Skyquake (G1)

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This article is about . For other uses of "Skyquake", see Skyquake (disambiguation)|The name or term "Skyquake" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Skyquake (disambiguation).}}
Skyquake is a Decepticon Predator from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Taste the painbow.

Predator leader Skyquake is driven—you might say consumed—by a pathological hatred of anything and anyone that is not 100% pure evil. This leaves him with many targets of contempt even among the Decepticon forces. That rage, however, does not blind or control him. In battle, Skyquake is a cold, calculating destroyer, attributes which also even apply to his contempt for the Autobots.

Skyquake even hates the small groups of Decepticons put under his command, and often subjects them to his experiments in body-structure science. His hatred is magnified by the sheer quantity of sensors built into his body; he's able to absorb such vast amounts of information, his apparent clairvoyance seems supernatural to those around him. He can literally smell fear and taste betrayal. When he locks together with the smaller Predators under his command, he magnifies his long-range supersight abilities and enables instant communication with the minds of his underlings.

His paint job allows him to blend into the unique environment of the Skomiloch Territories.

{{#if:Skyquake's Timelines motto|
“ Even hatred is subject to improvement. ”
{{#if:Skyquake's Timelines motto|

—Skyquake's Timelines motto{{#if:|, {{{3}}}}}

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Fiction

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Predator Air Attack!

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"Troops! Prepare for action! EVIL action!"

During a Decepticon Predator attack on the Autobot base, Skyquake was in Skyswoop, commanding his troops. Skyquake gazed into his Supersight as he was about to join the battle. Suddenly, "into his Supersight view looms a menacing shape that strikes terror even into his hardened heart..." Predator Air Attack!

2005 IDW continuity

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First appearance: Megatron Origin #2
He lurks silently to counter his loud color scheme.

Millions of years ago, Skyquake was part of Clench's gladiatorial team. Once Clench had departed the mortal plane, Skyquake fought alongside Megatron in the Forge. Megatron Origin #2

After the Simanzi Massacre, Skyquake was running a Decepticon hygiene team: picking up Autobot survivors and dragging them to Grindcore. When Skyquake picked up Skids, he had Wingthing perched jauntily on his shoulder. Speak, Memory: Part 1

In the course of the Great War, he led a force to the Skomiloch Territories to put down local resistance to the Decepticons' star harvesting efforts. After crushing the resistance, Skyquake set up a mini-empire there, ruling the area while managing to stay on good terms with Decepticon High Command and Megatron himself. While there, Skyquake's team, the Predators, made adaptations to their bodies to suit the unique local environment. Snare's personnel evaluation

Shot through the heart and you're to blame!

2412 meta-cycles later, during a galaxy-wide assault on Autobot-held positions, Skyquake led his Predators in a siege against the Garrus-9 prison world. Unfortunately, when the loose cannon Overlord arrived, Skyquake was visibly distraught. At first, Overlord asked Skyquake nicely to hand over leadership to him; he refused to be Megatron's lapdog and had his own plans for Garrus-9. After some stammering, Skyquake refused. He would take Garrus-9 for Megatron as ordered.

Overlord apologized and fired into Skyquake's back as he walked away. As the Predators stood over Skyquake's smoking corpse, they viewed their new master in wide-eyed fear. Last Stand of the Wreckers #1

Wings Universe

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The odd thing is, he has no taste receptors.

Skyquake, known as a leader in body-structure science, particularly in creating unique "talent powers" and war-capable designs, developed an experimental Skyraider body refitting program. Leozack was his first test subject for this new body design, and soon Skyquake had converted not only several others but also himself.

Under Banzai-Tron's command, Skyquake, Leozack, Hooligan, Hellbat, and Guyhawk, followed the Autobot ship Eight Track to the planet Beta-Nine, where they hoped to beat them to a mysterious cargo that had crashed there aboard the Van De Graaff. Skyquake, Leozack, and Hooligan attacked the Autobots, separating the crew's youngest member from them. The Autobots' commander, Thunderclash, drove Skyquake and the others away with a barrage of firepower, allowing his crew to escape into the trees where the Decepticons would have to fight them on the ground.

Skyquake departed after Thunderclash and ordered Leozack and Hooligan to kill the remaining two Autobots, Landshark and Flak. Unfortunately, Skyquake and the others were defeated and brought back to Cybertron as prisoners. The battle on Beta-Nine began the Autobot/Decepticon civil war. Wings of Honor

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

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Ask Vector Prime

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Skyquake was presumably present with the other Predators as they clashed with the Multiforce in the Skomiloch Territories. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/01

e-HOBBY comics

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Using his powers of psychometry, Magnificus saw a vision of who he thought was Skyquake giving orders to Eagle Eye. In reality, "Skyquake" was actually Scrash. Badlands

Legends comic

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Kidnapped and tied up by Hawking and Magnificus, Skyquake was taken to Scrash's prison, where Scrash leapt from his immobile Assaultmaster body into Skyquake, possessing the Decepticon. Epiloge

Regeneration One

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I'm in the wrong colors!

Following the resurrected Scorponok's return to Cybertron with a Gene Key capable of turning Autobots into Decepticons, Skyquake helped guard the creation of a planet-scaled version in the Sonic Canyons. He watched as Scorponok lost his patience with Roadblock, knocking him to his death in one of the bottomless canyons, then when the installation was attacked by the Dinobots Skyquake looked on as Grimlock sent Scorponok himself to share the same fate. Natural Selection, Part Five

Ask Vector Prime

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In Primax 092.0 Beta, Predator leader Skyquake obtained forestonite and tried to destroy the Sol System with it, only to be sent running back to New Kaon by Apex Armor-wielding Autobot leader Hyperdrive and Rotorstorm. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/16

In Primax 903.0-M Lambda, Starscream possessed the deceased body of Skyquake, defeating Galvatron and initiating the Machine Wars. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/27

Legends World

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When the Zamojin invaded their home dimension, the toys of the Legends World revealed themselves to be real Transformers. An original Skyquake toy helped defend the people of the United Kingdom, like James Roberts. Legends World in Imminent Danger! Part Two

2019 IDW continuity

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I am also here.

Skyquake held a position of governmental authority on Velocitron, but was secretly affiliated with the terrorist organization Mayhem. He attended Knock Out's inauguration and took cover when there was an assassination attempt on the new First Senator by members of Mayhem. The Wreckers engaged Mayhem, but the entire attack was a smokescreen to frame one of the Wreckers for the crime. After Minerva was captured, Skyquake stood behind Knock Out as the sentence was passed, and proudly declared their allegiance to both Mayhem and the Decepticons. Tread & Circuits Part 4

Toys

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The Transformers

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Skyquake, before your dreams (and his scope) are broken.
  • Skyquake (Large Predator, 1992)
Released in the eighth year of the European-market Transformers toyline (the final year with the classic faction symbols), Skyquake transforms into a large bomber jet, its model pretty much made-up but seemingly based on an experimental Soviet DSB-LK strategic bomber. His primary gimmick is the "Megavisor", a periscope system that the smaller Predator jets can attach to, showing their slides. Skyquake himself has two built-in slides; in jet mode an image of Rotorstorm can be viewed, while the robot mode picture showing the unmade Autobot Turbomaster Hyperdrive. Each wing also contains a "carpet bombing" gimmick, a rolling drum that stores then drops up to four Predator-style missiles each. This can also be targeted via the Megavisor; by twisting the small tail wings at the back, a mirror swings into a 45 degree angle. When you look through the eyepiece, you can then see directly down relative to the jet, enabling you to see where the bombs will land. He also has a standard Predator hand-held missile launcher, which mounts under his jet mode.
Catalog prototype pic, showing paint not found on the final toy.
In robot mode, he features a unique version of the light-piping gimmick, in that his are "shuttered". His back features a number of "vents" that can be opened with a slider to reveal clear-green plastics that allow the light to shine through to squares on his chest, and the bronze bracket on the back of his head can be rotated up to block off his eye-light-piping, but why on Earth would you want to?!
Skyquake has what appears to be a unique personal insignia - a Decepticon symbol inside a shield, with an unfurled scroll featuring (illegible) writing, superimposed atop a jagged bolt of lightning. Exactly what this is supposed to denote is unclear. A year later the same lightning design was reused for fellow UK toy villain Clench.
Skyquake's scope is prone to Gold Plastic Syndrome: it can break rather violently if one of the smaller Predator jets is attached to him. So don't do it. Attach them to Stalker instead. His small hand-held launcher can also split with pressure, so maybe don't store it with the missile locked and loaded.
Unusually, Skyquake, Thunder Clash, and the Motorvators were all sold in Japan at the tail-end of 1992, after the original Japanese Transformers toyline had already ended. The toys were identical to their European releases—down to the packaging—except for some Japanese-language stickers on the boxes, and, curiously, all-new Japanese-language instructions.
Catalog pictures of the pre-production prototype show him with the "frame" of his chest window painted bronze, and his faceplate grill painted silver.
Skyquake was later redecoed (minus the handgun) to make Machine Wars Starscream and Universe King Atlas.


Timelines

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Hooray, I don't break!
  • Wings of Honor Villains (Two-pack, 2009)
  • Accessories: Sword, rifle, 2 missiles
Timelines Skyquake is a redeco of Energon Combat Class Starscream, available exclusively at BotCon 2009. The existence of this figure was first announced by artist Andrew Wildman (who drew the character's profile art) in a blog post on February 23, 2009... and apparently Wildman jumped the gun a bit, as he soon had to delete the posting.<ref>Andrew Wildman's blog</ref>
Skyquake transforms into a jet fighter loosely based upon the F/A-22 Raptor. The toy features numerous spots of sculpted battle damage. He comes with two very large accessories, a sword and a non-firing blaster, which can combine to form a larger sword and/or non-firing blaster. In jet mode, he has two wing-mounted spring-loaded missile launchers which can flip up over his robot-mode shoulders.
He was only available in an at-show "souvenir" bagged two-pack with Banzai-Tron, limited to 1500 sets.
This mold was also redecoed as Energon Energon Starscream and BotCon 2009 Leozack.
{{#if:Energon|Energon mold:|}} Starscream

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Merchandise

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Transformers Character Card

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  • ID number: 51 & 52
Released as part of the seventh wave of the e-HOBBY exclusive Transformers Character Card series, this pair of holographic trading cards depict super-deformed art of Thunder Clash and Skyquake along with character profiles and tech specs.

Notes

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  • Skyquake might have been the physical model for Operation Combination's Decepticon leader Scrash, who was never visually depicted in fiction but described as having a massive jet-mode in the Operation Combination telephone audio adventures. Whether this was truly the original intent or not is unknown, but later fiction featuring Scrash would proceed to use Skyquake's model, beginning with United EX. A direct reference to the uncanny resemblance shared between Skyquake and Scrash was made in the comic "Badlands", where Scrash is mistaken for Skyquake by another character.
  • An unrealized Fun Publications BotCon exclusive proposal was redecoes of Universe Silverbolt into Skyquake/Scrash and Dai Atlas/King Atlas.<ref>BotCon 2014 attendee report</ref>
  • The Legacy "Prime Universe Skyquake" toy has multiple nods to the original Skyquake in its sculpt. The jet mode is mostly based on the original Skyquake jet form, just with a different nosecone/cockpit and lacking the Megavisor assembly... though the toy can mount Legacy Needlenose's jet form on top in a simulation of the old gimmick. His robot mode has the huge blocky clear-window chest as well. What this means as far as potential redecos... well.

Foreign names

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  • Japanese: Skyquake (スカイクエイク Sukaikueiku, スカイクェイク Sukaikweiku)
  • Dutch: Crash
  • French: Aéroséisme (Canada, "Aeroquake"), Crash (Europe)

References

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<references />
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