Skyquake (Prime)

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

Skyquake is a Decepticon from the Prime portion of the Aligned continuity family.

Ain't he unglamorous?

Skyquake's loyalties are unlikely to be questioned anytime soon. A Decepticon guardian sent to protect Earth's energon stocks, he is completely loyal to Megatron. He will not only obey every order, he will follow them until Megatron says otherwise, regardless of the passage of time. He also possesses a rather short temper and is not beyond backhanding anyone who frustrates him.

Fiction

Prime cartoon

Voice actor: Richard Green

"Now is coward-killing time!"

Millennia ago, during the great war, Megatron tasked Skyquake with assassinating Optimus Prime at the Battle of Technar. He was later one of a number of Decepticon guardians sent to Earth by Megatron when the planet was seeded with Energon.

In the modern era, he was sought out by Starscream, who needed a strong presence to inspire his troops into believing his reign would be a successful one. However, Skyquake was less amiable to the idea, firmly announcing both his loyalty to Megatron and his lack of faith in Starscream's claims of Megatron's death. Before the pair came to blows, Optimus and Bumblebee appeared on the scene. Skyquake reminded Prime of their encounter during the Battle of Technar, but Optimus still offered both Decepticons a chance at peace. Starscream showed some interest, as long as Optimus bowed to him, causing a frustrated Skyquake to belt him aside and attack Prime. Bumblebee threw himself into the fray but proved more of a distraction than anything else. He did manage to buy Optimus the time to realise Skyquake still lacked a vehicle mode.

I'm okay.

Using the canyon they were battling in to their advantage, the Autobots managed to corner Skyquake. Unfortunately, Agent Fowler appeared in a high-tech military jet, which Skyquake immediately scanned.

Skyquake quickly dominated the battle until Bumblebee threw himself on the jet and, as Skyquake tried to shake him off, ripped out his internals. Bumblebee jumped onto Fowler's plane as a heavily-injured Skyquake crashed into the ground. After Skyquake closed his optics for possibly one last time, Prime sadly noted how things might have been different, before burying the Decepticon. Masters & Students

Notes

• It's a lucky thing Agent Fowler provided a jet with arm and leg kibble underneath for Skyquake to scan!
• While crash-landings have seldom been fatal to Transformers in past series, Prime executive producer Jeff Kline has stated that "When we kill a character, we kill a character." If that intent holds true, then Optimus's line about "burying" Skyquake would seem to indicate we won't be seeing him again.
• Skyquake's alt-mode seems to resemble a stylized F-35 Lightning II fighter jet, an alt-mode shared by Breakaway, and his retool, Thrust.