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Nightshade (ES)

2023-04-14T00:35:01Z

Rumbleburst: /* EarthSpark cartoon */

{{disambig2|the Terran from ''EarthSpark''|the BotBot|Nightshade (BotBots)}}

:''Nightshade is a [[Terran]] from the [[Transformers: EarthSpark (franchise)|EarthSpark]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:MissedConnection-Nightshade.jpg|right|thumb|200px|They think I'm hiding in the shadows, but I AM the shadows.]]

A [[Terran]] with a flair for the dramatic, '''Nightshade Malto''' defies typical classification, but that suits them fine. They'd rather show their love for the rest of the Malto family by supporting them though actions and deeds, rather than overt affection. Tinkering away on new gadgets and quiet reading of science fiction pleases them more than the more active games of their siblings. But when necessary, they can take to the shadows to dole out justice in service of other citizens who need protection.

==Fiction==
===''EarthSpark'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Z Infante]] (English)|[[Benjamin Bollen]] (French), [[Mario Heras]] (Latin-American Spanish), [[Carole Fernandez]] (Brazilian Portuguese)}}

[[File:AgeOfEvolution1-Nightshadeonline.jpg|left|thumb|250px|They are vengeance.]]

Nightshade was first brought to life at the same as their other siblings [[Jawbreaker (ES)|Jawbreaker]] and [[Hashtag (ES)|Hashtag]] by the Malto siblings [[Mo Malto| Mo]] and [[Robby Malto| Robby]] via the [[Emberstone]] in the same cave where their other Terran siblings, [[Twitch]] and [[Thrash (ES)|Thrash]], were first created. The otherwise happy moment was interrupted by a cave-in caused by a battle on the outside of the cave between [[Optimus Prime (ES)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Bumblebee (ES)|Bumblebee]] against the Decepticon Seekers, [[Skywarp (ES)| Skywarp]] and [[Nova Storm (ES)| Nova Storm]]. {{storylink|Age of Evolution, Part 1}} Despite being only a few seconds old, Nightshade and the other new Terrans instinctually came to their new family's rescue by shielding them from the collapsing cave rubble.

Emerging from the collapsed cave, they were warmly greeted by legendary Optimus who inquired about Nightshade and their siblings' names. Unlike Hashtag and Jawbreaker, Nightshade instinctually knew their name right off the bat and said what a delight it was to meet them. Sensing the pain the other Maltos and Terrans felt about learning their [[Dot Malto|mother]] was held captive by someone called [[Mandroid]], Nightshade volunteered to help them. While planning "Operation: Terran Horse", Nightshade, via their connection to Mo through her [[cyber-sleeve]], informed Optimus their pronouns were "they" and "them" and that male or female pronouns didn't fit them. While infiltrating Mandroid's base with Jawbreaker and Hashtag by posing as Decepticons who captured Optimus, Nightshade's horror at Mandroid's experiments he was performing on the captured [[Megatron (ES)|Megatron]]. Their ruse quickly exposed, a battle erupted that saw Mandroid's base turn into a walking Mech that required the combined efforts of Malto family and their allies to take down. Following the battle, Nightshade was formally introduced to Dot and welcomed into her family. {{storylink|Age of Evolution, Part 2}}

Now a formal member of the Malto household, Nightshade found the cramped living quarters of the family barn unsuitable as a living space for their Terran siblings and set out to construct a new one. They covertly ended up recruiting Thrash to aide them in this, who was looking to try and bond with his new younger sibling. When Hashtag and Twitch returned with Bumblebee from a mishap with G.H.OS.T., Nightshade used the family gathering to introduce everyone to the [[Dugout|new base]] they had constructed beneath the farmstead. {{storylink|Hashtag: Oops}} Nightshade was present at the family movie night that showed off the movie Hashtag made while trying to find Jawbreaker an alt-mode. {{storylink|Outtakes}}

[[File:NightshadeOwlMode MissedConnection.jpg|right|thumb|250px|They are the night.]]
Worried that Nightshade was isolating themselves from their family because they didn't share many interests, Alex introduced Nightshade to the ''[[Winged Sentinel]]'' books by his favorite author, [[D.E. O'Neil]]. Taken by the stories of daring heroism, Nightshade resolved to meet O'Neil, who was a Witwicky local, feeling they found someone they could bond with. Discovering O'Neil was in fact deceased, Nightshade instead met the reclusive Decepticon scientist, [[Tarantulas (ES)|Tarantulas]]. Bonding with the Decepticon spider over their shared interests in science, Nightshade aided Tarantulas in constructing a holographic projector that would allow him to completely avoid detection from G.H.O.S.T. During this partnership, Tarantulas expanded the young Terran's mindset on what could alt-modes be. Following a miscommunication, Tarantulas came to believe Nightshade was a prisoner of their human parents and kidnapped the two with the intent of wiping their memories so he could take Nightshade on the run with him. When Nightshade rescued their parents, they scanned a statue of the ''Winged Sentinel'' owl, granting him a new [[beast mode]]. Besting Tarantulas in combat just as the rest of Nightshade's family arrived on scene, Nightshade convinced Bumblebee to give the spider a second chance. When G.H.O.S.T. began arriving on scene, Tarantulas decided to make the best of this second chnace and volunteered to lead G.H.O.S.T. away to let the Maltos escape. {{storylink|Missed Connection}}

When [[Jon Schloder|Agent Schloder]] arrived at the Malto family farm hot on the trail of finding Bumblebee, Nightshade and Hashtag used the opportunity to show off the new "Emergency Lockdown" protocol they installed in the Terran base. Sealing up the base whenever a G.H.O.S.T. vehicle (Hashtag excluded) approached the area, it made entry or exit of the dugout virtually impossible. Unfortunately the two hadn't worked out all the kinks yet and discovered that instead of keeping the lockdown going for 10 minutes after Schloder departed, it was instead set for 10 ''hours''. Stuck in the base, Nightshade and the others were unable to help Bumblebee and Dot in their attempts to evade G.H.OS.T. When Dot and Alex returned later that night and informed them Bee had to back on the run, Nightshade confronted the devastated Twitch. {{storylink|Security Protocols}}

[[File:HomePart1-Nightshadeowl.jpg|left|thumb|250px|They... are Owlbot.]]
Still new to the concept of gift-giving, for their present to Dot on Mother's Day, Nightshade made several secret modification to their mother's prosthetic leg in hopes of making her life easier. While it proved critical in aiding Dot and the others in taking care of a mutated mother bear that was terrorizing them, Nightshade was confronted by Dot that they need to ask for permission when tampering with something as personal as Dot's leg. Nightshade apologized and in the future promised to work with Dot if they wanted to modify her leg. {{storylink|Bear Necessities}} When Nightshade, and their other siblings, were taken to [[Spacebridge Memorial Park]] by Megatron to learn of the history of the Cybertronian War, they found their meeting interrupted by the return of the dormant Decepticon [[Shockwave (ES)|Shockwave]]. When Shockwave initiated an overload of the power chamber of the derelict Space Bridge, Nightshade with Robby and Thrash worked to disconnect them while Megatron battled it out with Shockwave. {{storylink|Warzone}}

[[File:NightshadeAndSamChat HomePartOne.jpg|right|thumb|250px|"I never said thank you." "And you'll never have to."]]

When the Terrans were taken on a nightly visit to [[Philadelphia]] by Robby and Mo, Nightshade went by themselves when the group split up and got a chance to act out their heroic fantasies when they saved a young non-binary female from an attempted mugging. Taking note of their pronoun pins on their purse, Nightshade introduced themselves to [[Sam (ES)|Sam]] who warmed up to the Terran when they told of them of their own pronouns. It was talking with Sam where Nightshade learned of the concept of being "non-binary" which they felt was a wonderful word to describe themselves. Upon reuniting with their family, Nightshade was surprised to see Bumblebee along with them. Needing help in tracking down the lost Autobot, [[Grimlock (ES)|Grimlock]], Nightshade eagerly joined along. {{storylink|Home, Part 1}} The search for Grimlock however soon turned into a battle with the returning Mandroid. After taking down one of Mandroid's newest Arachnamech creations, Nightshade and the rest of their family soon found themselves having to fight the mind-controlled Hashtag. Taking the fight to the city above, Nightshade discovered attempts to forcibly remove her control chip were blocked by a forcefield. Eventually, they were all able free their sister when they were empowered by a mysterious energy that originated back from the cave where the Terrans were born. With their sister freed, Nightshade and the others raced back to Witwicky in hopes of getting home before their parents woke up. {{storylink|Home, Part 2}}

==Toys==
===''EarthSpark''===
*'''Nightshade''' (Deluxe, 2023)
**Accessories: Mandroid pieces (exact part unknown currently)

: Released as part of the third wave of ''[[Transformers: EarthSpark (toyline)|EarthSpark]]'' Deluxe Class toys, Nightshade presumably transforms into a hawk owl.
{{comingsoontoy}}

==Notes==
*While other nonbinary characters like [[Screwball]] had previously been introduced in other extended ''Transformers'' media, Nightshade is the first character to be openly identified as such in a ''Transformers'' cartoon. ''[[Transformers: Cyberverse (cartoon)|Cyberverse]]'' previously featured a sort of edge case in the form of [[Acid Storm (Cyberverse)|Acid Storm]], but the character was not intentionally written that way, instead falling into the realm of [[pseudocanon]] via [[authorial intent]] in response to a recurring [[animation error]].
*Nightshade's alternate mode is scanned from a decorative statue of an owl. Thus, it is not clear whether this mode is supposed to look like a real (albeit huge) owl or a moving statue.

[[Category:Nonbinary characters]]
[[Category:Terrans]]

Crosswise (RID)

2022-08-03T23:41:52Z

Rumbleburst: /* Notes */

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

[[File:RID XCar Crosswise biocard.jpg|right|upright=1.4|thumb|Some spell it Xwise.]]

'''Crosswise''' is one of the elite [[Spy Changer]]s, the Autobots' team of ninja-like warriors. The brains of the group, he busies himself with working on his teammates' maintenance and upgrading, researching the potential of the [[Spark Engine]]s. His specialty is the manipulation of gravity, using his gravity-beam gun to great effect; when he charges up into super mode, his gravity-manipulation powers expand to being able to bend his own personal gravity, allowing him to fly.

{{TOCclear}}

==Fiction==
===2001 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Dan Woren]] (English), [[Junichi Miura]] (Japanese)| [[Vladimir Gerasimov|Vladimir Gerasimov]] (Russian), [[Wan-gyeong Seong]] (Korean)}}

[[File:Crosswise RiD Cartoon.JPG|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Displaying about twelve points of articulation not found on the actual toy.]]

When the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]] stole the [[Plutonium Energy Generator]], [[T-AI]] called in the Spy Changers. [[Hot Shot (RID)|Hot Shot]], Crosswise and [[R.E.V.]] responded first, pursuing the Predacons onto the beach where they were joined by the other three Spy Changers. During the "cyber-jousting", Crosswise gave R.E.V. a lift. The Predacons eventually escaped with a fake generator which the Spy Changers had swapped for the real one. {{storylink|Spychangers to the Rescue}}

After Optimus was captured and tortured by Megatron, the Spy Changers joined the [[Autobot Brothers]] in rescuing their leader and seeing off the Predacons. {{storylink|Sideburn's Obsession}}

Later, the team tried to protect a ruby from Predacon theft and Mirage's failure to take a shot resulted in the Predacons escaping. When Mirage pretended to defect and led the Spy Changers to [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]]'s [[Mega-Laser Cannon]], Crosswise was able to formulate a plan to destroy it using the [[Global Space Bridge]]. {{storylink|Mirage's Betrayal}}

The Spy Changers also took part in the [[International Grand Prix]] in an attempt to find [[Skid-Z (RID)|Skid-Z]] and were blinded by Megatron a short time into the race. {{storylink|Skid Z's Choice}} On another occasion, the Spy Changers were called back to base to watch footage of various battles, but had to wrap up a fight with the Predacons first. R.E.V. rode on Crosswise again. {{storylink|Hope for the Future}}

[[File:Volcano Wars Crosswise.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Oddly enough, one of the few scenes you can replicate with the toys.]]
The Spy Changers accompanied [[Optimus Prime (RID)|Optimus Prime]] to [[Montrose Island]] where Predacon activity was causing the volcano to become violent. They attempted to keep [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] and [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]] busy while Optimus went to use his blizzard storm on the volcano. When the volcano was ruptured and lava threatened the nearby resort, Crosswise took point in the Spy Changers' [[Inferno Blast]] to divert its path. He warned that his engine was in danger of redlining, but it survived long enough to complete the maneuver. {{storylink|Volcano (episode)|Volcano}}

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

Sent to stop the Decepticons from finding [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]], the Spy Changers jumped out in front of the foe and were soundly trounced by [[Armorhide (RID)|Armorhide]] and [[Rollbar (RID)|Rollbar]]. {{storylink|Fortress Maximus (episode)|Fortress Maximus}}

The Spy Changers took part in the ambush of the Decepticons after the Autobot base was discovered. {{storylink|Surprise Attack!}} After Galvatron's defeat, they celebrated by racing with Skid-Z. {{storylink|The Final Battle (RID)|The Final Battle}}
{{-}}
===Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity===
{{CRnote}}
====Super Spy Changers catalog====
[[File:SuperSpychangersCatalogArt.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1]]

With [[Ultra Magnus (RID)|God Magnus]] having departed Earth aboard [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Brave Maximus]], the Autobots were unable to call upon his power when a new menace suddenly arose to challenge them. In order to combat this threat, a plan was put into motion to upgrade the Spy Changers with [[Spark Engine]]s, granting them Super Modes.

Super Crosswise had improved gravity abilities and now could fly using this power. In his free time, he researched methods to improve the Spark Engine.<ref>[http://tflab.net/japaspe/carrobo/ssc.html Super Spy Changers story and bios in Japanese]</ref><ref>[http://www.allspark.com/content/view/731/37/ English translation of story and bios]</ref>

====Ask Vector Prime====
The threat was [[Chainsaw]] and his [[Mutant (G1)|Mutants]]. Super Crosswise battled [[Gangrene]], who had attempted to disrupt the 2002 [[World Cup]] with shamanic magic. His improved abilities came in handy when Chainsaw and the rest of his Mutants attempted to overrun the Autobot base. Using the power of teamwork, the Super Spy Changers defeated and captured the villains. Though the [[Go-Brillium]] which powered them was used up and they were no longer Super, they retained [[To sell toys|new color schemes]]. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/01}}

====''Legends'' comic====
When [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] and his [[Commando (RID)|Commandos]] attacked the [[Dimensional Patrol]]'s [[Neo Brave Maximus]] to rescue [[Megatron (RID)|Devil Gigatron]], the Super Spy Changers were sent out to the front lines. Their damage to the [[Cyber Falcon-class spaceship|Commando's ship]] led to it crashing into the base. {{Storylink|LGEX Scourge Prologue}}

==Toys==
===''Robots in Disguise'' (2001)===
[[File:RID-toy Crosswise-CR.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|A transparent concept car? That's almost ''too'' inconspicuous!]]
*'''X-Car''' (Spy Changer, 2000)
**''Takara ID number:'' '''C-008'''
**''Accessories:'' Gun

: Released in the first wave of ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|Car Robots]]'' product, "X-Car" is a [[redeco]] of the ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (toyline)|Generation 2]]'' [[Go-Bot (G2)|Go-Bots]] [[High Beam#Toys|High Beam]] mold, transforming into a concept car with an exposed rear engine that looks ''exactly'' like the [[Wikia:hotwheels:Speed Blaster|Speed Blaster]] car from Mattel's ''Hot Wheels'' line that was first released in 1991 under the names "Back Burner" and "Sonic Special". His car panels are colorless clear plastic with blue [[Paint operation|paint applications]] on the inside. He features through-axle construction, allowing for super-speedy racing on smooth surfaces, and his car mode is compatible with many tracks and playsets from ''Hot Wheels'' and ''Matchbox''. His left front window has heat-sensitive paint that reveals an Autobot insignia, in a method similar to the original [[rubsign]]s.

: This mold was also used to make the ''Generation 2'' Go-Bot versions of [[Bumblebee (G1)/toys#Go-Bot|Bumblebee]] and BotCon-[[exclusive]] [[Nightracer (G2)#Toys|Nightracer]].

::*''[http://tfu.info/2000/Cybertron/XCar/xcar.htm More information on X-Car at TFU.info]''{{G2HighBeamMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|6pack}}
[[File:RID-toy SpyChanger6pack.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Spy Changer Deluxe 6 Piece Set''' (Multi-pack, 2000)
**''Takara ID number:'' '''C-011'''
**''Accessories:'' Gun

: All six Spy Changers were not only sold as individuals in Japan, but in a six-piece gift set as well. The toys in the set were identical to their individual releases, and all six bio cards were included.

: [[Sonokong]] also released this gift set in [[South Korea|Korean]] markets with no differences other than the packaging.

{{-}}{{anchor|Jusco}}
[[File:RID-toy Crosswise-Jusco.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|Robin, no!]]
*'''X-Car''' (Original Spy Changer, 2000)
**''Accessories:'' Gun

: An [[exclusive]] "Original Spy Changer" [[redeco]] of X-Car in transparent blue and red plastics, this version was only available from [[JUSCO]] stores in Japan as a direct-mail premium to members of their "Peppy Kids Republic" (元気キッズ共和国, ''Genki Kidzu Kyōwakoku''), a sort of subsidiary/offshoot for selling baby goods and children's clothing. Since membership was open only to kids 12 and under and this version was shipped blind-packed, getting the entire set of six was extremely difficult.

::*''[http://tfu.info/2000/Cybertron/ClearXCar/xcar.htm More information on Clear X-Car at TFU.info]''{{G2HighBeamMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|RID2pack}}
[[File:RID-toy Crosswise.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.67|Well, the plainly-visible Autobot symbol just gives it all away, don't it?]]
*'''W.A.R.S.''' / '''Crosswise''' (Spy Changer, 2001)
**''Accessories:'' Gun

:The [[Hasbro]] ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' version of "Crosswise" was available only in a two-pack with [[W.A.R.S.#Robots in Disguise (2001)|W.A.R.S.]]. This version replaces the heat-sensitive insignia with a normal Autobot insignia [[tampograph]] on the roof of the car. He also features three extra red stripes: one on his spoiler and two underneath the doors.

: The initial releases of this set have W.A.R.S. packaged in robot mode with Crosswise in vehicle mode, pointed straight upward. Later releases have both toys in vehicle mode, tilted to a 1 o'clock position.

::*''[http://tfu.info/2001/Autobot/Crosswise/crosswise.htm More information on Crosswise at TFU.info]''{{G2HighBeamMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|KBclear}}
[[File:RID-toy Crosswise-KBclear.jpg|right|upright=1.67|thumb]]
*'''Crosswise''' (Spy Changer, 2002)
**''Accessories:'' Gun

: All six original Spy Changers were redecoed in clear versions of their normal plastic colors (while keeping their normal paint applications), and released on individual cards, originally exclusive to [[KB Toys]] but later also found at Target stores. Crosswise's blue ended up a fair bit brighter than his normal release thanks to the plastic changes.

::*''[http://tfu.info/2002/Autobot/KBCrosswise/crosswise.htm More information on Kay-Bee clear Crosswise at TFU.info]''{{G2HighBeamMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|TinyTins}}
* '''Crosswise''' (Tiny Tins, 2002)
** Accessories: Rifle, carrying tin

: The normal Hasbro version of Crosswise was released as part of the first assortment of [[Tiny Tins]] Transformers, coming with a carrying tin. The actual toy was identical to the normal retail release.

{{-}}{{anchor|KB2}}
[[File:RID-toy Crosswise-KBclear2.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Crosswise''' (Spy Changer, 2003)
**''Accessories:'' Gun

:A second round of KB Toys exclusive Spy Changers was released in 2003, this time with (mostly) different colors in clear plastics. Crosswise got a candy-like clear red and purple coloration, and lost the overwhelming majority of his paint applications, including his "signature" X and all of the internal paint.

::*''[http://tfu.info/2003/Autobot/Crosswise/crosswise.htm More information on Kay-Bee Crosswise #2 at TFU.info]''{{G2HighBeamMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|Super}}
[[File:RID-toy Crosswise-Super.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Super X-Car''' (Spy Changer, 2003)
**''Spy Changer ID number'': ???
**''Accessories:'' Gun

: In a bizarre move, Takara released a new set of Spy Changers in individual boxes, in a manner similar to the ''[[The Transformers: Micromaster|Micromaster]]'' toys, well after the end of ''Car Robots''. Crosswise was done in clear-green (without the internal paint) with light gray inner parts. He also retained the Hasbro-added faction symbol on his roof, rather than using the Takara heat-sensitive windshield.

: In every case of twelve Super Spy Changers, two were done in entirely colorless-clear plastics with their normal paint applications remaining. All six Spy Changers were done in these "chase" clears, and while you knew which model you were getting thanks to numbers on the packaging, you did not know if you got a clear version until you opened the baggie inside.

::*''[http://tfu.info/2003/Cybertron/SuperX-Car/xcar.htm More information on Super X-Car at TFU.info]''
::*''[http://tfu.info/2003/Cybertron/ClearSuperX-Car/x-car.htm More information on clear Super X-Car at TFU.info]''{{G2HighBeamMold}}
{{--}}

==Notes==
[[File:Mirage's Betrayal Crosswisebillboard.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb]]
* When ambushing the Predacons in "Mirage's Betrayal", Crosswise cunningly concealed himself on a billboard advertising his alt-mode, with his license plate number and ''name'' (albeit his Japanese name) prominently displayed.
* No, his Japanese name is "X-Car", not "{{w|Speed Racer|Racer X}}".
*Crosswise's preliminary Hasbro name was '''X-Tech'''.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20010907070945/media.hasbro.com/release.cfm?release=17 Toy Fair 2001 Press Release]</ref>
*He seems to speak with a german accent in the latin spanish dub
===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''X-Car''' (エックスカー ''Ekkusu Kā'')
*''Korean:'' '''X-Car''' (엑스카 ''Ekseu Ka'')
*''Russian:'' '''Umnik''' (Умник, "Know-All")

==References==
<references />

[[Category:KB Toys exclusives]]
[[Category:Ninjas]]
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2001) Autobots]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Spy Changers]]

Spark

2022-05-13T13:01:15Z

Rumbleburst: /* Foreign names */

{{disambig3|Spark}}
[[File:Sparks.jpg|thumb|right|350px|[[Botanica (BM)|Botanica]] is a Bellarian.]]

The '''spark''' is the core of [[Transformer]] life, an electrically charged mass of [[positron]]s formed from the supernatural substance known as [[Rarified Energon]]. Sparks come in a wide range of colors—though most are some shade of blue, green, yellow, orange, white, or even red sparks have all been observed—but while their appearances may vary, every spark functions as a combined heart and soul for an individual Cybertronian. Like a heart, a Spark "pulses" at a certain frequency to animate a mechanical bodyframe; like a soul, a spark is generally accepted to contain some part of a Transformer's immaterial being, which persists after death by transcending into the [[Transformer afterlife|afterlife]]. Indeed, most Cybertronian religions hold that each spark contains an infinitesimally small portion of [[Primus]]'s divine essence. To protect their sparks, which usually can't survive outside of a compatible body for very long, most Cybertronians possess a specialized "spark chamber" somewhere in their body.

A spark contains the [[CNA|hard-coded design schematics]] that act as a Transformer's "genetic code", which dictates a Transformer's appearance and sometimes even their [[alternate mode]]s. In most realities, Cybertronian [[reproduction]] involves the creation of a new spark, whether through [[sacred implement]]s or more conventional means, which can be implanted into a suitable body to become a new Transformer. Sparks can be safely stored in [[stasis pod]]s, "frozen" within [[photonic crystal]]s, or even transplanted from one body to another with no ill effects, but they are susceptible to weaponsfire and exotic forms of radiation. When a Transformer's body can no longer support its spark, it is "extinguished" and the Transformer is considered dead. As long as the spark is intact, however, it is possible to repair a Transformer, re-implant its spark, and effectively bring them "back from the dead".

{{bigquote|When a spark goes online, there is great joy. When one is extinguished, the universe weeps.|[[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] being all mystical|"[[The Spark]]"}}

==Conceptual history==
[[File:Brain module.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|The Marvel comic]] introduced the [[brain module]] as the "core" of Transformer life.]]
Although the ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' cartoon was the first piece of ''Transformers'' media to introduce and codify the nature of the spark and its role in Cybertronian physiology, various works of "[[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]]" fiction had presented a number of similar concepts and ideas to prove that the [[Transformer]]s were true "living beings" and not just simple machines acting out preprogrammed directives. [[The Next Best Thing to Being There!|Issue #10]] of the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|original Marvel comic]] introduced the [[brain module]] as the core of Cybertronian life, which could only be manufactured and activated with the help of the life-giving [[Matrix of Leadership|Creation Matrix]]—without one, the resulting Transformer would be a mindless, emotionless automaton, functional but not truly "alive". Although the word "spark" did appear offhandedly in some [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|''Generation 1'' comic stories]] (a "spark of life", a "life spark", [[The Bridge to Nowhere!|"Let no spark remain flickering in a single Autobot microchip!"]], [[Pretender to the Throne!|"For as long as a spark exists within a single Mechabot..."]]), these were clearly metaphorical statements and otherwise unconnected to the concept that would eventually evolve. [[The Transformers (cartoon)|The original Generation 1 cartoon]] introduced the [[laser core]] as a crucial component of Cybertronian anatomy, and the later episodes "[[Starscream's Brigade]]" and "[[B.O.T. (episode)|B.O.T.]]" featured [[personality component]]s that governed a Transformer's ability to think, speak, and emote.

Early drafts of ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' featured "Life Sparks", which were small glowing versions of the Transformers to whom they belonged. In one early draft, Life Sparks are said to depart the body of a Transformer upon death and dissipate into nothingness unless they are contained within another vessel. In this version of the script, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]]'s Life Spark took the place of the [[Matrix of Leadership]]; upon his death, he bequeathed it to [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]], who became the next Autobot leader for a time. [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] requested to have his enshrined in an urn at the Decepticon [[Hall of Heroes]] only for his pleas to be ignored; his Life Spark then drifted into space, and [[Unicron]] eventually recreated it as [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. Although this idea was discarded from the finished film entirely, a vestigial reference persisted in the UK comic story "[[Target: 2006]]" where author [[Simon Furman]] misinterpreted "Life Spark" as the name of [[Life Spark|a character]] who was rebuilt into [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]].

[[File:The Spark Rhinox spark.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

The concept of the spark as we know it today was first detailed in the ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' episode "[[The Spark]]".<ref>[[Gorilla Warfare|An earlier episode]] included an offhanded reference to [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]]'s spark, but its significance was not explained.</ref> Compared to brain modules and laser cores, ''Beast Wars'' couched the idea of sparks in explicitly supernatural terms and all-but compared them to a tangible "soul" that served as a Cybertronian's animating life-force. Sparks remained prominent throughout ''Beast Wars''; events in seasons two and three further established that all Transformers—be they [[Maximal]], [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]], [[Autobot]], or [[Decepticon]]—possess sparks. Sparks played a major role in the follow-up ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Machines]]'' cartoon, which gave more information about the Transformer life cycle: each spark was a fragment of the immaterial [[Transformer afterlife|Matrix]], the "Allspark" through which all sparks arose from and eventually returned to.

The [[BotCon 1999]] prose story "[[Paradox]]" was the first to connect sparks to the benevolent creator-god [[Primus]], noting that each Spark contained an infinitesimal fraction of his divine lifeforce. In [[2004]], [[Dreamwave Productions]]' [[Dreamwave Generation One continuity|Generation One continuity]] introduced the supernatural "[[Well of All Sparks]]" as the mechanism through which new sparks entered the material world from the essence of Primus at Cybertron's core. In addition to the [[AllSpark|physical AllSpark artifact]] from the [[Transformers (film)|first live-action film]], the ability to generate sparks at will has since been backported to two [[sacred implement|artifacts]] from the original Generation 1 cartoon: the [[Vector Sigma]] supercomputer and the Autobot [[Matrix of Leadership]]—this latter [[retcon]] is almost assuredly based on the role the Creation Matrix played in the original Marvel comics.

Since their introduction, sparks have featured in basically all continuities in some way, shape or form. This includes new works set in the long-running [[Generation 1 continuity family]], which has successfully introduced the concept into modern Generation 1 stories like [[IDW Publishing]]'s various comic continuities and contemporary universes like the [[Aligned continuity family]] and ''[[Transformers: Cyberverse (franchise)|Cyberverse]]''.

==Unusual sparks==
===Immortal sparks===
[[File:Possession-StarscreamsSpark.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]

Many versions of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] have somehow cheated death, persisting as a kind of "ghost" even after the complete destruction of his physical form. The ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' episodes "[[Possession]]" and "[[Bad Spark]]," attributed this behaviour to the presence of an immortal, indestructible "mutant spark"—as a disembodied spark, he retained his memories, personality, and the ability to move around under his own power; he could travel through space and time and even possess other Transformers.

In the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon continuity, the [[Maximal Elder]]s attempted to replicate Starscream's aberrant spark—their reckless experimentation created the murderously insane Profotorm X, who later took on the name "[[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]]". Like Starscream, Rampage's spark could not be extinguished through the simple destruction of his body, though it could be "split" by carving with an [[energon crystal]]. Megatron kept part of the spark in a case lined with energon crystals, and squeezing the case caused Rampage great physical pain. Rampage's spark turned out to not be completely indestructible, however; when [[Depth Charge (BW)|Depth Charge]] pierced his spark with "pure" crystalline energon, it created an explosion strong enough to destroy Rampage's physical body and the portion of the spark that he carried within his body, seemingly killing him for good.

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===Multiple sparks in one body===
[[File:OptimalSituation-Sparks.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]

In rare cases, a Transformer may be able to take the spark of another Cybertronian into their body—essentially using their body to sustain this second spark while still maintaining their own sparks and personalities. In the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon, [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] temporarily housed the spark of [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]]; he grew into an enormous, exponentially more powerful "Optimal Optimus" form, and Megatron later pulled off a similar stunt by doing the same thing with [[Megatron (G1)|the original Megatron]]. When the aberrant disembodied spark of Starscream had earlier possessed [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] the only physical change was the body's [[Insignia|allegiance emblems]] shifting from [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] to [[Decepticon]]. Based on information from the series there is no basis for determining whether this phenomenon is a result of a single body housing two sparks, a Beast Era body housing a Generation One spark, a body being implanted with an especially "powerful" spark conceivably like those of Optimus Prime and Megatron or some combination of these. The ''Beast Wars'' comic miniseries ''[[Transformers, Beast Wars: The Gathering|The Gathering]]'' implies that Generation One sparks may be intrinsically more powerful than Beast Era sparks.

The [[Prime Master]] Transformers are specifically noted to carry the sparks of the [[Thirteen]] within their bodies; when they link with another Cybertronian, they bestow a portion of that power upon the Autobot or Decepticon in question by [[Prime Master/Combinations|granting them supernatural power boosts and sometimes completely altering their personalities]]. It is unclear if these Prime Masters have sparks of their own, or if they are solely powered by the sparks of the Thirteen they carry.

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===Spark powers===
{{main|Transmetal 2|Outlier (group)}}

[[File:FeralScreamPt2-Cheetorspark.gif|thumb|right|200px]]

Some rare Cybertronians possess spark-based powers that set them apart from average Cybertronians. Most prominenetly, Maximals and Predacons who had been mutated into [[Transmetal 2]] forms by the [[Transmetal driver]] all possessed abnormal sparks with supernatural powers. As [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] mutated into his Transmetal 2 form, tendrils of energy emerged from his spark chamber that changed his body; after fully becoming a Transmetal 2, he was able to telekinetically holster and unholster his pistol using his spark powers.

In other continuities, Cybertronians with strange powers like technopathy or teleportation are known as "outliers". The exact relationship between these powers and the nature of the spark is not clearly understood; in ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|#36]], [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]] attempted to create an army of outliers by dousing the recently-arisen sparks at the [[Alyon]] [[Hot spot (phenomenon)|hot spot]] with radiation, but the attempt was thwarted early and it is unclear if his experiments succeeded.

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===Biological sparks===
[[File:IHaveNoMouthAndIMustStarscream-VoinSpark.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]

In rare cases, sparks can even graft themselves into an organic body. During a climactic battle against [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]], [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s [[beast mode]] body somehow divided himself between his organic and technological components; his spark wound up inside a purely organic form and suffered no ill effects. When Megatron disentangled his spark from this form, the "[[Noble (BM)|Savage Noble]]" creature survived the process and became a mindless animal.

In the ''[[The Transformers: Lost Light|Lost Light]]'' comic, [[Scorponok (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Scorponok]] genetically engineered a number of strange organic lifeforms with sparks like the [[Treecon]]s; using the knowledge encoded within the [[Magnificence]], he was able to extract the still-living spark from [[Rat-a-Tat-Tat|a Decepticon]] and implant it into the body of a genetically engineered humanoid creature he called "the [[Firstborn]]". Scorponok planned to engineer an entire race of spark-powered organics; he precipitated his plan on the theory that their sparks would divide and carry on to the next generation, and that he could one day "harvest" the sparks from their bearers and use them to repopulate the dying Decepticon race. As only one being was created before his plan was thwarted, it is unclear if this plan would have succeeded.

[[Cryak]]'s spark was able to exist, apparently indefinitely, within the body of a cybernetically-enhanced [[Voin]] ape, although the experience drove her insane.

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===Technorganic sparks===
[[File:Spark colors.jpg|thumb|200px]]

Transformers who are reformatted into [[technorganic]] forms through the power of the [[Oracle (BM)|Oracle]] possess unusually-colored sparks that generally match the color of their robot-mode eyes (for instance, [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] possessed red eyes and a red spark). Whenever the technorganic Maximals transformed, they would glow with the light of their spark color; after being infused with extra power from the [[Transformer afterlife|Allspark]] during the final battle against Megatron's [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicon]]s, their sparks became visible as if parts of their torsos were translucent.

Technorganic Transformers appear to be able to sense and communicate with the sparks of other Transformers through a process that appears analogous to telepathy. According to dialogue from "Revelations Part III: Apocalypse" this ability is related to the sparks' mutual connection to the Allspark. While Blackarachnia's spark was outside of her body, her consciousness did not remain in the "real world". Instead, she experienced a conversation with the meditating Optimus Primal—not a hallucination—which took place on an abstract "higher plane of existence" perhaps within the Allspark itself.

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===Branched sparks===
{{main|Twin}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers4- JumpstartersEnd.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]

Much like a human zygote, a spark can, either naturally or through artificial induction, split into two healthy but inextricably linked sparks. The resulting Cybertronians are considered [[twin]]s and possess a "branched" or "split" spark. Some Cybertronians born with branched sparks, like the small Transformers who inhabit the planet [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]], may [[combiner|combine]] with their spark-sibling to form a single combined [[alternate mode]], though most possess independent transformations. Still others, like [[Skids (ROTF)|Skids]] and [[Mudflap (ROTF)|Mudflap]], can combine with their sibling or assume an independent vehicle form as needed.

Individuals who share a branched spark have been known to experience a phenomenon known as "vicarious perception", where one twin can feel the pain of the other. In extreme situations, the death of one twin can even kill the other.

{{--}}

===Mitotic sparks===
{{main|Multi-component Transformer}}

[[File:TF84 FlywheelsDullBot.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]

Cybertronians who possess a mitotic spark inhabit and control multiple Transformers simultaneously. Unlike [[combiner]]s, who are five individual beings who can temporarily unite their minds and bodies into a single gestalt entity, mitotic Transformers possess ''one'' consciousness and will spread across many separate bodies, usually somewhere between two and three independent forms who often possess their own [[alternate mode]]s. This unusual power grants them great flexibility on the battlefield and supreme durability—a mitotic Transformer can generally survive the destruction of one body.

Some mitotic Transformers like [[Sky Lynx (G1)|Sky Lynx]] possess multiple interlinked Transformers who can all combine into one single shape; others like [[Magmatron]] and the [[Duocon]]s possess multiple non-transforming [[alternate mode]]s who combine into a single robot. [[Exarchon]] possesses a more dangerous version of this talent—he can forcibly overwrite the minds and personalities of other Transformers and subsume them into a "collective" of mind-controlled bodies.

{{--}}

===Prime Spark===
{{main|Prime Spark (Spark)}}

The Prime Spark has been entrusted by [[Primus]] to at least three Transformers from different dimensions and time periods: "Generation 1" [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]], ''Armada'' [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]], and [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]]. When they all encountered each other at moment of their respective deaths, the assembled leaders realized that their sparks all resonated as one. "[[Ask Vector Prime]]" would go on to elaborate on the concept, and it could be considered a loose precursor to the idea of "[[multiversal singularity|multiversal singularities]]" that Hasbro and Fun Publications would later introduce.

===Embers===
[[File:Grimlockember.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Grimlock (SG)|Grimlock]]'s red ember is visible on his chest.]]

The Cybertronians who inhabit the backwards universe of ''[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (franchise)|Shattered Glass]]'' possess red, electron-charged "embers" instead of blue, positron-charged sparks. Beyond this, there are no observable differences between embers and the spark of the dimension-hopping [[Cliffjumper (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Cliffjumper]] during his visit to this strange reality.

{{--}}

===Anti-sparks===
[[File:OneShallRisePt3-AntiSpark.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]

As each Transformer possesses a portion of Primus's divine life-force, so too is [[Unicron]] powered by an animating force all his own—a malevolent "anti-spark". Transformers who use [[Dark Energon]] as a fuel source invariably corrupt their being by binding Unicron's anti-spark to their own. Dark Energon has the power to resurrect dead Transformers as mindless, undead [[Terrorcon (Prime)|Terrorcon]]s, invariably hostile creatures who possess a portion of Unicron's own anti-spark in place of their own spark.

The Vehicons of ''[[Beast Wars: Uprising]]'' possess anti-sparks, though theirs are not linked to Unicron. Instead, Vehicons with anti-sparks are able to assimilate other Cybertronians and forcibly transform them into more Vehicons.

Anti-sparks should not be confused with the [[Dark Spark]], the supernatural antithesis to the [[Matrix of Leadership]].

{{--}}

===Point One Percenters===
{{main|Point One Percenter}}
[[File:Overlords spark remembrance day.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]

In some realities, a small number of Cybertronians possess enhanced green sparks. These rare ‘bots are known as “Point One Percenters”, so named for their extreme rarity. Point One Percenters possess enhanced strength, speed, endurance, and durability compared to the baseline Cybertronian average, though just ''how'' strong a Point One Percenter is varies from one to the next. Some possess additional abilities; "loadbearing" Point One Percenters, for instance, were the only Cybertronians capable of safely wearing and operating the mighty [[Magnus Armor]].

{{--}}

===Titansparks===
[[File:Titans-Titansparks.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]

The enormous Transformers known as [[Titan (group)|Titan]]s are said to possess unique sparks; in the [[2019 IDW continuity]], these are specifically identified as "Titansparks". What exactly differentiates Titansparks from ordinary Cybertronian sparks isn't entirely clear, though [[Drift (G1)|Drift]] claims in the ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|annual]] that these "super sparks" supposedly span multiple planes of existence and allow Titans to "commune with the divine". These unique sparks appear to be the differentiating factor between Titans and other giant Cybertronians—[[Leviathan (G1)|Leviathan]] is almost the size of a small Titan, but she is specifically noted to be no different from someone like [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]].

{{--}}

===Sparkless Transformers===
[[File:AOE-Galvatron-concept.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]

Within the traditional Cybertronian worldview, a Transformer needs a spark to be considered truly "alive"—the spark gives them the ability to think, feel, and emote. Traditionally, Cybertronains without sparks are either mindless [[drone]]s, who operate on a set of preprogrammed directives, or [[zombie]]s, unliving shells forced back to life through science or sorcery. Across the [[multiverse]], Cybertronians frequently utilize nonliving machines in their starships and buildings, which vary in both complexity and functionality—sophisticated artificial intelligences like the [[Diagnostic Drone]]s, [[Deployer (BM)|Deployers]], or [[T-AI]] are by all appearance fully sentient beings, but lack sparks.

The Japanese Generation 1 continuity regards Transformers built without the assistance of [[Primus|Vector Sigma]], such as the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] and the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]], to lack sparks, resulting in more bestial and less intelligent personalities.

In ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]]'', [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] was brought back to life with a fragment of the [[AllSpark]] in place of a normal spark, and Titan's tie-in comics would reveal that comic-original character [[Afterburn]] was really a sparkless drone. Although he showed emotion, initiative and thought beforehand, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] wrote him off as not having been a "real" bot after learning of his true nature and viewed it as pointless to mark Afterburn's death.

In rare instances, Transformers have somehow managed to transfer an engram of their mind into a new, Sparkless body—in ''[[Transformers: Age of Extinction (film)|Age of Extinction]]'', [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]]'s mind survived the destruction of his original body, then invaded [[Kinetic Solutions Incorporated|KSI]]'s sparkless "Galvatron" prototype and turned it into a new body for himself. The resulting "Galvatron" was by all accounts a sentient being with free will, but lacked a spark—but does he count as a "real" Cybertronian lifeform, or is he just an advanced copy?
{{--}}

==Fiction==
===Generation 1 continuity family===
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon continuity====
[[File:OptimusPrimalSparkChamber.gif|thumb|left|250px|Most Cybertronians can open and close their spark chambers at will.]]

All Sparks stem from the mystical dimension known as the [[Transformer afterlife|Allspark]], a metaphysical matrix that contains the joined sparks of all Transformers who ever lived or ever will live. Each spark passes into the material world to learn and grow; when it is extinguished, it adds its knowledge to the totality contained within. {{storylink|Endgame Pt. III: Seeds of the Future|Seeds of the Future}} The physical mechanism by which new Sparks enter the material world is not clear. Different sources have alluded to the existence of "Matrix" and "Pit" facilities where Maximal and Predacon sparks are respectively created, but details are scarce and sometimes contradictory. {{storylink|Beast Wars Universe}} {{storylink|The Razor's Edge}}

Though the intrinstic essence of the spark cannot be altered through any known means, [[shell program]]s can be used to overwrite a Transformer's personality. In extreme cases, shell programs can create entirely new beings with no apparent relation to the Maximal or Predacon they might've once been. {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}} {{storylink|Revelations Part I: Discovery|Discovery}}
{{--}}

=====''Beast Wars'' cartoon=====
[[File:Protoforms2.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

Newly born sparks were placed within a [[protoform]]. On long-range exploration and colonization missions, they would be stored within [[stasis pod]]s, which would keep both the protoform safe until it could acquire a [[beast mode]] using the pod's built-in [[DNA scanner]]. {{storylink|The Spark}} Most sparks were susceptible to [[energon]]; the [[energon radiation|radiation]] from raw energon could short out mechanical bodies and damage the spark, {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} and pure energon could completely destroy the spark. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 2}} Traditionally, [[stasis lock]] was a way to preserve the spark by shifting into an energy-conserving low power mode until sufficiently repaired. {{storylink|Code of Hero}}

[[File:FeralScream2 Cheetor's spark.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The [[Transmetal driver]] changes the color of [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]]'s spark.]]

The Decepticon Air Commander [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] possessed a mutant spark; {{storylink| Possession}} when Maximal High Command sought to recreate this power, they go the murderous [[Rampage (BW)|Protoform X]]. {{storylink|Bad Spark}} The original Starscream found his way to the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]] and possessed [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]]'s body for a time, but [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] soon exorcised the errant spark by detonating an [[energon]] cache beneath Waspinator. {{storylink|Possession}} When Rampage awoke on prehistoric Earth, [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] later used an energon knife to carve out a piece of the experiment's spark, {{storylink|Bad Spark}} and tortured him by using a cage of energon crystals to squeeze half of his spark. {{storylink|Bad Spark}}

During a desperate battle to save the original [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]], [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] made the drastic decision to carry Prime's spark in his own body until the other Maximals could repair his body. Carrying two sparks at once drastically altered Prime's body into a powerful "Optimal" form, which carried over even after he returned Prime's spark to its correct vessel. {{storylink|Optimal Situation}} Not to be outdone, Megatron would later pull off a similar feat with the spark of the [[Megatron (G1)|original Megatron]]. {{storylink|Master Blaster}}

The enigmatic [[Vok]] took an interest in the Cybertronians that had contaminated their experiment and abducted [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] and [[Tigatron]] to extract their sparks. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 1)}} Their [[Transmetal driver]] had a drastic effect on Cybertronian sparks; it displayed the ability to mutate both Maximals and Predacons into powerful [[Transmetal 2]] forms, which all displayed abnormal Spark-based powers like telekinesis or enhanced healing. {{storylink|Feral Scream Part 2}} The Vok eventually created [[Tigerhawk]] from the sparkless bodies of their captives, and Tigatron and Airazor took the chance to merge into one spark and inhabit Tigerhawk as a new composite entity. {{storylink|Other Victories}}

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=====''Beast Machines'' cartoon=====
[[File:TheReformatting-OptimusMatrix.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

After the end of the Beast Wars, Megatron escaped Maximal captivity, returned to Cybertron ahead of his captors, and used this head start to construct an army of sparkless [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicon]] drones. {{storylink|Revelations Part II: Descent|Descent}} Eager to ensure that his would become the ''only'' spark on a Cybertron stripped of free will, a "single elegant machine" of his own devising, Megatron successfully took over the planet with a [[transformation virus]] and [[Spark extractor|extracted]] the sparks from every other Cybertronian. He stored the disembodied sparks inside the former [[Council Citadel]], where he one day planned to abosrb them into his own spark. {{storylink|Sparkwar Pt. III: The Siege|The Siege}} Megatron laboured to purge himself of his now-hated [[beast mode]] but refused the simple option of simply transferring his spark to a purely mechanical frame, noting that doing so would leave his spark vulnerable. {{storylink|Survivor}} When Optimus Primal and his Maximals finally returned to Cybertron, they were beset by the Vehicons and infected with the virus. Their escape from the Vehicons led them to the [[Oracle (BM)|the Oracle]], who recognized Primal's "receptive spark" and reformatted the four into [[technorganic]] bodies. {{storylink|The Reformatting}} Whenever Primal used his powers to reformat another Cybertronian into a technorganic form, his spark would shine from his body. {{storylink|Forbidden Fruit}} {{storylink|Home Soil}}

Though Megatron first sought to crush the Maximals through sheer numbers, he conceded that free will and the capacity for lateral thought had its uses and made the decision to place three of his captured sparks into Vehicon bodies, using [[shell program]]s to create the [[Vehicon general]]s. {{storylink|Fires of the Past}} Primal felt something familiar about the general [[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]]'s spark, {{storylink|Mercenary Pursuits}} and the Maximals soon discovered the truth: Tankor was really [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]], just as [[Jetstorm (BM)|Jetstorm]] and [[Thrust (BM)|Thrust]] were really [[Silverbolt (Fuzor)|Silverbolt]] and [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]]. {{storylink|Revelations Part I: Discovery|Discovery}} {{storylink|Revelations Part II: Descent|Descent}} Though the Maximals believed that the shell program had corrupted Rhinox's spark and turned him into an amoral villain, Optimus maintained that his former compatriot had voluntarily chosen to stand with Megatron and they had to respect this decision. {{storylink|Revelations Part III: Apocalypse|Apocalypse}}

[[File:Spark consumption.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Megatron's spark ensnares and consumes other sparks from his collection.]]

When a clash between the Maximals and Megatron resulted in the anti-organic energies of the [[Key to Vector Sigma]] meeting the anti-technological energies of the [[Plasma Energy Chamber]], {{storylink|End of the Line}} Optimus sacrificed himself to ensure the powers did not destroy Cybertron. His spark went on a vision quest in the afterlife for a time before he returned to his body. {{storylink|Fallout (episode)|Fallout}} At the same time, Megatron attempted to purge his organic form once and for all by transferring his spark into a new mechanical form. However, his spark was instead transferred into the "[[Noble (BM)|Savage Noble]]" creature that had coalesced from his body's organic elements. Megatron poed as a Maximal to gain access to the Council Citadel and uploaded his spark into the [[Grand Mal]], the body he'd intended to wear. {{storylink|Prometheus Unbound}} Megatron later moved the sparks into a [[spark containment unit]] inside his body, where he brought forth the sparks of the legendary generals [[Strika (BM)|Strika]] and [[Obsidian (BM)|Obsidian]] and implanted them into Vehicon bodies to act as his new enforcers. {{storylink|Sparkwar Pt. I: The Strike|The Strike}} Optimus Primal baited Megatron with access to the Oracle so that the Maximal leader could learn where Cybertron's sparks now resided. {{storylink|Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search|The Search}} Megatron used the knowledge he'd gleaned from the Oracle to begin absorbing the captured sparks into his own; his spark grew to an enormous size before Nightscream depolarized it with a powerful sonic scream. {{storylink|Sparkwar Pt. III: The Siege|The Siege}}

[[File:BMEndgame2 Optimus spark power.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

Megatron's depolarized spark was unable to inhabit a material body for very long; it bounced across Cybertron, randomly possessing dead bodies before Rattrap was able to re-polarize the spark and trap it inside a helpless [[Diagnostic Drone]]. {{storylink|Spark of Darkness}} With the Grand Mal still in their possession, the Maximals made defending Cybertron's sparks their priority as Megatron ordered his generals to recapture them. {{storylink|Endgame Pt. I: The Downward Spiral|The Downward Spiral}} Communing with the sparks, the Maximals tapped into their own sparks for a power boost when the battle turned against them. Though the Maximals managed to defeat the Vehicon generals, Megatron had managed to transfer his spark into a new combat-ready body, Optimus Primal's "Optimal Optimus" form, and extracted the sparks of every Maximal save Primal himself. {{storylink|Endgame Pt. II: When Legends Fall|When Legends Fall}}

In the following battle, Megatron emerged victorious and absorbed every spark into himself. At the cusp of his ascension however, Primal managed to manipulate the technorganic matter to shove Megatron and himself into Cybertron's [[organic core]]. As Primal reformatted the core itself and initiated the [[Great Transformation]] that saw the entire planet transformed into a [[technorganic]] world, Megatron's stolen sparks were all released and promptly returned to their original bodies. {{storylink|Endgame Pt. III: Seeds of the Future|Seeds of the Future}}

{{--}}

=====''Transformers Legends'' anthology=====
A portion of [[Megatron (G1)|the original Megatron]] attempted to manipulate his successor into returning his disembodied spark to his original body. After the end of the Beast Wars, the Maximals ensured that this spark was returned to its original vessel to preserve the timeline. {{storylink|A Meeting of Minds}}

During his time as Cybertron's ruler, Megatron's disembodied spark flashed between the material world and the Allspark, which presented itself as a [[Tree of Life|metaphysical "tree"]]. [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] explained that all sparks can only "ascend" through the eight realms as far as they can share their self with the world around them. {{storylink|Singularity Ablyss}}

=====2006 IDW ''Beast Wars'' continuity=====
During the [[Golden Age]] of Cybertron, Transformers referred to sparks as their "Life Force" or "Laser Core". The term "spark" did not come into usage until after the end of the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]] and the rise of the Maximals and Predacons. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook}}

====Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity====
[[File:BlueOrderSparks.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]

Sparks were a feature of robotic life in the [[Precursor World]] that preceded the [[G1 World]]. Seeking to bring his [[Primus Vanguard]] through the rebirth of the universe, [[Primus]] attempted to use his [[Golden Noah]] to collect and ferry the wayward sparks of members of the [[Blue Order]] after they were done in by the [[Straxus (G1)|Straxuses]]'s betrayal. {{storylink|God Neptune comic 1}} In this world, at least the leaders of the Primus Vanguard were able to transfer their spirits to other objects, such as when [[White Gallant Convoy]] lived on within [[God Neptune]]'s [[Neptune Sword]]. [[Blue Big Convoy]] was able to do the same with the [[Matrix Sword]], {{storylink|God Neptune comic 2}} which allowed Straxus to use his spark energies to create [[Convobat|an experimental clone]]. {{storylink|Cybertron Magna Convoy prequel comic}}

[[File:RoadToLegendsRevival2-WheeljackSpark.jpg|thumb|250px]]

Primus's efforts were for vain, as the only beings that would ultimately make it over to the new world were himself and [[Primacron]]. But thanks to the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] that carried Primus's essence, Primus himself was able to act as a conduit between the life from the previous universe and the present universe. As such, Primacron used Primus to create living robotic beings such as the [[Junkion (species)|Junkions]], the [[Lithone (species)|Lithone]], and many others. Primus was able to escape Primacron's clutches, eventually settling on the planet that would later be known as [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. There, he was discovered and exploited by the [[Quintesson]]s to create another kind of robotic life with sparks: the [[Transformer]]s. As Vector Sigma, Primus acted on the behalf of several to grant true life—sparks—to various Transformers. {{storylink|Generations Selects Special Comic Finale Part 2}} Transformers created without Vector Sigma were of low intelligence, being considered as more akin to animals. {{Storylink|The Road to Legends' Revival Chapter 3}}

However, the existence of sparks was unknown to Transformers in general, with them believing that the [[personality component]] contained the essence of a Transformer {{storylink|Starscream's Brigade}} and that their "personality data" was executed by a unique energy signature referred to abstractly as "lifeforce" which was propagated throughout their bodies by laser cores. {{Storylink|GT Units Online!}} This was the case till [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]], inspired by a conversation with Primacron in [[2011]], {{storylink|Controverse}} investigated the existence of the Transformer soul. His research led him to open up his personality component in [[2025]] and discover his own spark within. From this time onward, sparks were common knowledge, although the particulars of where sparks went to after death were still a mystery. {{storylink|The Road to Legends' Revival Chapter 2}}

In some cases, an individual's spark was used to animate another being, such as when [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]]'s personality component gave life to the rudimentary human-made robot, [[B.O.T. (G1)|B.O.T.]], in [[1985]] {{storylink|B.O.T. (episode)|B.O.T.}} and when [[2005]]'s [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] was used to give life to [[Central Consciousness File X-9|a copy of his future self]]. {{storylink|Ghosts of the Past}} Around [[2030]], [[Violengiguar]] was created by the [[Vok]] from an aggregate of deceased Decepticons' sparks. {{storylink|The Road to Legends' Revival Chapter 5: LG-EX Big Powered Prologue Part Two|LG-EX Big Powered Prologue Part Two}}

In the [[BT World]] that split from the G1 World in [[2005]], the Transformers learned of the spark earlier when the [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Protector]]'s spark possessed the body of [[Nemesis Prime (G1)|Nemesis Prime]]. {{storylink|Binal Time}}

{{note|Japanese Generation 1 continuity includes the ''Beast Wars'' and ''Beast Machines'' cartoons. See [[#Beast Wars cartoon]] and [[#Beast Machines cartoon]] for further details.}}

====Dreamwave ''Generation One'' continuity====
[[File:MTMTESpark.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]

Traditionally, the spark of a Cybertronian is created when a [[protoform]] is imbued with enough energy to bring it to life. The spark can uses its hard-coded genetic instructions to reformat the protoform into a suitable robotic body with an [[alternate mode]], or it can simply animate a pre-built body. In ancient times, it was believed that the energies of the [[Matrix of Leadership]] were the font of all life and that all sparks possessed a connection to [[Primus]] himself, but as Cybertronian society developed a more atheistic worldview this was eventually dismissed as superstition. In the years before the war, scientists attempted to deduce a rational explanation origin for sparks.

The spark is suffused throughout the body; when a Transformer dies, their corpse releases a measurable energy burst, which was speculated to be the spark leaving the body. Certain sparks were known to have aberrant properties that counted [[Ability|special powers]] among them. A spark was known to sometimes split, resulting in the creation of siblings. The Decepticon [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] managed to artificially replicate this to create clones, but this process was noted to be overall inferior to natural spark separation. {{storylink|Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye}}

During his [[Unbinding]] ritual, [[the Fallen]] gathered four Cybertronians with unique sparks, specifically those with great "genetic potential": [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]], [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]], [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]], and [[Hot Spot (G1)|Hot Spot]]. {{storylink|Conflagration}} While Blitzwing would eventually mutate into a [[Triple Changer]] and Hot Spot was already a member of a [[combiner]] team, an [[The Age of Wrath Pt.5|unproduced issue of ''The War Within'']] would've revealed that Grimlock's spark was part of a "lineage" that dated back to the [[Thirteen]] themselves, though Jetfire's significance will forever remain a mystery.
{{--}}

====Marvel Comics continuity====
{{note|The original Marvel comics were published long before the ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' cartoon that would codify the concept of sparks. Subsequent stories that involve sparks in this continuity are the product of an elaborate, if not particularly smooth, [[retcon]].}}
=====''Classics''=====
The nature of the Cybertronian body and spark is highly dependent upon the rarified energon that shapes it—the "base element" of Transformer life is present across the [[multiverse]] and is responsible for the highly varied, heterogeneous properties of the Cybertronian species. Though each spark reflects the nature of [[Primus]], Rarified Energon is finite in nature and must be carefully guarded, so [[Primus]] tasked [[Nexus Prime]] of the [[Thirteen]] with guarding this miraculous substance so that it could not be used for evil. {{storylink|Crossing Over: Part 6}}

The [[Last Autobot]] considered his [[Mini-Con]] creations to be "children of his own spark", though it is unclear if this sentiment is literal or metaphorical. {{storylink|The New World}}

=====''Regeneration One''=====
[[File:Botanica war to end all wars.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

The malevolent [[Dark Matrix]] creature discovered a way to consume the vestigial sparks of warriors who had made the pilgrimage to Primus's chamber, and grew more powerful with each new spark he consumed. {{storylink|The War to End All Wars, Part 5}}

Following the second crash of the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'', a damaged [[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]] willingly wired himself into the craft's systems to preserve his spark. {{storylink|Natural Selection, Part Two}} When the [[Wrecker]]s crashed on [[Earth]], [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] ordered his horde of [[zombie]] Decepticons to bring them to him in a state where he could see dread in their optics before he snuffed out their sparks. {{storylink|Loose Ends, Part 2}} When [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] later engaged Megatron in battle the [[Decepticon leader]] swore to open Prime's spark chamber with his teeth. His own spark was ripped out of his chest and crushed seconds later by an apologetic Prime. {{storylink|Loose Ends, Part 5}}

After the Cybertronians had been separated from [[Primus]] and the larger [[multiverse]], they lost their biological immortality. Millenia in the future, [[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Rodimus Prime]] had become the last Cybertronian; when he finally died, the vestiges of his spark energy provided the final catalyst for the [[Demons]] to complete their millennia-long metamorphosis and emerge as [[Botanica (BM)|a new generation]]. {{storylink|The War to End All Wars, Part 5}}

{{--}}

=====''Transformers '84''=====
[[File:SecretsAndLies2-MindBank.jpg|thumb|left|300px]]

Prior to the initial launch from Cybertron, the sparks of the wounded [[Dinobot (G1)|Dynobots]] were separated from their bodies and held within a magnetic containment field aboard the ''Ark'' until their bodies could be mended; their minds, on the other hand, were removed from their bodies, uplaoded onto [[crystalline containment vessel]]s, and stored in the [[mind bank]] that held the engrams of multiple Autobot reservists. When the Ark later crashed on Earth, [[Aunty|AUNTIE]] rebuilt the Dynobots with alien alternate modes and re-uploaded their sparks into their bodies. {{storylink|Secrets & Lies issue 2|Secrets & Lies #2}}

Not long afterwards, AUNTIE would bring five more Autobots back to life as an ad-hoc defense against a berserk [[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]]; as these facsimile warriors contained only copied mind engrams and not their sparks, they were not truly alive, but possessed all of the memories and tactical knowledge they had possessed in life. {{storylink|Secrets & Lies issue 3|Secrets & Lies #3}}

{{--}}

====2005 IDW continuity====
[[File:Amica Endura ceremony.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

Across the galaxy, multiple mechanical races possess sparks, including the [[Quintesson]]s, {{storylink|Prey (issue)|Prey}} [[Junkion (species)|Junkion]]s, {{storylink|The Next Day, and the Next}} and the [[Transformer]]s themselves. The durability of a spark and its role in mechanoid physiology varies from species to species; [[Pentius]]'s spark contained a semblance of his memories and personality, which reasserted themselves when his disembodied spark found its way into [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]'s body, {{storylink|Belly of the Beast (issue)|Belly of the Beast}} while the Junkion [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] could readily survive as a disembodied head after the apparent destruction of his spark. {{storylink|The Next Day, and the Next}} Machine races that did not possess sparks, like the [[Catharsian]]s, derive their sentience from a "warm-wired" physiology. {{storylink|Chasing the Infinite}}

On [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], the spark, [[brain module]], and [[transformation cog]] constitute [[Rossum's Trinity]], three vital, interconnected organs essential to Transformer life. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}} The light from a spark illuminates a Transformer's [[Sensor#Optical sensors|optics]], {{storylink|Zero Point}} and affects the colour of the [[energon]] in their systems; while most Cybertronian sparks pulse at a high frequency and turns their energon purple, [[Caminus (planet)|Camien]] transformers evolved lower-frequency sparks and "bleed" blue energon instead. {{storylink|The Last Autobot}} Cybertronian science has identified at least eight known spark types, {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}} though some proposed variations like estriol-positive sparks have been discredited and abandoned. {{storylink|After Megatron (A Dissolution Epilogue)|After Megatron}}

In ancient times, [[Vector Sigma]] created sparks by sending energy pulses across the planet, igniting "[[hot spot (phenomenon)|hot spot]]s" that birthed clusters of newborn sparks. After the "first flash", Cybertronians harvested these new sparks; they could either be implanted into a mass of [[living metal|sentio metallico]] to become a healthy [[protoform]] {{storylink|The Sound of Breaking Glass}} or "frozen" indefinitely within a [[photonic crystal]]. {{storylink|The Lopsided Triangle}} Though most unharvested sparks evaporated soon after their first flash, a particularly strong spark like a [[Point One Percenter]] could remain buried underground for some time. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}}

[[File:Your First Mistake - Army Building Seekers.jpg|thumb|left|300px]]

Although various Cybertronian religions held that sparks would burn forever as a result of the Cybertronian race destroying the death god [[Mortilus]] in ancient times, {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} the truth was that sparks were as mortal as any other life-force and could potentially burn out from old age or a disease like [[cybercrosis]]. {{storylink|Remain in Light 1 of 5: The Fecund Moon|The Fecund Moon}} Several [[Titan (group)|Titan]]s carried perpetually-regenerating hot spots within their bodies and used these to colonize distant worlds during the reign of the [[Thirteen]]. {{storylink|A 'Bot and Her City}} Exotic technologies like [[positron core]]s were once used to treat spark-related aliments but these miraculous devices were considered lost after the [[First Cybertronian Civil War]]. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 2: A Lonely Pillar on the Plain|A Lonely Pillar on the Plain}} At some point after this war, the enigmatic [[Mortilus|Necrobot]] began a tradition of harvesting the residual spark pulses from corpses and using that energy to create blue flowers to mark the graves of the many Cybertronians who had been killed in the conflict—a tradition that would only grow in complexity in the years to come. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}}

[[File:TheLopsidedTriangle-FrozenSparks.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

By [[Nova Prime]]'s era, the hot spots weren't producing as many sparks and occurred less and less frequently, and the looming population crisis threatened Nova's vision of a grand galactic empire. In desperation, Nova's scientists found a way to tap the [[Matrix of Leadership]] itself, and discovered a way to generate a limitless supply of new sparks from the mass of photonic crystals embedded within its frame. {{storylink|Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|The Divided Self}} Realizing that not all Cybertronains would approve of this act, the government established a cover story: they were creating life through "spark-splicing" experiments that supposedly used energy from existing sparks to ignite new ones, whicih were then implanted into pre-built bodies. {{storylink|Remain in Light 1 of 5: The Fecund Moon|The Fecund Moon}} This "[[Silver Harvest]]" single-handedly revitalized the Cybertronian race, and Transformers who were born this way were said to have been "[[Reproduction#2005 IDW continuity|constructed cold]]". {{storylink|Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|The Divided Self}}

During the reign of [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]], a lone, hand-shaped hot spot ignited in [[Alyon]]. Realizing that this portentous shape would only embolden the waning [[Functionist Council]], the Autobot leader deliberately kept the spot a secret and had his men experiment on the sparks by bathing them with radiation in an attempt to turn them into [[Outlier (group)|outlier]]s until [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Orion Pax]] and a group of time-travelling Autobots drove them off.
{{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}} When the war finally broke out, the Autobots were able to recover a stockpile of leftover sparks frozen within photonic crystals; these became the basis for an expansive program of [[M.T.O.|"Made to Order" warriors]], purpose-built soldiers literally raised from birth to fight and die for their cause. {{storylink|The Lopsided Triangle}} The Decepticons possessed their own M.T.O.s, but where they sourced their sparks from is not entirely clear. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}} The [[Decepticon Justice Division]] leader [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] possessed a fearsome [[Outlier (group)|Outlier]] power—using only his voice, he could synchronize his voice with the sparks of his victims and extinguish them using only his voice. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}}

[[File:SpotlightArcee Garrus-9 inmates.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Reminds me of the reptile cages at the zoo...except less stinky.]]

In the early days of the conflict, [[Prowl (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Prowl]] and [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]] collaborated on a number of inventions for Autobot use, including spark extraction, which they viewed as a humane method of keeping prisoners under control. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 2|Sins of the Wreckers #2}} The technology saw use at the [[Garrus-9]] detention center, where the Autobots incarcerated [[Arcee (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Arcee]]. Arcee found this limbo peaceful but was later reunited with her body to deal with the [[Monstructor (G1)|Monstructor]] six; despite [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Optimus Prime]]'s orders, the Autobots couldn't break through his destructive programming to safely extract the sparks for rehabilitation. To control her behavior, a "g-force crush" device was installed in her spark chamber, which could be operated via remote control. {{storylink|Spotlight: Arcee}}

After being possessed by [[Vekktral]], [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ultra Magnus]] managed to resist enough to open his spark chamber so [[Rom]] could kill them both. {{storylink|Shining Armor issue 5|Shining Armor #5}}

[[Kup (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Kup]]'s sparkhousing was unstable due to age and [[Ore-8]]-induced radiation poisoning. While stranded on [[Tsiehshi]], he finally experienced sparkcore stabilizer failure which threatened to blow him up. [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] saved him by extending a [[force field]] around the crashing spark. Later, Kup recovered in a [[CR chamber]] fitted with a placeholder powercore to maintain his spark. {{storylink|Spotlight: Kup}}

[[File:TheFecundMoon-Luna1HotSpot.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

Some years after the end of the war and the rebirth of Cybertron, two hot spots re-emerged. The first was discovered by the crew of the ''[[Lost Light]]'' while investigating Cybertron's lost moon, [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]]; when [[Rung (G1)|Rung]] set foot on the lunar surface, it ignited a particularly large hot spot that contained over one ''billion'' unborn sparks.{{storylink|Remain in Light 1 of 5: The Fecund Moon|The Fecund Moon}} The sparks were not harvested in time, however, and the hot spot quickly burned out. {{storylink|The Sound of Breaking Glass}}

The second hot spot occurred on Cybertron, in the abandoned Alyon region. As the Transformers were mostly concentrated in [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] at the time, the rogue scientist [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] was the first to find the site and began experimenting on the sparks—using some of [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]'s corrupted energon, he was able to implant newborn sparks into the bodies of unliving creatures like [[turbofox]]es and the countless [[Sweep (G1)|Sweep]] corpses that littered the wasteland to create mindless abominations. Around this time, [[Slag (G1)|Slug]], the other [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]]s, and a group of Camiens discovered that the hot spot had already activated while transporting a cargo of unborn Camien sparks to plant in the Alyon region, and saved the unborn sparks by chasing Bludgeon off. {{storylink|The Transformers: Redemption|Redemption}}

[[File:Salvation - Trypticon's Protoforms.jpg|thumb|left|250px]]

Later, however, Bludgeon returned to Alyon, slew the guards that [[Starscream (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Starscream]] had posted to keep the sparks safe, and stole the sparks before using a replica [[Void Scepter]] to raise Trypticon. Once he'd been defeated, however, Trypticon announced that he wished to protect the sparks, took them into his own body, and allowed them to use his own [[Living metal|sentio metallico]] to develop into full-fledged protoforms. Though Slug had perished during the initial hunt for Bludgeon, Starscream was able to bring him back to life by implanting a ''new'' spark—one of the mutant Sweep sparks recovered from Bludgeon's possession—into his body. {{storylink|The Transformers: Salvation|Salvation}}

[[Scorponok (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Scorponok]] utilized the [[Epistemus|Magnificence]] to create the [[Firstborn]], a spark-powered organic capable of sexual reproduction that would reproduce with others of its kind and create a new generation of Decepticon sparks. {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}}

In a subsequent struggle with the [[Darkling Lord]]s, the [[Spectral Knight]] [[Galadria]] was able to cast a [[magic]] spell that healed [[Ironhide (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ironhide]]'s spark. {{storylink|The Curtain}} Not long afterwards, [[Wheeljack (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Wheeljack]] used some fresh sparks harvested from Trypticon's hot spot to create new bodies for Optimus Prime and [[Bumblebee (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Bumblebee]] to inhabit after they'd been rescued from [[infraspace]]. {{storylink|Unstopped and Unstoppable}}

During the final battle against the [[Functionist Council]], [[Team Rodimus (G1)|Team Rodimus]] opened twelve Matrices of Leadership at the [[hot spot (phenomenon)|hot spot]]s on Functionist Cybertron, [[Vector Sigma]] shunted the excess energy to the orbiting Luna 1, which reignited the hot spot. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 6): A Spark Among Embers|A Spark Among Embers}} Over following years, the new sparks harvested in the "[[Bronze Harvest]]" were brought online and became known as the [[Lunarian]]s. Taking after their progenitor Rung, they possessed an unusually high number of Point One Percenters to the point where the term would likely have to be changed in the coming years. {{storylink|How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2}}

{{--}}

=====Characters by spark type=====
{{quote|Rewind's '''''vitreous positive'''''. It's a relatively rare spark type. One in 150, one in 200.}}
{{quote|I'm V-positive.}}
{{quote|I know.|[[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] and [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]]|[[Before & After]]}}
{|border="1" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" style="margin:.5em auto 1.5em auto;"
!Ferrum-positive
!Ferrum-negative
!Isomeric-positive
!Isomeric-negative
!Vitreous-positive
!Vitreous-negative
!Unknown shared type
!Either ferrum-negative or vitreous-positive<ref group="idw">In "Elegant Chaos", Brainstorm's time-machine is coded for two spark-types: ferrum-negative and vitreous-positive, since Tailgate and Rewind can both use it. By extrapolation, Rodimus, Brainstorm, Megatron and Rung are either of those two.</ref>
|-
|valign="top"|
*[[Hound (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Hound]]
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]]
*[[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]]
*[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]]
|valign="top"|
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Cyclonus]]
*[[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]]
|valign="top"|
*[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]]
*[[Getaway]]
*[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]]
|valign="top"|
*[[Dipstick]]
*[[Gears (G1)|Gears]]
*[[Highbrow (G1)|Highbrow]]
*[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]]
*[[Ratchet (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ratchet]]
|valign="top"|
*[[Chromedome (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Chromedome]]
*[[Rewind (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Rewind]]
*[[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]]
*[[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]]
|valign="top"|
*[[Ammo]]
*[[Crosscut (Autobot)|Crosscut]]
*[[Skids (G1)|Skids]]
|valign="top"|
*[[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]]
*[[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]]
|valign="top"|
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Rodimus]]
*[[Brainstorm (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Brainstorm]]
*[[Megatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Megatron]]
*[[Rung (G1)|Rung]]
|}
<references group="idw"/>

====Ask Vector Prime====
In [[Primax 185.0 Beta]], during a war between the [[Decepticon Empire]] and the [[Quintesson Pan Galactic Co-Prosperity Sphere]], Galvatron sought to turn his homeworld into the ultimate weapon, intending to transfer his spark into Cybertron and become [[Grand Galvatron]]. As the transfer occurred however, the Decepticon's spark was destroyed through the sacrificial efforts of [[Ratchet (G1)|The Autobot]] and the [[Dreadnok]]s. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/04}}

====''Beast Wars: Uprising''====
Traditionally, the Vector Sigma supercomputer was the source of Cybertronian life, which continually generated new sparks. During the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]], however, Vector Sigma was extinguished. {{storylink|Broken Windshields}}

When [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] attacked Cybertron, he was repelled by a small number of Cybertronians who possessed unusually powerful Point One Percenter sparks. Inspired by the sight—and foreseeing a day when the Point One Percenters would be needed again—[[Deluge (G2)|Deluge]] and a number of other Cybertronians began studying the properties of sparks in the hopes of artificially creating a new generation of Point One Percenters. His work after the end of the war yielded only two successes, however: the immortal [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] and the deceptively powerful [[Transmutate (BW)|Trans-Mutate]]. {{storylink|The Inexorable March}}

The Great War came to an end when the [[Decepticon leader]] Thunderwing claimed the [[Underbase]], absorbed its contents into his own body, and used its power to fuse his spark with the other members of the [[Mayhem Attack Squad]]. {{storylink|Not All Megatrons}} With the Cybertronian race damaged, divided, and teetering on the brink of extinction, the Autobot scientist [[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]] bartered with the [[Human Confederacy]] and received the [[Energon Matrix]] as an alternate method of generating sparks. His fellow [[Builder of Cybertron|Builders]] used the device to create the Maximals and Predacons, proxy armies who would carry on the war in a series of ritualized [[Games (competition)|Games]], and hid the artifact away inside [[Lio Convoy]] once they'd grown their population to a sufficient number. {{storylink|Broken Windshields}}

After Lio Convoy went rogue and kickstarted the [[Grand Uprising]], [[Eject (G1)|Eject]] created a clone with his own Matrix. The clone, [[Galva Convoy]] was influenced by a [[Lord Imperious Delirious|dark source]] and eventually utilized the [[G-Virus]] to corrupt the Matrix within him and birthed the [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicons]] who had "anti-sparks". {{storylink|Micro-Aggressions}} {{storylink|Not All Megatrons}}

[[Second-born intellect]]s were mechanical entities created by organic beings and not animated by sparks. When the highly advanced second-born intellect [[Lord Imperious Delirious]] learned of the Cybertronian race, he initially believed them to be an entire race of beings like himself; when he learned that they possessed sparks, however, he was instinctually disgusted by the idea of "energy beings" animating mechanical shells and began a genocidal campaign against the Cybertronian species. {{storylink|Derailment}}

====''Of Masters and Mayhem''====
[[File:OMAM-ThunderMayhemSpark.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]

[[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] performed several arcane experiments on his spark, which enhanced its power and turned it green. Learning of this, [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] had the spark extracted and placed it into what would become the [[Matrix of Malice]]. When the [[combiner]] [[Thunder Mayhem]] incorporated this Matrix into itself, [[Fractyl]] suspected that the additional spark was what gave the combiner such power and stability. In the process of making [[Wreckage (G1)|Wreckage]] to defeat Thunder Mayhem, Fractyl hoped that the introduction of [[greenergon]], which radiated the same signature as Thunderwing's spark, would react with [[Toxitron (G1)|Toxitron]]'s spark and produce a similar power boost. {{storylink|Foundation and Wreckage Part 1: Deadly Aim|Deadly Aim}}

When the [[Teklaan]]s began rebuilding Cybertron's ruined biosphere, [[Cergo]] remarked that understanding the Wreckers' sparks was necessary to resurrect the Cybertronian race. When [[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] was convinced to turn against the aliens and joined Wreckage, the combiner highlighted his spark as proof that he was not a thing, but a true being, unlike the static Teklaans. {{storylink|Lively Pursuit}}

{{--}}

====''Prime Wars Trilogy'' cartoons====
[[File:POTP-Ep2-Volcanicus-Computron-dies.jpg|thumb|left|250px]]
In a bid to resurrect [[Solus Prime]], [[The Fallen|Megatronus]] began draining the sparks of every Cybertronian to reconstitute her. {{storylink|Collision Course}} When his scheme was halted, thanks in part to Solus herself, the majority of the drained sparks were returned to the living universe—including the spark of Optimus Prime, who had been previously killed by Megatronus. {{storylink|Saga's End}}

{{--}}

====''Power of the Primes'' marketing material====
The [[Prime Master]]s were diminutive Cybertronians who each held the sparks of one of the original [[Thirteen]] Primes. {{storylink|Power of the Primes (franchise)|Power of the Primes}}

====2019 IDW continuity====
[[File:IHaveNoMouthAndIMustStarscream-Spark.jpg|thumb|right|300px]]

New sparks emerged from the AllSpark, {{storylink|War's End Part Two}} ascending to the surface via the Well of All Sparks. By the [[Expansion|Age of Expansion]], the Cybertronian government had constructed the [[Forge Pyramid|Pyramid]] atop the Well, so that new sparks could be diverted directly into the forges that would provide the new sparks with [[living metal]] harvested from the surface of Cybertron. In ancient times, these included Titansparks; however, after the [[War of the Threefold Spark]], [[Nominus Prime]] decided that forging new Titans and keeping them fuelled would exceed the limits of the [[Nominus Edict]] and restart the cycle of conquest and colonization that he sought to avoid, and as a result deliberately had all new Titansparks diverted to a secret chamber underneath the building, where they would remain in indefinite stasis. {{storylink|War World: Titans|Titans}}

When a Transformer grew tired of living, they would traditionally go "[[immersant]]", a kind of prolonged stasis that segues into some kind of death. During this jouorney, the spark begins to travel to the next world, a gradual dissolution of the self as the spark returns to a place where "all are one". {{storylink|Escape Part Three}} All but immortal, this leisurely perspective on life and death made it difficult for short-lived organic species like the [[A'ovan]]s to comprehend the Cybertronian worldview. {{storylink|Escape Part One}}

[[File:DarknessOnceGazedUponPartOne-Exarchonspark.jpg|thumb|left|300px]]

For reasons as-yet unknown, an unknown party captured and modified the Cybertronian explorer [[Exarchon]]. Exarchon returned to Cybertron as a new breed of life entirely, something no longer wholly Cybertronian: although he still possessed a spark, it now acted like a living virus that could infect potential hosts, snuff out their own sparks, and turn them into receptacles for his consciousness. {{storylink|Darkness, Once Gazed Upon: Part One}} When he used this ability, it involved opening his own spark chamber, which manifested a torrent of swirling black energy that ensnared his victims. {{storylink|Lord of Misrule: Enigmatic|Enigmatic}}

[[Cloning|Clone]]s, like the [[Skywarp drone]]s produced during the [[War of the Threefold Spark]] or the [[Insecticon clone]]s created by the [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticon]]s, lacked sparks. {{storylink|Escape Part Three}}

{{--}}

====''War for Cybertron Trilogy'' cartoon====
The [[AllSpark|Allspark]] was the source of all Cybertronian life, and generated sparks as it travelled across the planet. With the devastation wrought by the Great War, the mindless [[zombie]] hordes known as the [[Sparkless]] attempted to reanimate themselves by feeding on the sparks of the living. {{storylink|Siege episode 5}} After the Allspark had been ejected from Cybertron, Megatron willingly drained the sparks of both Autobots and Decepticons in order to hasten the construction of his new starship, the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]''. {{storylink|Earthrise episode 2}}

In one alternate timeline, the AllSpark was extinguished, although the [[Maximal]]s and [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]]s who inherited Cybertron still possessed sparks generated through some unknown method. [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]'s spark persisted after his death; acting on the will of the AllSpark, it displayed the ability to take on a semi-corporeal form as it guided [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] to the AllSpark. {{storylink|Kingdom episode 4}}

====2021 IDW ''Beast Wars'' comic====
[[File:MaximalsStrikeBackPart2-Terrorsaurdies.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

The artificial intelligences aboard the ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]'' and ''[[Darksyde (BW)|Darksyde]]'' reconstructed Maximals and Predacons with techno-organic material to protect the sparks of their crews from harmful [[energon radiation]]. {{storylink|Savage Landing Part 1}}

When an enraged [[Skold]] turned on [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] after he'd murdered [[Razorbeast]], she killed him by ripping his spark from his chest. {{storylink|Maximals Strike Back, Part 2}}

{{--}}

===2001 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon===
[[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]] used his spark energy to turn six Autobot [[protoform]]s into Decepticons. {{storylink|The Decepticons}} After becoming Galvatron, the Predacon leader used his spark to forcibly turn them into loyal servants. {{storylink|Surprise Attack!}}

===Unicron Trilogy===
====Unicron Trilogy cartoon continuity====
[[File:Regeneration-SmokescreenSpark.jpg|thumb|left|250px]]

Unlike most Cybertronians, the [[Mini-Con]]s possessed unique "[[Digital Entity Frame]]s" instead of sparks. This mass of energy functioned similarly to a Cybertronian spark, but was connected to the [[Linkage (dimension)|Linkage dimension]] that served as a repository of their souls. {{storylink|Linkage Part 8}}

After being shot by the [[Requiem Blaster (Armada)|Requiem Blaster]], {{storylink|Sacrifice}} ninety percent of [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]]'s body was damaged beyond repair but his spark was intact allowing [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] to extract it and build Smokescreen a new body. {{storylink|Regeneration (Armada)|Regeneration}} After his death, the [[Mini-Con]]s were able to summon [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]]'s spark back to the physical plane via the [[Matrix of Leadership]]. {{storylink|Miracle}}

After seizing the [[Omega Lock]] and three of the Cyber Planet Keys, {{storylink|Retreat}} [[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Starscream]] began absorbing the spark of Primus into himself which eventually caused him to grow to titanic proportions and enhanced his physical abilities. {{storylink|Starscream (episode)|Starscream}}

Once all four Cyber Planet Keys were placed in the Omega Lock, Primus's spark was fully restored. {{storylink|End}}

In their final battle, [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] stabbed [[Rhisling]] directly into [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]'s spark, finally ending the Decepticon's threat. {{storylink|Unfinished}}

{{--}}

====Dreamwave ''Armada'' comic====
After his defeat, Megatron's essence was imprisoned within Unicron's spark core, where the Chaos-Bringer attempted to subsume his essence. {{storylink|This Evil Reborn}}

At some point in the brief peace that followed, Cybertronian scientists conducted experimental research to determine a connection between Energon and the "core life force" of the Transformer race. {{storylink|More than Meets the Eye: Transformers: Armada|More than Meets the Eye #3}} [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Snow Cat]]'s [[Spark Rewriter]] could forcibly convert Autobots into Decepticons. {{storylink|Omni-Potent}}

===Movie continuity===
====Live-action film series====
[[File:OptimusSparkChamber.jpg|thumb|right|300px]]

Sparks were generated by the [[AllSpark]], a sacred artifact of unknown origin which could bring any machine to life by imbuing it with a spark. {{storylink|Transformers (film)|Transformers}} This spark contains a Transformer's memories and feelings; this manifestation of their metaphysical being has been compared to a human soul. Sparkless robots composed from the same [[living metal|elemental metal]]s as the Cybertronian race, like the human-built drones mass-produced by [[Kinetic Solutions Incorporated]], were considered to be "soulless" and not truly alive, even if they displayed the ability to speak and think independently. {{storylink|Transformers: Age of Extinction (film)|Age of Extinction}}

[[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]] was said to devour the sparks of his fallen foes, {{storylink|Optimus Prime Versus Megatron}} {{storylink|Transformers (novel)}} and the mercenary bounty hunter [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]] was fond of tearing the spark chambers of his victims from their lifeless bodies. {{storylink|Transformers: Age of Extinction (film)|Age of Extinction}}

While searching for the AllSpark on Earth, Optimus planned to put the artifact beyond Megatron's reach by inserting the artifact into his own spark chamber, which would assuredly kill him but deny Megatron the opportunity to raise an army from Earth's machines. Ultimately, however, [[Sam Witwicky]] saved the Autobot leader by forcibly inserting the AllSpark into Megatron's exposed spark chamber and killing him instead. {{storylink|Transformers (film)|Transformers}}

[[File:AgeOfExtinction-OptimusSpark.jpg|thumb|left|300px]]

Two years later, the Decepticons revived Megatron by inserting a shard of the AllSpark into the remains of his spark chamber, and the Decepticon leader soon felled [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] by shooting him through his own spark chamber. Sam was able to reignite his spark by inserting the [[Matrix of Leadership]] into Prime's empty chamber; not long afterwards, a wounded Jetfire deliberately sacrificed himself by ripping out his own spark chamber so that Optimus could use his parts, and the Autobot leader eventually killed [[The Fallen]] by crushing his spark. {{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}

After his second defeat in [[Chicago]], Megatron's [[Core consciousness|consciousness]] manipulated KSI into producing a new body for him and its lack of a spark proved an invaluable asset when he later fought Optimus as "Galvatron". Thanks to a [[Vortex Grinder]] in place of his spark chamber, he was able to fight Optimus and win. After Optimus left Earth to confront the [[Creator]]s, Optimus asked his family on Earth to think of a star in the night sky as his soul. {{storylink|Transformers: Age of Extinction (film)|Age of Extinction}}

{{--}}

====IDW movie comics====
[[File:TheReignOfStarscream5-sparkdestroyed.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

After the failed [[Ejoornian]] invasion of Cybertron, [[Ratchet (Movie)|Ratchet]]'s post-mortem on one of them led to him discovering that they possessed internals eerily similar to the Cybertronians, including what may have been a spark core. {{storylink|Defiance issue 2|Defiance #2}}

Following the destruction of the AllSpark in [[Mission City]], [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]] conspired to use [[Sector Seven]]'s data on the artifact to create it. {{storylink|The Reign of Starscream issue 2|The Reign of Starscream #2}} After using slave labor to construct the [[Replica AllSpark]], Starscream sacrificed five Autobot sparks to ignite it but the device remained inert. {{storylink|The Reign of Starscream issue 5|The Reign of Starscream #5}}

{{--}}

===Animated continuity family===
====''Animated'' cartoon====
[[File:AllSparkAlmanac-sparks.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]

The [[AllSpark]] was the wellspring of sparks; life began when a spark was created, {{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}} and when a spark expired it returned to the Well of All Sparks. {{storylink|Transform and Roll Out}} Traditionally, Autobot protoforms were forged from the [[Living metal|protomatter]] mined from the [[Sonic Canyons]], incubated in the Matrix Chamber of the [[Cyber-Ninja Corps]], and eventually exposed to the lifegiving energies of the AllSpark to bring a new Transformer online. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II}}

A spark could be preserved indefinitely by putting the Transformer into [[stasis lock]]; during the [[Great War (Animated)|Great War]], the [[Omega Sentinel (Animated)|Omega Sentinel]]s [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega]] and [[Sigma Supreme]] were both able to permanently transform into their starship forms at the cost of their higher functions. {{storylink|TransWarped}} {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II}} Toward the end of the conflict, the young martial artist [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] attempted to save his mentor [[Yoketron (Animated)|Yoketron]] by transferring his spark into a blank [[protoform]], but Yoketron voluntarily allowed his spark to fade. {{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}} Lockdown delivered Yoketron's stolen protoforms to the Decepticons but they found no method of igniting a spark in them without the AllSpark. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}}

As the Autobots had deliberately jettisoned the AllSpark into space to keep the artifact out of Decepticon hands, {{storylink|Transform and Roll Out}} the victorious Autobots turned to Vector Sigma as an alternate method of generating new sparks. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II}}

[[File:5ServosofDoom yoketron protoform.gif|thumb|right|250px|The hard-coded design schematics in [[Yoketron (Animated)|Yoketron]]'s spark reshape a protoform's protomatter into his image.]]

[[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari Sumdac]]'s unique [[AllSpark Key]] could reignite extinguished sparks {{storylink|Transform and Roll Out}} and even generate new sparks under the correct circumstances—when she used the key to enhance [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]]'s [[Stinger (weapon)|stinger]] weapons during a battle with the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobot]]s, the AllSpark energy gave the human-built robots sparks, granting them sentience and the power to transform into robots. {{storylink|Blast from the Past}}

Upon his reconstruction via the AllSpark Key, Megatron used it to drain [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]]'s spark as punishment for his earlier betrayal. When Megatron later claimed the AllSpark, he inserted it into his spark chamber before his equilibrium sensors were short-circuited by [[Isaac Sumdac (Animated)|Isaac Sumdac]]. Though impressed by the human's ingenuity, Megatron quickly recovered, proclaiming that the spark was the core of all Cybertronians and that compared to it, such things as [[armor-plating]] and servo mechanics were superficial. {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 2}}

After the destruction of the AllSpark, its individual shards were scattered across [[Detroit]]; these "AllSpark fragments" caused havoc by interfering with human machinery and occasionally bringing them to life as new Transformers. One shard brought Starscream back to life and acted as a substitute for his extinguished spark; Starscream was then able to subdivide this crystal even further and used each fragment to animate an army of [[Starscream clone (Animated)|clone]]s. {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part I}} In the battle for Megatron's [[space bridge]], Ratchet used a handful of AllSpark fragments and the AllSpark Key to jumpstart Omega Supreme's spark. {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part II}} Megatron used a similar tactic when he brought the [[Lugnut Supreme]]s online, using the same AllSpark fragments that had revived Omega Supreme. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}} When Prowl and [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] used [[processor-over-matter]] to summon together all the AllSpark fragments, [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] recognized that they could not summon the totality of the pieces in time to save [[Detroit]] forcing him to surrender his spark back to the AllSpark, granting it the power it needed to protect the city. {{storylink|Endgame, Part II}}

====Titan Magazines====
[[Afterburn]] was a sparkless drone sent by [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] to bring down the Autobots from within. Although Afterburn displayed signs of an independent personality, when the truth of his nature came to light after his death Optimus told [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] that he was never truly alive. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 24|Megatron's Revenge}}

===''TransTech''===
[[File:Topspin&BulletbikesSpark TheComingStorm1.jpg|thumb|left|250px]]

The Decepticon [[Topspin (Classics)|Topspin]] possessed the unusual power to manipulate sparks—without any kind of mechanical assistance, he could telepathically remove the spark from a body, implant it into a new shell, or even rip it to its component atoms with a single thought. After arriving in the multiversal city of [[Axiom Nexus]], Topspin fell into the employ of [[Alpha Trion (SG)|Alpha Trion]], who saw Topspin's power as a way to facilitate his escape back to his [[Primax -408.24 Epsilon|native reality]]. {{storylink|Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 25|Topspin's profile in Club magazine #25}} Using this power, Topspin was able to incapacitate various [[Transcendent Technomorph]]s native to the reality and swap their sparks with those of his various acolytes, secretly building up a powerbase in high places that would assist him with his master plan. {{storylink|Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 25|Blackarachnia's profile in Club magazine #25}} Topspin could not bring himself to destroy the helpless TransTechs' sparks, though, and hid them away inside life-sustaining containment capsules. {{storylink|Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist|Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/12/02}}

The [[GoBot]] [[Cy-Kill (GoBots)|Cy-Kill]] was fascinated by the concept of Sparks, and considered Transformers to be hybrids of machinery and energy in the same way that GoBots were hybrids of machinery and organic tissue. While stranded in Axiom Nexus, he stole six sparks; {{storylink|Transformers: Renegade Rhetoric|Renegade Rhetoric (1), 2015/10/15}} upon returning to his home reality, he used those stolen sparks to create a new version of the GoBot [[combiner]] [[Puzzler]].{{storylink|Transformers: Renegade Rhetoric|Renegade Rhetoric}} [[Waspinator (BW)|Thrustinator]] recruited the [[Spy Changer]]s of [[Primax 085.0 Eta]] to travel to Cy-Kill's reality to rescue the six hostage sparks. {{storylink|Transformers: Renegade Rhetoric|Renegade Rhetoric (2), 2016/07/14}}

{{--}}

===''Shattered Glass''===
====Fun Publications ''Shattered Glass'' continuity====
In this backwards universe, Transformers are created when the malevolent [[Omega Terminus]] supercomputer implants an negatively-charged "ember" into a newborn Transformer. Though he was originally built as an artificially-intelligent warrior who lacked an ember, [[Grimlock (SG)|Grimlock]] later received one from the Omega Terminus. Under its influence, he rapidly evolved into a fully-sentient Cybertronian and unlocked the power to transform into a robot mode.{{storylink|Dungeons & Dinobots}}

After the dimensionally-displaced [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] arrived in this negative universe, the native Decepticons were confused when they analyzed his body and found evidence of a "backwards", postiron-charged energy matrix. {{storylink|Shattered Glass (issue)|Shattered Glass}}

====IDW ''Shattered Glass'' comic====
[[File:ShatteredGlass5-Goldbugescapes.jpg|thumb|right|150px|And it was all yellow.]]

In this reality, Cybertronians possess ordinary sparks instead of embers. Before the Great War, [[Starscream (SG)|Starscream]] would've used his unique spark to communicate with the dormant [[Metroplex (SG)|Metroplex]], but [[Jetfire (SG)|Jetfire]]'s last-second betrayal forced him to bind vital information regarding his [[Titan (group)|Titan]] research to his spark to keep it out of the hands of the Autobots. The process was only a partial success, however, and Starscream's internal files were left damaged and corrupted for many megacycles until he returned to Cybertron and attempted the data transfer again. This time, the process succeeded, but his efforts drew the attention of [[Goldbug (SG)|Goldbug]]'s Autobots. {{storylink|Shattered Glass issue 3|Shattered Glass #3}} After killing Starscream and ripping out his spark, Goldbug was able to use the information encoded on his spark to awaken Metroplex. {{storylink|Shattered Glass issue 5|Shattered Glass #5}}

===Aligned continuity family===
====''The Covenant of Primus''====
[[File:COP-WellOfAllSparks.jpg|thumb|left|250px]]

Of the original [[Thirteen]] Transformers, it was [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]], the thirteenth and final Prime, who possessed a spark closest to that of their progenitor [[Primus]]. During their first battle against [[Unicron]], their plan was that this unique spark would hopefully react with Unicron's anti-spark and knock both of them offline—a plan that ultimately worked, but not before Unicron nearly crushed the sparks of the remaining twelve with apocalyptic visions of doom and despair.

After the War of the Primes, [[Solus Prime]]'s body was returned to the core of Cybertron, leaving the [[Well of All Sparks]] behind; once the Well was "ignited" through the sacrifices of [[Micronus Prime|Micronus]] and [[Onyx Prime|Onyx]], the well became the passage through which new sparks created by the AllSpark would emerge into the physical world. when the Quintessons invaded Cybertron and ushered in the [[Age of Wrath]], their malign influence was such that newborn sparks were born without names and defaulted to bland alphanumeric designations.

In the subsequent Golden Age, miniature Wells would be ignited on Cybertronian colony worlds like [[Archon]] and [[Velocitron]] to provide the inhabitants of those planets with a steady source of new sparks.

During the [[Great War (Prime)|Great War]], Primus entrusted Optimus Prime with a portion of his spark, which also restored Optimus Prime's long-forgotten memories of his time as a member of the Thirteen. {{storylink|Transformers: The Covenant of Primus|The Covenant of Primus}}

====Aligned novels====
In a galaxy predomiantly populated by organic beings, alien races like the [[Quintesson]]s used the term "spark" to refer to the life-force of any given creature, biological or robotic. {{storylink|Transformers: Retribution|Retribution}}

Through [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]]'s experimentation, the [[Trypticon (WFC)|Trypticon]] research station was given a spark and imbued with life. {{storylink|Transformers: Exodus|Exodus}}

During a later encounter with the Quintessons on [[Aquatron]], the aliens fed several Autobots and Decepticons to their legions of [[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticon]]s and harvested their sparks to power a [[space bridge]] to Cybertron. {{storylink|Transformers: Retribution|Retribution}}

====''Prime'' cartoon====
[[File:OutOfHisHead-MegatronSpark.jpg|thumb|left|250px]]

Before the war, new sparks were generated by the AllSpark. During the war, Optimus was forced to jettison the artifact offworld so that Megatron could not use its powers for evil. {{storylink|Predacons Rising (Prime)|Predacons Rising}}

Over the protests of [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]], [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] inserted a shard of Dark Energon directly into his spark. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 2}} The shard managed to keep him alive after being at ground zero of a Space Bridge explosion, {{storylink|Masters & Students}} before another shard, plunged directly into his spark, restored his body to full functionality. {{storylink|Out of His Head}}

[[File:PredaconsRisingWellofAllSparks.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

[[Dreadwing (Prime)|Dreadwing]] and [[Skyquake (Prime)|Skyquake]] shared a split spark. This allowed the former to feel the latter's emerging from stasis and subsequent death. {{storylink|Loose Cannons}}

A variant of [[Terrorcon (Prime)|Terrorcon]]s, born from a mixture of Dark and [[Synthetic Energon]], could only be destroyed if their spark was extinguished. {{storylink|Thirst}}

After Megatron perished, {{storylink|Deadlock}} the lasting consequence of his abuse of Dark Energon was revealed with Megatron's polluted spark now severed from the [[Transformer afterlife|AllSpark]] and bound to Unicron's Anti-Spark, allowing the Dark God to possess Megatron's corpse.

In order to prevent Unicron from devouring the physical [[AllSpark]], Optimus Prime merged the AllSpark with the [[Matrix of Leadership]] and thus his own spark. Unable to separate the three, Optimus willingly surrendered his life to allow new generations to exist on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. The AllSpark rejoining the [[Core]] caused it to ignite and birth a multitude of new sparks. {{storylink|Predacons Rising (Prime)|Predacons Rising}}

{{--}}

====''Robots in Diguise'' (2015 cartoon)====
[[File:Battlegrounds1 Optimus + Primes.jpg|thumb|left|250px]]

Before Optimus could pass into the afterlife, the Thirteen intercepted his spark and brought it to the [[Realm of the Primes]]. {{storylink|Decepticon Island (Part 1)}} To provide Optimus with the power needed to defeat [[The Fallen|Megatronus]], the Primes empowered him using their own spark energy. {{storylink|Battlegrounds, Part 1}} When they eventually took that power back, it left Optimus substantially weakened for some time. {{storylink|Overloaded, Part 1}}

{{--}}

====''Rescue Bots Academy'' cartoon====
The [[Sparksayer]] was an ancient piece of lost technology which could scan the spark of a Cybertronian and grant them an appropriate tool. {{storylink|Power Up And Energize}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
Any part of [[The One|The Source]]—Primus, Unicron, the [[Chronarchitect]] and even supernatural substances like [[Angolmois Energy]] or [[Dark Energon]]—can be harnessed to create Cybertronian life. Vector Prime noted that it was not the ''origin'' of a spark that mattered, and firmly believed that even sparks generated from "evil" sources like Dark Energon had the capacity for good. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime, 23/07/2015}}

In one Cybertronian folktale regarding a friendly contest between a [[Titan (group)|Metrotitan]] and a [[Malignus (G1)|Malignus]], the prideful Malignus tried to scan entropy itself, which only destroyed his body and scattered his spark to the cosmos. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/17}}

The [[Hate Collector]]s who dwelt within the abandoned [[Cauldron]] were particularly drawn to the [[Prime Spark]] carried by many iterations of [[Optimus Prime (disambiguation)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Optimus Primal (disambiguation)|Optimus Primal]]. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/29}}

===''Cyberverse'' cartoon===
[[File:BattleForCybertronIV-ShockwaveSpark.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

By [[Cheetor (Cyberverse)|Cheetor]]'s account, his spark had been brought out of the [[AllSpark]] to serve as its guardian. {{storylink|Dark Birth}}

When [[Starscream (Cyberverse)|Starscream]] had acquired the AllSpark and used it to birth a race of [[scraplet]]s, {{storylink|Trials}} he believed that they held the sparks of the [[Ancient]]s, {{storylink|Dark Birth}} though Cheetor would later denounce his creations as sparkless abominations. {{storylink|Starscream's Children}} After witnessing Cheetor's affinity for the AllSpark, Starscream attempted to extract the guardian's spark and merge it with his own. When he tested the procedure on [[Bumblebee (Cyberverse)|Bumblebee]] however, Cheetor managed to stop the transfer and escape with his friend. {{storylink|Spotted}}

Upon gaining full control of the AllSpark, Starscream merged it with his spark. His first act was to extract the sparks of his [[Seeker (Cyberverse)|Seekers]], merging them with his own. He would have done the same to the other Autobots and Decepticons before [[Optimus Prime (Cyberverse)|Optimus Prime]] managed to use the [[Matrix of Leadership]] to punch the AllSpark out of Starscream, saving everyone. {{storylink|I Am The Allspark}}

After Bumblebee and Cheetor had returned the AllSpark to Cybertron's core, [[Shockwave (Cyberverse)|Shockwave]] willingly extracted his own spark and used it to corrupt the AllSpark. Without hesitation, Cheetor did the same, his spark purifying Shockwave's malignant energies from the AllSpark. {{storylink|Battle For Cybertron IV}}

When the [[Quintesson]]s invaded Cybertron, they trapped the populace in a virtual reality while their sparks were drained to fuel Starscream's metamorphosis into a Quintesson [[Judge (Cyberverse)|Judge]]. {{storylink|The End Of The Universe I}} Before [[Hot Rod (Cyberverse)|Hot Rod]]'s resistance managed to free the Cybertronians, some of their sparks had been completely drained. {{storylink|The Scientist}}

==Notes==
* ''Beast Wars'' writer [[Larry DiTillio]] envisioned Maximal and Predacon sparks as small fragments split from [[Nexus Zero]]. When a spark is split from the Vok nebula, a "good" one travels to the [[Matrix (facility)|Matrix]] and an "evil" one to the [[Pit (BW)|Pit]].<ref>[[Beast Wars Universe]]</ref>

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Spark''' (スパーク ''Supāku'')
*''German:'' '''Mastermodul''' (''Armada'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Huǒzhǒng''' (火种, "spark")
*''Portuguese:'' '''Centelha''' ("sparkle"), '''faísca''' ("spark"), '''fagulha''' ("spark"), '''chama''' ("flame")
*''Swedish:'' '''Gnista''' ("Spark")
*''Latin spanish:'' '''Chispa''' ("spark"), '''Spark'''

==See also==
*[[Reproduction]]
*[[Death]]
*[[Transformer afterlife]]
*[[Laser core]]
*[[Personality component]]
*[[AllSpark]]
*[[Vector Sigma]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars Transformer anatomy]]
[[Category:Beast Machines]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Transformer anatomy]]
[[Category:IDW (2005) Transformer anatomy]]
[[Category:Movie]]
[[Category:Primus]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Transformer anatomy]]

Divide and Conquer

2022-05-05T14:17:27Z

Rumbleburst: /* Foreign localization */

{{disambig2|the Generation 1 cartoon episode|the Marvel UK comic|Divide and Conquer!}}
{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=6
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=6
|prev2=Roll for It
|next2=S.O.S. Dinobots
|image=DivideandConquer MegatronENEMY poster.jpg
|caption=I thought Cobra was the enemy.
|title="Divide and Conquer"
|production code=#700-03
|airdate=[[October 20]], [[1984]]
|written by=[[Donald F. Glut]]
|animation studio=[[Toei Animation|Toei]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd6-paDJlwo
|videosite=YouTube
}}
'''The Autobots must journey to Cybertron to retrieve a vital piece of technology to save the life of the critically wounded Optimus Prime.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Earth]] factories are busily preparing weaponry for use against the [[Decepticon]] menace. [[Chip Chase]] is inspecting one such facility, where the administrators hope he can develop new methods to improve the efficiency of weapons production. The Decepticon [[Seeker (body-type)|Seekers]] suddenly attack the factory, breaching its walls and landing inside. They begin draining the factory of its energy, but have not noticed Chip, who sends out a distress signal to the [[Autobot]]s.

[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike]] are on a search mission, fruitlessly looking for any trace of the Decepticon [[space bridge]]. Prime intercepts Chip's call for help, and orders the Autobots at the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]] to meet him at the munitions plant. Prime arrives at the scene first, and is outnumbered three-to-one. A stray shot hits one of the massive computer banks, which begins a critical meltdown and overload. Prime attempts to shield the humans from the inevitable explosion with his own body. The blast tears through Prime, and the Decepticons take advantage of his weakened state to nail him. Prime collapses under fire.

[[File:Divide and conquer.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|Ohhh, that's REALLY gonna leave a mark on the Matrix.]]
The Seekers hear the approach of the other Autobots, and following [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s orders, retreat with the [[energon cube]]s. The Autobots find Prime's badly damaged form and take it back to base. Prime's power relays are fused. His mobility limited. His speech... slow... and labored. Part replacement... essential....

Wanting to confirm Prime's condition, Megatron dispatches [[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]] to the Ark to spy on [[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] and [[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]]'s efforts to repair Prime. Optimus's [[electropulse]] is fading. At Megatron's command, Laserbeak attacks the incredibly vulnerable Prime, tearing into his exposed chest cavity and causing a tremendous explosion.

[[File:DivideandConquer shutupHuffer.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|Shut up, Rattrap.]]
It's more smoke and sparks than fiery blast, and Prime survives the explosion, though his energy is fading fast. His very [[laser core]] is at risk of snuffing out, and Ratchet needs a [[cosmitron]] to keep his Prime's energy levels from draining. Wheeljack only knows of one in existence, but it's in his shop back on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], which the Decepticons had placed under a computerized lock. The Autobots need to get back to their homeworld and pick this lock. Naturally, Chip Chase is the only one of them familiar enough with Cybertronian computers to make this possible.

[[File:DivideandConquer Farewellwarrior.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|If I tell you go, then you GO!]]
Chip uses [[Teletraan I]] to do what Optimus could not: triangulate the likely coordinates for the Space Bridge's next appearance. Following Chip's detective work, the Autobots drive into the woods and discover the Space Bridge site. [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] and [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] oversee the transport of a shuttle module filled with Energon cubes, with a hapless [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]]-type soldier sent to pilot it across the gulf of interstellar space. With the Autobots' arrival, a fray breaks out–and so does a sudden thunderstorm.

Surprisingly, Megatron (who has been monitoring the battle) orders the Decepticons to let the Autobots win. The thunderstorm has given him an idea, but he does not elaborate. The Autobots—[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]], [[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]], [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] and [[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]]—drive into the Space Bridge and are teleported to [[Decepticon Headquarters (G1 Cybertron)|Shockwave's base]]. They blast their way past a shocked Shockwave and into Cybertron's streets. Megatron orders the [[Rainmaker]]s to destroy the Autobot infiltrators with [[acid rain]].

At [[Wheeljack's workshop]], Chip works his way past the locking mechanism, and Ironhide instantly finds the cosmitron. Outside, a trio of Seekers somehow seed the clouds over the workshop so they produce incredibly debilitating acid rain.

[[File:DivideandConquer Starscreampowerfist.jpg|right|upright=0.85|thumb|"THIS HAND OF MINE GLOWS WITH AN AWESOME POWER!"]]
The acid rain shorts the circuitry of the Autobots, who collapse at the touch of the deadly downpour. Chip is immune to the rain's effects, and implores the Autobots to continue. Trailbreaker musters up the energy to project his force-field, sheltering the Autobots from the rain, giving their automatic repair systems time to kick in. Bluestreak fires some blasts into the clouds overhead, dispersing the rainmaking seekers and the toxic clouds. Rejuvenated, the Autobots return to Shockwave's tower and ride the Space Bridge back to Earth.

On Earth, Megatron recognizes that without Prime, the conquest of the Autobots is a foregone conclusion. He leads an attack on the Ark. The Autobots recognize the hopeless battle up ahead, but Spike musters up his courage, grabs [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]]'s rifle, and rallies the troops. He even manages to inspire perpetual downer [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] to take charge.

An enormous battle breaks out in front of the Ark, just as the Autobot mission returns from Cybertron. Chip and Spike race the cosmitron to Prime. Optimus emerges in time to personally challenge Megatron and soundly beats him, forcing the Decepticon leader to yield. With Megatron down, a self-satisfied Starscream orders the Decepticons to retreat.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]] (7)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] (8)
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (9)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]] (10)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (11)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (12)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (13)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sunstreaker]] (14)
*[[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] (18)
*[[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (19)
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (20)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (21)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cliffjumper]] (22)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sideswipe]] (23)
*[[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] (24)
*[[Hound (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hound]] (31)
*[[Mirage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Mirage]] (32)
|c2=
*[[Thundercracker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Thundercracker]] (3)
*[[Skywarp (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Skywarp]] (4)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (5)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (6)
*[[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] (15)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (16)
*[[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]] (17)
*[[Shockwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Shockwave]] (25)
*[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (26)
*"Warrior" (27)
*[[Acid Storm (G1)|Green Rainmaker]] (28)
*[[Ion Storm|Blue Rainmaker]] (29)
*[[Nova Storm (G1)|Yellow Rainmaker]] (30)
*[[Ravage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ravage]] (33)
|c3=
*[[Chip Chase]] (1)
*Weapons factory manager (2)
*[[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (13)
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (14)
}}

==Quotes==
"Heh, I wonder if I'll ever get used to that."
:—'''Sparkplug''' witnessing the Autobots transform

"He's doomed. I know it. I can feel it in my [[Database|databank]]."
:—'''Huffer''', hoping the best for a dying Prime.

"They sure don't build 'em like that anymore."
:—'''Sparkplug''', commenting on the fact Optimus Prime is still alive after ''his chest explodes''.

"Just like [[Sherlock Holmes]] with [[floppy disk]]s!"
:—'''Spike''', hopelessly over his head when it comes to computer talk.

"No one's ever really disabled as long as he has courage."
:—'''Chip Chase''', and that’s one to grow on.

"My talents are wasted on this project. I should be in sole command of everything!"
:—'''Starscream''', not giving up on his dreams.

"I'm sorry, Spike. Sometimes nothing you do makes any difference."
:—'''Sparkplug''' to Spike, which, if you don't read as the general you, is actually kind of mean and funny.

"We can't go down without ''trying!'' Prime would want us to go for it, no matter what the odds! Well, are you with me, or do I fight this battle alone?"
:—'''Spike''' gives an inspirational battle rally to the Autobots after taking Jazz's gun.

"Is there anyone in the universe who will challenge the might of Megatron?" 
"There is one, Megatron! I, Optimus Prime, challenge you!"
:—'''Megatron''' is scared to death by a now healthy '''Optimus Prime'''.

==Notes==
===Production information===
* First draft script: 21st June 1984
* Script revised by [[Ron Friedman]]: 29th June 1984
* Finalised script: 2nd July 1984
* Official Sunbow Productions synopsis:
:''When Optimus Prime damages an intrinsic part during a clash with the Decepticons, some of the other Autobots -- with Chip's help -- take the space bridge to Cybertron. There they find a replacement part in Wheeljack's old workshop -- while avoiding the attack of the Decepticons on this alien planet. They return in time to repair Optimus and blow up the space bridge.''

===Continuity notes===
*The episode opens with a short narration by [[Victor Caroli]], describing the humans' efforts to build anti-Decepticon weapons.
[[File:ReflectorCartoon1.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
[[File:DivideandConquer Ratchet at work.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*Gadgets and powers:
**Jet mode Starscream fires lasers right out of his air intakes!
**Laserbeak deploys yet another video camera. This one's a huge telescoping camera that comes out of one of his air vents.
**Ratchet once again uses his welding tip arm while fixing Optimus Prime.
**Reflector can emit a light that shorts out optic sensors.
**Reflector displays an odd ability in this episode: he can absorb his fellow units into his body. This is due to the original intent that Reflector was one guy with duplication powers; however, every other scene that would have shown his power in action got cut, which makes this look rather out-of-nowhere.
**Shockwave is once again shown with two hands in this episode. In one scene, he reaches off-screen with a hand, and when his arm returns to the shot, his blaster-arm has taken its place.
**Ironhide's wrists can emit liquid glop launchers that trap the Decepticons to the surface with a thick adhesive.
**Trailbreaker's force field is fired like a stream from his shoulder cannon the first time he uses it; the second time, it just drifts out from behind his back.
**Autobots have built-in repair systems.
**Sideswipe is capable of emitting a smokescreen from his chest ... for little effect.
**Optimus Prime displays the unusual ability to fire energy beams out of his optics... right into Megatron's face.
*This is the third consecutive episode to feature the Space Bridge.
*Skywarp says they've wrung every last "micro spark" of energy from the factory.
*The damage to Optimus Prime includes his "power relays" being fused.
*There's quite a bit of fuss over Optimus Prime's [[laser core]] (and the extinguishing thereof), apparently a critical component of Transformer life.
*Optimus Prime has an "electro-pulse" that can fade.
*The Cosmitron is a piece of internal anatomy whose failure can end the life of a Transformer.
*Cybertron has an atmosphere breathable by humans. And this is ''before'' it [[The Ultimate Doom, Part 1|steals a chunk of Earth's atmosphere]].
*The tetrahedral seeker jets return; they first appeared in "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1|More Than Meets The Eye, Part 1]]."
*Once Trailbreaker blocks the acid rain with his forcefield, Chip says the Autobots' "[[automatic repair system]]s" will put them back in shape. Handy!
*The Transformers have a personal battle code where customs dictate personal challenges be settled in personal combat.
*This is the only episode where Laserbeak displays any cowardice, a trait described in his original tech spec bio and usually associated with the character.
*The Autobot Matrix of Leadership is nowhere to be found in Prime's chest when Wheeljack and Ratchet are repairing him.

===Real-world references===
*''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
**[[X-wing Fighter|X-Wing]] diving whine: as the jets land and transform inside the factory.
**A waving [[lightsaber]] provides the necessary noise for Bumblebee's headlights.

===Animation or technical glitches===
[[File:Ironhideinblack.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|So ''that's'' why [[Ironhide (Movie)|Movie Ironhide]] is black.]]
*Coloring errors:
**Starscream's air intakes are gray instead of red as he and the other two jets dive at the factory.
**A teleporting Skywarp is mistakenly colored with Starscream's colors, and then Thundercracker's colors.
**As Ironhide repeats his order to transform, Wheeljack's missing all his orange and much of his green; Trailbreaker's upper cheeks are colored as his eyes (it's his reading glasses look!)
**Starscream's cheeks are dark gray instead of light gray as he calls in to Megatron.
**Laserbeak's beak is the same dark gray as the rest of his head as he refuses Megatron's order. It should be light gray.
**In the shot of him still holding the tree after Megatron tells him to let the Autobots win, Starscream is colored like Thundercracker.
**Rumble's face is purple instead of light gray as he waves goodbye to "warrior".
**As Shockwave and a Reflector soldier unload the Space Bridge's shipment of Energon cubes, the Energon is not filled with an illumination effect, and appears as solid black bars.
**When the Autobot away team races back to Shockwave's tower, Ironhide is painted with Trailbreaker's colors, making him resemble a Diaclone incarnation of his toy.
**As he scans for the Decepticons, Hound's left cheekguard is white instead of green.
**After returning to Earth, Bluestreak emerges from the Space Bridge painted as Prowl.
**In a pan across the defeated Autobots, a prone form of Ironhide is colored with Ratchet's white and red hue (Ratchet's inside Autobot Headquarters at this point) and Sideswipe has Shockwave's colors.
[[File:DivideandConquer Factoryguardworkers.jpg|right|upright=1.67|thumb|Note the standard issue army hardhats]]
*Due to a mix-up in animation models, the green-uniformed human soldiers protecting the weapons factory in one shot turn into [[hard hat]]-wearing factory workers in another shot.
*Between the first and second shots of their [[robot mode]]s inside the factory, Skywarp and Thundercracker have switched places.
*Skywarp's voice is off throughout the episode. In the factory, it's more nasal than usual. When he accuses Laserbeak of being "chicken", it sounds like he's channeling Thundercracker (he also has an unusually fat head.)
*Starscream and Soundwave are both missing their insignias as Soundwave transforms.
*Optimus is supposed to be in the same dry canyon where the space bridge first showed up in "[[Transport to Oblivion (episode)|Transport to Oblivion]]"... but the canyon is now about ten feet deep, rather than the 50 or so it was before.
*Wrong transformation noise:
**Prime gets the ascending pitch noise as he transforms to [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]].
**Trailbreaker, Wheeljack & co. get the descending pitch version as they convert to robot mode at the factory.
[[File:DivideandConquer slopedPrime.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Prime in his seldom-used "aerodynamic" alternate mode.]]
*Improbable viewpoints:
**The Autobots get a full-torso view of Optimus as he stands in the middle of empty desert.
**Megatron likewise gets a full-torso view of Starscream, even though Starscream isn't talking into any kind of communicator.
**Megatron then gets a tracking shot of Prime running through the factory!
**Megatron manages to have a camera, with audio, right next to where the Cybertron team happens to fall as the acid rain disables them.
[[File:DivideandConquer LaserbeakonBrawns shoulder.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Laserbeak disguised as Brawn's dandruff]]
*A peculiar design has Optimus Prime's cab face sport a 45-degree slope as he drives into the factory.
*Starscream's voice is not electronically enhanced when he reacts to Optimus Prime barreling into the factory.
*Prime's trailer recedes into a cloud of dust as he transforms inside the factory. As he flies up into the air, the dust cloud flies up with him, and so does the shrinking trailer!
*After Megatron tells Starscream and the others to "gang up" on Optimus Prime, Starscream turns to fire on Optimus Prime running down a room with no doors or other entry points.
*Skywarp mouths Thundercracker's "I'm with you!" line.
*Just for this one scene, Brawn has conveniently gigantic shoulders for Laserbeak to land on.
*Before Brawn enters the room where Optimus Prime is being worked on, he is shown standing inside.
*Wheeljack's missing some of his dark gray as he asks Ratchet for a diagnosis.
*Wheeljack's ears don't flash as he asks how long until Prime's energy drains completely, nor as he examines the cosmitron.
*As Wheejack pontificates about the Cosmitron, his right "ear" phases through his missile.
*There's a big nasty S-shaped hair in the center of the screen as Wheeljack describes the lock on his workshop on Cybertron.
*The part of Huffers' shoulders that are inside his hood are colored orange instead of purple as he moans about how hopeless it is.
[[File:Divideandconquer wheeljack cosmotron.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*Prime's damage constantly changes as he lays on the repair table:
**First shot: his window glass is missing.
**Second shot: his window frames and grille are neatly removed.
**Third shot: his grille is missing, and one window is broken.
**As Laserbeak attacks: the left window has no glass.
**As Laserbeak fires: the left window is intact, and the right window broken.
**Prior to exploding: both windows have no glass.
**After the attack, both cab window frames have been neatly removed.
**As Ironhide proposes heading to Cybertron, he's back to a broken right window and intact left window, with a damaged grille.
*GAH! Chip has no pupils as he accepts the mission to pick the lock on Wheeljack's lab.
*No insignia on Soundwave as Megatron lectures his troops about the loss of Prime. The same shot has two Starscreams.
*The layering of Rumble's cubes is all messed up as he walks up behind Starscream; part of the cube stack phases through Starscream, and part of it loses its glow.
*Starscream reacts to Rumble dropping his cubes before he's actually dropped them.
*Recycled animation repeats the strange animation error of the space bridge transport vehicle rising, then falling and disappearing.
*As the Autobots come to a halt at the Space Bridge site, the camera pans across the scenery, but a painted foreground tree travels with the move, making it look like the tree is mobile.


[[File:Bluestreakpotatovehicle.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|When he transforms to drive into the space bridge, Bluestreak turns into this.]]
*The ramp leading to the space bridge has turned a light blue as the Autobots drive into the receiver ring.
*The nitrogen pack that Ironhide uses in Shockwave's control center is labeled "NITRGEN". In English, [[Japanese language|sorta]]. And Ironhide shouldn't have to use a pack anyway, since he has a built in liquid nitrogen projector.
*A strange cut occurs while Megatron is rallying the Decepticons for their assault on the Autobots. This is visible as Skywarp's arm, which he appeared to raise for their cheer, suddenly lowers (he raises it again when Megatron finishes his speech), and both Reflector and Starscream change poses in a single frame.
*When the Decepticons exit their base to attack the Autobots, a fourth Decepticon jet is shown.
*Shockwave's eye-glow doesn't move with his eye as he sets "warrior" free.
*The flashing of Wheeljack's ears moves out of sync with the rest of his body while he reacts to the security alarm.
*Teletraan's screen shows ''twenty-six'' Decepticons. There should be about a dozen at most. About fifteen are shown retreating at the end of the episode.
*Reflector's mouths don't move for his "earth germ" line.
*As Bluestreak drives over the horizon to join the battle, his car form floats above the ground.
*Starscream steals Megatron's fusion cannon sound effect as he attacks Ironhide's team.
*Shockwave and Ratchet are both among the defeated Autobots in the wreckage of the final battle.
*Optimus Prime's mouthplate moves when Megatron concedes defeat.
*Starscream's missing his wing stripes as he order a retreat... but for once, they remembered his wing insignia, which have been repeatedly omitted through the episode.
*The remastered DVD releases of this episode use an incorrect closing credits sequence, which overlays the text credits from Season 2 over the animation from Season 1.

===Continuity errors===
*Shouldn't a ''weapons factory'' have better defenses, particularly against the enemy that's the reason they're making the weapons in the first place?
*Soundwave kind of transforms out of nowhere in the factory.
*It is unclear how Chip knows Skywarp's missile is of the heat-seeking variety before it does anything to suggest such.
*Optimus Prime somehow deflects the heat-seeking missile by hitting its ''warhead'' with his arm.
*Thundercracker and Skywarp don't seem to know what "gang up" means. In spite of Thundercracker claiming to comply with Megatron's directions instead of his own preference for "one-on-one", both he and Skywarp launch individual one-on-one attacks on Optimus Prime.
*Appearing/disappearing Autobots:
**Sunstreaker is shown transforming to leave for the factory; however, when the team arrives, Bumblebee has taken his place.
*It sure woulda made a lot more sense for Prime to cover the two humans, rather than throwing himself right in front of the explosive computer.
*Are computers really that explosive?
*Soundwave is shown flying off with the jets, but he's nowhere to be seen during the battle.
[[File:Divandconq liquid nitrogen.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|Good thing there just happens to be a random thing in Decepticon HQ which does exactly what I can do all on my own!]]
*Megatron orders Starscream to throw the fight, to allow the Autobots to travel to Cybertron so he can destroy them with acid rain. It sure seems like he didn't let Shockwave in on the plan though, since the cyclops seems surprised at their arrival and determined to stop them.
*Megatron demands proof, not just Starscream's word, that Optimus Prime has finally been deactivated. Yet he's very quick to switch off the viewscreen and conclude that "four of their number have been vanquished on Cybertron." Maybe it's just because it was Starscream...
*Megatron's order to let the Autobots win really makes no logical sense. If his soldiers had beaten them, they'd have been just as out of the way, and if they didn't he could still try his acid rain plan.
**It sure seems like in however many millions of years the war has been raging, the Decepticons never before thought to do this acid rain thing on the ground-restricted Autobots.
*Ironhide grabs some sort of tank off the wall and uses it to spray some liquid, facilitating their escape. This probably was meant to be from his own internal "[[water gun]]".
*Ironhide pointedly comments that they can't let the acid rain hit their circuits... so why not just duck back into the shelter of Wheeljack's workshop, which is still right behind them?
[[File:Divideandconquer spike grabs gun.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*Superhuman <s>Spike</s> Chip:
**Chip somehow knows how to find the Space Bridge better than Optimus can, since Chip thinks to use Teletraan I, a tactic that somehow escaped Prime.
**Chase can crack a Cybertronian lock (apparently by just punching in every possible four-digit code combination until he stumbles on the right one.)
**Chip is immune to Cybertronian acid rain. And so is his wheelchair.
*Superhuman Spike:
**Spike rather effortlessly hefts Jazz's six-foot-long metal gun around.
**Spike survives being tackled by Ravage, the first of his [[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1|many]] [[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2|clashes]] [[Fire on the Mountain (episode)|with]] him.

===Rhino DVD release===
*The chapter stops on the Rhino DVD version of this episode are Opening / Weapon Factories / Off to Cybertron / New Age of Decepticons / Fight For Optimus / Optimus Saved!

===Trivia===
[[File:DivideandConquer SympatheticDecepticon.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|"Hey Reflector, want this candy bar?"
 
''*tosses it to the ground and stomps on it.*'']]
*The [[Photon|Reflector-type Decepticon warrior]] that Starscream forces to pilot the Space Bridge transport has an oddly sympathetic and very human-sounding voice.
*Brawn really is a dumbass to not notice Laserbeak sitting on his shoulder.
*Due to the fact there was no original [[dialogue script]] of "Divide and Conquer" on any of the original ''Transformers'' cartoon DVD sets, the actual spelling of Optimus Prime's Cosmistron was unknown until a copy of Don Glut's script made its way into the fandom's hands. However, the true spelling had in fact been previously suggested by the French title of the episode, which was "Le Cosmitron".
*Speaking of, the script originally referred to the device as a "Cosmitronic Transformer", but the rest of the device's name was consistently blotted out with pen in all the dialogue. This was presumably done so the kiddies watching ''Transformers'', the show, wouldn't be confused.

===Foreign localization===
'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Dividir e Conquistar'''" ("Divide and Conquer")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''French'''
:*''Title (European French broadcast):'' "'''Diviser pour régner'''" ("Divide and rule")
:*''Title (Canadian French broadcast & European French DVD release):'' "'''Le cosmitron'''" ("The cosmitron")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Hebrew'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Anti Hómmer'''" (אנטי חומר, "Antimatter")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''Un ricambio per Commander'''" ("A Spare Piece for Optimus Prime")
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''Dividi e conquista'''" ("Divide and Conquer")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''SOS! Cybertron'''" (SOS! サイバトロン)
:*Original airdate: [[August 10]], [[1985]]
:**In the scene where Skywarp teleports and is mistakenly colored as Starscream, he is dubbed in Japanese with ''Starscream's'' voice, meaning that ''he'' is the one teleporting in this version, not Skywarp. Considering ''Thundercracker'' was mistakenly dubbed teleporting in the Japanese version of "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 3]]" as well, it would seem that teleportation is a natural trait of the Seekers in the Japanese version of the show. Either that, or they just did a real shoddy job on the dub.
:**'''Cut:''' After Chip orders the Autobots to "Transform and roll for his life", the scene is cut short with the removal of the transitional wipe across the screen. The following scene of Shockwave freeing Reflector, the Autobots barging in, his firing at them and their escaping over the Space Bridge have also been cut. The sequence resumes at the pan across space followed by the shot of the Earth Space Bridge receiving the Autobots.
:**In true anime fashion, when Reflector fights the Autobots at the Space Bridge, he yells out the name of his special attack: "Flash Beam!"

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Fēn ér Zhìzhī '''" (分而治之, "Divide and Conquer")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Russian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Rasdelyai i vlastvuy'''" (Разделяй и властвуй, "Divide and Conquer")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Serbian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Zavadi i vladaj'''" (Завади и владај, "Divide and Conquer")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
'''Latin spanish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Dividir y conquistar'''" ("Divide and conquer")
:*Original airdate: ?
:**The latin spanish dub had the tendency to change some lines, mostly keeping the same point of the original dialogue, but in this episode in particular, when Megatron orders Laserbeak to infiltrate in the Ark, Laserbeak actually speaks! Saying "Do you want me to go alone?".

===Toys inspired by this episode===
[[File:TF-Generations-WFC-S-Rainmaker-3-pack.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|]]
Like the yellow generic Seeker from "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]" who subsequently grew to prominence as the neo-G1 character [[Sunstorm (G1)|Sunstorm]], Acid Storm would also spawn a plethora of additional toys, including his own ''[[The Transformers: Masterpiece|Masterpiece]]'' figure. Later still, the other two Rainmakers would receive toys of their own.
*''[[Acid Storm (G1)#Toys]]''
*''[[Ion Storm#Toys]]''
*''[[Nova Storm (G1)#Toys]]''
{{-}}

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
[[File:DivideAndConquerBetamax.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|More or less antiquated than the TF storybooks that came with records? You decide!]]
;VHS
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 1985 — ''The Transformers'' — Volume 5: "Divide and Conquer" ([[Family Home Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 1995 — ''The Transformers'' — The Autobots vs. The Decepticons ([[Malofilm]]) 
[[File:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 1995 — ''Transformers'' — Autobots vs. Decepticons (Malofilm) — French audio only.

;{{w|LaserDisc}}
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1994 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Convoy Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1998 — ''The Transformers'' — Autobot Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.

;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Original Series: Volume Two ([[Maverick Entertainment|Sony Wonder]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Complete Original Series: Deluxe Edition (Sony Wonder) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — First Season Collector's Edition ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Volume Two (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 1: Series 1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Le Cosmitron ([[UFG Junior]]) — European French audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Classic Transformers'' — Series One: Part One (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 01: Stagione Uno Parte Prima ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season One (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete First Season: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete First Season: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2014 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/season-1/synopses/700-03.html Episode Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle]
*[https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Ojk_a2gFrwuksdtE8yR8GketnxZMZ55i Full script as revised on 2nd July 1984]

[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]

Mega-Octane

2022-04-01T16:49:04Z

Rumbleburst: /* Foreign names */

{{factions|{{factions/icons|custom=Car Robots Destron.png|cSize=30px|cLink=Commando (RID)|cPretty=Combatron}}|decepticon|unicron|maximal|autobotg2}}
{{disambig2|the combining Decepticon from ''Robots in Disguise''|the Decepticon Triple Changer from Generation 1|Octane}}
:''Mega-Octane is a [[Decepticon]] [[Commando (RID)|Commando]] originally from the [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)|2001 Robots in Disguise]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Mega-octanerid.jpg|right|upright=1.4|thumb|[[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] called. He wants his head back.]]
'''Mega-Octane''' (aka '''Mega-Dolrailer''') is the cool-headed commander of the [[Commando (RID)|Commandos]]. He orders his troops into battle with militaristic stoicism, as if they were his own limbs, but actually spends more of his time keeping the hot-headed [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] in check. Scourge claims to be leader of the small Decepticon faction, but in reality it is Mega-Octane who holds the group together. But all great bots have their personal quirks—Mega-Octane is not satisfied unless he takes his bath before everyone else.<ref>No joke. This is from Mega-Octane/Dolrailer's ''Car Robots'' bio.</ref>

He merges with the other Commandos to form [[Ruination (RID)|Ruination]], who he completely controls. Having lost command of the Decepticons to Scourge, he ''revels'' in commanding the power of this mighty gestalt.<ref>Commandos [[bio]] on the R2 DVDs</ref>

==Fiction==
===Cartoon continuity===
====2001 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Bob Papenbrook]] (English), [[Holly Kaneko]] (Japanese)|[[Oleg Kutsenko]] (Russian), [[Vladimir Gerasimov]] (Russian, [[Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion!]] only), [[Gerolamo Alchieri]] (Italian), [[Byeong-gwan Kim]] (Korean), [[Salvador Delgado]] (Latin American Spanish), [[Carlos Seidl]] (Brazilian Portuguese)}}

Mega-Octane was originally part of a small Autobot crew sent to Earth to reactivate the legendary Autobot battle station, [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]]. As they were stored in a [[protoform]] state, the Autobots were unable to prevent their spaceship from malfunctioning and crashing somewhere in the United States in the mid-20th century. The ship was later discovered by [[Kenneth Onishi|Doctor Onishi]] during his work as an archaeologist and, later still, the information was obtained by [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]] through scans of the doctor's mind. Megatron was able to steal the six Autobot protoforms and take them to a [[McKinley Army Base|nearby military base]], where he infused them with his own spark energy, turning them into Decepticons. The first of the Decepticons to be reformatted was Mega-Octane. Although [[Optimus Prime (RID)|Optimus Prime]] optimistically tried to welcome Mega-Octane to Earth, he was rebuffed and the Decepticon set about covering the Predacons as they scanned new forms for the rest of the Decepticons. Although Mega-Octane regarded himself as the leader, Scourge, the last to be reformatted, asserted his own leadership over the five [[Commando (RID)|Commandos]]. {{storylink|The Decepticons}}

[[File:Commandos Megaoctane.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Boosh!]]
On their first mission, the Decepticons mounted an attack on [[Sherman Dam]], abseiling up the side of it in order to plant [[pulsar bomb]]s. When Scourge attempted to detonate the bombs, they found that [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]] and the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]] had tampered with them, forcing them to attempt to destroy the dam through other means. The arrival of [[Team Bullet Train]] resulted in Mega-Octane ordering the Commandos to combine into Ruination for the first time, although the huge robot was soon defeated by [[Rail Racer (RID)|Rail Racer]] and the [[Autobot Brothers]]. {{storylink|Commandos}}

The next mission saw Scourge and the Commandos on guard duty, perhaps as a punishment for their previous failed mission, while the Predacon trio dug under a volcano. The Commandos were relegated to against the [[Spy Changer]]s when they arrived with Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Volcano (episode)|Volcano}} In an attempt to restore themselves in Megatron's eyes, they hatched a new plan to launch [[Movor]] into space to try to track the Autobots to their lair. With mounting irritation, Mega-Octane led his team from target to target, none of them the Autobot base, until they were eventually led into a trap. {{storylink|Attack from Outer Space}}

[[File:The Test Meeting.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|[[Scale|My toy is not this tall.]]]]
Mega-Octane soon came up with a new plan to find the Autobot base — the Decepticons would pretend to switch sides. He met with Optimus Prime under a white flag, claiming that the Decepticons had rediscovered their Autobot nature and no longer followed Megatron. The Autobot brothers subjected the six Decepticons to test after test to prove their loyalty, with Mega-Octane barely keeping Scourge's temper in check. Unfortunately, right on the verge of success, Scourge gave the plan away and the Decepticons were forced to retreat. {{storylink|The Test (episode)|The Test}}

A new plan was hatched which involved attacking power plants. The Autobots were hampered by the misguided assistance of Sky-Byte, but seemed to repel most of the Decepticon assaults. {{storylink|The Fish Test}} The Decepticons subsequently butted in on one of Sky-Byte's plans, stealing a disk supposedly containing the plans to the Autobots' [[Global Space Bridge]] which the Predacons were trying to obtain. Unfortunately it was an Autobot trick, and both the Decepticons and Predacons ended up in a sewer. {{storylink|Wedge's Short Fuse}}

Annoyed by the Autobots' constant escapes through the Global Space Bridge, the Decepticons tracked one of the [[Build Team (RID)|Build Team]] to the space bridge control center, allowing them to break in and sabotage the controls, sending any Autobots using the space bridge to a random destination. Mega-Octane remained in the control center while Scourge joined Megatron at the North Energy Research Center, and the other Commandos caused havoc in other parts of the city to draw the Autobots away. When the Autobots discovered the sabotage, the Commandos attempted to prevent them reaching the control center but were fought off. {{storylink|Landfill (episode)|Landfill}}

[[File:A Test of Metal Megaoctane vehicle.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Two guns are better than one!]]
The Commandos made another attempt to please Megatron, stealing energy from a power plant, only to have it swiped by the Build Team while they were busy fighting Rail Racer. Annoyed, the Decepticons began to randomly attack construction vehicles in order to draw the Build Team out. Eventually the Build Team learned of the attacks and faced the Commandos, defeating Ruination. {{storylink|A Test of Metal}}

The Decepticons again attempted to curry favour with Megatron by intercepting Optimus Prime to obtain the [[O-Part]]s, but were ultimately unsuccessful. {{storylink|Sky-Byte Saves the Day}} After a semi-successful attempt to raid an oil refinery, Scourge and Mega-Octane leaked a transmission ordering Sky-Byte to look for O-Parts in order to lead the Autobots into an ambush. Instead of the expected Autobots, they were confronted by [[Ultra Magnus (RID)|Ultra Magnus]]. They attempted to fight the newly arrived Autobot, but retreated after Optimus Prime arrived to lend a hand. {{storylink|Ultra Magnus (episode)|Ultra Magnus}} Back at [[Megastar|base]], they watched Movor's surveillance of Ultra Magnus beating down Optimus, and Megatron demanded of them to know why one Autobot had done what the Decepticons had failed to do. They were able to track Sky-Byte to the island on which Optimus was recuperating after the battle and mount an attack, but were chased off once again when Optimus and Ultra Magnus merged into [[Omega Prime]]. {{storylink|Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion!}}

The Decepticons interrupted another of Sky-Byte's plans in order to kidnap the Autobot Brothers. With the three brothers as hostages, the Decepticons led Optimus into a trap and fought the Autobot leader savagely. They were again seen off after Magnus rescued the brothers. {{storylink|The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus}} Seeing an opportunity, Scourge met with Ultra Magnus to persuade the Autobot to join him against both Optimus Prime and Megatron. When Magnus turned him down, Scourge and the Commandos turned on him, only to end up fighting the three Autobot Brothers instead. {{storylink|Power to Burn!}}

Mega-Octane joined Scourge, Sky-Byte, Megatron, and the rest of the Commandos in watching archival footage of Ultra Magnus in order to get a better understanding of their newly arrived enemy. {{storylink|Mystery of the Ultra Magnus}}

[[File:Koji Gets His Wish Megaoctane.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|You see how awesome this sticker is?]]
With information extracted from Doctor Onishi, the Decepticons were led to venture beneath [[Metro City]], following the tunnels to find a huge underground cavern housing Fortress Maximus. After fighting the Autobots, Maximus' defences forced them to retreat. {{storylink|Fortress Maximus (episode)|Fortress Maximus}} While Scourge undertook a mission to find Maximus, the Commandos kept Rail Racer busy as Ruination. {{storylink|Koji Gets His Wish}}

The Decepticons attempted unsuccessfully to prevent the Autobots from finding the rest of the O-Parts {{storylink|A Friendly Contest}} and were led by Megatron to the [[Sahara]], where the Autobots were looking for the [[Orb of Sigma]]. Despite breaching the pyramid in which the Orb was stored, they were unable to prevent the Autobots from making off with it, and Megatron himself was lost. {{storylink|Peril from the Past}}

With Scourge now leading, the Decepticons tracked the Autobots to a temple, where [[Cerebros (RID)|Cerebros]] was recovered. Mega-Octane warned Scourge that they might not be able to command Cerebros, but Scourge was confident that the Autobot portion of his bio-signature would be sufficient. Sure enough, Cerebros led them to Maximus' hiding place and activated the giant robot. Once activated, Scourge was unable to control Maximus, and the Decepticons were forced to retreat. {{storylink|Maximus Emerges}}

[[File:Human Element Megaoctane.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|What? Nothing! Mind your business!]]
With the return of Megatron with a new form and name, Galvatron, Scourge made a few more attempts to control Fortress Maximus. Before once such attempt, Mega-Octane suggested either delete or altering Cerebros's command block program. Scourge insisted on using deception however, and used his human bio-signature in order to seize control of the titan. Mega-Octane and his Commandos served as Scourge's reinforcements on the battlefield, but left as soon as Scourge appeared in control of the situation. Just as the first attempt at controlling Fortress Maximus, this second attempt ended in failure. {{storylink|The Human Element}}

Mega-Octane and Scourge attempted to abduct Koji to get him to control Fortress Maximus for them. Their kidnapping attempt was stopped by the Autobot Brothers, and Mega-Octane was forced to retreat. {{storylink|Mistaken Identity}}

Eventually, Scourge gave away the fact that he was betraying Galvatron. Furious, Galvatron reprogrammed absolute loyalty into all six of the Decepticons and put them under Sky-Byte's command. They were soon led into a trap. {{storylink|Surprise Attack!}} Despite their proven loyalty, Galvatron sent the Decepticons into the Global Space Bridge after the Autobots, then flooding the tunnel with molten lava to kill two birds with one stone. {{storylink|Galvatron's Revenge}} The Decepticons, like the Autobots, survived but contributed little to the ensuing battle. After Galvatron's eventual defeat at the hands of [[Omega Prime]], the Decepticons were taken aboard Fortress Maximus to the asteroid prison colony. {{storylink|The Final Battle (RID)|The Final Battle}}
{{-}}
====Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity====
{{CRnote}}
=====''Unite Warriors''=====
Following their capture, Mega-Octane and his Commandos were taken to a future Cybertron and sentenced to be reverted into [[protoform]]s to cleanse them of their evil programming. He hoped that Scourge would save them, but settled for [[Unicron]]'s help when the Chaos-Bringer contacted him from the year [[2021]] and offered him freedom and coffee milk in exchange for his help in attaching Unicron's head to Cybertron. Transported to the Cybertron of 2021, the Commandos were [[Reformatting|reformatted]] into powerful new bodies and fought the local Autobots, with Mega-Octane taking on [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and finding his strength disappointing compared to Fire Convoy. On successfully combining Unicron with Cybertron, however, Mega-Octane learned that the dark god had deceived him and was planning to erase the Commandos from history by changing the past. Outraged, he declared his intent to return to Scourge's side and attacked Unicron in the form of Ruination. {{storylink|Ruination Chapter, Part One}} After Unicron was defeated thanks to the efforts of Ruination and other combiners, the Commandos returned to the future with a returned Scourge and Sky-Byte, seeking to rescue their leader Devil Gigatron. {{storylink|Ruination Chapter, Part Two}}

The Commandos stopped by Earth, where they occupied a bathhouse and washed up while discussing their next move. {{storylink|Unite Warriors Offshot#Strategy Meeting in an Earth Bath?!|Strategy Meeting in an Earth Bath?!}}

=====''Legends'' comic=====
After recovering the ship they once arrived on Earth with, Scourge led them in an on attack [[Neo Brave Maximus]] where Devil Gigatron was being held. While they managed to infiltrate the ship, the Commandos were shocked to learn that their leader had joined the [[Dimensional Patrol]] in the meantime. {{storylink|LGEX Scourge Prologue}} With Scourge forcibly reverted into a heroic [[protoform]] as well, the Commandos fled to the [[Legends World]] where their former commander began to hunt them down. Having watched his teammates get converted into protoforms, Mega-Octane urged [[Dark Ai]] to save herself just before he was caught and converted by Dimensional Patrol [[Black Convoy Mass Production Type Drone|drones]]. Fortunately, Dark Ai held backup data of the Commando's evil personalities and was able to restore them after Scourge turned on the Patrol. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. EX (Scourge 2)|Scourge Chapter 2}}

Scourge and the Commandos continued traveling together with Dark Ai, seeking their own destiny. {{storylink|Transformers Legends Final Chapter "Epiloge"|Epiloge}}

===''Universe'' comic===
The Mega-Octane of [[Viron 704.31 Epsilon]] came under the command of [[Megazarak (Universe)|Megazarak]] after the death of Megatron. However, the Commandos, [[Constructicon (RID)|Constructicon]]s, and [[Megabolt]] were abducted by [[Unicron]] for the [[Universe War]]. {{Storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/30}}

As part of Ruination, Mega-Octane was sent by Unicron along with [[Reptilion]], [[Sunstorm (Universe)|Sunstorm]], and [[Perceptor (Armada)|Perceptor]] to intercept some extra-dimensionals Unicron wanted for the [[Cauldron]]. Ruination's group was successfully fought off by the [[Child of Primus|Children of Primus]]. {{storylink|Voice Actor Drama}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
[[Violengiguar|Bio Ranger Iga]] selected a Viron Ruination from [[Greengard]] to be one of his [[Thirteen Great Demon Generals]]. Presumably Mega-Octane was part of this Ruination. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/27}}

===''Beast Wars: Uprising''===

'''Mega-Dolrailer''' and his Commandos were soldiers serving in the Resistance during the [[Grand Uprising]]. When [[Lio Convoy]] asked for volunteers, they stepped forward to submit to K-Class conversion. Mega-Dolrailer was too large for the process, but his men were modified so their alternate modes became bombs of nearly unclassifiable potential, a final solution should the war against the [[Builder of Cybertron|Builder]]s become too dark. {{storylink|Derailment}}

==Toys==
===''Robots in Disguise'' (2001)===
[[File:RID-toy MegaOctane-Dolrailer.jpg|right|upright=1.67|thumb|''Car Robots'' Dolrailer]]
[[File:RID-toy MegaOctane.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.67|''Robots in Disguise'' Mega-Octane]]
*'''Dolrailer''' (2000) / '''Mega-Octane''' (Deluxe Class, 2001)
**''Takara ID number'': '''D-010'''
**''Takara release date'': July ??, 2000
**''Accessories'': Rifle, chestplate, ramp, Ruination parts (head, chestplate, left & right fists, left & right footplates)

: A [[redeco]] and minor [[retool]]ing of the "[[The Transformers (toyline)|Generation 1]]" [[Onslaught (G1)/toys#The Transformers|Onslaught]] toy, ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' Mega-Octane transforms into a flatbed truck and trailer with a twin-barreled cannon. He also has a third "battle station" mode with a ramp for carrying smaller Decepticons in their [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]]s. As the toy uses the "[[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (toyline)#1986 (Scramble City and 2010)|Scramble City]]" style of connection, he can form the torso to any combination of similar robots, though naturally he is normally the torso to the combined robot [[Ruination (RID)#Toys|Ruination]]. He also came with the combiner [[kibble]] to Ruination.

: This toy was first released as "Dolrailer" in the fifth assortment of [[TakaraTomy|Takara]]'s ''Car Robots'' line, and received many small but significant retoolings from the prior versions of the toy. The twin-barreled cannon now has a [[5 mm post|5 mm hole]] to store his large rifle in vehicle/base mode alongside the smaller hole from the ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (toyline)|Generation 2]]'' [[Onslaught (G1)#Generation 2|tooling of the toy]]. (You can use the smaller hole to store the small weapons from the other members of Ruination if you want. Why not?) The ramp was also given a 5 mm post, which lets it store on the cannon-base, or be hand-held (awkwardly) as a shield in robot or super [[robot mode]]s. His large rifle also had one of the small circular holes cut all the way through, making it easier to attach the smaller components' rifles to it. (You could still do this with the original [[sonic stun-gun]], but the shallower pegs made the connections kinda loose.) Odd for a toy from this era, Dolrailer makes use of multiple [[sticker]]s for large parts of his deco. Odd for a Takara release, he uses the Hasbro assembly that inserts a plastic filler where the spring-loaded vehicle launcher would be in base mode.

: The later [[Hasbro]] release as "Mega-Octane" in the fourth wave of ''Robots in Disguise'' Deluxes (the only new toy in that assortment) made many further changes. The most immediately-noticeable are in its deco; Dolrailer's lighter olive turned dark forest-green, his metal-flake mustard-yellow turned a flat stony-blue, and the slightly-shiny reddish-orange became a flatter more orangeish-red. (Yes, there is a difference.) Mega-Octane does not use any stickers, leaving all of those areas blank. His camo [[paint operation]]s are the same pattern, but the black-with-copper has been changed to a light-olive-with-black. And, of course, there is now a great big Decepticon emblem on his roof, rather than the "Anti-Cybertron" badge on the truck-door stickers that aren't there anymore. Mega-Octane also got some further retooling, most notably his rifle barrel was shortened considerably (likely [[for safety reasons]], possibly breakage potential?), but furthermore his cannon/backpack now attaches via larger 5 mm pegs, plus a new rectangular peg was added to the cannon-stand to better secure it in "battle station" mode. The cannon's twin barrels are also filled in all around, presumably for aesthetic reasons. His shoulders were also changed from clicky ratchet joints to friction-based ones that pop apart if excessive force is applied. All subsequent releases of this toy from Hasbro or Takara/[[Sonokong]] (including the "Generation 1" Combaticon reissue) used this version of the tooling as the base.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2001/Decepticon/Mega-Octane/mega-octane.htm More information on Mega-Octane at TFU.info]''
{{G1CombaticonMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|Baldigus}}
[[File:RID-toy Baldigus-Boxed.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Baldigus''' (Multi-pack, 2000)
**''ID number'': '''D-011'''
**''Accessories'': Rifle, chestplate, ramp, Ruination parts (head, chestplate, left & right fists, left & right footplates)

: In Japan, Dolrailer was also made available as part of a complete team multi-pack with his teammates [[Armorhide (RID)#Toys|Dangar]], [[Rollbar (RID)#Toys|Greejeeber]], [[Ro-Tor (RID)#Toys|Hepter]], and [[Movor#Toys|Shuttler]]. All toys were identical to their individual Japanese releases, but the set only came with a bio card for the combined form.

: [[Sonokong]] also released this gift set in [[South Korea|Korean]] markets with no differences other than the packaging.

{{-}}{{anchor|Urban}}
[[File:RID MegaOctane Urbancamo toy.jpg|right|upright=1.67|thumb|"Boombox and Spinners Not Included"]]
*'''Ruination''' (Ultra Class multi-pack, 2003)
**''Takara release date'': 2003-[[September 26|09-26]]
**''Accessories'': Rifle, chestplate, ramp, Ruination parts (head, chestplate, left & right fists, left & right footplates)

: The entire Commando team was redecoed in various shades of gray with "urban camo" patterns and rather extensive amounts of robot-mode paint detailing as part of a [[Walmart]]-[[exclusive]] gift set, oddly released well after the end of the ''Robots in Disguise'' line.

: This set was made available in Japan as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, available only to retailers participating in [[Toy's Dream Project]]'s "Toy Card" program. This release uses the same packaging as the Hasbro version, only with some added stickers for "USA Edition" branding and other legal information.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2003/Decepticon/Mega-Octane/mega-octane.htm More information on Wal-Mart Mega-Octane at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===''Universe'' (2003)===
[[File:TFU03-toy MegaOctane.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.67|[[Octane]]'s Octanite is reacting to Takara's Mega Ring!]]
*'''Ruination''' (Ultra Class multi-pack, 2004)
**''Accessories'': Rifle, chestplate, ramp, Ruination parts (head, chestplate, left & right fists, left & right footplates)

: The entire Ruination team, using the urban camo molding, was redecoed ''again'' to make ''another'' Walmart-exclusive set, this time with a unified "desert camo" theme, under the ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)|Universe]]'' banner. It came out at the same time as five ''other'' Walmart ''Transformers'' exclusives, which led to a glut. Ruination seemed a particularly slow mover in this batch.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2004/Decepticon/Mega-Octane/mega-octane.htm More information on ''Universe'' Mega-Octane at TFU.info]''
{{G1CombaticonMold}}
{{-}}

===''Unite Warriors''===
[[File:TakaraTomy_UniteWarriors_Dolrailer.jpg|thumb|300px|right|[[Pokeformers|Octane has Mega Evolved into Mega-Octane!]]]]
*'''Baldigus''' (Multi-pack, [[March 31]], [[2017]])
**''ID number:'' '''UW-EX'''
**''Accessories:'' Left & right turret-cannons, 2 rifles, left & right Baldigus fists, 2 Baldigus feet

:''[[Transformers Unite Warriors|Unite Warriors]]'' Dolrailer is a redeco of ''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' [[Onslaught (G1)/toys#Combiner Wars|Onslaught]], transforming into a vague anti-aircraft military truck-thing. While it may seem as if his turret cannot rotate, folding the combiner chestplate parts at the side of the truck mode up will allow it to do so. He comes with both the mold's regular guns and redecoes of ''Unite Warriors'' [[Scattershot (G1)#Unite Warriors 2|Scattershot]]'s guns, which are designed to combine into a long rifle, or be added to the vehicle-mode's cannons to form ''super''-ridiculously long cannons.

: Being a ''Combiner Wars'' Voyager mold, he can combine with any four compatible Deluxes, though he is meant to combine with his fellow box-set-mates —[[Armorhide (RID)#Unite Warriors|Dangar]], [[Rollbar (RID)#Unite Warriors|Greejeeber]], [[Ro-Tor (RID)#Unite Warriors|Hepter]], and [[Movor#Unite Warriors|Shuttler]]— to form [[Ruination (RID)#Unite Warriors|Baldigus]]. While the combined form's hands and feet are separate accessories, its head and chestplate are built into Dolrailer. In this mode, his "new" rifles form the core of one of Baldigus's two multi-weapons.

: This set was the sixth [[TakaraTomy Mall]] [[exclusive]] set in the line, and the final ''Unite Warriors'' release. It was also the fourth toy to have the "UW-EX" ID "number", shared with [[Grand Scourge#Unite Warriors|Grand Scourge]], [[Sky Reign#Unite Warriors 2|Lynxmaster]], and [[Megatronia#Toys|Megatronia]].
{{CWHotSpotMold}}
{{--}}

==Notes==
*A Japanese model sheet of Mega-Octane's cartoon model features his Japanese name rendered in Katakana as ドルトレイラー (''Dorutoreirā'', essentially "Doltrailer").<ref>[http://photobucket.com/gallery/user/UndertakerPrime/media/cGF0aDpNb2JpbGUgVXBsb2Fkcy9pbWFnZV96cHNidWtycTB1dC5qcGVn/?ref= ''Car Robots'' "Doltrailer" model sheet]</ref> As his finalized Japanese name lacks the ト (''to'') character seen in this rendering, this "Doltrailer" name is most likely either a typo, or perhaps a preliminary name for the character before Takara settled on "Dolrailer".

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Dolrailer''' (ドルレイラー ''Dorureirā''), '''Mega-Octane''' (メガオクテイン ''Mega Okutein'')
*''Italian:'' '''Mega-Ottano''' ("Mega-Octane")
*''Korean:'' '''Dolrailer''' (돌레이러 ''Dolleireo'')
*''Latin spanish:'' '''Mega-Octano''' ("Mega-Octane")

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars: Uprising Maximals]]
[[Category:Car Robots Predacons]]
[[Category:Generation 2 Autobots]]
[[Category:Legends Predacons]]
[[Category:Minions of Unicron]]
[[Category:Resistance]]
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2001) combiners]]
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2001) Decepticons]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Unite Warriors characters]]
[[Category:Universe combiners]]
[[Category:Universe Decepticons]]
[[Category:Wal-Mart exclusives]]

W.A.R.S.

2022-04-01T16:25:37Z

Rumbleburst: /* Notes */

{{factions|autobot}}
:''W.A.R.S. is an [[Autobot]] [[Spy Changer]] from the [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)|2001 ''Robots in Disguise'']] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:RID WARS biocard.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|What is he good for? Absolutely nothing.]]

Equipped with his thick armor, '''W.A.R.S.''' loves nothing more than bodily crashing into his enemies. Unusually belligerent for an Autobot, both friends and foes alike are shocked by his violent actions. He's pretty handy with his machine gun, too, and has no qualms with firing away when he needs to. When engaging his [[Spark Engine]] for "super mode", his armor becomes nigh-impenetrable, shrugging off heavy artillery with ease. This boost in durability also seems to affect his personality, making him much more calm and collected.

W.A.R.S.'s name stands for '''Wicked Attack Recon Sportscar'''. Whether that means W.A.R.S. is [[Rad White|wicked sweet]] is another discussion altogether.

{{TOCclear}}

==Fiction==
===2001 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Steve Blum]] (English), [[Riki Kitazawa]] (Japanese)|[[Oleg Kutsenko]] (Russian), [[Jung Goo Lee]], [[Byeong-gwan Kim]] (Korean), [[Herman López]] (Latin-American Spanish), [[Alejandro Illescas]] (Latin-American Spanish), [[Vittorio Stagni]] (Italian)}}

[[File:Spychangers to the Rescue Wars.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Substantially better than [[B.O.T. (G1)|B.O.T.]]]]
When the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]] stole the [[Plutonium Energy Generator]] and attempted to escape along a beach, W.A.R.S., along with [[Ironhide (RID)|Ironhide]] and [[Mirage (RID)|Mirage]], cut them off by driving across the water. During the "Cyber-jousting", W.A.R.S. demonstrated his ability to do a wheelie with [[Hot Shot (RID)|Hot Shot]] riding atop him. The Predacons eventually escaped with a fake generator which the Spy Changers had swapped for the real one. {{storylink|Spychangers to the Rescue}}

After [[Optimus Prime (RID)|Optimus]] was captured and tortured by [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]], the Spy Changers joined the [[Autobot Brothers]] in rescuing their leader and seeing off the Predacons. {{storylink|Sideburn's Obsession}}

[[File:Mirage's Betrayal Wars Dark Scream.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|PETA wants a word with him now.]]
Later, the team tried to protect a ruby from Predacon theft, Hot Shot ordering Mirage onto a nearby roof to shoot the Predacons if all else failed. When Mirage failed to fire, W.A.R.S. was the first to criticise him and watched with disbelief as his fellow Spy Changer quit. Ironhide went to talk their teammate into returning, despite W.A.R.S. claiming that he was wasting his time. Although he was correct, Mirage's subsequent defection to the Predacons was a ruse resulting in the destruction of Megatron's [[Mega-Laser Cannon]]. W.A.R.S. did not apologise. W.A.R.S. is a dick. {{storylink|Mirage's Betrayal}}

The Spy Changers also took part in the [[International Grand Prix]] in an attempt to find [[Skid-Z (RID)|Skid-Z]] and were blinded by Megatron a short time into the race. {{storylink|Skid Z's Choice}} On another occasion, the Spy Changers were called back to base to watch footage of various battles, but had to wrap up a fight with the Predacons first. Hot Shot rode on W.A.R.S. again. {{storylink|Hope for the Future}}

[[File:Wars srsly wtf.jpg|left|thumb]]
The Spy Changers accompanied Optimus Prime to [[Montrose Island]] where Predacon activity was causing the volcano to become violent. They attempted to keep [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] and [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]] busy while Optimus went to use his blizzard storm on the volcano. When the volcano was ruptured and lava threatened the nearby resort, the Spy Changers used their [[Inferno Blast]] to divert its path. {{storylink|Volcano (episode)|Volcano}}

Sent to stop the Decepticons from finding [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]], the Spy Changers jumped out in front of the foe and were soundly trounced by [[Armorhide (RID)|Armorhide]] and [[Rollbar (RID)|Rollbar]]. {{storylink|Fortress Maximus (episode)|Fortress Maximus}}

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

The Spy Changers took part in the ambush of the Decepticons after the Autobot base was discovered. {{storylink|Surprise Attack!}} After Galvatron's defeat, they celebrated by racing with Skid-Z. {{storylink|The Final Battle (RID)|The Final Battle}}
{{-}}
===Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity===
{{CRnote}}
====Super Spy Changers catalog====
[[File:SuperSpychangersCatalogArt.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.1|W.A.R.S.. W.A.R.S. never changes.]]

With [[Ultra Magnus (RID)|God Magnus]] having departed Earth aboard [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Brave Maximus]], the Autobots were unable to call upon his power when a new menace suddenly arose to challenge them. In order to combat this threat, a plan was put into motion to upgrade the Spy Changers with [[Spark Engine]]s, granting them Super Modes.

Super W.A.R.S. obtained the capability to use his armor to barrel into his opponents and resist enemy fire. He also gained a more calming presence.<ref>[http://tflab.net/japaspe/carrobo/ssc.html Super Spy Changers story and bios in Japanese]</ref><ref>[http://www.allspark.com/content/view/731/37/ English translation of story and bios]</ref>

====Ask Vector Prime====
The threat was [[Chainsaw]] and his [[Mutant (G1)|Mutants]]. Super W.A.R.S.' armor was used to defeat [[Dirty Bomb]] in [[New Orleans]]. His calming presence came in handy when Chainsaw and the rest of his Mutants attempted to overrun the Autobot base. Using the power of teamwork, the Super Spy Changers defeated and captured the villains. Though the [[Go-Brillium]] which powered them was used up and they were no longer Super, they retained [[To sell toys|new color schemes]]. {{Storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/01}}

====''Legends'' comic====
When [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] and his [[Commando (RID)|Commandos]] attacked the [[Dimensional Patrol]]'s [[Neo Brave Maximus]] to rescue [[Megatron (RID)|Devil Gigatron]], the Super Spy Changers were sent out to the front lines. Their damage to the [[Cyber Falcon-class spaceship|Commando's ship]] led to it crashing into the base. {{Storylink|LGEX Scourge Prologue}}

==Toys==
===''Robots in Disguise'' (2001)===
[[File:RID-toy WARS-CR.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|So... you're sponsored by... wars. Just, wars in general? Okiedokie.]]
*'''Wars''' (Spy Changer, 2000)
**''ID number'': '''C-007'''
**''Accessories'': Machinegun

: A [[redeco]] of the ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (toyline)|Generation 2]]'' [[Go-Bot (G2)|Go-Bots]] [[Gearhead]] mold, ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|Car Robots]]'' Wars transforms into a Ford Thunderbird [[NASCAR]] stock car. He features a through-axle construction that allows him to zip quickly along smooth surfaces in car mode, and is compatible with many "Hot Wheels" and "Matchbox" racetracks. His right front window has heat-sensitive paint that reveals an Autobot insignia, in a method similar to the original [[rubsign]]s.

: This mold was also used to make the ''Generation 2'' Go-Bot version of [[Soundwave (G1)/toys#Generation 2|Soundwave]], and ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)|Universe]]'' [[Camshaft (G1)#Universe (2003)|Camshaft]] ([[#KB2|see below]]). It was planned for use as ''Generation 2'' [[Greasepit (G2)|Greasepit]], but that toy was ultimately canceled.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2001/Autobot/WARS/wars.htm More information on Wars at TFU.info]''
{{G2GearheadMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|SC6pack}}
[[File:RID-toy SpyChanger6pack.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Spy Changer DX 6 Piece Set''' (Multi-pack, 2000)
**''ID number'': '''C-011'''
**''Accessories'': Machinegun

: All six Spy Changers were not only sold as individuals in Japan, but in a six-piece gift set as well. Each one was identical to their individual release, and the set included the bio cards for all six.

: [[Sonokong]] also released this gift set in [[South Korea|Korean]] markets with no differences other than the packaging.

{{-}}{{anchor|JuscoClear}}
[[File:RID-toy WARS-Jusco.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|]]
*'''Wars''' (Original Spy Changer, 2000)
**''Accessories'': Machinegun

: An [[exclusive]] "Original Spy Changer" [[redeco]] of Wars in clear-red and clear-yellow plastics, this version was only available from [[JUSCO]] stores in Japan as a direct-mail premium to members of their "Peppy Kids Republic" (元気キッズ共和国, ''Genki Kidzu Kyōwakoku''), a sort of subsidiary/offshoot for selling baby goods and children's clothing. Since membership was open only to kids 12 and under and this version was shipped blind-packed, getting the entire set of six was extremely difficult.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2000/Cybertron/ClearWars/wars.htm More information on JUSCO clear Wars at TFU.info]''
{{G2GearheadMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|RID2-pack}}
[[File:RID-toy WARS.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|]]
*'''W.A.R.S.''' / '''Crosswise''' (Basic Class two-pack, 2001)
**''Accessories'': Machinegun

: Available only in a two-pack with [[Crosswise (RID)#RID2-pack|Crosswise]], the [[Hasbro]] ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' version of W.A.R.S. replaces the heat-sensitive insignia with a normal Autobot insignia [[tampograph]] on the roof of the car. The window-paint was changed to metallic-flake blue, and yellow stripes were added to the bottom edge of the vehicle sides.

: The initial releases of this set have W.A.R.S. packaged in robot mode with Crosswise in vehicle mode, pointed straight upward. Later releases have both toys in vehicle mode, tilted to a 1 o'clock position.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2001/Autobot/WARS/wars.htm More information on W.A.R.S. at TFU.info]''
{{G2GearheadMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|KB1}}
[[File:RID WarsKB1-toy.jpg|right|upright=1.67|thumb|I keep losing my gun.]]
*'''W.A.R.S.''' (Spy Changer, 2002)
**''Accessories'': Machinegun

: All six original Spy Changers were redecoed in clear plastics (keeping their normal paint applications, though), and released on individual cards through [[KB Toys]] chains. W.A.R.S. was decoed similarly to the JUSCO except that the clear yellow was changed to clear orange.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2002/Autobot/KBWars/wars.htm More information on KB Toys clear W.A.R.S. at TFU.info]''
{{G2GearheadMold}}
{{-}}{{anchor|TinyTin}}
*'''W.A.R.S.''' (Tiny Tins, 2002)
**''Accessories'': Machinegun, carrying tin

: The normal [[Hasbro]] version of W.A.R.S. was released as part of the first assortment of [[Tiny Tins]] Transformers, coming with a carrying tin.

{{-}}{{anchor|KB2}}
[[File:RID-toy WarsKB2 TFU-SG Camshaft.jpg|right|upright=1.67|thumb|Now in delicious grape flavor!]]
*'''W.A.R.S.''' (Spy Changer, 2003)
**''Accessories'': Machinegun

: A second round of KB Toys exclusive Spy Changers was released on individual cards. This time around, he was done in clear-purple and clear-orange. This was the only deco of W.A.R.S. without his name (in either Japanese or English) on his body.

: This toy was re-released unmodified in a new packaging as ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)|Universe]]'' [[Camshaft (G1)#Universe (2003)|Camshaft]]. It's a good thing he didn't have "W.A.R.S." written on him, isn't it? Much later, it was [[repurposing|repurposed]] as ''[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (franchise)|Shattered Glass]]'' [[Camshaft (SG)|Camshaft]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2003/Autobot/Wars/wars.htm More information on KB Toys purple W.A.R.S. at TFU.info]''
{{G2GearheadMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|Super}}
[[File:RID WARSsuper-toy.jpg|right|upright=1.67|thumb|Now you see me, now you don't... if you close your eyes.]]
*'''Super Wars''' (Spy Changer, 2003)
**''Accessories'': Machinegun

: Long after the ''Car Robots'' line ended in Japan, Takara put out individually-boxed redecoes of the Spy Changers. Wars was decoed in grey and white with dark blue, retaining the additional stripes from the Hasbro deco.

: In each case of twelve Super Spy changers, two were all-clear-plastic versions (but keeping their paint applications). All six Spy Changers had a clear variant, but the toys were packaged in such a way that you did not know which two molds were "chase" versions until you opened them up.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2003/Cybertron/SuperWars/wars.htm More information on Super Wars at TFU.info]''
::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2003/Cybertron/ClearSuperWars/wars.htm More information on clear Super Wars at TFU.info]''
{{G2GearheadMold}}
{{--}}

==Notes==
* The Japanese kanji on W.A.R.S.'s chest reads "sen" (戦), which means "match" or "competition". However, when written as "sensō" (戦争), it means "war".
* This mold is the only one of the original six [[Go-Bot (G2)|Go-Bots]]/Spy Changers to have a rifle that does not share plastics with the robot it comes with.
* In the latin spanish dub, he speaks with a northern mexican accent.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Wars''' (ウォーズ ''Wōzu'')
*''Korean:'' '''Wars''' (워즈 ''Wojeu'')
*''Russian:'' '''Voin''' (Воин, '"Warrior")

==References==
<references />

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wars}}
[[Category:KB Toys exclusives]]
[[Category:Ninjas]]
[[Category:Reconnaissance specialists]]
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2001) Autobots]]
[[Category:Spy Changers]]

Mirage (RID)

2022-04-01T16:24:09Z

Rumbleburst: /* Notes */

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

[[File:MirageRID02.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Stealthy McNinja.]]
'''Mirage''' is one of the elite [[Spy Changer]]s, and is their best marksman. As a Spy Changer, he has the ability to drive on almost any surface, and can also cloak himself and thereby render himself invisible. Though he's generally a loner who prefers to work alone (which really grinds [[W.A.R.S.]]'s gears), he and his team-mate [[Ironhide (RID)|Ironhide]] go way back.

{{TOCclear}}

==Fiction==
===Cartoon continuity===
====2001 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Wally Wingert]] (English), [[Ryō Naitō]] (Japanese)|[[Mikhail Tihonov]] (Russian), [[Wan-gyeong Seong]] (Korean), [[Sérgio Stern]] (Portuguese)}}

[[File:Spychangers to the Rescue Mirage.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|You can make your own [[scale]] joke here, can't you? I was going to make one about {{w|Technical (fighting vehicle)|Somalian warlords}}, personally.]]
When the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]] stole a plutonium energy generator and attempted to escape along a beach, Mirage along with Ironhide and W.A.R.S. cut them off by driving across the water. He climbed into Ironhide's truck bed for some "cyber-jousting". The Predacons eventually escaped with a fake generator which the Spy Changers had swapped for the real one. {{storylink|Spychangers to the Rescue}}

After Optimus was captured and tortured by Megatron, the Spy Changers joined the [[Autobot Brothers]] in rescuing their leader and seeing off the Predacons. {{storylink|Sideburn's Obsession}}

[[File:Mirage's Betrayal Miragecannon.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb]]
Later, the team tried to protect a ruby from Predacon theft, but the mission failed–partly because of Mirage's unwillingness to fire at the Predacons and risk hitting a chemical tank. Mirage would not explain himself, and "left" the Spy Changers because he felt they should trust his motives, but when his friend Ironhide tried to convince him to come to his senses, he became aware that he was carrying a transmitter created by [[Gas Skunk]]. Mirage used this to his advantage, and deceptively alienated Ironhide, while at the same time deceiving the Predacons that he could be a potential ally. Ultimately, he carried the ruse to its full extent, leading his fellow Spy Changers to the [[Mega-Laser Cannon|laser weapon]] the Predacons had created. Using hand signals, he helped them to understand his plan, and they successfully destroyed the weapon with help from [[T-AI]] and the [[Global Space Bridge]]. {{storylink|Mirage's Betrayal}}

The Spy Changers also took part in the [[International Grand Prix]] in an attempt to find [[Skid-Z (RID)|Skid-Z]] and were blinded by Megatron a short time into the race. {{storylink|Skid Z's Choice|Skid Z's Choice}} On another occasion, the Spy Changers were called back to base to watch footage of various battles, but had to wrap up a fight with the Predacons first. Mirage rode on Ironhide again. {{storylink|Hope for the Future}}

[[File:MirageRID.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Mirage. With a gun!]]
The Spy Changers accompanied [[Optimus Prime (RID)|Optimus Prime]] to [[Montrose Island]] where Predacon activity was causing the volcano to become violent. They attempted to keep [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] and [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]] busy while Optimus went to use his blizzard storm on the volcano. [[Hot Shot (RID)|Hot Shot]] ordered Mirage to keep Scourge away from Optimus, but the Decepticon simply took a flying leap over the Spy Changer. When the volcano was ruptured and lava threatened the nearby resort, the Spy Changers used their [[Inferno Blast]] to divert its path. Mirage gave some encouraging words when [[Crosswise (RID)|Crosswise]] was concerned his engine was overheating. {{storylink|Volcano (episode)|Volcano}}

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

Sent to stop the Decepticons from finding Fortress Maximus, the Spy Changers jumped out in front of the foe and were soundly trounced by [[Armorhide (RID)|Armorhide]] and [[Rollbar (RID)|Rollbar]]. {{storylink|Fortress Maximus (episode)|Fortress Maximus}}

The Spy Changers took part in the ambush of the Decepticons after the Autobot base was discovered. They marveled at the firepower of the ''[[Megastar]]'', and didn't really contribute much for the rest of the battle. {{storylink|Surprise Attack!}} After Galvatron's defeat, they celebrated by racing with [[Skid-Z (RID)|Skid-Z]]. {{storylink|The Final Battle (RID)|The Final Battle}}
{{-}}

====Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity====
{{CRnote|Mirage|[[Mirage (G1)|Generation 1 Mirage]]}}
=====Super Spy Changers catalog=====
[[File:SuperSpychangersCatalogArt.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.1]]

With [[Ultra Magnus (RID)|God Magnus]] having departed Earth aboard [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Brave Maximus]], the Autobots were unable to call upon his power when a new menace, suddenly arose to challenge them. In order to combat this threat, a plan was put into motion to upgrade the Spy Changers with [[Spark Engine]]s, granting them Super Modes.

Super Mirage gained immense speed, to the point of being able to produce "images" and nobody being able to match his quickslinging.<ref>[http://tflab.net/japaspe/carrobo/ssc.html Super Spy Changers story and bios in Japanese]</ref><ref>[http://www.allspark.com/content/view/731/37/ English translation of story and bios]</ref>

=====Ask Vector Prime=====
The threat was [[Chainsaw]] and his [[Mutant (G1)|Mutants]]. Super Mirage used his illusions to defeat [[Jackhammer (G1)|Jackhammer]] when he attacked [[Antarctica]]. Later, when Chainsaw and the rest of his Mutants attempted to overrun the Autobot base, he helped repulse them. Using the power of teamwork, the Super Spy Changers defeated and captured the villains. Though the [[Go-Brillium]] which powered them was used up and they were no longer Super, they retained [[To sell toys|new color schemes]]. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/01}}

=====''Legends'' comic=====
When [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] and his [[Commando (RID)|Commandos]] attacked the [[Dimensional Patrol]]'s [[Neo Brave Maximus]] to rescue [[Megatron (RID)|Devil Gigatron]], the Super Spy Changers were sent out to the front lines. Their damage to the [[Cyber Falcon-class spaceship|Commando's ship]] led to it crashing into the base. {{Storylink|LGEX Scourge Prologue}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
In the future of [[Viron 102.0 Beta]], Mirage was a victim of the extradimensional criminal [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] during the [[Spark War]]. However, he used the Genetronic Translink System to control a [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicon]] body even with his spark in enemy hands! {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/30}} He traveled back in time to guide the [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Protector]] against [[Cryotek (RID)|Cryotek]] and decided to serve in the [[Elite Guard]] as "Mirage GT" while he was at it.

As part of the Guard, he helped face threats such as the [[Recyclon]]s, [[Planet X (Cybertron)|Planet X]] in the [[Skeleton Nebula]], [[Jhiaxus (RID)|Jhiaxus]]'s [[Destructicon (RID)|Destructicons]], and such bizarre threats as the [[Metabeast]]s of [[Zeotopia]], the [[Intruder|Intruder Empire]], and the [[Elder God]]s! {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/22}}

==Toys==
===''Robots in Disguise'' (2001)===
[[File:RID-toy Mirage-CR.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|"You'd think that the 'Transformers' on the spoiler would mean it's a Transformer, but there's no Autobot symbol on it, so clearly it can't ''oh wow you fooled me!''"]]
*'''Counter Arrow''' (Spy Changer, 2000)
**''ID number:'' '''C-010'''
**''Accessories'': Rifle

: Released in the first wave of ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|Car Robots]]'' product, "Counter Arrow" is a [[redeco]] of the ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (toyline)|Generation 2]]'' [[Go-Bot (G2)|Go-Bot]] [[Double Clutch (G2)#Toys|Double Clutch]] mold, transforming into a Lola T94 Indy car. He features a through-axle wheel construction that allows him to zip quickly along smooth surfaces in [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]], and is compatible with many "Hot Wheels" and "Matchbox" racetracks. The black portion of his hood has heat-sensitive paint that reveals an Autobot insignia, in a method similar to the original [[rubsign]]s.

: This mold was also used to make the ''Generation 2'' and ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)|Universe]]'' versions of [[Mirage (G1)/toys#Generation 2|Mirage]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2000/Cybertron/CounterArrow/counterarrow.htm More information on Counterarrow at TFU.info]''
{{G2DoubleClutchMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|6set}}
[[File:RID-toy SpyChanger6pack.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Spy Changer Deluxe 6 Piece Set''' (Multi-pack, 2000)
**''ID number:'' '''C-011'''
**''Accessories'': Rifle

: All six Spy Changers were not only sold as individuals in Japan, but in a six-piece gift set as well. The toys are identical to their individual releases, including all six individual bio cards.

: [[Sonokong]] also released this gift set in [[South Korea|Korean]] markets with no differences other than the packaging.

{{-}}{{anchor|JuscoClear}}
[[File:RID-toy Mirage-Jusco.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|]]
*'''Counter Arrow''' (Original Spy Changer, 2000)
**''Accessories'': Rifle

: An [[exclusive]] "Original Spy Changer" [[redeco]] of Counter Arrow in clear-blue and clear-green plastics, this version was only available from [[JUSCO]] stores in Japan as a direct-mail premium to members of their "Peppy Kids Republic" (元気キッズ共和国, ''Genki Kidzu Kyōwakoku''), a sort of subsidiary/offshoot for selling baby goods and children's clothing. Since membership was open only to kids 12 and under and this version was shipped blind-packed, getting the entire set of six was extremely difficult.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2000/Cybertron/ClearCounterArrow/counterarrow.htm More information on Counterarrow clear version at TFU.info]''
{{G2DoubleClutchMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|RID2pack}}
[[File:RID-toy Mirage.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|]]
*'''Ironhide / Mirage''' (Basic Class two-pack, 2001)
**''Accessories'': Rifle

: The [[Hasbro]] ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' version of "Mirage" was available only in a two-pack with [[Ironhide (RID)#RID2pack|Ironhide]], released in the first wave of "Basic" toys. This version replaces the heat-sensitive insignia was replaced with a normal Autobot insignia [[tampograph]], and adds more [[paint operation]]s, mainly red highlights. The red piping on his hood is also a brighter shade than the Takara vesion's.

: The initial releases of this set have Ironhide packaged in robot mode with Mirage in vehicle mode, pointed straight upward. Later releases have both toys in vehicle mode, tilted to a 1 o'clock position.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2001/Autobot/Mirage/mirage.htm More information on Mirage at TFU.info]''
{{G2DoubleClutchMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|KBclear}}
[[File:RID-toy Mirage-KB1.jpg|right|upright=1.67|thumb]]
*'''Mirage''' (Spy Changer, 2002)
**''Accessories'': Rifle

: All six original Spy Changers were redecoed in colorless-clear plastics (keeping their normal paint applications, though), and released on individual cards through [[KB Toys]] chains.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2002/Autobot/KBMirage/mirage.htm More information on Mirage at TFU.info]''
{{G2DoubleClutchMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|TinyTin}}
*'''Mirage''' (Tiny Tins, 2002)
**''Accessories'': Rifle, collectors' tin

: The normal Hasbro version of Mirage was released as part of the first assortment of [[Tiny Tins]] Transformers, coming with a carrying tin.

{{-}}{{anchor|MirageGT}}
[[File:RID-toy MirageGT.jpg|right|300px|thumb|GT. We bring good things to life.]]
*'''Nightcruz / Mirage GT / Scavenger''' (Mega Class 3-pack, 2002)
**''Japanese release date'': [[July 31]], [[2002]]
**''Accessories'': Left & right tailpipe-missiles, head-mounted blaster

: A [[redeco]] of the ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (toyline)|Beast Machines]]'' [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicon]] [[Mirage (BM)#Toys|Mirage]], ''Robots in Disguise'' "Mirage GT" transforms into a Cybertronic dragster similar in shape to an F-1 racer. In both modes he has pair of pressure-launch tailpipe-missiles; in car mode they attach to his spoiler, while in robot mode one is affixed to each arm. The small blaster-weapon attached to his head can also be removed and used as a hand-held weapon. He was available only in a 3-pack with [[Nightcruz (RID)|Nightcruz]] and [[Scavenger (RID 2001)|Scavenger]].

: This set was released in Japan as a [[Toys"R"Us]] [[exclusive]] "[[USA Edition]]" set.

: This mold was planned for use as a convention-[[exclusive]] version of [[Devcon (G1)#Toys|Devcon]], which was ultimately never made.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2002/Autobot/MirageGT/miragegt.htm More information on Mirage GT at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|KBclear2}}
[[File:RID-toy Mirage-KBclear2.jpg|right|thumb|300px]]
*'''Mirage''' (Spy Changer, 2003)
**''Accessories'': Rifle

: A second round of KB Toys exclusive Spy Changers was released on individual cards. This time around, he was done in clear-green and clear-blue, a seeming reversal of the JUSCO exclusive deco.

: This ''exact'' toy was later re-released as ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)|Universe]]'' [[Mirage (G1)/toys#Universe (2003)|Mirage]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2003/Autobot/Mirage/mirage.htm More information on Mirage at TFU.info]''
{{G2DoubleClutchMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|Super}}
[[File:RID-toy Mirage-Super.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|]]
*'''Super Counter Arrow''' (Spy Changer, 2003)
**''Accessories'': Rifle

: Long after the ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|Car Robots]]'' line ended in Japan, Takara put out individually-boxed redecoes of the Spy Changers. Counter Arrow was given a red and black deco.

: In each case of twelve Super Spy changers, two were all-clear-plastic versions (but keeping their paint applications). All six Spy Changers had a clear variant, but there was no way to tell which toys in the case were clear without opening the boxes and the opaque plastic baggies within.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2003/Cybertron/SuperCounterArrow/counterarrow.htm More information on Super Counterarrow at TFU.info]''
::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2003/Cybertron/ClearSuperCounterArrow/counterarrow.htm More information on clear Super Counterarrow at TFU.info]''
{{G2DoubleClutchMold}}
{{--}}

==Notes==
*Mirage GT usually features a minor assembly error in that his legs are swapped. This is easily fixable by popping the legs off at the hip and switching them.
*Until a 2015 entry of the Facebook edition of "[[Ask Vector Prime]]", nothing said if Mirage and Mirage GT were the same guy or different dudes. His depiction pays homage to GT's nature as a repaint of the ''Beast Machines'' [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicon]] [[Mirage (BM)|Mirage]] (and that Mirage's accidental timewarping in "[[Apelinq's War Journals]]"), as well as using the GT System from ''[[Transformers: Alternators|Binaltech]]'' that was itself inspired by... Mirage GT! Gotta love [[Hirofumi Ichikawa|fans turned pro]].
*He speaks with a french accent in the latin spanish dub.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Counter Arrow''' (カウンターアロー ''Kauntāarō''), '''Mirage GT''' (ミラージュGT ''Mirāju GT'')
*''Korean:'' '''Countarrow''' (카운트아로 ''Kaunteuaro'')

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Elite Guard]]
[[Category:Japanese promotion exclusives]]
[[Category:KB Toys exclusives]]
[[Category:Ninjas]]
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2001) Autobots]]
[[Category:Spy Changers]]
[[Category:Tiny Tins]]

Red Alert (Armada)

2021-07-14T16:38:39Z

Rumbleburst: /* Armada */

{{factions|autobot|{{factions/icons|custom=Cybertron Defence.png|cSize=50px|cLink=Cybertron Defense Team (Cybertron)}}|cybearth}}
{{disambig3|Red Alert}}
:''Red Alert is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Unicron Trilogy]] [[continuity family]].''
[[File:Redalertut.jpg|283px|thumb|Red Alert takes a cue from the Quad City DJs]]

'''Red Alert''' was once a fierce warrior. It was not until he was seriously wounded, losing his hand permanently in battle, that he was able to sit back and realize how terrible war is. He is now a reluctant fighter, and somewhat emotionally detached, preferring to repair his friends than tear his enemies to shreds. This does not mean he is now a coward. To the contrary, when a fellow Autobot on the battlefield needs his immediate medical attention, he will be there no matter what it takes. He's a brilliant medic and scientist, but he's also extremely cautious.

His nominal [[Mini-Con]] partner is [[Longarm (Armada)|Longarm]], though during the search for the [[Cyber Planet Key]]s, he was accompanied to [[Velocitron]] by [[Dirt Boss (Armada)|Dirt Boss]].

==Fiction==
===Toy pack-in comics===
Red Alert cheered on [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]]'s defeat of [[Megatron (Armada)|Galvatron]] on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. During Galvatron's trip to prison, Red Alert alerted the transporting Autobots of an incoming [[Decepticon]]. {{Storylink|Armada Volume 4}}

===Dreamwave ''Armada'' continuity===
====Dreamwave ''Armada'' comic====
[[File:DWArmada2 RedAlert filtrekshields.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|"Red Alert, all I'm hearing from you is '[[Pīpō|WOO WOO WOO WOO!]]'"]]
One million years ago, a new faction of Transformers, calling themselves "[[Decepticon]]s" attacked various [[Mini-Con]] villages on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] for unknown, but most likely nefarious purposes. Red Alert was under [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]]'s personal squad, sifting through the ruins of [[mini-Con Sector|Mini-Con Village C-52]] hoping to find survivors, though Red Alert was more interested in the fact that the Mini-Cons were using outdated [[Filtrek|Filtrek-A forceshields]]. What had happened to the Mini-Cons was that they had been forcibly re-engineered to "[[Powerlinx]]" with the Decepticons, granting the [[Bulk]]s increased power, which the Autobots learned first hand when [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]] attacked [[Cyber City]]. Realizing that they were no match for the Decepticons, Red Alert desperately asked Prime for orders. Knowing that they would be killed if they stayed, Optimus ordered a retreat. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 2|Armada #2}}

For a million years the civil war raged on, the once-proud Autobots struggled to defend themselves against the powerful, Mini-Con augmented Decepticons, who were in possession of Cybertron's only remaining Mini-Cons, the others having escaped at the beginning of the conflict. Hope came in the form of a Mini-Con Reactivation Signal detected by Cybertron's Decepticon-controlled communications satellites, which Red Alert was able to hack into. The Autobots resolved to travel to this distant world of [[Earth]] and resolved to fight for Truth, Justice and Freedom. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 3|Armada #3}}

[[File:DWArmada4 RedAlert Scavenger yourface.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|"From now on, losing is verboten!"]]
Arriving on Earth at the [[Allspark Power Generator Station]], Red Alert attempted to communicate with the indigenous [[human]] species, asking for their help in finding the Mini-Cons, but only managing to frighten them off. [[Scavenger (Armada)|Scavenger]] jokingly suggested it was because of his face. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 4|Armada #4}} Unfortunately for the Autobots, the Decepticons had already arrived and were chasing after [[Sparkplug (Armada)|Sparkplug]]'s group of Mini-Cons and their human friends, [[Rad White|Rad]], [[Carlos Lopez|Carlos]] and [[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]]. Just as [[Starscream (Armada)|Starscream]] and [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] were about to jump Scavenger, Red Alert and [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Hot Shot]] arrived to outflank them. Eventually Megatron Powerlinxed with all of his Mini-Cons and gained the upper hand, but help came in the form of [[Jolt (Armada)|Jolt]]'s group of Mini-Cons, who Powerlinxed with the Autobots. [[Longarm (Armada)|Longarm]] linked with Red Alert, a chest-mounted disk launcher. At a tactical disadvantage, the Decepticons were forced to flee. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 5|Armada #5}}

The Autobots attacked the Decepticons after they'd captured Rad and Carlos, with Red Alert taking on Starscream and tricking him into knocking himself out on Smokescreen's crane. They were ultimately defeated by Megatron and captured, but escaped after the Mini-Con [[Swindle (Armada)|Swindle]] had a change of heart and turned on the Decepticons. {{storylink|Armada Free Comic Book Day}} After establishing a base on Earth on the outskirts of [[Lincoln, South Dakota|Lincoln]], [[South Dakota]], Megatron attacked the human city with the [[Star Saber (Armada)|Star Saber]], the forcibly combined form of the [[Air Defense Mini-Con Team (Armada)|Air Defense Team]], to goad the Autobots to emerge from their hidden [[Autobase]]. Red Alert tried to contact the [[Street Action Mini-Con Team]] to no avail, and the Autobots realised the Autobot-allied Mini-Cons must have left earlier to infiltrate the Decepticon base at [[Silver Ridge]]. Despite the considerable tactical disadvantage, the Autobots emerged and fought off the Decepticons as best they could, Red Alert somehow gaining the ability to use his claw rifle without Powerlinxing with not-present [[Longarm (Armada)|Longarm]]. Fortunately just as Megatron was about to deal a fatal blow to Optimus Prime, Longarm and the Mini-Cons arrived, Powerlinxed with their respective Autobot partners, allowing the good guys to free the Air Defense Team and send the Decepticons packing. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 7|Armada #7}}

[[File:DWArmada10 RedAlert HotShot VENTSURPRISE.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb]]
Soon afterwards, when Red Alert was looking in on the Mini-Cons, he discovered that they had vanished. Again. He thought that as they were free to come and go as they pleased, perhaps they needed some time to cool off after Optimus Prime admonished them for disobeying his orders during the Air Defense Team incident. The Autobots received an answer to the mystery when local news networks reported strange lights in [[Tranquility, Kansas|Tranquility]], [[Kansas]]. Racing there in a [[Autobot shuttle|shuttle]], they discovered that the Mini-Cons were being subconsciously drawn to a strange obelisk. Unfortunately, the Decepticons were there as well and a fight quickly broke out, but as they fought, the Mini-Cons (and Rad) were taken into the obelisk and it blasted off to the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]]. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 8|Armada #8}} With the shuttle destroyed, Optimus Prime prepared to use the [[space bridge]] to go back to Cybertron and retrieve specialised equipment needed to fly to the Moon, but the Decepticon sensors had to be neutralised before he could do so without compromising security. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 9|Armada #9}} Hot Shot and Red Alert infiltrated the Decepticon base at Silver Ridge, knocked out [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] and erased the space bridge trace data of Prime travelling to Cybertron. Unfortunately, just before Prime returned, [[Starscream (Armada)|Starscream]] and [[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]] returned to Silver Ridge, forcing Red and Hot Shot to hide inside a wall panel. Determined not to let the Decepticons learn of their secret Autobase locations on both Earth and Cybertron, Red Alert and Hot Shot blasted the hapless Decepticons and destroyed their computer. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 10|Armada #10}}

[[File:DWArmada13 Prime RedAlert.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"Doctor, we need your help defusing this atom bomb!" "OPEN THAT SLAG UP!"]]

After the crisis on the moon was diverted, Red Alert picked up an emergency transmission from Smokescreen and Scavenger, who had detected a Decepticon rocket launch pad in Death Valley, [[California]]. At the same time, a Mini-Con escape pod from the moon was detected in [[Alaska]], and Optimus Prime, needing to play politics to keep the Mini-Con refugees on side, decided to deploy the Autobots to the icy north. {{storylink|Fire & Ice}} Arriving in Alaska, Red Alert and [[Longarm (Armada)|Longarm]] were tasked with cutting the ice that entombed the escape pod with their [[sonic cannon]] while the other Autobots and Mini-Cons defended the area from the Decepticons. Unfortunately, at this moment Megatron attacked the Autobot shuttle with his [[Solar Scalpel]], an orbital superweapon launched from the rocket base in Death Valley. As if they weren't having enough problems, an-over-Powerlinxed [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] attacked, forcing Hot Shot and Red Alert to intercept. The two Autobots were flattened by the overpowered Cyclonus, until Optimus Prime stepped in and crushed the Decepticon's chest. With the Solar Scalpel destroyed by the [[Space Mini-Con Team]], rescue operations recommenced. Suddenly, Optimus Prime vanished. {{storylink|Dreamwave Armada issue 13|Armada #13}}

[[File:WorldsCollide2 RedAlert hit.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]

Returning to Autobase: Earth via space bridge, Red Alert and the others discovered that while Optimus Prime didn't return to their base, they did have ''an'' [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]]. While the Mini-Cons postulated that he may be from another dimension, Red Alert did his best to stabilize the mysterious Autobot's condition. Sadly, the Prime briefly reactivated to warn them of the "walls" of reality crumbling and that "chaos" was coming, before expiring. {{storylink|Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4}} With the arrival of the dimension-crossing Mini-Con [[Over-Run (Armada)|Over-Run]], the Autobots got some clues into what happened to "their" Optimus Prime and the means to search for him throughout the [[multiverse]]. Red Alert and Longarm returned to the scene of Over-Run's appearance on Earth, but could not find his [[null-reality pod]], as it had been seized by the Decepticons. Unfortunately, this search for Optimus Prime prompted Megatron to lead an assault on Autobase: Earth, blowing up the computer in the unwitting Red Alert's face as he was using it. With Optimus missing, Red Alert assumed command and ordered the Autobots to roll out, but the Autobots were swiftly defeated. Red Alert was knocked unconscious by Starscream, but Megatron demanded the right to strike the final blow. {{storylink|Worlds Collide, Part 2 of 4}}

[[File:DWArmada18 TheEnd Autobots Smokescreen.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|"What's the diagnosis?" "There are deep lacerations in the sternum- WHERE ALIENS HAVE TAKEN OVER HIS BODYYYY!!" "HOO-WHAAAAAAAT?!"]]

The Autobots were inadvertently saved from a fate exactly the same as death when a [[Galvatron (G1)|mysterious, powerful Cybertronian]] appeared and took the Decepticons apart, though the [[Air Defense Mini-Con Team (Armada)|Air Defense Team]] were forced to intervene to prevent the being from defeating Megatron. {{storylink|Worlds Collide, Part 3 of 4}} After the Decepticons limped away, a seriously-trashed Red Alert reported to Optimus Prime (who had been rescued and was now on Autobase: Cybertron) on the bad condition of the Earthside Autobots, in particular Smokescreen. {{storylink|Worlds Collide, Part 4 of 4}}

With this in mind, those who survived Megatron's attack were less-than-pleased when they learned of Optimus Prime's alliance with the Decepticons to defeat [[Unicron]], the Chaos Bringer and eater of worlds. To prevent a fight from breaking out on Earth, Optimus sent them ahead to Autobase: Cybertron, where its less-damaged facilities could be used to save Smokescreen's life. However, Red Alert and the others still thirsted for revenge against Megatron, and assigned [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] to keep an eye on him. When Megatron isolated himself from the other Transformers by landing on Unicron in the hopes of striking a deal with the Choas Bringer, they attacked, sending the Decepticon leader into Unicron's depths as it disappeared from this reality. {{storylink|The End}}

====''Energon'' comic====
While Optimus Prime waited for a meeting with the High Council, Red Alert, Scavenger and [[Rodimus (Energon)|Rodimus]] were seen travelling on a highway in the center of [[Cyber City]]. {{storylink|This Evil Reborn}} Red Alert later returned to Earth in response to the [[Terrorcon (Energon)|Terrorcon]] attacks on four major cities, {{storylink|Multiplicity, Pt. 2}} being stationed in [[Toronto]] where he had to withstand [[Divebomb (Energon)|Divebombs]] as well as [[Beachcomber (Energon)|Beachcomber]]'s puns. {{storylink|Multiplicity, Pt. 3}}

{{-}}

===Cartoon continuity===
====''Armada'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Brian Dobson]] (English), [[Ikuya Sawaki]] (Japanese)|[[Claus Brockmeyer]] (German), [[Stefan Berglund]] (Swedish), [[Ettore Zuim]] (Portuguese - Brazilian), [[Guillaume Orsat]] (French), [[Jyrki Kovaleff]] (Finnish), [[Jorge Saudinós]] (Castilian Spanish), [[Rubén Pérez]] (Latin-American Spanish), [[Pasquale Anselmo]] (Italian)}}
[[File:Base redalert newgun.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|"Let's go practice medicine"]]
Red Alert and [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] were old comrades in the war over the [[Mini-Con]]s on Cybertron, with Red securing victory for his leader many times through his dedication to careful planning and preparation. {{storylink|Soldier (episode)|Soldier}} When a beacon from the planet [[Earth]] reached Cybertron in [[2010]], alerting the Autobots and Decepticons to the awakening of the long-missing [[Mini-Con]]s on the far-off world, Red Alert journeyed there with Optimus and [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Hot Shot]] to investigate. Teleporting to the planet's surface at the same time as the Decepticons, Red immediately engaged [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]], protecting the Mini-Con [[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]] and the humans he had befriended from the Decepticon. The villains were driven off, but soon returned to menace the humans and their Mini-Con friends again, and Red—now sporting an ambulance [[alternate mode]]—and the Autobots came to their rescue once more. {{storylink|Metamorphosis (Armada)|Metamorphosis}} Red and Hot Shot shielded their new allies against a blast from [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]], which yielded great reward: the explosion unearthed two Mini-Con stasis panels, which Red and Hot Shot activated, gaining new Mini-Con partners of their own. [[Powerlinx]]ing with [[Longarm (Armada)|Longarm]], Red Alert obtained a new laser gun, with which he blasted [[Starscream (Armada)|Starscream]]. The Decepticons withdrew, and the Autobots set about the business of constructing a base on Earth out of the Mini-Con's crashed [[Exodus (Armada)|ship]]; after helping explain Cybertronian history to the kids, Red Alert gifted them with a protector in the form [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]]. {{storylink|Base}}
[[File:Soldier redalert disklauncher.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Save the rainbow. Taste the rainbow.]]
On a mission to track down the signal of a Mini-Con panel in [[Grand Canyon|Big Canyon]], Red Alert partnered up with [[Carlos Lopez|Carlos]]. After some off-roading fun to kick things off, the pair soon got lost and Carlos quickly got tired of Red Alert's humorless personality, but when the Decepticons attacked, Carlos had an up-close view of Red Alert's battle prowess as the medic used a grappling line to evade attacks from Demolishor. {{storylink|Comrade}} Hot Shot also expressed discontent with the officious Red Alert after he scolded him for not pulling his weight, but Red was soon to prove his value to the young Autobot while in [[Antarctica]]: in addition to quickly repairing Optimus Prime's malfunctioning trailer, Red saved Hot Shot's life by taking out [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] with his grapple, saved him ''again'' by clonking Megatron with his disk launcher, saved the ''kids'' from falling to their doom with his disk, ''and'' snatched the Mini-Con panel out of Starscream's hands! {{storylink|Soldier (episode)|Soldier}}
[[File:Carnival redalert and longarm.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|If you don't leave me alone, I will obtain the rights to make an eighth Rocky movie...and I know you don't want that.]]
While searching for a Mini-Con in a forest, Red Alert was the one who deduced that Optimus's trailer could be used to fight a forest fire. {{storylink|Jungle}} He later supervised maintenance work on the Autobot base, {{storylink|Carnival}} and accompanied his team-mates on a mission to the [[Sahara]]. This mission ended with yet another Mini-Con under the Decepticons' control. {{storylink|Palace}} Red Alert was furious when the Decepticons captured their human allies, and had to be physically restrained by Optimus from attacking Megatron as he ransomed the humans for the Autobots' Mini-Cons, but things turned out okay thanks to the efforts of [[Fred (Armada)|Fred]] and [[Billy (Armada)|Billy]]. {{storylink|Confrontation (episode)|Confrontation}}

After working with a disinterested Hot Shot to continue salvaging what they could from the Mini-Con ship, Red joined in searching the caverns beneath a human city for the next Mini-Con, puzzling train passengers by driving through subway tunnels in his [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]]. {{storylink|Underground (episode)|Underground}} Later, looking for a Mini-Con at the bottom of the ocean, Red helped keep the Decepticons busy while the kids explored the ruins of an undersea civilisation, and carried Carlos to safety when the ruins began to collapse. {{storylink|Ruin}} The Decepticons succeeded in obtaining both these Mini-Cons, but Red Alert finally scored a win for the Autobots when he used his grapple to secure a panel on a volcanic island. The Autobots found they couldn't awaken this Mini-Con, causing Red to wonder aloud about the mysterious nature of the little 'bots, and the legends he had heard that they were the key to peace in the universe. {{storylink|Prehistory}} [[File:Gale redalert altmode.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]] As it turned out, the Mini-Con was part of the [[Star Saber (Armada)|Star Saber]] sword, and required its two partners—one currently in the hands of the Decepticons—in order to awaken. The Decepticons soon invaded the Autobot base to bring the sword together, and Red Alert unleashed the base's defense systems on them. When this put their human allies in danger they turned to more tricky tactics, and Red took Starscream out of the equation with the confusing powers of a hall of mirrors. {{storylink|Swoop (episode)|Swoop}}

With the Star Saber successfully formed an in Autobot hands, Red Alert found the time to tinker, upgrading Laserbeak so that the kids would be able to direct him across greater distances. {{storylink|Overmatch}} He encouraged Hot Shot to train harder with the weapon, then partook in a search for a Mini-Con on a busy highway, helping Optimus hold off Starscream. The Autobots won the day thanks to the arrival of the mysterious [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]]; Red was unsure if the newcomer was entirely trustworthy, but considered the search for the Mini-Cons of greater import. {{storylink|Gale}} As it turned out, Red Alert was right: Sideways soon changed sides to the Decepticons, and lured Hot Shot—who had, as Red feared, placed too much confidence in the Star Saber—into a battle on the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]]. Hot Shot lost the sword to the Decepticons, and was returned to Earth, where Red tended to his wounds. {{storylink|Credulous}}
[[File:DecisiveBattle redalert gunarm.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|"Dead or alive, you're coming with me!"]]
On a mission to a foggy forest, Red Alert and [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]] battled Starscream and Demolishor, after which Red was tasked with using his grapple to recover a Mini-Con panel from a cliff-face, only to be foiled by Cyclonus. {{storylink|Conspiracy}} Soon after, the Autobots were joined by former Decepticon [[Scavenger (Armada)|Scavenger]], who Red Alert defended to the distrustful Smokescreen and kids by explaining his long-standing friendship with Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Trust (Armada)|Trust}} Red and Smokescreen supervised the kids when they went on vacation to the countryside, but when a flash-flood swept the area, Red, Carlos and a young boy named [[Shaun]] were buried in a mudslide. Unable to transform with the local news network present, Red Alert had to wait to be dug out by Smokescreen, Optimus and Scavenger, after which he used his grapple to get them all to safety. {{storylink|Vacation}}

On another Mini-Con search, Red Alert tried to snipe Demolishor as he made a grab for the newest stasis panel, but was stopped by Cyclonus. The Mini-Con was recovered by the newest Autobot, [[Blurr (Armada)|Blurr]], and Red backed him up when he and Hot Shot took point on the next Mini-Con hunt. Unfortunately, this mission ended in failure for the Autobots, and the Decepticons acquired control of the Skyboom Shield. {{storylink|Reinforcement}} Red Alert later took part in a decisive battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, taking out Sideways with a single well-aimed blast. {{storylink|Decisive Battle}} He stayed at base for the next battle, but was on hand to repair Optimus's injuries after the fight was over. {{storylink|Vow}} When Sideways sucked the kids into cyberspace, Red Alert managed to extricate them before an evil force within the digital realm was able to do them any harm. {{storylink|Chase (episode)|Chase}} He then put a firewall in place to prevent further incidents, and remained at the base to observe the Autobots next mission alongside the kids. {{storylink|Tactician}} Optimus Prime was badly injured in this encounter, and Red Alert conducted the extensive repairs needed while the other Autobots went into another battle without them. The battle went badly, and Red prepared to join his comrades in action until Optimus forcibly removed himself from the medibay against Red's recommendation and helped win the day. {{storylink|Linkup}}
[[File:Detection redalert bossing around.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"Show me your moves!"]]
In another moment of downtime, Red Alert again supervised repairs to the Autobot base, but got fed up of nobody really knowing what they were supposed to be doing and finished the job himself. {{storylink|Detection}} Red stayed at the base with the kids, spectating over a monitor, while the rest of the Autobots enaged the Decepticons and their newest member [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Tidal Wave]]. While the boys went off to search for a Mini-Con panel that activated somewhere in the bowels of the ship, Red and Alexis were contacted by Sideways and informed that the new panel contained one of the [[Space Mini-Con Team]], who formed the third Mini-Con weapon, the [[Requiem Blaster (Armada)|Requiem Blaster]]. {{storylink|Awakening (Armada)|Awakening}} When the boys returned with the Mini-Con, [[Sky Blast (Armada)|Sky Blast]], Red Alert took them to the battlefield, and was subsequently injured shielding them from Decepticon fire. His selfless action convinced the timid Sky Blast to act, and he sent out a call that awoke the other two components of the Requiem Blaster. The Space Mini-Con Team combined, and the weapon wound up in Optimus Prime's hands, ensuring an Autobot victory. {{storylink|Desperate}}

[[File:Regeneration redalert repairs smokescreen.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
The Autobots called a meeting to determine what to do with the Requiem Blaster, and Red agreed with the other Autobots who voted to put it to aggressive use. Overhearing this decision, the kids helped the pacifistic Space Team run away, and Red joined the other Autobots in searching for them. {{storylink|Runaway}} Understanding the Space Team's feelings, the Autobots decided not to employ the blaster in battle, so Red Alert and Smokescreen stayed behind at the Autobot base to safeguard the trio while the rest of the team went on their next mission. Unfortunately, the Decepticons staged a feint operation that allowed them to attack the under-manned base, overpowering Red Alert, seizing the Requiem Blaster, and fatally wounding Smokescreen with its power. {{storylink|Sacrifice}} Luckily, Red went to work on Smokescreen quickly, saving his [[Spark]] and rebuilding his body anew, giving him new life as "Hoist". {{storylink|Regeneration (Armada)|Regeneration}}

Once again, Red Alert remained behind while the other Autobots, acting on information from a turncoat Starscream, invaded the Decepticon base and liberated their captive Mini-Cons. {{storylink|Rescue}} He checked over Starscream's wounds when the Decepticon returned from a later mission to [[Mars (planet)|Mars]], {{storylink|Mars (episode)|Mars}} then joined in the effort to construct a [[Axalon (Armada)|new starship]] for the Autobots, making sure to keep the others on-project in his usual straightforward way. Before the ship was finished, however, Starscream defected back to the Decepticons, allowing them to gain control of all the Mini-Con weapons {{storylink|Crack (episode)|Crack}} and form the [[Hydra Cannon]], with which they threatened to destroy Earth. Red analyzed the Decepticon weapon from afar, but ultimately it took Optimus Prime sacrificing his life to destroy it. {{storylink|Crisis (Armada)|Crisis}}
[[File:Miracle grinning red.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"Nice shooting, son. What's your name?" "It's Murphy."]]
With Optimus's death, the mantle of leadership fell to a conflicted Hot Shot, and Red Alert helped—though some aggression therapy—to convince him to take the title. {{storylink|Remorse}} The Autobots proceeded to complete their ship, the ''Axalon'', to pursue the Decepticons, but it fell to Red Alert to inform the kids that they would not be joining the Autobots on the journey. While Red was running final checks on the bridge, however, the Mini-Cons swarmed the room, blocking his access to the consoles in a silent protest that convinced the Autobots allow the humans to join them. {{storylink|Depart}} Red helped pilot the Autobot ship when it subsequently took off; a space battle with the Decepticons resulted in short order, during which the Mini-Cons used their powers to resurrect Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Miracle}}
[[File:Puppet redalert blackhole.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|I am fully charged!]]
No sooner were they reuinted with Prime than a worm hole opened in space alongside the Autobots' craft, sucking Red Alert and Hot Shot into its depths. The pair were disgorged on a strange, dead planet where they and a trio of Decepticons found themselves menaced by a sinister clone of Optimus Prime named [[Nemesis Prime (Armada)|Nemesis Prime]]. While Optimus Prime soon arrived to dispatch his dark doppelgänger, Red, Hot Shot and the Decepticons all sustained serious injuries, but were saved by their partner Mini-Cons, who used their powers to heal their wounds, [[spontaneous recoloration|changing the color]] of their armor. {{storylink|Puppet}}

Both factions returned to Cybertron, and during the first battle back on their homeworld, Red Alert and [[Side Swipe (Armada)|Side Swipe]] remained aboard the ''Axalon'' to protect the kids and Mini-Cons. {{storylink|Uprising (Armada)|Uprising}} A little later, Red caught Hot Shot in the act as he was preparing to depart on an unsanctioned solo mission. Learning that Hot Shot was aiming to make contact with Megatron—now Galvatron—in hopes of uniting the two factions against the danger posed by the emerging [[Unicron]], Red let him go. {{storylink|Dash (episode)|Dash}} While Hot Shot was off on his mission, Red Alert helped co-ordinate troop movements across Cybertron, {{storylink|Drift (episode)|Drift}} recommending the deployment of backup for Hot Shot as his mission took him underground on the trail of Unicron. {{storylink|Portent}}

[[File:Puppet powerlinx redalert.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]

Red Alert remained aboard the ''Axalon'' with the kids for the next battle, which concluded with the Autobots and Decepticons finally agreeing to combine forces in the face of Unicron's threat. {{storylink|Cramp}} Red stood by Optimus Prime's side for the impromptu ceremony that saw the two armies formally unite, then took part in the first strike against Unicron before withdrawing to the ''Axalon'' to watch the demi-god's transformation from Cybertron's moon to titantic robot. {{storylink|Alliance}} When the [[Street Action Mini-Con Team]] informed them that the key to stopping Unicron was to free the three Mini-Con weapons powering him, Red Alert brought them and the kids to the underground warp-gate previously discovered by Hot Shot that would teleport them inside Unicron's body. Tremors caused by the battle raging outside caused the subterreanean tunnel to collapse, but Red shielded the kids and Mini-Cons and got them through the portal before he was buried in the subsidance. {{storylink|Union}} He soon extricated himself from the cave-in and returned to the surface, horrified at the devastation. {{storylink|Origin}} Red Alert participated in the final attack on Unicron that culminated in the chaos bringer's apparent destruction when Galvatron sacrificed himself, robbing Unicron of the hatred needed for him to exist. {{storylink|Mortal Combat}}
{{-}}
=====Alternate timeline=====
In a timeline where the Cybertronians' conflict never left their home planet, the Mini-Cons' influence on the Autobots and Decepticons subjugated the larger robots. Red Alert and the rest of his kind were left entangled in a semi-organic growth spawned from Unicron's cells, and were shut down by Unicron's power. Carlos, Alexis, and Rad appeared before him, visitors from another time, and beheld Red Alert's inert form before shooting off into time once more, eventually leading to Red Alert's fate being prevented. {{storylink|Drift (episode)|Drift}}
{{--}}

====''Cybertron'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Brian Dobson]] (English), [[Yasuyuki Kase]] (Japanese)|[[Robert Kotulla]] (German), [[Stefan Berglund]] (Swedish), [[Samuel Harjanne]] (Finnish, eps. 1 - 39), [[Jari Salo]] (Finnish, "[[Fury (Cybertron)|Fury]]" onwards), [[Guillaume Orsat]] (French), [[Juan Navarro Torelló]] (Castilian Spanish), [[Rubén Pérez]] (Latin-American Spanish, first voice), [[José Granadillo]] (Latin-American Spanish, second voice)}}
[[File:Landmine redalert robotmode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Twenty years after the war for the Mini-Cons ended, Red Alert—having gained a [[Accent|new accent]] somewhere in the intervening two decades—was assigned to a remote station to monitor the activity of a colossal [[Unicron Singularity|black hole]] created by the destruction of Unicron. From this location, he reported in on the destruction of the planet [[Moriturus]]. {{storylink|Fallen (episode)|Fallen}} With the black hole threatening Cybertron itself, Optimus Prime led the Autobots in evacuating to Earth, but Red remained at his station, preparing a [[gravitron grid]] that could hopefully be used to collapse the black hole in upon itself. Teleconferencing with Prime's forces on Earth for the grid's activation, Red Alert found that his efforts had sadly been in vain, as the grid proved unable to combat the black hole's force. Ancient Transformer [[Vector Prime]] urged that the lost [[Cyber Planet Key]]s held the key to stopping the singularity, and while the other Autobots were uncertain, Red Alert spoke up on his behalf, convincing Prime's team to focus their full efforts on locating the Keys. {{storylink|Hidden}}
[[File:Rush redalert helps brakedown.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Red Alert soon joined his fellow Autobots on Earth, arriving just in time to help [[Overhaul (Cybertron)|Overhaul]] reinforce the [[Autobot]]s during their conflict outside a museum. A relic from within the museum yielded up the coordinates to the resting place of the first Cyber Planet Key, [[Velocitron]], the Speed Planet. Red Alert was sent there along with Hot Shot on a covert mission to locate the key, though Red was not too happy at the prospect of a secret mission with the impetuous younger Autobot. {{storylink|Landmine (episode)|Landmine}} Red Alert could see little point in the race-centric society of Velocitron, but was instead far more interested to observe the Velocitronians' unique [[Cyber Key]]s. In accordance with Optimus's instructions, he tried to keep Hot Shot from interacting with the natives, but their mission was barely underway before Hot Shot had disobeyed and intervened in a local dispute. {{storylink|Space (episode)|Space}} With non-interference now a dead prospect, Red helped Hot Shot defeat local bullies [[Crumplezone (Cybertron)|Crumplezone]] and [[Ransack (Cybertron)|Ransack]], then checked over their injured victim, [[Brakedown (Cybertron)|Brakedown]]. Initially attempting to pose as native Velocitronians, the pair were found out by Brakedown's young friend [[Clocker (Cybertron)|Clocker]] when he overheard Red Alert giving Hot Shot a dressing down for his insubordination. With Clocker's aid, the pair were brought before planet leader [[Override (Cybertron)|Override]], who offered them information if Hot Shot could beat her in a race; he failed to do so, but Red accused him of racing for his own ego, rather than for the mission. {{storylink|Rush (episode)|Rush}}
[[File:Rush redalert vehiclemode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
After Hot Shot blew his systems in his next race with Override, Red Alert went scavenging for parts in a junkyward, where he was attacked by Crumplezone and Ransack, who had fallen in with the Decepticons. Although he was able to overpower them, Red was felled with ease by their commanding officer, Starscream. {{storylink|Speed}} Red recovered, but his disposition was not helped by the experience, as he continued to lambast Hot Shot for putting himself ahead of the mission, causing the pair to almost come to blows. {{storylink|Time (episode)|Time}} Nonetheless, Red refrained from confessing their breach of protocol to Optimus Prime when he next reported on their progress. He observed Crumplezone and Ransack beating up [[Dirt Boss (Cybertron)|Dirt Boss]], and overcame his reluctance to intervene, but was fortunately prevented from having to do so by the arrival of Override. {{storylink|Search (episode)|Search}}
[[File:Detour redalert firefighting.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
With the [[Planet Cup]] about to start—the race which would determined the leader of Velocitron and conferred upon its winner possession of the world's Cyber Planet Key—Red Alert summoned Optimus Prime to the Speed Planet. {{storylink|Ship}} Forced to confess their failure to follow his orders upon Prime's arrival, Red Alert explained the situation, and Prime excused their actions after seeing Override's obstinacy for himself. Red himself participated in the opening heat of the Planet Cup, helping Hot Shot overcome a mechanical hiccup that prevented him from accelerating by dragging him along in his slipstream. {{storylink|Hero (episode)|Hero}} Red and [[Landmine (Energon)|Landmine]] guarded Hot Shot's rear for the rest of the race, and despite Decepticon interference, Red progressed to the second heat. {{storylink|Race}} Racing took its toll on the pair during this round of the contest, they dropped out to help put out fires Decepticon meddling had caused. {{storylink|Detour (episode)|Detour}}
[[File:Ice redalert.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
During training for the next leg of the Planet Cup, Red Alert relayed a distress call from Overhaul on the [[Jungle Planet (colony)|Jungle Planet]] to Optimus, and gave voice to the theory he had formed based on observing the Velocitronians' Cyber Keys that the Transformers had been shaped in different ways by the Cyber Planet Keys. {{storylink|Savage}} Red was a spectator for the next race, discovering stowaway Mini-Cons [[Six-Speed (Cybertron)|Six-Speed]] and [[Reverb (Cybertron)|Reverb]] in the crowd. {{storylink|Sand}} In preparation for the final round of the cup, Red had bad news for Hot Shot: the stress on his system from the races so far would require a passenger to ride with him to constantly modify his system. He achieved victory with [[Coby Hansen]]'s help and won the Autobots their first Cyber Planet Key, though this didn't stop Red from good-naturedly ribbing him on the winner's platform. {{storylink|Champion}} When the key was inserted into the [[Omega Lock]], it emitted a signal that Red and the other Autobots followed to the [[Arctic]], though their search for whatever it was pointing the way to was fruitless. {{storylink|Ice}}
[[File:Retreat redalert cyberkeypower.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"I'm a healer, but...."]]
After having some of the damage he had sustained during his Velocitronian adventures repaired by Coby, {{Storylink|Honor}} Red Alert put his own repair skills to work giving Optimus Prime a tune-up so that he could battle [[Scourge (Cybertron)|Scourge]], leader of Jungle Planet. {{storylink|Primal (Cybertron)|Primal}} Prime won ownership of Jungle Planet's Cyber Planet Key, and Red Alert and all the other Autobots [[space bridge]]d to Jungle Planet to help fight off Megatron when he tried to steal it. {{storylink|Trust (Cybertron)|Trust}} The addition of this key to the Omega Lock again directed the Autobots to the Arctic, but Red stayed behind at base while Prime led a small team to investigate. {{storylink|Trap}} Prime's team was trapped in an avalanche caused by the emergence of the Arctic mystery—ancient Decepticons hidden in stasis who had been freed by Starscream—so Red Alert and the other Autobots sped to their rescue, digging them out so they could take the fight to their new enemies. When Optimus was injured in the subsequent fight, Red Alert called retreat so he could tend to his leader's wounds. {{Storylink|Invasion (episode)|Invasion}} Seeing no recourse but to retreat to Cybertron with the Omega Lock, the Autobots attempted to leave, but were systematically cut down in their escape attempt by Starscream; Red fell alongside Landmine as the renegade Decepticon smashed through their Cyber Key powers. {{storylink|Retreat}}
[[File:Critical CDredalert.jpg|left|thumb|225px]]
With the Omega Lock in Starscream's clutches, the Autobots had to focus their efforts on recovering it from his island base, only to be stymied by a battle with Megatron at [[Niagara Falls]]. Red Alert, Hot Shot and [[Scattorshot (Cybertron)|Scattorshot]] faced off against the Decepticon leader and were mowed down by his "Death Machine Gun". {{storylink|Revelation (episode)|Revelation}} Vector Prime transported the grievously wounded trio to a nearby military base where their human allies began trying to repair them, but Red Alert insisted they were too damaged to save. [[Lori Jiménez|Lori]] refused to take accept his fatalism, and as Hot Shot and Scattorshot announced their desire to keep living and fighting, he realized how shamefully he was acting. Their hearts [[Burning justice|burning for justice as one]], the three Autobots were able to tap into the power of the Omega Lock from afar, and were reformatted into powerful new forms, becoming the [[Cybertron Defense Team (Cybertron)|Cybertron Defense Team]]. They returned to Niagara Falls to resume their battle with Megatron, allowing Optimus to depart to track the energy surge from the Lock that had reformatted them to Starscream's secret island base. {{storylink|Critical}} After Megatron was repelled, Red Alert and his new team joined the battle on Starscream's island, from which they were sent back to Cybertron to clear the way for the impending arrival of the recovered Omega Lock, {{storylink|Assault}} riding the unstable space bridge with the help of Coby, Lori and [[Bud Hansen|Bud]]. Upon reaching the planet, they discovered it infested with insectoid [[Scrapmetal (race)|Scrapmetal]] {{storylink|Starscream (episode)|Starscream}} and set about exterminating them. [[File:Balance red scans jolt.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]] {{storylink|United}} Just after they got through wiping them out, the team were confronted with Megatron once more and leapt to battle him, but were easily repulsed by his energy aura. Instead, they just stood back and watched as Optimus Prime appeared to destroy Megatron with the Omega Lock, then used the Lock's power to transform Cybertron into the body of their god and creator [[Primus]]. {{storylink|Cybertron (episode)|Cybertron}}

After communion with Primus revealed that the fourth and final Cyber Planet Key lay on [[Gigantion]], the Giant Planet, First Aid scanned [[Jolt (Cybertron)|Jolt]]'s memory banks to uncover the co-ordinates of the planet, which lay in another dimension. {{storylink|Balance}} When Jolt, the other Mini-Cons and the kids were snatched by [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] to gain the same info, Red Alert helped Vector Prime trace their whereabouts, {{storylink|Darkness (episode)|Darkness}} eventually locating them on Starscream's starship, the ''[[Atlantis]]''. Red and Scattorshot joined Vector Prime in warping to the ship to rescue their stranded friends. {{storylink|Escape (episode)|Escape}}

[[File:Cyb ep38 this may sting.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|"Ze healing is not as rewarding as ze hurting."]]

In preparation for the dimensional crossing required to reach Gigantion, Red Alert studied Optimus Primes's [[Matrix of Leadership]] and Vector Prime's [[Rhisling|sword]] and distilled a stabilizing "vaccine" from them that would allow the Autobots to endure the reality flux the crossing would subject them. {{storylink|Family}} Red helped to co-ordinate the distribution of Primus's energy so that the god could fend off an attack from Starscream, {{storylink|Titans}} then administered his vaccine to the other Autobots as they readied for departure aboard the ''[[Ogygia (Cybertron)|Ogygia]]''. While travelling between dimension, the ''Ogygia'' had its main engine damaged by the ''Atlantis'', but Red Alert and Coby's combined mechanical skills fixed it in the nick of time. {{storylink|Warp}}

Red Alert and the other Autobots proceeded to make contact with native Gigantions and explained their mission, {{storylink|Giant}} but were soon served their first major defeat on the planet when they were bested by Megatron, who had become Galvatron again through the power of the Cyber Planet Key. {{storylink|Fury (Cybertron)|Fury}} After Red helped to rescue Bud from the ''Atlantis'', the Autobots divided into teams to work their way towards the centre of the many-layered planet, where the Cyber Planet Key lay. {{storylink|City}}[[File:Challenge redalert cyberkeypower.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]] Red Alert and his Cybertron Defense Teammates took one route together, overcoming the illusions of Sideways and [[Soundwave (Cybertron)|Soundwave]], {{storylink|Challenge}} besting [[Menasor (Cybertron)|Menasor]], but again falling before the might of Galvatron. {{Storylink|Scourge (episode)|Scourge}} They recovered in time to join the other Autobots in battle on the planet's lowest level, besting Galvatron and securing the Cyber Planet Key. {{storylink|Optimus (episode)|Optimus}} Galvatron soon returned to seize the complete set of keys, cutting Red and the other Autobots down in the process and leaving them stranded on Gigantion with no way back to their universe. {{storylink|Showdown (Cybertron)|Showdown}} Red Alert and Scattorshot handled the programming side of things as the Autobots attempted to create a new space bridge to return home, but the endeavor met with failure, forcing Vector Prime to sacrifice himself using his powers over space and time to return his allies to Cybertron. {{storylink|Guardian (episode)|Guardian}}

Upon their return to their homeworld, Red Alert, Hot Shot and Scattorshot engaged the Decepticons in battle to allow Optimus Prime to tussle with Galvatron. {{storylink|Homecoming (episode)|Homecoming}} Galvatron then used the Cyber Planet Keys to enlarge his Decepticons to giant size, and the Cybertron Defense Team joined in the effort to take on [[Thundercracker (Armada)|Thundercracker]], allowing Prime to pursue Galvatron and reclaim the keys. {{storylink|End}} Primus subsequently sealed the black hole, and Red Alert turned his attention to helping in the construction of planetary engines that would move the displaced Jungle Planet back to its proper orbit. He was among the assembled Cybertronians who helped right the engines when they were damaged, saving Jungle Planet, then gathered on Cybertron's moon with his comrades to watch Optimus Prime's final battle with Galvatron. {{storylink|Unfinished}}

With the war over, the Autobots embarked on a mission to build a new space bridge across the galaxy, linking all their worlds together. Red Alert was among the crew of the ''Atlantis'', ever by Optimus Prime's side. {{storylink|Beginning}}
{{-}}

====''Cybertron'' comic====
Several months after the end of the war, Red Alert and other comrades of Optimus Prime met with a group of Autobots responsible for fighting off [[Unicron]] and saving the [[Mini-Con]] colonies while Prime's team was busy with the whole Cyber Planet Key business. {{storylink|Revelations Part 6}}

===Panini ''Armada'' comic===
During the war, Red Alert suffered a terrible injury that nearly killed him. This near-death experience taught him to value life in all its forms. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 8|Red Alert's profile}} During one of his many battles on Cybertron, Red Alert defended the main Autobot headquarters from a Decepticon attack alongside [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Hot Shot]] and [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]]. When it was revealed that angry Mini-Cons planned to bomb the base, he and the others retreated. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 9|Counter-Strike!}} A few million years later, Red Alert participated in another battle with the Decepticons, but ended up retreating again as the enemy's Mini-Con augmentations rendered them too powerful. He wondered where the Mini-Cons who escaped from Cybertron had disappeared to, but [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]] told him it was best if nobody ever found out. {{storylink|First Encounter!}}

But it was not to be. Just a short while later, a Mini-Con reactivation beacon reached Cybertron, and the Autobots tracked it to [[Earth]] to protect the Mini-Cons from [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]]. While Red Alert and the others were outgunned by the Decepticons at first, the Mini-Cons pitched in and [[Longarm (Armada)|Longarm]] joined with Red Alert, allowing him to shoot down [[Starscream (Armada)|Starscream]]. {{storylink|Friends and Foes!}} After the Decepticons were chased off, the Autobots stood watch as the Mini-Cons and their new [[human]] friends made their way into some small caves. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 3|Deep Trouble!}} They later decided that the best way to keep the Mini-Cons safe was to send them back to Cybertron, so Red Alert prepared a [[space bridge]] for them. In the end, the Mini-Cons refused to leave their friends, and a Decepticon attack wrecked the space bridge anyway.
{{storylink|Panini Armada issue 4|No Way Back!}}

Alongside Hot Shot and Optimus Prime, Red Alert later helped save the [[Air Defense Mini-Con Team (Armada)|Air Defense Mini-Con Team]] from Starscream. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 5|Devices and Desires!}} When the Autobots learned that the Decepticons were planning to nuke their base from the [[Moon (moon)|moon]], Red Alert despaired that their space bridge was still offline, so they couldn't prepare a counteroffensive. Thankfully, Hot Shot managed to repair the bridge and used it to send the missiles straight back at the Decepticons. Not Red Alert the scientist, but ''Hot Shot''. {{storylink|Panini Armada issue 8|Earthshaker!}}

===The Balance of Power===
Red Alert and [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Hot Shot]] were entrusted with a mission to track down an ancient Mini-Con relic deep in Decepticon territory. The duo ran afoul of [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] and numerous [[Decepticlone]]s backing him up, forcing Red Alert to send out a distress signal. [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus]] arrived to bolster their firepower in short order, which in turn drew [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]] into the conflict. Though Red Alert was willing to do battle with the Decepticon leader himself, Optimus told him to stand down, so he could take on Megatron on his own. As the two leaders clashed, [[Starscream (Armada)|Starscream]] uncovered the artifact and activated it, and a portal opened, leading to the Mini-Cons' hiding place. The Decepticons flung themselves into the portal, and the Autobots followed them... to Earth. The search for the Mini-Cons began in earnest on this new world. {{storylink|The Balance of Power}}
{{note|This comic was written as a tie-in to the [[Transformers (PS2)|''Armada'' video game]], but its details differ from the introduction seen in the game itself. [[#PS2|See below]] for Red Alert's role in the game.}}

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

After securing their base on Earth, Optimus, Hot Shot and Red Alert headed to a nearby highway to adopt new alternate modes based on local vehicles. Red Alert took on the form of a four-wheel drive rescue vehicle that was part ambulance, part firetruck, part armored car. When their human allies joined them, Red Alert scrutinized their Mini-Con companions with great interest, as he had only heard of the diminutive robots in old war stories up until that point. Explosions emanating from nearby interrupted Red Alert's observations. The Decepticons were attacking the Autobots' base! The Autobots launched a counter-attack, with Red Alert deflecting a missile the Decepticon Demolishor aimed towards Optimus Prime. A stray shot from Megatron then caused a rockslide, prompting Hot Shot to leave the battlefront in order to keep the children out of harm's way. Red Alert reconvened with him afterwards, only to find that Hot Shot had gotten himself a Mini-Con partner! The children had recovered several Mini-Con panels that had been unearthed by the rock slide. One of the panels responded to Red Alert's presence, the robot within bonding with him mentally. The Mini-Con then transformed into an additional arm for Red Alert, prompting him to name his new partner “Longarm.” Rejoining the battle, Red Alert used Longarm to lift Demolishor off the ground and toss him at Megatron. Realizing they were outmatched, the Decepticons retreated, though they managed to steal away the remaining Mini-Con panels as they warped off-planet. The children were saddened that the Decepticons had managed to take off with Mini-Cons in tow, but the Autobots assured them that they had done everything they could, and joined them in a "circle of friendship." {{storylink|Transformers Armada: Race for the Mini-Con Robots|Race for the Mini-Con Robots}}

===''Transformers Legends'' anthology===
Red Alert was part of the Autobot forces during a battle in [[Yellowstone National Park]]. Following the Decepticon withdrawal, he was able to successfully retrieve a Mini-Con from a mud pit. {{storylink|Lonesome Diesel}}

===''Universe'' comic===
[[File:TFUjailbreak.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|I'm a doctor, not a dimension traveller!]]
A Red Alert hailed from [[Aurex 606.0 Kappa]]. He, [[Longarm (Armada)|Longarm]], [[Smokescreen (Cybertron)|Smokescreen]], and [[Jolt (Armada)|Jolt]] had just battled and driven off the Decepticons [[Landslide (Decepticon)|Landslide]], [[Drench (Universe)|Drench]], and [[Wind Sheer (Armada)|Wind Sheer]] when Unicron abducted him. Unicron would have also gotten Longarm if [[Firebot (Armada)|Firebot]] hadn't shoved Longarm out of the way and taken his place. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 14/9/2015}} The pair were subsequently held prisoner in the [[Cauldron]] arena. The quick thinking of [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] and [[Silverbolt (Fuzor)|Silverbolt]] released them, and Red Alert participated in the great escape led by [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]]. {{storylink|Escape (Universe)|Escape}} However, Red Alert and Firebot's home reality had seemingly ceased to exist, and thus they ended up in [[Aurex 204.0 Kappa]] with another [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]] who had also been in the Cauldron. This Smokescreen helped them adapt to their new home. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 14/9/2015}}
{{-}}

===''Galaxy Force'' manga===
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|The Devil's Dogfight! Coby's Courage}} {{storylink|Intense Race Planet! Velocitron}} {{storylink|Deep Sea Discovery! Vector Prime}} {{storylink|Fastest Dream! Hot Shot's Run}} {{storylink|Galaxy Force Mission.8}} {{storylink|Galaxy Force Mission.9}}}}
{{-}}

===Cyber Key Code content===
Red Alert fought beside [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]], [[Landmine (Energon)|Landmine]], and [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]] until one day [[Starscream (Armada)|Starscream]] used his Energon Saber to cut off his hand. Red Alert has never forgiven him.

===''Cybertron'' toy bios===
Red Alert's first duty was to defend and heal the sick and injured. Thusly, Optimus Prime sent the Mini-Con [[Dirt Boss (Armada)|Dirt Boss]] under Red Alert's protection to the [[Velocitron|Speed Planet]] (although Dirt Boss viewed it as him doing the protecting). They happily worked side by side to ensure that all who needed protection were safe. {{storylink|#Cybertron|Wal-Mart exclusive two-pack toy bio}}

==Games==
===''Transformers'' (PS2)===
{{voiceactor|[[Daran Norris]] (English)|[[Tomás Rubio]] (Castilian Spanish)}}

When Optimus Prime took to the field, Red Alert served as his dispatcher, alerting him via radio to mission objectives and giving him warnings.

As like the other playable Autobots, Red Alert fights the Decepticons and their army of [[Decepticlone]]s through various location including Amazon, Antarctic, Mid Atlantic, Deep Amazon, Alaska, Decepticons' Starship, Pacific Island, and eventually merged with all the [[Mini-Con]]s which form the [[Matrix Cannon]], and ultimately defeats [[Unicron]] and saves [[Cybertron (planet)|his home planet]].

He is accompanied by [[Longarm (Armada)|Longarm]], his [[Mini-Con]] partner, who also enables Red Alert to [[Powerlinx]].

Based on his specs, Red Alert has the highest skills of all (Despite this, it's safe to assume that he's [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|less popular]]). He has less Mini-Con slots too.

{{charstubgame}}
{{storylink|Transformers (PS2)}}

===''Transformers: Battle Tactics''===
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Red-Alert-Armada.jpg|thumb|400px|"Dammit, I'm a doctor-" "Not a pawn in this game, we know!" "...am I really that predictable?"]]
Red Alert participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was a Super Rare character who could be recruited by collecting 250 units of Cybermetal, 75 units of Transmetal, and 25 cores of this character. {{storylink|Transformers: Battle Tactics}}
{{--}}

==Toys==
===Armada===
{{listen|RedAlertWooWooWooWooWoo.ogg|RedAlertWooWooWooWooWoo.ogg|This never gets old. NEVER.|55 Kb}}
[[File:Armada RedAlertLongarm toy.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|RED UH-LURT!]]
*'''Red Alert with Longarm''' (Max-Con, 2002)
**''Takara ID number'': '''MC-02'''
**''Takara release date'': [[December 26]], 2002
**''Accessories'': Claw-missile, disc, blaster attachment, triple-blaster attachment

: Part of the first wave of ''[[Transformers: Armada (toyline)|Armada]]'' Max-Cons, Red Alert transforms into a white Nissan Patrol rescue SUV, loaded up with [[gimmick]]s. Placing his partner [[Longarm (Armada)#Toys|Longarm]] (or any other Mini-Con) onto the [[Powerlinx]] plug on his lightbar and pushing it forward triggers flashing LED lights and a voice chip that proclaims "RED-A-LERT! WOO-WOO-WOO-WOO-WOO!" Pulling the Mini-Con back, on the other hand, releases a spring-loaded missile launcher that flips out from his roof and into place over his hood, accompanied by an electronic firing noise. This weapon fires a missile with a hinged grappling claw. Placing a Mini-Con on his hood plug causes his grill to spring open, revealing a pressure-firing disc launcher that fires a single projectile when the Mini-Con is pulled back, also accompanied by a "rat-tat-tat" firing sound effect.

: In robot mode, Red Alert retains use of both of these gimmicks, with the missile launcher now flipping all the way over his left shoulder; the launcher can also be removed and used as a hand-held weapon. Instead of having a left hand, he instead sports a [[5 mm post|5 mm peg-hole]] in his wrist, an attachment point for one of two translucent red "blasters" that are stored in the door-panel on his right leg. (He is most often depicted in fiction with the single-barrel attachment.) The panel of his left leg, meanwhile, unfolds into a Mini-Con repair bay with a flip-up translucent red monitor screen and a plug for mounting Mini-Con patients.

: The [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] ''Legend of the Microns'' version of "Ratchet" has some slight [[Paint operation|paint application]] differences from the [[Hasbro]] version, mainly a "separated" Autobot insignia and the addition of dark blue paint on his kneecaps. His electronic sound effects are also slightly altered, removing the "RED-A-LERT!" portion and just going right to the siren sounds.

: This mold was later used to make ''[[Transformers: Energon (toyline)|Energon]]'' Sam's Club-exclusive [[Prowl (Energon)#VsStarscream|Prowl]] and [[Transformers (2007 toyline)|2007 movie line]] [[Inferno (Movie)#Toys|Inferno]].

::*''[http://tfu.info/2002/Autobot/RedAlert/redalert.htm More information on Red Alert at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|Powerlinx}}
[[File:Powerlinx Red Alert toy.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|ORANGE UH-LURT!]]
*'''Powerlinx Red Alert with Powerlinx Longarm''' (Max-Con, 2003)
**''Takara ID number'': '''MC-12'''
**''Takara release date'': September ??, 2003
**''Accessories'': Claw-missile, disc, blaster attachment, triple-blaster attachment

: Released in the fifth and final wave of ''Armada'' Max-Cons, this [[redeco]] of Red Alert, depicting him in his powered-up "Powerlinx" form seen in the "Unicron Battles" portion of the ''Armada'' cartoons, makes him predominantly orange with white stripes and [[tampograph]]ed "RESCUE" lettering, giving him a more beach-rescue vibe. He retains all of the same gimmicks and sounds as the previous version of the mold, and comes with a redecoed Longarm.

: The Takara version has some slight paint application differences, mainly additional metallic red paint on his arms (notably his right hand), and the removal of the "EMERGENCY" text on his hood.

::*''[http://tfu.info/2003/Autobot/PXRedAlert/redalert.htm More information on Powerlinx Red Alert at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===Built to Rule!===
[[File:BTR ArmadaRedAlert.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Red Alert's left hand is restored by the power of not-{{w|Lego}}.]]
*'''Red Alert w/ Longarm''' (Built to Rule!, 2003)
**''Accessories'': Three missiles

:One of the larger ''[[Built to Rule!]]'' sets, Red Alert can be built into an emergency SUV, robot, or whatever your imagination can make out of the blocks provided. The set features a large pressure-launch triple-missile "Gatling" cannon. He also came with a [[Longarm (Armada)#Built to Rule!|block-version of Longarm]].

::*''[http://tfu.info/2003/Autobot/BTRRedAlert/redalert.htm More information on Built to Rule! Red Alert at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===Cybertron===
[[File:Cybertron Red Alert toy.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Cut you up, geezer!]]
*'''Red Alert''' (Deluxe Class, 2005)
**''Takara ID number'': '''GC-11'''
**''Takara release date'': [[February 10]], [[2005]]
**''Accessories'': Clamp attachment, hammer attachment, Earth Cyber Key
**''Cyber Key Coe'': '''d26w'''

:''[[Transformers: Cybertron (toyline)|Cybertron]]'' Red Alert transforms into a {{w|Dodge Magnum}} emergency vehicle. Plugging a [[Cyber Key]] into the back of his car mode causes two rear side-panels to pop out and reveal two spring-forward non-firing blasters. This gimmick is retained in robot mode, where they become over-shoulder blasters. He features an unusual transformation sequence where both the front and rear halves of the [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]] come together to form his legs. His hood halves open to reveal storage space for extra tools (a hammer-head and an opening claw) that can be attached onto his left arm blaster. Later releases of the mold had slight indents made in the leg pieces to allow them to clip together better.

: The Takara ''Galaxy Force'' version of this toy lacks the gold paint on the robot mode shoulders, and has lighter blue paint than the Hasbro release. And of course, the Cyber Key lacks the Hasbro version's [[Cyber Key Codes|Cyber Key Code]].

:This mold was later used to make [[Cannonball (Cybertron)#Toys|Cannonball]], the [[Transformers (2007 toyline)|live-action movie-verse]] [[Crankcase (Movie)#Toys|Crankcase]], and ''[[Transformers Timelines (toyline)|Timelines]]'' [[Kup (G1)/toys#Timelines|Kup]]. The Kup tooling was also the model for the non-toy [[Kup (SG)|''Shattered Glass'' Kup]].

::*''[http://tfu.info/2005/Autobot/RedAlert/redalert.htm More information on Red Alert at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|CDT}}{{anchor|CybCD}}
[[File:Cybertron Defence Red Alert.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Just what every injured robot wants to see... a giant shoulder-mounted cannon aiming at them. ''(Hasbro Version Pictured)'']]
[[File:GalaxyForce-UltraFirstAid-toy.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|That looks a bit more lethal than injection. ''(TakaraTomy Version Pictured)'']]
*'''Cybertron Defense Red Alert'''<ref>Possibly because the Western name for the Vanguard Team (Cybertron Defense Team) was decided very late in the game, early batches of this toy available at retail and from online stores were lacking the "Cybertron Defense" portion of the name on the packaging. However, the more widespread version with the full name was found within mere days of the original version's initial retail sighting.</ref> (Ultra-Class, 2005)
**''Takara ID number'': '''GC-21'''
**''Takara release date'': [[July 14]], [[2005]]
**''Accessories'': Large missile, projectile, spring-loaded shield/multi-tool arm, clamp attachment, hammer attachment, Cybertron Autobot Cyber Key
**''Cyber Key Code'': '''up0t'''

:An upgraded, all-new tooling of Red Alert, "[[Cybertron Defense Team (Cybertron)|Cybertron Defense]]" Red now transforms into a cross between a Russian {{w|R-400 Oka}} mobile ballistic missile launcher and a {{w|BTR-90}} armored personnel carrier. The left side of his vehicle mode has a flip-up non-firing double-blaster, which can also be "used" in robot mode. Inserting a Cyber Key into the rear of the missile rack splits the missile open, activates lights and an electronic beeping sound, and exposes the inner spring-loaded projectile-launching translucent "laser cannon". When the missile itself is "launched"/slid off, it lights up and plays a sound of it taking off.

:In robot mode, Red Alert finally has two normal robotic hands, and he comes with a shield that can be mounted on either arm. When a Key is inserted into the top of the shield, a cannon flips out, and its barrel tip can be equipped with several tools stored in his shins (a spring-loaded hammer-head or a gripping claw), emulating his old multi-tool arm. He has two (nonfunctional) Mini-Con hardpoints in vehicle mode, and two ''different'' hardpoints in robot mode.

:The Takara release features additional red details on the missile, paints the gripping claw blue, and replaces the greenish-blue border on the Cyber Key with silver.

:This mold was also used to make the ''[[Transformers Timelines (toyline)|Timelines]]'' [[Megatron (BW)/toys#Timelines|Darksyde Megatron]] and ''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' [[Countdown (G1)#Universe (2008)|Countdown]].

::*''[http://tfu.info/2005/Autobot/CybDefRedAlert/redalert.htm More information on Red Alert at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|TinyTin}}
[[File:Cyb-toy RedDirtTins.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|First he tried [[Powerlinx]]ing with the [[Dirt Boss (Cybertron)|other Dirt Boss]]. That didn't go so well.]]
*'''Red Alert with Dirt Boss''' (Multi-pack, 2005)
**''Accessories'': Clamp attachment, hammer attachment, Earth Cyber Key
**''Cyber Key Code'': '''d26w'''

:Available [[exclusive]]ly at [[Walmart]] stores, this multi-pack features an unchanged [[#Cybertron|Deluxe-class Red Alert]] with a new [[redeco]] of the ''[[Transformers: Armada (toyline)|Armada]]'' Mini-Con [[Dirt Boss (Armada)#Cybertron|Dirt Boss]], who also came with his own carrying tin.

:[[Hasbro]] copy writer [[Forest Lee]] confirms that the ''Cybertron'' [[Tiny Tins]] exclusives were originally planned with two different [[Race Mini-Con Team|Race Team]] decos in mind, hence the backstory involving one version of the Team being from an alternate universe and the Tins' decos showing the Mini-Cons in silhouette rather than the normal full-color images. He could not confirm what the then-chosen decos were, however, but it seems likely they were re-packs of the two schemes from ''[[Transformers: Armada (toyline)|Armada]]'', given the use of "[[Race Mini-Con Team#RoadAssault|Road Assault Team]]".

{{-}}{{anchor|ValuePack}}
*'''Value Pack''' (Multi-toy bundle, 2005)
**''Accessories'': Clamp attachment, hammer attachment, Earth Cyber Key
**''Cyber Key Code'': '''d26w'''

: For a while, [[Toys"R"Us]] and [[Walmart]] stores in the US sold "Value Packs" with two randomly paired, fully packaged Deluxes set in a cardboard sleeve and sold at somewhat less than the cost of two normal Deluxes.

: This packs could include [[Dirt Boss (Cybertron)#Toys|Dirt Boss]], [[Hot Shot (Armada)/toys#Cybertron|Hot Shot]], [[Override (Cybertron)#Toys|Override]], Red Alert, [[Sideways (Armada)#Cybertron|Sideways]], or [[Snarl (Cybertron)#Toys|Snarl]].

{{-}}{{anchor|VsSideways}}
[[File:Cyb-toy CriticalPath.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|No, we don't know why the path is so critical either.]]
*'''Critical Path Pack! Sideways vs. Red Alert''' (Multi-pack, 2005)
**''Accessories'': Clamp attachment, hammer attachment, Earth Cyber Key
**''Cyber Key Code'': '''d26w'''

:This two-pack of the Deluxe-size Red Alert and ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (toyline)|Cybertron]]'' [[Sideways (Armada)#Cybertron|Sideways]] toys was made available only at [[Target]] stores, retailing for $16.99. The toys are identical to their individual releases.

{{-}}{{anchor|LOC}}
[[File:LOC CD Red Alert.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|In this instance, the "C" in "ICBM" stands for "cul-de-sac".]]
*'''Red Alert''' (Legends of Cybertron, 2006)

:A much-simplified version of the "Cybertron Defense" incarnation of Red Alert in terms of detail and articulation, this toy was made available in the third wave of the ''[[Legends Class (2005)|Legends of Cybertron]]'' series. The missile is permanently in its split-open state, and permanently attached to his body.

:This mold was later used to make ''[[Transformers: Classics|Classics]]'' [[Perceptor (G1)#Classics|Perceptor]] and ''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' [[Onslaught (G1)#Universe (2008)|Onslaught]].

::*''[http://tfu.info/2006/Autobot/LOCRedAlert/redalert.htm More information on Legends Red Alert at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

==Merchandise==

===Fast food promotions===
{{anchor|McDs}}
[[File:Armadatoy happymeal redalert.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Red Alert''' (McDonald's Happy Meal toy, 2002)
**''McID number'': '''6'''

:Part of the ''Armada'' Happy Meal promo at [[McDonald's]], this simplified version of Red Alert features a {{w|friction motor}} which is activated by pushing in his engine block/ head. The more you push the button, the further he'll zip along in SUV mode.

:The toy also features a [[Powerlinx]] post, which enable him to form a "leg" to the really silly-looking [[Mighty Robot]] into which the four Autobots in the range combine; his normal placement is as the left leg. He also has one Mini-Con Powerlinx port on each of his doors, so he can activate the Mini-Con features on larger figures.

::*''[http://tfu.info/2002/Autobot/McRedAlert/redalert.htm More information on McDonald's Red Alert at TFU.info]''
{{-}}
{{anchor|BK}}
[[File:Cybertrontoy burgerking redalert.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Red Alert''' (Burger King kids meal toy, 2005)

:Available only as part of Burger King's ''Cybertron'' promotion, this version of Red Alert is a very simplified version of the original toy, transforming into an emergency vehicle, devoid of any [[gimmick]]ry... and that includes ''functional wheels''. That's right, this toy doesn't even ''roll'' in vehicle mode.

::*''[http://tfu.info/2005/Autobot/BKRedAlert/redalert.htm More information on Burger King Red Alert at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===Super Collection Figure===
[[File:SCF RedAlert.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Red Alert apparently never skips leg day ''or'' arm day. Yikes.]]
*'''Ratchet''' ([[December 27]] 2002)
**''Act'': '''9'''
**''Accessories:'' Stand

:A three-inch tall non-transforming PVC figurine of Red Alert was released in the ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)|Armada]]''-specific ninth wave of Takara's ''[[Heroes of Cybertron|Super Collection Figure]]'' line. The figure came in both full color and metallic silver "pewter" variants, available at an equal ratio one each in every case of twelve [[blindpacking|blindpacked]] figures.

: The pewter version of the figure has a potential problem with connector peg breakage, due to said pegs often getting a layer of pewter paint before being forced into a socket, leading to sticking and tearing. Care should be used when moving or removing the arms; shaving down the socket interior with a thin hobby knife is usually sufficient to fix the issue.

{{-}}{{anchor|SCFCybertron}}
[[File:SCF armada redalert.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Ratchet (Cybertron Mode)'''{{fact}} (2002)
**''Act'': '''10'''
**''Accessories:'' Stand

: A rare "[[chase figure|Secret Figure]]" of Red Alert in his Cybertronian body, as seen in the [[Metamorphosis (Armada)|second episode]] of the ''Armada'' cartoon, was available in the tenth and final ''Super Collection Figure'' wave. He has a new torso and backpack, and the vehicle [[kibble]] on his limbs have been removed. It could only be found in one out of every ten cases, taking the place of the full-color version of the [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/toys#Super Collection Figure|Optimus Prime Super Mode]] figure from that assortment.

: All of the Act-10 SCF figurines use considerably softer, more rubbery plastic than the previous assortments. This leads to some difficulty in keeping some figures standing, plus the pewter versions can be extremely hard to peg back together, as the pegs will just squash rather than pop into the sockets. This also leads to a greater risk of mushroom-pegs tearing on the pewter versions if the paint sticks together within the sockets.
{{-}}

===Mini Car Collection===
*'''Ratchet''' (die-cast vehicle, 2003)
:French die-cast model producers [[Majorette]] teamed with Kabaya to produce the ''[[Transformers Mini Car Collection]]'', a line of ''Armada''-themed die-cast vehicles, all of which were redecos of pre-existing Majorette toys. Red Alert was a redeco of Majorette toy #285—a 4WD patrol car— now bearing the Autobot insignia, the ''Legends of the Microns'' logo, and an image of the Autobot medic on its hood. The toy came with a pack of gum.

::*''[http://www.shmax.com/product_details/4443/ratchet More information on Mini Car Collection Ratchet at Shmax.com]''

===Battle for Cybertron Game===
*'''Transformers: Armada - Battle for Cybertron Game''' (2003)
:A small figurine of Red Alert was among the eight Transformers character playing pieces included with the [[Milton Bradley]] ''[[Battle for Cybertron Game|Battle for Cybertron]]'' board game.
::*''[http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6841/transformers-armada-battle-for-cybertron More information on Battle for Cybertron at BoardGameGeek.com]''
{{-}}

==Notes==
*An early, somewhat ''[[Transtech]]''-esque concept for Red Alert had a very different head design, designated with the placeholder name '''Rescue Extreme'''.<ref>[https://twitter.com/walruslaw/status/1300537166674767873 Concept art scan from @walruslaw, 31 August 2020]</ref>
*The ''Armada'' Red Alert toy's "WOO WOO WOO" sound effect has since become a famous in-joke within the ''Transformers'' [[fandom]]. For a short time, it also became something of an impromptu chant among fans at ''Transformers'' conventions. Reportedly, at the start of the [[OTFCC 2003]] [[Hasbro]] Panel, several fans started chanting "WOO WOO WOO WOO!" to the initial confusion of Hasbro designer [[Aaron Archer]], until he realized what was occurring.
*As a result of Hasbro using the "red cross on white backdrop" symbol on the original ''Armada'' Red Alert toy, the [[Red Cross|International Committee of the Red Cross]], who have the symbol [[trademark]]ed and ''vigorously'' protect their claim to it, took Hasbro to court over the use of their symbol. This in turn resulted in the symbol not only being dropped from the toy's "Powerlinx" [[redeco]], but also having to be removed from the then-current [[Dreamwave Productions]] comics.<ref name="redcross">[http://www.lilformers.com/blog/2012/04/05/dreamslaves-4-red-crosses/ "DREAMSLAVES #4: Red Crosses"] by Matt Moylan.</ref>
*The x-ray image of his inner structure seen in the end credits of ''Legends of the Microns'' shows him having a pair of normal eyes behind his visor.
*One concept drawing in the ''[[Legends of the Microns Year Book 2003]]'' depicts Red Alert as having a large siren perched atop his cranium.
*According to the [[Transformers (PS2)|''Armada'' PlayStation 2 game]] instruction booklet, Red Alert's ''Armada'' body has the following statistics:
**Mass: 3,838 lbs
**Robot height: 19' 8"
**Robot top speed: 37 mph
**Vehicle height: 7' 3"
**Vehicle top speed: 155 mph
**Vehicle power: 450 hp @ 6600 rpm
*According to Aaron Archer, Red Alert's head sculpt is based on RoboCop, hence his personality. Some of the design was also influenced by Power Rangers.<ref>[https://www.instagram.com/p/Buhw4GXHcQX/ March of Robots 2019 - Day 2]</ref>
*His Cybertron Defense toy's Cyber Key Code info contains a reference to [[The Transformers: The Movie|the '86 movie]]. According to the info, Hot Shot had his arm torn off during the battle with the Scrapmetals. Red Alert mended the arm better than it had been before, even fixing a bad rotator cuff. This references [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]]'s repair of [[Kup (G1)|Kup]] on [[Quintessa (planet)|Quintessa]] ("You even got rid of a nasty burr on my rotator").

===Foreign names===
====''Armada''====
*''Japanese:'' '''Ratchet''' (ラチェット ''Rachetto''), '''Ratchet Super Mode''' (ラチェット{{ruby|S|スーパーモード}} ''Rachetto Sūpā Mōdo'')
*''Hungarian:'' '''Riadó''' ("Alert")
*''Mandarin:'' '''Hóngsè Jǐngbào''' (China, 红色警报, "Red Alert")
*''Korean:'' '''Patrol''' (패트롤 ''Paeteurol'')
*''Polish:'' '''Alarmus'''
*''Russian:'' '''Paniker''' (Паникёр, "Alarmist")
*''Portuguese:'' '''Alerta Vermelho''' (Brazil, "Red Alert")
*''Spanish:'' '''Alerta Roja''' (Hispanic America, "Red Alert")

====''Cybertron''====
*''Japanese:'' '''First Aid''' (ファストエイド ''Fasuto Eido''), '''First Gunner''' (Vanguard Team, ファストガンナー ''Fasuto Gannā'')
*''Korean:'' '''First Aid''' (퍼스트에이드 ''Peoseuteu Eideu''), '''Ultra First Aid''' (Cybertron Guard, 울트라 퍼스트에이드 ''Ulteura Peoseuteu Eideu'')

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Armada Autobots]]
[[Category:Athletes]]
[[Category:Built to Rule!]]
[[Category:Cybertron Autobots]]
[[Category:Energon Autobots]]
[[Category:McDonald's exclusives]]
[[Category:Medics]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Target exclusives]]
[[Category:Wal-Mart exclusives]]