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Transformers: Age of Extinction (film)

2019-12-05T18:41:58Z

KitsuneMastaa: /* Continuity errors */

{{Nav-aoe}}
[[File:Transformers- Age of ExtinctionOptimusPrimePoster.jpg‎|thumb|upright=1.67|An adventure 65 million years in the making.]]

'''''Transformers: Age of Extinction''''' is the fourth film in the [[live-action film series]]. It was released on [[June 27]], [[2014]].

Following the [[Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|Battle of Chicago]], humanity has come to fear both Autobots and Decepticons alike. With the aid of a Transformer mercenary named [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]], a CIA [[Cemetery Wind|task-force]] operated by [[Harold Attinger]] begins hunting the remaining [[Transformer]]s on [[Earth]]. Hunted by enemies that were once his allies, [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] loses faith in humanity and sends his forces into hiding. Now, five years later, struggling inventor and single-father [[Cade Yeager]] discovers a damaged Transformer, placing both himself and his [[Tessa Yeager|daughter]] on a collision course with events that threaten the extinction of humankind itself.

{{bigquote|The trouble with loyalty to a cause is that the cause will ''always'' betray you.|[[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]]|''Transformers: Age of Extinction''}}

==Synopsis==

[[File:The Creators cyberforming Earth AOE.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.67|"God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs."]]
65 million years ago, on Cretaceous [[Earth]], a ''Psittacosaurus'' is out hunting for food. The small dinosaur finds a fish and starts to feed, but stops as hundreds of alien ships enter Earth's atmosphere, piloted by the mysterious [[Creator (AOE)|"Creators"]]. The alien ships launch dozens of strange [[Seed]]s across the planet. As they detonate, they convert the landscape and the herds of panicking dinosaurs into a metallic substance, ending the Age of Dinosaurs. Millions of years later, while digging in the [[Arctic]], a team of geologists uncover a mysterious pair of metallized dinosaur skeletons - a discovery that attracts the attention of [[Darcy Tirrel]]...

Five years after the invasion of [[Chicago]], tensions between humans and Cybertronians have risen dramatically. Although the Autobots are officially granted asylum on Earth, public opinion has turned against all Transformers. The government of the United States has terminated all human-Autobot joint programs and instated [[Cemetery Wind]], an elite [[CIA]] unit intended to flush out the handful of [[Decepticon]]s left on Earth. What the President doesn't know is that [[Harold Attinger]], the leader of the operation, is slaughtering all Transformers, regardless of faction. On one such mission, the team pinpoints [[Ratchet (Movie)|Ratchet]] hiding within an abandoned boat. He immediately tries to flee, but is crippled and brought down by their weapons. The team leader, [[James Savoy]], mockingly asks why Ratchet ran if he's not their enemy, and Ratchet replays a transmission he received from [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]], ordering all Autobots to hide from humans. However, Savoy dismisses his pleas as his sister was killed in Chicago. A Transformer bounty hunter, [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]], who has actually been helping Cemetery Wind hunt the Autobots, emerges from the nearby swamp and attacks Ratchet, further damaging him. Walking past his human allies, Lockdown demands to know [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]]'s whereabouts. When Ratchet refuses, Lockdown brutally kills him by ripping out his spark.
[[File:AOE Ratchet dying.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|"Condors. Condors are on the verge of extinction..."]]

In Texas, struggling inventor [[Cade Yeager]] and his friend/employee [[Lucas Flannery]] meet at an old theater, looking for salvage. He finds an old truck, and upon inspection it seems to be full of artillery shells. He buys the truck along with the other theater equipment and puts it in his garage.[[Tessa Yeager|Tessa]], Cade's daughter, observes this while video-chatting with her boyfriend and criticizes her dad for buying the heap of junk. While attempting to salvage the truck's engine to sell, Cade realizes it's actually a badly-damaged Transformer. After calling Lucas and Tessa, he connects jumper cables to its engine, only for it to begin replaying the distress call Ratchet had received earlier. Lucas and Tessa advocate calling the government, claiming that there is a huge reward for Transformers. Cade convinces them not to call the authorities until he can spend more time working on the truck, as he may be able to stumble on a technological breakthrough if he can figure out how the Transformers work. When Cade removes a live missile from the truck's "power core," it transforms into a heavily injured Optimus Prime, who roars at them to stay back while he swings his weapon around the barn. Cade, Lucas, and Tessa ask why Optimus is so badly damaged, to which he replies that the Autobots are being hunted and he must help them. Cade offers to repair him, and sends Lucas to buy the parts that will enable him to fix Optimus. Cade and Optimus begin to bond as the repairs begin.
[[File:AOE-injuredoptimus.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.67|"Should we chance moving him?"]]

In the Arctic, Attinger arrives via helicopter at [[Knight Ship|Lockdown's ship]] and demands to know why Optimus Prime escaped him in [[Mexico]]. Lockdown derisively tells Attinger that Optimus Prime would not have escaped were it not for Cemetery Wind's interference, stressing that he does not care about Attinger or his goals and wishes only to capture Optimus Prime.

Shortly after returning to [[Washington, D.C.]], Attinger receives a tip that Optimus Prime has been located in Texas and sends Savoy and Cemetery Wind to apprehend him. The agents swarm the barn, but there is no trace of Prime inside. When Savoy threatens Tessa to force Cade to tell him of Prime's whereabouts, the Autobot leader explodes out of the barn's basement in which he was hiding. He escapes after a brief skirmish that destroys the Yeager residence, with both Cemetery Wind and Lockdown in pursuit. As Cade catches one of Cemetery Wind's mini drones, a white rally car zooms over the adjacent fields and picks up the Yeagers and Lucas. The driver turns out to be [[Shane Dyson|Shane]], a rally car racer who is also Tessa's boyfriend. A group of Cemetery Wind vehicles begins chasing them.
[[File:Optimus shooting humans AOE.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|"You think they'll have that on the tour?"]]

Both the rally car and Optimus Prime are chased into an abandoned factory, where Optimus Prime fights off Lockdown. Shane puts his driving skills to good use and pulls a series of tight maneuvers that result in the Cemetery Wind cars crashing, destroys his car in the process. Optimus Prime, who has caught Lockdown in a crane cable, transforms and tells the humans to pile into him and escape. Lockdown throws a grenade at the humans as they run towards Optimus Prime; though Shane and the Yeagers escape, Lucas is caught in the blast and killed.

Arriving at an abandoned gas station, Optimus orders the humans out and drives off to ensure that they have not been followed. Cade confronts Tessa and Shane about their relationship but Tessa gets angry at Cade for putting them all in danger. The next day, Optimus and the humans set off towards Monument Valley. Prime [[trans-scan|scans]] a passing truck, sheds his layer of rust and takes on a new form with his old paint scheme. They arrive in Monument Valley where they meet the other surviving Autobots in the form of [[Crosshairs (AOE)|Crosshairs]], [[Hound (Movie)|Hound]], [[Drift (AOE)|Drift]], and their de facto leader [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]]. Crosshairs and Hound start threatening the humans for having their species betray them but Optimus convinces them that they have risked their lives to save his. The Humans notice that there are clear tensions between the Autobots. Cade reveals footage of the attack on Ratchet and [[Leadfoot (DOTM)|Leadfoot's]] demise using the stolen aerial drone and Prime declares that he will kill the one responsible for hunting down the Autobots.

[[File:Autobots unite monument valley AOE.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.67|"Dr. Grant, my dear Dr. Sattler... Welcome to [[Jurassic Park]]." ]]

Inspection of the drone leads them to a company named [[Kinetic Solutions Incorporated|KSI]], located in a rebuilt Chicago. It is run by [[Joshua Joyce]], who is working with [[Su Yueming]] and Attinger to create artificial Transformers to eventually be used in the military. Using the remains of [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]], [[Sentinel Prime (ROTF)|Sentinel Prime]], [[Starscream (Movie)|the]] [[Soundwave (ROTF)|countless]] [[Shockwave (Movie)|Decepticons]] from the Chicago battle and the hunted Autobots, they have synthesized the metal that the Transformers are made of, calling it [[Living metal#Live-action film series|Transformium]]. When given commands through a computer, Transformium can be changed into various shapes or objects. Although a drone called [[Stinger (AOE)|Stinger]] (designed after Bumblebee) is active, Joshua's major project is a bigger, stronger drone called [[Megatron (Movie)|Galvatron]]. However, his attempts have not been successful; the drone keeps resembling Megatron instead of the friendlier image of Optimus Prime. Bumblebee builds Cade and Shane faux-ID badges which the duo use to infiltrate KSI. Cade goes further in and projects imagery of Ratchet's severed head being melted down, which sends Prime into a rage.

[[File:Joshua Joyce Transformium Experiment AOE.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|"God help us, we're in the hands of engineers."]]

However, Cade is caught when his ID badge is found to have been scanned twice (by him and its original owner). He is taken to the upper floors and confronted by Attinger, who claims that what he has witnessed is in the name of world peace. He also asks him about the whereabouts of Optimus Prime but Cade maintains his silence.

Furious over how the humans have mutilated their comrades, Optimus orders an attack on KSI. Bumblebee, carried by Drift in copter mode, rescues Cade. The others trash the lab, free the injured and enslaved [[Brains]], and confront Joshua, only for him to openly declare that what is being done is being done to prevent more Transformer-caused damage and that the humans "don't need" the Autobots. Disheartened, Prime orders a retreat.

As the Autobots exit the factory and leave, Attinger catches up with Joshua and claims that the Autobots are terrorists for attacking the facility. He coerces Joyce to use the two functional drones to take down the Autobots. Galvatron and Stinger activate and pursue their quarry across a highway, with Galvatron doing more damage than his KSI handlers intend. Bumblebee fires upon Galvatron but is surprised to see him simply disintegrate and reintegrate again. Galvatron attacks Prime. As they battle, Optimus declares that the artificial creation has no soul, to which it retorts "That is why I have no FEAR!"

[[File:AOEGalvatron.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.67|"Kids! You want to have one of those?"]]

As Tessa scrambles for cover in a nearby vehicle, Prime is suddenly shot from the back and falls-Lockdown has arrived, along with his ship! Lockdown gloats to his prisoner, claiming that Optimus was built, not born, and now the Creators want him returned in one piece. The bounty hunter orders a net dropped over Optimus and hoists both the Autobot leader and Tessa's hiding place into his ship. Cade desperately clings to the net, but his strength gives out and he falls to the fields below. As the spaceship departs, Cade and Shane vow to get Tessa back.

Lockdown throws Prime in a cage and orders his lackeys to dispose of Tessa. Prime takes note of several other aliens in similar cages, including [[Dinobot (AOE)|other Cybertronian warriors]]. He also discovers the original purpose of the mercenary ship: it was originally used by a group of legendary Knights (presumably including Prime himself) but now acts as Lockdown's flying prison. Lockdown's ship hovers over Chicago, triggering panic in the streets, but Attinger manages to talk down the authorities and send Savoy to rendezvous with Lockdown. As payment for Prime's capture, Lockdown gives him a Seed.

Cade, Shane, and the other Autobots get aboard the ship as it flies low over a bridge. While being pursued by Lockdown's henchmen, the two humans find a strange Knight armory, from which Cade takes a sword that opens up to form a gun. While Shane and Cade rescue Tessa, Crosshairs deploys the ship's mooring cables, which fire into the Willis Tower and preventing the ship from breaking atmosphere. The humans begin to clamber down the cables to safety, but they are pursued by a pack of [[Steeljaw (AOE)|Steeljaw]]s. Bumblebee manages to save the trio. The other Autobots locate Optimus, who reveals that the section of the ship they are on can separate from the main body. Crosshairs uses a gunship to pick up Bumblebee and the humans, then leads them on a dogfight through Chicago's streets, destroying some of Lockdown's [[Shadow Raider|mercenaries]].

[[File:Prime gets shotAOE.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|"It could have been worse, John. A lot worse."]]

Back at KSI, it is decided that all equipment is to be moved to the Beijing facility to continue operations. Joshua is also none too pleased about the previous field test of Galvatron; not only was it a loss on several fronts, but the drone also ''spoke'', which was something it was ''not'' programmed to do!

The Autobots land their new ship at an abandoned train yard. Optimus claims that he sensed Megatron's presence during his fight with Galvatron. Brains explains Galvatron's true nature: while he decoded dead Transformer brains, he learned that Megatron's mind had survived and planned to transfer itself to Galvatron's body, explaining Galvatron's sinister appearance. The tiny bot further mentions how Galvatron used his knowledge to build Stinger and the other drones, with plans to make them into his personal army. As Tessa tells the group about the Seed she saw, Optimus and Hound explain that the Creators used Seeds to convert organic material into metal, then harvested the resulting Transformium for their own purposes. Cade makes a call to Joyce and relays the newfound data about Galvatron. Knowing that Joyce is also an inventor with a heart, he pleads with Joyce to shut down Galvatron before things escalate. Although Joyce puts up an unconvinced façade, he demands increased security around Galvatron after hanging up.

As police cars surround the train yard, the Autobots board their shuttle again and take to the air. Optimus says that though the Autobots will travel to Hong Kong and get the Seed back, they will leave Earth afterwards; they are done protecting humanity. Cade disagrees but Prime is non-responsive. They later debate the matter, with Cade attempting to reignite Prime's faith in humanity.

In deep space, Lockdown finally discovers the absence of the smaller ship. He grumbles about Optimus Prime taking his trophy case and how the Prime will feel his wrath while he reverses course. Joyce meets with Attinger and Savoy and receives the Seed. Joyce intends to detonate it in a region of the [[Gobi Desert]], which will generate enough Transformium to last a century. Attinger is eager to expedite production but grows incensed when Joshua disagrees and says that they should go slower, quite obviously moved by Cade's call. Meanwhile, Galvatron activates ''himself'' and starts to infect the legion of over fifty other KSI Transformers. When the alarm rings regarding Galvatron's escape, Joyce has Attinger and Savoy evacuated from the building and gets in a car with Su, an associate named Darcy, and the Seed. They decide to try to hide the Seed in [[Hong Kong]].

Being hunted by Attinger and Savoy, Joyce seeks refuge on a rooftop when the Autobot-piloted ship arrives and attempts to pick him and the Seed up. However, Galvatron and his drones ramy arrive and shoot down the airborne vessel, causing Bumblebee, Hound, and the Yeagers to spill out while the others (Prime, Crosshairs, Drift, and the captured Knights) to careen away into the Wulong Valley. Savoy finds the Yeagers and Joyce on the rooftop and open fires on them but Cade leads him away from the others. The two jump across rooftops, eventually crashing into a house and getting into a fist fight which ends with Savoy falling from a window to his death.

Hound and Bumblebee attempt to escort the humans and the Seed out of the city, but are cut short when Joshua points out that the KSI-built Transformers were specifically built to destroy any Autobots or Decepticons left on Earth. This prompts Prime to enter the crashed ship and activate the armory as well as release the other captives within the ship. As Hound and Bumblebee hold the line and protect the humans, Optimus tries to convince the Legendary Warriors to fight alongside them. Their [[Grimlock (AOE)|apparent leader]] violently declines at first, fighting the Prime in both his massive robot mode and his Tyrannosaurus mode. Optimus quickly defeats him, saying that he and the other warriors will protect his family or die, then mounts the metal dinosaur. The Autobots mount their Dinobots and charge over the mountains into Hong Kong.

[[File:Dinobots ready for battle AOE.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.67|"''T. rex'' doesn't want to be fed. He wants to ''hunt''."]]

Meanwhile, as Hound and Bumblebee are starting to be overwhelmed by Galvatron's drone forces, Optimus and his fellow Autobots storm into the city, slamming, crushing, stomping, and chomping all nearby enemies. Galvatron retreats as the Autobots and Dinobots decimate his forces. With this battle over, Optimus confronts Joshua for his actions and gives the order to defend the humans and escort them, and the Seed, away from the city. On the way, a homing beacon within the Seed activates, allowing Lockdown to track the Autobots down. He activates a massive magnet, wreaking havoc on Hong Kong. Everything metal from kitchenware to massive ships are picked up by the magnet, including the Autobots and Dinobots. After narrowly avoiding the magnet, the Yeagers are momentarily separated from the Autobots. Optimus shoots at the magnet, destroying it and releasing the Transformers from its influence. The ship retreats to a nearby factory, with Optimus hot on its trail. Cade tells his daughter to stay with Shane and the Autobots, as he wishes to fight alongside Optimus against Lockdown. As Optimus Prime and Lockdown battle one-on-one, Attinger corners Yeager with a pistol, accusing him of choosing aliens over his own race, but he is quickly shot and killed by Optimus.

Because of Optimus's choice to save Cade before defending himself, Lockdown gains the upper hand, impaling Optimus through the chest with his own sword and pinning him to a concrete pillar. Meanwhile, Tessa convinces Bumblebee to turn around and the three join in fighting Lockdown, allowing Shane to use a tow truck to unpin Prime. Just as Lockdown is about to kill Cade, Optimus jumps up and slices the bounty hunter in half. Activating one of Lockdown's grenades, Prime tells the humans to hold on and uses rocket boosters to escape while the grenade destroys the last of the KSI drones. Galvatron has survived and retreated to the outskirts of the city; watching Prime blast off, he tells Optimus to beware, for he is reborn...

[[File:AOE-DefendThisFamily.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|"I don't know. I guess... I guess we'll just have to evolve too."]]

The Autobots, Dinobots, and their human allies all regroup on the waterfront. Cade and Tessa happily reconcile and Cade finally accepts Shane. Joshua nobly says he will help them with their destroyed home. Prime declares the Dinobots are now free as they depart for parts unknown. With the bounty on his head placing the entire Earth in danger, Prime blasts off into space with the Seed to confront the Creators and discover the mystery behind his own origins, but not before ordering the Autobots to protect the Yeager family. As he leaves Earth's atmosphere, Optimus Prime sends a message to his Creators to leave planet Earth alone, because he's coming for them.

{{--}}

==Quotes==
"Lockdown...?" 
"Autobots, Decepticons, like little children, always fighting; making a mess out of the universe, then ''I've'' got to clean it up! There is one way you survive. Tell me where he's hiding. Where is Optimus Prime?" 
"Never." 
''(Lockdown rips out Ratchet's spark)'' 
"Never is here." 
:—'''Ratchet''''s final moments before '''Lockdown''' kills him.

"In this planet we have a saying: ''The enemy of my enemy is my friend''." 
"I also have a saying: '''''I don't care'''''."
:—'''Harold Attinger''' discusses with '''Lockdown'''.

"Every galaxy I've traveled, all you species are the same. You all think you're the center of the universe. You have no idea..."
:—'''Lockdown''' never truly appreciated one of his clients.

"Human beings. Bunch of backstabbing weasels!" 
"Hound, find your inner compass. ''Loyalty is but a flower in the winds of fear and temptation.''" 
"What the hell are you saying?!?" 
"It's a haiku." 
"Cut the crap before I drop a grenade down your throat!" 
"Try it, you'll be dead!" 
"Oh, please pull it. Please do it."
:—'''Hound''' doesn't appreciate '''Drift's''' haikus.

"With your fate unknown, Bumblebee has held command, despite his complete and total lack of anything resembling warrior discipline. He's like a child." 
"This child is about to ''kick your ass!''"
:—'''Drift''' and '''Bumblebee'''

"Autobots, I have sworn never to kill humans..." 
"Big mistake." 
"...but when I find out who's behind this...he's going to ''die''." 
"Hoo-ah!"
:—'''Prime's''' rage is fueled by '''Hound'''.

"Destroy the lab! Destroy it all!" 
''(The Autobots lay waste to the KSI research facility)'' 
"Hey, you! Stop! That's company property!" 
"They're not ''your'' property! ''They were my friends.''" 
:—'''Optimus Prime''' duly informs '''Joshua Joyce''' that Transformers aren't just machines.

"You have no soul!" 
"That is why I have no ''fear''!"
:—'''Optimus Prime'''' is shocked to find '''Galvatron''' isn't as lifeless as he thought.

"We're behind enemy lines now. Lockdown's ship has booby traps! Eyes open." 
"Beware of his bone-grinders, brain-blinders, flesh-stealers, chromosomal-inverters, catatonic slugs, black hole trapdoors and of course, radiation."

:—'''Hound''' and '''Crosshairs''' warn the humans of the perils held within Lockdown's ship.

"I was expecting a [[Grimlock (G1)/toys#Alternators.2FBinaltech|giant car!]]"
:—'''Drift''' witnessing Grimlock transform into a dinosaur.

"Autobots, we're going to prove who we are, and ''why we're here''!"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' rallies his troops with his characteristic passion and charisma.

"Ugh, you just wanna die for the guy. ''That's'' leadership. Or brainwashing, or something." 
"No, that's Optimus Prime."
:—'''Crosshairs''' and '''Drift''', remarking on their [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|leader]]/[[Dinobot (AOE)|Giant Robot Dinosaur]] tamer.

"I'm like a fat ballerina who takes scalps and slits throats!"
:—'''Hound''' takes another five levels in badass and ballerina class.

"How do you say 'Get the f&%# out of the way' in Chinese?"
:—'''Joshua''' has some issues with the language barrier.

"I hate cheap knockoffs."
:—'''Bumblebee''' looking for [[Jazz (Movie)#Human_Alliance|Human Alliance Jazz]] on [[eBay|eBay]].

"We shall meet again, Prime, for I am reborn."
:—'''Galvatron''' retreats to fight another day.

"There are mysteries to the universe we were never meant to solve, but who we are and why we are here are not among them. Those answers we carry inside. I am Optimus Prime, and this message is to my Creators. Leave planet Earth alone. 'Cause I'm coming...for you."
:—'''Optimus Prime'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s closing narration.

==Main cast==
{{featuredcharacters|
h1=[[Autobot]]s|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] ([[Peter Cullen]])
*[[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]]
*[[Hound (Movie)|Hound]] ([[John Goodman]])
*[[Drift (AOE)|Drift]] ([[Ken Watanabe]])
*[[Ratchet (Movie)|Ratchet]] ([[Robert Foxworth]])
*[[Crosshairs (AOE)|Crosshairs]] ([[John DiMaggio]])
*[[Leadfoot (DOTM)|Leadfoot]] (video footage)
*[[Brains]] ([[Reno Wilson]])
*[[Dinobot (AOE)|Dinobots]]
**[[Grimlock (AOE)|Grimlock]]
**[[Scorn]]
**[[Slug (AOE)|Slug]]
**[[Strafe (AOE)|Strafe]]
*[[Sentinel Prime (ROTF)|Sentinel Prime]]'s head
|h2=[[Decepticon]]s|c2=
*[[Megatron (Movie)|Galvatron]] ([[Frank Welker]])
*[[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]]'s head
*[[Stinger (AOE)|Stinger]]
*[[Junkheap (AOE)|Junkheap]]
*[[KSI Sentry|KSI Sentries]]
*[[KSI Boss]]es
*"[[Two Head]]s"
*[[McLaren Decepticon]]
*[[Aston Martin Decepticon]]
*[[Insecticon (Movie)|Insecticons]]
*[[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]] (video footage)
*[[Protoform]]s (video footage)

|h3=[[Human]]s|c3=
*[[Cade Yeager]] ([[Mark Wahlberg]])
*[[Tessa Yeager]] ([[Nicola Peltz]])
*[[Shane Dyson]] ([[Jack Reynor]])
*[[Joshua Joyce]] ([[Stanley Tucci]])
*[[Harold Attinger]] ([[Kelsey Grammer]])
*[[James Savoy]] ([[Titus Welliver]])
*[[Lucas Flannery]] ([[T. J. Miller]])
*[[Darcy Tirrel]] ([[Sophia Myles]])
*[[Su Yueming]] ([[Li Bingbing]])
*[[Gill Wembley]] ([[James Bachman]])
*[[Chief of Staff]] ([[Thomas Lennon]])

|h4=Others|c4=
'''Lockdown's crew'''
*[[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]] ([[Mark Ryan]])
*[[Shadow Raider]]s
*[[Steeljaw (AOE)|Steeljaws]]
*[[Stupid Drone]]s
'''[[Kinetic Solutions Incorporated|KSI]] prototypes'''
*[[Oreo Transformer]]
|nonumbering=true
}}

==Errors==
===Continuity errors===
[[File:DeceasedTransformersAOE.jpg‎|thumb|upright=1.6|Your attention, please. Will the ''real'' Optimus Prime please stand up?]]
[[File:AOECrosshairsDriftWeirdEdit.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|What just happened? No, seriously. Is there some kind of timey-wimey thing going on?]]
[[File:AOE savoy eyegouge.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|"An eye for an eye makes the whole world-OH MY GOD!!!"]]
*[[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]] is seen on the cards Attinger pulls out early in the film, listed as deceased and having been last seen in Chicago. However, Ironhide was killed by Sentinel Prime in Washington, D.C., midway through ''Dark of the Moon'', and long before the final battle in Chicago.
*Scenes from the Decepticons' invasion of Chicago in ''Dark of the Moon'' are shown as archival footage presented by Attinger. While it is conceivable some lucky people with cameras recorded the initial attack and managed to survive and publish their footage, it's highly unlikely people would've been able to get close-up video footage of the NEST team taking down [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]] and the other Decepticons.
*A Cemetery Wind vehicle smashes into the side of Shane's car during the chase through the cornfield, but the car doesn't show any damage to that side in subsequent shots.
*Tessa and Shane's reliance on Romeo and Juliet laws is unnecessary, since the age of consent in Texas is 17.
*During the 'Autobots reunite' sequence, Drift starts out in car mode on a road with Bumblebee and Crosshairs, before suddenly appearing atop a rock formation in robot mode and transforming to helicopter mode to meet up with Optimus Prime.
*When Crosshairs and Drift are talking on board Lockdown's ship shortly after boarding it, a ''very'' bizarre edit occurs in the middle of Drift's line "Better hurry, because dark matter drives are preparing to take off". The camera angle is now slightly different than before, but it's not a switch between a long shot and a close-up or a complete change of perspective. Oddly, Drift is still seen from the almost the ''exact same angle'' as before the edit, but even though his and Crosshairs's bodies were at an almost 90 degree angle before the edit, they're now suddenly almost standing in parallel to each other, with Crosshairs' head turned towards Drift. In addition, a flame that appeared in front of Drift just before the edit is suddenly gone.
*When Shane shouts "I surrender!" and drops his "gun-sword", the hilt is facing to the right, but after a close-up showed it landing on the ground and firing a shot, the hilt is suddenly facing to the ''left'' in the subsequent long shot when it fires more shots.
*When Joshua reunites with the rest of the group in Hong Kong, Darcy tells him she'll do a diversion, and to get the Seed somewhere safe. Yet, no diversion of any kind happens.
*As Cade and Savoy grapple in the apartment, Cade jams his thumb deep into Savoy's eye socket (see right), with accompanying "squlech" sound effect, and appropriate reaction from Savoy in the form of a long howl of pain through gritted teeth and a string of drool flowing uncontrolled from his mouth. But as soon as the two separate, Savoy's eye is absolutely fine, with no indication anything is supposed to have happened to it.
*During Hound's fight with [[Two Head]], Cade is seen wearing his jacket but reverts back to his shirt following the Decepticon's defeat.
*While Lockdown is pulling up parts of the city, Shane backs the car into a building which is two stories high at most, but appears much larger on the inside.
*In vehicle mode, Stinger's engine sound is inaccurate to what his alt mode actually is (a Pagani Huayra) and sounds more like a McLaren F1.

===Technical/animation errors===
*The shot right before the close-up of the cyberformed dinosaurs has no cyberformed dinosaurs at all, despite having all the excavation vehicles in the same positions as the next scene.
* Arcee is seen on Attinger's cards misspelled as "Acree".
** Additionally, the image on the card is of [[Elita-One (Movie)|Elita-One]]; while an Arcee ''sister'', is not Arcee herself. This could potentially be explained by the movie ignoring the retcon from the comics that changed her from one character with three bodies to three characters psychically linked by a single spark.
*When Savoy says "Use the mini drones", you can clearly see the green screen in the monitors.
*As Cemetery Wind are attacking Ratchet, a helicopter fires several missiles at him. Two of the missiles miss him, but do not detonate or cause any explosion of any kind to the structures immediately behind Ratchet, and are not even seen to hit them- they simply disappear.
*When Attinger takes over the operation to scramble Cemetery Wind after Optimus, and dismisses everyone in the room, he does so by saying "Ladies and gentlemen, this room is going dark. The exit is on your left." All the people then get up and begin to exit to their ''right''.
*Scrambling Cemetery Wind seems to scramble the timeline. From the deployment of Cemetery Wind to Lucas's death, the time of day is in limbo. For example, Optimus escapes from the Yeager property at sunset, joining the pursuit that takes place in early afternoon, not to mention that Cemetery Wind arrives at the Yeagers' home town at what appears to be dawn. In some instances, repeated changes between shots correspond with changes between different times of day, as different positions of the sun result in very very obviously different lighting conditions.
*When Lockdown transforms to prepare for the attack on Optimus, one can clearly see a faux-part Lamborghini logo pop out from inside the car, while the actual logo disappears.
*In the shot of Shane's car pulling up outside of the Yeager farm after Cemetery Wind has stormed in, nobody is seen inside the vehicle.
*During the scene where Cade is pretending to be a truck driver with Optimus still in his flat-nose truck form, he has a cap and white plaid shirt on. After Optimus scans into his newer form, Cade's back to wearing his leather jacket.
*When Shane's car gets sideswiped in the cornfield, the back left window is shattered. A couple scenes later, the window is just rolled down.
*When Shane's car breaks into a building, the woman sitting right in the middle of the room is clearly waiting on the glass-breaking noise to start running.
*After Lucas' death, there is nothing really stopping Lockdown or Cemetery Wind from continuing to chase Optimus. Lockdown is much faster and could easily catch up to Optimus whilst Cemetery Wind could chase in their remaining vehicles.
*When Optimus transforms to and from his Marmon 97 alternate mode, the windows and grille that make up his chest visibly change size and shape.
*When Optimus transforms out of his flat-nosed truck mode and punches the ground, Tessa and Shane are standing next to each other, as viewed from behind Optimus. When the view immediately switches to be facing Optimus, Cade is suddenly standing between the two.
*Shane defends his relationship with Tessa by stating that the 'Romeo and Juliet laws' "statute 2705-3" protect their relationship, yet the card he shows Cade reads "Statute 22.011". This is also the number that appears in the English subtitles of the DVD, meaning that it was scripted as 22.011 and not 2705-3.
*The truck that Optimus scans, while still being from the Western Star manufacturer, is an older and different model than the one he transforms into.
*When Optimus is on his way to the reunion site, the human characters inside are sitting this way: Shane to the right, Tessa in the Middle and Cade to the left. However when Optimus gets to the reunion point Cade comes out of the truck using Shane's side door (right) instead of his (left). It is clear they (the director and his crew) were trying to get a "superhero" pose but it doesn't make sense.
*When Optimus arrived to the reunion site you can see the filming crew in the reflection of his front chrome parts.
*The statement that Drift claims to be a haiku ("Loyalty is but a flower in the winds of fear and temptation") is not actually a haiku: poems of that style generally consist of three separate statements in a 5-7-5 syllable pattern; the one mentioned in the film is a single unbroken statement that totals to the 17 syllables that a haiku technically consists of.
*Hound's dialogue when he's bickering with Drift doesn't really match up to what we see. Drift pulls his swords on Hound, but the big guy goads him on to "pull it", suggesting Drift was originally supposed to aim a firearm at him.
[[File:Uncolored Ratchet head prop.jpg‎|thumb|upright=1.67|Gray is the new green.]]
*When Joshua is in the lab showing Darcy Transformium, in two different shots, a gray, uncolored prop of Ratchet's head can be seen being worked on in the next room.
*As Cade's drone scans a KSI employee's name tag, it displays its location onscreen as around N 38°44'55", W115°28'27". These coordinates are for a [https://www.google.com/maps/place/38%C2%B044%2755.0%22N+115%C2%B028%2727.0%22W/@38.7486111,-115.4741667,3048m patch of desert in Nevada] rather than any place in Chicago.
*While first infiltrating KSI, in the showroom where Stinger is first viewed, Bumblebee is in car mode when Joshua walks in with Yueming. Bumblebee's engine audibly revs, yet Joshua doesn't notice that there's no one in the car to rev the engine.
[[File:Megatron Head at KSI.jpg|right|upright=1.4|thumb|Screw logic!]]
*Megatron's severed head is in somewhat good shape for someone who got an axe stabbed on the top of his head. Furthermore, his head is more in line with its appearance in the first movie not ''Dark of the Moon''.
*Not to mention, after Joshua's group leaves and Bumblebee knocks Stinger down, there's no transformation noise right before Bumblebee returns to his altmode and the KSI executive walks in. Additionally, Bumblebee starts playing M.C. Hammer's "U Can't Touch This", '''when no one is in the car''' to turn the stereo on. Ostensibly it was for a comic moment, but it didn't raise anyone's suspicions that a car that wasn't typical of the ones being scanned, operating the engine and the stereo with no human inside, might be a disguised Cybertronian?
*After Bumblebee scans his new alternate mode, the camera pans over the car and Tessa and Shane are not inside. However when he's getting his new upgraded form you can see that they used stunt doubles for Shane and Tessa. That scene wasn't dangerous enough to require stunt doubles, was it?
*Some security guards in KSI fail to react to Crosshairs's shooting and shouting until a few seconds before the scene changes.
*When Galvatron first transforms and crashes into a truck, the way he is composed in the scene makes it look like he is simply floating above the wreckage, instead of being in the middle causing it.
*When Optimus transforms, Cade and Shane leap out of Optimus, while Tessa is trapped and rolls away. However, previous shots establish that the seating order in Optimus is Shane, Tessa, Cade. This means that Cade crawled over his daughter to escape(!), which is not quite logical or possible.
*Lockdown fires two missiles at Optimus Prime that, despite piercing his chest, don't manifest any kind of visible damage on his person, despite the previous shot showing Optimus's chest getting blown apart.
*When Lockdown is approaching Optimus after gunning him down, the driver's door of the Cadillac SRX he's resting on is shown to be open in two exterior shots, even though Tessa previously closed it after getting inside, and it's also shown closed in other (mostly interior) shots.
*When he loses his grip on the net holding Optimus and the car containing Tessa, Cade is shown falling toward the street, but he lands on the grass by the road.
*When the Autobots are on a bridge, before boarding Lockdown's ship, Crosshairs is clearly shown to be speaking but no dialogue is heard.
*Also in that same scene when Hound says "It's a bad idea but I'm all about bad ideas" his mouth movements are slightly out of synch.
*When Tessa gets taken to the trash in Lockdown's ship, a green screen can be seen at the end of the corridor.
*While locking up Optimus, Lockdown's scar is on the left side of his face. While talking to Savoy upon delivering the seed, it's on the right side of his face; however, it switches back to the left side right before he walks off after bidding Earth farewell.
*While the human characters are climbing across the anchor cables to the high-rise building some of the Steeljaws begin to climb out after them. Cade tells his daughter not to look back and see them, but when we cut back to her, with a clear view of the cables behind her, the Steeljaws are gone.
*When Bumblebee jumps off Lockdown's ship to save the humans, he is followed by a Steeljaw. In the following shot, the Steeljaw is gone.
*While explaining Megatron's plans to the Autobots, Brains rings a bell on a train. In the next shot, the bell is not moving.
*During the motorcycle chase, the CIA cars change. At first, Joshua and Su are trailed by a Cadillac and an Audi; in the middle of the chase, the Cadillac is replaced by another Audi. By the end of the chase, the Cadillac is back.
*In Hong Kong, when Cade, Joshua, Tessa, and Shane enter the elevator to run away from the rooftop, the elevator won't move and Cade says it's overloaded. But in the next scene, we see that the maximum number of people that the elevator can carry is nine, and it's very clear that the Seed doesn't weight as much as five people.
*When Grimlock transforms to his dino mode and charges at Optimus, there are no other Dinobots, nor the ship, to be seen in the background. However, after Optimus punches Grimlock and the shot changes, Dinobots are standing almost right next to him.
*Optimus somehow has enough strength to not only maintain his ground, but propel Grimlock through the air during his charge. Considering Grimlock's strength, velocity and weight, it is highly unlikely Optimus would win.
*Immediately after he transforms into his triceratops mode, Slug is shown to have a very visible Autobot logo on his dino-mode forehead, yet he just met Optimus and the other Autobots moments before.
*One of the air conditioning units kicked off the building exterior by Savoy falls away to reveal ... a solid wall, with no connection to an apartment's interior.
*During Hound's stand in Hong Kong, the pickup truck he uses as a shield sways left to right whilst his arm remains still.
*The damage Hound receives after being shot down, most noticeably the pipe on his left shoulder, is fixed in subsequent shots.
*Crosshairs is seen driving alongside Drift and Hound through the bridge to take the Seed away from the city ... right after we just saw him staying behind to hold the line with the Dinobots.
*During the final fight, Bumblebee decides to just leave midway. Considering the distance between the factory and the dock where they met, he must have left long before Optimus flew there.
*Also during the final flight, Cade is hiding on his own behind a wall. After Lockdown fires, a second person is seen behind him. In the next shot this person has disappeared. Looking closely, the second person is wearing a suit like Attinger. Alternate take of his death, perhaps?
*After Optimus takes off, the other Autobots are absent from the shot of the main cast watching Optimus fly off.

===Geographic discontinuities===
*When Cade tries to use his card at an ATM, not only is the card issued from a Chinese bank, which wouldn't have any branches in north Texas, where the Yeagers live, the text on the ATM screen (behind the ''Access Denied'' warning) is in Chinese.
*Despite being from north Texas, Cade and Tessa have no Texas accents. Not all Texans have noticeable accents of course, but Wahlberg in particular spends the whole film speaking with his natural ''Boston'' accent.
*Despite the KSI pursuit scene taking place on a two lane highway, there are several scenes spliced in of the Transformers with supercar alt modes (like Stinger and Crosshairs) driving on what is obviously a racecourse (specifically the GM proving grounds in Milford, Michigan). This is apparent by the horizontal incline of the road in some of the shots that are also missing the markings that would normally be on a road, and a reaction shot for Stinger that shows a straight, one lane ninety degree turn.
*The entirety of the KSI pursuit scene switches between taking place between the left and right sides of the two-lane highway, despite being only supposed to take place on the right side. Furthermore, the shot showing stray missiles colliding with oncoming traffic takes place on a completely different highway, one with five lanes instead of three and a wooden fence on the side of the street as opposed to a guardrail. Moreover; the car crashing stunt for the bridge jump scene starts on the five lane highway, continues on the left side of the three lane highway, and then finishes on the ''right side'' of the three lane highway. Trouble finding shots, eh?I
*Furthermore, because this is in Chicago, a U.S. City, it makes no sense for cars to be driving on the left side of the road, instead of the right.
*All of the vehicles seen in Hong Kong are left-hand drive, rather than the right-hand drive you'd expect in a location that drives on the left.
*Some scenes supposed to take place in Hong Kong depict a very distinctively American city with traffic lights suspended by wires above the street.
*Chicago's Willis Tower can be seen in the background of Hong Kong.
*The bridge out of the city shown in the film (Tsing Ma Bridge) is at least a half-hour drive from the battlefield in Central.
*Furthermore, despite Optimus's comment, there are no bridges connecting Hong Kong Island (where all the action allegedly takes place) to the mainland. The only way to get off Hong Kong Island (other than by boat or swimming) is via one of three tunnels, none of which are used, referenced or mentioned in the film.
*Speaking of bridges, Tsing Ma Bridge (the gray version of the Golden Gate Bridge) shown in the movie is effectively a dead end unless one is going to the airport or Disneyland, because it only leads to/from Lantau Island.
*The bridge where Grimlock "digs in" is an expressway bypass. Geographically defending it is pointless as there are multiple other routes (including at least one that is faster) to bypass the bridge and tunnel yet end up at the same place on the other side.
*In one of the fight scenes there is an overhead railway (the {{w|Detroit People Mover}}). There are no overhead railways on Hong Kong Island (yet) and the {{w|MTR}} (the subway train network) trains look nothing like the train used in the scenes, as they are a completely different shape and color.
*There are no "glass houses" on Hong Kong Island.
*There are no Chinese temple ruins on Hong Kong Island. The temples there are all intact and frequently used or preserved and don't have giant metal umbrellas ''at all''.
*The area where Optimus battles and "tames" Grimlock is in the Wushan Valley in Northern China which is over 1100 km from Hong Kong, yet is depicted as being in Pok Fu Lam on the South Western side of Hong Kong Island (which is a high rise residential area). Even flying it would take well over 2 hours to get from Wushan Valley to Hong Kong.
*It's not possible to drive a car from Beijing into Hong Kong, as the number plates would be invalid, and it would take over a day to drive that distance. Chinese vehicles coming into Hong Kong have to be from the Canton area (number plates are black) and have to be registered with Hong Kong plates, which means they must display both plates at all times one above the other. (In addition, the process to obtain permission for a car to have that is also lengthy and costly.)
*The blue SUV used by Cade and his companions is not a type of vehicle that exists in Hong Kong. In addition, its steering wheel is located on the left side, even though cars in Hong Kong have their steering wheels on the right side.
*Optimus Prime's Western Star alternate mode would be illegal to drive on Hong Kong roads, since it's is oversized. The Freightliner truck used for Galvatron is the maximum size/gauge allowed on Hong Kong roads. All scenes with Optimus driving in truck mode were filmed elsewhere, the Western Star truck was never brought to Hong Kong. Even his previous Peterbilt alternate mode would be illegal in Hong Kong.
*The area depicted as the final battle scene where Optimus and Lockdown face off was digitally added on the map of Hong Kong shown in the movie. It doesn't exist at all in real life, where it's actually a breakwater/typhoon shelter full of boats on Victora Harbour. In addition, the factories in Hong Kong (which are all located on Kowloon, because Hong Kong Island is purely a residential/business/shopping district) look nothing like the buildings used in the scene.

===[[Dinobot Island, Part 1|Paleontology weeps]]===
*The cyberformed remains of a ''Tyrannosaurus'' and a ''Spinosaurus'' appear frozen together in the arctic at the beginning of the film, which is rather odd considering the two are found on different continents (North America and Africa respectively) and separated by around 35 million years of evolution. Note that a few months after the release of the movie, the morphology of ''Spinosaurus'' was completely revised, with a different spine shape and shorter legs.
[[File:ExtinctionOfTheDinosaurus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|And another thing! How is that sauropod running!?!]]
*The opening scene of the movie shows a ''Psittaccosaurus'' (100-120 million years old), a generic hadrosaur that might be either an ''Edmontosaurus'' or a ''Shantungosaurus'' (65-70 million years old), and a brachiosaurid (100-157 million years old) all present during what is implied to be the K-Pg extinction event (64.5-65 million years old).
*The ''Psittaccosaurus'', a well known herbivorous animal, is seen actively hunting and killing live prey. In a nod to paleontological accuracy, however, it is depicted with a row of quill-like feathers along its back, as many ceratopsian dinosaurs are believed to have had.
*The Dinobots' alternate modes are orders of magnitude larger than the real dinosaurs on which they're based. In an interesting twist, using Optimus as a proxy for the average human, all the Dinobots bar Strafe have been accurately scaled up. At 850 tonnes <ref name="Grimlock stats">[http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-movie-just-movie-31/entertainment-weekly-reveals-new-details-on-transformers-4-age-of-extinction-new-grimlock-image-179675] summarised on TFW2005.</ref> Grimlock is as large compared to Optimus as a real ''Tyrannosaurus'' would be next to a human.

==Transformers references==

* As usual, many of the new characters have roots in older portions of the mythos:
** [[Drift (AOE)|Drift]] is based on [[Drift (G1)|a Generation 1 character]] introduced in IDW's 2008 ''[[The Transformers: All Hail Megatron|All Hail Megatron]]'' series.
** Lockdown is derived from [[Lockdown (Animated)|a character in the 2008 ''Animated'' cartoon]] who had already jumped over to the G1 comics and, in toy form, to the movie universe.
** [[Hound (disambiguation)|Hound]] shares a military-green alternate mode with his [[Hound (G1)|Generation 1 counterpart]], but is otherwise unrelated. His portly physique has put many a fan in mind of similar military-green Autobot [[Bulkhead (disambiguation)|Bulkhead]], but again, the movie character's crusty, violence-hungry, trigger-happy personality owes nothing to that gentle Autobot giant.
** The name [[Crosshairs (disambiguation)|Crosshairs]] has been used by a few characters before, but this version has nothing to do with any of them.
** Galvatron being a new form for Megatron has been a thing for [[Galvatron (disambiguation)|basically forever]]. With Joyce's intentions of creating him as a counterpart to Optimus Prime, he also takes cues from [[Nemesis Prime (disambiguation)|Nemesis Prime]]; in particular the human-controlled ''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Prime]]'' [[Nemesis Prime (Prime)|character]].
** The Dinobots are the latest iteration of [[Dinobot (G1)|the powerhouse subfaction]] that first appeared in the early days of Generation 1. Their leader Grimlock is a direct analog of [[Grimlock (G1)|his Generation 1 counterpart]]; Strafe and Slug are based on Generation 1 [[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] and [[Slag (G1)|Slag]], respectively.
* The Creators seem inspired by the alien [[Quintesson]]s from the Sunbow ''The Transformers'' cartoon, who were revealed to be the creators of the Cybertronian race in the third season of said cartoon.
* In the film's opening act, Optimus has adopted a cabover truck alternate mode akin to that of his [[Optimus Prime (G1)|G1 counterpart]]. His robot mode also draws some inspiration from his G1 design, such as the large grill on his chest.
* Ratchet and Lockdown are paired off against each other; the first incarnation of [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] from ''Transformers: Animated'' was pitted off against that version of [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] in his very first appearance, presumably inspiring their scene together.
* As he hunts for Ratchet, Lockdown's head-up display shows characters in [[Cybertronian language|Ancient Autobot]], an alphabet originating in the Generation 1 episode "[[Cosmic Rust (episode)|Cosmic Rust]]". Unlike some uses of the language, it appears at random here, with no secret messages to decode.
* In the scene where Optimus scans a passing truck, the classic [[Transformation#The noise|transformation noise]] plays when the Autobot symbol emerges from his grill.
* The scene where Galvatron goes active and breaks free in KSI's Chinese facility mirrors the scene in the 2007 ''Transformers'' movie when Megatron breaks free inside [[Sector Seven]]'s facility, down to a reuse of the line "I am Megatron", only with the name changed to "Galvatron".
* The ringtone on Gill Wembley's cell phone is a remixed version of the original ''The Transformers'' cartoon's [[theme song]].

==Real-life references==
[[File:Rainbow Dash Age of Extinction.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"I found the magic!"]]

*Among the objects KSI makes from Transformium in the film is a Rainbow Dash doll from ''[[My Little Pony]]''.

==Other editions==

==Prequel material==
*''[[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|Transformers: Age of Extinction]]'' magazine ([[Titan Books|Titan Comics]])

==Adaptations==
Unusually, no novel or comic adaptations of the film were released. The ''[[Transformers Annual 2015]]'' contained an extremely cut down prose summary of events.

==Music==
==Score==
{{main|Age of Extinction: The Score}}

==Home video releases==
{{main|Transformers: Age of Extinction (film)/home video}}

==Theatrical posters==
<center><gallery>
File:Transformers- Age of ExtinctionTeaserPoster.jpg|Something has survived...
File:Transformers- Age of ExtinctionOptimusPrimePoster.jpg|Will you follow me... for the fourth time?
File:Transformers Age of Extinction poster-IMAX.jpg|The Prime, the Grim, and the Marky.
File:Transformers Age of Extinction Cade poster.jpg|Cade, look out behind you! Ah, too late, Lockdown's ship got him.
File:Transformers Age of Extinction Shane poster.jpg|So the five minute scene about statutory rape was supposed to be funny?
File:Transformers Age of Extinction Tessa poster.jpg|She wants you to forget she was in ''{{w|The Last Airbender (film)|The Last Airbender}}''.
File:Transformers Age of Extinction Su poster.jpg|So the minor character gets a poster and two lengthy filler action scenes to herself?
File:Transformers Age of Extinction Lockdown poster.jpg|''Age of Extinction'', come and spend your money here!
File:Transformers Age of Extinction Rules Have Changed.jpg|It's a scene not in the movie!
File:Transformers Age of Extinction This Is Not War.jpg|This is not human extinction, it's just war.
File:Transformers Age of Extinction Stand Together1.jpg|So we face extinction if we don't stand with you? Huh, that's kinda harsh...
File:Transformers Age of Extinction Stand Together2.jpg|"Now look down. Now look at me. I'm on a dinosaur."
</gallery></center>

==Reception==

{{quote|"The few authentic inspirations to be found in the movie's hundred and sixty-five roiling minutes involve gigantic science-fiction contrivances."|[http://www.newyorker.com/arts/reviews/film/transformers_age_of_extinction_bay The New Yorker's Richard Brody on Transformers 4: Age of Extinction], Richard Brody|[http://newyorker.com newyorker.com] [[2014]]}}

''Transformers: Age of Extinction'' was critically panned, and nearly universally condemned on the American front, receiving a rating of 18% positive critical reviews on RottenTomatoes.com, one percent lower than the final score for ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen]]''. Common criticisms leveled against it included its relatively long run time of 2 hours and 45 minutes, the disproportionately small amount of screen time the Dinobots got in relation to their relatively large exposure in promotional materials for the film, an over-reliance on product placement, and the decision to set the final act in Hong Kong, which was perceived as a choice solely done to pander towards the Chinese audience for the film. However, the film received praise for its visual effects, action sequences, and the performances of some of the human actors, mainly Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, and Kelsey Grammer.<ref>http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_age_of_extinction/</ref> Despite any criticisms, the film was the worldwide top-grossing film for 2014, earning over a billion dollars.<ref>[http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2014 Box Office Mojo's 2014 Worldwide Grosses]</ref>

It {{w|35th Golden Raspberry Awards|won one Golden Raspberry Award}} for Worst Director ([[Michael Bay]]), was one of four movies contributing to [[Kelsey Grammer]]'s Worst Supporting Actor win (along with ''{{w|The Expendables 3}}'', ''{{w|Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return}}'' and ''{{w|Think Like a Man Too}}''), and was unsuccessfully nominated for Worst Picture; Worst Supporting Actress ([[Nicola Peltz]] as [[Tessa Yeager]]); Worst Screen Combo ("Any two robots, actors (or robotic actors)"); Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel; and Worst Screenplay ("screenplay by [[Ehren Kruger]], based on Hasbro's Transformers action figures").

For Chinese audiences, however, it was a phenomenon and some farmers started making replica Transformers as a new job. <ref>[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/chinese-villagers-give-up-farming-719236 The Hollywood Reporter: "Chinese Villagers Give Up Farming to Build Giant Transformers From Old Car Parts", July 16 2014]</ref>

==Production staff==
''Age of Extinction'' was written by [[Ehren Kruger]], who also wrote ''[[Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|Dark of the Moon]]'' and helped write ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen]]''.
===Visual effects===
Like the previous films in the series, [[Industrial Light & Magic]] (with assistance from [[Atomic Fiction]] and [[Base FX]]) was employed to do the visual effects. [[Method Studios]] and [[Tippett Studios]] also contributed to the film's VFX production.

===Locations department===

==Development details==
===Cast and crew signing on===
On June 26, 2011, thirteen days before the official theatrical release of ''[[Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|Dark of the Moon]]'', actor [[Tyrese Gibson]] gave an interview to Movieweb, in which he claimed that [[Michael Bay]] would not return for a fourth ''Transformers'' installment; instead, executive producer [[Steven Spielberg]] himself was allegedly interested in directing a sequel.<ref name="tyresemovieweb">[http://movieweb.com/exclusive-steven-spielberg-may-direct-transformers-4/ Movieweb interview with Tyrese Gibson], with several names missing from the text; the full excerpt in question is quoted [http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-movie-just-movie-31/rumor-transformers-4-directed-by-steven-spielberg-172501/ here] on TFW2005.</ref> Ten days later, on June 26, 2011, still three days before the official theatrical release of ''Dark of the Moon'', Michael Bay posted praise for actor [[Shia LaBeouf]] on his official forums, while at the same time expressing regret for leaving the ''Transformers'' franchise.<ref name="bayshialeaving">[http://www.shootfortheedit.com/forum/showthread.php?9502-Love-Shia-as-an-Actor Michael Bay's praise for Shia LaBeouf] at the official Michael Bay forums.</ref> Another two days later, on June 28, 2011, LaBeouf confirmed that ''Dark of the Moon'' would definitely be his last ''Transformers'' film, as he didn't think there was "anywhere to take" his character of [[Sam Witwicky]].<ref name="endshia">[http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/06/28/transformers-dark-of-the-moon-shia-labeouf/ "'Transformers: Dark Of The Moon' Is The End For Shia LaBeouf"], MTV Movies Blog.</ref>

Eight months later, on February 13, 2012, producer [[Lorenzo di Bonaventura]] gave an interview during [[Toy Fair 2012]], in which he confirmed that a fourth film was scheduled for a release in the Summer of 2014, Michael Bay would direct it after all, and that the movie would be a "reboot". He promptly clarified that it was actually a "hybrid", an "evolution" of the franchise that would be in continuity with the previous films, citing 2012's ''{{w|The Amazing Spider-Man (2012 film)|The Amazing Spider-Man}}'' reboot of the ''[[Spider-Man]]'' film franchise as an example of what people should ''not'' expect from a fourth ''Transformers'' film. Di Bonaventura also confirmed that no casting discussions had taken place yet at that point, since there was no set story yet. However, there would be "a lot of new cast", and it was still uncertain at that point whether any of the previous cast members would return. The only characters that would "certainly" return would be [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]].<ref name="lorenzointerview">["http://www.mtv.com/videos/movies/733426/a-new-transformers-to-hit-theaters-in-summer-2014.jhtml "a new 'transformers' to hit theaters in summer 2014"], interview with Lorenzo Di Bonaventura at MTV.com.</ref> A day later, on February 14, 2012, Bay himself and [[Paramount Pictures]] officially announced that Bay had indeed signed a deal to make a fourth ''Transformers'' film. The film's release date was stated alternatively as either June 27 or June 29, 2014.<ref name="bayfourthfilm1">[http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-movie-just-movie-31/transformers-4-release-date-revealed-174395/ "Transformers 4 Release Date Revealed"] at TFW2005.</ref><ref name="bayfourthfilm">[http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-17028248 "Transformers director Michael Bay signs for fourth film"], BBC.co.uk.</ref> That same day, Bay also confirmed that he and Spielberg were working on a "whole new re imagining{{sic}} of ''Transformers''".<ref name="reimagining">[http://www.shootfortheedit.com/forum/showthread.php?10284-Transformers-4 Michael Bay confirming that ''Transformers 4'' would be a "reimaginging"] at the official Michael Bay forums.</ref> Two days later, on February 16, 2012, actor [[Josh Duhamel]] expressed his doubts that he, Shia LaBeouf, [[Rosie Huntington-Whiteley]] or Tyrese Gibson would return for the fourth installment.<ref name="noshiarosie">[http://eonline.com/news/294791/josh-duhamel-not-coming-back-for-transformers-4-is-anyone "Josh Duhamel Not Coming Back for Transformers 4: Is Anyone?!"] at E! Online.</ref>

Four months later, on June 6, 2012, Michael Bay confirmed in an interview centered around ''[[Transformers: The Ride – 3D|Transformers: The Ride]]'' that the fourth film would feature "some redesigns of the robots and an entirely new cast", and that it would be the last ''Transformers'' film he would direct.<ref name="ride">[http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/transformers-the-ride-3d-even-impresses-disney-rivals/ "‘Transformers’ taking new shape with Universal ride and fourth film"], LA Times Hero Complex.</ref> A few weeks later, on June 21, 2012, Bay confirmed that the fourth film would feature "different human actors", but the film would not be strictly a "reboot", but rather take the story "in a new direction". While hinting that the story might venture into space for "a little bit", he still wanted to keep it "grounded".<ref name="starsspace">[http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/transformers-4-michael-bay-purges-stars-may-go-into-space/ "‘Transformers 4’: Michael Bay purges stars, may go into space"], LA Times Hero Complex.</ref>

[[File:TF4 Chinese Reality Show contestants.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|If ''Age of Extinction'' teaches us anything, it's that more movies should be cast using reality shows.]]On September 21, 2012, Michael Bay confirmed the first "cast" member for the film in the broadest sense, namely the fact that voice actor [[Peter Cullen]] would be kept on as [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]]. He also confirmed that the film would ''not'' be a reboot, but would pick up the story from where ''Dark of the Moon'' had left off in [[Chicago]].<ref name="cullen">[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/21/michael-bay-transformers-4-pain-and-gain_n_1903523.html "Michael Bay, 'Transformers 4' Director, On The Struggles Of 'Pain & Gain'"], Huffington Post interview.</ref> One and a half months later, on November 8, 2012, Bay confirmed [[Mark Wahlberg]] as the first human cast member,<ref name="wahlberg">[http://michaelbay.com/2012/11/08/michael-bay-re-teams-with-his-pain-gain-star-mark-wahlberg-for-transformers-4/ "Michael Bay Re-Teams With His 'Pain & Gain' Star Mark Wahlberg for Transformers 4"], on Michael Bay's official site.</ref> after having referred to such claims as "just a rumor" a mere month earlier.<ref name="baynowahlberg">[http://michaelbay.com/2012/10/23/transformers-4-casting-rumor/ "Transformers 4 Casting Rumor"], on Michael Bay's official site.</ref> On December 15, 2012, Wahlberg himself confirmed that filming would commence in May 2013.<ref name="wahlbergmay">[http://collider.com/ted-2-sequel-mark-wahlberg-transformers-4/218011/ "Mark Wahlberg Talks TED 2, TRANSFORMERS 4, and PAIN AND GAIN; Says TF Starts Shooting in May Followed By TED Sequel"], interview with Collider.com.</ref> Another month later, on January 8, 2013, Irish American actor [[Jack Reynor]] was confirmed as the second human cast member.<ref name="reynor">[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jack-reynor-lands-starring-role-409850 "Jack Reynor Lands Starring Role in 'Transformers 4'"] at Hollywood Reporter.</ref> [[Nicola Peltz]] was confirmed on March 26, 2013,<ref name="welcomepeltz">[http://michaelbay.com/2013/03/26/welcome-nicola-peltz-to-transformers-4/ "Welcome Nicola Peltz to Transformers 4"], on Michael Bay's official site.</ref> followed by [[Stanley Tucci]] (confirmed to be an antagonist) on April 16, 2013.,<ref name="tucci">[http://www.comingsoon.net/news/cinemaconnews.php?id=103034 "CinemaCon: Stanley Tucci Joins Transformers 4"]</ref> [[Kelsey Grammer]] as a lead (human) villain named "Harold Attinger" on May 1, 2013,<ref name="grammerattinger">[http://www.deadline.com/2013/05/kelsey-grammer-lands-lead-human-villain-in-transformers-sequel/ "Kelsey Grammer Lands Lead (Human) Villain In ‘Transformers’ Sequel"] at Deadline.com.</ref> [[Sophia Myles]] as a scientist on May 6, 2013,<ref name="mylesscientist">[http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/sophia-myles-join-mark-wahlberg-michael-bays-transformers-4-exclusive-89661 "Sophia Myles to Join Mark Wahlberg in Michael Bay's 'Transformers 4' (Exclusive)"] at TheWrap.com.</ref> Chinese actress [[Li Bingbing]] in an at that point still unspecified role on May 20, 2013,<ref name="bingbing">[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/chinas-li-bingbing-boards-transformers-525370 "China's Li Bingbing Boards 'Transformers 4'"] at Hollywood Reporter</ref> and actor-comedian [[T. J. Miller]] as a mechanic and best friend to Wahlberg's character on May 28, 2013.<ref name="miller">[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/tj-miller-joins-transformers-4-559359 "T.J. Miller Joins 'Transformers 4'"] at Hollywood Reporter.</ref> [[Titus Welliver]] wasn't officially confirmed until July 25, 2013, after he had been spotted on set in Texas.<ref name="welliver">[http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/transformers-4-adds-titus-welliver/ "‘Transformers 4′ Adds Titus Welliver"], Deadline.com.</ref> In the lead-up to the release of the movie, Welliver would stir up a minor controversy with an interview in which he stated that the film would be darker and "not a kid's movie". Following a storm of online discussion regarding this statement, he issued a new statement to the effect that ''Age of Extinction'' is in fact a kid's movie, and he meant to say it would expand the audience.<ref name="nerdist">[https://www.nerdist.com/2014/02/titus-welliver-talks-about-transformers-4-and-clark-greggs-s-h-i-e-l-d-comments/ Titus Welliver Talks About TRANSFORMERS 4 and Clark Gregg’s S.H.I.E.L.D. Comments], Nerdist.com.</ref>

A rather unusual addition to the cast were [[Byron Li]], [[Candice Zhao]], [[Austin Lin]] and [[Teresa Daley]], which won their part through participating in the ''[[Transformers 4 Chinese Actors Talent Search Reality Show]]'' on August 25, 2013.<ref name="reality">[http://beijing.china.org.cn/2013-08/28/content_29845758.htm "'Transformers 4' recruits 4 Chinese actors"], China.org.cn.</ref>

The remaining robot voice cast (barring Optimus Prime) wasn't officially revealed until May 8, 2014.<ref name="voicecast">[http://michaelbay.com/2014/05/08/john-goodman-and-ken-watanabe-join-the-autobot-voice-cast-in-michael-bays-transformers-age-of-extinction/ "John Goodman And Ken Watanabe Join The Autobot Voice Cast in Michael Bay’s ‘Transformers: Age Of Extinction’"] at the official Michael Bay website.</ref>

===Writing and production===
On March 20, 2013, the Michigan Film Office announced that the fourth film would return to [[Detroit]].<ref name="michigan">[http://www.michiganfilmoffice.org/The-Film-Office/Press-Releases/Detail.aspx?id=11620 "Transformers Returning to Michigan, Approved for Film Incentive" at the Michigan Film Office website.]</ref> Principal photography began on May 28, 2013, at {{w|Monument Valley}}.<ref name="monument">[http://michaelbay.com/2013/05/28/transformers-4-starts-filming-in-monument-valley-navajo-tribal-park/ "Transformers 4 Starts Filming in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park"], on Michael Bay's official site.</ref> Other shooting locations were the small towns of Lockhart, Taylor, Elgin and Pflugerville in Texas.<ref name="texas">[http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/movies/headlines/20130426-fourth-transformers-film-to-shoot-in-texas.ece "Fourth ‘Transformers’ film to shoot in Texas"] at Dallas Morning News.</ref> Shooting in Michigan involved two historic passenger steamboats, the ''{{w|SS Columbia}}'' and her sister ship, the ''{{w|Ste. Claire (passenger steamboat)|SS Ste. Claire}}'', which were docked in {{w|River Rouge, Michigan|River Rouge}} awaiting restoration at the time being used as props.<ref name="boblo">[http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2013/07/26/wdr-boblo-boats-transformers-four.html "Historic Boblo boats land role in Transformers 4"], CBC News.</ref> While shooting in Detroit, Mark Wahlberg's children visited the set and were given small parts in the movie upon their father's request.<ref name="wahlkids">[http://comicbook.com/blog/2013/07/30/mark-wahlbergs-kids-cast-in-transformers-4/ "Mark Wahlberg's Kids Cast In Transformers 4"], Comicbook.com.</ref>

[[File:AOE Michael Bay Nicola Peltz on set.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Michael Bay uses his legendary charm to get the very best performance out of his actors.]]
Due to an increased focus of Hollywood studios trying to market its movies to the Chinese audience, parts of the movie were not only set in China, but actually filmed there. One of the shooting sites was Hong Kong. While there, the movie crew encountered the risks of shooting a movie in China firsthand when director Michael Bay was assaulted on the set by two locals demanding money; according to some sources, they were store owners that were not satisfied with the compensation they received for the inconvenience of having a movie filming nearby. Bay received minor injuries, but played the incident off on his blog. Both he and an official Paramount statement suggested that the assailants were under the influence of drugs.<ref name="attack1">[http://deadline.com/2013/10/hong-kong-police-called-to-transformers-4-set-amid-alleged-extortion-attempt-report-613912/ "Extortion Attempt On ‘Transformers 4′ Set; Michael Bay Suffers Minor Injury: Report"], Deadline.com.</ref><ref name="attack2">[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/michael-bay-attacked-transformers-4-649183 "Michael Bay Attacked on 'Transformers 4' Set in Hong Kong"], Hollywood Reporter.</ref><ref name="attack3">[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-24566287 "Transformers director Michael Bay attacked in Hong Kong"], BBC.</ref name="attack4">[http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/michael-bay-attacked-on-transformers-hong-kong-film-shoot-1.2100953 "Michael Bay attacked on Transformers Hong Kong film shoot"], CBC News.</ref><ref name="attack5">[http://michaelbay.com/2013/10/17/hong-kong-incident/ "Hong Kong Incident"] on Michael Bay's official Blog.</ref> A second extortion attempt occured several days later, this time allegedly by several triad gang members. Although one of them was later arrested, no-one was injured this time around.<ref name="extortion2">[http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-bay-transformers-4hong-kong-second-extortion-incident-2013-10?IR=T "More Trouble For 'Transformers 4' In Hong Kong As Second Extortion Attempt Reported"], Business Insider.</ref><ref name="extortion3">[http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/25/world/asia/hong-kong-transformers-triad-extortion/ "Transformers versus the triads of Hong Kong: the sequel"], CNN.</ref> Once again, Bay played down the extortion attempts in an interview, noting that most of the locals were apologetic over what took place, and that he wanted to film more projects in Hong Kong.<ref name="eager">[http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1342084/hollywood-director-michael-bay-eager-shoot-hong-kong-again "Hollywood director Michael Bay eager to shoot in Hong Kong again"], ''South China Morning Post'']</ref>

[[File:AOEOptimusRidingGrimlock.jpg|thumb|upright=1.9|left|"Get me closer! I want to hit them with my sword!"]]Late script changes resulted in Bay and his crew returning to the Chinese city of {{w|Chongqing}} for a week reshooting a scene in January 2014.<ref name="reshoot">[http://www.ecns.cn/2014/01-23/98337.shtml "'Transformers 4' back to China for additional shots"], China News Service (Ecns.cn).</ref>

Some of [[Industrial Light & Magic|ILM]]'s post-production effects were done at a newly opened Lucasfilm facility in Singapore.<ref name="ilmsg">[http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/lifestyle/story/lucasfilm-singapore-work-new-avengers-and-transformers-movies-20140116 "Lucasfilm Singapore to work on new Avengers and Transformers movies"], The Straits Times.</ref>

{{--}}

=== Sponsors and partners ===
==== General Motors and other car manufacturers ====
[[File:AOE Optimus Prime truck.jpg|thumb|upright=1.34|When having one's midlife crisis, it's not unusual to get a souped-up alternate mode.]]
''Age of Extinction'' continues the collaboration with General Motors. Earlier in the film, Bumblebee chooses a customized 1967 Chevrolet Camaro SS as his disguise when hiding from [[Cemetery Wind]], whereas later on, he upgrades to the newest model, a 2014 Camaro concept car. (The production crew was actually accused of ripping off a one-of-a-kind custom for the 1967 version.<ref name="1967custom">[http://jalopnik.com/did-transformers-4-rip-off-this-guys-design-for-the-ne-510655228 "Did Transformers 4 Rip Off This Guy's Design For The New Bumblebee?"] at Jalopnik.com.</ref>) Furthermore, new addition [[Crosshairs (AOE)|Crosshairs]]'s alternate mode is a 2014 Chevrolet C7 Corvette Stingray, and recurring character Ratchet briefly appears at the beginning of the movie and transforms into his Hummer H2 ambulance mode (in the color scheme from ''Dark of the Moon'') before being killed at the hands of Cemetery Wind and [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]].

''Age of Extinction'' is the first movie to feature an official partnership with a manufacturer for [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]]'s alternate mode. Earlier in the movie, he transforms into an old, rusty Marmon 97 truck cab (presumably without support from the manufacturer), but later upgrades into a brand new Western Star "5700 OP" concept truck that was designed specifically for the movie by "Twins Custom Coaches" and the team at West Coast Customs, with Western Star being a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks, who also provided a 2012 Freightliner Argosy that serves as [[Megatron (Movie)|Galvatron]]'s alternate mode.

Other manufacturers that provided vehicles to be used for characters' alternate modes were the Oshkosh Corporation with an Oshkosh Defense FMTV truck for [[Hound (Movie)|Hound]], the Volkswagen group with a 2013 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse for [[Drift (AOE)|Drift]] and a Lamborghini Aventador for Lockdown, and independent Italian manufacturer Pagani Automobili with a Pagani Huayra for [[Stinger (AOE)|Stinger]].

=== Changes before, during and after production ===
* [[Slash (AOE)|Slash]] was originally intended to appear in the film (he even made it into some concept artwork).<ref name="burt">[http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/transformers-age-of-extinction-concept-art-from-wesley-burt/30723/ Age of Extiction concept art by Wesley Burt], mirrored at Seibertron.com.</ref>
* [[Glenn Morshower]] was originally set to return in this film, reprising his role of [[Morshower|General Morshower]], but didn't return due to a scheduling conflict.<ref>http://transformerslive.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/general-morshower-not-returning-to.html</ref>
* Both [[Josh Duhamel]] and [[Tyrese Gibson]] were intended to cameo reprising their roles as [[William Lennox]] and [[Robert Epps]] but were cut before filming started.<ref>http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-movie-just-movie-31/tyrese-gibson-in-talks-for-transformers-4-176078/</ref><ref>http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-movie-just-movie-31/tyrese-gibson-to-make-cameo-appearance-only-in-transformers-4-177407/</ref><ref>http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-movie-just-movie-31/josh-duhamel-to-make-cameo-appearance-in-transformers-4-177026/</ref><ref>http://transformerslive.blogspot.com/2013/06/josh-duhamel-not-in-transformers-4.html</ref>
* Ed Welburn, [[General Motors]]' vice president for global design, was originally set to cameo as the C.I.A. head before being recast as a KSI employee.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/automobiles/ed-welburn-gets-a-part-in-transformers.html?_r=0</ref>
* A scene depicting Hound and Bumblebee dancing with Tessa (while Drift bobs his head in the background) was not present in the final cut of the film.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnxZ7Gg2yV4</ref>
* Scorn's toys lack the additional two sails he has in the film, suggesting it was a late design change.
*The Pagani Huayra that eventually ended up as [[Stinger (AOE)|Stinger]] was at one point intended as the alternate mode of a female robot with the working name "Widow Maker".<ref name="vitaly">[http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-movie-9/age-of-extinction-concept-art-by-vitaly-bulgarov-180636/ Age of Extinction concept art by Vitaly Bulgarov] at TFW2005, including "Widow Maker".</ref><ref name="jung">[http://comicbook.com/blog/2014/07/20/transformers-age-of-extinction-concept-art-shows-off-epic-scope-/ Age of Extinction concept art by Steve Jung] at Comicbook.com, including "Widow Maker".</ref>
* Wahlberg's character was named "Flynn 'Ray' Vincent" rather than "Cade Yeager" in a casting call. The same casting call also revealed that actor [[Glenn Morshower]] was supposed to reprise his role as [[Morshower|General Morshower]] from the previous two films.<ref name="txcasting">[http://www.featurefilmauditions.com/2013/05/casting-for-transformers-4-actors-and.html "Transformers 4' open casting calls for actors and extras in Austin, TX and Detroit, MI"] at Film Auditions.</ref>
* A scene where Cade says "Stick behind me" is not present in the final cut of the film.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXSkXQs890g</ref>
* Another piece of dialogue cut from the film is when Cade says "You tell me" to Attinger when he asks for Optimus Prime.
* In some concept artwork, Grimlock appears as a horn-less T-Rex.
* The original running time of the film was 2 hours and 7 minutes, which would have made it the shortest film in the franchise. The final running time was 2 hours and 30 minutes <ref>http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/BatFreak/news/?a=77992</ref><ref>http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-movie-just-movie-31/transformers-4-age-of-extinction-running-time-revealed-180165/</ref>
* [[Dwayne Johnson]] was originally offered the role of Cade Yeager, but due to his commitment to ''Hercules: The Thracian Wars'', the role was later taken over by his ''Pain & Gain'' co-star Mark Wahlberg.<ref>[https://twitter.com/TheRock/statuses/327892048978006016 Dwayne Johnson on Twitter]</ref>
*In some concept artwork, Drift was colored orange instead of blue. but according to the Generation 2 featurette in the Blu-ray release, this was changed because the vehicle that was going to play Drift was sold off.
*Some concept artwork shows that Optimus was intended to have his original trilogy body in the scenes where he had his new look.
*According to Ehren Kruger in the Generation 2 featurette, in the early drafts of the film, it was not originally centered on the Cade Yeager character.
*Numerous silver [[redeco]] toys were produced for Optimus Prime with the moniker of "Silver Knight", suggesting that he was originally supposed to take on this alternate appearance in the film itself, almost certainly upon drawing a sword from the Knights' armory. In the finished film, he does undergo some slight physical alteration at this point, his arms reconfiguring to resemble armor plates, but that's as far as it goes. This was also ''prrrrobably'' where he was supposed to get the rocket-boots he suddenly deploys at the film's end.
*A scene depicting Harold Attinger throwing a man out of a moving vehicle was reportedly cut from the film.<ref>http://news.tfw2005.com/2014/08/16/kelsey-grammer-explains-a-deleted-scene-from-transformers-age-of-extinction-180984</ref>

{{-}}

===Disinformation campaign===

Like ''Revenge of the Fallen'' and ''Dark of The Moon'' before it, ''Age of Extinction'' had a campaign that would mask details of the final film. However, unlike the previous films, this one was all encompassing; no novelization or comics by [[IDW Publishing]] was released, allowing for a great deal of the movie's spoilers to actually remain unknown longer than for the previous three films.

In the original Michigan Film Office press release published on March 20, 2013, several vague plot details were revealed, including the fact that Autobots and Decepticons had "[[Cemetery Wind|all but vanished from the face of the planet]]", a "[[Kinetic Solutions Incorporated|group of [...] businessman and scientists]]" were developing new technologies based on past encounters with the Transformers, and an "[[Lockdown (ROTF)|ancient, powerful Transformer menace]]" was targeting Earth.<ref name="plotunveiled">[http://www.thewrap.com/node/82001/ "‘Transformers 4’ Plot Unveiled by Michigan Film Office"] at TheWrap.com.</ref> These plot details were later claimed to be inaccurate by Paramount Pictures,<ref name="notaccurate">[http://screenrant.com/transformers-4-movie-plot-synopsis-cast/ Unofficial "'Transformers 4' Plot Synopsis Is Not Accurate"] at Screenrant.com</ref> but in all their vagueness ultimately turned out to be not too far off from the film's plot.

A lot of the newly-added characters were given "code names" during production, most of them related to the ''Rocky'' saga: "Duke" for Hound, "Adrian" for Galvatron, "Ivan" for Grimlock, "Rocky" for Slash (who was originally intended to appear in the movie, as noted above), "Southpaw" for Scorn, "Paulie" for Strafe, and "Thunderlips" for Slug. In addition, Crosshairs was code-named "Slingshot", Drift was code-named "Bruce", Lockdown was code-named "Max", and Steeljaw was code-named "Wolf" (which ''might'' have simply been a working name).<ref name="customer">[http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-news-rumors/961952-monzos-mega-hasbro-customer-service-listing-breakdown.html Hasbro customer service list]</ref>

==Notes==
*Not only do the [[Dinobot (AOE)|Dinobots]] go unnamed in the film (other than [[Scorn]] getting the nickname, "Spike"), the word Dinobot is never even said by anyone. The audio description soundtrack on the home video releases refers to them as warriors or barbarians, but notes during the final scene that they "turn into Dinobots" (of course it also refers to Galvatron transforming "into an Autobot" when he turns into a robot, so make of that what you will).
*In addition to the Shadow Raiders, Steeljaws, the ball-shaped drones, and Stupid Drones, inside Lockdown's ship there were also several hovering drones. These drones appear to be of the same type as those the United States used in ''Dark of the Moon'' (the one that got sucked into the engine of Bumblebee's commandeered Decepticon fighter). Maybe Attinger sold them to Lockdown?
*Michael Bay's website incorrectly refers to the film as "Transformers 4 The Age Of Extinction"
* The Autobots and Decepticons shown in the cards Attinger pulled early in the film includes: Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]], [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]], [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]], [[Sentinel Prime (ROTF)|Sentinel Prime]], [[Wheeljack (Movie)|Que]], [[Mirage (Movie)|Dino]], [[Shockwave (Movie)|Shockwave]], [[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]], [[Loader]], [[Garagebot]], and the [[Driller]].
** Even though most of these Transformers are listed as deceased, Dino and Garagebot are not. Therefore, they could have been alive during the events of the film.
* This film seems to put a final nail in the coffin regarding the films' abandonment of the concept of using [[protoform]]s to travel through space; when the Autobots steal a ship from [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]], they immediately move to leave Earth, indicating they had been stranded on Earth for the past five years without a spaceship (following the destruction of the ''[[Xantium (DOTM)|Xantium]]''). The fact that no mention is made of searching for any possible survivors of Cemetery Wind's hunt also suggests that all Autobots who did not return for this film have been killed off as well.
**Fortunately, [[Wheelie (ROTF)|Wheelie]] and [[Topspin (DOTM)|Topspin]] reapppear in [[Transformers: The Last Knight (film)|the next film]]. By taking that, Dino among the "not deceased" Transformers cards, and the fact that [[Sideswipe (Movie)|Sideswipe]] is stated to have been killed by Cemetery Wind in some tie-in material into consideration, the only Autobot from ''Dark of the Moon'' whose fate after that film is uncertain is... [[Roadbuster (DOTM)|Roadbuster]].
*The robot designs in this film are markedly different than the previous three; the robots have less alien appearances and are more heavily influenced by human forms with far less visible vehicle parts.
*Speaking of the appearance of the Autobots - they all are based on specific types of human combatants throughout history: Optimus is obviously a medieval knight, Hound heavily resembles a World War II-era commando, Crosshairs looks like a mercenary or assassin, Bumblebee's new form is highly Ninja-like, and Drift is unsurprisingly a samurai.
*Director Michael Bay makes a cameo appearance in the film as a guy sitting in the passenger seat of a truck whose trailer Optimus Prime and Bumblebee crash through after being attacked by Galvatron and Stinger.<ref name="magiceffects">[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btn2tPxjisA "Behind the Magic: The Visual Effects of 'Transformers Age of Extinction'"] on the official ILMVisualFX Youtube channel.</ref> Heck with it, much of the KSI cars are part of his personal collection!

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''''Transformers: Lost Age''''' (トランスフォーマーロストエイジ ''Toransufōmā Rosuto Eiji'')
*''Cantonese:'' '''''Binying Gamgong: Chimmit Saigei''''' (變形金剛：殲滅世紀 "Transformers: The Century of Annihilation")
*''German:'' '''''Transformers: Ära des Untergangs''''' ("Transformers: Era of Doom")
*''Mandarin:'' '''''Pièn-hsíng Chīn-kāng Ssù: Chuéh-chī Ch'óng-shēng''''' (Taiwan, 變型金剛4：絕跡重生), '''''Biànxíng Jīngāng Sì: Juéjī Chóngshēng''''' (China, 变形金刚4：绝迹重生, "Transformers 4: Rebirth from the Extinction")
*''Polish:'' '''''Transformers: Wiek zagłady''''' ("Transformers: Age of Extinction")
*''Portuguese:'' '''''Transformers: A Era da Extinção''''' ("Transformers: The Age of Extinction")
*''Russian:'' '''''Transformery: Epokha istrebleniya''''' (Трансформеры: Эпоха истребления "Transformers: Age of Extermination")
*''Spanish:'' '''''Transformers 4''''' (Argentina)
*''Turkish:'' '''''Transformers: Kayıp Çağ''''' ("Transformers: Lost Age")
*''Czech:'' '''''Transformers: Zánik''''' (Transformers: Extinction)

==External links==
* [http://www.transformersmovie.com/ Transformersmovie.com]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2109248/?ref_=nv_sr_1 ''Age of Extinction'' at IMDB.com]
* {{w|Transformers: Ag of Extinction|''Age of Extinction'' film on Wikipedia}}
* [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_age_of_extinction/ ''Age of Extinction'' on RottenTomatoes.com]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{stub}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Age of Extinction (film)}}

[[Category:Age of Extinction| Age of Extinction (film)]]
[[Category:Real world films]]

Hot Shot (Armada)

2019-11-06T14:44:13Z

KitsuneMastaa: /* Armada cartoon */

{{factions|autobot|{{factions/icons|custom=Energon Powerlinx Silver symbol.png|cLink=Powerlinx}}|velocitron|{{factions/icons|custom=Cybertron Defence.png|cSize=50px|cLink=Cybertron Defense Team}}}}
{{disambig3|Hot Shot}}{{suite}}
:''Hot Shot is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Unicron Trilogy]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Hotshotut.jpg|thumb|upright=1.95|Come on and slam, and welcome to the JaAm.]]
'''Hot Shot''' is the quintessential young hero. He's been around long enough to earn a name for himself and a place in [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime's]] entourage, but he's still too young to know when he's in over his head. In other words, he's blunt, overconfident, naïve, and more than just a little annoying, yet brave, honorable, loyal to his friends, and willing to risk his life to stop the [[Decepticon]]s and help the Autobots. With time and experience, Prime believes, he could make an excellent leader, and Prime has appointed him to his command structure accordingly. Hot Shot's got the goods, but he just needs to pay attention for more than five seconds. Until that day, Hot Shot's likely response to most anything is, "Yeah yeah, like, whatever."

Hot Shot's [[Mini-Con]] partner is [[Jolt (Armada)|Jolt]], though he has been known to moonlight with [[Mirage (Armada)|Mirage]]. Hot Shot also proclaims a love for a strange substance called [[JaAm]], but none of his Autobot peers can figure out what it is.

==Fiction==
===Toy pack-in comics===
[[File:Hotshotarmadaminicomic.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|How dumb can he be? He's fluent in three languages!]]
[[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]] chose Hot Shot to stop a Decepticon plot to drain power from the city, but Hot Shot balked when Prime picked [[Jolt (Armada)|Jolt]] to be his partner. After speeding off to complete the mission alone, Hot Shot found himself overwhelmed by [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] and his partner [[Crumplezone (Armada)|Crumplezone]]. Thankfully, Jolt arrived and gave Hot Shot a hand, and together they defeated Cyclonus and Crumplezone by detonating their energy-draining device, and letting the Decepticons get caught in the blast. Hot Shot had learned a valuable lesson about teamwork. {{storylink|Armada Volume 1}}

Hot Shot reported to Optimus about his responsibilities somewhere and listened to [[Scavenger (Armada)|Scavenger]] discuss his. {{storylink|Armada Volume 2}} Optimus Prime again contacted Hot Shot from [[Autobot Headquarters (Armada)|Autobot Headquarters]]. {{storylink|Armada Volume 3}}

On [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], Hot Shot, [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]], [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]] were present for [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]]'s defeat of [[Megatron (Armada)|Galvatron]]. They didn't, however, see his smile upon his capture. {{storylink|Armada Volume 4}}

[[File:HotShotEnergonminicomic.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|He's so polite.]]
After Hot Shot and [[Strongarm (Energon)|Strongarm]] found a pool of [[Energon]] in a desert, they were attacked by [[Battle Ravage]]s. Though the Autobots were able to fight off the drones, they realized too late that they had been duped; another pack of Battle Ravages had used the distraction to get at the Energon pool. When the situation was bleakened further by the arrival of [[Scorponok (Energon)|Scorponok]], Strongarm fashioned an [[Energon weapon|Energon axe]] for Hot Shot, allowing him to drive the [[Terrorcon (Energon)|Terrorcons]] away. Unfortunately, he couldn't do so in time to prevent them from absorbing all of the remaining Energon. Nonetheless, Hot Shot and Strongarm were relieved that they had faced a formidable foe and come out on top. {{storylink|Energon Volume 1}}

Some time after, Hot Shot was seen alongside [[Skyblast (Energon)|Skyblast]] and Optimus Prime battling Scorponok and his Terrorcons. {{storylink|Energon Volume 2}}

Optimus Prime and Hot Shot (powerlinked with Inferno) found themselves alone and outmatched in a battle with Megatron, [[Shockblast]], [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Snow Cat]], [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] and [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Mirage]]. As the Decepticons closed in on Optimus, he warned Powerlinx Hot Shot to stay away, for he was too damaged. But at the last minute, [[Wing Saber (Energon)|Wing Saber]] arrived, combined with Prime, and drove the Decepticons away! {{storylink|Energon Volume 4}}

With a group of Autobots, Hot Shot investigated the site of an energon reaction. They found a [[Grand Scourge|Scourge]], a dark duplicate of Optimus Prime who quickly entered in battle with Optimus. {{storylink|Optimus Prime VS Scourge|Optimus Prime VS Scourge Episode.1}} When Optimus was cornered by Scourge, Hot Shot and Ironhide forced the two apart with cover fire, allowing Optimus to gain the upper hand on his enemy. {{storylink|Optimus Prime VS Scourge|Optimus Prime VS Scourge Episode.2}}

===Dreamwave ''Armada'' continuity===
====Dreamwave ''Armada'' comic====
[[File:Hotshotraizeyes.jpg|thumb|left|Hot Shot watches in horror as [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] buys the last can of [[jaAm]].]]
One million years ago, Hot Shot was a member of the Autobots, the guardians of [[Cyber City]]. Soon, news of a warlike faction called [[Decepticon]]s, led by the power-hungry [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]], reached Cyber City via a dying [[Mini-Con]] Hot Shot found. The Mini-Con handed him a video disc, and with his dying breath, demanded Hot Shot take it to Optimus Prime. Optimus Prime played the disc, a distress signal from [[Leader-1 (Armada)|Leader-1]], head of [[Mini-Con Sector|Mini-Con village D10]], who begged the Autobots for help. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 1|Armada #1}}

The Decepticons themselves soon arrived in Cyber City, armed with Mini-Cons they had captured and reconfigured to bestow incredible power when [[Powerlinx]]ed. Outclassed and near total defeat, Optimus Prime called his troops into retreat, and after the majority of Mini-Cons escaped [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] to parts unknown, {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 2|Armada #2}} the Autobots lost much of the planet to the Mini-Con-powered Decepticons. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 3|Armada #3}}

[[File:Hotshotfreecomicbookday.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Hot Shot, stop stealing Jolt's gun!]]
In the present day, both the Autobots and Decepticons received a signal of the Mini-Cons' activation on the planet [[Earth]]. Hot Shot and his colleagues [[Scavenger (Armada)|Scavenger]], [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]], and [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]] were led by Optimus Prime to the planet, {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 4|Armada #4}} where they met the Decepticons in battle. But this time, with the help of the estranged Mini-Cons, the Autobots regained the edge they'd lost against the Decepticons one million years prior. An uneasy alliance was formed, and Hot Shot was partnered with the Mini-Con [[Jolt (Armada)|Jolt]]. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 5|Armada #5}}

When their human friends [[Rad White|Rad]], [[Carlos Lopez|Carlos]], and [[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]] befriended a Mini-Con named [[Swindle (Armada)|Swindle]], they soon attracted the attention of the Decepticons, and Hot Shot and the other Autobots weren't far behind. With the arrival of Megatron, however, the Autobots were quickly defeated and restrained, and the children were shocked to learn that Swindle had been working with the Decepticons all this time! Swindle found himself conflicted, as he genuinely liked the human children, and so he eventually had a small change of heart. Grabbing Hot Shot's gun, he was able to disable the Autobots' restraints, and the Decepticons retreated... though with Swindle. {{storylink|Armada Free Comic Book Day}}

[[File:Hotshotdwissue6.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.66|Wait, Jolt attaches ''where?'']]
After their initial battles on Earth, Megatron was quick to capture the [[Air Defense Mini-Con Team (Armada)|Air Defense Mini-Con Team]] and forge them into the [[Star Saber (Armada)|Star Saber]]. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 6|Armada #6}} Optimus Prime led Hot Shot and Red Alert against the Decepticons again, despite being at a strategic disadvantage while the Mini-Cons were missing, a point Hot Shot belabored. Thankfully, the Autobot-allied Mini-Cons arrived just in time to Powerlinx with Hot Shot and the other Autobots, fend off Megatron, and rescue the Air Defense Mini-Cons from the Decepticon leader's clutches. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 7|Armada #7}}

[[File:Hotshotguido.jpg|thumb|"Well, let's go!"]]
Soon, a Mini-Con beacon tower was erected in [[Tranquility, Kansas|Tranquility]], [[Kansas]] drawing all Earth-bound Mini-Cons to it. Hot Shot and the rest of the Autobots again met the Decepticons in battle at the location when the tower's effect was discovered. However, they were too busy fighting to notice the beacon tower blasting off toward the Earth's [[Moon (moon)|moon]]. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 8|Armada #8}} Hot Shot and Red Alert secreted Optimus Prime into the Decepticon base for the use of their space bridge, so that the Autobot leader could ask for reinforcements from [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 9|Armada #9}} The Decepticons returned while the two were still waiting for Prime's return, forcing them to hide for a bit. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 10|Armada #10}}

After the Mini-Cons were evacuated from the Moon, five did not return home safely and sent a distress signal from northern Alaska. When the [[Adventure Mini-Con Team]] failed to retrieve them, Hot Shot and the other Autobots arrived in full force, though they were kept in check by Cyclonus, who was suffering from a Mini-Con overdose. Though they were successful, Optimus Prime disappeared before their eyes, {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 13|Armada #13}} and when Hot Shot returned to Autobase, he found [[Optimus Prime (G1)|another Optimus Prime]], dying, sent from a different timeline to warn of [[Unicron]]'s coming. {{storylink|Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4}} Learning of the "real" Optimus Prime's disappearance, Megatron and his Decepticons stormed Autobase, nearly killing Smokescreen and heavily injuring Hot Shot, Red Alert, and Scavenger. {{storylink|Worlds Collide, Part 2 of 4}}

Optimus Prime was returned to them and insisted on teaming up with the Decepticons to battle the arriving Unicron. Hot Shot excused himself from this alliance, as Smokescreen's critical condition due to the Decepticons' recent attack still weighed heavily in his mind. So when Megatron stole away during the battle with Unicron to strike a deal with the Dark God, Hot Shot, Scavenger, and Red Alert ambushed him, leaving him to die as Unicron was seemingly destroyed by the [[Mini-Con Matrix]]. {{storylink|The End}}
{{--}}

====''Energon'' comic====
[[File:Hotshotironhidedw.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.66|Sorry, Hot Shot, you've been replaced.]]
Ten years later, at the beginning of the Energon Era, Hot Shot accompanied Optimus Prime, who was skeptical and restless about the new peacetime, on his visit with the High Council in Cyber City. Prime's demands for vigilance were denied, so Hot Shot later followed him to a special [[uplink platform]] that [[Over-Run (Armada)|Over-Run]] had directed them to. This trip was a first outing for the rookie Autobot [[Ironhide (Energon)|Ironhide]], who fawned over Hot Shot. Hot Shot met this with difficulty. Learning of the continued existence of [[Unicron]], {{storylink|This Evil Reborn}} Prime once again returned to the High Council, again accompanied by Hot Shot. But this time, Cyber City was attacked by [[Cheetor (Armada)|Cheetor]], [[Rhinox (Armada)|Rhinox]], [[Airazor (Armada)|Airazor]], and [[Terrorsaur (Armada)|Terrorsaur]], who were presumed dead during [[The Unicron Battles]], but in fact were transformed into [[Unicron's Four Horsemen]]. {{storylink|What Lies Beneath}} The Four Horsemen overwhelmed Hot Shot and the other Autobots, and they were saved from destruction only by the timely arrival of the [[Omnicon]]s. Hot Shot, Optimus Prime, and the others were granted the [[Spark of Combination]] by [[Alpha Trion (Energon)|Sig-Omega]], and thanks partly to the combined powerlinked form of Hot Shot and [[Inferno (Energon)|Inferno]], the Horsemen were deterred. {{storylink|What Lies Beneath, Part Two}}

Hot Shot, along with Inferno, Ironhide, and [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]], followed Prime to Earth after the Autobots received a distress signal. They regrettably arrived four hours later than the signal was sent, and Hot Shot boggled at how much damage could have been done in that time. Indeed, [[Scorponok (Energon)|Scorponok]] and his [[Terrorcon (Energon)|Terrorcons]] had caused massive devastation while chasing after a young boy named [[Kicker Jones|Kicker]] who could detect [[Energon]]. The Terrorcons outclassed the Autobots upon arrival, however, and left only when their Energon-mining gear was destroyed...but not without taking Kicker. {{storylink|What Lies Beneath, Part Three}} After the Autobots reunited with [[Carlos Lopez|Carlos]], [[Rad White|Rad]], and [[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]], Hot Shot and the Omnicon [[Strongarm (Energon)|Strongarm]] were able to pursue the Terrorcons and deliver a special suit to Kicker that his father, [[Brian Jones|Dr. Brian Jones]], had made for him. With Kicker's help, the Terrorcons were defeated and returned to Unicron. {{storylink|What Lies Beneath, Part Four}}

Hot Shot, along with Optimus Prime and Inferno, attended a public meeting with the [[United Nations]] in [[New York City]] after the ratification of the [[Cybercord Treaty]]. {{storylink|Multiplicity}}

[[File:Hotshotomni-potent.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Wait, ''Hot Shot'' has wisdom?]]
After the Omnicons, while trying to tap into an underground Energon reserve, nearly destroyed [[Chicago]] by accident, Hot Shot was put in charge of the unruly 'bots and sent to [[Base Site One]] in [[Yukon|Yukon Territory]]. Immediately upon arrival, Strongarm crashed into the base site's intrathermal uplink assembly and subsurface transference grid, frustrating Ironhide. This was the final straw for Hot Shot. After telling them to get lost, he was darkly amused that this was the first order he'd given that they actually followed to the letter. An hour later, Hot Shot had a change of heart, and he and Kicker left to track them down. Their search abruptly ended when [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Snow Cat]] was dropped in their laps, defeated during the Omnicons' solo adventure. Eight days later, Hot Shot had returned to Optimus, who tasked him with protecting the Autobots' growing Energon-gathering installations on Earth. {{storylink|Omni-Potent}}

When Terrorcons orchestrated an attack on four major Earth cities, Hot Shot (leading a team consisting of [[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]], [[Rodimus (Energon)|Rodimus]], [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]], [[Beachcomber (Energon)|Beachcomber]], and [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Hoist]]) was sent to repel [[Divebomb (Energon)|Divebomb]] drones in [[Toronto]]. Badly outnumbered and confined, Rodimus suggested the group split up. Hot Shot agreed, sending him and Red Alert elsewhere. Hot Shot contacted Jetfire in [[Los Angeles]], telling him it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed and the battle was lost, but he interrupted his transmission to witness a spectacle above. {{storylink|Multiplicity, Pt. 3}} [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]] had arrived in a new body, and he was dramatically tearing through the Divebomb drones. After Megatron cleared away enough of the Terrorcons in Toronto to give Hot Shot's team a fighting chance, he moved on to the concurrent battle in [[Tokyo]]. {{storylink|Multiplicity, Pt. 4}}

===Cartoon continuity===
====''Armada'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Brent Miller]] (English), [[Kōsuke Okano]] (Japanese)|[[Alexandre Moreno]] (Portuguese), [[Martin Halm]] (German), [[Ola Norman]] (Swedish), [[Sepuh Apikian]] (Armenian), [[José Carabias]] (Spanish - Spain), [[Vesa Hämes]] (Finnish), [[Mirko Mazzanti]] (Italian), [[Romain Redler]] (French)}}
[[File:Past Part 1 Hot Shot flashback.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|I'll be back to save you, Wheeljack, right after 4:20.]]
An indeterminate number of years ago on Cybertron, Hot Shot was appointed the supervisor of a young Autobot named [[Wheeljack (Armada)|Wheeljack]]. Wheeljack strongly looked up to Hot Shot as a potential mentor and as a friend, but after a blazing battle, Wheeljack was incapacitated under some debris. Hot Shot left him behind as the flames closed in, promising to get help. However, when Hot Shot reached the other Autobots, his [[Sentinel Minor|commander]] would not let him endanger his own life by returning to help his friend. Hot Shot ignored this order, running back into the battle to find Wheeljack, but he was overwhelmed by the heat and passed out. Instead, Wheeljack was rescued by [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]]. Thinking he had been abandoned by Hot Shot, Wheeljack swore vengeance against him and the Autobots. {{storylink|Past}} {{storylink|Past II}}

[[File:Metamorphosis Hot Shot Red Alert arrive.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Wave 1 all accounted for, sir!]]
When [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] received a distress signal from the long-lost [[Mini-Con]]s, Hot Shot was one of two soldiers he brought with him to investigate the planet it originated from: Earth. Before they went through the warp gate, Hot Shot caught a glance of another Autobot, [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]], making a run for the portal behind them. {{storylink|Prehistory}} When they arrived, Hot Shot was quick to block [[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Starscream]] from attacking some human children who had stumbled upon the [[Street Action Mini-Con Team]], and before long, the Decepticons warped away. Hot Shot suggested that the Decepticons' base must be within sight if they were able to use short-warp teleportation; [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] correctly assumed this base was on Earth's [[Moon (moon)|moon]]. Hot Shot and the other two Autobots returned when the humans and the Mini-Cons once again found themselves under attack from the Decepticons. {{storylink|Metamorphosis (Armada)|Metamorphosis}} Hot Shot and Red Alert used their bodies to shield the human kids from the Decepticons' firepower. During the battle, Hot Shot and Red Alert recovered two [[Mini-Con storage panel]]s, and [[Jolt (Armada)|Jolt]] was one of two Mini-Cons who materialized when the panels were activated. Hot Shot partnered with this Mini-Con, and together with Red Alert and Mini-Con [[Longarm (Armada)|Longarm]], their combined firepower was able to drive the Decepticons away. The Autobots then returned to their Earth base with the human children and the Mini-Cons, and the nature of their war over the Mini-Cons was explained. Hot Shot and the other Autobots also learned the Earth custom of fist-bumping to signify friendship. {{storylink|Base}}

[[File:Soldier Hot Shot axelzooka.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|This is exactly why his shoulders hurt.]]
Immediately thereafter, the Autobots' computer systems warned them of a detected Mini-Con, and so Hot Shot and the others made plans to travel to [[Grand Canyon|Big Canyon]] to find it. In their rush, [[Rad White]] was left behind, but [[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]] and Hot Shot returned soon enough to pick him up. Alexis apologized, for Hot Shot's sleek power excited her so much that she'd forgotten about Rad. As they left for the Big Canyon once again, Hot Shot's driving was extremely rough, yet despite the children's complaints, he increased his speed—so much so that upon arrival, Hot Shot nearly drove into the canyon itself. After Hot Shot followed [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] into the canyon, [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] warped into the area and attacked him. Ultimately, the Autobots won, and everyone returned to base after having retrieved the Mini-Con [[Sparkplug (Armada)|Sparkplug]]. {{storylink|Comrade}}

The hotheaded Hot Shot often found himself at odds with Red Alert, including one incident when he was playing tag with the three children instead of doing work. He resented being chastised by the Autobot medic, who didn't even have a personality, as far as he was concerned. Soon after this, the Autobots, Mini-Cons, and the human children ventured to [[Antarctica]] to uncover another Mini-Con, and Hot Shot was paired with [[Carlos Lopez]]. When the two came across the Decepticons, Hot Shot continued to battle them despite having Carlos inside him. Finally, he ejected Carlos over a gorge, leaving Jolt to catch him. Hot Shot soon found himself outnumbered, and it took Red Alert's skills to rescue him from the grip of the Decepticons. Hot Shot learned some respect for Red Alert that day, even if he claimed to save Hot Shot not out of friendship, but merely because it was his job. {{storylink|Soldier (episode)|Soldier}}

[[File:Hotshotarmada.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|He grins because he's too stupid to be sad.]]
Hot Shot also accompanied the others on a Mini-Con rescue mission in a <s>jungle</s> forest, where he grew aggravated over the lack of driving space. When he got ready to cut down a few trees to make room, Rad told him off, explaining why trees were important to the Earth's environment. Though the Autobots failed to claim the Mini-Con during their clash with the Decepticons, they learned to respect the Earth's environment. {{storylink|Jungle}} Later, as the children wondered why the Mini-Con panel they'd uncovered in Antarctica hadn't opened yet, Hot Shot asked them to pass him a spanner too heavy for them to lift because he thought it would be funny. A bored Carlos and Rad then ran off with some Mini-Cons to a local carnival, where they got into trouble. Alexis, Hot Shot, and [[Sureshock (Armada)|Sureshock]] followed Laserbeak to the carnival, and after some mischief, Hot Shot was able to avert disaster. {{storylink|Carnival}} When the Autobots followed the Decepticons into the desert in pursuit of more Mini-Cons, Hot Shot was frustrated with his tires' incompatibility with the terrain. Unfortunately, he was unable to prevent [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] from acquiring the Mini-Con [[Bonecrusher (Armada)|Bonecrusher]] from within an ancient desert temple. He did save the children and Perceptor from being buried alive under the sandy expanse though. {{storylink|Palace}}

[[File:Underground merchandising.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|Hey, [[Ruined FOREVER|they're right]]! Hot Shot's car mode DOES look like a [[Playskool]] toy!]]
When the Decepticons held the children hostage in a ghost town, Hot Shot and the other Autobots grappled with them, reluctant to hand over their Mini-Cons to get the children returned unharmed. Eventually, after some close calls, Hot Shot was able to kick Rad out of Megatron's hand, the tide was turned, and things were restored to the status quo. {{storylink|Confrontation (episode)|Confrontation}} While working in the underground ruins of half of the crashed Mini-Con ship, Hot Shot was called by Optimus to join them in another Mini-Con search. The Mini-Con was deep within the subway system of a local city, and the Autobots' presence in vehicle mode caused some stir. Here they met up with another Autobot, [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]], though they lost the Mini-Con to the Decepticons. {{storylink|Underground (episode)|Underground}} Smokescreen joined Hot Shot and the others when they journeyed underwater to the lost city of [[Atlantis]], where, despite their efforts, they lost yet another Mini-Con to the Decepticons. Worse still, this one could combine with two others to form the mighty [[Star Saber (Armada)|Star Saber sword]]. {{storylink|Ruin}} Hot Shot and the Autobots detected another of the three Star Saber Mini-Cons on a volcanic island. Though he was pinned down in a stalemate with the Decepticons for most of his time there, Hot Shot was crucial to ensuring the children made it back to the Autobots' base alive; he saved them from being engulfed by lava when the volcano erupted. {{storylink|Prehistory}}

[[File:ArmadaSwoop Megahorns.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Megatron and his Decepticons soon attacked the Autobot base, hoping to steal the two Mini-Cons they needed to complete the Star Saber sword. While Optimus Prime hid the Mini-Con panels, Hot Shot confronted Megatron directly. Hot Shot was defeated by Megatron's prehensile antlers, which tossed him to the ground like a doll. During another skirmish with Megatron, the Mini-Con panels activated, and Megatron was able to grasp the powerful Star Saber sword! His victory was short-lived, as Optimus was able to knock it out of his hands and into Hot Shot's. With the Star Saber sword, Hot Shot was able to ward off the Decepticons and force them to retreat. {{storylink|Swoop (episode)|Swoop}}

[[File:Hotshotstarsaber.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|He loves his Star Saber sword. It's so bad.]]
Optimus assigned the three Star Saber Mini-Cons to Hot Shot. The Autobot was young, inexperienced, and hotheaded, so the great advantage the Star Saber granted him went straight to his ego. With the sword, he was nearly unbeatable on the battlefield, which enraged the Decepticons. Then an enigmatic Decepticon named [[Scavenger (Armada)|Scavenger]] appeared at a battle, mocking Hot Shot's skill. Hot Shot was angered when Scavenger told him that he was nothing without the sword, so he rushed the Decepticon, but was knocked aside. Hot Shot learned the hard way that power without skill is useless against an experienced opponent. {{storylink|Overmatch}} Scavenger confronted Hot Shot again on an unfinished stretch of a highway overpass, while a mysterious motorcycle observed. After exchanging a few blows, Scavenger left Hot Shot again, promising to prove his incompetence another day. The motorcycle introduced himself as the Autobot [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]], and Red Alert and Hot Shot wondered if they could truly trust this stranger. {{storylink|Gale}}

[[File:Overmatch Scavenger-HotShotbeatdown.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.66|And later, he gets [[:File:Credulous Hot Shot beatdown.jpg|curb-stomped]].]]
During another battle with the Decepticons for a Mini-Con, Sideways and Hot Shot were accidentally warped away with Megatron to their base on Earth's Moon. With Sideways's guidance, Hot Shot was able to fight his way through an army of holographic Autobots, only to have Megatron capture Sideways and demand the Star Saber sword in return. Hot Shot reluctantly relinquished it, but once Megatron released Sideways, Hot Shot called for its Mini-Con components to return to him. At this moment, Sideways betrayed Hot Shot, knocking the Star Saber sword away from him and towards Starscream. Helpless without his powerful weapon, Hot Shot was brutally beaten by the humiliated Decepticons and dropped back at the Autobots' base. {{storylink|Credulous}}

[[File:Arm19 crowningawesome.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]
Hot Shot was understandably in a dour mood following this fall from grace, so the kids made faces at him to cheer him up. Because this was Hot Shot, it worked. During the next battle, Hot Shot targeted the traitor, Sideways, and was once again bested by Scavenger. Hot Shot was surprised to discover later that Scavenger was actually an Autobot working undercover as a Decepticon. {{storylink|Conspiracy}} With Scavenger now with the Autobots again, he began personally training Hot Shot. Hot Shot wasn't entirely satisfied with his instructor though, as he napped on the job frequently. He nonetheless defended Scavenger when Smokescreen accused him of being a traitor after his disappearance during their next mission. Smokescreen lack of faith turned out to be unfounded; Scavenger was fighting smart with sneak tactics, and allowed the Autobots to acquire their first Mini-Con in a long time. Hot Shot happily continued to train under Scavenger... even if it meant exercising on his own most of the time, listening to Scavenger snore in the background. {{storylink|Trust (Armada)|Trust}} Hot Shot and Scavenger planned to stay behind at the base and train while Red Alert and Smokescreen took the kids on a camping trip. They were called into action when a flash flood put the kids' lives in danger. During the rescue, the Autobots were caught on camera by the local television news journalists, but footage of them was destroyed. {{storylink|Vacation}} When a new recruit, [[Blurr (Armada)|Blurr]], joined the team, Hot Shot at first had trouble getting along with him. However, after working together to retrieve a Mini-Con, they were able to make peace. {{storylink|Reinforcement}}

[[File:Conspiracy faces.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.85|Like all future Autobot leaders, Hot Shot is amused easily.]]
With both the [[Skyboom (Armada)|Skyboom]] shield and the Star Saber sword in his possession, Megatron issued a challenge to Optimus Prime and the other Autobots. When the two factions met on a stretch of rocky desert, Hot Shot was disappointed to discover that none of his firepower could penetrate Megatron's shield. His weapons useless against the Decepticon leader, Hot Shot joined Blurr in running interference during the battle between Megatron and Optimus. The tide was turned when the Skyboom shield fell into Autobot hands. {{storylink|Decisive Battle}} While Hot Shot and the Autobots gauged the extent of the shield's power and formulated strategies around its use, they disallowed their human friends from entering the base. This unfortunately didn't keep them out of harm's way, as Fred and Rad accidentally walked into a trap set by Megatron. Hot Shot and the bulk of the Autobots followed the kids through a series of Warp Gates, which left them scattered across the world. Worse yet, they couldn't reconvene while their communication system was being scrambled. When they finally managed to get their transmissions sorted out, Hot Shot rescued Optimus with the Skyboom Shield and forced Megatron to abandon several of his Mini-Cons into Autobot custody. {{storylink|Vow}}

[[File:Reinforcement-Fist pound at sunset.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]
While Hot Shot and the others were away, the kids traveled into a digital realm and met with an [[Unicron|evil force]]. The Autobots returned to base and safely extricated the kids before said force could do them any harm though. {{storylink|Chase (episode)|Chase}} Hot Shot grew overconfident as the Autobots' tactics led to some easy victories for their side. But an outing into a gully led the Autobots into a trap conceived by the Decepticons' new tactician, [[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]], proving the war could still swing either way. To the Decepticons' surprise, the Autobots had an incoming addition of their own, and Prime's second-in-command, [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]], arrived to saved Optimus from being slain by Megatron. {{storylink|Tactician}} However, Optimus Prime was badly damaged in the fight, so Jetfire took over as leader. Hot Shot didn't like this, as he thought Jetfire was nothing more than a braggart. Jetfire wound up flying into another one of Thrust's ambushes, prompting Hot Shot, Blurr, and Smokescreen to try and assist the airborne Autobot from a nearby island... only for them to wind up in a secondary ambush set up by the Decepticon tactician! Though the situation looked grim, Optimus Prime arrived, repaired, just in time to combine with Jetfire and save the day. {{storylink|Linkup}}

[[File:Detectionhotshot.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
After Hot Shot and the other Autobots sparred with one another at their base, their morale boosted by Jetfire's arrival, Hot Shot wondered openly about the nature of Sideways, and whether he was really in either faction at all. They left for yet another battle, {{storylink|Detection}} but this time, the Decepticons had a secret weapon: The gigantic warrior known as [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Tidal Wave]]. The Autobots barely held up against this latest arrival, though Hot Shot and Blurr managed to strike at his vulnerable underside. This only yielded a brief respite, as Tidal Wave simply transformed out of his ship mode and continued to rain down laser fire on the Autobots. {{storylink|Awakening (Armada)|Awakening}} Hot Shot attempted to block Tidal Wave's mighty blows with the Skyboom shield, though the Autobots were only able to stall the titan. Tidal Wave flew off to combine with Megatron so the two Decepticons could eliminate Optimus Prime, and the rest of the Autobots learned that Red Alert was warping in with Carlos, Rad, and [[Sky Blast (Armada)|Sky Blast]]: the first Mini-Con component of the mighty [[Requiem Blaster (Armada)|Requiem Blaster]]. Hot Shot took a blast to ensure the kids' and the Mini-Con's safety. This bought Sky Blast the time he needed to steel himself, and he called to the other two members of the [[Space Mini-Con Team]]. The trio combined, leading to an Autobot victory when the Requiem Blaster wound up in Optimus's possession. {{storylink|Desperate}}

[[File:Desperate Tidal Wave blocked.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Yes, punch my tiny shield!]]
When the kids ran off with the Mini-Cons, fearful that they would be used as objects by either faction, Hot Shot and the others had to hunt them down. To reassure the kids, Hot Shot decided that the Autobots would only work with the Mini-Cons as a team! Oh, and they wouldn't force the Mini-Cons to fight if they were opposed to it. That too. {{storylink|Runaway}}

[[File:Past Part 2 Wheeljack Hot Shot fight.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|"I won't fight you, I won't! Well, maybe just a little."]]
Wheeljack returned to Hot Shot's life, seeking revenge for abandoning him on the battlefield all those years ago. Unfortunately, Hot Shot was training a new Autobot recruit, [[Side Swipe (Armada)|Side Swipe]], when Wheeljack returned, and the young Autobot found himself caught up in Wheeljack's vendetta as well. {{storylink|Past}} When Wheeljack explained to Hot Shot that it was Megatron who'd rescued him and saved his life, Hot Shot couldn't believe it. Hot Shot refused to fight his former friend, yet Wheeljack Shot him, leaving him on the road. Side Swipe dragged Hot Shot's body back to base, where he was placed in intensive care, but Hot Shot's memories still haunted him. Events seemed to repeat themselves when Wheeljack confronted Hot Shot once again within an abandoned human facility. When Side Swipe showed up to help Hot Shot, the area was caught in flames, and Hot Shot was forced once again to save the young Autobot under his care. Wheeljack had chained up Side Swipe within the facility, and he told his captive not to expect rescue from Hot Shot. Regardless, Hot Shot threw himself through the fire and saved Side Swipe, despite the latter's pleas to keep away lest the place blow up with both of them inside. Wheeljack was deterred, but promised he'd be around later to revisit his ill will. {{storylink|Past II}}

[[File:Autobot_stealth_sacrifice.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]
When the Autobots were informed by a mysterious source to meet the Decepticons in battle within a forest, Hot Shot wondered why they didn't bring the Requiem Blaster with them. He was told to shut up, and soon the Decepticons arrived to fight them, as promised. Megatron noticed the absence of the Requiem Blaster and realized it was back at the Autobots' base, where Smokescreen was guarding it, alone. Hot Shot and the Autobots returned to their base too late to assist Smokescreen, who nearly died valiantly trying to protect the Mini-Cons. Despite his sacrifice, Megatron took the Requiem Blaster and retreated. {{storylink|Sacrifice}} Hot Shot was among the Autobots who watched Red Alert begin to repair Smokescreen. Hot Shot then took Side Swipe with him to investigate the appearance of Starscream on Earth, who had left the Decepticons with the Star Saber sword after an argument with Megatron. After a fight with Tidal Wave, Starscream returned with the Autobots to their base, despite Hot Shot's objections. He didn't trust Starscream and believed this was a trick, citing the treachery of Sideways. And worse, Starscream was partly to blame for Smokescreen's condition! Outside, Hot Shot picked a fight with Starscream as their Mini-Cons watched. Their battle, which lasted until dusk, was interrupted by a strange Transformer, whom Hot Shot yelled at for interrupting the avenging of his friend. The fight was stopped when Hot Shot realized this Transformer was Smokescreen, rebuilt in a new body. {{storylink|Regeneration (Armada)|Regeneration}}

[[File:Rescue Megatron vs Hot Shot.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|[[Gunbarrel (Armada)|Gunbarrel]] wants to know why mommy and daddy are fighting!]]
Using coordinates given by Starscream, the Autobots were able to warp themselves directly into the Decepticons' base. Hot Shot confronted Wheeljack again, telling the "creep" to get out of his way. With Starscream's help, the Autobots were able to locate where the Decepticons were keeping their captured Mini-Cons, and Hot Shot fought Megatron, giving the Mini-Cons a chance to escape. Starscream interfered, saving Hot Shot's life, and after the two teamed up against the Decepticon leader, they returned to the Autobot base with the liberated Mini-Cons. {{storylink|Rescue}} Hot Shot stayed home while Jetfire and Starscream journeyed to [[Mars (planet)|Mars]] to retrieve another Mini-Con. {{storylink|Mars (episode)|Mars}}

The Autobots then begun work on a spaceship. During construction, Hot Shot stepped in to break up an argument between Jetfire and Starscream over the Autobots' priorities. Starscream stormed off and Hot Shot turned to Optimus and explained that the Autobots were finding it increasingly difficult to work with the ex-Decepticon. Optimus insisted they continue to try their best to understand one-another.

[[File:Crack Hot Shot head.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1]]
The ship was in the final stages of construction when Billy and Fred reported that they had seen Starscream "chase off" Thrust after the Decepticon had asked him to steal the Skyboom Shield. As it turns out, [[Dirt Boss (Armada)|Dirt Boss]], [[Downshift (Armada)|Downshift]], and [[Mirage (Armada)|Mirage]] were nowhere to be found just then. Despite Hot Shot's attempt at defending him, accusations that Starscream had complied with Thrust's request were thrown around by the other Autobots. The conversation was cut short when the Decepticons attacked. Hot Shot drove out to meet them, coming across Rad, Alexis, Carlos, and the [[Race Mini-Con Team]] during the battle. Making a note to apologize to Starscream, Hot Shot brought the Skyboom Shield to Smokescreen, so he could in turn deliver it to Optimus. But Hot Shot's original suspicions were confirmed when Starscream had a change of heart in the midst of battle, and snatched away the Skyboom shield, bringing it and the Star Saber sword to Megatron. {{storylink|Crack (episode)|Crack}}

[[File:Crisis Hot Shot Matrix.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Awww, ''hell'' naw.]]
Thrown in emotional turmoil over Starscream's betrayal, Hot Shot blew off some steam at the Autobots' firing range before redoubling his efforts on the Autobots' ship; he was determined to go back on the offensive against the Decepticons, and the Autobots were no longer able to access the enemy's warp gate. Then, the Decepticons launched their own vessel, armed with the [[Hydra Cannon]]. Hot Shot, Side Swipe, Optimus, and Jetfire were left staring in awe as the Decepticons used their super-weapon to destroy a comet passing near the Earth. The Decepticons then turned the Hydra Cannon's sight towards the Earth. {{storylink|Threaten}} Hot Shot blamed everything on Starscream's betrayal and angrily accused Optimus Prime for letting Starscream join their team and beginning this series of events. This had some effect on the Autobot leader, as Optimus Prime later offered the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix of the Commander]] to Hot Shot. Hot Shot refused, saying he couldn't take such an important thing from Optimus. Optimus Prime put the Matrix back in his chest, warped into space, and blocked the Hydra Cannon's Earth-shattering shot with his own body. The Autobots' leader disintegrated before their eyes. {{storylink|Crisis (Armada)|Crisis}}

[[File:Remorse democracy.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Scavenger, you're fired.]]
The death of Optimus hit Hot Shot hard. After starting fights with the other Autobots, he left the team and ran out on his own, only to face Scavenger. Scavenger assaulted Hot Shot, revealing that the former Decepticon had joined Autobots because of him. As the two beat on each other, Side Swipe arrived with a small group of Mini-Cons, and they all pleaded for Hot Shot to stop fighting with everyone. Hot Shot realized he was being selfish, that he needed his teammates just as much as they needed him, and he promised to stop treating his friends as if they were enemies. The rest of the Autobots arrived, and they were pleased with Hot Shot's discovery. Jetfire nominated Hot Shot to lead the Autobots because it was what Optimus would have wanted. Scavenger went to hit Hot Shot one more time, but Hot Shot didn't flinch. Proving he was without fear, Hot Shot became leader of the Autobots. As a stipulation, Hot Shot stated that he would only be leader until they returned to Cybertron, and that they should put the Matrix of the Commander someplace safe, as he didn't feel he should carry it. {{storylink|Remorse}}

[[File:Puppet spontaneous recoloration.gif|thumb|upright=1.1|Oh look! A brand new toy!]]
Hot Shot oversaw the completion of their starship, the [[Axalon (Armada)|''Axalon'']], and asked the Mini-Cons if they wanted to come or not. They unanimously decided to accompany the Autobots to Cybertron. He initially forbade the kids from coming, but the Mini-Cons convinced him to change his mind. {{storylink|Depart}} As the ''Axalon'' left Earth, Hot Shot said some final words in memory of Optimus Prime. Their starship caught up with the Decepticons', and soon there was a huge battle between the two factions. Hot Shot grappled with Megatron in space, but it was a one-sided battle. Hot Shot placed himself between Megatron's Requiem Blaster and the ''Axalon'', hoping to spare his friends, but then a miracle occurred. The Mini-Con Sparkplug was able to resurrect Optimus Prime from within the Matrix, and the formerly-deceased Autobot Leader reappeared in a blinding flash of green light. Optimus turned the tide, {{storylink|Miracle}} and he reintroduced himself to a very grateful Hot Shot and the rest of the crew. But before anything else could happen, Hot Shot and Red Alert were pulled through a strange hole to an alien landscape. Here they met a [[Nemesis Prime (Armada)|strange dark version of Optimus Prime]] who battled them. It was discovered that Megatron, Starscream, and Demolishor were on this strange planet, too, and despite their combined numbers, the Prime doppelgänger overwhelmed them. Several Mini-Cons then arrived and bathed the planet in a strange light. When the larger Transformers woke up, they were completely repaired, yet in [[spontaneous recoloration|strange new colors]]. Ultimately, their battle caused the planet itself to disintegrate, and both factions were forced to retreat. {{storylink|Puppet}}

[[File:Dash Hot Shot crouch.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Twenty episodes ago, he cooed like a baby if you made faces at him.]]
By the time the Autobots had repaired the ''Axalon'' and arrived over Cybertron, the Decepticons had managed to take over the planet. Hot Shot and Blurr fought through Decepticons foot soldiers on the planet's surface, while a black hole appeared in the sky. The Mini-Con continued to display their mysterious powers, and helped keep the black hole at bay. {{storylink|Uprising (Armada)|Uprising}} Knowing that [[Unicron]], the Chaos Bringer, was looming over their planet, Optimus attempted to strike an armistice with the Decepticons. But [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] (previously Megatron) would not listen to Optimus Prime's pleas. Hot Shot decided to take matters into his own hands and fought his way through the Decepticon base and countless Decepticon warriors to reach Galvatron and reason with him. If not for Wheeljack's intervention, he might not have survived. Wheeljack's hatred for Hot Shot seemed to have softened, and Hot Shot's former friend joined him in pleading to Galvatron to stop the war so that the two factions could unite against Unicron. Galvatron was unconvinced, but Thrust, a secret pawn of Unicron, panicked and ran away with the Requiem Blaster and the Skyboom shield. Hot Shot and Wheeljack took off after him. {{storylink|Dash (episode)|Dash}}

Hot Shot continued to hunt Thrust down, while the true nature of the Mini-Cons was revealed to Carlos, Alexis and Rad; they were created by Unicron long ago to subjugate the Cybertronian race. The children passed this information along to Hot Shot and Wheeljack. {{storylink|Drift (episode)|Drift}} Hot Shot and Wheeljack then aided Starscream against Sideways within the surprisingly organic-looking caverns of Cybertron. But when Unicron formed out of Cybertron's moon, the battle dissipated as each side readied for the final battle. {{storylink|Portent}} Despite Hot Shot's intentions to convince Galvatron himself, the Decepticon leader did not change his mind until Starscream sacrificed himself to Unicron. {{storylink|Cramp}} After a formal alliance between Autobots and Decepticons was formed, Hot Shot was part of a unified team sent to Unicron's surface. However, once the team arrived, the Decepticons abandoned Hot Shot and the other Autobots. Later, Demolishor made up for this by begrudgingly catching Side Swipe before could fall to his doom. In return, Hot Shot had found Demolishor's Mini-Con partner, [[Blackout (Armada)|Blackout]]. They agreed to work together from then on. Their mission was nonetheless botched, and the scouting party had to be rescued by Jet Prime and Galvatron. {{storylink|Alliance}} Optimus Prime and Megatron traveled together to the core of Unicron, leaving both armies under the command of Hot Shot. {{storylink|Union}} No matter how much damage Hot Shot's teams inflicted on Unicron, Unicron could repair himself. Their massive opponent was fed by the negative energies of the battle. Ordering a cease fire, Unicron stood motionless, seemingly defeated. {{storylink|Origin}}

[[File:Mortal Combat Hot Shot Jetfire.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|When we come back, we'll be terrible cel-shaded CGI!]]
Hot Shot told both armies to begin stay at the ready while he went to Unicron to find Optimus, but Jetfire demanded he go instead. Inside, after a fight between Optimus Prime and Megatron, Megatron sacrificed himself to Unicron so that their negative energies would not revive him. But Optimus Prime felt he had failed as Autobot Leader, and with the end of the conflict between the two factions, he exiled himself to parts unknown. After dropping the kids back on Earth via a space-bridge, and a heartfelt goodbye, Hot Shot and [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]] were left in charge of Cybertron's reconstruction. {{storylink|Mortal Combat}}

{{-}}
=====Alternate timeline=====
[[File:Driftepisode.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]
In a timeline where the Cybertronians' conflict never left their home planet, the Mini-Cons' influence on the Autobots and Decepticons subjugated the larger robots. Hot Shot was left entangled in a semi-organic growth spawned from Unicron's cells, where he could do little more than bemoan his fate. Carlos, Alexis, and Rad appeared before him, visitors from another time, and told Hot Shot of their encounter on [[Earth]]. This version of Hot Shot had never experienced these events, and impotently told the children to save themselves before fully succumbing to Unicron's power and shutting down. {{storylink|Drift (episode)|Drift}}

====''Transformers Legends'' anthology====
As the Decepticons unleashed the might of the Hydra Cannon towards the Earth, Hot Shot turned to Optimus Prime for reassurance, only to find that his leader had left his side while he wasn't looking. Optimus had gone to Earth's orbit to meet the weapon's energies with those of his Matrix, and though this act destroyed Optimus, Hot Shot witnessed him return to life while he was being attacked by Megatron amidst a field of asteroids. {{storylink|Prime Spark (story)|Prime Spark}}

====''Energon'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Brent Miller]] (English), [[Kōsuke Toriumi]] (Japanese)|[[Ola Norman]] (Swedish), [[José Carabias]] (Spanish - Spain), [[Vesa Hämes]] (Finnish),[[Mirko Mazzanti]] (Italian)}}
{{noteslonly}}
[[File:E1 titlecard.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.66|Hot Shot always forgets he's not supposed to shoot at the humans.]]
Ten years on, Hot Shot was stationed on Earth as the commander of [[Ocean City]] while Optimus Prime trained new soldiers on Cybertron. He faced administrative challenges such as [[Demolishor (Armada)|surly former adversaries]] and teenaged angst from the resident teenaged angster, [[Kicker Jones]]. Hot Shot had proved himself up to the task of being "city commander," and was seen with fanboy-like adoration by younger Autobots such as [[Ironhide (Energon)|Ironhide]]. Ironhide in particular wished he could advance further in rank just so he could combine with Hot Shot.

Kicker seemed to have a certain clairvoyance when it came to trouble (and [[Energon]]!), though Hot Shot would often dismiss Kicker's warnings. But one day, like most days, Kicker was right. Mysterious bestial Transformers, the [[Terrorcon (Energon)|Terrorcons]], suddenly attacked Ocean City, forcing Hot Shot, Kicker, Ironhide, and the others to go on the defensive. When Optimus Prime arrived, Hot Shot and Inferno were granted the [[Spark of Combination]], which allowed the two to combine into a single super robot. With everyone working together, the last of that batch of Terrorcons were defeated. {{storylink|Cybertron City (episode)|Cybertron City}}

[[File:Misha HotShot.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]
When [[Mars City]] on Mars was destroyed by more Terrorcons, Hot Shot was among those assembled to hear the news. The Terrorcons' next target was Earth's [[Moon (moon)|moon]], so after Ocean City was raised and the [[Omnicon]]s transferred refined Energon stars to his team, Hot Shot used the [[space bridge]] to warp there. But despite their efforts, the Terrorcons were able to flee with much stolen Energon. {{storylink|Energon Stars}} Later, Hot Shot headed up a strikeforce to [[Desert City]] to fortify it against possible Terrorcon assault. While there he talked with super-scientist [[Misha Miramond]] and filled her ear with what a dork her not-my-boyfriend (Kicker) was back at Ocean City. When Terrorcons invaded the city, Hot Shot and his troops performed a holding action at the entrance to the Energon Mine, but their position was overrun, and Hot Shot was the only survivor. Though battered, Hot Shot commended [[Ironhide (Energon)|Ironhide]]'s decision to leave him behind and rescue the humans, resulting in the other Autobot being awarded his own Combination Spark. Finally, Ironhide could combine with Hot Shot, just as he'd always wanted! {{storylink|Scorpinok (episode)|Scorpinok}}

As part of [[Prime Squad]], Hot Shot prepared to travel to Mars before the mission was canceled, and instead took part in the defense of [[Plains City]], again tasked with securing the Energon supply. He was the first to feel the wrath of [[Scorponok (Energon)|Scorponok]]'s [[Energon Sword|Megatron Sword]], and later battled [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] while attempting to shore up [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]]'s flagging confidence in the Autobot cause. {{storylink|Megatron's Sword}} Hot Shot also led a recon team searching for an Energon point in the mountains, the future location of [[Blizzard City]]. He ordered Ironhide and Demolishor to team up for their mutual benefit. While trying to rescue Kicker, after the boy fell in a ravine, Hot Shot was buried in an avalanche by Cyclonus. He evacuated his team before they could be crushed by the emergency deployment of a new [[Cybertron City (city)|Cybertron City]] via [[space bridge]]. {{storylink|The New Cybertron City}}

[[File:E07 hotshotarm.jpg|thumb|right|Ironhide kept it as a souvenir for his [[User:ItsWalky|Hot Shot shrine]].]]
Hot Shot and his crew were still at Plains City when the newly resurrected [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]] attacked. He was defeated in battle by Megatron and 'dis-armed' as an object lesson to Optimus. {{storylink|Megatron Resurrected}} Optimus retreated to Ocean City with the injured Hot Shot and left the Plains City Energon supply to the Decepticons. Hot Shot's injury awakened a protective streak in Optimus Prime, who briefly forbade Kicker from accompanying the Autobots on missions. At Ocean City Hot Shot underwent medical treatment, submerged in liquefied Energon while his damaged exostructure re-grew. When the base was breached, Hot Shot broke out of his medical unit to defend Inferno from Terrorcons and, armed with a clone of the Megatron Sword, he helped kick the visiting Decepticons back out. {{storylink|Megatron Raid}}

[[File:Energon Tower groupshot.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|Why even take multiple screencaps? He always looks the same.]]
Hot Shot organized a covert surveillance of Optimus Prime while he was targeted by a [[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Mysterious Mercenary]]. Unfortunately, his large shoulder armor made it impossible to hide behind objects and Optimus discovered him. When Optimus fought Starscream on the [[Moon (moon)|moon]], Hot Shot placed Inferno in temporary command of Ocean City so he could bring a supply of Energon Stars to [[Lunar City]]. {{storylink|Starscream the Mysterious Mercenary}} When the Autobots encountered the [[Decepticon mobile fortress]] near [[Asteroid City]], Hot Shot panicked, momentarily believing it was Unicron himself, and fired blindly and ineffectually into it using a hand weapon. After he regained his composure, he battled Scorponok in zero-gravity, until Megatron detonated an Energon-riddled asteroid to cover his escape. {{storylink|Battle of the Asteroid Belt}} During the construction of an [[energon tower]] that would help protect their cities from attack, the Terrorcons chose the moment to strike. After Inferno combined with Hot Shot to form Powerlinx Inferno, the tower was finally activated and the Terrorcons fled. {{storylink|Energon Tower (episode)|Energon Tower}}

[[File:Energon-Hot-Shot-Facepalm.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Hot Shot wandered over when he heard Ironhide telling Kicker to 'lose the attitude', but was unable to wholly endorse Ironhide's statement that Kicker should automatically look up to [[Brian Jones|his father]]. Instead he gently suggested that Kicker might want to seek a ''different'' hero to look up to, and told Ironhide that he'd looked up to [[Rodimus (Energon)|Rodimus]] since he was a young Autobot. {{storylink|The Legend of Rodimus}} Hot Shot later supervised the project to construct the second energon tower at [[Jungle City]]. Ironhide was placed in co-command when the larger Autobot contingent arrived for the final stage, and when the city was attacked and put to siege they split duties, with Hot Shot taking Aerial defense. As the siege wore on, Hot Shot had to be the one to confront Optimus Prime and force him to admit that this battle was unwinnable. They destroyed Jungle City rather than letting it fall to the Decepticons. {{storylink|Crisis in Jungle City}}

[[File:Energon-HotShot-Hand-Drawn.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Eeeyeaagh!]]
While searching for trace amounts of energon on the moon, Kicker was assaulted by Terrorcons. Optimus summoned Hot Shot and the other Autobots from Ocean City to defend against the Decepticon attack that followed. They drove off the Decepticons once Lunar City was reactivated, and an energon tower sent from Cybertron expelled a shockwave that drove off the enemy. {{storylink|Kicker Beware!}} When Earth was threatened by artificial cometary impacts, he was part of the orbital team sent to intercept them as they approached Earth's atmosphere. Forced to wait as other teams tried to slow the comets, Hot Shot occupied himself by aggravating [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]], who eventually just told him to be quiet. He, Jetfire and Optimus Prime supercharged themselves with Energon to push against the comets, delaying their approach long enough for the [[energon grid]] to come online. {{storylink|Energon Grid (episode)|Energon Grid}}

On Earth, Hot Shot was shocked when [[Rodimus (Energon)|Rodimus]], a transformer he idolized in his youth, broke in on a communication with [[Carlos Lopez|Carlos]] and demanded a secret meeting. He traveled to [[Mars (planet)|Mars]], where he discovered Scorponok had reactivated the destroyed Energon mines. Rodimus appeared to head off a fight between the two of them. He attempted to recruit Hot Shot as a double agent for the secret agenda that he, Scorponok and [[Alpha Quintesson|Alpha Q]] shared—the revival of Unicron! Hot Shot refused to betray Optimus Prime, and pulled a gun on Rodimus... but he was unable to fire on his one-time idol. Rodimus had no such compunctions, and he shot Hot Shot, but Kicker and Ironhide intervened to save him. {{storylink|Rodimus Friend or Foe?}}

Hot Shot attended the launch of the ''[[Miranda II]]'' Autobot-human spacecraft. He joined the crew and was part of a space battle in the [[Asteroid belt]] to defend the [[Energon Ring]] before their journey could begin. {{storylink|Go for Unicron!}} The ''Miranda II'''s crew was next led into a misadventure on a frozen planet, where their ship wound up temporarily trapped between two glaciers. Hot Shot stayed behind to help free the vessel, while a team helmed by Kicker scouted the landscape for energon. The Autobots came under fire from both Decepticons and [[Cruellock|a new breed of Terrorcons]]. Though they were forced to flee, leaving behind the energon in enemy hands, all crew-members made it safely off-planet. {{storylink|The Return of Demolishor}}

The ''Miranda II'' then crossed paths with Rodimus. Before Rodimus boarded their ship, Hot Shot warned Optimus that Rodimus was in cahoots with Unicron. Optimus doubted him at first, but Rodimus confirmed Hot Shot's accusation, though he elaborated that Unicron was merely a tool that could be used for good or evil. Optimus was nonetheless unwilling to allow the planet to reawaken, and his crew parted ways with Rodimus's. To uncover more about their enigmatic ally, Ironhide decided to stow away on Rodimus's ship. Hot Shot noticed Ironhide's absence, and though he recognized that he would have done the same thing at Ironhide's age, still felt it was his duty to report his discovery to Optimus. The Autobots then made their way to Unicron's body, and drove off the Decepticons' first line of defense. {{storylink|A Tale of Two Heros}} Hot Shot was at the weapons controls of the ''Miranda II'' as they prepared for the first attack run on Unicron. As the ship flew through the belly of Unicron, Megatron sent ever-shifting panels and blocks to crush it from all directions. Having successfully gotten the enemy's attention, the ''Miranda II'' shot out towards a Space Bridge, luring Unicron into the vicinity of Cybertron, where a massive allotment of energon towers exploded in firepower against the Chaos-Bringer. Megatron was forced into utter retreat, and the first battle against Unicron was a victory. {{storylink|Battle Stations}}

[[File:Tale of Heros Optimus Rodimus.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4]]
Unfortunately, this also sent a clear signal to the Decepticons that the war had begun anew. Uprisings began on Cybertron, as Hot Shot and Inferno recognized the rebels were heading towards the special prison holding [[Shockblast]], an absolutely insane and extremely powerful Decepticon who was forced into imprisonment after the war instead of gaining amnesty like so many others. Powerlinx Inferno and Optimus Prime raced to the detention block to prevent the dangerous warrior's escape. {{storylink|Alpha Q: Identity}} Unfortunately, Shockblast escaped right out of their grasp, using one of his guards as a living shield to make a getaway, then cutting him down the moment he was no longer useful. The fight raged outside, as Hot Shot and the others fought to defend Cybertron's energon towers against Shockblast and his new Decepticon allies. The Decepticons escaped, though the Autobots received good news in their fight's aftermath: Kicker had returned! The boy had managed to make allies with Alpha Q, and Hot Shot traveled with Optimus to Unicron's head, where they met the alien for the first time in person. {{storylink|Shockblast: Rampage}}

When Unicron became too starved of Energon for Alpha Q to maintain control of him, Hot Shot was assigned to protect Misha from the planet's reflexive lashing out. Once the Omnicons fed Energon Stars directly into Unicron's core, Unicron ceased his attack. {{storylink|Survival Instincts}} Later he fought alongside the other Autobots in defense of Cybertron's energon towers in an attack led by Shockblast. {{storylink|Each One Fights...}} Unfortunately, several towers were destroyed, weakening Cybertron's defenses enough that a swarm of Terrorcons were able to infiltrate Primus's chamber. To flush them out, Optimus rerouted Energon into the towers that still stood, causing a powerful wave of energy to emanate from them. Hot Shot was almost caught in the deadly wave himself, but was tackled to safety by Rodimus. Hot Shot came to regret the quick judgment he had displayed in his initial encounter with Rodimus, and in the Autobots' retaliatory strike against Unicron, powerlinked with the other Autobot for the first time. {{storylink|Unicron Unleashed}} The Autobots blasted their way through Terrorcon troops and the remainder of the Decepticoin military in their trek to Megatron's throne room. As they neared their destination, Optimus was ambushed and dismembered by Shockblast. Optimus ordered his troops to leave him behind and Rodimus, then combined with Hot Shot, took command of the squad. {{storylink|Open Fire!}} Before the Autobots could surround him, Megatron used his power over Unicron to escape his throne room. Optimus, now combined with Wing Saber, then rejoined the other Autobots. Rodimus separated from Hot Shot so they could both salute him. Optimus sent Hot Shot, Landmine and Prowl out into space ''to ensure Alpha Q's escape while another team would continue pursuing Megatron. But Alpha Q's positively charged portion of Unicron met with Megatron's negatively charged portion, creating a tear in the fabric of space.'' Landmine and the Autobots attempted to avoid its pull, but the rift was too strong. Landmine was struck by debris and carried into the rift. Hot Shot and Prowl combined then went after him. {{storylink|Ripped Up Space}} The trio were trapped in the debris field near Unicron on the other side of the void until they spotted Rodimus's banner, and followed it to clear space. Hot Shot rejoined the Autobot team on Iron Planet, and helped rescue Inferno from being tortured by Megatron. {{storylink|Imprisoned Inferno}}

[[File:Carsinspace.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left]]
The Autobots began looking for Unicron's whereabouts in the void of space, only to be called back to Jungle Planet when the Decepticons found the Autobots' temporary base of operations there. The Autobots were kept from going down to the planet's surface by the Decepticons until the arrival of [[Bulkhead (Energon)|Bulkhead]], [[Downshift (Energon)|Downshift]], and [[Cliffjumper (Energon)|Cliffjumper]] tipped the odds in their favor. {{storylink|Jungle Planet (episode)|Jungle Planet}} Hot Shot and a crew of Autobots made their way back towards Cybertron in order to get the [[energon tower]]s necessary to defend the energon-rich planets beyond the rift. They were attacked en route by a squadron of [[Divebomb (Energon)|Divebombs]], but Downshift and Hot Shot broke off from the others and made their way through the rift. Thanks to the power of teamwork, they were able to destroy the Terrorcons who pursued them, and transformed to speed off to Cybertron as fast as their wheels could carry them while spinning in the void of space. Uh. After securing an energon tower from Doctor Jones, they returned to Jungle Planet and activated the tower, driving off the Decepticon invaders. {{storylink|Bulkhead (episode)|Bulkhead}}

Downshift and Hot Shot continued to oversee the arrival of more energon towers for [[Alpha Quintesson|Alpha Q]]'s planets, including the replacement tower called in for [[Ocean Planet]] as the original was destroyed by [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Mirage]]. They powerlinked in order to hold off the Insecticons attacking the tower, ultimately succeeding in bringing it online. {{storylink|Farewell Inferno}} ''When [[Planet Q]] was rebuilt by Alpha Q outside the Autobots' energon grid, they were forced to defend it without the aid of an energon tower; they had already used the last one in their reserve. By the time Hot Shot and the others made it to Planet Q, Scorponok had already begun to ransack the world of its energon. Hot Shot and Downshift joined forces again to protect the resurrected world from Megatron's forces. When Kicker and Ironhide got in over their heads in a bout against Scorponok, Optimus sent both Hot Shot and Downshift off to aid them. But when they joined Kicker on the battlefront, he sent the two Autobots to deal with Terrorcons instead, while he assisted Ironhide on his own. {{storylink|Return! Our Scorponok}}''

[[File:E33 titlecard.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4]]
Hot Shot snuck Sally through a space bridge so she could help emcee the first ever [[Autobot Grand Prix]]. Kicker was worried over this development, but Hot Shot assured him that the Autobots were in the process of setting up another energon grid to assure everyone's safety. Hot Shot entered himself and Ironhide in the race, taking place on [[Circuit Planet|a planet]] entirely covered in roads. Hot Shot begun in the lead, though Ironhide eventually managed to catch up to him. As the both of them neared the finish line, Optimus came onto the road and declared himself to be the racers' last "obstacle..." before shooting at them! Ironhide grappled with Optimus, allowing Hot Shot to continue forward. But Hot Shot became distracted when Arcee and Misha zoomed in on the scene, enabling the ladies to take first place! Once the race was over, Kicker had Hot Shot take his sister back home safely. {{storylink|Crash Course}}

After Wing Saber located Unicron's body, Hot Shot and the Autobots staged an assault on the Planet-Eater, but were unable to keep Megatron from making Unicron fully operational again. Finding themselves surrounded by the enemy, the Autobots were rescued by the timely arrival of first [[Omega Supreme (Energon)|Omega Supreme]], and then Roadblock (Inferno reborn) with fleet of energon towers in tow. The towers were sent down to impale Unicron, but had no effect on the now-mobile titan. {{storylink|Omega Supreme (episode)|Omega Supreme}} Hot Shot and the Autobots attempted to gain access to Unicron's interior to strike back from the inside. They were driven off when Unicron plowed into the planetary energon grid, though, and were unable to prevent Unicron from reclaiming his head from Alpha Q's [[Energon Orb]]. {{storylink|A Heroic Battle}} Though Unicron was now whole, he was still dormant, and Hot Shot led a party to try and attack Megatron while Optimus Supreme and Rodimus did the same through a different path. They failed to reach their objective before Unicron regained consciousness, and took control of Megatron's mind. {{storylink|The Power of Unicron}}

[[File:Energon-Autobot-Redecos.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.66|Yes, everyone follow Hot Shot. He'll know what to do.]]
Hot Shot tried to stop Unicron before he unleashed his power and obliterated Blizzard Planet, to no avail. He was left badly damaged, and had to be brought the the Autobots' infirmary. After being repaired, Hot Shot joined Optimus Supreme in fighting Unicron before he could reach another world, but fared little better in this venture. Circuit Planet was the next sphere to fall. Then, the power of Primus reached the Autobots, repairing Hot Shot and reformatting him in a slick new body, while growing Optimus Supreme to gargantuan proportions so he could fight Unicorn on an even playing field. {{storylink|Optimus Supreme}} Hot Shot and the others maintained strafing assaults against Unicron as Optimus Supreme grappled with him directly and Kicker assembled the energon towers for a powerful strike. With the towers, the power of Primus, and the teamwork of the Optimus Supreme combination, Unicron's body was finally destroyed. {{storylink|Unicron Perishes}} Optimus suffered serious injuries after overtaxing his capabilities in battle, and so Hot Shot and the others watched over him in stasis on [[Ocean Planet]]. When Megatron resurfaced on Cybertron, however, Hot Shot joined the Autobots on the ''Miranda II'' in returning to Cybertron. {{storylink|Ambition}} There, they battled the newly-enhanced Galvatron until clouds of Autobot-killing energon gas were released into the atmosphere, driving Hot Shot and his comrades to retreat. {{storylink|Wishes}}

[[File:E39 titlecard.jpg|right|upright=1.4|thumb]]
The ''Miranda II'' moved to the upper atmosphere, where the Autobots prepared to drop Kicker and the [[Omnicon]]s (who were immune to the energon gas flooding the planet) down to the world below. While the Autobots were being briefed on their plan, Hot Shot tried to have Superion Maximus open up a bit more, but the ancient Autobot was too socially awkward to mingle. Then, Galvatron and the Decepticons attacked, and Hot Shot fought to delay them long enough for [[Cliffjumper (Energon)|Cliffjumper]] to get the ''Miranda II'' into position for the drop. {{storylink|Galvatron!}} When Kicker and the Omnicons opened a gap in the cloud layer of the energon gas, Hot Shot descended to the planet below with Optimus Prime's team. They met up with a small band of Autobot soldiers and fled underground to avoid the full effects of the gas. {{storylink|Break Through}}

At some point, in an Autobot combat training simulation, Hot Shot and Rodimus joined forces to fight their way through a tournament of champions. They defeated [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Tidal Wave]] and [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Mirage]] in the first round, proceeded to win against Optimus Prime and [[Wing Saber (Energon)|Wing Saber]] in the second, and even beat [[Six Shot]] and [[Shockblast]] in the third despite the Decepticons' cheating. In the final round, however, Rodimus and Hot Shot faced off against ''another'' Optimus Prime, teamed with Omega Supreme. The Optimus Supreme combination was ready to obliterate the competition... until they were called on a technicality: they had stepped outside the ring during their combination sequence! Rodimus and Hot Shot won by default. As the [[Nekomimi A and Nekomimi B|catgirl robomaid emcees]] handed them their trophies, they announced a final competitor: a downsized Unicron! Rodimus and Hot Shot grappled with the teeny-tiny Planet-Eater and finally won the game. {{storylink|Distribution}}

[[File:Energon-Train-Attack.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb]]
After meeting up with some reinforcements, Optimus Prime assigned Hot Shot to work with Kicker, Omega Supreme, and Arcee in penetrating the Decepticon defenses around Central City. Their goal was to find Kicker's family, and retake control of both the command center and the energon towers. The team hitched a ride on Omega Supreme's train mode to head straight into the heart of the city. {{storylink|The Omega Train}} When Kicker had Hot Shot contact Optimus to see if they could rendezvous together, only for the request to be turned down, they surmised the Autobot leader was in trouble. Omega Supreme left the group to aid their commander, while Hot Shot and the others continued with their assigned mission, eventually coming upon Kicker's sister and mother. Sally and Miranda were scared, but otherwise safe and glad to be reunited with Kicker. {{storylink|Decepticon Army}} Hot Shot carried Sally and Miranda to Primus's chamber within the safety of his vehicle mode. There, they were reunited with Dr. Jones, and managed to awaken the deity from his slumber with an energon infusion. {{storylink|Ironhide Team}} Hot Shot remained in Primus's chamber to guard the humans while the other Autobots stopped Cybertron from slamming into Plains Planet by shutting down a crude planetary propulsion system engineered by Six Shot. {{storylink|Formidable}}

Sally managed to slip away from Hot Shot and squeezed her way into a passage too small for him to follow into. He was suitably impressed when she captured the control room the Decepticons had been using all by herself, and allowed for the Autobots to retake control of the building by disabling the security that had previously kept them out. {{storylink|Galvatron Terror}} Hot Shot later watched in horror as Galvatron grew to enormous size using Super Energon, and led Cliffjumper and Downshift onto the battlefield. He powerlinxed with Downshift to try and rescue Optimus from Galvatron, but they were engaged by Starscream and the rest of the Decepticon flunkies instead. {{storylink|Destructive Power}} The battle between the Optimus and Galvatron moved beyond the point where Hot Shot could impact it, as the Autobot leader channeled Unicron's essence and grew to match Galvatron's stature. Hot Shot moved out of the sidelines only after Optimus managed to counteract Unicron's essence in himself and Galvatron, shrinking down both combatants to their normal sizes. Optimus had exhausted himself doing so, and Hot Shot attended to him while Galvatron sought out the last sliver of Unicron's essence still living in the void. {{storylink|Spark (episode)|Spark}}

Prime could not overcome Unicron on his own, and needed the Combination Sparks of all his fellow Autobots to face the final conflict. Rodimus led the Autobots in stepping forward to give up their individuality for the greater good of the team. Hot Shot's body was converted into pure energy as he became one with his spark, so that it could in turn become one with all the other Combination Sparks, revitalizing Optimus. Filled with the strength of all his men, Optimus united with Omega Supreme in the ultimate Powerlinx, grappling with Galvatron until the Decepticon leader shrugged off Unicron's influence and plunged into the sun. Hot Shot and the other Autobots then separated, and were restored to their individual forms. {{storylink|The Sun}}

====''Cybertron'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Kirby Morrow]] (English), [[Daisuke Hirakawa]] (Japanese)|[[Ola Norman]] (Swedish), [[Vesa Hämes]] (Finnish), [[Mirko Mazzanti]] (Italian)}}
[[File:Hotshotcybertron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|He knows kung-fu.]]
When a black hole created by Unicron's demise threatened [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], Optimus Prime organized an evacuation of the planet. Among his chosen soldiers to help him in this effort was Hot Shot, who jumped at the opportunity to adopt a new Earth-based alternate mode. After all, the scan [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]] had provided of a sports car was "so him." When the Decepticons attacked to interfere with the Autobots' exodus to Earth, Hot Shot battled [[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Starscream]]. He was unable to stop the Decepticons from stealing the map to the [[Cyber Planet Key]]s, artifacts the elder Cybertronian [[Vector Prime]] had assured them was necessary to save their planet. En route to Earth, Vector Prime explained to the Autobots that the black hole, if left unchecked, would not only swallow up Cybertron, but the entire universe. He then doubled back to retrieve his cosmic map from Megatron, with Optimus insisting that Hot Shot, Jetfire, and Overhaul accompany him on this dangerous task. Hot Shot's team came upon Megatron and Starscream within an asteroid belt. While Jetfire and Vector Prime dealt with Starscream, Overhaul and Hot Shot tackled Megatron. Unfortunately, the Decepticons proved to be simply too powerful, and the Autobots were unable to prevent them from escaping once more. Hot Shot rendezvoused with [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] on Earth empty-handed. There, the Autobots met the humans [[Coby Hansen|Coby]], [[Bud Hansen|Bud]], and [[Lori Jiménez|Lori]]. {{storylink|Fallen (episode)|Fallen}} {{storylink|Inferno (episode)|Inferno}}

Hot Shot then assisted in building a new Autobot base. Though at first he cautioned the children from touching anything, Coby proved surprisingly knowledgeable about the Autobots' technology, prompting Hot Shot to invite him to provide more input. But before the base's stealth coating was completed, the Decepticons approached Earth once more. Hot Shot, Optimus, Vector Prime, and Jetfire held their enemies at bay long enough for the rest of the team to fully conceal their base from enemy sensors. Having seen Hot Shot prove himself in battle, Vector Prime granted him the ability to summon Cyber Planet Keys once the Decepticons were driven off. {{storylink|Haven}} When [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] attempted to close the [[Unicron Singularity|black hole]], Hot Shot viewed the attempt from Earth. It unfortunately ended in failure, leaving the Autobots with tracking down the mystical keys to the Omega Lock as their only remaining option to save their planet. Hot Shot then backed up Optimus Prime in another battle against [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]], during which the Decepticon leader revealed he was already one step ahead of his rivals, having discovered the location of first key himself. {{storylink|Hidden}}

During his downtime, Hot Shot amused himself by racing alone on a speedway. Optimus Prime interrupted his fun and gave him a lecture about their need to stay hidden on Earth. Later, when the Autobots uncovered the coordinates of [[Velocitron]], the Speed Planet, Hot Shot was sent ahead to this new world alongside Red Alert. When they arrived, Hot Shot marveled at the open roads, only to be startled when another vehicle easily overtook him on the freeway. {{storylink|Landmine (episode)|Landmine}}

[[File:Cyb ep7 hotshot cyberkey.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Slag yeah, ladies. I bring those ''blue'' sparks.]]
Hot Shot thought the Speed Planet was his type of place, but was unable to enjoy it to its fullest, since Optimus had instructed both him and Red Alert not to interact with the locals. Even though he assured his partner he wouldn't go against orders, when Hot Shot saw [[Ransack (Cybertron)|two]] [[Crumplezone (Cybertron)|bullies]] terrorizing [[Brakedown (Cybertron)|some]] [[Clocker (Cybertron)|locals]], he was unable to stop himself from stepping in. {{storylink|Space (episode)|Space}} Ransack and Crumplezone struck back at Hot Shot, who managed to trick the two simpletons into firing onto one another. The goons now having been sent skedaddling, Red Alert berated Hot Shot for breaking cover against Prime's orders, accidentally letting slip that they were planet-hoppers in front of Clocker. Their secret now out, the Autobots let the young Velocitronian take them on a tour of the planet. As they drove, Clocker spoke of the coveted "[[Planet Cup]]," a trophy that the Autobots correctly surmised was the artifact they sought. Upon seeing a race between [[Override (Cybertron)|Override]], the Cup's current holder, and Megatron about to begin, Hot Shot joined in. He nearly won, but was taken out of the race during its last stretch thanks to Crumplezone's interference. Hot Shot nonetheless impressed Override, who invited him to try his meddle against her again once he recovered. {{storylink|Rush (episode)|Rush}} Hot Shot trained to get into peak performance for his next race against Override. Assessing that he needed to lighten up his chassis, he removed his entire self-analysis system. With this done, Override met up with him for their rematch. Despite having been given a generous head start by his opponent however, Hot Shot still found himself unable to keep up with her. His desire for more speed during the race summoned a Cyber Key, and with it he began to close the gap... until his systems overheated and he spun off the road. {{storylink|Speed}}

Hot Shot followed Crumplezone and Ransack in the dead of night, spying on them while they spoke with Megatron. Learning that the Decepticons planned on entering the World Cup and cheat their way to victory further motivated him in achieving greater speeds on the racetrack. {{storylink|Collapse}} Hot Shot readied himself for another race while Red Alert accused him of no longer caring for his mission. Provoked by Red Alert's claim, Hot Shot was ready to hit Red Alert until Brakedown stepped in to diffuse the situation. Insisting that all of his efforts for the greater good of the mission, Hot Shot continued to focus on achieving greater speeds. But while testing out his racing skills, he found himself going ''too'' fast and narrowly avoided another debilitating crash thanks to Clocker. Reflecting on this, he decided that he had lightened his body too much. {{storylink|Time (episode)|Time}} Despite having injured himself while practicing, Hot Shot agreed to race [[Dirt Boss (Cybertron)|Dirt Boss]], having been tricked by Ransack into thinking the winner would race Override again one-on-one. This competition only served to injure him further, as Ransack and Crumplezone quickly got bored and attacked Hot Shot for kicks. After being rescued by Landmine, Hot Shot apologized to a newly arrived [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] for disobeying his orders and possibly failing his mission. He then collapsed. While in an unconscious state Red Alert repaired the damage he had been putting on himself, both from numerous battles, and pushing himself too far on the track. Landmine then contributed to Hot Shot's recovery by berating him, snapping Hot Shot out of the rut his mind was in. Though Hot Shot stood depressed over the turn his mission had taken, Clocker convinced him not to give up on himself. After Optimus Prime failed himself to convince Override to forfeit the Planet Key, he opted to use Hot Shot's original plan to acquire it in the World Cup. His confidence renewed, Hot Shot entered the race alongside his teammates, who agreed to run interference, while counting on Hot Shot to actually win the race itself. {{storylink|Hero (episode)|Hero}}

[[File:Cyb ep13 hotshot injured.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|This seem familiar?]]
At the start of the race, Hot Shot took the lead, but was again passed by Override and Dirt Boss. Though several of Crumplezone and Ransack's tricks slowed him down, he managed to stay in the race thanks to his own skills and the support of his team. The duo later cut away a bridge on the track to stop the Autobots completely, but Hot Shot jumped the gap by leapfrogging off of Optimus Prime. He was not able to win the race, but placed second place, qualifying him for the next heat. {{storylink|Race}} In the next heat, Hot Shot once more managed to pass Override early on the track. but was duped into going the wrong direction when Ransack switched over the course. When his allies informed him of the deception, Hot Shot shared the information with Override to beat her fair and square. Later, after an tunnel was caved in by Crumplezone, Hot Shot helped out an imperiled Override rather than press his lead over her. Once again, he came in second place due to Dirt Boss passing him while he was busy helping Override. {{storylink|Detour (episode)|Detour}} Learning the next course would take him through a desert area, Hot Shot trained to familiarize himself with that type of terrain. With advice from Coby, he managed to attain a better understanding on how to handle sand dunes. He continued to train while Optimus Prime and [[Vector Prime]] left to respond to an emergency signal from the Jungle Planet. {{storylink|Savage}}

[[File:Cyb ep18 champion.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Hot Shot receives a gold trophy from Star Cup]]
During the next race, Hot Shot initially took the lead through the desert. But despite his earlier training, he still had difficulty getting any traction in the sands. To complicate matters, he wound up falling into one of the many quicksand vortexes that littered the course. Brakedown came to his aid, only for Dirt Boss to target them both with a couple of laser blasts. They were saved when [[Jolt (Cybertron)|Jolt]] jumped in the way and redirected the shots back towards the villain, betraying his and Coby's clandestine presence on Speed Planet. Resuming the race, Hot Shot faltered when he noted that Brakedown's systems were failing. Realizing that Breakdown had used a belt from his coolant system to rescue him from the earlier vortex, Hot Shot volunteered to carry the old-timer to the finish line... only for Brakedown to turn him down flat. Reminding the younger 'bot of how important his mission was, Breakdown sent Hot Shot on his way to the finish line. Afterwards, when the rest of the Autobots discovered Coby and the Mini-Cons had left Earth, Hot Shot requested that they be allowed to help him through the final race, rather than being sent back. {{storylink|Sand}}

[[File:Cyb ep22 shell game.jpg|upright=1.4|right|thumb]]
Though Hot Shot was chosen by the Planet Cup for the final race, he discovered that the damage he had sustained during the previous heats would severely handicap him. The Autobots decided that Coby would sit in Hot Shot's cockpit in order to continuously adjust his circuits, staving off a complete breakdown. Hot Shot started out the race with an early lead. When Ransack and Crumplezone attempted to steal the Planet Cup, he warded them off with the help of Override, before the two remaining competitors resumed their now one-on-one race. As Hot Shot's system links kept breaking down, Coby was able to rewire him in order for him to keep pace with Override. It wasn't enough, as his circuits were still having trouble holding, so he used his Cyber Key Power to win in a photo finish. Then, Megatron showed up to steal away Hot Shot's trophy before he had a chance to claim it! Working in tandem with Override once more, Hot Shot knocked over Megatron, giving Optimus Prime and Leobreaker the opportunity needed to take him down. Returning to Earth, Hot Shot was present when Override added the Cyber Planet Key to the [[Omega Lock]]. {{storylink|Champion}}

The Lock sent out energy waves, pointing the Autobots towards coordinates near the Earth's north pole. Hot Shot was part of the team that investigated the area, but failed to yield anything of interest in their search. When a distress signal alerted him to a Decepticon attack, he and the other Autobots converged to rescue a frozen [[Scattorshot (Cybertron)|Scattorshot]] from Starscream and [[Mudflap (Cybertron)|Mudflap]]. {{storylink|Ice}} Having some of the damage he had sustained during his Velocitronian adventures repaired by Coby, {{storylink|Honor}} Hot Shot followed Optimus to the Jungle Planet {{storylink|Primal (Cybertron)|Primal}}. After the Autobots received Jungle Planet's Cyber Planet Key, Hot Shot heard the incoming Decepticons attempting to win it back. He was able to take cover as they strafed. After leaving the temple with a diversionary box that may have contained the key, he was knocked over by Crumplezone when he turned to fight Ransack. Later he saw a space bridge and headed toward it, joining the Autobots in surrounding Megatron. {{storylink|Trust (Cybertron)|Trust}}

Hot Shot readied equipment with Scattorshot back on Earth. He chose to follow Red Alert to the north pole to back up Optimus Prime's team. {{storylink|Trap}} Surprisingly, he was the voice of caution and told Jetfire not to blast ice debris that trapped Optimus Prime. It would cause a collapse. After Jetfire freeing Optimus Prime using his engines, the Autobots were attacked by Decepticons and human drone planes. He was going to attack the drone planes, but was stopped by Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Invasion (episode)|Invasion}}

[[File:Retreat-HotShotholomatteravatar.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|JaAm executive.]]
When the Autobots realized the kids and Mini-Cons were missing, Hot Shot was sent out to investigate. While on his route he ran into [[Tim Hansen]] and assured him that his younger brothers would be okay. After finding the kids who escaped from [[Mike Franklin|Colonel Franklin]], Hot Shot began retreating to [[Velocitron]] via the space bridge. Starscream attacked to steal away the [[Omega Lock]] and Hot Shot was one of the first to fall in battle. {{storylink|Retreat}}

[[File:Cyb ep27 parts delivery.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|We're surrounded by all these military vehicles, but, man, I'm so tired, let's just get new bodies from Primus instead.]]
Later, Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scattorshot faced Megatron alone when the Decepticon leader returned to Earth thirsting for revenge against the treacherous Starscream. Humiliating the Decepticon in combat, they enraged Megatron, who used his new Omega Lock-powered Death Machine Gun on the three Autobots, crippling them beyond repair. {{storylink|Revelation (episode)|Revelation}} Fortunately, the powers of Primus acting through the Omega Lock bathed the trio in the creator's holy light, repairing and reformatting the young Autobot into Cybertron Defense Hot Shot. Along with his newly
reformatted friends, the [[Cybertron Defense Team]] arrived on the battlefield and easily defeated the Decepticons Scourge and Megatron. {{storylink|Critical}}

[[File:Cyb ep27 cyb def team.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|Introducing the new Blue team. Now.... where's Simmons, Sarge, Grif, and Donut?]]
Hot Shot continued to battle Megatron and his forces. After Megatron retreated, Hot Shot followed to aid Optimus Prime at the volcanic island. He helped fight off Scourge with the rest of the Cybertron Defense Team. Later, when questioning [[Wing Saber (Energon)|Wing Saber]]'s "orders," he was shot and forced to dance to avoid being blasted. After the altercation Optimus Prime sent him and the rest of Cybertron Defense Team to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in an attempt to slow down the [[Unicron Singularity|black hole]]. {{storylink|Assault}} En route to the planet, however, his team encountered a meteor shower. He began blasting his way through, but in doing so got goop all over his windshield, obscuring his vision. [[Coby Hansen|Coby]] then took over his movements via [[synchro-control]]. Later he countered [[Scattorshot (Cybertron)|Scattorshot]]'s claim in who had the most points by blowing up the most asteroids, saying he had shot at least 2 to every one of Scattorshot's. Upon arrival at Cybertron and finding it swarming with [[Scrapmetal (race)|Scrapmetal]], he led the assault to cleanse the planet. {{storylink|Starscream (episode)|Starscream}} They fought their way through legions of the robotic pests. {{storylink|United}}

[[File:CDHotShot fists.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Now we know why his shoulders hurt... again]]
Hot Shot continued fighting off Scrapmetals until all in the vicinity were destroyed. Upon Megatron's arrival, Hot Shot immediately attacked. After Megatron's apparent defeat, Hot Shot helped give a tour of Cybertron to the kids and other offworlders. He was then present when Optimus Prime presented the Omega Lock which caused Cybertron to apparently break apart. He then drove via the space bridge to Cybertron's moon to witness the full transformation of [[Primus]]. {{storylink|Cybertron (episode)|Cybertron}} Hot Shot was first awed by Primus, then confused when he found out that [[Jolt (Cybertron)|Jolt]] was originally from [[Gigantion]]. He attacked Starscream after the Decepticon's arrival and continued fighting Decepticons until [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|something]] appeared in the sky. {{storylink|Balance}}

Hot Shot was attacked by the newly powered up Crumplezone once he was raised from mortal wounds by Megatron. He wasn't much tougher than before and Hot Shot was able to defeat his rival. {{storylink|Darkness (episode)|Darkness}} He later chased after the Decepticons attempting to steal the Omega Lock. {{storylink|Memory (Cybertron)|Memory}}

When the Autobots reached [[Gigantion]], he split off into a group to explore the planet. Later, in an altercation with the Decepticons, he fired at [[Thunderblast (Decepticon)|Thunderblast]]. Hot Shot unloaded the ship for the Autobots to be able to use the Omega Lock. He and the rest of the Cybertron Defense team were taken out by a newly powered up [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. {{storylink|Fury (Cybertron)|Fury}}

Hot Shot watched as Optimus battled [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]], then joined the rest of the Cybertron Defense Force as team three when the Autobots split up. {{storylink|City}} He later ran into Sideways and [[Soundwave (Cybertron)|Soundwave]] while searching for the Cyber Planet Key. He listened to Soundwave's story of [[Planet X (Cybertron)|Planet X]]. He was then surrounded by [[Laserbeak (Cybertron)|Laserbeak]]'s smoke and accidentally hit Scattorshot believing he was Sideways. When Scattorshot cleared the smoke Hot Shot powered up his Cyber Key and helped the rest of his squad blast a pillar upon Soundwave and Sideways. {{storylink|Challenge}}

[[File:Cyb ep45 save the universe.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Come back from the dead and all I get are these lousy group shots.]]
Hot Shot and his team looked for a downward passage when they ran into Galvatron and [[Menasor (Cybertron)|Menasor]]. After a brief skirmish, they utilized the [[triangle formation|triangle attack]] to take Menasor down. Then they battled Galvatron at full strength, but were once again beaten down. {{storylink|Scourge (episode)|Scourge}} He slowly got to his feet, recovered, and made his way down to the inner part of Gigantion to join the rest of the Autobots in shooting Galvatron. {{storylink|Optimus (episode)|Optimus}}

Hot Shot watched as Vector Prime inserted the final Cyber Planet Key into the [[Omega Lock]]. when Galvatron arrived, Hot Shot was defeated with the rest of the Autobots. While Optimus Prime and the other flying Autobots were intercepted by Soundwave and Sideways, Hot Shot opened fire from the ground. {{storylink|Showdown (Cybertron)|Showdown}} When the new space bridge opened and the denizens from Planet X were coming through, Hot Shot began firing. Afterward, with the help of Vector Prime, he was able to leave Gigantion with the rest of the Autobots. {{storylink|Guardian (episode)|Guardian}} After returning to [[Primus]], the Decepticons attacked. Hot Shot quickly counterattacked, {{storylink|Homecoming (Universe)|Homecoming}} battling Thundercracker while the Decepticon taunted Optimus Prime {{storylink|End}}

[[File:CybertronKicker.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Kicker needs to update his contact information.]]
Hot Shot ran to assist the Autobots in sending [[Animatron|Jungle Planet]] back to orbit. When Galvatron entered the Autobot base, he wanted to attack the Decepticon leader until Optimus said it was his fight solely. So instead he ran out to save Jungle Planet. After helping put out fires, Hot Shot lent his strength to push the rocket to adjust the planet's trajectory. After the planet was saved, he joined the rest of the Autobots in assisting Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Unfinished}} With Galvatron finally defeated, Override resigned from leadership of Velocitron in order to travel to new worlds, and Hot Shot won the race to determine who would be her successor, despite his bulky new body. {{storylink|Beginning}}
{{-}}
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Escape (episode)|Escape}} {{storylink|Family}} {{storylink|Titans}} {{storylink|Warp}} {{storylink|Giant}}}}

====''Cybertron'' comic====
Several months after the conclusion of the Unicron Singularity crisis, Optimus Prime and several of his crew, including Hot Shot, met [[Optimus Prime (RID)|another Optimus Prime]] and several Autobots who had been defending Cybertron from other threats while the main Autobot forces had been searching for the Cyber Planet Keys. {{storylink|Revelations Part 6}}

===Panini ''Armada'' comic===
[[File:DevicesandDesires-yourownsize.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|Well, gee, Hot Shot, when you put it that way, it doesn't sound fair anymore.]]
As the Autobot-Decepticon war was in its early stages, Hot Shot was stationed at the main [[Autobot Command HQ]] on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. Upon detecting four Decepticon battalions heading towards them, he reported this to [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]] and raced into battle. He and the other Autobots were eventually forced to abandon their base when it turned out to be rigged with explosives. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 9|Counter-Strike!}} After the Mini-Cons left Cybertron, he was seen dispensing firepower and sarcasm during another clash with the Decepticon forces. {{storylink|First Encounter!}}

Hot Shot and [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] were later summoned to [[Earth]] when the Mini-Cons were found to have awakened there. The Mini-Con [[Jolt (Armada)|Jolt]] grudgingly power-linked with Hot Shot, allowing him to fly through the air and ram [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]]. {{storylink|Friends and Foes!}} Following the battle, he stood guard outside a small cave while the Mini-Cons and their [[human]] friends made their way inside. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 3|Deep Trouble!}} When the Autobots decided to keep the Mini-Cons safe by sending them back to Cybertron, Hot Shot stood watch, and soon reported that the Decepticons were going on the offensive again. In the ensuing battle, the Mini-Cons decided to stay on Earth, and Jolt power-linked with Hot Shot and helped him drive the Decepticons away. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 4|No Way Back!}}

Alongside Optimus Prime and Red Alert, Hot Shot later saved the [[Air Defense Mini-Con Team (Armada)|Air Defense Team]] from getting captured by [[Starscream (Armada)|Starscream]]. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 5|Devices and Desires!}} After the Air Defense Team revealed that the [[Land Military Mini-Con Team|Land Military Team]] had been captured by humans, Hot Shot piloted an Autobot shuttle to the [[Nevada]] desert and helped liberate them. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 7|Sale of the Century!}} Next, the Autobots learned that the Decepticons were planning to nuke them from the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]], and their [[space bridge]] was too busted up for them to do anything about it. Hot Shot was tasked with repairing the device and use it to warp the incoming warheads elsewhere, and he succeeded at the last second. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 8|Earthshaker!}}

{{-}}
===The Balance of Power===
[[File:BalanceOfPower-Autobots.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Hot Shot has particular skills?]]
Shortly after Hot Shot was brought online, he and Red Alert were sent deep into Decepticon territory to uncover an [[Data-Con|ancient relic]] that would tell them how to find the long-lost race of [[Mini-Con]]s. The two were discovered by passing [[Dropship (Armada)|Dropships]] and the [[Spider Tank]]s they carried, and so they quickly dodged for cover. But there was nowhere to run; the Decepticons had created a massive army of [[Decepticlone]]s. After sending out an auto-distress signal, Optimus Prime arrived to bolster their firepower. This caught the attention of Megatron, and the two leaders grappled while Hot Shot and Red Alert continued to evade the Decepticlones. Meanwhile, Starscream had managed to find the relic, and a portal was opened in front of them. Hot Shot, Red Alert, and Optimus Prime followed the Decepticons through the portal to [[Earth]]. The search for the Mini-Cons began! {{storylink|The Balance of Power}}
{{note|This comic was written as a tie-in to the [[Transformers (PS2)|''Armada'' video game]], but its details differ from the introduction seen in the game itself. [[#PS2|See below]] for Hot Shot's role in the game.}}

===Bendon ''Armada'' books===
[[File:RTD-HotShotflipsDemolishor.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1]]
Hot Shot and Optimus Prime were forced to defend the Autobot base from a surprise attack. When the attack accidentally triggered a landslide, Hot Shot rushed in to save the kids. {{storylink|Cave Catastrophe}}

Hot Shot would once again rush in to save the kids after they left themselves out in the open, ramming Demolishor hard enough to flip him over. {{storylink|Race to Disaster}}
{{-}}

===''Superdeformers''===
[[File:Superdeformers Hot Shot.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Don't look at me, I'm slightly less handsome!]]
Facing down [[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]] one day, Hot Shot was unprepared when the Decepticon lobbed [[Thunderwing (Armada)|Thunderwing]] at him. Luckily before the Mini-Con could hit Hot Shot, Blurr jumped in and snatched it out of the air. The pair promptly ran off with Thunderwing, leaving Thrust to face [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]]'s wrath. {{storylink|Superdeformers}}

{{-}}

===Reader's Digest ''Armada'' novels===
Hot Shot was one of the Autobots teleported to Earth by the warp gate within the remains of a Mini-Con ship. Despite the radical change in scenery, Hot Shot continued to do battle against the Decepticons who had been teleported alongside them. The fighting came to an end, temporarily, thanks to the efforts of [[Perceptor (Armada)|Perceptor]]. {{storylink|Transformers Armada: The Battle Begins|The Battle Begins}}

After securing their base on Earth, Optimus, Hot Shot and Red Alert headed to a nearby highway to adopt new alternate modes based on local vehicles. Hot Shot took on the form of a sleek sports car and became giddy over his new form, annoying Optimus with his rambunctious behavior. When their human allies joined them, Hot Shot scrutinized their Mini-Con companions with great interest, as he had only heard of the diminutive robots in old war stories up until that point. Explosions emanating from nearby interrupted Hot Shot's observations. The Decepticons were attacking the Autobots' base! The Autobots launched a counter-attack, though Hot Shot was forced to leave the battlefront when a stray shot from Megatron triggered a rock-slide, endangering the children. Hot Shot got Carlos, Alexis and Rad out of harm's way, along with their Mini-Cons. Before Hot Shot had a chance to leave to rejoin the battle, Alexis pointed out something to him; the rock slide had unearthed several dormant Mini-Cons! One of the panels reacted to Hot Shot's presence, with the Mini-Con within transforming into a lightning-bolt-shaped hood ornament for his vehicle mode. The diminutive robot granted Hot Shot electrical powers, so Hot Shot decided on naming his new partnent "Jolt." The children then hid themselves nearby, and Hot Shot took on the Decepticons once more. Another Mini-Con reacted to Red Alert, and together, the empowered Autobots easily bested the Decepticons that opposed them. Realizing they were outmatched, the Decepticons retreated, though they managed to steal away the remaining Mini-Con panels as they warped off-planet. The children were saddened that the Decepticons had managed to take off with Mini-Cons in tow, but the Autobots assured them that they had done everything they could, and joined them in a "circle of friendship." {{storylink|Transformers Armada: Race for the Mini-Con Robots|Race for the Mini-Con Robots}}

===''Transformers Legends'' anthology===
Hot Shot was part of the Autobot forces during a battle in [[Yellowstone National Park]], and seconded Optimus's warning that the area was too geologically unstable to battle in. Megatron ignored their advice. {{storylink|Lonesome Diesel}}

===''Universe'' comic===
Hot Shot was one of several Transformers from across the [[multiverse]] suggested by [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] for [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] to recruit into his [[Child of Primus|Children of Primus]]. Optimus Primal decided to pluck [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] and [[Depth Charge (BW)|Depth Charge]] back from death instead. {{storylink|Homecoming (Universe)|Homecoming}}

===''Cybertron'' toy bios===
Optimus Prime teamed Hot Shot up with the Mini-Con [[Mirage (Armada)|Mirage]]. Hot Shot brought Mirage with him to the Speed Planet, and they formed a fast friendship and nearly undefeatable racing team. {{storylink|#Cybertron|Wal-Mart exclusive two-pack toy bio}}

===''Regeneration One''===
[[File:RG1 93 rodimii.jpg|thumb|left|Day 16 - The Hot Rods have still not realized I am not one of them.]]
Hot Shot (in his [[Hot Shot (Armada)/toys#ArDxPx|Powerlinx colors]]) was one of the many different versions of himself that [[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Hot Rod]] saw during a [[Multiverse|multiversal]] out-of-body experience in the [[Primus]] chamber after journeying to the centre of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] with the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]]. {{storylink|Destiny, Part Three}} After becoming Rodimus Prime, Hot Rod infiltrated [[Zero Space]] to confront the [[Dark Matrix]] creature that threatened his reality but it summoned three versions of [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] to defend itself. Rodimus likewise sent ripples throughout the multiverse, calling forth all the various versions of himself (including [[Hot Shot (Armada)/toys#CyDVD|yet another version]] of Hot Shot) to take down anything without a "Hot" or "Rod" in its name, loosening the Dark Matrix creature's control over Optimus and allowing Rodimus to seal the multiversal breach with the [[Sword of Primus]]. {{storylink|The War to End All Wars, Part 5}}
{{--}}

===''Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts''===
Hot Shot conducted a series of interviews with Transformers from other parts of the [[Multiverse]]. His first with a [[Primax]] version of [[Kup (G1)|Kup]] included questions about the weird eyeball headlights Kup had in vehicle mode. During his interview with [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]], Hot Shot got into a disagreement with his interviewee about how easy it was to obtain a [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]. He proved his side of the argument by easily stealing Optimus's Matrix, and upgrading himself into '''Shotimus Prime'''. During his last interview, this time with [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]], his interviewee became irate at his insistence that Tarantulas and Sideways might be one and the same. This eventually lead to Tarantulas taking his Matrix and beating him with it, causing him to revert to Hot Shot. {{storylink|Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts}}

==Games==
===The Energon Within===
As Optimus and Hot Shot prepared to escort a truckload of energon away from one of the Autobots' mines, the Decepticons launched a full-scale assault. Their objective was to steal 100 of the Autobots' energon cubes.

The Decepticons either eventually succeed, though at the cost of many Decepticon troops being destroyed, with the mine remaining under Autobot control, OR, before the Decepticons could succeed succeed, Hot Shot inadvertently blew up the mine. {{storylink|Transformers Armada: The Energon Within}}

===''Transformers''===
{{voiceactor|[[Dublin James]] (English)}}
[[File:PS2game-HotShotDecepticlones.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|He's the best there is at what he does! (We don't like to say what he does...)]]
Hot Shot found himself in the sweeping jungles that surrounded abandoned Aztec ruins. After failing to find Mini-Cons under a rock, he managed to pair up with the Mini-Con Jolt, and when he reached the top of the ruins, he faced Cyclonus. The following battles took him many places, such as a frozen wasteland, the interior of a battleship (which eventually revealed itself as the gigantic Tidal Wave), and ultimately Hot Shot battled Unicron himself.

Hot Shot, having collected all the Mini-Cons on Earth, was able to wield the legendary [[Matrix Cannon]], which he used to fire a deadly Shot into the core of the Planet Eater. {{storylink|Transformers (PS2)|Transformers}}

{{note|The events of the game listed above are exactly the same for when players choose to take Red Alert or Optimus Prime into battle instead of Hot Shot... except for the rock thing. That's all Hot Shot, baby.}}
{{-}}

==Toys==
{{main|Hot Shot (Armada)/toys }}

==Merchandise==
{{main|Hot Shot (Armada)/toys#Merchandise}}

==Notes==
[[File:HotShotisBumblebee.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|YELLOW KID APPEAL SINGULARITY]]
*In an early ''Armada'' series bible, Hot Shot was originally called "Bumblebee". His character description says that he is the youngest of the Autobots at "about 16 years of age". The Autobots' teen-aged human allies would have teased him for not being old enough to have a driver's license. It further notes that "Everything about him is fast- including his speech," which definitely wasn't taken to heart. The rest of his personality was as you would expect, being young and brash yet showing leadership potential, and his Mini-Con was still called Jolt. One of the reasons he was ultimately not named "Bumblebee" was because the name was unavailable as a [[trademark]] for Hasbro at that time.
*According to the [[Transformers (PS2)|''Armada'' PlayStation 2 game]] instruction booklet, Hot Shot's ''Armada'' body has the following statistics:
:*Mass: 3,109 lbs
:*Robot height: 16' 5"
:*Robot top speed: 50 mph
:*Vehicle height: 5' 11"
:*Vehicle top speed: 186 mph
:*Vehicle power: 400 hp @ 8000 rpm
*For a while, ''Galaxy Force'' was treated by [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] as a separate universe from ''Micron Legend'' and ''Super Link'', which would have made Exillion (Hot Shot's Japanese name in ''Galaxy Force'') a different guy, even though the character's head design and [[control drawing|control art]] labeled him "Hot Shot" in English.<ref name="control">[http://snakas.web.fc2.com/event/0410entama.htm Galaxy Force control art on display at Tokyo International Entertainment Market 2004], at Autobase Aichi.</ref> With ''Galaxy Force'' later reintegrated into the "[[Unicron Trilogy|Micron Trilogy]]", this original distinction likely became irrelevant.
*"JAaM" was a gag in a very funny fan-edit of the toy pack-in comics: taking advantage of the dodgy art and the iffier parts of the design, Transformers fan Blueshift changed the dialogue so that Hot Shot became a drooling idiot. This wouldn't be worth mentioning except, like the term "[[seeker (body-type)|seeker]]", it became so popular and ubiquitous in the fandom that Hasbro canonised it. Poor Hot Shot's ''Universe'' toy refers to a JAaM obsession in a tech spec ''and on the toy's car license plate'', as well as claiming Jolt "tries his best to keep [Hot Shot's] erratic behaviour under control" (never true in canon before and only true of the fancomic).
**The tech spec also says Hot Shot is "kind of annoying" but that's not the fancomic, that's a nod to how many grumpy older fans felt about Hot Shot. (He ''is'' annoying in canon but that wasn't intentional!)
*A character looking quite similar to Hot Shot showed up to die in [[Drift issue 2|''Drift'' #2]] because someone convinced artist [[Alex Milne]] to draw him as a casualty. This in order to spite longtime fan [[David Willis]], who wuvs Hot Shot. Milne drew him into the story based on his dislike of ''Armada'' and reasoning that the character would not be one used again in the continuity.<ref>[http://forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?p=204657#204657 markerguru's post in "Transformers Drift #1: Reactions, Reviews, Spoilers" from the IDW Publishing Forums]</ref> Because it is a Generation 1-based story, however, the incident is documented on [[Hot Shot (Henkei!)|"Generation 1" character Hot Shot]]'s page, rather than here.

===Foreign names===
====''Armada''====
*''Japanese:'' '''Hot Rod''' (ホットロッド ''Hotto Roddo''), '''Hot Rod Super Mode''' (ホットロッドS ''Hotto Roddo Sūpā Mōdo'')
*''Hungarian:'' '''Nagymenő'''
*''Korean:'' '''Red Gun''' (레드건 ''Redeu Geon'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Jīshè''' (激射, "Passionate Shot")
*''Polish:'' '''Piorunus''' ("Thunderboltus")
*''Romanian:'' '''Șmecherul'''
*''Russian:'' '''Likhach''' (Лихач, "Scorcher")
*''Ukrainian:'' '''Garyachkun''' (Гарячкун, "Hothead"), '''Zharostril''' (Жаростріл, "Hot Shot")

====''Energon''====
*''Japanese:'' '''Hotshot''' (ホットショット ''Hottoshotto''), '''Hotshot Fire''' (ホットショットF ''Hottoshotto Faiyā'')
*''Hungarian:'' '''Tűzgolyó''' ("Fireball")
*''Mandarin:'' '''Jīshè''' (激射, "Passionate Shot")

====''Cybertron''====
*''Japanese:'' '''Exillion''' (エクシリオン ''Ekushirion''), '''Exigeyser''' (エクシゲイザー ''Ekushigeizā'')
*''Hungarian:'' '''Tűzgolyó''' ("Fireball"), '''Nagyágyú''' ("[[Optimus Prime vs Megatron: The Ultimate Battle]]")
*''Korean:'' '''Exillion''' (엑실리온 ''Eksillion'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Jīshè''' (激射, "Passionate Shot")

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Armada Autobots]]
[[Category:Athletes]]
[[Category:Autobot leaders]]
[[Category:Cybertron Autobots]]
[[Category:Dimension hoppers]]
[[Category:Energon Autobots]]
[[Category:Letters page answerers]]
[[Category:Regeneration One Autobots]]
[[Category:Universe Autobots]]
[[Category:Velocitron]]

Hot Shot (Armada)

2019-11-06T14:40:32Z

KitsuneMastaa:

{{factions|autobot|{{factions/icons|custom=Energon Powerlinx Silver symbol.png|cLink=Powerlinx}}|velocitron|{{factions/icons|custom=Cybertron Defence.png|cSize=50px|cLink=Cybertron Defense Team}}}}
{{disambig3|Hot Shot}}{{suite}}
:''Hot Shot is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Unicron Trilogy]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Hotshotut.jpg|thumb|upright=1.95|Come on and slam, and welcome to the JaAm.]]
'''Hot Shot''' is the quintessential young hero. He's been around long enough to earn a name for himself and a place in [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime's]] entourage, but he's still too young to know when he's in over his head. In other words, he's blunt, overconfident, naïve, and more than just a little annoying, yet brave, honorable, loyal to his friends, and willing to risk his life to stop the [[Decepticon]]s and help the Autobots. With time and experience, Prime believes, he could make an excellent leader, and Prime has appointed him to his command structure accordingly. Hot Shot's got the goods, but he just needs to pay attention for more than five seconds. Until that day, Hot Shot's likely response to most anything is, "Yeah yeah, like, whatever."

Hot Shot's [[Mini-Con]] partner is [[Jolt (Armada)|Jolt]], though he has been known to moonlight with [[Mirage (Armada)|Mirage]]. Hot Shot also proclaims a love for a strange substance called [[JaAm]], but none of his Autobot peers can figure out what it is.

==Fiction==
===Toy pack-in comics===
[[File:Hotshotarmadaminicomic.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|How dumb can he be? He's fluent in three languages!]]
[[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]] chose Hot Shot to stop a Decepticon plot to drain power from the city, but Hot Shot balked when Prime picked [[Jolt (Armada)|Jolt]] to be his partner. After speeding off to complete the mission alone, Hot Shot found himself overwhelmed by [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] and his partner [[Crumplezone (Armada)|Crumplezone]]. Thankfully, Jolt arrived and gave Hot Shot a hand, and together they defeated Cyclonus and Crumplezone by detonating their energy-draining device, and letting the Decepticons get caught in the blast. Hot Shot had learned a valuable lesson about teamwork. {{storylink|Armada Volume 1}}

Hot Shot reported to Optimus about his responsibilities somewhere and listened to [[Scavenger (Armada)|Scavenger]] discuss his. {{storylink|Armada Volume 2}} Optimus Prime again contacted Hot Shot from [[Autobot Headquarters (Armada)|Autobot Headquarters]]. {{storylink|Armada Volume 3}}

On [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], Hot Shot, [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]], [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]] were present for [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]]'s defeat of [[Megatron (Armada)|Galvatron]]. They didn't, however, see his smile upon his capture. {{storylink|Armada Volume 4}}

[[File:HotShotEnergonminicomic.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|He's so polite.]]
After Hot Shot and [[Strongarm (Energon)|Strongarm]] found a pool of [[Energon]] in a desert, they were attacked by [[Battle Ravage]]s. Though the Autobots were able to fight off the drones, they realized too late that they had been duped; another pack of Battle Ravages had used the distraction to get at the Energon pool. When the situation was bleakened further by the arrival of [[Scorponok (Energon)|Scorponok]], Strongarm fashioned an [[Energon weapon|Energon axe]] for Hot Shot, allowing him to drive the [[Terrorcon (Energon)|Terrorcons]] away. Unfortunately, he couldn't do so in time to prevent them from absorbing all of the remaining Energon. Nonetheless, Hot Shot and Strongarm were relieved that they had faced a formidable foe and come out on top. {{storylink|Energon Volume 1}}

Some time after, Hot Shot was seen alongside [[Skyblast (Energon)|Skyblast]] and Optimus Prime battling Scorponok and his Terrorcons. {{storylink|Energon Volume 2}}

Optimus Prime and Hot Shot (powerlinked with Inferno) found themselves alone and outmatched in a battle with Megatron, [[Shockblast]], [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Snow Cat]], [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] and [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Mirage]]. As the Decepticons closed in on Optimus, he warned Powerlinx Hot Shot to stay away, for he was too damaged. But at the last minute, [[Wing Saber (Energon)|Wing Saber]] arrived, combined with Prime, and drove the Decepticons away! {{storylink|Energon Volume 4}}

With a group of Autobots, Hot Shot investigated the site of an energon reaction. They found a [[Grand Scourge|Scourge]], a dark duplicate of Optimus Prime who quickly entered in battle with Optimus. {{storylink|Optimus Prime VS Scourge|Optimus Prime VS Scourge Episode.1}} When Optimus was cornered by Scourge, Hot Shot and Ironhide forced the two apart with cover fire, allowing Optimus to gain the upper hand on his enemy. {{storylink|Optimus Prime VS Scourge|Optimus Prime VS Scourge Episode.2}}

===Dreamwave ''Armada'' continuity===
====Dreamwave ''Armada'' comic====
[[File:Hotshotraizeyes.jpg|thumb|left|Hot Shot watches in horror as [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] buys the last can of [[jaAm]].]]
One million years ago, Hot Shot was a member of the Autobots, the guardians of [[Cyber City]]. Soon, news of a warlike faction called [[Decepticon]]s, led by the power-hungry [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]], reached Cyber City via a dying [[Mini-Con]] Hot Shot found. The Mini-Con handed him a video disc, and with his dying breath, demanded Hot Shot take it to Optimus Prime. Optimus Prime played the disc, a distress signal from [[Leader-1 (Armada)|Leader-1]], head of [[Mini-Con Sector|Mini-Con village D10]], who begged the Autobots for help. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 1|Armada #1}}

The Decepticons themselves soon arrived in Cyber City, armed with Mini-Cons they had captured and reconfigured to bestow incredible power when [[Powerlinx]]ed. Outclassed and near total defeat, Optimus Prime called his troops into retreat, and after the majority of Mini-Cons escaped [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] to parts unknown, {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 2|Armada #2}} the Autobots lost much of the planet to the Mini-Con-powered Decepticons. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 3|Armada #3}}

[[File:Hotshotfreecomicbookday.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Hot Shot, stop stealing Jolt's gun!]]
In the present day, both the Autobots and Decepticons received a signal of the Mini-Cons' activation on the planet [[Earth]]. Hot Shot and his colleagues [[Scavenger (Armada)|Scavenger]], [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]], and [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]] were led by Optimus Prime to the planet, {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 4|Armada #4}} where they met the Decepticons in battle. But this time, with the help of the estranged Mini-Cons, the Autobots regained the edge they'd lost against the Decepticons one million years prior. An uneasy alliance was formed, and Hot Shot was partnered with the Mini-Con [[Jolt (Armada)|Jolt]]. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 5|Armada #5}}

When their human friends [[Rad White|Rad]], [[Carlos Lopez|Carlos]], and [[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]] befriended a Mini-Con named [[Swindle (Armada)|Swindle]], they soon attracted the attention of the Decepticons, and Hot Shot and the other Autobots weren't far behind. With the arrival of Megatron, however, the Autobots were quickly defeated and restrained, and the children were shocked to learn that Swindle had been working with the Decepticons all this time! Swindle found himself conflicted, as he genuinely liked the human children, and so he eventually had a small change of heart. Grabbing Hot Shot's gun, he was able to disable the Autobots' restraints, and the Decepticons retreated... though with Swindle. {{storylink|Armada Free Comic Book Day}}

[[File:Hotshotdwissue6.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.66|Wait, Jolt attaches ''where?'']]
After their initial battles on Earth, Megatron was quick to capture the [[Air Defense Mini-Con Team (Armada)|Air Defense Mini-Con Team]] and forge them into the [[Star Saber (Armada)|Star Saber]]. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 6|Armada #6}} Optimus Prime led Hot Shot and Red Alert against the Decepticons again, despite being at a strategic disadvantage while the Mini-Cons were missing, a point Hot Shot belabored. Thankfully, the Autobot-allied Mini-Cons arrived just in time to Powerlinx with Hot Shot and the other Autobots, fend off Megatron, and rescue the Air Defense Mini-Cons from the Decepticon leader's clutches. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 7|Armada #7}}

[[File:Hotshotguido.jpg|thumb|"Well, let's go!"]]
Soon, a Mini-Con beacon tower was erected in [[Tranquility, Kansas|Tranquility]], [[Kansas]] drawing all Earth-bound Mini-Cons to it. Hot Shot and the rest of the Autobots again met the Decepticons in battle at the location when the tower's effect was discovered. However, they were too busy fighting to notice the beacon tower blasting off toward the Earth's [[Moon (moon)|moon]]. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 8|Armada #8}} Hot Shot and Red Alert secreted Optimus Prime into the Decepticon base for the use of their space bridge, so that the Autobot leader could ask for reinforcements from [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 9|Armada #9}} The Decepticons returned while the two were still waiting for Prime's return, forcing them to hide for a bit. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 10|Armada #10}}

After the Mini-Cons were evacuated from the Moon, five did not return home safely and sent a distress signal from northern Alaska. When the [[Adventure Mini-Con Team]] failed to retrieve them, Hot Shot and the other Autobots arrived in full force, though they were kept in check by Cyclonus, who was suffering from a Mini-Con overdose. Though they were successful, Optimus Prime disappeared before their eyes, {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 13|Armada #13}} and when Hot Shot returned to Autobase, he found [[Optimus Prime (G1)|another Optimus Prime]], dying, sent from a different timeline to warn of [[Unicron]]'s coming. {{storylink|Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4}} Learning of the "real" Optimus Prime's disappearance, Megatron and his Decepticons stormed Autobase, nearly killing Smokescreen and heavily injuring Hot Shot, Red Alert, and Scavenger. {{storylink|Worlds Collide, Part 2 of 4}}

Optimus Prime was returned to them and insisted on teaming up with the Decepticons to battle the arriving Unicron. Hot Shot excused himself from this alliance, as Smokescreen's critical condition due to the Decepticons' recent attack still weighed heavily in his mind. So when Megatron stole away during the battle with Unicron to strike a deal with the Dark God, Hot Shot, Scavenger, and Red Alert ambushed him, leaving him to die as Unicron was seemingly destroyed by the [[Mini-Con Matrix]]. {{storylink|The End}}
{{--}}

====''Energon'' comic====
[[File:Hotshotironhidedw.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.66|Sorry, Hot Shot, you've been replaced.]]
Ten years later, at the beginning of the Energon Era, Hot Shot accompanied Optimus Prime, who was skeptical and restless about the new peacetime, on his visit with the High Council in Cyber City. Prime's demands for vigilance were denied, so Hot Shot later followed him to a special [[uplink platform]] that [[Over-Run (Armada)|Over-Run]] had directed them to. This trip was a first outing for the rookie Autobot [[Ironhide (Energon)|Ironhide]], who fawned over Hot Shot. Hot Shot met this with difficulty. Learning of the continued existence of [[Unicron]], {{storylink|This Evil Reborn}} Prime once again returned to the High Council, again accompanied by Hot Shot. But this time, Cyber City was attacked by [[Cheetor (Armada)|Cheetor]], [[Rhinox (Armada)|Rhinox]], [[Airazor (Armada)|Airazor]], and [[Terrorsaur (Armada)|Terrorsaur]], who were presumed dead during [[The Unicron Battles]], but in fact were transformed into [[Unicron's Four Horsemen]]. {{storylink|What Lies Beneath}} The Four Horsemen overwhelmed Hot Shot and the other Autobots, and they were saved from destruction only by the timely arrival of the [[Omnicon]]s. Hot Shot, Optimus Prime, and the others were granted the [[Spark of Combination]] by [[Alpha Trion (Energon)|Sig-Omega]], and thanks partly to the combined powerlinked form of Hot Shot and [[Inferno (Energon)|Inferno]], the Horsemen were deterred. {{storylink|What Lies Beneath, Part Two}}

Hot Shot, along with Inferno, Ironhide, and [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]], followed Prime to Earth after the Autobots received a distress signal. They regrettably arrived four hours later than the signal was sent, and Hot Shot boggled at how much damage could have been done in that time. Indeed, [[Scorponok (Energon)|Scorponok]] and his [[Terrorcon (Energon)|Terrorcons]] had caused massive devastation while chasing after a young boy named [[Kicker Jones|Kicker]] who could detect [[Energon]]. The Terrorcons outclassed the Autobots upon arrival, however, and left only when their Energon-mining gear was destroyed...but not without taking Kicker. {{storylink|What Lies Beneath, Part Three}} After the Autobots reunited with [[Carlos Lopez|Carlos]], [[Rad White|Rad]], and [[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]], Hot Shot and the Omnicon [[Strongarm (Energon)|Strongarm]] were able to pursue the Terrorcons and deliver a special suit to Kicker that his father, [[Brian Jones|Dr. Brian Jones]], had made for him. With Kicker's help, the Terrorcons were defeated and returned to Unicron. {{storylink|What Lies Beneath, Part Four}}

Hot Shot, along with Optimus Prime and Inferno, attended a public meeting with the [[United Nations]] in [[New York City]] after the ratification of the [[Cybercord Treaty]]. {{storylink|Multiplicity}}

[[File:Hotshotomni-potent.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Wait, ''Hot Shot'' has wisdom?]]
After the Omnicons, while trying to tap into an underground Energon reserve, nearly destroyed [[Chicago]] by accident, Hot Shot was put in charge of the unruly 'bots and sent to [[Base Site One]] in [[Yukon|Yukon Territory]]. Immediately upon arrival, Strongarm crashed into the base site's intrathermal uplink assembly and subsurface transference grid, frustrating Ironhide. This was the final straw for Hot Shot. After telling them to get lost, he was darkly amused that this was the first order he'd given that they actually followed to the letter. An hour later, Hot Shot had a change of heart, and he and Kicker left to track them down. Their search abruptly ended when [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Snow Cat]] was dropped in their laps, defeated during the Omnicons' solo adventure. Eight days later, Hot Shot had returned to Optimus, who tasked him with protecting the Autobots' growing Energon-gathering installations on Earth. {{storylink|Omni-Potent}}

When Terrorcons orchestrated an attack on four major Earth cities, Hot Shot (leading a team consisting of [[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]], [[Rodimus (Energon)|Rodimus]], [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]], [[Beachcomber (Energon)|Beachcomber]], and [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Hoist]]) was sent to repel [[Divebomb (Energon)|Divebomb]] drones in [[Toronto]]. Badly outnumbered and confined, Rodimus suggested the group split up. Hot Shot agreed, sending him and Red Alert elsewhere. Hot Shot contacted Jetfire in [[Los Angeles]], telling him it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed and the battle was lost, but he interrupted his transmission to witness a spectacle above. {{storylink|Multiplicity, Pt. 3}} [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]] had arrived in a new body, and he was dramatically tearing through the Divebomb drones. After Megatron cleared away enough of the Terrorcons in Toronto to give Hot Shot's team a fighting chance, he moved on to the concurrent battle in [[Tokyo]]. {{storylink|Multiplicity, Pt. 4}}

===Cartoon continuity===
====''Armada'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Brent Miller]] (English), [[Kōsuke Okano]] (Japanese)|[[Alexandre Moreno]] (Portuguese), [[Martin Halm]] (German), [[Ola Norman]] (Swedish), [[Sepuh Apikian]] (Armenian), [[José Carabias]] (Spanish - Spain), [[Vesa Hämes]] (Finnish), [[Mirko Mazzanti]] (Italian), [[Romain Redler]] (French)}}
[[File:Past Part 1 Hot Shot flashback.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|I'll be back to save you, Wheeljack, right after 4:20.]]
An indeterminate number of years ago on Cybertron, Hot Shot was appointed the supervisor of a young Autobot named [[Wheeljack (Armada)|Wheeljack]]. Wheeljack strongly looked up to Hot Shot as a potential mentor and as a friend, but after a blazing battle, Wheeljack was incapacitated under some debris. Hot Shot left him behind as the flames closed in, promising to get help. However, when Hot Shot reached the other Autobots, his [[Sentinel Minor|commander]] would not let him endanger his own life by returning to help his friend. Hot Shot ignored this order, running back into the battle to find Wheeljack, but he was overwhelmed by the heat and passed out. Instead, Wheeljack was rescued by [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]]. Thinking he had been abandoned by Hot Shot, Wheeljack swore vengeance against him and the Autobots. {{storylink|Past}} {{storylink|Past II}}

[[File:Metamorphosis Hot Shot Red Alert arrive.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Wave 1 all accounted for, sir!]]
When [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] received a distress signal from the long-lost [[Mini-Con]]s, Hot Shot was one of two soldiers he brought with him to investigate the planet it originated from: Earth. Before they went through the warp gate, Hot Shot caught a glance of another Autobot, [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]], making a run for the portal behind them. {{storylink|Prehistory}} When they arrived, Hot Shot was quick to block [[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Starscream]] from attacking some human children who had stumbled upon the [[Street Action Mini-Con Team]], and before long, the Decepticons warped away. Hot Shot suggested that the Decepticons' base must be within sight if they were able to use short-warp teleportation; [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] correctly assumed this base was on Earth's [[Moon (moon)|moon]]. Hot Shot and the other two Autobots returned when the humans and the Mini-Cons once again found themselves under attack from the Decepticons. {{storylink|Metamorphosis (Armada)|Metamorphosis}} Hot Shot and Red Alert used their bodies to shield the human kids from the Decepticons' firepower. During the battle, Hot Shot and Red Alert recovered two [[Mini-Con storage panel]]s, and [[Jolt (Armada)|Jolt]] was one of two Mini-Cons who materialized when the panels were activated. Hot Shot partnered with this Mini-Con, and together with Red Alert and Mini-Con [[Longarm (Armada)|Longarm]], their combined firepower was able to drive the Decepticons away. The Autobots then returned to their Earth base with the human children and the Mini-Cons, and the nature of their war over the Mini-Cons was explained. Hot Shot and the other Autobots also learned the Earth custom of fist-bumping to signify friendship. {{storylink|Base}}

[[File:Soldier Hot Shot axelzooka.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|This is exactly why his shoulders hurt.]]
Immediately thereafter, the Autobots' computer systems warned them of a detected Mini-Con, and so Hot Shot and the others made plans to travel to [[Grand Canyon|Big Canyon]] to find it. In their rush, [[Rad White]] was left behind, but [[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]] and Hot Shot returned soon enough to pick him up. Alexis apologized, for Hot Shot's sleek power excited her so much that she'd forgotten about Rad. As they left for the Big Canyon once again, Hot Shot's driving was extremely rough, yet despite the children's complaints, he increased his speed—so much so that upon arrival, Hot Shot nearly drove into the canyon itself. After Hot Shot followed [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] into the canyon, [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] warped into the area and attacked him. Ultimately, the Autobots won, and everyone returned to base after having retrieved the Mini-Con [[Sparkplug (Armada)|Sparkplug]]. {{storylink|Comrade}}

The hotheaded Hot Shot often found himself at odds with Red Alert, including one incident when he was playing tag with the three children instead of doing work. He resented being chastised by the Autobot medic, who didn't even have a personality, as far as he was concerned. Soon after this, the Autobots, Mini-Cons, and the human children ventured to [[Antarctica]] to uncover another Mini-Con, and Hot Shot was paired with [[Carlos Lopez]]. When the two came across the Decepticons, Hot Shot continued to battle them despite having Carlos inside him. Finally, he ejected Carlos over a gorge, leaving Jolt to catch him. Hot Shot soon found himself outnumbered, and it took Red Alert's skills to rescue him from the grip of the Decepticons. Hot Shot learned some respect for Red Alert that day, even if he claimed to save Hot Shot not out of friendship, but merely because it was his job. {{storylink|Soldier (episode)|Soldier}}

[[File:Hotshotarmada.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|He grins because he's too stupid to be sad.]]
Hot Shot also accompanied the others on a Mini-Con rescue mission in a <s>jungle</s> forest, where he grew aggravated over the lack of driving space. When he got ready to cut down a few trees to make room, Rad told him off, explaining why trees were important to the Earth's environment. Though the Autobots failed to claim the Mini-Con during their clash with the Decepticons, they learned to respect the Earth's environment. {{storylink|Jungle}} Later, as the children wondered why the Mini-Con panel they'd uncovered in Antarctica hadn't opened yet, Hot Shot asked them to pass him a spanner too heavy for them to lift because he thought it would be funny. A bored Carlos and Rad then ran off with some Mini-Cons to a local carnival, where they got into trouble. Alexis, Hot Shot, and [[Sureshock (Armada)|Sureshock]] followed Laserbeak to the carnival, and after some mischief, Hot Shot was able to avert disaster. {{storylink|Carnival}} When the Autobots followed the Decepticons into the desert in pursuit of more Mini-Cons, Hot Shot was frustrated with his tires' incompatibility with the terrain. Unfortunately, he was unable to prevent [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] from acquiring the Mini-Con [[Bonecrusher (Armada)|Bonecrusher]] from within an ancient desert temple. He did save the children and Perceptor from being buried alive under the sandy expanse though. {{storylink|Palace}}

[[File:Underground merchandising.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|Hey, [[Ruined FOREVER|they're right]]! Hot Shot's car mode DOES look like a [[Playskool]] toy!]]
When the Decepticons held the children hostage in a ghost town, Hot Shot and the other Autobots grappled with them, reluctant to hand over their Mini-Cons to get the children returned unharmed. Eventually, after some close calls, Hot Shot was able to kick Rad out of Megatron's hand, the tide was turned, and things were restored to the status quo. {{storylink|Confrontation (episode)|Confrontation}} While working in the underground ruins of half of the crashed Mini-Con ship, Hot Shot was called by Optimus to join them in another Mini-Con search. The Mini-Con was deep within the subway system of a local city, and the Autobots' presence in vehicle mode caused some stir. Here they met up with another Autobot, [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]], though they lost the Mini-Con to the Decepticons. {{storylink|Underground (episode)|Underground}} Smokescreen joined Hot Shot and the others when they journeyed underwater to the lost city of [[Atlantis]], where, despite their efforts, they lost yet another Mini-Con to the Decepticons. Worse still, this one could combine with two others to form the mighty [[Star Saber (Armada)|Star Saber sword]]. {{storylink|Ruin}} Hot Shot and the Autobots detected another of the three Star Saber Mini-Cons on a volcanic island. Though he was pinned down in a stalemate with the Decepticons for most of his time there, Hot Shot was crucial to ensuring the children made it back to the Autobots' base alive; he saved them from being engulfed by lava when the volcano erupted. {{storylink|Prehistory}}

[[File:ArmadaSwoop Megahorns.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Megatron and his Decepticons soon attacked the Autobot base, hoping to steal the two Mini-Cons they needed to complete the Star Saber sword. While Optimus Prime hid the Mini-Con panels, Hot Shot confronted Megatron directly. Hot Shot was defeated by Megatron's prehensile antlers, which tossed him to the ground like a doll. During another skirmish with Megatron, the Mini-Con panels activated, and Megatron was able to grasp the powerful Star Saber sword! His victory was short-lived, as Optimus was able to knock it out of his hands and into Hot Shot's. With the Star Saber sword, Hot Shot was able to ward off the Decepticons and force them to retreat. {{storylink|Swoop (episode)|Swoop}}

[[File:Hotshotstarsaber.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|He loves his Star Saber sword. It's so bad.]]
Optimus assigned the three Star Saber Mini-Cons to Hot Shot. The Autobot was young, inexperienced, and hotheaded, so the great advantage the Star Saber granted him went straight to his ego. With the sword, he was nearly unbeatable on the battlefield, which enraged the Decepticons. Then an enigmatic Decepticon named [[Scavenger (Armada)|Scavenger]] appeared at a battle, mocking Hot Shot's skill. Hot Shot was angered when Scavenger told him that he was nothing without the sword, so he rushed the Decepticon, but was knocked aside. Hot Shot learned the hard way that power without skill is useless against an experienced opponent. {{storylink|Overmatch}} Scavenger confronted Hot Shot again on an unfinished stretch of a highway overpass, while a mysterious motorcycle observed. After exchanging a few blows, Scavenger left Hot Shot again, promising to prove his incompetence another day. The motorcycle introduced himself as the Autobot [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]], and Red Alert and Hot Shot wondered if they could truly trust this stranger. {{storylink|Gale}}

[[File:Overmatch Scavenger-HotShotbeatdown.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.66|And later, he gets [[:File:Credulous Hot Shot beatdown.jpg|curb-stomped]].]]
During another battle with the Decepticons for a Mini-Con, Sideways and Hot Shot were accidentally warped away with Megatron to their base on Earth's Moon. With Sideways's guidance, Hot Shot was able to fight his way through an army of holographic Autobots, only to have Megatron capture Sideways and demand the Star Saber sword in return. Hot Shot reluctantly relinquished it, but once Megatron released Sideways, Hot Shot called for its Mini-Con components to return to him. At this moment, Sideways betrayed Hot Shot, knocking the Star Saber sword away from him and towards Starscream. Helpless without his powerful weapon, Hot Shot was brutally beaten by the humiliated Decepticons and dropped back at the Autobots' base. {{storylink|Credulous}}

[[File:Arm19 crowningawesome.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]
Hot Shot was understandably in a dour mood following this fall from grace, so the kids made faces at him to cheer him up. Because this was Hot Shot, it worked. During the next battle, Hot Shot targeted the traitor, Sideways, and was once again bested by Scavenger. Hot Shot was surprised to discover later that Scavenger was actually an Autobot working undercover as a Decepticon. {{storylink|Conspiracy}} With Scavenger now with the Autobots again, he began personally training Hot Shot. Hot Shot wasn't entirely satisfied with his instructor though, as he napped on the job frequently. He nonetheless defended Scavenger when Smokescreen accused him of being a traitor after his disappearance during their next mission. Smokescreen lack of faith turned out to be unfounded; Scavenger was fighting smart with sneak tactics, and allowed the Autobots to acquire their first Mini-Con in a long time. Hot Shot happily continued to train under Scavenger... even if it meant exercising on his own most of the time, listening to Scavenger snore in the background. {{storylink|Trust (Armada)|Trust}} Hot Shot and Scavenger planned to stay behind at the base and train while Red Alert and Smokescreen took the kids on a camping trip. They were called into action when a flash flood put the kids' lives in danger. During the rescue, the Autobots were caught on camera by the local television news journalists, but footage of them was destroyed. {{storylink|Vacation}} When a new recruit, [[Blurr (Armada)|Blurr]], joined the team, Hot Shot at first had trouble getting along with him. However, after working together to retrieve a Mini-Con, they were able to make peace. {{storylink|Reinforcement}}

[[File:Conspiracy faces.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.85|Like all future Autobot leaders, Hot Shot is amused easily.]]
With both the [[Skyboom (Armada)|Skyboom]] shield and the Star Saber sword in his possession, Megatron issued a challenge to Optimus Prime and the other Autobots. When the two factions met on a stretch of rocky desert, Hot Shot was disappointed to discover that none of his firepower could penetrate Megatron's shield. His weapons useless against the Decepticon leader, Hot Shot joined Blurr in running interference during the battle between Megatron and Optimus. The tide was turned when the Skyboom shield fell into Autobot hands. {{storylink|Decisive Battle}} While Hot Shot and the Autobots gauged the extent of the shield's power and formulated strategies around its use, they disallowed their human friends from entering the base. This unfortunately didn't keep them out of harm's way, as Fred and Rad accidentally walked into a trap set by Megatron. Hot Shot and the bulk of the Autobots followed the kids through a series of Warp Gates, which left them scattered across the world. Worse yet, they couldn't reconvene while their communication system was being scrambled. When they finally managed to get their transmissions sorted out, Hot Shot rescued Optimus with the Skyboom Shield and forced Megatron to abandon several of his Mini-Cons into Autobot custody. {{storylink|Vow}}

[[File:Reinforcement-Fist pound at sunset.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]
While Hot Shot and the others were away, the kids traveled into a digital realm and met with an [[Unicron|evil force]]. The Autobots returned to base and safely extricated the kids before said force could do them any harm though. {{storylink|Chase (episode)|Chase}} Hot Shot grew overconfident as the Autobots' tactics led to some easy victories for their side. But an outing into a gully led the Autobots into a trap conceived by the Decepticons' new tactician, [[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]], proving the war could still swing either way. To the Decepticons' surprise, the Autobots had an incoming addition of their own, and Prime's second-in-command, [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]], arrived to saved Optimus from being slain by Megatron. {{storylink|Tactician}} However, Optimus Prime was badly damaged in the fight, so Jetfire took over as leader. Hot Shot didn't like this, as he thought Jetfire was nothing more than a braggart. Jetfire wound up flying into another one of Thrust's ambushes, prompting Hot Shot, Blurr, and Smokescreen to try and assist the airborne Autobot from a nearby island... only for them to wind up in a secondary ambush set up by the Decepticon tactician! Though the situation looked grim, Optimus Prime arrived, repaired, just in time to combine with Jetfire and save the day. {{storylink|Linkup}}

[[File:Detectionhotshot.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
After Hot Shot and the other Autobots sparred with one another at their base, their morale boosted by Jetfire's arrival, Hot Shot wondered openly about the nature of Sideways, and whether he was really in either faction at all. They left for yet another battle, {{storylink|Detection}} but this time, the Decepticons had a secret weapon: The gigantic warrior known as [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Tidal Wave]]. The Autobots barely held up against this latest arrival, though Hot Shot and Blurr managed to strike at his vulnerable underside. This only yielded a brief respite, as Tidal Wave simply transformed out of his ship mode and continued to rain down laser fire on the Autobots. {{storylink|Awakening (Armada)|Awakening}} Hot Shot attempted to block Tidal Wave's mighty blows with the Skyboom shield, though the Autobots were only able to stall the titan. Tidal Wave flew off to combine with Megatron so the two Decepticons could eliminate Optimus Prime, and the rest of the Autobots learned that Red Alert was warping in with Carlos, Rad, and [[Sky Blast (Armada)|Sky Blast]]: the first Mini-Con component of the mighty [[Requiem Blaster (Armada)|Requiem Blaster]]. Hot Shot took a blast to ensure the kids' and the Mini-Con's safety. This bought Sky Blast the time he needed to steel himself, and he called to the other two members of the [[Space Mini-Con Team]]. The trio combined, leading to an Autobot victory when the Requiem Blaster wound up in Optimus's possession. {{storylink|Desperate}}

[[File:Desperate Tidal Wave blocked.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Yes, punch my tiny shield!]]
When the kids ran off with the Mini-Cons, fearful that they would be used as objects by either faction, Hot Shot and the others had to hunt them down. To reassure the kids, Hot Shot decided that the Autobots would only work with the Mini-Cons as a team! Oh, and they wouldn't force the Mini-Cons to fight if they were opposed to it. That too. {{storylink|Runaway}}

[[File:Past Part 2 Wheeljack Hot Shot fight.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|"I won't fight you, I won't! Well, maybe just a little."]]
Wheeljack returned to Hot Shot's life, seeking revenge for abandoning him on the battlefield all those years ago. Unfortunately, Hot Shot was training a new Autobot recruit, [[Side Swipe (Armada)|Side Swipe]], when Wheeljack returned, and the young Autobot found himself caught up in Wheeljack's vendetta as well. {{storylink|Past}} When Wheeljack explained to Hot Shot that it was Megatron who'd rescued him and saved his life, Hot Shot couldn't believe it. Hot Shot refused to fight his former friend, yet Wheeljack Shot him, leaving him on the road. Side Swipe dragged Hot Shot's body back to base, where he was placed in intensive care, but Hot Shot's memories still haunted him. Events seemed to repeat themselves when Wheeljack confronted Hot Shot once again within an abandoned human facility. When Side Swipe showed up to help Hot Shot, the area was caught in flames, and Hot Shot was forced once again to save the young Autobot under his care. Wheeljack had chained up Side Swipe within the facility, and he told his captive not to expect rescue from Hot Shot. Regardless, Hot Shot threw himself through the fire and saved Side Swipe, despite the latter's pleas to keep away lest the place blow up with both of them inside. Wheeljack was deterred, but promised he'd be around later to revisit his ill will. {{storylink|Past II}}

[[File:Autobot_stealth_sacrifice.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]
When the Autobots were informed by a mysterious source to meet the Decepticons in battle within a forest, Hot Shot wondered why they didn't bring the Requiem Blaster with them. He was told to shut up, and soon the Decepticons arrived to fight them, as promised. Megatron noticed the absence of the Requiem Blaster and realized it was back at the Autobots' base, where Smokescreen was guarding it, alone. Hot Shot and the Autobots returned to their base too late to assist Smokescreen, who nearly died valiantly trying to protect the Mini-Cons. Despite his sacrifice, Megatron took the Requiem Blaster and retreated. {{storylink|Sacrifice}} Hot Shot was among the Autobots who watched Red Alert begin to repair Smokescreen. Hot Shot then took Side Swipe with him to investigate the appearance of Starscream on Earth, who had left the Decepticons with the Star Saber sword after an argument with Megatron. After a fight with Tidal Wave, Starscream returned with the Autobots to their base, despite Hot Shot's objections. He didn't trust Starscream and believed this was a trick, citing the treachery of Sideways. And worse, Starscream was partly to blame for Smokescreen's condition! Outside, Hot Shot picked a fight with Starscream as their Mini-Cons watched. Their battle, which lasted until dusk, was interrupted by a strange Transformer, whom Hot Shot yelled at for interrupting the avenging of his friend. The fight was stopped when Hot Shot realized this Transformer was Smokescreen, rebuilt in a new body. {{storylink|Regeneration (Armada)|Regeneration}}

[[File:Rescue Megatron vs Hot Shot.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|[[Gunbarrel (Armada)|Gunbarrel]] wants to know why mommy and daddy are fighting!]]
Using coordinates given by Starscream, the Autobots were able to warp themselves directly into the Decepticons' base. Hot Shot confronted Wheeljack again, telling the "creep" to get out of his way. With Starscream's help, the Autobots were able to locate where the Decepticons were keeping their captured Mini-Cons, and Hot Shot fought Megatron, giving the Mini-Cons a chance to escape. Starscream interfered, saving Hot Shot's life, and after the two teamed up against the Decepticon leader, they returned to the Autobot base with the liberated Mini-Cons. {{storylink|Rescue}} Hot Shot stayed home while Jetfire and Starscream journeyed to [[Mars (planet)|Mars]] to retrieve another Mini-Con. {{storylink|Mars (episode)|Mars}}

The Autobots then begun work on a spaceship. During construction, Hot Shot stepped in to break up an argument between Jetfire and Starscream over the Autobots' priorities. Starscream stormed off and Hot Shot turned to Optimus and explained that the Autobots were finding it increasingly difficult to work with the ex-Decepticon. Optimus insisted they continue to try their best to understand one-another.

[[File:Crack Hot Shot head.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1]]
The ship was in the final stages of construction when Billy and Fred reported that they had seen Starscream "chase off" Thrust after the Decepticon had asked him to steal the Skyboom Shield. As it turns out, [[Dirt Boss (Armada)|Dirt Boss]], [[Downshift (Armada)|Downshift]], and [[Mirage (Armada)|Mirage]] were nowhere to be found just then. Despite Hot Shot's attempt at defending him, accusations that Starscream had complied with Thrust's request were thrown around by the other Autobots. The conversation was cut short when the Decepticons attacked. Hot Shot drove out to meet them, coming across Rad, Alexis, Carlos, and the [[Race Mini-Con Team]] during the battle. Making a note to apologize to Starscream, Hot Shot brought the Skyboom Shield to Smokescreen, so he could in turn deliver it to Optimus. But Hot Shot's original suspicions were confirmed when Starscream had a change of heart in the midst of battle, and snatched away the Skyboom shield, bringing it and the Star Saber sword to Megatron. {{storylink|Crack (episode)|Crack}}

[[File:Crisis Hot Shot Matrix.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Awww, ''hell'' naw.]]
Thrown in emotional turmoil over Starscream's betrayal, Hot Shot blew off some steam at the Autobots' firing range before redoubling his efforts on the Autobots' ship; he was determined to go back on the offensive against the Decepticons, and the Autobots were no longer able to access the enemy's warp gate. Then, the Decepticons launched their own vessel, armed with the [[Hydra Cannon]]. Hot Shot, Side Swipe, Optimus, and Jetfire were left staring in awe as the Decepticons used their super-weapon to destroy a comet passing near the Earth. The Decepticons then turned the Hydra Cannon's sight towards the Earth. {{storylink|Threaten}} Hot Shot blamed everything on Starscream's betrayal and angrily accused Optimus Prime for letting Starscream join their team and beginning this series of events. This had some effect on the Autobot leader, as Optimus Prime later offered the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix of the Commander]] to Hot Shot. Hot Shot refused, saying he couldn't take such an important thing from Optimus. Optimus Prime put the Matrix back in his chest, warped into space, and blocked the Hydra Cannon's Earth-shattering shot with his own body. The Autobots' leader disintegrated before their eyes. {{storylink|Crisis (Armada)|Crisis}}

[[File:Remorse democracy.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Scavenger, you're fired.]]
The death of Optimus hit Hot Shot hard. After starting fights with the other Autobots, he left the team and ran out on his own, only to face Scavenger. Scavenger assaulted Hot Shot, revealing that the former Decepticon had joined Autobots because of him. As the two beat on each other, Side Swipe arrived with a small group of Mini-Cons, and they all pleaded for Hot Shot to stop fighting with everyone. Hot Shot realized he was being selfish, that he needed his teammates just as much as they needed him, and he promised to stop treating his friends as if they were enemies. The rest of the Autobots arrived, and they were pleased with Hot Shot's discovery. Jetfire nominated Hot Shot to lead the Autobots because it was what Optimus would have wanted. Scavenger went to hit Hot Shot one more time, but Hot Shot didn't flinch. Proving he was without fear, Hot Shot became leader of the Autobots. As a stipulation, Hot Shot stated that he would only be leader until they returned to Cybertron, and that they should put the Matrix of the Commander someplace safe, as he didn't feel he should carry it. {{storylink|Remorse}}

[[File:Puppet spontaneous recoloration.gif|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Hot Shot oversaw the completion of their starship, the [[Axalon (Armada)|''Axalon'']], and asked the Mini-Cons if they wanted to come or not. They unanimously decided to accompany the Autobots to Cybertron. He initially forbade the kids from coming, but the Mini-Cons convinced him to change his mind. {{storylink|Depart}} As the ''Axalon'' left Earth, Hot Shot said some final words in memory of Optimus Prime. Their starship caught up with the Decepticons', and soon there was a huge battle between the two factions. Hot Shot grappled with Megatron in space, but it was a one-sided battle. Hot Shot placed himself between Megatron's Requiem Blaster and the ''Axalon'', hoping to spare his friends, but then a miracle occurred. The Mini-Con Sparkplug was able to resurrect Optimus Prime from within the Matrix, and the formerly-deceased Autobot Leader reappeared in a blinding flash of green light. Optimus turned the tide, {{storylink|Miracle}} and he reintroduced himself to a very grateful Hot Shot and the rest of the crew. But before anything else could happen, Hot Shot and Red Alert were pulled through a strange hole to an alien landscape. Here they met a [[Nemesis Prime (Armada)|strange dark version of Optimus Prime]] who battled them. It was discovered that Megatron, Starscream, and Demolishor were on this strange planet, too, and despite their combined numbers, the Prime doppelgänger overwhelmed them. Several Mini-Cons then arrived and bathed the planet in a strange light. When the larger Transformers woke up, they were completely repaired, yet in [[spontaneous recoloration|strange new colors]]. Ultimately, their battle caused the planet itself to disintegrate, and both factions were forced to retreat. {{storylink|Puppet}}

[[File:Dash Hot Shot crouch.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Twenty episodes ago, he cooed like a baby if you made faces at him.]]
By the time the Autobots had repaired the ''Axalon'' and arrived over Cybertron, the Decepticons had managed to take over the planet. Hot Shot and Blurr fought through Decepticons foot soldiers on the planet's surface, while a black hole appeared in the sky. The Mini-Con continued to display their mysterious powers, and helped keep the black hole at bay. {{storylink|Uprising (Armada)|Uprising}} Knowing that [[Unicron]], the Chaos Bringer, was looming over their planet, Optimus attempted to strike an armistice with the Decepticons. But [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] (previously Megatron) would not listen to Optimus Prime's pleas. Hot Shot decided to take matters into his own hands and fought his way through the Decepticon base and countless Decepticon warriors to reach Galvatron and reason with him. If not for Wheeljack's intervention, he might not have survived. Wheeljack's hatred for Hot Shot seemed to have softened, and Hot Shot's former friend joined him in pleading to Galvatron to stop the war so that the two factions could unite against Unicron. Galvatron was unconvinced, but Thrust, a secret pawn of Unicron, panicked and ran away with the Requiem Blaster and the Skyboom shield. Hot Shot and Wheeljack took off after him. {{storylink|Dash (episode)|Dash}}

Hot Shot continued to hunt Thrust down, while the true nature of the Mini-Cons was revealed to Carlos, Alexis and Rad; they were created by Unicron long ago to subjugate the Cybertronian race. The children passed this information along to Hot Shot and Wheeljack. {{storylink|Drift (episode)|Drift}} Hot Shot and Wheeljack then aided Starscream against Sideways within the surprisingly organic-looking caverns of Cybertron. But when Unicron formed out of Cybertron's moon, the battle dissipated as each side readied for the final battle. {{storylink|Portent}} Despite Hot Shot's intentions to convince Galvatron himself, the Decepticon leader did not change his mind until Starscream sacrificed himself to Unicron. {{storylink|Cramp}} After a formal alliance between Autobots and Decepticons was formed, Hot Shot was part of a unified team sent to Unicron's surface. However, once the team arrived, the Decepticons abandoned Hot Shot and the other Autobots. Later, Demolishor made up for this by begrudgingly catching Side Swipe before could fall to his doom. In return, Hot Shot had found Demolishor's Mini-Con partner, [[Blackout (Armada)|Blackout]]. They agreed to work together from then on. Their mission was nonetheless botched, and the scouting party had to be rescued by Jet Prime and Galvatron. {{storylink|Alliance}} Optimus Prime and Megatron traveled together to the core of Unicron, leaving both armies under the command of Hot Shot. {{storylink|Union}} No matter how much damage Hot Shot's teams inflicted on Unicron, Unicron could repair himself. Their massive opponent was fed by the negative energies of the battle. Ordering a cease fire, Unicron stood motionless, seemingly defeated. {{storylink|Origin}}

[[File:Mortal Combat Hot Shot Jetfire.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|When we come back, we'll be terrible cel-shaded CGI!]]
Hot Shot told both armies to begin stay at the ready while he went to Unicron to find Optimus, but Jetfire demanded he go instead. Inside, after a fight between Optimus Prime and Megatron, Megatron sacrificed himself to Unicron so that their negative energies would not revive him. But Optimus Prime felt he had failed as Autobot Leader, and with the end of the conflict between the two factions, he exiled himself to parts unknown. After dropping the kids back on Earth via a space-bridge, and a heartfelt goodbye, Hot Shot and [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]] were left in charge of Cybertron's reconstruction. {{storylink|Mortal Combat}}

{{-}}
=====Alternate timeline=====
[[File:Driftepisode.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]
In a timeline where the Cybertronians' conflict never left their home planet, the Mini-Cons' influence on the Autobots and Decepticons subjugated the larger robots. Hot Shot was left entangled in a semi-organic growth spawned from Unicron's cells, where he could do little more than bemoan his fate. Carlos, Alexis, and Rad appeared before him, visitors from another time, and told Hot Shot of their encounter on [[Earth]]. This version of Hot Shot had never experienced these events, and impotently told the children to save themselves before fully succumbing to Unicron's power and shutting down. {{storylink|Drift (episode)|Drift}}

====''Transformers Legends'' anthology====
As the Decepticons unleashed the might of the Hydra Cannon towards the Earth, Hot Shot turned to Optimus Prime for reassurance, only to find that his leader had left his side while he wasn't looking. Optimus had gone to Earth's orbit to meet the weapon's energies with those of his Matrix, and though this act destroyed Optimus, Hot Shot witnessed him return to life while he was being attacked by Megatron amidst a field of asteroids. {{storylink|Prime Spark (story)|Prime Spark}}

====''Energon'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Brent Miller]] (English), [[Kōsuke Toriumi]] (Japanese)|[[Ola Norman]] (Swedish), [[José Carabias]] (Spanish - Spain), [[Vesa Hämes]] (Finnish),[[Mirko Mazzanti]] (Italian)}}
{{noteslonly}}
[[File:E1 titlecard.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.66|Hot Shot always forgets he's not supposed to shoot at the humans.]]
Ten years on, Hot Shot was stationed on Earth as the commander of [[Ocean City]] while Optimus Prime trained new soldiers on Cybertron. He faced administrative challenges such as [[Demolishor (Armada)|surly former adversaries]] and teenaged angst from the resident teenaged angster, [[Kicker Jones]]. Hot Shot had proved himself up to the task of being "city commander," and was seen with fanboy-like adoration by younger Autobots such as [[Ironhide (Energon)|Ironhide]]. Ironhide in particular wished he could advance further in rank just so he could combine with Hot Shot.

Kicker seemed to have a certain clairvoyance when it came to trouble (and [[Energon]]!), though Hot Shot would often dismiss Kicker's warnings. But one day, like most days, Kicker was right. Mysterious bestial Transformers, the [[Terrorcon (Energon)|Terrorcons]], suddenly attacked Ocean City, forcing Hot Shot, Kicker, Ironhide, and the others to go on the defensive. When Optimus Prime arrived, Hot Shot and Inferno were granted the [[Spark of Combination]], which allowed the two to combine into a single super robot. With everyone working together, the last of that batch of Terrorcons were defeated. {{storylink|Cybertron City (episode)|Cybertron City}}

[[File:Misha HotShot.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]
When [[Mars City]] on Mars was destroyed by more Terrorcons, Hot Shot was among those assembled to hear the news. The Terrorcons' next target was Earth's [[Moon (moon)|moon]], so after Ocean City was raised and the [[Omnicon]]s transferred refined Energon stars to his team, Hot Shot used the [[space bridge]] to warp there. But despite their efforts, the Terrorcons were able to flee with much stolen Energon. {{storylink|Energon Stars}} Later, Hot Shot headed up a strikeforce to [[Desert City]] to fortify it against possible Terrorcon assault. While there he talked with super-scientist [[Misha Miramond]] and filled her ear with what a dork her not-my-boyfriend (Kicker) was back at Ocean City. When Terrorcons invaded the city, Hot Shot and his troops performed a holding action at the entrance to the Energon Mine, but their position was overrun, and Hot Shot was the only survivor. Though battered, Hot Shot commended [[Ironhide (Energon)|Ironhide]]'s decision to leave him behind and rescue the humans, resulting in the other Autobot being awarded his own Combination Spark. Finally, Ironhide could combine with Hot Shot, just as he'd always wanted! {{storylink|Scorpinok (episode)|Scorpinok}}

As part of [[Prime Squad]], Hot Shot prepared to travel to Mars before the mission was canceled, and instead took part in the defense of [[Plains City]], again tasked with securing the Energon supply. He was the first to feel the wrath of [[Scorponok (Energon)|Scorponok]]'s [[Energon Sword|Megatron Sword]], and later battled [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] while attempting to shore up [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]]'s flagging confidence in the Autobot cause. {{storylink|Megatron's Sword}} Hot Shot also led a recon team searching for an Energon point in the mountains, the future location of [[Blizzard City]]. He ordered Ironhide and Demolishor to team up for their mutual benefit. While trying to rescue Kicker, after the boy fell in a ravine, Hot Shot was buried in an avalanche by Cyclonus. He evacuated his team before they could be crushed by the emergency deployment of a new [[Cybertron City (city)|Cybertron City]] via [[space bridge]]. {{storylink|The New Cybertron City}}

[[File:E07 hotshotarm.jpg|thumb|right|Ironhide kept it as a souvenir for his [[User:ItsWalky|Hot Shot shrine]].]]
Hot Shot and his crew were still at Plains City when the newly resurrected [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]] attacked. He was defeated in battle by Megatron and 'dis-armed' as an object lesson to Optimus. {{storylink|Megatron Resurrected}} Optimus retreated to Ocean City with the injured Hot Shot and left the Plains City Energon supply to the Decepticons. Hot Shot's injury awakened a protective streak in Optimus Prime, who briefly forbade Kicker from accompanying the Autobots on missions. At Ocean City Hot Shot underwent medical treatment, submerged in liquefied Energon while his damaged exostructure re-grew. When the base was breached, Hot Shot broke out of his medical unit to defend Inferno from Terrorcons and, armed with a clone of the Megatron Sword, he helped kick the visiting Decepticons back out. {{storylink|Megatron Raid}}

[[File:Energon Tower groupshot.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|Why even take multiple screencaps? He always looks the same.]]
Hot Shot organized a covert surveillance of Optimus Prime while he was targeted by a [[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Mysterious Mercenary]]. Unfortunately, his large shoulder armor made it impossible to hide behind objects and Optimus discovered him. When Optimus fought Starscream on the [[Moon (moon)|moon]], Hot Shot placed Inferno in temporary command of Ocean City so he could bring a supply of Energon Stars to [[Lunar City]]. {{storylink|Starscream the Mysterious Mercenary}} When the Autobots encountered the [[Decepticon mobile fortress]] near [[Asteroid City]], Hot Shot panicked, momentarily believing it was Unicron himself, and fired blindly and ineffectually into it using a hand weapon. After he regained his composure, he battled Scorponok in zero-gravity, until Megatron detonated an Energon-riddled asteroid to cover his escape. {{storylink|Battle of the Asteroid Belt}} During the construction of an [[energon tower]] that would help protect their cities from attack, the Terrorcons chose the moment to strike. After Inferno combined with Hot Shot to form Powerlinx Inferno, the tower was finally activated and the Terrorcons fled. {{storylink|Energon Tower (episode)|Energon Tower}}

[[File:Energon-Hot-Shot-Facepalm.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Hot Shot wandered over when he heard Ironhide telling Kicker to 'lose the attitude', but was unable to wholly endorse Ironhide's statement that Kicker should automatically look up to [[Brian Jones|his father]]. Instead he gently suggested that Kicker might want to seek a ''different'' hero to look up to, and told Ironhide that he'd looked up to [[Rodimus (Energon)|Rodimus]] since he was a young Autobot. {{storylink|The Legend of Rodimus}} Hot Shot later supervised the project to construct the second energon tower at [[Jungle City]]. Ironhide was placed in co-command when the larger Autobot contingent arrived for the final stage, and when the city was attacked and put to siege they split duties, with Hot Shot taking Aerial defense. As the siege wore on, Hot Shot had to be the one to confront Optimus Prime and force him to admit that this battle was unwinnable. They destroyed Jungle City rather than letting it fall to the Decepticons. {{storylink|Crisis in Jungle City}}

[[File:Energon-HotShot-Hand-Drawn.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Eeeyeaagh!]]
While searching for trace amounts of energon on the moon, Kicker was assaulted by Terrorcons. Optimus summoned Hot Shot and the other Autobots from Ocean City to defend against the Decepticon attack that followed. They drove off the Decepticons once Lunar City was reactivated, and an energon tower sent from Cybertron expelled a shockwave that drove off the enemy. {{storylink|Kicker Beware!}} When Earth was threatened by artificial cometary impacts, he was part of the orbital team sent to intercept them as they approached Earth's atmosphere. Forced to wait as other teams tried to slow the comets, Hot Shot occupied himself by aggravating [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]], who eventually just told him to be quiet. He, Jetfire and Optimus Prime supercharged themselves with Energon to push against the comets, delaying their approach long enough for the [[energon grid]] to come online. {{storylink|Energon Grid (episode)|Energon Grid}}

On Earth, Hot Shot was shocked when [[Rodimus (Energon)|Rodimus]], a transformer he idolized in his youth, broke in on a communication with [[Carlos Lopez|Carlos]] and demanded a secret meeting. He traveled to [[Mars (planet)|Mars]], where he discovered Scorponok had reactivated the destroyed Energon mines. Rodimus appeared to head off a fight between the two of them. He attempted to recruit Hot Shot as a double agent for the secret agenda that he, Scorponok and [[Alpha Quintesson|Alpha Q]] shared—the revival of Unicron! Hot Shot refused to betray Optimus Prime, and pulled a gun on Rodimus... but he was unable to fire on his one-time idol. Rodimus had no such compunctions, and he shot Hot Shot, but Kicker and Ironhide intervened to save him. {{storylink|Rodimus Friend or Foe?}}

Hot Shot attended the launch of the ''[[Miranda II]]'' Autobot-human spacecraft. He joined the crew and was part of a space battle in the [[Asteroid belt]] to defend the [[Energon Ring]] before their journey could begin. {{storylink|Go for Unicron!}} The ''Miranda II'''s crew was next led into a misadventure on a frozen planet, where their ship wound up temporarily trapped between two glaciers. Hot Shot stayed behind to help free the vessel, while a team helmed by Kicker scouted the landscape for energon. The Autobots came under fire from both Decepticons and [[Cruellock|a new breed of Terrorcons]]. Though they were forced to flee, leaving behind the energon in enemy hands, all crew-members made it safely off-planet. {{storylink|The Return of Demolishor}}

The ''Miranda II'' then crossed paths with Rodimus. Before Rodimus boarded their ship, Hot Shot warned Optimus that Rodimus was in cahoots with Unicron. Optimus doubted him at first, but Rodimus confirmed Hot Shot's accusation, though he elaborated that Unicron was merely a tool that could be used for good or evil. Optimus was nonetheless unwilling to allow the planet to reawaken, and his crew parted ways with Rodimus's. To uncover more about their enigmatic ally, Ironhide decided to stow away on Rodimus's ship. Hot Shot noticed Ironhide's absence, and though he recognized that he would have done the same thing at Ironhide's age, still felt it was his duty to report his discovery to Optimus. The Autobots then made their way to Unicron's body, and drove off the Decepticons' first line of defense. {{storylink|A Tale of Two Heros}} Hot Shot was at the weapons controls of the ''Miranda II'' as they prepared for the first attack run on Unicron. As the ship flew through the belly of Unicron, Megatron sent ever-shifting panels and blocks to crush it from all directions. Having successfully gotten the enemy's attention, the ''Miranda II'' shot out towards a Space Bridge, luring Unicron into the vicinity of Cybertron, where a massive allotment of energon towers exploded in firepower against the Chaos-Bringer. Megatron was forced into utter retreat, and the first battle against Unicron was a victory. {{storylink|Battle Stations}}

[[File:Tale of Heros Optimus Rodimus.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4]]
Unfortunately, this also sent a clear signal to the Decepticons that the war had begun anew. Uprisings began on Cybertron, as Hot Shot and Inferno recognized the rebels were heading towards the special prison holding [[Shockblast]], an absolutely insane and extremely powerful Decepticon who was forced into imprisonment after the war instead of gaining amnesty like so many others. Powerlinx Inferno and Optimus Prime raced to the detention block to prevent the dangerous warrior's escape. {{storylink|Alpha Q: Identity}} Unfortunately, Shockblast escaped right out of their grasp, using one of his guards as a living shield to make a getaway, then cutting him down the moment he was no longer useful. The fight raged outside, as Hot Shot and the others fought to defend Cybertron's energon towers against Shockblast and his new Decepticon allies. The Decepticons escaped, though the Autobots received good news in their fight's aftermath: Kicker had returned! The boy had managed to make allies with Alpha Q, and Hot Shot traveled with Optimus to Unicron's head, where they met the alien for the first time in person. {{storylink|Shockblast: Rampage}}

When Unicron became too starved of Energon for Alpha Q to maintain control of him, Hot Shot was assigned to protect Misha from the planet's reflexive lashing out. Once the Omnicons fed Energon Stars directly into Unicron's core, Unicron ceased his attack. {{storylink|Survival Instincts}} Later he fought alongside the other Autobots in defense of Cybertron's energon towers in an attack led by Shockblast. {{storylink|Each One Fights...}} Unfortunately, several towers were destroyed, weakening Cybertron's defenses enough that a swarm of Terrorcons were able to infiltrate Primus's chamber. To flush them out, Optimus rerouted Energon into the towers that still stood, causing a powerful wave of energy to emanate from them. Hot Shot was almost caught in the deadly wave himself, but was tackled to safety by Rodimus. Hot Shot came to regret the quick judgment he had displayed in his initial encounter with Rodimus, and in the Autobots' retaliatory strike against Unicron, powerlinked with the other Autobot for the first time. {{storylink|Unicron Unleashed}} The Autobots blasted their way through Terrorcon troops and the remainder of the Decepticoin military in their trek to Megatron's throne room. As they neared their destination, Optimus was ambushed and dismembered by Shockblast. Optimus ordered his troops to leave him behind and Rodimus, then combined with Hot Shot, took command of the squad. {{storylink|Open Fire!}} Before the Autobots could surround him, Megatron used his power over Unicron to escape his throne room. Optimus, now combined with Wing Saber, then rejoined the other Autobots. Rodimus separated from Hot Shot so they could both salute him. Optimus sent Hot Shot, Landmine and Prowl out into space ''to ensure Alpha Q's escape while another team would continue pursuing Megatron. But Alpha Q's positively charged portion of Unicron met with Megatron's negatively charged portion, creating a tear in the fabric of space.'' Landmine and the Autobots attempted to avoid its pull, but the rift was too strong. Landmine was struck by debris and carried into the rift. Hot Shot and Prowl combined then went after him. {{storylink|Ripped Up Space}} The trio were trapped in the debris field near Unicron on the other side of the void until they spotted Rodimus's banner, and followed it to clear space. Hot Shot rejoined the Autobot team on Iron Planet, and helped rescue Inferno from being tortured by Megatron. {{storylink|Imprisoned Inferno}}

[[File:Carsinspace.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left]]
The Autobots began looking for Unicron's whereabouts in the void of space, only to be called back to Jungle Planet when the Decepticons found the Autobots' temporary base of operations there. The Autobots were kept from going down to the planet's surface by the Decepticons until the arrival of [[Bulkhead (Energon)|Bulkhead]], [[Downshift (Energon)|Downshift]], and [[Cliffjumper (Energon)|Cliffjumper]] tipped the odds in their favor. {{storylink|Jungle Planet (episode)|Jungle Planet}} Hot Shot and a crew of Autobots made their way back towards Cybertron in order to get the [[energon tower]]s necessary to defend the energon-rich planets beyond the rift. They were attacked en route by a squadron of [[Divebomb (Energon)|Divebombs]], but Downshift and Hot Shot broke off from the others and made their way through the rift. Thanks to the power of teamwork, they were able to destroy the Terrorcons who pursued them, and transformed to speed off to Cybertron as fast as their wheels could carry them while spinning in the void of space. Uh. After securing an energon tower from Doctor Jones, they returned to Jungle Planet and activated the tower, driving off the Decepticon invaders. {{storylink|Bulkhead (episode)|Bulkhead}}

Downshift and Hot Shot continued to oversee the arrival of more energon towers for [[Alpha Quintesson|Alpha Q]]'s planets, including the replacement tower called in for [[Ocean Planet]] as the original was destroyed by [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Mirage]]. They powerlinked in order to hold off the Insecticons attacking the tower, ultimately succeeding in bringing it online. {{storylink|Farewell Inferno}} ''When [[Planet Q]] was rebuilt by Alpha Q outside the Autobots' energon grid, they were forced to defend it without the aid of an energon tower; they had already used the last one in their reserve. By the time Hot Shot and the others made it to Planet Q, Scorponok had already begun to ransack the world of its energon. Hot Shot and Downshift joined forces again to protect the resurrected world from Megatron's forces. When Kicker and Ironhide got in over their heads in a bout against Scorponok, Optimus sent both Hot Shot and Downshift off to aid them. But when they joined Kicker on the battlefront, he sent the two Autobots to deal with Terrorcons instead, while he assisted Ironhide on his own. {{storylink|Return! Our Scorponok}}''

[[File:E33 titlecard.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4]]
Hot Shot snuck Sally through a space bridge so she could help emcee the first ever [[Autobot Grand Prix]]. Kicker was worried over this development, but Hot Shot assured him that the Autobots were in the process of setting up another energon grid to assure everyone's safety. Hot Shot entered himself and Ironhide in the race, taking place on [[Circuit Planet|a planet]] entirely covered in roads. Hot Shot begun in the lead, though Ironhide eventually managed to catch up to him. As the both of them neared the finish line, Optimus came onto the road and declared himself to be the racers' last "obstacle..." before shooting at them! Ironhide grappled with Optimus, allowing Hot Shot to continue forward. But Hot Shot became distracted when Arcee and Misha zoomed in on the scene, enabling the ladies to take first place! Once the race was over, Kicker had Hot Shot take his sister back home safely. {{storylink|Crash Course}}

After Wing Saber located Unicron's body, Hot Shot and the Autobots staged an assault on the Planet-Eater, but were unable to keep Megatron from making Unicron fully operational again. Finding themselves surrounded by the enemy, the Autobots were rescued by the timely arrival of first [[Omega Supreme (Energon)|Omega Supreme]], and then Roadblock (Inferno reborn) with fleet of energon towers in tow. The towers were sent down to impale Unicron, but had no effect on the now-mobile titan. {{storylink|Omega Supreme (episode)|Omega Supreme}} Hot Shot and the Autobots attempted to gain access to Unicron's interior to strike back from the inside. They were driven off when Unicron plowed into the planetary energon grid, though, and were unable to prevent Unicron from reclaiming his head from Alpha Q's [[Energon Orb]]. {{storylink|A Heroic Battle}} Though Unicron was now whole, he was still dormant, and Hot Shot led a party to try and attack Megatron while Optimus Supreme and Rodimus did the same through a different path. They failed to reach their objective before Unicron regained consciousness, and took control of Megatron's mind. {{storylink|The Power of Unicron}}

[[File:Energon-Autobot-Redecos.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.66|Yes, everyone follow Hot Shot. He'll know what to do.]]
Hot Shot tried to stop Unicron before he unleashed his power and obliterated Blizzard Planet, to no avail. He was left badly damaged, and had to be brought the the Autobots' infirmary. After being repaired, Hot Shot joined Optimus Supreme in fighting Unicron before he could reach another world, but fared little better in this venture. Circuit Planet was the next sphere to fall. Then, the power of Primus reached the Autobots, repairing Hot Shot and reformatting him in a slick new body, while growing Optimus Supreme to gargantuan proportions so he could fight Unicorn on an even playing field. {{storylink|Optimus Supreme}} Hot Shot and the others maintained strafing assaults against Unicron as Optimus Supreme grappled with him directly and Kicker assembled the energon towers for a powerful strike. With the towers, the power of Primus, and the teamwork of the Optimus Supreme combination, Unicron's body was finally destroyed. {{storylink|Unicron Perishes}} Optimus suffered serious injuries after overtaxing his capabilities in battle, and so Hot Shot and the others watched over him in stasis on [[Ocean Planet]]. When Megatron resurfaced on Cybertron, however, Hot Shot joined the Autobots on the ''Miranda II'' in returning to Cybertron. {{storylink|Ambition}} There, they battled the newly-enhanced Galvatron until clouds of Autobot-killing energon gas were released into the atmosphere, driving Hot Shot and his comrades to retreat. {{storylink|Wishes}}

[[File:E39 titlecard.jpg|right|upright=1.4|thumb]]
The ''Miranda II'' moved to the upper atmosphere, where the Autobots prepared to drop Kicker and the [[Omnicon]]s (who were immune to the energon gas flooding the planet) down to the world below. While the Autobots were being briefed on their plan, Hot Shot tried to have Superion Maximus open up a bit more, but the ancient Autobot was too socially awkward to mingle. Then, Galvatron and the Decepticons attacked, and Hot Shot fought to delay them long enough for [[Cliffjumper (Energon)|Cliffjumper]] to get the ''Miranda II'' into position for the drop. {{storylink|Galvatron!}} When Kicker and the Omnicons opened a gap in the cloud layer of the energon gas, Hot Shot descended to the planet below with Optimus Prime's team. They met up with a small band of Autobot soldiers and fled underground to avoid the full effects of the gas. {{storylink|Break Through}}

At some point, in an Autobot combat training simulation, Hot Shot and Rodimus joined forces to fight their way through a tournament of champions. They defeated [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Tidal Wave]] and [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Mirage]] in the first round, proceeded to win against Optimus Prime and [[Wing Saber (Energon)|Wing Saber]] in the second, and even beat [[Six Shot]] and [[Shockblast]] in the third despite the Decepticons' cheating. In the final round, however, Rodimus and Hot Shot faced off against ''another'' Optimus Prime, teamed with Omega Supreme. The Optimus Supreme combination was ready to obliterate the competition... until they were called on a technicality: they had stepped outside the ring during their combination sequence! Rodimus and Hot Shot won by default. As the [[Nekomimi A and Nekomimi B|catgirl robomaid emcees]] handed them their trophies, they announced a final competitor: a downsized Unicron! Rodimus and Hot Shot grappled with the teeny-tiny Planet-Eater and finally won the game. {{storylink|Distribution}}

[[File:Energon-Train-Attack.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb]]
After meeting up with some reinforcements, Optimus Prime assigned Hot Shot to work with Kicker, Omega Supreme, and Arcee in penetrating the Decepticon defenses around Central City. Their goal was to find Kicker's family, and retake control of both the command center and the energon towers. The team hitched a ride on Omega Supreme's train mode to head straight into the heart of the city. {{storylink|The Omega Train}} When Kicker had Hot Shot contact Optimus to see if they could rendezvous together, only for the request to be turned down, they surmised the Autobot leader was in trouble. Omega Supreme left the group to aid their commander, while Hot Shot and the others continued with their assigned mission, eventually coming upon Kicker's sister and mother. Sally and Miranda were scared, but otherwise safe and glad to be reunited with Kicker. {{storylink|Decepticon Army}} Hot Shot carried Sally and Miranda to Primus's chamber within the safety of his vehicle mode. There, they were reunited with Dr. Jones, and managed to awaken the deity from his slumber with an energon infusion. {{storylink|Ironhide Team}} Hot Shot remained in Primus's chamber to guard the humans while the other Autobots stopped Cybertron from slamming into Plains Planet by shutting down a crude planetary propulsion system engineered by Six Shot. {{storylink|Formidable}}

Sally managed to slip away from Hot Shot and squeezed her way into a passage too small for him to follow into. He was suitably impressed when she captured the control room the Decepticons had been using all by herself, and allowed for the Autobots to retake control of the building by disabling the security that had previously kept them out. {{storylink|Galvatron Terror}} Hot Shot later watched in horror as Galvatron grew to enormous size using Super Energon, and led Cliffjumper and Downshift onto the battlefield. He powerlinxed with Downshift to try and rescue Optimus from Galvatron, but they were engaged by Starscream and the rest of the Decepticon flunkies instead. {{storylink|Destructive Power}} The battle between the Optimus and Galvatron moved beyond the point where Hot Shot could impact it, as the Autobot leader channeled Unicron's essence and grew to match Galvatron's stature. Hot Shot moved out of the sidelines only after Optimus managed to counteract Unicron's essence in himself and Galvatron, shrinking down both combatants to their normal sizes. Optimus had exhausted himself doing so, and Hot Shot attended to him while Galvatron sought out the last sliver of Unicron's essence still living in the void. {{storylink|Spark (episode)|Spark}}

Prime could not overcome Unicron on his own, and needed the Combination Sparks of all his fellow Autobots to face the final conflict. Rodimus led the Autobots in stepping forward to give up their individuality for the greater good of the team. Hot Shot's body was converted into pure energy as he became one with his spark, so that it could in turn become one with all the other Combination Sparks, revitalizing Optimus. Filled with the strength of all his men, Optimus united with Omega Supreme in the ultimate Powerlinx, grappling with Galvatron until the Decepticon leader shrugged off Unicron's influence and plunged into the sun. Hot Shot and the other Autobots then separated, and were restored to their individual forms. {{storylink|The Sun}}

====''Cybertron'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Kirby Morrow]] (English), [[Daisuke Hirakawa]] (Japanese)|[[Ola Norman]] (Swedish), [[Vesa Hämes]] (Finnish), [[Mirko Mazzanti]] (Italian)}}
[[File:Hotshotcybertron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|He knows kung-fu.]]
When a black hole created by Unicron's demise threatened [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], Optimus Prime organized an evacuation of the planet. Among his chosen soldiers to help him in this effort was Hot Shot, who jumped at the opportunity to adopt a new Earth-based alternate mode. After all, the scan [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]] had provided of a sports car was "so him." When the Decepticons attacked to interfere with the Autobots' exodus to Earth, Hot Shot battled [[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Starscream]]. He was unable to stop the Decepticons from stealing the map to the [[Cyber Planet Key]]s, artifacts the elder Cybertronian [[Vector Prime]] had assured them was necessary to save their planet. En route to Earth, Vector Prime explained to the Autobots that the black hole, if left unchecked, would not only swallow up Cybertron, but the entire universe. He then doubled back to retrieve his cosmic map from Megatron, with Optimus insisting that Hot Shot, Jetfire, and Overhaul accompany him on this dangerous task. Hot Shot's team came upon Megatron and Starscream within an asteroid belt. While Jetfire and Vector Prime dealt with Starscream, Overhaul and Hot Shot tackled Megatron. Unfortunately, the Decepticons proved to be simply too powerful, and the Autobots were unable to prevent them from escaping once more. Hot Shot rendezvoused with [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] on Earth empty-handed. There, the Autobots met the humans [[Coby Hansen|Coby]], [[Bud Hansen|Bud]], and [[Lori Jiménez|Lori]]. {{storylink|Fallen (episode)|Fallen}} {{storylink|Inferno (episode)|Inferno}}

Hot Shot then assisted in building a new Autobot base. Though at first he cautioned the children from touching anything, Coby proved surprisingly knowledgeable about the Autobots' technology, prompting Hot Shot to invite him to provide more input. But before the base's stealth coating was completed, the Decepticons approached Earth once more. Hot Shot, Optimus, Vector Prime, and Jetfire held their enemies at bay long enough for the rest of the team to fully conceal their base from enemy sensors. Having seen Hot Shot prove himself in battle, Vector Prime granted him the ability to summon Cyber Planet Keys once the Decepticons were driven off. {{storylink|Haven}} When [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] attempted to close the [[Unicron Singularity|black hole]], Hot Shot viewed the attempt from Earth. It unfortunately ended in failure, leaving the Autobots with tracking down the mystical keys to the Omega Lock as their only remaining option to save their planet. Hot Shot then backed up Optimus Prime in another battle against [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]], during which the Decepticon leader revealed he was already one step ahead of his rivals, having discovered the location of first key himself. {{storylink|Hidden}}

During his downtime, Hot Shot amused himself by racing alone on a speedway. Optimus Prime interrupted his fun and gave him a lecture about their need to stay hidden on Earth. Later, when the Autobots uncovered the coordinates of [[Velocitron]], the Speed Planet, Hot Shot was sent ahead to this new world alongside Red Alert. When they arrived, Hot Shot marveled at the open roads, only to be startled when another vehicle easily overtook him on the freeway. {{storylink|Landmine (episode)|Landmine}}

[[File:Cyb ep7 hotshot cyberkey.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Slag yeah, ladies. I bring those ''blue'' sparks.]]
Hot Shot thought the Speed Planet was his type of place, but was unable to enjoy it to its fullest, since Optimus had instructed both him and Red Alert not to interact with the locals. Even though he assured his partner he wouldn't go against orders, when Hot Shot saw [[Ransack (Cybertron)|two]] [[Crumplezone (Cybertron)|bullies]] terrorizing [[Brakedown (Cybertron)|some]] [[Clocker (Cybertron)|locals]], he was unable to stop himself from stepping in. {{storylink|Space (episode)|Space}} Ransack and Crumplezone struck back at Hot Shot, who managed to trick the two simpletons into firing onto one another. The goons now having been sent skedaddling, Red Alert berated Hot Shot for breaking cover against Prime's orders, accidentally letting slip that they were planet-hoppers in front of Clocker. Their secret now out, the Autobots let the young Velocitronian take them on a tour of the planet. As they drove, Clocker spoke of the coveted "[[Planet Cup]]," a trophy that the Autobots correctly surmised was the artifact they sought. Upon seeing a race between [[Override (Cybertron)|Override]], the Cup's current holder, and Megatron about to begin, Hot Shot joined in. He nearly won, but was taken out of the race during its last stretch thanks to Crumplezone's interference. Hot Shot nonetheless impressed Override, who invited him to try his meddle against her again once he recovered. {{storylink|Rush (episode)|Rush}} Hot Shot trained to get into peak performance for his next race against Override. Assessing that he needed to lighten up his chassis, he removed his entire self-analysis system. With this done, Override met up with him for their rematch. Despite having been given a generous head start by his opponent however, Hot Shot still found himself unable to keep up with her. His desire for more speed during the race summoned a Cyber Key, and with it he began to close the gap... until his systems overheated and he spun off the road. {{storylink|Speed}}

Hot Shot followed Crumplezone and Ransack in the dead of night, spying on them while they spoke with Megatron. Learning that the Decepticons planned on entering the World Cup and cheat their way to victory further motivated him in achieving greater speeds on the racetrack. {{storylink|Collapse}} Hot Shot readied himself for another race while Red Alert accused him of no longer caring for his mission. Provoked by Red Alert's claim, Hot Shot was ready to hit Red Alert until Brakedown stepped in to diffuse the situation. Insisting that all of his efforts for the greater good of the mission, Hot Shot continued to focus on achieving greater speeds. But while testing out his racing skills, he found himself going ''too'' fast and narrowly avoided another debilitating crash thanks to Clocker. Reflecting on this, he decided that he had lightened his body too much. {{storylink|Time (episode)|Time}} Despite having injured himself while practicing, Hot Shot agreed to race [[Dirt Boss (Cybertron)|Dirt Boss]], having been tricked by Ransack into thinking the winner would race Override again one-on-one. This competition only served to injure him further, as Ransack and Crumplezone quickly got bored and attacked Hot Shot for kicks. After being rescued by Landmine, Hot Shot apologized to a newly arrived [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] for disobeying his orders and possibly failing his mission. He then collapsed. While in an unconscious state Red Alert repaired the damage he had been putting on himself, both from numerous battles, and pushing himself too far on the track. Landmine then contributed to Hot Shot's recovery by berating him, snapping Hot Shot out of the rut his mind was in. Though Hot Shot stood depressed over the turn his mission had taken, Clocker convinced him not to give up on himself. After Optimus Prime failed himself to convince Override to forfeit the Planet Key, he opted to use Hot Shot's original plan to acquire it in the World Cup. His confidence renewed, Hot Shot entered the race alongside his teammates, who agreed to run interference, while counting on Hot Shot to actually win the race itself. {{storylink|Hero (episode)|Hero}}

[[File:Cyb ep13 hotshot injured.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|This seem familiar?]]
At the start of the race, Hot Shot took the lead, but was again passed by Override and Dirt Boss. Though several of Crumplezone and Ransack's tricks slowed him down, he managed to stay in the race thanks to his own skills and the support of his team. The duo later cut away a bridge on the track to stop the Autobots completely, but Hot Shot jumped the gap by leapfrogging off of Optimus Prime. He was not able to win the race, but placed second place, qualifying him for the next heat. {{storylink|Race}} In the next heat, Hot Shot once more managed to pass Override early on the track. but was duped into going the wrong direction when Ransack switched over the course. When his allies informed him of the deception, Hot Shot shared the information with Override to beat her fair and square. Later, after an tunnel was caved in by Crumplezone, Hot Shot helped out an imperiled Override rather than press his lead over her. Once again, he came in second place due to Dirt Boss passing him while he was busy helping Override. {{storylink|Detour (episode)|Detour}} Learning the next course would take him through a desert area, Hot Shot trained to familiarize himself with that type of terrain. With advice from Coby, he managed to attain a better understanding on how to handle sand dunes. He continued to train while Optimus Prime and [[Vector Prime]] left to respond to an emergency signal from the Jungle Planet. {{storylink|Savage}}

[[File:Cyb ep18 champion.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Hot Shot receives a gold trophy from Star Cup]]
During the next race, Hot Shot initially took the lead through the desert. But despite his earlier training, he still had difficulty getting any traction in the sands. To complicate matters, he wound up falling into one of the many quicksand vortexes that littered the course. Brakedown came to his aid, only for Dirt Boss to target them both with a couple of laser blasts. They were saved when [[Jolt (Cybertron)|Jolt]] jumped in the way and redirected the shots back towards the villain, betraying his and Coby's clandestine presence on Speed Planet. Resuming the race, Hot Shot faltered when he noted that Brakedown's systems were failing. Realizing that Breakdown had used a belt from his coolant system to rescue him from the earlier vortex, Hot Shot volunteered to carry the old-timer to the finish line... only for Brakedown to turn him down flat. Reminding the younger 'bot of how important his mission was, Breakdown sent Hot Shot on his way to the finish line. Afterwards, when the rest of the Autobots discovered Coby and the Mini-Cons had left Earth, Hot Shot requested that they be allowed to help him through the final race, rather than being sent back. {{storylink|Sand}}

[[File:Cyb ep22 shell game.jpg|upright=1.4|right|thumb]]
Though Hot Shot was chosen by the Planet Cup for the final race, he discovered that the damage he had sustained during the previous heats would severely handicap him. The Autobots decided that Coby would sit in Hot Shot's cockpit in order to continuously adjust his circuits, staving off a complete breakdown. Hot Shot started out the race with an early lead. When Ransack and Crumplezone attempted to steal the Planet Cup, he warded them off with the help of Override, before the two remaining competitors resumed their now one-on-one race. As Hot Shot's system links kept breaking down, Coby was able to rewire him in order for him to keep pace with Override. It wasn't enough, as his circuits were still having trouble holding, so he used his Cyber Key Power to win in a photo finish. Then, Megatron showed up to steal away Hot Shot's trophy before he had a chance to claim it! Working in tandem with Override once more, Hot Shot knocked over Megatron, giving Optimus Prime and Leobreaker the opportunity needed to take him down. Returning to Earth, Hot Shot was present when Override added the Cyber Planet Key to the [[Omega Lock]]. {{storylink|Champion}}

The Lock sent out energy waves, pointing the Autobots towards coordinates near the Earth's north pole. Hot Shot was part of the team that investigated the area, but failed to yield anything of interest in their search. When a distress signal alerted him to a Decepticon attack, he and the other Autobots converged to rescue a frozen [[Scattorshot (Cybertron)|Scattorshot]] from Starscream and [[Mudflap (Cybertron)|Mudflap]]. {{storylink|Ice}} Having some of the damage he had sustained during his Velocitronian adventures repaired by Coby, {{storylink|Honor}} Hot Shot followed Optimus to the Jungle Planet {{storylink|Primal (Cybertron)|Primal}}. After the Autobots received Jungle Planet's Cyber Planet Key, Hot Shot heard the incoming Decepticons attempting to win it back. He was able to take cover as they strafed. After leaving the temple with a diversionary box that may have contained the key, he was knocked over by Crumplezone when he turned to fight Ransack. Later he saw a space bridge and headed toward it, joining the Autobots in surrounding Megatron. {{storylink|Trust (Cybertron)|Trust}}

Hot Shot readied equipment with Scattorshot back on Earth. He chose to follow Red Alert to the north pole to back up Optimus Prime's team. {{storylink|Trap}} Surprisingly, he was the voice of caution and told Jetfire not to blast ice debris that trapped Optimus Prime. It would cause a collapse. After Jetfire freeing Optimus Prime using his engines, the Autobots were attacked by Decepticons and human drone planes. He was going to attack the drone planes, but was stopped by Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Invasion (episode)|Invasion}}

[[File:Retreat-HotShotholomatteravatar.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|JaAm executive.]]
When the Autobots realized the kids and Mini-Cons were missing, Hot Shot was sent out to investigate. While on his route he ran into [[Tim Hansen]] and assured him that his younger brothers would be okay. After finding the kids who escaped from [[Mike Franklin|Colonel Franklin]], Hot Shot began retreating to [[Velocitron]] via the space bridge. Starscream attacked to steal away the [[Omega Lock]] and Hot Shot was one of the first to fall in battle. {{storylink|Retreat}}

[[File:Cyb ep27 parts delivery.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|We're surrounded by all these military vehicles, but, man, I'm so tired, let's just get new bodies from Primus instead.]]
Later, Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scattorshot faced Megatron alone when the Decepticon leader returned to Earth thirsting for revenge against the treacherous Starscream. Humiliating the Decepticon in combat, they enraged Megatron, who used his new Omega Lock-powered Death Machine Gun on the three Autobots, crippling them beyond repair. {{storylink|Revelation (episode)|Revelation}} Fortunately, the powers of Primus acting through the Omega Lock bathed the trio in the creator's holy light, repairing and reformatting the young Autobot into Cybertron Defense Hot Shot. Along with his newly
reformatted friends, the [[Cybertron Defense Team]] arrived on the battlefield and easily defeated the Decepticons Scourge and Megatron. {{storylink|Critical}}

[[File:Cyb ep27 cyb def team.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|Introducing the new Blue team. Now.... where's Simmons, Sarge, Grif, and Donut?]]
Hot Shot continued to battle Megatron and his forces. After Megatron retreated, Hot Shot followed to aid Optimus Prime at the volcanic island. He helped fight off Scourge with the rest of the Cybertron Defense Team. Later, when questioning [[Wing Saber (Energon)|Wing Saber]]'s "orders," he was shot and forced to dance to avoid being blasted. After the altercation Optimus Prime sent him and the rest of Cybertron Defense Team to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in an attempt to slow down the [[Unicron Singularity|black hole]]. {{storylink|Assault}} En route to the planet, however, his team encountered a meteor shower. He began blasting his way through, but in doing so got goop all over his windshield, obscuring his vision. [[Coby Hansen|Coby]] then took over his movements via [[synchro-control]]. Later he countered [[Scattorshot (Cybertron)|Scattorshot]]'s claim in who had the most points by blowing up the most asteroids, saying he had shot at least 2 to every one of Scattorshot's. Upon arrival at Cybertron and finding it swarming with [[Scrapmetal (race)|Scrapmetal]], he led the assault to cleanse the planet. {{storylink|Starscream (episode)|Starscream}} They fought their way through legions of the robotic pests. {{storylink|United}}

[[File:CDHotShot fists.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Now we know why his shoulders hurt... again]]
Hot Shot continued fighting off Scrapmetals until all in the vicinity were destroyed. Upon Megatron's arrival, Hot Shot immediately attacked. After Megatron's apparent defeat, Hot Shot helped give a tour of Cybertron to the kids and other offworlders. He was then present when Optimus Prime presented the Omega Lock which caused Cybertron to apparently break apart. He then drove via the space bridge to Cybertron's moon to witness the full transformation of [[Primus]]. {{storylink|Cybertron (episode)|Cybertron}} Hot Shot was first awed by Primus, then confused when he found out that [[Jolt (Cybertron)|Jolt]] was originally from [[Gigantion]]. He attacked Starscream after the Decepticon's arrival and continued fighting Decepticons until [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|something]] appeared in the sky. {{storylink|Balance}}

Hot Shot was attacked by the newly powered up Crumplezone once he was raised from mortal wounds by Megatron. He wasn't much tougher than before and Hot Shot was able to defeat his rival. {{storylink|Darkness (episode)|Darkness}} He later chased after the Decepticons attempting to steal the Omega Lock. {{storylink|Memory (Cybertron)|Memory}}

When the Autobots reached [[Gigantion]], he split off into a group to explore the planet. Later, in an altercation with the Decepticons, he fired at [[Thunderblast (Decepticon)|Thunderblast]]. Hot Shot unloaded the ship for the Autobots to be able to use the Omega Lock. He and the rest of the Cybertron Defense team were taken out by a newly powered up [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. {{storylink|Fury (Cybertron)|Fury}}

Hot Shot watched as Optimus battled [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]], then joined the rest of the Cybertron Defense Force as team three when the Autobots split up. {{storylink|City}} He later ran into Sideways and [[Soundwave (Cybertron)|Soundwave]] while searching for the Cyber Planet Key. He listened to Soundwave's story of [[Planet X (Cybertron)|Planet X]]. He was then surrounded by [[Laserbeak (Cybertron)|Laserbeak]]'s smoke and accidentally hit Scattorshot believing he was Sideways. When Scattorshot cleared the smoke Hot Shot powered up his Cyber Key and helped the rest of his squad blast a pillar upon Soundwave and Sideways. {{storylink|Challenge}}

[[File:Cyb ep45 save the universe.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Come back from the dead and all I get are these lousy group shots.]]
Hot Shot and his team looked for a downward passage when they ran into Galvatron and [[Menasor (Cybertron)|Menasor]]. After a brief skirmish, they utilized the [[triangle formation|triangle attack]] to take Menasor down. Then they battled Galvatron at full strength, but were once again beaten down. {{storylink|Scourge (episode)|Scourge}} He slowly got to his feet, recovered, and made his way down to the inner part of Gigantion to join the rest of the Autobots in shooting Galvatron. {{storylink|Optimus (episode)|Optimus}}

Hot Shot watched as Vector Prime inserted the final Cyber Planet Key into the [[Omega Lock]]. when Galvatron arrived, Hot Shot was defeated with the rest of the Autobots. While Optimus Prime and the other flying Autobots were intercepted by Soundwave and Sideways, Hot Shot opened fire from the ground. {{storylink|Showdown (Cybertron)|Showdown}} When the new space bridge opened and the denizens from Planet X were coming through, Hot Shot began firing. Afterward, with the help of Vector Prime, he was able to leave Gigantion with the rest of the Autobots. {{storylink|Guardian (episode)|Guardian}} After returning to [[Primus]], the Decepticons attacked. Hot Shot quickly counterattacked, {{storylink|Homecoming (Universe)|Homecoming}} battling Thundercracker while the Decepticon taunted Optimus Prime {{storylink|End}}

[[File:CybertronKicker.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Kicker needs to update his contact information.]]
Hot Shot ran to assist the Autobots in sending [[Animatron|Jungle Planet]] back to orbit. When Galvatron entered the Autobot base, he wanted to attack the Decepticon leader until Optimus said it was his fight solely. So instead he ran out to save Jungle Planet. After helping put out fires, Hot Shot lent his strength to push the rocket to adjust the planet's trajectory. After the planet was saved, he joined the rest of the Autobots in assisting Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Unfinished}} With Galvatron finally defeated, Override resigned from leadership of Velocitron in order to travel to new worlds, and Hot Shot won the race to determine who would be her successor, despite his bulky new body. {{storylink|Beginning}}
{{-}}
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Escape (episode)|Escape}} {{storylink|Family}} {{storylink|Titans}} {{storylink|Warp}} {{storylink|Giant}}}}

====''Cybertron'' comic====
Several months after the conclusion of the Unicron Singularity crisis, Optimus Prime and several of his crew, including Hot Shot, met [[Optimus Prime (RID)|another Optimus Prime]] and several Autobots who had been defending Cybertron from other threats while the main Autobot forces had been searching for the Cyber Planet Keys. {{storylink|Revelations Part 6}}

===Panini ''Armada'' comic===
[[File:DevicesandDesires-yourownsize.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|Well, gee, Hot Shot, when you put it that way, it doesn't sound fair anymore.]]
As the Autobot-Decepticon war was in its early stages, Hot Shot was stationed at the main [[Autobot Command HQ]] on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. Upon detecting four Decepticon battalions heading towards them, he reported this to [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]] and raced into battle. He and the other Autobots were eventually forced to abandon their base when it turned out to be rigged with explosives. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 9|Counter-Strike!}} After the Mini-Cons left Cybertron, he was seen dispensing firepower and sarcasm during another clash with the Decepticon forces. {{storylink|First Encounter!}}

Hot Shot and [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] were later summoned to [[Earth]] when the Mini-Cons were found to have awakened there. The Mini-Con [[Jolt (Armada)|Jolt]] grudgingly power-linked with Hot Shot, allowing him to fly through the air and ram [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]]. {{storylink|Friends and Foes!}} Following the battle, he stood guard outside a small cave while the Mini-Cons and their [[human]] friends made their way inside. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 3|Deep Trouble!}} When the Autobots decided to keep the Mini-Cons safe by sending them back to Cybertron, Hot Shot stood watch, and soon reported that the Decepticons were going on the offensive again. In the ensuing battle, the Mini-Cons decided to stay on Earth, and Jolt power-linked with Hot Shot and helped him drive the Decepticons away. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 4|No Way Back!}}

Alongside Optimus Prime and Red Alert, Hot Shot later saved the [[Air Defense Mini-Con Team (Armada)|Air Defense Team]] from getting captured by [[Starscream (Armada)|Starscream]]. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 5|Devices and Desires!}} After the Air Defense Team revealed that the [[Land Military Mini-Con Team|Land Military Team]] had been captured by humans, Hot Shot piloted an Autobot shuttle to the [[Nevada]] desert and helped liberate them. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 7|Sale of the Century!}} Next, the Autobots learned that the Decepticons were planning to nuke them from the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]], and their [[space bridge]] was too busted up for them to do anything about it. Hot Shot was tasked with repairing the device and use it to warp the incoming warheads elsewhere, and he succeeded at the last second. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 8|Earthshaker!}}

{{-}}
===The Balance of Power===
[[File:BalanceOfPower-Autobots.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Hot Shot has particular skills?]]
Shortly after Hot Shot was brought online, he and Red Alert were sent deep into Decepticon territory to uncover an [[Data-Con|ancient relic]] that would tell them how to find the long-lost race of [[Mini-Con]]s. The two were discovered by passing [[Dropship (Armada)|Dropships]] and the [[Spider Tank]]s they carried, and so they quickly dodged for cover. But there was nowhere to run; the Decepticons had created a massive army of [[Decepticlone]]s. After sending out an auto-distress signal, Optimus Prime arrived to bolster their firepower. This caught the attention of Megatron, and the two leaders grappled while Hot Shot and Red Alert continued to evade the Decepticlones. Meanwhile, Starscream had managed to find the relic, and a portal was opened in front of them. Hot Shot, Red Alert, and Optimus Prime followed the Decepticons through the portal to [[Earth]]. The search for the Mini-Cons began! {{storylink|The Balance of Power}}
{{note|This comic was written as a tie-in to the [[Transformers (PS2)|''Armada'' video game]], but its details differ from the introduction seen in the game itself. [[#PS2|See below]] for Hot Shot's role in the game.}}

===Bendon ''Armada'' books===
[[File:RTD-HotShotflipsDemolishor.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1]]
Hot Shot and Optimus Prime were forced to defend the Autobot base from a surprise attack. When the attack accidentally triggered a landslide, Hot Shot rushed in to save the kids. {{storylink|Cave Catastrophe}}

Hot Shot would once again rush in to save the kids after they left themselves out in the open, ramming Demolishor hard enough to flip him over. {{storylink|Race to Disaster}}
{{-}}

===''Superdeformers''===
[[File:Superdeformers Hot Shot.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Don't look at me, I'm slightly less handsome!]]
Facing down [[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]] one day, Hot Shot was unprepared when the Decepticon lobbed [[Thunderwing (Armada)|Thunderwing]] at him. Luckily before the Mini-Con could hit Hot Shot, Blurr jumped in and snatched it out of the air. The pair promptly ran off with Thunderwing, leaving Thrust to face [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]]'s wrath. {{storylink|Superdeformers}}

{{-}}

===Reader's Digest ''Armada'' novels===
Hot Shot was one of the Autobots teleported to Earth by the warp gate within the remains of a Mini-Con ship. Despite the radical change in scenery, Hot Shot continued to do battle against the Decepticons who had been teleported alongside them. The fighting came to an end, temporarily, thanks to the efforts of [[Perceptor (Armada)|Perceptor]]. {{storylink|Transformers Armada: The Battle Begins|The Battle Begins}}

After securing their base on Earth, Optimus, Hot Shot and Red Alert headed to a nearby highway to adopt new alternate modes based on local vehicles. Hot Shot took on the form of a sleek sports car and became giddy over his new form, annoying Optimus with his rambunctious behavior. When their human allies joined them, Hot Shot scrutinized their Mini-Con companions with great interest, as he had only heard of the diminutive robots in old war stories up until that point. Explosions emanating from nearby interrupted Hot Shot's observations. The Decepticons were attacking the Autobots' base! The Autobots launched a counter-attack, though Hot Shot was forced to leave the battlefront when a stray shot from Megatron triggered a rock-slide, endangering the children. Hot Shot got Carlos, Alexis and Rad out of harm's way, along with their Mini-Cons. Before Hot Shot had a chance to leave to rejoin the battle, Alexis pointed out something to him; the rock slide had unearthed several dormant Mini-Cons! One of the panels reacted to Hot Shot's presence, with the Mini-Con within transforming into a lightning-bolt-shaped hood ornament for his vehicle mode. The diminutive robot granted Hot Shot electrical powers, so Hot Shot decided on naming his new partnent "Jolt." The children then hid themselves nearby, and Hot Shot took on the Decepticons once more. Another Mini-Con reacted to Red Alert, and together, the empowered Autobots easily bested the Decepticons that opposed them. Realizing they were outmatched, the Decepticons retreated, though they managed to steal away the remaining Mini-Con panels as they warped off-planet. The children were saddened that the Decepticons had managed to take off with Mini-Cons in tow, but the Autobots assured them that they had done everything they could, and joined them in a "circle of friendship." {{storylink|Transformers Armada: Race for the Mini-Con Robots|Race for the Mini-Con Robots}}

===''Transformers Legends'' anthology===
Hot Shot was part of the Autobot forces during a battle in [[Yellowstone National Park]], and seconded Optimus's warning that the area was too geologically unstable to battle in. Megatron ignored their advice. {{storylink|Lonesome Diesel}}

===''Universe'' comic===
Hot Shot was one of several Transformers from across the [[multiverse]] suggested by [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] for [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] to recruit into his [[Child of Primus|Children of Primus]]. Optimus Primal decided to pluck [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] and [[Depth Charge (BW)|Depth Charge]] back from death instead. {{storylink|Homecoming (Universe)|Homecoming}}

===''Cybertron'' toy bios===
Optimus Prime teamed Hot Shot up with the Mini-Con [[Mirage (Armada)|Mirage]]. Hot Shot brought Mirage with him to the Speed Planet, and they formed a fast friendship and nearly undefeatable racing team. {{storylink|#Cybertron|Wal-Mart exclusive two-pack toy bio}}

===''Regeneration One''===
[[File:RG1 93 rodimii.jpg|thumb|left|Day 16 - The Hot Rods have still not realized I am not one of them.]]
Hot Shot (in his [[Hot Shot (Armada)/toys#ArDxPx|Powerlinx colors]]) was one of the many different versions of himself that [[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Hot Rod]] saw during a [[Multiverse|multiversal]] out-of-body experience in the [[Primus]] chamber after journeying to the centre of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] with the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]]. {{storylink|Destiny, Part Three}} After becoming Rodimus Prime, Hot Rod infiltrated [[Zero Space]] to confront the [[Dark Matrix]] creature that threatened his reality but it summoned three versions of [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] to defend itself. Rodimus likewise sent ripples throughout the multiverse, calling forth all the various versions of himself (including [[Hot Shot (Armada)/toys#CyDVD|yet another version]] of Hot Shot) to take down anything without a "Hot" or "Rod" in its name, loosening the Dark Matrix creature's control over Optimus and allowing Rodimus to seal the multiversal breach with the [[Sword of Primus]]. {{storylink|The War to End All Wars, Part 5}}
{{--}}

===''Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts''===
Hot Shot conducted a series of interviews with Transformers from other parts of the [[Multiverse]]. His first with a [[Primax]] version of [[Kup (G1)|Kup]] included questions about the weird eyeball headlights Kup had in vehicle mode. During his interview with [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]], Hot Shot got into a disagreement with his interviewee about how easy it was to obtain a [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]. He proved his side of the argument by easily stealing Optimus's Matrix, and upgrading himself into '''Shotimus Prime'''. During his last interview, this time with [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]], his interviewee became irate at his insistence that Tarantulas and Sideways might be one and the same. This eventually lead to Tarantulas taking his Matrix and beating him with it, causing him to revert to Hot Shot. {{storylink|Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts}}

==Games==
===The Energon Within===
As Optimus and Hot Shot prepared to escort a truckload of energon away from one of the Autobots' mines, the Decepticons launched a full-scale assault. Their objective was to steal 100 of the Autobots' energon cubes.

The Decepticons either eventually succeed, though at the cost of many Decepticon troops being destroyed, with the mine remaining under Autobot control, OR, before the Decepticons could succeed succeed, Hot Shot inadvertently blew up the mine. {{storylink|Transformers Armada: The Energon Within}}

===''Transformers''===
{{voiceactor|[[Dublin James]] (English)}}
[[File:PS2game-HotShotDecepticlones.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|He's the best there is at what he does! (We don't like to say what he does...)]]
Hot Shot found himself in the sweeping jungles that surrounded abandoned Aztec ruins. After failing to find Mini-Cons under a rock, he managed to pair up with the Mini-Con Jolt, and when he reached the top of the ruins, he faced Cyclonus. The following battles took him many places, such as a frozen wasteland, the interior of a battleship (which eventually revealed itself as the gigantic Tidal Wave), and ultimately Hot Shot battled Unicron himself.

Hot Shot, having collected all the Mini-Cons on Earth, was able to wield the legendary [[Matrix Cannon]], which he used to fire a deadly Shot into the core of the Planet Eater. {{storylink|Transformers (PS2)|Transformers}}

{{note|The events of the game listed above are exactly the same for when players choose to take Red Alert or Optimus Prime into battle instead of Hot Shot... except for the rock thing. That's all Hot Shot, baby.}}
{{-}}

==Toys==
{{main|Hot Shot (Armada)/toys }}

==Merchandise==
{{main|Hot Shot (Armada)/toys#Merchandise}}

==Notes==
[[File:HotShotisBumblebee.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|YELLOW KID APPEAL SINGULARITY]]
*In an early ''Armada'' series bible, Hot Shot was originally called "Bumblebee". His character description says that he is the youngest of the Autobots at "about 16 years of age". The Autobots' teen-aged human allies would have teased him for not being old enough to have a driver's license. It further notes that "Everything about him is fast- including his speech," which definitely wasn't taken to heart. The rest of his personality was as you would expect, being young and brash yet showing leadership potential, and his Mini-Con was still called Jolt. One of the reasons he was ultimately not named "Bumblebee" was because the name was unavailable as a [[trademark]] for Hasbro at that time.
*According to the [[Transformers (PS2)|''Armada'' PlayStation 2 game]] instruction booklet, Hot Shot's ''Armada'' body has the following statistics:
:*Mass: 3,109 lbs
:*Robot height: 16' 5"
:*Robot top speed: 50 mph
:*Vehicle height: 5' 11"
:*Vehicle top speed: 186 mph
:*Vehicle power: 400 hp @ 8000 rpm
*For a while, ''Galaxy Force'' was treated by [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] as a separate universe from ''Micron Legend'' and ''Super Link'', which would have made Exillion (Hot Shot's Japanese name in ''Galaxy Force'') a different guy, even though the character's head design and [[control drawing|control art]] labeled him "Hot Shot" in English.<ref name="control">[http://snakas.web.fc2.com/event/0410entama.htm Galaxy Force control art on display at Tokyo International Entertainment Market 2004], at Autobase Aichi.</ref> With ''Galaxy Force'' later reintegrated into the "[[Unicron Trilogy|Micron Trilogy]]", this original distinction likely became irrelevant.
*"JAaM" was a gag in a very funny fan-edit of the toy pack-in comics: taking advantage of the dodgy art and the iffier parts of the design, Transformers fan Blueshift changed the dialogue so that Hot Shot became a drooling idiot. This wouldn't be worth mentioning except, like the term "[[seeker (body-type)|seeker]]", it became so popular and ubiquitous in the fandom that Hasbro canonised it. Poor Hot Shot's ''Universe'' toy refers to a JAaM obsession in a tech spec ''and on the toy's car license plate'', as well as claiming Jolt "tries his best to keep [Hot Shot's] erratic behaviour under control" (never true in canon before and only true of the fancomic).
**The tech spec also says Hot Shot is "kind of annoying" but that's not the fancomic, that's a nod to how many grumpy older fans felt about Hot Shot. (He ''is'' annoying in canon but that wasn't intentional!)
*A character looking quite similar to Hot Shot showed up to die in [[Drift issue 2|''Drift'' #2]] because someone convinced artist [[Alex Milne]] to draw him as a casualty. This in order to spite longtime fan [[David Willis]], who wuvs Hot Shot. Milne drew him into the story based on his dislike of ''Armada'' and reasoning that the character would not be one used again in the continuity.<ref>[http://forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?p=204657#204657 markerguru's post in "Transformers Drift #1: Reactions, Reviews, Spoilers" from the IDW Publishing Forums]</ref> Because it is a Generation 1-based story, however, the incident is documented on [[Hot Shot (Henkei!)|"Generation 1" character Hot Shot]]'s page, rather than here.

===Foreign names===
====''Armada''====
*''Japanese:'' '''Hot Rod''' (ホットロッド ''Hotto Roddo''), '''Hot Rod Super Mode''' (ホットロッドS ''Hotto Roddo Sūpā Mōdo'')
*''Hungarian:'' '''Nagymenő'''
*''Korean:'' '''Red Gun''' (레드건 ''Redeu Geon'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Jīshè''' (激射, "Passionate Shot")
*''Polish:'' '''Piorunus''' ("Thunderboltus")
*''Romanian:'' '''Șmecherul'''
*''Russian:'' '''Likhach''' (Лихач, "Scorcher")
*''Ukrainian:'' '''Garyachkun''' (Гарячкун, "Hothead"), '''Zharostril''' (Жаростріл, "Hot Shot")

====''Energon''====
*''Japanese:'' '''Hotshot''' (ホットショット ''Hottoshotto''), '''Hotshot Fire''' (ホットショットF ''Hottoshotto Faiyā'')
*''Hungarian:'' '''Tűzgolyó''' ("Fireball")
*''Mandarin:'' '''Jīshè''' (激射, "Passionate Shot")

====''Cybertron''====
*''Japanese:'' '''Exillion''' (エクシリオン ''Ekushirion''), '''Exigeyser''' (エクシゲイザー ''Ekushigeizā'')
*''Hungarian:'' '''Tűzgolyó''' ("Fireball"), '''Nagyágyú''' ("[[Optimus Prime vs Megatron: The Ultimate Battle]]")
*''Korean:'' '''Exillion''' (엑실리온 ''Eksillion'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Jīshè''' (激射, "Passionate Shot")

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Armada Autobots]]
[[Category:Athletes]]
[[Category:Autobot leaders]]
[[Category:Cybertron Autobots]]
[[Category:Dimension hoppers]]
[[Category:Energon Autobots]]
[[Category:Letters page answerers]]
[[Category:Regeneration One Autobots]]
[[Category:Universe Autobots]]
[[Category:Velocitron]]

Blackout (Movie)

2019-10-30T13:58:49Z

KitsuneMastaa: /* I Can Read! books */

{{factions|decepticonfilm}}
{{disambig3.5|the Decepticon helicopter from the first live-action movie|the Decepticon helicopter from ''Revenge of the Fallen''|Grindor (ROTF)|Blackout}}
:''Blackout is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[Movie (franchise)|Transformers]] portion of the [[live-action film series]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:MovieBlackoutHeatScrambleCard57.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|He would appreciate you not trying to shoot him in the crotch. Really, he would.]]

The massive '''Blackout''' has been described as the "hound" of [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]]. In better days he was always to be found looming powerful and silent behind his leader's right shoulder. When given a target he hunts it down with fierce determination. Blackout is not happy with the progress [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]] is making towards finding the missing Decepticon leader. He suspects (quite rightly) that Starscream would prefer Megatron to stay lost. Blackout is openly mutinous and will challenge Starscream's leadership at any opportunity, not for his own sake, but to better serve his ultimate goal of finding his lost master. Blackout has a sneaky side and uses his [[Symbiote|symbiotic]] companion [[Scorponok (Movie)|Scorponok]]'s small size to great advantage.

Sometimes he is also known as '''N.B.E. 23'''.

{{quote|All hail Megatron!|Blackout|''[[Transformers (film)|Transformers]]''}}

==Fiction==
===''Transformers'' film===
[[File:Movie Blackout Raptors.jpg|201px|thumb|This race sucks.]]
Blackout flew into the airspace of [[United States military|US]] [[SOCCENT Forward Operations Base]] in [[Qatar]] and refused to identify himself, prompting base commander [[Sharp|Colonel Sharp]] to dispatch two {{w|F-22 Raptors}} to escort the Decepticon into their base. One of the Raptors reported that Blackout had the registry number of 4500X on his vertical stabilizer, the number of the helicopter Blackout had scanned and destroyed three months earlier in Afghanistan.

[[File:Movie Blackout SOCCENTAttack1.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|All your base are belong to us.]]
Once landed, Blackout was surrounded by the soldiers stationed at the base and ordered to power down and disembark his crew, or deadly force would be used. Seeing no reason to hide himself any further, Blackout transformed under a hail of automatic weapons fire from the shocked humans. Activating his heavy machine guns and rocket launchers, Blackout made quick work of the soldiers closest to him, then unleashed a massive shock wave that killed the rest of the troops and shattered their vehicles and the windows of the operations control tower. Blackout made his way around the base, tossing tanks aside, crushing soldiers underfoot and blowing up aircraft. Eventually, he reached the operations bunker and tore off the roof to link up with their server and download its files in an attempt to find information on [[Megatron (Movie)|Project: Ice Man]]. Unfortunately, the base commander intervened, cutting the physical hard line of the server, severing Blackout's connection and thwarting the primary objective of his mission.

[[File:Movie Blackout holoavatar.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Watch me twirl my [[Moustache Man|moustache]] as I contemplate the destruction of Earth.]]
Still, Blackout carried out his second objective—the destruction of the human base. As he proceeded, [[Robert Epps|a human soldier]] was nearly crushed. Instinctively, the soldier recorded images of Blackout, the Decepticon indulging this brief moment of curiosity by looking straight back at the human. Blackout then activated a chest-mounted laser cannon to put the fleshling out of its misery, but before he could do so, he was struck by a grenade fired by [[Jorge Figueroa|another soldier]], and the human made his escape. Enraged, Blackout fired flare countermeasures into the sky to confuse any other attempts to attack him, then ejected Scorponok from his back and sent his minion to track the [[William Lennox|fleeing]] [[Patrick Donnelly|soldiers]]. Blackout then turned his attention and his weapons back to the rest of the base, eventually destroying it, leaving no survivors.

Evidently, after the attack, Blackout flew back to the [[United States of America|United States]], as he was in the vicinity when [[Frenzy (Movie)|Frenzy]] reported the discovery of AllSpark's location and Starscream ordered their forces to mobilize. Blackout was the last to acknowledge the order, then rallied in Megatron's name, perhaps to remind Starscream who his master was.

[[File:Blackout is going to kill you.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Point that thing someplace else!]]
Blackout arrived at [[Mission City]] just as the final battle was getting underway. Megatron's order of "Decepticons attack" must have been music to his ears, and he followed his master's commands whole heartedly. He attempted to block [[Sam Witwicky|ladiesman217]]'s path as the boy was trying to get away with the AllSpark, before he was attacked by [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]]. The Autobot threw a car at Blackout, who fired his laser cannon to destroy the vehicle and knock Ironhide over. He flew ahead of ladiesman217, attempting to use his rotor weapon to kill him, but the human managed to dodge this attack.

[[File:Blackout movie dead.JPG|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Oh, God, I hope that stuff leaking out is Energon.]]
Blackout withdrew from the battle for a few moments, but returned as [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] and Megatron fought. Seeing his master under attack, Blackout activated his hand-held rotor weapon and prepared to come to defense of his lord, but soldiers—including survivors of the SOCCENT base attack—attempted to stop him by painting him with targeting lasers for friendly F-22 Raptors to fire upon. As Blackout activated his cannon, he noticed the lasers targeted on him. Underestimating the fighting spirit and desire for vengeance of the humans, Blackout tried to finish them off until Captain Lennox, using an abandoned motorcycle, charged at him and fired a sabot round into his crotch (ouch), as F-22s pounded the Decepticon with missiles, extinguishing his [[spark]].

Blackout's remains were later dumped in the <s>deepest</s> ''second'' deepest part of the ocean—the Laurentian Abyss—along with his fellow dead Decepticons. {{storylink|Transformers (film)|Transformers}}

{{note|Blackout's involvement in the preceding events, or events mostly similar, were also chronicled in the novels "[[Transformers (novel)|Transformers]]," "[[Transformers: The Junior Novel]]" and "[[The Quest for the AllSpark]]"; the "[[Transformers: Movie Adaptation]]" and "[[Movie Trilogy]]" comics; the activity book "[[Look and Find Transformers]]"; and the storybooks "[[Transformers: The Movie Storybook]]," "[[Transformers Mix & Match]]" and "[[Meet the Decepticons]]."}}

===''Ghosts of Yesterday''===
Blackout had spent thousands of years searching for Megatron and the AllSpark under Starscream aboard the ''[[Nemesis (Movie)|Nemesis]]''. While Starscream was hoping not to find Megatron, Blackout was working against him in hopes of restoring the former leader. Upon discovering [[Ghost 1|a vessel similar to Megatron's alternate mode]], Blackout became convinced that Megatron was nearby. However, the Autobots arrived in the ''[[Ark (Movie)|Ark]]'' to investigate the ship, and Starscream ordered the Decepticons to wait while he investigated the alien ship. Growing impatient, Blackout convinced [[Frenzy (Movie)|Frenzy]] and [[Bonecrusher (Movie)|Bonecrusher]] to join him in an attack on the Autobots. Blackout, Scorponok, and Frenzy ganged up on [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]], but he managed to defeat them, forcing Blackout to call for a retreat. After Prime headed to investigate [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]]'s disappearance, Starscream ordered them to attack, and Bonecrusher was given command. Blackout, however, was able to sneak Scorponok on board the ''Ark''.

After Starscream returned, Blackout demanded answers. Starscream claimed that Prime and Bumblebee were killed by indigenous worms, while the alien ship was destroyed when it fell into a cavern. Blackout, unconvinced, challenged Starscream, but was seriously damaged, and had to be taken back to the ''Nemesis''. However, Prime, Bumblebee, and the ship appeared soon after. When Starscream ordered the Decepticons to destroy the ship, Blackout demanded answers, which Bonecrusher and Barricade agreed to. However, [[Ratchet (Movie)|Ratchet]] was able to force Scorponok off the ''Ark'', and Blackout, still healing, sped to his rescue. What a pal. {{storylink|Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday|Ghosts of Yesterday}}

===IDW movie comics===
[[File:Defiance2 Blackout spacebattle.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.67|In space, EVERYONE hears HIM!]]

In the distant past, Blackout was a member of the Cybertronian [[Defense Force]]. During an attack by unknown aliens on the city of [[Metrotitan (ROTF)|Metrotitan]], he could be seen picking up a wrecked enemy tank. {{storylink|Defiance issue 1|Defiance #1}} In the aftermath of the attack, [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]] consulted with [[The Fallen|the mysterious relic]] dug up near [[Simfur]] and (essentially) declared a military dictatorship over Cybertron. Blackout followed Megatron and the other flight-capable soldiers into battle, using his special powers to disrupt the enemy flagship's targeting array. {{storylink|Defiance issue 2|Defiance #2}}

After science division leader [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus]] survived an attempted kidnapping by [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]]'s squadron, Megatron declared the scientist and his followers traitors, and reformed the army under a new banner: the Decepticons. {{storylink|Defiance issue 3|Defiance #3}}

[[File:Movie BlackoutStarscream protoforms.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|An ominous rumble is Blackout's only response...]]

During the subsequent civil war, Blackout fought alongside Megatron, until his master ordered 'this loyal hound' to assist Starscream's unit in keeping [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]]'s forces busy, while Megatron pursued his destiny. Arriving soon after [[Brawl (Movie)|Brawl]] delivered news of Megatron's location, Blackout and Starscream witnessed the successful Autobot launch of the [[AllSpark]]. Blackout restrained Starscream from going after it, the pair nearly coming to blows when Blackout launched Scorponok from his chest. Fortunately, Starscream calmed down, and after witnessing Megatron leave the planet himself, the group took on protoform transition forms and followed. {{storylink|Planetfall (Movie)|Planetfall}}

Meanwhile, Starscream crew ''also'' went after Optimus Prime's starship in a Decepticon battlecruiser. Just before launch, Blackout listened to Barricade's not-so-quiet concerns that Starscream wasn't telling them everything. Unfortunately for the Decepticons, they were led into a trap by the Autobots, and their ship (and Starscream's advance scout [[Dreadwing (Movie)|Dreadwing]]) was crippled by concussion chain mines. Blackout gave a detailed damage report when ordered but was berated for giving his observation on what had occurred, and was ordered to despatch Scorponok to retrieve Dreadwing.

[[File:Movie Blackout IDWprequel camoflageenabled.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|Apparently the crew of military helicopters don't count as "witnesses".]]

After making repairs to their ship, the Decepticons followed the AllSpark's trace energy and landed on [[Mars (planet)|Mars]]. {{storylink|The Reign of Starscream issue 1|The Reign of Starscream #1}} There, they destroyed a primitive [[Beagle 2 Rover|human rover scout]] and decided to investigate the nearby third planet of this solar system. {{storylink|Movie Prequel issue 3|Movie Prequel #3}}

Making planetfall on Earth in Afghanistan in 2003, Blackout attracted the attention of a military vehicle of the local creatures. Witnessing the ease with which [[Wreckage (Movie)|Wreckage]] destroyed the carrier, Starscream pondered that Megatron would have been able to subjugate these beings if he was able to. Blackout replied that they needed to find out why he hadn't yet. Starscream's unit then attacked the nearby air base where Blackout scanned and adopted the form of an {{w|MH-53 Pave Low}} 'Pave Low' helicopter, then easily hacked into the files of the human computers. Inside, he found files on something called 'Project: Iceman', which he suspected was related to Megatron. After the base's destruction, Blackout and the others split up. {{storylink|The Reign of Starscream issue 1|The Reign of Starscream #1}} Blackout scanned ''another'' USAF MH-53 Pave Low helicopter, but apparently was not detected by the humans, nor caused any casualties, in contrast to Starscream and [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]]. When Starscream told the Decepticons that their mission was to find the AllSpark, Blackout reminded Starscream that they must also find Megatron.

[[File:Movie Blackout TargetPrequel continuityheadache.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Beware, Qatar! Beware! Muhahahahahaha!]]

Later, after being lured into a trap intended for [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]] set by a group of impressively equipped humans, Blackout attacked the organisation's bunker and attempted to hack into their main server, but failed after they disconnected their local systems. The only lead he got was a name...[[Sector Seven]]. {{storylink|Movie Prequel issue 4|Movie Prequel #4}} A few years later, Blackout headed towards [[Qatar]], intent on attacking a military base similar to the first one he and his comrades attacked in hopes that accessing the information there could connect his past findings. {{storylink|Planetfall (Movie)|Planetfall}}

{{note|In several instances, "Planetfall" contradicts both [[Movie Prequel issue 4|issue #4]] of IDW's ''[[Transformers: Movie Prequel|Movie Prequel]]'' mini-series as well as the movie ''itself'' with regards to where and when Blackout the Decepticons arrived on Earth; they landed in the United States during 2003 in the Prequel mini. In "Planetfall", Blackout immediately leaves for Qatar after the attack, whereas in the movie itself, he assumed the form three months before attacking the SOCCENT base. However, this sequence was subsequently used in ''[[Transformers: The Reign of Starscream|The Reign of Starscream]]''.}}

In the aftermath of the battle in Mission City, [[Sector Seven]] hauled away Blackout's corpse along with the other Decepticon bodies. The clandestine human organization brought the bodies to a secret facility in the Nevada desert, with the intention of getting every bit of information they could out of the dead Decepticons before they were forced to dump them into the sea. {{storylink|Alliance issue 1|Alliance #1}}
{{-}}

====''Transformers: Beginnings''====
{{voiceactor|[[Brian Stepanek]] (English)}}
{{note|Transformers: Beginnings is a condensed, flash-animated retelling of the [[IDW Publishing|IDW]] [[Transformers: Movie Prequel|Movie Prequel]] that is detailed above this section.}}
{{storylink|Transformers: Beginnings (Movie)|Transformers: Beginnings}}

===Titan movie comics===
During the war on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], Blackout preferred to sow confusion and disarray before he attacked, rather than engage in direct confrontation and risk being killed. He would only go into ground battles under cover of loud noise and pyrotechnics (which he himself caused with his devastating sonic shriek emitters). Unfortunately for him, this meant he kept getting stuck leading the ''first wave'' of attacks! To protect himself, he used an army of drone troopers (presumably [[Scorponok (Movie)|Scorponoks]]) to draw enemy fire. These drones were called "the swarm" and Blackout deliberately encouraged rumours about them so their arrival would strike fear into the hearts of enemies. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 4|Blackout Profile}} Despite being a coward at heart, he began to ''revel'' in the chaos and carnage he was causing, even if the odd Decepticon ended up as collateral damage! {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2|Jazz V. Blackout}}

{{Note|The following event is unique to the Titan Comics continuity.}}

Half an hour after his death and before his body was dumped in the sea, Blackout was briefly turned into a rampaging zombie by [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]]. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 7|Starscream's Militia}}

====Alternate timeline====
{{notetitantlg}}
[[File:Barricadeblackoutandfriends-DarkSpark.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Blackout was not dead!

He assaulted an Autobot convoy at Shreveport, [[Louisiana]] as part of a general terror campaign. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 16|Dark Spark}} Later, he was a key part in a Decepticon ambush, appearing from nowhere to blankside Autobot ground troops. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 22|The Decepticon Who Haunted Himself}}

He was one of the [[Decepticon Heartland]] generals, and had to report the grim news to Starscream of just how badly [[Stockade (Movie)|Stockade]] had gummed up their advance. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 24|Revolution Part Two}} By the time the battle reached him in Philadelphia, he was commanding the only Decepticon force left standing. He rejected an offer to defect to Stockade's team, defiantly saying this planet was ''theirs'', and sicced Scorponok on him.

Scorponok failed and Blackout went down. Now he ''is'' dead. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 25|Revolution Part Three}}

===''I Can Read!'' books===
[[File:RatchettakesonDecepticons-RttR.jpeg|thumb|well that's unfortunate.|upright=1.0|left]]
Blackout, [[Brawl (Movie)|Brawl]], and [[Scalpel (ROTF)|Scalpel]] were at a sea-side dock when they encountered [[Ratchet (Movie)|Ratchet]] and [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]]. The Decepticons attempted to attack, but were held off by an electrical attack courtesy of Ratchet, allowing the Autobots to escape. {{storylink|Ratchet to the Rescue}}
{{-}}

===''Beast Wars Diorama Story''===
[[File:BWDS 12.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
At some point, Blackout and multiple Autobots and Decepticons traversed dimensions and found themselves on a different [[Earth]], in the distant past. They crossed paths with new Transformer factions, the [[Maximal]]s and the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]]s, who were engaged in a conflict called the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]]. {{Storylink|Tigatron Chapter}} Blackout joined forces with the Predacons. {{storylink|Gimlet Chapter}} With the combined might of both Predacon and Decepticon, they attempted one all-out attack, but the combined Autobot-Maximal force attacked with their own first. {{storylink|Motorarm Chapter}}
{{-}}

===Toy bios===
Blackout is extremely disciplined, and as such keeps his bodywork pristine. {{storylink|#PremiumSeries|Premium Series Blackout}} He is incredibly single-minded in pursuing his quarry. {{storylink|#Titanium Series|Titanium Series Blackout}} He and [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]] have fought alongside each other for untold years, leaving nothing but devastated worlds in their wake as they searched for the AllSpark. {{storylink|#Unleashed|Unleashed}}

At some point, he had a knock-down, drag-out fight with Ironhide, possibly in a desert. {{storylink|#Legends Class toys|Ironhide Vs Desert Blackout}}

Ratchet and Blackout are apparently total opposites. {{storylink|#Titanium Series 2|Rescue Ratchet Vs. Blackout}} He may have once gotten into a fight where Optimus Prime deployed twin forearm swords. {{storylink|#Robot Heroes 2|Optimus Prime and Blackout}}

===''Unite for the Universe''===
The body of either Blackout or Grindor was among the Decepticon corpses waiting to be melted down at the [[N.E.S.T. N.B.E. Resource Redistribution Plant]]. {{storylink|Unite for the Universe issue 1|Ambition Instigated}}

===''Transformers: The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe''===
Blackout was one of the many Decepticons who pursued the AllSpark to Earth. He participated in an enormous battle against the Autobots in a human settlement. {{storylink|Transformers: The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe|The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe}}

===''Mission to Cybertron'' comic===
{{Template:charstubfiction}}
{{storylink|Mission to Cybertron}}
{{-}}

==Games==
===''Sector Seven'' game===
[[File:S7 game blackout bravo team.jpg|left|thumb|225px]]
{{charstubgame}}
{{storylink|Sector Seven (game)}}

===''Transformers'' The Game (console)===
{{voiceactor|[[Noah Nelson]] (English)}}

====Autobot campaign====
During the battle of Mission City, Blackout suffered a humiliating defeat from [[Jazz (Movie)|Jazz]], even though he had help from [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]] and two [[Dreadwing (Movie)|Dreadwings]]. That's got be the most humiliating thing for any of the characters in the videogame, losing to somebody a third of his size. {{storylink|Transformers The Game (console)|Transformers The Game}}

====Decepticon campaign====
[[File:VGBlackoutE1M3Intro.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Time for a cool...Pepsi?]]
Blackout and Scorponok were sent to the SOCCENT Base to destroy the human military installation there and download information from the military servers on the location of the [[AllSpark]]. The pair were successful, though Blackout's escape was briefly interrupted by the arrival of a squad of human jet fighters. After blasting them to tiny bits, he made good his escape.

Blackout arrived at [[Hoover Dam]], where his scans failed to detect the energy signatures of Megatron or the AllSpark. Starscream ordered him to break the dam piece by piece. Blackout fired a pair of missiles and fought off a squad of [[Swindle (Movie)|Autobot sports car drones]] that were defending the installation. As Megatron emerged, he bowed before his lord. He then followed the newly-revived Megatron to [[Mission City]], where he engaged in a final showdown with [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]], who had just punted Scorponok. The Autobot warhorse certainly gave the massive Decepticon a run for his money. The huge number of Autobot drones backing Ironhide up didn't make things any easier.

During Megatron's battle with Optimus Prime, Blackout attempted to assist his master by charging Prime. Prime punched the massive Decepticon, sending him flying. How embarrassing. {{storylink|Transformers The Game (console)|Transformers The Game}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers: The Game'' (PSP)===
{{charstubgame}}
{{storylink|Transformers The Game (PSP)}}

===''Transformers: Autobots''===
As Jazz retrieved Sector 7 vehicles for Optimus Prime, he happened upon their helicopter, which to his surprise turned out to be Blackout. The two battled at Tranqulity's power plant, where Jazz managed to defeat him. Humiliated, he transformed and flew away.

Blackout made his presence felt again as Bumblebee raced back to Tranquility carrying the AllSpark with him. He chased Bumblebee through the streets until he was intercepted on a rooftop by Ratchet, who put an end to his menace for good. {{storylink|Transformers Autobots/Decepticons|Transformers: Autobots}}

===''Transformers: Decepticons''===
First arriving under the command of [[Create-A-Bot (Decepticon)|a low-ranking soldier]], Blackout was sent out to destroy the communications arrays in the Qatar SOCCENT military base. When the task was completed, he returned for more orders.

Soon after, Blackout encountered [[Ratchet (Movie)|Ratchet]], who appeared at the base to stop them from blowing the hell out of everything. When he was defeated, Blackout disappeared until the other Decepticons arrived at Hoover Dam.

Dropping off some bombs for Brawl to set, he and the other Decepticons attempted to blow up the Dam to simultaneously release Megatron and thaw him out, but were thwarted by Jazz and his drones. Their heroic attempts were for naught, as Megatron managed to escape anyway while Blackout and Barricade retrieved Megatron's weapons chip. Afterwards, they encountered their leader and reactivated his weapons. After Megatron's charismatic speech, they set out to [[Tranquility]] to capture the AllSpark and defeat the Autobots once and for all.

Blackout arrived just in time to be blasted to [[Slag (slang)|slag]] by an AllSpark-powered Starscream with a single blast. That's still slightly less embarrassing than being beaten by a half-dead Jazz. {{storylink|Transformers Autobots/Decepticons|Transformers: Decepticons}}

===''Web Wars''===
Blackout battled the Autobots across the digital frontier, vying to wrestle control of numerous websites across the internet from their hands! {{storylink|Web Wars}}

==Commercial appearances==
Blackout spoiled any chance some guy had at impressing his lady-friend by making him screech like a banshee, and then blasting his car to scrap. Bummer. {{storylink|Commercial/Transformers (2007)#General Motors|Transformers Chevy tie-in commercial}}

==Toys==
===Transformers (2007)===
====Legends Class toys====
[[File:Movie Blackout Legends toy.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|I have no fingers? You did this, Starscream!]]
*'''Blackout''' (Legends, 2007)

:A much smaller and highly simplified version of the character, Legends Blackout features limited articulation and detail, with the helicopter mode not being a particularly faithful recreation of a Sikorsky {{w|MH-53 Pave Low|MH-53 Pave Low}} heavy-lift helicopter (the placement of the fuel tanks, in particular making him look more like a {{w|CH-53 Sea Stallion}}). Even though the robot mode sports an attempt to emulate the movie character's chest design, this does not involve the use of obvious fake elements of the helicopter mode's cockpit, unlike [[Jazz (Movie)|other]] Legends Class toys of movie characters. Curiously, the instructions on the back of the card show how to transform him from his alt-mode to his robot mode, which is the reverse of the rest of the Legends Class packaging.

:This toy was [[redeco]]ed into ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (franchise)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'' [[Grindor (ROTF)|Grindor]] and [[Spinister (ROTF)|Spinister]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2007/Decepticon/LegendsBlackout/blackout.htm More information on Legends Blackout at TFU.info]''
{{-}}
{{anchor|Allspark2pack}}
[[File:Movie Legends Ironhide DesertBlackout.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|Hey, look! It's Grindor! Stop! That is so dumb! Do something else!]]
*'''Ironhide vs. Desert Blackout''' (Legends Allspark Battles two-pack, 2007)

: Desert Blackout is a tan redeco of the previously released Legends Blackout toy. He comes with an all-new Legends Class Ironhide. Oddly, he doesn't have a faction symbol anywhere on his body.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Decepticon/LegendsBlackout/blackout.htm More information on Desert Blackout at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

====Voyager Class toys====
[[File:Movie Voyager Blackout toy.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|The largest Transformer in the film. Ironically, one of the smallest Voyager-class toys ''ever''.]]
*'''Blackout''' (Voyager Class, 2007)
**''Japanese ID Number:'' '''MD-01'''
**''Accessories:'' Scorponok mini-figure

: Blackout transforms into a reasonably accurate MH-53 Pave Low, though he has a rather [[Show-accuracy|film-inaccurate]] slate grey base colour and a totally random gold radome. An aft "cage" compartment can be opened to release a small PVC figurine of his partner, [[Scorponok (Movie)|Scorponok]]. A button on the very end of his tail can be pressed in a geared action to rotate his rotor blades. By attaching the Deluxe-class Scorponok to his underside, the rotor [[gimmick]] also spins Scorponok's claws.

: During transformation, Blackout's (mind-numbingly delicate) [[Automorph Technology|Automorphing]] gimmick is activated when the user swings down his legs, which in turn flips the gray chest section his head is mounted upon up and into position, and lifts his back assembly and locks into into place behind his head. Another, less impressive automorph is in his legs—if you pull his knees down, his shin armor pops out a bit.

: In robot mode, Blackout appears closer to his original concept art, back when he was called "Incinerator" (seemingly also the basis for his Nintendo DS appearance). The entire rotor assembly on his back can be removed and converted into a gigantic fan weapon, to ''vaguely'' represent the hand-held rotor-blade weapon he wields in the film, also seen on [[#Titanium_Series|the ''Titanium'' figurine (see below)]]. Because of the size of his rotor assembly, Blackout is also much shorter than most Voyager-class figures despite his bulk, barely taller than a Deluxe figure.

: It is ''very'' easy for the gears in the cockpit/chest to become misaligned during transformation, enough so that the chest/head section refuses to align with the cockpit halves. Getting the gears back into alignment is a veritable nightmare, as so many other parts shift and move as you attempt to manipulate the respective pieces. Swinging the legs down locks the back assembly into place for robot mode, but simply swinging the legs back does ''not'' ''un''lock it, with the user being required to actively separate the parts by hand. Failing to do so is sure to misalign your Blackout to bejeezus.

: An interesting side note is that the two hard points located on Blackout's shoulders, intended to support his abominably large weapon, are actually the same size as the [[Mini-Con]] [[Powerlinx]] plugs on most [[Unicron Trilogy]] figures.

: His head is very accurate to the concept art [http://www.benprocter.com/storage/oldersites/sitev2/html/ZOOM_Trans/ZOOM_35.html]

: This mold was [[retool]]ed and [[redeco]]ed into [[Evac (Movie)|Evac]] for the ''AllSpark Power'' refresh of the movie toyline, and was then redecoed into [[Whirl (ROTF)|Whirl]] for ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (franchise)|Revenge of the Fallen]]''. This retool gave them a new head and replaced the tiny Scorponok figure with a lifeboat/gun, as well as giving them the new hands to allow them to hold it. The original Blackout mold was redecoed into [[Grindor (ROTF)|Grindor]] for the same line.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2007/Decepticon/Blackout/blackout.htm More information on Voyager Blackout at TFU.info]''

[[File:Movie DecepticonDesertAttack 2pack.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|Ignoring the vast difference in scale between Scorponok's two figures while linked to Blackout takes some imagination.]]
*'''Decepticon Desert Attack''' (Toys'R'Us exclusive two-pack, 2007)
**''Accessories:'' Scorponok mini-figure

: This package, based on their first appearance in the film, features an unchanged Voyager Blackout packaged with an unchanged Deluxe Scorponok, which was exclusively available at Toys "R" Us stores. Since Voyager Blackout was gang-molded with the miniature Scorponok figure the single release came with, this means that the set contains two Scorponok toys in different sizes.
{{-}}

[[File:MovieVoyager Blackout4500X.JPG|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Blackout Ver. 4500X''' (Lawson exclusive Voyager Class, Japan 2007)
**''Accessories:'' Scorponok mini-figure, Autobot and Decepticon pins

: This Voyager class Blackout repaint is exclusive to the Lawson Japan convenience store chain, with the purchase of the movie DVD. He is redecoed in a somewhat more realistic color scheme for vehicle mode, 4500X markings and a drastically changed plastic color scheme in robot mode (many parts once black are now silver or the same colour as his helicopter hull). Additionally, the mini-Scorponok figurine has been repainted in metallic colours and detailed to resemble the deluxe-class toy (and the movie CG design, of course).

:Also included a set of two brass Autobot and Decepticon insignia pins.
{{-}}

{{anchor|Premium}}
[[File:Movie Blackout PremiumVoyager toy.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|NOW the size is perfect.]]
*'''Blackout''' ("Premium Series" Voyager Class, USA 2008)
**''Accessories:'' Scorponok mini-figure

: This redeco of the Voyager Class Blackout toy is based on the same plastic color layout and paint mask as the Japanese Lawson exclusive "Version 4500X" redeco of Voyager Blackout, down to the improved paint on the Scorponok mini-figure. As a matter of fact, both toys were almost ''identical'', the main difference being that the paint used on Version 4500X's is more matte than the paint used on the Premium Series release.

: Unlike some of the early "Premium Series" toys, Blackout was available as a mass market release.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Decepticon/Blackout/blackout.htm More information on Premium Series Blackout at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

{{anchor|MexicoUnleashed}}
*'''Unleashed y Voyager''' (2007)

:Voyager Class Blackout was also available in a two-pack with ''[[Unleashed (toyline)|Unleashed]]'' [[Bumblebee (Movie)/merchandise#MexicoUnleashed|Bumblebee]] in Mexican markets. Both items are identical to their standard original releases.

{{-}}

{{anchor|ACG2008}}
[[File:ACG-HK-2008-Transformers-Commemorative-Box-Set.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb]]
*'''Transformers Commemorative Box Set (Decepticon)''' (2008)

:Released an an exclusive for Animation-Comic-Game Hong Kong (ACG, also known as Ani-Con) 2008, The ''Premium Series'' Blackout toy is released without any changes along with [[Megatron (Movie)/toys#PremiumLeader|''Premium Series'' Megatron]], [[Barricade_(Movie)/toys#Premium|''Premium'' Barricade]], [[Starscream_(Movie)/toys#DeepSpace|Deep Space Starscream]], and a [[Brawl_(Movie)#Deluxe_Class_toys|Brawl]]. The toys are packaged with a synthetic, leather-like box with a half-trimmed Decepticon Symbol, and it comes with a sheet of Certificate of Authenticity.

:The boxsets are limited to 100 pieces.

{{-}}

====Fast Action Battlers====
[[File:Movie FAB Blackout.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|... Brownout?]]
*'''Gyro Blade Blackout''' (Fast Action Battler, 2007)
**''Accessories:'' Missile

:A simplified version of Blackout, designed for smaller children. His rotor blade can be detached and inserted into his left hand to represent the hand-held rotor blade seen in the film, just like the Voyager class version. He also features a chest cannon which can be flipped up from his back. Oddly, you can only see one-fourth of Blackout's head from a 90-degree angle. Even less of it is visible when his chest cannon is flipped up. He features a firing missile.

:This toy was [[redeco]]ed into ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (franchise)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'' [[Grindor (ROTF)|Grindor]].
{{-}}

===Dark of the Moon===
{{anchor|Cyberverse}}
[[File:Blackout DOTM Cyberverse.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|At long last, not grossly undersized compared to his teammates!]]
*'''Blackout''' (Cyberverse Commander Class, 2011)
**''Series:'' '''1'''
**''Number:'' '''005'''
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''CV15'''
**''Accessories:'' [[Scorponok (Movie)#Cyberverse|Scorponok]]

:Blackout is a ''[[Cyberverse (toyline)|Cyberverse]]'' Commander Class figure, featuring a surprisingly complex transformation into yet another Sikorsky Pave Low. Curiously, despite the development of this toy after two live-action movies, his robot mode appears to have the same preproduction feet as the larger and earlier toys. Since his left arm ends up having the Pave Low's tail rotor, Blackout is able to use it as a weapon if one chooses and hold either Scorponok or any [[C joint]] accessory with his hands.

:He is mis-transformed in the package to better fit inside it, with the helicopter panels to his sides being spread out instead of being aligned parallel to his body, thus he appears that way in official photos.

:Blackout includes his symbiotic partner Scorponok, who has some minor tail articulation and transforms into a hand-held blaster weapon for Blackout (or any other Cyberverse figure with the appropriate hands). Scorponok can also be carried along on the underside of Blackout's vehicle-mode tail. Though unmentioned in the instructions, Scorponok can also peg into the (otherwise pointless) peg on the back of Blackout's robot mode, just under his rotor blades, mimicking the way he was stored and ejected off of Blackout in the movie.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2011/Decepticon/Blackout/blackout.htm More information on Cyberverse Blackout at TFU.info]''

===The Last Knight===
[[File:TF-TLK-Tiny-Turbo-Changers-Blackout.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Annnnnnd we're back.]]
*'''Decepticon Blackout''' (Tiny Turbo Changer, 2017)
**''Bag Code'': '''G'''

:Released in Series 1 of Tiny Turbo Changers, Blackout changes from robot to an unlicensed approximation of the MH53 Pave-Low Helicopter. He features ball-jointed shoulders and his hands are compatible with ''[[Cyberverse (toyline)|Cyberverse]]'' weapons and other small accessories. Blind-bags stamped with 'G' contain Blackout.

:This toy has also been redecoed as [[Chopter]] and [[Dropkick (Movie)#ChopperTTC|Chopper Mode Dropkick]].
{{-}}

===Generations===
====Studio Series====
[[File:StudioSeries-08-MV1-Leader-Blackout.jpg|upright=2|thumb|Grindor redeco in 3, 2, 1...]]
* '''Decepticon Blackout''' (Leader Class, [[2018]])
**''Number:'' '''08'''
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''SS-08'''
**''Japanese release date'': '''[[April 28]], 2018'''
**''Accessories'': Tail rotor, [[Scorponok (Movie)#Generations|Scorponok]] figure, [[SOCCENT Forward Operations Base|Military Base]] Attack backdrop
:''[[Studio Series]]'' "Decepticon Blackout" is the first Leader Class version of the character, with slight fudging of the normal limits in size to produce a robot mode roughly in-[[scale]] with other ''Studio Series'' toys. He features a fairly complex transformation involving lots of panels folding away without feeling too much like a [[shellformer]]. His name is tampographed onto the tail section on the livery bands. A Decepticon emblem is also tampoed just below the windscreen on the nose. Non-spinning landing gear is attached to the back half of the compartment section and the nose, but they can't be folded away in vehicle mode due to lack of space. While stock photos appear to be a more military accurate gunmetal color, the final release version is a slightly bluer shade, but not as much as earlier toys.

:In vehicle mode, Blackout appears as an MH-53 Pave Low helicopter with a mostly screen-accurate deco, including the 4500X designation marking, USAF emblems, and danger warnings near the propellers. His robot mode is bulky and mostly accurate to his onscreen appearances, including details like the helicopter engine behind his head that previous versions omitted. His tail rotor can be attached to either forearm to simulate his weapon from the movie, though on-screen this used the larger propeller from his back. The refueling probe, often mistaken for a gun, can also flip up as his non-firing chest cannon in robot mode.

:A tiny, surprisingly well-decoed Scorponok is included which can hide in the tail section of the helicopter mode. Scorponok can also be stored on a small peg on his back. Scorponok's feet are aligned in such a way that, when pegged onto Blackout's back, he will hold the two innermost blades in place securely to prevent the propeller assembly from swinging freely. However, Scorponok has to be pegged with his head pointing down, instead of up as the instructions suggest, to do this without deforming the soft plastic rotors.

:Blackout comes with a carboard backdrop depicting the [[SOCCENT Forward Operations Base]] under siege, as shown in the opening of ''Transformers''.

:It's quite common for Blackout to have at least one Air Force logo on his helicopter mode tail printed upside down. There's no way to check for this error while the figure is still in its packaging, since the logos end up on Blackout's obscured soles.

:Blackout is mildly mistransformed in package to better fit in his box: his lower back/helicopter tail area panel isn't pivoted up to sit against his upper back.

{{-}}{{anchor|TaoBao}}
[[File:TF-Studio-Series-Hasbro-TaoBao-exclusive-Blackout.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Well played, HasTak. Now paint it in black and purple and call it ROTF Spinister.]]
* '''Decepticon Blackout''' (Giveaway figure, [[2018]])
**''Number:'' '''08'''
**''Accessories'': Tail rotor, Scorponok, Military Base Attack backdrop
:Decepticon Blackout is redeco of the above figure. He is an exclusive Lucky Draw prize in a contest only accessible to people who bought ''Studio Series'' figures on May 15, 2018 on Hasbro China's official TaoBao online shop. There were only 88 Blackouts made. He is decoed in a less than accurate camouflage deco.
{{-}}

==Merchandise==
===Transformers (2007)===
====Lunchables====
{{picsneeded}}
* '''Blackout''' ("Pocket Transformers" toy prize, 2007)[[File:Blackout Movie Lunchable Toy.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|Now it will be impossible to shoot him in the crotch!]]

: What could only be called a "pseudo-figure" (and that's still being pretty generous), Blackout "transforms" from a flat, blueish-gray structure emblazoned with the Decepticon symbol and the word "Transformers" to a robot by folding out. Blackout is represented by stickers decorated with artwork of the character on the top, bottom, and two fold out "arms". His name is also spelled out, across his feet in this mode.

: This mold was also used to create the lunchables figure for [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]] and [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]]. A similar mold was used to create the Lunchables figure for [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus]], [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]] and [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]], though with the Autobot symbol sculpted in instead of the Decepticon one. Each iteration of this mold was made with a different color of plastic.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2007/Decepticon/LunchBlackout/blackout.htm More information on Lunchables Blackout at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

====3D Battle-Card Game====
[[File:3DBattleCard Blackout.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
* '''Blackout''' (3D Battle Card, 2007)

: A 29-point "uncommon" character in the [[3D Battle-Card Game]], Blackout "transforms" into a black helicopter. He uses the same parts layout as [[Evac (Movie)|Evac]], [[Stormcloud (Energon)|Vortex]] and [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]].
{{-}}

====Titanium Series====
[[File:Movie TitaniumRM Blackout.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|Scorponok! I can't move! Quick, drag me away!]]
*'''Blackout''' (3" Robot Masters, 2007)
**''Accessories:'' Decepticon display stand

: This three-inch figurine, as with all Titaniums, is partially made of die-cast metal and plastic, sculpted holding his rotor-blades as a hand weapon. Interestingly, Blackout has a more unique sculpt to him; the weapon is sculpted as it was briefly seen in the movie, but on the wrong hand. Blackout ''himself'' has an altered leg & foot design as well as having the main rotor-blades on his back excluded, matching it up more with the fact that instead of using his tail rotor, he uses his ''main'' rotor as a multi-purpose melee weapon, echoing the game render. His articulation is limited to his shoulders, head and waist, and he comes packaged with a movie-style Decepticon symbol display base.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2009/Decepticon/TitBlackout/blackout.htm More information on Titanium Series Blackout at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

{{anchor|Unleashed}}
====Unleashed====
[[File:Movie UnleashedTurnarounds BlackoutBarricade.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|After camping out in the Ruby Crystal Mines of Burma, the two vowed to never go spelunking again.....]]
*'''Blackout and Barricade''' (2008)

: The Blackout and Barricade turnaround is a 3D sculpture of the two characters in both robot mode emerging from rubble and explosions, with a movie-accurate sculpt (compared to the various transforming toys.) The 'turnaround' aspect of these sculptures simply means one can turn the piece around to display a raised-relief of the movie-style Decepticon sigil instead.

: This product's release was cancelled for the US market, but was released in Australia and in Asia.
{{-}}
====Radio Shack====
[[File:Movie Radioshack RC Blackout.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Blackout''' (2007)

: A remote control helicopter sold at Radio Shack, this little heli operates on 2-channels, features blades with a diameter of just under 5.5 inches and an LED light mounted on the front fuselage. The design of the helicopter is rather inaccurate to an MH-53 Pave Low, and is coloured black for some reason.

{{-}}

====Transformers Movie Screen Cleaners====
[[File:Movie Blackout screencleaner.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb]]
*'''Blackout''' (2008)

:Released by [[Gacha International|Tomy Yujin]] on January 2008, this Dangler is a faction logo-shaped screen cleaner for your cell phone, with a stock image of Blackout printed on the other side.
{{-}}

====Robot Heroes====
[[File:RH Prime vs Blackout.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|Blackout's hobbies include worshipping Megatron, and jumping out of bushes and yelling "BOOGA-BOOGA!" at small children.]]
*'''Optimus Prime vs. Blackout''' (2007)

: Packaged with [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]], Blackout is a cute style rendition of the character. Most notably, his face has been given a more traditional Transformer style mouth and nose, making him appear more like a grumpy old man. His articulation is the standard three points, however, the kibble in his design limits the movement. This mold was later redecoed into "Battle Damage" Blackout.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2007/Decepticon/RHBlackout/blackout.htm More information on ''Robot Heroes'' Blackout at TFU.info]''
{{-}}
[[File:Robotheroesfinalbattle.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|Keeps 'em where I can sees 'em!]]
*'''The Final Battle''' (2008)

: Packaged with Autobot Jazz, Autobot Ratchet, Megatron, and Optimus Prime. "Battle Damage" Blackout is a slightly redecoed version of the two pack version. No molding has changed, and the articulation is still limited. His exclusive deco is a black paint wash over various parts of his body to evoke battle damage. Oddly, the undersides of his arms get this deco but not the top, meaning the toy is meant to only be posed with arms raised. The Final Battle 5-pack was sold exclusively in [[Walmart]] stores.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Decepticon/RHWMBlackout/blackout.htm More information on Final Battle Blackout at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

====Burger King====
[[File:MovieMerchandise-BurgerKingBlackout.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Blackout''' (2007)

:This [[Burger King]] toy is a small plastic replica of Blackout's Pave Low vehicle form, with two special features:
:*Holding his cockpit window up to a light source and peering through a small lens behind his front landing wheel will reveal an image of his CGI-rendered robot mode.
:*His wheels are linked to his rotor drive shaft — spinning them will cause his rotors to spin rapidly, possibly flying off and disappearing under the nearest piece of furniture, where the cat will eventually find them and chew them to pieces.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2007/Decepticon/BKBlackout/blackout.htm More information on Burger King Blackout at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===Revenge of the Fallen===
====Robot Heroes====
[[File:Robotheroesoptimusblackout.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|"Sure you aren't [[Grindor (ROTF)|Grindor]] or somethin'?" "Nope."]]
*'''Optimus Prime & Blackout''' (2009)

:Just like his first ''Robot Heroes'' set, Blackout comes with Optimus Prime. While Blackout is a [[redeco]] of the previous mold, Optimus Prime is an all-new sculpt with two swords. With his blue and tan, Blackout kinda looks like [[Grindor (ROTF)|Grindor]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2009/Decepticon/RHBlackout/blackout.htm More information on Robot Heroes Blackout at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

====Titanium Series====
{{picsneeded}}
*'''Rescue Ratchet vs. Blackout''' (3-inch Robot Masters multi-pack, 2009)
**''Accessories:'' Movie Decepticon sigil display stand

:This [[Toys"R"Us]]-exclusive set features an unchanged version of 2007's ''Titanium Series'' Blackout and a [[redeco]]ed [[Ratchet (Movie)|Ratchet]].
{{-}}

====Figure Collection====
[[File:ROTF-Merchandise Figure Collection Blackout.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Just pretend I'm Grindor if it makes you happy.]]
*'''Blackout''' (2010)
**''Accessories:'' Stand

:The [[Figure Collection]] edition of Blackout is based on his [[#Fast_Action_Battlers|Fast Action Battlers toy]], making him extremely off-model from his movie look. He is cast leaning back and has a chunk of kibble protruding from his back to stop him toppling forwards, however he's still very top heavy.

{{-}}

====Missile Mania Board Game====
*'''Blackout'''
: Blackout is one of eight characters featured in the [[Missile Mania]] board game, represented by a small standee adorned with artwork of the character.
{{-}}

====McDonald's====
{{picsneeded}}
[[File:Revenge of the Fallen McDonalds Blackout.png|thumb|upright=1.1|"Talk to the Rotor."]]
*'''Blackout''' (Happy Meal, 2010)
**''Accessories:'' rotor
:Part of the 2010 [[McDonald's]] Revenge of the Fallen promotion, Blackout does not transform but features a spinning/firing rotor mechanism instead. The rotor can be placed on his back, or mounted on his arm to be fired. Blackout does not feature any [[light-piping]], but does have three points articulation. He was only available during week 6 of the promotion, and came with an instruction sheet that doubles as an ad for [[McWorld]], featuring an exclusive code for the website.
{{--}}

==Notes==
[[File:EarlyMovieBlackout.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Blackoutwave lives in constant fear of [http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=dactyl-nightmare&page=detail&id=12493 pterodactyls].]]
* Blackout was originally conceived as [[Soundwave (ROTF)|Soundwave]], hence his symbiotic relationship with Scorponok, who was originally conceived as [[Ravage (ROTF)|Ravage]]. Though this obviously changed, his portrayal in the ''Ghosts of Yesterday'' novel is rather Soundwave-esque. Likewise, in the IDW prequel comic, Blackout is the only Decepticon to land on Earth and acquire his alternate mode without ''any'' witnesses, whereas Starscream and Barricade had to kill existing witnesses. In the film ''itself'', Blackout's only speaking role has him quickly reporting to Starscream's call... in Cybertronian, with he alone both hailing Megatron upon the AllSpark's discovery and attempting to aid him in battle against Prime. What's more, all this "Soundwave-ness" is further enhanced by Hasbro's official bio, calling Blackout "his leader's hound".
* Blackout wins the award for being the Transformers character from the 2007 movie that has gone through the most number of working names: Aside from "Soundwave", he was also supposed to be named "Grimlock",<ref name="early">Details from an early script draft [http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showpost.php?p=2213120&postcount=297 summed up here], [http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showpost.php?p=2214148&postcount=303 confirmed as authentic by Roberto Orci here].</ref> "Vortex",<ref>[http://www.donmurphy.net/board/showthread.php?p=1120447#post1120447 Unformatted script sample from first draft naming the Decepticon helicopter "Vortex" posted by Roberto Orci on Don Murphy's message board]</ref> "Devastator",<ref>[http://www.benprocter.com/storage/oldersites/sitev2/html/ZOOM_Trans/ZOOM_32.html "Devastator" concept art at Ben Procter Online Portfolio]</ref> and "Incinerator"<ref>[http://www.benprocter.com/storage/oldersites/sitev2/html/ZOOM_Trans/ZOOM_34.html "Incinerator" pre-production render at Ben Procter Online Portfolio]</ref> at different stages of the pre-production process. The name "Incinerator" was later used for a [[Incinerator (Movie)|different toy]] from the Movie toyline, and the names "Devastator", "Grimlock" and "Soundwave" would go on to be used by [[Devastator (ROTF)|three]] [[Grimlock (AOE)|other]] [[Soundwave (ROTF)|characters]] in later films.
* Blackout's working name of "Incinerator" is also accounted for in the aforementioned Hasbro bio, noting how Blackout will "fill the air with fire and burn the land clear to take his revenge".
* The period of time that Blackout acquired his vehicle mode in the film, three months prior to the unfolding events, appears to contradict the origin of his vehicle mode in IDW's ''[[Transformers: Movie Prequel|Movie Prequel]]'' comics, with him apparently having scanned and destroyed the MH-53 Pave Low all the way back in 2003. It's maaaaybe possible that he just kept on destroying ''different'' Pave Lows over time to maintain his covert status (with the U.S. government covering it up) until he finally realized how close he was to a military network access point.
* [[Scorponok (Movie)|Scorponok's]] alternate mode is actually a part of Blackout's helicopter mode; he's made up of a {{w|General Electric T64}} turboshaft engine and various other helicopter bits. Considering Blackout didn't appear to be missing any integral parts of his alternate mode when answering [[Frenzy (Movie)|Frenzy's]] call or during the final battle in [[Mission City]], either Scorponok reattached himself to Blackout after he escaped the US Air Force's counter-attack in Qatar, or Blackout somehow magically regrew the parts that were previously made up by Scorponok.
* Blackout is never actually seen using his chest cannon in the film, even though he unfurls it quite emphatically on two separate occasions.
* During a transmission from Burger King's website, Optimus Prime has decreed that we are not to ride ''this'' helicopter. The current ridability of ''other'' helicopters the world over is unknown. Stand by for further updates as they become available.
*Blackout uses a [[mouthplate]] in the movie, seen in a brief shot of the side of his face before Epps takes his photo at the beginning of the film, and again when Epps was targeting him during the climactic battle.
* Blackout is clearly using his Pave Low mode's six-bladed main rotor (but smaller) as a hand weapon despite the fact that his robot mode ''also'' always has its main rotor folded up on his back. The Voyager toy and 2007 video game both have him detaching his back-mounted rotor to use as a weapon, while the ''Studio Series'' figure compensates by having his smaller, four-bladed tail rotor as a weapon affixed to his forearm.
* ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'' never explicitly establishes [[Grindor (ROTF)|Grindor]] as a separate character from Blackout. Screenwriter [[Roberto Orci]], when asked, was not sure whether they were supposed to be the same character or not.<ref name="orci">[http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-movie-discussion/180451-welcome-mr-roberto-orci-you-may-ask-him-questions-283.html#post3785383 Q&A with Roberto Orci at TFW2005]</ref> In the [[Hasbro Q&A/July 2009: Answers|{{SITENAME_SHORT}} Hasbro Q&A for July 2009]], it was confirmed that Grindor, not Blackout, appears in the movie.
*Internal files for the ''[[Revenge of the Fallen (video games)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'' video game identify Grindor as Blackout, indicating that the game had been developed with the understanding that they were the same character... but had dialog re-recorded to refer to him as Grindor.
*In addition to Orci, several other official sources were also confused if Blackout or Grindor appeared in ''Revenge of the Fallen''. The 2-disc special edition of the film features an inside look at some still poses of the Autobots and Decepticons, and names the helicopter as Blackout (he's 33 feet tall, by the way). The ''[[Revenge of the Fallen: The Movie Universe]]'' also features Blackout instead of Grindor. The ''[[Revenge of the Fallen: The Junior Novel|Revenge of the Fallen: The Junior Novel]]'' also names the character as Blackout.
*In Hasbro's online "Vector Sigma: The Cybertronian Database" feature, Blackout's alternate mode is erroneously portrayed as [[Skyhammer (DOTM)|Skyhammer]]'s alternate mode. Likewise, his "Energon Wave" weapon is portrayed as Skyhammer's [[MechTech]] weapon.
*In the ''[[Dark of the Moon: The Ultimate Guide]]'' it also states that Blackout stands 33 feet tall.
*It's worth noting that in Transformers: The Game, if one stops climbing a building as Blackout, he will scratch his butt.
*Blackout's height is stated to be 33 feet. However, since he and Grindor are the same size (Grindor's robot mode was not changed at all, despite the new alt mode) and Optimus Prime is clearly half Grindor's size, he should be around 55 feet tall.
*In the Decepticon Chapter "''The Mighty Will Fall''" of [[Transformers The Game (console)|this game]], he was strong enough to defeat ''[[Class Beta drone unit|almost]]'' ''[[Swindle (Movie)|every]]'' ''[[Scrapper (Movie)|kind]]'' ''[[Dropkick (Movie)|of]]'' ''[[Longarm (Movie)|drone]]'' and ''[[Ironhide (Movie)|this guy]]'', who was invincible during most of the battle, while in the Autobot Chapter "''Unfriendly Skies''", he was easily defeated by ''[[Jazz (Movie)|the shortest Autobot]]'', even though he ''[[Starscream (Movie)/games#Transformers: The Game|had]]'' ''[[Class Alpha drone unit|backup]]''. By Jazz. The guy who needed help to defeat a few drones. Then again, that's just one of the '''few''' plotholes from that game.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Blackout''' (ブラックアウト ''Burakkuauto'')
*''Hungarian:'' '''Kisülés''' ("Discharge")
*''Mandarin:'' '''Hēi Mó''' (Taiwan, 黑魔, "Black Demon"), '''Xuànyūn''' (China, 眩晕, "Dizziness")
*''Ukrainian:'' '''Vymyckach''' ("Switch Off")

==Footnotes==
<references />

[[Category:3D Battle-Cards]]
[[Category:Beast Wars Decepticons]]
[[Category:Cyberverse]]
[[Category:Dark of the Moon Decepticons]]
[[Category:McDonald's exclusives]]
[[Category:Movie Decepticons]]
[[Category:Revenge of the Fallen Decepticons]]
[[Category:Robot Heroes]]
[[Category:Studio Series]]
[[Category:The Last Knight Decepticons]]
[[Category:Titanium Series]]
[[Category:Zombies]]

Rapid Run (RID)

2019-10-30T13:57:44Z

KitsuneMastaa: /* Robots in Disguise (2001) */

{{factions|autobot}}
{{disambig3|Rapid Run}}
:''Rapid Run is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)|2001 Robots in Disguise]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Rapid Run Robot.jpg|right|upright=1.0|thumb|Agent Jay-Seven]]
'''Rapid Run''' is a member of [[Team Bullet Train]], a trio of Autobots who patrol the railways. The physically strongest member of the team, Rapid Run is always eager for action, cool-headed and sarcastic. You don't have to ask him twice to tackle the [[Predacon (RID)|Predacons]] or [[Decepticon]]s... in fact, more often than not he's already firing away before you could ask once. And, with the ability to generate an almost impenetrable force-field, he can take just about any punishment they throw back at him.

{{TOCclear}}

==Fiction==
===2001 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Keith Diamond]] (English), [[Eiji Takemoto]] (Japanese)|[[Mikhail Tihonov]] (Russian), [[Wan-gyeong Seong]] (Korean), [[Alejandro Illescas]] (Latin-American Spanish)}}

[[File:Secret of the Ruins Rapid Run.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Just chillin']]
When Team Bullet Train was called in to help protect the Linear RFG, Rapid Run was forced to abandon a trainload of commuters, including an indignant [[Kelly (RID)|Kelly]]. He was keen to test the Linear RFG's speed in a race and almost got his chance when the experimental train's control was overridden by the Predacons. He and the rest of Team Bullet Train linked up and used their brakes to halt the Linear RFG and, once it was safe, combined into [[Rail Racer (RID)|Rail Racer]] in order to drive off the Predacons. {{storylink|Bullet Train to the Rescue}}

The team was called into [[Metro City]] to thwart another attack on the part of [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]] and his Predacons. After clumsily traversing narrow streets, the team found the Predacons and engaged them in combat. Rapid Run was extremely impressed by [[Railspike (RID)|Railspike]]'s experience and tactics. After a pitched battle with the Predacons, the team merged into Rail Racer and chased them off. Although, as it turned out, the attack was a diversion while [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]] investigated some ruins. {{storylink|The Secret of the Ruins}}

Rapid Run was less than impressed with the smoky and aging steam engine nicknamed "Grandpa" when Team Bullet Train was detailed to protect it, and even less impressed with Midnight Express' insistence that the train was somehow self-aware and could understand what they said. The team successfully got Grandpa safely to his destination, but the steam train was promptly hijacked by the Predacons. {{storylink|Secret Weapon: D-5}}

Rapid Run and the rest of team Bullet Train was standing idle at Autobot headquarters when Koji voiced his concern that the Predacons would attempt to steal the world’s largest ruby, currently on display in the city. {{storylink|Mirage's Betrayal}}

Team Bullet Train helped to try to track down [[Skid-Z (RID)|Skid-Z]] after the Autobot scanned a racing car and was possessed by an urge to engage in races. They entered the Great Race, but were halted partway by a rock-slide they were unable to pass. {{storylink|Skid Z's Choice}}

[[File:Tow-Line Goes Haywire Rapid Run.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|AAAAA MAH HANDS!]]
Another new arrival, [[Tow-Line (RID)|Tow-Line]], was reprogrammed by the Predacons, forcing him to tow away the other Autobots. Rapid Run found himself being carried through the middle of Metro City, scraping along the sides of buildings. He was then unceremoniously dumped down a pit with [[Side Burn (RID)|Side Burn]] and [[X-Brawn]]. Tow-Line was eventually brought back to his senses and rescued the trio, apologising profusely. {{storylink|Tow-Line Goes Haywire}}

Rapid Run interrupted [[Slapper (RID)|Slapper]] interfering with a statue and chased him off. The Autobots subsequently realised that the [[Cave of the Dragon]] was likely the Predacons' target, and Rapid Run and Railspike disguised themselves as a dragon as part of a ruse to make the Predacons think it was home to a giant transforming robot. Rapid Run resented being the hind-end of the dragon and didn't think much of the [[Autobot Brothers]]' acting. After Railspike fired on the enemy, the pair returned to the cave to let [[Optimus Prime (RID)|Optimus Prime]] and Midnight Express take over as the dragon's statue "robot mode". {{storylink|The Ultimate Robot Warrior}}

After practising their link-up manoeuvre, Team Bullet Train returned to the Autobot base to review footage of previous adventures in an attempt to find the Predacon base. {{storylink|Hope for the Future}} After the creation of the Decepticons by Megatron, the team was sent to [[Sherman Dam]], where they combined into Rail Racer and fought [[Ruination (RID)|Ruination]]. {{storylink|Commandos}} They would subsequently spend a lot of time using the [[Global Space Bridge]] to arrive at locations under attack from the Decepticons to fight the enemy off, often forming Rail Racer to do so. Such as the instance when they arrived at [[Pier 7B]] just in time to dissuade the Decepticons from taking on the Autobots, after they had rampaged across the countryside following Side Burn. {{storylink|Attack from Outer Space}}

With the Autobot Brothers having been “duped” by Sky-Byte to go to the [[Bayshore power plant]] while the Decepticons attacked the [[Crestline power plant]] instead, it was up to Team Bullet Train to take on Scourge and the Commandos. Rapid Run, Railspike, and Midnight Express combined into Rail Racer shortly after their arrival at the plant, and drove off the aggressors. {{storylink|The Fish Test}}

[[File:Landfill Rapidrunballgame.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Those darn mosquitos!]]
The Autobots' ability to get to remote locations quickly did not go unnoticed by the Decepticons, who managed to sabotage the space bridge, depositing Team Bullet Train on a busy motorway. Rapid Run blamed the [[Build Team (RID)|Build Team]] for the incident and was only prevented from coming to blows with [[Wedge (RID)|Wedge]] by Railspike. A second attempt to use the space bridge dropped him in Metro City stadium, where he caught a baseball. Once the space bridge was repaired, the three bullet trains arrived at the North Energy Research Facility and prepared to form Rail Racer. They were stopped by Wedge, who asked them to let the Build Team defeat Megatron as a matter of honour. {{storylink|Landfill (episode)|Landfill}}

In between all their adventures, the Autobots still had to perform some of the more menial tasks, such as regularly testing out the global space bridge. {{storylink|Lessons of the Past}}

[[File:Test of Metal Rapidrunrotor.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Weeeeeee! Skydiving!]]
On another occasion, the team formed Rail Racer to prevent the Decepticons stealing some energy, and kept Ruination busy while the Build Team recovered the stolen energy. {{storylink|A Test of Metal}} They were also sent looking for the Autobot Brothers, who had disappeared while tracking [[Ultra Magnus (RID)|Ultra Magnus]], a recent arrival to Earth. They were approached by Magnus himself, who informed them that Optimus was being led into a trap, and the three trains rushed to help the Autobot leader. {{storylink|The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus}}

[[File:Fortress Maximus Railspikerapidrun.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|NANI?!]]
When the Autobots were on the verge of locating [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]], Team Bullet Train were dispatched to the location under Metro City to protect the Build Team. Railspike and Rapid Run battled [[Ro-Tor (RID)|Ro-Tor]] and [[Movor]] in the confined space until Ultra Magnus showed up to lend a hand. Magnus accidentally flooded the subway and the two trains were swept away in the resulting torrent. Reunited with Midnight Express, they arrived in the cavern where Maximus was located and formed Rail Racer to defend the giant robot from the Decepticons, and later tried to draw them away from where the Build Team were trying to hide Maximus. {{storylink|Fortress Maximus (episode)|Fortress Maximus}} {{storylink|Koji Gets His Wish}}

Team Bullet Train also attempted to defend Maximus from the Decepticons once his location was exposed. [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] managed to successfully activate Maximus, but proved unable to control him. {{storylink|Maximus Emerges}} When Scourge then magnified the human portion of his bio-signature in another attempt to control Maximus, Team Bullet Train was sent into the desert with Build Team and a thousand children to halt the titan. {{storylink|The Human Element}}

Gathering at a predetermined location, the Bullet Trains and the rest of the Autobots ambushed the Decepticon forces. The team combined into Rail Racer to fight Galvatron's ''[[Megastar]]'', but the battle station was eventually felled by Fortress Maximus. {{storylink|Surprise Attack!}} After Galvatron used [[cyber-bat]]s to gain control of the world's children, the Autobots were forced to retreat into the space bridge and were followed by the Decepticons. Galvatron ruptured the tunnel during the battle which followed, flooding it with molten lava which the Autobots were only narrowly able to escape. They were prompt seized by a powered-up Galvatron. {{storylink|Galvatron's Revenge}} Team Bullet Train reformed Rail Racer in order to protect Optimus Prime, and were subsequently held in a paralysed state by Galvatron until the Decepticon leader's defeat at the hands of [[Omega Prime]]. {{storylink|The Final Battle (RID)|The Final Battle}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
In several realities such as [[Viron 704.31 Epsilon]], Rapid Run was brainwashed by using the [[Robosmasher|Robo-Smasher]] and reformatted into [[Steamhammer (RID)|Steamhammer]]. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/30 and 2015/09/13}}

==Toys==
===Robots in Disguise (2001)===
*'''J-Seven''' (2000) / '''Rapid Run''' (Mega Class, 2001)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''C-013'''

[[File:RID Rapid Run Toy.jpg|right|upright=1.67|thumb|Ore, sanjou!]]
: ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' Rapid Run transforms into a {{w|700 Series Shinkansen|700 Series}} ''{{w|Hikari (train)#Hikari Rail Star|Hikari Rail Star}}'' bullet train. In this form, he can link up with the other Bullet Trains to form a three locomotive lash-up. In robot mode, a portion of his train-mode forms a shield with spring-loaded missile launcher; the missile is also the train's coupler. He can also form the midsection/backpack to the team's combined form [[Rail Racer (RID)#Toys|Rail Racer]].

: There are significant differences between the [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] and [[Hasbro]] versions of Rapid Run. The Takara version has several portions cast in transparent plastic to give him clear windows, requiring extensive [[Paint operation|paint applications]] to blend in. The robot mode's head was also painted a golden yellow.

: The Hasbro version released in 2001 replaced the transparent plastics with opaques to cut back on the number of needed paint applications. However, this also enabled them to add several other piece of deco, including an Autobot sigil on the roof, golden stripes on the robot-mode shins and gold on the very tip of the train's "nose". All of the yellow paint was also replaced with metallic gold. Early versions of the Hasbro Rapid Run had unpainted windows; later runs added sky blue paint to both them and the headlight wells under his windshield.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2001/Autobot/RapidRun/rapidrun.htm More information on Rapid Run at TFU.info]''

{{anchor|JRX}}
*'''JRX''' (Multi-pack, 2000)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''C-015'''

: All three members of Team Bullet Train — [[Railspike (RID)#JRX|J-Five]], [[Midnight Express (RID)#JRX|J-Four]], and J-Seven — were also available in a complete box set in Japan.

==Notes==
* Rapid Run was portrayed slightly differently in the two different versions of the cartoon. For the Japanese ''Car Robots'', "J-Seven" was a gruff, older veteran combatant. In ''Robots in Disguise'', Rapid Run was seemingly the youngest of the trio, with a much cooler attitude. They were both pretty battle-eager, though.
* The Takara versions of the Bullet Trains appear to have had a particularly bad run of quality control regarding the paint applications, with many having sloppily-applied decoes. While the individually-packaged Bullet Trains came in clear-window packages to see the toys, the box set was completely windowless, so it was kind of a crap shoot as to the quality of paint you got with the set.
* Reportedly, the Bullet Trains, which were developed with Takara's flexible pricing structure, really did not fit into Hasbro's more rigid existing price-points, budget-wise. They cost too much to be sold as Deluxes, but weren't really up to Mega-costs.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''J-Seven''' (ジェイセブン ''Jeisebun'')
*''Korean:'' '''J-Seven''' (제이세븐 ''Jeisebeun'')
*''Russian:'' '''Sprinter''' (Спринтер)

[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2001) Autobots]]

Rapid Run (RID)

2019-10-30T13:57:12Z

KitsuneMastaa: /* 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon */

{{factions|autobot}}
{{disambig3|Rapid Run}}
:''Rapid Run is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)|2001 Robots in Disguise]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Rapid Run Robot.jpg|right|upright=1.0|thumb|Agent Jay-Seven]]
'''Rapid Run''' is a member of [[Team Bullet Train]], a trio of Autobots who patrol the railways. The physically strongest member of the team, Rapid Run is always eager for action, cool-headed and sarcastic. You don't have to ask him twice to tackle the [[Predacon (RID)|Predacons]] or [[Decepticon]]s... in fact, more often than not he's already firing away before you could ask once. And, with the ability to generate an almost impenetrable force-field, he can take just about any punishment they throw back at him.

{{TOCclear}}

==Fiction==
===2001 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Keith Diamond]] (English), [[Eiji Takemoto]] (Japanese)|[[Mikhail Tihonov]] (Russian), [[Wan-gyeong Seong]] (Korean), [[Alejandro Illescas]] (Latin-American Spanish)}}

[[File:Secret of the Ruins Rapid Run.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Just chillin']]
When Team Bullet Train was called in to help protect the Linear RFG, Rapid Run was forced to abandon a trainload of commuters, including an indignant [[Kelly (RID)|Kelly]]. He was keen to test the Linear RFG's speed in a race and almost got his chance when the experimental train's control was overridden by the Predacons. He and the rest of Team Bullet Train linked up and used their brakes to halt the Linear RFG and, once it was safe, combined into [[Rail Racer (RID)|Rail Racer]] in order to drive off the Predacons. {{storylink|Bullet Train to the Rescue}}

The team was called into [[Metro City]] to thwart another attack on the part of [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]] and his Predacons. After clumsily traversing narrow streets, the team found the Predacons and engaged them in combat. Rapid Run was extremely impressed by [[Railspike (RID)|Railspike]]'s experience and tactics. After a pitched battle with the Predacons, the team merged into Rail Racer and chased them off. Although, as it turned out, the attack was a diversion while [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]] investigated some ruins. {{storylink|The Secret of the Ruins}}

Rapid Run was less than impressed with the smoky and aging steam engine nicknamed "Grandpa" when Team Bullet Train was detailed to protect it, and even less impressed with Midnight Express' insistence that the train was somehow self-aware and could understand what they said. The team successfully got Grandpa safely to his destination, but the steam train was promptly hijacked by the Predacons. {{storylink|Secret Weapon: D-5}}

Rapid Run and the rest of team Bullet Train was standing idle at Autobot headquarters when Koji voiced his concern that the Predacons would attempt to steal the world’s largest ruby, currently on display in the city. {{storylink|Mirage's Betrayal}}

Team Bullet Train helped to try to track down [[Skid-Z (RID)|Skid-Z]] after the Autobot scanned a racing car and was possessed by an urge to engage in races. They entered the Great Race, but were halted partway by a rock-slide they were unable to pass. {{storylink|Skid Z's Choice}}

[[File:Tow-Line Goes Haywire Rapid Run.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|AAAAA MAH HANDS!]]
Another new arrival, [[Tow-Line (RID)|Tow-Line]], was reprogrammed by the Predacons, forcing him to tow away the other Autobots. Rapid Run found himself being carried through the middle of Metro City, scraping along the sides of buildings. He was then unceremoniously dumped down a pit with [[Side Burn (RID)|Side Burn]] and [[X-Brawn]]. Tow-Line was eventually brought back to his senses and rescued the trio, apologising profusely. {{storylink|Tow-Line Goes Haywire}}

Rapid Run interrupted [[Slapper (RID)|Slapper]] interfering with a statue and chased him off. The Autobots subsequently realised that the [[Cave of the Dragon]] was likely the Predacons' target, and Rapid Run and Railspike disguised themselves as a dragon as part of a ruse to make the Predacons think it was home to a giant transforming robot. Rapid Run resented being the hind-end of the dragon and didn't think much of the [[Autobot Brothers]]' acting. After Railspike fired on the enemy, the pair returned to the cave to let [[Optimus Prime (RID)|Optimus Prime]] and Midnight Express take over as the dragon's statue "robot mode". {{storylink|The Ultimate Robot Warrior}}

After practising their link-up manoeuvre, Team Bullet Train returned to the Autobot base to review footage of previous adventures in an attempt to find the Predacon base. {{storylink|Hope for the Future}} After the creation of the Decepticons by Megatron, the team was sent to [[Sherman Dam]], where they combined into Rail Racer and fought [[Ruination (RID)|Ruination]]. {{storylink|Commandos}} They would subsequently spend a lot of time using the [[Global Space Bridge]] to arrive at locations under attack from the Decepticons to fight the enemy off, often forming Rail Racer to do so. Such as the instance when they arrived at [[Pier 7B]] just in time to dissuade the Decepticons from taking on the Autobots, after they had rampaged across the countryside following Side Burn. {{storylink|Attack from Outer Space}}

With the Autobot Brothers having been “duped” by Sky-Byte to go to the [[Bayshore power plant]] while the Decepticons attacked the [[Crestline power plant]] instead, it was up to Team Bullet Train to take on Scourge and the Commandos. Rapid Run, Railspike, and Midnight Express combined into Rail Racer shortly after their arrival at the plant, and drove off the aggressors. {{storylink|The Fish Test}}

[[File:Landfill Rapidrunballgame.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Those darn mosquitos!]]
The Autobots' ability to get to remote locations quickly did not go unnoticed by the Decepticons, who managed to sabotage the space bridge, depositing Team Bullet Train on a busy motorway. Rapid Run blamed the [[Build Team (RID)|Build Team]] for the incident and was only prevented from coming to blows with [[Wedge (RID)|Wedge]] by Railspike. A second attempt to use the space bridge dropped him in Metro City stadium, where he caught a baseball. Once the space bridge was repaired, the three bullet trains arrived at the North Energy Research Facility and prepared to form Rail Racer. They were stopped by Wedge, who asked them to let the Build Team defeat Megatron as a matter of honour. {{storylink|Landfill (episode)|Landfill}}

In between all their adventures, the Autobots still had to perform some of the more menial tasks, such as regularly testing out the global space bridge. {{storylink|Lessons of the Past}}

[[File:Test of Metal Rapidrunrotor.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Weeeeeee! Skydiving!]]
On another occasion, the team formed Rail Racer to prevent the Decepticons stealing some energy, and kept Ruination busy while the Build Team recovered the stolen energy. {{storylink|A Test of Metal}} They were also sent looking for the Autobot Brothers, who had disappeared while tracking [[Ultra Magnus (RID)|Ultra Magnus]], a recent arrival to Earth. They were approached by Magnus himself, who informed them that Optimus was being led into a trap, and the three trains rushed to help the Autobot leader. {{storylink|The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus}}

[[File:Fortress Maximus Railspikerapidrun.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|NANI?!]]
When the Autobots were on the verge of locating [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]], Team Bullet Train were dispatched to the location under Metro City to protect the Build Team. Railspike and Rapid Run battled [[Ro-Tor (RID)|Ro-Tor]] and [[Movor]] in the confined space until Ultra Magnus showed up to lend a hand. Magnus accidentally flooded the subway and the two trains were swept away in the resulting torrent. Reunited with Midnight Express, they arrived in the cavern where Maximus was located and formed Rail Racer to defend the giant robot from the Decepticons, and later tried to draw them away from where the Build Team were trying to hide Maximus. {{storylink|Fortress Maximus (episode)|Fortress Maximus}} {{storylink|Koji Gets His Wish}}

Team Bullet Train also attempted to defend Maximus from the Decepticons once his location was exposed. [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] managed to successfully activate Maximus, but proved unable to control him. {{storylink|Maximus Emerges}} When Scourge then magnified the human portion of his bio-signature in another attempt to control Maximus, Team Bullet Train was sent into the desert with Build Team and a thousand children to halt the titan. {{storylink|The Human Element}}

Gathering at a predetermined location, the Bullet Trains and the rest of the Autobots ambushed the Decepticon forces. The team combined into Rail Racer to fight Galvatron's ''[[Megastar]]'', but the battle station was eventually felled by Fortress Maximus. {{storylink|Surprise Attack!}} After Galvatron used [[cyber-bat]]s to gain control of the world's children, the Autobots were forced to retreat into the space bridge and were followed by the Decepticons. Galvatron ruptured the tunnel during the battle which followed, flooding it with molten lava which the Autobots were only narrowly able to escape. They were prompt seized by a powered-up Galvatron. {{storylink|Galvatron's Revenge}} Team Bullet Train reformed Rail Racer in order to protect Optimus Prime, and were subsequently held in a paralysed state by Galvatron until the Decepticon leader's defeat at the hands of [[Omega Prime]]. {{storylink|The Final Battle (RID)|The Final Battle}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
In several realities such as [[Viron 704.31 Epsilon]], Rapid Run was brainwashed by using the [[Robosmasher|Robo-Smasher]] and reformatted into [[Steamhammer (RID)|Steamhammer]]. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/30 and 2015/09/13}}

==Toys==
===Robots in Disguise (2001)===
*'''J-Seven''' (2000) / '''Rapid Run''' (Mega Class, 2001)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''C-013'''

[[File:RID Rapid Run Toy.jpg|right|upright=1.67|thumb|I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!]]
: ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' Rapid Run transforms into a {{w|700 Series Shinkansen|700 Series}} ''{{w|Hikari (train)#Hikari Rail Star|Hikari Rail Star}}'' bullet train. In this form, he can link up with the other Bullet Trains to form a three locomotive lash-up. In robot mode, a portion of his train-mode forms a shield with spring-loaded missile launcher; the missile is also the train's coupler. He can also form the midsection/backpack to the team's combined form [[Rail Racer (RID)#Toys|Rail Racer]].

: There are significant differences between the [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] and [[Hasbro]] versions of Rapid Run. The Takara version has several portions cast in transparent plastic to give him clear windows, requiring extensive [[Paint operation|paint applications]] to blend in. The robot mode's head was also painted a golden yellow.

: The Hasbro version released in 2001 replaced the transparent plastics with opaques to cut back on the number of needed paint applications. However, this also enabled them to add several other piece of deco, including an Autobot sigil on the roof, golden stripes on the robot-mode shins and gold on the very tip of the train's "nose". All of the yellow paint was also replaced with metallic gold. Early versions of the Hasbro Rapid Run had unpainted windows; later runs added sky blue paint to both them and the headlight wells under his windshield.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2001/Autobot/RapidRun/rapidrun.htm More information on Rapid Run at TFU.info]''

{{anchor|JRX}}
*'''JRX''' (Multi-pack, 2000)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''C-015'''

: All three members of Team Bullet Train — [[Railspike (RID)#JRX|J-Five]], [[Midnight Express (RID)#JRX|J-Four]], and J-Seven — were also available in a complete box set in Japan.

==Notes==
* Rapid Run was portrayed slightly differently in the two different versions of the cartoon. For the Japanese ''Car Robots'', "J-Seven" was a gruff, older veteran combatant. In ''Robots in Disguise'', Rapid Run was seemingly the youngest of the trio, with a much cooler attitude. They were both pretty battle-eager, though.
* The Takara versions of the Bullet Trains appear to have had a particularly bad run of quality control regarding the paint applications, with many having sloppily-applied decoes. While the individually-packaged Bullet Trains came in clear-window packages to see the toys, the box set was completely windowless, so it was kind of a crap shoot as to the quality of paint you got with the set.
* Reportedly, the Bullet Trains, which were developed with Takara's flexible pricing structure, really did not fit into Hasbro's more rigid existing price-points, budget-wise. They cost too much to be sold as Deluxes, but weren't really up to Mega-costs.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''J-Seven''' (ジェイセブン ''Jeisebun'')
*''Korean:'' '''J-Seven''' (제이세븐 ''Jeisebeun'')
*''Russian:'' '''Sprinter''' (Спринтер)

[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2001) Autobots]]

Rapid Run (RID)

2019-10-30T13:56:06Z

KitsuneMastaa: /* 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon */

{{factions|autobot}}
{{disambig3|Rapid Run}}
:''Rapid Run is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)|2001 Robots in Disguise]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Rapid Run Robot.jpg|right|upright=1.0|thumb|Agent Jay-Seven]]
'''Rapid Run''' is a member of [[Team Bullet Train]], a trio of Autobots who patrol the railways. The physically strongest member of the team, Rapid Run is always eager for action, cool-headed and sarcastic. You don't have to ask him twice to tackle the [[Predacon (RID)|Predacons]] or [[Decepticon]]s... in fact, more often than not he's already firing away before you could ask once. And, with the ability to generate an almost impenetrable force-field, he can take just about any punishment they throw back at him.

{{TOCclear}}

==Fiction==
===2001 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Keith Diamond]] (English), [[Eiji Takemoto]] (Japanese)|[[Mikhail Tihonov]] (Russian), [[Wan-gyeong Seong]] (Korean), [[Alejandro Illescas]] (Latin-American Spanish)}}

[[File:Secret of the Ruins Rapid Run.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Just chillin']]
When Team Bullet Train was called in to help protect the Linear RFG, Rapid Run was forced to abandon a trainload of commuters, including an indignant [[Kelly (RID)|Kelly]]. He was keen to test the Linear RFG's speed in a race and almost got his chance when the experimental train's control was overridden by the Predacons. He and the rest of Team Bullet Train linked up and used their brakes to halt the Linear RFG and, once it was safe, combined into [[Rail Racer (RID)|Rail Racer]] in order to drive off the Predacons. {{storylink|Bullet Train to the Rescue}}

The team was called into [[Metro City]] to thwart another attack on the part of [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]] and his Predacons. After clumsily traversing narrow streets, the team found the Predacons and engaged them in combat. Rapid Run was extremely impressed by [[Railspike (RID)|Railspike]]'s experience and tactics. After a pitched battle with the Predacons, the team merged into Rail Racer and chased them off. Although, as it turned out, the attack was a diversion while [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]] investigated some ruins. {{storylink|The Secret of the Ruins}}

Rapid Run was less than impressed with the smoky and aging steam engine nicknamed "Grandpa" when Team Bullet Train was detailed to protect it, and even less impressed with Midnight Express' insistence that the train was somehow self-aware and could understand what they said. The team successfully got Grandpa safely to his destination, but the steam train was promptly hijacked by the Predacons. {{storylink|Secret Weapon: D-5}}

Rapid Run and the rest of team Bullet Train was standing idle at Autobot headquarters when Koji voiced his concern that the Predacons would attempt to steal the world’s largest ruby, currently on display in the city. {{storylink|Mirage's Betrayal}}

Team Bullet Train helped to try to track down [[Skid-Z (RID)|Skid-Z]] after the Autobot scanned a racing car and was possessed by an urge to engage in races. They entered the Great Race, but were halted partway by a rock-slide they were unable to pass. {{storylink|Skid Z's Choice}}

[[File:Tow-Line Goes Haywire Rapid Run.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|AAAAA MAH HANDS!]]
Another new arrival, [[Tow-Line (RID)|Tow-Line]], was reprogrammed by the Predacons, forcing him to tow away the other Autobots. Rapid Run found himself being carried through the middle of Metro City, scraping along the sides of buildings. He was then unceremoniously dumped down a pit with [[Side Burn (RID)|Side Burn]] and [[X-Brawn]]. Tow-Line was eventually brought back to his senses and rescued the trio, apologising profusely. {{storylink|Tow-Line Goes Haywire}}

Rapid Run interrupted [[Slapper (RID)|Slapper]] interfering with a statue and chased him off. The Autobots subsequently realised that the [[Cave of the Dragon]] was likely the Predacons' target, and Rapid Run and Railspike disguised themselves as a dragon as part of a ruse to make the Predacons think it was home to a giant transforming robot. Rapid Run resented being the hind-end of the dragon and didn't think much of the [[Autobot Brothers]]' acting. After Railspike fired on the enemy, the pair returned to the cave to let [[Optimus Prime (RID)|Optimus Prime]] and Midnight Express take over as the dragon's statue "robot mode". {{storylink|The Ultimate Robot Warrior}}

After practising their link-up manoeuvre, Team Bullet Train returned to the Autobot base to review footage of previous adventures in an attempt to find the Predacon base. {{storylink|Hope for the Future}} After the creation of the Decepticons by Megatron, the team was sent to [[Sherman Dam]], where they combined into Rail Racer and fought [[Ruination (RID)|Ruination]]. {{storylink|Commandos}} They would subsequently spend a lot of time using the [[Global Space Bridge]] to arrive at locations under attack from the Decepticons to fight the enemy off, often forming Rail Racer to do so. Such as the instance when they arrived at [[Pier 7B]] just in time to dissuade the Decepticons from taking on the Autobots, after they had rampaged across the countryside following Side Burn. {{storylink|Attack from Outer Space}}

With the Autobot Brothers having been “duped” by Sky-Byte to go to the [[Bayshore power plant]] while the Decepticons attacked the [[Crestline power plant]] instead, it was up to Team Bullet Train to take on Scourge and the Commandos. Rapid Run, Railspike, and Midnight Express combined into Rail Racer shortly after their arrival at the plant, and drove off the aggressors. {{storylink|The Fish Test}}

[[File:Landfill Rapidrunballgame.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb]]
The Autobots' ability to get to remote locations quickly did not go unnoticed by the Decepticons, who managed to sabotage the space bridge, depositing Team Bullet Train on a busy motorway. Rapid Run blamed the [[Build Team (RID)|Build Team]] for the incident and was only prevented from coming to blows with [[Wedge (RID)|Wedge]] by Railspike. A second attempt to use the space bridge dropped him in Metro City stadium, where he caught a baseball. Once the space bridge was repaired, the three bullet trains arrived at the North Energy Research Facility and prepared to form Rail Racer. They were stopped by Wedge, who asked them to let the Build Team defeat Megatron as a matter of honour. {{storylink|Landfill (episode)|Landfill}}

In between all their adventures, the Autobots still had to perform some of the more menial tasks, such as regularly testing out the global space bridge. {{storylink|Lessons of the Past}}

[[File:Test of Metal Rapidrunrotor.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Weeeeeee! Skydiving!]]
On another occasion, the team formed Rail Racer to prevent the Decepticons stealing some energy, and kept Ruination busy while the Build Team recovered the stolen energy. {{storylink|A Test of Metal}} They were also sent looking for the Autobot Brothers, who had disappeared while tracking [[Ultra Magnus (RID)|Ultra Magnus]], a recent arrival to Earth. They were approached by Magnus himself, who informed them that Optimus was being led into a trap, and the three trains rushed to help the Autobot leader. {{storylink|The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus}}

[[File:Fortress Maximus Railspikerapidrun.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|NANI?!]]
When the Autobots were on the verge of locating [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]], Team Bullet Train were dispatched to the location under Metro City to protect the Build Team. Railspike and Rapid Run battled [[Ro-Tor (RID)|Ro-Tor]] and [[Movor]] in the confined space until Ultra Magnus showed up to lend a hand. Magnus accidentally flooded the subway and the two trains were swept away in the resulting torrent. Reunited with Midnight Express, they arrived in the cavern where Maximus was located and formed Rail Racer to defend the giant robot from the Decepticons, and later tried to draw them away from where the Build Team were trying to hide Maximus. {{storylink|Fortress Maximus (episode)|Fortress Maximus}} {{storylink|Koji Gets His Wish}}

Team Bullet Train also attempted to defend Maximus from the Decepticons once his location was exposed. [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] managed to successfully activate Maximus, but proved unable to control him. {{storylink|Maximus Emerges}} When Scourge then magnified the human portion of his bio-signature in another attempt to control Maximus, Team Bullet Train was sent into the desert with Build Team and a thousand children to halt the titan. {{storylink|The Human Element}}

Gathering at a predetermined location, the Bullet Trains and the rest of the Autobots ambushed the Decepticon forces. The team combined into Rail Racer to fight Galvatron's ''[[Megastar]]'', but the battle station was eventually felled by Fortress Maximus. {{storylink|Surprise Attack!}} After Galvatron used [[cyber-bat]]s to gain control of the world's children, the Autobots were forced to retreat into the space bridge and were followed by the Decepticons. Galvatron ruptured the tunnel during the battle which followed, flooding it with molten lava which the Autobots were only narrowly able to escape. They were prompt seized by a powered-up Galvatron. {{storylink|Galvatron's Revenge}} Team Bullet Train reformed Rail Racer in order to protect Optimus Prime, and were subsequently held in a paralysed state by Galvatron until the Decepticon leader's defeat at the hands of [[Omega Prime]]. {{storylink|The Final Battle (RID)|The Final Battle}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
In several realities such as [[Viron 704.31 Epsilon]], Rapid Run was brainwashed by using the [[Robosmasher|Robo-Smasher]] and reformatted into [[Steamhammer (RID)|Steamhammer]]. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/30 and 2015/09/13}}

==Toys==
===Robots in Disguise (2001)===
*'''J-Seven''' (2000) / '''Rapid Run''' (Mega Class, 2001)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''C-013'''

[[File:RID Rapid Run Toy.jpg|right|upright=1.67|thumb|I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!]]
: ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' Rapid Run transforms into a {{w|700 Series Shinkansen|700 Series}} ''{{w|Hikari (train)#Hikari Rail Star|Hikari Rail Star}}'' bullet train. In this form, he can link up with the other Bullet Trains to form a three locomotive lash-up. In robot mode, a portion of his train-mode forms a shield with spring-loaded missile launcher; the missile is also the train's coupler. He can also form the midsection/backpack to the team's combined form [[Rail Racer (RID)#Toys|Rail Racer]].

: There are significant differences between the [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] and [[Hasbro]] versions of Rapid Run. The Takara version has several portions cast in transparent plastic to give him clear windows, requiring extensive [[Paint operation|paint applications]] to blend in. The robot mode's head was also painted a golden yellow.

: The Hasbro version released in 2001 replaced the transparent plastics with opaques to cut back on the number of needed paint applications. However, this also enabled them to add several other piece of deco, including an Autobot sigil on the roof, golden stripes on the robot-mode shins and gold on the very tip of the train's "nose". All of the yellow paint was also replaced with metallic gold. Early versions of the Hasbro Rapid Run had unpainted windows; later runs added sky blue paint to both them and the headlight wells under his windshield.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2001/Autobot/RapidRun/rapidrun.htm More information on Rapid Run at TFU.info]''

{{anchor|JRX}}
*'''JRX''' (Multi-pack, 2000)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''C-015'''

: All three members of Team Bullet Train — [[Railspike (RID)#JRX|J-Five]], [[Midnight Express (RID)#JRX|J-Four]], and J-Seven — were also available in a complete box set in Japan.

==Notes==
* Rapid Run was portrayed slightly differently in the two different versions of the cartoon. For the Japanese ''Car Robots'', "J-Seven" was a gruff, older veteran combatant. In ''Robots in Disguise'', Rapid Run was seemingly the youngest of the trio, with a much cooler attitude. They were both pretty battle-eager, though.
* The Takara versions of the Bullet Trains appear to have had a particularly bad run of quality control regarding the paint applications, with many having sloppily-applied decoes. While the individually-packaged Bullet Trains came in clear-window packages to see the toys, the box set was completely windowless, so it was kind of a crap shoot as to the quality of paint you got with the set.
* Reportedly, the Bullet Trains, which were developed with Takara's flexible pricing structure, really did not fit into Hasbro's more rigid existing price-points, budget-wise. They cost too much to be sold as Deluxes, but weren't really up to Mega-costs.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''J-Seven''' (ジェイセブン ''Jeisebun'')
*''Korean:'' '''J-Seven''' (제이세븐 ''Jeisebeun'')
*''Russian:'' '''Sprinter''' (Спринтер)

[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2001) Autobots]]

Rapid Run (RID)

2019-10-30T13:54:54Z

KitsuneMastaa: /* 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon */

{{factions|autobot}}
{{disambig3|Rapid Run}}
:''Rapid Run is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)|2001 Robots in Disguise]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Rapid Run Robot.jpg|right|upright=1.0|thumb|Agent Jay-Seven]]
'''Rapid Run''' is a member of [[Team Bullet Train]], a trio of Autobots who patrol the railways. The physically strongest member of the team, Rapid Run is always eager for action, cool-headed and sarcastic. You don't have to ask him twice to tackle the [[Predacon (RID)|Predacons]] or [[Decepticon]]s... in fact, more often than not he's already firing away before you could ask once. And, with the ability to generate an almost impenetrable force-field, he can take just about any punishment they throw back at him.

{{TOCclear}}

==Fiction==
===2001 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Keith Diamond]] (English), [[Eiji Takemoto]] (Japanese)|[[Mikhail Tihonov]] (Russian), [[Wan-gyeong Seong]] (Korean), [[Alejandro Illescas]] (Latin-American Spanish)}}

[[File:Secret of the Ruins Rapid Run.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Just chillin']]
When Team Bullet Train was called in to help protect the Linear RFG, Rapid Run was forced to abandon a trainload of commuters, including an indignant [[Kelly (RID)|Kelly]]. He was keen to test the Linear RFG's speed in a race and almost got his chance when the experimental train's control was overridden by the Predacons. He and the rest of Team Bullet Train linked up and used their brakes to halt the Linear RFG and, once it was safe, combined into [[Rail Racer (RID)|Rail Racer]] in order to drive off the Predacons. {{storylink|Bullet Train to the Rescue}}

The team was called into [[Metro City]] to thwart another attack on the part of [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]] and his Predacons. After clumsily traversing narrow streets, the team found the Predacons and engaged them in combat. Rapid Run was extremely impressed by [[Railspike (RID)|Railspike]]'s experience and tactics. After a pitched battle with the Predacons, the team merged into Rail Racer and chased them off. Although, as it turned out, the attack was a diversion while [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]] investigated some ruins. {{storylink|The Secret of the Ruins}}

Rapid Run was less than impressed with the smoky and aging steam engine nicknamed "Grandpa" when Team Bullet Train was detailed to protect it, and even less impressed with Midnight Express' insistence that the train was somehow self-aware and could understand what they said. The team successfully got Grandpa safely to his destination, but the steam train was promptly hijacked by the Predacons. {{storylink|Secret Weapon: D-5}}

Rapid Run and the rest of team Bullet Train was standing idle at Autobot headquarters when Koji voiced his concern that the Predacons would attempt to steal the world’s largest ruby, currently on display in the city. {{storylink|Mirage's Betrayal}}

Team Bullet Train helped to try to track down [[Skid-Z (RID)|Skid-Z]] after the Autobot scanned a racing car and was possessed by an urge to engage in races. They entered the Great Race, but were halted partway by a rock-slide they were unable to pass. {{storylink|Skid Z's Choice}}

[[File:Tow-Line Goes Haywire Rapid Run.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|AAAAA MAH HANDS!]]
Another new arrival, [[Tow-Line (RID)|Tow-Line]], was reprogrammed by the Predacons, forcing him to tow away the other Autobots. Rapid Run found himself being carried through the middle of Metro City, scraping along the sides of buildings. He was then unceremoniously dumped down a pit with [[Side Burn (RID)|Side Burn]] and [[X-Brawn]]. Tow-Line was eventually brought back to his senses and rescued the trio, apologising profusely. {{storylink|Tow-Line Goes Haywire}}

Rapid Run interrupted [[Slapper (RID)|Slapper]] interfering with a statue and chased him off. The Autobots subsequently realised that the [[Cave of the Dragon]] was likely the Predacons' target, and Rapid Run and Railspike disguised themselves as a dragon as part of a ruse to make the Predacons think it was home to a giant transforming robot. Rapid Run resented being the hind-end of the dragon and didn't think much of the [[Autobot Brothers]]' acting. After Railspike fired on the enemy, the pair returned to the cave to let [[Optimus Prime (RID)|Optimus Prime]] and Midnight Express take over as the dragon's statue "robot mode". {{storylink|The Ultimate Robot Warrior}}

After practising their link-up manoeuvre, Team Bullet Train returned to the Autobot base to review footage of previous adventures in an attempt to find the Predacon base. {{storylink|Hope for the Future}} After the creation of the Decepticons by Megatron, the team was sent to [[Sherman Dam]], where they combined into Rail Racer and fought [[Ruination (RID)|Ruination]]. {{storylink|Commandos}} They would subsequently spend a lot of time using the [[Global Space Bridge]] to arrive at locations under attack from the Decepticons to fight the enemy off, often forming Rail Racer to do so. Such as the instance when they arrived at [[Pier 7B]] just in time to dissuade the Decepticons from taking on the Autobots, after they had rampaged across the countryside following Side Burn. {{storylink|Attack from Outer Space}}

With the Autobot Brothers having been “duped” by Sky-Byte to go to the [[Bayshore power plant]] while the Decepticons attacked the [[Crestline power plant]] instead, it was up to Team Bullet Train to take on Scourge and the Commandos. Rapid Run, Railspike, and Midnight Express combined into Rail Racer shortly after their arrival at the plant, and drove off the aggressors. {{storylink|The Fish Test}}

[[File:Landfill Rapidrunballgame.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb]]
The Autobots' ability to get to remote locations quickly did not go unnoticed by the Decepticons, who managed to sabotage the space bridge, depositing Team Bullet Train on a busy motorway. Rapid Run blamed the [[Build Team (RID)|Build Team]] for the incident and was only prevented from coming to blows with [[Wedge (RID)|Wedge]] by Railspike. A second attempt to use the space bridge dropped him in Metro City stadium, where he caught a baseball. Once the space bridge was repaired, the three bullet trains arrived at the North Energy Research Facility and prepared to form Rail Racer. They were stopped by Wedge, who asked them to let the Build Team defeat Megatron as a matter of honour. {{storylink|Landfill (episode)|Landfill}}

In between all their adventures, the Autobots still had to perform some of the more menial tasks, such as regularly testing out the global space bridge. {{storylink|Lessons of the Past}}

[[File:Test of Metal Rapidrunrotor.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Weeeeeee! Skydiving!]]
On another occasion, the team formed Rail Racer to prevent the Decepticons stealing some energy, and kept Ruination busy while the Build Team recovered the stolen energy. {{storylink|A Test of Metal}} They were also sent looking for the Autobot Brothers, who had disappeared while tracking [[Ultra Magnus (RID)|Ultra Magnus]], a recent arrival to Earth. They were approached by Magnus himself, who informed them that Optimus was being led into a trap, and the three trains rushed to help the Autobot leader. {{storylink|The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus}}

[[File:Fortress Maximus Railspikerapidrun.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|NANI?!
When the Autobots were on the verge of locating [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]], Team Bullet Train were dispatched to the location under Metro City to protect the Build Team. Railspike and Rapid Run battled [[Ro-Tor (RID)|Ro-Tor]] and [[Movor]] in the confined space until Ultra Magnus showed up to lend a hand. Magnus accidentally flooded the subway and the two trains were swept away in the resulting torrent. Reunited with Midnight Express, they arrived in the cavern where Maximus was located and formed Rail Racer to defend the giant robot from the Decepticons, and later tried to draw them away from where the Build Team were trying to hide Maximus. {{storylink|Fortress Maximus (episode)|Fortress Maximus}} {{storylink|Koji Gets His Wish}}

Team Bullet Train also attempted to defend Maximus from the Decepticons once his location was exposed. [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] managed to successfully activate Maximus, but proved unable to control him. {{storylink|Maximus Emerges}} When Scourge then magnified the human portion of his bio-signature in another attempt to control Maximus, Team Bullet Train was sent into the desert with Build Team and a thousand children to halt the titan. {{storylink|The Human Element}}

Gathering at a predetermined location, the Bullet Trains and the rest of the Autobots ambushed the Decepticon forces. The team combined into Rail Racer to fight Galvatron's ''[[Megastar]]'', but the battle station was eventually felled by Fortress Maximus. {{storylink|Surprise Attack!}} After Galvatron used [[cyber-bat]]s to gain control of the world's children, the Autobots were forced to retreat into the space bridge and were followed by the Decepticons. Galvatron ruptured the tunnel during the battle which followed, flooding it with molten lava which the Autobots were only narrowly able to escape. They were prompt seized by a powered-up Galvatron. {{storylink|Galvatron's Revenge}} Team Bullet Train reformed Rail Racer in order to protect Optimus Prime, and were subsequently held in a paralysed state by Galvatron until the Decepticon leader's defeat at the hands of [[Omega Prime]]. {{storylink|The Final Battle (RID)|The Final Battle}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
In several realities such as [[Viron 704.31 Epsilon]], Rapid Run was brainwashed by using the [[Robosmasher|Robo-Smasher]] and reformatted into [[Steamhammer (RID)|Steamhammer]]. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/30 and 2015/09/13}}

==Toys==
===Robots in Disguise (2001)===
*'''J-Seven''' (2000) / '''Rapid Run''' (Mega Class, 2001)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''C-013'''

[[File:RID Rapid Run Toy.jpg|right|upright=1.67|thumb|I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!]]
: ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' Rapid Run transforms into a {{w|700 Series Shinkansen|700 Series}} ''{{w|Hikari (train)#Hikari Rail Star|Hikari Rail Star}}'' bullet train. In this form, he can link up with the other Bullet Trains to form a three locomotive lash-up. In robot mode, a portion of his train-mode forms a shield with spring-loaded missile launcher; the missile is also the train's coupler. He can also form the midsection/backpack to the team's combined form [[Rail Racer (RID)#Toys|Rail Racer]].

: There are significant differences between the [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] and [[Hasbro]] versions of Rapid Run. The Takara version has several portions cast in transparent plastic to give him clear windows, requiring extensive [[Paint operation|paint applications]] to blend in. The robot mode's head was also painted a golden yellow.

: The Hasbro version released in 2001 replaced the transparent plastics with opaques to cut back on the number of needed paint applications. However, this also enabled them to add several other piece of deco, including an Autobot sigil on the roof, golden stripes on the robot-mode shins and gold on the very tip of the train's "nose". All of the yellow paint was also replaced with metallic gold. Early versions of the Hasbro Rapid Run had unpainted windows; later runs added sky blue paint to both them and the headlight wells under his windshield.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2001/Autobot/RapidRun/rapidrun.htm More information on Rapid Run at TFU.info]''

{{anchor|JRX}}
*'''JRX''' (Multi-pack, 2000)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''C-015'''

: All three members of Team Bullet Train — [[Railspike (RID)#JRX|J-Five]], [[Midnight Express (RID)#JRX|J-Four]], and J-Seven — were also available in a complete box set in Japan.

==Notes==
* Rapid Run was portrayed slightly differently in the two different versions of the cartoon. For the Japanese ''Car Robots'', "J-Seven" was a gruff, older veteran combatant. In ''Robots in Disguise'', Rapid Run was seemingly the youngest of the trio, with a much cooler attitude. They were both pretty battle-eager, though.
* The Takara versions of the Bullet Trains appear to have had a particularly bad run of quality control regarding the paint applications, with many having sloppily-applied decoes. While the individually-packaged Bullet Trains came in clear-window packages to see the toys, the box set was completely windowless, so it was kind of a crap shoot as to the quality of paint you got with the set.
* Reportedly, the Bullet Trains, which were developed with Takara's flexible pricing structure, really did not fit into Hasbro's more rigid existing price-points, budget-wise. They cost too much to be sold as Deluxes, but weren't really up to Mega-costs.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''J-Seven''' (ジェイセブン ''Jeisebun'')
*''Korean:'' '''J-Seven''' (제이세븐 ''Jeisebeun'')
*''Russian:'' '''Sprinter''' (Спринтер)

[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2001) Autobots]]

Rapid Run (RID)

2019-10-30T13:51:24Z

KitsuneMastaa: /* 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon */

{{factions|autobot}}
{{disambig3|Rapid Run}}
:''Rapid Run is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)|2001 Robots in Disguise]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Rapid Run Robot.jpg|right|upright=1.0|thumb|Agent Jay-Seven]]
'''Rapid Run''' is a member of [[Team Bullet Train]], a trio of Autobots who patrol the railways. The physically strongest member of the team, Rapid Run is always eager for action, cool-headed and sarcastic. You don't have to ask him twice to tackle the [[Predacon (RID)|Predacons]] or [[Decepticon]]s... in fact, more often than not he's already firing away before you could ask once. And, with the ability to generate an almost impenetrable force-field, he can take just about any punishment they throw back at him.

{{TOCclear}}

==Fiction==
===2001 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Keith Diamond]] (English), [[Eiji Takemoto]] (Japanese)|[[Mikhail Tihonov]] (Russian), [[Wan-gyeong Seong]] (Korean), [[Alejandro Illescas]] (Latin-American Spanish)}}

[[File:Secret of the Ruins Rapid Run.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Just chillin']]
When Team Bullet Train was called in to help protect the Linear RFG, Rapid Run was forced to abandon a trainload of commuters, including an indignant [[Kelly (RID)|Kelly]]. He was keen to test the Linear RFG's speed in a race and almost got his chance when the experimental train's control was overridden by the Predacons. He and the rest of Team Bullet Train linked up and used their brakes to halt the Linear RFG and, once it was safe, combined into [[Rail Racer (RID)|Rail Racer]] in order to drive off the Predacons. {{storylink|Bullet Train to the Rescue}}

The team was called into [[Metro City]] to thwart another attack on the part of [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]] and his Predacons. After clumsily traversing narrow streets, the team found the Predacons and engaged them in combat. Rapid Run was extremely impressed by [[Railspike (RID)|Railspike]]'s experience and tactics. After a pitched battle with the Predacons, the team merged into Rail Racer and chased them off. Although, as it turned out, the attack was a diversion while [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]] investigated some ruins. {{storylink|The Secret of the Ruins}}

Rapid Run was less than impressed with the smoky and aging steam engine nicknamed "Grandpa" when Team Bullet Train was detailed to protect it, and even less impressed with Midnight Express' insistence that the train was somehow self-aware and could understand what they said. The team successfully got Grandpa safely to his destination, but the steam train was promptly hijacked by the Predacons. {{storylink|Secret Weapon: D-5}}

Rapid Run and the rest of team Bullet Train was standing idle at Autobot headquarters when Koji voiced his concern that the Predacons would attempt to steal the world’s largest ruby, currently on display in the city. {{storylink|Mirage's Betrayal}}

Team Bullet Train helped to try to track down [[Skid-Z (RID)|Skid-Z]] after the Autobot scanned a racing car and was possessed by an urge to engage in races. They entered the Great Race, but were halted partway by a rock-slide they were unable to pass. {{storylink|Skid Z's Choice}}

[[File:Tow-Line Goes Haywire Rapid Run.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|AAAAA MAH HANDS!]]
Another new arrival, [[Tow-Line (RID)|Tow-Line]], was reprogrammed by the Predacons, forcing him to tow away the other Autobots. Rapid Run found himself being carried through the middle of Metro City, scraping along the sides of buildings. He was then unceremoniously dumped down a pit with [[Side Burn (RID)|Side Burn]] and [[X-Brawn]]. Tow-Line was eventually brought back to his senses and rescued the trio, apologising profusely. {{storylink|Tow-Line Goes Haywire}}

Rapid Run interrupted [[Slapper (RID)|Slapper]] interfering with a statue and chased him off. The Autobots subsequently realised that the [[Cave of the Dragon]] was likely the Predacons' target, and Rapid Run and Railspike disguised themselves as a dragon as part of a ruse to make the Predacons think it was home to a giant transforming robot. Rapid Run resented being the hind-end of the dragon and didn't think much of the [[Autobot Brothers]]' acting. After Railspike fired on the enemy, the pair returned to the cave to let [[Optimus Prime (RID)|Optimus Prime]] and Midnight Express take over as the dragon's statue "robot mode". {{storylink|The Ultimate Robot Warrior}}

After practising their link-up manoeuvre, Team Bullet Train returned to the Autobot base to review footage of previous adventures in an attempt to find the Predacon base. {{storylink|Hope for the Future}} After the creation of the Decepticons by Megatron, the team was sent to [[Sherman Dam]], where they combined into Rail Racer and fought [[Ruination (RID)|Ruination]]. {{storylink|Commandos}} They would subsequently spend a lot of time using the [[Global Space Bridge]] to arrive at locations under attack from the Decepticons to fight the enemy off, often forming Rail Racer to do so. Such as the instance when they arrived at [[Pier 7B]] just in time to dissuade the Decepticons from taking on the Autobots, after they had rampaged across the countryside following Side Burn. {{storylink|Attack from Outer Space}}

With the Autobot Brothers having been “duped” by Sky-Byte to go to the [[Bayshore power plant]] while the Decepticons attacked the [[Crestline power plant]] instead, it was up to Team Bullet Train to take on Scourge and the Commandos. Rapid Run, Railspike, and Midnight Express combined into Rail Racer shortly after their arrival at the plant, and drove off the aggressors. {{storylink|The Fish Test}}

[[File:Landfill Rapidrunballgame.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb]]
The Autobots' ability to get to remote locations quickly did not go unnoticed by the Decepticons, who managed to sabotage the space bridge, depositing Team Bullet Train on a busy motorway. Rapid Run blamed the [[Build Team (RID)|Build Team]] for the incident and was only prevented from coming to blows with [[Wedge (RID)|Wedge]] by Railspike. A second attempt to use the space bridge dropped him in Metro City stadium, where he caught a baseball. Once the space bridge was repaired, the three bullet trains arrived at the North Energy Research Facility and prepared to form Rail Racer. They were stopped by Wedge, who asked them to let the Build Team defeat Megatron as a matter of honour. {{storylink|Landfill (episode)|Landfill}}

In between all their adventures, the Autobots still had to perform some of the more menial tasks, such as regularly testing out the global space bridge. {{storylink|Lessons of the Past}}

[[File:Test of Metal Rapidrunrotor.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Weeeeeee! Skydiving!]]
On another occasion, the team formed Rail Racer to prevent the Decepticons stealing some energy, and kept Ruination busy while the Build Team recovered the stolen energy. {{storylink|A Test of Metal}} They were also sent looking for the Autobot Brothers, who had disappeared while tracking [[Ultra Magnus (RID)|Ultra Magnus]], a recent arrival to Earth. They were approached by Magnus himself, who informed them that Optimus was being led into a trap, and the three trains rushed to help the Autobot leader. {{storylink|The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus}}

[[File:Fortress Maximus Railspikerapidrun.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb]]
When the Autobots were on the verge of locating [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]], Team Bullet Train were dispatched to the location under Metro City to protect the Build Team. Railspike and Rapid Run battled [[Ro-Tor (RID)|Ro-Tor]] and [[Movor]] in the confined space until Ultra Magnus showed up to lend a hand. Magnus accidentally flooded the subway and the two trains were swept away in the resulting torrent. Reunited with Midnight Express, they arrived in the cavern where Maximus was located and formed Rail Racer to defend the giant robot from the Decepticons, and later tried to draw them away from where the Build Team were trying to hide Maximus. {{storylink|Fortress Maximus (episode)|Fortress Maximus}} {{storylink|Koji Gets His Wish}}

Team Bullet Train also attempted to defend Maximus from the Decepticons once his location was exposed. [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] managed to successfully activate Maximus, but proved unable to control him. {{storylink|Maximus Emerges}} When Scourge then magnified the human portion of his bio-signature in another attempt to control Maximus, Team Bullet Train was sent into the desert with Build Team and a thousand children to halt the titan. {{storylink|The Human Element}}

Gathering at a predetermined location, the Bullet Trains and the rest of the Autobots ambushed the Decepticon forces. The team combined into Rail Racer to fight Galvatron's ''[[Megastar]]'', but the battle station was eventually felled by Fortress Maximus. {{storylink|Surprise Attack!}} After Galvatron used [[cyber-bat]]s to gain control of the world's children, the Autobots were forced to retreat into the space bridge and were followed by the Decepticons. Galvatron ruptured the tunnel during the battle which followed, flooding it with molten lava which the Autobots were only narrowly able to escape. They were prompt seized by a powered-up Galvatron. {{storylink|Galvatron's Revenge}} Team Bullet Train reformed Rail Racer in order to protect Optimus Prime, and were subsequently held in a paralysed state by Galvatron until the Decepticon leader's defeat at the hands of [[Omega Prime]]. {{storylink|The Final Battle (RID)|The Final Battle}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
In several realities such as [[Viron 704.31 Epsilon]], Rapid Run was brainwashed by using the [[Robosmasher|Robo-Smasher]] and reformatted into [[Steamhammer (RID)|Steamhammer]]. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/30 and 2015/09/13}}

==Toys==
===Robots in Disguise (2001)===
*'''J-Seven''' (2000) / '''Rapid Run''' (Mega Class, 2001)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''C-013'''

[[File:RID Rapid Run Toy.jpg|right|upright=1.67|thumb|I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!]]
: ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' Rapid Run transforms into a {{w|700 Series Shinkansen|700 Series}} ''{{w|Hikari (train)#Hikari Rail Star|Hikari Rail Star}}'' bullet train. In this form, he can link up with the other Bullet Trains to form a three locomotive lash-up. In robot mode, a portion of his train-mode forms a shield with spring-loaded missile launcher; the missile is also the train's coupler. He can also form the midsection/backpack to the team's combined form [[Rail Racer (RID)#Toys|Rail Racer]].

: There are significant differences between the [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] and [[Hasbro]] versions of Rapid Run. The Takara version has several portions cast in transparent plastic to give him clear windows, requiring extensive [[Paint operation|paint applications]] to blend in. The robot mode's head was also painted a golden yellow.

: The Hasbro version released in 2001 replaced the transparent plastics with opaques to cut back on the number of needed paint applications. However, this also enabled them to add several other piece of deco, including an Autobot sigil on the roof, golden stripes on the robot-mode shins and gold on the very tip of the train's "nose". All of the yellow paint was also replaced with metallic gold. Early versions of the Hasbro Rapid Run had unpainted windows; later runs added sky blue paint to both them and the headlight wells under his windshield.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2001/Autobot/RapidRun/rapidrun.htm More information on Rapid Run at TFU.info]''

{{anchor|JRX}}
*'''JRX''' (Multi-pack, 2000)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''C-015'''

: All three members of Team Bullet Train — [[Railspike (RID)#JRX|J-Five]], [[Midnight Express (RID)#JRX|J-Four]], and J-Seven — were also available in a complete box set in Japan.

==Notes==
* Rapid Run was portrayed slightly differently in the two different versions of the cartoon. For the Japanese ''Car Robots'', "J-Seven" was a gruff, older veteran combatant. In ''Robots in Disguise'', Rapid Run was seemingly the youngest of the trio, with a much cooler attitude. They were both pretty battle-eager, though.
* The Takara versions of the Bullet Trains appear to have had a particularly bad run of quality control regarding the paint applications, with many having sloppily-applied decoes. While the individually-packaged Bullet Trains came in clear-window packages to see the toys, the box set was completely windowless, so it was kind of a crap shoot as to the quality of paint you got with the set.
* Reportedly, the Bullet Trains, which were developed with Takara's flexible pricing structure, really did not fit into Hasbro's more rigid existing price-points, budget-wise. They cost too much to be sold as Deluxes, but weren't really up to Mega-costs.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''J-Seven''' (ジェイセブン ''Jeisebun'')
*''Korean:'' '''J-Seven''' (제이세븐 ''Jeisebeun'')
*''Russian:'' '''Sprinter''' (Спринтер)

[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2001) Autobots]]

Rapid Run (RID)

2019-10-30T13:50:24Z

KitsuneMastaa: /* 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon */

{{factions|autobot}}
{{disambig3|Rapid Run}}
:''Rapid Run is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)|2001 Robots in Disguise]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Rapid Run Robot.jpg|right|upright=1.0|thumb|Agent Jay-Seven]]
'''Rapid Run''' is a member of [[Team Bullet Train]], a trio of Autobots who patrol the railways. The physically strongest member of the team, Rapid Run is always eager for action, cool-headed and sarcastic. You don't have to ask him twice to tackle the [[Predacon (RID)|Predacons]] or [[Decepticon]]s... in fact, more often than not he's already firing away before you could ask once. And, with the ability to generate an almost impenetrable force-field, he can take just about any punishment they throw back at him.

{{TOCclear}}

==Fiction==
===2001 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Keith Diamond]] (English), [[Eiji Takemoto]] (Japanese)|[[Mikhail Tihonov]] (Russian), [[Wan-gyeong Seong]] (Korean), [[Alejandro Illescas]] (Latin-American Spanish)}}

[[File:Secret of the Ruins Rapid Run.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Just chillin']]
When Team Bullet Train was called in to help protect the Linear RFG, Rapid Run was forced to abandon a trainload of commuters, including an indignant [[Kelly (RID)|Kelly]]. He was keen to test the Linear RFG's speed in a race and almost got his chance when the experimental train's control was overridden by the Predacons. He and the rest of Team Bullet Train linked up and used their brakes to halt the Linear RFG and, once it was safe, combined into [[Rail Racer (RID)|Rail Racer]] in order to drive off the Predacons. {{storylink|Bullet Train to the Rescue}}

The team was called into [[Metro City]] to thwart another attack on the part of [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]] and his Predacons. After clumsily traversing narrow streets, the team found the Predacons and engaged them in combat. Rapid Run was extremely impressed by [[Railspike (RID)|Railspike]]'s experience and tactics. After a pitched battle with the Predacons, the team merged into Rail Racer and chased them off. Although, as it turned out, the attack was a diversion while [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]] investigated some ruins. {{storylink|The Secret of the Ruins}}

Rapid Run was less than impressed with the smoky and aging steam engine nicknamed "Grandpa" when Team Bullet Train was detailed to protect it, and even less impressed with Midnight Express' insistence that the train was somehow self-aware and could understand what they said. The team successfully got Grandpa safely to his destination, but the steam train was promptly hijacked by the Predacons. {{storylink|Secret Weapon: D-5}}

Rapid Run and the rest of team Bullet Train was standing idle at Autobot headquarters when Koji voiced his concern that the Predacons would attempt to steal the world’s largest ruby, currently on display in the city. {{storylink|Mirage's Betrayal}}

Team Bullet Train helped to try to track down [[Skid-Z (RID)|Skid-Z]] after the Autobot scanned a racing car and was possessed by an urge to engage in races. They entered the Great Race, but were halted partway by a rock-slide they were unable to pass. {{storylink|Skid Z's Choice}}

[[File:Tow-Line Goes Haywire Rapid Run.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|He's just worried that the diseasel will magic him away.]]
Another new arrival, [[Tow-Line (RID)|Tow-Line]], was reprogrammed by the Predacons, forcing him to tow away the other Autobots. Rapid Run found himself being carried through the middle of Metro City, scraping along the sides of buildings. He was then unceremoniously dumped down a pit with [[Side Burn (RID)|Side Burn]] and [[X-Brawn]]. Tow-Line was eventually brought back to his senses and rescued the trio, apologising profusely. {{storylink|Tow-Line Goes Haywire}}

Rapid Run interrupted [[Slapper (RID)|Slapper]] interfering with a statue and chased him off. The Autobots subsequently realised that the [[Cave of the Dragon]] was likely the Predacons' target, and Rapid Run and Railspike disguised themselves as a dragon as part of a ruse to make the Predacons think it was home to a giant transforming robot. Rapid Run resented being the hind-end of the dragon and didn't think much of the [[Autobot Brothers]]' acting. After Railspike fired on the enemy, the pair returned to the cave to let [[Optimus Prime (RID)|Optimus Prime]] and Midnight Express take over as the dragon's statue "robot mode". {{storylink|The Ultimate Robot Warrior}}

After practising their link-up manoeuvre, Team Bullet Train returned to the Autobot base to review footage of previous adventures in an attempt to find the Predacon base. {{storylink|Hope for the Future}} After the creation of the Decepticons by Megatron, the team was sent to [[Sherman Dam]], where they combined into Rail Racer and fought [[Ruination (RID)|Ruination]]. {{storylink|Commandos}} They would subsequently spend a lot of time using the [[Global Space Bridge]] to arrive at locations under attack from the Decepticons to fight the enemy off, often forming Rail Racer to do so. Such as the instance when they arrived at [[Pier 7B]] just in time to dissuade the Decepticons from taking on the Autobots, after they had rampaged across the countryside following Side Burn. {{storylink|Attack from Outer Space}}

With the Autobot Brothers having been “duped” by Sky-Byte to go to the [[Bayshore power plant]] while the Decepticons attacked the [[Crestline power plant]] instead, it was up to Team Bullet Train to take on Scourge and the Commandos. Rapid Run, Railspike, and Midnight Express combined into Rail Racer shortly after their arrival at the plant, and drove off the aggressors. {{storylink|The Fish Test}}

[[File:Landfill Rapidrunballgame.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb]]
The Autobots' ability to get to remote locations quickly did not go unnoticed by the Decepticons, who managed to sabotage the space bridge, depositing Team Bullet Train on a busy motorway. Rapid Run blamed the [[Build Team (RID)|Build Team]] for the incident and was only prevented from coming to blows with [[Wedge (RID)|Wedge]] by Railspike. A second attempt to use the space bridge dropped him in Metro City stadium, where he caught a baseball. Once the space bridge was repaired, the three bullet trains arrived at the North Energy Research Facility and prepared to form Rail Racer. They were stopped by Wedge, who asked them to let the Build Team defeat Megatron as a matter of honour. {{storylink|Landfill (episode)|Landfill}}

In between all their adventures, the Autobots still had to perform some of the more menial tasks, such as regularly testing out the global space bridge. {{storylink|Lessons of the Past}}

[[File:Test of Metal Rapidrunrotor.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Weeeeeee! Skydiving!]]
On another occasion, the team formed Rail Racer to prevent the Decepticons stealing some energy, and kept Ruination busy while the Build Team recovered the stolen energy. {{storylink|A Test of Metal}} They were also sent looking for the Autobot Brothers, who had disappeared while tracking [[Ultra Magnus (RID)|Ultra Magnus]], a recent arrival to Earth. They were approached by Magnus himself, who informed them that Optimus was being led into a trap, and the three trains rushed to help the Autobot leader. {{storylink|The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus}}

[[File:Fortress Maximus Railspikerapidrun.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb]]
When the Autobots were on the verge of locating [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]], Team Bullet Train were dispatched to the location under Metro City to protect the Build Team. Railspike and Rapid Run battled [[Ro-Tor (RID)|Ro-Tor]] and [[Movor]] in the confined space until Ultra Magnus showed up to lend a hand. Magnus accidentally flooded the subway and the two trains were swept away in the resulting torrent. Reunited with Midnight Express, they arrived in the cavern where Maximus was located and formed Rail Racer to defend the giant robot from the Decepticons, and later tried to draw them away from where the Build Team were trying to hide Maximus. {{storylink|Fortress Maximus (episode)|Fortress Maximus}} {{storylink|Koji Gets His Wish}}

Team Bullet Train also attempted to defend Maximus from the Decepticons once his location was exposed. [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] managed to successfully activate Maximus, but proved unable to control him. {{storylink|Maximus Emerges}} When Scourge then magnified the human portion of his bio-signature in another attempt to control Maximus, Team Bullet Train was sent into the desert with Build Team and a thousand children to halt the titan. {{storylink|The Human Element}}

Gathering at a predetermined location, the Bullet Trains and the rest of the Autobots ambushed the Decepticon forces. The team combined into Rail Racer to fight Galvatron's ''[[Megastar]]'', but the battle station was eventually felled by Fortress Maximus. {{storylink|Surprise Attack!}} After Galvatron used [[cyber-bat]]s to gain control of the world's children, the Autobots were forced to retreat into the space bridge and were followed by the Decepticons. Galvatron ruptured the tunnel during the battle which followed, flooding it with molten lava which the Autobots were only narrowly able to escape. They were prompt seized by a powered-up Galvatron. {{storylink|Galvatron's Revenge}} Team Bullet Train reformed Rail Racer in order to protect Optimus Prime, and were subsequently held in a paralysed state by Galvatron until the Decepticon leader's defeat at the hands of [[Omega Prime]]. {{storylink|The Final Battle (RID)|The Final Battle}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
In several realities such as [[Viron 704.31 Epsilon]], Rapid Run was brainwashed by using the [[Robosmasher|Robo-Smasher]] and reformatted into [[Steamhammer (RID)|Steamhammer]]. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/30 and 2015/09/13}}

==Toys==
===Robots in Disguise (2001)===
*'''J-Seven''' (2000) / '''Rapid Run''' (Mega Class, 2001)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''C-013'''

[[File:RID Rapid Run Toy.jpg|right|upright=1.67|thumb|I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!]]
: ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' Rapid Run transforms into a {{w|700 Series Shinkansen|700 Series}} ''{{w|Hikari (train)#Hikari Rail Star|Hikari Rail Star}}'' bullet train. In this form, he can link up with the other Bullet Trains to form a three locomotive lash-up. In robot mode, a portion of his train-mode forms a shield with spring-loaded missile launcher; the missile is also the train's coupler. He can also form the midsection/backpack to the team's combined form [[Rail Racer (RID)#Toys|Rail Racer]].

: There are significant differences between the [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] and [[Hasbro]] versions of Rapid Run. The Takara version has several portions cast in transparent plastic to give him clear windows, requiring extensive [[Paint operation|paint applications]] to blend in. The robot mode's head was also painted a golden yellow.

: The Hasbro version released in 2001 replaced the transparent plastics with opaques to cut back on the number of needed paint applications. However, this also enabled them to add several other piece of deco, including an Autobot sigil on the roof, golden stripes on the robot-mode shins and gold on the very tip of the train's "nose". All of the yellow paint was also replaced with metallic gold. Early versions of the Hasbro Rapid Run had unpainted windows; later runs added sky blue paint to both them and the headlight wells under his windshield.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2001/Autobot/RapidRun/rapidrun.htm More information on Rapid Run at TFU.info]''

{{anchor|JRX}}
*'''JRX''' (Multi-pack, 2000)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''C-015'''

: All three members of Team Bullet Train — [[Railspike (RID)#JRX|J-Five]], [[Midnight Express (RID)#JRX|J-Four]], and J-Seven — were also available in a complete box set in Japan.

==Notes==
* Rapid Run was portrayed slightly differently in the two different versions of the cartoon. For the Japanese ''Car Robots'', "J-Seven" was a gruff, older veteran combatant. In ''Robots in Disguise'', Rapid Run was seemingly the youngest of the trio, with a much cooler attitude. They were both pretty battle-eager, though.
* The Takara versions of the Bullet Trains appear to have had a particularly bad run of quality control regarding the paint applications, with many having sloppily-applied decoes. While the individually-packaged Bullet Trains came in clear-window packages to see the toys, the box set was completely windowless, so it was kind of a crap shoot as to the quality of paint you got with the set.
* Reportedly, the Bullet Trains, which were developed with Takara's flexible pricing structure, really did not fit into Hasbro's more rigid existing price-points, budget-wise. They cost too much to be sold as Deluxes, but weren't really up to Mega-costs.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''J-Seven''' (ジェイセブン ''Jeisebun'')
*''Korean:'' '''J-Seven''' (제이세븐 ''Jeisebeun'')
*''Russian:'' '''Sprinter''' (Спринтер)

[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2001) Autobots]]

Railspike (RID)

2019-10-30T13:47:53Z

KitsuneMastaa: /* Robots in Disguise (2001) */

{{factions|autobot}}
{{disambig3|Railspike}}
:''Railspike is an [[Autobot]] originally from the [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)|2001 Robots in Disguise]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Railspike Robot.jpg|right|upright=1.2|thumb|If I had a hammer...]]
'''Railspike''' is the leader of [[Team Bullet Train]], a trio of Autobots who patrol the railways. An experienced and battle-tested veteran, he is often frustrated by his younger teammates and tries to set a good example for them.

{{TOCclear}}

==Fiction==
===2001 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Mike Reynolds]] (English), [[Hisashi Izumi|Shōji Izumi]] (Japanese)|[[Oleg Kutsenko]] (Russian, from [[Fortress Maximus (episode)|Fortress Maximus]]), [[Paco Mauri]] (Latin-American Spanish)}}

[[File:Secret of the Ruins Railspike.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Don't you just love being in control? *click*]]
When Team Bullet Train was called in to help protect the Linear RFG, Railspike was able to contact [[Koji Onishi]] on board the advanced train to let him know the Autobots were there to help. His plan for the team to link up and slow the Linear RFG with their brakes saved the train from plunging over a bridge which the Predacons had blown up. Once the train was safe, the team merged into [[Rail Racer (RID)|Rail Racer]] to see off the Predacons. {{storylink|Bullet Train to the Rescue}}

The team was called into [[Metro City]] to thwart another attack on the part of [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]] and his Predacons. Negotiating the city streets was not easy for the large Bullet Trains, and at one point Railspike had to steer [[Midnight Express (RID)|Midnight Express]] back on course. In battle against the Predacons, he demonstrated the benefit of his experience by igniting [[Gas Skunk]]'s acid breath, causing chaos in the opposition ranks. Eventually the team merged into Rail Racer and chased the Predacons off. Although as it turned out, the attack was a diversion while [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]] investigated some ruins. {{storylink|The Secret of the Ruins}}

Detailed to protect the aging steam engine "Grandpa" from the Predacons, Railspike was bemused by Midnight Express insisting that the train was in some way alive. The team successfully got Grandpa safely to his destination, but the steam train was promptly hijacked by the Predacons. Despite Railspike's warnings, Midnight Express pursued them and ultimately saved the train. {{storylink|Secret Weapon: D-5}}

Railspike and the rest of team Bullet Train was standing idle at Autobot headquarters when Koji voiced his concern that the Predacons would attempt to steal the world's largest ruby, currently on display in the city. {{storylink|Mirage's Betrayal}}

Team Bullet Train helped to try to track down [[Skid-Z (RID)|Skid-Z]] after the Autobot scanned a racing car and was possessed by an urge to engage in races. They entered the Great Race, but were halted partway by a rock-slide they were unable to pass. {{storylink|Skid Z's Choice}}

[[File:Ultimate Robot Warrior Railspike Rapidrun.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|He who smelt it dealt it.]]
Called in to help scare the Predacons away from the [[Cave of the Dragon]], Railspike provided the front end of a dragon while [[Rapid Run (RID)|Rapid Run]] provided the rear end. After firing on the Predacons (and Autobots, since Railspike realised it would look suspicious otherwise), the pair returned to the cave to let [[Optimus Prime (RID)|Optimus Prime]] and Midnight Express take over as the dragon's statue "robot mode". {{storylink|The Ultimate Robot Warrior}}

After practising their link-up manoeuvre, Team Bullet Train returned to the Autobot base to review footage of previous adventures in an attempt to find the Predacon base. {{storylink|Hope for the Future}} After the creation of the Decepticons by Megatron, the team was sent to [[Sherman Dam]], where they combined into Rail Racer and fought [[Ruination (RID)|Ruination]]. {{storylink|Commandos}} They would subsequently spend a lot of time using the [[Global Space Bridge]] to arrive at locations under attack from the Decepticons to fight the enemy off, often forming Rail Racer to do so. Such as the instance when they arrived at [[Pier 7B]] just in time to dissuade the Decepticons from taking on the Autobots, after they had rampaged across the countryside following Side Burn. {{storylink|Attack from Outer Space}}

With the Autobot Brothers having been “duped” by Sky-Byte to go to the [[Bayshore power plant]] while the Decepticons attacked the [[Crestline power plant]] instead, it was up to Team Bullet Train to take on Scourge and the Commandos. Railspike, Midnight Express, and Rapid Run combined into Rail Racer shortly after their arrival at the plant, and drove off the aggressors. {{storylink|The Fish Test}}

The Autobots' ability to get to remote locations quickly did not go unnoticed by the Decepticons, who managed to sabotage the space bridge, depositing Team Bullet Train on a busy motorway. Railspike subsequently had to restrain Rapid Run from coming to blows with [[Build Team (RID)|Build Team]] leader [[Wedge (RID)|Wedge]], whom the team initially blamed for the problems. A second attempt to use the space bridge deposited Railspike firstly in a shopping mall, and then on the side of a hill. Once the space bridge was repaired, the three bullet trains arrived at the North Energy Research Facility and prepared to form Rail Racer. They were stopped by Wedge, who asked them to let the Build Team defeat Megatron as a matter of honour. {{storylink|Landfill (episode)|Landfill}}

In between all their adventures, the Autobots still had to perform some of the more menial tasks, such as regularly testing out the global space bridge. {{storylink|Lessons of the Past}}

[[File:Test of Metal Railspike.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|So I grabbed him by the ball bearings and I said...]]
On another occasion, the team formed Rail Racer to prevent the Decepticons stealing some energy, and kept Ruination busy while the Build Team recovered the stolen energy. {{storylink|A Test of Metal}} They were also sent looking for the Autobot Brothers, who had disappeared while tracking [[Ultra Magnus (RID)|Ultra Magnus]], a recent arrival to Earth. They were approached by Magnus himself, who informed them that Optimus was being led into a trap, and the three trains rushed to help the Autobot leader. {{storylink|The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus}}

[[File:Fortress Maximus Railspike.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|''...cough.'']]
When the Autobots were on the verge of locating [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]], Team Bullet Train were dispatched to the location under Metro City to protect the Build Team. Railspike and Rapid Run battled [[Ro-Tor (RID)|Ro-Tor]] and [[Movor]] in the confined space until Ultra Magnus showed up to lend a hand. Magnus accidentally flooded the subway, and the two trains were swept away in the resulting torrent. Reunited with Midnight Express, they arrived in the cavern where Maximus was located and formed Rail Racer to defend the giant robot from the Decepticons, and later tried to draw them away from where the Build Team were trying to hide Maximus. {{storylink|Fortress Maximus (episode)|Fortress Maximus}} {{storylink|Koji Gets His Wish}}

Team Bullet Train also attempted to defend Maximus from the Decepticons once his location was exposed. [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] successfully managed to activate Maximus, but proved unable to control him. {{storylink|Maximus Emerges}} When Scourge then magnified the human portion of his bio-signature in another attempt to control Maximus, Team Bullet Train was sent into the desert with Build Team and a thousand children to halt the titan. {{storylink|The Human Element}}

Gathering at a predetermined location, the Bullet Trains and the rest of the Autobots ambushed the Decepticon forces. The team combined into Rail Racer to fight Galvatron's ''[[Megastar]]'', but the battle station was eventually felled by Fortress Maximus. {{storylink|Surprise Attack!}} After Galvatron used [[cyber-bat]]s to gain control of the world's children, the Autobots were forced to retreat into the space bridge and were followed by the Decepticons. Galvatron ruptured the tunnel during the battle which followed, flooding it with molten lava which the Autobots were only narrowly able to escape. They were prompt seized by a powered-up Galvatron. {{storylink|Galvatron's Revenge}} Team Bullet Train reformed Rail Racer in order to protect Optimus Prime, and were subsequently held in a paralysed state by Galvatron until the Decepticon leader's defeat at the hands of [[Omega Prime]]. {{storylink|The Final Battle (RID)|The Final Battle}}

===2005 IDW continuity===
Railspike was a crewmember aboard the ''[[Lost Light]]''. He transforms into the Cybertronian equivalent of a train. {{storylink|Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|MTMTE #19 letters pages}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
In several realities such as [[Viron 704.31 Epsilon]], Railspike was brainwashed by using the [[Robosmasher|Robo-Smasher]] and reformatted into [[Astrotrain (RID)|Astrotrain]]. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/30 and 2015/09/13}}

==Toys==
===Robots in Disguise (2001)===
*'''J-Five''' (2000) / '''Railspike''' (Mega Class, 2001)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''C-012'''
**''Accessories'': Light-up cannon

[[File:RIDtoy-Railspikeblankwindows.jpg|right|upright=1.67|thumb| CHANGE! SHINKALION!]]
: ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' Railspike transforms into a {{w|500 Series Shinkansen|500 Series}} ''{{w|Nozomi (train)|Nozomi}}'' bullet train. In this form, he can link up with the other Bullet Trains to form a three locomotive lash-up. In robot mode, his train coupler forms an electronic light-up (non-firing) blaster. He can also form the head, torso, and arms to the team's combined form [[Rail Racer (RID)|Rail Racer]].

: There are significant differences between the [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] and [[Hasbro]] versions of Railspike. The Takara version has several portions cast in transparent plastic to give him clear windows, requiring extensive [[Paint operation|paint applications]] to blend in.

: The Hasbro version released in 2001 replaced the transparent plastics with opaques to cut back on the number of needed paint applications. An Autobot [[insignia]] was also added to the left side of the train mode, and the barrel of his gun was lengthened for unknown reasons. Early versions of the toy had unpainted windows, but later runs added metallic blue paint to them.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2001/Autobot/Railspike/railspike.htm More information on Railspike at TFU.info]''

{{anchor|JRX}}
*'''JRX''' (Multi-pack, 2000)
**''ID number'': '''C-015'''

: All three members of Team Bullet Train—J-Five, [[Midnight Express (RID)#JRX|J-Four]], and [[Rapid Run (RID)#JRX|J-Seven]]—were also available in a complete box set in Japan.
{{--}}

==Notes==
* Railspike was portrayed slightly differently in the two different versions of the cartoon. Though both were rather polite, Railspike was portrayed as being much older and gruffer than J-Five. Though, the on-package bio for the Hasbro toy appears to be more based on the Japanese version, emphasizing that version's politeness and gentlemanly manners.
* The Takara versions of the Bullet Trains appear to have had a particularly bad run of quality control regarding the paint applications, with many having sloppily-applied decoes. While the individually-packaged Bullet Trains came in clear-window packages to see the toys, the box set was completely windowless, so it was kind of a crap shoot as to the quality of paint you got with the set.
* The Bullet Trains, which were developed with Takara's flexible pricing structure, really did not fit into Hasbro's more rigid existing price-points, budget-wise. They cost too much to be sold as Deluxes, but weren't really up to Mega-costs.
*When asked by a reader if Railspike could be part of the ''[[Lost Light]]'' crew on the letters page of ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|#19]], [[James Roberts]] basically replied "eh, sure, why not?" With no evidence to the contrary, this wiki considers this to be true for now.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''J-Five''' (ジェイファイブ ''Jeifaibu'')
*''Korean:'' '''J-Five''' (제이파이브 ''Jeipaibeu'')
*''Russian:'' '''Pika''' (Пика, "Pike")

[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Elderly Transformers]]
[[Category:IDW (2005) Autobots]]
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2001) Autobots]]

D-Go

2019-10-30T13:46:33Z

KitsuneMastaa: /* Micromaster */

{{factions|autobot}}
:''D-Go is an [[Autobot]] [[Micromaster]] from the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:Diego-packageart.jpg|right|250px|thumb|My backpack is [[Grandpa|an antique]]!]]
[[Sixliner|Liner Team]] leader '''D-Go''' (ディーゴ ''Dīgo'') looks dangerously powerful, and he is. He's an expert sniper, and should he lose his temper, even his teammates have a hard time keeping him in check. But beneath the fearsome strength is a mind that carefully studies the logic behind any situation. Good friends with the healer [[Sireen]], he works hard to develop strategies and find peaceful solutions to problems. This combination of strength and wisdom has made him the ''de facto'' leader of the [[Earth]]-based Autobot Micromasters.

D-Go combines with his team to form [[Sixliner]].

==Fiction==
===''Micromaster''===
D-Go was one of many [[Cyberdroid]]s who evolved into Micromasters thanks to a mysterious energy wave. Finding themselves on [[Earth]], they blended into [[human]] society and fought against those Micromasters who had evolved into [[Decepticon]]s. {{storylink|A New Transformer Legend Begins!!}}

When five of the six [[Sixturbo|Turbo Team]] Autobots had been infected by the [[mind changer virus]], D-Go devised a plan to allow [[Sireen]] to upload an antivirus to the entire team at once by combining with them to form [[Sixturbo]]. The strategy worked, and Sixturbo was returned to normal. {{storylink|Enter the Urban Disaster Relief Specialists!!}}

When mysterious [[Decepticon Sixbuilder|green doppelgangers of the Build Team]] appeared and started wrecking [[human]] cities, D-Go called all the Autobots together and showed them footage of the attacks. {{storylink|Sixbuilder the Ill-Fated Warrior!?}} Later, D-Go and Sireen analyzed the reports on the strange Cybertronian metal plates that were unearthed at the base of a [[Mount St. Hilary|dormant volcano]], and wondered if this discovery combined with the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] fragment within [[Desire]] would help them in their eventual goal in finding the lost [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and his troops. {{storylink|Sixtrain! Activate Red Mode!!}} Though the Autobot forces were spread thin in their attempt to protect both the ruins they uncovered and the humans, D-Go and the other Autobots soon received reinforcements in the form of the [[Multiforce]]. D-Go initially hoped that the Multiforce had been sent from Cybertron to rescue his team, but learned that they had actually emerged from a dimensional rift from "another Earth." {{storylink|The Menace of Landcross's Combining Formation!}}

===''The Battlestars'' manga and story pages===
Years later, D-Go and the rest of the Liner Team were recruited by [[Sky Garry (ROC)|Sky Garry]] into the ranks of the [[Battlestars]]. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: The Battlestars (story page)#Part 2|Great Six Combination Warrior Sixliner!}}

{{note|None of the Liner Team ever actually show up as individuals, only as components of the combined robot Sixtrain.}}

===Wars manga===
When [[the Fallen]] attempted to consume the power of [[Vector Sigma]] for himself, [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] gathered the Autobot trains in defense of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. D-Go and the [[Liner Team]] joined forces with the [[Trainbot]]s and [[Train Team]] in a massive coupling that restrained the Fallen long enough for [[Shouki]] and [[Goshooter]] to finish him off. {{storylink|Train Wars 2}}

==Toys==
===Return of Convoy===
[[Image:ROC-toy Sixliner-DGo.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The little engine that could KICK ASS!.]]
*'''Sixliner''' (Micro Transformer Six-Team, 1991)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''C-370'''

: Originally released in a giftset with his fellow Micromaster trains, D-Go transforms into a D51 steam locomotive. His rear pegged hitch allows him to connect end-to-end with any fellow train or combiner [[kibble]] weapon with a socket-hitch. He also has a small socket on the top of his train mode, allowing him to use the [[Giga-Techvolt]] weapon. He can form the back to any of the Six-team combiners, as well as the chest to any of the "kibble-jet" types, but his nominal placement is as the back of [[Sixliner]].

: This mold was also used to make [[San D-Go]] and ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)|Universe]]'' [[Overload (Universe)|Overload]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1991/Cybertron/Dego/dego.htm More information on D-Go at TFU.info]''
::*''[http://www.transformertoys.co.uk/content.php?/transformers-toys/toy-gallery/778/Generation+1/Diego.html D-Go toy gallery at Transformertoys.co.uk]''
{{-}}

===Micromaster===
[[Image:MC-toy Sixliner-DGo.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Thomas got nothin on him.]]
*'''D-Go''' (Micromaster Sixtrain, 2002)
**''Sixtrain ID number'': '''1'''
**''Accessories'': Sixliner head, rifle

:D-Go and his teammates were re-released in Japan in 2002 as the first assortment of ''[[The Transformers: Micromaster]]'', this time in identical individual boxes, identifiable only by the number on his instruction sheet visible through a small hole in the box. Like the rest of the ''Micromaster'' figures, D-Go's stickers were either replaced with [[tampograph]]s or dropped entirely, though he gained several new pieces of deco in exchange, especially in train mode.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2002/Cybertron/Dego/dego.htm More information on ''Micromaster'' D-Go at TFU.info]''
{{--}}

==Notes==
* For a long time, it was thought that D-Go's name was "Diego". However, "Diego" is rendered in katakana as ディエゴ, ''Diego'', featuring an "e" that D-Go (ディーゴ ''Dīgo'') does not have. It was not until a connection was made between D-Go's name and alternate mode—a {{w|D51 steam locomotive|'''D5'''1 steam locomotive}}—that the pun in his name was discovered: "go" is "five" in Japanese, effectively making his name "D-Five", and ergo a reference to that series of trains, which is extremely popular in Japan.
* D-Go, like all of the six-team Micromasters, had no individual [[bio]] information whatsoever until his ''Micromaster'' release a decade after his original ''Return of Convoy'' release.
* The original ''Return of Convoy'' Sixliner [[instructions|instruction booklet]] shows D-Go carrying the (then-unnamed) [[Giga-Techvolt]] weapon in train mode; in fact, of the three kibble-weapons, it is the only one where the text specifically calls out "it goes to this one guy". ''Micromaster'' later specifically assigned the weapon to [[Alan (ROC)|Alan]] in his [[bio]].

==External links==
*[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/8481654a03096b1f?dmode=source&output=gplain Translation of D-Go's bio by Doug Dlin]

[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Micromaster Autobots]]
[[Category:Return of Convoy Autobots]]
[[Category:Strategists]]

D-Go

2019-10-30T13:45:25Z

KitsuneMastaa: /* Return of Convoy */

{{factions|autobot}}
:''D-Go is an [[Autobot]] [[Micromaster]] from the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:Diego-packageart.jpg|right|250px|thumb|My backpack is [[Grandpa|an antique]]!]]
[[Sixliner|Liner Team]] leader '''D-Go''' (ディーゴ ''Dīgo'') looks dangerously powerful, and he is. He's an expert sniper, and should he lose his temper, even his teammates have a hard time keeping him in check. But beneath the fearsome strength is a mind that carefully studies the logic behind any situation. Good friends with the healer [[Sireen]], he works hard to develop strategies and find peaceful solutions to problems. This combination of strength and wisdom has made him the ''de facto'' leader of the [[Earth]]-based Autobot Micromasters.

D-Go combines with his team to form [[Sixliner]].

==Fiction==
===''Micromaster''===
D-Go was one of many [[Cyberdroid]]s who evolved into Micromasters thanks to a mysterious energy wave. Finding themselves on [[Earth]], they blended into [[human]] society and fought against those Micromasters who had evolved into [[Decepticon]]s. {{storylink|A New Transformer Legend Begins!!}}

When five of the six [[Sixturbo|Turbo Team]] Autobots had been infected by the [[mind changer virus]], D-Go devised a plan to allow [[Sireen]] to upload an antivirus to the entire team at once by combining with them to form [[Sixturbo]]. The strategy worked, and Sixturbo was returned to normal. {{storylink|Enter the Urban Disaster Relief Specialists!!}}

When mysterious [[Decepticon Sixbuilder|green doppelgangers of the Build Team]] appeared and started wrecking [[human]] cities, D-Go called all the Autobots together and showed them footage of the attacks. {{storylink|Sixbuilder the Ill-Fated Warrior!?}} Later, D-Go and Sireen analyzed the reports on the strange Cybertronian metal plates that were unearthed at the base of a [[Mount St. Hilary|dormant volcano]], and wondered if this discovery combined with the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] fragment within [[Desire]] would help them in their eventual goal in finding the lost [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and his troops. {{storylink|Sixtrain! Activate Red Mode!!}} Though the Autobot forces were spread thin in their attempt to protect both the ruins they uncovered and the humans, D-Go and the other Autobots soon received reinforcements in the form of the [[Multiforce]]. D-Go initially hoped that the Multiforce had been sent from Cybertron to rescue his team, but learned that they had actually emerged from a dimensional rift from "another Earth." {{storylink|The Menace of Landcross's Combining Formation!}}

===''The Battlestars'' manga and story pages===
Years later, D-Go and the rest of the Liner Team were recruited by [[Sky Garry (ROC)|Sky Garry]] into the ranks of the [[Battlestars]]. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: The Battlestars (story page)#Part 2|Great Six Combination Warrior Sixliner!}}

{{note|None of the Liner Team ever actually show up as individuals, only as components of the combined robot Sixtrain.}}

===Wars manga===
When [[the Fallen]] attempted to consume the power of [[Vector Sigma]] for himself, [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] gathered the Autobot trains in defense of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. D-Go and the [[Liner Team]] joined forces with the [[Trainbot]]s and [[Train Team]] in a massive coupling that restrained the Fallen long enough for [[Shouki]] and [[Goshooter]] to finish him off. {{storylink|Train Wars 2}}

==Toys==
===Return of Convoy===
[[Image:ROC-toy Sixliner-DGo.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The little engine that could KICK ASS!.]]
*'''Sixliner''' (Micro Transformer Six-Team, 1991)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''C-370'''

: Originally released in a giftset with his fellow Micromaster trains, D-Go transforms into a D51 steam locomotive. His rear pegged hitch allows him to connect end-to-end with any fellow train or combiner [[kibble]] weapon with a socket-hitch. He also has a small socket on the top of his train mode, allowing him to use the [[Giga-Techvolt]] weapon. He can form the back to any of the Six-team combiners, as well as the chest to any of the "kibble-jet" types, but his nominal placement is as the back of [[Sixliner]].

: This mold was also used to make [[San D-Go]] and ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)|Universe]]'' [[Overload (Universe)|Overload]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1991/Cybertron/Dego/dego.htm More information on D-Go at TFU.info]''
::*''[http://www.transformertoys.co.uk/content.php?/transformers-toys/toy-gallery/778/Generation+1/Diego.html D-Go toy gallery at Transformertoys.co.uk]''
{{-}}

===Micromaster===
[[Image:MC-toy Sixliner-DGo.jpg|right|thumb|300px|James is vain but lots of fun!]]
*'''D-Go''' (Micromaster Sixtrain, 2002)
**''Sixtrain ID number'': '''1'''
**''Accessories'': Sixliner head, rifle

:D-Go and his teammates were re-released in Japan in 2002 as the first assortment of ''[[The Transformers: Micromaster]]'', this time in identical individual boxes, identifiable only by the number on his instruction sheet visible through a small hole in the box. Like the rest of the ''Micromaster'' figures, D-Go's stickers were either replaced with [[tampograph]]s or dropped entirely, though he gained several new pieces of deco in exchange, especially in train mode.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2002/Cybertron/Dego/dego.htm More information on ''Micromaster'' D-Go at TFU.info]''
{{--}}

==Notes==
* For a long time, it was thought that D-Go's name was "Diego". However, "Diego" is rendered in katakana as ディエゴ, ''Diego'', featuring an "e" that D-Go (ディーゴ ''Dīgo'') does not have. It was not until a connection was made between D-Go's name and alternate mode—a {{w|D51 steam locomotive|'''D5'''1 steam locomotive}}—that the pun in his name was discovered: "go" is "five" in Japanese, effectively making his name "D-Five", and ergo a reference to that series of trains, which is extremely popular in Japan.
* D-Go, like all of the six-team Micromasters, had no individual [[bio]] information whatsoever until his ''Micromaster'' release a decade after his original ''Return of Convoy'' release.
* The original ''Return of Convoy'' Sixliner [[instructions|instruction booklet]] shows D-Go carrying the (then-unnamed) [[Giga-Techvolt]] weapon in train mode; in fact, of the three kibble-weapons, it is the only one where the text specifically calls out "it goes to this one guy". ''Micromaster'' later specifically assigned the weapon to [[Alan (ROC)|Alan]] in his [[bio]].

==External links==
*[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/8481654a03096b1f?dmode=source&output=gplain Translation of D-Go's bio by Doug Dlin]

[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Micromaster Autobots]]
[[Category:Return of Convoy Autobots]]
[[Category:Strategists]]