Circuit Breaker (G1)
- Circuit Breaker is a human in the Marvel Comics portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Circuit Breaker is a villain whose pathological hatred of robots knows no bounds. She refuses to make the distinction between Autobot and Decepticon, blaming the Transformer race as a whole for the attack which left her crippled. As such, she is more likely to do harm to the Autobot cause than to be of assistance.
Circuit Breaker was genius Josie Beller. Hired by Blackrock Industries only a few years out of high school, she was responsible for designing the most advanced oil-drilling platform in the world. Despite her well-publicized technological achievements, Beller was humble; to her, it was merely part of her job. She continues to be extremely devoted to her employer, G.B. Blackrock.
But after being paralyzed during a Decepticon attack on the platform, she invented a uniform to enable her to walk again. Her computerized suit not only allows her to move, but grants her the power to shoot electricity, disrupt circuitry, and fly. This costume does not cover much of her body, but having the power to manipulate electricity gives a you a good defense against inappropriate catcalls.
- Portuguese name (Portugal comics): Disjuntora
- Portuguese name (Brazil comics): Rompe-Circuitos
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
After Josie Beller appeared on the news The New Order, her life took a tragic turn when the Decepticon Shockwave attacked the oil-drilling platform that the news report was showcasing. Beller, who was operating the defense systems, fired harpoons at Shockwave. As Shockwave reeled in pain, he yanked away from the rig, ripping out the harpoon launchers, which, as a chain reaction of debris fell through the construct, caused the electrical systems to malfunction. Josie Beller was electrocuted. This paralyzed her entirely from the neck down, other than the ability to use her right arm. The Worse of Two Evils!
Hospitalized, Beller blamed herself. She told Blackrock that she had failed him, and swore she would make it up to him. Blackrock tried to explain that Beller owed him nothing, but she would not listen to him. Her devotion was, perhaps, pathological. She hated robots, she hated what they did to Blackrock Industries, and she hated them for paralyzing her.
Blackrock sought to equip himself better against attacks from the Transformers. Soon, he planned to unveil a new secret weapon to the press, the Anti-Robot Photonic Multi-Cannon. Josie Beller broke into Blackrock's office and disrobed, revealing an electrical costume which allowed her to move again. She declared her name to now be Circuit Breaker. The next day, when Blackrock unveiled the Anti-Robot Photonic Multi-Cannon to the press, it had been sabotaged by Circuit Breaker. She wished for Blackrock to introduce her as the real weapon he had intended to announce all along. But then, the Decepticons Starscream and Frenzy arrived, intent on stealing the cannon. Circuit Breaker's hatred did not distinguish between Autobot and Decepticon and attacked both. However, as the Autobots refused to attack humans, both Jazz and Wheeljack suffered heavily from her electrical attacks. Blackrock pleaded to her, demanding she realize that not all robots were her enemy. She again refused to listen. In need of a recharge, she left, vowing to return to finish the job she started. DIS-Integrated Circuits!
Much later, she totally fried Unicron. Holy crap, man. On the Edge of Extinction!
Trivia
- Circuit Breaker is also directly and solely responsible for saving the entire Marvel universe from the Beyonder, in Secret Wars II. (She was published in that book before her debut in Transformers solely so Marvel Comics could claim ownership of the character[1]... although Josie Beller appeared in Transformers before Circuit Breaker appeared in Secret Wars II, so, uh, legal headaches ahoy!). Legal issues caused by Marvel Comics ownership of the character forced IDW to replace all stories featuring Circuit Breaker with text summaries in their Classic Transformers collections.
