Cliffjumper (Movie)
| The name or term "Cliffjumper" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Cliffjumper (disambiguation). |
- Cliffjumper is an Autobot from the live-action film series continuity family.
Surly, impatient, loud, and brash, Cliffjumper is an Autobot who shoots first and asks questions much, much later. The only intelligence he's patient enough to gather is "Decepticons were here, and now they're dead." Despite his surly and impetuous nature, however, Bumblebee seems to like him. He's short in stature much like 'Bee, but that never gets in the way of him provoking his enemies and taking the first shot in battle.
Fiction
Movies
Bumblebee film
- Voice actor: Andrew Morgado (English)
Cliffjumper was fighting the Decepticons with the rest of the Autobots when Optimus Prime told them to fall back to the escape pods. Many years later, hunters Shatter and Dropkick find him on one of Saturn's moons and interrogate him for Optimus Prime's whereabouts. They become restless after his many attempts to remain silent. Before Dropkick can deliver the final strike, he manages to catch B-127's signal from Earth. They decide to go after B-127 instead, but not before Dropkick kills him by vertical bisection. Bumblebee
IDW Transformers movie comics
Many, many years ago, Cliffjumper and his look-alike Bumblebee guarded the AllSpark at Simfur from nothing in particular. Cliffjumper tried to get his bored friend to calm down when the yellow guy got anxious from just sitting around. Cliffjumper pointed out that, even though they were Defense Force material, they'd be just as bored in the Defense Force, just doing patrols. If anything, they should relax and let the action come to them.
Cliffjumper rather regretted his words, as hostile aliens attacked Cybertron, and the pair were quickly pinned down under heavy fire. Relief finally came in the form of Megatron, who quickly slagged several of the attacking craft. Megatron proceeded to berate the two Autobots for not doing a better job and not taking the fight to the enemy, but received a bad wound from the attackers. When Starscream arrived, Megatron told him to keep Optimus's team out of their way. Defiance #1
After the battle, a panicky Bumblebee knew something big was coming, though Cliffjumper thought that they wouldn't have anything to do with it anyway, as they're only supposed to stand guard at the temple. Prowl and Jazz came to investigate the attack on the temple, and Cliffjumper reported that they didn't notice any unusual activity from the AllSpark during the battle. Later, presumably all the security personnel were present at the meeting where Optimus asked them not to follow Megatron into war. Defiance #2
After Megatron discovered that Optimus, Prowl and Jazz had been snooping about in his quarters, he sent Cliffjumper and Bumblebee along with other expendable security officers under Prowl's command to arrest Optimus on trumped-up charges of treason. What the officers didn't know was they were all marked for death, and on the trip to Trypticon, the group was attacked by soldiers loyal to Megatron. The group managed to escape to Burthov while Optimus stayed behind long enough to defeat the would-be assassins. Defiance #3
In the wastes of Burthov, Cliffjumper got the drop on the disenfranchised solder Ironhide, who had quit Megatron's army in disgust. A brief standoff ensued where Ironhide was confident that his abundant weaponry would ensure Cliffjumper would not harm him, but the younger 'bot noted the cannons were all Ironhide had, and suddenly, his confederates sprung out of the ground to surround the old soldier. Ironhide wasn't in the mood to fight anyway, so the rebels took him to see Optimus Prime. Defiance #4 Cliffjumper was in a crowd of Autobots waiting for Optimus Prime's orders after the Decepticons launched the Nemesis into space. Foundation #3 Sometime later, with the war reaching its peak, Optimus Prime made the decision to capture the AllSpark and launch it into deep space, hopefully sparing Cybertron further devastation and giving his Autobots the breathing room they required. Defiance #4 Foundation #4 Cliffjumper was a crew member of Optimus's starship when it left Cybertron in pursuit of the AllSpark. The Reign of Starscream #1
Cliffjumper had returned to Cybertron some time before the year 1908, where he participated in a mission to steal energon from the now Decepticon-controlled Trypticon. His team was ambushed by Shockwave's troops, and though Cliffjumper himself was shot in the chest by Shockwave, he lived to retreat and regroup. Rising Storm #2
After the death of Megatron and the destruction of the AllSpark, Cliffjumper was part of an Autobot assault team on Mars under the command of Arcee. Together with his teammates, he attacked the Starscream's landed Decepticon starship. The Reign of Starscream #2 Cliffjumper and the others made short work of the Swindle, Dreadwing, and Payload drones that the Decepticons sent against them, but were unprepared for Thundercracker's sonic weaponry. Cliffjumper and Camshaft attempted to provide cover for Smokescreen to evacuate the fallen Air Raid, but Thundercracker killed Camshaft and wounded Cliffjumper. Saved from certain doom by Arcee, Cliffjumper turned the tides on the Decepticon, only to be shot in the back by Starscream. Arcee attempted to evacuate her wounded comrade, but was struck down by Starscream instead, leaving Cliffjumper's future looking grim. The Reign of Starscream #3 However, Soundwave only found two dead Autobots and not four so he may have gotten better! Convergence chapter 4
Toy bios
The Autobots depend on the brazen Cliffjumper to make the more collected of their enemies so angry that they mess up their own plans. At one point, Cliffjumper targeted Barricade, who—while physically Cliffjumper's equal or better—became extremely annoyed by the fact he could not match Cliffjumper's skill at insults. Cliffjumper Vs Recon Barricade
If Dead End and Cliffjumper weren't on opposite sides, they would get along swimmingly—because they're both dysfunctional jerks. As it happens, the extent of their interpersonal relationship involves Dead End trying to creep the short-tempered Cliffjumper out, which typically ends with Dead End getting punched in the face. Cliffjumper and Dead End
Games
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (3DS)
Toys
Transformers (2007)
Legends Class toys
- Cliffjumper Vs Recon Barricade (Legends multi-pack, 2007)
- Released as part of the AllSpark Battles assortment, Legends Class Cliffjumper is a redeco of Legends Bumblebee. His alternate mode is a fully licensed 1976 Chevrolet Camaro cast in red plastic with silver racing stripes on his hood. As part of the AllSpark Battles assortment, he came packed with Legends Class Recon Barricade, a redeco of the previously released Legends Class Barricade. Even though the packaging for the two-pack features the same elements as the AllSpark Power subline imprint, the packaging doesn't explicitly identify it as part of AllSpark Power.
- Cliffjumper (Legends, 2008)
- An individually packaged release of the Legends class toy, available in European, Asian and Australasian markets instead of the AllSpark Battles two-pack.
Deluxe Class toys
- Cliffjumper (Deluxe, 2008)
- Accessories: Blaster cannon/blade
- As part of the AllSpark Power refresh of the movie toyline, Cliffjumper is once again a red and silver Bumblebee redeco, this time of the Deluxe Camaro Concept Bumblebee toy and, naturally, transforms into the concept vehicle for the 2009 Chevrolet Camaro. He features two Automorphing gimmicks during transformation: (a) swinging his hood down into robot mode position also moves his arms up and (b), swinging his feet down will move the rear fenders up and behind his calves, as well as swinging the rear windows to his inner calves in a spring-loaded action.
- Cliffjumper comes with a plasma cannon that he can hold in either hand. For added play value, the cannon can Automorph into an energy blade by opening up the halves of the gun barrel and swinging them back. Care should be taken when removing the cannon from Cliffjumper's hands, as excessive force can damage the wrist ball joint socket.
- Contrary to popular opinion, the red pieces on the back of Cliffjumper's feet are not supposed to be heel spurs, and they have not been mis-assembled. They are supposed to fold up to emulate the detail found on the CGI design for Bumblebee.
Cyber Slammers
- Cliffjumper (Cyber Slammer, 2007)
- Part of the fourth wave of Cyber Slammers toys, Cliffjumper is (natch) a redeco of the concept-Camaro Cyber Slammer Bumblebee. He has motorized action: When you push down on the car, it zooms forward and slowly pops into robot mode!
Bumblebee
- Cliffjumper (Speed Series, 2018)
- Speed Series Cliffjumper is a redeco of Bumblebee, transforming from robot into a licensed Volkswagen Beetle in just a few steps, and he features 3 mm compatible hands. Cliffjumper can also be attached to the Energon Igniters core, and due to the toy being lightweight, it can propel his vehicle mode forward very quickly. As the port is 5 mm compatible, Cliffjumper can mount other weapons with the same post size, making him an efficient weapon-towing vehicle. Due to being used for transformation, he features a pair of well-articulated legs, as long you don't mind the Energon Igniters port sticking out from his left knee. As with Bumblebee, Cliffjumper doesn't have any Autobot insignias tampographed or sculpted on.
- As a redeco, Cliffjumper's toy is inaccurate to his brief appearance in the movie, and instead continues the legacy from his 2008 toy.
Merchandise
3D Battle-Card Game
- Cliffjumper (3D Battle-Card, 2007)
- Card number: 2
- Cliffjumper is a 31-point "Common" piece in the 3D Battle-Card Game. Constructed of punch-out pieces from randomly packed plastic cards (two full robots per pack), he can be assembled into his car mode (resembling a BMW Z4) or into a rather stumpy robot mode. One of his blaster-weapons is held in his right hand, the other can mount on either shoulder.
- He uses the same construction as the Jazz and Smokescreen cards. This style is similar to the one used by Barricade, Earth-mode Bumblebee, and Swerve.
- Amusingly enough, Cliffjumper's 3D card robot mode is clearly designed after Alternators Swerve, though with a few movie-aesthetic concessions thrown in, mostly in the look of the feet. It's exceedingly likely the names of the two cards got mixed up, as card-game Swerve bears more than a passing resemblance to Bumblebee (and by extension, every other version of movie Cliffjumper).
- His card art was done by Lucio Parrillo.
Robot Heroes
- Cliffjumper and Optimus Prime (Robot Heroes, 2007)
- Robot Heroes Cliffjumper is a redeco of the first-wave Bumblebee figurine, a non-transforming, super-cute rendition of the character. Originally exclusive to the Best Buy USA release of the movie DVD release, along with a battle-damaged version of Robot Heroes Optimus Prime, Cliffjumper later saw a wider release as part of the 2009 blind-packed series of Robot Heroes.
Titanium Series
- Cliffjumper & Dead End (Two-pack, 2009)
- Accessories: Autobot symbol display stand
- A red and black redeco of Bumblebee (in his '76 Camaro form), Titanium Series Cliffjumper is a non-transforming figurine made of plastic and die-cast metal. He is sculpted wielding a forearm-mounted weapon, and has articulation in his shoulders, neck and waist. Oh, and he comes with a movie-style Autobot logo base to stand on.
Notes
- An early ILM test animatic (first seen in Circuit City-exclusive web content, later in the "bonus" section of the official movie website) of Bumblebee in battle had 'Bee facing off against a red doppelganger. Hmmmm.
- With three toys, a Titanium figurine, a Robot Heroes figurine, and a Battle-Card, Cliffjumper has by far the most merchandise for a Transformers movie character not actually appearing IN the film. However, the increased popularity of Bumblebee prevented any further Cliffjumper redecos of Bumblebee toys from the Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon lines (with the exception of the Titanium figure), leading instead to a slew of increasingly insane same-character-in-slightly-varied-colors redecos of Bumblebee. Cliffjumper would eventually make his on-screen debut in the Bumblebee film.
- Furthermore, between his various toys, he shares two different Camaro alternate modes with Bumblebee. Is this supposed to imply that in a toy-only micro-continuity, he undergoes exactly the same upgrade from a 1976 Chevrolet Camaro into a modern Camaro concept vehicle?
- Cover A of The Reign of Starscream issue 5 by Alex Milne depicts Cliffjumper among the Autobots in an Earth mode body based on his Deluxe Class toy, despite the fact he never made it to Earth and doesn't even appear in this issue.
- Cliffjumper's design in Bumblebee is heavily inspired by his Generation 1 namesake.
