Mirage (Armada)
| The name or term "Mirage" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Mirage (disambiguation). |
Mirage is a Mini-Con from the Armada portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Once upon a time, Mirage was the cowardly sort who believed it was better to run and hide than live in the knowledge that he fought. However, when he was faced with the oppressive cruelty of the Decepticons and acts perpetrated by the less scrupulous Mini-Cons upon their own kind, Mirage was forced to realise that to do nothing in the face of injustice was the worst crime of all. No longer the shrinking violet, Mirage stepped up to become the intelligent, observant commander of the Race Mini-Con Team and a leading 'bot in Mini-Con society. However, he is still plagued by feelings of remorse over his past cowardice and inaction to such an extent that he vigorously pushed for the Race Team to side with the Autobots, in the hopes of never showing that other side of his personality ever again.
Fiction
Armada cartoon
Mirage was one of the first two Mini-Con panels belonging to the Race Team that were captured by the Decepticons. Overmatch Conspiracy He finally came on-line when the Decepticons gathered all three panels, and joined with Downshift and Dirt Boss to form the Skyboom Shield under Megatron's control. Reinforcement
In the next battle, Megatron assembled both the Air Defense Team and the Race Team into the two most powerful weapons in the universe. Armed with both the Star Saber and the Skyboom Shield, he toyed with Optimus Prime until his overconfidence caused him to lose his grip on the Shield. Prime's Mini-Con partner Sparkplug then "locked on" to the Skyboom Shield and brought it under Prime's control, thwarting Megatron's killing strike with the Saber and balancing the powers between the two sides. Decisive Battle
Because the Skyboom Shield was in such demand by the Autobots to protect them from the Star Saber (and later the Requiem Blaster), Mirage and the Race Team appeared quite infrequently as individuals. One day, they went for a walk with the kids to catch some fresh air. Unfortunately, their little stroll happened just as Billy and Fred reported that Thrust had met with Starscream. Squidhead had asked for the Skyboom Shield Mini-Cons as collateral for letting Starscream back into the Decepticons, so their sudden disappearance from the base didn't look too good for the former Decepticon. The Autobots' distrust for Starscream in part led to his decision to take Thrust up on his offer, and so even after Hot Shot uncovered the kids and the Race Team and cleared his name, Starscream stole the Skyboom Shield for Megatron and returned to the Decepticons. Crack
Mirage and the Race Team had little time to act as individuals after that, remaining powerlinxed as the Skyboom Shield while the Decepticons used the shield as one-third of the Hydra Cannon, before it was stolen by Thrust and used to provide power to the heart of Unicron. Mirage, Dirt Boss and Downshift reawakened as individuals with the help of High Wire and the Street Action Team, who had journeyed to Unicron's core with Optimus Prime, Galvatron and the Earth children to grant the super-weapon Mini-Cons their freedom. Origin Mirage fled Unicron aboard the Autobot Jetfire just before the Chaos-Bringer was finally destroyed. Mortal Combat
Dreamwave Armada comic
Mirage and the rest of the Race Mini-Con Team were among the Mini-Cons captured by the Decepticons before the war began. Armada #1 After escaping from Cybertron, he became one of a myriad Mini-Cons living in the Destruction Team's hidden base on the Moon. Armada #9 After more Mini-Cons were brought to the moon, he used his ability to turn invisible to listen in on their conversations and report his findings to Dualor. Moments later, the Decepticons broke into the base, so Mirage used his invisibility to save Sparkplug from being captured. Armada #10 Mirage and Sparkplug then recruited the Space Mini-Con Team to help save Rad White from a mine the Destruction Team had stuck him in. After their rescue attempt succeeded, they boarded escape pods and fled to Earth. Armada #11
Like many of the moonbase's Mini-Cons, Mirage then joined the Autobots. Even while other Mini-Cons felt they should leave the Autobots, Mirage remained supportive, but reminded the other Autobot-supporting Mini-Cons to put themselves in their fellow Mini-Cons' shoes in regards to the situation. Fire & Ice Soon afterwars, Mirage, along with his fellow Race Mini-Con Team members, took part in the salvage operation to dig out the Street Speed Mini-Con Team, Comettor and Inferno from a frozen wasteland, encountering a Cyclonus overpowered by the Destruction Team in the process. Armada #13
Later, Mirage used his invisibility powers to save Over-Run from an alternate-timeline Galvatron. Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4 When Over-Run's null-reality pods were needed to rescue the time-lost Optimus Prime from an alternate dimension that Unicron had destroyed, Mirage was one of the Mini-Cons who volunteered to sneak into the Decepticon base at Silver Ridge to retrieve it. As soon as they made it inside the base undetected, Unicron's heralds Thunderwing, Dirge and Scourge suddenly appeared. Worlds Collide, Part 2 of 4 Fortunately, Thrust provided the distraction the Mini-Cons needed to use Over-Run's pod and pull both Optimus Prime and Jetfire back to their reality. Worlds Collide, Part 4 of 4 Mirage later joined in Optimus Prime's call to arms against Unicron. He and the other Mini-Cons joined their sparks together to empower the Mini-Con Matrix, which delivered an almighty blast at the Chaos Bringer. The End
Panini Armada comics
When the Decepticons began kidnapping Mini-Cons, Mirage was captured by Thrust and painfully re-engineered to be bound a Decepticon. He apparently escaped, and joined Dualor when he thought up a plan to lure Megatron to the Autobot HQ and blow them both up. As the plan moved forward, Mirage discussed it with Sparkplug, who was against sacrificing the Autobots just to kill the Decepticon leader. Counter-Strike!
Cybertron toy bios
Toys
Armada
- Race Mini-Con Team (Basic, 2002/2003)
- Japanese ID number: MM-05
- Mirage has a similar body to Armada Swindle. He transforms into a Formula racer, much like his Generation 1 counterpart, and also forms the bottom portion of the Skyboom shield. Mirage and his teammates were available in a three-pack on their own, and also included as bonus add-ons with the Max-Cons Scavenger and Predacon.
- This mold was also used to make Top Gear, while the original Swindle mold was used to make Zapmaster.
- Grap & Lift with Race Micron (Multi-pack, 2003)
- Japanese ID number: MS-02
- The Race Team was available in Japan both as an individual team, and in a multi-pack with Smokescreen.
- Race Micron X-Dimension (Basic, 2003)
- Japanese ID number: MM-10
- A limited-edition (but still regular-retail) redeco of the Race Team was made available in Japan. As X-Dimension Mini-Cons, the entire Team was given a deco in white and varying shades of blue.
- Indy (Micron Booster, 2003)
- Booster ID number:
- Part of the first Micron Booster set, this version of Mirage is almost totally identical to the retail version, only this uses a slightly-sparkly plastic and paint.
- Indy (Change Micron, 2003)
- Another nigh-identical Japanese release, this version came as a "candy toy" produced by Kabaya as part of the Change Micron assortment. This toy is actually a new molding, though based on the original mold.
- Road Assault Mini-Con Team (Basic, 2003)
- A late-series redeco of the Race Team—under a new Team name—was released alongside the Road Wrecker Team. Mirage and his teammates were now colored black, red and white. In Japan, individually-bagged members of this Team were given away randomly with the purchase of Armada Jetfire or Tidal Wave at Ito Yokaido stores in August.
Universe
- Mirage (Tiny Tin, 2004)
- The entire Race Team was made available as individual Tiny Tins releases under the Universe banner. The toys in this release are identical to the original Armada ones.
Energon
- Race Mini-Con Team & Space Mini-Con Team (Multi-Pack, 2004)
- An unaltered version of the Road Assault Mini-Con Team (yet named the Race Team again) was released as part of an Energon-series "Mini-Con 6-pack" with the Space Mini-Con Team.
Cybertron
- Hot Shot with Mirage (Bonus pack, 2006)
- Override with Mirage (Bonus pack, 2006)
- Mirage was redecoed again for the Cybertron toyline, in colors similar to his Road Assault ones, but with grey instead of white. He was only available in Walmart-exclusibe bonus packs with Hot Shot and Override, and came with a Tiny Tins carrying case.
Notes
- The Photoshop editing by Dreamwave Productions in their More Than Meets The Eye profile books were less than satisfactory on some pages. Mirage in particular suffered from having the tops of his wheels and part of his left foot cut off during editing. The image that appears at the top of this article has been repaired by the uploader.
- In the Dreamwave comics, Mirage was shown to have the ability to make himself (and anyone he touched) invisible, a power similar to the one displayed by the cartoon version of Generation 1 Mirage.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Indy (インディー Indī)
