Powerdasher

The Powerdashers are Autobots from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Why's the middle one snapping his fingers? 'Cause he's a Jet.

The Powerdashers are here to help! Friendly, cheerful, and obedient, their purpose is to aid the Earthbound Autobots and their cause. Little is known about the extent of their abilities, as they are a new form of Autobot whose power is still growing. Perhaps because of this uncertainty, strange statements have been made about them, such as that they are "able to take on a variety of shapes and forms" and "operate at various levels of kinetic energy." What these intriguing abilities actually mean is unclear, as is their status in the spectrum between drone and sapient Transformer. But they have been said to be "constantly evolving," so no apparent limitation will necessarily confine them forever.

The team consists of:

• Cromar ("Jet Type")
• Zetar ("Drill Type")
• Aragon ("F1 Type")

Fiction

S.T.A.R.S. pack-in flyers

He has no elbows, and he must Macarena.

The Powerdashers featured in two early recruiting messages sent to humans by the Autobots. The messages were almost identical in content, claiming that the Autobots marooned on Earth were becoming desperate in their battle against the Decepticons, sending an S.O.S. to Cybertron even though they didn't know if anyone would be there to receive it. Luckily, their plea was answered in the form of the Powerdashers, Omnibots, and Time Warriors. The only Powerdasher seen was the jet-form model, but the message noted that the Powerdashers' state of constant evolution meant that they might not look the same later. Reinforcements from Cybertron!The battle is far from over!

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

"What am I even DOING here? I'm a FLUTIST, for crying out loud!"

The three Powerdashers were created with a primitive design based on the forms of very early Cybertronians. Meant to aid the Autobots on Earth, the Powerdashers' powers and personalities were still growing when they were put into duty. More than Meets the Eye

They were packed in stasis aboard the supply ship Orion, which ended up crashing on Earth after getting shot down by Sunstorm. The crew activated the Powerdashers, who awoke without a word and immediately began working on the ship. When they finished, they packed up their tools and quietly went back on board. Black Sunshine

2005 IDW continuity

Cromar and the Powerdashers worked with Ultra Magnus, the Duobots and the Jumpstarters on Clemency. While preparing to confront the Nightmare Engine, they were attacked by a barrage of K-Class Decepticon bombers. The Gloaming

Ask Vector Prime

The Powerdashers varied considerably in abilities from universe to universe. They had been known to be drones, in which case they have an Evolution/Revolution chip to help them adapt to their environment. They were sometimes a new generation of Autobot, and conversely they were sometimes primitive Cybertronian forms of life. Sometimes there was but a single being named Powerdasher, with three dual body-states to choose from. And sometimes they were individual beings. Ask Vector Prime, 21 September 2015

Toys

The Transformers

Clown nose!

• Powerdasher (Mail-order, 1984)

There are three types of Powerdasher: a Cybertronic car, a Cybertronic drill, and a Cybertronic jet. All three have a pull-back motor in vehicle mode, allowing them to quickly roll forward across flat surfaces. They were only available via mail-order from Hasbro for $3 and 2 Robot Points. The jet was the only model pictured, but the customer was told that a different "style" might be sent instead. The jet-form Powerdasher appears to be the most common one sent out.

• More information on Car-form Powerdasher at TFU.info
• More information on Drill-form Powerdasher at TFU.info
• More information on Jet-form Powerdasher at TFU.info

Notes

• The wording in the Powerdasher instruction-sheet bio is choppy and unclear, and it can be interpreted to mean that "Powerdasher" is actually a single being who changes from bodyform to bodyform. However, the mail-order flyers use the term "Powerdashers" in the plural, and their portrayal in the Dreamwave and 2005 IDW continuities follows this interpretation.
• The Diaclone names for the toys that became Powerdasher were "F-1 Dasher", "Drill Dasher", and "Sky Dasher". These names are sometimes used by fans to refer to the individual Powerdasher toys.
• The term "Powerdasher" first appeared in Takara's US-marketed Diakron toyline, and was then apparently carried over by Hasbro into Transformers.
• In Diakron, GiG's Italian Trasformer line, and Joustra's French release of Diaclone, the Powerdasher toys received individual names: "Aragon" (car), "Cromar" (jet), and "Zetar" (drill).
• IDW's More than Meets the Eye #14 made Cromar's name official for the US version of the character, finally giving one of these toys a personal name a scant 29 years after their release. (One might infer that the other two Diakron names are also "true" in the IDW universe but this has not yet been firmly established.) Two years later, the Facebook edition of "Ask Vector Prime" followed suit with the other two.
• The Powerdashers were the first Cybertronian (well, non-Earthly) vehicular toys released—and were released in 1984, to boot.