they wounded or taken prisoner, is dead. Ransack, likewise, is perfectly fine with killing high numbers of innocents and levelling settlements so long as his enemy is among the dead. |
| 1138 | * PaletteSwap: While originally the Deluxe Insecticons all had unique molds, later toys would repurpose the core Insecticons for their figures. |
| 1139 | ** Chop Shop would be a HeadSwap of Shrapnel's toy in the Generations/Adventure line and later a slightly more extensive retooling in the Legacy toyline. |
| 1140 | ** Barrage would be a reuse of Bombshell's toy with extensive retooling in the Legacy toyline. |
| 1141 | ** Ransack would receive a toy in the Buzzworthy Bumblebee line which would be a [[HeadSwap new-head retool]] and repaint of Kickback. |
| 1142 | * TheParanoiac: Venom is constantly afraid that his position as Insecticon leader will be usurped one day (and with Decepticons like Starscream and Shockwave around, can you blame him?), and as such he doesn't trust a single one of his subordinates. |
| 1143 | * PoisonousPerson: Appropriately enough, Venom's stinger can release dangerous toxins. He even uses this on fellow Decepticons thanks to his constant paranoia. |
| 1144 | * ShockAndAwe: Venom is also armed with an electric-blaster gun, and Ransack's antennae can shoot up to 80 kilovolts. |
| 1145 | * TheSilentBob: In the storybook ''Slave of the Insecticons'' (one of his few media appearances), the voiceless Venom manages to express contempt and distrust with nothing but a silent DeathGlare that briefly unnerves Megatron. |
| 1146 | * StickyFingers: Chop Shop is a kleptomaniac who can't help but steal things from friend and foe alike. Something seems thief-proof? He only wants to grab it that much more. Sometimes Chop Shop will even steal from ''himself'', if only to throw off suspicion. |
| 1147 | * ToylineExclusiveCharacter: As non-Takara toy molds, none of the four were included in the cartoon, and in media past and present, they've largely been overshadowed by the three smaller Insecticons. |
| 1148 | * VirtueIsWeakness: Barrage is a firm believer that showing kindness only stirs hope among the vanquished, and that's not happening while he's around. |
| 1149 | [[/folder]] |
| 1150 | |
| 1151 | [[folder:Ramjet (ラムジェット ''ramujetto'')]] |
| 1152 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ramjet_7196.jpg]] |
| 1153 | !!!'''Function:''' Warrior |
| 1154 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Delta Wing F-15 Eagle Fighter Jet |
| 1155 | ->''"If it flies, crash it!"'' |
| 1156 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Jack Angel (EN), Toshio Ishii (JP) |
| 1157 | Another Seeker who forms part of the Conehead trio. Ramjet considers himself the king of the skies, and excels at colliding into things. He doesn't care if his target is an opponent or not; he'll still do it out of sheer pleasure. |
| 1158 | ---- |
| 1159 | * BigBadWannabe: His IDW incarnation tried to overthrow Megatron, and got [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown exactly what you'd expect]] in return. |
| 1160 | * CoolPlane: An F-15 Eagle with F-16XL wings. |
| 1161 | * DependingOnTheArtist: While most fiction has his nosecone pointing upwards, the IDW series has him resembling his original toy (where the nosecone was meant to go behind his head). |
| 1162 | * ExtremeMeleeRevenge: When IDW Ramjet plots against Megatron, he's brutally beaten and dismembered to death. |
| 1163 | * HiddenDepths: Ramjet has higher-than-average competence even when only compared to his wingmates Dirge and Thrust. In fact, whenever it's only the three of them he becomes the de-facto leader of the group and directs them or tells them to get their acts together. |
| 1164 | * KilledOffForReal: In the 2005 IDW comics he tries to launch a coup against Megatron, only for Megatron to kill him. He's rebuilt and mass-produced for a drone army for the humans, but those are just imitations and the original Ramjet is long dead. |
| 1165 | * LightningBruiser: He can fly as fast as Mach 2.8 and is strong enough to withstand several md-air collisions. |
| 1166 | * {{Nanomachines}}: His plan in the IDW verse involved mind controlling humans by injecting them with microscopic "Mini-Constructicons". |
| 1167 | * PaletteSwap: Like all Seekers, he's a recolored Starscream. However, as part of the Conehead trio, Ramjet has a pointy head, formed by leaving the jet mode's nosecone up when transformed. Succeeding toys adopted the Conehead design in different ways. Ramjet also has a distinct set of wings -- specifically, delta wings adorned with [[MeaningfulName ramjet]] engines -- which he keeps oriented downward when transformed. |
| 1168 | * RememberTheNewGuy: He just appeared in the cartoon's second season without any explanation, as if he were always among the original cast. |
| 1169 | * TheStarscream: In the IDW-verse, he was basically a less-effective (and more killable) one than the original. |
| 1170 | * StraightMan: Among his wingmates, the gloomy Dirge and the obnoxious Thrust, he serves as this. |
| 1171 | * SuperToughness: His nose module can withstand flying into three-foot thick concrete at 1500 miles per hour. His internal mechanisms, however, aren't nearly so used to constant collisions. Fortunately, a glitch in his pain receptor wiring gives him an abnormally high tolerance to injuries. |
| 1172 | * TerribleTrio: Forms the Conehead trio of Seekers with Dirge and Thrust. |
| 1173 | * UnexplainedRecovery: He shows up alive in the Sunbow cartoon's third season, despite apparently dying to Unicron in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie''. |
| 1174 | * UseYourHead: Ramjet, as one would expect, likes to ram things with his conehead -- in and out of vehicle mode. [[http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/6/6e/Ramjetinpast.gif Case in point]]. |
| 1175 | * WhiteAndRedAndEerieAllOver: He has a mostly-white body with red wings. |
| 1176 | [[/folder]] |
| 1177 | |
| 1178 | [[folder:Thrust (スラスト ''surasuto'')]] |
| 1179 | [[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thrust_6407.jpg]] |
| 1180 | !!!'''Function:''' Warrior |
| 1181 | !!!'''Alt Mode:''' Modified F-15 Eagle Fighter Jet |
| 1182 | ->''"My engines' roar is my enemies' song of doom!"'' |
| 1183 | -> '''Voiced by:''' Ed Gilbert (EN), Yutaka Shimaka (JP) |
| 1184 | Another Conehead Seeker, Thrust is a brash and arrogant Decepticon who makes no effort to be subtle. Though he often declares victory to be his before the battle even begins, he's largely all bark with little bite. |
| 1185 | ---- |
| 1186 | * AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: Thrust's wings are the widest and bulkiest of any Seeker by far. They also have a unique position in robot mode, giving him a ton of clumsy, undignified visual weight in his middle. They make it seem like Thrust is trying too hard to seem more imposing and intimidating than he truly is. |
| 1187 | * BigEntrance: He uses his engine's roar to create one for himself, letting his enemies [[SmallNameBigEgo know just who they're dealing with]]. |
| 1188 | * CoolPlane: Like the other Coneheads, he is a modified F-15 Eagle -- in his case, he has different tailfins and VTOL wings. |
| 1189 | * DirtyCoward: An unusual example. While he can go into battle without pause, a strong enough counterattack can break his nerve, driving him to retreat. |
| 1190 | * DependingOnTheArtist: While Thrust's nosecone is ''supposed'' to go behind his head like the other Seeker toys as pictured above, the cartoon and comic had it pointing up and stylised as a helmet (alongside Dirge and Ramjet). |
| 1191 | * TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: When trapped in a Starscream-possessed Trypticon in the cartoon episode "Ghost in the Machine", Runabout, Runamuck, Thrust and Dirge realize they need to stop him. Thrust himself smashes Trypticon's controls, throwing a wrench in Unicron and Starscream's plans and saving Cybertron (Unicron makes one last attempt, but this is stopped by Starscream being Starscream). It's never spoken of afterwards. |
| 1192 | * MilesGloriosus: He'll brag and boast about how his mere presence has guaranteed Decepticon victory, but if the enemy is stronger than he gives them credit for, he'll quickly turn tail and flee. |
| 1193 | * NonStandardCharacterDesign: Unlike his fellow Coneheads, Thrust's wings end up on his back, much like the first set of Seekers. But unlike the latter trio, Thrust's wings are placed somewhat lower due to their orientation. |
| 1194 | * OutOfFocus: In the IDW continuity, Ramjet gets ADayInTheLimelight, Dirge gets to be a major character in ''Robots in Disguise'', and Thrust... is unglamorously murdered by some human police. Sucks to be him. |
| 1195 | * PaletteSwap: Like all Seekers, he's a recolored Starscream. However, as part of the Conehead trio, Thrust has a pointy head, formed by leaving the jet mode's nosecone up when transformed. Succeeding toys adopted the Conehead design in different ways. Thrust also has a distinct set of wings -- specifically, VTOL wings and a thin set of rear stabilizers -- which he keeps oriented downward when transformed. |
| 1196 | * RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: He's crimson with black as a secondary color. |
| 1197 | * RememberTheNewGuy: Where exactly he came from between the first and second seasons of the original cartoon is never explained; he's treated as if he was always there. |
| 1198 | * SizeShifter: The cartoon episode "Kremzeek!" had Megatron fly in Thrust's jet mode cockpit. In his robot mode. Bear in mind that robot mode Thrust is only as tall as Megatron, if not smaller. |
| 1199 | * SmallNameBigEgo: Thrust believes himself to be ''far'' more competent than he actually is, and he wants you to know that he's coming. |
| 1200 | * SpannerInTheWorks: In the episode "Ghost in the Machine", Thrust happens to be inside Trypticon when Starscream possesses him and uses him to send Unicron's head down to Cybertron to become his new body. He immobilizes Trypticon from the inside, preventing Starscream from making the necessary connections unless his physical form is restored (and once it is, he's all to happy to ditch Unicron). |
| 1201 | * TerribleTrio: He forms part of one with fellow Coneheads Dirge and Ramjet. |
| 1202 | * UnexplainedRecovery: In ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'', he and his fellow Coneheads fly into Unicron's mouth and seemingly die, but he shows up alive in Season 3 of the cartoon. |
| 1203 | [[/folder]] |
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