Talk:Combination Stealth Mode
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Name; Round I
[edit]According to episode 31 of the cartoon, it turns out that Formation Scream is not the name of this combined form (which has no name as far as the cartoon is concerned), but is instead the name of an attack used by Starscream and BB together in their (separated) vehicle modes. It involves the two firing their entire arsenal of missiles all at once, with narration from the episode describing it like so: "Formation Scream is a desperate technique which exhausts all of the pair's energy."
Now, I know nothing of what, if anything, is said about Formation Scream in the manga, the toys' original packaging, the toys' instructions, the catalogs, the magazines, or any other vintage BWII media, but in the cartoon at least, Formation Scream is a technique, not a mode. --Sabrblade (talk) 01:53, 30 July 2017 (EDT)
- Starscream's profile card also calls it an attack, a "combination → separation attack" to be precise. --Apoc (talk) 09:26, 30 July 2017 (EDT)
- Well, shoot. According to Episode 39's Transformation Corner, the combined form is named Formation Scream after all. And both the BWII Databook and the BWII Encyclopedia describe "Formation Scream" as Starscream's ability to combine with BB, but skirt around the idea of it being a mode or a combiner. Still, it's looking more and more like episode 31's instance was an isolated case of diverging from what everything else says. I'll keep looking into this further for any more info on the matter. --Sabrblade (talk) 14:33, 3 August 2017 (EDT)
Name; Round II
[edit]- I want to reopen the matter of what this combination is called. My aim is to get permission to move the current contents to either Gattai Formation or Combination Formation and rewrite this page to be about the attack. To both pages notes will then be added about the naming matter.
- To reiterate:
- Episode 39 shows a screen of Starscream and BB combined with the name "Formation Scream" in text underneath and Starscream saying the name.
- Episode 31 features about 30 seconds worth of an all-or-nothing attack (and then more for the aftermath) that sees Starscream and BB syncing up (they are explicitly not combined. And with "explicitly" I mean they were combined before, then uncombined, then BB did his BB Launcher, and only thereafter did Starscream call for the all-or-nothing attack). Both Starscream and the narrator call this move the Formation Scream and the narrator goes on to explain what it entails.
- At this point, I believe that the evidence towards Formation Scream being an attack already exceeds the evidence of Formation Scream being the combination because Episode 31 would be more wrong if it were wrong than Episode 39 if it were wrong. But I have other considerations:
- Episode 16 is the first time BB and Starscream combine. At a little past 10:30, Starscream calls it Gattai Mode (gattai being "combination"). It's unclear how it benefits them and no attack is associated with it. BB uses his BB Launcher (doesn't call it) to shoot some bacteria bombs, but that's nothing he couldn't have done without combining.
- Episode 20 sees Starscream refer to the combination as Gattai Formation a little past 7 minutes.
- Much like "Starscream" has the Formation Scream, BB has the Bomber Squall, which seem to be having something parallel ("scream"/"squall") going on. The Bomber Squall is described in the Beast Wars II Super Encyclopedia as 空から、ばくだんを雨のようにふらせる。("From the sky, he sends bombs like rain.") and the image with it shows as much. For visual reference, BB performs Bomber Squall in Episode 6 (without calling it) a little past 7:30 minutes. In the same guide, Formation Scream is described as BBとの合体わざで、てきのすきをつく。 ("With [this] technique in combination with BB, he strikes at the enemy's unguardedness."). Not much of a description, but the image shows that Starscream and BB are not physically combined for this attack and it matches what is shown in Episode 31. Formation Scream being a highly destructive attack parallels Bomber Squall being a highly destructive attack.
- Starscream's profile card reads BBとの「フォーメーション・スクリーム(マシン状態からの合体→分離攻撃)」と、2丁ミサイル「スクリームワインダー」が得意技。("His signature moves are "Formation Scream (a combination → separation attack by means of the machine mode)" with BB and the twin missile "Screamwinder".") This vaguely sounds like the combination is a preparation to the attack, but at no point in the fiction is there any connection between the combination and any attack. (Incidentally, if it's two missiles, sources other than the profile card say it's Doublewinder, not Screamwinder.)
- I don't have access to the BWII Databook so I can't comment on its contents, but from what I have looked through, Formation Scream at least is an attack and therefore not the combination itself. Furthermore, Gattai Formation/Combination Formation is available as something of a name for the combined form, giving it a place to go to while the attack hasn't got anywhere else to go to. Alternatively, Formation Scream (attack) and Formation Scream (combination) is also an option. Any thoughts/preferences? BerylRoll (talk) 10:18, 31 January 2026 (EST)