Carlos Lopez
| "Carlos" redirects here. For the comic book artist, see Carlos Magno. |
- Carlos is a human from the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Carlos Lopez is a typical kid. He goes to school, he likes to skateboard, he hangs around giant transforming alien robots, fantasizes about holographic dead girls, and happily propagates ethnic stereotypes.
Fiction
Cartoon continuity
Armada
- Voice actor: Matt Hill (English), Yukie Maeda (Japanese), Leo Hallerstam (Swedish), Yoan Sover (French)
One day, Carlos and his best friend Rad went exploring into the caverns deep beneath Cosmoscope Research Center. Inside, they found the curious remains of a clearly artificial construction, seemingly far in advance of human technology. Rad discovered a Mini-Con storage panel half buried in the rubble, and against Carlos' advice, his friend was drawn towards the strange object. Touching it, the entire structure began to shake, suddenly springing to life as thousands of computers lit up the walls.
At home, Alexis felt the tremors and used her computer to pinpoint the epicenter of the apparent earthquake as the mountain caverns that Rad and Carlos were exploring. Similarly, the scientists and researchers at the observatory were baffled by the sudden movement of the Earth. As Rad and Carlos made their escape with the artifact, a bright light engulfed the chamber they were in, simultaneously shutting down all electronic equipment in Licoln, as well as emitting three distinctly coloured distress signals beams into the sky.
One beam, green, reached an ancient starship wreck on the dark side of the moon, causing it to fire hundreds of smaller beams of green light at the Earth. The two remaining signal beams, coloured red and purple, continued deep into space until it reached Cybertron.
Emerging from the cave with Rad, Carlos turned to see a huge glowing purple sphere of pulsating energy floating in mid-air, which soon solidified into a huge robot. This being was Megatron, supreme leader of the evil Decepticons. As he tried to take the object Rad had found, which had now revealed itself to be High Wire, a sought-after Mini-Con, suddenly another massive robot ordered Megatron to stand down. He was Optimus Prime, leader of the heroic Autobots. As the pair grappled, Rad mused that somehow this was all his fault. First Encounter
Energon
- Voice actor: Matt Hill (US), Junichi Endō (Japan), Leo Hallerstam (Sweden), Yoan Sover (French)
In 2020, Carlos was posted on the Earth Federation's space station orbiting Mars. During a surprise attack by Alpha Quintesson's Terrorcons, he uttered the immortal phrase "Holy frijoles", thus proving he isn't a horrible ethnic stereotype.
Later, Hot Shot inquired about the attack, but Carlos was unable to provide any additional information. Cybertron City
Cybertron
In 2030, Carlos and his friends were present when the Autobots departed Earth to begin construction of a galaxy-spanning space bridge network. Beginning
Dreamwave comics continuity
Armada
Under the codename "Agent Sidekick" (assigned to him by Rad), Carlos put his mechanic skills to use on Project Supernova, an aircraft made up of cardboard and balloons. On the launch day, the vehicle successfully took flight, but soon crashed due to sabotaged by bullies Sid and Seth. Carlos tried to cheer his friends up by saying they could build a new Project Supernova, any plans of that were postponed when Rad accidentally fell into a cave and awakened four Mini-Cons. Confused as to what to do, the kids brought the alien robots to Rad's garage, where Carlos awkwardly presented them with his toolbox so they could repair themselves. This brought the rage of Alexis down on him, but he still agreed with Rad that the visitors from space were really cool. The following morning, the Mini-Cons had not only repaired themselves, but made a new and improved version of Project Supernova. They offered to take Carlos and his friends for a ride, which they gladly agreed to. Dreamwave Armada issue 3 Unfortunately, their new Mini-Con friends were targeted for capture by Megatron, and the kids found themselves dragged into the Transformers' war. An argument broke out between Rad and Alexis, but Carlos broke it up and pointed out that it wasn't just about them: by keeping the Mini-Con around, they were endangering everyone they knew. They ended up trying to escape, with Carlos fleeing on High Wire's bike mode, and ran into several Autobots. Dreamwave Armada issue 4
Carlos and the others watched the Autobots and Decepticons for a while before sneaking off and almost getting killed by Demolishor. In the end, the Decepticons were chased off, and the kids were introduced to Optimus Prime. Dreamwave Armada issue 5 Unfortunately, their newfound friendship with the alien robots didn't last. While Carlos was watching Rad skate (and lose his board) one day, Optimus Prime approached them and explained that the humans could no longer get involved with the Transformers' war, for their own safety. Carlos was angry that their Mini-Con friends didn't get a say in things, but Prime didn't budge. However, Sparkplug disobeyed his orders and took the humans with him during a mission to infiltrate the Decepticon base in Silver Ridge. Dreamwave Armada issue 6 When they weren't back in thirt minutes, Carlos and the others did as they were told and called for help, which arrived in the form of the Land Military Mini-Con Team. Dreamwave Armada issue 7
Later, when Rad was being bullied by Billy after school, Carlos tried to help him but was hindered by Fred. The bullies were chased off by their friends on the Street Action Mini-Con Team, but while the kids were riding around on the Mini-Cons, they suddenly turned unresponsive and started speeding off towards Kansas. Carlos and the others were unable to get off until the Mini-Cons stopped, which they did near a strange monolith. Rad ended up entering the structure alongside the Mini-Cons, and Carlos and Alexis could only watch as it blasted off into space with their friend onboard. Dreamwave Armada issue 8 Optimus Prime explained to them that Rad and the Earth Mini-Cons had apparently been taken to the Moon by another group of Mini-Cons. Dreamwave Armada issue 9 Prime got a gunship travel to the moon with, but refused to endanger Carlos and Alexis by letting them come. Dreamwave Armada issue 10 However, simulcrum technology allowed them to be onboard the ship in the form of holograms, which was almost like being there yourself. They watched Optimus Prime let Sky Blast tow an orbital mine into the ship: a mine that turned out to contain Rad! Dreamwave Armada issue 11
Much later, Carlos, Rad and Alexis said their goodbyes to the Autobots and Mini-Cons, who had to return to Cybertron for the fight against Unicron. The End
Energon
Ten years after their adventures with the Transformers, Carlos and Rad both worked for Alterenergy, a company in search of Energon. Carlos worked on the space station Comsat Alpha, from which he watched the Terrorcons' attack on an Alterenergy excavation site in Australia. He recognized the attackers as Transformers, and reported this to Rad and Doctor Jones on Earth. What Lies Beneath Carlos sent distress calls to Cybertron while continuing to monitor the situation, and learned that the Terrorcons had captured Alexis, who had coincidentally been in the vicinity of the attack. He then acted as mission control for Rad, who had gotten to the excavation site and was trying to rescue both Alexis and Kicker Jones. While Rad immediately got himself into trouble with Battle Ravage, Carlos saved him and Alexis by remotely ramming a vehicle into a nearby Energon stockpile, detonating it. What Lies Beneath, Part Three Rad and Alexis were okay, but Carlos couldn't send an evacuation vehicle their way because of Alterenergy Mobile Command wasn't responding. He did, however, tell them that the Autobots were heading their way. What Lies Beneath, Part Four
By the time the Terrorcons began attacking four major Earth cities, Carlos was stationed at Alterenergy West Coast, where he prepared the E.V.A. for Rad's use. Multiplicity, Pt. 3 As Rad flew out in the E.V.A. to "bring Energon to the needy", Carlos watched him from afar and explained to a curious Alexis what the E.V.A. was. Multiplicity, Pt. 4
Panini Armada comics
When Rad found the ruins of an old spaceship in a cave, Carlos came with him to check it out (and was very impressed). They accidentally stumbled into a computer terminal when Billy caused a rockfall outside, which led to the activation of the Mini-Cons. The first one they met was High Wire, but before he could even learn proper English, he was attacked by Megatron. While Megatron was distracted by Optimus Prime, High Wire grabbed Carlos, Rad and Alexis and took them to the other Mini-Cons. First Encounter! However, Rad was disgusted to hear that the Mini-Cons were unwilling to help Optimus fight Megatron, and decided to take matters into his own hands. Carlos wasn't so sure it was a good idea, but followed anyway. While Rad tried to negotiate with Megatron, Carlos made his way back into the caves in search of more Mini-Cons to help them. He didn't find any, but the time he returned, the other Mini-Cons had changed their minds and driven Megatron off anyway. Friends and Foes!
However, Carlos had managed to find the crashed ship's locator log, and he and his friends were sent back to retrieve it alongside the Street Action Team. Carlos led the expedition into the caves and found the log, but they soon found themselves under attack from Demolishor. They got away thanks to some quick thinking on Rad's side, but the locator log was destroyed in the process. Deep Trouble! After a slow day at school, Carlos went skating with some buddies at the local mall. Unfortunately for him, Grindor wanted to help him, and replaced his skateboard with his own rocket-powered skateboard mode. The ensuing crazy looping, grinding and flying was not well received by Carlos, who feared having to explain it all to the other skaters. Just a Memory!
Later, Carlos was present when the Autobots tried to send the Mini-Cons back to Cybertron, and thought it was a bad idea since the Autobots would be wiped out without their Mini-Con power-ups. Thankfully, the plans fell through and the Mini-Cons remained on Earth. No Way Back! Carlos was using Grindor to race with his friends when they were suddenly attacked by Starscream, out to capture the Street Action Team. While the three Mini-Cons defended themselves in the form of Perceptor, their human friends fetched Optimus Prime to help them. The Two-Edged Blade Shortly afterwards, Carlos, Rad and Alexis helped Amos Hume rescue the Land Military Mini-Con Team from the Extra-Terrestrial Response Division. Sale of the Century!
Legends anthology
One Halloween, after explaining the holiday to their Mini-Cons, Carlos, Alexis and Rad decided to give a practical demonstration. Carlos donned the Mini-Con costume he'd been building for the last several weeks, and they all went out Trick-or-Treating. Something Robotic This Way Comes
Notes
- According to the now-defunct TV Tokyo Micron Legend website, Carlos was 12 years old at the start of Armada. The page also stated that he is good at sports, loves rap and skateboarding, and has been friends with Rad since kindergarten.
- According to the Reader's Digest Transformers Armada Official Guidebook, Carlos was ten years old at the start of Armada. It also specified that he enjoyed hip-hop, and that while he was not a great student, he was an excellent mechanic. Although this particular bit of his character didn't make it into the animated series, it was an important part of his role in the Dreamwave comics.
- When startled, Carlos invokes the holy Frijoles.
