Stiletto (BW)
| The name or term "Stiletto" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Stiletto (disambiguation). |
- Stiletto is a Maximal from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Few casual observers would ever think Stiletto was among the youngest Maximals. She is capable of moving at incredible speeds, but unlike the primitive, hyperactive Blurr, she can also operate slowly and silently. Her demeanor is also nothing like the old Autobot's. Stiletto seldom speaks and shows emotions so imperceptibly that only her close friends can even tell they're there.
And with the knives? She's scary. She's really scary. Hence her sometimes-nickname, Knives.
Fiction
The Razor's Edge
Crossblades and Stiletto were mopping up Predacons incursions on Roliak in the J'kozian sector when they were drafted for a mission with Wing Saber. The trio were to infiltrate the world of Nibari, eliminating a Predacon presence that seemed to be commanded by an old nemesis of Wing Saber's, Steelgrave. These Predacons were renegades, operating outside the jurisdiction of the Pax Cybertronia and the Tripredacus Council, looking to rekindle the war with an army of semi-autonomous shock troops.
Stiletto, disguised as Predacon guard Cutter, sneaked the trio into the Predacon-occupied Ro'kar. There, posing as barmaids, Crossblades and her comrades corrupted the energon being served, taking Steelgrave and most of his men off-line before they tried to enter the base. Their sabotage efforts were interrupted, however, by a local resistance movement breaking into the base to free their enslaved people. Crossblades and the Maximals got involved to save innocent lives.
The battle took a sudden, deadly turn with the arrival of Steelgrave's secret superior officer...the Mighty Megatron himself. Shocked by the appearance of the legendary Decepticon, Stiletto and her friends took off into the wilderness. After composing themselves, they arranged to challenge Megatron to combat under Cybertronian law. After a few rounds of combat, though, Crossblades began to realize this couldn't be the real Megatron—he was suffering too much damage. By concentrating their power on one spot, the Maximals were able to crack open Megatron's armor and reveal their true nemesis—Flamewar, who had been posing as Megatron using an exo suit. The Razor's Edge
Beast Wars: Uprising
Stiletto was a Maximal Command Security Force copper and had done a stint in the Maximal Flying Corps, where she was stunned by the dying beauty of Crystal City. She was patrolling Peptex with Betabear when the Grand Uprising kicked off.
She thought the Builders, while not perfect, had kept Cybertron stable and while Lio Convoy had some good points, his "Grand Uprising" was a horrible slaughter and killing fellow cops. Unfortunately for her, she too had to kill fellow cops when, following a desperate Resistance-caused riot, her partner tried to murder a civilian in the midst of a nucleon fit and only a knife to the head could stop him. The MCSF covered this up, to the extent of sending her to the Mandala to have mnemosurgery. Unfortunately, the guilt remained and she thought she had killed that civilian in an accident. That began to impair her actions.
After growing trauma and a stint having to carpet bomb rebel-held areas with the Corps, she asked for a transfer to the Overcharge depot watching Melpomene Bridge. Her old comrades gave no crap that she was going and she'd grown to distrust them. At the depot, she took a long time to warm up to her burned out, much-complaining new partner Overshoot. Worst still, the guilt and surgery kept causing her to suffer 'flashbacks' in the middle of anything that might trigger it. Her knives had long since been chucked away.
When the Resistance stormed the Bridge, Stiletto and Overshoot successfully took it out (and her flying skills ensured his plan worked without killing him) but were stuck fighting an enraged Bighorn. Mid-battle, her memories came back; with them came clarity and her old combat skills. She brutally took down Bighorn to save Overshoot. The two walked off to the nearest city, with her gradually trying to put her trauma behind her. Burning Bridges
The recording of Stiletto's first speech as chair of the Cybertronian Parliament would last for 10,000 years, analyzed by generations of historicans. The Inexorable March
Notes
- Though no toy of Stiletto has been produced, her Beast Wars: Uprising pre-beast body is modeled on Generations Windblade, with a new head. Meanwhile, her beast body is modeled on Classics Dreadwing.
- At the end of the Uprising narrative B'Boom and Stiletto work together without him ever seeming to know she killed Bighorn or her knowing B'Boom demanded retaliation. David Bishop later said that in his mind, if the topic came up they'd have pragmatically moved past it—"didn't you kill my friend?" would be a recurring subject on post-war Cybertron.[1]
