Strafe (G1)
| The name or term "Strafe" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Strafe (disambiguation). |
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- Strafe is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Strafe is a really nice guy, one of the kindest, gentlest mechanoids you could ever hope to meet, and he's a crack shot with his heat-ray rifle, too. It's said that Strafe can burn a hole in a screw head (size not specified) from two miles away. Too bad he can't tighten up the loose screws in his own cranial module, though. He's got a case of nerves that could very well cause Red Alert to fear for his job security, and when startled he tends to SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT FIRE FIRE BANG BANG BANG KILL KILL KILL IT DEAD DEAD DEAD without stopping to aim or analyze the threat, and doesn't quit until he's shot down or runs out of heat-ray charges. Sometimes, though, all is quiet... too quiet... and he doesn't like that, either. SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT FIRE FIRE BANG BANG KILL KILL KILL...
He can combine with the other Technobots to form Computron, and seems to make a rather calm limb. Sometimes he's a Targetmaster, in which case his partner is Rocketbot.
| “ | I mean, we got us some fast action! Hard action! Action hard and fast! Action to get the old pumps pumpin'! Action to — HUH? — YAHOOOO! | ” |
—Strafe, always excitable, "Money Is Everything" | ||
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Generation 1
Strafe was among the Autobots who departed Cybertron with Fortress Maximus to escape the cycle of war without end. When the refugees sought peace on the planet Nebulos, Strafe put in an uncredited appearance as Computron's arm, helping to defend the resort city of Splendora against Abominus. Love and Steel!
Their travels taking them to Earth, Strafe and his fellow Technobots bravely attempted to defend of Buenos Aires against the Underbase-powered Starscream, but were felled virtually instantly by the villain's cosmic power. Dark Star
Marvel UK future timelines
In 2008, Strafe was one of several Autobots stationed at Autobase on Cybertron under the command of Ultra Magnus. Responding to a mysterious call for help, they discovered that astonishingly, the call came from the Decepticons. Even more astonishing, it was genuine. Strafe and the Autobots joined forces with their Decepticon counterparts in driving a marauding crew of Quintessons off the planet. Space Pirates!
After the Time Wars rebooted future history, Strafe was next seen stationed at Autobot City in 2009. When the Autobot evacuation ship from Cybertron crashed down instead of landing safely, Strafe flew out to help alongside Blaster, Perceptor and Afterburner. Shadow of Evil What they found was Autobot commander Rodimus Prime, aglow with evil and possessed by the living malice of Unicron that had infected the Matrix a year earlier. Strafe was apparently killed in the resulting conflict before Rodimus regained control of his actions. White Fire
In another alternate future, the last Decepticon was destroyed by Springer and the Wreckers in 2510. However, as Rodimus Prime announced the end of the war and prepared to hand over leadership to Springer, the Autobots soon came to blows over a misunderstanding caused by Strafe's ally Triton and the war broke out again almost as soon as it had ended. Strafe and the Technobots formed a new faction under Ultra Magnus, battling against the Wreckers. Peace
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice actor: Steve Bulen (English), Kōji Totani (Japanese), Kenichi Sakaguchi (Japanese, "The Rebirth"), Ulrich Bernsdorff (German, Grimlocks New Brain), Reinhard Brock (German, Money is Everything), Hans-Rainer Müller (German, The Rebirth, Part 1)
Strafe was created, like the other Technobots, by the temporarily super-intelligent Grimlock from components found within Unicron's head. The exuberant newborn Autobot was immediately presented with the task of using his flight and firepower to disable Unicron's internal defenses, which he accomplished with ease. The Technobots were subsequently dispatched to aid the Autobots fighting on Unicron's surface against the Terrorcons, and defeated their combined form of Abominus by merging into Computron. Grimlock's New Brain
Less than a week later, Strafe the other Technobots were assigned to an Earth Defense Command science unit in order to learn how to interact with humans. When reports came in from EDC headquarters of an unknown spacecraft entering the planet's atmosphere, Strafe joined Scattershot and Marissa Faireborn in investigating, and in his eagerness for some action, Strafe wound up opening fire on the craft. He was too busy watching it crash and congratulating himself to notice that the ship had actually been pursued by Hun-Grr of the Terrorcons, who took both him and Scattershot down, but the pair were saved from the two-headed terror by the timely arrival of the rest of their Technobot comrades. The crashed ship's owner, unscrupulous trader Dirk Manus, agreed to lead the heroes to a hidden Quintesson base he had discovered on Titan, and Strafe, Scattershot and Lightspeed set off with him the next day. Strafe had little patience for Lightspeed's rambling on the beauty of space, but soon found himself something much worse to complain about when the team was ambushed by Abominus and sent plummeting to the moon's surface.
Nosecone, Afterburner and Faireborn soon arrived to help, but they were all rounded up by Manus and handed over to the Quintessons, the Technobots' injuries having left them unable to combine. However, the whole thing was a complex double-cross by Manus, eager for revenge on the Quintessons following a deal gone wrong; he used the molecular disassembler/reassembler known as the Recreator to heal Strafe and the Technobots' injuries, and they defeated Abominus and the Quintessons. Money Is Everything
Strafe and his team later got a chance for a rematch with the Terrorcons when they attempted to stop them stealing a heat-resistant alloy from Doctor Mark Morgan's laboratory, but this battle ended in failure for the Technobots, and Strafe was tasked with summoning First Aid to provide medical care for Morgan's daughter, who was injured in the battle. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1
Months later, Strafe was at Autobot City, talking with his fellow Technobots and the Throttlebots about what a glorious day it was, and about how every day had been a glorious one ever since they ended the threat of the Decepticons once and for all, and the days would continue to be glorious as long as... okay, you know what's coming. The Rebirth, Part 1
Japanese cartoon continuity
The Great Transformer War
Strafe and his Technobot comrades were under construction at Metroplex when the Autobots sought the aid of Doctor Dalton in improving their abilities. The Great Transformer War #1 Dalton heavily upgraded the Technobots' weaponry, allowing the combined Computron to easily outmatch the Decepticon combiner, Abominus. As the Decepticon motto goes, however: When in doubt, cheat. Galvatron outfitted the Terrorcons with "Cohesive Control Liquid", a substance that enabled them to assume control over Computron. Dalton arranged for Spike Witwicky to use a special exosuit to approach Computron safely and administer an antidote. The Great Transformer War #2
The Headmasters cartoon
In 2011, when the Decepticons launched a major attack on Cybertron, Strafe and the Technobots joined the Dinobots on the front lines of defense. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky Not long after, when Hot Rod left to search for the Matrix of Leadership on Earth, Ultra Magnus gathered Strafe and the Technobots to prevent the Decepticons from hampering his quest. Strafe and his teammates backed Hot Rod up after he located the Matrix, combining into Computron to hold off the Decepticons who had pursued him so that he could return to Cybertron. Birth of the Fantastic Double Prime
Later, after the Aeriabots fell victim to Metamorphose, the Decepticons' metal-twisting meteorite weapon, the Strafe and the Technobots were sent out to recover their damaged comrades for repairs, only to be intercepted by Cyclonus and the Terrorcons. The fighting escalated with new arrivals on both sides, with the Decepticons trying to keep their foes occupied until the meteorite reached Athenia, but soon Battleship Maximus arrived to carry the Headmasters into space to confront the meteorite, so the Technobots formed Computron and covered their retreat. Approach of the Demon Meteorite
When a giant carnivorous plant was unleashed upon San Francisco by the Decepticon, Ultra Magnus sent the Technobots to deal with the incident. Strafe joined his comrades in battling the Stunticons, first as individuals and later combined as Computron and Menasor. Head On!! Fortress Maximus Not long after, the Trainbots ran into trouble on Mars, and Strafe and his team were on the way to help when Sixshot and Trypticon intervened, keeping the Technobots occupied and unable to aid their comrades on the red planet. Explosion on Mars!! Maximus Is in Danger
Strafe and the Technobots were part of a strike team that flew to the moon to disrupt Scorponok's gathering of Decepticons. They immediately formed Computron upon entering the battle. Return of the Immortal Emperor Strafe's regiment later helped load the Trainbots with energon supplies for the destitute planet Sandra. They were attacked by the greedy Decepticons and fought back both as the mighty Computron and as individuals, using the Trainbots' large vehicle modes as a shield. SOS from Planet Sandra
Strafe and his fellow Technobots accompanied Fortress on his quest to prevent the Decepticons from stealing energy elsewhere in the galaxy. During this extended mission, Strafe and his teammates formed Computron to battle Predaking on the planet Paradise. Head Formation of Friendship Upon their return to Earth, the team were deployed to counter a Decepticon attack in Miami, where they battled Abominus as Computron, Ultra Magnus Dies!! Decepticons attacks around the Earth only continued to escalate, and Strafe and the Technobots were dispatched as Computron to one of the many battle sites. The Emperor of Destruction Vanishes on an Iceberg
When the Decepticons seemingly abandoned Earth, Strafe and the Technobots assisted Spike in rebuilding the planet after the enemy's departure. They started out by combining into Computron to help Defensor and Raiden destroy the Decepticons' Earth deserted base, wiping out all trace of the villains' presence on the planet. Miraculous Warriors, Targetmasters (Part 1)
As part of Computron, Strafe participated in the Autobots final battle with Scorponok's Decepticons at the North Pole. He lent his energies to the Headmasters' Head Formation to revitalize Fortress Maximus at the critical moment. The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 2)
Gentei! Gentei!
When Grimlock created the Technobots, he didn't build them from scratch: In actuality, he reconstructed a number of dead bodies he found within Unicron's head, former victims of the planet-eater. In the midst of a battle with the Decepticons, Strafe took the full brunt of an attack from the villains, triggering the inexplicable transformation of his body back into its original form, a body whose design Unicron had evidently mimicked when he created Cyclonus. This baffling reconfiguration merely invigorated Strafe, who gained hugely increased flight speed and a new Targetmaster partner, Rocketbot. Strafe's Gentei! Gentei! toy bio
Wings Universe
IDW Generation 1 continuity
Strafe and the other Technobots crewed the Autobot vessel Calabi-Yau, under the command of Jetfire. When strange energy emissions were detected from beneath the long-dead Cybertron, Strafe—possessed of a noticeable stutter—was nervous about landing on the planet to investigate, but accompanied Jetfire, Scattershot and Lightspped on the reconnaissance mission nonetheless. Just as they were about to return to their ship, they were captured by Bludgeon's group of Decepticons. Stormbringer #1 Strafe and the other captives were cannibalized for raw materials for Bludgeon to use in his attempt to recreate the Pretender process Stormbringer #2 but they all survived the experience and helped uncover the key to defeating the revenant Thunderwing. Stormbringer #4
Sometime later, in the aftermath of Monstructor's attack on Omega Supreme, the Technobots and the crew of the Ark-27 arrived to take the combiners into custody. Spotlight: Optimus Prime They brought them to the Garrus-9 facility, where they tried to reform the Decepticons and rid them of their "group consciousness". Before the Technobots could make much progress, the Monstructor components were stolen during a Decepticon attack. Spotlight: Arcee
As the threat of the Expansion came to light, Strafe and the Technobots used Bludgeon's Pretender technology to make shells to protect Autobots from the hazards of the Dead Universe.Spotlight: Doubledealer Using the Nightbird, they then saved the crew of the Mirror-Manifold and gave them the shells. Spotlight: Sideswipe
Following the end of the war, Strafe joined the crew of the Lost Light on their journey to find the Knights of Cybertron. He participated in a battle with a group of rogue Decepticons on the planet Temptoria. Before & After
Commercial appearances
- Strafe spotted the Terrorcons as they approached Fortress Maximus, swooping low over the monsters before returning to his teammates to prepare for their rivals' attack. While his comrades engaged the Terrorcons, Strafe lay in waiting with a snare trap, which Sinnertwin stepped into; Strafe then rocketed off, dragging the bound Terrorcon behind him. Technobots and Terrorcons commercial
- Faced with the might of Scorponok, Strafe and his fellow Technobots dodged the huge Decepticons' claws and merged into Computron to fight back, but they were quickly bowled over when Scorponok hurled a mountain at them. Computron and Scorponok commercial
Games
The Transformers (PS2)
Strafe was one of the Autobots who joined the battle on the planet Zel Samine over the powerful Zel Quartz. Combined with his fellow Technobots as Computron, he confronted the Decepticons on two occasions, first attempting to prevent them from obtaining a drillbit from the Karzite mine, and then later striving to bar their entrance to the Enormous Laser Transmission Array. The Transformers
Transformers Legends
Strafe, along his Technobot teammates, were ambushed by the Terrorcons, who feared the power of Computron. Strafe attempted to pin down the assailants while Afterburner attempted to call for reinforcements. Circuit Breaker
Toys
Generation 1
- Strafe (Technobot, 1987)
- Team ID number: TK3
- Japanese ID number: C-87
- Accessories: "Heat Ray Rifle", 2 "Light-Pulse Blasters"
- Strafe transforms into a Cybertronic "rocket plane" (according to his instructions) with twin front-mounted "light-pulse blasters". These cannons can also be used as hand-held weapons in robot mode, making him the only Technobot that can use his vehicle-mode weapons in that manner. As a Scramble City-style combiner, he can form the limb to any similar-construction super robot, though his nominal placement is as the left arm of Computron.
- Later individual releases of all five Technobots were retooled to remove their rubsign indents. There is also a packaging variant for all four small Technobots, which included a random bonus Autobot "Decoy" mini-figurine.
- Computron (Multi-pack, 1987)
- Japanese ID number: C-91
- Accessories: "Heat Ray Rifle", 2 "Light-Pulse Blasters"
- All five Technobots were also made available in a complete gift set in multiple markets. The gift set versions are identical to their individual releases.
Generation 2
- Strafe (Cyberjet, 1995)
- Accessories: 2 missiles
- For Generation 2, Strafe was given an altmode much more closely conforming to traditional aircraft designs. As a redeco of the Decepticon Cyberjet Space Case, he is a forward swept wing fighter resembling the X-29 and Su-47 Berkut experimental aircraft. His right arm has a launcher that fires pressure-launch missiles. These missiles store on the undersides of his wings in vehicle mode.
- This toy was released with no deco changes (but with an extra decal sheet) in Japan as the former-Decepticon-turned-Autobot Strafe. This mold was also used for the 2004 Universe version of Space Case and Robotmasters X-Gunner.
Gentei! Gentei!
- Strafe (Deluxe, 2009)
- A redeco of the 2008 Universe series Cyclonus toy, replacing the purple with white, the three shades of gray with red, orange, white, and black, and clear red with colorless clear plastic. Strafe transforms into a Cybertronic starfighter. He comes with a partner figure named Rocketbot who transforms into a blaster that can be mounted on the vehicle mode's back or plugged into Strafe's wrist sockets to emulate the Headmasters style of Targetmaster connection.
- Strafe is an exclusive for members of the Transformers Basecamp web site in Japan, which is itself exclusive to those who own a Transformers-themed Visa credit card. The ordering period for Strafe ran from March 2nd through April 30th in 2009. Though his cardback and bubble placard are new, he comes with Cyclonus's instructions and comic/catalog.
- This mold was also used to make "Shattered Glass" Cyclonus and BotCon 2014 Ferak.
Transformers (2010)
- Strafe (Voyager Class, 2011)
- A redeco of the Revenge of the Fallen Voyager-class Mindwipe, Strafe transforms into a stealth fighter jet similar to an F-117 Nighthawk. He has two flip-out swords/daggers under his arms that he can deploy to use as weapons. As part of his transformation, bending his wings back in robot mode activates a Mech Alive gear-driven feature where the tips of the wings retract and four small blades reveal themselves along the edge of the wing. Strafe's paint app budget went into the very large Autobot insignia he wears across his wings, which is quite possibly the largest insignia ever on a Transformers toy. Strafe is sold as part of "Reveal the Shield", a subline imprint featuring rubsigns on all its releases. Y'know, just in case his wings didn't make his faction clear enough.
- Strafe's vehicle mode, like the other toys using the same mold, can be perched upon by Skystalker, Sunspot, Laserbeak and the exclusive Smokescreen. Except they're all Decepticons, so it would be terribly inappropriate fraternization.
Notes
- In some printings of Stormbringer, Strafe's stutter occasionally pops up in Scattershot's lines. (Maybe it's contagious?)
- When the bio of the 2011 Strafe toy went up on the official website, it used the adjective "spastic" to describe him. This was later changed to "twitchy." Hmmmm.
- The Mini-Con Strafe representing G1 Swoop in the Age of Extinction Strafe Evolutions 2-Pack mistakenly[1] has this Strafe's package art instead of Swoop's G1 art and lists him as a "stealth fighter" (what our wiki described the 2010 Transformers Strafe toy as). Whoops! This was later confirmed to be an issue that Hasbro was aware of. Apparently, not having the original art, Mark Weber purchased an original Swoop off of Ebay to have scanned, only to be told the marketing department had just taken G1 Strafe's from their records. Oh marketing (source- http://youtu.be/L0uG8JszvCs)
Foreign names
- Japanese: Strafe (ストレイフ Sutoreifu)
- French: Mitraille (Canada)
- Italian: Rocketbot
- Russian: Shtraf (Штраф, "Fine")
