Blackcat (G1)

This article is about the heroic Autobot. For his evil counterpart, see Blackcat (SG).

Blackcat is an Autobot, presumably a Mini-Cassette, from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Most cats leave small animals on your doorstep. Blackcat leaves Riddler Trophies.

Blackcat (a.k.a. Black Cat) is an enigma. Since coming to Earth aboard the Ark, he's mostly kept to himself—so much so that many of his fellow Autobots are unaware of his very existence. Optimus Prime sees Blackcat's shadowy nature as advantageous, pairing him with the unassuming Toaster as the Autobot Covert Surveillance Team for missions that require utmost secrecy. While Blackcat's preference to stay unseen and watch from afar may seem at odds with Toaster's hide-in-plain-sight modus operandi, the duo are so skilled at their craft that even the elite military unit G.I. Joe has vanishingly little intelligence on them outside of rumors.

The biggest mystery about Blackcat is why he is, despite his name, green.

I don't really know anything about him. I think he likes puzzles.Even Goldbug doesn't know him.

Fiction

Transformers Comic-Magazin

Oh my god, you can't just ask someone why they're green.

Blackcat was on night watch duty on the Ark. Bored, he used the computer to create a puzzle featuring a red and yellow truck attacking a strangely colored Blurr. If you completed the puzzle in under a minute, he would think that you were swell. Transformers Comic-Magazin #18

G.I. Joe Club Dossier bio

Following unsubstantiated rumors that neither G.I. Joe nor the Autobots could corroborate, Blackcat and Toaster went on a covert mission to Silent Castle in Trans-Carpathia, where they discovered that Decepticon leader Megatron had survived the crash landing of the Ark in the Canadian wilderness and entered into an intergalactic arms deal with ruthless terrorist organization Cobra and its leader, Cobra Commander. Blackcat generated a power surge to fry the kitchen utilities in the Cobra stronghold, allowing Toaster and his Auto-Scouts to infiltrate. With these "Crusticons" tapped into the base's internal video feeds, Blackcat reviewed the footage and recorded any evidence of Megatron's collusion with Cobra, sending the data as an anonymous tip-off to the United States Department of Defense. Autobot Covert Surveillance Team profile in G.I. Joe Collectors' Club magazine, October 2016

Merchandise

G.I. Joe and the Transformers

Transformers is the only franchise where a character appearing only once on a puzzle page in an obscure German comic book can become a collector-aimed exclusive figurine 25 years later.

• G.I. Joe featuring Ninja Force and Transformers (2017)

A primarily-green redeco of the San Diego Comic-Con 2013 exclusive Ravage figure (minus the chain and collar accessories), "Autobot Black Cat" is a non-transforming figure scaled to interact with G.I. Joe figures. His only articulation is a ball-jointed neck offering a rather limited range of mobility. His forepaws are red (inspired by the bizarre color scheme of a Ravage look-alike on the covers of two different German Transformers Comic Magazin issues; see below) while his hind paws are green. For additional contrast, he has been given several black highlights.

He was only available as part of a box set that was sold through both the Transformers Collectors' Club store and the G.I. Joe Collectors' Club store, both of them operated by Fun Publications. Also included in the box set are G.I. Joe figures Ninja Force: Scarlett, Dr. Sidney Biggles-Jones, and Cobra Commander, Transformers figures Ratbat and Megatron, and accessories of gun mode Megatron, Autobot Toaster, and three Crusticons.

• More information on Autobot Black Cat at YoJoe.com

Notes

What a terrible spy. He's been caught red-handed! Nyuk nyuk nyuk

• Blackcat's only on-panel appearance, in Comic-Magazin #18, is traced from a panel in "The Last Stand". Traced artwork of Ravage that ISN'T his package art/model sheet? What madness is this, Germany? A green Ravage-type with red forepaws had previously appeared on the covers of Transformers Comic-Magazin #4 and #6; while not confirmed Blackcat appearances, they did influence his Fun Publications toy and profile artwork.
• Blackcat's then-only documented appearance in Comic-Magazin #18 page went on to influence minor parts of his bio, including his predilection for puzzles and a secondary mission specialty of "Base Security".
• The Department of Defense tip, mentioned in G.I. Joe issue #140, was implied (but not stated) to have been the work of Sidney Biggles-Jones. Blackcat and Toaster's part in these events is something of a retcon.
• For a guy who enjoys making puzzles and using computers, Blackcat sure doesn't have any opposable thumbs. Poor guy.