Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity
From noble swordsman to traitorous backstabber, from Decepticon to Autobot and back again, from the land of the living to an etheral existence as a ghost and beyond, the saga of Starscream is a long and storied one.
Armada cartoon
- Voice actor: Michael Dobson (English), Jin Yamanoi (Japan), José Sant'anna (Brazil), Gerd Meyer (Germany), Niclas Fransson (Sweden), Sander de Heer (The Netherlands)
Starscream accompanied Megatron's forces to Earth in 2010 in search of the lost Mini-Cons. Warping to the planet shortly after his leader, Starscream and Demolishor materialized in the path of the three human children who were fleeing a battle between Megatron and Optimus Prime, but were preventing from capturing the Mini-Con with them by the sudden appearance of Hot Shot and Red Alert. After temporarily withdrawing to their new base on Earth's moon—where Starscream snickered as Megatron berated the lackadaisical Cyclonus—the Decepticons returned with new Earthly alternate modes and made another attempt on the humans and their Mini-Con friends. Metamorphosis Starscream's new jet mode gave him no advantage against the Mini-Con empowered Autobots, and the villains soon retreated to base once more, where Starscream and Demolishor got into a fight over who was Megatron's favored subordinate. Irritated with their antics, Megatron presented Demolishor with the sole Mini-Con the Decepticons had been able to recover and charged Starscream with finding his own, infuriating the younger 'bot. Base
Starscream was intent on taking the Mini-Con detected in Big Canyon for himself, but Megatron ordered him to stay behind at the base while the other Decepticons went after it. Disobeying orders, Starscream warped down and interfered with the fight, only to be caught offguard by Perceptor, allowing Optimus to obtain the Mini-Con. Comrade A severe "disciplining" from Megatron did not dissuade him, and during the next Mini-Con quest in Antarctica, Starscream succeeded in locating the Mini-Con's storage panel in a crevasse wall. Starscream retrieved the panel after a tussle with Hot Shot, but when Red Alert snatched it away, Starscream fired upon him and wound up causing an avalanche, knocking himself into the crevice's depths. Soldier
Starscream blamed his lack of Mini-Con for his poor performance in a training simulation, but when the next storage panel was found during a forest battle, Megatron refused his request, intending to keep it for himself. While Megatron was occupied battling Optimus Prime, however, Starscream swooped in and grabbed the panel, opening it and bonding with the Mini-Con within, Swindle. With the new null laser cannons Swindle granted him, Starscream sent the Autobots packing, and gave Megatron more than a little cause for concern. Jungle
He proceeded to strut around the base with Swindle on his shoulder, making fun of Demolishor, Carnival but his mockery was soon to be replaced with concern; when Megatron forced Demolishor to hand over the next Mini-Con he found to him, Starscream took no delight in this mistreatment of his comrade. Palace
Starscream helped enact Megatron's plan to force the Autobots to trade their captured human friends for the Mini-Cons, but it met with failure. Confrontation Later, he helped the Decepticons explore the American underground for the next Mini-Con, but confined and unable to fly, he had Swindle do his searching for him, to no avail. Underground He had similarly little luck in an underwater scuffle with Hot Shot when the Mini-Con quest took the Transformers to a sub-aquatic ruin, Ruin and his misfortune continued during the battle that following on a volcanic island. Prehistory After this run of failures, the Decepticons got proactive, invading the Autobot base to capture the Mini-Cons that together formed the Star Saber sword, but in the course of the attack, Starscream was lured into a hall of mirrors by Red Alert and fell down a shaft. He tried to fly back up it in jet mode, but Red shut a series of panels on top of him, clipping his wings. Swoop
Though successfully formed, the Star Saber wound up in Autobot hands, and Starscream felt the blade's power for himself when Hot Shot unleashed it against him during their next meeting. Furious over the defeat and with his anger only stoked by insults toward his capabilities by the Decepticons' new member Scavenger, Starscream challenged Hot Shot to one-on-one combat when next they clashed. Starscream gave a better account of himself in this rematch, but he met defeat once again when the Star Saber cleaved his own sword in two. Overmatch After helping Megatron supervise Scavenger's excavation efforts during the search for the next Mini-Con, Gale Starscream got another chance against Hot Shot when the young Autobot and his new teammate Sideways were inadvertently warped to the moon. Starscream was on the verge of defeat yet again until Sideways revealed himself to be a traitor and knocked the sword from Hot Shot's grasp, straight into Starscream's waiting hands. Credulous
With the Star Saber now his to command, Starscream's arrogance grew, as did his lack of popularity with the other Decepticons. To remedy this, Megatron had Leader-1 fire on Starscream during combat with the Autobots in a fog-shrouded forest. The lack of visibility caused Starscream to mistakenly believe Demolishor was an Autobot shooting at him, and would have cleaved him in two with the Star Saber if Megatron had not blocked the strike. With the weight of his teammates opinion regarding his ability to wield the blade against him, Starscream was forced to hand the Star Saber over to Megatron. Conspiracy After this incident, Scavenger disappeared, and Starscream—still smarting from his barbs—opined that he had switched sides, and demanded the right to bring him in. Megatron refused, but Starscream did still accompany all the Decepticons on the mission to track Scavenger down, during which they found out he had indeed sided with Optimus Prime's forces. Trust
After narrowly avoiding Megatron's wild swings of the Star Saber during a training exercise, Vacation Starscream partook in the clash over the final Mini-Con necessary to form the Skyboom shield, which the Decepticons successfully obtained. Reinforcement Starscream kept the Autobots busy during the next battle while Megatron unleashed both Star Saber and Skyboom on Optimus Prime, but was shot down by Smokscreen. Decisive Battle A little later, Starscream and the other Decepticons stayed on the moon while Megatron orchestrated a plan of his own; he and Sideways were very unenthusiastic about it. Vow
After the Decepticons met with failure on the battlefield again, Megatron chose to pin the blame for the loss on Starscream—despite the fact he had followed orders correctly—and began brutalizing him upon their return to base. The abuse only ended when Demolishor and Sideways blasted their way into the room to stop Megatron from killing their comrade. Seeing a chance to disrupt the Decepticon power structure, Sideways spun lies to manipulate the brooding Starscream's emotions and coerce him into challenging Megatron to a duel. The resultant clash was a brief and vicious one; Megatron took the upper hand immediately, and although his taunts galvanized Starscream and gave him the strength to fight back and tip the fight in his favor for a while, Megatron eventually emerged victorious. Unwilling to beg for his life, Starscream merely urged Megatron to finish him, but the Decepticon leader spared him with the observation that he was a good soldier who might someday in the future have the strength to best him. Rebellion
Following another confrontation with the Autobots, Tactician the Decepticons were joined by tactician Thrust, whose prowess was well-known to Starscream. Thrust was likewise impressed with Starscream's abilities and enlisted him as his second for his first battle plan against the Autobots, which involved trapping them in a canyon and strafing them from the air. The plan was foiled by the arrival of Jetfire, who personally blew Starscream out of the sky. Tactician Starscream got some revenge soon after when he and Thrust hit Jetfire with an airborne assault, but Starscream got shot down again when the Autobot revealed his ability to combine with Optimus Prime. Linkup
Growing suspicious of Sideways after recent events, Starscream joined the Decepticons effort to root him out, discovering that he was an agent of a mysterious greater power. Once he was forced from their ranks, Starscream and the Decepticons engaged the Autobots in a beachfront battle, Detection dogfighting with Jetfire again Awakening then strafing Hot Shot. Desperate
After recuperating back at base Runaway and being present for the arrival of new member Wheeljack, Past II Starscream found himself wielding the Star Saber once again, control of the weapon ceded to him by Megatron as part of a plan to lure out the Autobots so that the Decepticon could steal the third and final Mini-Con weapon, the Requiem Blaster, from them. Taking to the battlefield solo, Starscream caused havoc with the sword, only for it to deactivate in his hands as Optimus Prime's lectures wormed their way inside his head. Surrounded by the Autobots, Starscream called for aid from his fellow Decepticons, only to discover that he had been completely abandoned—he had, without his knowledge, been used as a mere decoy while his teammates invaded the Autobot base and stole the Requiem Blaster. Sacrifice
Returning to base dejected and furious, Starscream tried to unwind with an energy bath, but his anger boiled over when he was ordered to return the Star Saber Mini-Cons to Megatron and overhead his leader and Thrust mocking him. He proceeded to go on a rampage through the Decepticon base, turning the Saber's power on his fellows and clashing with Megatron and the Requiem Blaster. Seeking asylum with the Autobots, he flew to Earth with Tidal Wave in pursuit, crash landing near the Autobots' base. At the Star Saber Mini-Cons' behest, Optimus Prime used the Saber to protect Starscream, and gave him the benefit of the doubt when he claimed he wanted to join the Autobots to help them take down Megatron. To prove his good faith, Starscream provided them with the contents of his databanks to decode, but Hot Shot was not so easily swayed, and he and Starscream began fighting. Their face-off was interrupted by Smokescreen (rebuilt with a new body), who put a stop to their brawl. Regeneration
Using the information provided by Starscream, the Autobots proceeded to stage an invasion of the Decepticons' moonbase. Optimus instructed Starscream to hold back and use his knowledge of the base's layout to help locate and liberate the Decepticons' captive Mini-Cons, and, though hungry for payback against Megatron, Starscream complied. When Hot Shot was in dire straits during a battle with Megatron, however, Starscream came to his aid, and the pair united their strength to topple the Decepticon leader. Starscream was eager to end Megatron's life, but upon the succesful evacuation of the Mini-Cons, Optimus called for retreat, forcing Starscream to choose between his hew alliance and his desire for revenge. In the end, he returned to Earth with the Autobots, but was left feeling that he did not truly belong with them either. Rescue
Both his Mini-Con partners and the human Alexis attempted to console him, but he was too consumed by his own self-doubt. Soon thereafter, Starscream's flight capabilities saw him drafted to join Jetfire on a mission to Mars to recover a Mini-Con, during which he was shot down by Tidal Wave. By the time Jetfire had located him, Starscream was so wrapped up in self-pity that he refused to do as his Autobot superior ordered, forcing Jetfire to handcuff him and charge him with dereliction of duty. On the return trip to Earth, the pair discovered the object of their quest on an asteroid, but were then attacked by Tidal Wave once again; speaking with real passion for the Autobot cause, Starscream was able to talk the Mini-Con, Firebot, into turning its weapons on the giant Decepticon. It looked like the pair were home free, only for Megatron to appear in their path with the Requiem Blaster in hand. Brought into proximity for the first time, the blaster, the Star Saber and the Skyboom (wielded by Jetfire) resonated with one another, causing a huge flare of energy that covered Jetfire and Starscream's escape. Back on Earth, Alexis thanked Starscream for his efforts and told him she was sure the Autobots were the right fit for him, and while he seemed to brush her words off, she soon discovered that he had brought back a bejewelled rock from Mars as a souvenir for her and the other kids. Mars
Uninterested in helping the Autobots build a spaceship to return to Cybertron, Starscream stalked off to his quarters where he was shocked to find Alexis and the other kids throwing him a surprise party to thank him for the Martian rock, gifting him with a handmade chamois. A little later, detecting a curious signal, Starscream ventured out to investigate and was confronted by Thrust, who (secretly working towards his own goals in conjunction with Sideways) petitioned him to return to the Decepticons and help him take Megatron down from within. Thrust suggested that he steal the Skyboom shield to "prove" to Megatron his desire to rejoin him, but Starscream refused. Unfortunately, Billy and Fred overhead their conversation and raced off to tell the Autobots, who were quick to turn on Starscream when he returned to the base after they could not find the Skyboom Mini-Cons anywhere. Unbeknownst to anyone, the kids had merely taken the Mini-Cons out for a walk, but the Autobots' deep-seated distrust of Starscream had been made evident—confronting Thrust in battle again a short time later, Starscream found himself swayed by the Decepticon's silver tongue, and swooped into the battlefield below, snatching up the Skyboom and departing alongside Thrust, back in the Decepticon fold again, but vowing never to forget his new human friends. Crack
Soon thereafter, Sideways and Thrust approached Starscream, planting seeds of doubt in his mind. This eventually caused him to steal the Skyboom shield from the Autobots and return to the Decepticon fold (for a chance to defeat Megatron by working from the inside), giving the Decepticons possession of all three Mini-Con weapons. Crack
As Megatron readied his new super weapon to attack Earth, Starscream began to suffer a serious moral crisis. He had returned to the Decepticons but he still viewed those he'd left behind on Earth as his friends, and was torn between following orders, and a desire not to harm them. At times he found compromises, for instance, as Optimus led an attack to stop Megatron using the three Mini-Con weapons, Starscream, currently battling Jetfire, spotted one of the Decepticons sneaking up on Prime. Starscream then attacked Jetfire, allowing himself to be thrown away, and collided with the Decepticon who would have attacked Prime.
Subsequently, Starscream was among the Transformers injured battling Nemesis Prime, and who then received "Powerlinx" power boosts from their Mini-Cons. Starscream gained a new, blue coloration that he commented made him look like his contemporary, Thundercracker, with disgust just dripping from his tone. Returning to Cybertron, Starscream pursued Thrust into the depths of the planet when the turncoat tactician revealed his treachery by stealing the Requiem Blaster and Skyboom shield. Starscream took a fatal shot from the Requiem Blaster as he battled Thrust in the subterranean tunnels, but the Mini-Con High Wire used his powers to restructure the timeline, saving Starscream (and throwing the human kids back in time, and.. well, it's confusing). Thrust escaped and delivered the weapons to Sideways and his master, Unicron, presently disguised as Cybertron's moon. Following Thrust through a warp gate and briefly reuniting with Alexis, Starscream entered the belly of the beast along with Hot Shot and Wheeljack, but the unlikely trio were stymied by Unicron's internal defenses and failed to stop Sideways from using the weapons to begin Unicron's reactivation.
Megatron—now Galvatron—was unwilling to acknowledge Unicron's threat, dismissing it as an Autobot trick, but Starscream knew the threat was real, and that only united under a true leader like Optimus Prime—whose strength of character and nobility had touched Starscream during his time with the Autobots—could the Transformers hope to stop him. To show Galvatron the error of his ways, he challenged him to a duel in which he allowed Galvatron to run him through with the Star Saber. Galvatron realized what happened and demanded to know what possessed Starscream to do such a thing.
Starscream told him that he tried to gain Galvatron's respect, but nothing was ever good enough, no matter how many battles he fought, his leader always found fault. Optimus Prime treated his men with respect, and was thus a leader of integrity, unlike Galvatron. But that didn't matter anymore, and after tearing the Star Saber out with his bare hands, Starscream turned his full firepower onto Unicron. The Chaos Bringer promptly obliterated him, to the shock of both Galvatron and Optimus Prime. When the dust settled, Galvatron stood reflecting upon Starscream's last words, and as a gesture, handed his enemy the Star Saber.
Unfortunately, Sideways ran off with it two seconds later. But it's the thought that counts.
Alexis, who Starscream had formed a close bond with, was deeply affected by his death. Cramp
Energon cartoon
- Voice actor: Michael Dobson (English), Nobuo Tobita (Japanese), Niclas Fransson (Swedish), Sander de Heer (The Netherlands), Mieczyslaw Moranski (Polish)
Ten years after Starscream's death, when Megatron seized control of Unicron's body by ousting its former occupant, the alien being Alpha Quintesson, the evicted extra-terrestrial needed an assassin to eliminate Megatron so that he could return to his original task of recreating the worlds destroyed by Unicron. Using what little energon he had left, Alpha Q recreated another victim of Unicron—Starscream. However, Alpha Q ran out of energon before the process could be completed, leaving Starscream incomplete—his memory blank, and his body unstable, constantly shifting from a physical to an ethereal form, able to teleport by "ghosting" from location to location. Megatron Raid
Alpha Q unleashed Starscream upon Ocean City, where he battled Optimus Prime and then tracked Megatron back to Unicron's body. Even his awesome new abilities proved no match for the Decepticon leader, who used Unicron's power to brainwash Starscream, turning him into his right-hand man and most loyal subordinate.
Rather ironically, Megatron now treated Starscream with far more respect than previously, even entrusting him with some of the most difficult missions. Later, when Megatron became Galvatron again through immersion in a subterranean reservoir of Super Energon on Cybertron, Starscream was allowed to do the same as a reward for his loyalty; the influx of power stabilized his physical form, while allowing him to retain his teleporting powers. When Galvatron was subsequently possessed by Unicron, Primus used the Super Energon to create a sun, and Galvatron plunged himself into it in order to contain Unicron's spark within it. Starscream seemingly sacrificed himself as well, diving into the sun alongside his leader. The Sun
Cybertron cartoon
- Voice actor: Michael Dobson (English), Takaya Kuroda (Japanese), Mieczyslaw Moranski (Polish)
A decade after the Powerlinx Battles (as they were called), when Primus's plan to contain Unicron's spark at the core of the energon sun failed, the sun collapsed, becoming a deadly black hole that threatened Cybertron. Along with Megatron, Starscream was freed from the sun, his mind his own once more and his body refurbished into yet another new form. He had no memory at all of what happened, but then it seems no one did.
Megatron began his campaign to acquire the legendary Cyber Planet Keys by stealing the map that showed their locations from the ancient Transformer, Vector Prime while Starscream created a diversion that kept the other Autobots busy. During the fight, Starscream sent Landmine tumbling into the black hole, but Vector Prime saved him at the last moment, opening a dimensional gate that teleported him to Earth. Fallen The Autobots and Decepticons followed, and when it was deduced that the Cyber Planet Keys' focusing device, the Omega Lock, was hidden somewhere on the planet, Megatron charged Starscream with locating it while he focused on acquiring the Cyber Planet Key of Velocitron, the Speed Planet.
Little did Megatron suspect, however, that Starscream had evolved a new ambition—now, he sought to oust Megatron and become the leader of the Decepticons, then the universe. Unlike those with similar goals, however, Starscream was smart enough to keep his intentions to himself, quietly working to achieve his goals through subtle means. While on a brief mission to attack Red Alert on Velocitron, Starscream was able to secretly switch Megatron's map with a copy that would play an important role later, and in an attempt to acquire more troops loyal to him, recruited the disillusioned Autobot Mudflap into his service on Earth. He later crossed paths once again with the mysterious Sideways, who saw in him the best chance to achieve his own goals.
With the Autobots having successfully acquired the Omega Lock and the Cyber Planet Keys from Velocitron and the Jungle Planet, Starscream realized it was time to step up his agenda. His duplicate planet map led Megatron and the other Decepticons to a dead sector of space and sealed them within a metal sphere, freeing Starscream to search for the third Cyber Planet Key, from Earth itself. Encountering the Autobot monster-hunter, Crosswise—one of the ancient Transformers whose ancestors had come to Earth with the Cyber Planet Key eons ago, who had recently been reactivated—Starscream discovered a vast underground holding cell in which Crosswise had imprisoned the ancient Decepticons of his time. Trap
Liberating them, Starscream took command of their forces and began a planet-wide search for the Cyber Planet Key, fighting back the Autobot and human military resistance. Invasion The Autobots had Crosswise's ally Evac recover the key from its hiding place in preparation for a retreat to Velocitron, but Starscream fought his way through the entire Autobot army and confronted Optimus Prime himself, successfully purloining the lock and all three keys by endangering the Autobots' human allies and drawing Prime out of the fight. Retreat
Retreating to a small volcanic island in the South Pacific, Starscream attempted to harness the power of the Cyber Planet Keys. Megatron, meanwhile, had been freed by Scourge, and immediately sought retribution, only to wind up clashing with the Autobots first. The extra time this afforded Starscream allowed him to tap the power of the keys and harness a fragment of the spark of Primus, growing to a gigantic height, complete with a familiar crown with which he crowned himself "Emperor of the Universe". With an extra power boost courtesy of his combination with Wing Saber, Optimus Prime was able to defeat Starscream, but Sideways teleported his body away to the ancient starship Atlantis to recuperate. Starscream
Starscream had Jolt as a prisoner, and Jolt bargained (unsuccessfully) for Starscream to let him go. He also supervised Sideways, whom he accused of slacking off by listening to music instead of downloading Jolt's memory. Starscream established his dislike for "useless things" and Sideways was off to work. Still, Starscream was delighted upon seeing Optimus Prime and Megatron battle on Primus' surface, comparing it to fireworks. When Sideways returned with a new proposition on how to get Jolt's memory, Starscream agreed with him and then went off to snatch the Omega Lock. When he arrived at Primus, he met up with Thunderblast, who tried to apologize for betraying him, but Starscream wouldn't believe it unless she stole the Omega Lock for him, leaving after she accepted. (Well, it was either obey or be blasted to smithereens.) Of course, as soon as Starscream left, Thunderblast began complaining about him, going as far as to insult his "giant, ugly butt". Ouch. Memory
Not longer thereafter, when the Cyber Planet Keys were used by the Autobots to awaken Primus and transform Cybertron into his body, Starscream attempted a rather pitiful attack on the god, only to be swatted away like an insect. Later, when the Autobots assembled an energy converter that would allow Primus to direct his energy against the black hole in beam form, Starscream sensed the release of power and had Sideways warp the Atlantis into range. Plunging himself into the energy beam, Starscream tapped into Primus's powers once more, and this time, grew to planetary size. Ultimately, however, he fared little better in combat with the creator, winding up bludgeoned into submission by Cybertron's moons and drained of his excess power. Titans
The discovery of the fourth Cyber Planet Key on Gigantion, the Giant Planet, set Starscream racing to acquire the key first, but Landmine reached it ahead of him and was able to use its power to pay him back for past indignities by growing to his size and pummeling him. Optimus Subsequently, Megatron—now Galvatron—stole the Omega Lock and all four keys, and Starscream challenged him to a final battle for possession of them. Declaring that he had given himself over to his pursuit of power, and had no reason to hold back as he had nothing to lose, Starscream engaged his former leader in battle. Throughout the fight Starscream was easily the aggressor using his ability to increase the mass of his body, and null cannons. This reduced Galvatron to the point where he was on the verge of destruction. At the climatic point of the battle, Starscream and Galvatron both channeled unprecedented levels of energy, and so incredible was the reaction when the two fully-powered combatants collided that space and time itself was rent asunder by the final explosion. Starscream was hurtled into another dimension along with the interfering Sideways and Soundwave. Only his crown was left, seen floating through space. Showdown
Finally, after Galvatron had been defeated in battle within the black hole, Starscream's spirit reached out across the dimensions, apparently via the fire dimension, to encourage him to fight on, adding a little extra motivation when Galvatron acquired Starscream's crown, crushing it in his hand.
As the Autobots made preparations to begin their new galaxy-spanning space bridge initiative, Wing Saber—having departed from the rest of the Autobots to continue with his "loner" lifestyle—radioed Optimus to report that he had found a lead on Starscream's trail and was pursuing it. Landmine and a reformed Mudflap departed to aid him, and would eventually encounter Starscream within what appeared to be the fire dimension. Beginning
Cybertron comic
Starscream killed the Mini-Con Over-Run as the little guy was uploading himself into Cybertron's planetary mainframe. Revelations Part 2
