Slipstream (Animated)

This article is about a character or concept that lacks a name, but has an official term or designation. For more information, see Help:Nameless.

Slipstream is a nagging harpy Decepticon from the Animated continuity family.

File:Femalescream-ABTC.jpg

You say "bitch" like it's a bad thing!

The Starscream clone that raises the most questions, the purple and pale teal, female Slipstream possesses considerable strategic thinking, a biting sense of humor, and a short temper. Like all of the clones, she represents an aspect of the original Starscream's personality... though which aspect that is, he's better off not asking (or so she says).

Practically everything she ever says to the original Starscream is an insult of some form. Really makes you wonder about Starscream, doesn't it?

Any leader has to be an improvement over you!Slipstream offers an opinion on her template, "A Bridge Too Close, Part II"

Fiction

Animated cartoon

Voice actor: Tara Strong (English), Silvia Mißbach (German)

"I hope you get pregnant, you cheap little tarts..."
("Er, him get pregnant?")

When the clones were brought online, Starscream was confronted with various personality issues. Slipstream revealed that each one represented an aspect of his personality: megalomania, cowardice, bootlicking, and deception. When Starscream asked where she came from, Slipstream informed him that he was better off not knowing. Once they were ready to depart, Egomaniac pushed Starscream aside, and the original realized that he really was a pain in the gearshaft. Slipstream bitingly noted that he'd finally "arrived at the party", then childishly claimed that she wasn't starting anything. A Bridge Too Close, Part I

Slipstream proved to be a capable fighter, managing to get a pair of stasis cuffs on the massive Bulkhead. After the original Starscream was decapitated by Isaac Sumdac piloting a Headmaster unit, she promptly declared that she was better off being led by Megatron. When Omega Supreme joined the battle, she and the other Decepticons were blasted away. A Bridge Too Close, Part II

Slipstream apparently decided to lay low on Earth after the space bridge battle, managing to evade capture unlike her fellow clones (and several non-clone Decepticons). However, when she spotted a red figure flying through the sky, she mistook it for Starscream and chased after it in a rage. When she saw it was Optimus, she shot at him anyway, and then fled the scene. Endgame, Part I

Notes

File:Femalescream-full.jpg

"Try Blue! It's the new red!"

• Where Slipstream got her colors from was hotly debated by the fandom, with the most frequent guess being Generation 2 Ramjet. However, when contacted about it, Derrick J. Wyatt revealed that her color scheme was actually "loosely inspired" by the Japanese Godmaster Overlord. Unexpected! Still, half of Overlord was technically female...

• While the Transformers fandom has long mused upon the possibility of female "Seekers" (and produced countless self-insertion characters that are variants on the theme), this is the first canonical female character to share a body template with Starscream. This is either great or horrible, depending on your perspective.

• This may well be the "female without a tragic past" hinted at by the production team at BotCon 2008, although maybe they meant Slo-Mo. Although it's debatable how tragic she would consider being Starscream's clone is.

• Slipstream could also be some sort of reference to the unusually large (and occasionally somewhat disturbing) number of female fans that the various Starscream characters have attracted over the years.

• When asked which aspect of Starscream's personality she represents, Derrick Wyatt responded with "I try not to think about that one!" He also confirmed that she's not his self-loathing.

• Her name was finally revealed, at BotCon 2009's Hasbro panel