Twitch
- Twitch is a Terran from the EarthSpark continuity family.
Twitch Malto arose from the waters of Earth with an inquisitive mind, a keen memory, and a fierce competitive streak. Twitch is enthusiastic, exuberant, and eager to learn... but she's also determined to be the best, and unafraid to use her knowledge to get the upper hand in whatever she deems a competition. This take-charge attitude can sometimes land her in unpredictable situations; fortunately, she's fast on her feet, clever enough to formulate a plan on the fly, and armed with an array of high-tech Cybertronian gadgets while in her drone alternate mode.
As a member of the Malto family, Twitch is close to her adoptive brother Robby; unlike her Terran brother Thrash, however, she also possesses a close connection with Wheeljack, the inventor of her alternate mode, whom she views as a "second father" of sorts. With the arrival of more Terrans, Twitch has gradually taken on a leadership position amongst her siblings.
Fiction
EarthSpark cartoon
- Voice actor: Kathreen Khavari (English), Lupita Leal (Latin American Spanish), Thaís Dutra (Brazilian Portuguese), Karine Foviau (French), Nadine Wöbs (German)
Twitch and Thrash were brought online when Robby Malto and his sister Mo made contact with the Emberstone, and became emotionally bonded to them through their cyber-sleeves. While the Terrans were initially afraid of the kids, they quickly warmed up to them. Unexpectedly manifesting a blaster when the group was attacked by an Arachnamech, Twitch followed the Malto kids home to learn more about being a Transformer. Secret Legacy, Part 1 While in the forest playing, Twitch encountered a Cybertronian drone sent by Optimus Prime which she inadvertently scanned as her alternate mode. She shot the drone down and she and Robby set about modifying it. They were able to use it to come to Thrash and Mo's rescue when the pair were menaced by an Arachnamech, only for the whole group to be surrounded by the critters until Optimus and Elita-1 came to their aid. Optimus's attempt to have the two Terrans protected by G.H.O.S.T. resulted in them being captured by Mandroid, and resulting in Optimus, Dot Malto and Megatron having to attack Mandroid's base and rescue them. Following the battle, Dot opted to take them under her protection, with Optimus assigning Bumblebee as their tutor. Secret Legacy, Part 2
The Terrans were uninterested in Bumblebee's tutelage, especially when Twitch found herself unable to transform. His attempts to participate in Malto Family Game Night resulted in Twitch raging at him, transforming and flying off, however she accidentally released the herd of cows, and while attempting to rescue Fluffy Ears from train tracks, became trapped in front of an oncoming train. With Bumblebee's help, she was able to transform and escape. Moo-ving In After Twitch and Thrash accidentally damaged the kitchen while fighting over a flag, Dot and Alex went over the house rules. Her interest piqued by the promise of rewards, Twitch threw herself into doing chores around the house so she could win the competition. This eventually resulted in Robby attempting to beat her in the number of stars earned, and they both managed to make a mess of the lawn. House Rules
After Robby had a nightmare, Twitch sneaked out with him to look for foxes and ran into searching G.H.O.S.T. agents who assumed she was a Decepticon. The Terrans and their kid partners paid a visit to Dot's ranger station work, but G.H.O.S.T. activity resulted in them having to try to keep a low profile, which ended up with them falling into a trap intended for Decepticons. Optimus extracted them from the trap and hid them in his trailer in the G.H.O.S.T. base, only for them to venture out and become stuck in one of Megatron's training sims. They were able to complete the sim by working together, and Optimus later smuggled them out of the base. Classified Thrash and Twitch listened to Alex's story about the dreaded Wakwak. Interested in the idea of a family tradition, Twitch tried unsuccessfully to get Robby to help her establish one, and ended up running into Wheeljack while looking for Alex. After learning that the drone she took her alternate mode from was one of his creations, Twitch considered him "Dad2" and helped him track down some Arachnamechs for study. She later introduced him to the rest of her family. Traditions
The two Terrans found themselves increasingly experiencing malfunctions while training with Bumblebee, which they put down to emotional overflow from Robby and Mo, who were about to start their first day of school. After Bumblebee took the Terrans to school as a scouting mission, their emotional link caused the kids to experience motor control malfunctions as well, resulting in Robby telling them to go home. Twitch, however, slipped into a zombie-like state and went to a spot in the forest where she began blasting the ground. The ground eventually gave way, plunging her, Thrash, Bumblebee and the kids into a cave where the two Terrans became so low on energy, they went into a form of stasis lock. Fortunately, as it turned out, the water in the cave was able to restore their energy completely. Friends and Family During another training session, Bumblebee turned teaching duties over to Arcee, who forced the Terrans and kids to do tasks until they rebelled. Arcee took the group into battle against Soundwave and they were successful in helping Bumblebee take down the three cassette-bots. Decoy
During a G.H.O.S.T. ceremony, Twitch and Thrash were forced to stay home with Bumblebee to maintain the secrecy of their existence. As a result, the pair were unable to help the Maltos when Skywarp and Nova Storm attacked G.H.O.S.T. Learning of the origins of the Terrans, Optimus decided it was time to investigate further and had the Terrans and kids lead him to the cave where Twitch and Thrash were originally born. Alex, Robby, Mo and the Terrans ventured inside and retrieved the Emberstone, however Skywarp and Nova Storm returned with Arachnamechs aiming to capture Optimus. Those small enough retreated underground, only to be followed by Mandroid's mechanical drones, and witnessed the birth of three new Terrans. Age of Evolution, Part 1 After successfully escaping the cave, the family regrouped with Optimus and Bumblebee to come up with a plan to rescue Dot and Megatron, who had been captured by Mandroid. The new Terrans posed as bounty hunters, bringing in Optimus, Twitch and Thrash as prisoners. Unfortunately Mandroid immediately saw through the scheme and unleashed his giant mech. Twitch joined Megatron in the air, providing covering fire so the others could take out the mech's external cameras. That done, the group set their sights on taking out the mech's cannon, and with Megatron too damaged to do so, Twitch threw herself into the task, successfully taking out the cannon's targeting ability while the others took their turn providing covering fire. In the aftermath of the battle, the family was reunited with three new members. Age of Evolution, Part 2
With the arrival of the three new Terrans at the Malto farm, Twitch was eager and ready to be a mentor to her younger siblings. Though she found she had to fight with Hashtag's burgeoning interest in the internet for attention. When Twitch brought her sister into town to find her an alt-mode, Hashtag ended up scanning a G.H.O.S.T. surveillance van as an alt-mode and inadvertently abducted by three agents believing Hashtag was their car. Contacting Bumblebee for help, she and Bee were able to infiltrate G.H.O.S.T.'s mountainside base to rescue the trapped Hashtag. Discovering Hashtag's new alt-mode gave her vast Wi-fi powers, Twitch provided encouragement to Hashtag to use them to help them escape G.H.O.S.T.'s base while their forces were busy dealing with a Decepticon prisoner riot (inadvertently caused by Hashtag). Upon returning home, Hashtag covered for Twitch to prevent them from getting into any more trouble than they already were. Hashtag: Oops
Twitch found herself recruited by Hashtag in her attempts to make a movie out of Jawbreaker's attempts to find an alt-mode. She was later present at the family movie night which was cobbled together footage of what Hashtag filmed. Outtakes. When the reclusive Decepticon scientist, Tarantulas, abducted Dot and Alex, Twtich and the others raced to rescue them and arrived on scene shortly after Nightshade had saved them. Missed Connection
Twitch came to blows with Thrash when she found herself frustrated with his, and the rest of her siblings, showing more interest in helping Bumblebee beat his racing record than in their training practice. Things only escalated when they all found themselves inadvertently locked in the dugout, thanks to measures installed by Nightshade and Hashtag, that made them unable to help Dot and Alex in their attempts to keep Bumblebee from getting arrested by G.H.O.S.T. Stuck in the base for ten hours, Twitch finally snapped and vented about the fears she has if one of her siblings were to die after all the close calls they've had, Thrash comforting her and apologizing for not realizing how much pressure he unknowingly put on her. When Dot and Alex finally returned they regretfully informed the kids that Bee had to go on the run to in order keep the rest of the Terrans safe from G.H.O.S.T., Twtich finally broke down in tears. Security Protocols
On Mother's Day, Twitch misinterpreted advice form Robby on getting Dot a teddy bear as a gift and instead took a live bear cub from the woods to gift to Dot. Twitch, along with Robby, was taken by Dot to return the cub to it's mother. They trio eventually, along with the rest of the family, found themselves battling the mother bear, who had been mutated by a strange substance left in the woods by G.H.O.S.T. Bear Necessities. When Twitch, along with the rest of her siblings, were taken to Spacebridge Memorial Park, by Megatron they found their nighttime history lesson interrupted by the return of the long-dormant Shockwave. She, along with Hashtag and Jawbreaker, was forced into stasis lock by a shot from the Immobilizer from Shockwave intended for Megatron. Once Shockwave had been bested, Megatron was able to free her. Warzone
When taken on a midnight trip to Philadelphia by Robby and Mo to experience city-life, Twitch found her initial exuberance dissipate when she, along with Hashtag, encountered anti-Cybertronian sentiment in the city. She was comforted by Robby telling his sisters not to feel bad or to blame themselves for his own disappointment in his old home town. Upon being re-united with their other siblings, they were surprised to see Bumblebee returning in tow with them. Needing to rescue the lost Dinobot, Grimlock, Bee recruited the Maltos for their first real mission. Home, Part 1
The mission quickly turned to a battle with the returning Mandroid, with Twitch finding her attempts at saying they'd forgive what he did to them rejected. The situation turned from bad to worse when Hashtag was placed under the control of one of Mandroid's new control badges that made her his obedient drone. Unwilling to fight their sister and finding themselves outclassed by Hashtag's growing Wi-Fi powers, Twitch took command when the others suggested going to get help. Refusing to leave Hashtag behind, Twitch stood alone initially before being joined by her siblings. Finding themselves empowered by a strange energy from the same cave they were born in, Twitch and the others were able free Hashtag from Mandroid's control. Comforting her sister upon being freed, Twitch and the others raced back to Witwicky before their parents could wake up. Home, Part 2
Toys
EarthSpark
- Twitch (Deluxe, 2023)
- Accessories: Blaster arm, Mandroid pieces (head, backpack)
- Released as part of the first wave of EarthSpark Deluxe Class toys, Twitch transforms from a highly-articulated robot into a Cybertronian spy-drone. Her hoverfans and back-wings are on ball-joints, giving them quite a range of motion.
- She comes with a blaster that fits over either of her forearms to replicate the "arm turns into blaster" of her show model. This gun can store on the underside of her drone mode, plus there is undocumented storage for the piece on her robot-mode back, though it interferes with her hip articulation. The clear-plastic wings are safely removable from the socket joints, and while probably unintended, can fit in her hands as blade-weapons like in the show, if one fits them in right above the ball joint.
- She also comes with two "Build a Figure" pieces for Mandroid: his head and backpack.
- Box images show Twitch partially transformed, with the robot eyes peeking out over the front of the drone.
- Terran Twitch (1-Step Flip Changer, 2023)
- "1-Step Flip Changer" Twitch is a simple toy that converts from robot to vehicle and vice versa by being folded inside-out/outside-in.
- This figure was listed on Spanish toy website "fnac.pt", prior to any official announcement by Hasbro.
Notes
Foreign names
- Hungarian: Fricska ("Flick")
Gallery
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Concept art
