Springer (G1)/2005 IDW continuity
Wrecker. Artificial Cybertronian. Leader. Springer.
- First appearance: Transformers: Stormbringer #2
Fiction
IDW 2005 continuity
During the Great War, Mesothulas succeeded in creating Ostaros, an artificial Cybertronian powered by an artificial spark and maintained by a synthesized copy of the Matrix's energy field, making him indistinguishable from the genuine article. At some point, Mesothulas's partner Prowl had a crisis of conscience as their collaborative efforts grew increasingly depraved. Sins of the Wreckers #3 Impactor was sent to take care of the scientist and his inventions; after hurling Ostaros's creator into the Noisemaze, Impactor came across the robot and refused to kill him. Prowl was also incapable of pulling the trigger himself and so Ostaros was recruited into the Autobots as "Springer", never knowing the truth of his origin. Sins of the Wreckers #5
During the rule of Zeta Prime, Springer was a member of Ultra Magnus's security force. Once they learned that Zeta was draining civilians of their energon, they turned on him and helped Orion Pax and the Decepticons overthrow him. Overthrown The Decepticons then betrayed the Autobots and imprisoned them, but Springer managed to get his hands on a gun, break out together with his cellmates, and join some other escapees in the search for Orion Pax. Once they found him, they were shocked to learn that he had acquired the Matrix of Leadership and become Optimus Prime. Rise Alongside many other Autobots, Springer rallied behind the new Prime and helped chase the Decepticons out of Iacon. Endgame
Springer acted as a security guard at Starsreach Spaceport during the mass exodus of neutrals in the early days of the war. Massacre He later aided in defending Iacon against a Decepticon attack, ruthlessly killing invaders alongside Sandstorm. Primacy #4 Some time later, he participated in a battle that the Autobots couldn't win. Ironhide suggested they counter-attack from the west, but the young Autobot leader realized that it was a trap,and advocated falling back to Polyhex. Optimus was proven right when Springer, acting as aerial support, spotted Trypticon arriving to the west. Old Ways
Early in the war, Springer had a simple view of the war: the Autobots were the good guys, the Decepticons were the bad guys, and the Autobot Code was a way of life. Years of fighting changed him, however, as he stopped seeing everything in black and white and realized being a decent 'bot was only holding him back. After witnessing Wrecker leader Impactor single-handedly bring down a Decepticon shuttle, he was inspired to sign up as a Wrecker reservist. Later, as he was working with the Heliobots in the Toxic Sludge Swamps, Impactor approached him in the midst of battle to recruit him. Zero Point Dead Men's Boots
A member of the Wreckers' 17th lineup, Springer became Impactor's first officer and began seeing him as an older brother. However, as the war grew more violent and dirty, so did the Wreckers, and they began breaking more and more rules of war. Springer convinced himself that it wasn't his problem if he wasn't the one doing it, but as time went on he became desensitized and began intervening less and less. Unlike the others, Springer's moral compass required him to have an excuse for killing Decepticons, so before the final showdown with the Wreckers' Decepticons counterparts Squadron X, he had to pump himself up by telling stories of all the crimes they had committed. The other Wreckers thought this only served to make Impactor even more unstable than he already was. Zero Point
The Wreckers' rivalry with Squadron X came to an end on the planet Pova, where they found themselves in a bad way after Springer was trapped under some collapsed rubble. Despite Springer's pleas, Impactor used his own body as a shield against Squadron X's advancing troops, firing through it. This helped turn the tide, and the Wreckers rounded up all of Squadron X for transport offworld. Unfortunately, Impactor snapped when Prowl told him that Pova was neutral territory, and that he was ordered to set them free or else the Autobots would face diplomatic repercussions. Impactor locked himself in their ship, and as Springer tried to break through the door, personally executed every member of Squadron X while they were restrained. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5
Horrified by Impactor's actions, Springer reported him to Autobot High Command as soon as he got the chance. Before the trial took place, Springer was visited by the other Wreckers, each believing they were alone in approaching him. They all pleaded with him that they hadn't seen Impactor's murders coming and were worried that High Command might shut down the Wreckers because of them. Springer promised to testify that they had nothing to do with it and to become their new leader once everything was over. Zero Point
Springer testified against Impactor through Aequitas, and the disgraced Wreckers leader was sentenced to be imprisoned on Garrus-9. A cover story for what happened on Pova was released which involved Springer suggesting Impactor fire through his torso and Squadron X later escaping their restraints, necessitating their execution. Last Stand of the Wreckers #4 As Impactor was dragged to his cell, Springer told his former commander something he didn't want to hear, something he would dwell upon for the length of his incarceration: Squadron X deserved to die for their crimes, but Impactor didn't have the right to kill them. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5
At some point during the war, Springer fought alongside Ultra Magnus, Perceptor and Wheelie. Unfortunately, like most other bots, he had a tendency to overlook Wheelie, due to the latter's small stature. Spotlight: Wheelie He and the Wreckers also fought (and horribly murdered) most of Krok's squad during one encounter in the war. Animals
Years later on the planet Varas Centralus, Springer, now commander of the Wreckers, was coordinating the counter-offensive against a Phase Six Decepticon siege bunker when he got the call from Optimus Prime that Thunderwing might be active again on Cybertron. Pulling the Wreckers out of Varas Centralus, Springer was of the opinion that if Thunderwing was still alive, they should nuke Cybertron and take the monster with it. Stormbringer #2 After Nosecone and Afterburner were rescued, the Wreckers prepared to breach Bludgeon's cultist lair at Thunderhead Pass. Springer tried to dissuade Optimus Prime from joining the battle, but the Autobot leader was not to be deterred. After routing the cultists, a new problem arose: Thunderwing, sent off to wreak havoc on Nebulos, was returning. Stormbringer #3 The Wreckers gave it their all against Thunderwing, but were seriously outmatched, with Springer's rotors being destroyed by the monstrous titan. As Thunderwing bore down on him, unexpected help came from the Decepticon battleship Thanatos, and the combined efforts managed to stagger the giant, forcing it to draw more Ultra-Energon from the environment, whose side effects eventually forced it to shut down. Stormbringer #4
Shortly after coming to Earth, Optimus Prime was getting updates from the various unit commanders and officers out in the universe while aboard the Ark-19, amongst them Springer. Escalation #1
Not long thereafter, Springer excused himself from actively leading the Wreckers when he heard his old mentor Kup had finally been found, after being MIA for some time. Rescue conditions were hardly ideal, however: the planet the old warhorse was stuck on was permeated with highly unstable energy crystals which produced massive amounts of debilitating radiation and a single spark might set off an explosive chain reaction that would destroy the planet. Kup, meanwhile, had somehow survived exposure to this environment, yet had gone over the brink of madness, attacking the Autobot teams that beamed down to retrieve him because their thick radiation armors made them appear monstrous to his eyes. Despite these complications, Springer insisted rescue efforts continue, even after many Autobots were destroyed in the attempt. Finally, Trailbreaker arrived as a defensive specialist, and used his force field to block the radiation and get Kup to recognize him. Kup was brought in for repairs, and Springer returned to the Wreckers. Spotlight: Kup Once again Springer was seen reporting to Optimus Prime, this time about Kup's condition. Spotlight: Optimus Prime
Later, Springer, along with Autobots across the galaxy, watched an Autobot news report heralding the miraculous return of Blaster. Spotlight: Blaster
When the denizens of the Dead Universe stepped up their plans to merge the living and unliving universes together, Springer and the Wreckers were called in once again to battle Thunderwing when he was found guarding a cave on planet Corata-Vaz. Spotlight: Hardhead They didn't have much luck. Spotlight: Doubledealer However, once Jetfire managed to take control of Thunderwing, Springer and the Wreckers snuck past it and into the cave to retrieve one of the Nega-Cores, which were crucial to the Dead Universe plans. Unfortunately, as they were doing so, Jhiaxus regained control of Thunderwing, and the Wreckers were forced to hold the line until the Nega-Core could be removed and deposited back into the Dead Universe via a portable space bridge. Spotlight: Sideswipe
Springer was making regular trips to the Ark-17 to check up on Kup, but one day found that the old warrior had been transferred to the Kimia Facility without his knowledge. Filled with rage, Springer traveled to the facility and delivered an uppercut to Prowl's chin, only to learn that Kup had been fully repaired using Pretender technology. While he was skeptical at first, Springer's spirits were soon lifted when he got to meet the rejuvenated Kup. Everything in Its Right Place
Led by Kup, Springer later helped rescue a number of Wreckers who had been captured by the Decepticon Turmoil. Following this mission, Springer and his fellow Wrecker Roadbuster joined Kup's personal strike force on board the starship Trion. He argued against letting Drift into the team, but Kup felt that everyone deserves a second chance. Spotlight: Drift Shortly afterwards, the team caught a distress call from Hot Rod, who was being chased by Decepticons. Kup's team went to his aid, but unfortunately their opponent was the abominable Monstructor, who melted Springer's rotor blades with acid. Eventually, the giant was toppled by Perceptor's new sniping skills. Lost & Found
While chasing the Decepticon cruiser Torment, the Trion was lured into a trap and shot down above the planet Cybertron. The crew was "bonded" with the ship at the time, and Springer refused to disconnect from the doomed vessel as he attempted to steer it into a crash landing. He succeeded, and later met with another Autobot unit that had also ended up on the abandoned planet. Kup's team decided to show the others how badass they were, a showcase which ended with Springer being wrestled to the floor by Jazz and his weapon being used to hold Kup at gunpoint. All Hail Megatron #5 After this little show of force, the two groups teamed up to fight off the Insecticon swarm that was inhabiting the planet along with them. All Hail Megatron #6
When the Autobots relocated to another base, Springer participated in the caravan in his ground vehicle mode. All Hail Megatron #7 At the new base, Springer helped set up a large defensive cannon to use against the incoming swarm. All Hail Megatron #9 Despite Springer's best use of fisticuffs, the Autobots were overrun by the thousands of Insecticons, and only saved by the intervention of Omega Supreme. All Hail Megatron #10 Omega took everyone to New York City on Earth, where Megatron and his forces were located. During the great battle, Springer shoved his knee hard in Viewfinder's abdomen. All Hail Megatron #11
Springer had medics at key facilities look out for messages from Agent 113, a spy in the Decepticon Justice Division with a unique way of sending reports. One of these medics was First Aid, who contacted him when Agent 113 reported the Decepticon occupation of Garrus-9. Bullets After Megatron's defeat on Earth and the general collapse of the Decepticon war effort, Prowl formulated a desperate plan to use the Wreckers to retake Garrus-9 from the Decepticons and retrieve the potentially damaging war criminal trial data from supercomputer Aequitas. Springer began recruiting new members into the Wreckers, noting with irony that he had now assumed Impactor's role, though the main difference was Springer offered the potential recruits a choice, and sometimes they said no. Dead Men's Boots
On Ultra Magnus's ship Springer introduced himself to the new team members: Rotorstorm, Ironfist, Pyro, and Guzzle. He told them that their first mission was to clean up Garrus-9 and warned them that their first day as a Wrecker could be their last. When Ironfist fainted, Springer felt he needed to keep an eye on him. Afterward he spoke with Kup and shared thoughts about Impactor until Ultra Magnus called for him to return to the bridge. He arrived just in time to see a Decepticon starship explode, revealing the former Wrecker. Last Stand of the Wreckers #1
Once Impactor was aboard, Springer asked him how he got out of Garrus-9. After hearing Impactor's tale of escape and the revelation that infamous Overlord was now the death camp warden, Springer felt that the mission was finally getting interesting. He then shared words with Impactor about the incident on Pova. Impactor stormed out, but Springer still felt it would be a good idea to use him on the team. Ultra Magnus then relayed something that Prowl wanted done, but only revealed the name: Aequitas.
While nearing Garrus-9 orbit, Springer assisted Ultra Magnus with the mission briefing. He outlined the mission, dividing them into two teams to penetrate the lattice forcefield via drop pods. He took control of one of the pods before relaying control over to Rotorstorm for a simultaneous hit against the forcefield. Once through the pod came under instant attack, but Springer managed a crash landing. Last Stand of the Wreckers #2
Upon planetfall, Springer's team ran from an oncoming horde of Decepticons. He took a look at Twin Twist's wounds while Guzzle, Kup, and Impactor held off the Decepticons. Springer ordered Guzzle into tank mode to bring down the ceiling, granting them an moment's reprieve. He then sent Kup and Guzzle to get backup while Twin Twist drilled through the floor. He drilled into an open area, but was saved by Springer, who jumped through and quickly transformed into helicopter mode. On the ground they found the demolished remains of Kick-Off, but Twin Twist warned them that they had just set off a defense mechanism. Springer attempted to escape but was zapped unconscious, ending up in Stalker's Spark Extinction Chamber. Last Stand of the Wreckers #3
Springer came to after a torturing round from Stalker and began arguing with Impactor about the events that led to the former Wrecker commander to be imprisoned on Garrus-9. Springer expressed the desire to forgive Impactor and himself for what happened on Pova, but this couldn't happen until Impactor admitted that what he did was wrong. They were interrupted by the return of Stalker, who had retrieved his latest instrument of torture, the endoscopic claw. After Twin Twist died as a result of Topspin's sacrifice to activate Aequitas, Stalker was about to move onto the others when help arrived in the form of Guzzle, Kup and Snare. Kup sprang Springer, who brought a quick end to Stalker with the torturer's own endoscopic claw. This respite didn't last long, as Overlord blasted through the wall having been radioed by Stalker. The large Decepticon simply asked if the Wreckers were ready, with Springer replying affirmative. Last Stand of the Wreckers #4
Oh, you know.
The battle with Overlord took the combatants to Garrus-9's roof, but it soon became apparent that Springer's team were fighting a losing battle. After Impactor was seemingly defeated, Ironfist, Perceptor and Verity arrived with a large rotary cannon for Springer to use that would supposedly turn the tide. The Wreckers commander emptied the massive weapon into Overlord, who at merely seemed annoyed at the attack, knocked the weapon away and tore Springer's face off. As he advanced on Ironfist, the diminutive Autobot detonated the payload of deterrence chips that the Springer had fired into Overlord, and Verity broke his will by revealing that Megatron had since died, robbing the insane Overlord of his obsessive desire to face the Decepticon leader in combat. After Impactor disabled Overlord, he refused to kill him, stating that it was not what Springer wanted. With G-9's liberation, Ultra Magnus took the survivors back to Earth, where Springer was still alive but on life-support, with Kup by his bedside. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5
Though his body was repaired, Springer was left in a coma due to a zero point, an affliction that kept his spark from moving through his body. After the liberation of Garrus-9, the comatose Springer was transferred to Debris, where he was left under the care of Roadbuster and Whirl. Zero Point Convinced their leader would never wake up, Whirl attempted to euthanize him using Roadbuster's Sparkeater weapon, but was caught in the act by Roadbuster and punished. Interiors At Rung's suggestion, Roadbuster began reading the Wreckers: Declassified datalogs to Springer in hopes that an emotional response might cause his subconscious to bypass the zero point. When he came to the complete lie of a datalog detailing Pova, Roadbuster gave up and chose to tell Springer the truth: the Wreckers had been glad to see Impactor kill Squadron X, and they had only asked Springer to lead them because they didn't want to be thrown in prison alongside him. Just as he went on to admit that Springer had still proven to be their greatest leader, Springer began showing signs of life again. Zero Point
Chromedome would later edit Overlord's memories of his battle with Springer and the Wreckers in order to embed a Trepan's Trigger in his head. Remembrance Day Footage of Springer saying "keep going without me" was used by Rewind in his stitched-together final message to Chromedome. The Gloaming
After more than four years in his comatose state, even Impactor began believing it would be better if they let Springer go. Fate, however, seemed to have other ideas, as Kup and Arcee set off an automatic recording of Prowl's, who recent actions had led to his disappearance, requesting Springer for the task of finding and rescuing him. As a result, Kup called Springer with a message imploring that he wake up. Kup's words seemed to be what was needed to reawaken the comatose Wrecker, who immediately organised the inhabitants of Debris into journeying to Earth and arriving in time to disrupt Arcee's interrogation of Verity. Sins of the Wreckers #1 Things started to fall to bits quickly, not helped by Springer still being disoriented from the coma and haunted by dreams of Garrus-9, and the Wreckers being a big mess. While Springer suspected Decepticons, unclear of how much had changed in four years, they soon learned it was Mesothulas. To Springer's horror, they learned it when Kup began talking in Prowl's voice as the strategist had installed a backdoor in his brain years ago and could remotely hack him; afterwards, Springer had to comfort his friend who was now aware of what he'd done when mad.
Battle was soon joined with Mayhem, anarchist cross-factional beast-formers who'd teamed up with Mesothulas to capture Prowl. Springer was shot out of the sky by Carnivac, who pitched that the Wrecker should join them. The Autobot kept fighting anyway and the Wreckers tracked down and boarded the Mayhem's living, mobile aquabase... where Springer was aghast to see Roadbuster, the very bot who'd read to him for years, torturing a helpless captive. Roadbuster told him that he could be those two things. The brutalised Claw Jaw led Springer's team to the Noisemaze where Prowl was... Sins of the Wreckers #2 and they immediately collapsed in pain, unable to handle the sensory overload. Tarantulas née Mesothulas soon had Springer, Roadbuster, and Arcee strapped in to Aequitas's sister computer Impetus, a guilt extractor that was forcing them to confess their worst sins: Springer lamented failing Squadron X and sending so many to die rescuing Kup. Sins of the Wreckers #3 Hubcap released Springer and the others while Tarantulas was distracted and Springer aided in attacking the spider. After Roadbuster carried the battle away, Prowl informed Springer that they must destroy all of Tarantulas's work. Springer began placing explosives in the Obtenteum chamber when Tarantulas returned. Sins of the Wreckers #4
Notes
- Springer's former name, Ostaros, is derived from Ostara (known better as Ēostre)- a Germanic goddess of, among other things, spring.
