Starscream (Armada)
| The name or term "Starscream" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Starscream (disambiguation). |
- Starscream is a Decepticon and briefly Autobot from the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Starscream is disillusioned by his leader Megatron. It took a while for Starscream to come to grips with Megatron's faults, but there's no turning back. Megatron doesn't respect him, doesn't appreciate him, and would casually toss Starscream's life away if it got him something he wanted. If following Megatron is the school of hard knocks, then Starscream is the valedictorian—but not without a few scars. Starscream may have once been compassionate, he may once have known what true friendship is, but all that has been replaced, scab for scab, with the lessons of Megatron's abuse.
Unwittingly, Megatron may have created a monster even he cannot ultimately control.
Starscream's nominal Mini-Con partner is Swindle, though he has been seen to work with Zapmaster.
Fiction
Dreamwave comics continuity
One million years ago, Cybertron was at relative peace. Most Transformers were nothing more than citizens of the planet and the Autobot army simply guarded the majestic Cyber City. The standard-sized Transformers lived alongside villages of the smaller-sized Mini-Cons, and all of them were caught unawares by the sudden rise of Megatron and his "Decepticon" army. He and his soldiers came seemingly out of nowhere, sweeping through Mini-Con villages and performing horrible experiments on the diminutive Transformers. The Decepticons had discovered how to rewire Mini-Cons to interface with them, drawing power from their new slaves. Starscream was a member of this malevolent menagerie, one of many soldiers who followed Megatron out of greed for the power the Mini-Cons could impart upon them. He was among the Decepticons who fought Autobot leader Optimus Prime's team in Cyber City, managing to best both Hot Shot and Scavenger whilst augmented with the power of his Mini-Con, Swindle. Unfortunately, he discovered that the Mini-Cons they had captured earlier had somehow managed to flee Decepticon headquarters. Armada #2
The war continued. As the Decepticons sought out entrenched Autobot bunkers, Starscream noted to Megatron that even though the Decepticon leader's plans were smarter and more practical, the action-before-thought demonstrations of the warrior Scorponok were a greater "crowd-pleaser." Starscream warned his leader that Scoroponok's antics might be seen as some as a challenge. No Exit
Over the next million years, the Mini-Con empowered Decepticons steadily conquered the planet, and leaving much of it in rubble. The situation changed drastically when when some human children stumbled upon the crashed Mini-Con escape ship on the distant world of Earth and activated a distress beacon. The Decepticons, controlling Cybertron's communications satellites, intercepted the signal and mounted a spacebridge assault on Earth. Meanwhile, the Autobots, having hacked into the communications system, also saw the signal and made a spacebridge trip of their own. Armada #3 While Megatron struggled in vain to capture Sparkplug's group and their newfound human friends, Starscream led Demolishor and Cyclonus to a nearby military base to find suitable Earthen vehicle whose form they could adopt. Returning to Science City, while Megatron ranted and raved about leveling the human settlement to find the fugitive Mini-Cons, Starscream suddenly stabbed him in the back - or so it seemed, to Megatron, at least. Starscream had infact downloaded information for a new vehicle mode that Megatron could reconfigure himself into. After Megatron calmed down, he complimented his lieutenant on his choice. When the Mini-Cons were spotted again, Starscream and Cyclonus led the chase, until they were stopped by the Autobots and momentarily disabled. Armada #4
In the ensuing fight, he and Cyclonus tried to get the jump on Scavenger, until they were jumped by Hot Shot and Red Alert. The fight took a turn for the worse when the Mini-Cons Jolt, Longarm, Rollbar and Liftor arrived and powerlinked with the Autobots. The Decepticons retreated to Cybertron after Starscream pointed out that they were in no condition to counterattack, as Megatron had powerlinked with all their available Mini-Cons. Armada #5
The Decepticons returned to set up their base at Silver Ridge, Nebraska and plan their strategy. Realizing that the Autobots could now defend themselves with allied Mini-Cons, they set out to capture the Air Defense Mini-Con Team, who had been detected in Rapid City, South Dakota. Chafing at Megatron's greed, Starscream began to plot behind his back, trying to find a way to stop Megatron from having such a significant advantage in Mini-Con augmentation. While pondering this, he came across Sparkplug's Mini-Con group breaking into the base to rescue to the Air Defense Team, who were being reconfigured to combine into the Star Saber sword. Prematurely thanking his Transformer diety, Starscream set about trying to capture these Mini-Cons, but he got more than he bargained for when they brought the room's ceiling generator down upon him. Armada #6 Digging his way out of the wreck, he wondered if it wasn't too much to ask for the chance to come out on top for once. When Megatron launched his attack on Lincoln, Nebraska to lure the Autobots out of hiding, Starscream complained to the other Decepticons about how Megatron had forgotten about them in his latest power trip, and decided that their leader needed to be reminded of how much he needed their support. While Megatron busied himself with Optimus Prime, Starscream convinced Leader-1 to not give Megatron enough power to effectively control the Star Saber's might. At this cruicial moment, the Decepticon leader lost his thrall over the Air Defense Team and they escaped, and with this, Megatron's advantage. Starscream mocked his loss and left. Armada #7
When the Mini-Cons in both factions disappeared, Starscream tracked them to a strange obelisk in Tranquility, Kansas. Just as he was about to capture Wreckage, he was blasted from behind by the obelisk, which then activated a powerful forcefield that prevented the Decepticons from retaliating. With the arrival of the Autobots, a melee ensued, which distracted both sides to the fact the Mini-Cons had entered the obelisk (now sporting hidden rocket engines) and had blasted off into space. Armada #8 Figuring out that the Mini-Cons had been taken to the moon by a previously-unknown faction of Mini-Con rebels, Megatron called upon Thrust via the space bridge to bring him rocket booster packs so he could lead the flight-capable Decepticons in an attack on Earth's natural satellite. Soon, the Decepticons encountered the Mini-Con outer defenses, consisting of small, but, as Starscream pointed out, extremely numerous spatial mines. Eventually he was shot down and the Decepticons were forced to fall back. Armada #9 While Megatron worked on getting around the moon base's defenses, Starscream and Thrust were sent back to their Silver Ridge headquarters to retrieve some equipment, so Starscream decided it was as good a time as any to complain about how much fuel this sort of fetch and carry task wasted. Thrust commented that this sort of whining and complaining was why he didn't miss Starscream's absence at all, and wondered what he was good for, for Megatron to keep him around all of these years. They came across the unconscious body of Demolishor, and Starscream decided that now was the time to show just what he was good for. Unfortunately, he decided to demonstrate this by firing wildly as soon as he entered the base' empty control room. While the Decepticons were trying to figure out reason what Hot Shot and Red Alert had broken into their base for, the Autobots suddenly burst out of a computer panel and blasted Starscream and the large computer behind them, to prevent the Decepticons from tracking the space bridge movements of Optimus Prime. Armada #10
During Megatron's next Crazy Scheme for domination, he had Skywarp, Sideways and Wheeljack launch his Solar Scalpel, an orbital mirror that focused the Sun's rays into a beam of mass-destruction. During Megatron's attempt to blast the Autobots and free a Mini-Con stasis pod frozen in the icy north of Alaska, Starscream questioned why Megatron destroyed their shuttle instead of hitting the Autobots directly. Megatron condescendingly accused his second-in-command of lacking finesse, as he wanted the Autobots to see their impending doom. Starscream had the last laugh, however, as the Space Mini-Con Team member Sky Blast destroyed the Solar Scalpel, scuttling Megatron's plans. Armada #13
Soon, it was discovered that their space bridge portal was not opening to Cybertron, and Megatron demanded Starscream and Demolishor fix it, despite the fact they were not trained in space bridge mechanics. Leader-1 discovered some sort of outside influence disrupting the whole inter-spatial network. While out on patrol, Starscream spotted Hot Shot and several of the Autobot Mini-Cons travelling from Big Sur National Park to San Francisco and decided to follow, unaware he himself was being followed by Thrust. Blasting the Autobots out of the sky as they arrived at the construction site, Starscream spotted an unfamiliar Mini-Con and made a bid to grabbed him. As the Mini-Con screamed in terror, Starscream gloated, unaware that an immensely powerful being had appeared behind him, and paid for his lack of awareness when he was knocked unconscious with a single blow. Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4
When Leader-1 discovered the Autobots were scanning sub-space for the absent Optimus Prime, Megatron decided to strike Autobase: Earth. Starscream fired the opening shot in the battle that followed, destroying the computer console Red Alert was stationed at. While Red Alert attempted to defend what remained of the base, Starscream blasted him with missiles and prepared to move in for the kill, but was prevented from doing so by Megatron, who wanted to finish off the Autobot himself. Fortunately for the Autobots, Galvatron, the mysterious being who defeated Starscream in San Francisco, attacked the Decepticons and handily defeated all of Megatron's lackeys. Worlds Collide, Part 2 of 4
The Decepticons eventually retreated after the defeat of Galvatron at the hands of the Star Saber Worlds Collide, Part 4 of 4, but were soon contacted by a new, powered-up Optimus Prime who wanted to form an alliance against the world-eating being known as Unicron. Eager for payback and the common interest in protecting their homeworld, the Decepticons agreed. During the ensuing battle on Cybertron, Starscream questioned if Megatron seriously expected him to go up there with the others. Megatron berated his subordinate for not recognising Unicron as power, power that Megatron deserved to have. As Megatron flew up towards the Chaos Bringer, Starscream decided he had seen the last of his leader, which turned out to be true. The End
Ten years later, in the wake of the unification of Autobots and Decepticons following Unicron's defeat, Starscream had tried to ingratiate himself with Tidal Wave and the rest of the remaining Decepticons. His wheedling didn't last long, though, as Scorponok showed up and promptly blasted him into a trash compactor. This Evil Reborn Later, during the Terrorcon attack on Earth, Starscream reappeared in his new form as an Energon ghost and incapacitated Demolishor. Multiplicity, Pt. 3
Cartoon continuity
Armada cartoon
- Voice actor: Michael Dobson (English), Jin Yamanoi (Japan), José Sant'anna (Brazil), Gerd Meyer (Germany), Niclas Fransson (Sweden), Sander de Heer (The Netherlands)
Accompanying Megatron's forces to Earth, Starscream was deliberately made to be the last of the Decepticons to acquire a personal partner Mini-Con. Infuriated by this mistreatment, Starscream's resentment and hatred of Megatron made him a chink in the armor of the Decepticons that could be easily exploited by the manipulative Sideways. Rebellion
Initially, Sideways coerced Starscream into a duel with Megatron, which he promptly lost. A short time later, Thrust, acting under the instructions of Sideways, further exploited Starscream by making him the patsy in his latest plan. Starscream was given the Star Saber and allowed to run riot to draw the Autobots out of their base, but was then abandoned on the battlefield so that the other Decepticons could invade the base and steal the Requiem Blaster. Sacrifice
Surviving to return to the Decepticon base, Starscream went on a rampage with the sword and disowned the Decepticons, siding up with the wary Autobots, not out of any desire to do good, but simply out of sheer hatred for Megatron. After a clash with Hot Shot and a trip to Mars with Jetfire, Starscream befriended the Autobots' human allies, particularly Alexis, and then gave the Autobots access to the Decepticon base, resulting in a raid that freed all the captive Mini-Cons. Starscream's defection was not a smooth process, however; he constantly clashed with his new teammates over morals and battle strategies, but nonetheless proved a capable and, on at least some level, willing Autobot. Regeneration
Soon thereafter, Sideways and Thrust approached Starscream, planting seeds of doubt in his mind. This eventually caused him to steal the Skyboom shield from the Autobots and return to the Decepticon fold (for a chance to defeat Megatron by working from the inside), giving the Decepticons possession of all three Mini-Con weapons. Crack
As Megatron readied his new super weapon to attack Earth, Starscream began to suffer a serious moral crisis. He had returned to the Decepticons but he still viewed those he'd left behind on Earth as his friends, and was torn between following orders, and a desire not to harm them. At times he found compromises, for instance, as Optimus led an attack to stop Megatron using the three Mini-Con weapons, Starscream, currently battling Jetfire, spotted one of the Decepticons sneaking up on Prime. Starscream then attacked Jetfire, allowing himself to be thrown away, and collided with the Decepticon who would have attacked Prime.
Subsequently, Starscream was among the Transformers injured battling Nemesis Prime, and who then received "Powerlinx" power boosts from their Mini-Cons. Starscream gained a new, blue coloration that he commented made him look like his contemporary, Thundercracker, with disgust just dripping from his tone. Returning to Cybertron, Starscream pursued Thrust into the depths of the planet when the turncoat tactician revealed his treachery by stealing the Requiem Blaster and Skyboom shield. Starscream took a fatal shot from the Requiem Blaster as he battled Thrust in the subterranean tunnels, but the Mini-Con High Wire used his powers to restructure the timeline, saving Starscream (and throwing the human kids back in time, and.. well, it's confusing). Thrust escaped and delivered the weapons to Sideways and his master, Unicron, presently disguised as Cybertron's moon. Following Thrust through a warp gate and briefly reuniting with Alexis, Starscream entered the belly of the beast along with Hot Shot and Wheeljack, but the unlikely trio were stymied by Unicron's internal defenses and failed to stop Sideways from using the weapons to begin Unicron's reactivation.
Megatron—now Galvatron—was unwilling to acknowledge Unicron's threat, dismissing it as an Autobot trick, but Starscream knew the threat was real, and that only united under a true leader like Optimus Prime—whose strength of character and nobility had touched Starscream during his time with the Autobots—could the Transformers hope to stop him. To show Galvatron the error of his ways, he challenged him to a duel in which he allowed Galvatron to run him through with the Star Saber. Galvatron realized what happened and demanded to know what possessed Starscream to do such a thing.
Starscream told him that he tried to gain Galvatron's respect, but nothing was ever good enough, no matter how many battles he fought, his leader always found fault. Optimus Prime treated his men with respect, and was thus a leader of integrity, unlike Galvatron. But that didn't matter anymore, and after tearing the Star Saber out with his bare hands, Starscream turned his full firepower onto Unicron. The Chaos Bringer promptly obliterated him, to the shock of both Galvatron and Optimus Prime. When the dust settled, Galvatron stood reflecting upon Starscream's last words, and as a gesture, handed his enemy the Star Saber.
Unfortunately, Sideways ran off with it two seconds later. But it's the thought that counts.
Alexis, who Starscream had formed a close bond with, was deeply affected by his death. Cramp
Energon cartoon
- Voice actor: Michael Dobson (English), Nobuo Tobita (Japanese), Niclas Fransson (Swedish), Sander de Heer (The Netherlands)
Ten years after Starscream's death, when Megatron seized control of Unicron's body by ousting its former occupant, the alien being Alpha Quintesson, the evicted extra-terrestrial needed an assassin to eliminate Megatron so that he could return to his original task of recreating the worlds destroyed by Unicron. Using what little energon he had left, Alpha Q recreated another victim of Unicron—Starscream. However, Alpha Q ran out of energon before the process could be completed, leaving Starscream incomplete—his memory blank, and his body unstable, constantly shifting from a physical to an ethereal form, able to teleport by "ghosting" from location to location. Megatron Raid
Alpha Q unleashed Starscream upon Ocean City, where he battled Optimus Prime and then tracked Megatron back to Unicron's body. Even his awesome new abilities proved no match for the Decepticon leader, who used Unicron's power to brainwash Starscream, turning him into his right-hand man and most loyal subordinate.
Rather ironically, Megatron now treated Starscream with far more respect than previously, even entrusting him with some of the most difficult missions. Later, when Megatron became Galvatron again through immersion in a subterranean reservoir of Super Energon on Cybertron, Starscream was allowed to do the same as a reward for his loyalty; the influx of power stabilized his physical form, while allowing him to retain his teleporting powers. When Galvatron was subsequently possessed by Unicron, Primus used the Super Energon to create a sun, and Galvatron plunged himself into it in order to contain Unicron's spark within it. Starscream seemingly sacrificed himself as well, diving into the sun alongside his leader. The Sun
Cybertron cartoon
- Voice actor: Michael Dobson (English), Takaya Kuroda (Japanese)
A decade after the Powerlinx Battles (as they were called), when Primus's plan to contain Unicron's spark at the core of the energon sun failed, the sun collapsed, becoming a deadly black hole that threatened Cybertron. Along with Megatron, Starscream was freed from the sun, his mind his own once more and his body refurbished into yet another new form. He had no memory at all of what happened, but then it seems no one did.
Megatron began his campaign to acquire the legendary Cyber Planet Keys by stealing the map that showed their locations from the ancient Transformer, Vector Prime while Starscream created a diversion that kept the other Autobots busy. During the fight, Starscream sent Landmine tumbling into the black hole, but Vector Prime saved him at the last moment, opening a dimensional gate that teleported him to Earth. Fallen The Autobots and Decepticons followed, and when it was deduced that the Cyber Planet Keys' focusing device, the Omega Lock, was hidden somewhere on the planet, Megatron charged Starscream with locating it while he focused on acquiring the Cyber Planet Key of Velocitron, the Speed Planet.
Little did Megatron suspect, however, that Starscream had evolved a new ambition—now, he sought to oust Megatron and become the leader of the Decepticons, then the universe. Unlike those with similar goals, however, Starscream was smart enough to keep his intentions to himself, quietly working to achieve his goals through subtle means. While on a brief mission to attack Red Alert on Velocitron, Starscream was able to secretly switch Megatron's map with a copy that would play an important role later, and in an attempt to acquire more troops loyal to him, recruited the disillusioned Autobot Mudflap into his service on Earth. He later crossed paths once again with the mysterious Sideways, who saw in him the best chance to achieve his own goals.
With the Autobots having successfully acquired the Omega Lock and the Cyber Planet Keys from Velocitron and the Jungle Planet, Starscream realized it was time to step up his agenda. His duplicate planet map led Megatron and the other Decepticons to a dead sector of space and sealed them within a metal sphere, freeing Starscream to search for the third Cyber Planet Key, from Earth itself. Encountering the Autobot monster-hunter, Crosswise—one of the ancient Transformers whose ancestors had come to Earth with the Cyber Planet Key eons ago, who had recently been reactivated—Starscream discovered a vast underground holding cell in which Crosswise had imprisoned the ancient Decepticons of his time. Trap
Liberating them, Starscream took command of their forces and began a planet-wide search for the Cyber Planet Key, fighting back the Autobot and human military resistance. Invasion The Autobots had Crosswise's ally Evac recover the key from its hiding place in preparation for a retreat to Velocitron, but Starscream fought his way through the entire Autobot army and confronted Optimus Prime himself, successfully purloining the lock and all three keys by endangering the Autobots' human allies and drawing Prime out of the fight. Retreat
Retreating to a small volcanic island in the South Pacific, Starscream attempted to harness the power of the Cyber Planet Keys. Megatron, meanwhile, had been freed by Scourge, and immediately sought retribution, only to wind up clashing with the Autobots first. The extra time this afforded Starscream allowed him to tap the power of the keys and harness a fragment of the spark of Primus, growing to a gigantic height, complete with a familiar crown with which he crowned himself "Emperor of the Universe". With an extra power boost courtesy of his combination with Wing Saber, Optimus Prime was able to defeat Starscream, but Sideways teleported his body away to the ancient starship Atlantis to recuperate. Starscream
Starscream had Jolt as a prisoner, and Jolt bargained (unsuccessfully) for Starscream to let him go. He also supervised Sideways, whom he accused of slacking off by listening to music instead of downloading Jolt's memory. Starscream established his dislike for "useless things" and Sideways was off to work. Still, Starscream was delighted upon seeing Optimus Prime and Megatron battle on Primus' surface, comparing it to fireworks. When Sideways returned with a new proposition on how to get Jolt's memory, Starscream agreed with him and then went off to snatch the Omega Lock. When he arrived at Primus, he met up with Thunderblast, who tried to apologize for betraying him, but Starscream wouldn't believe it unless she stole the Omega Lock for him, leaving after she accepted. (Well, it was either obey or be blasted to smithereens.) Of course, as soon as Starscream left, Thunderblast began complaining about him, going as far as to insult his "giant, ugly butt". Ouch. Memory
Not longer thereafter, when the Cyber Planet Keys were used by the Autobots to awaken Primus and transform Cybertron into his body, Starscream attempted a rather pitiful attack on the god, only to be swatted away like an insect. Later, when the Autobots assembled an energy converter that would allow Primus to direct his energy against the black hole in beam form, Starscream sensed the release of power and had Sideways warp the Atlantis into range. Plunging himself into the energy beam, Starscream tapped into Primus's powers once more, and this time, grew to planetary size. Ultimately, however, he fared little better in combat with the creator, winding up bludgeoned into submission by Cybertron's moons and drained of his excess power. Titans
The discovery of the fourth Cyber Planet Key on Gigantion, the Giant Planet, set Starscream racing to acquire the key first, but Landmine reached it ahead of him and was able to use its power to pay him back for past indignities by growing to his size and pummeling him. Optimus Subsequently, Megatron—now Galvatron—stole the Omega Lock and all four keys, and Starscream challenged him to a final battle for possession of them. Declaring that he had given himself over to his pursuit of power, and had no reason to hold back as he had nothing to lose, Starscream engaged his former leader in battle. Throughout the fight Starscream was easily the aggressor using his ability to increase the mass of his body, and null cannons. This reduced Galvatron to the point where he was on the verge of destruction. At the climatic point of the battle, Starscream and Galvatron both channeled unprecedented levels of energy, and so incredible was the reaction when the two fully-powered combatants collided that space and time itself was rent asunder by the final explosion. Starscream was hurtled into another dimension along with the interfering Sideways and Soundwave. Only his crown was left, seen floating through space. Showdown
Finally, after Galvatron had been defeated in battle within the black hole, Starscream's spirit reached out across the dimensions, apparently via the fire dimension, to encourage him to fight on, adding a little extra motivation when Galvatron acquired Starscream's crown, crushing it in his hand.
As the Autobots made preparations to begin their new galaxy-spanning space bridge initiative, Wing Saber—having departed from the rest of the Autobots to continue with his "loner" lifestyle—radioed Optimus to report that he had found a lead on Starscream's trail and was pursuing it. Landmine and a reformed Mudflap departed to aid him, and would eventually encounter Starscream within what appeared to be the fire dimension. Beginning
Cybertron comic
Starscream killed the Mini-Con Over-Run as the little guy was uploading himself into Cybertron's planetary mainframe. Revelations Part 2
Panini Armada comic
Back on Cybertron, Starscream participated in an attack on the main Autobot headquarters alongside Cyclonus and Thrust. Counter-Strike! Some time after the Mini-Cons abandoned the planet, Starscream strafed some Autobots, but was shot down by Optimus Prime's trailer cannon despite his Mini-Con augmentation. Megatron punished him by taking Swindle away, which Starscream protested against. First Encounter! When Megatron found the Mini-Cons on Earth, he summoned Starscream, Cyclonus and Demolishor to the planet through a space bridge. After spending some time searching for Mini-Cons and shooting at Autobots, he was shot down by Red Alert. Friends and Foes! Starscream was later present when the Decepticons made a failed grab for the Autobots' Mini-Cons. No Way Back!
In order to boost his own strength and overthrow Megatron, Starscream made a plan to capture the Air Defense Mini-Con Team. Knowing that the Mini-Con trio enjoyed saving humans, he arranged for a satellite to fall on Chicago to draw them out. True to their nature, the Air Defense Team showed up and diverted the satellite, letting Starscream attack and capture Jetstorm. Unfortunately, an Autobot team showed up and saved the Mini-Cons, but Starscream had still managed to plant a tracking device on Jetstorm. Devices and Desires! It wasn't long before he found and ambushed the Air Defense Team again, successfully capturing them this time. He shut off their personality chips and combined them into the powerful Star Saber, but decided that this wasn't enough. He needed some extra power to make sure he could really beat Megatron, and for this reason he went after the Street Action Mini-Con Team as well. They resisted and attacked Starscream in the form of Perceptor, and he fought back with his new Star Saber. However, disengaging Air Defense Team's personalities had been a mistake — without them, the Star Saber's power soon went wild. Lightning filled the air and Starscream began panicking as he couldn't let go of the weapon, but thankfully Optimus Prime took it from him and separated it. With his plan failed, Starscream ran away. The Two-Edged Blade!
After the Decepticons built a grandiose base on Earth's moon, Starscream was shocked to hear that Megatron planned to spare the Autobots in exchange for their Mini-Cons. Megatron confirmed that of course he was just going to trick the Autobots and blow them up after he got their Mini-Cons, and Starscream even got to fire the missiles for the job. Earthshaker! After the plan failed, Starscream first reported that Cyclonus was missing, and then that he was returning with too much power inside him. It turned out that Cyclonus was powered up and under the control of the Destruction Mini-Con Team, and while the other Decepticons attacked the "traitor", Starscream had an idea. He used a sonic destabiliser to safely separate the Destruction Team from Cyclonus, and after they escaped, he contacted them and offered them a deal... Dawn of Destruction!
Games
The Energon Within
Megatron orders Starscream to secure 100 energon cubes from an Autobot mine. He does so successfully, though at a high cost.The Energon Within
Transformers
- Voice actor: Matt Hetherington (English)
Starscream was stationed in Antarctica, overseeing Decepticlone operations in recovering the Mini-Con storage panels found in the area, using a human research center they overran as his base of operations. When the Autobots ventured too close, Starscream attacked (blowing up the hangar he was holed up in first), but was shot out of the sky and left for dead.
Having survived his initial defeat, Starscream followed the Autobots to Alaska. There he collided his starship into a mountain in an attempt to crush them, but the Autobots escaped unscathed. This also gave them the chance to infiltrate the downed ship and free the captive Mini-Con Aftershock from the control room. Starscream used his null laser cannons at full power in an attempt to finish off his foes, but only succeeded in cutting the rock face below the ship, which collapsed and sent the precariously balanced ship plunging into the valley below. The impact of the crash buried the bow deep into the earth, forcing the Autobots to climb their way up and out to the surface.
When the Autobots pulled free from the buried ship and got back to ground-level, Starscream attacked again. But this battle too ultimately ended in defeat, leading Optimus Prime to interrogate him as to the whereabouts of Megatron. When Starscream refused and attempted to fire his functional null ray at point-blank range, Optimus knocked him unconscious with a well-aimed punch. He then ordered Red Alert to hack the treacherous Decepticon's warp transponder, which led them to Megatron's Pacific Island base. Transformers (Melbourne House)
Toys
Armada
- Starscream with Swindle (Mega-Con, 2002/2003)
- Japanese ID number: MD-02
- Accessories: Port wing/sword, 2 "fireblast" missiles
- Starscream transforms into a Cybertronic jet fighter. In both modes, pressing down on his cockpit canopy activates electronic sound effects; in jet mode, it also deploys his Mini-Con partner Swindle if he is stored under the cockpit. Plugging a Mini-Con onto his rearmost Powerlinx plug releases two spring-activated over-shoulder spring-loaded missile launchers, as well as more electronic sound effects. His left wing detaches and unfolds to form a large sword for use in robot mode.
- The Takara version of this toy is largely identical to the Hasbro version, but uses a brighter light gray plastic, gold paint instead of yellow, more detailed paint applications on the wings, and has a "separated" Decepticon sigil deco. The canopy section on the Japanese version is parallel to the rest of the jet mode, while the American points more downward. This is due to a retooling of the area that meets his chest, and was done for safety reasons, making the nosecone "collapse" easier if pressed point-first into, say, your little brother.
- This mold was also used to make Universe Ramjet, Armada Skywarp and Armada Thundercracker.
- Starscream (Happy Meal premium, 2003)
- Part of the McDonald's Armada promotion, this version of Starscream transforms into a Cybertronic jet the somewhat resembles his larger toy. It features a pull-back motor gimmick that propels his jet-mode forward, then leaps up to instantly convert to robot mode, like the Generation 1 Jumpstarters. In jet mode, he can combine with the other three Happy Meal Decepticons to form a goofy-looking super vehicle.
- Starscream with Swindle (Built to Rule, 2003)
- Accessories: 2 missiles
- Built to Rule Starscream is a building-brick set that can be assembled into a Cybertronic fighter jet or a robot, or to whatever else you feel like. He came with a building-brick version of Swindle. The set features two missile launchers that use a unique "twist-block" pressure-launch mechanism.
- This set was later released in different colors as Thundercracker and Zapmaster.
- Starscream Supermode with Spark Grid (Mega-Con, 2003)
- Japanese ID number: MD-09
- Accessories: Port wing/sword, 2 "fireblast" missiles
- The Takara version of the Armada Thundercracker toy represents a powered-up version of Starscream instead of a new character. This toy is almost identical to the Hasbro Thundercracker, but uses a darker, more vivid blue plastic and a darker, more vivid red. Also the canopy section on the Japanese version is parallel to the rest of jet mode, while the American points more downward. This is due to a retooling of the area that meets his chest and was done for safety reasons.
- This mold was also used to make Universe Ramjet, Armada Skywarp and Armada Thundercracker.
Energon
- Starscream (Deluxe, 2004)
- Japanese ID number: SD-01
- Accessories: Energon sword, energon rifle, 2 missiles
- Energon Starscream transforms into a jet fighter loosely based upon the F/A-22 Raptor (which would later be used as the alt-mode of another Starscream), cast mostly in dark clear-green plastics to emphasize his "energon ghost" status. The toy also features numerous spots of sculpted battle damage and asymmetrical plastic-color layouts to further enhance the effect. He comes with two very large accessories, a sword and a non-firing blaster, which can combine to form a really larger sword and/or non-firing blaster. In jet mode he has two wing-mounted spring-loaded missile launchers, which can flip up over his robot-mode shoulders for "Hyper Mode".
- The Japanese version of this mold, called "Nightscream", uses gray plastics instead of stony-blue, a lighter shade of red paint, and darker blue plastic and paint.
- There was much controversy upon the toy's announcement since at first glance it appears to be a simple retool of Generation 2 Smokescreen. However, Starscream is in fact an all-new mold which uses a similar transformation scheme.
- Prowl with Longarm & Starscream with Zapmaster (Multi-pack, 2004)
- Part of a Sam's Club exclusive set, the original Starscream toy was redecoed in primarily dark gray with burgundy and black accents. His Mini-Con partner was Zapmaster this time around rather than Swindle. The set also included Energon Prowl as an Armada Red Alert redeco with Longarm.
- Energon Starscream (Deluxe, 2004)
- Japanese ID number: SD-19
- Accessories: Sword, rifle, 2 missiles
- Energon Starscream was redecoed into a more Generation 1-inspired color scheme, primarily light gray with blue and red accents. His assymetrical arm coloration continues in this mode due to the use of unpaintable plastics needed for structural support. He was released under the name "Energon Starscream", thus making him Energon Energon Starscream.
- The Takara "Nightscream Rebirth" release of the toy has some significant differences, the most notable being the use of clear-blue plastics in the place of some of the solid-gray in the Hasbro version. Gray plastic was used in place of black, and many paint details were different. It also came with a yellow version of Energon Insecticon's energon drill weapon and Decepticon-style energon chip.
- The Hasbro version of this mold was used as the model for the unreleased Attacktix vehicle-mode Starscream piece.
- Starscream (Built to Rule, 2004)
- The Energon version of Built To Rule Starscream was designed with a much more solid skeleton with larger, blockier limbs. He can be rebuilt from a Cybertronic jet fighter with pressure-launch missiles, to a robot, to basically whatever you feel like doing with the parts.
- Unfortunately, due to the slow performance of the Built to Rule line overall, the Energon versions only had a limited, test market release initially in and around Cincinnati, Ohio. The sets later filtered out into many "Tuesday Morning" chain discount stores at drastically dropped prices.
Cybertron
- Starscream (Voyager, 2005)
- Japanese ID number: GD-03
- Accessories: Missile launcher, missile, Decepticon Cybertron Cyber Planet Key
- Galaxy Force Starscream transforms into a Cybertronic starfighter. In both modes, plugging a Cyber Planet Key into his back end flips out a spring-loaded blade from each arm. His spring-loaded missile launcher can be used as either a hand-held weapon, or mounted under his jet-mode nosecone. He comes with a Cybertron-Decepticon-style Cyber Planet Key.
- This mold in these colors was never released in the Hasbro Cybertron line, most likely to not interfere with sales of the much larger Supreme Starscream toy (see below). It was later used to make Shattered Glass Starscream and the 2008 Universe Dirge.
- Starscream (Supreme, 2005)
- Accessories: Missile, "Crown of Leadership", Decepticon Cybertron Cyber Planet Key, Gold Earth Cyber Planet Key
- Supreme Starscream is a colossally-upscaled version of the Voyager-class Starscream toy, with quite a few changes. The most notable is the change in his Cyber Planet Key gimmick: each arm has a separate Key jack in it rather than the Voyager's single joint-jack. While the right arm still deploys a blade, the left arm now reveals a "null laser cannon" spring-loaded missile launcher and expanding prongs of undetermined function (beyond looking neat). The original back-mounted Key jack still exists in a fashion, though it does not activate any gimmicks and merely serves as a Key storage space (a rarity among Cybertron toys). A second storage-only jack is found on the underside of the same assembly. The two small guns on the sides of his cockpit can swivel up to firing position in robot mode, and he also has several electronic light and sound gimmicks, including one activated by moving his sword-arm. His eyes are for some strange reason green.
- He comes with a Decepticon "Crown of Leadership", based on G1 Starscream's from the '86 Movie that fits over his noggin (which, together with his considerable size, has earned him the nickname "King Starscream" among fans.) He is also the only Cybertron toy to come with two Cyber Planet Keys, a Cybertron-Decepticon Key, and a gold-bordered Earth-style Key. Both Keys have the Key Code "s5a3" tampographed on their backs. (The placement of these accessories in the box varies in later releases.)
- In Japan, this toy was released as a Toys "R" Us exclusive, basically unchanged in US packaging.
- G1 Grimlock's original toy is capable of wearing the crown from this figure in beast mode, as seen here: http://tfmix.nekoazuma.fotoalbum2.hu/viewlarge/pictureid/7714560. This... is well and truly awesome.
- Starscream vs. Vector Prime (Multi-pack, 2005)
- Accessories: Missile launcher, missile, Decepticon Cybertron-style Cyber Planet Key
- This burgundy and black redeco of Galaxy Force Starscream came in a two-pack with an unaltered Vector Prime, and was exclusive to Toys "R" Us stores. It was also sold for slightly less than the cost of two Voyagers.
- This mold was also used to make Shattered Glass Starscream and the 2008 Universe Dirge.
- Starscream (Legends of Cybertron, 2005)
- A colossally downscaled and simplified version of the Cybertron Starscream figure was released as part of the first wave of the Legends of Cybertron series. He transforms into the same Cybertronic starfighter altmode, and has flip-out weapons (one sword, one non-firing blaster).
- In Japan, the toy was sold as part of the very short-lived "EZ Collection". It was given more extensive Paint operations than the Hasbro version.
- This mold was used to make Legends of Cybertron Ramjet, Skywarp and Sunstorm, Universe Ramjet and Thrust, and War for Cybertron Starscream.
- EZ Collection Clear Set (Multi-pack, 2005)
- A three-pack of EZ Collection Megatron, Galaxy Convoy and Starscream using clear plastics in some parts was released in Japan. It was a mail-away exclusive to TV Magazine.
Attacktix
- Starscream (Booster, 2006)
| ID number: | TF08 |
| Rarity: | |
| Faction: | Decepticon |
| Class: | Captain |
| Special: | Rally - 14/26 (54%) success ratio |
| Point Cost: | 10 |
| Base Speed: | 6 |
| Attack Type: | Shooter (Large Missile) |
- Attacktix Starscream is based on his Cybertron incarnation. His Special Power, Rally, enables a player to return any one of their already-defeated Decepticon pieces to play. If Starscream's speed wheel reads 8 stop moving him there—you'll be able to move him 2 extra tix next turn and even if he gets shot down his special power is always white when he's on 8 speed.
- A Captain figure Starscream works very well with his own redeco, Skywarp, supporting his Infiltration power.
- Starscream (Booster,
2007)
| ID number: | TF11 |
| Rarity: | |
| Faction: | Decepticon |
| Class: | Captain |
| Special: | Rally - 14/26 (54%) success ratio |
| Point Cost: | 30 |
| Base Speed: | 4 |
| Attack Type: | Shooter (Small Missile)/Flight |
- This as yet unreleased Starscream is a missile launching piece based on his "Energon Energon" form's vehicle mode. His vehicle form can detach from his base and fly on a string, enabling him to get better shots of opposing pieces, or even airlift allies (or enemies... is that a legal move?). His "Transform" power would probably allow you to bring any Starscream figure into play from your back-ups—making Starscream an even more effective figure when working with Skywarp. But as the toy was never released, we'll never know.
- Several pieces of this mold would also have been used to make Generation 1 Skywarp, who also went unreleased.
 Game over. |
Merchandise
- A soft-plastic PVC figurine of Starscream's animation model was released in "Act-9" of Takara's Super Collection Figure series. It came in both full-color and pewter-finish version, one each per case of twelve.
- A larger non-transforming PVC figure of Starscream was released in the Mega Super Colleciton figure series. Like other toys in the line, he came with a few extra pieces, like a separate wing-sword, and a mini-PVC of his Mini-Con partner Swindle.
Notes
- According to the Armada video game's instruction booklet, Starscream (in his Armada-era body) has the following statistics:
- Height: 19' 7" (15' 1" vehicle mode length)
- Weight: 22,050 lbs
- Thrust: 28,000 lbs
- Vehicle Top Speed: Mach 2.7
- Armada Starscream's body parts made frequent cameos in the CGI models of the generic Decepticon and Autobot soldiers during the Energon cartoon series, despite Starscream not actually ever appearing in his Armada body during the series.
- Aaron Archer has expressed disappointment in how the Energon Starscream toy turned out, largely its design cues not quite coming across as intended.
- The "Energon Starscream" redeco of Energon Starscream was initially listed in Walmart computers as "Skywarp Interceptor".
- It's a popular rumor that the Starscream who appears in Super Link (the Japanese version of Energon) is not the original, but a clone. Popular, but entirely wrong. Although not explicitly referred to with the name "Starscream" in dialogue, he is identified as one of Megatron's former soldiers, given a new name in a poetic moment (Galvatron traps him in utter darkness to reduce him to terror—hence his new Japanese name, "Nightscream"), and things just roll on from there without a backward look.
- The Cybertron Starscream design is based on the Generation 1 Starscream body from the Dreamwave comic series "The War Within", designed by Don Figueroa. Possibly as a "second try" at the design cues intended for the Energon toy that, as noted above, didn't come out as the designers had hoped.
- Cybertron Voyager Starscream was designed with a soundbox in mind (even including the requisite speaker and battery brackets when you crack one open), but the final Hasbro and Takara versions have no electronics.
- The Supreme Starscream's crown is modeled directly after the crown Generation 1 Starscream wore in The Transformers: The Movie, though this Starscream actually wore it for more than thirty seconds before dying.
- Starscream's arc across the end of Armada and the beginning of Energon, in which he is killed by Galvatron while Unicron was causing trouble, returned in ghostly form, and his complete resurrection within Unicron, is reminiscent of his arc in the third season of the original cartoon.
- Starscream's Supreme-class toy was the cause of a number of changes to other first-half Cybertron toys found by more than a few fans to be very irritating. The toy was released long before Starscream became giant in the show, so certain toys received changes to help encourage people to buy the apparently overscale toy. First, the Voyager-class toy was demoted to an exclusive with a reversed deco. Second, other show-character toys with Cybertron-style Cyber Keys (Jetfire and Overhaul) had their keys changed to show-inaccurate keys for the Hasbro release, to keep Starscream's key exclusive.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Starscream (スタースクリーム Sutāsukrīmu), Nightscream (Super Link, ナイトスクリーム Naitosukrīmu)
- Hungarian: Surranó (Energon, "Sneaker"), Üstökös (Cybertron, "Comet")
- Polish: Krzykotron (Armada, "Screamtron")
- Russian: Skandalist (second Armada dub, "Troublemaker")
References
External links
- Pages with image sizes containing extra px
- Character stubs missing fiction
- Cleanup from October 2009
- Pages with broken file links
- Unreleased Attacktix
- Armada Decepticons
- Attacktix
- Built to Rule
- Energon Decepticons
- Cybertron Decepticons
- Decepticon leaders
- Fast food exclusives
- Ghosts
- Hall of Fame
- Letters page answerers
- Mail order exclusives
- Sam's Club exclusives
- Seekers
- Turncoats
- Toys "R" Us exclusives
- Armada Autobots
