Kup (G1)
| The name or term "Kup" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Kup (disambiguation). |
This article is a featured article, and considered to be one of the most informative on this wiki.
- Kup is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Kup is a tough old coot. He's almost as old as rust, in fact, and he was plinking Decepticons and Ick-Yaks with acid bursts from his trusty musket laser long before most of you turbo-revvin' young punks were born. In his day, lasers didn't need to use light; they did whatever they were told to do. And liked it.
He's probably had a thousand adventures, Kup has, and he'll be glad to relate a story of any one of them at any time to a willing audience. The Dinobots love Kup's war stories, lapping it up like cheap energon, and don't seem to mind when he inadvertently leaves a piece out or changes the story between retellings. Old memory chips'll do that to you. Other Autobots can be less patient, and Kup finds this disrespectful and irritating. If there's one thing Kup dislikes, it's when young punks don't respect their elders. If they'd only listen, they might learn something. Hot Rod is one of the worst offenders in this way, but he's a good lad-bot, and Kup will straighten him out sooner or later, even if it takes a tank of Sharkticons.
Occasionally, Kup's vast experience gets in his way. When a situation doesn't remind him of anything, he has trouble figuring out what to do. This doesn't happen very often though.
- Japanese name: Chear[1] (チャー Chā, except for "The Rebirth")
- French-Canadian name: Kaisso
- Hungarian name: Kup — (Űr)Zsaru ["(Space)Cop"] in one of the dubs of The Movie.)
- Italian name: Blitz / Char (The Headmasters dub only)
- Russian TV dub name: Vorchoon ("Grumbler")
Fiction
Cartoon continuity
Generation 1 cartoon
- Voice Actor: Lionel Stander → John Stephenson (English), Osamu Saka (Japanese), Carl Béchard (French Canadian)
In his younger days, one hundred thousand years ago, Kup once found himself crash-landed on the planet Dread, where he was stalked by an Ick-Yak. Although Kup was able to lure the creature into a swamp of quickmud, he was then captured by the evil Orbs, who forced him to work in the death crystal mines of of Queeg Mountain. When the miners were attacked by Chaos, the creature on whose hide the crystals grew, Kup was afforded an opportunity to escape. Before exiting the mines, he quickly grabbed the key to the cell in which the other slaves were held... but before he could open the cell door, Chaos came roaring into the cavern. Petrified, Kup dropped the keys and fled, escaping with his life, and a guilt that would gnaw at him for millennia. Chaos
Kup was stationed in another part of the galaxy while Optimus Prime and Megatron's forces were battling on Earth, but eventually joined up with the Earthbound Autobots when the Decepticons took over Cybertron in the early days of the 21st Century. Secret Files of Teletraan II
In 2005, Kup was supervising the erection of a security cordon at the foot of Lookout Mountain when the work was interrupted by an impetuous drive-through by Hot Rod. Kup shook his finger at the adventure-seeking youth, vowing to straighten him out yet. Even Kup couldn't believe it, however, when mere minutes later, Hot Rod began firing upon the approaching Autobot shuttle. The shuttle had, in fact, been hijacked by the Decepticons, who immediately began pouring out of the craft and attacking Autobot City. Kup saved Hot Rod from being blasted by Blitzwing, and the pair then headed back towards the city, but they didn't move fast enough to avoid being trapped outside of the city's fortress-like defenses. Luckily, an attempted hull breach by the Insecticon opened a small hole in the city's blast doors, and Kup used Kickback's skull as a ramp to leap the gap and make it into the city safely.
Once inside the city, Kup and Hot Rod joined Arcee and Springer in shoving an explosives launcher into place to help defend against the might of Devastator. The battle continued through the night, but the arrival Optimus Prime the next day turned the tide and the Decepticons were defeated—but at a terrible price. Despite Kup's warnings, Hot Rod had interfered in Prime and Megatron's one-on-one battle, and had given the Decepticon leader the opening he needed to fatally wound Prime. Prime had used the last of his strength to dispatch Megatron, but as Kup and the other Autobots gathered around their fallen leader, Optimus Prime died, passing the Matrix of Leadership on to Ultra Magnus.
Even as the Autobots began to pick up the pieces, they came under assault on two fronts. First, reports came in from their moonbases of a monster planet that was bearing down on Cybertron; when Hot Rod eagerly announced that he was sure the Matrix could stop the creature, Kup was less than convinced, asking what the youth would know about it. The Autobots made quick preparations to join their comrades on Cybertron's moons, but just before they were able to board their shuttles, a group of new Decepticons led by the powerful Galvatron launched another attack upon the ruins of Autobots City. Kup, Hot Rod and the Dinobots boarded one of the shuttles and hot-footed it into space. Once they were safely away, Kup passed the time during the trip by telling the Dinobots the tale of his encounter with another Ick Yak on Beta 4. The story was interrupted by the sudden arrival of the Decepticons, and while Kup's experience with the Shrikebats of Dromedon allowed him to out-manoeuvre the villains' moleculon missiles, an attack by Cyclonus crippled the shuttle and caused it to crash-land into an ocean on the planet Quintessa. Kup was set upon by a robotic squid, which tore off several of his limbs before Hot Rod was able to fight it off. Hot Rod gathered up all of Kup's pieces and put his friend back together again, but despite the fact that he managed to get rid of a burr on Kup's rotator, Kup was fairly insistent that Hot Rod had left a piece out.
Setting out to explore Quintessa and find the Dinobots, Kup and Hot Rod came across a herd of strange transforming creatures which Kup attempted to placate with the universal greeting and some energon goodies. Unfortunately, when the goodies ran out, so did the creatures' good nature, and Kup and Hot Rod were set upon, captured and dragged before the planet's rulers, the Quintessons. The whole experience reminded Kup of the Niter Slave Mines on Golgonath Seven, but Hot Rod didn't see what good the old-timer's experienced was doing them at that moment. Hurled into a jail cell to await trial, the pair met another captive named Kranix, whose world had been consumed by the monster plant currently threatening Cybertron: a monster that Kranix told them was named Unicron. Sadly, Kranix soon met his end in the jaws of the Quintesson' Sharkticons, and Kup and Hot Rod were dropped into the creatures' pit soon after. The pair did not accept the Quintessons' judgement with gentle grace, however, and fought back against the Sharkticons, creating a whirlpool by driving around their watery pit and sweeping the fight to dry land. Kup tore off one of the Sharkticons' tails and used it as a mace, but the duo was in danger of being overwhelmed until the timely arrival of the Dinobots, who routed the Sharkticons and turned them against their Quintesson masters. With the aid of the Dinobots' new friend, Wheelie, the team found a ship and reunited with their fellow Autobots on the planet of Junk. There, Kup was able to talk a little TV with native Junkion leader Wreck-Gar, but even the levity the Junkions brought to the proceedings did not obscure the tragic news that Galvatron had stolen the Matrix from Ultra Magnus.
Proceeding on their way to Cybertron, the Autobots arrived just in time to witness Unicron transforming to robot mode and attacking their home planet – a sight so awesome that it left Kup speechless, unable to recall anything like it that had ever seen. Ever eager, Hot Rod ploughed their ship straight into Unicron's eye, but was separated from the rest of the group on the fall through the chaos-bringer's interior. While Kup and the other Autobots battled against Unicron's internal defences, Hot Rod battled Galvatron (who had been betrayed Unicron and been swallowed in punishment) and reclaimed the Matrix from him, becoming the Autobots' new leader, Rodimus Prime. Rodimus unleashed the power of the Matrix, which began to destroy Unicron from within, and as the Autobots retreated from the planet-eater's exploding body, Kup congratulated Rodimus, claiming he had always known he had potential. In the wake of Unicron's destruction, the Autobots forced the Decepticons off of Cybertron and reclaimed the planet for their own. The Transformers: The Movie
Appointed as Chief of Security for Cybertron, Kup accompanied Rodimus Prime and the other Autobots to the opening of the Galactic Olympics, only for the ceremony to be attacked by a commando squad of mysterious shadowy figures. The raiders captured Kup, Ultra Magnus and Spike Witwicky and took them back to their masters, Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1 who turned out to be the Quintessons. This time around, the aliens interrogated Kup a lot more thoroughly, questioning him on the state of Cybertron's security and meticulously analyzing his responses, seeing through the sarcastic misdirection he attempted to throw back in their faces. After a failed attempt escape landed the trio in the Sharkticon pit, the end seemed inevitable, until a team of Autobots led by Rodimus Prime arrived in time to save them. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2 In retaliation, the Quintessons detonated a core bomb and blew up Quintessa, and the explosion hurled Kup and the Autobots through space to the planet Goo. As the Autobots struggled through the planet's sticky surface, they were set upon by a massive machine that swept the goo clean, and Kup was awestruck by Rodimus's single-handed attempt to stop the dangerous device. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3 As they continued on their gooey trek, the Autobots came under attack from Galvatron and the Decepticons, who had entered into an alliance with the Quintessons, but were whisked to safety by Wreck-Gar and the Junkions.
A short time later, back on Cybertron, a mayday request came through from a crippled shuttle requesting clearance to land. Unable to risk the lives on the humans that he believed were onboard, Kup allowed the shuttle to land... but as it approached Cybertron, it veered off course and crashed into the planet's central power facility, taking out power across the board. The shuttle had been a dupe perpetuated by the Decepticon/Quintesson alliance, which promptly invaded the planet. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4 In the ensuing battle, Rodimus and Kup were surprised when Blitzwing fell out of the sky in front of them, and begged them no to shoot. The Triple Changer revealed that the Quintessons had double-crossed the Decepticons, and had sent a team of Sharkticons into the depths of Cybertron to activate a large switch that would shut down all the Transformers. Rodimus and Blitzwing were unable to stop the switch being thrown, but Spike Witwicky was then able to destroy the mechanism and reactivate the Transformers, forcing the Quintessons to flee Galvatron's wrath. Kup stood by Rodimus's side as he announced their uneasy victory to the other Autobots. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5
The past came back to haunt Kup when he was called in to investigate a Decepticon attack on the Earth Defense Command post on Goo. Discovering that the attack had been perpetrated using death crystals, Kup was finally forced to return to planet Dread to stop the Decepticons' plan to destroy Cybertron using a death crystal cannon. Venturing into the mines alone, through swarms of shrikebats, Kup located Chaos in the depths of the mountain and lured him back to the surface, taunting him all the way. Before exiting the mines, Kup freed all the slaves, and in turn, they helped him to re-aim the Decepticons' cannon, pointing it right at Chaos at the monster emerged from the tunnels. Kup pulled the trigger, blasting Chaos with its own death crystals and finally destroying it. With his demons laid to rest, the high-spirited Kup spent the journey back to Cybertron tell his comrades of the time he flew the shuttle Jonagar in the mouth of a space-whale. Chaos
Kup was among a team of Autobots who were caught off-guard by the Decepticons while travelling through space in a shuttle, and were forced to dock their damaged craft at the giant mausoleum the Autobots had constructed to hold the bodies of those who had died in the Great War. There, they were shocked to discover that Optimus Prime had apparently returned to life, only to find themselves suddenly betrayed by their old leader when he set the mausoleum on a collision course with a sun and escaped aboard a spaceship of his own. The Autobots quickly improvised a ship of their own before the mausoleum was destroyed, which Kup piloted back to Cybertron. Upon their returned, it was discovered that "Optimus Prime" was merely a robotic zombie, animated as part of a Quintesson plan to destroy the Autobots, forcing Rodimus Prime to defeat him in battle. His true personality re-emerging as he neared death again, Optimus seemingly sacrificed himself, getting the other Autobots to safety and triggering the Quintessons' explosive trap. Dark Awakening
When a survey mission led by Perceptor sent out an SOS, Kup responded with Rodimus Prime, Pipes and the Aerialbots. The team fought off the Quintessons occupying the asteroid, and discovered that the aliens had been attempting to alter history using a Time Window. Most of Perceptor's team had vanished through the portal into Cybertron's distant past, and Kup and the others fought off a Quintesson attempt to reclaim the asteroid while their teammates were returned to the present. Forever Is a Long Time Coming
The arrival of an Autobot named Sandstorm on Cybertron gave Kup cause for concern, as the newcomer claimed to be from the planet Paradron, which Kup was unable to locate on any star charts. A lie detector confirmed the truth of Sandstorm's story, however, and the Autobots rallied to save his world from the Decepticons. Fight or Flee Soon after, when Kup discovered that a team of Decepticons had been able to sneak their way past Cybertron defences, he, Rodimus, Magnus and the Aerialbots headed out to force the villains off the planet. Starscream's Ghost
While making a security inspection of Autobot City on Earth, Kup was impressed by the work Blaster had been doing in his absence. Blaster's choice of music, however, still rattled his transistors. During Kup's visit, Autobot City was attacked by Scourge and the ghost of Starscream. They did serious damage to Metroplex, stealing his eyes and then blowing up a bomb inside his brain. Hopefully, Kup didn't mark that up in his report as a strike against Blaster. Ghost in the Machine
Alongside Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Blaster and Omega Supreme, Kup headed to Junkion to investigate a strange hypnotic television signal that was coming from the planet. On their way, they were attacked by Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps and crashed on an asteroid, where Kup helped draw the Decepticons off so that Magnus could repair the damage done to Omega Supreme. The team voyaged on to Junkion, where they stopped the hypnotic broadcast. The Big Broadcast of 2006 Not long after, Kup was among the Transformers who fell victim to the energy-draining touch of the Trans-Organic Dweller, becoming an energy vampire who menaced the other Autobots until Perceptor restored them to normal with a surge of energon. The Dweller in the Depths
Kup was working out of Autobot City on Earth when Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Springer and Arcee went missing investigating the human terrorist, Victor Drath. Unbeknownst to Kup, the crime lord transplanted the four Autobots' minds into human-like synthoid bodies, and when the humanized Arcee attempted to get his attention near the entrance of Autobot City, he just drove on by.Only Human
When the Autobots all began experiencing malfunctions following the activation of Cybertron's newest power generator, Kup was part of the team that ventured below the planet's surface to investigate the cause. The source of the malfunctions was discovered to be anti-electrons snuck into the generator by the Decepticons, which began to affect Kup's mind, leaving his much vaunted memory of past adventures so badly scrambled that he couldn't even remember who he was or where they were. The generator was shut down, but the Autobots soon deduced that the anti-electrons had come from Unicron, and followed the Decepticons to the planet-eater's decapitated head to stop them from acquiring more. Once they arrived on Unicron's head, the anti-electrons began affecting them once more, but Kup fought off their influence long enough to hold his own against Sinnertwin. The Decepticons were then routed by the Technobots, new Autobots created by Grimlock using the super-intelligence the anti-electrons had given him. Grimlock's New Brain
Running the security center on Cybertron, Kup detected the cataclysmic arrival of Tornedron shortly before the energy creature devoured all energy on the planet, leaving every Autobot completely inert. Only a small group of Primitives from both factions managed to reach the creature's creator, Primacron, and reverse the process. Call of the Primitives
During a series of missions in Japan, Kup could see the burden of leadership weighing heavily on Rodimus Prime's shoulders. Kup tried to teach him about the Japanese concept of giri, the "burden hardest to bear", but Rodimus departed to blow off some steam on his own, and Kup recognized that it was a problem Rodimus would have to resolve for himself. Unfortunately, Rodimus was attacked by the Stunticons and had the Matrix stolen, which then wound up in the clutches of Scourge, who led a Decepticon attack on Tokyo. Kup face off against the Matrix-powered Decepticon, but was hit by energy beams that left him convulsing. Luckily, Hot Rod made peace with his giri and arrived in time to defeat Scourge and reclaim the Matrix. Kup sagely noted that regardless of who held the Matrix, that missing part of himself that Rodimus had discovered would always be with him. The Burden Hardest to Bear
When the Autobots learned that Optimus Prime might still be alive, Kup was part of an enormous task force assembled by Rodimus Prime to retrieve Optimus's body from the treacherous human scientists who had taken possession of it. While Ultra Magnus and Rodimus led several team members inside the laboratory, Kup remained outside on guard with Bumblebee, Wheelie, and several others. The situation turned deadly when the scientists unleashed space spores that induced a Hate Plague among the Autobots. The Aerialbots were among the first exposed, and Kup's team soon had to face off against a crazed Superion. They suffered serious damage and were taken off-line but, as a silver lining, also managed to escape contamination. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1 As his last order before he too was lost to the plague, Rodimus Prime had Sky Lynx locate a Quintesson, who was put to work restoring Optimus Prime to life at last. At Prime's instruction, the Quintesson repaired Kup and the rest of his team, and the group then headed for the Decepticons' base on Chaar to recover a heat-resistant alloy the villains had stolen. Battling through the dangers of Chaar's native wildlife, the Autobots were able to recover the alloy, but not before Kup and most of his team were infected by the Hate Plague. Optimus Prime subsequently used the alloy to shield himself from the plague's effect and recovered the Matrix from Rodimus Prime, then released its wisdom to cure the madness of the spores. A cured Kup and Hot Rod watched as Optimus Prime and Galvatron shook hands, as the Decepticon leader declared there would be no war that day. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2
Galvatron's promise did not last long, unfortunately. Kup was on Cybertron when the Decepticons launched a massive assault on Autobot City on Earth and stole the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber , but word of the attack soon reached Cybertron as the Decepticon bore down on the planet. During the ensuing conflict, Kup and a team of other Autobot boarded a shuttle and pursued Scourge into the depths of the planet, but when Scourge used the key to momentarily open the Plasma Energy Chamber, the energy released blasted the Autobots' shuttle across the galaxy. The ship crashed on the planet Nebulos, which reminded Kup of the time he was stranded on Regulon Four and faced off against the planet's native metalmongers. The Autobots were soon captured by a rebel cell of native Nebulans, who believed them to agents of the planet's evil rulers, the Hive, but the Autobots were able to convince them that they were on the side of the angels when the Decepticons followed them to Nebulos and attacked. The Rebirth, Part 1
During the battle that resulted, Kup, Hot Rod, Blurr, Pointblank, Crosshairs and Sureshot were captured by the Decepticons and tortured for information about the location of the Plasma Energy Chamber key. Kup and his comrades were soon rescued by the other Autobots, who had bonded with the Nebulons rebels to become powerful "Headmasters", and soon decided to undergo a variation of this bonding process themselves, becoming "Targetmasters". By the time Optimus Prime finally tracked his warriors to Nebulos and arrived to join them, Kup had been bonded to the Nebulan Recoil, and was the first to display his new powers to the shocked Prime. Alas, even with this added power, the Autobots were unable to prevent the Decepticons from stealing back the Plasma Energy Chamber key. The Rebirth, Part 2
Pursuing the Decepticons back to Cybertron, Kup delivered the shocking report to his fellow Autobots that the planet itself had disappeared. The Decepticons had, in fact, moved it into Earth's orbit, where Galvatron intended to open the Plasma Energy Chamber and overload the sun, destroying both planets in one fell swoop. As the chamber was opened, Kup and all the other Transformers on the planet were disabled by its energy, but thankfully, Spike Witwicky and the Autobots' Nebulan partners were able to stop the process and use the energy to revitalize Cybertron, bring about a new Golden Age for the planet. The Rebirth, Part 3
Madman The Transformers comic
In the year 2001, the Decepticons had managed to conquer Cybertron completely. Before Optimus Prime left to lead the evacuation of the remaining Autobots on their home planet, he told Ultra Magnus about his intention to hide the Autobot Matrix of Leadership at a not-so-secret bunker on the construction site of the future Autobot City on Earth. The Decepticon Soundwave and his array of Decepticon Mini-Cassettea managed to spy on meeting and moved to capture the Autobot relic for the Decepticon cause, but fortunately that young lad Hot Rod foiled their dastardly and vague plans. Upon arriving on Earth, Kup was present when Hot Rod returned the Matrix to Optimus, and explained the strange Matrix-induced vision he received, to which Optimus Prime commented that perhaps Hot Rod's destiny was greater than the young Autobot realised. Kup had a decidedly different opinion, however. The Transformers
Japanese cartoon continuity
Story of the Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers
Responding to an SOS from deep space, a team of Autobots including Kup helped rescue a human spacecraft from the jaws of a shaceship-eating Decepticon vessel. The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #1
When the Autobots were attacked by the Megatron Military, Kup was decidedly puzzled, as he had understood that Megatron had been recreated as Galvatron. The Megatrons proved to be tough opponents, and Kup and the other Autobots encouraged Rodimus to get away to safety while they held the Megatrons back, but the Autobot leader refused. Soon, it was discovered that one of the Megatrons was Galvatron in disguise, who was remote-controlling the duplicate Megatrons himself. Rodimus dispatched Galvatron, and the Megatrons lost power, allowing Kup and Springer to make short work of them. The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #2
After Ultra Magnus and Metroplex repelled an attack on Autobot City, Kup was among the Autobots who came to Earth to congratulate their efforts. The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers issue 3 Later, Kup was part of the Autobot team who travelled to the planet Feminia to defend its Prime Energy against a Decepticon attack. Kup deduced that the villains would deploy Predaking to steal the energy, and he was right, but thankfully, arrival of the Omnibots won the day. The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #5
The Great Transformer War
Kup watched the battle between the upgraded Abominus and Computron, The Great Transformer War #2 then later joined Hot Rod, Springer and the resurrected Optimus Prime in battling Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps in space shortly after Prime was resurrected. The Great Transformer War #3
The Headmasters cartoon
- Voice actor: Osamu Saka
In 2011, one year after Optimus Prime's resurrection, Kup was stationed on Cybertron when Vector Sigma began to destabilize as a result of the release of the Matrix's energy. Exploiting the opening, the Decepticons invaded the planet, and, at Optimus Prime's command, Kup withdrew to the Autobots' secondary headquarters on the planet Athenia. This sudden, violent re-ignition of the Transformers' war stirred four-million-year-old memories in Kup, but Spike stopped him before he got started by informing that this wasn't a time when thinking of the past was going to do any good. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky As it turned out, the past did play a major role in winning the battle, when a mysterious spaceship arrived carrying new Autobot warriors who helped turned the tide of the battle. These new "Headmasters" were led by a robot named Fortress, who turned out to be an old friend of Kup's who had left Cybertron four million years ago to escape the war. The Mystery of Planet Master
Kup stayed on Athenia with Arcee, Blurr, Wheelie and Daniel while the other Autobots began searching across Earth for the Matrix, which had been hidden away by Optimus Prime, but which would be necessary to stabilize Vector Sigma. Kup recalled the battle on Feminia and told the other Autobots to trust in Hot Rod – and Kup's trust was not misplaced, as Hot Rod and the Headmasters soon had the Matrix in their hands. Kup's team returned to Cybertron to monitor Vector Sigma as its condition grew worse, but alas, before Hot Rod (now Rodimus Prime once again) could use the Matrix to stabilize the computer, Optimus Prime sacrificed himself by merging with it to bring it back under control. Birth of the Fantastic Double Prime
Kup later conferred with Rodimus Prime on the Decepticons' new weapon, the Madmachine, and tried to help console the Autobot Mini-Cassettes over the loss of Blaster. The Great Cassette Operation Not long after, when Athenia was threatened by the Deceptiocons' metal-warping meteor, Metamorpho, Kup hit upon the idea of sending a human to disable the space-rock, as they would be unaffected by its powers. Approach of the Demon Meteorite
Rodimus Prime was on a mission to Earth when an SOS from the planet Praum reached Kup, Arcee and Blurr on Athenia, reminding Kup of several times in the past when the Decepticons deliberately attacked when the Autobots were without a commander. Kup was eager to go into battle on Praum alongside the Headmasters, but they encouraged him to stay behind and guard Athenia with Blurr and Arcee. The Four-Million-Year-Old Veil of Mystery
When the Decepticons launched a massive attack on Cybertron in order to obtain a new alloy created by Vector Sigma named Cybertonuron, Kup and Arcee leapt into action, but were held up from joining the battle when they had to stop to pull Blurr free of the chair he'd managed to get stuck in. They soon made it to Cybertron, however, and watched from the sidelines as Rodimus battled Galvatron. Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 1 When Galvatron broke off the fight, Rodimus and Kup withdrew to debate strategy with Fortress, but the bad news kept on coming: Chromedome reported in to inform them that the Decepticon had planted bombs at the core of Cybertron which would destroy the planet within ten minutes. With no possible recourse, the Autobots evacuated Cybertron just before the bombs detonated, reducing the planet to a burnt-out husk. Deciding that the age of his generation had come to an end, Rodimus Prime passed the mantle of Supreme Commander to Fortress and prepared to embark on a mission to find a new planet on which the Transformers could make their home. Kup and Blurr announced that they would accompany Rodimus on his mission, and the trio departed for space. Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 2
15 Go! Go!
While on her journey through time and space, Teletraan 15 found herself in a future era where she was harassed by a feisty Wheelie. Kup—now bonded to Recoil—came to the rescue, grabbing Wheelie by the scruff of the neck and tossing him away. As Teletraan 15 looked up at him with sparkly eyes and thanked him for his help, he claimed he recognized her and gave her a big old spine-cracking hug. As Kup started rambling about some past encounter they had supposedly had with giant Ick-Yaks, Teletraan 15's sarcastic partner, Teletraan 10, boggled over the sheer scientific illogicality of Kup's "musket laser", unable to comprehend how something that shot acid could be classified as a laser. Suddenly, Kup realized that he actually had no idea who Teletraan 15 was, and drove off. 15 Go! Go! Chapter 4
Marvel Comics continuity
Generation 1
Kup and a platoon of Autobots were feeling pretty good about their mission on Deneb IV when suddenly the entire platoon was nearly washed away by a surprise Decepticon attack of acid rain. The Desert Island of Space!
Several hundred years ago, Kup became afflicted with combat fatigue, a loss of nerves and will brought on by too many millions of years of non-stop fighting. Considering himself a liability to the Autobot cause, Kup went into "retirement", wandering space alone in his starship, waiting for the end eventually to take him. He was shaken out of his misery when he crossed paths with a pair of Tyroxian fighters attempting to destroy a lone spacecraft. Spurred into action, Kup disabled the pursuers and brought the hunted pilot on-board, and was surprised to finding he was a fellow Autobot named Hot Rod. Hot Rod was thrilled to have found aid and eagerly tried to recruit Kup into helping him return to Tyroxia and save his comrade Blurr, but Kup wasn't interested in getting involved any further, and he only agreed to take Hot Rod back to Cybertron. The young punk reprogrammed the ship's navigation computers, though, and landed on Tyroxia to rescue Blurr by himself. Kup was finally shaken out of his funk when he realized that Hot Rod represented everything he used to be, and he single-handedly saved Hot Rod and Blurr from their Tyroxian tormentors. His fighting spirit restored, Kup returned to Cybertron with the two Autobots and joined Fortress Maximus's troops alongside his new allies. Kup's Story!
When Fortress Maximus became disheartened by the never-ending cycle of violence on Cybertron, he made plans to escape the war and set up a new life on the planet Nebulos. Though Kup's actions had become a violent mirror of their so-called enemies, he and many of his top warriors chose to follow their leader to this new world aboard the starship Steelhaven. Tragically, a series of incidents and misunderstandings brought the Autobots and Nebulans to the brink of war within days of their arrival. Kup, forgetting why he had traveled there to begin with, was very happy to return fire, and was only stopped by Fortress Maximus himself. They retreated, and in a desperate attempt to show their true intentions, Fort Max, Kup and several others disarmed themselves in front of the Nebulan gates. Furthermore, Fortress Maximus and four of his lieutenants beheaded themselves and agreed to leave their lifeless heads and bodies, as well as their various weapons, in Nebulan custody so that serious peace talks could be conducted. Ring of Hate!
Kup helped build an Autobot camp in a forest clearing during Fortress Maximus's absence. Soon, their camp was visited by Nebulan representatives from the Council of Peers interested in learning more about their interplanetary visitors, and Kup was glad to oblige. But one of the representatives, Lord Zarak, used the meeting as an opportunity to contact the Autobots' enemies, the Decepticons. Broken Glass!
Matters quickly deteriorated after the arrival of the Decepticons, and two factions of Nebulans joined with both Autobots and Decepticons through bio-mechanical engineering to become Headmasters. Events turned against the Autobots as Lord Zarak, who had binary-bonded to Decepticon leader Scorponok, was able to sway public opinion in favor of the Decepticons, labeling the Autobots as renegades and taking their Headmasters prisoner. Some Nebulans remained loyal to Fortress Maximus's partner, Galen, and traveled to the Autobot camp to forge an alliance. Making use of a new form of bio-mechanical engineering, Kup and the other weaponless Autobots were teamed with Nebulan Targetmasters to replace their lost guns. Kup personally was teamed with Recoil. As the conflict continued, though, both camps of Nebulans began to realize the devastation they were causing to their homeworld, and they decided to leave Nebulos and travel to Earth in search of other Transformers. Brothers in Armor!!
When Galen died on Earth and his role as Fortress Maximus's Headmaster partner was assumed by Spike Witwicky, Spike led Kup and the other Targetmasters on a mission to the Decepticon's island headquarters to rescue his brother, Buster Witwicky. Kup voiced bad feelings about the rescue mission, especially about Spike's suitability to lead the mission. However, when Spike continued fighting despite repeated setbacks, Kup admitted that although Spike brought too much sentiment into the battle, he backed his emotionalism with guts. The Desert Island of Space! Soon, Fortress Maximus's Autobots met up with the Earth-bound Autobots led by Grimlock, and somehow the two Autobot camps wound up witnessing a battle between Grimlock and Blaster for Autobot leadership. Kup, along with the Autobots from both camps, began to watch this battle on Earth's moon when Ratbat's Decepticons unleashed a surprise
- ↑ "Chear" is used twice in English on the Kup/Wheelie "Future Cybertrons" reissue, so is presumably the transliteration Takara currently favors.
