Starscream (G1)/2005 IDW continuity
Ambitious. Treacherous. Opportunistic. Starscream.
IDW Generation 1 comics
There at the beginning
Four million years ago, when they were approached by Soundwave, Starscream and his comrades Skywarp and Thundercracker believed that they were being recruited to join the gladiatorial team of the underground revolutionary Megatron. Though startled by the sight of the damaged Megatron undergoing repairs, Starscream proclaimed his allegiance to his new master and thanked him for the chance to fight with him in the arena... at which point Megatron explained his true purpose in seeking them out: he required air support for his Decepticon army as they made the move from revolutionaries to terrorists and beyond. Megatron Origin #3
Early on, the charismatic and cunning Starscream was tasked with recruitment of others to the Decepticon cause; significantly, he was the one assigned to approach the disenfranchised Senator Shockwave and bring him into the fold. Shockwaves Starscream was also given another key Senate-related task when he and his fellow Seekers were ordered to capture Senator Decimus, who would then supposedly be executed at Megatron's next recruitment rally. When security forces intervened in the rally and arrested the Decepticons, Starscream bargained for his freedom by offering to reveal all of Megatron's plans. Megatron Origin #3 However, this turned out to have been Megatron's plan—brought before an emergency assembly of the Senate for questioning, Starscream, together with Soundwave, executed the Senators, then freed every prisoner in the building. He proceeded to round up a variety of weapons for the Decepticons, presenting Megatron with the mighty fusion cannon that would become his signature weapon, then joined in their attack on Kaon, during which he bested Trailbreaker. The battle culminated in Megatron's defeat of Sentinel Prime, whose body Starscream dumped in front of Sentinel's men in a fly-by. Megatron Origin #4
With war now definitively declared, Starscream continued in his recruitment duties; he was unable to convince the youthful Hot Rod to join the Decepticons Ruins, and had similarly bad luck with racing champion Blurr despite a very pointed effort. Not long after, Starscream was part of a unit that tried to stop Blurr from couriering a message to new planet leader Zeta Prime. Spotlight: Blurr His identity evidently unknown to most, Starscream was also positioned as a delegate to the new Senate that was formed by Zeta Prime, though exactly who or where he was masquerading as the delgate of is unclear. While attending one of Zeta's security sessions, he brought a disguised Soundwave with him to record the Senate's newest plans for how to stop the growing Decepticon menace. When Zeta expressed surprise at how easily Starscream accepted his idea of draining energy from civilians to power weapons, he almost let slip that he'd done worse things in Megatron's name. To cover up his blunder, he drew attention to the spy in their midst, giving Soundwave a cue to reveal himself and stage an escape, distracting Zeta. Parasites
Since turning down Starscream's offer to join the Decepticons, Hot Rod had carried out some insurgent activities of his own, and Megatron and Starscream monitored the situation through Laserbeak with some degree of pleasure as Autobot leader Orion Pax hunted him down. Ruins In Orion's absence, Zeta Prime then attacked Nyon's population with his vamparc ribbons and Omega Destructors—an action Starscream compared to Megatron's own tactics, though, Megatron assured him he was capable of much more. Purge In spite of Starscream's opinion that Megatron was a "stubborn wreck" for his repeated attempts to sway Orion Pax to his cause, they were successful, and the Decepticons joined forces with Orion's Autobots against Zeta Prime. Choices Together, they attacked Zeta Prime and his Omega Destructors, with Starscream personally leading the Seekers as air support. Overthrown
After Zeta Prime was defeated, Megatron betrayed Orion and installed himself as ruler of Cybertron, then had the Decepticons hunt down all remaining Autobots. Starscream led a force to raid an Autobot hiding place in Ultrix and took special interest in Hot Rod, once again offering him the chance to join the Decepticons. Transformation Orion soon returned, however, having become Optimus Prime, and with new warriors at his side, he led the Autobots in an attack on Megatron's citadel. Starscream and the Seekers were ordered to take them out but were intercepted by the Aerialbots. Broadcast
Megatron was subsequently defeated by Optimus Prime, and Starscream conspired with Scorponok to overthrow him and have him exiled to Junkion. Derelicts While Scorponok became the new Decepticon leader, Starscream seemingly preferred to stay in the background and showed no signs of being his second-in-command in public. Wreckage He annoyed Scorponok by urging him to take action rather than just hold grandiose speeches, causing Scorponok to let him in on his plan to capture the Toraxxis mega-refinery for the Decepticons. Starscream participated in this attack by leading his Seekers to the refinery. Faces of Darkness Scorponok ordered him to keep the Autobot defenders busy while he left to deal with Grimlock personally. Rage The plan ended disastrously when the refinery exploded, killing thousands and leaving the planet cripplingly low on energon; Starscream berated Scorponok for his actions, unable to see any point in staying on the dying planet himself. Massacre Fortuntely, Megatron soon returned from his exile and retook Decepticon command. Starscream attempted to welcome him back, but was quickly silenced. The Illusion of Control
As the war bore on, Starscream was present when Megatron faced Optimus Prime in open battle on Sherma Bridge. Chaos Theory Part 1 He would later admit that at one point, he had genuinely looked up to Megatron, but that changed when he realized that he feared the Decepticon leader, rather than respected him. That epiphany evidently led to further attempts to take leadership from Megatron, but in time, these power plays ceased, and Megatron hoped that it meant he had moved beyond such things. Infiltration #6 Starscream would even eventually end up as Megatron's bodyguard, and developed a mutual hatred with Sixshot, professing that he would not be able to defend Megatron against such a powerhouse. Devastation #5 But Starscream's appointment to this position was largely for show—Megatron could, of course, protect himself, and would later reveal that he kept Starscream close by despite his predilection for treachery as a reminder to himself to always watch his back. Spotlight: Megatron
Earth and Ore-13
Millions of years later, after the war had resulted in Cybertron becoming uninhabitable and the Autobots and Decepticons had spread out across the galaxy, Starscream came to be in command of one the small Decepticon units that secretly infiltrated planets across the galaxy. Infiltration #0 Learning through undisclosed means of at least some of the secrets behind Shockwave's Regenesis program and the super-powerful energon Ore-13 that the scientist had seeded on Earth, Shockpoint and seeing in it the potential to challenge Megatron for Decepticon leadership once again, Starscream took his unit to that planet. There, they set about destabilizing Earth's governing organizations and create global anarchy in accordance with the strict infiltration protocol the Decepticons now operated to, all the while searching for Ore-13. After around four years, their search bore fruit when a seam of Ore-13 was uncovered in Nebraska, but later, the discovery of an even purer source of the ore in Oregon prompted Starscream to step outside traditional infiltration protocols and move the Decepticons' base of operations to the new site, establishing a fortified "siege mode" bunker well in advance of the standard timeline. Infiltration #3 Unfortunately for Starscream, the abandoned Nebraska bunker was then infiltrated by Stoker, an agent of the human organization known as the Machination, necessitating that both he and the data he gathered—including images of Starscream himself—be eliminated by the Decepticons. Infiltration #1 Starscream sent Thundercracker, Runabout and Runamuck after Stoker, and although they were successful in slaying the human, Starscream failed to count on another human obtaining Stoker's SM-40 computer and falling in with the Autobot counter-insurgency unit also operating on the planet. Infiltration #0
| “ | Thanks to Ore-13, Megatron, I have evolved... beyond you! I am the future! | ” |
—Starscream, Infiltration issue 6 | ||
Concurrently with the search for Stoker, Starscream and Astrotrain successfully mined the first batch of Ore-13 from the Oregon seam. Starscream urged speed, aware that breaking protocol the way they had was sure to elicit a response from Megatron. Infiltration #2 As he waited for the ore to process, Starscream ordered Blitzwing and Skywarp to cover the Decepticons' tracks by destroying all evidence of Stoker's travels, including what remained of the Nebraska bunker. Infiltration #3 Unfortunately for them, Megatron himself had arrived on Earth and was in the bunker, catching up on what Starscream had been up to, when they attacked. Infiltration #5 Starscream emerged from the infusion capsule brimming with the incredible power of Ore-13 just as a furious Megatron arrived at the Oregon bunker and offered the Decepticons a choice: stand down, or be destroyed. Every one of his men surrendered, but the super-powered Starscream roared into battle and unleashed his full fury against Megatron. Alas, the power conveyed by Ore-13 proved insufficient to destroy the Decepticon leader, and Megatron blasted Starscream with his fusion cannon at point-blank range, virtually obliterating him. Megatron left Starscream's remains to be tended to by the Decepticons, unconcerned if he lived or died. Infiltration #6
Starscream was placed in a CR chamber for extensive repairs but even with him out of the picture, the power of Ore-13 convinced Megatron to continue Starscream's subversion of infiltration protocol. The last straw for the other Decepticons came when Megatron called Sixshot in early, leading Astrotrain to propose reactivating Starscream so that he could challenge Megatron's actions. Devastation #1 Blitzwing and Astrotrain proceeded to bring Starscream back online, but no sooner was he back on his feet than the alien Reapers attacked the Decepticon base. Devastation #4 With Megatron unaware he had been reactivated, Starscream initially decided to hold back and allow the Reapers to cause trouble first, but when Sixshot arrived, Starscream emerged from base and called the hated Six-Changer out. Starscream's appearance caused the living weapon to decide to accept the Reapers' offer to join their ranks... at which point Starscream promptly activated Sixshot's shutdown command, sending him crashing to the ground. Starscream then turned his weapons on the Reapers, causing Megatron to agree to take the fight to the aliens. Devastation #5 Starscream once again accepted Megatron as his liege, and together they teamed up to destroy the alien invaders, with Starscream wielding Megatron in his Ore-13 empowered pistol mode to devastating effect. As the battle came to an end, Starscream stopped Megatron from punishing Blitzwing for going behind his back with the observation that a fleet of human jet fighters had arrived, and that the Decepticons' existnce was now known to humanity. Devastation #6
The Decepticon ideal
While the Decepticons were occupied battling the Reapears, the Autobots had left Earth to deal with an incursion by the Dead Universe. Exploiting their enemies' absence, Starscream and the Decepticons went into hiding; when Autobots returned, they could find no trace of the villains, who kept one step ahead of them for months. They secretly returned to Cybertron, where Starscream stood by his leader's side as he received updates from scientist Deluge on his experiments to create a monstrous Insecticon swarm. Upon returning to Earth, the Decepticons then staged a phony schism within their ranks, allowing the Autobots to believe that they had "disappeared" as a result of a power struggle that had split their ranks into two camps, one led by Megatron and one by Starscream. All Hail Megatron #7 To complete their plot, Starscream approached the disenfranchised Autobot Sunstreaker with the proposition that the Autobots join with his fictitious forces against Megatron. Sunstreaker accepted, All Hail Megatron #8 but when he led the Autobots to the designated time and place, they were instead confronted by the united Decepticon army and promptly defeated. Starscream stood by Megtron's side and watched as the bested Autobots were exiled back to Cybertron through a space bridge. All Hail Megatron #7
With a year now passed since their battle with the Reapers, and with their enemies disposed of, the Decepticons began to lay waste to the Earth with the intention of taking it for their new homeworld. Starscream headed up the attack on New York City with glee, though he objected to Skywarp's insinuation that he could not sow destruction and terror on the same level as Megatron; Megatron soon arrived to prove him wrong. All Hail Megatron #1 After joining in the efforts to beat back military attacks and bomb the city's bridges, All Hail Megatron #2 Starscream headed for Washington, D.C., where he personally shot down the fleeing Air Force One. That task done, he returned to New York, to join Megatron in savoring their victory. Megatron mused that it was fitting to have a long-serving a Decepticon at Starscream beside him; Starscream believed he was being sarcastic, but Megatron's praise was genuine, going so far as to describe Starscream as the living embodiment of the Decepticon ideal, but a step short of full embracing it due to his own blindness to that fact. All Hail Megatron #3
With the conquest completed, Starscream stood at Megatron's side as he addressed the gathered Decepticons. All Hail Megatron #4 However, as time passed and Megatron made no further new moves, content to allow his troops to wreak havoc around the world, Starscream began to suspect that Megatron had no further plan, and was merely giving his troops free reign as a distraction to keep them from turning on them. He confronted Megatron with this knowledge, and taunted him with the fact it was essentially his own fault for assembling an army of sociopaths and monsters in the first place. All Hail Megatron #6 Legitimately disheartened to see the leader he had once looked up to go so far astray, having led them through an endless war with no vision for what lay beyond, Starscream began secretly meeting with the other Decepticons, recruiting those who shared his feelings in preparation for a coup. After winning over the Constructicons, he approached the Insecticons, and also successfully convinced them to join him. All Hail Megatron #8
Starscream made his move a short while later, sending the Insecticons to attack Megatron, but the Decepticon leader summarily defeated them and revealed that he had known about Starscream's plans all along; he had, in fact, been doing nothing in order to allow the dissenting element of his army to weed themselves out. He had, however, failed to predict that the Constructicons would take Starscream's side. All Hail Megatron #10 As fate would have it, Starscream's uprising was suddenly cut short when the Decepticons came under attack, first from human jets arrived from Europe, and then the returning Autobots. Starscream was forced to team up with Megatron, who assured him that someday he would get be in charge, someday after the Decepticons won, after he successfully crushed Megatron in the way that the taking of leadership required... but not today. After giving this some thought, Starscream organized his troops to fight back, hailing Megatron's name. All Hail Megatron #11
Megatron was subsequently defeated by Optimus Prime, but as the Autobot leader moved to inspect his fallen body, Starscream stepped in and picked up his injured leader, refusing to let the Autobots finish him off. For the moment, Megatron's words had struck home: Starscream told Prime that he now knew leadership had to taken by force, not gained through chance. Starscream led the Decepticons in withdrawing from the planet, though as he left, he reminded Prime that though the Autobots had won a battle, the Decepticons still reigned throughout the galaxy. All Hail Megatron #12
Leadership of the Decepticons
Along with a few other Decepticons, Starscream took off into space aboard Astrotrain. Despite what he had told Prime, he was not pleased that Soundwave was keeping Megatron on life support, but his attempts to dissuade the loyalist were met with failure. Afraid of the uncertainty that simply tossing Megatron out and airlock would result in, Starscream was ready to give up, knowing that the Decepticons had no real reason to follow him, and that the faction would fall to infighting as soon as others challenged his rule. All he had was the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, which Megatron had seized from Optimus Prime earlier, but he had failed to find any supposed "ultimate power" within it, and prepared to throw it away. Caught in the act by Shrapnel, Starscream was reminded of the talisman's significance to the Autobots by the Insecticon, and had the idea to use its reputation for his own ends. Gathering the Decepticons, he professed that the Matrix had chosen him to light their darkest hour, but as they began hailing his name in the face of this alleged holy appointment, he stepped from the room already regretting his decision. Uneasy Lies the Head
Starscream took the Decepticons to a barren asteroid that they could use as a staging base to regroup, but as more and more soldiers began arriving, circumstances quickly spiraled out of his control. With most of their limited resources tied up by Shockwave, who he had assigned the task of building a space bridge, Starscream charged Bombshell with finding a way to fabricate energon to feed his starving troops. When no breakthrough ensued, and the energy-deprived Decepticons turned to cannibalizing each other's bodies to survive, Starscream stormed into Insecticon's lab to discover he had been spending his time working on mind-controlling cerebro-shells. Though initially angry, Starscream conceded that he could use these devices after he employed one to take out a rebellious Quake. All His Engines Later, visiting Shockwave for an update on his progress, Starscream discovered the scientist working with Soundwave to cut open Megatron's body and make weapons from his remains. Just as Starscream began to express fake outrage about this presumed "coup", Megatron himself appeared, revealing that the two had built him a new body with a built-in space bridge. He grudgingly admitted he knew Megatron would be back sooner or later, though Megatron neglected to take back leadership as long as Starscream had the Matrix, which he considered a possible threat. Altered Carbon
His leadership a complete failure, Starscream became sullen and withdrawn, lost in distant contemplation of the unknowable mysteries within the Matrix that hung around his neck and lashing out at any Decepticons who attempted to touch the talisman. After Starscream ignored his warning that an Autobot ship had crashed on the asteroid, Bombshell tried to remove the Matrix in hopes of snapping him out of his stupor, but was violently struck for his trouble. As it turned out, the wrecked ship had contained Rodimus, on a quest to take back the Matrix. After first using a cerebro-shell on Razorclaw to make him attack Starscream, he confronted the Decepticon leader on his own. Starscream was unimpressed, having used his rank to give himself nigh-impenetrable armor, only to be taken by surprise when Rodimus shot the Matrix around his neck instead, causing it to release a burst of energy and incapacitate Starscream. Rodimus snagged the Matrix, but both he and it were then blasted out into space by Megatron. Heart Like a Wheel With the threat of the Matrix now removed, Megatron re-established himself as leader of the Decepticons, and decided to inaugurate his return by beating the living daylights out of Starscream. The Seeker, however, had lost the will to continue: he would not rise to Megatron's mockery, and when the Decepticon leader aimed his fusion cannon at him, Starscream simply held it to his chest and demanded he fire. But Megatron kept pushing, eventually causing Starscream to snap and open fire with his own weapons, only to immediately regret the decision and attempt to flee in jet mode. A vicious dogfight above the asteroid ensued, culminating in a pained Starscream questioning how Megatron could understand what it felt like to have his dream crumble so completely. This inquiry only enraged Megatron further—his dream was the Decepticon faction itself, and Starscream had utterly destroyed it in his absence. But Megatron was not without mercy, and after pummeling Starscream to within an inch of his life, he offered him the chance to return to the fold as his subordinate. Meekly, Starscream accepted. Spotlight: Megatron
As Megatron put his new plans into action and had the Decepticons return to Earth, Starscream went off on his own to meet with Thundercracker, who had abandoned the Decepticon cause following their previous defeat. Altered Carbon He tried to convince his fellow Seeker to join with him and overthrow Megatron again, seeing him as obsessed with petty revenge on humanity and lacking long-term goals. When Thundercracker refused, Starscream lost patience and gunned him down, but before he could finish the job he was attacked by Brawn. Starscream denied Brawn's accusation that he had been responsible for shooting down a plane carrying Optimus Prime, pleading for his life by suggesting he would be more valuable as a hostage. Woken Furies Fortunately for him, Brawn chose to carry Thundercracker to safety rather than capture him. Burning Chrome Starscream returned to the other Decepticons and watched Optimus Prime confront Megatron in a one-on-one battle. Enemy Mine
Megatron subsequently surrendered to the Autobots and had himself transported back to Cybertron, in order to use his built-in space bridge to teleport the Decepticons back to their homeworld. Starscream and the other Decepticons gathered at a Native American settlement to await the bridge's opening, but were found by Bumblebee at the last minute. Starscream ordered the Stunticons to dispose of the Autobot, while he led the other Decepticons through the bridge. The Question Emerging on Cybertron in the midst of the Autobots' battle with Galvatron's army of Sweeps, Starscream and the Decepticons soon found themselves entranced by Galvatron's unseen puppetmaster, D-Void, who merged their bodies and minds together with the Sweeps to form a huge monster. Kings Once this "Deceptigod" was defeated, the weakened component Decepticons were captured by the Autobots and outfitted with I/D chips. The Death of Optimus Prime
The Chosen One
Two weeks after the Deceptigod's defeat, the Decepticons were still imprisoned, and Starscream was growing increasingly tired of Ratbat's attempts to control the situation. Realizing that it was better to go along with the Autobots' orders for now rather than push back against them, Starscream joined most of his fellow Decepticons in serving as an enforcer, helping to put down a riot by NAILs—unaffiliated Cybertronians who had recently returned to Cybertron and objected to Autobot governance. The Death of Optimus Prime He lurked in the background when Prowl visited the Decepticon camp to lecture Ratbat, The Autonomy Lesson then finally elected to depart the Decepticon camp after an argument with the new self-appointed Decepticon leader. Considering Ratbat's methods and goals regressive and seeking a new approach to power, Starscream paid a visit to Autobot high command with a legitimate desire to talk with Bumblebee about the future, only to be shocked by the distrusting Autobot's taser-cane and taken into custody for his troubles. Interrogated by Prowl, Starscream explained that Ratbat was planning to assassinate Bumblebee during the memorial ceremony for the Lost Light. While the Autobots dealt with that threat, Starscream proceeded to gate-crash the ceremony himself and announced to the gathered masses his desire to be part of the planet's new government. The World & Everything in It
Naturally, all the Autobots were suspicious, but Starscream did his best to prove his good faith: he helped Prowl to cover up Arcee's assassination of Ratbat, then worked with Wheeljack to rescue some NAILs from a series of mysterious explosions. Wheeljack spoke up in his favor, convincing Bumblebee to let him join the government; the Aerialbots were so disgusted that they ceded from Bumblebee's leadership, and while Starscream expressed his regret to 'Bee in private later, he assured him the Autobot he would not regret his choice. Stick Together That proved untrue almost immediately, as Bumblebee, Starscream, and NAIL representative Metalhawk soon held a public assembly to introduce their joint governance, and Starscream talked rings around both of them. Devisive
Starscream joined Metalhawk in greeting ex-Decepticon Sky-Byte when he returned to Cybertron, but the new arrival's obvious distaste for his former faction prompted Starscream to step back and leave the welcoming to his fellow leaders. A Better Tomorrow Given his genuine desire to see the new government work out, Starscream was just as suspicious of the next returnee as his fellow leaders—noted Decepticon warmonger Turmoil, claiming altruism, no less. Turmoil immediately began to foment distrust among the government by planting more doubts about the Autobots in Metalhawk's mind, so Starscream took the NAIL to Maccadam's Old Oil House to talk the matter out, calling upon bar owner Blurr to recount his own experiences with Turmoil as evidence for the prosecution. Interference Patterns
Not long after the Turmoil incident, Starscream and Metalhawk paid a visit to Autobot High Command to pester Bumblebee about setting up elections. Dinobot Hunt That night, the pair returned to High Command, this time to check on the recently injured Wheeljack and to offer their assistance in locating Ironhide and the Dinobots, who had gone missing in the wilderness earlier that evening. Fearing that Starscream could leverage a successful rescue to his advantage during the elections, Bumblebee refused their offer. Night and the City
That, however, didn't stop the pair from setting out regardless at dawn the next day. They watched as Blurr, also out searching, was caught in an explosion which revealed a subterranean cavern, but were prevented from entering the cave by the quick arrival of Prowl's security team. To put pressure on the Autobots, Starscream rounded up a crowd of NAILs and Decepticons and demanded that Prowl explain the situation to them. The Autobot was forced to admit that the cavern was home to the abandoned Crystal City, and that a Metrotitan had teleported into the abandoned city, injuring itself in the process such that the surrounding area would shortly be destroyed. As Prowl returned to Wheeljack, at work in the cavern, Starscream snuck in after him, and a brief chase with the security officer led them to the Metrotitan's face. Suddenly, it awoke, and lauded Starscream as a conqueror who would unite Cybertron, something witnessed by the entire crowd, who had followed them down into the city. The group fled to escape the Titan's detonation, and on the way back to Iacon, the divinely blessed Starscream was held aloft by NAILs and Decepticons. All Good Things
Being a 'bot of little faith, Starscream didn't actually believe the Metrotitan's words, but he knew how to exploit everyone else's belief to virtually guarantee himself victory in the upcoming elections. He attempted to get an endorsement from Omega Supreme live on television, but Omega had greater matters to ponder; however, that night, Omega was the victim of a bombing that Starscream presumed to be the actions of the other Decepticons attempting to ruin his aspirations for political power. Finding that public opinion was already turning against him by association, Starscream confronted Shockwave over the attack, but received only an ambiguous warning to keep out of the one-eyed Decepticon's way. As he was leaving the Decepticon pen, Starscream was approached by Dirge and Swindle, who sought to trade information on Prowl's recent shady dealings in exchange for sanctuary from the coming storm. Starscream accepted, and used the info to blackmail Prowl into disposing of Shockwave's Decepticons for him. He was feeling quite pleased with himself, until a one-two punch of bad news took him down a peg: first, Arcee revealed she knew exactly where he had secreted Dirge away, meaning his bargaining chip was essentially useless... and second, Megatron returned. The End of the Beginning of the World
Starscream alerted the Autobot to Megatron's approach on the city, and watched as Bumblebee and the Autobots gunned him down and took him into custody. Starscream tried to dissuade the other Decepticons from marching on high command to call for Megatron's release with a stirring speech about discarding the old ways, but it failed rather spectacularly, so Starscream decided to visit the medical center and appeal to Megatron directly. City on Fire This "chat" was very one-sided as Megatron offered no response to Starscream's word save a smile—though that alone was enough to terrify the Seeker. The Decepticons' march subsequently turned into a riot, during which the prison was stormed and Megatron was liberated. The Decepticon leader dragged Starscream along to the Black Room, where it was revealed that Prowl, mind-controlled by Bombshell, had been working for Megatron all along. The Verge Bumblebee and Metalhawk were soon brought to the Black Room as well, and Starscream tried to explain to them that he had had no part in Megatron's scheme; Megatron verified that, save to note that Starscream's political machinations had provided a useful distraction. Before the Dawn Megatron then began his endgame, unleashing a perfected Devastator upon Iacon, and forcing Starscream to watch, professing that any political victory he had won would have been one of compromise, rather than a true Decepticon triumph. Plan for Everything
Rendered near-paralytic with the seeming totality of his defeat, Starscream was dragged through the streets by Megatron, until the Autobots and Metalhawk surprised him by coming to his rescue. Separated from the main fight, Starscream and Metalhawk were confronted by Turmoil, and the re-energized Starscream killed him using Metalhawk's severed arm as a blade. The Autobots then foiled Megatron's scheme, and Starscream saw his moment to strike: though he admitted to Metalhawk that he genuinely was his friend, he used Turmoil's cannon to kill him, and presented his body to the crowd as a victim of the fighting. He called for the abandonment of factions, and the majority of the population rallied behind him, appointing him their leader. Heavy Is the Head
Starscream the First
Starscream's first night of leadership was a troubled one as the city of Iacon struggled to deal with the aftermath of Megatron's attack. One of the many problems he had to deal with was the blackouts that the city was suffering from. This was only made worse for Starscream by Scoop and his construction patrol vowing to repair the city. He then visited the Medical Center to check on Dirge's condition but he was rebuffed by the former seeker. During an interview with Circuit on how he was planning to deal with the city's problems the power was restored by Scoop, it was at this moment that Rattrap approached him with the revelation that the power grid had been sabotaged with phosphex. As Scoop repaired the communication array he attempted to open his toolbox and instead found out that Scoop was a "religious nut" who believed the Metrotitan's prophecy. When Rattrap tripped over Scoop, Starscream soon took the opportunity to accuse him of sabotaging the power grid, however Starscream later revealed that he was fully aware that Rattrap had planted the phosphex in Scoop's toolbox. He later succeeded in getting a "pep" talk from Wheeljack's headless body—who had survived being shot by Prowl earlier. Three Monologues Starscream was the one who answered when the Lost Light called Cybertron with Tyrest's communication system; by this point, he'd started calling the place the Republic of Cybertron. The Sound of Breaking Glass
After being rebuilt into a new body, Starscream's secluded admiration of his new form was interrupted by Rattrap's worries about an unidentified glow just over the horizon. A scan of the phenomenon with a classified-but-familiar reading, that of the Dead Universe, caused Starscream to seek out the crew of the Lost Light for expertise, particularly that of Cyclonus. Dark Dawn Subsequently, an undead Titan suddenly burst free from the ground, and so Starscream rounded up some weaponry in order to take out the behemoth, but Rattrap instead suggested caution. Starscream decided to visit Scoop in his cell, and the zealot pronounced Starscream as the dark answer to a prophesy hidden in the Covenant of Primes. Black Metal Next Starscream visited the dead body of Metalhawk, succeeding in getting a "pep talk" out of his "old friend" as Rattrap eavesdropped. On his way out of the building, Starscream reassured his citizens that he could handle the ongoing situation—after all, he handled Megatron—and flew out towards the Necrotitan. Meanwhile, Scoop confided in Rattrap that while Starscream was the Chosen One, he may have been chosen to destroy everything. Starscream landed on the Necrotitan's shoulder and tried to start a conversation, but suddenly its eyes flashed and a deadly, chaotic wave of energy burst forth from its body. Starscream desperately tried to beat the wavefront home, but arrived just before it lay waste to the city. The wavefront had a strange and inconsistent effect on everyone, to the point that it reanimated the dead body of Metalhawk. Metalhawk beat down his murderer and abducted the captured body of Megatron, leaving with it for elsewhere. In the chaos that followed the city's destruction, Starscream soon found himself the subject of everyone's ire. Winners & Losers The wave also left a strange black mark on Starscream's chest that Scoop believed was a message from Primus—Starscream was the cause of Iacon's problems. Into the Abyss He later had the mark checked out at the Iacon Medical Center by Flatline and used this as an opportunity to check on the casualties of the Necrotitan's wave. This merely led to him being berated by Tankor on how he was letting the population down—only for the Necrotitan to then smash its way into the medical center. No Exit Starscream then received another berating, this time from Scoop, on how the fact he was the "Chosen One" was a responsibility to the people of Cybertron. The Dead Are Not Enough He was later approached by Rattrap and the remaining Autobots and Decepticons and merely lamented that all hope of defeating Shockwave was lost while Prowl explained his plan. He did however inform Prowl of the situation at the medical center as Flatline and Fixit "teamed up", he was then present when Megatron explained his alternative plan on defeating Shockwave. Burning Bright
Later, Starscream was further lamenting about the hopelessness of the situation when the Lost Light arrived with Metroplex. He was observing the battle between the Necrotitan and Metroplex when Scoop started to recite the "Dark Cybertron" prophecy and was later cured when Metroplex released the Ore-7 stored within his thumb. Finis Temporis Starscream was later gloating to Scoop about how the prophecy was not fulfilled when he learnt its true origin—Shockwave. It was just at this moment when Metalhawk appeared with Skywarp and Waspinator and shot him. It was at this moment that Shockwave started to reveal his endgame to Galvatron and 70 billion Ammonites appeared in the sky above Cybertron. The Becoming Starscream then provided Bumblebee's group with a way of reaching Shockwave's base by revealing that Skywarp was still alive. He elected to take Waspinator along (much to Waspinator's objections) as the group required someone who knew the layout of the base, however he was nearly driven catatonic by the fact that Scoop willingly volunteered to remain behind instead of helping to defeat Shockwave with rest of the group. When he recovered he attacked Jhiaxus but the reactive armor Jhiaxus was wearing provided him with all of Starscream's new body's abilities. Black Planet Starscream was not impressed by the reactive armor however (even going so far as accusing Jhiaxus of cosplaying as him) and continued to fight Jhiaxus, even though Jhiaxus had the advantage due to him knowing everything that his new body contained and could do. He beat Jhiaxus by using the swords that were integrated into his body. He was later unfazed by Rattrap's claim that he would have difficulty maintaining control due to Metalhawk sacrificing himself to defeat the Ammonites by claiming that by killing them Metalhawk was a "genocidal despot" ...And the Damage Done
Starscream attended a meeting on the subject of what was to be done with Megatron to represent the People of Cybertron—who wanted a trial. Rodimus was not impressed with Starscream's rule of Cybertron. Towards Peace He was later called to provide a statement where he claimed to be "High Chancellor of the Refulgent Cybertronian Dynasty, Emperor Perpetua and Defender of the Realm". His statement on Megatron claimed that the former Decepticon leader was addled and impotent with a lack of control over his forces and that he deserved pity.
Starscream was pleased with his statement as it increased his approval ratings with only one downside—the ratings of the Autobots increased as well. Words Hang in the Air
Some time after Megatron's trial, Starscream approached Prowl and Cosmos to gloat about his control of Cybertron, only to be reminded by Optimus Prime that Metroplex was an Autobot and that Ironhide and Windblade were keeping a close eye on him as well; upon being asked if he had any further comments on the situation by Circuit, he merely claimed that he couldn't feel better. Hello Cruel World Some time after Metroplex started acting as a city for Cybertrons population, Starscream began mining operations on the Titan's filtration systems in an attempt to retrieve one of Shockwaves ores from the Titan. Windblade issue 2 Six months after the events of Dark Cybertron, Starscream maintained a less than healthy relationship with Windblade due to Metroplex's constant systems failures. He confronted Windblade on the constant blackouts Metroplex was suffering with the claim that the population was blaming him for the system failures, he then threatened Windblade with serious consequences if she didn't solve the problem and left with Rattrap to discuss the rebuilding Iacon again. Starscream later claimed the blast that damaged Windblade was caused by poor maintenance and later entered her recovery room uttering the phrase "Well. Look who isn't dead". A 'Bot and Her City The ruler of Cybertron then went on to insist on how the explosion was a fortunate accident as Windblade had survived it with only minor injuries. He then threatened the cityspeaker again by claiming that she would probably not be able to cheat death twice before being kicked out of the room.
Starscream later asked Rattrap to ensure that he was in the clear before Windblade made a move... Windblade issue 2 Starscream later oversaw the capture of Windblade and the group she had taken into Metroplex to expose his mining operations. With the group in his custody, Starscream attempted to obtain confessions to prove that Windblade was trying to undermine his regime as well as revealing the Badgeless- his new anonymous enforcers. He then tried to find out Windblade's try purpose on Cybertron as he believed that she was deliberately trying to sabotage Metroplex to gain further power. Starscream was last seen confronting Blurr and Slug as Windblade and Chromia escaped from his prison. Windblade issue 3 As Chromia and Windblade rushed towards Metroplex's brain, Starscream fought Slug and Blurr, he easily defeated them thanks to his handy shoulder cannons and then left to pursue the Camiens. Catching up to them at Metroplex's brain, Starscream was then attacked by Chromia as the fembot tried to buy more time for Windblade to merge with Metroplex. Starscream, however, managed to quickly dispatch Chromia and wound Windblade, before the Cityspeaker managed to successfully merge with the Titan. Despite this, Windblade still managed to merge with Metroplex and activate the Titan's defenses while she made one last attempt to find out who the mystery bomber was.
While Chromia attempted to convince Windblade to use Metroplex's space bridge to jump to Caminus, a desperate Starscream cried out that jumping while Metroplex still served as a city would kill all those who were not completely within the Titan's borders. Deciding to not make the jump, Windblade revealed to Starscream that there were other colonies formed by the ancient Metrotitans and offered the use of Metroplex's space bridge to the leader of Cybertron to unite the colonies in return for not revealing any of the events surrounding the bombing to anyone else. Agreeing to the deal, Starscream left Windblade to deal with the aftermath. Windblade issue 4
Spotlight: Mirage
At the war's end, Starscream and a small team of Decepticons accompanied the mercenary Mirage to the Pegasus Star Cluster. He led the Decepticons into the Autobot bunker after Mirage destroyed the Autobot security system, but stood back during the ensuing fight. After Megatron ordered the Autobot prisoners executed, Starscream held Ratchet back as Mirage prepared to kill Hound. Spotlight: Mirage
Notes
- Starscream's appearance in Robots in Disguise seems to be based more on this concept drawing of him for the War for Cybertron game, rather than his actual appearance in either of the two games. This is most noticeable when looking at his pelvic region and thighs.
- Also, the crown he occasionally wears in later issues of the comic is based on the crown he sports in Fall of Cybertron, which in itself is based on the crown he wears in The Transformers: The Movie.
