Blitzwing (Animated)

The name or term "Blitzwing" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Blitzwing (disambiguation).

Blitzwing is a Decepticon from the Animated continuity family.

That's far enough, Dr. Jones.

Blitzwing not only has three modes (robot, jet, and tank), he also has three alternate personalities (an "Icy" cold strategist, a short-tempered "Hothead", and a total "Random" nutcase) along with the faces rattling around in his head to go with them. He's as liable to have a conversation with himself as he is to say a word to his fellow Decepticons. Pretty much the only thing that keeps him in line is that all three of his personalities are scared to death of Megatron.

Blitzwing's "dominant", Icy personality is represented by a long, blue face with a monocle and speaks with quiet disdain. His easily angered Hothead personality has a wide, red face, is gap-toothed, and tends to react angrily with violent threats towards almost anyone. Finally, his Random personality's face looks like nothing so much as a black jack-o'-lantern, and may toss out bad puns and jokes, children's nursery rhymes, or random non sequiturs, mostly followed by hysterical laughter. All three personalities speak with a pronounced German accent and apparently he has trouble flying in a straight line.

Blitzwing's armament varies depending upon which personality is dominant at the time. His calculating personality has an arsenal of ice weaponry, while the Hothead predictably can turn up the heat. When his third personality is foremost, nearly anything can be dished out from either of his vehicle modes. Blitzwing's alt-mode is likewise usually dependent on which aspect is dominant at the time. His cold side uses the jet, his angry side uses the tank, and his insane side can use either. However it seems that if he changes personality while in his alt mode, that alt will change with him, and if that's a jet to tank change, he'll fall right out of the sky.

Ze name iz Blitzwing, insect—remember it! Cause it's ze last thing you're gonna hear before I—express my feelings in song!Blitzwing switching personalities like we switch shoes, "Transform and Roll Out"

Fiction

Animated cartoon

Events from IDW Publishing or Fun Publications books are in italics.

Voice actor: Bumper Robinson (English), Yūichi Nagashima (Japanese), Rainer Doering (German), Giorgio Bonino (Italian), Wellington Lima (Portuguese)

"So Arnold, Dietrich, and Blot walk into a bar..."

Long after the Great War ended and the Decepticon went into hiding, Blackarachnia experimented upon Blitzwing, rebuilding him into a Triple Changer and giving him the fractured mind he is known for today. The AllSpark Almanac

Blitzwing was aboard the Nemesis with the other Decepticons at the time of the AllSpark's re-discovery. He partially froze Blackarachnia's arm, commenting on how her demeanor was as unpleasant as her organic beast mode. When Blackarachnia advised him to blow it out his actuator, Blitzwing angrily demanded that she refer to him by his proper name, or else he would...express his feelings in song! His out-of-tune rendition of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" got all the Decepticons arguing until Megatron entered, prompting Blitzwing to fall silent with the rest.

When it became clear the Nemesis was going to crash into an exploding space bridge, Blitzwing fled in an escape pod. Transform and Roll Out

After Megatron's disappearance, the Decepticons held a funeral at New Kaon. Blitzwing gave the eulogy, in which he vowed that they would destroy the Autobots responsible for their leader's demise...and then paint mustaches on their faceplates. Lugnut was angry with the service, declaring that Megatron was alive and would return. When Blitzwing pointed out evidence to the contrary, Lugnut destroyed the statue of Megatron that Blitzwing had built. This angered Blitzwing, who'd spent six deca-cycles building it, and initiated an exchange of fire between him and Lugnut. Dispatches

Blitzwing placed a bounty on Optimus Prime, intending to punish him for destroying Megatron. Fifty stellar cycles later, the bounty hunter Lockdown contacted Blitzwing, saying he had Prime. Blitzwing promised that Lockdown would receive payment once Blitzwing received Prime — then his random side asked if he could please, please, please see Prime turn into a firetruck. The Thrill of the Hunt His conversation was cut short however, when an enraged Lugnut slammed his face into the monitor for daring to commune with the bounty hunter. The pair began scrapping, and things were only made worse when Swindle showed up, taking the opportunity to sell each of them a wide variety of weapons so they could pummel each other. It eventually culminated in him selling the pair of them doomsday weapons and unbreakable nemesis shields. Realizing they were being played, Lugs and Blitz put aside their anger, beat the holy hell out of Swindle and made friends again. Everything Must Go

"This was Megatron's ship!" "Oh, cool! Maybe my DVD collection's still in there."

Some time after this, Blitzwing and Lugnut followed a beacon to the Moon to find the wreckage of the Nemesis. Noting that Starscream was bad at parking, Blitzwing also remembered that this quadrant was the last time they received an update from Lockdown. Concluding that the Autobots responsible for killing Megatron were nearby, the duo went to Earth. Landing at a construction site, the two had similar problems determining the dominant species on Earth as the Autobots did, mistaking Earth's automatons and machines for sentient beings. Lugnut's attempt to interrogate a crane ended up getting Blitzwing hit by the wrecking ball, which convinced the Decepticons to do a more time honored tactic—blow stuff up and hope it forces the Autobots to come out. It worked. During the battle with the Autobots, Bumblebee and Prowl were hard pressed to avoid Blitzwing's energy blasts, but his freeze beam did get Bumblebee off his feet. When Lugnut demanded information on Megatron's location, the Autobots mentioned that he had "turned into a fireball somewhere over Cleveland". Naturally, Lugnut was displeased, and he used his super-punch to floor the Autobots—and bury himself and Blitzwing under the rubble. When Blitzwing unburied himself, he irritatedly reminded Lugnut of his oft-repeated request for a little warning before the punch.

Having observed the battle over a live feed, Megatron opted to radio Lugnut exclusively, leaving Blitzwing struggling to work out what exactly was going on. Blitzwing believed Lugnut was only listening to voices in his head, so Lugnut had to take him along forcibly. Uncertain of the number and strength of the Autobots' "reinforcements" (the Detroit Police Department), the pair scanned Earth vehicles for disguises so they could lay low. Icy Blitzwing wanted to scan a fighter jet, while Hothead wanted a tank. After a brief argument, Random suggested that they scan both. That evening, the two Decepticons followed the Autobots to Lake Erie, where Blitzwing froze the lake. When the Autobots submerged, he followed them in tank form. Blitzwing was lured by the Autobots towards their ship and blasted by one of its weapons systems. He and Lugnut were left fragmented but functional and floated to the surface, only to be met by Starscream, who offered to repair them in exchange for a pledge of undying allegiance. Lost and Found

Oooh, Autobot-cicles, fresh out of the freezer!

Apparently, they chose to serve under Starscream, but still were bickering with each other. When Lugnut began receiving internal transmissions from Megatron again, Starscream was confused, and Blitzwing explained that it was a "technical glitch" that happened. A lot. When Starscream learned that Lugnut thought he was talking to Megatron, he felt threatened and scanned Lugnut, detecting the signals. Starscream ordered both Lugnut and Blitzwing to find the AllSpark Key while he himself tracked the transmissions.

At the moment, the AllSpark Key was in the hands of Ratchet. Blitzwing used his ice guns to freeze Ratchet and rip off the arm that was carrying the Key. Afterward, they went to Sumdac Tower to find Megatron. In the process of greeting him, they revealed Megatron's true Decepticon nature to Prof. Sumdac. Blitzwing, now understanding what had been going on with Lugnut, inserted the Key into Megatron's head, restoring their true leader. Megatron Rising - Part 1

He's just as aerodynamic as the next tank.

As Megatron proceeded to beat up the Autobots, Blitzwing and Lugnut decided not to intervene and kept an eye on Professor Sumdac instead. When Megatron called his loyal troops to him, Blitzwing looked on as his leader made an example of Starscream. The Decepticons took to the air, locating and attacking the Autobots' ship as it travelled from the lake to the Tower, then from the Tower to Dinobot Island, where it was shot down. Blitzwing split off to tackle Prowl, Ratchet and Bumblebee, before being brought down by a combined EMP burst. As Blitzwing rolled around and shelled the Autobots, Prowl noticed that Blitzwing's personalities were connected to his alternate modes and powers. By this time, Blitzwing was back in the air, but Bumblebee taunted the Triple Changer enough that Hothead Blitzwing took over, transformed from jet to tank—and fell into the lake. Megatron Rising - Part 2

I'm gunning for you, Snoopy.

The Decepticons set up a base in a mine containing carbon deposits, which would block their energy signatures so they could recover from their encounter with the Autobots without detection. When Megatron announced his new plan to conquer Cybertron, Blitzwing felt the plan was crazy, as neither he nor Lugnut had any idea how they would get there. He changed his mind when Megatron explained that they would build their own space bridge using the specs Megatron had downloaded from Teletran-1 during one of the encounters with the Autobots. However, they would need the captured Prof. Sumdac to help them, as the specs were incomplete. The Elite Guard

After Isaac Sumdac developed a device that shielded their energy signatures from Autobot sensors, Blitzwing and Lugnut went to retrieve a tachyon transmitter from the Elite Guard's ship. When they presented it to Megatron, Starscream appeared, tried to kill Megatron—and was killed by Megatron. However, Starscream appeared to survive, and Blitzwing spent the rest of the evening dumping Starscream's body into the river...repeatedly. The next day, Blitzwing and Megatron responded to an AllSpark energy signature which turned out to be a trap laid by Starscream. Blitzwing and Megatron then pursued the traitor, offlining him again. Mission Accomplished

Blitzwing was later sent by Megatron to track down an AllSpark fragment, with an oddly disappearing energy signature. He froze Bulkhead and much of the surrounding landscape, destroyed a bridge, Captain Fanzone's car, and Master Disaster's truck before Sari Sumdac managed to make him leave using Master Disaster's remote. Velocity

Blitzwing and Lugnut wound up stuck with the dirty work, collecting supplies for the construction of the space bridge. Foiled by the Autobots, they tried again the next day, hauling heavy trailers up a hill. Blitzwing's foot slipped, and he was nearly offlined by the trailer sending him careening towards a wall. Bracing for impact, his demise was interrupted by the intervention of Mixmaster and Scrapper. Seeing a good opportunity in the brawny Constructibots, he tricked them into hauling the two trailers to the mine. Though Lugnut stated that Megatron would never stand for this, he reassured the huge Decepticon that the two newcomers would be offlined as soon as the work was done. True to his word, Blitzwing was about to have Lugnut dispatch the hapless bots when Megatron stepped in. He had bigger plans for them. Rise of the Constructicons

Verrry interesting...but shtupid.

When the Constructicons resurfaced, Megatron dispatched Blitzwing to bring them back to the mine, giving him some oil to entice them, and instructing the Triple Changer not to engage the Autobots. During his search, Blitzwing came across the Autobots. Although his Icy personality wanted to continue the search, his Hothead and Random personality decided to engage them. During the battle, Blitzwing utterly dominated the Autobots, and eventually took Ratchet hostage. At that point, Megatron ordered Blitzwing to disengage and resume his search. Finally locating the Constructicons, Blitzwing offered the two the oil barrels he was carrying, and led them back to base. Sari, No One's Home

Soon after the space bridge was near completion, the Autobots found the Decepticons' hideout and attempted to stop them. Blitzwing and Lugnut attacked the Autobots invading their underground base, but they ended up getting stasis cuffed by Blurr. A Bridge Too Close, Part I Blitzwing was later retrieved by Scrapper and joined in on the attack on Omega Supreme. His Hothead side was unimpressed with the gargantuan Autobot, and he vowed to damage Omega Supreme so badly he'd need a GPS locator to help him find his still-attached exhaust port. Omega was equally unimpressed with the verbal posturing and headbutted Blitzwing to the horizon. A Bridge Too Close, Part II

"So, how often do you transform them for display?"

When Sentinel Prime hired Lockdown to capture Decepticons for him, Blitzwing was one of the bounty hunter's early victims. He was subsequently locked up in the Elite Guard flagship alongside Sunstorm and Swindle, and had mouth clamps placed on each of his faces to keep him quiet. Five Servos of Doom

As the Elite Guard headed back to Cybertron with their prisoners, they navigated the ship through an energy storm in outer space, causing a stray bolt of energy to hit the ship and free Swindle, who had been left unrestrained. The greedy Decepticon immediately released Blitzwing and the others from their bonds and provided them with new weaponry. Led by Lugnut, the Decepticons defeated and captured the crew, only for Optimus Prime to transwarp into the ship and release them. The ensuing battle took place outside the ship, where Blitzwing froze Sentinel Prime and threatened to blast his head off if the other Autobots didn't surrender. The plan was a success, and the captured Autobots were led into their own decontamination unit to be frozen. (Blitzwing's crazy side also wanted them grinded up into snowcones.) However, this was the Autobots' plan all along, as Jazz had tampered with the freeze-gas pipes, causing Blitzwing, Sunstorm and the Liar Starscream to be frozen instead. The three Decepticons were subsequently recaptured and brought to Cybertron, where Sentinel Prime displayed them during his Magnus-promotion parade. Decepticon Air

Toys

Animated

"WHY IS IT GETTING SO CROWDED IN HERE?!" "Oh, wait, it's me." "And me! AHAHAHAHAAA!!!"

• Blitzwing (Voyager, 2008)
  • Japanese ID number: TA-13
  • Accessories: 2 "flame" missiles

Blitzwing transforms into a futuristic "Mech-Warrior"-ish tank with two large, spring-loaded anti-aircraft-like guns, and a fighter jet that loosely resembles the Northrop Grumman F-14 Tomcat. His tank-cannons become the jet's thrusters. The robot mode has three faces, which can be switched around via a knob on the back of the head. Surprisingly against the norm, Blitzwing's pointy nosecone is molded from rigid plastic. He has a pair of panels on his forearms which are spring-loaded to be able to lie flush in his vehicle modes, yet make his arms wider in robot mode (as they tend to be rather flat without them).

Sadly, his cannons cannot tilt forward over his shoulders when in robot mode. Though promotional photos showed the figure with a gold traditional Decepticon insignia, the final toy used the movie variant in the tampograph.

So people who buy enough toys to display them in every mode have to buy five of this guy, right?

Blitzwing also has a minor misassembly problem, in that his upper arms are swapped. This is the reason his wings cannot press down flush with the rest of the jet fuselage. This can be fixed by pulling off his arms, unscrewing the one screw visible on either forearm, then separating the upper arms and switching them, which makes for a much improved jet mode.

No one's ever really insane so long as he has courage!

• Blitzwing (McDonald's Happy Meal toys, 2009)

A very simplified (but well painted!) version of Blitzwing that has abandoned his triple changer aspect for simplicity's sake. Although this toy sports Blitzwing's "Icy" face, he transforms into "Hothead"'s tank mode.

Notes

• When developing the character who would become Blitzwing, Marty Isenberg originally envisioned a character who could change into anything. Obviously enough, that idea proved unworkable in toy terms, so art director Derrick J. Wyatt proposed using Sixshot for the role. When Hasbro deemed a Six Changer to be too expensive, the Triple Changer Blitzwing was finally settled upon instead. As fate would have it, Hasbro designer Eric Siebenaler had been itching to do a face-swapping Blitzwing since 2005.
• His German accent was a last-minute improvisation by voice actor Bumper Robinson, inspired by the character's name, that went on to influence his entire robot mode aesthetic; once Robinson had been cast in the role, Blitzwing was subsequently designed to "make him look really German", with his helmet an obvious nod to a World War II-era Stahlhelm helmet and goggles.
• Blitzwing's face-changing gimmick was in part inspired by Man-E-Faces from Masters of the Universe. He's not the first Transformers toy to feature multiple rotating faces; Alpha Quintesson, inspired by the five-faced Generation 1 Quintessons, holds that distinction. The fiction-only character Violen Jiger also had three faces that spoke in different tones.
• According to the Allspark Almanac, Blitzwing wasn't always the Triple Changer we know now him as today. His current state came about as a result of being rebuilt by Blackarachnia after the Great War, to increase his versatility. This process, however, also had the side effect of giving him three distinct personalities, something hinted at earlier by Derrick Wyatt.
• In the Japanese dub of the series, Blitzwing speaks with a stressed American accent, rather than a German one, with his "Icy" personality speaking with a very proper American accent and his "Hothead" personality even spouting English words such as "Hey!", "Now", and ending many sentences with "Man!"

External links

• Blitzwing at TFU.info