Mirage (Movie)

This article is about the Rise of the Beasts Autobot. For the Dark of the Moon Autobot who also sometimes goes by Mirage, see Dino. For a list of other meanings, see Mirage (disambiguation).

Mirage is an Autobot from the Rise of the Beasts portion of the movie continuity family.

This is probably a lot for you, huh?

Mirage likes to think that he's the life of the party, always eager for a chance to show off his unique skills; like his ability to generate lifelike holograms which he can use to disorient and outmaneuver foes, or his impressive shapeshifting ability that allows him to take multiple alternate modes at a time. He hates being cooped up and forced to hide out on Earth, because doing so means he has no one to get into trouble with. He's also quite the talker, always ready to rattle off a wisecrack or a reference to some Earth media he's seen since his time on the planet. This unfortunately has lead him to become a bit of an outcast among the other Autobots, who see him as reckless and aloof, compounded by his frequent disregard for Optimus Prime's orders.

Beneath all this, though, lies a genuine heart. Mirage cares deeply for his friends and would go to great lengths to keep them safe, and he has a fondness for humanity matched only by fellow Autobot Bumblebee.

“	Relax... I'm Mirage, remember?	”
—Mirage reminds Noah he's the best at what he does, Rise of the Beasts

Fiction

Rise of the Beasts film

Voice actor: Pete Davidson (English), Shingo Fujimori (Japanese), Yvick Letexier (European French), Louis-Philippe Berthiaume (Canadian French), Lucas Wecker (German), Stefano Crescentini (Italian), Javier Ibarreche (Latin-American Spanish), Miguel Angel Leal (Latin American Spanish, Second Trailer), Douglas Silva (Brazilian Portuguese), Wendel Bezerra (Brazilian Portuguese, official trailer)

I know what you're all thinking. I should be Hound.

In desperate need of cash, Noah Díaz participated in a carjacking attempt on a Porsche that his friend Reek scouted out. Successfully breaking in, Noah realized the car was acting strangely when it locked him inside and played a message from someone on the radio. The car soon sped off with Noah stuck inside, leaving him in the middle of a car chase with the police. After throwing them off with his holographic projections, Mirage took Noah to a warehouse and revealed himself, where they soon after met the rest of the Autobots. Mirage transformed and introduced himself to a shocked Noah before the other Autobots arrived, who - especially Optimus Prime - unfortunately did not share his appreciation of Noah. However, when Arcee revealed that the all-important Transwarp Key was currently within a museum, Mirage banked on the idea of using Noah to infiltrate the building and retrieve the Key. Neither the other Autobots nor Noah liked said plan at first, but Mirage managed to convince the human by showing off his transformation abilities and offering to let Noah sell him in the guise of many expensive cars so he could get the money for his brother's hospital bills.

Amica endura!

Taking on a garbage truck as a temporary alternate mode to trick the museum's security into letting them in, Mirage waited in the parking lot while Noah went inside. Unfortunately that was when the Terrorcons Scourge, Battletrap, and Nightbird came knocking, also in search of the Key. Mirage was the first to respond to the threat, transforming to robot mode and firing away at the airborne Nightbird, but ended up being snatched up into the air and dropped from a considerable height by the Terrorcon ninja for his troubles. He made a rough landing right in front of Noah and Elena Wallace as they escaped the besieged museum, but his relief that his friend was alive was short-lived when Freezer and Novakane latched onto him instead. He was thus unable to help when Scourge delivered an apparently lethal stab and cannon blast to Bumblebee, but recovered after Airazor's appearance convinced Scourge - who had obtained the Transwarp Key - to call a retreat for the day.

Or maybe I'm Hot Rod, I dunno.

Later that night Mirage attempted to listen in on a conversation between Noah and Kris by standing on a car parked outside the apartment building and peering in, but ended up being discovered by Kris when the car crumpled under his weight. As he watched Noah talk Kris out of accompanying them to Peru, Mirage commented that the boy had heart. Kris then made Mirage promise to protect Noah at any cost, a promise Mirage readily agreed to.

Drive fast and leave a good-looking corpse! But preferably somebody else's.

The next morning Mirage served as Noah's ride as they showed up for their flight to Peru, but he expressed immediate disdain when he figured out their ride would be Stratosphere, stating he'd rather walk. His opinion was ignored, and they arrived in Cusco without much fuss. The Autobots were unable to move in directly because of a festival that left the town extra crowded, so Mirage handed Noah a multi-purpose tech gauntlet to aid him in his task before him and the Autobots placed themselves in strategic positions to keep a lookout for the Terrorcons while the humans searched for the other half of the Key. His stylish alternate mode garnered the attention of quite a few locals, who even used him for a quick photo op. This would have been fine if Mirage hadn't let the vanity get to his head and distract him from Freezer tracking Noah and Elena, which had leapt past right behind him just as he reported to Optimus that the coast was clear. This mishap meant he only found out the Terrorcons were there after Freezer had reached Noah, when the human radioed him in a panic.

No, no, I'm not trying to be the new kid-appeal character! Get off my case, bro!

The Autobots peeled out, but the Terrorcons were in hot pursuit. As Optimus battled Scourge and Wheeljack and Arcee tangled with Battletrap and Nightbird, Mirage ended up being the only Autobot to stay on the road until the end without any distractions. Hence he was the earliest to arrive on the scene when Optimus Primal confronted the two humans, pulling his blaster on "Donkey Kong" and ordering the Maximal to unhand his friends, but Cheetor burst out of the bushes in a flash and pinned him down in return. After Optimus Prime arrived and the situation was defused, Mirage walked alongside Noah as they all headed to the Maximal lair. It was there he revealed that he had been staying in contact with Kris through a walkie-talkie wired into his arm, having received a Sonic the Hedgehog-themed call sign of his own as "Knuckles".

The next morning, when Airazor was revealed to have been turned into a Terrorcon because of an infection device Scourge had shot at her the day before, Mirage couldn't do much before Airazor flew off with Elena in her clutches and Primal in pursuit. He and the other Autobots only arrived after Primal was forced to put Airazor down before the mind-control fully took her over, and could do little more than stare in shocked sorrow.

Waiting for the blue translucent plastic redeco.

Despite the bleak odds, Mirage was spurred into action again when Noah gathered all the Autobots and Maximals to help formulate a plan that would foil Scourge's plans. As the others met the Terrorcons in a frontal charge as a massive distraction, Mirage led Noah and Elena to an access tunnel that would lead to directly below the terminal the Key was in. Scourge hadn't taken the bait, however, so Mirage raced ahead to provide the Terrorcon leader with his own distraction. Using his holographic doubles to their fullest extent, Mirage was able to hold his own against the much bigger and stronger foe for quite some time, even getting some good hits in. Scourge eventually outmatched him and grabbed him by the throat, preparing to kill him with the cannon on his other arm, but the Autobot freed himself with an opportune kick that also knocked the villain's mask clean off and revealed his broken, disfigured face.

WEAR MY SKIN.

Unfortunately, that had been the last straw for Scourge. Laying Mirage out with a retaliatory kick to the face, he aimed his blaster at the exposed Noah with intent to kill. But Mirage leapt into the line of fire at the nick of time, covering Noah even as Scourge fired off a withering volley of blasts that blew entire chunks (and limbs) off his body to fulfill his promise with Kris. The damage proved too much for him, and the Autobot's optics went dark. At that moment Kris hailed Mirage on the walkie-talkie, leaving Noah no choice but to inform his brother of the Autobot's demise while trapped under Mirage's unmoving body.

As it turned out, however, Mirage wasn't actually quite dead yet. He invigorated himself just enough to regain consciousness by the time Kris was done giving Noah his best pep talk, but had been so badly damaged he could not move on his own. So Mirage shed all his damaged parts and formed what remained into an exo-suit for Noah, providing him with extra protection, strength, and firepower. Noah went on to use the suit to participate further in the final battle, assisting Optimus Prime in his climactic duel with Scourge and even helping save Prime's life from the collapsing Transwarp portal.

"Okay, maybe I got some Italian in there somewhere."

Noah brought the exo-suit back with him to America, where he set about constructing a new body for Mirage using various parts sourced for him by Reek. Reek expressed disbelief that the resulting patchwork of a car could even start, but Mirage proved him wrong by transforming right before a flabbergasted Reek's eyes. Rise of the Beasts

Mirage's involvement in the preceding events, or events mostly similar, were also chronicled in the books "Mission at the Museum" and "The Search Is On".

Toys

Studio Series

Be thankful they got that license!

• Mirage (Deluxe Class, 2023)
  • Movie: Rise of the Beasts
  • Hasbro ID number: 105
  • Accessories: Arm cannon, "New York City Getaway" backdrop

• Known designers: Sam Smith (Hasbro), Shuhei Umezu (TakaraTomy)

Studio Series Mirage is based on his appearance in Rise of the Beasts, and transforms into a licensed Porsche 911 (964) Carrera RS 3.8 in 25 steps. He comes with an arm cannon and a backdrop depicting the chase sequence in the movie. This figure also marks a milestone in the franchise, being the first Transformers toy to have a fully licensed Porsche alt mode.

Hasbro revealed renders of the figure on February 13, 2023, following the release of the Big Game Spot a day earlier. He would later be officially revealed on June 20 during a Hasbro livestream.

Stock Images of Mirage show him with a painted silver forehead, with the rest of it being cast in gray. During his official reveal, his designers stated that the final product would include more movie-accurate paint details on the head.

• Designer commentary on Studio Series Mirage from Sam Smith on Instagram

File:TF-SS-Core-Noah-Díaz-Exo-Suit.jpg

• Noah Díaz Exo-Suit (Core Class, 2023)
  • Accessories: Blaster, jetpack

Released as part of the eighth wave of the Studio Series Core Class lineup, Noah Diaz's exo-suit transforms into a human-sized plane despite the suit not having an alternate mode in the film. He also comes with a blaster that can be wielded by him, or mounted under the nosecone of his alternate mode. If one chooses, the plane kibble can be detached from Noah for a more screen-accurate appearance. As the toy could not depict Anthony Ramos' likeness, the exo-suit's faceplate is instead based on a concept art design which is in turn based on the glowing Y-shaped design on Mirage's robot mode chest.

Buzzworthy Bumblebee

Is this thing a dog?

• Bumblebee / Airazor / Autobot Mirage (Jungle Mission 3-pack, July 2023)
  • Accessories: Arm cannon

Included as part of a Target-exclusive Buzzworthy Bumblebee Jungle Mission 3-pack, this Mirage is another Deluxe Class iteration of the character that converts into an unlicensed approximation of a Porsche 911 (964) Carrera RS 3.8. He includes a blaster that can fit over his forearm or be stored on his rear bumper in vehicle mode. His headsculpt uses what is either a battle mask or an early concept head design.

Mirage comes packaged with Bumblebee and Airazor.

Rise of the Beasts

• Autobot Mirage (Deluxe Class, 2023)
  • TakaraTomy ID Number: BD-06
  • Accessories: Arm cannon

The Mirage from the Buzzworthy Bumblebee Jungle Mission 3-pack was also available individually at general retail under Rise of the Beasts packaging.

"Relax, I'm 12 dollars."

• Autobot Mirage (Battle Changer, 2023)
  • TakaraTomy name: Kakusei Change Mirage
  • TakaraTomy ID number: BC-04
  • TakaraTomy release date: July 15, 2023

• Known designers: Koki Yamada (TakaraTomy)

Released as part of the "Beast Alliance" subline for Rise of the Beasts, this Mirage is a 4.5-inch toy that converts from a robot to an unlicensed approximation of a Porsche 911 in 11 steps. His right arm has a molded in cannon that can be flipped out.

This toy was discovered in the United States before any official announcement was made.

Merchandise

3D Battle-Card Game

He seems familiar, but I can't place the face.

• Mirage (2007)
  • Card number: 8

Mirage is a 26-point "Common" piece in the 3D Battle-Card Game. Constructed of punch-out pieces from randomly-packed plastic cards (two full robots per pack), he can be assembled into his car mode (model undetermined), or into a rather stumpy robot mode. His twin blaster-weapons can be mounted on his arms (their nominal placement) or on his shoulders.

He uses the same construction as the Barricade, Earth mode Bumblebee, and Swerve cards. This style is similar to the one used by Cliffjumper, Jazz, and Smokescreen.

Though his card is clearly based on the Alternators Mirage toy, he's not remotely as obvious about it as the Cliffjumper and Smokescreen cards are. While all the parts are in roughly the same place as the Alternators toy, the detailing is very much in line with the movie aesthetic, featuring a lot of shifted panels and extensive mechanical greeblies.

Figural Bag Clip

• Mirage (2023)

Released by Monogram, this 2.5" 3D foam bag clip takes the form of a chibi Rise of the Beasts Mirage.

It was available only as part of a mystery blind bag collection.

Pop!

• Mirage (2023)
  • ID number: 1375

Released as part of a Rise of the Beasts-themed batch of the Pop! Movies segment, Funko's Pop! Mirage is a super deformed vinyl figure based on his appearance in said movie and is molded posing with his arm cannon and battle mask deployed.

Notes

Ferrari not pictured, for Reasons probably.

• Pete Davidson's portrayal of Mirage is based on the zany energy of Davidson's favorite comedy actors, such as Jim Carrey in The Mask and Adam Sandler. It is meant to play off Noah's innocent look upon discovering a talking car.
• The scene where Noah and Mirage first meet was made by Anthony Ramos acting his part, then Davidson reacting to it.
• When offering to sell himself for Noah's payment, Mirage takes on the alternate mode of an F1 dragster for a split second, in an homage to his G1 namesake. He also proposes turning into a Ferrari (like the other movieverse Mirage), though this car doesn't actually appear on-screen.
• Early test screenings originally had it that Mirage did die of his wounds and transformation into the exosuit, but due to audience opinions of this being too dark, the mid-credits scene of his revival was added.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Mirage (ミラージュ Mirāju)
• Mandarin: Huànyǐng (幻影, "Mirage")