Laserbeak (DOTM)

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

Laserbeak is a Decepticon in the Dark of the Moon portion of the live-action continuity family.

Spy. Assassin. Invisible tea enthusiast.

An example of Cybertronian wildlife re-engineered to serve Transformers, Laserbeak serves the Decepticons primarily as a scout and spy for Soundwave. But that doesn't mean he isn't capable of other tasks, such as hunting down targets for capture, be they human or Autobot. Perhaps the most useful of his abilities is to transform into almost any type of alt-mode, even those who aren't alt-modes.

Fiction

Convergence

Laserbeak crewed the Nemesis with Soundwave and his other minions. He informed Soundwave the energy reading they detected was growing stronger and more distinct as they approached: it was the AllSpark. When another ship crashed into the Nemesis, Laserbeak bit Fracture's leg, preventing her from falling into space as the bridge decompressed. Laserbeak then searched their records for the ship's identity, but found nothing, though he noticed the ship appeared damaged.

Soundwave parked the Nemesis on a dead ringed world, and took his crew aboard the Longshot to follow the ship via the wormhole it left behind. As they emerged in the far future, they witnessed the ship crash on to the moon below, orbiting the planet containing the AllSpark's energon signature. Convergence chapter 1

The lifeforms of the native planet soon explored the ship, which contained Sentinel Prime. Laserbeak was sent to persuade the Soviet scientist Dr. Voskhod to pull the plug on their manned mission in 1972. In 1979, Soundwave and Laserbeak met with their American contact Gould — whose creative accounting prevented further trips to the moon — for the last time, as well as Gould's son Dylan. Convergence chapter 4

Dark of the Moon film

Voice actor: Keith Szarabajka (English), Ernesto Lezama (Latin American-Spanish dub)

Plot details for Dark of the Moon (film) follow. Spoilers have expired, you may remove this tag

With the Star Harvester destroyed, Megatron sought to revive Sentinel. Voskhod's nephew Alexi led Optimus Prime, Ratchet and NEST to Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, where they would find an Ark fuel cell. Laserbeak watched, silently intimidating Voskhod when he was about to say too much about their mission. Shockwave and the Driller appeared to distract NEST while Laserbeak killed Voskhod as he tried to drive away in his white limo.

Laserbeak arrived in Africa, shooting up a vulture as he descended to perch on Soundwave's hand. He reported to Megatron of the success of the Chernobyl mission, which led Optimus to retrieve Sentinel from the moon. He was then ordered to kill all of the Decepticons's human collaborators. During one of his attacks, he shape-shifted into a small pink version of Bumblebee, and met a little girl, who presumably mistook him as the friendly robot. When her parents came in, Laserbeak transformed into his normal self and killed her father.

Laserbeak's "favourite" contact Jerry Wang was next, and he passed on articles pertaining to the assassinations and cover-ups to fellow employee Sam Witwicky. Laserbeak confronted Wang at his office, demanding to know what he told Witwicky. Wang feighned despair and was able to surprise the sadistic Decepticon with two guns, but Laserbeak quickly disarmed him with his tail and "suicided" Wang by swinging him out the window, sending him falling out of the skyscraper. Laserbeak then chased Sam, but he managed to escape.

When Sam was sent by Robert Epps to coerce the traitor and Decepticon supporter Dylan Gould into releasing Carly Brooks-Spencer, Laserbeak transformed out of his television mode and grabbed Sam with his talons and threw him out of the window, where Sam was saved by Bumblebee and his newly acquired Decepticon fighter. Laserbeak struggled with Sam on top of the fighter after Carly escaped, where Sam managed to hold Laserbeak's head in front of one of the fighter's guns and had Bumblebee fire, decapitating and killing Laserbeak. Dark of the Moon

Commercial appearances

Laserbeak, in disguise as an office copy machine, got upset when he jammed because the office workers failed to use the good paper. He transformed and shot the place up until a woman went and got Double A paper. He then went back to making copies. Double A transforming paper

Games

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - The Game

(Xbox 360/PS3)

Laserbeak played a vital role during Soundwave's mission to a former Sector Seven data archive. While Soundwave was able to fight his way to the base, he was unable to break in and so launched Laserbeak to infiltrate it instead.

Armed with a machine gun, the small but vicious Decepticon could not last long in an all-out firefight with the Autobots inside, so it had to rely on stealth. Using its abilities to take the form of holographic items and fixtures within the base, Laserbeak was able to ambush and slay numerous Autobots as it sought a way to allow Soundwave entry.

Throughout the course of this operation, Laserbeak encountered numerous defense drones, autoturrets and Autobots. It also learned that the base, while still containing useful data, was now used as a workshop by the Autobot scientist Wheeljack. Worse, Wheeljack was working with human scientists to develop MechTech weaponry.

Realising the threat, Soundwave now changed objectives from data retrieval to outright destruction. As the base was built in a volcano in order to take advantage of geothermal energy, he had Laserbeak damage several of the seismic dampeners that prevented the volcano from erupting. Laserbeak also managed to hack the gates, finally allowing Soundwave to enter the base personally and complete both objectives.

As the base was consumed in flames, Laserbeak flew overhead before landing on its master's arm, screeching in victory. Dark of the Moon (Xbox 360/PS3)

Toys

Dark of the Moon

It's like some sort of vast... wait, that's what it is.

• Laserbeak (MechTech Deluxe, 2011)
  • Japanese ID number: DD07
  • Accessories: MechTech Cybertronian Cannon A, Cybertronian Cannon B

Dark of the Moon Laserbeak transforms from a VTOL aircraft (similar to the G.I. Joe Sigma 6 Dragonhawk vehicle) to a Cybertronian bird/dragon thing. There are a total of eight MechTech weapon holes, from the top and bottom of both wings, to the bottom of both feet, as well as above and below the cockpit in vehicle mode.

The two weapons included have Gatling-style barrels, with one gun being static while the other has a MechTech swapping feature. Pulling the lever on the latter will make the barrel repeatedly spin around to eventually reveal a second, different cannon barrel. The static gun can plug into the back of the MechTech gun to create a giant cannon. Both guns also include a C joint bar on top.

The beast mode's mouth can open, and the heels are actually 5mm pegs. Along with the peg-holes on the soles of his feet, this allows the toy to perch on the arm of any toy with the compatible holes or pegs. The cockpit/helmet of the vehicle mode has a stylized bird head painted on both sides.

The instructions show a different head than the final toy, with a more realistic looking bird head. Some of the paint applications shown on the packaging, including the ones on the weapons, were left off on the actual toy.

Notes

• Laserbeak was in an early draft of The Reign of Starscream, but was dropped at Hasbro's request.
• Previous beast-like robots didn't talk because the production team thought it would be "weird". Apparently, they changed their minds when it came Laserbeak's turn.
• Alternate modes that Laserbeak has been known to assume include a hover jet, a computer, a photocopier, a plasma television screen, and Bumblebee.

 *[to some concept art], he was supposed to transform from what looks like an electronic plush penguin to a penguin/condor/dragon-hybrid robot with VTOL wings. The robot mode is both ridiculous and freaky.

• Surprisingly, his Vector Sigma database claims he has no vehicle modes. Someone clearly didn't pay attention to the merchandise.