Shadow Striker (Cyberverse)

This article is a featured article, and considered to be one of the most informative on this wiki.

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

Shadow Striker is a Decepticon from the Cyberverse continuity family.

"When I was a girl, I had a fear of spiders. I was told they felt no emotion, that their hearts never beat, but I know the truth. At the moment of the kill, they are never more alive."

On the surface, Shadow Striker (also Shadowstriker) seems like another stone-cold Decepticon killer: her face is in a perpetual glare, and she calls any Autobot she sees a fool. But this ruthless façade conceals a much darker origin story than any other Decepticons she fights alongside; blown to bits and left for dead by Bumblebee, Shadow Striker was given a second lease on life by Shockwave—one that she didn't ask for. Reconstructed as a patchwork 'bot from bits and pieces and robbing her of her once-legendary fighting skills in the process, Shadow Striker's new goal in life is to hunt down Bumblebee, the one she holds responsible for her gruesome transformation.

Though her combat skills aren't what they used to be, she's still no slouch compared to your average Decepticon. Toting a personal arsenal of knives, machetes, and rifles, if she's got a weapon it's best advised to steer clear of her.

I was the best there was. And you took that from me.Shadow Striker, "Shadowstriker"

Fiction

Cyberverse cartoon

Voice actor: Deanna McGovern (English), Rosa Leo Servidio (Italian), Pino Pirovano (Italian, "Allspark" only)

"What are you looking at?"
"An annoyance."

In the days before the Autobot-Decepticon war, Shadow Striker was a patron of Maccadam's. During one visit to the bar, she argued with Hot Rod over who should've won the latest cube match. Maccadam's As the gladiator Megatron began recruiting followers, Shadow Striker was an early convert to the faction, standing behind Megatron on the podium as he unveiled the Decepticon movement. Later on when Optimus Prime and Bumblebee visited Megatron's current base to try and talk the Decepticon leader down, Shadow Striker glared at the yellow Autobot and intimidated him into moving on. Megatron Is My Hero

During the subsequent war, Shadow Striker became renowned as a skilled and vicious fighter. She and her Seeker underlings were even able to capture Optimus Prime, keeping him imprisoned in an energon warehouse while Shadow Striker arranged for Megatron to take custody of her prisoner. During a brief absence, however, Bumblebee took out her guards and freed Optimus. On discovering the intrusion, Shadow Striker battled Bumblebee as he dragged the disoriented Optimus to safety, but a shot from Bumblebee's blaster wound up igniting a nearby energon tank that consumed the building and seemingly destroyed Shadow Striker with it.

"You were once a legend, but what are you now? Just a shell of a woman."

This, however, would not be the end for Shadow Striker. Having somehow survived the explosion, Shockwave would recover her body, piecing her back together using parts from the remains of her Seeker guards. Though online once more, Shadow Striker resented the circumstances behind her unlikely rebirth; her new patchwork body limiting her once-vaunted combat skills, she was unable to fight the way she used to and eventually came to swear vengeance against Bumblebee, whom she held responsible for her fate.

She and Bumblebee next crossed paths some time later aboard a crashing energon tanker bound to hit Iacon City. Though Bumblebee was able to steer the ship away from the city, Shadow Striker knocked him unconscious before he could pilot the ship to safely land. As Bumblebee came to, Shadow Striker chased him through the ship before shooting a leaking energon pipe, inadvertently pinning them both beneath a fallen bulkhead. Both of them trapped, the Decepticon explained the story behind her unlikely return, but Bumblebee was soon freed after another explosion blew the bulkhead loose from on top of him. Bumblebee was momentarily conflicted as to whether or not he should save Shadow Striker as well, but his conscience won out and he set her free... only for the Decepticon to follow him up the ladder to freedom, where she was blasted by Grimlock. Though Grimlock was prepared to finish her off, Bumblebee convinced his friend to let the troubled Decepticon retreat. Shadowstriker

"Ça pique, n'est-ce pas?"

In the later days of the war, Shadow Striker was part of the Decepticon team that chased Bumblebee after the scout learned of Megatron's plan to seize the AllSpark. Bumblebee was able to take her out of the fight by paralyzing her with his stinger, but was ultimately captured by Soundwave, and the two Decepticons delivered him to their leader. Megatron Is My Hero

During the battle to eject the Allspark through Cybertron's space bridge to put it beyond Decepticon hands, Shadow Striker attacked Bumblebee, but was quickly dispatched by Windblade. Allspark Some time later, following the launch of the Ark from Cybertron, Shadow Striker was present when Megatron located the AllSpark on Earth. Fractured

Toys

Cyberverse

Scout Class

"Adieu, chérie!"

• Shadow Striker (Scout Class, 201?)
  • Action Attack: "???"

Scout Class Shadow Striker transforms from robot into a vehicle-with-her-torso-sticking-out, officially called a "transformational mode". She features a rocket-trail gimmick on the legs/vehicle rear.

Ultra Class

"One shot, one kill."

• Shadow Striker (Ultra Class, 2018)
  • Action Attack: "Stealth Sniper Shot"

Shadow Striker is part of the second wave of Ultra Class Cyberverse toys, and transforms between robot and Cybertronic car modes. Designed to resemble her pre-accident self, Shadow Striker transforms simply with little useful articulation, and her "Stealth Sniper Shot" action gimmick results in a large backpack that hangs all the way to her feet while in robot mode. Her gimmick, which works in best in vehicle mode, involves pushing the inner portion of her front bumper in towards the vehicle, causing the back middle portion of the vehicle to flip forward and unveil weaponry. If you manipulate this mechanism in robot mode, her head merely ducks away, but you can force the deployed weapon past the ratcheting clicks if you want to tuck more of the backpack away during robot mode while keeping the head outside her torso.

Notes

• This is the first major usage of the name "Shadow Striker", having only been used previously for a convention exclusive and an obscure Target exclusive, all of whom are female Decepticons with sports car-like alternate modes.
• All of her toy iterations use her design from before the events of the flashback in "Shadowstriker", favouring the more cohesive design over the pieced-together design used from then on.
• In the Italian dub of "Allspark", Shadow Striker was erroneously given a male voice. This was corrected in her later appearances.
  • A similar gender error happened with Shadow Striker's Canadian French and Brazilian Portuguese online toy descriptions.
• Shadow Striker's concept art takes some sneaky inspiration from another female Decepticon with a sports car mode who originated as a convention exclusive: she's seen holding a gun closely based on Nightracer's.