Editing Hashtag (ES)

{{factions|terran|autobot}}
{{disambig3|Hashtag}}
:''Hashtag is a [[Terran]] from the [[Transformers: EarthSpark (franchise)|EarthSpark]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Hashtag-earthspark-stock.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|[[Alex Malto|Father]], I cannot click the book.]]

We're going to be talking about '''Hashtag Malto''' today, so make sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe to our feeds!  And now without any further ado, let's dive in.  Some people might get on Hashtag's case for compulsively surfing the web and sometimes caring more about it than RL, but you can't deny the level of excitement and engagement she brings to every new method of online communication she finds. The young Terran finds herself granted with not just innate internet-savviness but also borderline technopathy thanks to her [[G.H.O.S.T.]] surveillance van [[alternate mode]]. While perhaps not having the best social tact or attention span, she's nevertheless eager to put her skills and abilities to use when it comes to helping her fellow Terran siblings, even if it come off as a little self-aggrandizing at times.

==Fiction==
===''EarthSpark'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Stephanie Lemelin]] (English), [[Mamiko Noto]] (Japanese)|[[Gabriela Ortiz]] (Latin American Spanish), [[Laura Martínez García]] (Castilian Spanish), [[Jade Jonot]] (French), [[Karina Fonseca]] (Brazilian Portuguese), [[Serena Sigismondo]] (Italian), [[Magdalena Herman-Urbańska]] (Polish), [[Jenny Maria Meyer]] (German)}}

[[File:Earthspark AOEP2 HashtagSkywarpTale.jpg|thumb|left|300px|They were just roommates!]] Hashtag was first brought to life, at the same as her other siblings [[Jawbreaker (ES)|Jawbreaker]] and [[Nightshade (ES)|Nightshade]], by the Malto siblings of [[Mo Malto| Mo]] and [[Robby Malto| Robby]] via the [[Emberstone]] in the same cave where her 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 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, Hashtag and the other new Terrans instinctually came to their new family's safety by shielding them from the collapsing cave rubble.

Emerging from the collapsed cave, she was warmly greeted by the legendary Optimus, who inquired about her and her siblings' names. Stuck at a loss, Robby used his [[Cyber-sleeve]] connection to the new Terrans to inform everyone her name was "Hashtag", leading her to gasp that he was correct as she didn't have the word to describe what it was. Sensing the pain the other Maltos and Terrans felt about learning their [[Dot Malto|mother]] was held captive by someone called [[Mandroid]], Hashtag eagerly volunteered to help them. Infiltrating Mandroid's base with Jawbreaker and Nightshade posing as Decepticons who had captured Optimus, Hashtag put on an over-the-top Australian accent, claiming to be a Decepticon called "Sparkleplug" who used to be Skywarp's roommate in "Bad Guy School". Seeing through their disguise, a battle soon erupted that saw Mandroid's base turn into a walking Mech that took the combined efforts of Malto family and their allies to take down. Following the battle, Hashtag was formally introduced to Dot and welcomed into her family. {{storylink|Age of Evolution, Part 2}}

[[File:Hashtag Hashtagoops.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Run Hashtag.exe]]
Having moved into the Malto farmstead, Hashtag quickly developed more of an interest in using her phone to watch videos on the internet than learning how to be a Transformer. Twitch, eager to be a mentor to her younger sister, brought Hashtag into [[Witwicky (town)|Witwicky]] to help her find an alt-mode but found Hashtag was still more concerned with getting a good Wi-Fi signal. Bartering with Hashtag that if she got an alt-mode they could go back home where there was Wi-Fi, Hashtag scanned the first thing she saw, which turned to out to be a G.H.O.S.T. surveillance van. As a result, Hashtag found herself inadvertently abducted by three G.H.O.S.T. agents who mistook her for their actual van. Taken to their secret mountainside base, Hashtag soon learned her alt-mode granted her the ability to connect to any Wi-Fi point on the planet. With the help of Twitch and Bumblebee, she was able to use these new found abilities to escape G.H.O.S.T.'s base. Back at the Malto family home, she covered for her sister Twitch when asked if the two and Bumblebee had gotten in any trouble. Nightshade soon arrived and introduced everyone to the [[dugout|new base]] they had been working on that would serve as a new living space for the Terrans. Hashtag, for her part, eagerly said she could provide the Wi-Fi. {{storylink|Hashtag: Oops}}

When Jawbreaker was attempting to video interview others asking about how to get an alt-mode, Hashtag eagerly volunteered her services to aide her brother. While well-intentioned, Hashtag's efforts soon became more about trying to turn Jawbreaker's personal quest into an attempt at her "directorial debut". When she brought Jawbreaker to have a [[spark]]-to-spark conversation with Megatron and [[Elita-1 (ES)|Elita-1]] about alt-modes, Jawbreaker finally called her out on her being more concerned with making a movie than his feelings. Following chasing down a rogue [[Arachnamech]] that tried to scurry away with their camera containing highly-sensitive Transformer information, Hashtag apologized to Jawbreaker. Later that night, Jawbreaker surprised Hashtag with a home movie cobbled together from the remains of her footage, as well promising her when he finally decided on an alt-mode she'd be the first to know about it. {{storylink|Outtakes}} Hashtag later, more indirectly, aided in another of her siblings' personal quests when she provided [[Nightshade (ES)|Nightshade]] with the last known address of famed author D.E. O'Neil. which led to Nightshade encountering the Decepticon, [[Tarantulas (ES)|Tarantulas]]. {{storylink|Missed Connection}}

When [[Jon Schloder|Agent Schloder]] arrived at the Malto family farm  hot on the trail of finding Bumblebee, Hashtag and Nightshade used the opportunity to show off the new "Emergency Lockdown" protocol they had installed in the Terran base. Sealing up the base whenever a G.H.O.S.T. vehicle (Hashtag excluded) was sighted, it made entry into the dugout virtually impossible. Unfortunately the two hadn't worked out all the kinks yet and after Schloder departed they discovered that instead of keeping the lockdown going for 10 minutes, it was instead set for 10 ''hours''. Stuck in the base, Hashtag 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 go back on the run, Hashtag confronted the devastated Twitch. {{storylink|Security Protocols}} When Hashtag and the Maltos found themselves being terrorized by a mother bear looking for her cub, Hashtag tried to use advice she found online on how to survive a  bear attack, with each attempt being less helpful than the last. {{storylink|Bear Necessities}}

[[File:Hashtag MegatronSelfie Warzone.jpg|thumb|left|300px|#timeandplace]]
Hashtag, along with the other Terrans and Malto children, was soon taken by Megatron to [[Spacebridge Memorial Park]] to learn of the history of the Autobot/Decepticon War, though when she attempted to go for a poorly-timed selfie with Megatron she learned that the memorial probably wasn't the best place for that. When the history lesson was interrupted by the returning Shockwave, Hashtag found herself forced into stasis lock by a stray shot from The Immobilizer. Upon Shockwave's defeat, Megatron was able to free her. {{storylink|Warzone}}

When the Terrans were taken by Robby and Mo to their old home city of [[Philadelphia]], Hashtag's initial eagerness at experiencing city-life quickly soured when she encountered anti-Cybertronian sentiment in the city. Dejected, she and Twitch were comforted by Robby to not blame themselves for his own disappointment he had in discovering this about his old home town. Upon being re-united with the rest of her family, Hashtag was surprised to see Bumblebee returning in tow with them, who then recruited his students for their first real mission; recovering the lost Autobot, [[Grimlock (ES)|Grimlock]]. {{storylink|Home, Part 1}}

[[File:HashtagMindControl HomePart2.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Error 404_Hashtag Not Found]]
However, the rescue mission quickly turned into a battle with the returning Mandroid and his latest Arachnamech creation. During the battle, Hashtag discovered her Wi-fi powers went beyond just being to connect to the internet, being able to remotely control any machine that was hooked up to the city's Wi-fi. Using this to take control of the city's trains, she was able to quickly destroy Mandroid's Arachmench army. Seeing Mandroid was still in the vicinity, Hashtag went to apprehend him, only for the scientist to deploy his latest creation on the young Terran; a control badge that was able to make Cybertronians his obedient drones. Before departing, Mandroid ordered the subservient Hashtag to return to him with her Terran siblings either alive or in pieces. While Hashtag's body battled it out with her family, Hashtag's consciousness found herself being mentally tortured by a digital avatar of Mandroid, preying on her fears of being hated by humans and having no real home. Unable to remove her control badge by force, the Maltos were able to free Hashtag from Mandroid's control when they were empowered by a strange energy originating from the same cave where the Terrans were born. Breaking through Mandroid's control through their connected sense of family, Hashtag was comforted by Twitch upon coming to her senses. With the morning approaching, Hashtag and the others raced back to [[Witwicky (town)|Witwicky]] before their parents could wake up. {{storylink|Home, Part 2}}

The kids encountered Grimlock while collecting flowers in the woods and had to flee back to the farm, where they eventually fought the Dinobot into submission. Hashtag was later training in the quarry by punching rocks Elita-1 was throwing when Jawbreaker joined them. When Grimlock lost control again, rampaging through Witwicky, Hashtag joined Elita-1 in trying to reign him in, until Jawbreaker was eventually able to talk him down from his rage. {{storylink|A Stygi Situation}} When Robby's cyber-sleeve manifested a new shield ability, Optimus smuggled the entire Malto family into G.H.O.S.T. HQ to have [[Teletraan I (ES)|Teletraan I]] scan the devices.  The kids were later training in the base's rec room when Robby asked Hashtag to raise the difficulty. While she was doing so, Mandroid took control of the system, unleashing a holographic Megatron on them, and though Hashtag was able to shut it down, the fight resulted in Robby's cyber-sleeve becoming inactive and the emotional link between the kids was lost. {{storylink|Disarmed}}

While trying to reactivate the cyber-sleeves with the cave water that the Maltobots were using to energize, the kids stumbled on a cave system through which [[Starscream (ES)|Starscream]], Nova Storm and Skywarp were trying to escape. Things were complicated more when they encountered the energon-feeding [[Dweller (ES)|Dweller]] and when Starscream was separated from the others, Hashtag, sympathetic to his tales of abuse at the hands of Megatron, went to his aid. When a plan to lure the Dweller went wrong, Starscream almost sacrificed himself to give Hashtag the opportunity to get away, but she was able to use the energising power of the cave water to drag the beast to its doom. {{storylink|What Dwells Within}} Robby's cyber-sleeve began affecting his health, and Dot assured the other kids that they'd do all they could to help the boy get better. When the other human members of the Malto family lapsed into unconsciousness, the Maltobots took care of them until they recovered, having had an encounter with Quintus Prime that restored both Robby's health and the cyber-sleeves. {{storylink|Prime Time (episode)|Prime Time}}

When Bumblebee was tasked with infiltrating G.H.O.S.T. HQ, the kids resolved to help their mentor. Hashtag, Jawbreaker and Mo remained at the Dugout to monitor the others as they sneaked into the HQ, though Hashtag was able to remotely operate systems for them. {{storylink|Stowed Away, Stowaways}} The trio rejoined the rest of the family in Witwicky when it turned out they were facing a Mandroid-controlled Shockwave, and managed to take down the Decepticon, shortly before being surrounded by G.H.O.S.T. agents. With a timely intervention by their parents, they were able to escape back to the farm and revive Shockwave, only for Croft to arrive with an army of Ghoids. During the ensuing battle, the Maltos, with the help of the Autobots, overcame the Ghoids, only to face Croft to disabling the Autobots and the arrival of Mandroid, grotesquely enhanced into a new robotic form. {{storylink|The Battle of Witwicky}}

The Malto family attempted to escape from Mandroid and his two [[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticon]] henchmen, but during the flight, a missile resulted in Thrash, Hashtag and Jawbreaker plunging over a waterfall. {{storylink|The Last Hope, Part 1}} The trio survived the fall and successfully tracked down Twitch and Nightshade who'd freed Bumblebee and Schloder from G.H.O.S.T. HQ., helping them overcome a Mandroid-controlled Optimus. As they headed for the spire Mandroid had erected, they encountered more controlled Autobots and Hashtag had to stay behind to battle the Sharkticons with Nightshade and Jawbreaker, allowing Twitch and Thrash to go on ahead, however Mandroid successfully activated his superweapon, putting Hashtag and the other Transformers on Earth into shutdown. Fortunately Mo and Robby were able to reverse the process using their cyber-sleeves to channel the power of Quintus Prime, and the Malto family were reunited. {{storylink|The Last Hope, Part 2}}

During a mission to retrieve a shard of the shattered Emberstone, Hashtag and Thrash pursued Breakdown. The Con tossed the shard into a puddle, resulting in the creation of the Chaos Terran [[Aftermath (ES)|Aftermath]], who injured Hashtag using his tow hook. She was hurt badly enough, she had to spend time hooked up to medical equipment to recover and missed out on the subsequent mission to try to steal the Decepticon embershard hoard. {{storylink|Aftermath (ES episode)|Aftermath}} Hashtag teamed up with Jawbreaker as the family searched the Witwicky surrounding area for loose Embershards. {{storylink|In Ruins}}

Hashtag migrated her systems over to the Autobot mainframe after G.H.O.S.T. was shut down, granting her a virtual assistant named [[V.A.L.]] After Optimus suggested she might want to select a new alternate mode, she was wracked with indecision and pondered many choices while helping clean out the base. The Decepticons were after the hard drives that were being discarded, leading to Hashtag having a run-in with Shockwave and scanning a new pickup truck alternate mode, allowing her to escape Shockwave with the hard drive he was after. {{storylink|Control Alt Delete}} Hashtag joined the family for a trip to pick up more cave water, only to discover Aftermath had swiped it all. {{storylink|Togetherness}}

As part of the [[Polyhex Protocol]], the Malto family took part in an assault course to decide who would go on an Autobot mission. Hashtag was eliminated after the overhead bars collapsed. {{storylink|Spitfire (episode)|Spitfire}} Robby and Hashtag persuaded Optimus to take part in a photoshoot for [[Trucks Illustrated]] and promised to get his trailer nice and clean for the event. Unfortunately their cleaning party was crashed by the Decepticons who ended up thoroughly trashing the trailer in their attempts to get inside. The rest of the kids came to their rescue and Hashtag was able to tow the trailer to the photoshoot in the nick of time. {{storylink|Dude, Where's My Trailer?}}

Hashtag accompanied Mo into the caves beneath Witwicky to help her sibling complete a history report. After braving Dwellers and working their way through the tunnel system, they found the [[Titan (group)|Titan]] [[Terratronus]] and realized Starscream's plan was to take control of her. {{storylink|Witwicky, Part 1}} The pair contacted the rest of the family, but once Starscream completed the Emberstone, the Decepticon leader ejected them from Terratronus's spark chamber and enacted his plan. Hashtag and Thrash were able to get Robby and Mo to a safe location where the two kids used their cyber-sleeves to trap Terratronus and Starscream in a [[Chaos Dome]]. {{storylink|Witwicky, Part 2}}

When Robbie wanted to watch a movie with Izzy, Hashtag asserted that he must watch it on a big screen, leading the family to arrange a movie venue and Hashtag picking out the movie ''[[The Alien Mole Bots Who Ate Philadelphia]]'', though her posting about it on social media meant that much of the town turned out. She accidentally bumped Nightshade's [[hyper-reality film projector]], resulting in the [[Mole Bot]]s emerging from the film and causing havoc while the Terrans tried to round them up. {{storylink|Attack of the Drive-In Movie}} The Malto kids were lured into a trap by Fairmaestro, who had them take part in a series of tests which they failed solely due to Twitch helping everyone else. This resulted in Hashtag, Jawbreaker and Nightshade being trapped as part of a ride until they were able to escape and help Twitch overcome Fairmaestro. {{storylink|The Great Escape}}

Hashtag hacked the controls on the [[Hypershuttle]], allowing the Malto kids to use it to get to an old G.H.O.S.T. base in the [[Arctic]] for some snow fun. Meanwhile, back at base the Autobots were infected with [[Hate Plague]]. The discovery that cold was an effective cure meant Hashtag could remote hack the base's systems and flood it with coolant gas, curing everyone. {{storylink|Fire and Ice}} The family assembled at the Autobot base for a briefing on the Hate Plague. {{storylink|The Truth Is Out There}} When the [[Quintesson]]s arrived in a huge ship, the Autobots and Maltos assembled at the edge of the [[Chaos Dome]] to greet it. The Quintessons destroyed the dome, unleashing a violent storm of chaos energies and the group had to scramble to save Witwicky's citizens from it. {{storylink|Judgment Day, Part 1}} Hashtag took part in a diversionary battle while Mo brought Terratronus back to life, and was subsequently one of the family members who cyber-synced with the Titan, enabling her to destroy the Quintessons. {{storylink|Judgment Day, Part 2}}

==Games==
===''Transformers: EarthSpark - Expedition''===
{{voiceactor|[[Lauren Weisman]] (English)|[[Sietske van Peursem]] (Dutch), [[Marie Nonnenmacher]] (French), [[Marcel Mann]] (German), [[Mary Giugliano]] (Italian), [[Agata Woźnicka]] (Polish), [[Anna Mestre]] (Spanish)}}
{{charfictionstub|{{storylink|Transformers: EarthSpark - Expedition}}}}

==Toys==
===''EarthSpark''===
{{anchor|Tacticon}}
[[File:TF-Earthspark-Tacticon-Hashtag.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.67|]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{Bp-a1|'''Terran Hashtag''' (Tacticon Assortment, [[2023]])}}</ul>

: Part of the second wave of Hasbro's ''[[Transformers: EarthSpark (toyline)| EarthSpark]]'' "Tacticon assortment", "Terran Hashtag" is a tiny figure that converts from a tiny G.H.O.S.T. surveillance van into a non-poseable robot with just a single step, activated by inserting your fingertip into the van's back end. Conversion back to van mode needs to be done fully manually, though.

{{-}}{{anchor|DX}}
[[File:TF-EarthSpark-JP-ESD-13-DX-Terran-Hashtag.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{Bp-terran|'''DX Terran Hashtag''' (DX Series, [[2024]])}}</ul>
:*''ID Number'': '''ESD-13'''
:*''Release date'': [[July 27]], 2024
:*''Accessories'': Two guns

: Released in the fifth wave of TakaraTomy's ''EarthSpark'' DX Series toys, this release is a [[redeco]] and minor [[retool]]ing of the Hasbro Warrior Class Hashtag (see below). Aside from her more extensive deco, the "Combine & Ride" gimmick has been removed, leaving a simple plain panel in its place. She now comes with a pair of 5 mm-compatible small pistols which can be stored in robot mode by sliding the sights into the slots on the back (since they're not being used for "Combine and Ride") or attaching to tabs on the sides of the torso, or on the tabs on the sides of the truck bed in either mode. Hashtag's deco is based on her season 1 G.H.O.S.T van body, not her later pickup truck body, most clearly identifiable by the presence of orange lights on the insides of her faux-wheels.

{{-}}{{anchor|Deluxe}}
[[File:Earthsparktoy-DeluxeHashtag.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{Bp-terran|'''Terran Hashtag''' (Deluxe, 2025)}}</ul>
:*''Accessories'': Pistol, tow hook

: Part of the seventh wave of Hasbro's ''[[Transformers: EarthSpark (toyline)|EarthSpark]]'' Deluxe Class figures, Hashtag converts from a robot to pick-up truck in 14 steps. She includes a small pistol, as well as an axe-like tow hook. The pistol can store on a panel beneath her truck truck bed. In robot mode, the tow hook can be wielded as either an axe or a crossbow-type blaster, or can store on her arm or back; in vehicle mode, it can mount on the truck bed or underneath the front bumper. The [[:File:EarthsparkDeluxeHashtagStock.jpg|stock photography]] is missing deco on the faux-leg-tires which exists on the production toy.  

:Hashtag and her wave-mate [[Soundwave (ES)#Deluxe|Soundwave]] came in the updated 2025 ''Earthspark'' packaging.

{{-}}{{anchor|Warrior}}
[[File:TF-EarthSpark-Warrior-Class-Hashtag.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.67]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{Bp-terran|'''Terran Hashtag''' (Warrior Class, [[2025]])}}</ul>

: Part of the sixth wave of Warrior Class figures, "Terran Hashtag" transforms from a purple pickup truck of probably-made-up model to a robot in just 10 steps. Her hands are [[5 mm post]] compatible, but she comes with no accessories herself.

: Hashtag features a "Combine & Ride" gimmick similar to the ''[[Transformers: Energon (toyline)|Energon]]'' Autobots' "[[Powerlinx]]" gimmick, that allows her to form an upper body to attach to a compatible vehicle mode, or to allow another "Combine & Ride" Warrior Class figure to attach to the top of her pick-up truck mode. Her combination connectors are also compatible with ''EarthSpark'' Cyber Combiner figures.
{{comingsoontoy}}
{{-}}

==Notes==
* Hashtag was designed by [[Nick Roche]].<ref name = "ES2">{{citesocial|quote=So, as far as I remember... Out of the new ones, I worked on the Bot mode for Breakdown, Bot mode for Grimlock... took passes at Nightshade and Dino Grim, but didn't make it (They're mostly Ciro's?) but Shockwave, Hashtag and Tarantulas started as my 2D designs!|link=https://twitter.com/NickRoche/status/1631974068445388803|site=Twitter|name=Nick Roche|year=2023|month=03|day=4}}</ref>
* An unrealized episode idea from the ''Earthspark'' Series Production Bible would've seen Hashtag posing as a human online, resulting in a dilemma when Hashtag's online friends want to meet up with her in real life.
* The Deluxe toy was revealed online prior to the final Earthspark season, giving fans spoilers as to the character's new mode before the relevant episode aired.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Hashtag''' (ハッシュタグ ''Hasshutagu'')
*''Hungarian:'' '''Fruska''' ("Filly")
*''Mandarin:'' '''Miàoyǔ''' (妙语, "Punchline")

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:EarthSpark Autobots]]
[[Category:Female Transformers]]
[[Category:Terrans]]