Drift (G1)

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

This article is a featured article, and considered to be one of the most informative on this wiki.

Drift is an Autobot from the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

"Oh Drift-chan, you smell awesome, and not at all like feet!"

Drift (ドリフト Dorifuto) was not always an Autobot. In fact, he slaughtered quite a few when he was known as the Decepticon Deadlock. But Deadlock's eyes were opened to what the Transformers' war had become when he stumbled across a lost faction of neutral Transformers long since forgotten. He discarded his ruthless ways, abandoned his guns for swords, and changed his name and appearance. When Drift returned to the Transformer war to make right what he put wrong, he was a bot of few words and disciplined action.

These days, Drift is a member of a ragtag team of rebels under the command of Kup, working alongside many members of the disbanded Wreckers. Because of his brutal past, Drift isn't well-liked or trusted by a few of the Autobots. The rest don't seem to care, so long as his skills are used against the other side!

In addition to the two swords kept in his hip scabbards, Drift carries a legendary Great Sword. An ancient weapon that predates modern civilization, the Great Sword draws upon the spark energy of its bearer, and as such must only be used in the most dire of circumstances.

We're going about this the wrong way, all of us! After countless centuries of fighting ... the Autobots are a step away from what we were when all this started. And us—the Decepticons have become something worse than any of us could have imagined.Drift explains his new perception of the war to his former commander, "Spotlight: Drift"

Fiction

IDW comics continuity

This section covers fiction that is ongoing. It will be added to as the story progresses. If it isn't current, you can help by updating it.

"Eh....Inferno, tell to Death Blade that if he calling me that again, his name will become DEATH BOT!"

Drift was originally a homeless Cybertronian, living on the streets and stealing energon to survive. The hopeless 'bot was befriended by Gasket, but when Gasket was killed by Autobot law enforcement after trying to stop them from executing a thief, Drift exploded with rage, grabbed the nearest gun and killed them all. Drift's knack for violence attracted the attention of the Cybertronian underground, who trained Drift as a killer. Amongst this group, Drift realized the level of corruption in the Senate, and a recruitment rally held by Megatron drew Drift in with his talk of equality. Megatron singled Drift out of the crowd, claiming to have heard great things of him, and asked him to join the Decepticons to fight for a better Cybertron. Drift agreed and, after being was hailed by the crowd, was renamed Deadlock by Megatron. Drift #2 Drift rose to become the second-in-command of Turmoil, garnering a reputation as a vicious and merciless fighter.

Deadlock prefers to pose so his legs don't block any of the action.

Much later, on an unknown planet, Deadlock led a battalion against an Autobot squadron. The Autobots' leader called a retreat, and Deadlock's team celebrated. This was spoiled when one of the soldiers pointed out that Deadlock had been ordered to merely observe, and once again had disobeyed orders. When the soldier threatened to inform Turmoil of Deadlock's disobedience, Deadlock killed him. Claiming Turmoil was too cautious and that it was time for new leadership, he called for the other soldiers to follow him, but they summarily captured him and brought him to Turmoil. Turmoil used a stasis lock to trap him in robot mode and attempted to execute him. Deadlock managed to escape, and after initiating an emergency protocol to cover his escape, stole an escape pod and departed the ship.

Deadlock crashed on an unknown planet. After scaling some, he found a massive structure, but before he could explore, a mysterious cloaked figure appeared, named Wing. Wing offered a deal: help him free the slaves, and he would find Deadlock a ship. Deadlock, introducing himself as "Drift," agreed, but first Drift said he needed guns. Together, they jumped some guards and stole their weapons, however a stray blast stripped Wing of his cloak, revealing him to be Cybertronian. Once they jumped into the complex, Drift automatically fled for the ship, abandoning Wing. Despite this betrayal, when Drift was attacked and nearly killed by one the slavers, Wing brought Drift back with him to a new Crystal City, where he was repaired. Drift #1

"We were okay with your old legs. Rest had to go."

Wing explained that they were the Circle of Light, a group of Cybertronian scholars and scientists who abandoned the planet during the early days of the war in order to find peace and preserve Cybertron's culture. Wing and Drift were taken to a meeting with Crystal City's leader, Dai Atlas. While Drift waited outside, Wing was admonished for bringing a corrupting influence to the city. He was ordered to keep Drift with him at all times. Afterward, Wing brought Drift to an empty room, discarded his swords and asked him what the Decepticon symbol stood for. Drift replied it meant strength, power and conviction, and the belief in the survival of the strongest. Wing offered Drift a chance to earn his freedom by defeating him without guns in combat, but Drift never succeeded. Drift grumbled that he'd never learned to fight without projectile weaponry.

Weeks later, Wing was still dominating Drift. Over time, Drift admitted that Crystal City held everything Drift had ever wanted, while the Decepticons had lost sight of this goal some time ago. Their sparring was interrupted by a summons from Dai Atlas. When they arrived in the control room, he informed them that they had received a coded signal and he thought Drift might be able to translate. Though Drift claimed he could not understand it, that night he snuck out of the city and drove far into the desert. There he met with the slavers, who had used a Decepticon code to offer Drift a deal. The code had been obtained from Lockdown, a Decepticon sent by Megatron. The deal was simple: hand over the location of the Circle of Light or die. Drift #2

Man, I bet those dumb G2 guys wish they had this kind of endurance.

Lockdown reminded "Deadlock" of his high-standing in the Decepticon army. Megatron held Deadlock in high esteem, and by guarding these Transformers Drift stood to lose that. Meanwhile, the head slaver, Braid, required Cybertronian bodies to experiment on, and were willing to take captives from the neutral camp in lieu of Deadlock, in payment for the property he'd damaged earlier. After agreeing to lead the neutral Transformers into an ambush, Drift stumbled back to Crystal City, where he informed the Circle of Light about the pact he'd made with Lockdown and the slavers. Drift argued that they should fight their attackers to preserve their freedom and their way of life, but Dai Atlas sharply disagreed. He would have no fighting at all, even to preserve his own life, and blamed Drift for ruining their civilization. The others did not agree, and supported Drift. A small number of them offered to help fight the slavers while keeping the true number of their population unknown. As they reached the surface with a hastily constructed craft to make it appear as if the Circle of Light had recently crashed there, Drift revealed himself to have been rebuilt head-to-toe to match his new colleagues. With a sword mounted on each hip, Drift announced he was ready. Drift #3

Soon, Lockdown and the slavers were upon them. After slaying a few of the slavers, Drift realized that he was past the point of no return. Lockdown realized this as well, and asked the former Decepticon why he'd given it all away so easily. "What I've always wanted... the promise of a better Cybertron." But their sparring was interrupted by the death of Wing. Enraged, Drift jumped Braid, Wing's murderer, but he did not accomplish much. He was not as agile a fighter as his late friend, and Braid easily defeated him.

Before the killing blow could be delivered, Crystal City in its entirety rose from the ground, as Wing's death had spurred Dai Atlas into action. With the entirety of the population now fighting the slavers, the tide was quickly turned. Despite his injuries, Drift slew Braid with his Great Sword, while Lockdown, startled at Drift's transformation, cut his losses and left. Though the Circle of Light asked Drift to stay with them, Drift reminded them that he'd promised Wing to return the freed slaves to their homes. Drift was given Wing's Great Sword and given their blessing. Drift #4

He's your horrible fancharacter.

Some time after leaving Crystal City and returning the slaves, Drift set off to make a difference in the Autobot/Decepticon Civil War. First, he attempted to free a group of Autobots held captive on the ship he'd previously served aboard. Upon entering Turmoil's ship, his attempt at stealth was successful until the Wreckers arrived and blasted their way aboard. Jumping into the battle to assist them, he piqued the interest of a few Autobots. Perceptor was injured as Turmoil entered the battle and, recognizing Drift's voice as that of his former lieutenant, attempted to destroy him. However, his attack only resulted in knocking Drift and Kup to another room. The two quickly worked together to program the ship to overload. In his final confrontation with Turmoil, Drift stated his intention was to help, not kill, and left to rescue Perceptor before the ship blew up.

After his arrival on the Autobot ship, Kup invited Drift to join his new unit as an Autobot. Spotlight: Drift

He thinks he's turning Japanese, he thinks he's turning Japanese, he really thinks so.

Now a crew member of the spacecraft Trion, Drift got to know his new teammate Blurr over many friendly games of Go. Perceptor felt he owed a debt to Drift for saving his life, and so devoted much of his time to upgrading himself for more combat-oriented tasks. While Kup discouraged this, Drift stoically accepted Perceptor's new ambitions. Lost & Found

They were soon baited into a Decepticon ambush over Cybertron. The Trion's command codes were hacked due to their being sold to the Decepticons by an Autobot traitor, and, left defenseless, it was forced to crash-land on the desolate landscape of the planet. Eventually, the crew were found by Optimus Prime's unit, who unfortunately proved to be also stranded. When Mirage was revealed by Jazz to have been standing invisibly among them, Drift was the only one who didn't appear surprised. All Hail Megatron #5

Seriously, you made this guy up when you were eight.

When an advance scout of the Insecticon Swarm discovered the Autobots' base camp, Drift was dispatched to take care of it. Drift stood stock-still as the creature walked up to him, greeting it with a simple, smirking "hello" as the monstrous beast snarled in his face. Finally, he beheaded the scout with a single wave of his sword. A second creature tried to attack Drift from behind, but the smirking Autobot merely tilted his head slightly, allowing Perceptor to kill the beast with some precision sniping. Cliffjumper thought the incident was the coolest thing ever. All Hail Megatron #6

After Sunstreaker revealed to Ironhide that he was the traitor, an army of the Swarm came after them. Drift saved Ironhide while Sunstreaker blew up a bridge, killing himself and the Swarm army. Later, Drift visited Ironhide and claimed that the Decepticons had access to the Autobots' systems in a way that Sunstreaker couldn't possibly have. Ironhide asked if this meant there was a second traitor, but Drift replied that there was simply more to the situation than they knew. All Hail Megatron #8

When Mirage was showing some doubt in the Autobot cause, it was Drift who said that, now more than ever, the Autobots should continue being who they are. Bumblebee insinuated that Drift had no right to say something like that, which started an argument that was only stopped by the return of Optimus Prime. All Hail Megatron #9

Drift-slap! 'Cracker don't take crap!

Drift took part in the battle against the Swarm and joined the others in escaping Cybertron in Omega Supreme. All Hail Megatron #10. On Earth, he battled the Decepticons, and when Thundercracker volunteered to divert the humans' nuclear bomb, Drift attempted to congratulate his former comrade on seeing the light. Thundercracker called him a traitor, slapping Drift's hand away and claiming he was merely following the Decepticons' true ideal.All Hail Megatron #12

Two years later, Drift was still with the Autobots, hiding on Earth. ...For All Mankind After Optimus Prime left the Autobots, Drift decided to stay with the larger group, rather than leave with Rodimus and his fellow defectors. Drift celebrated Bumblebee's election with numerous other Autobots. The Hanging Sword

At some point Drift traveled to Japan and did some drift racing all by himself. Drift #4

Drift was among the Autobots who confronted Galvatron and his troops when they crashed their ship in Las Vegas, bringing with them a zombie invasion. The Transformers: Infestation issue 1 The Autobots and Decepticons worked together to banish the zombies to the Dead Universe, though Drift himself really just stood silently in the background the whole time. The Transformers: Infestation issue 2

Robot Heroes

He makes it so hard to like him and then he does this. So confused!

Drift was Optimus Prime's friend and always let his actions speak louder than words. When the Autobots arrived on Earth, he hid himself in a lake. Upon Optimus's order, he transformed into his car mode to roll out. Later, when the Decepticons attacked, he pushed Starscream over a tripwire held by some of the Autobots' human allies. I Am Optimus Prime

Toys

Generations

Comes with a gun that shoots swords.

• Autobot Drift (Deluxe, 2010)
  • Accessories: Two "dual swords", one large sword

Generations Drift transforms into a cross between an Nissan Silvia S15 and the Mitsubishi FTO. In vehicle mode, Drift's two shorter "dual swords" store inside his doors (which double as his hip sheaths during robot mode), while the larger sword stores in a set of grooves on the underside of his vehicle (also used in robot mode). It can also be stored (in robot mode) in the doors where the windows fold up. Behind his windshield kibble is his pre-Earth chest design, in a nod to the form Drift had been seen in almost exclusively at the time of the toy's unveiling. Due to his ball jointed wrists, Drift is one of the few Transformers figures that can hold a sword with a two-handed grip. Left unmentioned in the instructions is that the clip that holds his large sword is on a small concealed arm that allows the sword to move away from his back and out of the way of his legs and shoulders. Drift's swords are made from a kid-friendly flexible material, and therefore care must be taken to avoid warping. His hand holes are slightly larger than 5mm, but taper toward the bottom.

While Drift's Earth mode designs showed him sporting the katakana ドリフト (Dorifuto) on his car doors, the toy instead sports the kanji 侍 (samurai). The large sword sports the kanji 天下無双 (tenka musō, "peerless under heaven", or just "peerless" if you're not feeling idiomatic.)

Drift's mold was retooled into Generations Blurr and will be redecoed into Shattered Glass Drift

• More information on Autobot Drift at TFU.info

United

I am the white void, I am the cold steel, I am the just sword, with blade in hand I shall reap the sins of this world and cleanse it in the fires of destruction! I am Drift, the end has come!

• Autobot Drift (Deluxe, 12-25-2010)
  • Japanese ID number: UN-08
  • Accessories: Two "dual swords", one large sword

Part of the first wave of Transformers United toys, the TakaraTomy release of "Autobot Drift" is cast in a brighter white plastic, a cooler gray, and features more paint applications in vehicle mode, and on his head, arms and chest to make him more accurate to his comic book appearances. The light red of the Hasbro version is now more crimson in color and the sword's gray is slightly altered from the Hasbro release.

Merchandise

Speed Stars

Don't flip me over! Uguu~!

• Drift (Mini-Vehicle, 2011?)
  • Series: Double Siders
  • Number: ?

Speed Stars Drift is a small, non-transforming, die-cast car based on his Generations toy's vehicle mode. His robot mode is sculpted on the bottom of the vehicle. As part of the "Double Siders" series, Drift features oversized tires that allow him roll upside down.

This mold was also used to make Speed Stars Breakdown.

Notes

• Commenting on what inspired him to create Drift, writer/creator Shane McCarthy said that "I wanted a character in AHM that had a particular element to him that I didn't see readily available elsewhere and secondly because, frankly, I thought it would be a great idea for Hasbro to have an Autobot Drift racer." He later said he wanted to show what'd happen if a former Decepticon became an Autobot. Drift's Japanese overtones are meant to be a tip of the hat "to the country that gave birth to [Transformers]."

• Drift's name is derived from the Japanese driving technique of "drifting," rendered in Japanese as ドリフト走行 (dorifuto sōkō). This is also the source of the Japanese katakana writing on his car mode doors and in Chris Ryall's announcement; it is a transliteration of his English name and is not from Japanese fiction.

• Discarded body designs and head designs for Drift can be found on Guido Guidi's DeviantArt page.

• IDW Publishing initially claimed that Drift had been solicited by Hasbro to receive a toy in the Universe line. This may have been premature, as it was followed several months later with a denial, albeit from Hasbro's Australian offices. This was rebutted by IDW editor Chris Ryall at New York Comic-Con 2009, denied again in the March 2009 Hasbro Q&A for Seibertron.com, and finally acknowledged by Hasbro at BotCon 2009 when early design sketches were unveiled for Drift's toy. The toy itself was first shown at Toy Fair 2010.

• As you might have guessed from some of the captions on this page, Drift is a fairly unpopular character among certain parts of the fandom. Basically, he's frequently viewed as a stereotypical "badass" fan-created "character" with Japanese samurai/ninja stereotypes added in for maximum "awesomeness". The main reason for the criticism, however, is the initial hype the character was given by its creator and IDW, resulting in massive hype backlash for the reasons listed above. Many fans think that while Drift's actual fictional appearances aren't nearly as bad as the most vocal critics make him out to be, he certainly fails to live up to the hype. When IDW included him in I Am Optimus Prime, which was based on the Robot Heroes line-up of figures even though Drift was never even considered for getting a Robot Heroes figure, this further cemented his position as IDW's pet character.