Smokescreen (G1)
| The name or term "Smokescreen" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Smokescreen (disambiguation). |
- Smokescreen is an Autobot in the Generation 1 continuity family.
Every Autobot has a purpose, be it as a leader, a warrior, a healer, or a scout. Or, in the case of Smokescreen, a cheater. Fair fights are a foreign concept to him. If he can't outthink, charm, or just plain outrun you, he'll blind you with a magnetized cloud of smoke and shoot you a few times. And then he'll laugh at you a bit. Smokescreen affectionately refers to his teammate Powerglide as "P.G." [1]
Fiction
Animated continuity
- Voice actor: Jack Angel (US), Masashi Ebara (Japan)
After being transported to planet of giant aliens, Optimus Prime failed to introduce Smokescreen to the alien boy Aron. Smokescreen didn't seem to mind.
After fleeing the planet, the group of Autobots are captured by a Bounty Hunter and then de-energised to prevent escape. Somehow, Smokescreen is unaffected, breaking free from the containment tubes and then making a deal with said Bounty Hounter. The two head down down to a nearby planet where Smokescreen gambles away the freedom of his friends after his cheating is stopped by a small Jawa looking creature. Well done, Smokescreen.
He eventually makes good on his debt thanks to the help of Autobot bounty hunter Devcon. And the Autobots drive into the darkened horizon of the gambling planet.
In the original Storyboards for The Transformers: The Movie, it was Smokescreen who lay dead, rather than Wheeljack.
Binaltech storyline
Marvel Comics continuity
Generation 1
(Re?)constructed on Earth by Wheeljack when the Autobots' forces were depleted, Smokescreen had his mind downloaded into a new body from a memory crystal. He only became involved in several missions before Grimlock assumed control of the Autobots and took the Ark back out into space and away from Earth. Smokescreen was later destroyed battling the combined Decepticon armies in the Underbase Saga. Either that, or Starscream killed him. Dark Star
Generation 2
Smokescreen was fighting alongside his friend, Inferno, and some former Wreckers against the Cybertronian Empire. However, he suffered heavy damage and was apparently killed in battle. Escalation!
Find Your Fate Junior
Desert Flight Back on Cybertron, Smokescreen's home was almost sent flying off into space when the Decepticons attacked with an unstable anti-gravity weapon.
3H Universe Comics
Dreamwave Comics Continuity
Smokescreen and Inferno were under Grimlock's leadership in the Lightning Strike Coalition during the Dark Ages. After the Great Shutdown, Smokescreen returned to civilian life while the Unified Cybertronian government rose up around him. Initially complacement with shared rule with the Decepticons, Smokescreen's optics were opened thanks to the revolutionary actions of the young Autobot Hot Rod and his followers. Smokescreen gathered a resistance unit of his own with Tracks, Devcon, and several Minibots. Thanks to his Autobot connections in the Triple-Changer Strike Force, Smokescreen managed to get Prowl and the rest of the Ark's crew released from custody to join up with his cell. This soon led to a successful insurrection, clearing out Shockwave and his corrupt influence, leaving Cybertron under peaceful Autobot control.
Toys
Generation 1
- Smokescreen (1985, 2002, 2003)
- Japanese ID number: 45
- Smokescreen transforms into a Datsun 280ZX Turbo based upon Electramotive Davendorf/Sharpe touring car, however, the 83 car number is reversed to 38 to avoid legal issues. He is predominantly blue, red and white in both vehicle and robot modes. Like Bluestreak and Prowl, he features two spring-loaded missile launchers mounted either side of his head, and is armed with a silver laser rifle.
- In 2002, Smokescreen was re-released as part of the Transformers Collection series in Japan. This version has slightly-altered decals, and fully-functional spring-loaded missile launchers.
- In 2003, Smokescreen was released as part of the Toys "R" Us exclusive "Commemorative Series" line in the US. This version of Prowl uses a softer , unchromed black plastic for his rifle and missiles owing to breakage issues, plus his launchers are completely non-firing. He uses the same decals as the Japanese "bookbox" release.
- Smokescreen is a retool of the Bluestreak/Prowl mold. He features a much larger front fender and has an additional spoiler on the back.
Alternators
- Smokescreen (2003, 2004)
- Alternator ID number: 1
- Japanese ID number: BT-01, BT-07
- Alternators Smokescreen transforms into a 2003 Subaru Impreza WRC rally car, with opening hood, trunk, and all four doors as well as a detailed interior. He also featured working steering and rubber tires. His robot mode is based upon his original toy, as well as his cartoon model, but with changes made to reflect modern standards of Transformers toys, as well as his new vehicle mode. He is armed with a laser rifle formed from his turbo intercooler, and has the capacity to mount two spring-loaded rocket launchers on either side of his shoulders, though these were only included with his 2004 Binaltech retool, Smokescreen GT.
- There are several major differences between the Takara Binaltech Smokescreen and Hasbro's Alternators version. While the Binaltech version of Smokescreen is constructed partially out of die-cast metal and painted in a metallic electric blue paint job, Hasbro's Alternators release has plain blue plastic. Additionally, Takara released both the number 07 Solberg / Mills and the number 08 Makinen / Lindstrom versions of the 2003 WRC car, Hasbro only released the number 08 version. There have often been complaints, however, of Binaltech Smokescreen's paint being very easy to scratch or scrape.
- In 2004, Takara retooled him for their Binaltech series into Smokescreen GT. He recieved a new front end, hood, roof, spoiler and wheels to reflect the changes made to the Team Subaru WRC car in the 2004 World Rally Championship. He also included a single spring-loaded missile launcher (with missile) that could be attached either side of his head via two small holes.
- Note: Smokescreen was actually a retool of Alternators/Binaltech Silverstreak, a stock Subaru WRX. However, the marketing department at Takara felt that the more flashy Smokescreen would make a more suitable debut toy and would grab more attention than the plain silver Streak would.
Titanium Series
- Smokescreen (3-inch Robot Masters, 2006)
- This version is of the Alternators toy, but lacks the Alternator's Subaru racing deco. While all Titanium mini-figures are somewhat squatty, Smokescreen may, in fact, be the squattiest of them all.
Trivia
- Smokescreen's original deco has been used for multiple homage toys. Armada Prowl and Cybertron Smokescreen both use the red-and-blue deco with "38" on the hood.
- Said deco is in fact based on a real-life rally car deco.
- In late 2005, Subaru displayed a life-size robot-mode prop of Binaltech Smokescreen GT using body shell parts of the then-current Impreza WRC for a corporate event. Ironically this prop had the same parts fits problems in vehicle mode that the increasingly worn-out Binaltech Smokescreen and Streak toolings would exhibit in the then-current Binaltech Asterisk Alert release.
References
- ↑ The Ballentine Find Your Fate Junior book Desert Flight
External links
