Jetstorm (BM)
| The name or term "Jetstorm" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Jetstorm (disambiguation). |
- Jetstorm is a Vehicon from the Beast Machines portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Arrogant and cocky with the skills to back up all his big talk, Jetstorm leads Megatron's aero-drones in his bid to remove the last vestiges of resistance on Cybertron. He is distinguished from the other drones as having a more purple colour scheme and yellow markings on his body. The only thing Jetstorm likes more than cracking wise is cracking heads. He takes great pleasure in tormenting the Maximals and lets them know at every opportunity how much better than them he is. He has a nasty temper that is barely hidden behind a thin veneer of cool indifference, and it really doesn't take much to set him off. Like that Blackarachnia chick, what's she staring at?
Despite his smarm, bravado and temper, Jetstorm knows when to cut his losses and run for it. He may have a whole load of personality flaws (and a load of aero-drones to back him up), but he's not stupid. Despite early rivalries, he has also developed a camaraderie with Thrust, even though the idea of being friends with anyone initially came as something of a shock.
Jetstorm is in actuality a programmed shell personality given life by the spark of the Maximal Silverbolt.
His Command Code is "afterburn."
Spanish name: Aluvion (toy only; the TV series kept "Jetstorm")<br /> French-Canadian name: L'orageux<br /> Pre-release name: Skybolt
Fiction
Cartoon continuity
Beast Machines
- Voice actor: Brian Drummond, Scott McNeil (as Silverbolt) (English), Mitsuo Iwata (Japanese)
Jetstorm came online alongside fellow generals Tankor and Thrust fairly early on in the Beast Machines conflict, when Megatron realized that controlling his vast armies of Vehicon drones directly was beyond even his mental capacities. In order to more efficiently control his forces, he created the Vehicon generals to serve as field commanders answering directly to him. In order to give these generals life, he used the sparks of two captured Maximals and one Predacon, hoping that Optimus Primal and his crew would be reluctant to fight their former comrades-in-arms. For Jetstorm, he used the spark of the Fuzor Silverbolt.
Jetstorm made his entrance alongside Thrust and Tankor, with Rattrap and Blackarachnia as his audience. When the spider lady noted that three mindless drones shouldn't be a problem, Jetstorm stunned the Maximals by replying that one, they weren't drones; two, the weren't mindless; and three, "Problem" was his middle name. Jetstorm teamed up with Thrust against Blackarachnia, strafing her from the air and obliging her with a ride through the skies after she webbed herself to him. When they initially lost the Maximals' signatures, Jetstorm was the first to detect them inside the spaceport terminal building, and the chase resumed, ending with a firefight between the generals and Optimus Primal and Cheetor that caused the destruction of the Autobot shuttle Omega-Delta. Fires of the Past
Berated by Megatron after his team's failures, Jetstorm protested that he'd almost captured the Maximals, only for the "lugnuts" to screw him up. Unsurprisingly, Megatron didn't buy it. After a couple of painful jolts and a promise of either reward or suffering, the three generals hit the road to find the Maximals. When Thrust stopped and began to brood, Jetstorm confronted him and demanded to know what the problem was, instigating a fight with the Cycle Commander. While they were dueling, the two picked up the Maximals' signatures and took off, only to find Tankor had beaten them to the prize. Teaming up with Thrust, Jetstorm attacked Tankor, landing a solid hit on him but ultimately getting himself knocked out when Tankor's counterattack blew up a fuel tank which walloped everyone but him. Later, Jetstorm angrily told Thrust he never wanted to see "that slagging turret-head" again—right before they were blasted back and then crushed by a falling Tankor. Mercenary Pursuits
Although Silverbolt's former lover, Blackarachnia, initially believed that Thrust possessed the spark of her beloved, she soon discovered the truth, and she went to great lengths to reawaken the Maximal spark Jetstorm held within him. And what did she get for her trouble? A samurai hawk with serious issues.
Toys
Beast Machines
- Jetstorm (Deluxe, 2000)
- Accessories: 2 missiles
- Part of the first wave of Beast Machines Deluxes, Jetstorm transforms into a Cybertronic fighter jet. His jet-mode cockpit has a spring-loaded extension, giving him a bird-like head in this form that is articulated at the neck to "search" for targets. Both jet and robot modes feature spring-loaded "energy blast" missiles. He also has an alternate robot mode, which folds his legs into a "flight cone" and reveals jet thrusters.
- Note that, in the photo to the left, Jetstorm is slightly mis-transformed. In robot mode, the chest panels have holes in the back designed to pop over the yellow nubs on the collar plate, thus locking together the collar and the two halves of the torso. Further, in vehicle mode, his wings should be swept forward (like the Ultra-class toy below).
- This mold has been redecoed to make the Sonic Attack Jet, Robots in Disguise Storm Jet and Jhiaxus, and Universe Skywarp.
- Jetstorm (Ultra, 2000)
- Accessories: 2 missiles, 2 drones
- Part of the first wave of Ultra-class Beast Machines toys, Jetstorm is also the first Ultra-class toy since the beginning of the "Beast Era" to feature electronics. He was also the largest Ultra-class toy yet. Like the Deluxe version, he transforms into a Cybertronic fighter jet, but in this incarnation the jet mode looks far more like the Mainframe CGI model, even if the robot mode bears only a slightly stronger resemblance. His jet mode cockpit/neck is geared up with the pop-up gun turret on his back so that both turn in the same direction when moved. This turret has a light-up feature plus two spring-loaded missiles. Like the small toy, he has both a "normal" bipedal robot mode and a "flight robot mode" with pop-out thruster engines.
- This mold was redecoed into the BotCon 2002 exclusive Cyclonus.
- Jetstorm (Happy Meal, 2000)
- The McDonald's Happy Meal toy's robot mode was very close to the CGI model -- from the waist up. Below the waist, the jet nose splits into two halves. Legs? Feet? Who knows? The toy's front torso is made of translucent plastic to simulate his slender TV show model, despite being quite fat. He also features a light piping gimmick which causes the spark crystal on his chest to light up when he's held up to the light. In jet mode his cockpit also has limited light piping.
- Jetstorm (Little Red Rooster Meal, 2000)
- The McDonald's Happy Meal Jetstorm was also released in Australia through the Red Rooster restaurant chain. Like the other three toys, it came in four colors: the original colors (with opaques replacing the transparents), red, green, and very light blue. It was retooled from the original version, losing the light piping. To make up for this it has (sloppily) painted on 'eyes' for its jet mode.
- Due to the lack of translucent plastic the toy's profile is different to the McDonalds version, looking somewhat fatter. This version of the toy isn't as well ballanced as the McDonalds version, either. They fall down a lot.
Beast Wars Returns
- Vehicon Jetstorm (Ultra, 2005)
- Accessories: 2 missiles, 2 drones
- A redeco of the U.S. market Ultra figure, released as part of the Toys R Us exclusive Beast Wars Returns line in Japan. It is one of the less drastic redecos of the line, and is fairly similar to the U.S. release, substituting most grey parts for a secondary shade of greyish blue, and replacing some of the yellow and all the gold highlights with both a silvery grey and more blue, most notably on his cheek plates. It gives the figure a darker, more sombre and overall blue appearance, in order to have greater show-accuracy.
Trivia
- Jetstorm's pre-release name was Skybolt, but that was deemed too close to "Silverbolt," so the name was changed to further obscure the identity of Jetstorm's spark.
- Early concept artwork showed Jetstorm as being red instead of blue.
- Jetstorm was prone to making pop culture references, including "Gotta Catch 'em All!" (the slogan for the Pokémon franchise) and "swing batty-batty!" (a baseball pun intended to nark off Nightscream).
- In the show, Jetstorm has no feet and never walks. He only touches the ground when he is prone/disabled.
