Sunstorm (G1)

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

Sunstorm is a Decepticon from the cartoon portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

"I like to sing-a / about the moon-a and the june-a and the spring-a..."

If bright colors are nature's way of saying "do not touch", then nature's got nothin' on Sunstorm (サンストーム Sansutōmu). Come too close, and circuits will short, steel housing will begin to melt, and psyches will break as the mind struggles to comprehend. Science would explain that his body is aflame in radiation, but Sunstorm has different ideas.

Sometimes, Sunstorm merely believes he is secretly some kind of supernatural being, keeping his comrades away with his odd behavior. At other times, he thinks that he is the living embodiment of the Will of Primus, placed by the divine in this universe to deal righteous judgment on the blasphemous. Occasionally, he just hovers silently in the background and shoots at things.

Such is life.

Fiction

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

Hey mom, I'm on TV!

Sunstorm was one of the Decepticon jets on Cybertron four million years ago. He was part of a Decepticon patrol that accosted Autobots Wheeljack and Bumblebee when they came near. The two were able to escape the Decepticons' attacks and plow through the patrol, Sunstorm included. More than Meets the Eye, Part 1

e-HOBBY comics

On Cybertron, as a new morning began to rise, Sunstorm appeared to bask in the rays of the sun. He enthusiastically encouraged all those around him to wake up and take a good look at the beauty of a new dawn. Unfortunately, all those around him were dead Autobots whom he had just killed. Destron Aerospace Warrior Sunstorm

Wings Universe

Wings Universe is based on the Generation 1 cartoon, but deviates from it in cosmetic ways and continuity points.

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

Millions of years later, Sunstorm was part of the joint Autobot/Decepticon resistance on Cybertron against Jhiaxus's Cybertronian clone army. He was stationed at Uraya under the command of Backstreet. Days after the city's forces were forced to retreat, Sunstorm and the others joined in an all-out assault on the Cybertronians. Termination They were successful in winning the war. A Common Foe

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

And thus, Starscream was rendered sterile.

Shockwave's experiments to fit a solar-powered fusion reactor into cloned Decepticon warriors reached their fruition in Sunstorm, a clone of the treacherous Starscream. Sunstorm's structure has been augmented to endure the enormous stresses involved. He was the perfect soldier; he possessed the ability to manipulate electromagnetic energy, enhanced regenerative capabilities, and a blank slate of a mind waiting to be written according to Shockwave's design.

When the Autobots took New Iacon from Shockwave, he hurriedly uploaded the compressed contents of the supercomputer Vector Sigma to multiple locations, including the hidden cloning lab near the Epsilon border where Sunstorm lay, awaiting instructions. The upload overwhelmed the lab's mainframe, spilling over into the only other available receptacle—Sunstorm. War and Peace

Fleeing the fall of New Iacon, Decepticons Runabout and Runamuck broke into the Epsilon lab, unaware of its importance, intending to use it as a safehouse. After Runamuck amused himself by frying the lab's Mini-spy attendant, the duo accidentally awakened Sunstorm, who fried them... rather badly before his scrambled programming compelled him to depart, making his way to Earth. Night of the Combaticons

J'accuse!

“	Who am I? I am the presence anointed to carry forth the light. The original light, that which has no beginning and no end. Its searing heat shall purify the earth... purging this world of all flaws, and preparing it for what lies ahead.	”
—Sunstorm emphasizes randomly, "Black Sunshine"

Flying down to Earth, he tried to get Starscream to join him in his crusade, though Starscream believed his clone to be completely insane. Black Sunshine Sunstorm battled with a number of Autobots, including Omega Supreme, until Starscream managed to attach an energy siphon developed by Ratchet to counter his energies. Sunstorm fled, uncovering an enormous well of energy deep below the ocean, sealed with a mechanical door bearing a Cybertronian symbol. Jetfire and Bumblebee fought to stop him from unleashing whatever power the well held, until Jetfire, sensing that Sunstorm's internal fusion reactor was growing increasingly unstable, flew the overzealous seeker into orbit. Sunstorm's reactor went critical and exploded violently, completely obliterating both of them. Atonement

Sunstorm's almost supernatural durability was credited to his augmented molecular structure, similar to that of electrum. When Ratchet's Energy Siphon suppressed the effect, he was eaten away from within by the destructive energies of his own power source.

Had Dreamwave not gone bankrupt, the one-shot story "The Enemy Within" would have revealed Sunstorm was possessed by The Fallen, who had escaped from the Seal of Primus after Shockwave broke it and used its energon for his experiments.

3H comics

His own worst enemy.

An alternate-universe version of Sunstorm was one of Megazarak's loyal inner circle. Megazarak's Universe profile His radioactive condition was the result of an accident at the manufacturing facility during his birth. He was apparently a Child of Primus, Sunstorm's Universe profile though it is not known if or how he participated in the Universe war. A Minion of Unicron named Sunstorm did appear in that conflict, but there is no indication that they are the same individual. OTFCC 2004 Live-Action Script Reading

IDW Generation 1 continuity

"*sigh* I will get a Masterpiece toy. Someday..."

Three years after Megatron was defeated on Earth, Sunstorm was among those Decepticons who managed to escape the human homeworld and was now under the command of the (self-proclaimed) Decepticon leader Starscream. However, with the lack of resources, poor morale and Starscream's weak leadership, the Decepticons largely collapsed into anarchy and resorted to cannibalism with not enough energon to go around. After another pointless patrol, Acid Storm and Sunstorm dejectedly sat in front of what remained of the ship that carried them to the asteroid that they now called home. All His Engines He was present when Megatron recovered and took back leadership of the Decepticons. Spotlight: Megatron

After the war between the Autobots and Decepticons ended, Sunstorm fell victim to Bombshell's experiments with brainwashing individuals into mindless shells for the sake of creating the perfect combiner. Before the Dawn When Prowl had discovered Bombshell had murdered Skydive and came to arrest him, Bombshell had the mind controlled Sunstorm hold Prowl and Arcee off while he made his escape. The altercation ended with him being stabbed and killed by Arcee. Devisive

Games

Revenge of the Fallen - The Game (Xbox 360/Sony PS3/PC)

Voice actor: Charlie Adler

While Sunstorm seems to lack his atomic touch and pure insanity, he does have a pair of kickass flamethrowers! Revenge of the Fallen

On August 27, 2009, Sunstorm was one of a handful of downloadable characters in a downloadable content pack for Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3. He could be used in multiplayer games and as an alternate model/colour scheme for Starscream in the single player Decepticon campaign.

Transformers Legends

Sunstorm and his team unsuccessfully attempted to intercept Bumblebee and Cliffjumper as the pair returned to Iacon after an energon scavenging mission. More than Meets the Eye

Sunstorm was among the Seekers who went on a worldwide rampage, until they were thwarted by the Autobots. Robots in the Sky During a battle in Autobot City, Sunstorm pinned down a group of Autobots until he was stomped on by the Dinobots. S.O.S. Dinobots

Toys

Generation 1

Creamsicle creamseeker.

• Sunstorm (Decepticon Jet, 2003)
  • Japanese ID number: 89
  • Accessories: 2 missile launchers, 2 rifle-missiles, 2 rockets, left & right fists, left & right wings, left & right tail-wings, landing gear

Sunstorm is a redeco of the original Starscream toy, transforming into an F-15 fighter jet. His coloration is inspired by—but not wholly accurate to for a variety of reasons—a previously-unnamed "generic" Decepticon seen in the episode "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1". Being a Japanese release, his spring-loaded missile launchers are fully operational.

Sunstorm was only available with Road Hauler in a separately-packaged-toys set exclusive to e-HOBBY. Pre-orders for the set closed on May 15, 2003. The toys shipped out in July.

The same base mold is used by Dirge, Ramjet, Skywarp, Thrust, and Thundercracker.

• More information on Sunstorm at TFU.info

Titanium Series

Hey, remember that body I never had in that comic I wasn't in? Well, now you can buy it!

• Sunstorm (6-inch Cybertron Heroes, 2007)
  • Accessories: Stand, name placard

Titanium Series Sunstorm is a redeco of War Within Thundercracker, transforming into a Cybertronian "tetrajet" as reimagined by Don Figueroa. As with all 6-inch Titanium Series Cybertron Heroes, he has large portions of his body constructed with fully-painted die-cast metal.

This mold was also used to make War Within Starscream, Skywarp, and Thrust.

• More information on Titanium Sunstorm at TFU.info

Encore

• Sunstorm (Decepticon Jet, 2009)
  • Accessories: 2 missile launchers, 2 rifle-missiles, 2 rockets, left & right fists, left & right wings, left & right tail-wings, landing gear

Sunstorm was released again in February of 2009 as part of TakaraTomy's Encore re-release line, but this time with an exclusive comic by Hidetsugu Yoshioka. Strangely, Sunstorm's stock picture in his e-Hobby manga presents him with fists sporting circular peg holes similar to the one seen in the previous Transformers Collection #9 Starscream release.

Masterpiece

• Sunstorm (2012)
  • ID number: MP-11S
  • Accessories: Crown, pauldrons (left and right), cape, 2 null rays, hologram pilot figurine

A redeco of Masterpiece MP-11 Starscream, Sunstorm comes with redecoed versions of Starscream's coronation gear from The Transformers: The Movie, including crown, twin shoulder pads, and a sculpted plastic cape (rather than a fabric one). As a redeco of the retooled MP-11 Starscream (instead of the original Masterpiece Starscream), Sunstorm features the same extensive retooling to wind his Masterpiece design back into Kawamori's original, more Generation 1-accurate look, with most of the robot mode being newly tooled parts, including chunkier legs that now incorporate his tail-fins, retooled shoulders and wingtips that no longer curve into one another, a new head (with collapsible head fins), new heel spurs that flip out for added support in robot mode, and re-engineered null rays attached to extending armatures that mean they no longer have to be removed for transformation. Despite the similarity to the original MP-3 prototype, the retooled parts are in fact a whole new design heavily based on the original concept. Additionally, Sunstorm (like MP-11 Starscream) comes with a chromed jet pilot figure instead of Doctor Arkeville.

Unlike previous Sunstorm toys, Masterpiece Sunstorm's colors replicate his color layout as seen in his cartoon appearance, with white arm blasters, biceps, fists, and shoulder intakes. This includes a shift to a more yellow color scheme than creamsicle orange, now featuring a yellow-to-orangey yellow gradient across the surface of the jet mode and additional flame deco on his wrists and jet intakes.

In countries TakaraTomy distributes to outside of Japan, he comes with a Sunstorm collectible coin.

• Sunstorm (2014)
  • ID number: MP-05
  • Accessories:

A Toys"R"Us exclusive, Masterpiece Sunstorm is a redeco of the Masterpiece MP-11 Starscream mold. Hasbro's release of Sunstorm has significant differences from the Takara version, with some of the most noticeable differences being his head, null rays and other previously black plastic being molded in a bronze/brown color; his body being an almost uniform shade of yellow (save for the flame deco on his wings, and his main accent color of red being reminiscent of Animated Sunstorm.

For some reason, his stock photography (which is also featured on the box) shows Sunstorm as a redeco of the MP-03 Starscream sculpt, rather than the actual MP-11 version of the sculpt.

This figure was also available as a Toys"R"Us exclusive in many international Hasbro markets such as Canada, Australia and Europe.

This sculpt was also released by Hasbro in the US, also as Toys"R"Us exclusives, as Thundercracker and Acid Storm.

Machine Wars

Wait a minute... I thought they said I WASN'T one of the Rainmakers? Now I am? I'm confused....

• Rainmakers (Convention 3-pack, 2013)
  • Accessories: Left & right missile launchers, 2 missiles

A redeco of the Classics Starscream mold, Sunstorm transforms into a F-15 Eagle, but has the nose of an F-14 Tomcat fighter jet. His missile launchers can mount under his wings, on his shoulders, or in his fists, and fire spring-loaded projectiles. The large size of his launchers (necessary for safety reasons) restricts his arm movement somewhat in robot mode, as they bump into his wings. All three Rainmakers have slight tolerance issues with the white parts, basically making key joints juuuuuust a bit too tight.

He was only available in a BotCon 2013 exclusive souvenir set with Bitstream and Hotlink, limited to 2500 pieces. All three toys use exactly the same paint operations and plastic layouts, with the only difference between the three being their primary plastic color.

This mold was also redecoed to make Skywarp, Thundercracker and Acid Storm, and retooled to make Dirge, Ramjet and Thrust.

• More information on Machine Wars Sunstorm at TFU.info

Merchandise

Heroes of Cybertron

This will put your kids through college!

• Sunstorm (OTFCC 2004 attendance freebie)

A Heroes of Cybertron version of Sunstorm was given as a freebie to people who pre-registered at OTFCC 2003 for next year's OTFCC 2004. He was later made available for sale through the 3H Productions website. A repaint of the mold used to make Starscream and the other Seekers in the Heroes of Cybertron line, Sunstorm's colors are inspired by the e-Hobby toy, but given more variety in its shades of orange.

• More information on Heroes of Cybertron Sunstorm at TFU.info

Palisades

• Sunstorm (Palisades, 2005)

A Previews-exclusive redeco of the Starscream statue, Sunstorm is a six inch tall statue with articulated head and arms. He can stand normally or use a stand to take on a "hovering" pose. Sunstorm was limited to 300 pieces, and sculpted by 3L Creation Group from a design by George Tremarco.[1]

Diamond Select

• Sunstorm (Diamond Select, 2010)

Sunstorm was planned to be a repainted and slightly-altered version of the Starscream bust sculpted by Mark Wong of Art Asylum. Along with a new head and a differently-posed left hand, Sunstorm was going to be limited to 600 pieces.

Your bargaining posture is highly dubious. Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

Notes

Look just above Astro Magnum Galactic Man grey Shockwave's gun-arm.

• An orange Cybertronic "pyramid jet" is depicted in a Cybertronian battle scene by Studio OX that appeared in TV Magazine (and was reprinted in Transformers Generations and Transformers Visualworks). Hmm. You don't think...?
• A common piece of fanon identified the all-yellow Rainmaker as the partially yellow Sunstorm. However, even taking into consideration the haphazard coloring typically given to generic Seekers, chances were not in favour of their being the same guy. After being asked the question during the August 2010 Q&A, Hasbro confirmed that the yellow Rainmaker was not Sunstorm, but some as-yet-unnamed guy.
• Hirofumi Ichikawa, who both named Sunstorm and wrote his original bio, also considered the names Flareburst and Flarestorm for him.
• Sunstorm is apparently a fan of professional wrestling, having performed both a Stone Cold Stunner and a DDT when engaging in close combat with Jetfire.
• The Transformers: Legends mobile game uses our TFWiki.net entry here for Sunstorm's card bio, word for word. So... Yay?

External links

• Sunstorm's OTTC profile at NFTA.net