Sunstreaker (G1)
Sunstreaker is an Autobot in the Generation 1 continuity.
Sunstreaker knows that he is better than any Autobot. His polish is worth more than all the Minibots put together. It's not that he's a sociopath, it's just that other beings simply don't matter to him. Well, okay, he's a sociopath.
The only Autobot who he gets along with is his brother Sideswipe. Primus knows why Sunstreaker is on their side. Optimus Prime only keeps him around because he's so effective on the battlefield. Sunstreaker is ruthless.
Fiction
Marvel Comics Continuity
Prior to the outbreak of Cybertron's planet-wide civil war, Sunstreaker was a gladiator in the State Games.
Early into the Autobot-Decepticon war, Sunstreaker was a member of the Magnificent Six. With them, he was involved in a mission to the Stanix region of Cybertron that would end in tragedy.
Sunstreaker was among the crew of the Ark that crashed 4 million years ago and woke up in 1984.
In the first few days on Earth, Sunstreaker diverted an attack by Thundercracker and Skywarp towards a human civilization so as to keep himself from harm.
When Shockwave took control over the Decepticons and possession of the Ark, he destroyed Sunstreaker's body as a demonstration and warning to the deposed Megatron. Because of this, Sunstreaker's body was in disrepair for a very long time. (This appears to have occurred in a panel on page 9 of US issue #5, but the coloring is completely wrong for Sunstreaker. However, given Sunstreaker's absence in the scene on page 4 of US issue #9, which is meant to include all the Autobots, and Yomtov's penchant for completely messing up the colors, it seems reasonable that Sunstreaker is the Autobot Shockwave destroyed.)
Several Autobots, including Sunstreaker, who were shut down in the medical bay were woken up by Galvatron's Dream-Inducing Bug. Galvatron had planned to use the dreams of the dead to aid him in his conquest, but after a short skirmish, Galvatron's device was placed on himself.
Sunstreaker was fully repaired in time to view the duel between Blaster and Grimlock on the moon.
Later, Sunstreaker was sent on a new mission to the Stanix region of Cybertron with Silverbolt, Ironhide, Wheeljack, Jazz, and Inferno by Optimus Prime. While there, he overcame the ghosts of the past and helped defeat the mad Decepticon Megadeath.
Following this, Sunstreaker was hurt in an undisclosed incident and was revived by Nucleon on the Ark. He and the other newly revived Autobots joined the attack on Unicron.
Animated Continuity
Voice Actor: Corey Burton (US), (Japan)
Sunstreaker was one of several Autobots who glommed onto Hoist's job as a Hollywood extra in the hopes of becoming a movie star. This mainly resulted in him wearing a ridiculous alien mask and spouting out stilted, wooden dialogue.
Before the Decepticon attack on Autobot City, Sunstreaker was helping Kup move a roadblock. He was knocked over when Hot Rod and Daniel Witwicky drove through it.
Meanwhile, he was also on Moon Base One and helped pilot the shuttle that flew Optimus Prime and the Dinobots to Autobot City.
Universe
After the Pax Cybertronia, Sunstreaker left Cybertron with five other survivors of the Great War (Sideswipe, Roulette, Shadow Striker, and Trailbreaker). One year after Cybertron was reformatted into a technorganic planet, they returned. They were greeted by many of the Maximal and Predacon inhabitants and with vast media coverage.
However, what appeared to be celebratory fireworks struck the five Autobots and also the Maximals Silverbolt and Blackarachnia. They were transported to a firey chauldron deep within Unicron, where all but Trailbreaker were rebuilt painfully into new bodies.
Seeing an arena up ahead, the seven moved towards it, only to be attacked by a swarm of shape-shifting lava-like creatures. Sunstreaker and the others were overwhelmed and taken into the arena (or, the Pit), where they were caged along with a multitude of Transformers kidnapped from across the multiverse.
The Unicron-influenced ambience of the place was slowly driving the more violent of the group mad. This, of course, included Sunstreaker. He and Sideswipe were forced into combat in the arena, but were rescued by a reborn Optimus Primal. The group, sans a corrupted Blackarachnia ans Shadow Striker, fled back to Cybertron.
Binaltech Asterisk
In the Japanese Binaltech Asterisk continuity, Sunstreaker is a member of the Cybertron (Autobot) Race Team, which may or may not have any other Transformers on it. He's sort of a mascot for them, and the team doesn't actually use him in races. He resents that people pay more attention to him as a promotional image than as a racecar.
Sunstreaker is partnered with - for unknown reasons - the human "race queen" model Junko Shiragami, and acts as her car.
It is said that Sunstreaker drives faster when he smells Junko's marigold-scented hair.
It is unclear whether the situations in the Binaltech Asterisk series take place in the proper Binaltech timeline.
Dreamwave Continuity
When Ultra Magnus arrived on Earth to enforce Shockwave's edict that the Earth-bound Autobots surrender themselves to the Cybertronian alliance, Optimus Prime ordered a portion of his troops into hiding in Portland, Oregon. This group, led by Jazz, included Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Ratchet, Brawn, Wheeljack, and Windcharger. However, Starscream, Soundwave, and his cassettes soon escaped to Earth with Bruticus. Attacking the Ark, they destroyed all of Jazz's group minus Ratchet and Brawn. Sunstreaker and the others were left in a swamp, deactivated.
A ship crewed by Minibots (led by Bumblebee) arrived on Earth with supplies, and Warpath and Bumper pulled the deactivated from their would-be swampy grave. They were promptly arrested by Commander Marissa Faireborne of the Earth Defense Command and her armored troops. The damaged were repaired.
Commander Faireborne came to Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Jazz with a mission. The American city of San Desto was under attack by Cybertronian creatures.
IDW Continuity
Toys
Generation 1
Sunstreaker was released as part of the first year of the Transformers line in the US. He is a yellow version of the Diaclone Lamborghini Countach LP500S "Super Tuning" toy. The Diaclone version came only in red or police deco; this is one of several items that have led to the fan speculation that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe's coloration and bios were swapped around efore final release.
Universe
A retool of the Robots in Disguise Prowl mold, Sunstreaker was the "hotel exclusive" toy from OTFCC 2003, available only to those who booked their room at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare at the convention rate, the official hotel for the convention.
It is notable that the part that connects the toy's windhield to the main body uses a yellow decal rather than paint, as that part is made out of unpaintable plastic. The police lights from the original mold were removed, leaving this area bare.
Alternators
Sunstreaker was planned as an early retool of the Alternators Sideswipe Dodge Viper toy, but for reasons unknown, the toy was released instead as the Decepticon Dead End. The mold would not be used as Sunstreaker proper until 2005, when both Hasbro and Takara revealed two different takes on the toy.
The first to market was the Binaltech Asterisk version of the toy, coming with a PVC driver figurine, a girl named Junko. A few months later, the Hasbro Alternators version was released as part of the standard Alternators line, in the redesigned "bubble" packaging (the third version of Alternators packaging). Though both are yellow redecos of the mold, the detailing between the two is very different, with the Hasbro version adding red to the robot-mode parts as well as a pair of black racing stripes in car mode.
External Links
