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Scourge (episode)

2026-04-30T19:43:31Z

NeonMicron: /* Transformers references */ Although it's true "Micron" is the Japanese term for Mini-Con, the information is false due to the fact that Wing Saber calls it "the Micro-Guy Passage", not "Micron"

{{disambig3|Scourge}}
{{episode
|series=Cybertron
|ep=44
|series2=Galaxy Force
|ep2=45
|image=Cyb ep44 scourge.jpg
|caption=Must be [[Sweep (G1)|Sweep]]s week.
|title="Scourge"
|japanese=大きな星の小さな町
|romaji=Ōki na Hoshi no Chiisa na Machi
|translation=The Large Planet's Little City
|production code=
|production company=[[TV Aichi]], [[We've]], [[Tōkyū Agency]]
|writer=[[Kenji Sugihara]]
|director=[[Matsuo Asami]]
|animation studio=[[GONZO]], Azeta Pictures
|airdate=[[November 12]], [[2005]] (Japanese) [[September 20]], [[2006]] (English)
|continuity=[[Unicron Trilogy cartoon timeline|Unicron Trilogy cartoon continuity]]
}}
'''Scourge comes to some tough decisions about himself, with the help of some little friends.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Cyb ep44 secret passage.jpg|left|thumb|220px|"No, Mr. Hansen, I expect you to die."]]
As [[Scourge (Cybertron)|Scourge]] descends further into [[Gigantion]]'s depths, he reflects on his past fight with [[Overhaul (Cybertron)|Leobreaker]]. Recalling Leobreaker's claim that strength is more than just physical, Scourge grows furious, unable to comprehend his meaning, and on a deeper level, fearing that his power may not be enough to save [[Jungle Planet (colony)|Jungle Planet]].

On [[Gigantion]], [[Evac (Cybertron)|Evac]] and [[Coby Hansen|Coby]] have found Leobreaker and [[Snarl (Cybertron)|Snarl]], left where Scourge beat them, unconscious but not too seriously injured. Coby calls the lead [[Autobot]] group on [[Lori Jiménez|Lori's]] communicator and informs them of the situation, prompting Lori to talk smack about Scourge. [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] reins her in as they prepare to open the doorway to the planet's next level. Optimus isn't the only one keeping the troops in line—Bud has been organizing the [[Mini-Con]]s into a mini-army, a feat that impresses [[Metroplex (Cybertron)|Metroplex]], and they all march through the door ahead of the other Autobots. They find reliefs of several small robots on the walls and recognize them as more Mini-Cons, leaning against the wall to compare the carvings to their height. Unfortunately, when Lori joins them and leans against the wall, too, she accidentally triggers a switch that opens up a secret passage, sending Bud and the four Mini-Cons tumbling downward.

Elsewhere, the [[Cybertron Defense Team (Cybertron)|Cybertron Defense Team]] races along a highway to regroup with the other Autobots. When they encounter [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] and [[Menasor (Cybertron)|Menasor]] along the way, they challenge the Decepticon leader to a battle for payback for their defeat in their last meeting, but Menasor jumps in the way first.

[[File:Cyb ep44 museum fun.jpg|thumb|220px]]
Back with Prime's group, Metroplex realizes that the legends of the secret Mini-Con passages must be true. Lori insists on going down the tunnel, blaming herself for the accident. Optimus claims he's just as responsible for letting Bud and the others enter the tunnel first and convinces her that they're better off finding them by sticking together. The Autobots wonder where the passage leads, and Metroplex recounts the legend of a city built especially for Mini-Cons...which is, indeed, exactly where Bud and the Mini-Cons have found themselves! [[Six-Speed (Cybertron)|Six-Speed]] leads them to a museum nearby; once inside, [[Jolt (Cybertron)|Jolt]] discovers some historical data. It explains that, after the war with [[Planet X (Cybertron)|Planet X]], Gigantion's citizens were too big, so the Mini-Cons did all the "detail work" and computer repair, which made them mentally similar to humans. (Uh, yeah. Just go with us on this, okay?) However, Bud instantly forgets everything, but Jolt shrugs it off.

Meanwhile, the Cybertron Defense Team triple-teams Menasor, who's handling their assault pretty well; however, the three attack simultaneously in a [[triangle formation]] with their [[Cyber Planet Key|Cyber-Key-enhanced]] attacks, which fells the giant. Galvatron is unimpressed and enters battle with the trio, but they manage to hold their own and raise their standing in the Decepticon leader's eyes, even if he does still just shrug off their attacks.

[[File:Cyb ep44 raise your hand.jpg|left|thumb|220px|"I should be leading, not being taught how to lead!"]]
Bud's group has found a playground in the Mini-Con city, and Jolt remarks there's even a tale of an amusement park. The quintet leaves to find it but discovers a rubble-strewn wasteland with fresh claw marks instead. Jolt and the Mini-Cons promptly panic, so to make them calm down, Bud fakes a stomachache, causing them all to rush to his aid. They leave to return to the museum for safety but bump into Scourge, the one responsible for the damage they found. Lori told Bud not to fear Scourge, so he's able to have a moderately pleasant conversation with the dragon-bot, who reveals he was impressed by Bud's handling of the Mini-Cons' panic. Bud decides he can teach Scourge to be a leader who doesn't have to bust heads to make a point and gets a blackboard and some chalk from... somewhere... to hold a class on the subject. Bud confounds Scourge with some hypothetical situations, telling Scourge that his solutions involving the stronger taking the spoils and the weaker getting the short end of the stick are wrong. Scourge objects to Bud's solutions that involve just "making stuff up," which Bud explains is the entire point: to be a good leader, you have to be a creative thinker, and who said ''he'' couldn't make stuff up? Scourge starts laughing, having it explained to him so plainly and innocently; he realizes he's been locked in his "might makes right" mentality for so long that it ''weakened'' him.

[[File:Cyb ep44 scourge defeated.jpg|thumb|220px|"So much for my Strength."]]
The Autobots arrive on the scene, and Scourge challenges them to a duel, much to Bud's confusion, but Lori says it's okay since it's something Scourge needs to do. During a dramatic sunset in an open field, Metroplex goes first, soundly thrashing Scourge without the dragon landing a single blow. But Scourge challenges the next Autobot to step forward, Vector Prime, and gets beaten again. Even then, Scourge challenges another. [[Override (Cybertron)|Override]] steps up, but Optimus says he'll go next instead and instructs [[Wing Saber (Energon)|Wing Saber]] to combine with him. Wing Saber is confused, but Scourge laughs and insists. The two leaders charge at one another, landing simultaneous blows while passing. As they pause back to back, a small wound opens on Prime's shoulder; Scourge laughs, but then, as the sun sets, he topples over backward, completely immobilized, and admits defeat. The Autobots drive away, with Bud wishing that Scourge could have joined the Autobots. "Maybe someday," Lori tells him... and Scourge... still lying on the ground, staring up the stars, laughs to himself softly.

Elsewhere, Galvatron carries Menasor away from the city in flames, leaving the Cybertron Defense Team to pick themselves up, though he admits they put up a good fight.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Overhaul (Cybertron)|Leobreaker]] (2)
* [[Evac (Cybertron)|Evac]] (4)
* [[Snarl (Cybertron)|Snarl]] (5)
* [[Wing Saber (Energon)|Wing Saber]] (7)
* [[Override (Cybertron)|Override]] (8)
* [[Metroplex (Cybertron)|Metroplex]] (9)
* [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (10)
* [[Six-Speed (Cybertron)|Six-Speed]] (11)
* [[Reverb (Cybertron)|Reverb]] (12)
* [[Drill Bit (Cybertron)|Drill Bit]] (13)
* [[Jolt (Cybertron)|Jolt]] (14)
* [[Vector Prime]] (15)
* [[Hot Shot (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Hot Shot]] (16)
* [[Scattorshot (Cybertron)|Scattorshot]] (17)
* [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] (18)
* [[Safeguard (Cybertron)|Safeguard]] (21)

|c2=
* [[Scourge (Cybertron)|Scourge]] (1)
* [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] (19)
* [[Menasor (Cybertron)|Menasor]] (20)

|c3=
*[[Lori Jiménez|Lori]] (3)
*[[Coby Hansen]] (6)
*[[Bud Hansen]] (12)
}}

==Quotes==
"Strength is what leads the masses, commands their respect! ''My'' strength united an entire world! Now it seems it's not enough?! '''''Impossible!!''''' Strength will save my world! Strength ''must'' be enough! It ''must'' be! '''''It's all I have!!!'''''"
:—'''Scourge'''

"They said that Scourge was still around here somewhere, so be careful." 
"Pfft, ''right''. ''He'' should look out for ''me''!" 
"Huh? Oh, man! Lori just totally dissed a fire-breathing dragon! ... That's actually pretty awesome!"
:—'''Coby''' and '''Lori'''

"I'm fixin' to use your head as a hood ornament!" 
"Whoah, now ''that's'' some trash-talking!" 
"Straight up!"
:—'''Scattorshot''' and '''Hot Shot'''

"Being lost is what I do best!"
:—'''Bud'''

"And just what's ''that'' supposed to—UUUAGH!!!" 
[''explosion clears''] 
"Aye, that'll do ye." (faints)
:—'''Menasor'''

"I wish I could use such guile. You brought order out of chaos... and you didn't even have to beat up anyone!"
:—'''Scourge'''

"But if ''you've'' been reborn, and ''I've'' been reborn, then that places us back where we started, doesn't it?"
:—'''Galvatron'''

"This is a duel of honor. Just like in the movies. I think you should be able to understand ''that''."
:—'''Lori'''

==Notes==
===Differences with ''Galaxy Force''===
*''Galaxy Force'' includes a "previously on" segment that summarizes the events of "[[Challenge]]".
*Scourge's flashback to Leobreaker is silent. In ''Cybertron'', Scourge claims Leobreaker doesn't know anything about leadership since Scourge's strength is what commands respect and united his planet. Then he rages about how his power isn't enough anymore. In ''Galaxy Force'', he asks what Leobreaker meant when he said, "You can't fight just by hitting each other", and says Animatros will be saved once he gains remarkable power and "sees it through" as a leader. Scourge's subsequent outburst is over confusion about his newfound feelings of doubt.
*''Cybertron'' adds Lori's line about Scourge defeating Snarl and Leobreaker and ditching them. In ''Galaxy Force'', her first line is her second one in ''Cybertron'', asking Coby about Leobreaker and Snarl. Lori doesn't know Scourge was responsible until Coby tells her moments later. Coby says they're "sleeping it off" in ''Cybertron'' but that they have more minor wounds than he thought in ''Galaxy Force''. In the Japanese dub, Coby remarks how "reassuring and scary" it is that Lori has grown stronger after referring to Scourge as "that guy".
*After talking with Coby, Lori sounds more frustrated about Scourge in ''Galaxy Force'' than in ''Cybertron''. Lori says she'll need to brace herself after Optimus says they have to go down another two or three levels. After learning about Bud organizing the Mini-Cons, Lori remarks on the Mini-Cons' cheerfulness. Then he addresses Bud in ''Cybertron'' but only comments on the Mini-Cons being in a good mood in ''Galaxy Force''.
*When Lori asks if the Mini-Cons are doing camouflage training in ''Cybertron'', she only asks what they're doing in ''Galaxy Force''. It goes silent in the Japanese version until the shot pans to Bud. The ''Cybertron'' versions of their following lines are basically "flavor dialogue" that makes less sense than those in ''Galaxy Force''. Bud says he's sure the engravings are Mini-Cons and that they're slightly taller than him. Then Lori says there's no need for the guys to group since that's already easy to see. It's silent when the shot cuts to Lori pushing the hidden switch, so the action is more of a surprise.
*Scattershot says the city that he, Hot Shot, and Red Alert are in doesn't have a route to the planet's lowest level. Then Hot Shot says they should hurry and pass the city, and Red Alert agrees. The idea of them racing each other is ''Cybertron''-exclusive. The music in the scene also doesn't play until two seconds into it. Red Alert doesn't point out Galvatron, and Hot Shot quips that the "guys who are doomed" are here. Galvatron asks, "Who do you think I am?" before saying that he has already settled things with them.
*Instead of assuring Lori that Bud and the Mini-Cons are alright, Vector Prime deduces that the passage is a mode of transport based on the slant. ''Cybertron'' adds Metroplex saying that he's never seen a Mini-Con passage before. When Optimus tells Lori that what happened was an accident in ''Cybertron'', he says he's responsible for letting Bud and the Mini-Cons enter first in ''Galaxy Force''. After Lori objects, Optimus says that being the team's leader makes him liable and that he'll find Bud, asking Lori to believe in him.
*After Wing Saber speaks, Metroplex finishes his line before the scene fades to Bud in the Mini-Con city. Jolt explains to Bud that he has data that their Mini-Con ancestors built the city but had never seen before.
*Rather than fretting about Bud as she does in ''Cybertron'', Lori assures him that she'll be there soon and urges him to hang in there although he's scared.
*In ''Galaxy Force'', Jolt doesn't mention the war with Planet X when explaining the Mini-Cons' origin; instead, he notes that Mini-Cons were created when the Gigantion Transformers found they couldn't get any bigger, so some started shrinking.
*Galvatron claims to take no satisfaction from defeating "small fish", so Scattershot and Hot Shot tell him to keep underestimating them as they'll make him eat his words. ''Cybertron'' changes their dialogue to Galvatron reminding the team that he's already beaten them before; they say they keep returning stronger each time he knocks them down, and Galvatron declares he will finish the job.
*Jolt claims to be a little interested in the amusement park before Bud makes him admit that he's curious. In ''Cybertron'', Jolt says it's only for the sake of gathering data.
*Bud makes it clear that his stomach "hurts" when he fakes it in ''Cybertron'', but he doesn't say in ''Galaxy Force'', and Jolt asks if it's his stomach aching. After calming the Mini-Cons, Bud expresses relief that they've stopped running in circles in ''Cybertron'' but says they should "quietly flee" from the place in ''Galaxy Force''. Then he says they should run instead of returning to the museum. Unlike ''Cybertron'', Jolt reacts to Bud's sudden stop and doesn't say anything after bumping into Scourge. He also only shouts Scourge's name as the Mini-Cons panic again. A sinister music sting plays after Jolt screams in ''Cybertron''.
*Bud assures the Mini-Cons that Scourge isn't a villain, and Scourge asks how he knows that. Bud says Lori said that Scourge has "his own situation", and Scourge states that Lori understands, but he wants to discuss something else; Bud asks what, but Scourge muses about his recently lousy temperament so Bud frustratingly asks him again. Then Scourge says Bud showed him "a splendid insight" and implores Bud to tell him what he thinks leadership is. When Bud later begins his leadership class and prepares to take roll, Scourge is confused by what that means, and Bud tells him to be quiet.
*In ''Cybertron'', Bud tells Scourge he answered the first riddle incorrectly, and Scourge doesn't see how that's possible. In ''Galaxy Force'', Bud says Scourge has "no sense of romance," and Scourge asks what romance has to do with what they're discussing.
*In ''Cybertron'', Bud mentions that [[Robert Hansen|his dad]] always told him that great leaders think outside the box. ''Galaxy Force'' is a bit more specific: his dad told him the riddles he puzzles Scourge with, saying that Bud will be a great leader if he could solve them. The Japanese dub changes the parts in ''Cybertron'' where Bud and Scourge mention "making stuff up" to "cheating" in the Japanese dub.
*Scourge's epiphany in ''Galaxy Force'' is that he's been too self-obsessed, while he realizes that he made himself weak by only relying on brute strength in ''Cybertron''. His subsequent laughter in the Japanese dub is from Bud's confusion for not understanding.
*After Scourge challenges the Autobots, Lori tells Bud it's something Scourge needs to do in ''Cybertron'', but says it's Scourge's way of thinking in ''Galaxy Force''.
*In ''Galaxy Force'', Vector Prime asks Optimus what they should do; Optimus asks Scourge if fighting him is required, to which Scourge claims the Autobots won't progress unless they defeat him. In ''Cybertron'', Vector Prime notices a change in Scourge; Optimus asks Scourge if it's what he wants, and Scourge claims it's the only way to settle the score. The Japanese dub plays no music during the scene.
*Despite the similar theme, Lori sums up Scourge's wish to fight the Autobots in a duel-like format differently: In ''Cybertron'', she tells Bud it is a duel of honor "like in the movies", whereas, in ''Galaxy Force'', she makes the more astute observation that this is Scourge's way of learning right from wrong. Because Scourge is essentially throwing the fight, he is meshing his beliefs that the winner is "right" with his recent epiphany that there is a better way to be a good leader (i.e., the Autobot way). He also maintains his sense of honor by doing this. Optimus clearly understands and respects it by entering Sonic Wing Mode, explaining why Scourge laughs to himself despite losing at the end: it all makes sense within his mental framework now; clever dragon.
*In ''Cybertron'', the music changes as Scourge and Optimus charge at each other. However, it doesn't change in ''Galaxy Force'', so the track "[[Transformers Galaxy Force: Sound Pack 1|Bitter Hostilities]]" keeps playing, fitting the duel's climactic nature more appropriately.
*After Scourge collapses, Bud only says his name rather than wishing he finds peace. Then Scourge tells Optimus that he can continue his mission, and Prime states he will.
*Lori later tells Bud they had no choice but to leave Scourge since he said he couldn't go with them and that Scourge will be fine now as he won't return to the Decepticons. ''Galaxy Force'' also plays the track "[[Transformers Galaxy Force: Sound Pack 2|Believing Heart]]" during the scene. ''Cybertron'' adds Bud's dialogue.
*Instead of subtly complementing the Cybertron Defense Team for giving him a challenge, Galvatron quips that they got ahead of themselves as "small fish reborn are still small fish."

===Animation and technical errors===
*Jolt's mouth doesn't move when he speaks several times: when he formally addresses Lori, when Jolt tells Bud they should find another entrance, and when he bumps into Scourge's leg. This issue isn't present in ''Galaxy Force'' since Jolt doesn't talk at these points.
*When he dares to question Galvatron's superiority, Scattershot's mouth still moves after finishing his line; it's because his line is longer in ''Galaxy Force''.
*When Scourge has his epiphany, he seems to be talking out the corner of his mouth.
*Hot Shot's mouth doesn't move when he says Galvatron's name in the final scene. He is silent in the Japanese version.

===Continuity notes===
*Bud can seemingly understand Mini-Cons who speak in binary tones perfectly; past episodes gave some indication that all three kids can vaguely understand them on an emotional level (when they're happy, scared, etc.). However, this episode is the first instance where complex communication is seemingly understood in a direct conversation (here, it's between Bud and his "Mini-Con Team").
*This episode has the second switch Lori accidentally activates on Gigantion, having done so once before in "[[Ambush (episode)|Ambush]]". She's got some luck.
*Jolt refers to the time Red Alert scanned his mind, back in "[[Balance]]".
*Jolt recalls seeing an amusement park in the Hansens' home movies, way back in "[[Collapse]]".
*Galvatron and the Cybertron Defense Team refer to their previous battles in "[[Revelation (episode)|Revelation]]" and "[[Fury (Cybertron)|Fury]]".

===Continuity errors===
[[File:Mini-Reliefs.jpg|thumb|Later on, they punched holes in the heads for you to put your face through.]]
*How can High Wire's relief in the corridor appear behind Lori and Bud in the same scene? It's almost like it was copied and pasted.
*Bud says the others can't follow them through the tunnel, needless to say, unless they're human-sized. In ''Galaxy Force'' Bud claims that his group can't go back up the passage.
*After this, Jolt tells Bud that their group should try looking for another entrance, and they seemingly forget about Six-Speed mentioning the museum, which doesn't make sense since that's where they appear next. This error isn't in ''Galaxy Force'' since Bud says he and the Mini-Cons should investigate the museum.
*We get an explanation for the whole "Mini-Con brains work like human brains" thing, but it... doesn't work very well. Essentially, we're asked to believe the far-fetched idea that ordinary Transformers are unimaginative beings with no concept of detailed design or function. But humans do, and the Mini-Cons' years of working on the details for the Gigantion Transformers' constructions gave them that ability, thereby making their brains like humans'. It seems this was foreshadowed as far back as "[[Haven]]" when the Autobots built their base on Earth. Scattorshot could only make a basic design with an inefficient layout; however, Lori put her human sense of imagination, detail, and function to work and created the finalized, highly-efficient design. But that doesn't change the fact that it's hard to believe that Transformers wouldn't be able to construct sufficient buildings or other structures without human or Mini-Con help. After all, how would anything have ever been built on any other planets?
*In ''Galaxy Force'', Jolt's explanation for the Mini-Cons' origin doesn't include the "detail work" angle; yet, the ''Galaxy Force'' version of "[[Giant]]" previously mentioned it, with the vaguer claim that Mini-Cons are like humans simply because they're "born small"!
*Not so much an error, but... where did the blackboard come from?
*When they find Bud and the Mini-Cons with Scourge, many characters' positions change between shots:
**When Wing Saber and Lori appear, they land to the left of the group, but they're now in front of Scourge and the Mini-Cons when the other Autobots arrive.
**In the shot of Lori and Bud shouting at each other, Scourge and the Mini-Cons suddenly face Lori straight on.
**When Optimus, Vector Prime, Override, and Metroplex arrive and transform, Bud is in the background behind them. However, Optimus looks ahead when he speaks to Bud like the boy is ahead of him, while Bud looks to his left when he talks to Optimus.

===Transformers references===
*Several ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)|Armada]]'' Mini-Con character models appear in this episode: [[Nightbeat (Armada)|Nightbeat]], [[Drill Bit (Armada)|Drill Bit (no relation)]], [[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]], [[Blackout (Armada)|Blackout]], and [[Runway (Armada)|Runway]]'s models show up as reliefs on the hallway walls, while Runway is also seen in statue form inside the museum (pictured above).

===Real-world references===
*Metroplex refers to the Mini-Cons as "Wee Folk," an antiquated Celtic term for fairies.

===Trivia===
[[File:Megs carries Menasor 2.jpg|thumb]]
*According to Bud in ''Galaxy Force'', his flexibility is his weapon.
*This episode is the first time in the series that Megatron/Galvatron seems to care enough about one of his fallen troops (Menasor) to carry him from the battlefield.
{{-}}

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2006 — ''Transformers: Galaxy Force'' — Vol. 12 ([[Victor Entertainment]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2008 — ''Transformers: Cybertron'' — The Ultimate Collection ([[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''Transformers: Cybertron'' — The Complete Series ([[Shout! Factory]])

[[Category:Cybertron episodes]]

Underground (episode)

2026-04-07T18:17:14Z

NeonMicron: /* Animation and technical errors */

{{disambig2|the ''Armada'' episode|the ''Cloud'' location|Underground (Cloud)}}
{{episode|
|series=Armada
|ep=10
|prev=Confrontation (episode)
|next=Ruin
|title="Underground"
|furigana=ちか
|japanese=迷路
|romaji=Chika
|translation=Maze: Underground
|image=undergroundsmokescreen.jpg
|caption=Not about the Autobots forming a rock group to stop Dr. [[Robotnik]].
|production code=TF: A-10
|production company=[[TV Tokyo]], [[Nihon Ad Systems|NAS]]
|writer=[[Isao Shizuya]]
|director=[[Satoru Kusuda]], [[Shigeki Hatakeyama]]
|animation studio=[[Actas Inc.]]
|airdate=[[November 1]], [[2002]] (English) [[March 14|14 March]] [[2003]] (Japanese)
|continuity=[[Unicron Trilogy]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15bUtMiMeRc
|videosite=YouTube
}}
'''The battle for the Mini-Cons leads both forces underground, and another warrior enters the conflict.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Underground HotShotsaysRelax.jpg|left|thumb|So... Come here often?]]
Underground, in the [[Mini-Con]] ship's ruins, [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] and [[Hot Shot (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Hot Shot]] work to salvage what they can while the kids take a passive interest. Hot Shot whines that this kind of labor isn't his forte, and Rad offers to take his place. Just then, [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus]] sends a message over the PA system, instructing everybody to return to the control room to prepare to find another activated Mini-Con panel. The computer determines the panel is in an urban area, and the kids suit up. The [[Autobot]]s warp to their destination.

Within the ambiguous city, the Autobots determine the Mini-Con panel is underground, and [[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]] finds an entrance into the subway system for the Autobots to utilize. A problem emerges when an active train heads directly for Optimus, who doesn't have enough room to maneuver out of its path. Only at the last second is Optimus able to turn away and avoid killing the astonished train operator. The danger passed, and the Autobots split up and explore the underground, searching for the Mini-Con.

[[File:Underground merchandising.jpg|thumb|So who's the red car, then?]]
Hot Shot casually drives by civilians in what appears to be an underground shopping area, confused as to why the bystanders find his presence irregular. Red Alert goes alongside a train, confusing some children. Optimus Prime observes that driving around the subway system is like exploring a maze. Elsewhere, the [[Decepticon]]s have infiltrated the sewer system, to [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]]'s distaste. When [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]] has trouble maneuvering, he and the Decepticons deploy their Mini-Cons to search for them.

Following a staircase Alexis found, the kids locate a subway station that is evidently out of commission, and Alexis declares her ambition to become [[President of the United States]]. Under her administration, no subway station will fall into disrepair. Indifferent to Alexis's political agenda, the [[Street Action Mini-Con Team|Street Action Team]] Mini-Cons combine into [[Perceptor (Armada)|Perceptor]] and locate the new Mini-Con within a ceiling panel. However, the panel is inches away from Perceptor's grasp, and he can't reach it. Using a ladder, [[Carlos Lopez|Carlos]] gets a grip on the Mini-Con panel and pulls it out from the ceiling, getting caught by Alexis. [[Rad White|Rad]] decides they should take the panel to the Autobots when the three come under a sudden attack from a blue hook.

[[File:Underground truckontracks.jpg|left|thumb|"Step 5. Press down on child's head."]]
Running from their new attacker, the kids run into an area where non-functional subway cars trap them. The kids jump into one of the cabs but find themselves trapped between their assailant and the Decepticons' Mini-Cons. Thinking quickly, the kids jump out a window and ride away, hiding in a cavern. Rad deploys Laserbeak to find Optimus.

Receiving information about the Mini-Con from [[Blackout (Armada)|Blackout]], Megatron blasts his way into the sewer, while Optimus gets the same information from [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]]. Megatron and his cronies are the first to locate the kids, and they quickly surround them. Just then, the mysterious assailant from earlier saves the children. After the unknown robot transforms, the Decepticons manage to bury him, the Mini-Con panel, and the kids beneath some rubble.

[[File:Underground-Hug.jpg|thumb|Time for a robo-noogie, Smokescreen!]]
The Autobots arrive just in time to see Cyclonus pick up the Mini-Con panel and activate it, revealing it to be [[Drill Bit (Armada)|Drill Bit]]. Having won the battle by default, the Decepticons retreat. The Autobots quickly prepare to try to unbury the kids to see if they're still alive when the orange assailant emerges from the dirt, having used his body to protect the children. Hot Shot identifies the bot as [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]]. Smokescreen apologizes for not meeting up with the Autobots earlier, and Rad is happy to have made a new friend, who was maybe only briefly trying to kill him.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Hot Shot (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Hot Shot]] (1)
*[[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] (2)
*[[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (6)
*[[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]] (19)
*[[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] (22)

|c2=
*[[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] (10)
*[[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (11)
*[[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (12)
*[[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] (13)

|c3=
*[[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]] (3)
*[[Rad White]] (4)
*[[Carlos Lopez]] (5)

|h4=[[Mini-Con]]s|c4=
*[[Sureshock (Armada)|Sureshock]] (7)
*[[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]] (8)
*[[Grindor (Armada)|Grindor]] (9)
*[[Leader-1 (Armada)|Leader-1]] (14)
*[[Blackout (Armada)|Blackout]] (15)
*[[Longarm (Armada)|Longarm]] (16)
*[[Swindle (Armada)|Swindle]] (17)
*[[Perceptor (Armada)|Perceptor]] (18)
*[[Bonecrusher (Armada)|Bonecrusher]] (20)
*[[Crumplezone (Armada)|Crumplezone]] (21)
*[[Drill Bit (Armada)|Drill Bit]] (23)
}}

==Quotes==
"Man! Haven't they seen a car on the sidewalk before?!"
:—'''Hot Shot''' is either joking, or really bad at the whole "robot in disguise" thing.

"I can't even fly in here! What a rip-off!"
:—'''Cyclonus''' in the subway

"Once I become President, I'll change all that, you'll see! I'll put an end to the misuse of public property, and THEN I'll work on saving the environment, and I'll end world hunger."
:—'''Alexis''', acting like a complete hippie

"Hello, kids, looks like you picked a "dead end", if you know what I mean!"
:—'''Cyclonus''', trying to be funny but failing miserably

"Combat is not a spectator sport."
:—Says '''Starscream''', [[Heavy Metal War|except when it is]]

"Ha ha! Look at those pathetic fools! They've all been buried alive." 
"Uh, that's great, sir, but the Mini-Con is buried too!" 
"Then why don't you go and dig it out, you numbskull? Why is it I have to spell everything out for you?"
:—'''Megatron''' heaps abuse on '''Cyclonus''' again.

"Stay where you are, and nobody gets hurt. Once we have the Mini-Con, we'll be on our way. Then you Autobots can dig in the dirt all you like."
:—'''Demolishor'''

==Notes==
===Differences with ''Legends of the Microns''===
*Red Alert tells Hot Shot to quit complaining since they still have work to do in ''Armada''. Red Alert says they're nowhere near done yet in ''Legends of the Microns''. Hot Shot claims that he'll rest until someone needs him on the battlefield before Rad offers to "cover" for Hot Shot since he's good with computers in ''Armada''. Hot Shot asks himself what a guy is supposed to do during a time like this, and Rad asks who he's referring to in the Japanese dub.
*In Prime's cab, Alexis tells Carlos that nobody would ever believe that a "super robot lifeform" from outer space is here to protect them.
*''Armada'' has Hot Shot claim to detect a weak signal from the Mini-Con. Then Optimus pinpoints the Mini-Con's location as being underground. Hot Shot makes a sarcastic quip about doing more digging, and Red Alert says they risk drawing attention to themselves if they start excavating. ''Legends of the Microns'' has Hot Shot unable to get a signal. Then Red Alert says it's the same on his end before Optimus says likewise and that the Mini-Con should be close. After Hot Shot's quip, Red Alert reiterates that the Mini-Con is close.
[[File:Underground-animation-changes.jpg|thumb|290px|Some changes between ''Armada'' (left) and ''Legends of the Microns'' (right).]]
*''Armada'' uses the [[commercial bumper]]'s music during the [[scene transition]]s. ''Legends of the Microns'' uses the correct respective Autobot and Decepticon themes from the scene transitions and bumpers.
*At the tunnel access point, Alexis calls it the subway system entrance in ''Armada''. She calls it "a new construction tunnel leading underground" in ''Legends of the Microns''., which is probably more fitting given the surrounding construction materials.
*Red Alert asking Optimus if he has room to move in the tunnel, and Prime's response are reworded slightly in the Japanese dub as Red Alert asks if the Autobots will be alright, and Optimus says they'll manage.
*After barely avoiding the train, Carlos says he's glad Alexis is there to protect him in ''Armada'', and Alexis has trouble breathing with him so close. ''Legends of the Microns'' has him stating how he was afraid of almost dying instead, and Alexis tells Carlos that he's hurting her. Also, in ''Legends of the Microns'', Optimus credits the narrow train dodge to finding the side tunnel instead of a track switch.
*When driving through the station, Hot Shot says, "Oh man!" instead of asking himself if people haven't seen a car on a sidewalk before in ''Legends of the Microns''.
*In ''Legends of the Microns'', Rad asks Alexis what's got her attention before she points out the entryway to the boys. She only points it out in ''Armada''. Additionally, Alexis is redrawn with better shading in the Japanese version as she reacts to finding the passage, which now has a shadow effect missing from ''Armada'' (see right).
*During Decepticons' first scene in the tunnel, instead of previously telling Cyclonus to be quiet, Starscream agrees with him that it's a pain they can't fly in the cramped space. Starscream's internal monologue isn't about getting the Mini-Con before Cyclonus but laughing at Megatron and Demolishor's expense as they barely have room to move in their vehicle modes. In ''Legends of the Microns'', Megatron repeatedly, and rather hilariously, swears about the cramped space.
*The kids' scene on the abandoned platform with their partner Mini-Cons is similar between the dubs, but the dialogue is slightly different.
**In ''Armada'', Alexis guesses the city abandoned the platform for not fitting its plans or to replace it with a new train line. After she finishes her tirade about her presidential goals, she apologizes for getting carried away. However, in ''Legends of the Microns'', Alexis says "poor land zoning," and improperly planned construction routes caused the platform's abandonment. While Alexis rants, Carlos gets a line about Alexis giving another "lecture." After finishing, Alexis reflects on how the station was probably beautiful in the past.
**The transform sound effect isn't heard when the Mini-Cons combine into Perceptor in ''Legends of the Microns''; the Japanese dub removes other instances of it from the rest of the episode.
**Carlos suggests finding a ladder to help Perceptor before seeing it in ''Armada''. He sees the ladder first and then says he has an idea in ''Legends of the Microns''. The Japanese dub also reanimates Carlos's mouth for his line of dialogue.
**During the shot of Carlos trying to get the panel while Alexis, Rad, and the Mini-Cons hold the ladder, Carlos is silent, and Rad tells Carlos to hurry up.
**Though Alexis screams when the ladder falls, Carlos barely makes a sound in ''Armada''. The Japanese dub has him scream instead of Alexis.
**Instead of remarking on how the panel is tightly wedged into the ceiling, Carlos says he can't hold on to it for long. His voice now sounds more strained, and Rad sounds more scared for Carlos than in ''Armada''.
**In ''Armada'', Carlos screams that he's falling, and as Alexis holds him, her face is animated to show her frustration more clearly. In ''Legends of the Microns'', Carlos does generic screaming that's shortened slightly, Alexis looks somewhat stoic, and her facial animation isn't cartoonish like it is in the English version. Meanwhile, Carlos repeats that he was scared of dying in ''Legends of the Microns''; he thanks Alexis for "saving" him again in ''Armada''. In ''Legends of the Microns'', the animation for Carlos in the scene after he stops screaming is in reverse order. Additionally, the shot is tightly cropped in ''Legends of the Microns'' to have Alexis centered in the frame (see right).
*Alexis tells Rad that Smokescreen must be a Decepticon since he's "chasing" them in ''Armada'' but says he's "attacking" them in the Japanese dub.
*Rad says the Decepticons' Mini-Cons know the panel is close to awakening in ''Legends of the Microns'', rather than stating the obvious about them not stopping until they get it.
*Before Megatron blasts the tunnel, he only says the Decepticons should get going in ''Armada''. He again gripes about having little room to move in ''Legends of the Microns'', setting up Megatron blasting the tunnel to widen it.
*Optimus says Laserbeak's name aloud when he arrives in ''Armada''. Prime makes a confused sound in the Japanese dub.
*Instead of noticing Rad holding the Mini-Con in his video message as he does in ''Armada'', Hot Shot praises Rad's ingenuity. Hot Shot later speaks in Red Alert's place as the Autobots rush to the children's location.
*''Legends of the Microns'' has the kids scream after trying to escape each Decepticon, and their screaming continues into the next shot until they're blocked again. In ''Armada'', they scream immediately after each escape attempt, but it stops whenever it cuts to the next scene.
*Rather than his "dead end" quip, Cyclonus tells the kids that he can't allow their escape. Then Demolishor says, "Oops, too bad!"
*Megatron says he is sick of the children's games in ''Armada'' but calls Rad a fool and orders the kids to be smashed to bits in ''Legends of the Microns''. It cuts to Cyclonus laughing maniacally instead of offering to show the kids "how the big boys play," as he does in ''Armada''.
*In ''Legends of the Microns'', Starscream draws his sword and tells the kids it's the end of their cheerleading instead of combat not being "a spectator's sport" (quoted above).
*After Smokescreen saves the kids from Starscream, Megatron asks the Autobot for his identity, and Smokescreen responds with, "Who knows?" in a smart-aleck tone. ''Armada'' has awkward silence during the moment instead. Megatron doesn't say anything to Smokescreen as he runs with the kids in ''Legends of the Microns''.
*In ''Armada'', Megatron snickers at Smokescreen and the children being buried alive but doesn't mention the kids in ''Legends of the Microns''.
*Instead of Optimus demanding the Decepticons release the children, he asks what happened to them in ''Legends of the Microns''. Rather than remarking how the children "brought the house down" as he does in ''Armada'', Cyclonus teases that he is digging for them in the rubble, but finding the Mini-Con comes first.
*In ''Armada'', Hot Shot demands to know where the kids are, and Cyclonus asks if Hot Shot will "blow a circuit" if he doesn't tell. After giving warning shots, Demolishor says they'll be on their way and let the Autobots play in the dirt after finding the Mini-Con. In ''Legends of the Microns'', Hot Shot tells Cyclonus to move, and Cyclonus refuses. Demolishor then demands Hot Shot stay where he is unless he wants anything to happen to the kids.
*''Legends of the Microns'' has Cyclonus finding Drill Bit in the rubble, activating him, and demanding that he scan his image once he appears. He immediately says this before awakening the Mini-Con in ''Armada''. Drill Bit also speaks before Powerlixing with Cyclonus in the Japanese dub. Cyclonus says, "This is the best!" in ''Legends of the Microns'' as he makes the golf reference in ''Armada''.
*In ''Armada'', Megatron says the newly acquired Mini-Con is a waste, presumably because it bonds with Cyclonus. In ''Legends of the Microns'', he says there's no longer a reason to stay now that the Decepticons have the Mini-Con.
*Smokescreen apologizes to the kids instead of asking if he scared them. Instead of Carlos claiming to know Smokescreen was on the Autobots' side, he calls Smokescreen bold for fighting off the Decepticons. Alexis tells Smokescreen how she thought he was a Decepticon, and he apologizes again. The kids are entirely redrawn in this scene with improved lighting and shading on their suits and better facial expressions, and Alexis's hands no longer look short and wonky (see right).
*After Rad's ending narration in ''Legends of the Microns'', viewers can hear Hot Shot and Smokescreen's playful banter. Hot Shot says things could've been easier had Smokescreen arrived sooner, and the latter says he would have but got sidetracked.

===Animation and technical errors===
*The shot immediately after the opening bumper is the opening shot from "[[Comrade]]," and the errors from that episode carry over here: Alexis and the Mini-Cons and nowhere in sight, only to appear moments later.
*After realizing the new Mini-Con panel is in the city, the kids look at Optimus behind them as though he's talking when it's Red Alert who's speaking from off-screen. Red Alert isn't part of the scene in ''Legends of the Microns'', and Optimus is the one who speaks at that point.
*The shot of Optimus and Hot Shot before the team leaves the base shows the monitor depicting the city behind them. ''Legends of the Microns'' corrects the background to be a part of the Control Room (see above).
*As the Autobots try to hone in on the Mini-Con's signal, Optimus has dialogue during the shot of Red Alert, making it seem like Red Alert is speaking with Prime's voice. The Japanese dub fixes it so that Red Alert talks before Optimus.
*Alexis's phone changes color between shots.
*When Carlos yells about the incoming train, his brief scream seems awkward because it's either shortened or placed wrong. In the Japanese dub, he screams ''before'' shouting his line, and he draws out his final word for emphasis.
*The train boy's shirt changes from orange to blue between shots. The Japanese dub corrects the mistake.
*During the shot of the kids riding through the tunnel before finding the doorway, High Wire's wheels don't move, so it looks like Rad is floating across the scene.
*In ''Legends of the Microns'', Carlos's mouth doesn't move when he speaks while Alexis holds him up.
*Just before Rad escapes the train car on High Wire, the rock encasing the Mini-Con panel disappears.
*Rad's hair color changes to match Alexis's in two shots. This error doesn't happen in ''Legends of the Microns''.
*In the shots of Cyclonus and Starscream in the tunnel, Starscream's left wing is missing the Decepticon symbol. The right wing's emblem is badly drawn as a simple purple pentagon.
*In ''Legends of the Microns'', Carlos's hands are miscolored in the close-up shot of him holding onto the Mini-Con panel as it emerges from the ceiling.
*After Rad and High Wire slide under the train car, Alexis and Carlos move in the next shot, making it look like they're going down a long corridor when the train car is only a couple of feet in front of them. ''Legends of the Microns'' removes their movement, so they don't move until the next shot of them sliding under the train car.
*After the kids and their Mini-Cons arrive in the cavern, the new panel vanishes from Rad's grasp, and it's also gone as he records the message to the Autobots with Laserbeak; Grindor is also missing during the latter shot. As Rad deploys Laserbeak, Alexis suddenly has the panel, and Grindor reappears.
*The Decepticons' lasers are either miscolored yellow or Autobot-red. Two shots of Demolsihor and Cyclonus shooting proper Decepticon-purple blasts are near the end, but they turn red in the next shot in both cases.
*The laser blast from Megatron firing into the cavern the second time is yellow, although it was red when leaving his tank turret. ''Legends of the Microns'' corrects it so it's red both times (see above).
*Starscream has a low-res pixelated model when taunting the kids in the cavern after the Decepticons surround them.
*After Smokescreen saves the kids from Cyclonus, the Mini-Con panel goes missing from the rock in Rad's grasp. ''Legends of the Microns'' adds it back.
*Smokescreen's cable is miscolored blue before swinging himself at Starscream. The Japanese dub corrects it.
*In the shot of Smokescreen swinging his crane arm at Starscream, the Decepticon symbol is missing from the Decepticon's wings.
*In the shot of Red Alert, Optimus, and Hot Shot before they transform after finding the Decepticons, their vehicle modes seem angled downward, though they're on a flat surface.
**Optimus's forward-facing transformation is animated rather absurdly, as his trailer parts are visible behind his truck cab, merging into his back as he stands up. Red Alert and Hot Shot's transformations also look weird in the shot in terms of perspective.
*As Cyclonus prepares to dig out the Mini-Con panel from the rubble, his head is drawn hideously off-model.
*Demolishor's forearms are absurdly long in the shot after he fires a warning shot at Hot Shot's feet.
*Carlos's eyes have whites in the shots of the kids trying to run from Cyclonus and later when talking to Smokescreen at the end in the Japanese dub (see above).
*Cyclonus is missing from the scene of Optimus and Red Alert dodging his blasts.
*In the overhead shot of Cyclonus admiring all of the damage he's caused, he appears Powerlinked with Crumplezone to form his helicopter mode's extended cockpit, instead of being Powerlinked with Drill Bit.
*Hot Shot is missing while Smokescreen explains coming across the kids. ''Legends of the Microns'' puts him back in the shot.

===Continuity notes===
*This episode is the first time the Transformers face off in an urban setting instead of the wilderness.
*This episode marks Alexis's third use of her phone after "[[First Encounter]]" and "Comrade."
*Alexis never actually becomes [[President of the United States]]—or not that we know of, but she does have a pretty big success story following ''Armada'':
**By [[2020]], Alexis becomes a diplomat on behalf of the [[Earth Federation]].<ref>Established in the ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)|Energon]]'' cartoon.</ref>
**By [[2030]], she becomes [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]].<ref>Established in [[Ask Vector Prime]] during the events of the ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|Cybertron]]'' cartoon.</ref>
**A [[Multiverse|multiversal]] newspaper called [[ALTernity Today]] revealed Alexis won the [[Whig]] Party primary for President in an unknown timeframe. She ran a platform to form a stronger alliance between Earth and Cybertron, with the conclusion left ambiguous.<ref>Established in the ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II]]''.</ref> Alexis dreamed big and achieved some pretty positive results—even gaining recognition outside her universe! How's that for an inspirational story?
*This episode marks Smokescreen and Drill Bit's debuts. ''[[Legends of the Microns Year Book 2003]]'' comments on how this now makes the numbers of the Autobots and Decepticons on Earth even.
*Cyclonus now has two Mini-Cons that have "scanned his image," making him the first Transformer to acquire multiple partner Mini-Cons; that is, if one doesn't count Demolishor gaining Bonecrusher in "[[Palace]]."
*As of this episode, Cyclonus is the first Transformer to use the term "Powerlinx."
*Gadgets and powers:
**Megatron stores Leader-1 inside the claw-like compartment on the left side of his tank mode (right leg in robot mode).
**Blackout appears to drive out from behind Demolishor's turret, possibly hinting towards him using the turret's seat before being deployed. Then again, Swindle and Crumplezone seem to leap over Starscream and Cyclonus's shoulders from out of nowhere, so...
***The episode "Palace" showed the last time Blackout used Demolishor's seat.
**Smokescreen can use his crane hook like a wrecking ball, even before [[Bulkhead (Animated)|wrecking balls became cool]].
**Red Alert can deploy his left arm in vehicle mode. His laser scalpel also has a cable that extends out and can tap into Laserbeak.
*Powerlinx forms:
**Cyclonus Powerlinx with Drill Bit for the first time, increasing his firepower in vehicle mode.

===Continuity errors===
[[File:Underground-Peekaboo.jpg|thumb|He's not evil; he's just <s>homicidal</s> misunderstood!]]
*Why don't any of the kids ask why Optimus suddenly starts driving towards the approaching train? Fortunately, Alexis does ask this question in ''Legends of the Microns''.
*Where's the track switch that Optimus supposedly found anyway? There is no track switch in the Japanese version.
*Why does Starscream want another Mini-Con after obtaining Swindle back in "[[Jungle]]," especially considering that Starscream never Powerlinx with another Mini-Con similarly for the rest of the show? He doesn't want another Mini-Con in ''Legends of the Microns'' but laughs at Megatron and Demolishor for barely having room to move in the tunnel.
*When the Decepticons deploy their Mini-Cons, Cyclonus has Longarm, ''Red Alert's'' Mini-Con, instead of Crumplezone. When confronting the kids on the subway cart, Bonecrusher appears in their place. Crumplezone finally appears when the Decepticon Mini-Cons chase the kids. In ''Legends of the Microns'', Cyclonus deploys Crumplezone, but then Bonecrusher appears seconds later with Crumplezone nowhere in sight.
**Swindle never reappears afterward.
**Crumplezone appears in Bonecrusher's place in some later shots.
*Rad encourages Carlos to reach the Mini-Con, but it doesn't match Rad struggling to steady the ladder. The Japanese dub remedies this by changing Rad's line to tell Carlos to hurry, with Rad speaking in a strained voice.
*After the kids find the Mini-Con and Rad says they're taking it to the Autobots, why does Smokescreen attack them after hearing they're on the same team? ''Legends of the Microns'' fixes this plot hole as Rad says the children should regroup with the ''others'' after finding the Mini-Con; they could've been Decepticon allies for all Smokescreen knew at the time. This and Rad mentioning their alliance with the Autobots when the Decepticons surround them help explain why Smokescreen is initially weirdly threatening to the kids. Another critical detail ''Armada'' neglects is Smokescreen later revealing that he attacked them by mistake.
**At the same time, how does Smokescreen never notice the Autobot symbol on the children's suits?
*The rock encasing the Mini-Con panel is missing just before Rad goes out the train car window and reappears as he goes through.
*As the Decepticon Mini-Cons chase the kids, Alexis states the obvious about them coming. Instead, she says the Mini-Cons will get them in ''Legends of the Microns''.
*After the shot of High Wire, Grindor, Sureshock, and the children facing Starscream after he pulls out his sword, the Mini-Cons vanish from the rest of the episode.

===Real-world references===
*When Powerlinxing with Drill Bit, Cyclonus calls out, "Let the good times roll!" Likely a reference to the song "{{w|Good Times Roll}}" by [[The Cars]].
*After firing at Optimus and Red Alert, Cyclonus quips that he got "a hole-in-one," a popular golf reference.

===Trivia===
*The kanji 迷路 is usually pronounced as "''meiro''," while "''chika''" is used for the kanji 地下 in this episode's context.
*Hot Shot passes by a mother and child looking into a store window, and on display in the store is a toy car identical to his vehicle form.
*This episode is one of the few without an opening narration.
*This episode is the first to feature Rad's new title sequence monologue, where he calls the Decepticons "a bunch of greedy bullies."
*''Legends of the Microns Year Book 2003'' reveals that the stigma of the September 11th terrorist attacks made setting this episode in the city complex, and the production crew had to change some Transformers' attack moves so they'd avoid evoking real-life warfare.

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Dans le métro'''" ("In the Underground")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[October 27]], [[2003]]

'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Der Mini-Con in der U-Bahn'''" ("The Mini-Con inside the Subway Station")
:*''Original airdate:'' This episode was never shown on TV but was dubbed in 2003. The dub premiered in 2009 with the German DVD release of the show.

'''Hungarian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''A föld alatt'''" ("Under the Ground")

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Scontro sotterraneo'''" ("Underground Clash")
::*Alexis's line: "Hey, what are you doing, Rad?" is pronounced in an angry and irritated voice, like if she was scolding him for doing something bad. Calm down! (Although, who knows... maybe her actress was having a bad day...)

'''Korean'''
:*''Title:'' "'''새친구 스모키'''" ("New Friend Smoky")

'''Polish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Metro'''" ("Underground")

'''Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Subterrâneo'''" ("Underground")

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2003 — ''Transformers: Legends of the Microns'' — Volume 3 ([[Columbia Music Entertainment]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2003 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — Vol:04 ([[Warner Bros.|Warner Music Video]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2004 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — Season One: Part One ([[Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2004 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — Volume 2 ([[TFou Vidéo]]) — French audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2005 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — Vol:03 ([[Universal]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2005 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — Triple Collection (Universal) 
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2008 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — Volume One ([[New KSM]]) — English and German audio. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — The Complete Series ([[Shout! Factory]])

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Armada episodes]]

Transformers 40th Anniversary Special Movie

2026-04-07T02:44:41Z

NeonMicron: /* Errors */ Feel free to delete if you don't believe this is "Error-y" enough. Just a silly observation I made.

{{episode|
|otherseries="Transformers 40th Anniversary Special Movie"
|image=TF_40th_Special_Movie_thumbnail.jpg
|caption=''Touch the untouchable, break the unbreakable'' ''Row, row, fight the power!''
|japanese=トランスフォーマー40周年記念スペシャルムービー
|romaji=Transformers 40th Anniversary Special Movie
|airdate=[[September 12]], [[2024]]
|production company=
|animation studio=[[Studio Trigger]]
|director=[[Akira Amemiya]]
}}

"'''Transformers 40th Anniversary Special Movie'''" is a short 3-½ minute animated "promotional video" (or "PV", as it's usually abbreviated) created to, as the title suggests, celebrate the ''Transformers'' franchise's 40th anniversary. It was produced by [[Studio Trigger]] (with assistance from [[Production I.G.]], [[Production +h.]], [[Studio Colorido]], [[Studio KAI]], and [[Madhouse]]) for [[TakaraTomy]] and features the song "[[Mayday (song)|Mayday]]" by [[Bump of Chicken]].

As it's essentially an animated music video, there is no plot to "Special Movie"—instead, the main draw is that it features characters and concepts from basically every major animated ''Transformers'' production to ever see screen time in [[Japan]], plus the [[live-action film series]]. It's as rad as it is indicative of Trigger's love for the franchise... which is to say, ''it's rad as hell''.

Following a teaser on [[August 28]], [[2024]], the ''Transformers 40th Anniversary Special Movie'' was officially uploaded to TakaraTomy's YouTube channel on [[September 12]].

==Characters==
''Hooooo boy'', it's a lot! This short features almost '''''two hundred''''' characters from across forty years of ''Transformers'' media!
{{note|Yes, Unicron Trilogy Optimus and Megatron both appear twice in the character list, due to differing portrayals in Japan. See "[[#Continuity notes|Continuity notes]]" below.}}

{{featuredcharacters
|h1=[[Autobot]]s / [[Maximal]]s|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
'''[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Generation 1]]'''
* [[Springer (G1)#The Transformers cartoon|Springer]] (3)
* [[Sandstorm (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sandstorm]] (5)
* [[Steeljaw (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Steeljaw]] (19)
* [[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] (28)
* [[Jazz (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] (29)
* [[Metroplex (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Metroplex]] (30)
* [[Grand Maximus]] (31)
* [[Broadside (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Broadside]] (32)
* [[Fireflight (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Fireflight]] (33)
* [[Slingshot (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Slingshot]] (34)
* Unknown white jet (35)
* [[Air Raid (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Air Raid]] (36)
* [[Skydive (G1 Aerialbot)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Skydive]] (37)
* [[Silverbolt (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Silverbolt]] (38)
* [[Fortress Maximus (G1)#Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Fortress Maximus]] (39)
* [[Holi]] (42)
* [[Boater]] (43)
* [[Fire]] (44)
* [[Pīpō]] (45)
* [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Rodimus Prime]] (74)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (75)
* [[Star Saber (G1)#Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Star Saber]] (76)
* [[Ginrai (human)#Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity|God Ginrai]] (82) (Ginrai & [[Godbomber]])
* [[Dai Atlas (G1)#Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Dai Atlas]] (84)
* [[Optimus Prime (RID)#Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime (''Robots in Disguise'' 2001)]] (91)

'''[[Beast Era]] [[Maximal]]s
* [[Lio Junior]] (18)
* [[NAVI (Gung Ho)|NAVI]] (72)
* [[Big Convoy (BW)|Big Convoy]] (73)
* [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] (78)
* [[Lio Convoy (BW)#Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Lio Convoy]] (81)

'''[[Unicron Trilogy continuity family|Unicron Trilogy]]'''
* [[Vector Prime#Cybertron cartoon|Vector Prime]] (1)
* [[Bulkhead (Energon)#Cartoon continuity|Bulkhead]] (6)
* [[Evac (Cybertron)|Evac]] (7)
* [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime (''Armada''/''Energon'')]] (87)
* [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity#Cybertron cartoon|Optimus Prime (''Cybertron'')]] (90)
* [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity#Energon cartoon|Optimus Supreme]] (112) (Optimus Prime & [[Omega Supreme (Energon)|Omega Supreme]])
* [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] (125)
* [[Ironhide (Energon)|Ironhide (''Energon'')]] (139)

{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
'''[[Movie continuity family|Live-action movie Autobots]]'''
* [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee (2007/''Q-Transformers''/''ROTB'')]] (130)
* [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime (2007/''Q-Transformers'')]] (133)
* [[Ratchet (Movie)|Ratchet]] (165)
* [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]] (166)
* [[Jazz (Movie)|Jazz]] (167)
* [[Stratosphere]] (175)
* [[Mirage (Movie)|Mirage]] (177)
* [[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]] (180)
* [[Wheeljack (ROTB)|Wheeljack (''ROTB'')]] (181)

'''[[Animated continuity family|Animated]]'''
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (85)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (159)

'''[[Aligned continuity family|Aligned continuity]]'''
* [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee (''Prime''/''RID'')]] (77)
* [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime (''Prime''/''Go!''/''RID'')]] (79)
* [[Kenzan]] (80)
* [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] (114)
* [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] (121)
* [[Gekisoumaru]] (142)
* [[Cliffjumper (WFC)|Cliffjumper]] (157)

'''[[Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (film)|Live-action movie Maximals]]
* [[Optimus Primal (ROTB)|Optimus Primal]] (174)
* [[Cheetor (ROTB)|Cheetor]] (176)
* [[Rhinox (ROTB)|Rhinox]] (178)
* [[Airazor (ROTB)|Airazor]] (179)

'''Other'''
*[[Optimus Prime (Cyberverse)|Optimus Prime (''Cyberverse'')]] (83)
*[[Optimus Prime (ES)|Optimus Prime (''EarthSpark'')]] (86)
{{!}}}

|h2=[[Decepticon]]s / [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]] / [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicons]]|c2=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
'''[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Generation 1]]'''
* [[Scourge (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] (10)
* [[Swindle (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Swindle]] (23)
* [[Kakuryu (G1)#Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kakuryu]] (26)
* [[Warrior]]s (40)
* [[Dropkick (G1)|Transports]] (41)
* [[Ion Storm#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ion Storm]] (49)
* [[Acid Storm (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Acid Storm]] (50)
* [[Nova Storm (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Nova Storm]] (51)
* [[Trypticon (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Trypticon]] (52)
* [[Hellbat (G1)|Hellbat]] (53)
* [[Leozack]] (54)
* [[Guyhawk]] (55)
* [[Thundercracker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Thundercracker]] (56)
* [[Skywarp (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Skywarp]] (57)
* [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (58)
* [[Scorponok (G1)#Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scorponok]] (62)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (93)
* [[Deathsaurus (G1)#Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Deathsaurus]] (98)
* [[Overlord (G1)#Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Overlord]] (100)
* [[Violengiguar]] (103)

'''[[Predacon (BW)|Beast Era Predacons]]
* [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]] (12)
* [[Megastorm|Megastorm/Gigastorm]] (22)
* [[Starscream (BW)|Starscream]] (67)
* [[Magmatron]] (92)
* [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (95)
* [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron (''Robots in Disguise'' 2001)]] (96)
* [[Galvatron (BW)|Galvatron]] (97)
* [[Dinobot II]] (156)

'''[[Vehicon (BM)|Beast Era Vehicons]]'''
* [[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]] (24)

{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}

'''[[Unicron Trilogy continuity family|Unicron Trilogy]]'''
* [[Tidal Wave (Armada)#Energon|Mirage/Tidal Wave]] (9)
* [[Thunderblast (Decepticon)|Thunderblast]] (11)
* [[Thundercracker (Armada)#Cybertron cartoon|Thundercracker]] (20)
* [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] (25)
* [[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (68)
* [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity#Cybertron cartoon|Megatron (''Cybertron'')]] (94)
* [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity#Armada cartoon|Megatron (''Armada'')]] (104)
* [[Nemesis Breaker]] (111)

'''[[Movie continuity family|Live-action movies]]'''
* [[Lockdown (ROTF)#Q-Transformers cartoon|Lockdown (''Q-Transformers'')]] (135)
*[[Bonecrusher (Movie)|Bonecrusher]] (168)
*[[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]] (169)
*[[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]] (170)
*[[Brawl (Movie)|Brawl]] (171)
*[[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]] (172)
*[[Blackout (Movie)|Blackout]] (173)

'''[[Animated continuity family|Animated]]'''
* [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (21)
* [[Blackout (Animated)|Blackout]] (60)
* [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] (61)
* [[Wasp]]inator (69)
* [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (109)

'''[[Aligned continuity family|Aligned continuity]]'''
* [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicons / Jet Vehicons]] (2)
* [[Trypticon (WFC)|''Nemesis'']] (65)
* [[The Fallen#2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon|Megatronus]] (102)
* [[Megatron (WFC)#Prime cartoon|Megatron]] (108)

'''Other'''
*[[Megatron (Cyberverse)|Megatron (''Cyberverse'')]] (99)
*[[Megatron (ES)|Megatron (''EarthSpark'')]] (101)
{{!}}}

|h3=Other robots|c3=
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{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
'''[[Mini-Con]]s'''
* [[Jolt (Armada)#Armada cartoon|Jolt (''Armada'')]] (4)
* [[Jolt (Cybertron)|Jolt (''Cybertron'')]] (8)
* [[Oceanglide]] (13)
* [[Waterlog (Armada)|Waterlog]] (14)
* [[Stormcloud (Armada)|Stormcloud (''Armada'')]] (15)
* [[Aerobolt]] (16)
* [[Grindor (Armada)|Grindor]] (88)
* [[Requiem Blaster (Armada)|Requiem Blaster]] (105) ([[Astroscope]], [[Payload (Armada)|Payload]], [[Sky Blast (Armada)|Sky Blast]])
* [[Star Saber (Armada)|Star Saber]] (106) ([[Jetstorm (Armada)|Jetstorm]], [[Runway (Armada)|Runway]], [[Sonar (Armada)|Sonar]])
* [[Skyboom (Armada)|Skyboom]] (107) ([[Dirt Boss (Armada)|Dirt Boss]], [[Downshift (Armada)|Downshift]], [[Mirage (Armada)|Mirage]])
* [[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]] (117)
* [[Sureshock (Armada)|Sureshock]] (122)
* [[Energon Saber]] (140) ([[Scattor (Energon)|Scattor]], [[Skyboom (Energon)|Skyboom]], [[Wreckage (Energon)|Wreckage]])
* [[Safeguard (Cybertron)|Safeguard]] (155)
* [[Swindle (Armada)#Cartoon continuity|Swindle]] (158)
* [[Sparkplug (Armada)#Cartoon continuity|Sparkplug]] (164)

'''Others'''
* [[Junkion (species)|Junkions]] (27) ([[Ashtray]], [[Greasestain]], [[Junkyard (G1)|Junkyard]])
* [[Croaton (Cyberverse)|Croaton]] (46)
* [[Insecticon (WFC)#Cartoon continuity|Insecticons (''Prime'')]] (63)
* [[Dragotron|Guren Dragotron]] (64)
* [[T-AI]] (131)
* [[Moon (BW)|Moon]] (132)
* [[Artemis]] (134)
* [[Unicron]] (194)
{{!}}}

|c4=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
'''[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Generation 1]]'''
* [[White Leo]] (17)
* [[Hydra (G1)|Hydra]] (47)
* [[Buster (G1)|Buster]] (48)
* [[Kremzeek]] (59)
* [[Wilder (G1)|Wilder]] (70)
* [[Pis]] (71)
* [[Illumina]] (126)
* [[Jan Minakaze]] (127)
* [[Cab (human)|Cab]] (136)
* [[Minerva (human)|Minerva]] (137)
* [[Shūta Gō]] (138)
* [[Akira Serikawa]] (143)
* [[Mega]] (160)
* [[Giga]] (161)
* [[Dirk Manus]] (162)
* [[Marissa Faireborn]] (163)
* [[Kenneth Onishi|Daichi Ōnishi]] (182) (Kenneth Onishi)
* [[Koji Onishi|Yuuki Ohnishi]] (183) (Koji Onishi)
* [[Kiko Onishi|Yuuki's mom]] (184) (Kiko Onishi)
* [[Carly (G1)|Carly]] (189)
* [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (190)
* [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]] (191)

'''[[Unicron Trilogy continuity family|Unicron Trilogy]]'''
* [[Kicker Jones]] (89)
* [[Alexis Thi Dang]] (115)
* [[Rad White]] (118)
* [[Carlos Lopez]] (120)
* [[Fred (Armada)|Fred]] (123)
* [[Billy (Armada)|Billy]] (124)
* [[Coby Hansen]] (128)
* [[Lori Jiménez|Lori]] (129)
* [[Bud Hansen]] (154)

{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
'''[[Animated continuity family|Animated]]'''
* [[Isaac Sumdac (Animated)|Isaac Sumdac]] (110)
* [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari Sumdac]] (141)

'''[[Aligned continuity family|Aligned continuity]]'''
* [[Miko Nakadai]] (113)
* [[Raf Esquivel]] (116)
* [[Jack Darby]] (119)
* [[Tobio Fūma]] (144)
* [[Isami Tatewaki]] (145)
* [[Kotarō Fūma]] (146)
* [[Ryōma Sakamoto]] (147)
* [[Sasuke Sarutobi]] (148)
* [[Bokuden Tsukahara]] (149)
* [[Musashi Miyamoto]] (150)
* [[Musashibō Benkei]] (151)
* [[Tobio Fūma's grandfather]] (152)
* [[Sekishūsai Tatewaki]] (153)
* [[Russell Clay]] (192)
* [[Denny Clay]] (193)

'''[[Transformers: EarthSpark (cartoon)|EarthSpark]]'''
*[[Dot Malto]] (185)
*[[Mo Malto]] (186)
*[[Alex Malto]] (187)
*[[Robby Malto]] (188)
{{!}}}
}}

==Production==
{{stub|Stuff from director interview, the multitude of crew posts on social media}}
===Credits===
{{see|Transformers 40th Anniversary Special Movie/credits}}
{{--}}

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* As we mentioned up top, this video is a tribute to just about every major animated ''Transformers'' production to ever be broadcast on TV, screened in theaters, or released direct-to-video in Japan, up through and including ''[[Transformers: EarthSpark (cartoon)|Transformers: EarthSpark]]'' (yes, even the ''[[Q-Transformers]]'' [[Q-Transformers (cartoon)|shorts]]) along with first and last [[live-action film series|live-action films]], ''[[Transformers (film)|Transformers]]'' and ''[[Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (film)|Transformers: Rise of the Beasts]]''. A notable exception is the ''[[Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy (cartoon)|War for Cybertron Trilogy]]'', which did receive a full Japanese dub, but is otherwise absent from the proceedings... though considering how much it resembles Generation 1 and ''Beast Wars'' in terms of aesthetic, we'll forgive Trigger for excluding it.
** Other missing shows include ''[[Transformers: Rescue Bots (cartoon)|Rescue Bots]]'' and its [[Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy (cartoon)|sequel]], the [[Transformers: BotBots (cartoon)|''BotBots'' cartoon]], and the ''[[Prime Wars Trilogy]]'' web shorts, all of which were never dubbed for Japanese release.
** This somewhat-narrow focus also means that characters from other mediums aren't included, most notably the many ''Transformers'' comics, games, prose stories, and [[story page]]s. If you were looking forward to seeing Star Convoy, Super Megatron, the [[Primus Vanguard]], and so on, we're sorry to disappoint you.
** Also of note is how the [[Unicron Trilogy continuity family|Unicron Trilogy]] is implemented. In keeping with how those series were [[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)#Galaxy Force|originally treated in Japan]], ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|Cybertron]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s cast is largely composed of discrete characters separate from the cast of ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)|Armada]]'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)|Energon]]'', leading to the absence of Optimus Prime and Megatron in their ''Energon'' bodies for the crowd shots of each faction's leaders.
* Nearly all of the ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Wars]]'' characters are depicted as being considerably smaller than most of the other Transformers, in keeping with the scale established by the first [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]].

===Transformers references===
Settle in, folks, because in case that ''ridiculous'' character list up there didn't tip you off, there's a '''lot''' to unpack here:
* Befitting this crossing of multiple time periods and universes, the opening seconds depict various methods of traveling across time and space that've been shown throughout the franchise: [[Vector Prime]] (surrounded by imagery of swinging pendulums and clockwork gears, recreating a scene from the ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|Cybertron]]'' episode "[[Guardian (episode)|Guardian]]"), the [[Kronosphere]] from "[[War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn]]", the [[Time Window]] from "[[Forever Is a Long Time Coming (episode)|Forever Is a Long Time Coming]]", the [[teleport gate]] from ''[[Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!]]'', the [[Quintesson]] banishment chamber from "[[Madman's Paradise]]", and the [[Dragon Mound]] from "[[A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court (episode)|A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court]]".
* There are two instances where the planet [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] appears in full (the first during the aforementioned "time machine" montage, the second during the credits), both of which use its design from the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]].
* We get what appears to be two sides in an ongoing battle, with an army of ''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Prime]]'' [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicons]] on one side and a group of various Autobot helicopters on the other, including Generation 1 [[Triple Changer]]s [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] and [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]], ''Armada'' [[Jolt (Armada)|Jolt]], ''Energon'' [[Bulkhead (Energon)|Bulkhead]], and both [[Jolt (Cybertron)|Jolt]] and [[Evac (Cybertron)|Evac]] from ''Cybertron''.
* The following scene shows the wreck of the ''[[Galvaburg II]]'' sinking into the ocean. Among the survivors are Generation 1 [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]], ''Cybertron'' [[Thunderblast (Decepticon)|Thunderblast]], ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 cartoon)|Robots in Disguise]]'' '01 [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]], as well as [[Oceanglide]], [[Stormcloud (Armada)|Stormcloud]], and [[Waterlog (Armada)|Waterlog]] of the ''Armada'' [[Sea Mini-Con Team]], with ''Energon'' [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Mirage]] coming to their rescue in the background.
* Standing among some urban wreckage are a group of animal-themed characters, including [[Aerobolt]], [[White Leo]], [[Lio Junior]], and Generation 1 [[Steeljaw (G1)|Steeljaw]]. This is followed by a group of "tanky" villains: ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Animated]]'' [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]], Generation 1 [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]], ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Machines]]'' [[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]], and ''Armada'' [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] (in his [[Powerlinx]] colors), all perched on ''Beast Wars II'' [[Megastorm]] in alternate mode. Flanking the group are ''Cybertron'' [[Thundercracker (Armada)#Cybertron cartoon|Thundercracker]] and, from ''Victory'', [[Kakuryu (G1)|Kakuryu]] of the [[Dinoforce]], both the comic relief punching bags of their respective series.
* There's a battle that appears to be taking place on [[Junkion (planet)|Junkion]], with various Junkions in action. Two in the background are indistinct, but in the foreground are the body-types associated with the characters [[Junkyard (G1)|Junkyard]] and [[Ashtray]]; Junkyard is carrying a wounded Junkion who appears to be [[Greasestain]] over his shoulder.
* A shot of the aftermath of a battle in a demolished city, with [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] in vehicle mode on his side leaking copious amounts of energon, his front in flames. [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] is also just barely visible in vehicle mode as well, turned completely on his roof. Notably, Ratchet's appearance seems to be modeled after his [[Ratchet (G1)/toys#SSVoyager|''Studio Series'' '86 figure]], with parts of his robot mode visible on the undercarriage and his pistols located ''roughly'' where their storage pegs are in alt-mode.
* We get a shot of an Autobot/Maximal naval fleet consisting of Generation 1 [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress's ''Maximus'']], [[Grand Maximus|Grand's ''Maximus'']], Generation 1 [[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]], and the ''[[Yukikaze (BW)|Yukikaze]]''. The Generation 1 [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] are present as well, but there's some oddities: [[Slingshot (G1)|Slingshot]] rests on Broadside's deck but is miscolored gray, while next to him is what appears to be a ''sixth'' white Aerialbot, a twin-tailfin jet that's kind of [[Air Raid (G1)|Air Raid]]-shaped (but Air Raid is flying in the upper-right corner of the shot, so it ain't him!).
* ''Victory''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Rescue Patrol Team]] walk past a line of offline Decepticons along a beach—specifically the generic "[[warrior]]s" and "[[Dropkick (G1)|Dropkicks]]" seen in "War Dawn"—as they approach the colossal form of ''[[Transformers: Cyberverse (cartoon)|Cyberverse]]'' [[Croaton (Cyberverse)|Croaton]].
* [[Godmaster (lifeform)|Godmasters]] [[Hydra (G1)|Hydra]] and [[Buster (G1)|Buster]] from ''Super-God Masterforce'' stand by their [[Transtector]]s.
* Next is a villainous counterpart to the earlier Autobot naval fleet shot, featuring [[Megastorm|Gigastorm]], Generation 1 [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] (based on his ''[[Titans Return (toyline)|Titans Return]]'' toy), ''Armada'' [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Tidal Wave]], Generation 1 [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]], and the ''Prime'' version of the ''[[Trypticon (WFC)|Nemesis]]''. Flying above them are the [[Rainmaker]]s ([[Acid Storm (G1)|Acid Storm]], [[Ion Storm]], and [[Nova Storm (G1)|Nova Storm]]); the ''[[Thunder Arrow]]''; the three flying members of the [[Breastforce]] ([[Hellbat (G1)|Hellbat]], [[Leozack]], and [[Guyhawk]]); Generation 1 [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] and [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]]; ''Animated'' Blitzwing, [[Blackout (Animated)|Blackout]], and [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]]; what appears to be ''Prime'' [[Predaking (Prime)|Predaking]] (or maybe ''Go'' [[Dragotron]]?) and two ''Prime'' [[Insecticon (WFC)|Insecticons]], and some ''Prime'' Air Vehicons.
** Generation 1 [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] takes off from Tidal Wave's deck, with [[Kremzeek]] in his cockpit. He is joined in the air by ''Armada'' [[Starscream (Armada)|Starscream]] and ''Beast Wars II'' [[Starscream (BW)|Starscream]], as well as ''Victory'' Leozack and ''Animated'' [[Wasp]]inator. Leozack's a thematically similar Starscream-like scheming second-in-command character, while Waspinator's inclusion is almost certainly meant to nod to when Starscream's ghost possessed the ''Beast Wars'' [[Waspinator (BW)|version]] in "[[Possession]]".
* [[Wilder (G1)|Wilder]] appears forlornly looking over poor little [[Pis]], whom he savagely kicked in the ''Masterforce'' episode "[[Rage!! Little Devils with No Need for Rules]]".
* The following two panning shots are big ones: the many different Autobot and Maximal leaders standing in front of the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'' on one side, and the various major villains standing in front of [[Decepticon Headquarters (G1 Cybertron)|Decepticon Headquarters]] and the Decepticon ''Nemesis'' on the other.
** Of note on the heroic side: [[Big Convoy (BW)|Big Convoy]] is wielding his [[Matrix Cannon (BW)|Matrix Cannon]] alongside his [[NAVI (Gung Ho)|NAVI]]; [[Jan Minakaze]] can be seen standing on [[Star Saber (G1)|Star Saber]]'s shoulder, wearing his spacesuit from the [[Showdown! The Fortress vs the Victory Unification|final episode of ''Victory'']]; ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015 cartoon)|Robots in Disguise]]'' '15 Bumblebee is wielding a [[Decepticon Hunter]], and [[Dai Atlas (G1)|Dai Atlas]] is holding the [[Zodiac]]. Both [[Moonbase One]] and [[Moonbase Two]] can also be seen in the background, as can [[Kicker Jones]] from ''Energon'', riding that series' version of [[Grindor (Armada)|Grindor]].
** On the villains' side, ''Cybertron'' [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]] is shown holding Vector Prime's [[Planet Map]]; ''Armada'' [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]] is wielding the [[Star Saber (Armada)|Star Saber]], [[Requiem Blaster (Armada)|Requiem Blaster]], and [[Skyboom (Armada)|Skyboom Shield]] all at once; ''Animated'' [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] has [[Isaac Sumdac (Animated)|Isaac Sumdac]] tied to his chest, as he did in the ''Animated'' episode "[[A Bridge Too Close, Part I]]"; and ''Prime'' [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] is depicted as he appeared in the late stages of ''Prime'' season 2, with [[Liege Maximo|the dead Prime]]'s right arm in place of his, allowing him to wield the [[Dark Star Saber]]. Also of note are who was chosen to represent certain series: [[Dragotron]] (in his larger, red, "Guren" form) represents ''[[Triple Combination: Transformers Go! (cartoon)|Transformers: Go!]]'', [[The Fallen|Megatronus]] represents ''Robots in Disguise'' '15, and [[Overlord (G1)|Overlord]] supplants [[Devil Z]] as the ''[[Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (cartoon)|Super-God Masterforce]]'' representative. Generation 1 Galvatron is not included, as his previous self is already present.
*Next, we see ''Cybertron'' Megatron combine with [[Nemesis Breaker]] on [[Velocitron]], and clash with [[Lio Convoy (BW)|Lio Convoy]] in his "Legendary Green Lion" form, featured in the final episodes of both ''Beast Wars II'' and ''Beast Wars Neo''. Lio is wielding [[Magmatron]]'s [[Magma Blade (BW)|Magma Blade]], as he did in the ''Neo'' episode "[[The Final Battle (BWN)|The Final Battle]]".
* Five sword-wielding Autobot leaders gather: Star Saber; [[Ginrai (robot)|God Ginrai]] (wielding the sword he used only once, in the ''Victory'' episode "[[A Deadly Battle]]"); ''Robots in Disguise'' '15 Optimus Prime, armed with the [[Prime Decepticon Hunter]]; ''Cybertron'' [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]], brandishing Vector Prime's sword [[Rhisling]], as he did in the ''Cybertron'' episode "[[Unfinished]]"; and Fortress Maximus, with his mighty [[Master Sword]]. They all strike the "[[Masami Ōbari|Obari pose]]" (a dynamic perspective shot made famous by the ''[[Brave (franchise)|Brave]]'' series of anime), as ''Cybertron'' Optimus did in the aforementioned episode.
*Next comes a quintet of Autobot leaders using more blaster-based powers, all unleashing their "final attacks": ''Cyberverse'' [[Optimus Prime (Cyberverse)|Optimus Prime]] fires an energy blast from his Matrix, as he did in the ''Cyberverse'' episode "[[I Am The Allspark]]"; ''Robots in Disguise'' [[Optimus Prime (RID)|Optimus Prime]] uses his "Blizzard Storm" water blast; Big Convoy opens fire with his [[Big Cannon]]; ''Armada'' [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]] uses his "Max Fire" super move; and ''Energon'' Optimus Prime (combined with [[Omega Supreme (Energon)|Omega Supreme]] as "Optimus Supreme") completes the group, unleashing his "Grand Final Impact" finisher.
* Next follow three scenes dedicated to the Autobots' human allies, all grouped by the nature of their relationships:
** The first scene depicts "close friends", in this case the kid/teen casts of ''Prime'' and ''Armada''. They're joined by the ''Prime'' incarnations of [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]], Bumblebee, and [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]], the [[Street Action Mini-Con Team]], and ''Armada'' [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]]. Look close, and you'll see that [[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]] is wearing the [[Good Luck Necklace|necklace]] prominently featured in the ''Armada'' episodes "[[Portent]]" and "[[Cramp]]", which symbolizes her friendship with Starscream, while [[Fred (Armada)|Fred]] is eating a bag of chips of the same brand as he munched on in "[[Confrontation (episode)|Confrontation]]".
** The second scene pairs two "mech teams", with Jan Minakaze and [[Illumina]] (visible only in silhouette through the cockpit canopy) in the ''[[Illumina II]]'' traveling alongside [[Coby Hansen]] and [[Lori Jiménez]] in the [[Cobybot]]. In keeping with its appearance in ''Victory'', the ''Illumina II'''s name is still misspelled as "Irumina II" on its side.
** The third scene is a group of "fighters", including the Autobot [[Headmaster Junior]]s, riding on ''Energon'' [[Ironhide (Energon)|Ironhide]] (in his green "Energon" power-up colors), [[Kicker Jones]] (riding the [[Energon Saber]] like a hoverboard, as he often did in the show), and [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari Sumdac]], who imitates Kicker's signature kick from the opening of ''Super Link'', with [[Ocean City]] in the background.
*Between the mech teams and the fighters, we get a scene set in [[Gaia]]'s [[Moon (moon)|Moon]]; [[Artemis]] and [[Moon (BW)|Moon]] are joined by [[T-AI]] and a trio of surprise guests in the form of [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]], [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]], and [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]] from ''Q-Transformers'', altogether creating a team of "cutesy mascot characters". In keeping with the Flash-animated nature of their series, the ''Q-Transformers'' trio have ''incredibly'' simple animation.
* While the close-up shot of some red flowers might ''seem'' like just a random transition scene, it's actually a reference to the end of "[[Enter the New Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas!]]", where [[Akira Serikawa]] presents [[Cain]] and [[Emusa]] with some. This scene transitions into a showcase of all three of "Aligned" Optimus Prime's bodies as featured in Japan's run of ''Prime'' and ''Go!'': Optimus appears in his "Beast Hunters" body with [[Star Saber (Thirteen)|Prima's Star Saber]], joined by ''Prime'' Optimus holding the [[Forge of Solus Prime]] and Optimus Exprime from ''Transformers Go!'' in the background.
** Notably, ''Prime'''s third season was never dubbed and aired in Japan, but instead was replaced with ''Transformers Go!'', where Optimus appears in his "Beast Hunters" body in multiple episodes.
* The next two scenes continue the ''Transformers Go!'' train: the first depicts Optimus combining with [[Gekisoumaru]] and [[Kenzan]] into DaiGekisou, while the second is a group shot of the series' human cast staring into the horizon atop DaiKenzan. All the historical characters are gathered on DaiKenzan's right shoulder, protagonists [[Tobio Fūma]] and [[Isami Tatewaki]] are hanging out in his chest cavity, and the two boys' respective grandfathers are on DaiKenzan's left shoulder.
* Next follows a recreation of the scene of Vector Prime giving [[Bud Hansen]] and [[Safeguard (Cybertron)|Safeguard]] his planet map, as seen in the aforementioned episode "[[Guardian (episode)|Guardian]]".
* After this, we get a montage of some of the franchise's tragic deaths intercut with scenes of Generation 1 [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] traversing through "[[Transformer afterlife|the other side of the Matrix]]" (as seen in the ''Beast Wars'' episode "[[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)]]"), his appearance shifting between his regular look, his corpse (complete with [[aggressive depigmentation]]), and the... ''distinctive'' color scheme designed by Bump of Chicken bassist [[Chama|Yoshifumi "Chama" Naoi]] for the exclusive "[[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys#Bump of Chicken|''Bump of Chicken'' Convoy]]" figure produced as a tie-in with this video. In order, we can see Optimus on his deathbed from ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', [[Dinobot II]]'s honorable sacrifice from "[[Nemesis Part 2]]", ''Prime'' [[Cliffjumper (WFC)|Cliffjumper]] getting stabbed in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 1]]", ''Armada'' Starscream's last stand from "[[Cramp]]" (complete with [[Swindle (Armada)|Swindle]] being ejected), ''Animated'' [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] in his samurai armor relinquishing his [[spark]] in "[[Endgame, Part II]]", and Jan mourning the loss of [[Ginrai (robot)|God Ginrai]] from "[[Ginrai Dies!!]]".
* The following sequence sees the [[Transmetal]] versions of [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] and [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] merge with their Generation 1 counterparts to form their respective upgraded forms, a more literal interpretation of how Optimal Optimus and [[Transmetal 2|dragon]] Megatron came into being in the third season of ''Beast Wars''. When the two clash fists, echoes of their future selves from ''Beast Machines'' appear.
* In "blink and you'll miss it" frames, Mega and Giga are piloting the Megajet and Gigatank respectively to form into Overlord.
* Overlord is seen battling ''Animated'' [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]], who's equipped with the [[Magnus Hammer]] and the "Wingblade" [[jet pack]], as was the case in "Endgame, Part II". The battle takes place in Earth orbit, with the moon visible in the background, referencing Overlord's lunar battle with God Ginrai (whose design directly inspired the look of ''Animated'' Optimus' flight mode, hence why he's here instead of Ginrai) in the ''Masterforce'' episode "[[God Ginrai - Into the Sky!!]]".
* The man [[Marissa Faireborn]] is kissing is the swindler [[Dirk Manus]] from the episode "[[Money Is Everything (episode)|Money Is Everything]]". He only appeared in that one episode of the original cartoon, but expansions to Japanese ''Transformers'' lore have since established that he and Marissa got back together and had a [[Sue Faireborn|daughter]].
* [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus Prime]] opening the Matrix is made to parallel ''Armada'' [[Sparkplug (Armada)|Sparkplug]] using that series' Matrix to resurrect his Optimus in "[[Miracle (episode)|Miracle]]" and Dai Atlas raising the Zodiac above his head, presumably meant to nod to Optimus Prime's resurrection as Star Convoy in the [[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: The Battlestars (story page)|''Battlestars'' story pages]].
* The live-action films get some representation in the form of the [[Transformers (film)|first film]]'s Autobot and Decepticon teams charging their opposites down on a barren highway. ''[[Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (film)|Rise of the Beasts]]'' gets some love too, with its versions of [[Optimus Primal (ROTB)|Optimus Primal]], [[Stratosphere]], [[Cheetor (ROTB)|Cheetor]], [[Mirage (Movie)|Mirage]], [[Bumblebee (Movie)#Rise of the Beasts film|Bumblebee]], [[Rhinox (ROTB)|Rhinox]], [[Airazor (ROTB)|Airazor]], [[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]], and [[Wheeljack (ROTB)|Wheeljack]] staring off into the distance. All of them are based on their early control art designs, though Airazor sports her final feathery head. As it was in the film, Airazor is the only one without a robot mode.
[[File:Families.jpg|thumb|right|350px|"It's enough to make a grown man cry... And that's okay..."]]
* The final scene sees the Generation 1 versions of Optimus and [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] stare each other down, as several human families from across the franchise's history look on: [[Denny Clay]] and his son [[Russell Clay|Russell]]; the adult version of [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] with his wife [[Carly (G1)|Carly]] and his son [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel]]; the [[Malto (disambiguation)|Malto]] family from ''EarthSpark''; and [[Koji Onishi]] and his parents [[Kenneth Onishi|Kenneth]] and [[Kiko Onishi|Kiko]] (notably, Kiko's ''only'' prior animated appearance having been a single scene in the [[Battle Protocol!|first episode]] of ''Robots in Disguise''). The angle then cuts back to Prime and Megatron, only now, they have been replaced with their ''EarthSpark'' counterparts shaking hands—the series' more black-and-white roots have thematically given way to its more nuanced present. We then pan up to see [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]'s head orbiting Cybertron as the credits roll.
...'''PHEW!'''

===Real-world trivia===
* Notable among the Studio Trigger staff that worked on this video are key animators [[Masaru Sakamoto]] and [[Hiroki Mutaguchi]] and director [[Akira Amemiya]]. Sakamoto previously helped design [[Flame Toys]]' Furai Model Lio Convoy kit and was one of a few guest artists on the [[Generations Selects Special Comic Finale]], Mutaguchi drew the cover for the ''[[Transformers Generations 2022]]'' book, and Amemiya is a ''huge'' fan of the franchise that's done multiple official illustrations and designed various other Furai Model kits.
* Outside of Studio Trigger's staff, multiple animators veteran to previous ''Transformers'' series were brought on as guest animators; these include lead animators for the Japanese produced ''Transformers'' shows and Unicron Trilogy [[Munetaka Abe]] and [[Masahiro Yamane]], and even [[Studio OX]] artists [[Tsuyoshi Nonaka]] and [[Morifumi Naka]].
* Longtime Japanese ''Transformers'' artist [[Hayato Sakamoto]] also contributed to the ''Special Movie'' as another key animator and a project supervisor. As confirmed by Sakamoto himself, this video marks his debut as an animator.<ref>{{citesocial|quote=構成協力及び原画で参加しました！TF40周年記念作品に関われてとても嬉しかったです！そしてアニメーターデビュー！それもトランスフォーマーのアニメ！更にスタジオtriggerのアニメに！やった！超豪華スタッフと一緒にお仕事出来て信じられない感じです。是非見てくださいーーー！！|link=https://twitter.com/hayatoron/status/1834238504290976209|name=Hayato Sakamoto|site=Twitter|year=2024|month=09|day=12}}</ref>
*TakaraTomy's initial upload of "Special Movie" to YouTube has been marked as unavailable to watch in most regions outside of Japan. It was reuploaded to Twitter without region locking around 12 hours later.

===Errors===
* On the heroic side, Generation 1 Optimus Prime is missing the blue detail on the bottom of the waist between the legs. It is shown in white. It is shown in blue when Optimus is seen again before combining with Beast Wars Optimus Primal. The missing blue would happen again on the shot of Generation 1 versions of Optimus and Megatron stare each other down.
* On the dark side, in the scene that shows a few of the "tanky" Decepticons, Animated Blitzwing is missing the gun barrels on his back.
* During the panning shot of previous Decepticon leaders throughout the franchise history, Cybertron Megatron has a dark gray nose. Although it may not initially seem like an error due to his original ''Galaxy Force'' toy sporting a gray nose, his later appearance combining with Nemesis Breaker has him with his correct, show-accurate white nose.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOfJT_Kwna8 ''40th Anniversary Special Movie'' at TakaraTomy's official YouTube account] (region locked)
*[https://twitter.com/TF_pr/status/1834429279255605698 ''40th Anniversary Special Movie'' on the TakaraTomy ''Transformers'' Twitter account]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81Q3xTYBbDA ''40th Anniversary Special Movie''] with English subs by [https://karyuudofansubs.blogspot.com/ Karyuudo Fansubs]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u92rRvHluuA Making-of director interview with Akira Amemiya at the Studio Trigger YouTube channel] (with English subtitles)

[[Category:Web series]]

Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity

2026-04-06T15:52:31Z

NeonMicron: /* Notes */ Fixed grammar error

{{faction|decepticon|autobot}}
{{suite}}
[[File:AStarscream cartoon.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|"Mr. [[Linkin Park]] AMV" himself.]]

From noble swordsman to traitorous backstabber, from Decepticon to Autobot and back again, from the land of the living to an ethereal existence as a ghost and beyond, the saga of '''Starscream''' is a long and storied one.

==''Armada'' cartoon==
{{voiceactor|[[Michael Dobson]] (English), [[Jin Yamanoi]] (Japanese)|[[José Sant'anna]] (Brazilian), [[Gerd Meyer]] (German), [[Niclas Fransson]] (Swedish), [[Sander de Heer]] (Dutch), [[Leopoldo Ballesteros]] (Castilian Spanish), [[Luis Carreño]] (Latin-American Spanish), [[Pauli Virta]] (Finnish), [[Roberto Draghetti]] (Italian), [[Yang Hee-moon]] (Korean), [[Alexandre Gillet]] (French)}}
[[File:Metamorphosis cybertron mode starscream.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Scanning an Earth vehicle basically means just adding kibble.]]

As soon as Starscream's [[spark]] left the [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] chamber, he was merged into the Decepticons. {{storylink|Rebellion (Armada)|Rebellion}}

Starscream accompanied [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron's]] forces to [[Earth]] in 2010 in search of the lost [[Mini-Con]]s. Warping to the planet shortly after his leader, Starscream and [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] materialized in the path of the three human children who were fleeing a battle between Megatron and [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], but were preventing from capturing the Mini-Con with them by the sudden appearance of [[Hot Shot (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Hot Shot]] and [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]]. After temporarily withdrawing to their new base on Earth's [[Moon (moon)|moon]]—where Starscream snickered as Megatron berated the lackadaisical [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]]—the Decepticons returned with new Earthly [[alternate mode]]s and made another attempt on the humans and their Mini-Con friends. {{storylink|Metamorphosis (Armada)|Metamorphosis}} Starscream's new jet mode gave him no advantage against the Mini-Con empowered Autobots, and the villains soon retreated to base once more, where Starscream and Demolishor got into a fight over who was Megatron's favored subordinate. Irritated with their antics, Megatron presented Demolishor with the sole Mini-Con the Decepticons had been able to recover and charged Starscream with finding his own, infuriating the younger 'bot. {{storylink|Base}}
[[File:Jungle-Null Ray Cannon.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|I DISAGREE!]]
Starscream was intent on taking the Mini-Con detected in [[Grand Canyon|Big Canyon]] for himself, but Megatron ordered him to stay behind at the base while the other Decepticons went after it. Disobeying orders, Starscream warped down and interfered with the fight, only to be caught offguard by [[Perceptor (Armada)|Perceptor]], allowing Optimus to obtain the Mini-Con. {{storylink|Comrade}} A severe "disciplining" from Megatron did not dissuade him, and during the next Mini-Con quest in [[Antarctica]], Starscream succeeded in locating the Mini-Con's storage panel in a crevasse wall. Starscream retrieved the panel after a tussle with Hot Shot, but when Red Alert snatched it away, Starscream fired upon him and wound up causing an avalanche, knocking himself into the crevasse's depths. {{storylink|Soldier (episode)|Soldier}}

Starscream blamed his lack of Mini-Con for his poor performance in a training simulation, but when the next storage panel was found during a forest battle, Megatron refused his request, intending to keep it for himself. While Megatron was occupied battling Optimus Prime, however, Starscream swooped in and grabbed the panel, opening it and bonding with the Mini-Con within, [[Swindle (Armada)|Swindle]]. With the new [[Null-ray|null laser cannons]] Swindle granted him, Starscream sent the Autobots packing, and gave Megatron more than a little cause for concern. {{storylink|Jungle}} [[File:Carnival-Starscream Sensei.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Hey, this is my neighborhood, you and your paisan must honor ME!!!]] He proceeded to strut around the base with Swindle on his shoulder, making fun of Demolishor, {{storylink|Carnival}} but his mockery was soon to be replaced with concern; after a mission in the Sahara Desert, Megatron forced Demolishor to hand over the next Mini-Con he found to him. Starscream took no delight in this mistreatment of his comrade. {{storylink|Palace}}

Starscream helped enact Megatron's plan to force the Autobots to trade their captured human friends for the Mini-Cons, but it met with failure. {{storylink|Confrontation (episode)|Confrontation}} Later, he helped the Decepticons explore the American underground for the next Mini-Con, but confined and unable to fly, he had Swindle do his searching for him, to no avail. {{storylink|Underground (episode)|Underground}} He had similarly little luck in an underwater scuffle with Hot Shot when the Mini-Con quest took the Transformers to a sub-aquatic ruin, {{storylink|Ruin}} and his misfortune continued during the battle that following on a volcanic island. There, Megatron also continued to berate Starscream for whatever move he made on the battlefield, finding fault in every decision Starscream made. {{storylink|Prehistory}} After this run of failures, the Decepticons got proactive, invading the Autobot base to capture the Mini-Cons that together formed the [[Star Saber (Armada)|Star Saber sword]], but in the course of the attack, Starscream was lured into a hall of mirrors by Red Alert and fell down a shaft. He tried to fly back up it in jet mode, but Red shut a series of panels on top of him, clipping his wings. {{storylink|Swoop (episode)|Swoop}}

[[File:Overmatch Starscreamswordslice.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|That was a part of my body, you asshole!]]
Though successfully formed, the Star Saber wound up in Autobot hands, and Starscream felt the blade's power for himself when Hot Shot unleashed it against him during their next meeting. Furious over the defeat and with his anger only stoked by insults toward his capabilities by the Decepticons' new member [[Scavenger (Armada)|Scavenger]], Starscream challenged Hot Shot to one-on-one combat when next they clashed. Starscream gave a better account of himself in this rematch, but he met defeat once again when the Star Saber cleaved his own sword in two. {{storylink|Overmatch}} After helping Megatron supervise Scavenger's excavation efforts during the search for the next Mini-Con, {{storylink|Gale}} Starscream got another chance against Hot Shot when the young Autobot and his new teammate [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] were inadvertently warped to the moon. Starscream was on the verge of defeat yet again until Sideways revealed himself to be a traitor and knocked the sword from Hot Shot's grasp, straight into Starscream's waiting hands. {{storylink|Credulous}}
[[File:Conspiracy starscream and airdefteam.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|"You left the kids with WHO!?"]]
With the Star Saber now his to command, Starscream's arrogance grew, as did his lack of popularity with the other Decepticons. To remedy this, Megatron had [[Leader-1 (Armada)|Leader-1]] fire on Starscream during combat with the Autobots in a fog-shrouded forest. The lack of visibility caused Starscream to mistakenly believe Demolishor was an Autobot shooting at him, and would have cleaved him in two with the Star Saber if Megatron had not blocked the strike. With the weight of his teammates opinion regarding his ability to wield the blade against him, Starscream was forced to hand the Star Saber over to Megatron. {{storylink|Conspiracy}} After this incident, Scavenger disappeared, and Starscream—still smarting from his barbs—opined that he had switched sides, and demanded the right to bring him in. Megatron refused, but Starscream did still accompany all the Decepticons on the mission to track Scavenger down, during which they found out he had indeed sided with Optimus Prime's forces. {{storylink|Trust (Armada)|Trust}}

After narrowly avoiding Megatron's wild swings of the Star Saber during a training exercise, {{storylink|Vacation}} Starscream partook in the clash over the final Mini-Con necessary to form the [[Skyboom (Armada)|Skyboom shield]], which the Decepticons successfully obtained (though Starscream was shot out of the sky by Smokescreen in the process). {{storylink|Reinforcement}} Starscream kept the Autobots busy during the next battle while Megatron unleashed both Star Saber and Skyboom on Optimus Prime, but was shot down by [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokscreen]]. {{storylink|Decisive Battle}} A little later, Starscream and the other Decepticons stayed on the moon while Megatron orchestrated a plan to scatter the Autobots across the globe; he and Sideways were very unenthusiastic about being on standby while Demolishor barked orders at them. {{storylink|Vow}}

[[File:Rebellion starscream vs megatron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"Oh, Megatron, please! This is getting awkward!"]]

After the Decepticons met with failure on the battlefield again, Megatron chose to pin the blame for the loss on Starscream—despite the fact he had followed orders correctly—and began brutalizing him upon their return to base. The abuse only ended when Demolishor and Sideways blasted their way into the room to stop Megatron from killing their comrade. Seeing a chance to disrupt the Decepticon power structure, Sideways spun lies to manipulate the brooding Starscream's emotions and coerce him into challenging Megatron to a duel. The resultant clash was a brief and vicious one; Megatron took the upper hand immediately, and although his taunts galvanized Starscream and gave him the strength to fight back and tip the fight in his favor for a while, Megatron eventually emerged victorious. Unwilling to beg for his life, Starscream merely urged Megatron to finish him, but the Decepticon leader spared him with the observation that he was a good soldier who might someday in the future have the strength to best him. {{storylink|Rebellion (Armada)|Rebellion}}

In the Decepticons' next bout with the Autobots, Starscream got in a shouting match with Hot Shot over who the Mini-Cons belonged with.{{storylink|Chase (episode)|Chase}}

[[File:Tactician starscream jetmode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Back in 2002, this was considered aerodynamic.]]
Following another confrontation with the Autobots, the Decepticons were joined by tactician [[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]], whose prowess was well known to Starscream. Thrust was likewise impressed with Starscream's abilities and enlisted him as his second for his first battle plan against the Autobots, which involved trapping them in a canyon and strafing them from the air. The plan was foiled by the arrival of [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]], who personally blew Starscream out of the sky. {{storylink|Tactician}} Starscream got some revenge soon after when he and Thrust hit Jetfire with an airborne assault, but Starscream got shot down again when the Autobot revealed his ability to combine with Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Linkup}}

Growing suspicious of Sideways after recent events, Starscream joined the Decepticons’ effort to root him out, discovering that he was an agent of a mysterious greater power. Once he was forced from their ranks, Starscream and the Decepticons engaged the Autobots in a beachfront battle, {{storylink|Detection}} dogfighting with Jetfire again {{storylink|Awakening (Armada)|Awakening}} then strafing Hot Shot. The Decepticons nonetheless lost when the Autobots acquired the [[Requiem Blaster (Armada)|Requiem Blaster]]. {{storylink|Desperate}}

[[File:Sacrifice starscream and starsaber.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|You don't kill a man by mucking about with rifles, arrows, rocks, or other long-distance rubbish. You kill him by grabbing the biggest bloody sword you can find, running up nice and close to him, and chopping the dumb bastard's head off.]]
After recuperating back at base {{storylink|Runaway}} and being present for the arrival of new member [[Wheeljack (Armada)|Wheeljack]], {{storylink|Past II}} Starscream found himself wielding the Star Saber once again, control of the weapon ceded to him by Megatron as part of a plan to lure out the Autobots so that the Decepticon could steal the Requiem Blaster from them. Taking to the battlefield solo, Starscream caused havoc with the sword, only for it to deactivate in his hands as Optimus Prime's lectures wormed their way inside his head. Surrounded by the Autobots, Starscream called for aid from his fellow Decepticons, only to discover that he had been completely abandoned—he had, without his knowledge, been used as a mere decoy while his teammates invaded the Autobot base and stole the Requiem Blaster. {{storylink|Sacrifice}}

[[File:Regeneration starscream vs hotshot.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|...now kiss?]]
Returning to base dejected and furious, Starscream attacked Thrust with the Star Saber, before being told be Megatron to stand down. He tried to unwind with an energy bath, but his anger boiled over when he was ordered to return the Star Saber Mini-Cons to Megatron and overheard his leader and Thrust mocking him. He proceeded to go on a rampage through the Decepticon base, turning the Saber's power on his fellows and clashing with Megatron and the Requiem Blaster. Seeking asylum with the Autobots, he flew to Earth with [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Tidal Wave]] in pursuit, crash landing near the Autobots' base. At the Star Saber Mini-Cons' behest, Optimus Prime used the Saber to protect Starscream, and gave him the benefit of the doubt when he claimed he wanted to join the Autobots to help them take down Megatron. To prove his good faith, Starscream provided them with the contents of his databanks to decode, but Hot Shot was not so easily swayed, and he and Starscream began fighting. Their face-off was interrupted by Smokescreen (rebuilt with a new body), who put a stop to their brawl. {{storylink|Regeneration (Armada)|Regeneration}}
[[File:Rescue starscream and the autobots.jpg|thumb|upright=2.2|Starscream's Facebook cover photo.]]
Using the information provided by Starscream, the Autobots proceeded to stage an invasion of the Decepticons' moonbase. Optimus instructed Starscream to hold back and use his knowledge of the base's layout to help locate and liberate the Decepticons' captive Mini-Cons. But Starscream was too hungry for payback against Megatron to comply, and Hot Shot had to take over his mission. When Hot Shot was in dire straits during a battle with Megatron, however, Starscream came to his aid, and the pair united their strength to topple the Decepticon leader. Starscream was eager to end Megatron's life, but upon the successful evacuation of the Mini-Cons, Optimus called for retreat, forcing Starscream to choose between his hew alliance and his desire for revenge. In the end, he returned to Earth with the Autobots, but was left feeling that he did not truly belong with them either. {{storylink|Rescue}}
[[File:Mars starscream and alexis.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|NO SHIPPING!]]
Both his Mini-Con partners and the human [[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]] attempted to console him, but he was too consumed by his own self-doubt. Soon thereafter, Starscream's flight capabilities saw him drafted to join Jetfire on a mission to [[Mars (planet)|Mars]] to recover a Mini-Con, during which he was shot down by Tidal Wave. By the time Jetfire had located him, Starscream was so wrapped up in self-pity that he refused to do as his Autobot superior ordered, forcing Jetfire to handcuff him and charge him with dereliction of duty. On the return trip to Earth, the pair discovered the object of their quest on an asteroid, but were then attacked by Tidal Wave once again; speaking with real passion for the Autobot cause, Starscream was able to talk the Mini-Con, [[Firebot (Armada)|Firebot]], into turning its weapons on the giant Decepticon. It looked like the pair were home free, only for Megatron to appear in their path with the Requiem Blaster in hand. Brought into proximity for the first time, the blaster, the Star Saber and the Skyboom (wielded by Jetfire) resonated with one another, causing a huge flare of energy that covered Jetfire and Starscream's escape. Back on Earth, Alexis thanked Starscream for his efforts and told him she was sure the Autobots were the right fit for him, and while he seemed to brush her words off, she soon discovered that he had brought back a bejewelled rock from Mars as a souvenir for her and the other kids. {{storylink|Mars (episode)|Mars}}
[[File:Crack starscream kids and chamois.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Is there some sort of cash alternative?]]
Uninterested in helping the Autobots build a spaceship to return to Cybertron, Starscream stalked off to his quarters where he was shocked to find Alexis and the other kids throwing him a surprise party to thank him for the Martian rock, gifting him with a handmade [[Chamois of Friendship|chamois]]. A little later, detecting a curious signal, Starscream ventured out to investigate and was confronted by Thrust, who (secretly working towards his own goals in conjunction with Sideways) petitioned him to return to the Decepticons and help him take Megatron down from within. Thrust suggested that he steal the Skyboom shield to "prove" to Megatron his desire to rejoin him, but Starscream refused. Unfortunately, [[Billy (Armada)|Billy]] and [[Fred (Armada)|Fred]] overhead their conversation and raced off to tell the Autobots, who were quick to turn on Starscream when he returned to the base after they could not find the Skyboom Mini-Cons anywhere. Unbeknownst to anyone, the kids had merely taken the Mini-Cons out for a walk, but the Autobots' deep-seated distrust of Starscream had been made evident—confronting Thrust in battle again a short time later, Starscream found himself swayed by the Decepticon's silver tongue, and swooped into the battlefield below, snatching up the Skyboom and departing alongside Thrust, back in the Decepticon fold again, but vowing never to forget his new human friends. {{storylink|Crack (episode)|Crack}}

[[File:Crisis starscream and thrust.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Phallic object? I SAID NO SHIPPING!]]

With all three Mini-Con weapons now in Decepticon hands thanks to his defection, Starscream soon forced Thrust to tell him his plan for them: they would be combined to forge a weapon of planet-destroying power known as the [[Hydra Cannon]]. When completed and mounted on the Decepticons' new spacecraft, Megatron placed Starscream at the cannon's controls and charged him with firing the shot that would obliterate the Earth. {{storylink|Threaten}} Unwilling to seal the fates of all the friends he had made on Earth, Starscream struggled with the test Megatron had laid before him, but fortunately, Optimus Prime and Jetfire attacked the cannon before he had to press the button. Ordered out into battle to stop them, Starscream allowed Jetfire to hurl him into Tidal Wave, knocking over the titanic Decepticon and sparing Prime his assault. Starscream's efforts saved the Earth, but Optimus Prime perished absorbing the Hydra Cannon's blast. {{storylink|Crisis (Armada)|Crisis}}
[[File:Puppet i look like thundercracker.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Hey, I look like that guy from that thing!]]
Though regretful over Prime's death, Starscream joined the Decepticons in departing Earth's solar system aboard their new ship and heading back to Cybertron. {{storylink|Remorse}} Starscream detected an Autobot vessel giving the Decepticons chase, though Megatron remained unconcerned over this development. {{storylink|Depart}} In the battle that followed, Starscream and Hot Shot revived their old rivalry, but fighting soon ceased when the Mini-Cons combined their powers to resurrect Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Miracle (episode)|Miracle}} Immediately following this, Hot Shot and [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] were sucked away through a worm hole to a barren planet; Starscream, Megatron, and Demolishor followed, Megatron intending to destroy their divided foes despite Starscream's suggestions that they used them as hostages. Attacked by [[Nemesis Prime (Armada)|Nemesis Prime]], a mysterious dark doppelgänger of Optimus Prime, they were badly damaged, but found themselves repaired by the combined powers of their partner Mini-Cons, their armors strengthened and [[spontaneous recoloration|recolored]] in the process. Observing his new blue color scheme, Starscream remarked upon his similarity to fellow Decepticon [[Thundercracker (Armada)|Thundercracker]]. {{storylink|Puppet}}

[[File:Drift starscream smiles.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]

Returning to Cybertron, Starscream aided in the Decepticon effort to take control of the planet with the Mini-Con weapons, though his concern over the methods Megatron—now "Galvatron" after his upgrade—was employed grew, as did his suspicions regarding Thrust's ulterior motives after his gleeful reaction to the appearance of a black hole over their homeworld. {{storylink|Uprising (Armada)|Uprising}} When Hot Shot broke into the Decepticon base, pleading for an alliance to fight the mysterious common foe behind the black hole, [[Unicron]], Starscream finally called Thrust out on his scheming in front of everyone. With Galvatron also suspicious, Thrust revealed that he was an agent of Unicron's, stole the Requiem Blaster and Skyboom shield, and fled into the planet's depths with a vengeful Starscream in hot pursuit. {{storylink|Dash (episode)|Dash}} He soon caught up to Thrust, but just after he turned down the traitor's offer to work together, Starscream was shocked to see Alexis and the other human kids and their Mini-Cons watching their confrontation, having come to Cybertron with the Autobots. When Thrust threatened them with the Requiem Blaster, Starscream lunged for him and was struck by the Blaster's beam and slain. Fortunately, the Mini-Con [[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]] used his powers to rewind time a few scant moments and intervened to throw Thrust's aim off, saving Starscream's life. Thrust escaped while Starscream shielded the kids from falling rubble caused by the errant blast, and once he was sure they were okay, continued his pursuit.{{storylink|Drift (episode)|Drift}}

[[File:Portent starscream readyforaction.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|It is obvious that this contest cannot be decided by our knowledge of the Force... but by our skills with a lightsaber.]]

The chase led through a [[Cybertron-Unicron warp gate|warp gate]] that brought Starscream to a strange pseudo-organic cavern, where he was beset by [[bot-spider]]s for again refusing an offer to join Thrust and Sideways in their scheme. Hot Shot, Wheeljack and the kids arrived to help, but he instructed them to go on ahead; after defeating the spiders, Starscream was amazed to see that Alexis had waited for him to make sure he was okay. The dangers of the caverns soon proved too much to endure, so Starscream decided to carry Alexis to safety, but in their escape, the girl's necklace fell off. Alexis insisted on going back for it, forcing Starscream to fend off attacking tentacles and leaving him gape-mouthed with the revelation that the necklace was important to her because she had made it from the Martian rock he had given her. Moments later, they escaped the caverns and discovered that they had been inside Cybertron's moon—and that the moon was actually a disguised Unicron! Alexis pleaded with Starscream to join the Autobots in fighting Unicron, and even Hot Shot agreed, but Starscream refused, no longer sure of where he belonged and afraid he would betray his friends again. {{storylink|Portent}}

[[File:Cramp starscream dies.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4 | my chest hurts.]]

Realizing that it was only by uniting with the Autobots that the Decepticons could hope to defeat Unicron, Starscream resolved to prove the reality of the chaos-bringer's threat to Galvatron, who refused to acknowledge it and considered it an Autobot trick. To do so, however, Starscream realized that he would have to end his own life, and so interrupted a battle between Galvatron and Optimus to challenge Galvatron to one last duel that would settle all accounts between them. In the course of the fight, Starscream proved to Galvatron how far he had come as a warrior, but at the final moment, held back on delivering the killing stroke, instead allowing Galvatron to run him through with the Star Saber. With the last of his strength, Starscream opened fire on Unicron, and the planet-eater retaliated with a lightning-blast that utterly obliterated Starscream, reducing his body to ash. With this action, Starscream proved that the threat of Unicron was real, and Megatron agreed to ally with Optimus against him. {{storylink|Cramp}}

{{--}}

==Japanese cartoon continuity==
===''Cloud''===
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Encounter}} {{storylink|Hammer (Cloud)|Hammer}} {{storylink|Return}} {{storylink|Transformers Cloud Compilation Comic|Compilation Comic}}}}

===''Legends'' comic===
Following his sacrifice against Unicron, Starscream manifested as a ghost in the [[Legends World]] thanks to the power of the dimension's "[[spirit energy]]". {{storylink|LG18 Armada Starscream Super Mode}} He was left without any memories and returned to being a loyal servant of Megatron, who had also traveled to the Legends world. {{storylink|LG14 Ultra Magnus Prologue Part 3: Autumn Megatron Festival Chapter|Autumn Megatron Festival Chapter}} He helped Megatron plunder the world of its Mini-Cons, and located the very rare specimen [[Dragoyell]] for his leader. Both of them retreated after Megatron had his power drained through an accidental [[Powerlinx]] with [[Rattrap (Legends)|Rattrap]]. {{storylink|LG-EX Armada Megatron}} Megatron then settled for simply purchasing Mini-Cons legally, relying on Starscream as a source of income and forcing him to take on multiple part-time jobs. He was just leaving for his night-time job when [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|another Megatron]] showed up at the restaurant they were eating at. The other Megatron was surprised by his presence, having had his own [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] once, something the two Megatrons ended up bonding over during his absence. {{storylink|LG14 Ultra Magnus Prologue Part 3: Autumn Megatron Festival Chapter|Autumn Megatron Festival Chapter}} When Megatron returned home with an [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/toys#Legends|Ultra Magnus]] toy, having been defeated in battle with Magnus and wanting to find his weaknesses through the toy, Starscream protested that his leader had promised not to buy toys that weren't Mini-Cons. He was further disheartened when Megatron ended up liking the toy, suggesting he might buy more big toys in the future. {{storylink|Ultra Magnus Sequel#Armada Megatron Chapter|Armada Megatron Chapter}}

[[File:Tflegendsvol18Starscream.jpg|thumb|]]
At one point, Starscream was given a [[Swindle (Armada)|Spark Grid]] toy by Megatron as a reward for his services, making him feel sentimental. {{storylink|LG-18 Armada Starscream Super Mode Prologue 2}} While working as a waiter, Starscream was attacked by [[Slipstream (Animated)|Slipstream]], who mistook him for [[Starscream (Animated)|her own hated Starscream]]. His pleas that he was the wrong Starscream fell on deaf ears, and his attempts to get help from [[Blackarachnia (Legends)|Blackarachnia]] failed when she sided with Slipstream instead. When he returned home to gripe about how scary women are, Megatron ignored his story and just wanted his credit card for buying more toys. {{storylink|LG-16 Slipstream Sequel}} Fired over the incident, Starscream was looking for a new job when he witnessed [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] collapsing on the street. Learning that she had a job she couldn't attend to because of her condition, he offered to take her place, and ended up working at the [[Starscream (Legends)|local Starscream]]'s maid cafe. He was confused about why they'd let a man work there, so the other Starscream explained that it was normally a "little brother cafe" with cross-dressing maids and that Windblade only worked there because he was feeling sympathetic towards her, causing Armada Starscream to admit his counterpart was a pretty nice guy. {{storylink|LG-18 Armada Starscream Super Mode Prologue 1}}

Returning to the cafe, Windblade explained to Starscream that her condition was caused by the [[Zamojin (species)|Zamojin]] trying to take control of her using spirit energy, a power accumulated by Armada Megatron's uncontrollable desire for toys. Knowing that she would destroy the Legends World if the Zamojin got their hands on her again, she tearfully asked the baffled Starscream for help. His Spark Grid then revealed himself to be a real Mini-Con and imbued Starscream with the power of his people, powering him up into his super mode and giving him the resolve to stop Megatron and save Windblade and the Legends World... or die trying. {{storylink|LG-18 Armada Starscream Super Mode Prologue 2}} Confronting Megatron in [[Akihabara]], he tried to convince his leader to give up on his toys and cut off the Zamojins' power supply, but Megatron refused and battled Starscream for betraying him. Starscream's worst fears came true when the Zamojin were able to take control of Windblade, and he channeled all his power into his Null Laser Cannons for an attack that would destroy both him and Windblade but save the world. He broke off his attack when [[Alpha Trion]] brought forth Alexis, whose presence caused him to calm down and recall his lost memories, and he returned to his home dimension alongside her. {{storylink|LG18 Armada Starscream Super Mode}}

Starscream seemingly returned to death, as Alexis reminisced about him on a beach. {{Storylink|Transformers Legends Final Chapter "Epiloge"|Epiloge}}
{{--}}

==''Energon'' cartoon==
{{voiceactor|[[Michael Dobson]] (English), [[Nobuo Tobita]] (Japanese)|[[Niclas Fransson]] (Swedish), [[Sander de Heer]] (Dutch), [[Mieczyslaw Moranski]] (Polish), [[Gábor Forgács]] (Hungarian), [[Leopoldo Ballesteros]] (Castilian Spanish), [[Luis Carreño]] (Latin-American Spanish), [[Pauli Virta]] (Finnish), [[Roberto Draghetti]] (Italian), [[Alexandre Gillet]] (French)}}
{{noteslonly}}
[[File:STMM starscream.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"I do not have permission to die!"]]
Ten years after Starscream's death, when Megatron seized control of Unicron's body by ousting its former occupant, the alien being [[Alpha Quintesson]], the evicted extraterrestrial needed an agent to help him in his task of recreating the worlds destroyed by the chaos-bringer. Using what little [[Energon]] he had left, Alpha Q recreated another of Unicron's victims—Starscream. {{storylink|Megatron Raid}} However, Alpha Q ran out of energon before the process could be completed, leaving Starscream incomplete—his memory blank, and his body unstable, constantly shifting from a physical to an ethereal form, able to teleport by "ghosting" from location to location. {{storylink|Starscream the Mysterious Mercenary}} Charged with defeating Optimus Prime in order to break the Autobot monopoly on Energon, with the promise of a completed physical body as his reward, Starscream was dispatched to the Autobots' [[Ocean City]] on Earth, where he engaged Prime in battle, but soon withdrew when the Autobot leader got the upper hand. {{storylink|Megatron Raid}} He soon turned to stealth, invisibly stalking Prime through the corridors of Ocean City, but the human [[Kicker Jones|Kicker]]'s ability to sense Energon allowed him to detect Starscream and tip the Autobots off to his presence.[[File:SSTM starscream ghost.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]] Optimus Prime proceeded to call Starscream out and lead him through a [[space bridge]] to Earth's moon, but the battle between the two that ensued was interrupted by Megatron. Starscream exploited the distraction to blast Prime, and was then summoned back to Alpha Q, his task believed complete, but Prime was soon revived. {{storylink|Starscream the Mysterious Mercenary}}

On his return flight through space to his master, Starscream was redirected to join up with [[Scorponok (Energon)|Scorponok]], Alpha Q's mole within Megatron's forces, so that they could together make another attempt on Prime's life. Starscream battled Prime in the [[asteroid belt]], but was ordered to pull out by Alpha Q in advance of Megatron's arrival on the scene. {{storylink|Battle of the Asteroid Belt}} He soon returned to Alpha Q's side, and watched as a [[Terrorcon (Energon)|Terrorcon]] swarm rained Energon successfully stolen from the Autobots down on them. {{storylink|Energon Tower (episode)|Energon Tower}}
[[File:CrisisinJungleCity starscream stabbed.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Needing to retake Unicron's body from Megatron to further his plans, Alpha Q tasked Starscream with assassinating Megatron. Stealing inside the chaos-bringer's inert form, Starscream came upon Megatron in sleep mode and ran him through with his sword, only for the Decepticon leader to disappear in a flash of energy. He had, in fact, merged himself with Unicron and gained control of his incredible powers over matter and energy, and quickly turned them upon Starscream, attacking him with multiple Megatron duplicates and Energon shards. Recognizing his old subordinate at last, Megatron plunged Starscream into absolute darkness, taunting him and driving him to the brink of madness, urging him to discard everything of himself, before appearing to stab him through the [[spark]]. Succumbing to Megatron's will, Starscream collapsed. {{storylink|The Legend of Rodimus}} His memories of Alpha Q and his plans were wiped away, and he became Megatron's loyal servant, joining the Decepticons in attacking [[Jungle City]]. {{storylink|Crisis in Jungle City}}

[[File:KickerBeware starscream threatens demolishor.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]

Starscream coerced from a reluctant Demolishor and Cyclonus information about Kicker's abilities which they had gained during their time among the Autobots. He was then among the Decepticons who attacked the ruins of [[Lunar City]] in a failed attempt to abduct Kicker for their own purposes. {{storylink|Kicker Beware!}} Starscream was later present during the attempt at destroying Earth, and retreated with the other decepticons. {{storylink|Energon Grid (episode)|Energon Grid}} Following the failed attack, Starscream found one of Alpha Q's Terrorcons spying on Megatron, but when Megatron took this as a cue to destroy all the Terrorcons he had stolen control of from the alien, an apologetic Starscream barred his way, intent on sparing the creatures their lives despite his loyalty to Megatron. The attack had actually been meant to force Scorponok to show his hand; when he did so, Starscream and Tidal Wave escorted him to Megatron, who hurled him into Earth's [[Energon grid (technology)|energon grid]], assuming Alpha Q would come to save his minion. {{storylink|Rodimus Friend or Foe?}} Alpha Q's ally [[Rodimus (Energon)|Rodimus]] eventually appeared with his men to save Scorponok, and Starscream led the charge against them, but was disarmed by Rodimus and felled by a volley of fire from [[Landmine (Energon)|Landmine]]. The Decepticons withdrew, but Starscream was fighting ready again a short time later for an abortive attack on the Autobots' ''[[Miranda II]]''. {{storylink|Go for Unicron!}}

[[File:GoForUnicron starscream opens fire.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]

Starscream watched as Megatron used Unicron's powers to grant Demolishor a new body, then joined his leader in battling the Autobots on an icy world. {{storylink|The Return of Demolishor}} Soon after, Starscream reported to Megatron that the ''Miranada II'' had drawn to close to Unicron's body, but on his leader's orders, refrained from entering the battle that ensued. {{storylink|A Tale of Two Heros}} When the Autobots were repelled and fled through a space bridge, Starscream advocated pursuit and led the Decepticons after them, with Megatron moving Unicron into the bridge right behind them. After dogfighting with Jetfire during the bridge transit, Starscream was horrified to see that the bridge had deposited them all in Cybertron's orbit, and raced back to Megatron's throne room to urge him to pull Unicron back before he was destroyed by the planet's energon grid. {{storylink|Battle Stations}} Unicron's appearance caused the Decepticons on Cybertron to riot, and Megatron and Starscream debated on how to best to exploit the chaos; {{storylink|Alpha Q: Identity}} Megatron settled on sending Starscream and his other troops down to the planet to exfiltrate war criminal [[Shockblast]], who had escaped in the mayhem. {{storylink|Shockblast: Rampage}}
[[File:SuvivalInstincts starscream avoids impaling.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Starscream fed Megatron updates as Decepticons abandoned Cybertron to join his forces on Unicron. No sooner had they arrived than Unicron's survival instinct unconsciously kicked in and he began feeding on those within him, and Starscream had to use his ghostly powers to avoid being impaled on energy-absorbing spikes Unicron generating within himself. {{storylink|Survival Instincts}} Megatron determined to sate Unicron's hunger with Cybertron itself, and Starscream was among the Decepticons sent down to the planet to deactivate its energon grid in preparation for the feeding, still trying to play peacekeeper between the antagonistic Shockblast and his other comrades. {{storylink|Each One Fights...}} The plan failed, so instead, the Decepticons soon conducted an Energon raid on [[Primus]]'s chamber, during which Starscream caught Optimus Prime off-guard and took him down. {{storylink|Unicron Unleashed}} With this Energon infusion, Unicron was able to transform to [[robot mode]], at which point Shockblast revealed his true colors and attempt to usurp control of the planet-eater from Megatron. Fortunately for the Decepticon leader, Starscream was there to catch Shockblast unawares, holding him at sword-point. {{storylink|Open Fire!}} Just then, Alpha Q rammed Unicron's disembodied head into his side, creating tremors that sent Shockblast plummeting into Unicron's depths. Starscream gave chase, catching up to him just as he was confronting Optimus Prime, who then petitioned Starscream for his help in stopping Megatron. The loyal spectre ignored his words and moved to attack Prime, but was stopped by the newly arrived [[Wing Saber (Energon)|Wing Saber]]. The Energon reaction between Unicron's head and body subsequently opened a rift in reality through which Starscream joined Megatron in fleeing. {{storylink|Ripped Up Space}}
[[File:JunglePlanet starscream closeup.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Where'd you get the beauty scar, tough guy?]]
In the new region of space on the other side of the rift, Alpha Q turned Unicron's head in an [[Energon Orb|Energon sun]] to accomplish his plan of recreating the planets consumed by Unicron, but the Decepticons immediately began gathering Energon from them. In battle on [[Iron Planet]], Starscream materialized to cover Megatron's escape, but got swatted away by Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Protection}} Later, when Shockblast—who had been captured by the Autobots—contacted Megatron to beg for assistance in escaping, Starscream accompanied his leader to free the turncoat. He and the liberated Shockblast were charged with hunting down the Autobot who had been Shockblast's guard, [[Inferno (Energon)|Inferno]], who Megatron then infected with Decepticon programming. {{storylink|Imprisoned Inferno}} As battles in this star system continued, Starscream aided his leader in ambushing Optimus Prime in the skies over [[Jungle Planet (Energon)|Jungle Planet]], {{storylink|Jungle Planet (episode)|Jungle Planet}} and was then assigned to spy on the Autobots on the planet, but failed to stop a team of them from departing through a space bridge and returning with an Energon tower. Starscream took part in the Decepticons' attempt to steal Jungle Planet's Energon before the tower was activated, which also met with failure. {{storylink|Bulkhead (episode)|Bulkhead}} Not long after, as Inferno's Decepticon programming began to overtake him, Starscream accompanied his leader to receive their new warrior, but the Autobot fought the process and turned on them. Only the timely intervention of Scorponok (also brainwashed by Megatron) stopped the suicidal Inferno from dragging Starscream into the sun. {{storylink|Farewell Inferno}}
[[File:OmegaSupreme starscream jet mode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
''While Snow Cat and Demolishor were gathering Energon from the smaller planets on the system's fringes, Starscream brought them new orders from Megatron to convene on the newly-reborn [[Planet Q]]. {{storylink|Return! Our Scorponok}}'' A little later, when Megatron was taking out his frustrations on Shockblast, Starscream made him stop before he killed him. {{storylink|Crash Course}} After another successful Energon raid, Starscream and the Decepticons were followed back to Unicron's body by the Autobots, joined by new member [[Omega Supreme (Energon)|Omega Supreme]]. Starscream and Scorponok tried taking on the ancient Autobot, but didn't even get off a single shot before he used his powers to seal them in energy bubbles and crash them into each other. {{storylink|Omega Supreme (episode)|Omega Supreme}} As the battle continued, Starscream was taken down by the restored Inferno, and he then withdrew inside Unicron's body to watch as Megatron reunited the chaos-bringer's head with his body. {{storylink|A Heroic Battle}} The Autobots continued their attack, and Starscream found himself facing Jetfire, Wing Saber and [[Bulkhead (Energon)|Bulkhead]], leaving him unable to fetch more Energon when Megatron demanded it. {{storylink|The Power of Unicron}} The newly restored Unicron soon began to rage out of control, and turned against the Decepticons; Starscream saved Mirage from being sucked inside the planet-eater, severing the energy tendrils that had seized him. {{storylink|Optimus Supreme}} Realizing that Megatron himself had been overtaken by Unicron's consciousness, Starscream instructed Scorponok to keep clear of the growing battle, knowing that their power could add nothing to the conflict. {{storylink|Unicron Perishes}}
[[File:Wishes upgraded starscream.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|And haters cared a little bit.]]
Unicron was subsequently destroyed by Optimus Prime, and in the wake of the battle many of the Decepticons were imprisoned. Starscream and Scorponok avoided captured and soon regrouped with Megatron, who had survived the destruction of Unicron's body, launching an attack on Cybertron just as peace seemed to be settling in. Starscream hacked his way into the prison complex and liberated his comrades. {{storylink|Ambition}} This task done, Starscream was summoned by Megatron to a reservoir of [[Super Energon]] beneath the planet's surface; immersion in the liquid had transformed Megatron into Galvatron once again, but it had destroyed any Terrorcons who had attempted to absorb it, so Megatron charged Starscream with wading into the pool to see if he could survive the experience. Blindly loyal as ever, Starscream boldly strode into the pool, and was supercharged by its power, gaining a new color-scheme in the process—though not without some deal of pain. He and his leader unleashed their new power against the Autobots, crippling Cybertron's energon grid and taking control of the planet, driving their enemies into hiding. {{storylink|Wishes}}

Starscream extrapolated the Autobots' logical hiding places, and the Decepticons pursued them to the orbiting ''Miranda II''. Though the battle saw them bring down the ship, Starscream got pretty badly smacked around by Rodimus. {{storylink|Galvatron!}}

At some point in time, Starscream was among the Decepticons who hacked into an Autobot virtual training program that took the form of a tag-team fighting tournament. Partnered with Galvatron, he bested Cyclonus and Demolishor (in their original forms), then defeated their upgraded forms, though it seemed that Galvatron did all the fighting. Galvatron then got fed up and left, and Starscream followed his lead. {{storylink|Distribution}}

[[File:OmegaTrain starscream gun.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Starscream offered Galvatron advice as the Decepticons tightened their hold over Cybertron. {{storylink|Break Through}} He later battled Optimus Prime and Wing Saber in a subterranean city into which the Autobots had retreated, but was shot in the back by [[Superion Maximus]]. {{storylink|The Omega Train}} Pulling himself together, Starscream joined with Galvatron for another confrontation with the Autobots soon after; this time, Starscream found himself at the mercy of Omega Supreme's powers once again. The battle fell apart when Autobot reinforcements arrived, and Starscream advised his leader to retreat to regain control of the situation. {{storylink|Decepticon Army}} Getting things back in order proved challenging due to the recalcitrance of the Decepticons' new two-faced tech specialist [[Six Shot (Energon)|Six Shot]], who demanded an apology from Galvatron for recent mistreatment at his hands. Galvatron naturally refused, but Starscream stepped forward and bowed on his master's behalf, which was enough for Six Shot. That dealt with, he went out into battle with the other Decepticons again, but had to ghost away to avoid a bludgeoning by the combined might of Optimus Prime and Omega Supreme. {{storylink|Ironhide Team}}

[[File:Formidable starscream in flames.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"I do believe I'm on fire."]]
Six Shot's trickery continued to caused further trouble, so Starscream was assigned to stay behind in the control room and watch over him during the Decepticons' next battle. When the Autobots staged a two-pronged attack, however, Starscream was forced to leave him to counter their attack; Six Shot's refusal to follow orders soon resulted in the accidental destruction of the Energon towers, and a furious Galvatron had Starscream abandon the battle to bring Six Shot under control. {{storylink|Formidable}} When the corridors into the control complex became locked down, Starscream investigated and discovered that Demolishor, Snow Cat and Mirage had been tricked into leaving Six Shot unsupervised, and he had disappeared, leaving the Autobots' human ally [[Sally Jones]] to sneak into the control room and cause chaos. She let the Autobots in, and Starscream and the other Decepticons tried in vain to hold them off before eventually pulling out. {{storylink|Galvatron Terror}}
[[File:TheSun starscream and galvatron.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]

Concurrently, Galvatron indulged in a second Super Energon immersion, which transformed him into a planet-sized titan. Starscream and the Decepticons harried the Autobots as they attempted to retreat in the face of this giant horror; then, when Optimus Prime attempted to battle Galvatron, Starscream kept Hot Shot from interfering. {{storylink|Destructive Power}} Prime and Galvatron's battle moved to Jungle Planet, where they both came under the influence of Unicron, whose consciousness still survived within Galvatron. Starscream continued to prevent anyone from coming between the two combatants, including even the other Decepticons. {{storylink|Spark (episode)|Spark}} Galvatron finally managed to conquer Unicron's influence long enough to hurl himself into the new sun Primus had created from the Super Energon, preferring to perish than to live as a puppet. Starscream, loyal to the very end, flew alongside his leader and disappeared into the stellar flames with him. {{storylink|The Sun}}
{{-}}

==''Cybertron'' cartoon==
{{voiceactor|[[Michael Dobson]] (English), [[Takaya Kuroda]] (Japanese)|[[Xia Lei]] (Chinese), [[Mieczyslaw Moranski]] (Polish), [[Marco Kröger]] (German), [[Leopoldo Ballesteros]] (Castilian Spanish), [[Luis Carreño]] (Latin-American Spanish), [[Pauli Virta]] (Finnish), [[Roberto Draghetti]] (Italian), [[Pocholo Gonzales]] (Tagalog, HERO TV dub), [[Jeong Myeong-jun]] (Korean), [[Michel Dodane]] (French)}}

[[File:Starscream cybertron stockfootage.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|[[Don Figueroa|Figueroa?]] I barely know 'er!]]

A decade after Starscream and Galvatron disappeared into Primus's sun, the deity's plan to contain Unicron's spark failed when the sun collapsed, becoming a deadly [[Unicron Singularity|black hole]] that threatened Cybertron. The pair were freed, but were not unchanged: Galvatron was now Megatron again, wearing an [[Armor of Unicron|armor forged from Unicron's remains]], and Starscream's mind was his own once more. But within that mind grew a new ambition—now, Starscream sought to oust Megatron and become the leader of the Decepticons, then the universe.

From within their new base in Megatron's [[fire dimension]], the duo knew the time to strike had come when they learned that the ancient Transformer [[Vector Prime]] had approached the Autobots on Cybertron with information about the legendary [[Cyber Planet Key]]s, which could be used to seal the black hole. While Starscream caused a distraction, attacking the Autobots outside their base, Megatron teleported inside the complex and stole Vector Prime's [[Planet Map|map]] to the Cyber Planet Key locations, intending to use them for his own evil purposes. Starscream grappled with Landmine, and sent him tumbling toward the black hole, then carried his leader away to safety on the back of his vehicle mode. {{storylink|Fallen (episode)|Fallen}} Following the map to an asteroid field that they believed to be the location of the first key, Megatron and Starscream's search came up empty; Megatron nearly destroyed the map in anger, but Starscream stopped him, having realized that it was ancient and improperly aligned to the current layout of the cosmos. Vector Prime and a team of Autobots then attacked them, but Starscream and Megatron repelled them and retained possession of the map. {{storylink|Inferno (episode)|Inferno}}

[[File:Landmine starscream cyberkeypower.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]

Starscream was eager to make the search for the Cyber Planet Keys the Decepticons' focus, but Megatron was intrigued by the Autobots' relocation to Earth and decided to investigate. The pair staged an attack on the Autobots, but were beaten back without their ever learning that their enemies had been constructing a hidden base. {{storylink|Haven}} They returned for another bout soon after, but an underhanded rear attack from Starscream only wound up activating Optimus Prime's [[Cyber Key|Cyber Key Power]], with which he repelled the villains. {{storylink|Hidden (Cybertron)|Hidden}}

[[File:Space starscream jetmode.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]

While Megatron departed Earth for [[Velocitron]] to seek the first Cyber Planet Key, Starscream, together with [[Thundercracker (Armada)|Thundercracker]], was charged with searching Earth for the Keys' focusing device, the [[Omega Lock]]. Following the Autobots to a [[Mexico|Mexican]] museum that potentially held a lead to the Lock's location, Starscream unveiled his new Cyber Key-powered swords and engaged in a rematch with Landmine, who was still smarting after their previous battle. Outnumbered and with the museum lead proven false, Starscream called for retreat. {{storylink|Landmine (episode)|Landmine}} Starscream repeated his strategy a while later, following the Autobots to the [[United Kingdom|British Isles]]; this time, he fought a little smarter, refusing to let the Autobots lure him into range of their ground-bound weaponry, but Thundercracker was not so wise, and brought defeat on the pair with his carelessness. {{storylink|Space (episode)|Space}} The pair tried to get proactive after this, with Starscream staging an attack that kept the Autobots busy so that Thundercracker could follow their trail back to their secret headquarters, but they were duped with a fake base. {{storylink|Rush (episode)|Rush}}

[[File:Speed starscream in firespace.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]

After a successful training session, Starscream met with Megatron to provide an update on his search for the Omega Lock. Met with the expected chastisement for his failures, Starscream began plotting for the future, secretly revealing that he had taken possession of the Planet Map at some point, and replaced Megatron's with a copy. After Megatron returned to Velocitron, Starscream discovered Thundercracker had tried to enact a plan of his own, luring the Autobots to him with a huge spotlight. He was quite willing to exploit the opportunity to put his training to the test, but when humans drew near their battleground, he surprised Optimus Prime by calling the fight off so that they could ensure their existence was kept secret from Earth's populace. Starscream then paid a brief visit to Velocitron, where he took Megatron's new goons [[Ransack (Cybertron)|Ransack]] and [[Crumplezone (Cybertron)|Crumplezone]] on a mission to menace [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] to test their capabilities. {{storylink|Speed}}
[[File:Ship starscream tummyguns.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Returning to Earth to continue his search for the Omega Lock, Starscream took Thundercracker in chasing a lead to west [[Africa]], but came up empty once again. They had more luck when they followed Vector Prime and the Autobots' human friends to the [[Sahara]], where they uncovered a ruined temple and what appeared to be the Omega Lock, but the discovery proved to be another facsimile. {{storylink|Time (episode)|Time}} Starscream then accompanied Megatron to the [[Jungle Planet (colony)|Jungle Planet]], home of the second Cyber Planet Key, where he was shocked by the bestial alternate modes of the native Transformers. Starscream advocated simply destroying the beast-bots and taking the Key, but Megatron favored subterfuge, so Starscream headed back to Earth. {{storylink|Search (episode)|Search}} Once there, he picked up the Omega Lock search once again, trailing the Autobots to the [[Bermuda Triangle]] and battling them underwater. They discovered the ancient Cybertronian starship ''[[Atlantis]]'' hidden within the Triangle, which Vector Prime teleported away. {{storylink|Deep}} Starscream tracked the ''Atlantis'' to the dark side of the moon, but during the subsequent space battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, he was randomly attacked by the newly arrived [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]], who then suddenly turned on the Autobots he had just helped, leaving all involved entirely mystified. The battle ended when the Autobot took possession of the Omega Lock from within the ''Atlantis'', and Starscream called retreat when the ship exploded. {{storylink|Ship}}
[[File:Race starscream offers hand.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|"Join me, and together, we can rule the universe as father and...dammit it's hard to do a good [[Darth Vader|Vader]] impression these days!]]
After outright refusing to obey Megatron's instructions to join him on Velocitron, Starscream decided to start making some decisions for himself, and expanded his forces by recruiting the disillusioned Autobot [[Mudflap (Cybertron)|Mudflap]] to his cause. {{storylink|Race}} He even tracked down and brought the enigmatic Sideways into the Decepticon fold, though he newcomer messing with Starscream almost right away: when Starscream's fake map led Megatron to an empty sector of space, he radioed Starscream to discuss further action, and a disguised Sideways cut in on the transmission to dupe the pair into traveling to Jungle Planet for a battle with the Autobots. {{storylink|Savage}} Starscream stayed on Jungle Planet and watched as Megatron trained up for his next bout with Optimus Prime, secretly hoping to see the Autobot leader destroy Megatron. {{storylink|Sand}} He then joined the Decepticons in making a final play for Velocitron's Cyber Planet Key; they failed and the Autobots succeeded in acquiring the key and installing it in the Omega Lock, causing a release of energy that Starscream, out in space at the time, sensed. {{storylink|Champion}} [[File:Ice starscream menaces humans.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]] The lock's signal led the Autobots to the Arctic, and Starscream and Mudflap followed them there to gain information about the mystery, menacing the Autobots' human allies in the process. The pair battled [[Scattorshot (Cybertron)|Scattorshot]], who held them off until the other Autobots turned up, forcing Starscream to order withdrawal. {{storylink|Ice}}

Returning to Jungle Planet, Starscream and Sideways surreptitiously observed planet leader [[Scourge (Cybertron)|Scourge]] preparing for a battle with Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Honor}} Concerned for the battle's outcome, Megatron had Starscream and the other Decepticons attempt to prevent the Autobots from arriving at the designated hour, but their delaying tactics met with failure. {{storylink|Primal (Cybertron)|Primal}} Prime subsequently defeated Megatron and won the Jungle Planet's Cyber Planet Key, prompting a furious Megatron to lead Starscream and Thundercracker in a bombing run on Scourge's temple. Prime played a shell game with the Key to hide it from the Decepticons; deducing that [[Overhaul (Cybertron)|Leobreaker]] and [[Snarl (Cybertron)|Snarl]] had the real key, Megatron and Starscream went after them. Starscream kept Snarl busy while Megatron tried to obtain the key, but the other Autobots rallied in time to fend the villains off. {{storylink|Trust (Cybertron)|Trust}}
[[File:Cyb ep23 stasis pods.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
When the ancient Autobot [[Crosswise (Cybertron)|Crosswise]] was freed from his frozen prison on Earth, Starscream knew it was time to make his move. Professing to have divined from the Planet Map the location of the third Cyber Planet Key, he sent Megatron and the other Decepticons off to the depths of space, while he and Sideways headed for Earth and trailed Crosswise, intending to force from him the key's ''true'' location, somewhere on Earth. What Starscream found instead was a vast underground holding cell in which Crosswise had imprisoned the [[ancient Decepticon]]s of his time. Liberating the ancient Decepticons to serve him, Starscream sent them out to scour the planet for the key, pausing only to communicate with Megatron. As Starscream revealed his ambition to his ex-leader at last, the duplicate map he had given Megatron expanded into a metallic sphere that imprisoned the Decepticons, keeping them out of Starscream's way as his quest began in earnest. {{storylink|Trap}}
[[File:Cyb ep25 starscream victorious.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
The Autobots retaliated by confronting Starscream directly, but were forced to withdraw when he badly wounded Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Invasion (episode)|Invasion}} Seeing no recourse, the Autobots had Crosswise's ally [[Evac (Cybertron)|Evac]] recover Earth's Cyber Planet Key from its hiding place in preparation for a retreat to Velocitron. Starscream attempted to intercept Evac mid-transit, but failed; instead, he followed him back to the Autobots' base and fought his way through the entire Autobot army to get to the Omega Lock and the keys. Managing to take down every able Autobot—though losing a sword to Leobreaker in the process—Starscream confronted Optimus Prime himself, and was able to successfully purloin the lock and all three keys by firing upon the Autobots' human allies, thereby forcing Prime to abandon the fight to save them. {{storylink|Retreat}}
[[File:Cyb ep29 super screamer.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Retreating to a small volcanic island in the South Pacific, Starscream added the Earth key to the Omega Lock {{storylink|Revelation (episode)|Revelation}} and began the lengthy process of absorbing the energy of Primus that the lock started to emit. {{storylink|Critical}} {{storylink|Assault}} Eventually, the infusion of Primus's energy transformed Starscream into a skyscraper-sized giant, complete with a [[Transformer clothing#Headwear|crown of leadership]] and a new Cyber Key cannon to replace his lost sword. Bursting from the volcano's erupting cone, Starscream was soon faced with a freed and furious Megatron; both combatants began surging with such Energon power that the Autobots had to intervene to prevent them from coming into contact with one another and causing a catastrophic reaction. {{storylink|Starscream (episode)|Starscream}} Megatron soon broke off the fight to focus on acquiring the Omega Lock, leaving the Autobots to keep Starscream busy. The giant Decepticon used his new powers to levitate the shattered terrain, creating a barrier of rocks, but this proved the unexpected key to his defeat: uniting in purpose to navigate the debris field, Optimus Prime and Autobot aerial ace [[Wing Saber (Energon)|Wing Saber]] combined into Sonic Wing Mode and brought Starscream to his knees. Defeated, the unconscious Starscream was teleported away to the remains of the ''Atlantis'' by Sideways to recuperate. {{storylink|United (episode)|United}}
[[File:Thunder-OhHi.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Starscream awoke a short time later, drained of much of the power the spark of Primus had granted him, but retaining his towering height. Learning from Sideways that, during his convalescence, the Autobots had used the Lock and Keys to transform Cybertron into the body of Primus himself, Starscream immediately made a beeline for the Transformers' homeworld. After a brief battle with the Autobots, he turned to attacking Primus directly, but the planet-sized god unveiled a pair of colossal cannons that blasted Starscream off into space. {{storylink|Balance}} During Starscream's attack on Primus, Sideways abducted the [[Mini-Con]] [[Jolt (Cybertron)|Jolt]], and Starscream returned with them to the ''Atlantis'' to supervise Sideways's attempt to download the location of the fourth Cyber Planet Key from the Mini-Con's memory. With that underway, Starscream returned to Cybertron to make another play for the Omega Lock; en route, he crossed paths with [[Thunderblast (Decepticon)|Thunderblast]], former member of his ancient Decepticon army, and forcibly instructed her to get the Lock for him. {{storylink|Memory (Cybertron)|Memory}} Afraid to disobey, Thunderblast instead tricked Starscream into coming down the planet's surface by professing she needed help carrying the Lock, leading to a battle between him and Megatron. When the Autobots got involved, Starscream withdrew to the ''Atlantis'' and warped the ship away to hide it from his enemies. {{storylink|Escape (episode)|Escape}}
[[File:Cyb ep37 moon maces.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Preparing to depart for [[Gigantion]], home of the final Cyber Planet Key, the Autobots re-energized Primus's body so he could hold the black hole at bay during their absence. Unfortunately, Starscream sensed Primus's reawakening and warped the ''Atlantis'' onto the scene, plunging himself directly into the beam of energy Primus was firing in the singularity's heart. Absorbing Primus's energy through the beam, Starscream grew to planet-size and engaged his own living god in battle. The fight was short and none too sweet, as Starscream was bludgeoned into submission by weapons made from Cybertron's moons and drained of his excess power. {{storylink|Titans}}
[[File:GiantLandmine.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Using the co-ordinates derived from Jolt's memory, Starscream took the ''Atlantis'' to the spatial warp that led to Gigantion. He arrived at the same time as the Autobots on board the ''[[Ogygia (Cybertron)|Ogygia]]'' and opened fire on them, but they escaped his wrath. {{storylink|Warp}} Both ships made it through the warp, and Starscream set the damaged ''Atlantis'' down in a crevice on Gigantion's surface. The Autobots soon discovered and attacked the ship, intending to rescue their human friend [[Bud Hansen]], who had, unbeknownst to Starscream, been trapped in the bowels of the ship for some time. Starscream turned the ship's guns on the invading Autobots, but Gigantion native [[Quickmix (Cybertron)|Quickmix]] gummed up his plan by burying the spaceship in tons of cement. {{storylink|City}} With the ''Atlantis'' lost to him, Starscream had to blast his way out of the crippled ship, and then began making his way down through the planet's many layers, heading for the Cyber Planet Key's resting place in the starship ''[[Lemuria (Cybertron)|Lemuria]]'' on Gigantion's lowest level. He arrived just behind Landmine, who used the Cyber Planet Key's power to temporarily turn himself into a giant, finally gaining the opportunity to revenge himself upon Starscream for the injuries he inflicted at the beginning of the black hole crisis. Starscream was blasted out of the ''Lemuria'' and sunk to the bottom of the lake in which it rested. {{storylink|Optimus (episode)|Optimus}}
[[File:Cyb ep46 final strike.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.5]]
Although put down by Landmine, Starscream was not out. Subsequently, Megatron—now Galvatron yet again—stole the Omega Lock and all four keys, and Starscream challenged him to a final battle for possession of them. Declaring that he had given himself over to his pursuit of power, and had no reason to hold back as he had nothing to lose, Starscream maintained the upper hand in the resultant clash, using his ability to increase the mass of his body and null cannons to reduce Galvatron to the verge of destruction. At the climatic point of the battle, Starscream and Galvatron both channeled unprecedented levels of energy, and so incredible was the reaction when the two fully-powered combatants collided that space and time itself was rent asunder by the final explosion. Starscream was hurtled into another dimension along with the interfering Sideways and [[Soundwave (Cybertron)|Soundwave]], leaving only his crown drifting through space. {{storylink|Showdown (Cybertron)|Showdown}}
[[File:Unfinished starscream survives.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Eventually, after the black hole was sealed and Galvatron's ambition was thwarted, the Decepticon leader stood dejected on an asteroid, wondering what was next for him. Somehow, Starscream briefly reached out across the dimensions, apparently via the fire dimension, and mocked his former commander for giving up, fueling his rage and inspiring him to one last battle with Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Unfinished}}

As the Autobots made preparations to begin their new galaxy-spanning [[space bridge]] initiative, Wing Saber—having departed from the rest of the Autobots to continue with his "loner" lifestyle—radioed Optimus to report that he had found a lead on Starscream's trail and was pursuing it. Landmine and a reformed Mudflap departed to aid him, and would eventually encounter Starscream within what appeared to be the fire dimension. {{storylink|Beginning}}
{{--}}

==''Cybertron'' comic==
[[File:Over-RunCybertron.jpg|thumb|upright=2.2|"Oh, Over-Run. Who will they ever find to replace you? ANYONE! Hahahahaha!"]]
During the early stages of the black hole crisis, the disembodied Mini-Con [[Over-Run (Armada)|Over-Run]] recalled how Starscream, back when he was an energon ghost, had killed his physical body just as he was uploading himself into Cybertron's planetary mainframe. {{storylink|Revelations Part 2}}

{{note|This event would have taken place in unpublished issues of [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave]]'s ''[[Transformers: Energon (comic)|Energon]]'' comic; see [[Starscream (Armada)#Dreamwave Armada continuity|that section]] of Starscream's article for more details. The ''Cybertron'' comic, however, is set concurrently with the cartoon, making this conflation of continuities confusing. The [[Unicron Singularity]]'s unraveling effect on all of space and time, mentioned in the same scene as this flashback occurs, is responsible for combining the timelines in this way.}}
{{--}}

==Notes==
* ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)|Armada]]'' Starscream's body parts make frequent cameos in the [[character model|CGI models]] of the [[generic]] Decepticon and Autobot soldiers during the ''Energon'' cartoon series, despite Starscream not actually ever appearing in his ''Armada'' body during the series.
* ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)|Energon]]'' Starscream being an ethereal being is a reference to [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Generation 1 Starscream]]'s stint as a ghost in the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|original cartoon]].
* Neither of Starscream's ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|Cybertron]]'' CGI models have the heels that [[Starscream (Armada)/toys#Cybertron|his toys]] do.
* Starscream's CGI [[Alternate mode|vehicle mode]] model in ''Cybertron'' also sports the missile launcher from his Voyager Class toy attached under his vehicle mode nosecone. This also carries over into his enlarged super form, despite the Supreme Class toy (that represents this form) never having it released with him. This is due to the animators just reusing the existing vehicle mode CGI model for his upgraded form, and just rescaling it. Despite all of this, the [[robot mode]] CGI models feature several differences from one another, with the larger upgraded model having a lot of intricate details added, just to really drive home how big he is.
* His moral decline in ''Cybertron'' stems from how ''Galaxy Force'' was originally changed to be a distinct continuity from ''Armada'' and ''Energon'', making it difficult for the show's English dub reconcile the different depictions of the character.

[[Category:Armada Autobots]]
[[Category:Armada Decepticons]]
[[Category:Cloud Decepticons]]
[[Category:Cybertron Decepticons]]
[[Category:Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category:Dimension hoppers]]
[[Category:Energon Decepticons]]
[[Category:Ghosts]]
[[Category:Legends Decepticons]]
[[Category:Seekers]]
[[Category:Turncoats]]

Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity

2026-04-06T15:49:28Z

NeonMicron: Rephrased a note due to the common misconception that Cybertron was intended to be a standalone show. It was standalone in Japan, which wasn't the original intent of Hasbro or (at the time) Takara.

{{faction|decepticon|autobot}}
{{suite}}
[[File:AStarscream cartoon.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|"Mr. [[Linkin Park]] AMV" himself.]]

From noble swordsman to traitorous backstabber, from Decepticon to Autobot and back again, from the land of the living to an ethereal existence as a ghost and beyond, the saga of '''Starscream''' is a long and storied one.

==''Armada'' cartoon==
{{voiceactor|[[Michael Dobson]] (English), [[Jin Yamanoi]] (Japanese)|[[José Sant'anna]] (Brazilian), [[Gerd Meyer]] (German), [[Niclas Fransson]] (Swedish), [[Sander de Heer]] (Dutch), [[Leopoldo Ballesteros]] (Castilian Spanish), [[Luis Carreño]] (Latin-American Spanish), [[Pauli Virta]] (Finnish), [[Roberto Draghetti]] (Italian), [[Yang Hee-moon]] (Korean), [[Alexandre Gillet]] (French)}}
[[File:Metamorphosis cybertron mode starscream.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Scanning an Earth vehicle basically means just adding kibble.]]

As soon as Starscream's [[spark]] left the [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] chamber, he was merged into the Decepticons. {{storylink|Rebellion (Armada)|Rebellion}}

Starscream accompanied [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron's]] forces to [[Earth]] in 2010 in search of the lost [[Mini-Con]]s. Warping to the planet shortly after his leader, Starscream and [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] materialized in the path of the three human children who were fleeing a battle between Megatron and [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], but were preventing from capturing the Mini-Con with them by the sudden appearance of [[Hot Shot (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Hot Shot]] and [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]]. After temporarily withdrawing to their new base on Earth's [[Moon (moon)|moon]]—where Starscream snickered as Megatron berated the lackadaisical [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]]—the Decepticons returned with new Earthly [[alternate mode]]s and made another attempt on the humans and their Mini-Con friends. {{storylink|Metamorphosis (Armada)|Metamorphosis}} Starscream's new jet mode gave him no advantage against the Mini-Con empowered Autobots, and the villains soon retreated to base once more, where Starscream and Demolishor got into a fight over who was Megatron's favored subordinate. Irritated with their antics, Megatron presented Demolishor with the sole Mini-Con the Decepticons had been able to recover and charged Starscream with finding his own, infuriating the younger 'bot. {{storylink|Base}}
[[File:Jungle-Null Ray Cannon.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|I DISAGREE!]]
Starscream was intent on taking the Mini-Con detected in [[Grand Canyon|Big Canyon]] for himself, but Megatron ordered him to stay behind at the base while the other Decepticons went after it. Disobeying orders, Starscream warped down and interfered with the fight, only to be caught offguard by [[Perceptor (Armada)|Perceptor]], allowing Optimus to obtain the Mini-Con. {{storylink|Comrade}} A severe "disciplining" from Megatron did not dissuade him, and during the next Mini-Con quest in [[Antarctica]], Starscream succeeded in locating the Mini-Con's storage panel in a crevasse wall. Starscream retrieved the panel after a tussle with Hot Shot, but when Red Alert snatched it away, Starscream fired upon him and wound up causing an avalanche, knocking himself into the crevasse's depths. {{storylink|Soldier (episode)|Soldier}}

Starscream blamed his lack of Mini-Con for his poor performance in a training simulation, but when the next storage panel was found during a forest battle, Megatron refused his request, intending to keep it for himself. While Megatron was occupied battling Optimus Prime, however, Starscream swooped in and grabbed the panel, opening it and bonding with the Mini-Con within, [[Swindle (Armada)|Swindle]]. With the new [[Null-ray|null laser cannons]] Swindle granted him, Starscream sent the Autobots packing, and gave Megatron more than a little cause for concern. {{storylink|Jungle}} [[File:Carnival-Starscream Sensei.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Hey, this is my neighborhood, you and your paisan must honor ME!!!]] He proceeded to strut around the base with Swindle on his shoulder, making fun of Demolishor, {{storylink|Carnival}} but his mockery was soon to be replaced with concern; after a mission in the Sahara Desert, Megatron forced Demolishor to hand over the next Mini-Con he found to him. Starscream took no delight in this mistreatment of his comrade. {{storylink|Palace}}

Starscream helped enact Megatron's plan to force the Autobots to trade their captured human friends for the Mini-Cons, but it met with failure. {{storylink|Confrontation (episode)|Confrontation}} Later, he helped the Decepticons explore the American underground for the next Mini-Con, but confined and unable to fly, he had Swindle do his searching for him, to no avail. {{storylink|Underground (episode)|Underground}} He had similarly little luck in an underwater scuffle with Hot Shot when the Mini-Con quest took the Transformers to a sub-aquatic ruin, {{storylink|Ruin}} and his misfortune continued during the battle that following on a volcanic island. There, Megatron also continued to berate Starscream for whatever move he made on the battlefield, finding fault in every decision Starscream made. {{storylink|Prehistory}} After this run of failures, the Decepticons got proactive, invading the Autobot base to capture the Mini-Cons that together formed the [[Star Saber (Armada)|Star Saber sword]], but in the course of the attack, Starscream was lured into a hall of mirrors by Red Alert and fell down a shaft. He tried to fly back up it in jet mode, but Red shut a series of panels on top of him, clipping his wings. {{storylink|Swoop (episode)|Swoop}}

[[File:Overmatch Starscreamswordslice.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|That was a part of my body, you asshole!]]
Though successfully formed, the Star Saber wound up in Autobot hands, and Starscream felt the blade's power for himself when Hot Shot unleashed it against him during their next meeting. Furious over the defeat and with his anger only stoked by insults toward his capabilities by the Decepticons' new member [[Scavenger (Armada)|Scavenger]], Starscream challenged Hot Shot to one-on-one combat when next they clashed. Starscream gave a better account of himself in this rematch, but he met defeat once again when the Star Saber cleaved his own sword in two. {{storylink|Overmatch}} After helping Megatron supervise Scavenger's excavation efforts during the search for the next Mini-Con, {{storylink|Gale}} Starscream got another chance against Hot Shot when the young Autobot and his new teammate [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] were inadvertently warped to the moon. Starscream was on the verge of defeat yet again until Sideways revealed himself to be a traitor and knocked the sword from Hot Shot's grasp, straight into Starscream's waiting hands. {{storylink|Credulous}}
[[File:Conspiracy starscream and airdefteam.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|"You left the kids with WHO!?"]]
With the Star Saber now his to command, Starscream's arrogance grew, as did his lack of popularity with the other Decepticons. To remedy this, Megatron had [[Leader-1 (Armada)|Leader-1]] fire on Starscream during combat with the Autobots in a fog-shrouded forest. The lack of visibility caused Starscream to mistakenly believe Demolishor was an Autobot shooting at him, and would have cleaved him in two with the Star Saber if Megatron had not blocked the strike. With the weight of his teammates opinion regarding his ability to wield the blade against him, Starscream was forced to hand the Star Saber over to Megatron. {{storylink|Conspiracy}} After this incident, Scavenger disappeared, and Starscream—still smarting from his barbs—opined that he had switched sides, and demanded the right to bring him in. Megatron refused, but Starscream did still accompany all the Decepticons on the mission to track Scavenger down, during which they found out he had indeed sided with Optimus Prime's forces. {{storylink|Trust (Armada)|Trust}}

After narrowly avoiding Megatron's wild swings of the Star Saber during a training exercise, {{storylink|Vacation}} Starscream partook in the clash over the final Mini-Con necessary to form the [[Skyboom (Armada)|Skyboom shield]], which the Decepticons successfully obtained (though Starscream was shot out of the sky by Smokescreen in the process). {{storylink|Reinforcement}} Starscream kept the Autobots busy during the next battle while Megatron unleashed both Star Saber and Skyboom on Optimus Prime, but was shot down by [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokscreen]]. {{storylink|Decisive Battle}} A little later, Starscream and the other Decepticons stayed on the moon while Megatron orchestrated a plan to scatter the Autobots across the globe; he and Sideways were very unenthusiastic about being on standby while Demolishor barked orders at them. {{storylink|Vow}}

[[File:Rebellion starscream vs megatron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"Oh, Megatron, please! This is getting awkward!"]]

After the Decepticons met with failure on the battlefield again, Megatron chose to pin the blame for the loss on Starscream—despite the fact he had followed orders correctly—and began brutalizing him upon their return to base. The abuse only ended when Demolishor and Sideways blasted their way into the room to stop Megatron from killing their comrade. Seeing a chance to disrupt the Decepticon power structure, Sideways spun lies to manipulate the brooding Starscream's emotions and coerce him into challenging Megatron to a duel. The resultant clash was a brief and vicious one; Megatron took the upper hand immediately, and although his taunts galvanized Starscream and gave him the strength to fight back and tip the fight in his favor for a while, Megatron eventually emerged victorious. Unwilling to beg for his life, Starscream merely urged Megatron to finish him, but the Decepticon leader spared him with the observation that he was a good soldier who might someday in the future have the strength to best him. {{storylink|Rebellion (Armada)|Rebellion}}

In the Decepticons' next bout with the Autobots, Starscream got in a shouting match with Hot Shot over who the Mini-Cons belonged with.{{storylink|Chase (episode)|Chase}}

[[File:Tactician starscream jetmode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Back in 2002, this was considered aerodynamic.]]
Following another confrontation with the Autobots, the Decepticons were joined by tactician [[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]], whose prowess was well known to Starscream. Thrust was likewise impressed with Starscream's abilities and enlisted him as his second for his first battle plan against the Autobots, which involved trapping them in a canyon and strafing them from the air. The plan was foiled by the arrival of [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]], who personally blew Starscream out of the sky. {{storylink|Tactician}} Starscream got some revenge soon after when he and Thrust hit Jetfire with an airborne assault, but Starscream got shot down again when the Autobot revealed his ability to combine with Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Linkup}}

Growing suspicious of Sideways after recent events, Starscream joined the Decepticons’ effort to root him out, discovering that he was an agent of a mysterious greater power. Once he was forced from their ranks, Starscream and the Decepticons engaged the Autobots in a beachfront battle, {{storylink|Detection}} dogfighting with Jetfire again {{storylink|Awakening (Armada)|Awakening}} then strafing Hot Shot. The Decepticons nonetheless lost when the Autobots acquired the [[Requiem Blaster (Armada)|Requiem Blaster]]. {{storylink|Desperate}}

[[File:Sacrifice starscream and starsaber.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|You don't kill a man by mucking about with rifles, arrows, rocks, or other long-distance rubbish. You kill him by grabbing the biggest bloody sword you can find, running up nice and close to him, and chopping the dumb bastard's head off.]]
After recuperating back at base {{storylink|Runaway}} and being present for the arrival of new member [[Wheeljack (Armada)|Wheeljack]], {{storylink|Past II}} Starscream found himself wielding the Star Saber once again, control of the weapon ceded to him by Megatron as part of a plan to lure out the Autobots so that the Decepticon could steal the Requiem Blaster from them. Taking to the battlefield solo, Starscream caused havoc with the sword, only for it to deactivate in his hands as Optimus Prime's lectures wormed their way inside his head. Surrounded by the Autobots, Starscream called for aid from his fellow Decepticons, only to discover that he had been completely abandoned—he had, without his knowledge, been used as a mere decoy while his teammates invaded the Autobot base and stole the Requiem Blaster. {{storylink|Sacrifice}}

[[File:Regeneration starscream vs hotshot.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|...now kiss?]]
Returning to base dejected and furious, Starscream attacked Thrust with the Star Saber, before being told be Megatron to stand down. He tried to unwind with an energy bath, but his anger boiled over when he was ordered to return the Star Saber Mini-Cons to Megatron and overheard his leader and Thrust mocking him. He proceeded to go on a rampage through the Decepticon base, turning the Saber's power on his fellows and clashing with Megatron and the Requiem Blaster. Seeking asylum with the Autobots, he flew to Earth with [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Tidal Wave]] in pursuit, crash landing near the Autobots' base. At the Star Saber Mini-Cons' behest, Optimus Prime used the Saber to protect Starscream, and gave him the benefit of the doubt when he claimed he wanted to join the Autobots to help them take down Megatron. To prove his good faith, Starscream provided them with the contents of his databanks to decode, but Hot Shot was not so easily swayed, and he and Starscream began fighting. Their face-off was interrupted by Smokescreen (rebuilt with a new body), who put a stop to their brawl. {{storylink|Regeneration (Armada)|Regeneration}}
[[File:Rescue starscream and the autobots.jpg|thumb|upright=2.2|Starscream's Facebook cover photo.]]
Using the information provided by Starscream, the Autobots proceeded to stage an invasion of the Decepticons' moonbase. Optimus instructed Starscream to hold back and use his knowledge of the base's layout to help locate and liberate the Decepticons' captive Mini-Cons. But Starscream was too hungry for payback against Megatron to comply, and Hot Shot had to take over his mission. When Hot Shot was in dire straits during a battle with Megatron, however, Starscream came to his aid, and the pair united their strength to topple the Decepticon leader. Starscream was eager to end Megatron's life, but upon the successful evacuation of the Mini-Cons, Optimus called for retreat, forcing Starscream to choose between his hew alliance and his desire for revenge. In the end, he returned to Earth with the Autobots, but was left feeling that he did not truly belong with them either. {{storylink|Rescue}}
[[File:Mars starscream and alexis.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|NO SHIPPING!]]
Both his Mini-Con partners and the human [[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]] attempted to console him, but he was too consumed by his own self-doubt. Soon thereafter, Starscream's flight capabilities saw him drafted to join Jetfire on a mission to [[Mars (planet)|Mars]] to recover a Mini-Con, during which he was shot down by Tidal Wave. By the time Jetfire had located him, Starscream was so wrapped up in self-pity that he refused to do as his Autobot superior ordered, forcing Jetfire to handcuff him and charge him with dereliction of duty. On the return trip to Earth, the pair discovered the object of their quest on an asteroid, but were then attacked by Tidal Wave once again; speaking with real passion for the Autobot cause, Starscream was able to talk the Mini-Con, [[Firebot (Armada)|Firebot]], into turning its weapons on the giant Decepticon. It looked like the pair were home free, only for Megatron to appear in their path with the Requiem Blaster in hand. Brought into proximity for the first time, the blaster, the Star Saber and the Skyboom (wielded by Jetfire) resonated with one another, causing a huge flare of energy that covered Jetfire and Starscream's escape. Back on Earth, Alexis thanked Starscream for his efforts and told him she was sure the Autobots were the right fit for him, and while he seemed to brush her words off, she soon discovered that he had brought back a bejewelled rock from Mars as a souvenir for her and the other kids. {{storylink|Mars (episode)|Mars}}
[[File:Crack starscream kids and chamois.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Is there some sort of cash alternative?]]
Uninterested in helping the Autobots build a spaceship to return to Cybertron, Starscream stalked off to his quarters where he was shocked to find Alexis and the other kids throwing him a surprise party to thank him for the Martian rock, gifting him with a handmade [[Chamois of Friendship|chamois]]. A little later, detecting a curious signal, Starscream ventured out to investigate and was confronted by Thrust, who (secretly working towards his own goals in conjunction with Sideways) petitioned him to return to the Decepticons and help him take Megatron down from within. Thrust suggested that he steal the Skyboom shield to "prove" to Megatron his desire to rejoin him, but Starscream refused. Unfortunately, [[Billy (Armada)|Billy]] and [[Fred (Armada)|Fred]] overhead their conversation and raced off to tell the Autobots, who were quick to turn on Starscream when he returned to the base after they could not find the Skyboom Mini-Cons anywhere. Unbeknownst to anyone, the kids had merely taken the Mini-Cons out for a walk, but the Autobots' deep-seated distrust of Starscream had been made evident—confronting Thrust in battle again a short time later, Starscream found himself swayed by the Decepticon's silver tongue, and swooped into the battlefield below, snatching up the Skyboom and departing alongside Thrust, back in the Decepticon fold again, but vowing never to forget his new human friends. {{storylink|Crack (episode)|Crack}}

[[File:Crisis starscream and thrust.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Phallic object? I SAID NO SHIPPING!]]

With all three Mini-Con weapons now in Decepticon hands thanks to his defection, Starscream soon forced Thrust to tell him his plan for them: they would be combined to forge a weapon of planet-destroying power known as the [[Hydra Cannon]]. When completed and mounted on the Decepticons' new spacecraft, Megatron placed Starscream at the cannon's controls and charged him with firing the shot that would obliterate the Earth. {{storylink|Threaten}} Unwilling to seal the fates of all the friends he had made on Earth, Starscream struggled with the test Megatron had laid before him, but fortunately, Optimus Prime and Jetfire attacked the cannon before he had to press the button. Ordered out into battle to stop them, Starscream allowed Jetfire to hurl him into Tidal Wave, knocking over the titanic Decepticon and sparing Prime his assault. Starscream's efforts saved the Earth, but Optimus Prime perished absorbing the Hydra Cannon's blast. {{storylink|Crisis (Armada)|Crisis}}
[[File:Puppet i look like thundercracker.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Hey, I look like that guy from that thing!]]
Though regretful over Prime's death, Starscream joined the Decepticons in departing Earth's solar system aboard their new ship and heading back to Cybertron. {{storylink|Remorse}} Starscream detected an Autobot vessel giving the Decepticons chase, though Megatron remained unconcerned over this development. {{storylink|Depart}} In the battle that followed, Starscream and Hot Shot revived their old rivalry, but fighting soon ceased when the Mini-Cons combined their powers to resurrect Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Miracle (episode)|Miracle}} Immediately following this, Hot Shot and [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] were sucked away through a worm hole to a barren planet; Starscream, Megatron, and Demolishor followed, Megatron intending to destroy their divided foes despite Starscream's suggestions that they used them as hostages. Attacked by [[Nemesis Prime (Armada)|Nemesis Prime]], a mysterious dark doppelgänger of Optimus Prime, they were badly damaged, but found themselves repaired by the combined powers of their partner Mini-Cons, their armors strengthened and [[spontaneous recoloration|recolored]] in the process. Observing his new blue color scheme, Starscream remarked upon his similarity to fellow Decepticon [[Thundercracker (Armada)|Thundercracker]]. {{storylink|Puppet}}

[[File:Drift starscream smiles.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]

Returning to Cybertron, Starscream aided in the Decepticon effort to take control of the planet with the Mini-Con weapons, though his concern over the methods Megatron—now "Galvatron" after his upgrade—was employed grew, as did his suspicions regarding Thrust's ulterior motives after his gleeful reaction to the appearance of a black hole over their homeworld. {{storylink|Uprising (Armada)|Uprising}} When Hot Shot broke into the Decepticon base, pleading for an alliance to fight the mysterious common foe behind the black hole, [[Unicron]], Starscream finally called Thrust out on his scheming in front of everyone. With Galvatron also suspicious, Thrust revealed that he was an agent of Unicron's, stole the Requiem Blaster and Skyboom shield, and fled into the planet's depths with a vengeful Starscream in hot pursuit. {{storylink|Dash (episode)|Dash}} He soon caught up to Thrust, but just after he turned down the traitor's offer to work together, Starscream was shocked to see Alexis and the other human kids and their Mini-Cons watching their confrontation, having come to Cybertron with the Autobots. When Thrust threatened them with the Requiem Blaster, Starscream lunged for him and was struck by the Blaster's beam and slain. Fortunately, the Mini-Con [[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]] used his powers to rewind time a few scant moments and intervened to throw Thrust's aim off, saving Starscream's life. Thrust escaped while Starscream shielded the kids from falling rubble caused by the errant blast, and once he was sure they were okay, continued his pursuit.{{storylink|Drift (episode)|Drift}}

[[File:Portent starscream readyforaction.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|It is obvious that this contest cannot be decided by our knowledge of the Force... but by our skills with a lightsaber.]]

The chase led through a [[Cybertron-Unicron warp gate|warp gate]] that brought Starscream to a strange pseudo-organic cavern, where he was beset by [[bot-spider]]s for again refusing an offer to join Thrust and Sideways in their scheme. Hot Shot, Wheeljack and the kids arrived to help, but he instructed them to go on ahead; after defeating the spiders, Starscream was amazed to see that Alexis had waited for him to make sure he was okay. The dangers of the caverns soon proved too much to endure, so Starscream decided to carry Alexis to safety, but in their escape, the girl's necklace fell off. Alexis insisted on going back for it, forcing Starscream to fend off attacking tentacles and leaving him gape-mouthed with the revelation that the necklace was important to her because she had made it from the Martian rock he had given her. Moments later, they escaped the caverns and discovered that they had been inside Cybertron's moon—and that the moon was actually a disguised Unicron! Alexis pleaded with Starscream to join the Autobots in fighting Unicron, and even Hot Shot agreed, but Starscream refused, no longer sure of where he belonged and afraid he would betray his friends again. {{storylink|Portent}}

[[File:Cramp starscream dies.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4 | my chest hurts.]]

Realizing that it was only by uniting with the Autobots that the Decepticons could hope to defeat Unicron, Starscream resolved to prove the reality of the chaos-bringer's threat to Galvatron, who refused to acknowledge it and considered it an Autobot trick. To do so, however, Starscream realized that he would have to end his own life, and so interrupted a battle between Galvatron and Optimus to challenge Galvatron to one last duel that would settle all accounts between them. In the course of the fight, Starscream proved to Galvatron how far he had come as a warrior, but at the final moment, held back on delivering the killing stroke, instead allowing Galvatron to run him through with the Star Saber. With the last of his strength, Starscream opened fire on Unicron, and the planet-eater retaliated with a lightning-blast that utterly obliterated Starscream, reducing his body to ash. With this action, Starscream proved that the threat of Unicron was real, and Megatron agreed to ally with Optimus against him. {{storylink|Cramp}}

{{--}}

==Japanese cartoon continuity==
===''Cloud''===
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Encounter}} {{storylink|Hammer (Cloud)|Hammer}} {{storylink|Return}} {{storylink|Transformers Cloud Compilation Comic|Compilation Comic}}}}

===''Legends'' comic===
Following his sacrifice against Unicron, Starscream manifested as a ghost in the [[Legends World]] thanks to the power of the dimension's "[[spirit energy]]". {{storylink|LG18 Armada Starscream Super Mode}} He was left without any memories and returned to being a loyal servant of Megatron, who had also traveled to the Legends world. {{storylink|LG14 Ultra Magnus Prologue Part 3: Autumn Megatron Festival Chapter|Autumn Megatron Festival Chapter}} He helped Megatron plunder the world of its Mini-Cons, and located the very rare specimen [[Dragoyell]] for his leader. Both of them retreated after Megatron had his power drained through an accidental [[Powerlinx]] with [[Rattrap (Legends)|Rattrap]]. {{storylink|LG-EX Armada Megatron}} Megatron then settled for simply purchasing Mini-Cons legally, relying on Starscream as a source of income and forcing him to take on multiple part-time jobs. He was just leaving for his night-time job when [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|another Megatron]] showed up at the restaurant they were eating at. The other Megatron was surprised by his presence, having had his own [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] once, something the two Megatrons ended up bonding over during his absence. {{storylink|LG14 Ultra Magnus Prologue Part 3: Autumn Megatron Festival Chapter|Autumn Megatron Festival Chapter}} When Megatron returned home with an [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/toys#Legends|Ultra Magnus]] toy, having been defeated in battle with Magnus and wanting to find his weaknesses through the toy, Starscream protested that his leader had promised not to buy toys that weren't Mini-Cons. He was further disheartened when Megatron ended up liking the toy, suggesting he might buy more big toys in the future. {{storylink|Ultra Magnus Sequel#Armada Megatron Chapter|Armada Megatron Chapter}}

[[File:Tflegendsvol18Starscream.jpg|thumb|]]
At one point, Starscream was given a [[Swindle (Armada)|Spark Grid]] toy by Megatron as a reward for his services, making him feel sentimental. {{storylink|LG-18 Armada Starscream Super Mode Prologue 2}} While working as a waiter, Starscream was attacked by [[Slipstream (Animated)|Slipstream]], who mistook him for [[Starscream (Animated)|her own hated Starscream]]. His pleas that he was the wrong Starscream fell on deaf ears, and his attempts to get help from [[Blackarachnia (Legends)|Blackarachnia]] failed when she sided with Slipstream instead. When he returned home to gripe about how scary women are, Megatron ignored his story and just wanted his credit card for buying more toys. {{storylink|LG-16 Slipstream Sequel}} Fired over the incident, Starscream was looking for a new job when he witnessed [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] collapsing on the street. Learning that she had a job she couldn't attend to because of her condition, he offered to take her place, and ended up working at the [[Starscream (Legends)|local Starscream]]'s maid cafe. He was confused about why they'd let a man work there, so the other Starscream explained that it was normally a "little brother cafe" with cross-dressing maids and that Windblade only worked there because he was feeling sympathetic towards her, causing Armada Starscream to admit his counterpart was a pretty nice guy. {{storylink|LG-18 Armada Starscream Super Mode Prologue 1}}

Returning to the cafe, Windblade explained to Starscream that her condition was caused by the [[Zamojin (species)|Zamojin]] trying to take control of her using spirit energy, a power accumulated by Armada Megatron's uncontrollable desire for toys. Knowing that she would destroy the Legends World if the Zamojin got their hands on her again, she tearfully asked the baffled Starscream for help. His Spark Grid then revealed himself to be a real Mini-Con and imbued Starscream with the power of his people, powering him up into his super mode and giving him the resolve to stop Megatron and save Windblade and the Legends World... or die trying. {{storylink|LG-18 Armada Starscream Super Mode Prologue 2}} Confronting Megatron in [[Akihabara]], he tried to convince his leader to give up on his toys and cut off the Zamojins' power supply, but Megatron refused and battled Starscream for betraying him. Starscream's worst fears came true when the Zamojin were able to take control of Windblade, and he channeled all his power into his Null Laser Cannons for an attack that would destroy both him and Windblade but save the world. He broke off his attack when [[Alpha Trion]] brought forth Alexis, whose presence caused him to calm down and recall his lost memories, and he returned to his home dimension alongside her. {{storylink|LG18 Armada Starscream Super Mode}}

Starscream seemingly returned to death, as Alexis reminisced about him on a beach. {{Storylink|Transformers Legends Final Chapter "Epiloge"|Epiloge}}
{{--}}

==''Energon'' cartoon==
{{voiceactor|[[Michael Dobson]] (English), [[Nobuo Tobita]] (Japanese)|[[Niclas Fransson]] (Swedish), [[Sander de Heer]] (Dutch), [[Mieczyslaw Moranski]] (Polish), [[Gábor Forgács]] (Hungarian), [[Leopoldo Ballesteros]] (Castilian Spanish), [[Luis Carreño]] (Latin-American Spanish), [[Pauli Virta]] (Finnish), [[Roberto Draghetti]] (Italian), [[Alexandre Gillet]] (French)}}
{{noteslonly}}
[[File:STMM starscream.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"I do not have permission to die!"]]
Ten years after Starscream's death, when Megatron seized control of Unicron's body by ousting its former occupant, the alien being [[Alpha Quintesson]], the evicted extraterrestrial needed an agent to help him in his task of recreating the worlds destroyed by the chaos-bringer. Using what little [[Energon]] he had left, Alpha Q recreated another of Unicron's victims—Starscream. {{storylink|Megatron Raid}} However, Alpha Q ran out of energon before the process could be completed, leaving Starscream incomplete—his memory blank, and his body unstable, constantly shifting from a physical to an ethereal form, able to teleport by "ghosting" from location to location. {{storylink|Starscream the Mysterious Mercenary}} Charged with defeating Optimus Prime in order to break the Autobot monopoly on Energon, with the promise of a completed physical body as his reward, Starscream was dispatched to the Autobots' [[Ocean City]] on Earth, where he engaged Prime in battle, but soon withdrew when the Autobot leader got the upper hand. {{storylink|Megatron Raid}} He soon turned to stealth, invisibly stalking Prime through the corridors of Ocean City, but the human [[Kicker Jones|Kicker]]'s ability to sense Energon allowed him to detect Starscream and tip the Autobots off to his presence.[[File:SSTM starscream ghost.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]] Optimus Prime proceeded to call Starscream out and lead him through a [[space bridge]] to Earth's moon, but the battle between the two that ensued was interrupted by Megatron. Starscream exploited the distraction to blast Prime, and was then summoned back to Alpha Q, his task believed complete, but Prime was soon revived. {{storylink|Starscream the Mysterious Mercenary}}

On his return flight through space to his master, Starscream was redirected to join up with [[Scorponok (Energon)|Scorponok]], Alpha Q's mole within Megatron's forces, so that they could together make another attempt on Prime's life. Starscream battled Prime in the [[asteroid belt]], but was ordered to pull out by Alpha Q in advance of Megatron's arrival on the scene. {{storylink|Battle of the Asteroid Belt}} He soon returned to Alpha Q's side, and watched as a [[Terrorcon (Energon)|Terrorcon]] swarm rained Energon successfully stolen from the Autobots down on them. {{storylink|Energon Tower (episode)|Energon Tower}}
[[File:CrisisinJungleCity starscream stabbed.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Needing to retake Unicron's body from Megatron to further his plans, Alpha Q tasked Starscream with assassinating Megatron. Stealing inside the chaos-bringer's inert form, Starscream came upon Megatron in sleep mode and ran him through with his sword, only for the Decepticon leader to disappear in a flash of energy. He had, in fact, merged himself with Unicron and gained control of his incredible powers over matter and energy, and quickly turned them upon Starscream, attacking him with multiple Megatron duplicates and Energon shards. Recognizing his old subordinate at last, Megatron plunged Starscream into absolute darkness, taunting him and driving him to the brink of madness, urging him to discard everything of himself, before appearing to stab him through the [[spark]]. Succumbing to Megatron's will, Starscream collapsed. {{storylink|The Legend of Rodimus}} His memories of Alpha Q and his plans were wiped away, and he became Megatron's loyal servant, joining the Decepticons in attacking [[Jungle City]]. {{storylink|Crisis in Jungle City}}

[[File:KickerBeware starscream threatens demolishor.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]

Starscream coerced from a reluctant Demolishor and Cyclonus information about Kicker's abilities which they had gained during their time among the Autobots. He was then among the Decepticons who attacked the ruins of [[Lunar City]] in a failed attempt to abduct Kicker for their own purposes. {{storylink|Kicker Beware!}} Starscream was later present during the attempt at destroying Earth, and retreated with the other decepticons. {{storylink|Energon Grid (episode)|Energon Grid}} Following the failed attack, Starscream found one of Alpha Q's Terrorcons spying on Megatron, but when Megatron took this as a cue to destroy all the Terrorcons he had stolen control of from the alien, an apologetic Starscream barred his way, intent on sparing the creatures their lives despite his loyalty to Megatron. The attack had actually been meant to force Scorponok to show his hand; when he did so, Starscream and Tidal Wave escorted him to Megatron, who hurled him into Earth's [[Energon grid (technology)|energon grid]], assuming Alpha Q would come to save his minion. {{storylink|Rodimus Friend or Foe?}} Alpha Q's ally [[Rodimus (Energon)|Rodimus]] eventually appeared with his men to save Scorponok, and Starscream led the charge against them, but was disarmed by Rodimus and felled by a volley of fire from [[Landmine (Energon)|Landmine]]. The Decepticons withdrew, but Starscream was fighting ready again a short time later for an abortive attack on the Autobots' ''[[Miranda II]]''. {{storylink|Go for Unicron!}}

[[File:GoForUnicron starscream opens fire.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]

Starscream watched as Megatron used Unicron's powers to grant Demolishor a new body, then joined his leader in battling the Autobots on an icy world. {{storylink|The Return of Demolishor}} Soon after, Starscream reported to Megatron that the ''Miranada II'' had drawn to close to Unicron's body, but on his leader's orders, refrained from entering the battle that ensued. {{storylink|A Tale of Two Heros}} When the Autobots were repelled and fled through a space bridge, Starscream advocated pursuit and led the Decepticons after them, with Megatron moving Unicron into the bridge right behind them. After dogfighting with Jetfire during the bridge transit, Starscream was horrified to see that the bridge had deposited them all in Cybertron's orbit, and raced back to Megatron's throne room to urge him to pull Unicron back before he was destroyed by the planet's energon grid. {{storylink|Battle Stations}} Unicron's appearance caused the Decepticons on Cybertron to riot, and Megatron and Starscream debated on how to best to exploit the chaos; {{storylink|Alpha Q: Identity}} Megatron settled on sending Starscream and his other troops down to the planet to exfiltrate war criminal [[Shockblast]], who had escaped in the mayhem. {{storylink|Shockblast: Rampage}}
[[File:SuvivalInstincts starscream avoids impaling.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Starscream fed Megatron updates as Decepticons abandoned Cybertron to join his forces on Unicron. No sooner had they arrived than Unicron's survival instinct unconsciously kicked in and he began feeding on those within him, and Starscream had to use his ghostly powers to avoid being impaled on energy-absorbing spikes Unicron generating within himself. {{storylink|Survival Instincts}} Megatron determined to sate Unicron's hunger with Cybertron itself, and Starscream was among the Decepticons sent down to the planet to deactivate its energon grid in preparation for the feeding, still trying to play peacekeeper between the antagonistic Shockblast and his other comrades. {{storylink|Each One Fights...}} The plan failed, so instead, the Decepticons soon conducted an Energon raid on [[Primus]]'s chamber, during which Starscream caught Optimus Prime off-guard and took him down. {{storylink|Unicron Unleashed}} With this Energon infusion, Unicron was able to transform to [[robot mode]], at which point Shockblast revealed his true colors and attempt to usurp control of the planet-eater from Megatron. Fortunately for the Decepticon leader, Starscream was there to catch Shockblast unawares, holding him at sword-point. {{storylink|Open Fire!}} Just then, Alpha Q rammed Unicron's disembodied head into his side, creating tremors that sent Shockblast plummeting into Unicron's depths. Starscream gave chase, catching up to him just as he was confronting Optimus Prime, who then petitioned Starscream for his help in stopping Megatron. The loyal spectre ignored his words and moved to attack Prime, but was stopped by the newly arrived [[Wing Saber (Energon)|Wing Saber]]. The Energon reaction between Unicron's head and body subsequently opened a rift in reality through which Starscream joined Megatron in fleeing. {{storylink|Ripped Up Space}}
[[File:JunglePlanet starscream closeup.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Where'd you get the beauty scar, tough guy?]]
In the new region of space on the other side of the rift, Alpha Q turned Unicron's head in an [[Energon Orb|Energon sun]] to accomplish his plan of recreating the planets consumed by Unicron, but the Decepticons immediately began gathering Energon from them. In battle on [[Iron Planet]], Starscream materialized to cover Megatron's escape, but got swatted away by Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Protection}} Later, when Shockblast—who had been captured by the Autobots—contacted Megatron to beg for assistance in escaping, Starscream accompanied his leader to free the turncoat. He and the liberated Shockblast were charged with hunting down the Autobot who had been Shockblast's guard, [[Inferno (Energon)|Inferno]], who Megatron then infected with Decepticon programming. {{storylink|Imprisoned Inferno}} As battles in this star system continued, Starscream aided his leader in ambushing Optimus Prime in the skies over [[Jungle Planet (Energon)|Jungle Planet]], {{storylink|Jungle Planet (episode)|Jungle Planet}} and was then assigned to spy on the Autobots on the planet, but failed to stop a team of them from departing through a space bridge and returning with an Energon tower. Starscream took part in the Decepticons' attempt to steal Jungle Planet's Energon before the tower was activated, which also met with failure. {{storylink|Bulkhead (episode)|Bulkhead}} Not long after, as Inferno's Decepticon programming began to overtake him, Starscream accompanied his leader to receive their new warrior, but the Autobot fought the process and turned on them. Only the timely intervention of Scorponok (also brainwashed by Megatron) stopped the suicidal Inferno from dragging Starscream into the sun. {{storylink|Farewell Inferno}}
[[File:OmegaSupreme starscream jet mode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
''While Snow Cat and Demolishor were gathering Energon from the smaller planets on the system's fringes, Starscream brought them new orders from Megatron to convene on the newly-reborn [[Planet Q]]. {{storylink|Return! Our Scorponok}}'' A little later, when Megatron was taking out his frustrations on Shockblast, Starscream made him stop before he killed him. {{storylink|Crash Course}} After another successful Energon raid, Starscream and the Decepticons were followed back to Unicron's body by the Autobots, joined by new member [[Omega Supreme (Energon)|Omega Supreme]]. Starscream and Scorponok tried taking on the ancient Autobot, but didn't even get off a single shot before he used his powers to seal them in energy bubbles and crash them into each other. {{storylink|Omega Supreme (episode)|Omega Supreme}} As the battle continued, Starscream was taken down by the restored Inferno, and he then withdrew inside Unicron's body to watch as Megatron reunited the chaos-bringer's head with his body. {{storylink|A Heroic Battle}} The Autobots continued their attack, and Starscream found himself facing Jetfire, Wing Saber and [[Bulkhead (Energon)|Bulkhead]], leaving him unable to fetch more Energon when Megatron demanded it. {{storylink|The Power of Unicron}} The newly restored Unicron soon began to rage out of control, and turned against the Decepticons; Starscream saved Mirage from being sucked inside the planet-eater, severing the energy tendrils that had seized him. {{storylink|Optimus Supreme}} Realizing that Megatron himself had been overtaken by Unicron's consciousness, Starscream instructed Scorponok to keep clear of the growing battle, knowing that their power could add nothing to the conflict. {{storylink|Unicron Perishes}}
[[File:Wishes upgraded starscream.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|And haters cared a little bit.]]
Unicron was subsequently destroyed by Optimus Prime, and in the wake of the battle many of the Decepticons were imprisoned. Starscream and Scorponok avoided captured and soon regrouped with Megatron, who had survived the destruction of Unicron's body, launching an attack on Cybertron just as peace seemed to be settling in. Starscream hacked his way into the prison complex and liberated his comrades. {{storylink|Ambition}} This task done, Starscream was summoned by Megatron to a reservoir of [[Super Energon]] beneath the planet's surface; immersion in the liquid had transformed Megatron into Galvatron once again, but it had destroyed any Terrorcons who had attempted to absorb it, so Megatron charged Starscream with wading into the pool to see if he could survive the experience. Blindly loyal as ever, Starscream boldly strode into the pool, and was supercharged by its power, gaining a new color-scheme in the process—though not without some deal of pain. He and his leader unleashed their new power against the Autobots, crippling Cybertron's energon grid and taking control of the planet, driving their enemies into hiding. {{storylink|Wishes}}

Starscream extrapolated the Autobots' logical hiding places, and the Decepticons pursued them to the orbiting ''Miranda II''. Though the battle saw them bring down the ship, Starscream got pretty badly smacked around by Rodimus. {{storylink|Galvatron!}}

At some point in time, Starscream was among the Decepticons who hacked into an Autobot virtual training program that took the form of a tag-team fighting tournament. Partnered with Galvatron, he bested Cyclonus and Demolishor (in their original forms), then defeated their upgraded forms, though it seemed that Galvatron did all the fighting. Galvatron then got fed up and left, and Starscream followed his lead. {{storylink|Distribution}}

[[File:OmegaTrain starscream gun.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Starscream offered Galvatron advice as the Decepticons tightened their hold over Cybertron. {{storylink|Break Through}} He later battled Optimus Prime and Wing Saber in a subterranean city into which the Autobots had retreated, but was shot in the back by [[Superion Maximus]]. {{storylink|The Omega Train}} Pulling himself together, Starscream joined with Galvatron for another confrontation with the Autobots soon after; this time, Starscream found himself at the mercy of Omega Supreme's powers once again. The battle fell apart when Autobot reinforcements arrived, and Starscream advised his leader to retreat to regain control of the situation. {{storylink|Decepticon Army}} Getting things back in order proved challenging due to the recalcitrance of the Decepticons' new two-faced tech specialist [[Six Shot (Energon)|Six Shot]], who demanded an apology from Galvatron for recent mistreatment at his hands. Galvatron naturally refused, but Starscream stepped forward and bowed on his master's behalf, which was enough for Six Shot. That dealt with, he went out into battle with the other Decepticons again, but had to ghost away to avoid a bludgeoning by the combined might of Optimus Prime and Omega Supreme. {{storylink|Ironhide Team}}

[[File:Formidable starscream in flames.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"I do believe I'm on fire."]]
Six Shot's trickery continued to caused further trouble, so Starscream was assigned to stay behind in the control room and watch over him during the Decepticons' next battle. When the Autobots staged a two-pronged attack, however, Starscream was forced to leave him to counter their attack; Six Shot's refusal to follow orders soon resulted in the accidental destruction of the Energon towers, and a furious Galvatron had Starscream abandon the battle to bring Six Shot under control. {{storylink|Formidable}} When the corridors into the control complex became locked down, Starscream investigated and discovered that Demolishor, Snow Cat and Mirage had been tricked into leaving Six Shot unsupervised, and he had disappeared, leaving the Autobots' human ally [[Sally Jones]] to sneak into the control room and cause chaos. She let the Autobots in, and Starscream and the other Decepticons tried in vain to hold them off before eventually pulling out. {{storylink|Galvatron Terror}}
[[File:TheSun starscream and galvatron.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]

Concurrently, Galvatron indulged in a second Super Energon immersion, which transformed him into a planet-sized titan. Starscream and the Decepticons harried the Autobots as they attempted to retreat in the face of this giant horror; then, when Optimus Prime attempted to battle Galvatron, Starscream kept Hot Shot from interfering. {{storylink|Destructive Power}} Prime and Galvatron's battle moved to Jungle Planet, where they both came under the influence of Unicron, whose consciousness still survived within Galvatron. Starscream continued to prevent anyone from coming between the two combatants, including even the other Decepticons. {{storylink|Spark (episode)|Spark}} Galvatron finally managed to conquer Unicron's influence long enough to hurl himself into the new sun Primus had created from the Super Energon, preferring to perish than to live as a puppet. Starscream, loyal to the very end, flew alongside his leader and disappeared into the stellar flames with him. {{storylink|The Sun}}
{{-}}

==''Cybertron'' cartoon==
{{voiceactor|[[Michael Dobson]] (English), [[Takaya Kuroda]] (Japanese)|[[Xia Lei]] (Chinese), [[Mieczyslaw Moranski]] (Polish), [[Marco Kröger]] (German), [[Leopoldo Ballesteros]] (Castilian Spanish), [[Luis Carreño]] (Latin-American Spanish), [[Pauli Virta]] (Finnish), [[Roberto Draghetti]] (Italian), [[Pocholo Gonzales]] (Tagalog, HERO TV dub), [[Jeong Myeong-jun]] (Korean), [[Michel Dodane]] (French)}}

[[File:Starscream cybertron stockfootage.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|[[Don Figueroa|Figueroa?]] I barely know 'er!]]

A decade after Starscream and Galvatron disappeared into Primus's sun, the deity's plan to contain Unicron's spark failed when the sun collapsed, becoming a deadly [[Unicron Singularity|black hole]] that threatened Cybertron. The pair were freed, but were not unchanged: Galvatron was now Megatron again, wearing an [[Armor of Unicron|armor forged from Unicron's remains]], and Starscream's mind was his own once more. But within that mind grew a new ambition—now, Starscream sought to oust Megatron and become the leader of the Decepticons, then the universe.

From within their new base in Megatron's [[fire dimension]], the duo knew the time to strike had come when they learned that the ancient Transformer [[Vector Prime]] had approached the Autobots on Cybertron with information about the legendary [[Cyber Planet Key]]s, which could be used to seal the black hole. While Starscream caused a distraction, attacking the Autobots outside their base, Megatron teleported inside the complex and stole Vector Prime's [[Planet Map|map]] to the Cyber Planet Key locations, intending to use them for his own evil purposes. Starscream grappled with Landmine, and sent him tumbling toward the black hole, then carried his leader away to safety on the back of his vehicle mode. {{storylink|Fallen (episode)|Fallen}} Following the map to an asteroid field that they believed to be the location of the first key, Megatron and Starscream's search came up empty; Megatron nearly destroyed the map in anger, but Starscream stopped him, having realized that it was ancient and improperly aligned to the current layout of the cosmos. Vector Prime and a team of Autobots then attacked them, but Starscream and Megatron repelled them and retained possession of the map. {{storylink|Inferno (episode)|Inferno}}

[[File:Landmine starscream cyberkeypower.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]

Starscream was eager to make the search for the Cyber Planet Keys the Decepticons' focus, but Megatron was intrigued by the Autobots' relocation to Earth and decided to investigate. The pair staged an attack on the Autobots, but were beaten back without their ever learning that their enemies had been constructing a hidden base. {{storylink|Haven}} They returned for another bout soon after, but an underhanded rear attack from Starscream only wound up activating Optimus Prime's [[Cyber Key|Cyber Key Power]], with which he repelled the villains. {{storylink|Hidden (Cybertron)|Hidden}}

[[File:Space starscream jetmode.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]

While Megatron departed Earth for [[Velocitron]] to seek the first Cyber Planet Key, Starscream, together with [[Thundercracker (Armada)|Thundercracker]], was charged with searching Earth for the Keys' focusing device, the [[Omega Lock]]. Following the Autobots to a [[Mexico|Mexican]] museum that potentially held a lead to the Lock's location, Starscream unveiled his new Cyber Key-powered swords and engaged in a rematch with Landmine, who was still smarting after their previous battle. Outnumbered and with the museum lead proven false, Starscream called for retreat. {{storylink|Landmine (episode)|Landmine}} Starscream repeated his strategy a while later, following the Autobots to the [[United Kingdom|British Isles]]; this time, he fought a little smarter, refusing to let the Autobots lure him into range of their ground-bound weaponry, but Thundercracker was not so wise, and brought defeat on the pair with his carelessness. {{storylink|Space (episode)|Space}} The pair tried to get proactive after this, with Starscream staging an attack that kept the Autobots busy so that Thundercracker could follow their trail back to their secret headquarters, but they were duped with a fake base. {{storylink|Rush (episode)|Rush}}

[[File:Speed starscream in firespace.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]

After a successful training session, Starscream met with Megatron to provide an update on his search for the Omega Lock. Met with the expected chastisement for his failures, Starscream began plotting for the future, secretly revealing that he had taken possession of the Planet Map at some point, and replaced Megatron's with a copy. After Megatron returned to Velocitron, Starscream discovered Thundercracker had tried to enact a plan of his own, luring the Autobots to him with a huge spotlight. He was quite willing to exploit the opportunity to put his training to the test, but when humans drew near their battleground, he surprised Optimus Prime by calling the fight off so that they could ensure their existence was kept secret from Earth's populace. Starscream then paid a brief visit to Velocitron, where he took Megatron's new goons [[Ransack (Cybertron)|Ransack]] and [[Crumplezone (Cybertron)|Crumplezone]] on a mission to menace [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] to test their capabilities. {{storylink|Speed}}
[[File:Ship starscream tummyguns.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Returning to Earth to continue his search for the Omega Lock, Starscream took Thundercracker in chasing a lead to west [[Africa]], but came up empty once again. They had more luck when they followed Vector Prime and the Autobots' human friends to the [[Sahara]], where they uncovered a ruined temple and what appeared to be the Omega Lock, but the discovery proved to be another facsimile. {{storylink|Time (episode)|Time}} Starscream then accompanied Megatron to the [[Jungle Planet (colony)|Jungle Planet]], home of the second Cyber Planet Key, where he was shocked by the bestial alternate modes of the native Transformers. Starscream advocated simply destroying the beast-bots and taking the Key, but Megatron favored subterfuge, so Starscream headed back to Earth. {{storylink|Search (episode)|Search}} Once there, he picked up the Omega Lock search once again, trailing the Autobots to the [[Bermuda Triangle]] and battling them underwater. They discovered the ancient Cybertronian starship ''[[Atlantis]]'' hidden within the Triangle, which Vector Prime teleported away. {{storylink|Deep}} Starscream tracked the ''Atlantis'' to the dark side of the moon, but during the subsequent space battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, he was randomly attacked by the newly arrived [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]], who then suddenly turned on the Autobots he had just helped, leaving all involved entirely mystified. The battle ended when the Autobot took possession of the Omega Lock from within the ''Atlantis'', and Starscream called retreat when the ship exploded. {{storylink|Ship}}
[[File:Race starscream offers hand.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|"Join me, and together, we can rule the universe as father and...dammit it's hard to do a good [[Darth Vader|Vader]] impression these days!]]
After outright refusing to obey Megatron's instructions to join him on Velocitron, Starscream decided to start making some decisions for himself, and expanded his forces by recruiting the disillusioned Autobot [[Mudflap (Cybertron)|Mudflap]] to his cause. {{storylink|Race}} He even tracked down and brought the enigmatic Sideways into the Decepticon fold, though he newcomer messing with Starscream almost right away: when Starscream's fake map led Megatron to an empty sector of space, he radioed Starscream to discuss further action, and a disguised Sideways cut in on the transmission to dupe the pair into traveling to Jungle Planet for a battle with the Autobots. {{storylink|Savage}} Starscream stayed on Jungle Planet and watched as Megatron trained up for his next bout with Optimus Prime, secretly hoping to see the Autobot leader destroy Megatron. {{storylink|Sand}} He then joined the Decepticons in making a final play for Velocitron's Cyber Planet Key; they failed and the Autobots succeeded in acquiring the key and installing it in the Omega Lock, causing a release of energy that Starscream, out in space at the time, sensed. {{storylink|Champion}} [[File:Ice starscream menaces humans.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]] The lock's signal led the Autobots to the Arctic, and Starscream and Mudflap followed them there to gain information about the mystery, menacing the Autobots' human allies in the process. The pair battled [[Scattorshot (Cybertron)|Scattorshot]], who held them off until the other Autobots turned up, forcing Starscream to order withdrawal. {{storylink|Ice}}

Returning to Jungle Planet, Starscream and Sideways surreptitiously observed planet leader [[Scourge (Cybertron)|Scourge]] preparing for a battle with Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Honor}} Concerned for the battle's outcome, Megatron had Starscream and the other Decepticons attempt to prevent the Autobots from arriving at the designated hour, but their delaying tactics met with failure. {{storylink|Primal (Cybertron)|Primal}} Prime subsequently defeated Megatron and won the Jungle Planet's Cyber Planet Key, prompting a furious Megatron to lead Starscream and Thundercracker in a bombing run on Scourge's temple. Prime played a shell game with the Key to hide it from the Decepticons; deducing that [[Overhaul (Cybertron)|Leobreaker]] and [[Snarl (Cybertron)|Snarl]] had the real key, Megatron and Starscream went after them. Starscream kept Snarl busy while Megatron tried to obtain the key, but the other Autobots rallied in time to fend the villains off. {{storylink|Trust (Cybertron)|Trust}}
[[File:Cyb ep23 stasis pods.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
When the ancient Autobot [[Crosswise (Cybertron)|Crosswise]] was freed from his frozen prison on Earth, Starscream knew it was time to make his move. Professing to have divined from the Planet Map the location of the third Cyber Planet Key, he sent Megatron and the other Decepticons off to the depths of space, while he and Sideways headed for Earth and trailed Crosswise, intending to force from him the key's ''true'' location, somewhere on Earth. What Starscream found instead was a vast underground holding cell in which Crosswise had imprisoned the [[ancient Decepticon]]s of his time. Liberating the ancient Decepticons to serve him, Starscream sent them out to scour the planet for the key, pausing only to communicate with Megatron. As Starscream revealed his ambition to his ex-leader at last, the duplicate map he had given Megatron expanded into a metallic sphere that imprisoned the Decepticons, keeping them out of Starscream's way as his quest began in earnest. {{storylink|Trap}}
[[File:Cyb ep25 starscream victorious.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
The Autobots retaliated by confronting Starscream directly, but were forced to withdraw when he badly wounded Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Invasion (episode)|Invasion}} Seeing no recourse, the Autobots had Crosswise's ally [[Evac (Cybertron)|Evac]] recover Earth's Cyber Planet Key from its hiding place in preparation for a retreat to Velocitron. Starscream attempted to intercept Evac mid-transit, but failed; instead, he followed him back to the Autobots' base and fought his way through the entire Autobot army to get to the Omega Lock and the keys. Managing to take down every able Autobot—though losing a sword to Leobreaker in the process—Starscream confronted Optimus Prime himself, and was able to successfully purloin the lock and all three keys by firing upon the Autobots' human allies, thereby forcing Prime to abandon the fight to save them. {{storylink|Retreat}}
[[File:Cyb ep29 super screamer.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Retreating to a small volcanic island in the South Pacific, Starscream added the Earth key to the Omega Lock {{storylink|Revelation (episode)|Revelation}} and began the lengthy process of absorbing the energy of Primus that the lock started to emit. {{storylink|Critical}} {{storylink|Assault}} Eventually, the infusion of Primus's energy transformed Starscream into a skyscraper-sized giant, complete with a [[Transformer clothing#Headwear|crown of leadership]] and a new Cyber Key cannon to replace his lost sword. Bursting from the volcano's erupting cone, Starscream was soon faced with a freed and furious Megatron; both combatants began surging with such Energon power that the Autobots had to intervene to prevent them from coming into contact with one another and causing a catastrophic reaction. {{storylink|Starscream (episode)|Starscream}} Megatron soon broke off the fight to focus on acquiring the Omega Lock, leaving the Autobots to keep Starscream busy. The giant Decepticon used his new powers to levitate the shattered terrain, creating a barrier of rocks, but this proved the unexpected key to his defeat: uniting in purpose to navigate the debris field, Optimus Prime and Autobot aerial ace [[Wing Saber (Energon)|Wing Saber]] combined into Sonic Wing Mode and brought Starscream to his knees. Defeated, the unconscious Starscream was teleported away to the remains of the ''Atlantis'' by Sideways to recuperate. {{storylink|United (episode)|United}}
[[File:Thunder-OhHi.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Starscream awoke a short time later, drained of much of the power the spark of Primus had granted him, but retaining his towering height. Learning from Sideways that, during his convalescence, the Autobots had used the Lock and Keys to transform Cybertron into the body of Primus himself, Starscream immediately made a beeline for the Transformers' homeworld. After a brief battle with the Autobots, he turned to attacking Primus directly, but the planet-sized god unveiled a pair of colossal cannons that blasted Starscream off into space. {{storylink|Balance}} During Starscream's attack on Primus, Sideways abducted the [[Mini-Con]] [[Jolt (Cybertron)|Jolt]], and Starscream returned with them to the ''Atlantis'' to supervise Sideways's attempt to download the location of the fourth Cyber Planet Key from the Mini-Con's memory. With that underway, Starscream returned to Cybertron to make another play for the Omega Lock; en route, he crossed paths with [[Thunderblast (Decepticon)|Thunderblast]], former member of his ancient Decepticon army, and forcibly instructed her to get the Lock for him. {{storylink|Memory (Cybertron)|Memory}} Afraid to disobey, Thunderblast instead tricked Starscream into coming down the planet's surface by professing she needed help carrying the Lock, leading to a battle between him and Megatron. When the Autobots got involved, Starscream withdrew to the ''Atlantis'' and warped the ship away to hide it from his enemies. {{storylink|Escape (episode)|Escape}}
[[File:Cyb ep37 moon maces.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Preparing to depart for [[Gigantion]], home of the final Cyber Planet Key, the Autobots re-energized Primus's body so he could hold the black hole at bay during their absence. Unfortunately, Starscream sensed Primus's reawakening and warped the ''Atlantis'' onto the scene, plunging himself directly into the beam of energy Primus was firing in the singularity's heart. Absorbing Primus's energy through the beam, Starscream grew to planet-size and engaged his own living god in battle. The fight was short and none too sweet, as Starscream was bludgeoned into submission by weapons made from Cybertron's moons and drained of his excess power. {{storylink|Titans}}
[[File:GiantLandmine.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Using the co-ordinates derived from Jolt's memory, Starscream took the ''Atlantis'' to the spatial warp that led to Gigantion. He arrived at the same time as the Autobots on board the ''[[Ogygia (Cybertron)|Ogygia]]'' and opened fire on them, but they escaped his wrath. {{storylink|Warp}} Both ships made it through the warp, and Starscream set the damaged ''Atlantis'' down in a crevice on Gigantion's surface. The Autobots soon discovered and attacked the ship, intending to rescue their human friend [[Bud Hansen]], who had, unbeknownst to Starscream, been trapped in the bowels of the ship for some time. Starscream turned the ship's guns on the invading Autobots, but Gigantion native [[Quickmix (Cybertron)|Quickmix]] gummed up his plan by burying the spaceship in tons of cement. {{storylink|City}} With the ''Atlantis'' lost to him, Starscream had to blast his way out of the crippled ship, and then began making his way down through the planet's many layers, heading for the Cyber Planet Key's resting place in the starship ''[[Lemuria (Cybertron)|Lemuria]]'' on Gigantion's lowest level. He arrived just behind Landmine, who used the Cyber Planet Key's power to temporarily turn himself into a giant, finally gaining the opportunity to revenge himself upon Starscream for the injuries he inflicted at the beginning of the black hole crisis. Starscream was blasted out of the ''Lemuria'' and sunk to the bottom of the lake in which it rested. {{storylink|Optimus (episode)|Optimus}}
[[File:Cyb ep46 final strike.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.5]]
Although put down by Landmine, Starscream was not out. Subsequently, Megatron—now Galvatron yet again—stole the Omega Lock and all four keys, and Starscream challenged him to a final battle for possession of them. Declaring that he had given himself over to his pursuit of power, and had no reason to hold back as he had nothing to lose, Starscream maintained the upper hand in the resultant clash, using his ability to increase the mass of his body and null cannons to reduce Galvatron to the verge of destruction. At the climatic point of the battle, Starscream and Galvatron both channeled unprecedented levels of energy, and so incredible was the reaction when the two fully-powered combatants collided that space and time itself was rent asunder by the final explosion. Starscream was hurtled into another dimension along with the interfering Sideways and [[Soundwave (Cybertron)|Soundwave]], leaving only his crown drifting through space. {{storylink|Showdown (Cybertron)|Showdown}}
[[File:Unfinished starscream survives.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Eventually, after the black hole was sealed and Galvatron's ambition was thwarted, the Decepticon leader stood dejected on an asteroid, wondering what was next for him. Somehow, Starscream briefly reached out across the dimensions, apparently via the fire dimension, and mocked his former commander for giving up, fueling his rage and inspiring him to one last battle with Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Unfinished}}

As the Autobots made preparations to begin their new galaxy-spanning [[space bridge]] initiative, Wing Saber—having departed from the rest of the Autobots to continue with his "loner" lifestyle—radioed Optimus to report that he had found a lead on Starscream's trail and was pursuing it. Landmine and a reformed Mudflap departed to aid him, and would eventually encounter Starscream within what appeared to be the fire dimension. {{storylink|Beginning}}
{{--}}

==''Cybertron'' comic==
[[File:Over-RunCybertron.jpg|thumb|upright=2.2|"Oh, Over-Run. Who will they ever find to replace you? ANYONE! Hahahahaha!"]]
During the early stages of the black hole crisis, the disembodied Mini-Con [[Over-Run (Armada)|Over-Run]] recalled how Starscream, back when he was an energon ghost, had killed his physical body just as he was uploading himself into Cybertron's planetary mainframe. {{storylink|Revelations Part 2}}

{{note|This event would have taken place in unpublished issues of [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave]]'s ''[[Transformers: Energon (comic)|Energon]]'' comic; see [[Starscream (Armada)#Dreamwave Armada continuity|that section]] of Starscream's article for more details. The ''Cybertron'' comic, however, is set concurrently with the cartoon, making this conflation of continuities confusing. The [[Unicron Singularity]]'s unraveling effect on all of space and time, mentioned in the same scene as this flashback occurs, is responsible for combining the timelines in this way.}}
{{--}}

==Notes==
* ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)|Armada]]'' Starscream's body parts make frequent cameos in the [[character model|CGI models]] of the [[generic]] Decepticon and Autobot soldiers during the ''Energon'' cartoon series, despite Starscream not actually ever appearing in his ''Armada'' body during the series.
* ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)|Energon]]'' Starscream being an ethereal being is a reference to [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Generation 1 Starscream]]'s stint as a ghost in the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|original cartoon]].
* Neither of Starscream's ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|Cybertron]]'' CGI models have the heels that [[Starscream (Armada)/toys#Cybertron|his toys]] do.
* Starscream's CGI [[Alternate mode|vehicle mode]] model in ''Cybertron'' also sports the missile launcher from his Voyager Class toy attached under his vehicle mode nosecone. This also carries over into his enlarged super form, despite the Supreme Class toy (that represents this form) never having it released with him. This is due to the animators just reusing the existing vehicle mode CGI model for his upgraded form, and just rescaling it. Despite all of this, the [[robot mode]] CGI models feature several differences from one another, with the larger upgraded model having a lot of intricate details added, just to really drive home how big he is.
* His moral decline in ''Cybertron'' stems from how ''Galaxy Force'' was originally changed to be a distinct continuity from ''Armada'' and ''Energon'', making it difficult to the show's English dub reconcile the different depictions of the character.

[[Category:Armada Autobots]]
[[Category:Armada Decepticons]]
[[Category:Cloud Decepticons]]
[[Category:Cybertron Decepticons]]
[[Category:Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category:Dimension hoppers]]
[[Category:Energon Decepticons]]
[[Category:Ghosts]]
[[Category:Legends Decepticons]]
[[Category:Seekers]]
[[Category:Turncoats]]

Collect 'Em All

2026-04-02T12:10:15Z

NeonMicron: /* Real-world references */

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015 cartoon)|Transformers: Robots in Disguise]]'' (2015) ep 7
|image=CollectEmAll Denny meets Filch.jpg
|caption="Let's start with the shirt. Take it off. ... What? It's hideous!"
|prev=As the Kospego Commands!
|next=True Colors
|title="Collect 'Em All"
|season=1
|season ep=7
|airdate=[[March 8]], [[2015]] (Australia/NZ) [[May 2]], [[2015]] (USA)
|production company=[[Allspark (company)|Hasbro Studios]]
|writer=[[Steven Melching]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|director=[[Vinton Heuck]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm7Yv7IbbVY
|videosite=YouTube
}}

'''As Denny and Russell work to stave off a greedy memorabilia collector, Bee and his Team chase a collector of their own—a Decepticon with an impulsive urge to hoard all things "shiny."'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:CollectEmAll Denny and Larry.jpg|thumb|left|250px|But wait! There's more!]]
A family, including their unenthusiastic kid, stop at a gas station on their way to a campout. The kid's wish for someone to save him from the family vacation is granted when a giant mechanical bird swoops down, grabs their camper and flies off. Meanwhile the Autobots are patrolling in search of a Decepticon signal without much luck. Monitoring from [[Vintage Salvage Depot for the Discriminating Nostalgist|the scrapyard]], [[Fixit (RID)|Fixit]] notes that the signal is on the move, and [[Strongarm (RID)|Strongarm]] and [[Sideswipe (RID 2015)|Sideswipe]] soon spot their quarry as it lands atop a transmission tower. As Fixit continues to monitor events in the field, the front bell at the scrapyard rings. [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] and [[Grimlock (RID 2015)|Grimlock]] head to back up their teammates as [[Denny Clay|Denny]] answers the front door and is irked to find it's [[Larry LaRue]], an ex-collector who's now hosting a reality TV show called ''[[Scrapmeisters]]''. Denny is not keen on being TV and throws Larry out. Elsewhere the bird Decepticon is getting the better of Sideswipe and Strongarm and starts carrying them off, until Bumblebee ninja-kicks her out of the air. A glint from an insulator on a nearby transmission tower catches the bird's eye, and she flies up to grab it. As Bumblebee tries to scale the tower to grab her, the power lines break, electrocuting him, and she flies off.

[[File:CollectEmAll Grimlock is a truck.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Who knew Grimlock liked cosplay?]]
Back at the scrap yard, [[Russell Clay|Russell]] asks his father why he doesn't want to be a star on television, which Fixit misinterprets. Denny says he doesn't have a desire to be rich and famous. The Autobots returns, and Fixit checks the ''[[Alchemor (RID)|Alchemor]]'' database and determines that the Decepticon they're after is compulsive thief [[Filch]], who has been merrily stealing everything shiny. Sideswipe observes that Strongarm's been hitting the rulebook hard lately, and Bumblebee attempts to give Strongarm a pep talk as he thinks she's feeling homesick. Meanwhile Filch launches from atop [[Crown City Colossus|the statue]] near [[Crown City]] and is detected by Fixit's instruments. The Autobots prepare to roll out, but Grimlock is disappointed when Bumblebee says he's not going because there's the risk of being seen by humans. Diving behind a stack of junk, he attaches wheels and a grill to himself in an attempt to look like a truck. Bumblebee isn't convinced.

[[File:CollectEmAll tug of war.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Hey, Filch! Go hunt down some students out of bed or something!]]
The other three Autobots head out with Denny, and find Filch attempting to pull a beam from the bridge into Crown City. Unfortunately they're not fast enough to stop her pulling it free, but Bumblebee grabs onto it as she flies overhead. A tug-of-war ensues as the bridge starts to crack, keeping Strongarm and Sideswipe occupied as they have to stabilize the structure. Denny adopts a disguise and manages to stop a police officer, whom he convinces to set up a road block by pretending to be from an exotic bird sanctuary. Back at the scrapyard, Grimlock reports that someone's climbing over the outer wall — it turns out to be Larry LaRue. Russell thinks having the scrapyard on TV might be a good thing as they might actually sell something, while Fixit is mainly confused as to how LaRue's video camera induces stellar fusion. Russell approaches LaRue and gets briefly interviewed before LaRue goes wandering around.

[[File:CollectEmAll Grimlock takes over bridge.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"Thank goodness Starscream's [[Mighty Big Trouble|dead]], otherwise he'd be here stroking my chin or something. What, you didn't see the last time a big green guy [[Rock Bottom|held up some scrap]] like this?"]]
The struggle continues on the bridge, until Filch notices the shine on Denny's helmet. She promptly grabs him and makes off with both him and the bridge beam. Grimlock soon gets a call for help from Bee, but has to again disguise himself as a truck to get past LaRue. Unfortunately LaRue sees him. Denny recovers consciousness to find himself along with a bunch of other scrap in the torch at the top of the statue near Crown City. He bumps into Filch who seems more hostile now he's not shiny, but he points out a recycling plant in the distance which sees her heading off in that direction. Unfortunately his phone battery is flat. Russell meanwhile covers for Grimlock by claiming he's a remote-controlled dinotruck. While he's dealing with that, Fixit picks up LaRue's video camera and accidentally films himself. As Grimlock heads off to help the others, LaRue ventures deeper into the scrapyard.

[[File:CollectEmAll Sideswipe looks down.jpg|thumb|left|250px|He was thinking he should go help them. But, sometimes he thinks about doing [[Dark Energon]], and thinks, "Ehh, better not!"]]
Grimlock rolls up to the bridge, stealthily avoiding the backed up traffic, and finds the other Autobots supporting the structure. He takes over while the others go look for Denny. Denny's finally found power for his phone and calls Russell. Bumblebee, Strongarm and Sideswipe are soon pulling up to the statue to rescue Denny. As they start climbing, Filch turns up and tackles Bumblebee right off the side of the statue. Meanwhile LaRue finds something in the scrapyard that interests him. As Bumblebee grapples with Filch, Strongarm comes to a decision to disobey orders and aids him by punching Filch. Sideswipe reaches the torch at the top of the statue and hurls the bridge beam, knocking out Filch. Bumblebee takes the beam back to the bridge so he can relieve Grimlock. Denny arrives at the scrapyard, where LaRue demands Denny sell him some stuff. As the Autobots sneak past, Denny agrees, and confiscates the memory cards from his camera. Bumblebee congratulates Strongarm for breaking the rules for a change.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] (3)
*[[Strongarm (RID)|Strongarm]] (5)
*[[Sideswipe (RID 2015)|Sideswipe]] (6)
*[[Fixit (RID)|Fixit]] (7)

|c2=
*[[Filch]] (2)
*[[Grimlock (RID 2015)|Grimlock]] (4)

|c3=
*Family (1)
*[[Russell Clay]] (8)
*[[Denny Clay]] (9)
*[[Larry LaRue]] (10)
*Policeman (11)

}}

==Quotes==
"Shiny!"
:—'''Filch''' showing off her extensive vocabulary.

"Polly wants to crack me!"
:—'''Sideswipe''' shows that even bad jokes can make you want to, "crack up."

"Pardon the interruption, but I'm confused. How would appearing on television induce stellar fusion?"
:—'''Fixit''', on becoming a "star"

'''Bumblebee''': "Grimlock, we need you!" 
'''Grimlock''': "Say it again. Slooooower." 
'''Bumblebee''': "JUST GET OVER HERE!"
:—'''Grimlock''' wants to savor his usage. '''Bumblebee''' doesn't tolerate scrud like that

'''Bumblebee''': Grimlock, how are you holding up? 
'''Grimlock''': Awesomely. I am ''literally'' holding up awesomely. 
''(Bridge starts to crumble)'' 
'''Grimlock''': Slightly less awesomely now.
:— '''Grimlock''' describes his progress as awesomely crummy

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* Denny previously used the "Nevada Flieber" name in "[[W.W.O.D.?]]".
* Bumblebee orders Strongarm and Sideswipe to take Denny and Filch back to the scrapyard, then a scene later, Denny arrives at the scrapyard in Bumblebee.
* Wouldn't it have been easier for Grimlock to hold up the bridge using his longer robot-mode arms rather than his stubby little dino-mode arms?

===Prisoner manifest===
* ''In stasis'': Underbite, Hammerstrike, Bisk, 4/5ths of Chop Shop, Terrashock, Filch
* ''On probation'': Grimlock
* ''Known at large'': Steeljaw, 1/5th of Chop Shop, Thunderhoof
* ''Countless others all missing, presumed at large''

===Transformers references===
* (tbd)

===Real-world references===
* The title of this episode is likely a reference to "Gotta catch 'em all!", the English slogan to the Pokémon franchise.
* Junior's use of hashtags suggest he is using the micro-blogging website {{w|Twitter}}.
* Denny mentions playing {{w|Sudoku}} on his phone. Sudoku is a logic-based combination number-placement puzzle.

===Animation and technical errors===
* (tbd)

===Trivia===
*The first thirteen episodes of the series, this included, first premiered in Mandarin on Chinese streaming video site M1905.

===Foreign localization===
'''Chinese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Shōucáng Àihào Zhě'''" (收藏爱好者, "Collectors")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[December 31]], [[2014]]

'''Danish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Samlermani'''" ("Collector Mania")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Finnish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Kerää koko sarja!'''"
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Un voleur de haut vol'''" ("A High-Flying Thief")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[February 17]], [[2015]]

'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Sammlerstücke'''" ("Collectibles")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[April 28]], 2015

'''Hungarian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Szerezd meg mind!'''" ("Get them all")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[March 24]], 2015

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Gazza Ladra'''" ("Thieving magpie")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[March 17]], 2015

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Homesick'''" (ホームシック)
:*''Original airdate:'' [[April 26]], 2015

'''Norwegian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Ta alle sammen!'''" ("Get them all!")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Polish''':
:*''Title:'' "'''Zbierz je wszystkie!'''" ("Collect 'em all!")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[March 24]], 2015

'''Portuguese'''
:*''Original airdate:'' [[March 10]], 2015

'''Russian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Collekcioneri'''" (Коллекционеры, "Collectors")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[August 6]], 2015

'''Swedish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Samlarmani'''" ("Collector Mania")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2015 — ''Transformers Robots in Disguise'' — Collect 'em All ([[Beyond Home Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2016 — ''Transformers Robots in Disguise'' — A New Mission ([[Primal Screen]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2016 — ''Transformers Robots in Disguise'' — Season One ([[Shout! Factory]]) 

[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2015) episodes]]

User:NeonMicron

2026-03-26T15:18:40Z

NeonMicron: Created page with "Hi! I'm NeonMicron, and I want to tell you about the Traaaaansformers! Self-proclaimed Unicron Trilogy expert, frequently accused of being a weeb."

Hi! I'm NeonMicron, and I want to tell you about the Traaaaansformers!

Self-proclaimed Unicron Trilogy expert, frequently accused of being a weeb.