Mirage (G1)
| The name or term "Mirage" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Mirage (disambiguation). |
- Mirage is an Autobot in the Generation 1 continuity family.
Mirage is what humans call "old money." Before the war, he was a member of affluent Cybertronian society, with his own large estate and high-priced friends. He enjoyed the finer things in life: vintage energon, swank evening events, and turbofox hunts on the grounds. But when the war started, he was forced to choose sides and found himself banded with a group of commoners he didn't really understand.
The other Autobots don't trust Mirage. He feels the war, even after all these millions of years, is beneath him. War is not, after all, how civilized, erudite beings conduct themselves. He often questions the Autobots' violent means, and not-so-secretly hopes they and the Decepticons can get along. Because of this, he has been labelled by a few others as a Decepticon sympathizer.
Although the details vary by continuity, Mirage has the ability to create illusions which typically either render him invisible or make him appear to be somewhere he isn't.
He sounds like Dean Martin.
Japanese name: Ligier
Italian name: Mistero
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Generation 1
(Note: Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.)
Mirage was one of the Autobots on board the Ark when it crashed, and was subsequently reactivated in 1984. At first, Mirage was reluctant to full-on attack his Decepticon opponents, instead trying to reason with them. However, after a battle with the relentless Ravage, Mirage learned that sometimes diplomacy is not an option.
During an accident on the Ark, Brawn suffered an extreme neuro-shock, causing him to rebel and turn against his teammates. Mirage helped the Autobots hunt him down and tranquelize him. This same accident also amplified Mirage's ability to create illusions, which he later used to trick the Decepticons into believing that a duel between Brawn and Starscream ended with Brawn's death. The Decepticons felt totally stupid.
Long after, he was blown to pieces by Octane during an Arctic battle arranged by Starscream and repaired in time to be destroyed again in New York City by Starscream himself (empowered by the Underbase).
Generation 2
Disobeying Optimus Prime's orders, Grimlock led a covert team (which included Mirage) onto the Cybertronian Empire ship Twilight to defeat Jhiaxus and his army of "evolved-Decepticons." Grimlock's plan was an utter failure, ending in Red Alert's death and the Autobots' capture. Mirage was destroyed by enemy fire during the following prison break.
Animated continuity
- Voice actor: Frank Welker (US), Takurō Kitagawa (Japan)
Mirage was part of the bridge crew of the Ark when it crash-landed on Earth four million years ago. A volcanic eruption in 1984 awakened the Ark's inhabitants, including Mirage, who was reformatted by Teletraan I to have a terrestrial alt-mode of a Formula-1 racer. With the battle against the Decepticons now transplanted to Earth, Mirage still hated warfare. He longed to return to Cybertron and turn simply his back to the evil Decepticons, but his loyalty to Optimus Prime kept him in the fight.
Mirage was instrumental in stopping the Decepticons from returning to Cybertron after amassing enough energon from Earth. The Decepticons had constructed a new star cruiser, and were in the process of flying home to tip the scales of the war in their favor. Mirage used his cloaking ability to sneak aboard the Decepticon ship. He uncloaked and opened fire, blasting away at the ship's controls. He then bailed from the doomed cruiser, floating back to Earth's surface on a parasail as the Decepticons crashed into the ocean. Optimus Prime asked Mirage why he -- homesick and war-weary Autobot that he was -- did not hitch the ride back home. Mirage responded, affirming his loyalty to the Autobots, "The ship was... full." More Than Meets the Eye, Part 3
Mirage’s role in the Autobots’ battles on Earth was a distinctly minimal one, leaving him confined to the background on the battlefield, or not present at all. In early 1985, however, the spotlight shone on Mirage again when Cliffjumper suspected him of disloyalty. The discovery of a Decepticon installation in a sector Mirage had recently observed caused Cliffjumper to leap the incorrect conclusion that he was a traitor to the Autobots, having concealed the information. After a battle with the Decepticons, Mirage risked the trust of his comrades by sneaking away to perform a plan of his own, framing the Decepticons for stealing Energon Cubes from the Insecticons. Spotting carrying the cubes by Cliffjumper, Mirage’s guilt seemed all but confirmed, and before he could reveal his innocence, he was captured and brainwashed by one of Bombshell’s mind-controlling cerebro-shells. Under Bombshell’s control, Mirage led the Autobots into an ambush, but at the battle’s end, the assorted manipulations were revealed and Cliffjumper apologised to Mirage. Traitor
Towards the end of the year, Mirage was among the team of five Autobots who disguised themselves as the Stunticons, with Mirage’s alternate mode making him the perfect choice to masquerade as Drag Strip. Penetrating the Decepticon camp, the Autobots ran into trouble when the real Stunticons arrived, trying to prove their identities by forming Menasor. With a combination of Windcharger’s magnetic powers and Mirage’s illusion-creating ability, the Autobots were able to appear as Menasor too. Though the deception was soon revealed, they were still able to thwart the Decepticons’ plans. Masquerade
(Mirage was absent from the events of 2005 and 2006 without explanation; however, a storyboarded scene from Transformers: The Movie featuring Mirage was cut from the finished film. Amidst the transformation of Autobot City, Mirage was to ambush the Insecticon Bombshell and was then fired upon by Megatron. Whether or not this would have killed Mirage is not made clear, but given the film's casual bodycount, it seems highly probable.)
Robot Masters (Japan-only)
Dreamwave comics continuity
When Shockwave came to Earth and announced that the Autobot/Decepticon wars were over and that the two factions had been united, Mirage was one of the first to fall in with the new regime. The rest of the Autobots were wary of this development, and so a few (especially Cliffjumper) considered Mirage a traitor.
Mirage quickly realigned himself with the Autobot cause when Shockwave's true plan was revealed, and Cliffjumper seemed to forgive him.
Toys
Generation 1
- Mirage (Autobot Car, 1984/1986/1991)
- Japanese ID number: 07
- Mirage was part of the original 1984 Autobot car assortment. His mold was originally used for a Diaclone F-1 Ligier JS-11 racer. The toy was specifically designed to work with the launcher mechanism contained in the Optimus Prime / Battle Convoy trailer. This toy is easily broken at the waist piviot. The labels on the toy are references to several real world company. The largest name, Citanes, is a deliberate corruption of Gitanes, a French cigaratte company (quite unusual for a child's toy, but not the only cigarette reference in Diaclone). The toy included Gitanes' logo of a dancing gypsy woman on what ends up as Mirage's belt in robot form. "Ligier" is the name of the company that manufactures the car type, while "elf" is a reference to a French oil company that has since merged with TotalFina to become TotalFinaElf.
- Hasbro and/or Takara have announced that the mold for Mirage is either lost or damaged, so a reissue is unlikely. Mirage was also included in the 1986 Good Bye Convoy giftset; this was the final release of the mold, making Mirage the only one of the original Autobots to not have been reissued in some form.
Generation 2
- Mirage (Go-Bot, 1995)
- Mirage was released in 1995 as a black and yellow recolor of the Go-Bot Double Clutch. He was also planned to be released as a flipchanger, but the Generation 2 line was cancelled to make way for Beast Wars. The unreleased mold was first used in Machine Wars.
- This mold was also used to make Robots in Disguise Mirage.
Machine Wars
- Mirage (Basic, 1997)
- Mirage's form in Machine Wars transforms into an blue and white Formula racer. Like the other Machine Wars basics, the toy is a flipchanger (having a one-step spring-loaded transformation), and his weapons are hidden in his alt mode. Unlike most of the Machine Wars toys, the head looks very similar to his G1 form. This is because the mold was originaly designed as Mirage for Generation 2.
Robot Masters
- Rijie (Basic, 2004)
- Japanese ID number: RM-03
- This toy used the Machine Wars mold, but in much more Generation 1 colors.
- Because of legal reasons, "Ligier" could not be used for the name of the Robot Masters toy, so "Rijie", which has the same pronuciation in Japan, was used instead.
Alternators
- Mirage (Alternator, 2006)
Classics
- Mirage (Classics Deluxe, 2006)
- Deluxe Mirage was released in November 2006, along with the greatly shortpacked Grimlock. He transforms into a sleek formula racecar similar to the G1 figure, and contains several in-jokes aimed at the fandom, in the form of sponser logos such as "Witwicky Sparkplugs" and "Lithonian Drivetrain"
- His robot mode is a lithe upgrade to his G1 form, containing more points of articulation than any Action Master can lay claim to. His weapon is a small rifle (an electro-disrupter, with which he can confuse the crap out anyone) formed by his front wing.
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