Kickback (FOC)

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

Crowds of bees are giddy with clover, crowds of grasshoppers skip at our feet.

Kickback is a Decepticon Insecticon from the Aligned continuity family.

A member of the Insecticons, the independent Kickback prefers to spend his time cozying-up to others, so that once they've warmed up to him and he has his own circle of friends, he rewards them. With blackmail. And they end up doing his bidding. A manipulative, completely psychotic, and dangerously unpredictable creep, Kickback is trouble for any Autobot... unless you're Slug. That being said, his sycophantic tendencies leave him open to being taken advantage of by more intelligent Decepticons who aren't afraid of using him as much of a pawn as he intends to use them.

On Cybertron, Kickback had an insectoid alternate mode, but after being imprisoned on the Alchemor and being imprisoned on Earth, he acquired a top fuel dragster mode. At the very least, it makes getting away when things start to go south much faster.

Fiction

IDW Aligned comics

When Swoop infiltrated Shockwave's citadel in the Sea of Rust, he was ambushed by Insecticons and suffered some major damage to his chest thanks to Kickback. Secrets Kickback, Hardshell and Sharpshot later stood by Shockwave's side when the rest of the Lightning Strike Coalition Force arrived to save the captured Swoop. Siege Mentality

After the rest of the Coalition had been captured and experimented upon, Kickback was sent by Shockwave to dispose of Sludge, who the scientist considered too weak to bother reactivating. The Insecticon happily obliged, sticking the stasis-locked Autobot to the wall of an underground tunnel.

Sometime later, after Cybertron's remaining population retreated under the surface, Kickback led a group of Insecticons. They coexisted with the Forged, a faction of Shockwave's personal acolytes, until Insecticons began turning up dead, with the energon drained from their corpses. The Insecticons accused the Forged of cannibalism, which they denied, so the hive proceeded to attack and wipe out the acolytes in what they believed was an act of self-preservation. Beast Hunters #2

Shortly after the battle, the Dinobots Sludge and Snarl arrived, investigating the same spate of cannibalism, and the Insecticons attacked them. Beast Hunters #1 Kickback wound up in single combat with Sludge, whereupon he taunted the Dinobot with his casual disposal by Shockwave and the time it took for him to be found. However, Sludge was able to overpower the Insecticon and proceeded to interrogate him. Kickback repeated his belief that the Forged were the cannibals and that his Insecticons had killed them in defense. Although Snarl verified the Insecticons had indeed not fed on the Forged, Sludge executed his prisoner anyway, citing the atrocities he would almost certainly commit in the future. Beast Hunters #2

2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon

Voice actor: Liam O'Brien (English)

Spoiler warning: Plot details for Lockout follow. Spoilers expire in 48 days

Kickback was one of the prisoners aboard the Alchemor when it crashed, freeing him from stasis. After escaping, he tried to join up with Steeljaw's gang, only for the other Decepticons to tie him up and use him as bait to lure the Autobots away from their scrapyard base. They freed him, prompting the toadying Kickback to ask if the Autobots needed a new sidekick. When they refused, Kickback used his side kick to escape his captors, whereupon he immediately transformed and fled. Lockout

Games

When the war is over, he cleans up all the graffiti that he caused.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

Voice actor: Troy Baker (English)

As Cybertron's core shut down, the Insecticons made their way up further to the surface to find Energon. Shockwave came across Kickback, Sharpshot, and Hardshell and convinced them to join the ranks of the Decepticons.

Kickback and his brothers accompanied Shockwave as they ran a test on Grimlock. However the subject withstood the tests and Kickback left with his brothers and Shockwave. Later Grimlock escaped captivity so Kickback volunteered his services to stop him and help unlock his beast mode function. Kickback lead Grimlock through the Insecticon layers of Shockwave's tower and ambushed him with multiple Insecticons at once. However Grimlock was able to override Shockwave's programming and transformed into a T-rex. After Grimlock destroyed all the Insecticons, Kickback attempted to escape, only for the exit door to come slamming down on him thanks to Slug. The Autobot proceeded to walk over Kickback with a cry of "Excuse me." Fall of Cybertron

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark

Console

Voice actor: Troy Baker (English)

When Shockwave happened upon Kickback and his companions while searching for the Dark Spark, Kickback was the second to attack the Decepticon after Hardshell fell. Kickback attacked Shockwave from the air but fell just as quickly as his brother had. He then agreed, along with Hardshell and Sharpshot, to join the Decepticons. Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark

3DS

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (3DS)

Toys

Generations

Delicious, ay?

• Kickback (Deluxe Class, 2012)
  • Series / number: 01 / #009
  • Japanese release date: 02-23-2013
  • Japanese ID number: TG08
  • Accessories: "Disc launcher", disc projectile, insect wings/twin battle blades

Part of the third wave of 2012 Generations Deluxe Class toys, Fall of Cybertron Kickback transforms into a Cybertronian insect. His wings are attached in insect mode via C joint, and can be removed and used as "battle blades" that are held by his hands via 5mm post. He also comes with a disc launcher that fires its disc via pressure-launch, and is based on the Gear Shredder from Fall of Cybertron. The wing-blades can peg into any of the launcher's four 5mm ports, although the instructions nominally peg them on the front sides, making the launcher look a bit like a crossbow. Aside from his hands, Kickback features additional 5mm ports for mounting, such as on his thighs, legs, and clawed appendages.

In an undocumented feature, the launcher can mount/store on his back in either mode by sliding it into grooves found on top of each of the clawed appendages that hold his wing-blades, and pegging the wing-blades in this configuration while in robot mode will give him a spiffy winged backpack. His instructions also forget to mention that his gold-and-purple chest panels have to be angled up for robot mode.

The TakaraTomy version, part of the third wave of Japanese Generations toys, is noticeably shinier, casting his purple plastic in a darker, metallic shade, having much darker gray and black plastics, replacing his gold paint with pale yellow, and featuring numerous additional paint details, among other deco changes. This version's instructions not only remember to angle up the chest panels, it also includes an additional note showing one how store the launcher on his wings/clawed appendages.

• More information on Kickback at TFU.info

Notes

• Kickback's beast mode head is available in Fall of Cybertron multiplayer as a Parasite-type component for Destroyer-class characters, whereas Kickback's armor set and individual parts are available for the Scientist class after purchasing the Massive Fury DLC which was released on September 25.
• In Fall of Cybertron, Kickback has a speech pattern quirk that sees him repeat words at the end of his sentences like Shrapnel did in the original The Transformers cartoon. This was almost certainly a screw-up on someone's part, as it's hard to imagine that Shrapnel's speech pattern was not intended to go to his direct counterpart Sharpshot, though there is a slight difference, as Shrapnel's was a sort of echo, and Kickback's is a psychotic repetition. Interestingly, however, the same manner of speech is heard again before fighting Sharpshot. The hey?
• In Robots In Disguise, Kickback, until recently, is the first and only Insecticon to date, to acquire a vehicle mode. His official alt-mode is a top fuel dragster.

Foreign names

• Russian: Prygun (Прыгун, "Jumper")