Powerglide (G1)

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

Powerglide is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.

He's sick of getting the bronze medal in the Ego Olympics. Sunstreaker and Tracks never let him live it down.

Powerglide, unlike most Autobots, can fly under his own power, and it goes straight to his pointy head. Give him any excuse and awaa-aa-aay he goes, dashing off into the stratosphere at 500 mph—but not in a straight line. No, Powerglide is an aerial acrobat, able to perform stunts other Transformer planes would never dream of. Barrel rolls, tail stands, death spirals, screaming 3200-mph powerdives: none of these are too tough for this Autobot barnstormer, and if he has an audience, be they friendly or enemy, he is guaranteed to put on the air show of their lives.

Yet this seeming frivolity has saved his life countless times in combat. Powerglide is lightly armed with small concussion bombs and a nose-mounted thermal beam, and the former is practically useless in the air. Furthermore, his speed and power, impressive as they are, are vastly outclassed by most aerial Decepticons. Like the flying aces of World War I, Powerglide resorts to dogfighting maneuvers, using his flying skills to confuse and evade the enemy. This tactic works very well.

In fact, Powerglide's skill only aggravates his greatest weakness. He is good, and he knows it, and he misses no chance to show it. If this means he will seek out ever tougher foes to prove his mettle—then he'll do that, even if it kills him. Some day, it might.

And awaa-aa-aay we go!Powerglide, pretty much all the time, "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide"

Fiction

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

Voice actor: Michael Chain (English), Hirotaka Suzuoki (Japanese), Kenyū Horiuchi (Japanese, "A Prime Problem"), Masashi Ebara (Japanese, 2010), Giorgio Locuratolo (Italian), Carlos Nieto (Latin American), Peter Musäus (German, The Girl Who Loved Powerglide), Bernd Simon (German, Hoist Goes Hollywood), Reinhard Brock (German, Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5), Hans-Rainer Müller (German, Ghost in the Machine), Crock Krumbiegel (German, Most of the Generation 2 Dub), Christoph Jablonka (German, Generation 2 Dub of The Revenge of Bruticus)

Where did I come from?! Where did YOU come from?! Yeah, what do you say to that?!"

Powerglide was a brash barnstormer with a penchant for spouting gung-ho sayings like "And awaaa-aaa-aay we go!". He literally appeared out of nowhere to save Spike Witwicky when the boy had been thrown overboard Megatron's spaceship, after the latter's plan to use a clone of Optimus Prime to destroy the Autobots failed. A Prime Problem

Bumblebee and Powerglide were sent on a reconnaissance mission to investigate some strange energy readings out at sea. Inside the temporal anomaly, they discovered a prehistoric island inhabited by dinosaurs. Powerglide had to save Bumblebee from an aggressive pterodactyl, then attempted to repair Bumblebee's damaged jet pack, before abandoning it and flying Bumblebee off the island. Later, after it was decided that the Dinobots should be relocated to the island, Powerglide led the large brutes and Spike to the island. After Spike unwittingly got himself into several dangerous situations, Powerglide flew him back home. Dinobot Island, Part 1

Called on to find Grapple and Hoist, Powerglide soon located the pair working on their Solar Power Tower with the Constructicons. He reported back to Optimus and later took part in the battle to destroy the tower, attacking Devastator and dogfighting with Ramjet. The Master Builders Though he was damaged during an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the Decepticons retrieving the Heart of Cybertron, Powerglide volunteered to carry Perceptor's miniaturised team and drop them off on Megatron's body. To his surprise, he found the Decepticons in a state of inebriation due to over-energizing. He dropped off his cargo and made a clean getaway, despite Megatron taking a shot at him. Microbots

Little known fact: Powerglide was the first Headmaster.

All of the Autobots were exiled from Earth after being framed by the Decepticons. Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1 They ended up being set on a collision course with the Sun, but at the last minute, were able to return to Earth and kick Decepticon tailpipe. Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2 After a disastrous battle at an airport, Powerglide helped Ironhide and Grapple reconstruct a building, only for it to be demolished by Grapple's inaccurate placing of the roof. Ironhide and Powerglide had a laugh at their friend's expense, but it soon turned out that the problem was more serious than a minor glitch — the Autobots were suffering by Cybertonium depletion. Powerglide's symptoms included his head falling off. Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1

When Megatron's latest plan blocked radio transmissions all over Earth, Powerglide, Spike and Carly helped Optimus guide commercial aircraft safely to the ground. They were attacked by Starscream and Thundercracker, leaving Prime incapacitated and Powerglide in danger of crashing. Spike used a spare rocket pack to stabilise Powerglide's flight, and the Autobot was able to pick up Optimus and carry him back to base. There, Carly made emergency repairs, and they took Omega Supreme to the Moon, where they watched Optimus and Megatron fight. Blaster Blues

Powerglide was part of a group of Autobots taking a walk along a beach when they were attacked by Decepticons. As the battle raged on, Thrust found a pool of Electrum and, once coated with the stuff, became impervious to the Autobot weapons. While Seaspray and Perceptor were captured, Powerglide and the others escaped. Powerglide was part of the retaliatory mission; however, the rest of the Decepticons had already coated themselves in Electrum, rendering anything the Autobots could do ineffective. Damaged, Powerglide washed up on the shore in time to spy the Decepticons utilising the pool of Electrum, enabling him to fly back to base and warn the Autobots. The Golden Lagoon

The Autobots set up a sting operation in New York City to apprehend car thieves, of which Powerglide was a part. He and Cosmos chased Starscream into a shopping mall, but the two Autobots were unable to prevent him from getting away. Make Tracks Cosmos suggested Powerglide lead an assault on the Constructicons, who were working on an asteroid, but, to Powerglide's disappointment, Prime went to talk to Omega Supreme instead. Powerglide later helped defend San Francisco from an alien creature unleashed from the asteroid. The Secret of Omega Supreme During a coup by Astrotrain and Blitzwing, Powerglide spied on what the triple changers were up to and was able to rescue Spike when the city was flooded. Triple Takeover

Their 4 million year reunion. And yes, he cheats on her the very next episode.

After Megatron demanded Optimus Prime's surrender in exchange for Elita One, Powerglide was among the Autobots who followed him to Cybertron. Once there, he was disbelieving of Starscream's claim that Optimus Prime had been destroyed. During their vengeful attack on the Decepticons, Powerglide met up with his old friend Moonracer. The Search for Alpha Trion

"Don't worry, I won't hug her too hard."

Soon after hooking up with Moonracer, he saved the fleshling female Astoria Carlton-Ritz from being kidnapped by Ramjet, Thrust and Dirge. He was assigned to escort her back to Autobot HQ, but they were again attacked by the coneheads, who injured Powerglide and snatched Astoria. After receiving some repairs from Ratchet, Powerglide set off for the Decepticon Sky Platform to rescue Astoria. Caught in the platform's security field, Powerglide was helped by Astoria herself, who destroyed an energy tower. Unfortunately the damage left the platform plummeting out of control, but Powerglide was able to rig it to crash into the Decepticon base.

Afterwards, it seemed as though Powerglide had developed feelings for Astoria, much to the amusement of the other Autobots. The only lasting result was a series of flashing lights under his chestplate in the form of a stylized heart. What purpose this served (other than being disturbing) is not immediately clear. The Girl Who Loved Powerglide

"Hey, human, when I'm in jet mode, you fit in my head."

After thoroughly embarrassing himself by accidentally destroying several sets and props in an attempt to show off, Powerglide was among several egotistical Autobots who demanded to be given a role in a movie that Hoist was starring in. Initially, his "role" amounted to crashing into a STORE while in jet mode (supposedly to stop "the crooks"). Soon afterwards, Powerglide and the other would-be-actor Autobots asked Hoist to talk to the director to get them some "real" acting roles. After reworking the movie into Attack of the Alien Robots, the director had the Autobots given cheesy alien face masks. Powerglide remarked that the role was "the pits", and that he would rather do the stunt crashes. In a later scene, Powerglide demonstrated his rather wooden acting "skills". Guess he was better suited for stunts. Hoist Goes Hollywood

Powerglide was one of the Autobots who volunteered to rescue Perceptor from the Decepticons. Cosmic Rust He took part in the defence of headquarters against another attack by the Decepticons, only to be puzzled when Megatron almost immediately called a retreat. After some investigation, it turned out Starscream had stolen some personality components to create the Combaticons. Powerglide set out to find the rebel Decepticons, and soon found them fighting Megatron's forces at the Amalgamated Water and Power Plant Starscream's Brigade During a massive attack on a human city by the Insecticons, Powerglide dropped Spike and Perceptor off in the battle zone, so the pair could warn the Autobot leader about strange signals coming from Cybertron. The Revenge of Bruticus

Powerglide and the rest of the Minibots tried to repel the Decepticons' new mobile assault base—and failed. When the colossal 'con took several direct hits and seemed to be falling apart, Powerglide cheerfully reported that they had destroyed it—then in his shock, just happened to narrate aloud that it had a reptilian mode too.Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5

Powerglide appeared to have been destroyed during a disastrous Autobot attack on the Quintessons led by a resurrected, reprogrammed Optimus Prime. Dark Awakening However, he was later among the Autobots who attempted to stop Scourge and Starscream's ghost from stealing Metroplex's eyes, so he must have gotten better. Unfortunately, a blind Metroplex accidentally shot him down, but Warpath saved him. Ghost in the Machine

The above appearance in "Dark Awakening" is likely a result of a careless animation team using the animation model of Powerglide to represent an Autobot spaceship rather than Powerglide himself, as the footage of "his" destruction is used twice during the battle sequence.

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers manga

Arriving in Tokyo, Japan, Powerglide intervened on Ravage's attack on Bumblebee and the Autobots' human friend, Kenji. Instead of shooting the Decepticon from the air, Powerglide zoomed in close and decked Ravage with a partially transformed hand. PG then grabbed Kenji and flew off, leaving Bumblebee alone to face Soundwave and his cassettes. For some reason. Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #2 Later, Powerglide was also present when Optimus Prime was showing Kenji around the Autobots' base in Japan. Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #4

While surveying the desert, Powerglide came across the Combaticons hunting down an innocent puppy. He interfered with their mission, but took heavy firepower shielding the animal with his own body. Seriously injured, Powerglide transformed in a desperate attempt to keep the dog alive just a little longer inside his cockpit. Surprisingly, the puppy managed to hotwire his control console and keep Powerglide moving long enough for a Minibot patrol to respond to his SOS. It seemed that Megatron had incorporated powerful Decepticon technology inside the puppy as an experiment. In order to avoid being used by the Decepticons, the puppy sacrifice himself to channel massive amounts of Scramble Power into Powerglide. United as one, Powerglide and the Minibots used Scramble Power to deliver a mighty blow on Bruticus, defeating the Combaticons. Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #8

Full Throttle Scramble Power! comic

Powerglide accompanied the massive Autobot reinforcements called in to counter Megatron's nefarious Omega Whip. Full Throttle Scramble Power!

Wings Universe

Wings Universe is based on the Generation 1 cartoon, but deviates from it in cosmetic ways and continuity points.

Powerglide was present at the first "meeting" of Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus. Battle Lines, Part 6

Marvel Comics continuity

Generation 1

Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

We bet you are. Don't be crude, Powerglide.

Powerglide was a member of Perceptor's resistance cell on Cybertron during the reign of Straxus. Like most of his comrades, he found more inspiration in Blaster's bravado than the calculated caution of Perceptor. When their untrustworthy scout, Scrounge went missing, Powerglide and his peers fell in line with Blaster's plan to find and rescue him, overruling Perceptor. After much searching, all but Blaster had given up on Scrounge, but Powerglide had stayed to secretly shadow Blaster, allowing the air-capable Autobot to deliver him to safety out of the smelting pool (regrettably leaving Scrounge behind). This act gave Perceptor's small group of Autobots the first good news they had heard in eons, for Scrounge had handed them evidence that Optimus Prime lived. The Smelting Pool!

Cybertronic altmode: paper airplane

Further reconnaissance by Blaster and Powerglide revealed startling news—the Decepticons were building a space bridge! As this would spell certain doom for both Cybertron and Earth, a desperate raid on Straxus's Darkmount fortress was launched. This attack was mostly successful, as it leveled Darkmount and ended in Straxus's destruction, but he and the rest of his Autobot comrades had to retreat to Earth over the Space Bridge as it self-destructed. Here they were greeted immediately by a group of humans. The Bridge to Nowhere!

However, the humans, belonging to the anti-robot attack team, RAAT, captured Powerglide and the others with the help of Circuit Breaker. Disassembled, the Autobots were only released after Circuit Breaker was forced to elicit their aid to defeat the Battlechargers. Decepticon Graffiti!

Following Skids back to the Ark, Powerglide and the others got lost after their guide spontaneously vanished into limbo. Even worse was the reason for the disappearance—Galvatron had returned to the present. Unlike most of his fellows, Powerglide actually managed to get a good shot in before Galvatron knocked the circuits out of him. Fallen Angel After Galvatron was forced into retreat by the vagrant Dinobots, Perceptor's team finally managed to reach the Ark, where they learned of Optimus Prime's apparent demise at the hands of the Predacons. Powerglide attended Prime's funeral and assimilated into Earth's depleted Autobot forces, though it was soon revealed that Prime's death was a ruse. Resurrection!

"Is this the line for the mutiny?"

When Optimus Prime died (for real) after a digital battle with Megatron, Powerglide observed with the other Autobots as Ratchet failed to successfully repair their fallen leader. After attending Prime's (real) funeral, a criminal known as the Mechanic turned the Ark's new security systems on the mourning Autobots, with devastating results. Funeral for a Friend! Grimlock, Prime's successor, turned out to be a self-interested tyrant, but he did help get the Ark repaired and off of Earth, a large process that Powerglide contributed to by feeding Energon cubes to their new Geothermal Generator. Child's Play Nevertheless, Powerglide was among the Autobots who begged Blaster to overthrow him, but the mutiny didn't pan out. Spacehikers! Later, Blaster and Grimlock battled for supremacy on Earth's Moon, as Powerglide and the other Autobots cheered Blaster on. Totaled!

Some time after Optimus Prime's return, Powerglide was among several Autobots who responded to Buster Witwicky's distress call near the Decepticons' arctic base. However, this was a trap, and Powerglide was shot down in battle by some Decepticon aerial aces, including Slugslinger and the ever-frightening Buzzsaw. Dark Star He was identified as deactivated several weeks later. Yesterday's Heroes!

Regeneration One

Following the final battle with the Decepticons, the Warworld and the Blitz Engines, Powerglide discovered Bludgeon's body on the surface of Cybertron and hurried over to notify the freshly minted Rodimus Prime. When they realised that the Decepticon leader was still alive Prime had Powerglide notify a medic, leaving the Minibot to marvel with Kup at their leader's new-found maturity. The War to End All Wars, Part 1 Later, Powerglide took part in the assault against Jhiaxus's forces at the Hub Network, as part of the crew of Lancer One alongside Scattershot, Blades and Groove under the command of Wheeljack. Although they successfully carried out their mission, Jhiaxus was prepared for them and the Autobots' attack fell to pieces shortly afterwards. The War to End All Wars, Part 3

Find Your Fate Junior

As the following stories are multipath adventures, details will vary depending on the path taken. See individual pages for information on alternate paths.

Dinobots Strike Back

In one micro-continuity-nexus in which four of the Dinobots were taken over by Bombshell's cerebro-shells, Powerglide was part of the Autobot attack force if Optimus Prime chose to attack immediately. He dropped a small concussion bomb near Snarl, bringing the Stegosaurus to his knees. This prompted Slag to spew a jet of fire at Powerglide, which he managed to dodge.

In an alternate ending, Powerglide was part of a full-scale land, air, and sea assault on the Decepticons' secret base in Mount Lomas. With a little backup from Tracks, he apparently took down all of Megatron's warrior jets with his thermal beam, giving the ground force the cover they needed to storm the base and torch the superfuel lab. Dinobots Strike Back

Earthquake

Earthquake

Desert Flight

Desert Flight

Decepticon Poison

Decepticon Poison

Autobot Alert!

Autobot Alert!

The Invisibility Factor

"Ultra Magnus, who stacked all that box art in the doorway?"

The Invisibility Factor

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

The paper-airplaneness of his Dreamwave Cybertronic altmode is unknown.

Powerglide was operational during the early days of the war, and was seen in Iacon shortly after Sentinel Prime's demise. The War Within #2

Bumblebee needs a smaller command chair.

In the modern era, Powerglide was a member of one of the later-formed Autobot resistance cells on Cybertron, in communication with Smokescreen and Tracks along with several other Minibots. Countdown to Extinction He participated in the final insurrection which threw Shockwave and his Decepticons out of power on Cybertron. Afterwards, he was assigned to Bumblebee's command and traveled to Earth on a supply run aboard the starship Orion. Night of the Combaticons Their simple supply mission ended with heavy combat against the amazingly-powerful clone, Sunstorm. The Autobots, in a fit of temporary insanity, decided to ally themselves with Starscream in order to deal with this threat. Powerglide might have raised a complaint to being assigned to guard their new "partner", but Starscream betrayed them and deactivated Powerglide's unit so fast, it's hard to be sure he even had a chance to speak up. The Omega Effect

Ratchet presumably got him back online in time to help with the construction of Autobot City. The Route of All Evil

IDW Generation 1 continuity

Powerglide was among the Autobots poised to fight against Galvatron's army on Cybertron. Led by Silverbolt, he and the other Autobot fliers attacked Kimia Facility and fought with the many Sweeps defending it. Numbers

Once the battle was won and the war was over, Powerglide joined the crew of the Lost Light to participate in the search for the Knights of Cybertron. Hangers On He spent some time in Swerve's bar where he was confused by Skids and Chromedome's drunken antics. Life After the Big Bang When Overlord was unleashed within the ship, Powerglide joined the rest of the crew in trying to defeat him. Under Cold Blue Stars

Powerglide left the crew of the Lost Light after Dark Cybertron, he would later volunteer to act as a member of Superion in an effort to provide Starscream with a combiner to defend against Devastator. The World of Tomorrow

Games

Transformers Legends

Part of a small task force led by Hound, Powerglide took part in a kerfuffle against the Decepticons and Whirl. The outcome of the fight was unclear. By Land, Sea, or Air

Powerglide was injured, and had Grapple, Hoist and Huffer come to his aid. The trio were delayed when they became friendly with the Constructions, but after the sudden but inevitable betrayal, the three Autobots took him to safety. The Master Builders Powerglide fought against the combined Decepticon and Quintesson forces when they attacked Cybertron. Five Faces of Darkness: Part 3

Toys

Generation 1

The first Transformers toy that can stand with his arms akimbo. Appropriate!

• Powerglide (Mini-Vehicle, 1985)
  • Japanese ID number: C-62

Powerglide transforms into an A-10 Thunderbolt ground-strike plane. He is notable for being one of the earliest Autobots with an aerial alt-mode. Due to his transformation, Powerglide has more robot-mode articulation than any other Mini Vehicle. His head can turn, his shoulders have what amounts to universal joints, and his elbows bend. The box art depicts his robot mode mis-transformed; his wings stick out at an angle instead of being upright touching his body.

• More information on Powerglide at TFU.info

Transformers Collection

• Minibot Team (Multi-pack, 2004)
  • Japanese ID number: TFC-12

In January of 2004, Powerglide was reissued in a Transformers Collection six-pack with Bumblebee, Cosmos, Gears, Huffer and Warpath. With the exception of an added factory-applied insignia sticker, which necessitated the original sticker being moved down and rotated 180 degrees, there are no notable differences between the original and the reissue versions.

This entire set was redecoed to make the "G1 GoBots" set: Powerglide was used to make Bad Boy.

Universe (2008)

Someone's been eating their Wheaties.(Hasbro Version Pictured)

• Powerglide (Ultra, 2008)
  • Accessories: Chaingun/missile launcher, "thermal beam" missile

Although now upsized to an Ultra class toy with electronics, Universe Powerglide still transforms into an A-10 (though the nose looks more like that of its canceled counterpart, the Northrop YA-9, probably for licensing reasons). In order to preserve some semblance of realism in his altmode, however, he is mostly off-white in color, with red trim. His noggin, at least, is still entirely red, and even has an off-center cannon barrel sculpted into it in homage to his original toy, even though here, his head doesn't become the nosecone.

In vehicle mode, pressing the prominent orange button on the jet's fuselage triggers three electronic sound effects (an engine ignition, a swooping noise and a barrage of machine-gun fire that persists for as long as you hold down the button, the same ones are used for Universe Silverbolt), accompanied by red LEDs in the turbines and cockpit. During transformation to robot mode, the classic transformation sound effect is triggered as the torso is moved into place; it plays in reverse as he is transformed back to vehicle mode. In robot mode, pressing the orange button triggers the machine-gun sound effect only, with newly-exposed lights illuminating Powerglide's eyes as well as those seen in jet mode.

In robot mode, Powerglide features a wide range of articulation, and can wield in his hand the thermal missile launcher which mounts under his jet-mode nosecone. In what can only be described as one of the most hilarious homages in Transformers history, Powerglide's chestplate can flip up to reveal the raised image of a heart.

Rather unfortunately, his small feet and top-heaviness make him difficult to pose and stand up.

His instructions omit a useful step: pulling the lower legs down to expose the knees and increase his height.

(Takara Version Pictured)

The Japanese "USA Edition" release for Powerglide is colored in mostly red with white detailing, essentially reversing most of the colour layouts. He retains the same tampographed unit-markings as the Hasbro version.

This mold was also used to make Universe Stormcloud.

More show-accurate than the Takara version!

• Powerglide (Ultra Class, 2009)
  • Accessories: Chaingun/missile launcher, "thermal beam" missile

The second version of Universe Powerglide is a Walmart-exclusive red redeco similar to TakaraTomy's Japanese release of this sculpt, but with some significant differences in color layout. In an effort to make the toy more accurate to the cartoon, the arms are cast in light gray plastic, unlike the all-red arms on the Japanese version.

His tailfins sport tampographed "NA W4Y W3 60" markings, which reads "And away we go!"

Generations

File:TFGenerations Legends Powerglide.jpg

• Autobot Powerglide (Legends Class, 2015)

A new Legends Class mould, Powerglide transforms into a jet resembling an A-10 Warthog. Unlike previous Legends Class waves, Powerglide is not packaged with a smaller Targetmaster partner. He, instead, can transform into Superion's weapon. Powerglide includes a collector card featuring art from the "By Land, Sea, or Air" episode of Transformers Legends.

Notes

We need an adult!

• Classics Fireflight, a redeco of Legends of Cybertron Jetfire, was originally intended to be Powerglide, but Hasbro apparently could not secure the trademark at the time.
• Powerglide makes an appearance in one of the five Transformers public service announcements, speaking out against gender discrimination.
• 3200 miles per hour is Mach 4.16, MUCH faster than ANY modern combat jet, let alone a real A-10 Thunderbolt II... not that jet-based alt modes are known for realism.
• He is the only Generation 1 transformer with 4 digits on each hand (if you discount the Monster Pretender shells).

Foreign names

• Japanese: Powerglide (パワーグライド Pawāguraido)
• French: Survolo (Canada)
• Greek: Keraynόs (Κεραυνός, "Lightning")
• Hungarian: Motorszárny ("Motorwing")
• Italian: Jumbo
• Portuguese: Planador (Portugal comics), Planador (Brazil comics)
• Russian: Vetrorez (Ветрорез, "Windcut")

External links

• Powerglide at TFU.info
• Powerglide's Universe profile at NTFA.net