Blackout (Armada)

The name or term "Blackout" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Blackout (disambiguation).

Blackout is a Decepticon-allied Mini-Con from the Armada and Energon portions of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

Blackout is a free spirit to his core and doesn't believe in doing anything that compromises who he is inside. The only reason this independent streak doesn't get him in major trouble with his Decepticon masters is that "who he is inside" craves action more than anything else, and the 'Cons provide that in spades. Still, even with the opportunity to bust some heads he's not sold on the Decepticon agenda and is not shy about saying so, no matter the punishment. This spirited tendency towards dissent and free thought often puts him at odds with his frequent partner, the loyal lackey Demolishor. The two spend a lot of time in arguments to convince each other of their respective viewpoints.

Blackout is powerful and heavily-armored for a Mini-Con, and possesses a powerful sensor array to aid in target acquisition.

Japanese name: Search

Fiction

Armada cartoon continuity

Blackout accompanied Demolishor onto Unicron's surface. He bagain recording data, but when Unicron opened a crevasse, fell in. Later he was found by Hot Shot and Side Swipe. Hot Shot then returned him to Demolishor. Alliance The data supposedly recorded by Blackout was used to determine Unicron had a weak spot in his neck. Union

Kiss Players Position

When he was separated from Demolishor on Unicron's surface, Blackout had a surprising encounter with a human girl who suddenly materialized in front of him. The girl was Atari Hitotonari, a member of the time-traveling group known as the Kiss Players, who had inadvertently become separated scattered across the multiverse in the course of their adventures. Blackout formed a mental link with Atari that allowed her to understand his beepings and boopings, requesting her help in finding Blackout, but Atari's Sparkbot partner Star Dust professed that there was nothing they could do. Before any more discussion could be had on the matter, Atari was spirited away by the power of Primus and returned to her home dimension. Kiss Players radio drama #48

Ten years later, in the midst of the Transformers' war for energon, Blackout encountered another of the Kiss Players, Marissa Faireborn, who had been deposited in this time period after she was separated from her comrades. By this point in time, Blackout had become separated from Demolishor after the larger bot's death, and Marissa sympathized, having recently suffered the loss of her own partner, Optimus Prime. Just before Primus's power enveloped Marissa and took her back to her own world, she told Blackout that their partners lived on in their hearts. Kiss Players radio drama #49

Toys

Armada

• Demolishor w/ Blackout (Deluxe, 2002/2003)
  • Japanese ID number: MD-03

Available only with his "bulk" partner Demolishor, Blackout transforms into a six-wheeled APC/anti-aircraft vehicle of possibly made-up model. In this mode, he can be plugged into the gap between Demolihor's vehicle-mode treads, and launched via spring-loaded trigger. Demolishor's vehicle mode is also specially-designed with a seat in the rear that robot-mode Blackout can use to "pilot" the Decepticon.

The Takara version of Blackout has a slightly different deco, using a "richer" sandy-tan color than the Hasbro version's pale-sand.

• Ironhide w/ Search and Land Military Microns (Multi-pack, 2003)
  • Japanese ID number: MS-03

In Japan, "Ironhide" and "Search" were also available in a multi-pack with the Land Military Mini-Con Team.

• Demolishor (Built to Rule, 2003)

The Built to Rule version of Demolishor also came with the pieces needed to assemble Blackout. Brick-Blackout "transforms" from... a brick to a slightly more oblong brick.

• Powerlinx Demolishor w/ Powerlinx Blackout (Deluxe, 2003)
  • Japanese ID number: MD-10

"Powerlinx" Blackout was redecoed into a primarily off-white color scheme with burgundy accents.

• Night Attack Demolishor (Built to Rule, 2003)

When The Built to Rule Demolishor kit was redecoed into "Night Attack" colors, so was Blackout.

Energon

• Demolishor w/ Blackout (Deluxe, 2004)
  • Japanese ID number: SD-02

For Energon, Demolishor and Blackout were recolored into a rather Constructicon-like light-green-and-purple deco.

In Japan, this set was part of the regular retail line, one of the initial releases for Super Link. It was held off in the Hasbro line, eventually released as a KB stores exclusive alongside the Energon redeco of Cyclonus and Crumplezone.

Trivia

• According to Aaron Archer, the original plan for "Powerlinx" Demolishor/Blackout's deco was an homage to Generation 1 Sixshot. However, We've created their own scheme and implemented it, nixing that.

We was robbed!

• Though the original Demolishor toy was redecoed and released as part of the Cybertron line, Blackout was excised from the package, just as the Mini-Cons were from the other Armada redecos/retools in the line. According to Aaron Archer at BotCon 2006, the decision to do so was made in order to keep the focus on Cyber Planet Keys for non-Gigantion, non-Vector Prime toys. (And that the cost of "wasted" plastic —which can be recycled— was insignificant compared to the costs of painting and assembling the Mini-Con.) As seen in Demolishor's Cyber Key Code online file, though, a new deco for Blackout was developed.

External links

• Blackout at TFU.info