Skydive (G1 Aerialbot)
| The name or term "Skydive" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Skydive (disambiguation). |
- Skydive is an Autobot Aerialbot from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Skydive, it has been said, would rather read about an aerial battle than take part in one. He's the Aerialbots' resident bookworm and is fascinated by the history and science behind aerial warfare. Within the limits of his design, he's capable of duplicating the flight patterns of anything he sees. His knowledge of aerial warfare and tactics is unmatched. Skydive is probably the most skilled Autobot flier in existence. All of that, and you're more likely to find him secluded in a cozy library than actually in the sky. He's simply too modest and bookish to realize how smart and skilled he really is. Thankfully the rest of the Autobots definitely do.
Skydive combines with his fellow Aerialbots to form Superion.
- Italian name: Log
- French-Canadian name: Parachuto
Fiction
Cartoon continuity
- Voice actor: Laurie Faso (English), Takurō Kitagawa (Japanese)
At one point during the eternal war with the Autobots on Earth, Megatron grew fed up with how his opponents ruled the roads and created a group of Decepticon cars known as the Stunticons. In order to give his new warriors life, he brought them to Cybertron and tracked down the ancient supercomputer, Vector Sigma, to input cybernetic personalities into the Stunticons. Thanks to a series of traps and drones in their way, the Autobots failed to prevent Megatron from succeeding and returning to Earth. Seeking to even the playing field, Optimus Prime conceived of the idea of retrofitting several broken-down Cybertronian ships into Earthen jets, and bringing them to life as a team of Autobot flyers. With the help of his technical savvy soldiers, Hoist, Wheeljack, Ratchet, and Prime's own creator, Alpha Trion, Optimus's plan was enacted and the Aerialbots were born. The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2
Because Optimus Prime specified to Vector Sigma that the Aerialbots be given personalities that required them to learn and grow, and make their own decisions, however, Skydive and his friends were not instantly bound to the Autobot cause. Their sense of pride in their flying ability caused many of them to look down on the other Autobots. Despite their personalities being like night and day, Skydive and Slingshot were frequent flying partners and often on the same side of any argument. Skydive's eye for aerial maneuvering left him just as impressed as the more emotional Slingshot when it came to the Seekers' flight skills, and this innocent zest for knowledge led him and his partners into a Decepticon trap. Turning the Kronosphere on the hapless Autobots, Megatron sent the Aerialbots back in time nine million years. Their journey led them to the earliest days of the war, and they personally saw Megatron maliciously gun down unarmed Cybertronians in his quest for power. Skydive and the other Aerialbots returned to the present with an unshakeable commitment to seeing the Decepticon threat ended. War Dawn
Skydive and Slingshot were once carved up into pieces and somehow put back together by a street kid who also just happened to be a deposed royal prince of a Middle Eastern nation who was also a mechanical genius. Convenient. Aerial Assault
After the death of Megatron and the retaking of Cybertron, Skydive and the Aerialbots became part of the Autobot Fleet. When Ultra Magnus, Kup and Spike were kidnapped to Quintessa, the rescue party alerted the Aerialbots to swoop by for covering fire and pick-up. Air Raid and Skydive made the strafing run that took out the Quints' defensive proton cannon. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2
When the Quintessons destroyed their own planet to get at the Autobots, the resulting blast wave destroyed the Aerialbots' ship, sending Skydive and the rest hurtling through space. Although they clearly survived, Skydive, Fireflight and Slingshot were not seen after the explosion. They eventually impacted on Goo #8739B, and were rescued by Wreck-Gar and the Junkions. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3
Skydive was present when Optimus Prime briefly returned from the dead, and gathered the Autobot Fleet for an attack on the Quintessons. He was also on the flagship with Perceptor when they spotted Hot Rod and the others coming to warn the Fleet about the Quintesson trap. Dark Awakening
Before long, history repeated itself (literally) as Skydive and the Aerialbots had another time travel adventure involving Alpha Trion, only this time it involved the ancient Autobot himself traveling into the present from the past, back from when he was merely A3. The Quintessons were experimenting with Time Window technology when Perceptor and a group of Autobots came across their work. Summoned for reinforcements, Rodimus Prime arrived with Superion and the other Autobots to drive the Quintessons off the asteroid. As the time window was left open, a robot named A3 materialized on the asteroid. It wasn't until after the Quintessons convinced the Autobots that the window needed to be closed for the sake of the universe, and A3 returned to his own time, that Skydive and the Aerialbots realized they had once again been in the presence of "the father of the Autobots". Forever Is a Long Time Coming
Once, Air Raid led the Decepticon duo of Scourge and Cyclonus into an asteroid field where Skydive and his fellow Aerialbots were waiting to spring an ambush. The Aerialbots messed the Decepticons up pretty badly, especially after they transformed into Superion. Eventually, Skydive and the others chased the Decepticons through a strange warp in space. This proceeded to have no consequences for anyone whatsoever. Fight or Flee
Skydive and the Aerialbots were spending a relaxing day watching home movies on Teletraan II when things suddenly got serious, as the Autobots' computer off-handedly informed them Trypticon was never destroyed in his last battle with Metroplex. Sure enough, Silverbolt and Skydive were later present at the former site of Fort Knox, investigating Trypticon's handiwork on behalf of the King of Kings of Carbombya. When they tracked Trypticon to his new staging grounds, Skydive and the Aerialbots launched from Broadside, but the Decepticon presence in Carbombya was more than they had anticipated. The Aerialbots made a hasty retreat when confronted with overwhelming firepower, but soon returned with reinforcements and drove the Decepticons from Carbombya. Thief in the Night
During a battle in space, Skydive and the Aerialbots may or may not have been present. Superion, at least, was surely there on the planet Eurythma... sometimes. Carnage in C-Minor Skydive was definitely stationed at Autobot City, though, when Scourge and Starscream stole Metroplex's eyes. The massive Autobot was nearly driven mad with pain when the Decepticons set off a bomb in his brain, and Skydive, Silverbolt and Powerglide had to keep him contained so that his thrashing didn't destroy anything irreplacable. Like Portland. Ghost in the Machine
After Sky Lynx took some hostile fire over the planet of Junk, Rodimus Prime dispatched Skydive and the Aerialbots to investigate. They were caught in a crossfire between the brain-addled Junkions and the Quintessons, who were responsible for messing with the Junkions' air waves, and their minds. Even after becoming Superion, the Aerialbots took heavy fire and had to be brought back to First Aid on Cybertron for repairs. The Big Broadcast of 2006 Later, Skydive and the Aerialbots were working with Rodimus Prime and Ultra Magnus in Europe to fend off the latest wave of Decepticon attacks. When Trypticon arrived, they played the bi-planes to his King Kong. The Ultimate Weapon
Skydive made a brief appearance when the Autobots brought their new generator on-line after the creation of the Technobots. Grimlock's New Brain During the Decepticon invasion of Japan, the Aerialbots fought against Astrotrain when he tried to derail a bullet train full of passengers. The Burden Hardest to Bear Sometime thereafter, Skydive and the Aerialbots were recruited by Rodimus Prime to rescue the body of Optimus Prime from Swofford and Morgan. Unfortunately, this only meant they were among the first Autobots exposed to the hate plague. Despite the madness induced by the red dust, the Aerialbots were apparently still willing to form Superion. Superion ran amok, causing serious property damage, infecting Defensor, and taking several other Autobots out of action. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1
When the Decepticons invaded Cybertron searching for the Plasma Energy Chamber, the Aerialbots tried to stop them. Unfortunately, they didn't reckon with Sixshot. Despite his skill as an aerial ace, Skydive was matched move for move by Sixshot in his starfighter mode, and was blasted out of the sky. The Rebirth, Part 1 The Combaticons then took his power pack to use as fuel for the giant rocket engine they were constructing for Galvatron. The Rebirth, Part 3
Marvel Comics continuity
Generation 1
Thanks to his previous connection to the Creation Matrix, Buster Witwicky began experiencing dreams and visions of new Transformers, beginning with an etching of Superion he made without even being consciously aware of it. Devastation Derby! By sharing his visions with Optimus Prime, Buster was able to clarify the images and understand the future of the evolution of the Cybertronian race—amalgam model robots like the Constructicons' Devastator, capable of a more-streamlined merging into a more powerful form. It was these visions which allowed Optimus Prime and Wheeljack to conceive of and construct the Aerialbots. Second Generation!
Working on a plan to reverse engineer the gestalt technology the Decepticons used to create Devastator, Optimus Prime and the Autobots staged a daring raid on the Decepticon base of operations, giving Bumblebee enough time to digitally record the Constructicons' electrical transformation pattern for study. Command Performances! Working off that blueprint, Wheeljack successfully created Skydive and the Aerialbots. During the new warriors' testing phase, however, the Autobots were alerted to a Decepticon operation at Hoover Dam. Only the Aerialbots were fast enough to reach the location in time, and so Prime was forced to send them into battle before their programming was completed.
Arriving to find a giant energy siphoning device being channeled through the Space Bridge, Silverbolt deferred to Skydive's strategic knowledge on how to deal with the target. Skydive's preliminary attack run failed to even damage the device, however, and before he could make a second pass the Decepticon jet Thrust took the offensive, temporarily grounding Skydive with the disruptive power of his engines.
The Aerialbots eventually turned the tide on the Decepticons and drove them off, giving them time to focus on the energy siphon which was the core of the problem. At Silverbolt's command, they merged into Superion and began dismantling the drill device. A problem arose, however, when Bombshell's cerebro-shell controlled pawn Ricky Vasquez pointed Megatron (in his gun mode) at the giant Autobot. Because the majority of the Aerialbots were not programmed specifically to protect human life, Superion only saw a potential threat that needed to be eliminated. As the human fought against the Decepticons' control, Silverbolt too fought inside Superion's gestalt mind to protect the human. In the end, Silverbolt was forced to disengage Superion to keep him from destroying the human. Luckily, Ricky was more successful and managed to break the cerebro-shell's hold long enough to point Megatron at the drill and destroy it, ending the threat. Aerialbots over America!
After the near disaster at Hoover Dam, Optimus Prime had the Aerialbots shut down and their programming completely erased. Returned to a blank slate, he then input fully-programmed personalities for them with the Matrix before their next mission. It, uh... didn't help. In battle with Menasor as Superion, the Aerialbots were attacked by Circuit Breaker, deactivated, and captured by RAAT. It was only a lucky break that they were eventually freed. Heavy Traffic!
As Grimlock took over the Autobots, Skydive and the other Aerialbots took an extended leave of absence from the war, since the Dinobot commander focused Autobot resources on repairing their fallen comrades and prepping the Ark to become spaceworthy again.
Sometime later, it was Skydive, Fireflight, and Air Raid who were the first to respond to a distress call from Buster Witwicky, the Autobots' old human ally who had been prisoner to the Decepticons for nearly a year. This led the combined Autobot and Decepticon forces into battle with Starscream, who had acquired the nigh-infinite power of the Underbase for himself. The Aerialbots were his first victims, wiped out in a single blast of cosmic power in the skies over New York City. Dark Star
Along with the other deactivated Autobots aboard the Ark, Skydive and the Aerialbots were eventually revived by the Nucleon super-energy Grimlock and the Dinobots recovered from Hydrus Four.
Earthforce
Fresh off the RE-assembly line, Skydive screwed up an Autobot mission by broadcasting the location of Prowl and his hijacked Decepticon ozone rocket over an uncoded frequency. Luckily, Prowl managed to remove the poison gas cannisters before the Decepticons got there, and the two 'Con factions ended up fighting over nothing of value. Life in the Slow Lane
A few nights later, Skydive was coming to relieve Wheeljack from a late-night guard shift when he found signs of a skirmish. Wheeljack was gone, and some animal tracks he took for signs of Predacon activity were all over the place! Tracing them to the main base, Skydive found it had been forced open, and a shadowy figure was creeping through the halls. He leapt into action!...right on top of poor Wheeljack. It turned out Ol' Wheels had tripped over his lamp and heating unit at the guard post, run into a polar bear, and scampered away out of sheer fright, forcing the door when he couldn't find his key.
This incident was mercifully left off the official duty logs. Mystery!
Skydive was present with the entire Earthforce team outside Autobot Earthbase when Wheeljack unveiled his brand-new unbreachable defensive system. This was unfortunate, as Wheeljack had forgotten that, once activated, the system could only be turned off from the inside. Prowl elected to run the gauntlet and reach the shutdown console inside, and the Aerialbots provided air support for him. Skydive and his buddies gunned down the Acid Bats at the entryway, giving Prowl his chance to get through. The House that Wheeljack Built!
Marvel UK future timelines
In 2008, Skydive was on monitor duty at Autobot City when he detected a "disappearing blip" on the radar screens. He alerted Blaster, but before they could ID the contact, the contact ID'ed itself: Quintesson Trident attack craft on bombing runs! Skydive was knocked out by the oncoming blast, but Blaster dragged him to a safe place. Space Pirates!
Another Time and Place
When Bludgeon and the Decepticons took control of the Nucleon supply at Hydrus Four, Skydive joined Air Raid and Silverbolt in bombing the medical center to announce the Autobots' imminent arrival. Another Time and Place
Generation 2
After the Autobots split into smaller combat units throughout the universe, Skydive was sent to Earth with a group of Autobots under Hot Spot's command to deal with the re-emergence of Megatron. The Decepticon's new abilities and Cobra allies proved a considerable challenge, though. After half their number were killed and their transport destroyed, Skydive volunteered for a strategic play to get inside the enemy-controlled Ark. Shutting off his systems on a time-delay to appear as lifeless machinery to the sensors Megatron had set up in the ship, he was smuggled aboard the Ark by some disguised G.I. Joe soldiers. Final Transformations Once inside, he received some surprise help from Spike Witwicky, who had returned just in time to reconnect with his Headmaster partner, Fortress Maximus. With Fort Max sacrificing his life to distract Megatron and destroy the Ark, Skydive got to safety with Dr. Sidney Biggles-Jones, the human scientist Megatron had taken prisoner. All or Nothing!
Once Megatron resurfaced with Starscream and reassumed command of the Decepticon army from Bludgeon, Skydive sent a transmission to Optimus Prime and soon left Earth duty to reunite with his fellow Aerialbots in the stars. The Gathering Darkness He was later involved in the ill-fated defense of the planet Ethos, Escalation! and the battle for Earth against Jhiaxus's Cybertronian armada. Total War!
Dreamwave comics continuity
Skydive and his fellow Aerialbots became one of the first Autobot "Special Teams" several million years ago, adopting the process used to create Devastator in order to become Superion. The unchecked destructive power of these super-robots was eventually recognized by the Autobot and Decepticon factions, however. By the time of the Dark Ages, the Crisis Intervention Accords had been ratified, strictly forbidding Special Teams from operating together on any given faction, in order to prevent these titans from tearing the planet apart. The War Within: The Dark Ages
In the 1980s, Skydive and the Aerialbots were active on Earth with Optimus Prime and the crew of the Ark. They did not arrive on that ship, however, and the actual manner of their arrival was never explained. After the destruction of the Ark II, the Aerialbots were some of the few Transformers who were not recovered by Lazarus for his reprogramming venture. Instead, they were reactivated as Superion in 2002 by Optimus Prime, using the power of the Matrix. During the battle of San Francisco, Superion was broken down into his individual components while battling Devastator and the Seekers. Skydive and his team eventually reunified in order to intercept a nuclear missile headed for the California coastline. Superion, and by extension the Aerialbots, were destroyed in stopping the missile. Prime Directive
Toys
Generation 1
- Skydive (Aerialbot, 1986)
- Team ID number: A2
- Japanese ID number: C-51
- Accessories: "Nega-gun"
- Skydive transforms into an F-16 Falcon fighter jet. As a "Scramble City" style combiner, he can form the arm or leg to any super robot of compatible construction, though his nominal placement is as the right leg to Superion.
- All five Aerialbots were made available as mail-away offers in Japan during Return of Convoy. Skydive (like all the other limb-jets) cost 1000 yen and two robot points.
- Superion (Multi-pack, 1986)
- Japanese ID number: C-55
- All five Aerialbots were made available in a gift set, released in most markets. The toys are identical to their individually-packaged versions.
Generation 2
- Skydive (Aerialbot, 1994)
- Team ID number: A1
- Accessories: "Mega Gun"
- Skydive was redecoed for his Generation 2 release, gaining a fetching gray and blue scheme.
Universe (2008)
Classic Series
- Aerial Rivals (multi-pack, 2008)
- A redeco of the Cybertron Jetfire's Legends of Cybertron figure, Skydive's colorscheme is based upon his Generation 2 incarnation. He was only available in a set with Blades, Air Raid, Ramjet, and Thrust.
- The packaging back mistakenly swaps Air Raid and Skydive's names.
- This mold was also used for Classics Fireflight.
G1 Series
- Superion (Multi-pack, 2008)
- Accessories: Shield/double-cannon, Autobot-type energon star
- Available only as a component of Universe Superion, this version of Skydive is a lavender and grey redeco of the Energon Sky Shadow/Terradive mold, transforming into an A-10 "Thunderbolt" plane. He can also form a leg or arm to any Energon-series "Powerlinx Combiner" super robot, though his nominal placement is as the right leg to Superion. He comes with a shield/double cannon that can become a footplate or "hand" for his combined mode, plus a blue "super energon" Autobot-style energon star that fits over his spark crystal.
- He shares his mold with fellow Superion pack-mate Fireflight.
- Skydive was released, along with the others in this box set, in Universe (2008) packaging in Australia and Singapore, but it is unknown if this version will be released anywhere else. This set has recently been announced as a Target-exclusive set in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Superion packaging for North America. Thus, this toy doubles as Movie Skydive.
- This mold was also used to make Fun Publications Transformers Collectors Club-exclusive Cybertron Skyfall.
