Kickback (G1)
| The name or term "Kickback" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Kickback (disambiguation). |
- Kickback is a Decepticon Insecticon from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Kickback is one of the most charming, likable beings you're ever likely to meet. He collects friends the way others do energon cubes. Scratch the surface, though, and you find a manipulative blackmailer that loves digging up dirt on his new "pals" to force them to work for him. Humans are particularly likely to fall prey to his honeyed words. In insect mode his super-charged legs allow him to jump great distances and kick through solid steel, though he's vulnerable in that mode when attempting to fly through high winds.
Fiction
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice actor: Clive Revill (English), Toshio Ishii (Japanese), Edgar Wald (Latin American), Thomas Albus (German, The Movie TV Dub), Ulf-Jürgen Wagner (German, Generation 2 Dub)
Kickback, Bombshell and Shrapnel landed on Earth in their own space pod before the Autobot ship arrived on Earth. Their pod crashed into the region of Bali that would become known as "Demon Swamp" and their idento-computers adapted them to transform into giant robot insects and eat organic food to survive.
The "Insecticons”' existence became known to both the Autobots and Decepticons after they began attacking villagers rowing though, and Megatron formed an alliance with them. The Insecticons’ unique powers proved an asset. Kickback, in particular was able to disable Skyfire’s transform circuit with a well-placed blow, and knock both Wheeljack and Brawn back down when they tried areal assaults (he also made short work of a combine, though that was more about goofing off) . Later, the three rejoined Megatron at a nearby refinery, dining on the tasty oil. They aided the Decepticons in trying to drive off the attacking Autobots, but when the tide turned in the Autobot’s favor, Kickback and the others decided instead to simply eat all the energon cubes the Deceptions had been harvesting and scram, with Megatron angrily in pursuit. A Plague of Insecticons
Megatron didn’t hold his grudge against the Insecticons for long. When the Autobots invaded the canyon when Megatron was working with stolen electro-cells, he had the trio summoned to provide additional support in return for a reward. Kickback even scored a successful, though ultimately non-fatal, shot against Optimus Prime. Kickback thought the two energon cubes given as payment was pretty good though his companions disagreed, calling it “measly” when compared to the haul Megatron was pulling in. The trio only grew more agitated when the cubes went missing with a Decepticon insignia in its place. The Insecticons went back to the canyon, confronting the Decepticons, but Megatron was able to calm them when he figured out it was Mirage framing him. The threesome partook in a Decepticon trap using Mirage. However, they retreated once the electro-cells were destroyed in the battle which knocked the Decepticons out. Traitor
On one occasion, the Insecticons were chowing down on redwoods in a national forest when Hound, Beachcomber and Bumblebee arrived on the scene and attempted to stop them. Despite the equal odds, the Insecticons managed to overpower their Autobot opponents and send them into retreat after launching a massive fallen tree trunk at the heroes (naturally, Kickback used his legs to push the tree instead of his arms like the others). Megatron then arrived and offered a deal: if he led the Insecticons to a fresh new source of energy, they would aid him in acquiring some useful data from the heavily-guarded Iron Mountain installation. Agreeing, the Insecticons accompanied the Decepticons to the Nova Power Core, an energy source of considerable power. Consuming it, the Insecticons found themselves more than doubling in size and strength.
Naturally, both groups of 'Cons planned to eliminate each other at the most opportune opportunity, but the Insecticons got the upper hand by secretly placing all of Megatron’s troops under the control of Bombshell's cerebro-shells. Kickback and the others planned to use Soundwave to acquire Iron Mountain's data for themselves, but little did they know that the Nova Power in their systems was explosively unstable. With the help of the Megatron, the Autobots attempted to forcibly administer an antidote to the Insecticons which would reverse their invincibility and self-destruct cycles. Kickback tried to escape with Soundwave, but was felled with a blast of antidote. With Shrapnel and Bombshell also returned to normal, the three fled to fight another day. The Insecticon Syndrome
Again, the Decepticons and the Insecticons buried the hatchet. The Insecticons built up a massive clone army, and were using them to provide energy to the Decepticons. Again, Megatron was shortchanging them on their reward. Their clone forces allowed them to easily repel Autobot attacks and made them too threatening to the world’s food supply. When Cosmos had crashed in a valley, carrying a batch of new robotic insecticide, Thrust was sent to warn the Insecticons to stay clear of that area. Not surprisingly, they didn’t believe the sincerity of the warning. And, yes, Kickback gave Thrust a good kick for some laughs. After dodging some missiles from the angry Seeker, they went straight to the crash site to investigate. There, Insecticons found a field of Morphobots, plants that eat robotic matter. Not realizing the danger, they took their clone army right into the field to feed and instead had their entire group devoured with only Kickback, Bombshell, and Shrapnel escaping.Quest for Survival
Eventually, Kickback and company built up another clone army and went back to their usual tricks, now ravaging cities for energy, with the Autobots rushing to drive them out. When there was trouble on Cybertron, Optimus Prime tried to highjack the Decepticonspace bridge, but The Insecticons ran off with the bridge’s control panel. They apparently couldn’t resist nibbling on the thing, because when Megatron later found them in a parking garage they had chewed it up. They dropped the panel and ran before they were chewed out themselves. The Revenge of Bruticus
When the Decepticons invaded Autobot City on Earth in 2005, a keen-eyed Hot Rod spotted their hijacked shuttle before they were able to penetrate the city's defenses. As a result, the Autobots had time to activate the base's heavily-armored transformation sequence, and the Decepticons are forced to physically breach the defenses. Kickback and Shrapnel attempted to eat their way into the city, but kept their eyes on their stomachs and were caught off guard by the returning Hot Rod and Kup. Kup used Kickback's head as a ramp to jump his way into the closing city, flattening the Insecticon's head in the process.
Heavily damaged, Kickback was carried by Long Haul back to Astrotrain as the Decepticons bolted. He proved too weak to resist when the 'Cons tossed him and several other weakened warriors out of the shuttle to lighten the load. His was reformatted by Unicron into a Sweep drone, to serve under Scourge. The Transformers: The Movie
Either he got better or that was an identical clone, because when the Decepticons were running extremely low on energon, he and Shrapnel were with the others on Chaar to scrap over what little energon the Decepticons had left. They were shot at by Cyclonus and the Sweeps before flying away. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1
All three Insecticons, along with the Combaticons and Soundwave, were then seen on Earth trying to stop Wheelie, Blurr, Marissa Faireborn and Sky Lynx from delivering the Transformation cog to Metroplex. They were trampled by Sky Lynx. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5
Marvel Comics continuity
Kickback was one of Lord Straxus's warriors operating out of Polyhex. Without realizing it, he barely escaped being killed by the Wreckers in Operation: Volcano. He was later summoned to Earth by Megatron, and became an Insecticon alongside his partners Shrapnel and Bombshell.
Earthforce
Kickback and the Insecticons worked under Megatron's command during the Decepticon Civil War. At the Enclave, he was seen talking to Long Haul before the fighting broke out. The Bad Guy's Ball! Later, he joined his fellow Insecticons in infiltrating Shockwave's base to spy on their activities. They ate their way through the wall next to the war room, and planned to pick a nice, cozy spot for eavesdropping, but Starscream caught the little pests in a rustbug hoop. He then fed them false information to lead Megatron and Shockwave into a confrontation with each other, giving him a chance to consolidate control over the Decepticons. Bugged! After the coup, Kickback was part of the attack on Autobot Earthbase led by Soundwave. Divide and Conquer!
Dreamwave comics continuity
Seen in his pre-Earth dragster mode, Kickback and the pre-Insecticons joined Soundwave and Ravage in making an assassination attempt on the recently-risen Optimus Prime, hoping to extract the power of the Matrix from the green Autobot leader. The War Within #2 Instead, they learned a valuable lesson about underestimating any newborn Prime whose name isn't "Rodimus". The War Within #3 During the Dark Ages after Megatron's disappearance, Kickback and his fellow Decepticons served in the main Decepticon forces under Shockwave. They assaulted a base in Altihex to stop The Fallen unleashing chaos on the planet. Conflagration
At some point after the disappearance of the Ark and Nemesis, Shockwave managed to track the ships to the planet Earth, and dispatched Kickback, Shrapnel, and Bombshell to the planet as part of some longterm machinations which were never made clear. Shortly after landing, they were confronted by the Dynobots who followed them to the planet, but somehow managed to give them the slip. Rules of Extinction
The Insecticons were supposed to remain in hiding on Earth until an unknown time, and managed to keep their presence on the planet secret even after the Autobot and Decepticon spaceship crews awoke and began regularly battling it out on Earth. However, Bombshell began instituting plans of his own, mutilating cattle, kidnapping fleshlings, and growing techno-organic "Insecticlones", among other things. Kickback noticed a minor power struggle between Shrapnel and Bombshell, and enjoyed stirring things up between his partners. Bombshell's antics drew the attention of the Autobots and Earth Defense Command, and the Insecticons were forced into the spotlight to do battle. Kickback was personally taken down in combat with Sunstreaker. Extermination
The Insecticons were taken into custody by Jazz and his Autobots after the encounter. The Route of All Evil
G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers
Kickback was part of Shockwave's army as it waited for Ultra Magnus's force field around Teletran 3 to expire so that they could run in and capture the Autobots. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II issue 2
In a dark alternate future in which the Decepticons had conquered Earth, Kickback-type Insecticons were a common sight as part of Insecticon swarms. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II issue 3
IDW comics continuity
Kickback was very briefly seen among the newly-formed Decepticons as they left Kaon's jail and began laying waste to the city-state. Megatron Origin issue 4
Millions of years later, Kickback was newly created by Deluge alongside Shrapnel, Bombshell and three thousand mindless monsters. He soon joined Megatron's forces on Earth, and helped defeat the local Autobots after they were led into a trap. All Hail Megatron issue 7 As the Decepticons started conquering the mostly defenseless planet, Kickback listened to Megatron hold a speech in the ruins of New York City. All Hail Megatron issue 4 The Insecticons later traveled to China and wrecked Beijing, where Skywarp started picking a fight with Bombshell. Kickback and Shrapnel came to his aid, but found themselves outclassed by Skywarp's teleportation skills and fled the scene. All Hail Megatron issue 6
After returning to New York, the Insecticons were approached by Starscream, who apologized for Skywarp's behavior and told them about his ambitions for the future. All Hail Megatron issue 8 When Starscream rebelled against Megatron shortly afterwards, the Insecticons joined him in attacking their former leader. Kickback attempted to jump-kick Megatron, who simply grabbed him out of mid-air and tossed him at Bombshell. All Hail Megatron issue 10 The revolt was cut short by the arrival of European jets and the return of the exiled Autobots. All Hail Megatron issue 11 In the ensuing battle, Kickback was swatted aside by Sideswipe wielding a broken streetlight, and the Decepticons were eventually defeated. All Hail Megatron issue 12 Kickback and the others fled Earth aboard Astrotrain. Uneasy Lies the Head
Several years later, the Decepticons found themselves living on a resourceless asteroid under their great leader, Starscream. The troops were restless, and Kickback was seen picking fights with Rumble before learning that Dreadwind had been taking more fuel rations than he was entitled to. Alongside Shrapnel and Needlenose, Kickback hunted the criminal down, executed him on the spot, and scavenged his body for parts. All His Engines
Megatron would later use space bridge technology built into in his new body to summon Kickback and the rest of the Decepticons to him on Cybertron. At first they did battle with the Autobots, but were soon mind-controlled by Galvatron into combining with his Sweep army and forming a huge monster. Chaos Part Three: Kings
Hearts of Steel
Along with many other Decepticons, Kickback awoke in the late 19th century when a sunken human submarine crashed onto their submerged ship. Hearts of Steel issue 1 After Starscream allied himself with Tobias Muldoon, he learned that the humans required money to work, and sent Kickback, Bombshell and Shrapnel to retrieve some. The trio took on the form of an "Insectrain", with Kickback forming the piledriver-equipped front of the train. Using these piledrivers, the Insecticons attacked and robbed a train carrying cash and bullion from the Denver Mint, although Kickback sneered at the concept of "sheets of inert plant matter" being valuable. The following morning, the Insecticons delivered the stolen property to Starscream and Tobias Muldoon. Hearts of Steel issue 2 Kickback was later present when Starscream announced to his troops that the Autobots had awakened as well. Hearts of Steel issue 3
Games
The Transformers (PS2)
Sector Seven alternate reality game
Video footage was taken of a small mechanical grasshopper on a tree branch. The grasshopper then flew towards the camera changing into a robot and proceeded to attack the camera, breaking the lens. It was sightings like this and others that prompted the secret government organization known as Sector Seven to launch a disinformation campaign called Hungry Dragon. A key part of this was the Takara Agreement, a collaboration with a Japanese toy manufacturer Takara. The goal of the agreement was to portray non-biological extraterrestrials as kids' toys, cartoons, and fiction. Any claims of actual sightings of giant robots would be seen as fanciful nonsense.
It was a great success. You don't believe alien robots actually visited the Earth, do you?
The original footage of the grasshopper was eventually leaked to the public through the internet. Sector Seven (game)
Toys
Generation 1
- Kickback (Insecticon, 1985)
- Japanese ID number: 40
- Accessories: "Electrothermic Blast Tube"
- Kickback transforms into a robotic grasshopper/locust. He doesn't do a whole lot more than that.
- The mold has gone through a few variations, primarily in the chromed-silver wings. Original versions only had a single rubsign indent, on the outer right-robot-mode wing. Later versions not only added indents to all four faces of the wings (for symmetry, apparently), but shortened the wings as well, and rounded off the wing tips for safety reasons.
- In Japan, Kickback and the other Insecticons were "re-released" as mail-order items from 1987 through 1988. They each cost 880 yen (their normal retail price) and two Robot Points.
- This mold was used to make the Shothole drones.
- Insectrons (Transformers Collection multi-pack, 2004)
- Japanese ID number: 16 (full set)
- Kickback was re-released as part of the Japanese "Transformers Collection" series in a set with Bombshell and Shrapnel. This set also included three energon cube accessories that fit inside their chest compartments.
- The Kickback in this set has another change to the wings; this time, the "safety circles" at the wing-tips added by Hasbro back in the day are no longer present, giving them pointed tips. The wings also go back to having a single rubsign indent.
- Insecticons (Toys-R-Us multi-pack, 2009)
- Kickback was released as part of the Universe line, as a Toys"R"Us exclusive, in a set with his Insecticon pals. Unlike his teammates, Kickback keeps his original name, although Shrapnel is mistakenly identified as "Kickback" on the instruction manual.
- Amazingly enough, Kickback keeps the pointy wings of the Transformers Collection reissue.
Merchandise
Decoy
- Kickback (Decoy, 1987)
- Kickback was one of the Decepticon Decoys packed in with smaller carded Transformers toys. While the normal purple version could come on any Decepticon toy, the rarer red version was available only on Throttlebot cards and only for a short while before the switch to purple.
- Destron Hero Collection-22 Set (Decoy multi-pack, 1987)
- The entire run of twenty-two Decepticon Decoys were sold as a single boxed set in Japan, only in purple.
Hard Hero
- Kickback (2003)
- The first of Hard Hero's "Insecticon Series", Kickback is a 9-inch cold-cast porcelain statue sculpted by Jason Ray. Only 1000 pieces of the statue were produced.
Robot Heroes
- Ironhide vs. Kickback (2008)
- Robot Heroes Kickback is a small super-deformed figurine with swivel joints in his neck and shoulders. He is colors are based on those his toy rather than his less detailed cartoon character model. Kickback was only available in a two-pack with Ironhide.
Notes
- Kickback, like the other Insecticons, was originally a Diaclone "Waruder Battas", an evil alien piloted mech in different colors... which were eventually used when the trio were redecoed for e-HOBBY release. This is also the genesis of those opening chest compartments.
- Kickback's wings did not flap in the television show (although they did in the movie). He and the other Insecticons seem to fly by other means.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Kickback (キックバック Kikkubakku)
- French: La Ruade (Canada, "The Kick")
- Italian: Atrox
- Portuguese: Maquia (Portugal comic), Pula-Pula (Brazil comic)
- Russian: Prygun (Прыгун, "Jumper")
- Ukrainian: Stusan (ICTV, Стусан, "Cuff")
