Rad White

Rad is a human from the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

...and I want to tell you about the Traaaaaaaaaaansformers!

Bradley "Rad" White is your typical kid who's the son of brilliant scientists. He likes to ride his bike, he likes to explore caves, he likes to grab excitedly at radioactive things—wait, what?

Basically, Rad has a natural, insatiable curiosity about all things. Unfortunately, this curiosity goes unchecked when he's hanging out with his best friend Carlos, so it takes the watchful eye of the intelligent-but-much-more-reserved Alexis to keep them both out of trouble. His parents hope that some day Rad can channel this curiosity more productively.

Fiction

Cartoon continuity

Armada cartoon

Voice actor: Kirby Morrow (English), Masataka Nakai, Akiko Toda (young) (Japanese), Christian Jernbro (Swedish), Vincent Barazzoni (French)

When Rad was a young boy, his parents moved to a new home near the Cosmoscope Research Center. Due to a bending of time, he had a vision of the Transformers and Mini-Cons, but his parents just dismissed this as a wild imagination.

"It's radioactive? Sweet!" *grab*

Years later, he and Carlos went exploring into the caverns deep beneath the local observatory. Inside, they found the curious remains of a clearly artificial construction, seemingly far in advance of human technology. Against the advice of Carlos, Rad was drawn towards a glowing, green, pentagonal artifact half-buried in the rubble. When he touched it, the entire structure began to shake, suddenly springing to life as thousands of computers lit up the walls.

At home, Alexis felt the tremors and used her computer to pinpoint the epicenter of the apparent earthquake as the mountain caverns that Rad and Carlos were exploring. Similarly, the scientists and researchers at the observatory were baffled by the sudden movement of the Earth. As Rad and Carlos made their escape with the artifact, a bright light engulfed the chamber they were in, simultaneously shutting down all electronic equipment in Lincoln, as well as emitting three distinctly coloured distress signal beams into the sky.

One beam, green, reached an |ancient starship wreck on the dark side of the Moon, causing it to fire hundreds of smaller beams of green light at the Earth. The two remaining signal beams, coloured red and purple, continued deep into space until they reached a cold, distant, metal world.

Little did Rad know that he had unwittingly set in motion the next destructive phase in the great Transformers war, an endless battle of rage and hatred between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons. Thanks a lot, kid. First Encounter

The kids attempted to flee on High Wire, but were stopped by the arrival of Starscream and Demolishor. Demolishor tried to grab the boys, but they were saved by the arrival of Hot Shot and Red Alert. Rad fled back into the cave, calling Carlos and Alexis after him. Rad was sure they'd be safe there, but Alexis was concerned that the bigger robots might still follow them. High Wire led the three into a smaller room, to Alexis' further distress; Rad and Carlos, however, assured her that they'd be safer there. While in there, he accessed the ship's computer and the kids learned about the Transformer conflict.

At this point, High Wire activated a hidden storage panel, revealing Grindor and Sureshock, who bonded to Carlos and Alexis. They took their new friends out to play in the woods, but ran into Megatron. The timely arrival of Optimus Prime initially seemed to Rad and Carlos to make things worse, but when Alexis trusted the big Autobot, the boys did as well.

Optimus Prime took them into his cab and sped off to a distant location, where he set them down. Unfortunately, Megatron had followed close behind, and so Optimus had to combine with his trailer to fight him off Metamorphosis. The commanders' battle caused a landslide to fall on the kids, but they were shielded by Hot Shot. They then dug up some more Mini-Cons, but two of those were stolen by Cyclonus.

The Decepticons retreated, and so the kids and robots made proper introductions. Rad was particularly upset by the idea that he had started a massive war by reactivating High Wire

The next day at school, Billy grilled them over recent earthquakes; Rad and Carlos played dumb, while Alexis pointed out that if there was an earthquake, it would have been mentioned on the news. When Billy asked where Rad got his new bike, Rad claimed it was a birthday present from his grandmother. He and Carlos headed on up to the mountain; on the way, Alexis chewed them out for almost blowing their cover.

At the Autobots' base, Optimus Prime presented them with Laserbeak to aid them with their reconnaissance work; right then, another Mini-Con was detected Base in the Big Canyon. The kids ran out with the Autobots, Rad falling slightly behind, and got spiffy new adventure suits on the way.

When they got to the canyon, Rad was initially left alone once again when Alexis and Hot Shot sped off, forgetting him. They came back, though. Hot Shot then sped off as fast as he could over the rough terrain, severely shaking up the two humans. Rad sent Laserbeak off to find the Mini-Con, and was himself chided by Alexis for being a coward.

They're going to be exactly like this when they're thirty.

When the Mini-Con was finally found, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Starscream simultaneously tried to claim it. Rad gave a yell of concern, which inspire High Wire, Grindor, and Sureshock to combine into Perceptor, who managed to hold off both Megs and Screamer. Optimus Prime claimed the Mini-Con - who turned out to be his old partner, Sparkplug - and the kids helped dig up Hot Shot form where he'd gotten himself buried Comrade.

Later, they played tag with Hot Shot, which got him in trouble with Optimus Prime as he was supposed to be helping Red Alert install some equipment. They then went to find a new Mini-Con in Antarctica, where Rad and Alexis rode in Red Alert while Carlos went with Hot Shot. Red Alert ended up having to save Carlos and Hot Shot from Starscream Soldier.

When your girlfriend sees your Transformers collection, she sees this.

Rad later came up with the sensible notion of bringing some camping supplies to the Autobot base in case they ever had to stay the night. Soon after he got them to the base, another Mini-Con was detected, and so the good guys all warped over to a forest. Carlos found a path that had been cut down by illegal loggers, prompting Rad to make a speech about how important it is to protect the environment.

During this mission, Rad used Laserbeak to find the Mini-Con, Swindle. However, the Decepticons also found him, and started a forest fire. At Rad's insistence, the Autobots temporarily broke off their search to protect the animals, allowing Starscream to make off with Swindle. Rad felt guily about this, but Optimus Prime assured him that his heart was in the right place Jungle.

Back at the base, the kids tried to wake up the dormant Mini-Con they'd found in Antarctica, but to no avail. Rad and Carlos fell for the old "pass me that spanner that's clearly too big for your species to lift" joke and, seeing there was nothing they could do to help, decided to take High Wire and Grindor to a local carnival, followed by Sparkplug, Longarm, and Jolt.

At the carnival, the boys were initially concerned that bringing five alien robots to a crowded area might blow their cover, but quickly came up with the idea of telling everyone they were super-advanced human-developed robots that would be available for purchase in the future. After a while, the boys tried to take the robots home, but it turned out that Billy and Fred were also at the carnival, and got suspicious. They tried to capture one of the Mini-Con, causing the entire situation to descend into slapstick farce.

"So you wanna make out?"

They were saved by the timely arrival of Hot Shot, Sureshock, and Alexis, who managed to get things under control, swore Billy and Fred to secrecy, and gave the lads a good scolding. As punishment, Rad and Carlos had to clean up their quarters back at the base. Carnival.The kids later accompanied the Autobots to the Sahara Desert, and fell into a sand pit after an altercation with Demolishor. They found themselves in an ancient temple, where they were attacked by ancient guardian robots, but fortunately Demolishor was there to blow them up. Further into the temple, they found a Mini-Con storage panel; Carlos accidentally activated a trap, and Rad knocked him out of the way. After that, the floor collapsed, but Perceptor was able to rescue them. Demolishor got the Mini-Con Palace.

The next day, back in America, Billy and Fred pursued the three to the Autobot base. Rad, Carlos, and Alexis all tried to outrun them, but soon had to split up when Cyclonus attempted to capture them. Cyclonus chased after Rad, but was thrown off the trail by Laserbeak and so captured Billy and Fred instead, intending to hold them for ransom. They tracked Laserbeak to a ghost town, where the kids tried to rescue the bullies, but all ended up being captured by Megatron, who demanded Optimus Prime hand over all their Autobots' Mini-Cons in exchange for the humans' lives. Optimus Prime went through with it, but Megatron, naturally, refused to hand them over. However, Rad was able to use Laserbeak to free all the other humans, and Hot Shot was able to rescue Rad with Fred's surprising help Confrontation.

The day after that, when Hot Shot whined about having to do work on the ship, Rad facetiously offered to take his place. Before anything could come of this, however, a new Mini-Con was detected in a disused subway system. The kids accompanied the Autobots in their search and actually managed to find the storage panel; as soon as they did, however, Smokescreen, who had been discreetly following them, decided to attack.

And that's how Rad lost his virginity.

A while after that, the Autobots received a transmission from Atlantis and took the kids with them to search for yet another Mini-Con. At the ruins, while the Autobots fought the Decepticons, the kids went inside to look around. A holographic display activated, and Carlos chased after the hologram of Amphitrite; Rad and Alexis followed. 'Amphitrite' gave them a canned history of Atlantis, focusing on how its inhabitants used the Star Saber to dominate the world, and were eventually defeated by another civilisation who wielded the Skyboom Shield. Despite this warning of the danger of the Mini-Cons' power, the kids decided to find the Mini-Con in Atlantis anyway, but it was claimed by Leader-1 for the Decepticons. Dejected, the kids left with Optimus Prime. Rad tried to comfort Carlos Ruin,and when they got back, mused that at last he knew what happened to Atlantis.

He asked Optimus Prime if there was any way to end the war with the Decepticons, to which Optimus gave him the origin of the war and what he knew of the Mini-Cons. Rad changed his line of questioning, asking if there was a way to fight without involving the Mini-Cons; Optimus responded that the Decepticons would use Mini-Cons to fight anyway, and so the Autobots had to do the same to prevent them from capturing any more than they alreadt had.

While searching for the Mini-Con of the week, this time on a volcanic island, Rad sent Laserbeak to look for it at Alexis' prompting. They found it, but it was carried off in a lava floe, and eventually claimed by Red Alert Prehistory.

After that adventure, the trio decided to give Billy and Fred a tour of the Autobot base, but were separated when the Decepticons attacked. Since the bullies were in danger of the automatic defenses, said defenses were shut off, allowing the Decepticons to penetrate deeper into the base that anyone would have liked. However, after a battle, the Star Saber was reassembled and in the hands of Hot Shot, so the day ultimately turned out all right Swoop.

The next day, Rad and Carlos tried to sort out the human quarters on the base while Alexis and Sureshock were out shopping. For some reason, the fridge was full of tools Overmatch.

When Alexis tracked down the next Mini-Con, the trio, plus Billy and Fred, rushed off with the Autobots to cheer them on; Rad and Carlos rode in Hot Shot.

Rad and Carlos were let out by Hot Shot so the Autobot could focus on fighting Cyclonus. At that point, Sideways arrived and dropped off Billy, who hugged Rad. Alexis arrived momentarily.

Back at the base, Alexis and Rad discussed Sideways. Both were deeply suspicious of him , but they decided not to raise their misgivings with Optimus Prime in case it turned out their first impressions were false Gale.

With Hot Shot feeling naturally depressed about this disaster, all five kids tried to cheer him up by making silly faces. They also accompanied the Autobots on their search for the next Mini-Con, and managed to find it at the same time as Blackout, and after a scuffle, it was taken by Scavenger for the Decepticons. Soon after, however, Scavenger came over to the Autobots, and revealed he had been a double agent all along Conspiracy.

In the aftermath of Sideways' betrayal, the trio weren't exactly eager to trust Scavenger. He seemed to be more interested in sleeping than mentoring Hot Shot, but when the kids tried to raise this with Optimus Prime, his explanation was cut short by the detection of still another Mini-Con. The Autobots warped off to somewhere with a lot of snow, while the kids observed from back at base. Scavenger heroically saved Optimus Prime's life, very nearly plunging to his own death, and so the kids (and Smokescreen) apologised to him for their earlier suspicions when he got back, Scavenger accepted with characteristic stoicism Trust.

At some point after that incident, the boys went on a camping trip with Hot Shot and Red Alert, forgetting to tell Alexis. Carlos, Fred, and Billy played in the water and invited a little boy named Shaun to play with them, while Rad tried his hand at fishing.

That evening, a storm blew in, resulting in a landslide which trapped Red Alert, Carlos, and Shaun beneath a massive pile of mud. Optimus Prime ordered Red Alert to transform in order to escape, but Rad explained that there was a human news crew present, and so Red Alert transforming would completely blow the Autobots' cover. Hence, he deployed Laserbeak to distract the reporters while the rest of the Autobots rolled in and saved the day in their altmodes. Everybody returned to base post haste, where they found Alexis waiting with baited breath. Fond reunions were had be all Vacation.

All five kids were present at the battle in which Blurr made his first appearance. They tried to make friends with the new arrival, but he turned out to belong to the monosyllabic loner school of heroism.However, Blurr did mellow out a little when his refusal to work as a team led to the Decepticons getting their servos on Downshift, so it mostly turned out all right Reinforcement.

The next day, Blurr and Hot Shot trained together while the kids watched. They also congratuated Smokescreen for succeeding in a test where Hot Shot failed, even though Hot Shot only failed because he was competing with Blurr in addition to trying to dodge the obstacles.

This session was interrupted when Megatron challenged all the Autobots to a final, decisive battle. Due to the danger, the kids were left at the base to watch the proceedings from afar. Megatron would have won if Optimus Prime hadn't managed to get his hands on the Skyboom shield, and when the Star Saber was used against the shield, a mighty light was released which Rad and Alexis recognised as the same one that they had seen whe High Wire was awoken. This light streaked off into space, to awaken Unicron Decisive Battle.

Despite this victory, the Optimus Prime decided the situation was too dangerous for the kids and barred them from the base. Frustrated, they wandered off, but were soon joined by the Street Action Mini-Con Team, who had received a transmission from the Decepticon-allied Mini-Cons on the Moon. Fred came up with the idea that the Decepticon Mini-Cons were lonely and wanted to join up with their friends on Earth, so he and Rad went to deliver the message to Optimus Prime while the rest headed to the warp gate. Unable to enter the base, Rad sent Laserbeak to deliver the message, prompting Optimus Prime and Hot Shot to emerge and take matters into their own hands; Blurr and Smokescreen followed.

However, the transmission soon turned out to be a trap orchestrated by Megatron, who was seeking to divide and conquer. Rad, Fred, and the Autobots who had left the base found themselves with Megatron in a forested area, far from reinforcements. Megatron again divided their forces, sending Optimus Prime to a rocky area with only Rad and Fred for company. Then, just to confuse them, Megatron send the three to an abandoned town and a desert; along the way, Optimus Prime explained that the Mini-Cons viewed Megatron as something akin to a father-figure, and thus his control would not be easy to break.

In the desert, Megatron and his Mini-Cons fought Optimus Prime whle Rad and Fred cheered from the sidelines. Optimus Prime's refusal to harm the Mini-Cons led to them defecting to the Autobots, just as Alexis managed to re-stablish contact. The rest of the Autobots teleported in and drove off Megatron, leaving the Autobots victorious once again Vow.

After that adventure, the kids were allowed back into the Autobots' base, but were still not taken on missions. Rad found himself in the unenviable position to trying to keep the bored Carlos and cranky Alexis from murdering each other. Despite not being at the front of the action, the war would still impinge on their lives when Sideways hacked the Autobots' computer system. Despite Rad and Alexis' best efforts, Sideways' virus quickly took control of the base and projected himself into it. Faced with no other options, the trio resorted to physically smashing the terminals, which granted them a brief reprieve.

However, this relief proved to be short-lived when Sideways sucked the minds of the kids as well as their partner Mini-Cons into a cyberspace landscape of his own devising. Rad and Carlos actually enjoyed the lack of gravity in this new realm for a while before Sideways' digital avatar appeared to them and tried to claim their Mini-Cons.

Back at the base, Billy and Fred tried to wake the trio up. Meanwhile, in cyberspace, the kids and Mini-Cons fled Sideways, and discovered that all they saw was just an elaborate illusion. Sideways managed to capture Sureshock, but then Alexis realized that since he had gone to so much effort, he clearly wasn't in control of this illusion - and also that he couldn't really harm them.

At this, Sideways panicked and made a desperate bid to take the Mini-Cons, but the kids' lack of belief in the world they saw put paid to that plan. At that point, a massive force of evil manifested in cyberspace - Unicron, the one entity Sideways feared! The kids fled back to the meatspace through a portal opened by Red Alert, leaving Sideways to his master's mercies Chase.

When Fred tried to tell the others about strange lights seen recently in space, Rad just thought he was being silly. All the kids expressed relief when Sideways appeared on the battlefield during the next Mini-Con related skirmish, as this meant he couldn't hack their system again. The Autobots won this battle, bringing Prowl into the fold, and the kids were all there to welcome him when they took him back to base. When Fred's story about strange lights turned out to be the arrival of Thrust and Jetfire, Rad was especially pleased to welcome the newest Autobot Tactician.

In a subsequent battle, Optimus Prime was seriously injured, forcing Jetfire to take command. None of the kids were impressed by the new guy's constant boasting. They also got a brief history lesson on battles the Autobots had lost due to Thrust's tactical genius; while Carlos was confident that Jetfire could easily counter Thrust, the others weren't so sure.

As it turned out, the kids were right about Jetfire, as his overconfidence nearly led to the Autobots losing the next Mini-Con to surface. To his credit, Jetfire was contrite, saying he had learned his lesson and would be more cautious in future Linkup.

The next day, the kids watched Jetfire and Smokescreen arm wrestling. They also filled in Jetfire on what Sideways had gotten up to. Jetfire then displayed his cunning side by showing the kids a photo of Sideways shooting down Cyclonus, which cast doubt on the turncoat's allegiance to the Decepticons. The kids tried to figure out what Sideways' deal was, while the Autobots went to obtain yet another Mini-Con Detection.

While the Autobots were dealing with Tidal Wave, two Mini-Cons were detected in addition to the one the Transformers were at the time specifically fighting over - one on the Moon, and the other right in the Autobot base! The kids and Street Action Mini-Cons rushed off to look for the one on Earth, locating it when Fred fell through a rotten floor. This Mini-Con revealed itself as Sky Blast before shooting High Wire and running off Awakening. The kids gave chase, and Rad managed to persuade Sky Blast that he wasn't in any danger. After Rad promised his protection to Sky Blast, Red Alert took the trio to the beach where the factions' main forces were duking it out; while Alexis alerted the other Autobots to the situation, Rad and Carlos sought out Payload.

After some fighting, Sky Blast walked off and played a melody which awoke both Payload on the beach and Astroscope on the moon; the three Mini-Cons came together and did indeed form the Requiem Blaster, which Optimus Prime obtained and used to obliterate the Decepticons. Rad realized that the Mini-Cons weren't afraid of fighting per se, but rather of their power falling into the wrong hands Desperate.

Out of concern for the rights of the Space Mini-Con Team, Rad and the other kids disguised the Mini-Cons in baggy clothes and took them to a farm outside the city, pursued by the Autobots. At an abandoned farmhouse, they set up a complex system of home-made traps and alarms which worked surprisingly well when Thrust inevitably arrived; while they didn't manage to actually stop the Decepticon, they did delay him long enough for Optimus Prime to arrive and drive him off.

When the other Autobots arrived, Rad took a stand and urged the Autobots to see the Mini-Cons as individuals, not as weapons of war to be exploited and then tossed aside. Surprisingly, Optimus Prime had much the same view, and explained that they were fighting so the Mini-Cons would be free to live in peace, and if any of them wanted to join the stuggle, that was their decision. Satisfied, the kids and Mini-Cons returned to base Runaway.

All three kids were present when Side Swipe made his rather eager appearance at the base, but they weren't terribly impressed and went off to play a video game Past, Part 1 at which Alexis beat all comers Past II.

Later, the kids stayed at the base with Red Alert when the Autobots went out to counter a Decepticon attack. However, this attack proved to be nothing more than a distraction posed by Starscream, while the rest of the 'Cons attacked the Autobot base in search of the Requiem Blaster. The kids ran for hiding before the Autobots warped back, and bore witness to Megatron obtaining the Blaster and using it on Smokescreen, apparently killing him Sacrifice. However, things would soon improve somewhat when the Starscream joined the ranks of the Autobots. Though the kids were initially suspicious, they eventually welcomed him when they saw his attendant Mini-Cons genuinely looked up to him Regeneration. Despite this display of camaraderie, Starscream dismissed them, as he was only concerned with defeating Megatron Rescue. Undeterred, the kids asked Starscream to bring them back a souvenir when he and Jetfire travelled to Mars in search of a Mini-Con panel. In spite of his rude, lone-wolf demeanor, Starscream brought back a mysterious green rock for the kids, thus earning him a place in their heartsMars.

In return for his kindness, the kids threw Starscream a surprise party, sewing a large Chamois of Friendship out of several smaller rags. Starscream was touched by this, but unfortunately abandoned the gift ten minutes later when he was duped into returning to the Decepticons by Thrust, ostensibly so as to destroy Megatron Crack. In the aftermath, Carlos and Billy were enraged, and so Rad and Alexis had to try and calm them down. They all went home to blow off some steam; Rad watched TV without paying any attention or interest.

The next day, all the kids returned to the base to discover the Autobots and their allied Mini-Cons working quickly to complete the Axalon in order to retrieve the Decepticons' Mini-cons. The kids discussed Starscream a bit and decided never to speak of him again; Rad tried to comfort Alexis, but she said she was fine. At Fred's suggestion, they all went to see a comet. Afterwards, Alexis, still upset over Starscream, went home, and Rad left with her. Not long after that, the Decepticons launched their assault on Earth using the Hydra Cannon Threaten. Rad and Alexis raced back to their friends, and all the kids just kind of stood around wondering what to do Crisis.

As it turned out, the Decepticons were thwarted through the noble sacrifice of Optimus Prime. The kids all suffered a heartfelt grief, and Rad mused that Prime knew he would die and how unfair it was that nobody on Earth knew he had saved their lives.

Over the next week, the Autobots busied themselves with completing the Axalon, but Hot Shot and Scavenger soon came to blows. The kids were confused by this and followed the two to an abandoned highway, where it turned out Scavenger was trying to snap Hot Shot out of his own depression. When the rest of the Autobots joined in abusing Hot Shot, the kids tried to persuade them that bullying their youngest member wouldn't help anything, but were overruled by Red Alert, who insisted that they had to get this out of their system.

After a while of this, Hot Shot did come to terms with Optimus Prime's death, and everybody's morale was raised; it was raised so much so, in fact, that Hot Shot was chosen as the Autobots' new commander Remorse.

Under Hot Shot's understandably unsteady command, the Axalon was soon completed and preparations made to depart for Cybertron. The kids were looking forward to seeing another planet, and so were naturally miffed when Hot Shot told them that he was leaving them on Earth where it was safe. High Wire, too, told Rad to remain on Earth - in English, surprisingly. All the kids glumly returned home.

When he got home, Rad had breakfast with his parents and tried to subtly raise the subject of his not being allowed to leave the planet by asking them if they ever wanted to go into space. The adults brushed him off, just telling him to finish his breakfast.

That night, he woke up his parents and spilled the beans on the Transformers, Mini-Cons, and the war. For some reason, they found his story about alien robots that turn into cars impluasible, and told him to go back to bed. However, his father seemed to sense he was trying to tell the truth, and came into his room a few hours later. The two had a heart to heart talk, and father told son that he could go to Cybertron provided he promised to return.

Rad was thrilled at this, and ran over to Carlos' house at the crack of dawn. To his delight, Carlos had also packed his bags, as had Alexis, who they met after leaving. The three skipped over to the Autobot base, but when they arrived, Hot Shot once again insisted that it was too dangerous for them to come along. Upon hearing this, the Mini-Cons collectively rebelled and blocked all the ship's systems, refusing to budge until the kids were allowed on. Hot Shot relented, and the kids and Autobots blasted off into space Depart.

During the journey, the kids bore witness to the arrival of thousands of new Mini-Cons and the rebirth of Optimus Prime Miracle, the conflict with Nemesis Prime, and the Mini-Con powered recoloration of several Autobots and Decepticons Puppet.

Following a confrontation with the Decepticons, the Autobots arrived at Cybertron, to discover it had already been conquered by Galvatron. When the Street Action Mini-Cons tried to sneak down to the surface, Rad and Alexis supported their desire to set foot on their home planet, in opposition to Carlos' fears for the little ones' safety Uprising. With the Mini-Cons gone, the kids were left with nothing much to do but watch the lights of battle on the surface. They did try to stop Hot Shot making a one-robot mission to the heart of the Decepticon stronghold to warn Galvatron about the impending threat of Unicron, but then Rad persuaded everyone to let him go ahead with it Dash.

At some point, Rad found a human-sized shower on the ship and, when he was in the middle of using it, Carlos walked in. Rad expressed an odd feeling that he'd met High Wire before, but Carlos just thought he was being loco.

Shortly thereafter, they got a transmission from High Wire that Hot Shot, Wheeljack, and Starscream were independently chasing Thrust (who had in the meantime allied with Sideways and Unicron) down a suspiciously organic corridor deep beneath Cybertron. The lads went to see Alexis, and the trio then joined up with their partner Mini-Cons to plunge deep into the heart of Cybertron.

They came across Starscream standing off against Thrust in a chamber. Thrust seized the opportunity and threatened the kids with the Requiem Blaster, and so Starscream, remembering their earlier kindness, bravely threw himself into the path of the blast, saving them. At that point, time warped and the Rad found himself on Earth several years in the past, arriving at his new home. He asked where the Transformers were, but his parents just assumed he was confusing a dream with reality.

Time warped again, and he found himself with Alexis and Carlos millions of years in the past, in an [[alternate timeline. They encountered Hot Shot, apparently being molested by creepy tentacles; Hot Shot revealed that the Mini-Cons had been created by Unicron, and the Transformers' use of them had led to the downfall of the entire race.

With that happy thought, the kids were sent back even further in time, where they witnessed the first Mini-Cons being spawned. Among these were High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor, but they didn't recognise the kids. Rad grabbed High Wire, and the little robot imprinted in some way on the little human. High Wire gained both free will and a somewhat childish disposition, which then spread telepathically among all the other Mini-Cons. Rad urged the Mini-Cons to leave Cybertron and go to Earth, thus creating a temporal paradox.

Finally, the kids were warped back to a few seconds back before Thrust killed Starscream, allowing the Mini-Cons to combine into Perceptor and knock Thrust's aim off. Thrust's blast was redirected towards the ceiling Starscream was saved. However, the ceiling then collapsed, but Starscream used his own body to shield the kids while Thrust flew off. At that point, Hot Shot and Wheeljack arrived Drift.

The team continued to explore the tunnels, and the various organic... things soon separated Alexis and Starscream from the rest. Rad, Carlos, and the Mini-Cons and carbots made it to the surface without any major incidents, where they met up with Alexis and Starscream again. Then, they made two shocking discoveries in quick succession. First, the organic tunnels they had been exploring were actually the interior of one of Cybertron's moon. Second, that moon wasn't actually a moon, but the dormant body of Unicron. Unicron chose that moment to awaken, and Jetfire arrived just in time to take the kids to safety Portent.

When Alexis' necklace broke, coinciding with Starscream's death, Alexis ran off in tears, and Rad tried to comfort her Cramp, and later he attended the cease-fire meeting between the Autobots and Decepticons Alliance.

When Optimus Prime and Galvatron managed to sneak inside Unicron, the Street Action Mini-Cons decided the follow, and the trio tagged along as well to help in any way they could Union. They found the two leaders restrained by Unicron's tentacles, with Unicron trying to verbally break Optimus Prime through Sideways' vocal synthesiser. Unicron destroyed the Mini-Cons' human-derived personalities, restoring them to blank drones, and then dragged the kids into a bizarre mindscape. However, the kids' mental fortitude was strong enough not only to break Unicron's thrall over them, but also to restore the individual personalities of the Mini-Cons. The kids and Mini-Cons then managed to release the weapons, allowing Optimus Prime to blow up Sideways with the Requiem Blaster.

However, on the way out, Galvatron challenged Optimus Prime to a final battle Origin, on the grounds that as long as both of them still existed, the hatred and enmity would last forever and thus Unicron would never be permanently defeated. The kids fled, and were picked up by Jetfire and Cyclonus on Unicron's surface. Optimus Prime won the battle, and Unicron and Galvatron were both (apparently) destroyed.

Hot Shot and Jetfire returned the kids to Earth, where they said tearful (but temporary) goodbyes. Rad thought he'd particularly miss the mini-Cons, and was also concerned for the fate of Optimus Prime. He mused that Optimus would always be a part of them Mortal Combat.

Energon cartoon

Voice actor: Kirby Morrow (English), Masataka Nakai (Japanese), Christian Jernbro (Swedish), Vincent Barazzoni (French)

Rad, you dirty dog.

By 2020, Rad had been shipped off to Cybertron and was working as an assistant to Dr. Brian Jones, presumably because he wouldn't shut up about the Transformers. Cybertron City

Much to Dr. Jones's chagrin, his daughter appeared to have a thing for Rad.

Eww...

Cybertron cartoon

Every girl's crazy about a sharp-dressed Rad.

In 2030, Rad, Carlos, and Alexis were still alive. They were present at the launching of the four ancient colony ships as they began the second attempt at a galaxy-spanning Space Bridge network.

Rad looked pretty damn dapper in a suit. Beginning

Dreamwave comics continuity

Armada comic

Rad was the one to activate the crashed Mini-Con vessel, bringing to life its crew and alerting the Autobots and the Decepticons to Earth. Armada #3 After being saved, Rad, Carlos, and Alexis, having bonded with the Mini-Cons, wanted to help, but Optimus Prime stated that they shouldn't be involved. Armada #6

Much later, Rad was made a prisoner of the Mini-Con Destruction Team, held captive on their moonbase and strapped to a bomb. Armada #9 He was saved in time, of course, Armada #11 then again told by Optimus Prime to stay clear of harm's way as the Autobots departed to confront Unicron.

Energon comic

Ten years later, after Kicker Jones and Alexis were captured by Terrorcons, and taken to Scorponok, the Autobots mounted a rescue effort. Rad snatched Alexis from the jaws of danger as the Autobots and Terrorcons battled before using his hovercraft to blow up the energon collection rigs. What Lies Beneath, Part Three

Rad later whined a lot about Alexis being worldly and active as a peace activist. She tried to say a tender goodbye, but he brushed her off and upset her. An attack from Battle Ravage caused a series of explosions that seem to eliminate Alexis, upsetting Rad. Multiplicity Alexis turned out to be alive, and he embraced her before urging her to get into his jeep to escape the destruction. Multiplicity, Pt. 2

Dreamwave folded before... you know... Barry White?

Panini Armada comics

... this just takes all the fun out of irony.

After accidentally dropping down a hole one day, Rad found the remains of a spaceship hidden underground. He brought Carlos with him to explore it, but ended up bumping into some machinery and reawakening the Mini-Con High Wire. After leaving the caves and meeting with Alexis, the kids tried to communicate with High Wire, only to come under attack from Megatron. They were saved by Optimus Prime, and High Wire grabbed Rad and his friends and took them to the other Mini-Cons. First Encounter! When he heard that the Mini-Cons weren't getting involved with the Autobot-Decepticon war again, Rad became angry—Optimus Prime was getting his aft handed to him by Megatron, and they were just going to abandon him? Rad decided to take matters into his own hands and confronted Megatron, offering to take him to the Mini-Con ship in exchange for sparing Optimus Prime. However, Megatron wasn't big on deals, and merely threatened to kill Rad if he didn't show him the ship right away. He ended up being saved by High Wire and the other Mini-Cons, who had changed their minds upon witnessing his feat of bravery. After Megatron had been chased off, Optimus Prime also complimented Rad on his courage, even if it hadn't been the smartest move. Friends and Foes!

Rad and his friends quickly befriended the Street Action Mini-Con Team and had a great time racing in the desert on them. Their fun and games ended when Optimus Prime ordered both humans and Mini-Cons to go get the locator log from the wrecked Mini-Con ship. When they found the log, they were attacked Demolishor, who incapacitated the Street Action Team. Quickly improvising a plan, Rad grabbed the locator log and hid it in an unstable part of the caves. When Demolishor followed, he accidentally caused it to explode, and was buried in the ensuing rockfall. Deep Trouble! Some time later, Rad was learning chemistry at school when the troublesome twosome Billy and Fred messed up his experiment behind his back. Not only did this get him into trouble with the teacher, but he also noticed that High Wire was sneaking around on the school grounds. Rad decided to bolt, and found that Carlos and Alexis had had similar problems with their Mini-Con friends trying to adapt to life on Earth. He didn't really mind the Mini-Cons' little mistakes, and promised to guide them personally. Just a Memory!

When the Autobots decided to send the Mini-Cons back to their home planet, Rad said he refused to let it "end like this", but didn't actually do anything about it. When Megatron arrived to put a stop to it, Rad tried to trick him that the Mini-Cons were already gone, so he might as well leave too. When Megatron made it clear he wouldn't leave Earth just because some five or six Mini-Cons went home, the plan was canceled and the Mini-Cons remained on Earth. No Way Back! Some time later, Rad caught wind of Sparkplug's plan to save the Mini-Cons held in the Decepticon headquarters. He thought it was a stupid plan, and convinced the Autobots to send a shuttle to stop him. Into the Lions' Den!

During another race around the desert, Rad and his friends were interrupted by Starscream, who would very much like to capture the Street Action Team. High Wire threw Rad off of him and told him to get help. When Rad expressed doubt that the Street Action Team could stand up to Starscream, the three Mini-Cons proved him wrong by combining into Perceptor. In the aftermath of the battle, an impressed Rad was hi-fiving with High Wire when they were suddenly approached by a man named Amos Hume. The Two-Edged Sword Amos explained that he had been given a message by a Mini-Con long ago, which Rad didn't find too hard to believe. After introducing Amos to the other Mini-Cons, the kids and Autobots used the message he had received to locate and rescue the Land Military Mini-Con Team. Sale of the Century!

Legends anthology

One Halloween, the kids attempted to explain the holiday to their three Mini-Cons, and ended up taking them Trick-or-Treating. Rad explained they could t.p. the houses of people who didn't give them candy. Something Robotic This Way Comes

Associated characters

Their workplace is no Ruby Crystal Mines of Burma, but it'll do.

Even they don't want to hear about the Transformers.

• • In the Dreamwave comic, Rad's unnamed parents, Mr. and Mrs. White (Dr. and Dr.?), work at the Cosmoscope Research Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.

• • In the animated series, they looked totally different.

Notes

• According to the now-defunct TV Tokyo Micron Legend website, Rad was 12 years old at the start of Armada. The page also stated that he enjoyed outdoor sports, and implied that Optimus Prime gave him Laserbeak as a personal possession.

• The Transformers Armada Official Guidebook backs up that Rad was 12 years old at the start of Armada, and that he enjoyed outdoor sports, specifically on his BMX bike.

• Rad's catchphrase "I'm here to tell you about the Transformers!" (sometimes varies as "I want to tell you about...) is from his introductory narration during the main titles sequence of the earlier episodes of Armada. Needless to say, this became rather repetitive after twenty or so episodes.

• Rad has the unfortunate penchant of saying '"Wicked Sweet!", usually when something impresses him greatly. It is quite possible that by 2010 this will be an acceptable form of slang. Alternately, perhaps Rad was from Boston originally.