Spike Witwicky (G1)
| The name or term "Spike Witwicky" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Spike Witwicky (disambiguation). |
- Spike Witwicky is an Autobot-allied human and Autobot Headmaster from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Spike Witwicky is the oldest (and sometimes only) son of Sparkplug Witwicky.
Spike, like most Witwickys, has a tendency to form close bonds to the Autobots and become one of their main human allies. 'Cause let's face it, there are advantages when your best friend is a car.
Fiction
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice actor: Corey Burton (English), Show Hayami (Japanese, Fight! Super Robot Lifeform), Masashi Ebara (Japanese, The Movie, Transformers 2010), Kōji Ochiai (Japanese, The Rebirth), Wolfgang Mascher (German; Generation 1), Dirk Meyer (German; Generation 2), Crock Krumbiegel (German; The Movie), Olivier Destrez then François Leccia (French), Nada Blam (Serbian)
In 1984, the fourteen-year-old Spike was working on an oil rig with his father Sparkplug when his life was turned upside-down by the arrival of the Decepticons. The evil robots began attacking the rig and terrorizing the workers; when Spike tried vainly to save his father from the clutches of Rumble, he was swatted away by the Decepticon and fell in the ocean. Sparkplug broke free from Rumble's grip a second later and leapt in after him, and as the two Witwickys floated in the brine, the Autobots arrived to stop the Decepticons' evildoing. To cover the villains' escape, Megatron collapsed the oil rig, imprisoning Spike and Sparkplug beneath a metal lattice with fire creeping towards them. More than Meets the Eye, Part 1 Autobot leader Optimus Prime freed the two humans and brought them to safety, and in reciprocation, Spike and his father offered to serve as the Autobots' guides to Earth and allies in the fight against the Decepticons.
While returning to the Autobots' base after writing the latest entry in his journal, Spike stumbled across a sweet discarded cassette player, which he brought back to the base with him. After quizzing Trailbreaker, Hound and Mirage on the Autobots' various special abilities, Spike took Hound up on his offer for a joyride through the desert, leaving the tape player behind. When he returned, however, he was horrified to discover that the device had been the Decepticon Soundwave in disguise, and that he had downloaded much secret information from Teletraan I. Using that information, the Decepticons soon struck Sherman Dam, and when the Autobots tried to stop them, Hound was buried under a pile of rocks, deep in the river, by Rumble. Spike dived in to save him, but once he had done so, he then had to be saved by Hound, who gave him CPR.
While out scanning for Decepticon transmissions with Trailbreaker, Spike and his father learned that Megatron was planning to hit the ruby crystal mines of Burma, and the Autobots mobilized to confront them. More than Meets the Eye, Part 2 Soon after, when the Autobots learned that the Decepticons were poised to return to Cybertron, Spike and Sparkplug volunteered to stop them before they could depart aboard their space cruiser. During the subsequent battle, Spike threw a rock that dislodged Starscream's null-ray. Eventually, the threat of the Decepticons was believed ended when their space cruiser crashed in the ocean. More than Meets the Eye, Part 3
Several months later, the Decepticons resurfaced with a plan to create an intergalactic transportation system known as a "space bridge". Spike was chilling with Jazz when the villains struck a solar power plant, knocking out power across the city. When Optimus Prime charged Bumblebee with spying on the Decepticons to learn their plan, Spike requested that he be allowed to accompany the small Autobot, beginning a long-standing friendship between the two. Unfortunately, this first mission together did not go very well, as Spike was captured by the Decepticons and almost used as a guinea pig for the first test run of the space bridge, but was thankfully saved at the last second by Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. Transport to Oblivion
Spike's friend Chip Chase brought Spike and Bumblebee on a visit to the laboratory of Doctor Alcazar, with whom he was working on an antimatter formula. Laserbeak attacked the trio as they were leaving the lab, and although they were able to escape, the Decepticons returned to capture Chip in his home. Spike, Bumblebee, Hound and Mirage teamed up to rescue Chip, but the Decepticons were still able to acquire the antimatter formula. In the battle that resulted, Skywarp was wielding the antimatter-powered Megatron when Spike bravely attacked his leg with a pneumatic drill. Skywarp seized the boy, but this gave Chip the distraction he needed to plant an override device on the Decepticon's leg, allowing Wheeljack to control Skywarp's motor relays remotely, tipping the scales of the battle in the Autobots' favor. Roll for It
Spike was helping Optimus Prime search for the newest location of the Decepticons' space bridge when a distress call from Chip summoned them to a munitions plant under Decepticon attack. Prime was fatally wounded in the subsequent battle, forcing Chip and a team of Autobots to head to Cybertron to recover a replacement cosmitron for his systems. In their absence, the Decepticons attacked Autobot Headquarters, and the leaderless Autobots could not muster the courage to fight. Claiming that this was not what Prime would have wanted, Spike seized Jazz's pistol and announced that he would fight the battle himself if he had to, his bravery galvanizing the other Autobots into action. During the fight, the Cybertron team returned with the cosmitron, restoring Prime, who defeated Megatron and won the day. Divide and Conquer
A freak snowstorm in the desert around Autobot Headquarters gave Spike cause for celebration, as he introduced the Autobots to the wonders of a snowball fight. When the unnatural weather was discovered to be the product of a Decepticon plot at the North Pole, Spike and his father headed to the Arctic Circle with the Autobots. There, the two humans were captured by the Decepticons' newest recruit Skyfire, but they could see that his heart wasn't in the evil robots' scheme, and he soon switched sides. Fire in the Sky
When the Autobots discovered a cavern full of dinosaur bones behind their Headquarters, Spike educated them on the ancient reptiles, and helped design the robotic "Dinobots" that Optimus Prime decided to have created based on Spike's stories. S.O.S. Dinobots Later, he and Bumblebee headed to South America to investigate a Decepticon scheme in Peru, where he got cosy with a native girl named Luisa after he saved her life. Luisa led them to the temple the Decepticons were using as a base, where Spike discovered and repaired the captive Skyfire. Fire on the Mountain
After he and Chip helped the Autobots create two more Dinobots, War of the Dinobots Spike faced his greatest challenge yet when he saw his father abducted by the Decepticons. The Autobots quickly enacted a rescue plan, but Spike soon realized that his father was not in his right mind when he discovered that he was responsible for sabotaging Teletraan I and the Autobots' weapons. In truth, a hypno-chip had transformed Sparkplug into a mind-controlled Decepticon slave! The Ultimate Doom, Part 1
Concurrently, the Decepticons activated a massive space bridge that teleported the entire planet Cybertron into Earth's orbit, causing massive natural disasters that Spike and the Autobots were also forced to contend with. Discovering that his father had been taken to Cybertron, Spike insisted that Optimus Prime allow him and a team of Autobots to go to the planet and find him. Navigating traps and ventilation shafts, Spike, Bumblebee and Brawn made their way to Decepticon Headquarters, where Spike confronted his father in hopes of bringing him to his sense. The Ultimate Doom, Part 2 Unfortunately, Sparkplug instead triggered an alarm that brought the Decepticons running, forcing Spike and the Autobots to flee and take refuge in Wheeljack's old laboratory. There, Wheeljack analyzed a computer disk stolen from Decepticon Headquarters by Bumblebee and created a device to undo the hypno-chips' effects. Spike served as bait to lure the Decepticons and Sparkplug out so that the device could be tested, and although he was nearly shot by his brainwashed father, Wheeljack's counter-weapon succeeded, freeing Sparkplug from Decepticon control. The Autobots and Witwickys headed back to Earth, where Spike hit on the idea to blow up the Decepticons' stockpile of energon cubes in order to blast Cybertron out of Earth orbit. The Ultimate Doom, Part 3
Spike traveled with the Autobots to Bali to battle the newest Decepticons, the Insecticons, and was the one who came up with the idea to use Trailbreaker's forcefield to block Shrapnel's clone beams. A Plague of Insecticons Soon after, Spike was among the spectators of a mighty one-on-one battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron, which ended with Prime's defeat. When Megatron was revealed to have cheated by combining all the powers of the Decepticons together, the Autobots overturned the result of the fight and sent the Decepticons tumbling into a river of lava. Spike wondered if this was truly the end of the Transformers' war, but Optimus Prime was uncertain. Heavy Metal War
When Spike was grievously injured by Megatron in a Decepticon attack, the Autobots had to figure out a way to remove his mind from his body so that life-saving surgery could be performed. The process was carried out using Autobot X, a Frankenstein-like robot created by Sparkplug from various Autobot spare parts, but the unstable robot body clouded Spike's mind. He began rampaging, and eventually fled Autobot Headquarters, at which point he was approached by Megatron, who manipulated him into allying with the Decepticons against his friends. Only after nearly killing his father did Spike come to his senses, and turned on the Decepticons, after which his mind was subsequently transferred back into his body. Autobot Spike
Spike was instrumental in saving New York City from Decepticon domination when he and Bumblebee infiltrated Megatron's command post and goaded him into destroying his own weapons control console, City of Steel after which he had to fight against his friends when the Autobots fell under the influence of a Decepticon personality destabilizer device. Attack of the Autobots
While on a run to pick up a polarizer for Wheeljack's new Immobilizer invention, Spike and Bumblebee stopped off at the Robots Video Arcade, where Spike was approached by an older girl named Carly. When it turned out that all she wanted was to be introduced to Bumblebee, however, Spike excused himself and his Autobot buddy, and they had an eventful journey back to the base, enduring a policeman who questioned Spike's driving age and a surprise attack by Ravage. Carly trailed them back, and then helped them out in their mission to reclaim the stolen Immobilizer from the Decepticons. At the adventure's end, Spike invited Carly out for a chocolate soda, beginning a romance between the two teens. The Immobilizer
When Spike and Chip came up with the idea of the Autobots racing for charity, they could never have predicted that the Decepticons would use it as an opportunity to trap the heroic robots in their vehicle modes with their new Transfixatron. Wheeljack and Ratchet managed to escape the paralyzing device's influence and created a grenade to undo its effects, and Chip and Spike outran Soundwave and his cassettes to detonate it in the Autobots' midst and save them. The Autobot Run
After a lesson in how to play football, Spike went with a team of Autobots to investigate the underwater city of Sub-Atlantica, and told them of the legend of Atlantis that was potentially inspired by it. Atlantis, Arise! Later, while investigating a Decepticon oil pumping platform, Spike was captured alongside Skyfire and Hound, but was able to effect their release by incapacitating their Decepticon guards with an electro-magnet. Day of the Machines Later still, Spike told the Autobots about ninjas when he attended the unveiling of Nightbird. Enter the Nightbird
When a mysterious second Optimus Prime appeared while the Autobots were investigating a crevice of korlonium crystals, Spike proposed a series of tests to determine which was the real one. The tests failed, but the impostor Prime was revealed when he displayed no concern for Spike after the boy was captured by Megatron. His deception revealed, Megatron hurled Spike through the air to cover his retreat, but he was safely rescued by Powerglide. A Prime Problem Soon after, Spike joined the Autobots in battling the super-powered Insecticons, and bravely climbed Shrapnel's body to deliver by hand the antidote that stopped his over-charged frame from exploding. The Insecticon Syndrome
The Autobots' discovery of a mysterious prehistoric island where dinosaurs still lived was a dream come true for Spike, and he christened the lost world "Dinobot Island" when Powerglide and the Dinobots took him there. After some perilous encounters with the local wildlife, however, Spike decided he would limit his dinosaur experiences to reading about them in books. Powerglide returned Spike home, but while he and Bumblebee headed to the library, the Decepticons arrived on Dinobot Island and began draining its many sources of energy. This caused a series of time warps to open all over the world, including one that disgorged barbarians and woolly mammoths right into Spike and Bumblebee's path! The time-tossed creatures collapsed a building on top of the duo, Dinobot Island, Part 1 but Bumblebee shielded Spike with his body, and the other Autobots soon arrived to dig them out and send the unwelcome visitors back through the time warp. Dinobot Island, Part 2 A little later, Spike taught Optimus Prime how to play basketball. The Master Builders
Spike believed it was "about time" when the mayor of Central City decided to honor the Autobots with a holiday dedicated to them, but he was horrified when mayoral rival Shawn Berger interrupted the ceremony with a tape given to him by Megatron that framed the Autobots for energy theft. Naturally, Spike, his father and Chip were not fooled by the bogus footage, but unfortunately, they were about the only humans who stood by the Autobots. When the heroic robots went to trial, Spike left in the middle of the proceedings to try and locate some evidence to prove their innocence. He was successful, discovering more footage on the tape that revealed the "Autobots" on display as disguised Decepticons, but was then confronted by Ravage. Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1 Escaping, Spike presented his evidence to the mayor, but it came too late: the Autobots had already been exiled from Earth, and the world was now celebrating the Decepticons. Megatron did not allow his pantomime to last long, however, announcing in a press conference his dominion over Central City. Spike was captured and put to work in a slave camp along with the rest of the city's population, but thankfully, before long, the Autobots returned to Earth to clear their names and rout the Decepticons. Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2
Spike and Carly were enjoying themselves at an amusement park with Bumblebee, but the merriment had to come to an end so they could go to the airport and pick up Sparkplug. The airfield became a battlefield, however, when a Decepticon base was discovered in a nearby hangar and the Dinobots were ordered in to attack. Badly damaged by the fight, the Dinobots decided to finally secede from the Autobots, but this could not have come at a worse time: no sooner had they left than the Autobots began to malfunction due to cybertonium deterioration. Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1 Spike and Carly volunteered to go to Cybertron to recover a fresh supply, but as soon as they had arrived, they fell afoul of Shockwave, and were forced to flee into the tiny tunnels honeycombing the planet. Heading for Wheeljack's lab, Spike and Carly encountered Swoop, who had come to Cybertron with the other Dinobots, but had been the only member of the team to avoid capture. With Swoop to help them, Spike and Carly navigated the the ancient traps in the bowels of the planet, and even found a historical video records room that relayed for them the history of the Transformers' war. While watching the video, they were ambushed by Shockwave's sentinels and taken to join the other Dinobots in the cybertonium pits. The Dinobots had had their memory circuits bypassed to ensure their compliance, but Carly soon put their systems right, and they worked with the two humans to escape the pits, defeat their captors and return to Earth with enough cybertonium to repair all the Autobots. For their bravery, Spike and Carly were appointed Honorary Autobots. Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2
Spike and Carly got to travel to the moon when the Decepticons threatened the world with the Voltronic Galaxer, Blaster Blues after which Spike went on an even greater journey: into the past! Along with Hoist and Warpath, Spike followed a group of Decepticons through a relic called the Dragon Mound, which transported them to 543 AD. There, Spike took an immediate liking to Nimue, the daughter of a local nobleman, and tried to single-handedly rescue her when she was kidnapped by the Decepticons and their local ally, Sir Wigend du Blackthorne. Unfortunately, by the time Spike had scaled the tower Nimue was being held in (which was in and of itself a challenge thanks to the heavy suit of armor Hoist had made for him), she and Wigend had fallen in love and become engaged! Spike subsequently returned to the present with the Transformers, where we can only assume he didn't tell Carly about the hot medieval chick. A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court
When several Autobots and Decepticons were lost in a space bridge accident, Spike was among those who huddled around Teletraan I as Chip tried to use the computer to locate them. Child's Play After the lost Transformers returned, Spike, Bumblebee and Cosmos were sent to the planet Floron III to recover robotic insecticide that would help deal with the threat of the Insecticons. Unfortunately, they also inadvertently brought back one of the planet's native lifeforms, the Morphobots. Quest for Survival
Spike was washed away in a flash flood caused by Astrotrain and Blitzwing when they started fighting for Decepticon leadership, but was rescued by Optimus Prime and carried to safety by Powerglide. Triple Takeover Later, Spike was working in his father's automotive garage when Powerglide dropped in with Astoria Carlton-Ritz, a flighty heiress he had rescued from the Decepticons. Spike began hitting on Astoria when they were left along, but when he found that all she wanted to talk about was Powerglide, he grumpily returned to his work...at which point all his equipment started malfunctioning thanks to Astoria's tendency to jinx up machinery around her. We bet Spike didn't tell Carly about her, either. The Girl Who Loved Powerglide
When Hoist, Spike and Carly accidentally stumbled into the middle of a movie shoot, the movie's director decided to hire Hoist and some other Autobots on to star in his movie, and Spike and Carly were given free passes to the studio lot. While there, they discovered the Decepticons were also hiding out on the lot, searching for footage a film crew had accidentally taken of a secret cargo they were transporting. Spike and Carly were able to get hold of the negative the Decepticons were looking for, and fled (with some difficulty) through the myriad movie sets decorating the lot. Eventually, the Decepticons were tricked into believing the negative was destroyed when Hoist pretended to be evil and dropped it, Spike and Carly in a vat of lava... but of course, it was only movie magic. Hoist Goes Hollywood
Spike, Carly and Sparkplug were in the audience when Perceptor received the National Scientific Achievement award for his newest invention, Corrostop. Cosmic Rust Later, when the Combaticons tried to plunge the Earth into the sun using the space bridge, Spike helped the Autobots find the missing space bridge control panel, and convinced Megatron to join forces with them to stop the Combaticons' plan. The Revenge of Bruticus For his final recorded adventure in the 20th century, Spike aided the Autobots in apprehending the Stunticons, reacting with some distress to the sight of Optimus Prime playing "chicken" with Motormaster. Masquerade
Over the course of the next twenty years, Spike and Carly married and had a son named Daniel. Spike was even able to take a more active hand in the Transformers' battles, as he was given a transforming exosuit. In the course of these twenty years, the Decepticons finally conquered Cybertron, forcing the Autobots to relocate to their newly-built Autobot City on Earth, and to bases on two of Cybertron's moon. In the year 2005, the thirty-five-year-old Spike was stationed on Moonbase Two with Bumblebee when the Autobots decided to make their big push against the Decepticons, and he requested that Ironhide tell Daniel, on Earth, that he would be home soon.
Spike could never have predicted what would happen next. As he and Bumblebee watched, the monstrous planet Unicron appeared from the depths of space and consumed Moonbase One, with Moonbase Two next on the menu. Acting quickly, Spike and Bumblebee set a stockpile of explosives to blow up the moon right in Unicron's mouth as they escaped on a shuttlecraft. When the smoke cleared, however, they found that Unicron was completely uninjured, and a frustrated Spike expressed his discontent in a distinctly PG manner. Their craft was then caught in the suction from Unicron's mouth, and they were pulled in to the behemoth's digestive system, where they hung from a conveyor, waiting to be dropped into an acid pit. Thankfully, they were saved from his messy fate by Daniel, wearing an older version of Spike's exosuit, who shot the pit cover down just as they were dropped. Spike and his son escaped Unicron's body along with the other Autobots who had entered it, as the chaos-bringer exploded thanks to the power of the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. The Transformers: The Movie
Under their new leader, Rodimus Prime, the Autobots subsequently forced the Decepticons off Cybertron and retook the planet. With Cybertron established as a force for good in the universe once more, Spike was appointed Earth's official ambassador to the planet. Madman's Paradise
While attending the first Galactic Olympics, Spike, Ultra Magnus and Kup were captured by a strike team of Sharkticons that attacked the event. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1 They were taken to the planet Quintessa, where the native Quintessons questioned them, and then intended to put them to death. The trio tried rushing the aliens and taking one of their number captive, but the other Quintessons simply sentenced their comrade to death along with them, and they were all dropped into the Sharkticon pit together. At the last moment, a team of Autobots arrive to pluck them from the jaws of death, but the Quintessons then detonated a core bomb that blew up their planet and sent the Autobots and Spike hurtling through space. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2 They eventually landed on the planet Goo 8739B, where they came under attack from the Decepticons, now allied with the Quintessons, Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3 but they were soon rescued by the Junkions. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4 They returned to Cybertron, but the Decepticons and Quintessons pursued them, and ultimately, the aliens betrayed their allies when they activated a large switch that shut down Transformers all across the galaxy. Unfortunately for them, the Quintessons had not reckoned with Spike, who used the paralyzed Rodimus Prime's gun to destroy the switch, undoing its effects. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5
In 2006, while fleeing from a Decepticon attack, Spike, Daniel and a team of Autobots took refuge in the colossal mausoleum the Autobots had built to hold the bodies of their fallen warriors. There, they discovered that Optimus Prime was apparently not dead after all, as he appeared to see the Decepticons off. Rodimus quickly returned the Matrix to his old leader, at which point Optimus was revealed to simply be a re-animated Quintesson pawn who activated the mausoleum's self-destruct sequence and left Spike and the others to die in the mausoleum. Luckily, they were able to hastily construct an improvised craft to get themselves to safety. Dark Awakening
Despite preparations for the first major peace conference on Cybertron taking up most of his time, Spike was still able to organize a surprise party for Daniel's birthday. This gave Daniel the idea to have a party for Ultra Magnus, however, and he proceeded to get in a lot of trouble trying to find out the Autobot's birthday. Once Daniel had been rescued from the Decepticons' clutches, Spike decided that they would just appoint that day as Ultra Magnus's birthday. Surprise Party Later, he welcomed the ambassador from Odessix, Ynara, to Cybertron, and had to make a few apologies for the bored Daniel's brusque behavior. Daniel subsequently went missing (in actuality, he was transported to the other-dimensional world of Menonia), but Carly told Spike to stay at the party while she and Blaster went looking. Madman's Paradise
When Daniel began suffering nightmares, Spike and Carly called on Rodimus Prime to help ease the boy's troubles. Nightmare Planet A little later, Spike accompanied Kup on a security inspection of Metroplex, during which Starscream's ghost and Scourge tried to steal the giant Autobot's eyes. Spike and Bumblebee teamed up to investigate, and caught the villains in the act. Ghost in the Machine Spike also helped Rodimus Prime moderate peace talks between the planets Xetaxxis and Lanarq, The Quintesson Journal after which he and Daniel helped the Autobots by posing as human repairmen to sneak inside Trypticon and steal his transforming cog. The Ultimate Weapon
In 2007, Spike was on Cybertron when the Decepticons launched a massive attack on the planet with the intention of taking control of the legendary Plasma Energy Chamber. Together with a team of Autobots, Spike pursued Scourge deep into the planet, where a blast of energy from the Plasma Energy Chamber struck their craft and overloaded its engines, sending them careening across the galaxy, wildly out of control. They eventually crashed on the planet Nebulos, where they ran afoul of a cell of rebel Nebulans who were fighting against the Hive, the tyrannical rulers of their planet, and mistook the Autobots for their robot servants. Spike tried to talk the Nebulans out of destroying the captured Autobots, but it took the arrival of the Decepticons for the Nebulans to risk releasing their prisoners to help them fight back. During the battle, several Autobots were captured, forcing the Autobots and Nebulans to take a drastic step: to fight back against the Decepticons and the Hive, four Nebulans and four Autobots volunteered to undergo a process developed by Brainstorm that would merge them together into Headmasters. The Rebirth, Part 1 Spike carried out the biotechnological modifications, following Brainstorm's design, and in addition to the Nebulans, also bonded Daniel to Arcee at her request in order to save his life. The Decepticons subsequently emulated the Autobots' Headmaster process with members of the Hive, and also modified the process to create Targetmasters. The Autobots didn't rest on their laurels, and Spike again helped modify six of the rebel sharpshooters to become Autobot Targetmasters themselves. The Rebirth, Part 2
To battle against Scorponok, the gigantic robot created by Hive leader Lord Zarak from the Hive's own subterranean city, Spike had the pacifistic Autobot Cerebros lead him to the Hive's old, abandoned surface city, which he had previously discovered while wandering the planet. There, Spike used the city's old machines to reconstruct it, Cerebros and himself, bonding them all together into the mighty Fortress Maximus. Spike flew his new creation to Cybertron (which the Decepticons have moved into the vicinity of Earth with a giant rocket engine in his absence), where he battled and defeated Scorponok and rescued Daniel and the captive Autobots within the giant robot's city banks. The Decepticons, however, had already opened the Plasma Energy Chamber, which threatened to drive the Sun nova and destroy Earth, Cybertron and the entire solar system. As they were organic and unaffected by the chamber's energy, Spike and the Nebulons were able to act quickly to save the planet by shutting the chamber down and reversing the Decepticons' rocket to draw off the excess solar energy. This energy was funnelled into Vector Sigma, revitalizing Cybetron and bringing about a new Golden Age. Despite all of this, Cerebros was insistent that Spike deactivate him so that he would never have to fight again...but quickly changed his tune when Spike transformed back into his head so that he could see the beauty of the restored planet. Optimus Prime subsequently appointed Cerebros as guardian of Nebulos, where he and the other Autobot Headmasters would root out and destroy the lingering influence of the Hive, after which Cerebros would live on the planet as its guardian. What this meant for Spike, however, was never revealed. The Rebirth, Part 3
Madman The Transformers comic
In the year 2001, Spike Witwicky was overseeing the construction of Autobot City when his friend Hot Rod complained about the fact he was stuck on guard duty while the rest of the Autobots forces were fighting a rearguard action during the evacuation of Cybertron. Spike tries to cheer him up, assuring the young Autobot that his time is coming, and for now, just to enjoy the view of the future Autobot City. While Hot Rod rambled on about Optimus Prime bravely fighting off Decepticons single-handedly, Spike spotted Soundwave and his minions up to no good on the dig site, and Hot Rod sprang into action. The young Autobot prevented the Decepticons from stealing the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, and during the struggle, the Autobot artifact spoke to him with Spike's own words of encouragement. The Transformers
Japanese cartoon continuity
Scramble City: Mobilization
In the late 1980s, the Autobots began work on a mobile battle fortress dubbed "Scramble City", and began construction of the massive structure in a subterranean cavern. Spike helped the Autobots work on the project along with Carly, his father and Chip, and while welding a section of machinery, he was approached by Bumblebee with the prospect of taking a quick break from the labor. Scramble City: Mobilization
The Great Transformer War comic
After the Terrorcons brainwashed Computron into becoming a Decepticon with Cohesive Control Liquid, Spike donned a modified exosuit and lasergun to save his Autobot friends. Daniel initially asked to go, but Spike forbid him, as the mission was too dangerous. Dodging Computron's laserfire, Spike burned the control liquid off with his lasergun, freeing Computron from the Terrorcons's hold. Computron immediately defeated the Decepticons and sent them fleeing. The Great Transformer War #2
The Headmasters cartoon
- Voice actor: Masashi Ebara (Japanese)
In the year that followed the resurrection of Optimus Prime, Spike spent most of his time on Cybertron, actively working as a liaison between the Autobots and humanity to develop new sources of energy. In 2011, Spike was enjoying a cup of tea with Carly in Autobot Base on Cybertron when the Decepticons suddenly launched a massive offensive against the planet, backed up with the added power of their new Headmaster warriors. Spike quickly contacted Optimus Prime at the Autobots' secondary command post on the planet Athenia, and then withdrew to the safety of Athenia himself once reinforcements arrived on Cybertron. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky Optimus Prime himself was among the Autobots who went to Cybertron, intending to stabilize Vector Sigma, which had begun to run out of control. Spike had researched the computer and claimed there was no way to stop it without the Matrix, which was precisely what Prime didn't have. Daniel was concerned for Prime, but Spike assured him he would be fine. The Mystery of Planet Master He wasn't, though. He died. Again. Birth of the Fantastic Double Prime
When Spike next appeared, he had sustained some serious injuries through unexplained means. Although he was on the mend, it meant he was not fit for a mission that required a human agent: the disabling of a metal-warping meteor that the Decepticons had set on collison course with Athenia. Daniel volunteered to go in his place, and Spike, impressed with his bravery, allowed it. Approach of the Demon Meteorite
After Cybertron was destroyed thanks to the machinations of Decepticon Headmaster leader Scorponok, Spike moved his family and his research to Athenia. Soon after this, Spike supervised the launch of the Solar 1 satellite, a solar energy satellite built by both humans and Transformers that served as a symbol of unity between their two planets. Unfortunately, the Decepticons stole it. The Shadow Emperor, Scorponok Later, Spike went with the Autobots to help evacuate the residents of a South American village that was threatened by a volcanic eruption, The Dormant Volcano Mysteriously Erupts and was menaced on Athenia by an ambulatory monster-plant from Darhos. Head On!! Fortress Maximus
While conducting a geographic survey on Mars with a view to terraforming the planet, Spike, Daniel, Wheelie and the Trainbots discovered a Decepticon plot to destroy the red planet with plasma energy bombs. The Autobot Headmasters were called in while Spike, Daniel and Wheelie returned to Athenia, Explosion on Mars!! Maximus Is in Danger but alas, the four young heroes were not able to stop Mars from being blown up. Explosion on Mars!! MegaZarak Appears Spike subsequently scanned the remains of the the planet with Arcee and Broadside, and they concluded that the gravimetric balance of the solar system had been badly damaged. Spike feared that the destruction of another planet by the Decepticons would utterly destroy the whole system. Return of the Immortal Emperor
When the Autobots received an distress signal from the planet Sandra in a parallel dimension, which was running critically low on energy, Spike was unsure whether or not they should risk giving up any of their own carefully-managed energy supply. He was eventually convinced that it was the right way to proceed, and even allowed Daniel and Wheelie to travel to Sandra with him and the Headmasters on the basis that it would be a good experience for them. Spike got very philosophical once they were on Sandra, remarking that all resources tend to run out eventually, and lamenting that Earth could face the same fate as Sandra if they weren't careful. SOS from Planet Sandra
His fears for the safety of the universe growing since the destruction of Mars, Spike stunned the Autobots when he announced his intention to negotiate with Galvatron the possibility of the Autobots and Decepticons allying to create a joint energy development programme. Even more surprising was that Galvatron agreed, on the condition that Spike bring Carly and Daniel with him, that the Decepticons might hold them hostage so that the negotiations could be held in "good faith". Negotiations proceeded badly, with Galvatron accusing Spike of arguing from a non-neutral position, given that he lived with the Autobots on Athenia, instead of his native Earth. Galvatron instructed Spike to leave his "most precious thing" on Earth to prove his neutrality: his son, Daniel! Daniel reluctantly agreed to stay on Earth, and Carly decided to stay with him, meaning that Spike would be separated from his whole family in the pursuit of peace. As it turned out, however, Spike wasn't actually negotiating with Galvatron at all: a transmission from Chaar by the Autobot spy Punch revealed that the real Galvatron was still there, and that Spike was conversing with a disguised Sixshot! The Decepticons were using the peace talks as a cover to embark on an interplanetary energy quest, and the Autobots were left in the dust as a consequence. As the Autobots prepared to follow the villains, Daniel insisted that he be allowed to go to defend his family honor, and Spike and Carly were silently proud of their determined son. Daniel Faces His Biggest Crisis Ever!!
The Autobots' return to Earth some time later heralded a great loss, as Ultra Magnus soon died in battle with Sixshot, and Spike wept at his funeral. Ultra Magnus Dies!! Decepticon attacks continued with increased ferocity around the globe, angering Spike, The Emperor of Destruction Vanishes on an Iceberg but he did not let these tragedies deter him from his work. While attending a summit on Earth to discuss using the planet's volcanoes for power, he realized that the Decepticons' recent activities had been focused on the Pacific Ring of Fire. When he returned to Autobot City to present his findings, however, the city came under attack by Trypticon and Sixshot, and Spike was wounded by a stray laser blast. With all of the Headmasters' technology unable to remove a large chunk of shrapnel embedded in one of his arteries, Spike told Daniel to remain strong even in the face of his death, and to take his place as Earth's envoy to the Autobots. Luckily, this wasn't necessary: in a drastic step that used up all of his energy, Fortress used his telekinetic powers to dissolve the shrapnel and save Spike's life. I Risk My Life for Earth
In a major subsequent battle, the Autobots were able to force the Decepticons to withdraw from Earth, seemingly for good. Fortress appointed Spike head of the clean-up operation to remove all traces of the villains' memory from Earth, and Spike started by organizing an Autobot wrecking crew to destroy the Decepticons' desert Earth headquarters. Miraculous Warriors, Targetmasters (Part 1) News soon reached the Autobots on Earth that the Decepticons had returned to the Headmasters' home planet, Master, and Daniel petitioned Spike to be allowed to accompany the Headmasters there. Carly was unwilling to let him go, but Spike decided it'd be good for his character, and asked Fortress to let Daniel go with them. Miraculous Warriors, Targetmasters (Part 2) Spike watched as the worried Carly cooked up some space rations for Daniel to take with him. My Friend Sixshot!
Unfortunately for the Earth, the Decepticons would eventually return, just as Earth's restoration programme was entering a critical phase. With Fortress and the other Headmasters not yet back from Master, Spike was left to co-ordinate the Autobot counter-attack to the Decepticons' renewed offensive, and headed to Santiago, Chile with Carly to investigate the emergence of a strange metal tower there. On the way, his plane was forced to make an emergency landing in the Andes, where Carly and several other passengers fell into a crevasse. Simultaneously, Fortress's team returned to Earth, and Daniel immediately set out to help his parents. Spike attempted to descend into the crevice himself despite his injuries, and was surprised when Daniel stopped him and insisted that he rescue his mother personally. Daniel performed the task admirably, and Spike could see that his boy had grown into a man. The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 1) When the message came in for the Autobots to gather for the final battle with the Decepticons, Spike told Daniel that he would look after Carly so that he could join his friends in the fight.
Following the Decepticons' ultimate defeat in a colossal battle royal at the North Pole, which saw the evil robots at last forced off Earth, the Autobots prepared to depart the planet as well. Spike, Carly and Daniel gathered to bid farewell to their long-time friends, and Spike was determined that the goodbye should be a happy one, since, while the Transformers were leaving, the peace they had brought to the planet was there to stay. The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 2)
The Headmasters comic
After the Decepticons' defeat at the North Pole, but shortly before the Autobots' departure from Earth, Spike was out walking with Carly, Daniel, Wheelie and Chromedome when they were attacked by Soundblaster. Slugfest charged at Daniel, but Spike leapt into his path and was injured, driving Daniel furious. The youth leapt onto Slugfest and covered his eyes, tricking him into blasting Overkill and freeing up Chromedome to take Soundblaster down.
A little later, after the Autobots had left, Spike, Daniel and Carly were seen happily running along a beach. The Headmasters issue 8
Marvel Comics continuity
Generation 1
Spike Witwicky was away at college for the first few years of the Autobot/Decepticon war on Earth until he returned home to find his younger brother Buster kidnapped by the Decepticons. Spike soon became the binary-bond partner to the Headmaster Fortress Maximus, after Fortress Maximus' first partner, Galen, was killed in a battle with the Decepticon Scorponok. Trial by Fire!
Thereafter he struggled with balancing his responsibilities to his family with those to the Autobots. Once Buster was rescued, and with Optimus Prime returned to life to take his place as Autobot leader, Spike went into retirement, mothballing poor Max. This retirement wouldn't last however as it was interrupted, first by a pair of Decepticon Pretenders, The Man in the Machine! then by the crash of the Ark and a raving Galvatron. The Last Autobot? Through the course of these conflicts Spike learned that the binary bonding he had undergone with Maximus was far deeper and more permanent than he'd believed. Fortress Maximus was always there with him in his head, always a part of him. After his battle with Galvatron he seemed to have made peace with his connection to Fortress Maximus and his role as (perhaps) the last Autobot protector of Earth.
In an alternate timeline in the year 2009, Decepticons had built a machine to destroy Earth while a space-time anomaly was eating entire planets. After Rodimus Prime orchestrated a plan to travel twenty years back in time to the source of the anomaly, Spike Witwicky and his son Daniel accused Rodimus of shirking his responsibilities towards Earth and guilted Rodimus into allotting more troops to help destroy the Decepticons' machine. Time Wars
In another alternate timeline in the year 2009, Spike Witwicky was part of a very small Autobot/human resistance movement in a world where Galvatron II's Decepticons controlled North America. The handful of Autobots who remained alive despaired and were on the cusp of giving up, but Spike and Lisa (who shared growing feelings for each other) guilted them into one last suicidal attack on Decepticon headquarters in New York before the rest of the world could unleash a nuclear holocaust onto America at midnight. Though there were several casualties, Spike managed to hoist an American flag on the Decepticon stronghold on live television, a symbolic measure which prompted the end of the planned nuclear strike. Before Galvatron II could respond, the Decepticon despot was abducted by Hook, Line, and Sinker into another timeline. Rhythms of Darkness!
Generation 2
Spike followed up on the now Megatron-controlled Ark, which he'd apparently stuffed Fortress Maximus aboard and then abandoned after his battle with Galvatron (great job protecting Earth there, "Last Autobot").
He reunited with Maximus and together they... um, sort of stopped Megatron (well, delayed him a little... maybe) by throwing themselves into the ship's antimatter core.
He blowed up real good. All or Nothing!
Dreamwave comics continuity
It's to be assumed that Spike and his father, Sparkplug, met the Autobots early on in their time on Earth (in a similar fashion as Spike and Sparkplug did in the cartoon, or Buster and Sparkplug did in the Marvel Comics). Spike definitely had a younger brother named Buster (as in the Marvel comics), yet it was Spike who formed a close friendship with Bumblebee (as in the cartoon, rather than missing out on the first few years of the Witwicky family's interaction with the Transformers while engaging in drinking orgies at college, as he did in the Marvel comics). The exact details of the Witwickys' early years as the Autobots' human associates are therefore not known.
Somewhere in the time after 1984, Spike married Carly, who then gave birth to Spike's son, Daniel. After the explosion of the Ark II in 1999, which caused the death of Spike's father Sparkplug, Spike tried to leave his involvement with the Transformers behind and settled down with his wife and son in Cleveland, Ohio, trying to live a new life as a normal family. The newfound peace wouldn't last for long, though, as Spike was soon recruited by a shady military official named General Hallo seeking his help in reviving Optimus Prime, whose body his men had recently found in the Arctic. Spike, who had been entrusted by Prime with a fragment of the Matrix, used that fragment to bring Prime back to life. Prime Directive #1 Prime Directive #2
Prime subsequently used the Matrix to revive and assemble a group of his Autobots, which he would then lead against Megatron's Decepticons. Meanwhile, Spike was imprisoned by General Hallo, who had double motives behind reviving the Autobots and even tried to kill them by bombing them. With the help of Larry, the World's Most Resourceful Janitor, Spike was able to escape his cell and uncover Hallo's sinister schemes, but not in time to stop him from launching a nuclear strike against the Autobots which was ultimately averted when Superion sacrificed his life in order to make it detonate before it could reach its target. Prime Directive #5 Prime Directive #6
Following these events, Spike once again returned to his family and tried to leave his past with the Transformers behind. A few months later, though, his old friend Bumblebee, who had just decided to quit the Autobot army following a fierce battle against Sunstorm, showed up by his house. Spike, frustrated that the Autobots refused to leave him alone, hurled a few nasty insults against his old buddy before changing his mind and joining him on a men's night out in the city, where they stopped a mugging. Lost and Found The follow-up scene of Carly shouting at Spike singing drinking songs with Bumblebee was never published due to the untimely faltering of Dreamwave. It also means we will never know if Spike and Bumblebee formed a crime fighting duo.
G.I. Joe vs the Transformers
In response to the forming of the terrorist organization Cobra and its commandeered Transformers, the United States government assembled a strike team dubbed G.I. Joe. Spike Witwicky (codename Spike) was listed on the roster, but was never seen. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #2
Transformers Legends
Spike was out driving with Bumblebee and Hound when, to their surprise, they stumbled on a badly-damaged Starscream. Though Spike was all in favor of leaving the Decepticon there, Bumblebee insisted they take Starscream back to the Ark with them. Redemption Center
Bumblebee gave Spike a ride to his high school, but while Spike was in class, his Autobot pal got carjacked. When Spike emerged, he found a smug Bumblebee sitting in the carpark with two wet seats. Joyride
IDW comics continuity
In the wake of the Decepticons' devastating attack on Earth, Commander Spike Witwicky met his dad, Colonel "Sparkplug" Witwicky, inside a secret bunker where the remnants of the United States military had gathered to mount a desperate counteroffensive. Regrettably, Sparkplug had selected Spike for a mission to assassinate the leader of the Decepticons, Megatron, even though he feared his son would not make it back. It was a suicide mission, but Spike was the most qualified. Spike accepted, despite the consequences, but ignored his father's pleas for him to call his worried mother first.
During the night, he and a team snuck into New York City by boat, but they were discovered by Ratbat. With one dive, the boat and its occupants were dashed to bits under the water, and Spike's signal was destroyed. Learning his son was dead, Sparkplug, in shock, believed it was he who had not only sent his son to die, but had inspired Spike to join the military in the first place. But unknown to Sparkplug, his son surfaced on the shore of New York, perfectly alive... All Hail Megatron #5
Stealing new pants from an abandoned Gloomingdales, Spike ran into the leaders of the underground human resistance movement, who were looking for supplies. Spike took Bridge and Sarah into an abandoned office building to discuss gathering the resistance and assassinating Megatron. But first, Spike took them into a disguised military facility where he retrieved a weapon created from studying Shockwave's gun arm. Their quick escape was cut short, since Rumble was causing a ruckus outside. Telling the others to run for cover, Spike ducked into a building and then reappeared when he drove a motorcycle through an upstairs window, firing a small pistol. This distracted Rumble long enough for Charles to shoot him right in the face. Rumble's defeat was followed by a overcoming sonic screech, and as Soundwave arrived to sadly take Rumble's body away, it seemed the city's electronic blackout was over. Phones were working again, and so Spike called his father. He learned not only that his father thought he was dead, but that there was nothing they could do to prevent other nations from unleashing a nuclear onslaught across North America. All Hail Megatron #9
Later, Spike, Sarah, Bridge and Charles ran out of a half-demolished building, passing Devastator, who was slagging the European Union jets. All Hail Megatron #11
He and his party set up a better sniper position in a nearby building, where they watched two robots fight each other. When Megatron eventually bested Optimus, Spike decided it was time to intervene. He charged the weapon and blasted Megatron's face, allowing Optimus to defeat him. Later, Hound found him and brought him to Optimus Prime. Prime offered to help Spike and the rest of the humans rebuild their planet. Spike thanked Prime for his thought, but said that there was no chance of the Transformers and the humans reconciling. As he put it, Optimus' "kind" caused all the destruction, and that any chance of an alliance was gone. All Hail Megatron #12
After the Decepticons' defeat, they abandoned Earth, leaving Ravage and others behind. Spike Witwicky headed a military regiment to hunt down surviving Transformers and found Ravage in an abandoned building. Ravage attacked Spike but got blasted for his efforts. At least he put Spike in the hospital, though. Sparkplug became the new head of Skywatch and requested Spike join his task force of ridding the planet of Transformers. The Man of Steel
Two years after the events of AHM, Spike was still part of the Transformer-hunting team. With his amazing Crash suit, he quickly contained the Decepticon Breakdown which subsequently drew the watching Prowl out of hiding. Then he drove away in the contained Breakdown ...For All Mankind for a one-night stand with a local stripper. He came back to the Skywatch HQ after being alerted to Optimus' surrender. His father reprimanded him for being offsite for Prowl's liberation and Optimus' surrender, so to prove himself, Spike went to interrogate Optimus. New Arrivals, Old Encounters
A Rude Awakening Seasons in Flight Enemies of the System Earthworks The Transformers issue 7 The Transformers issue 8 International Incident Part 1: "The Land Ironclads" International Incident Part 2: "Ranks of Bronze"
Toys
Generation 1
- Fortress Maximus (Headmaster, 1987)
- Spike was a Headmaster figure who came with Fortress Maximus. Gray and blue, he transformed into Cerebros' head, who then in turn became Fortress Maximus' head. Although the on-package bio referred to 'the Nebulan leader, Spike', most assume it was supposed to represent the character from TV, making this the first Transformers toy of an Earth human.
- This toy was repurposed as Galen, and redecoed as Gran, Robots in Disguise Cerebros and Robot Masters Master.
Merchandise
Super Collection Figure
- Bumble and Spike (Act 3, 2001)
- Japanese ID Number: 5 (painted) 6 (clear)
- PVC figurines of Spike and Bumblebee were sold together in the third act of Takara's Super Collection Figure series. Like all the figures in the wave, the pair were available as both regular full-color figures and clear plastic versions, one of each of which was available in a standard case of twelve blindpacked figures. The full-color version of the set came packaged with the torso piece of the wave's Fortress Maximus "build-a-figure".
Heroes of Cybertron
- Autobot Espionage Team (2003)
- Super Collection Figure Spike and Bumblebee were later released by Hasbro as part of their Heroes of Cybertron line, sold under the name "Autobot Espionage Team," as Hasbro did not have the trademark rights to Bumblebee's name at this point in time. Unlike the blindpacked Japanese version, they were sold on an individual blister card, and came packaged with the right leg of the Fortress Maximus figure.
Notes
- Spike and Buster were both derived from the same "young male human friend" character in early backstory material. For more on the name variation see Butch Witwicky.
- Apparently Spike Witwicky is named after a person in real life! According to the BotCon 2010 panel hosted by Bob Budiansky, Jim Shooter (editor in-chief at Marvel at the time) chose the name based on one of his real life friends. The name Witwicky had previously showed up in Marvel's Dazzler comics, as co-plotted by Shooter.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Spike Witwicky (スパイク・ウィトウィッキー Supaiku Witowikkī)
- English: Sparkle (Omni Productions dub)
- French: La Flèche (Canada, "The Arrow")
- Hungarian: Csuka (The Movie, "Pike")
