Cliffjumper (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity
An also-ran for eighty issues who found his calling in a parallel universe, Cliffjumper in the Marvel Comics continuity had one weird career.
Marvel The Transformers comics
Cliffjumper was a part of the crew on board the Ark when it crashed into Earth four million years ago while clearing an asteroid field in the path of Cybertron. Upon reviving in 1984, Cliffjumper was chosen as part of the first field expedition into the world under Prowl's command. Their simple recon mission to a drive-in movie theatre quickly turned into a battle when the Decepticons arrived. Cliffjumper acquitted himself well in combat, single-handedly driving off Starscream and Thundercracker with his glass gas. The Transformers Ravage and Megatron reviewed this battle when they learned of the existence of humans. Power Play!
Later, Cliffjumper joined Optimus Prime on the mission to rescue their human friend Sparkplug Witwicky from the Decepticons' fortress. Unfortunately, the human military got in the way, distracting Cliffjumper and Huffer long enough for Rumble's earthquakes to throw them for a loop. Prisoner of War! Whether because of this or just a general lack of fuel, Cliffjumper was unable to stand up and fight against the Decepticons in the next battle at the Ark. The Last Stand He was deactivated and strung up from the ceiling when Shockwave subsequently occupied the Ark, The New Order on full display for Ratchet to see when he managed to infiltrate the now Decepticon-controlled ship. Ratchet managed to reclaim the Ark for the crew, Warrior School! and Cliffjumper and most of the other Autobots were quickly repaired and restored to operational status. DIS-Integrated Circuits! However, the head of Optimus Prime was still missing and during an attempt to retrieve it an impostor head took control of Prime's body, firing on Cliffjumper. Prime Time!
Presumably repaired, Cliffjumper was at the Ark when the Autobots came under attack from the Dinobot Swoop, who was under the control of the human Professor Morris. The Icarus Theory Consequently, he participated in the Dinobot Hunt, forming the "A-Team" along with Gears and Windcharger. Although they found Sludge in the swamps of Littlewood, California, all three were immediately thereafter ambushed and shot by Soundwave and the Decepticons. Held captive aboard their own booby-trapped shuttle in Doonstown while Grimlock and Sludge rampaged outside, they were ultimately rescued by Bumblebee. Dinobot Hunt!
Shortly after Jetfire joined the Autobots, Cliffjumper was lying on a slab in Ratchet's repair bay. Although Ratchet vowed to try and help the wounded Autobots, he was not optimistic about being able to revive all of them. Rock and Roll-Out!
Presumably repaired, Cliffjumper was present when Blaster and Serpentor forged an alliance between Cobra and the Autobots against the Decepticons. Shortly afterwards, G.I. Joe joined them as well. Ashes, Ashes...
Much later, he was one of the observers to Blaster and Grimlock's battle for Autobot leadership on the moon. How he fared in the following Decepticon attack is unknown, but he was not seen again in the present day. Totaled!
Marvel UK future timelines
In one future timeline, Cliffjumper was serving alongside Optimus Prime on one of Cybertron's moons. Lacking the energon cubes to power a full-scale assault on the Decepticon-controlled planet, they sent Ironhide and a team of Autobots to make a run to Autobot City on Earth to get some. The Planet-Eater! Not long afterwards, a "gi-normous, weird-lookin' planet" showed up and consumed the moon, along with Jazz and Cliffjumper's escape craft. Judgment Day!
After surviving the destruction of Moonbase One, Cliffjumper had returned to the Autobot combat movement on Cybertron by 2007. He joined Ultra Magnus in a concerted effort to surprise a group of Decepticon skyraiders, using Rodimus Prime as bait to draw them in close for a crossfire. Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive!
Classics
Cliffjumper suffered severe damage during Starscream's infamous Underbase rampage; lacking the resources on Earth to repair him, the Autobots shipped his body to Cybertron, where he languished on life support for fifteen years until he could be repaired. When he first woke up, however, he immediately flatlined again after learning that the war had ended without him. Consoled by the idea that some Decepticons were still left in the universe, Cliffjumper was sadly too late to join Grimlock's crew on the Graviton, so when reports of Megatron's return reached Cybertron, Cliffjumper was the first to join Optimus Prime in returning to Earth to vanquish him. Cliffjumper's profile in Club magazine #17
On Earth, the Autobots encountered a dimension-hopping Velocitronian named Skyfall shortly after he and the Decepticon Landquake arrived in their universe. Cliffjumper came with them when they travelled south to locate a mysterious energy signature that resonated on the same wavelength as Skyfall's own emanations, but Cliffjumper, who pointed out that Skyfall freely associated with a Decepticon, remained distrustful of the pair. As it turned out, Cliffjumper and Skyfall were the only two small enough to fit through the crevice that would lead them to the source of the anomalous readings; while battle raged overhead, Devastator triggered a cave-in that sent Landquake toppling into the caverns below. Eager for the chance to scrap a Decepticon, Cliffjumper gleefully leveled his pistol at Landquake as Skyfall tried to stop him. Crossing Over: Part 3 Protecting a 'Con was all the proof Cliffjumper needed to turn on Skyfall too, but another cave-in sent the robots tumbling deeper underground before anyone could get shot. A falling boulder crushed Cliffjumper's leg, but that didn't stop him from trying to blast the other two from where he lay on the ground. However, his shot disturbed the pool of Rarified Energon they landed next to and awakened a curiously-similar robot known as Breakaway. Using his own unique abilities, the pacifistic Breakaway healed Cliffjumper's leg in moments just by laying hands on him. As the Decepticon Cassettes arrived in search of the energon, Cliffjumper and the others drove them back while retreating further into the caverns. Crossing Over: Part 4
Allowing a temporary cease fire due to the strangeness of the situation, Cliffjumper started looking for a way to protect the Rarified Energon from the Decepticons up above. Skyfall accidentally triggered a secret passage, though, and he, Landquake and Breakaway felt compelled to respond to the voice of the "Caretaker" emanating from the passage, who claimed to speak for Primus himself. Cliffjumper felt the "purity" of the place as well; although his basic nature still warned him it could all be a trap, he eventually agreed to follow them after first setting a booby tap to deter any pursuers. Crossing Over: Part 5 The Caretaker spoke to Skyfall, Landquake and Breakaway about the greater destiny that awaited elsewhere in the multiverse, and beckoned them to pass through the dimensional barriers to the next leg of their journey. Skyfall balked at the idea more than the others, but ultimately he and Cliffjumper passed through the dimensional space bridge together. Meanwhile, Ramjet arrived at the Rarified Energon pool and set off the laser-trip wire Cliffjumper had left behind, detonating the entrance and burying the chambers behind them. Crossing Over: Part 6
While Skyfall, Landquake, and Breakaway arrived in Axiom Nexus, Cliffjumper wound up in a mirror dimension of evil Autobots and heroic Decepticons; as the this reality's original Cliffjumper had died some time ago, Rodimus, mistaking this Cliffjumper for his own, brought him to Optimus Prime in Iacon. Unaware of the backwards nature of this universe, the sight of Optimus executing Rumble disgusted Cliffjumper, and when he protested Optimus shot him and had him dumped in the deadly Rad Zone. Fortunately, however, the heroic Decepticons discovered his broken body and brought him back to their base. A number of physiological anomalies, including the presence of a positively-charged spark instead of an "ember", convinced them that he was not their Cliffjumper. Although Cliffjumper assumed the worst when he came to and tried to escape, Megatron and Sideswipe explained the nature of their universe and requested Cliffjumper's assistance in foiling Optimus's plan to launch the Ark and invade Earth.
Although Cliffjumper was confused to learn that the 'bots of this universe did not believe in Primus, he and Starscream nevertheless devised a plan to duplicate Cliffjumper's glass gas to weaken the Ark's launch platform and render it vulnerable to conventional weaponry. While Razorclaw and Rampage dispatched the Autobot guards, and Starscream, Divebomb, and Whisper dropped the "glass gas bombs" on the Ark, Cliffjumper and the others attacked the launch platform. However, their weapons failed to destroy the platform, resulting in an all-out brawl between the two sides. When Optimus spotted Cliffjumper, he attempted to destroy the "traitor", but Megatron took the hit instead, and this selfless act spurred Cliffjumper to destroy the launch platform. The triumphant Decepticons retreated, and Cliffjumper, his loyalties assured for the time being, left with them. Shattered Glass
Some time later, Cliffjumper helped the Decepticons battle the Autobots for control of the Arch-Ayr fuel dump by firing large amounts of both artillery and insults at Optimus Prime, although his enthusiasm disturbed Starscream and Megatron. When Soundwave called in the Mayhem Suppression Squad, Cliffjumper helped the Squad force the Autobots into a retreat before Wheeljack and his army of Dinobots attacked. When the Dinobots turned on each other and scattered across Cybertron, Megatron ordered Cliffjumper and a number of other Decepticons to capture them so that they could be reprogrammed into Decepticons. He and Sideswipe located and subdued Slugfest, only for the hulking Goryu to come to Slugfest's aid. Cliffjumper jumped onto and rode Goryu as he chased after Sideswipe, and eventually tricked Goryu into knocking himself out. The two then noticed Huffer on the horizon and cornered him; after Sideswipe "convinced" Huffer to admit what he was up to by warning that Cliffjumper was insane because he believed in Primus, the pair used his information to track Grimlock to an old bunker, the place where this universe's Cliffjumper had died. While the two examined hieroglyphics just inside the bunker's entrance, a booming voice ordered them to get out. The two were more than willing to comply, but found they couldn't, as the tunnels around them had changed; with no way out, the pair continued heading deeper into the planet's surface and encountered several traps, one of which injured Cliffjumper's leg.
Later, the two met up with Rodimus and Blurr. Cliffjumper and Rodimus tumbled into a hidden passage; despite activating another trap, Rodimus deactivated the trap before it could crush them by yanking out and using the spear that had become embedded in Cliffjumper's leg earlier. Their trek led them into the Omega Terminus's central chamber, but although Rodimus enthused at the prospect of animating an army from the robot corpses around them, Cliffjumper had no interest in an alliance. After using mirror-universe scraplets to heal his damaged leg, the two met back up with Blurr and Sideswipe on a narrow bridge overlooking a deep chasm. Rodimus tried again to recruit the others into a new team of Wreckers, but was interrupted by the arrival of Grimlock, who explained he had been guided there by a strange voice that didn't want the others there. The Omega Terminus started spinning and shot a bolt of energy at Grimlock, giving him an ember and the ability to transform. When Cliffjumper challenged him, the Omega Terminus itself attacked by reanimating four corpses, including Drench and the other Cliffjumper. In the ensuing fight, Cliffumper came up with the idea of destroying the zombies using scraplets, who promptly reduced them to dust. Although Grimlock swept the quartet off a ledge, managed to distract Grimlock enough for Cliffjumper and Sideswipe to knock the evil Dinobot off the cliff; when they pulled themselves back up, Omega Terminus again ordered them to leave, which they promptly did. A short time later, Megatron asked Sideswipe and Cliffjumper if the Dinocons' recently discovered transformation ability had something to do with their recent adventure, but they found they couldn't recall exactly what had happened while underground. Dungeons & Dinobots
The Decepticons launched their next major offensive when it became clear that Optimus planned to rebuild the Ark for a second launch before Cybertron drifted into the Plait Expanse. Although Cliffjumper briefly despaired, thinking that his hard work had been for nothing, Megatron reassured him that the delay had given the Autobots enough time to build the Nemesis, a ship that could pursue the evil Autobots offworld. Owing to his prior familiarity with Earth, Megatron put Cliffjumper in charge of screening volunteers to crew the Nemesis, but discovered that not all the Decepticons who volunteered, including Demolishor and Heatwave, corresponded to Decepticons from his native timeline. Later, when the Decepticons received word that Ricochet had kidnapped Megatron, Starscream wanted to mount a full raid. Cliffjumper reminded him that prepping the Nemesis for launch should be their top priority. Indeed, the Decepticons failed to rescue Megatron in time; with both Megatron and Optimus stranded on Cybertron, Starscream took command and launched the Nemesis moments before the planet entered the outer reaches of the Plait Nebula.
Although the Decepticons caught up with the Autobots, a human-built fusion bomb interrupted the firefight between the two ships. Heatwave's ability to "talk" with their damaged ship amazed him, but as their damaged ship spiralled towards the planet, the majority of Decepticons boarded escape pods and fled, while Cliffjumper volunteered to stay behind with Starscream to steer their disabled ship away from any major population centers. Do Over
Cliffjumper and Starscream survived the crash intact, and were found by Heatwave, Soundwave, Frenzy, Ravage, and some humans who had discovered the Nemesis. As they all discussed their current situation, Cliffjumper was suspicious of the humans--especially Arkeville, who bothered him for some reason he couldn't place. The idea that Cliffjumper came from another reality fascinated Arkeville; when Cliffjumper asked what happened to this Earth's California, he learned that this iteration of Earth had experienced World War III in the 1980s. Starscream figured that the Autobots had perished in the crash, but Cliffjumper wasn't sure, and sent him out with the other survivors to look for fallen Decepticon escape pods. Cliffjumper found Crasher's stasis pod in a junkyard, he booted her back online, but became flustered when part of their conversation afterwards involved him trying to explain his unfamiliarity with female Transformers.
When the Autobots made themselves known by hijacking the recently-launched Global Orbiting Defense Satellite and holding the Earth hostage, Cliffjumper helped plan the liberation of the military base the Autobots had captured. After Heatwave used his unusual talents to turn the Autobot's own stolen satellite against the base and destroy it, Cliffjumper comforted the larger mech, who was mournful that he had to also destroy the transmitter. Eye in the Sky
After rescuing Blitzwing from the Autobots and their new Stellar spanner, Cliffjumper wondered why Blitzwing hadn't been captured or killed after they incapacitated him. Blitzwing revealed that he had fused with an oPod and disrupted them with its signal, and Cliffjumper found Arkeville's comparison to human bodies being able to make bone out of coral to be creepy. As Blitzwing's new disruptive signal ability eventually spread from the Autobots' emergency frequency to the Decepticons', Cliffjumper was irritated that his normal-universe Autobot emergency frequency just happened to be the same as the Decepticons' in this universe. Starscream suggested everyone but Soundwave (who was unaffected) going into emergency stasis lock to protect them from being damaged by the signal while their human friends protected them until Soundwave could find Blitzwing and cure his broadcasting; although Cliffjumper was paranoid about both ideas, his concerns were overruled. When Soundwave was successful and everything went back to normal, Cliffjumper was also glad that they could now build their own Stellar Spanner with the schematics Blitzwing had stolen. Blitzwing Bop
Once the Decepticons got their Stellar Spanner working, they were joined on Earth by Shockwave, whom Cliffjumper was surprised to learn was interested in hearing more about Primus. Cliffjumper attended an unveiling ceremony with the other Decepticons as R.J. Blackrock presented his new Mega-Rig, and got an opportunity to fight the Autobots when they attacked it. When Sephie Beller had herself augmented with Cybertronian technology, Cliffjumper announced he had seen this happen before and they needed to stick Sephie in cryo so they could work on a cure. She went off to fight the Autobots on her own, and Cliffjumper stopped Rick from going after her, suggesting they build a Nebulan-esque exosuit for the boy first. A team of Decepticons, plus Cliffjumper, went to try and help Sephie, but instead found themselves captured by the Autobots. Bound, they only avoided being terminated when Blackrock arrived in his Centurion battle mech and started attacking the Autobots. Unfortunately Blackrock also regarded the Decepticons as viable targets, and Cliffjumper's leg was damaged by stray fire. Sephie freed Cliffjumper, knowing he would feel compelled to unchain his comrades rather than stop her from going after Blackrock. He was forced to concede and began releasing Starscream. Sephie, meanwhile, put the Centurion into overload and flew it a safe distance, saving Cliffjumper and the Decepticons. Back at base, he apologized for doubting her and said she would have a place on the Decepticon team if she wanted it, though she turned it down. Transhuman
Months later, Cliffjumper was present at the Decepticon base when Landquake, Breakaway, Topspin, and Aquarius arrived with Skyfall's corpse. He said that, though he never thought he'd say such to a Decepticon, he was glad to see Landquake, and the feeling seemed to be mutual. Reunification: Part 4 After Landquake and his gestalt members were reborn into Nexus Prime, Nexus offered to take Cliffjumper along on the next leg of his interdimensional journey, but Cliffjumper decided to stay and continue fighting the evil Optimus Prime instead. He bid the Landquake and Skyfall parts of Nexus Prime goodbye as the gestalt stepped through the Decepticons' Stellar Spanner. Reunification: Part 6 The Coming Storm: Part 1
Cliffjumper had no love for traitors, and he fumed at the idea of Megatron's intended assassin, Cyclonus, being pardoned by the newly reborn Galvatron. When Cyclonus brought the Annex on a supply mission to Earth, Cliffjumper insisted on keeping the 'Con in his sights at all times. Coalescence At some point, Cliffjumper learned of the ultimate fate of the Underbase-linked 'bots Demolishor and Side Burn. Falling into Place
When Cliffjumper's home universe was invaded by evil Autobots, he and Galvatron sent a squad of heroic Decepticons to back up Cliffjumper's comrades. Unfortunately, his universe was destroyed thanks to a relic of the Thirteen, the Terminus Blade. Only the Earth and the humans and Transformers living on it at the time were saved, transported into a dual orbit around negative-Cybertron. Invasion
As the Decepticon Broadcasting Network sought a statement from the heroic Autobot refugees, Cliffjumper made the pushy reporter Counterpunch back the scrap off. Solar Requiem
Cliffjumper caught the GoBots' Interdimensional Exploration Team outside the Ironworks after a conflict with the evil Autobot, Stepper. High Noon He reluctantly brought them inside for conference with Metalhawk after the insistence of the Autobot leader. The GoBots explained that their universe was decaying due to an inter-dimensional transference effect between this universe and theirs. After Wheeljack confirmed their idea that Rarified Energon could be used to reverse the process if a powerful enough supercomputer monitored the process, Cliffjumper proposed they use the Caretaker node he once encountered. Journey's Eve
By the time Ultra Mammoth and a team of late-coming positive-Autobots arrived on negative-Cybertron, Cliffjumper was tired of explaining the negative polarity universe to newcomers, and just provided them the "Cliff's Notes" version on a data pack. Falling into Place
Notes
- Like many of his compatriots in "Crossing Over", Cliffjumper is depicted as his contemporaneous Classics toy. However, from "Shattered Glass" onwards, Cliffjumper lacks that toy's silver vehicle mode highlights, essentially making him an all-red "virtual redeco"... of himself. Maybe travelling to a negative polarity universe strips your paintjob?
