Sunstreaker clone

Sunstreaker clones are Headmasters from the 2005 IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Taste the rainbow.

The Sunstreaker clones make up the bulk of the Machination's forces. Created using the Autobot Sunstreaker as a template, these consist of a cloned body controlled by a human who has been transformed into a Headmaster. They were created not only to be Sunstreaker's physical equals, but also to be tied directly into his neural net, granting them access to his memories and experience.

The clone bodies are identical to Sunstreaker's, though they may be in his yellow colors or a rainbow of variants including red, white, and black. However, the head is more mechanical in appearance, lacking the smooth contours of his features.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

You won't BELIEVE the things they can do now!

The first clones created were yellow in color. Escalation #6 A squad of them intercepted Wheeljack and Hot Rod during their attempt to rescue the disabled Ironhide, surrounding the two Autobots before confronting them and revealing their partially-organic nature. Devastation #2 Hot Rod quickly exploited a weakness, however: Sunstreaker was not prone to paying attention to his fellow Autobots' doings, and thus had no knowledge of Wheeljack's gyro-inhibitor shells. The two Autobots quickly escaped from the disoriented clones. Devastation #3 The clones eventually caught up with them at the junkyard where Ironhide was held. Devastation #4 Despite the advantage of numbers, they soon found themselves losing to Hot Rod—especially when Sunstreaker's consciousness was disconnected from their network, leaving them on their own. The arrival of Hardhead sealed the fate of the last clone in fighting condition, the other escaping back to the Machination facility in Tampa. Devastation #5 Devastation #6

The trashed remains of the survivor were found by Hot Rod outside of the Machination's abandoned Tampa facility, evidently destroyed by Scorponok for his failure to defeat the Autobots. Spotlight: Doubledealer

Heh, he ain't goin' home to his kids.

Later, the Machination deployed a group of light gray clones designated the Tsunami Unit. A contingent was sent to draw Grimlock out and tag him for an orbital bounce, so he could be used as bait for the US government organization Skywatch. While the mission was successful, the clones proved extremely ineffective in direct combat against the Dinobot commander, who trashed four of them in no time at all. Maximum Dinobots #1

After Scorponok had manipulated the Dynobots into trashing Fallon, Nevada in battle, he then sent a brigade of red clones to the town to "save" it... so that the Machination and its Headmasters would be given lucrative government contracts to defend America from Transformers! Maximum Dinobots #2 However, this plan was ruined when it turned out the Headmasters were wimps, and ran away crying when the Monsterbots' arrival made the battle go against them. Maximum Dinobots #3 The clones were all disabled when Hunter O'Nion pulled the plug on Sunstreaker's real head. Maximum Dinobots #4 A white Sunstreaker clone (likely sans Headmaster) eventually found its way into Garrison Blackrock's collection of Cybertronian artifacts. OnoffON

Notes

• The red and white Sunstreaker clones pay homage to the Diaclone precursors of the original Sunstreaker toy (said colors later inspired Spin-Out and Cordon).

External links

• E.J. Su sketch of the transformation and design of one of the clones.
• E.J. Su sketch closeup of the clone helmet.