Afterburner (G2)

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

Afterburner is a Decepticon Skyscorcher from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Our job: spray talc on that man's butt!

The tech master of the Skyscorchers, Afterburner likes to think he’s above brute force, preferring to use clever tricks and technology to achieve his goals on his own time. While he is clever and quick-thinking at times, he’s also lazy and very independent, which often gets him into trouble with his superiors.

He is also known as Snipe.

Fiction

Wings Universe

Afterburner was part of the "second generation" of Transformers created on Earth at the Cyberfactory. Although created without a faction, Afterburner soon chose one anyways and joined Clench's Decepticon Syndicate. Generation 2: Redux

Regeneration One

After a raid on the Pax Cybertronia Decommissioning Depot in Kalis went wrong and the Skyscorchers were left under siege, Afterburner berated Terradive for not listening to him and tripping every alarm in the place. His team-mate shot back that for all his "self-proclaimed genius," Afterburner's plans never got them anywhere. Still, it would've turned out alright if three Insecticons hadn't arrived to make "martyrs" of them under Soundwave's orders, Chop Shop killing him even as he protested they planned to hand the weapons to the Neo-Decepticons... Loose Ends, Part 1

IDW Generation 1 continuity

Pay no attention to the character write-up above.

Afterburner was part of the long-lost colony world of Caminus, where he operated as a Commander within the planet's namesake with a team of Cityspeakers. When a disturbance and outbreaks of violence was reported, Commander Afterburner took the Alpha Squadron with him to investigate, where they encountered Swindle. Afterburner tried to arrest Swindle, but was interrupted when Menasor appeared to menace the squadron. When he tried to arrest Menasor instead, he got stomped on by the combiner for his troubles. The Sum and Its Parts

Toys

Generation 1

You asked for more refueling, and we're giving it to you!

• Snipe (Skyscorcher, 1993)
  • Accessories: Radar array/rifle

Snipe transforms into a Lockheed F-104G Starfighter jet. His undercarriage radar becomes a hand-held non-firing blaster weapon for robot mode.

He was originally sold in the European market in 1993 as part of the "transitional" line that used the Generation 2 insignias, but lacked the new subline name. He was later released in the United States, with no notable changes beyond a new name, as part of the Generation 2 line. He was then later re-released in the European version of Generation 2 in 1994.

This toy is gang-molded with Windrazor.

• More information on Afterburner at TFU.info

Generation 2

• Afterburner/Snipe (Skyscorcher, 1993/1994)
  • Accessories: Radar array/rifle

Released in the United States in 1993, Generation 2 Afterburner is identical to the concurrent European "Generation 1" Snipe toy. Snipe was re-released in the European Generation 2 line the following year.

Block Town

• Radar Set (Block Town, 1996)
  • Accessories: Radar array/rifle, radar brick set

RADAR and POOPIE SUIT together at last.

Afterburner's mold was one of several intended to be used in the post-G2 Takara Block Town line, as an Autobot. To be redecoed in light blue with black, he was to come with the TFBT-1 Radar Set, a building-block radar tower that could be rebuilt into a battle station of some form. This set ultimately never came to release.

In 2005, a supposed Takara "release" schedule listed the Block Town sets among several other future items coming out. Only the Galaxy Force items on that list saw release, however (and some only as store exclusives to boot).

Given that Afterburner's Japanese name was revealed on a BotCon Japan 1997-exclusive poster to be "Snipe" - a poster that also showed Windbreaker's Japanese name as being "Carzap", which was what the Block Town Windbreaker redeco showed up as in Transformers Generations - it's likely that the Block Town Afterburner was going to be named "Snipe" as well. The whole "Autobot" thing makes the issue somewhat hazy, though.

Your bargaining posture is highly dubious. Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

Notes

Gray pride.

• Afterburner's card-art, and the early toy shown in the original product flier, show him to have gray legs rather than the final version's blue.
• His card art also has a Generation 1 style Decepticon insignia hidden in his cockpit.
• For some reason, Afterburner is the only Skyscorcher not to appear in the Generation 2 UK comic in any capacity. He's not even in the toy-lists!

Foreign names

• Japanese: Snipe (スナイプ Sunaipu)