Blackout (Armada)
| The name or term "Blackout" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Blackout (disambiguation). |
- Blackout is a Decepticon-allied Mini-Con from the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Blackout is a free spirit to his core and doesn't believe in doing anything that compromises who he is inside. The only reason this independent streak doesn't get him in major trouble with his Decepticon masters is that "who he is inside" craves action more than anything else, and the 'Cons provide that in spades. Still, even with the opportunity to bust some heads, he's not sold on the Decepticon agenda and is not shy about saying so, no matter the punishment. This spirited tendency towards dissent and free thought often puts him at odds with his frequent partner, the loyal lackey Demolishor. The two spend a lot of time in arguments to convince each other of their respective viewpoints. Blackout is powerful and heavily armored for a Mini-Con, and possesses a powerful sensor array to aid in target acquisition.
He kinda looks like Guardminder, don't ya think?
Fiction
Unicron Trilogy cartoon continuity
Armada cartoon
Blackout was one of the first two Mini-Con storage panels the Decepticons retrieved from the Earth's surface. A small cache of panels was unearthed in battle, and Cyclonus managed to swipe two of them before the Autobots could get ahold of them. He kept one Mini-Con for himself and gave the other to Megatron. This was Blackout's panel and, after witnessing Starscream and Demolishor fighting over being his right-hand man, Megatron decided to reward Blackout to Demolishor. This was apparently to antagonize Starscream and turn his ambition towards collecting more Mini-Cons. Base
When the Decepticons were hunting Mini-Cons in the forest, Demolishor programmed Blackout to act as their personal locator, and he tracked down the latest Mini-Con storage panel for Demolishor and Megatron to the exact tree it was hidden in. Jungle On another mission in the desert, Blackout attended to Demolishor while his bulk partner was in vehicle mode, operating his cannons to ward off any intruders in the Mini-Con hunt. Palace
During a Mini-Con search in the cramped confines of a city subway system, Blackout and the other Decepticon Mini-Cons were dispatched to comb the catacombs more quickly than their bulk counterparts could manage. Underground Later, Blackout was briefly teamed with Cyclonus and Crumplezone to locate the Autobots' hidden base in the area pinpointed by Sonar. Swoop He also helped Demolishor stand guard over the Decepticon dig site near a big city. Blackout seemed to briefly react to Sideways' presence before the Autobots arrived on the scene. Gale
While searching for a Mini-Con panel in the foggy English countryside, Blackout located the panel at the same time as Laserbeak, and radioed in to Demolishor with his results. Conspiracy Blackout's scanning abilities were used by Demolishor again to locate Downshift when the Decepticons were attempting to complete the Skyboom Shield. Reinforcement
In their first battle alongside Tidal Wave, Demolishor assembled the Decepticons' military Mini-Cons (Crumplezone, Leader-1, Blackout and Inferno) into a ground warfare squad to confront the enemy. As he led them into combat, the Mini-Cons kept the Autobots busy on the ground while Tidal Wave and Thrust dealt with the aerial Jet Optimus. Desperate
Sometime later, Blackout magically appeared over a nameless planet where the Autobots and Decepticons were fighting with Nemesis Prime. He and several other Mini-Cons used their combined power to repair the damage the Cybertronians had suffered before vanishing as quickly as they came. Puppet
Blackout accompanied Demolishor onto Unicron's surface. He began recording data on the entity, but fell into a crevasse during Unicron's transformation. Later he was found by Hot Shot and Side Swipe. Hot Shot then returned him to Demolishor. Alliance The data supposedly recorded by Blackout was used to determine Unicron had a weak spot in his neck. Union
Kiss Players Position
When he was separated from Demolishor on Unicron's surface, Blackout had a surprising encounter with a human girl who suddenly materialized in front of him. The girl was Atari Hitotonari, a member of the time-traveling group known as the Kiss Players, who had inadvertently become separated and scattered across the multiverse in the course of their adventures. Blackout formed a mental link with Atari that allowed her to understand his beepings and boopings, requesting her help in finding Demolishor, but Atari's Sparkbot partner Star Dust professed that there was nothing they could do. Before any more discussion could be had on the matter, Atari was spirited away by the power of Primus and returned to her home dimension. Kiss Players radio drama #48
Ten years later, in the midst of the Transformers' war for energon, Blackout encountered another of the Kiss Players, Marissa Faireborn, who had been deposited in this time period after she was separated from her comrades. By this point in time, Blackout had become separated from Demolishor after the larger bot's death, and Marissa sympathized, having recently suffered the loss of her own partner, Optimus Prime. Just before Primus's power enveloped Marissa and took her back to her own world, she told Blackout that their partners lived on in their hearts. Kiss Players radio drama #49
Dreamwave Armada comic
When the Decepticons started kidnapping Mini-Cons, Blackout helped prepare a forceshield around his hometown of village C52. Unfortunately, his efforts were for naught, and he and the rest of the villagers were captured by the Decepticons. Armada #1 He was used by Demolishor during the initial attack on Cyber City, Armada #2 though another account placed him as one of the evacuees on board the ship used by most Mini-Cons to escape the war. Armada Free Comic Book Day
A million years later, Blackout was taken to Earth when the Decepticons started hunting down the Mini-Cons who escaped from Cybertron. Megatron forcibly powerlinxed him and several other Mini-Cons to his body during a battle with the Autobots, but was still driven into a retreat. Armada #5 Blackout and the other Decepticon Mini-Cons later snuck out of their base and traveled to a monolith that was sending out a beacon for all the Mini-Cons on Earth. Upon arrival, they entered the structure, which took off into space. Armada #8 Armada #10 The Mini-Cons were all taken to a moonbase built by Dualor so that they could all live in peace. It didn't last. Armada #9
At some point, Blackout was recaptured by the Decepticons, but he was soon released to assist in the battle against Unicron. After returning to Cybertron, he joined the other Mini-Cons at the Loop, where they channeled their energies into the Mini-Con Matrix to fire a huge blast which crippled Unicron. The End
Panini Armada comic
Blackout was present at the Decepticons' Silver Ridge base when a few Autobot-allied Mini-Cons broke in and tried to save them. He didn't seem to resist like the other Decepticon-allied Mini-Cons, but he didn't end up escaping either. Into the Lions' Den! After the Decepticons relocated to the moon, their new base came under attack from Cyclonus, who was under the control of the Destruction Mini-Con Team. Blackout power-linked with Demolishor, who joined the battle against his possessed comrade. Dawn of Destruction!
Reader's Digest Armada novels
During a Decepticon attack on the Autobots' base, one of Megatron's stray shots caused a rock slide. This rock slide unearthed four Mini-Con panels, one of which contained the Mini-Con that would come to be known as "Blackout." Cyclonus snatched it and another panel out of the grasp of the humans Rad and Alexis as the Decepticons retreated from the battlefield. Back at the Decepticons' base on the Moon, Megatron gave Demolishor gave one of the dormant Mini-Cons to Demolishor to ensure that Starscream would not get it, so as to keep the Decepticon second-in-command's power in check. Demolishor activated the panel, causing the robot within to bond with him mentally. Demolishor then named his Mini-Con, and vowed to use his power to defeat the Autobots. Race for the Mini-Con Robots
Transformers Legends comic
Blackout, in his Powerlinx form, appeared as an example of a Mini-Con during an explanation on what the little robots were. Bonus Edition Vol. EX
Toys
Armada
- Demolishor w/ Blackout (Deluxe, 2002/2003)
- Japanese ID number: MD-03
- Available only with his "bulk" partner Demolishor, Blackout transforms into a six-wheeled APC/anti-aircraft vehicle of possibly made-up model. In this mode, he can be plugged into the gap between Demolishor's vehicle mode treads and launched via spring-loaded trigger. Demolishor's vehicle mode is also specially designed with a seat in the rear that robot mode Blackout can use to "pilot" the Decepticon.
- The Takara version of Blackout has a slightly different deco, using a "richer" sandy-tan color than the Hasbro version's pale-sand.
- Ironhide w/ Search and Land Military Microns (Multi-pack, 2003)
- Japanese ID number: MS-03
- In Japan, "Ironhide" and "Search" were also available in a multi-pack with the Land Military Mini-Con Team.
- Powerlinx Demolishor w/ Powerlinx Blackout (Deluxe, 2003)
- Japanese ID number: MD-10
- "Powerlinx" Blackout was redecoed into a primarily off-white color scheme with burgundy accents.
Built to Rule
- Demolishor (Built to Rule, 2003)
- The Built to Rule version of Demolishor also came with the pieces needed to assemble Blackout. Brick-Blackout "transforms" from...a brick to a slightly more oblong brick.
- Night Attack Demolishor (Built to Rule, 2003)
- When The Built to Rule Demolishor kit was redecoed into "Night Attack" colors, so was Blackout.
Energon
- Demolishor w/ Blackout (Deluxe, 2004)
- Japanese ID number: SD-02
- For Energon, Demolishor and Blackout were recolored into a rather Constructicon-like light-green-and-purple deco.
- In Japan, this set was part of the regular retail line, one of the initial releases for Super Link. It was held off in the Hasbro line, eventually released as a KB stores exclusive alongside the Energon redeco of Cyclonus and Crumplezone.
Notes
- According to Aaron Archer, the original plan for "Powerlinx" Demolishor/Blackout's deco was a homage to Generation 1 Sixshot. However, We've created their own scheme and implemented it, nixing that.
- Though the original Demolishor toy was redecoed and released as part of the Cybertron line, Blackout was excised from the package, just as the Mini-Cons were from the other Armada redecos/retools in the line. According to Aaron Archer at BotCon 2006, the decision to do so was made in order to keep the focus on Cyber Keys for non-Gigantion, non-Vector Prime toys. (And that the cost of "wasted" plastic—which can be recycled—was insignificant compared to the costs of painting and assembling the Mini-Con.) As seen in Demolishor's Cyber Key Code online file, though, a new deco for Blackout was developed.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Search (サーチ Sāchi)
- Hungarian: Sötét ("Dark")
- Korean: Search (서치 Seochi)
