Reflector (G1)

The name or term "Reflector" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Reflector (disambiguation).

Reflector is a Decepticon from the Generation 1 continuity family.

It's a Kodak moment. Top down: Viewfinder, Spyglass, Spectro

Reflector likes to watch. He lives (they live?) to observe anything and everything, from scenery, to wildlife, to architecture. But above all else, Reflector likes to watch his (their?) comrades, learn their dark secrets, and profit from them. Reflector is also very impressed with his (their) own abilities both in the fields of observation and blackmail.

Reflector is generally composed of three separate robots—Spectro, Spyglass and Viewfinder—who combine into the one single-lens-reflex camera altmode that is Reflector.

Fiction

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

Voice actor: Chris Latta (English), Yoku Shioya (Japanese), Ulrich Bernsdorff (German), Gerd Wiedenhofen (German, Generation 2, "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1"), Willy Schäfer (German, Generation 2, "S.O.S. Dinobots")

Reflector possesses the unusual ability to split his singular robot mode into three copies, who all walk, talk and act with a single mind and voice. The three individual robots are never named; they are all simply "Reflector" and are all entirely identical, save for the lens aperture visible in the chest of the robot who forms the center of their camera mode. Reflector normally spends his time in this divided, triplicate state (three robots being the number required to form his camera mode), but in certain circumstances, he'll remain as one entity. Further, there are documented instances of significantly more Reflector bodies operating at once, suggesting Reflector's replication capabilities may extend beyond the creation of a simple trio. Reflector's replication ability was never directly addressed in the cartoon, with only a seemingly-anomalous scene in "Divide and Conquer" that showed the three Reflectors colliding and combining into one hinting at it. It was evidently an ability included at the script stage but which wound up not getting a lot of face time in the finished show; the script for "S.O.S. Dinobots" also includes a reference to Reflector "splitting into this three identical selves". The real-world explanation for appearances of more than three Reflectors, of course, is that he made a handy generic with which the animators could pad out the meager Decepticon ranks in early episodes.

Scale in a camera-con? Don't be silly.

Reflector was among the warriors who accompanied Megatron aboard the Decepticons' space cruiser during its assault on the Autobots' Ark four million years ago. When the Ark crashed on Earth, Reflector was entombed in stasis with the other Transformers and awoke with the other Decepticons on Earth in 1984. Withdrawing from the Ark, the Decepticons immediately set about constructing a temporary base for themselves, and Reflector and Thundercracker were assigned to patrol the perimeter. As they surveyed the desert landscape, Reflector expressed his disbelief that the Autobots had also survived the crash. Thundercracker then spotted something off in the distance, and Reflector transformed to camera mode so that Thundercracker could use him to zoom in on the mystery object. Reflector dispensed a Polaroid photograph of the truck that had caught their attention, and Thundercracker reported the intruder to Megatron as a possible Autobot (which it wasn't). More than Meets the Eye, Part 1

Anything you need reflected? I (we?) gotcha covered.

Reflector later battled the Autobot forces on an offshore oil rig, More than Meets the Eye, Part 1 and joined in the Decepticons' attack on Sherman Dam. Soon after, numerous Reflector robots were seen pillaging energy all across the world and helping stack energon cubes in the ruby crystal mines of Burma. More than Meets the Eye, Part 2 Reflector participated in the battle royale with the Autobots shortly before the Decepticons' failed attempt at returning to Cybertron aboard a new space cruiser. More than Meets the Eye, Part 3

While the Decepticons were in the midst of testing their new intergalactic "space bridge" transport system, Reflector took part in two battles with the Autobots when the heroic robots tried to interfere with the test run. The battle ended badly when Megatron was sucked through the space bridge and back to Cybertron, Transport to Oblivion but Reflector seemed unfazed by the apparent loss of his leader, as he went on to carry out orders that had previously been given to him and began staking out the laboratory of antimatter researcher Doctor Alcazar. Using his photographic abilities to obtain the entry code for the laboratory's security system in secret, Reflector concluded his stakeout just as Megatron returned to Earth, and he quickly reported his findings to the Decepticon leader. Reflector subsequently followed Megatron back to the lab and entered the entry code for him, allowing the villains to enter the complex stealthily. Reflector was no doubt rather cheesed off to learn that his spying had been for naught when it turned out that Alcazar had gotten rid of the antimatter formula by transmitting it to Chip Chase. When the Decepticons acquired the formula from Chip, Reflector helped charge energon cubes with the antimatter they created, and then participated in the subsequent battle with the Autobots, which ended when the antimatter cubes Megatron was using to power himself threatened to overload. Roll for It

Hey, Reflector, want this candy bar? *tosses it to the ground and stomps on it.*

Reflector later worked with Starscream and Rumble on another attempt to transport energon cubes to Cybertron via the space bridge. In addition to the normal three Reflector robots, a fourth robot sharing their body type was present for this operation, and when Starscream required a pilot for the space bridge vessel, this unfortunate warrior was selected. He begged that he not be chosen, but his words fell on deaf ears as Starscream picked him up and dropped him into the transport craft. Fortunately for this robot, his piloting skills allowed him to traverse the space bridge, and he safely arrived on Cybertron with his energon payload.

This hapless little guy was scripted to just be a generic Decepticon, but the animators substituted in a Reflector. He was voiced by Ken Sansom, rather than Reflector's normal voice actor, Chris Latta.

I (we?) see EVERYTHING!

A group of Autobots soon arrived to investigate the Decepticon goings-on, but Reflector was quick to act and dazzled them with a blinding flash from his central lens. The Autobots soon got themselves together, though, and Reflector was dispatched when his duplicates were hurled into one another, causing them to recombine into one. Reflector's component selves later took part in a Decepticon attack on Autobot Headquarters and were fired upon by Spike Witwicky, but the three robots were confident that the Earth germ couldn't hit all of them at once. Divide and Conquer

Reflector did most of the grunt work when the Decepticons sought to drain the energy of the Earth's core via a crystal shaft in the Arctic, operating machinery and gathering energon cubes. When their digging unearthed the frozen Autobot Skyfire, Reflector tried attacking the towering robot by running at him in a sort of cheerleader-pyramid formation, only to be—unsurprisingly—knocked to the ground with a swipe of Skyfire's arm. Fire in the Sky

Along with Soundwave and Laserbeak, Reflector gathered valuable intelligence on the Great Falls hydroelectric power station, and he took part in the attack that their information-gathering helped facilitate. S.O.S. Dinobots Soon after, Reflector went with the other Decepticons on a mission to Peru in another attempt to seize the power of the Earth's core. Fire on the Mountain Later still, Reflector was part of the Decepticon team who tried harnessing energy from an unstable meteorite. War of the Dinobots

When the Decepticons used their space bridge to pull Cybertron itself into Earth's orbit in order to reap the energy released by the natural disasters that would result, Reflector was at Megatron's side as the Decepticon leader watched the construction of a hydroelectric energy collector. When an unexpectedly strong tidal wave demolished the structure, Megatron and Reflector escaped aboard a transport ship, though Reflector was given pause to wonder on the fate of the Decepticons' human ally, Doctor Arkeville. The Ultimate Doom, Part 3 Cybertron was soon blasted out of Earth's proximity, but some robots of Reflector's body design were seen on the planet not long after, carrying the wounded Arkeville to a medical bay. Countdown to Extinction

After taking part in another energy-raiding attempt with the help of new arrivals the Insecticons, A Plague of Insecticons Reflector joined the other Decepticons in relinquishing his power chip rectifier to a machine that would transfer all of the Decepticons' special abilities to Megatron, enabling him to best Optimus Prime easily in a one-on-one duel. During the combat, Megatron employed Reflector's power to generate a brilliant flash of light to blind Optimus Prime. When Megatron's deception was exposed, Reflector and the other Decepticons were sent tumbling into a river of lava by the enraged Autobots. Heavy Metal War

Learning that the Autobots had transferred Spike's mind into a robot body, Megatron had Reflector watch over Autobot Headquarters, and his spying soon bore fruit when the unstable "Autobot Spike" came bursting through a wall and flew off. Reflector followed and summoned the other Decepticons to his position. Megatron proceeded to try and turn Spike against the Autobots, but the attempt ultimately ended in failure. Autobot Spike

Following the "Autobot Spike" affair, Reflector's role in the war suddenly began to drop off; he became less and less visible on the battlefield, and he was never heard to speak again. Throughout 1985, he was glimpsed only a few times: He joined in the Decepticons' attempt to conquer Washington, D.C., City of Steel he followed Megatron in an attempt to hijack a rocket, Attack of the Autobots and he clashed with the Insecticons over stolen electro-cells. Traitor A little later, he helped battle the Autobots for control of korlonium crystals. A Prime Problem After being absent for a prolonged period after this, Reflector reappeared as part of a group of Decepticons on the rampage in Great Britain, A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court and soon after, he was among the Decepticons who coated themselves with electrum to cause havoc. The Golden Lagoon Reflector then disappeared from the field of battle for quite some time, returning for one final appearance that year, battling the mutinous Starscream and his Combaticons. Starscream's Brigade

Reflector put in his final, very brief appearances in 2005, when he could be spotted at both the Battle of Autobot City and the coronation of Starscream soon afterward. The Transformers: The Movie

The real-world reason behind Reflector's steady disappearance from the show lies with the troubled release of this toy, as discussed further down this article. In accordance with Hasbro's decision not to release the figure, the series story bible specifically discouraged writers from use of the character after season one ended.. Indeed, following "Autobot Spike", Reflector is never called for by an episode script again, and appears only in group shots of the Decepticons at the animators' discretion.

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers comic

Astrotrain photographed the incomplete Autobot City with the aid of Reflector's camera mode, so that Megatron could decipher whether or not it was powerful enough to stand up to Trypticon. Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #3

Marvel Comics continuity

A hi-then-die who didn't even get to say hi!

Spectro, Spyglass and Viewfinder worked with the Decepticon medic to repair their fellow Decepticons. Subsequently an oddly colored Viewfinder was seen decorating the cavern floor of Mount St. Hilary after all the Decepticons were rendered inoperable by Sparkplug Witwicky's poisoned fuel. They didn't even get to introduce themselves in painfully lengthy exposition. Alas, Reflector was taken away from us before his prime. The Last Stand

Dreamwave comics continuity

Events from The Transformers Trilogy novels are in italics.

Reflector was part of Megatron's crew, active on Earth in the 1980s before the Ark II incident. When Megatron was snatched up by the Keepers, not all Decepticons fell into line under Starscream's maniacal command. Skywarp and the three Reflector robots chose to make a stand against Starscream's leadership at Hoover Dam, outside the Decepticon's new base in Las Vegas. Spyglass and Skywarp drew Soundwave's electronic attention, prompting Starscream and his communications officer to make an appearance at the Dam. As Skywarp rejected Starscream's rule, the other Reflector robots leapt out of hiding to attack the usurper. The battle quickly turned against Skywarp and Reflector, though, as Soundwave's sonic attack ripped Spectro apart, sending him over the edge of the dam and into stasis lock. Once Skywarp was disabled as well, Spyglass and Viewfinder wisely chose to abdicate to Starscream. Hardwired

The surviving two Reflector parts remained under Starscream's command only as long as necessary, and left Las Vegas with Megatron's splinter faction of Decepticons soon after their former leader returned to Earth. Annihilation After the Decepticons reunited, Reflector was instrumental in several attempts at blackmail and media manipulation against the President of the United States, first recording him whimpering helplessly in Megatron's massive hand during an attack on the White House, and later sending the media outlets footage of the U.S. Armed Forces attempting to assassinate Autobots AND Decepticons in the Nevada desert. Fusion

A duplicate of Reflector remained on Cybertron and worked for Shockwave, monitoring the planet and its inhabitants for him from a central mainframe. Brothers' Burden They were seemingly destroyed by Starscream when he broke ranks with Shockwave's command structure. Countdown to Extinction The true Reflector, on Earth, was heard to dismiss this duplicate as an inferior copy. Fusion

The presence of two Reflectors originally arose as a continuity error, when the "Annihilation" novel depicted Reflector on Earth while the concurrently published comics showed him to be on Cybertron. Like a couple of other errors in the novels, this was paved over in the third book, "Fusion", with the true, Earth-bound Reflector making the above "inferior copy" remark. Coincidentally, the situation echoes the body-duplication theme seen in the Generation 1 cartoon, discussed above, but regardless, what happened to the so-called true Reflector after the Keepers Trilogy remains a mystery.

Devil's Due G.I. Joe vs. The Transformers comics

The three Reflector components were among the Transformers who crashed on Earth millions of years in the past, and upon being discovered by humans, they were reprogrammed to serve the terrorist organization Cobra. The Autobot Wheeljack eventually restored everyone's original programming, and the angry Reflector trio broke into Cobra's control center to teach the fleshlings a thing or two about messing with their heads. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #4 Reflector was then ordered by Megatron to assist Doctor Mindbender and Firefly while they used the SPS Satellite to create energon cubes. When Optimus Prime arrived to halt their scheme, the three Reflectors attacked him, but were easily swatted aside. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #5

In a dark alternate future where the Decepticons had conquered Earth, three black Reflectors guarded human slaves imprisoned near a factory, but were killed by Ratchet, Tomax and Xamot. As this future was also full of multiple Sweeps, Insecticon swarms and Ravage packs, it is possible these Reflectors were some sort of clones. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II #3

Viewfinder was present for a Decepticon gathering on Cybertron, during which Serpent O.R. took control of the Decepticon army. The Art of War #3 During a subsequent Decepticon assault on an Autobot peace ceremony, the Reflector trio were charged with delivering a message to Optimus Prime. After being carried to Prime in Menasor's palm, Viewfinder used his chest lens to project a hologram of Serpent O.R., allowing the Decepticon leader to negotiate with Prime. Reflector came under attack by Jetfire during the negotiation, but Viewfinder managed to continue the transmission despite being injured. The Art of War #4

IDW comics continuity

Early in the war, the Reflector trio tried to stop an Autobot prison break in the Citadel only to be blown away by Springer. Rise

The three Reflector units found themselves on a ship, which crashed on LV-117. Viewfinder was killed in the crash when a large piece of the bridge's canopy shattered and impaled him through the chest. Spectro and Spyglass survived and eventually they located Wheelie, who had previously crashed on the same planet and had been building an escape vessel with a friendly alien. They managed to hijack the vessel shortly before it launched by threatening to kill Wheelie's friend, but the tiny Autobot removed the safety catch from his energon converter before disembarking, causing it to explode violently shortly after takeoff. Spotlight: Wheelie

Spectro and Spyglass were later seen, no worse for wear, aboard a Decepticon orbital outpost, terrified of walking down the same hallway as Sixshot. Spotlight: Sixshot

In Spotlight: Sixshot, Spyglass and Spectro appear in their toy based character models.

All three Reflector units (speaking entirely in unison), eventually joined Megatron on Earth, and helped defeat the Autobots there. All Hail Megatron #7 Following this victory, the Reflector trio help destroy New York City along with the other Decepticons. All Hail Megatron #3 Spectro and Spyglass enjoyed "playing games" with the city's fleshy inhabitants, but were disappointed about how easily they came apart. Viewfinder preferred to brood by himself, while still echoing the other two's dialogue. All Hail Megatron #8 Reflector stayed with Megatron when Starscream rebelled against his leader All Hail Megatron #10, and fought back against the Autobots when they returned to Earth. All Hail Megatron #11 The Decepticons were ultimately defeated All Hail Megatron #12 and Viewfinder and Spectro left the planet aboard Astrotrain. All Hail Megatron #13

Spyglass was left behind, however, and was still trying to get off the planet two years later. New Arrivals, Old Encounters

In the aftermath of the war with Galvatron and D-Void, the trio was instructed by Shockwave to undertake a special mission involving the theft of Turmoil's time-sliding space cruiser. Night and the City

Alternity

Three Reflector units hailing from an unknown universal stream were among the minions serving under Megatron during his complicated, cross-dimensional war with the Autobot Alternity. This incarnation of Reflector was a Pretender, with each of his components able to disguise itself as an ordinary-sized human being.

Reflector was dispatched to universal stream 905.0 Beta to search for the source of a new dimensional flux of previously unheard type. In their Pretender guises, the trio tracked the source of the disruption to the Otsuka Museum of Art, and found that it was a strange tablet. Reflector was about to make off with the tablet when he was accosted by Bumblebee and Elita Seven, and his components promptly dropped their Pretender forms to battle the little Autobot. Unfortunately for Reflector, he was no match for the unearthly powers of an Alternity: Bumblebee snatched the tablet away, and with a snap of his fingers, reduced Reflector to a nearly two-dimensional state. From across the dimensions, Megatron saw his minions collapse like paper, and lashed out with his tesseractal swords, destroying the museum and the tablet, and wounding Bumblebee. By the time Bumblebee came to, Reflector was long gone. The World Is Flat!

Wings Universe

The Reflector trio were "one" of fourteen Warlords that arose championing the Decepticon cause. His / their legion, the Photons, were an endless series of identical Cybertronians apparently patterned after their leader. As the Autobot Elite Guard began picking off the Decepticon Warlords one at a time, Reflector attended the War Councils with the other Decepticon leaders to discuss strategy. It was Reflector who suggested they pool secrets and information for the greater good of the Decepticon cause. It was also Reflector who assimilated his / their Photons into the ranks of Megatron's Decepticons after the Warlords gave up their secrets to each other. This merger allowed him / them to avoid certain destruction when Deathsaurus sent an unwitting suicide bomber to the next council meeting, wiping out all the remaining Warlords besides Megatron. A Team Effort

As Devastator breached Iacon's walls, Reflector was there with the rest of Megatron's forces. Battle Lines, Part 5

Games

Sector Seven game

Dubbed "Non-Biological Entity - 115", a video of Reflector transforming in the midst of a child's birthday party reached the public through "hacked evidence" files. Sector Seven (game)

Toys

Generation 1

File:G1 Reflector toy.jpg

We three kings of orient are... Left to right: Spectro, Viewfinder, Spyglass

• Reflector (Mail-away, 1986/1987; wide release in Japan, 1985)
  • Japanese ID number: 21
  • Accessories: Spectro's "Shutter Gun", Viewfinder's "Lens Laser", Spyglass' "Optic Blaster", flash cube/missile launcher, 3 missiles, telephoto lens.

Reflector was first sold in Japan in 1985 as an ordinary retail item. However, Hasbro delayed selling him in the US until 1986, and only then via mail-order from a direct-mail flyer promoting The Transformers: The Movie. (Oddly, this came just as the character was being fully phased out of the fiction.) The toy would be a common offering in pack-in flyers from then on, at a cost of $10 and two Robot Points.

Reflector is composed of three distinct robots that combine to form a camera: Viewfinder as the central component with the lens, Spectro as the right-side component with the shutter button, and Spyglass as the left-side component with the flash. It includes a telephoto lens and old-style flashcube that doubles as a missile launcher, but of course, the Hasbro version has the spring-loaded mechanism neutered for safety reasons. Undocumented in the instructions is that the telephoto lens is supposed to fit onto Viewfinder's gun to reduce kibble.

• More information on (part of) Reflector at TFU.info
• More info on another part of Reflector at TFU'info
• More info on yet another part of Reflector at TFU.info

Merchandise

Transformers Milk Caramel

• Reflector (1985)

A small soft-rubber figurine of Reflector (known as a keshigomu in Japan) was released as part of Kabaya's Transformers Milk Caramel line of candy toys. Based specifically on the Viewfinder toy, the figure was available in multiple colors and came packaged with a piece of chocolate-covered caramel.

Decoy

"HI! I'M SUPPOSED TO BE CONSPICUOUS! AM I DOING IT RIGHT? HI!"

• Destron Hero Collection 22 (multi-pack, 1986)

Reflector was among the larger keshigomu developed by Takara, molded from soft purple rubber and initially sold in a multi-pack with twenty-one other Decepticon figurines. The figure, based on Reflector's animation model (unlike the earlier Caramel figure), features a number etched into its back which is the sum total of Reflector's Tech Spec ratings, for use in the various simple games that could be played with the figures. Reflector was later available in a peach coloration as part of various other multi-packs.

• Reflector (1987)
  • Decoy number: 52

The Reflector figurine was later brought over to Hasbro markets as part of the Decoy promotion, largely identical to the Japanese release except for the fact that the number on his back was replaced with a simple "checklist" number (52, in Reflector's case). Like all Decepticons Decoys, he was a randomly-chosen pack-in available with the carded Throttlebots, Stunticons, Combaticons and Terrorcons, and was, very early on in the promotion, available in an alternate red coloration that was only packed in with the Throttlebots. Unsurprisingly, this red figurine is much rarer.

• More information on Reflector at TFU.info

Notes

Say "Cheese" and die.

• Reflector was originally the "Camera Robo" from Takara's Micro Change sub-series of the New Microman line. The only noteworthy difference between the two releases, besides the whole missile-launcher-neuter-in-the-United-States thing, is that the Microman release has "MICROX" emblazoned on the center unit's decals instead of "REFLECTOR".

• Not so surprisingly, the Camera Robo was first designed as a single unit. Apparently, the primary designer of the final toy, and possibly this initial design, was mecha designer Shinji Aramaki, who designed the robots for Megazone 23 and Genesis Climber Mospeada.

• Reflector's role early in the cartoon makes it seem likely his toy was originally planned for inclusion in the initial 1984 line, a theory supported by the inclusion of a Hasbro product code consistent with the other 1984 toys in Teletraan I's files on the Decepticons in "Heavy Metal War". Why Hasbro decided not to release it so late in the game is unknown, as is the reason they later reversed that decision to make it a viable mail-away.

• In the Japanese dub of The Transformers cartoon, and in true anime fashion, Reflector announces the name of his special attack every time he uses it: "Flash Beam!"

• At BotCon 2010, it was announced at the Hasbro design panel that Reflector was being considered as the redeco for the Reveal the Shield Perceptor toy, using a built-in alternate head for the mold that was designed to look like Perceptor's toy head (which does bear a passing resemblance to Viewfinder). However, with both the Reveal the Shield and Generations brand segments over, it is presently unknown where this concept will end up.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Reflector (リフレクター Rifurekutā)