Bug Bite (GoBots)
| The name or term "Bug Bite" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Bug Bite (disambiguation). |
- Bug Bite is a Renegade from Gobots posing as a Decepticon or Mercenary from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Bug Bite is a brilliant yet amoral scientist, specializing in co-opting and adapting others' technology and advancements for his own use. He is actually a cyborg hailing from another dimension, specifically coming from a robotic world which was, similarly to Cybertron, consumed by an endless civil war. This war was stopped only when the fate of not only their planet but their entire universe was threatened by an extradimensional influence.
Under the strict supervision of the Guardian Treds, Bug Bite was enlisted to an allied team and sent into the dimension which threatened their own. Bug Bite took a new body and infiltrated the ranks of the Decepticons, hoping not only to discover the source of his home universe's plight, but take calculated revenge. Revenge must be an incredibly cold dish, because it's been a while and he's a Mercenary now. Keep chuggin', Bug Bite!
Fiction
Renegade Rhetoric
Bug Bite was a minion of Gunnyr, subjugating Guardians deep inside Gobotron. Eventually his leader was deposed by Ace and Dart, leaving him imprisoned on one of Gobotron's moons. Cy-Kill freed him and his leader, and Bug Bite became a seemingly loyal Renegade. Cy-Kill thought he had his own agenda, but he never crossed the line. Renegade Rhetoric (1), 2015/10/15
Bug Bite was one of several Renegades to enter the communication moon of Gobotron after Fitor stole it with an Astro-Beam. An injured Leader-1 took them out one-by-one. Bug Bite had a pallet of girders knocked onto him. Renegade Rhetoric (1), 2015/10/21
Timelines
As their universe neared its destruction, a threat posed by a multiversal Cataclysm, a team of six GoBots were chosen to travel to a parallel dimension, assimilate themselves into the Transformers' war, and determine the cause of the cataclysm. Bug Bite, with his mad scientific genius, was chosen to be part of this group.
But instead of landing in the Transformers universe that originated the cataclysm, Bug Bite—along with companions Small Foot, Treds, Bad Boy, Road Ranger, and Path Finder—was snagged in mid-journey into the Transformers universe populated by the TransTech. As the team were tagged, examined, and interrogated, Bug Bite remained petulantly indignant throughout. At the first opportunity, he snuck off alone into the "offworlder" portion of Axiom Nexus using a portable Astro-Beam. Hearing about some stolen black-ops passes that would get him off-world unimpeded, he murdered a "new friend" for his money, and sold the Astro-Beam to the passes' new owner Escargon in order to obtain one. Using his new funds, he had his cortex installed into a new body by Swindle, Swindle and Swindle on the black market, and used the black-ops pass to travel to their original destination universe... leaving his teammates to deal with the fallout of his actions. Withered Hope Bug Bite's Timelines profile
Bug Bite appeared on Cybertron approximately at the time of the battle with Unicron. He eventually fit in with Bludgeon's troops, quickly becoming favored. (Bug Bite had also reverse-engineered a mind-control device using cerebro-shell technology. Let's just say the other Decepticons suddenly liked him very much.)
Bug Bite discovered that Megatron was somehow responsible for the death of his universe, so he rounded up his amazingly loyal troops and landed on Earth. He requested an audience with Megatron through Starscream and his Seekers, but this meeting was merely a ploy by Bug Bite to snare these Decepticons with cerebro-shells.
Subsequently, Bug Bite marched straight into Megatron's stronghold, the Ark, under the pretense of striking a deal. Almost immediately, Bug Bite switched on the other Decepticons' mind control, and Megatron found himself surrounded by weapons pointed in his direction. Unfortunately, rogue Autobots led by Ultra Magnus were waiting outside and jammed the cerebro-shells' signal, though with mixed results. Bug Bite appeared dead during the following battle after Megatron blew off his head. Games of Deception
While Dreadwind pulled the damaged bodies of Weirdwolf and Bug Bite into the repair room of their ship, Bug Bite's dimension-traveling GoBot companions arrived via a portal. Bug Bite revealed himself to be alive after all, explaining that he'd kept his organic brain behind his windshield, like on his original GoBot body, not inside his new Transformer-styled head. He announced to the others that they should expect other GoBot travelers very soon... Withered Hope During a subsequent recharge cycle on the way to the rendezvous, Bug Bite ditched his comrades once again. Sunrise
Legends comic
Bug Bite was among the evil Kreons summoned by Megatron to conquer the Legends World. Special Chapter
War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon
- Voice actor: Alex Taber (English), José Angel Torres (Latin-American Spanish)
Toys
Collector's Edition
- G1 GoBots (Multi-pack, 2004)
- Japanese ID number: 84
- Bug Bite is a redeco of the retooled The Transformers Collection Bumblebee, transforming into a "penny racer"-proportioned Volkswagen Beetle. He was only available in an e-HOBBY-exclusive Collector's Edition six-pack with Bad Boy, Path Finder, Road Ranger, Small Foot, and Treds.
Timelines
- Bug Bite is part of the Classics-themed BotCon 2007 box set, along with Dirge, Dreadwind, Thrust, and Thundercracker. Bug Bite is a white and black redeco of the Classics Bumblebee toy, transforming into a sports coupe of indeterminate model. He tows a small trailer with his "Tidal Wave" drone-unit on the back, which converts into a jet-pack to give him "flight" in robot mode. As with most Classics toys, he features a heat-sensitive rubsign.
- There were 1500 Classics Bug Bite figures produced.
- This mold was also used to make Classics Cliffjumper.
| Classics mold: Bumblebee | ||
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Generations
- Bug Bite (Deluxe Class, 2020)
- ID number: WFC-GS16
- Accessories: Three-piece blaster, 2 skis, car trunk
- Released as a Generations Selects item for Earthrise, Bug Bite is a redeco/retool of Earthrise Cliffjumper, with the head from War for Cybertron Trilogy Bumblebee. This version of Bug Bite displays a black Mercenary faction symbol on his chest, as per his appearance in the War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon.
- Bug Bite transforms from robot into a 1980s sports coupe that is strongly reminiscent of a Porsche 924 Turbo, though with a front end which resembles that of the Mitsubishi Starion, while omitting the original Collector's Edition toy's Penny Racer aesthetic. Bug Bite also has molded high-performance brake discs, a surprising detail carried over from a mainline Transformers figure. Much like Cliffjumper's other mold-mates, Bug Bite's depiction as being rather small in most Transformers media means this figure is much shorter than a typical Deluxe-priced figure and is closer to being a particularly large Legends-priced figure. Like all Deluxe Class figures of the War for Cybertron subline, Bug Bite includes numerous 3 mm posts and 5 mm ports for attaching other accessories as part of the C.O.M.B.A.T. System, but due to his small size he cannot easily accommodate an entire Weaponizer or Modulator figure. Additionally, he is highly articulated for a mainline Legends-sized Transformer, with over 90-degree ankles and two-way elbows, and a complex transformation scheme. Undocumented in the instructions, Bug Bite's neck is actually mounted on a ball-joint, and when popped out of its housing offers a larger range of articulation.
- The rest of his price-point is made up with Bug Bite's large cannon. It can split into two smaller blasters and a pair of skis that can attach under his wheels. The backend of the cannon is folded out to fit in his car mode's underside to help balance when skis are deployed, while also being used as a melee weapon. It can also mounted on either his thigh or on the side or top of his shoulder meaning you can put the entire cannon in these spots. Similarly, his detaching car trunk can either be put into the robot mode's back or be used as a shield with the help of a flip-out peg. This peg and the backend of the cannon use a unique post and port to connect to each other.
- It's also worth noting that almost all of Bug Bite's white coloring is painted, with only his head and forearms being bare white plastic. While this avoids color disparity, particularly in vehicle mode, it also means he is incredibly prone to paint chipping.
- The mold was differently retooled into Generations Selects Hubcap.
Merchandise
- Deco Pin (2007)
- The first 100 people to pre-register for a BotCon 2007 Primus package also received a bonus metal pin with Bug Bite's "tribal" deco on it.
Flame Toys
Furai Model
- Bug Bite (October 2020)
Notes
- Bug Bite's name does not appear in any of the final product material on the Japanese e-Hobby set from which he "originated"; it only appeared in an early photoshopped promotional image on the e-Hobby website. The individual toys' names were dropped when Takara's legal department became concerned at how Bandai—the company that made the toys that would become the Tonka GoBots—would react to the names being used, despite the minimal chance of provable trademark infringement on Takara's part.
- This, of course, was rendered moot once Fun Publications took the ball and ran with it, re-establishing explicit ties between the two formerly-rival franchises.
- The GoBots character is yellow, but in the aging, creased VHS recording scans that used to be online, he sure looked white so...
- Bug Bite's name is spelled as one word, Bugbite, on some BotCon 2007 material.
- According to Timelines collaborator Ben Yee, Lanny Lathem of Fun Publications intended Bug Bite's purple "tribal" paint applications to be a highly stylized version of the Decepticon insignia.
- Bug Bite's Classics body model is an "off-white C1186-P0019" (the product number for the Classics Bumblebee toy in the real world), according to the black market bodyshop Swindle, Swindle and Swindle in "Withered Hope". He also bought a gutted Wave Crusher and a Decepticon signal transponder, but declined the X-03 custom add-ons (referring to the fan-made custom parts kit for Classics Cliffjumper).
- When Bug Bite gets a new head at the end of "Withered Hope", it is pointed out by Dreadwing that it doesn't quite match his body's off-white. This is a reference to the fact that his Botcon toy's head was much more white than his body.
- The BotCon 2007 Bug Bite toy's coloration was used for the "Shattered Glass" Animated version of Bumblebee.
- Kreon Bug Bite wears the Bumblebee helmet, naturally.
- Bug Bite's color scheme serves as the basis for the Waruder mecha Paralyzer and, by extension, the Renegade drone Bug Bite II.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Bug Bite (バグバイト Bagu Baito)
External links
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