Sky Lynx (G1)

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

Sky Lynx is the most magnificent Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Twice the bot, twice the ego.

Sky Lynx is the unbelievably talented, unsurpassably skilled, and altogether magnificent robot behind most of the greatest, most adventurous, and most daring moments in all of Autobot history. At least, if you ask Sky Lynx, that is. Not that he isn't a skilled, fast, and powerful warrior, well deserving of his rank as Lieutenant Commander—he most certainly is all those things—he's just a rather bit too eager to tell you about it. At length. However, his superiors recognize his undeniable skill and tolerate his ego. Springer has nicknamed him "Commander Modesty."

“	Before you do anything, think, 'Is this what Sky Lynx would do in my position?', and you will not go far wrong.	”
—Sky Lynx, "Call of the Primitives"

Fiction

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

Voice actor: Aron Kincaid (English), Kōji Totani (Japanese), Víctor Mares (Spanish), Thomas Rau (German, "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5", "Chaos", "Grimlocks New Brain"), Ulrich Bernsdorff (German, "The Killing Jar"), Manfred Schmidt (German), Peter Musäus (German, "The Face of the Nijika"), Klaus Kessler (German, Generation 2)

"I am Sky Lynx, king of kings! Look on my trouncing of Decepti-cads, ye mighty, and despair!"

In 2006, after the Autobots reclaimed Cybertron, Sky Lynx returned from another region of space to once again share his glory with his fellows. Secret Files of Teletraan II Sky Lynx made his fantastic debut when he selflessly risked his own life to save three vastly inferior specimens. Shortly after this, his peerless battle prowess was needed to fight off some ruffians. He flew his brave comrades to Earth where it took the combined firepower of the Constructicon and Trypticon to shoot him down. Even that was not enough to stop the mighty Sky Lynx, as in his lynx form, he proved instrumental in getting the new transformation cog to Metroplex, trouncing many a Decepticon along the way. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5

A Quintesson once used Sky Lynx's sublime appearance as a disguise. Somehow Ultra Magnus was unable to tell the difference between the real thing and a vastly inferior illusion and stepped on board. He surely recognized his mistake in the aftermath of the adventure, when the genuine Sky Lynx ferried him with Marissa Faireborn back to Cybertron. The Killing Jar

"I warned ya, bird-bot! I warned ya about them cosmic rays!"
"Oh, hush, Grimm. I'm already fantastic."

When the Autobots investigated into the destruction of a provincial human law enforcement space station, Sky Lynx deigned to flawlessly transport a doddering old fool, that speech-impaired imbecile and his friends to the filthy planet Goo. During the course of this investigation, Sky Lynx was forced to save his comrades from a pale imitation of himself and a mere hooligan, who had somehow obtained death crystals. Sky Lynx carried his team to Dread, where he was again forced to intercede, rescuing Blurr from a swamp while simultaneously leading the counter offensive against the Predacons. Did they not learn their last painful lesson in humility on Io? They made another attempt during the battle at Queeg Mountain, but even as Sky Lynx attempted to enlighten them on the error of their ways, a lucky shot destroyed the rock he was standing on. Naturally Sky Lynx suffered only minor damage, and he was about to execute his usual daring nick-of-time rescue for Kup and the slaves as the mountain erupted. Chaos

Sky Lynx lent his skill and finesse to the assault on Paradron after the planet was conquered by the Decepticons. His spacious cargo bay was used to transport a stockpile of guns to the captive Paradonians, so that they could join Sky Lynx as he valiantly fought for their freedom. Fight or Flee Upon the discovery of dinosaur transform static at the scene of Fort Knox's apparent theft, Sky Lynx was forced to endure a humiliating trial in Metroplex's ill-conceived kangaroo court, merely because, as that unrefined, multi-gunned cowboy put it, Sky Lynx had dinosaur electrons in his body. Be that as it may, did he have to be lumped together with such unsuitable company when he could be effortlessly tracking down and bringing the real culprit to justice? Thief in the Night

"Does this make my backside look big?'

While his beauty was gracing the entrance to a peace conference, Sky Lynx was approached by Ultra Magnus, who needed a ride to some dingy asteroid or other to save the galaxy. Sky Lynx took him there and helped him fight off a small swarm of some disgusting alien parasites. Unfortunately he was unable to fit through the corridors of the storage asteroid and thus couldn't help defeat the Decepticons, but he could at least take Ultra Magnus, Wheelie and Daniel to safety before the asteroid exploded. Surprise Party After Sky Lynx dropped Kup and Spike off at Autobot City, there was a dreadful kerfuffle resulting in him transporting a group of Autobots to Unicron's head. While he was parked outside, Scourge attacked, and Sky Lynx was forced to retreat to a safe distance, from where he was later able to swoop in and rescue Ultra Magnus and his team. Ghost in the Machine During an isidrite mining operation, Sky Lynx alerted his fellows to incoming Decepticons. A brief battled ensued, in which Galvatron claimed more Decepticon casualties than the Autobots, and Sky Lynx suggested they strategically withdraw with what isidrite they'd gathered. They swiftly did so, leaving the Decepticons to bicker. Webworld

"And that is why I am far superior to the Aerialbots. Including you, Slingshot." "YOU LIE!"

During a journey to through the Junkion sector, Sky Lynx came under attack by another pretender to the shuttle throne. The two proceeded to engage in combat, until both were fired upon by the Junkions. Though the Junkions posed no threat to one of Sky Lynx's skill, he recognized that their actions were out of place, and sped with all possible haste back to Cybertron, informing Rodimus Prime of their out-of-character actions. Despite acknowledging his "ace work", Rodimus, for some reason, dispatched those uncouth flyboys to investigate. However, Sky Lynx proved his undeniable talents by rescuing their combined form from imminent destruction. The Big Broadcast of 2006

When Perceptor detected a Quintesson signal, he naturally dispatched Sky Lynx to investigate. Unfortunately the planet from which the signal emanated proved to be covered in vegetation, preventing Sky Lynx's otherwise flawless chassis from landing and forcing him to send his passengers, Outback and Blaster instead. He was nonetheless able to provide air support against the Predacons, and spirited away the Autobots along with the Quintesson Journal they'd found. Alas, he was subsequently seized by the Quintessons. No sooner had he and his chums escaped that predicament, than they were set upon by Decepticons, who blew a hole in Sky Lynx's side and stole the journal. While they battled over control of the journal, the Quintessons reclaimed their toy, and Sky Lynx was later able to extract it from the Quintesson ship by deftly cutting a hole in the hull at exactly the right point. He could then return the journal to the peace conference, where its contents were used to settle a centuries-old war. The Quintesson Journal On one occasion, Sky Lynx's normally-superb gyros malfunctioned, causing him to crash on Cybertron. It later transpired that the glitch had been caused by anti-electrons and thus was outside Sky Lynx's control. Grimlock's New Brain

"My leading role in this episode was enough to make it the prettiest in the whole series."

Later still, during a skirmish on Earth's Moon, superior forces arrived to save the Autobots in the form of Sky Lynx, though the brutish Trypticon dared challenge him. However, before Sky Lynx could deliver what would have likely been a stunning finishing blow, the other vulgars were drawn away from the battle by a voice in the distance. For some reason, his magnificence was included in this motley crew and was even forced to voyage with them to the far reaches of space, a sojourn they surely could not have made themselves without Sky Lynx's intellect and sense of direction. Upon landing, Sky Lynx took command of that ill-tempered, uncivilized group of evolutionary throwbacks and directed them in a proper manner, a task which nearly exceeded his incredible skill. However, upon finding the caller, the fool had the audacity to call him Primitive! Can you imagine? Unfortunately for Sky Lynx, the menace Tornedron was too much even for him. Call of the Primitives

Finding Galvatron bashing on a strange disc in space, Sky Lynx released his passengers to investigate. He was unable to prevent them from being sucked through the disc into a sealed region of space, however after the seal was broken, he joined them on the newly-freed world of Zamojin. The Face of the Nijika Sky Lynx carried Rodimus Prime and Kup to Japan during a Decepticon attack, arriving in time to prevent Cyclonus from shooting Defensor. Kup even complemented him on his shooting, but Sky Lynx just responded "I know". Once they'd landed, Sky Lynx passed on the message that Rodimus was wanted at the Imperial Palace by an irate Prime Minister. The Burden Hardest to Bear

In one of his most successful endeavours, Sky Lynx's unquestioned skills were called into play yet again when Rodimus Prime required a Quintesson during the Hate Plague crisis. With his customary flair and talent, not to mention amazing speed, Sky Lynx located and retrieved one, who subsequently restored Optimus Prime to life. Jolly good show! Just as Sky Lynx hoped, Optimus Prime knew how to stop the Hate Plague. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1 Sky Lynx accompanied Optimus Prime to obtain the heat resistant alloy from Galvatron. When Galvatron attempted to betray the Autobots, Sky Lynx's swift speed enabled him to grab Galvatron's cannon when it was knocked away. During the retreat, Sky Lynx was blessed by not being infected by the Hate Plague despite being grabbed onto by Jessica Morgan. Truly special this was! This did not protect him being infected by Rodimus Prime later on Earth. Sky Lynx, now freed from basic inhibitions, decided to crash through a glass window that prevented him from the sky above. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2

The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers

We're guessing that Skylynx pulled a Batman on Galvatron and planned to be occupied on Earth.

During a battle on planet Feminia, the Autobots fought to keep the Prime Energy Tower safe from the Decepticons. Deploying their combiners and giant warriors, the two factions found themselves evenly matched. That is, until Galvatron unleashed his trump card: Predaking. As Predaking squashed his foes, Galvatron chuckled, having ensured that Predaking's only worthy opponent, Sky Lynx, was entangled on Earth battling Decepticons in New York City. With Sky Lynx unavailable, surely nothing could stand in Predaking's way?

Then the Omnibots showed up and took him out. The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #5

Marvel Generation 1 comics

The wonderful thing about Sky Lynx / Is he is a wonderful thing! / His top is made out of rubber / His bottom is made out of springs!

Lieutenant Commander Sky Lynx, of the Autobot Third Air Strike Division, Monstercon from Mars! was called upon by his old chum Wheeljack to join the Autobots on Earth, where Grimlock's less than stellar performance as Autobot leader threatened to doom them all! (The uncouth Dinobot was overly obsessed with catching the rogue Autobot, Blaster.) Upon the venerable Sky Lynx's arrival, Wheeljack requested that he put his considerable skills on temporary hold. What a waste of his immeasurable potential! Before too long, thankfully, Sky Lynx was at last called into action! After Grimlock tossed some juvenile humanoids out the airlock of the Ark into space (for "conspiring" with Blaster), Sky Lynx, with utmost aplomb, rescued them, and put to use his finest displays of agility evading those mongrel Dinobots. Indeed, Sky Lynx's feats were subverted only by the actions of another. To wit: While Sky Lynx was surrounded (which posed no true disadvantage to the ever-resourceful paragon), Blaster turned himself in to Grimlock in exchange for the guaranteed safety of Sky Lynx's young charges. Spacehikers!

I'm off to outer space / Protecting Autobots / To save annoying kids / I am Sky Lynx!

However, before speedily returning the kids to their home, Sky Lynx took them to a traveling space carnival. As they had no money to pay for tickets, Sky Lynx charitably agreed to work for the carnival, while the kids were taken care of. Unfortunately, the fine print in the magnificent Autobot's contract made all of them unwilling guests of the wretched carnival. Before Sky Lynx could effect a no-doubt-brilliant escape plan, Optimus Prime and the Powermasters passed by and rescued the group, saving Sky Lynx the indignity of facing down such unworthy foes as a Gilashark and Rorza, the Rocket-cycle Racer from Rigel III. The Cosmic Carnival

Sky Lynx then returned the Spacehikers to Earth with flair and dispatch. The humans, however, seemed impervious to his charm, and drove him away from Earth again with thrown produce and such. Monstercon from Mars!

Some time later, the Mecannibals, through an unfair deception, managed to capture the magnificent Sky Lynx. While they did admit to his wondrousness, they unfortunately considered him wondrously tasty. Luckily, Landmine and Cloudburst happened upon the impending banquet aboard the Mecannibals' ship, and assisted in Sky Lynx's escape. Guess Who the Mecannibals Are Having for Dinner?

"Yes, one day you two can tell your children how you were defeated by the incredible Sky Lynx."

When those selfsame Pretenders later found themselves harried by Darkwing and Dreadwind, the noble Sky Lynx showed up to repay his debt, easily dispatching the Decepticon Powermasters. He then explained to the Autobots that Hi-Test and Throttle were the binary-bonded partners of the Decepticons. (Which, really, they should have been able to figure out for themselves.) The ever-helpful Sky Lynx then held the Nebulans hostage while the Pretenders blackmailed the Mecannibals into reconstituting all their former victims. Having once again saved the day, Sky Lynx flew off into the sunset, and a shining place in history. Recipe for Disaster!

In an alternate future of 2006, Sky Lynx's impeccable perspicacity led him to discover suspicious activity on Junkion, and he swiftly and surely reported his findings to Rodimus Prime. Rodimus recognized Sky Lynx's greatness by declaring him to be one of the best, but inexplicably sent those lesser (though still valiant) fliers, the Aerialbots, to Junkion to investigate Sky Lynx's report. After Superion was defeated by the Quintessons, Sky Lynx's redoubtable abilities were once again required for a rescue. The Big Broadcast of 2006 (US)

In the UK version of the story, the events of "The Big Broadcast of 2006" are a fabrication invented by Wreck-Gar.

Transformers in 3-D

Sky Lynx was hanging around Autobot headquarters on Cybertron when Ultra Magnus checked in with Hot Rod to see how the situation was progressing. The Test

He acted as transport for Ultra Magnus's team as they searched for Metascan Alpha. After a stop on a moon, they reached a city under attack from the Destructons, but were forced to retreat when the enemy proved too much for them to handle. Sky Lynx made it as far as the moon before running out of energy. The War Against the Destructons, Chapter 1 of 3

Dreamwave Generation 1 comics

After awakening from the Great Shutdown, Sky Lynx found himself operating the regime of that uncharismatic, mono-visioned walking calculator, Shockwave. Sky Lynx was requisitioned into mere transportation for Optimus Prime's little brother when he traveled to an insignificant backwater planet to arrest the long-lost Autobots. When Ultra Magnus learned of Shockwave's plans to deactivate the Autobots, he lost his temper and hit a console inside of Sky Lynx. While this news was most distressing, it did not warrant such uncivilized violence against one's vehicle. Brothers' Burden When that small and irritating little flyboy inevitably ran like a coward, he attempted to commander the magnificent Sky Lynx as his transportation. Imagine the horror etched on the faces of his terrified crew when Sky Lynx refused to accept their navigational commands and flew off at his own volition! Revelation

Unfortunately, that monotoned malcontent managed to hack into Sky Lynx's impressive neural processors, and even though he put up a valiant struggle against his Decepticon passengers, he was forced to bring them to the Nemesis on Earth. Black Sunshine

It tickles!

Sky Lynx found himself embarrassingly captured by the Decepticons under Starscream and his band of merry miscreants, as, of all things, a punching bag for their training! Far be it for him to refuse combat, but did these fools not realize they were up against the mighty Sky Lynx, even with the Decepticon energy dampeners in effect? Sportingly, the Autobot lieutenant commander warned Starscream that it was hardly a fair match, which the Decepticon, for some reason, misinterpreted to mean that it was not fair to Sky Lynx.

Taking advantage of Starscream's gross overconfidence, Sky Lynx tipped the scales further in his favour by splitting in half into his separate lynx and dinosaur modes, then soundly thrashing the pitiful Combaticons before the shocked Starscream reactivated the energy dampeners.

Naturally, Sky Lynx's personal punching bag Predaking only appeared after his magnificence was offline, which is just typical, really. The Route of All Evil

IDW Generation 1 comics

Sky Lynx was used as a transport by a group of Autobots on a mission to rescue Bumblebee and Orion Pax from the Decepticons. He was magnificent, as always. Cause and Effect

Millions of years later, Sky Lynx was, of course, smart enough not to be on the Lost Light, but, along with Bumblebee and Prowl, had a good view of her fate. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It

Games

The Transformers (PS2)

Decepticon story

While searching for Zel Quartz in the present, the Decepticons hunted down several leads, including the Gem of Mystery. Sky Lynx and Ultra Magnus defended the Gem of Mystery from Decepticon raiders. They failed, but the Gem was not the fabled Zel Quartz in the end anyway. The Transformers

Toys

Generation 1

• Sky Lynx (Motorized Space Shuttle, 1986)

Part cat, part bird, part danger, all applesauce.

Sky Lynx transforms from a space shuttle with crawler-transporter into two smaller robots; the shuttle grows legs to become a prehistoric bird, while the crawler-transporter grows a head and tail to become a Lynx. The two can then combine into a Super Robot with the legs of a Lynx and the upper-body of a prehistoric bird. The crawler-transporter section has a battery-powered motor that rolls him along in transporter shuttle mode and activates a slow, ungainly walking action in lynx/lower-body mode. The shuttle also has an opening "cargo bay", though there is no room to store anything in it. Even though it fails to capture his magnificence fully, it is still the apex of toy technology.

Unlikely as it may seem that anything could improve upon the perfection of this design, there were two different versions of this toy, released a year apart. On the first version, the rear thruster panel was connected to the body by a basic hinged piece. The second release modified this hinge so the panel could extend out from the body slightly, allowing a little more room for opening the panel and extending the tail.

Unusually for a toy of his size, he has no other accessories packaged with him. But then again, why add to something that is already perfect?

• More information on Sky Lynx's magnificent toy at TFU.info

Encore

• Sky Lynx (Encore, 2008)

In February 2008, TakaraTomy's Encore line of reissues had the glorious honor of re-releasing Sky Lynx. This was the first time that this masterpiece of a toy was sold in Japan. As if it was possible, TakaraTomy made perfection even more perfect by painting the shuttle's mouth cannon, the lynx's eyes, and making the gold chrome more subtle.

Notes

• In his Transformers Universe profile, Sky-Lynx's "Lynx" component is instead identified as a puma and his bird component is identified as a "dinobird".
• Original scripts for the Generation 1 cartoon identify Sky Lynx's beauteous combined form as his "Dinoblast" mode.
• On numerous occasions throughout the Generation 1 cartoon, Sky Lynx's pristine form was blemished with a Decepticon insignia, too often to be an accident. This suggests that a character model bearing the insignia existed that was being drawn from in these instances, in turn implying that Sky Lynx may have been originally characterized as a Decepticon. This fits well with the fact that his perennial rivals, the Predacons, started out the design process as a team of Autobots known as the Anibots!
• The true nature of Sky Lynx's transformation remains a mystery even to those intrepid souls who endeavor in that most worthwhile task of chronicling his many laudable adventures. In the Marvel Comics, for example, Sky Lynx does not split into two beast modes; rather, he seems to be a Triple Changer of sorts who has a shuttle mode, a lynx mode, and a bird mode (which sometimes retains the four-legged undercarriage ("Spacehikers!") and sometimes doesn't ("The Cosmic Carnival"). While some might see these as "inconsistencies", Sky Lynx's design is grand enough to encompass all such possibilities, so these alternate depictions of his transformation disturb him not in the least.
• Though it chafes the magnificent Sky Lynx to share an origin with the ungainly (if powerful) Omega Supreme, both were originally created by a company known as Toy Box, from whom Hasbro licensed the designs for sale as Transformers. As with Jetfire and the Deluxe Insecticons, this meant it could not be sold as a Transformers toy in Japan, since Takara didn't want to promote its competition's toys. Thus, Japan was unable to experience Sky Lynx's full grandeur—but such glory could not be denied forever! Sure enough, when Takara merged with former competitor Tomy, the situation changed. After the merger, an especially perspicacious member of the TF development team spotted a "shuttle dinosaur" development code name among the molds listed in Tomy's possession. Soon, the truth of Sky Lynx's esteemed lineage emerged: Toy Box was not the original equipment manufacturer, but rather, it had requested that Tomy develop the Sky Lynx design on its behalf. (Such outsourced design and mold development was not uncommon in the Japanese toy market at the time.) This unsung hero of a developer called attention to the fact, helping initiate the process for issuing Sky Lynx as a Japanese Transformers toy for the first time ever. Had the situation moved a bit more slowly, the molds might have been lost forever—a tragedy of such magnitude, it scarcely bears consideration.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Sky Lynx (スカイリンクス Sukai Rinkusu)
• Hungarian: Légihiúz ("Air-Lynx")
• Italian: Argon
• Ukrainian: Nebesna Rys' (Небесна Рись, "Sky lynx")
• Russian: Bravyj (Бравый, "Gallant")

External links

• Sky Lynx's stupendous Universe profile at NFTA.net
• Interview with Junichi Ishikawa, the noble being who first sought to capture Sky Lynx's image in humble plastic, detailing the amazing story of Sky Lynx's origins at Toy Box