Bumblebee (Movie)

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

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Bumblebee is an Autobot from the live-action film continuity family. He is also known as N.B.E.-02.

SAM, I AM YOUR CAR...

Bumblebee is one of Optimus Prime's most trusted lieutenants. Although he is not the strongest or most powerful of the Autobots, Bumblebee more than makes up for this with a bottomless well of luck, determination and bravery. He would gladly give his life to protect others and stop the Decepticons.

Badly damaged in battle, Bumblebee lost the ability to speak verbally, though he can still communicate over inter-Autobot frequencies (in a fashion that seems somewhat akin to instant messaging, a usable but more distant and less personal means of interaction). He can also communicate with the Autobots' human allies and his friend, Sam Witwicky, by playing audio clips from popular media on his radio.

If there's anything you need, I won't be far away.Bumblebee quoting Forrest Gump to Sam, Revenge of the Fallen

Fiction

Movies

The four movies are the primary component of the live-action movie continuity family. Their events should be taken as canon for all other pieces of fiction listed below, unless otherwise specified.

Transformers film

Voice actor: Mark Ryan (English), Hiroshi Iwasaki (Japan radio voice) Akio Kato (Japan normal voice), Helmut Gauß (German), Eduardo Borgerth (Brazil), Omar Soto (Latin American-Spanish Radio voice), Alfredo Gabriel Basurto (Latin American-Spanish normal voice)

The old old and the new old.

When the Autobots scattered to the stars in search of the lost AllSpark, Bumblebee made his way to the planet Earth, where he connected the trail of the lost relic to the Witwicky family line. Disguising himself as a battered 1970s Camaro, he followed Ron Witwicky and his son Sam to a second rate car dealership and slipped himself amongst the vehicles, intending to have the boy purchase him so that he could get close to the family. When proprietor Bobby Bolivia couldn't agree on a price, however, it looked like Sam would wind up buying another car, so Bumblebee used a high-frequency sound wave to blow out the windows of every other vehicle in the lot, leaving Bolivia with no choice but to sell him.

YOU BIG WINNER, HAHAHA.

The next day, Sam and his friend Miles Lancaster drove Bumblebee down to a party at the lake, where the disguised Autobot decided to do the boy a favor, playing "Drive" on his radio to subtly convince Sam to kick Miles out and offer his crush Mikaela Banes a ride home. When he neared a romantic spot overlooking the city, Bumblebee turned off his engine and began playing romantically suggestive songs; this didn't have the intended effect, and Bumblebee had to abruptly turn himself back on again when Mikaela started to walk off. After they returned Mikaela home, Bumblebee drove off during the night; Sam, believing it to be a car theft, followed him to a junkyard and witnessed the robot-mode Bumblebee sending a beacon into space to summon his fellow Autobots. Apparently unaware that he had been spotted, Bumblebee then scared off the junkyard's two guard dogs when they menaced Sam.

When Bumblebee returned to the Witwicky home the next day, a terrified Sam fled from what he dubbed "Satan's Camaro", only to wind up being attacked by the Decepticon Barricade, who was also on the trail of the AllSpark. While fleeing this new threat, Sam ran into Mikaela, and Bumblebee then snatched the pair up and drove them away, with Barricade in hot pursuit. Taking refuge at a deserted chemical plant, Bumblebee revealed his robot form to the two humans so he could engage Barricade in combat, eventually knocked the Decepticon out after a brawl. Afterward, Bumblebee—able only to communicate in sound bites broadcast over his radio—properly introduced himself to Sam and Mikaela, and drove them to nearby Griffith Observatory to watch as the other Autobots he had called upon arrived in the sky overhead. Along the way, when Mikaela wondered aloud why a super-advanced robot turned into a "piece of crap Camaro", a mildly insulted Bumblebee scanned a passing 2009 Camaro, taking on its sleek and shiny form himself.

I may be your guardian, but I will not carry you through a crowd to the music of Whitney Houston.

Bumblebee took his friends to a secluded alleyway, where Sam and Mikaela met the other Autobots, including their leader, Optimus Prime. Medical officer Ratchet explained that Bumblebee's inability to speak was a result of an old injury to his vocal processor, which Ratchet then treated with a regenerative plasma beam. Prime explained that Sam had been targeted because he owned a set of glasses belonging to his grandfather, Archibald Witwicky, which had the location on the AllSpark inscribed on their lenses, and the entire group returned to the Witwicky home so they could obtain them.

Though the glasses were soon found, the forces of Sector Seven soon descended upon the house and apprehended Sam and Mikaela. The Autobots wasted no time in rescuing them, but when the interrogation of Seymour Simmons went nowhere, Bumblebee became so annoyed with his attitude that he released lubricant onto the agent. When Sector Seven reinforcements arrived, the Autobots were forced to hide; unfortunately, Sam and Mikaela fell from their hiding place beneath a bridge, and Bumblebee had to reveal himself to save them. Harpooned and frozen by Sector Seven agents, he was captured by the organization, with Optimus Prime regrettably unable to intercede as he knew the Autobots could not do so without harming the humans.

Taken to Sector Seven's base at Hoover Dam, Bumblebee was continually doused with cryoblasts to keep him subdued while experiments were performed on him, until Sam and Mikaela (with some armed persuasion from Captain Lennox) convinced S7 to let him go. Upon his release, Bumblebee almost lashed out at his human oppressors until Sam calmed him down, informing him of the presence of the AllSpark and Megatron in the facility, and that the Decepticons were coming for both. Following the humans to the AllSpark's chamber, Bumblebee hesitantly reached out to the life source of his people and reformatted it, shrinking the cube until it was a size that the humans could manipulate. Cube in hand, Bumblebee and a military escort fled to Mission City, meeting the Autobots en route.

Soon after Bumblebee and the Autobots arrived in the city, the Decepticons descended in force, with a missile attack from Starscream blowing off Bumblebee's legs. To get him to safety, Mikaela and Sam hoisted Bumblebee onto an abandoned tow truck, but Bumblebee pushed the AllSpark into Sam's hands, urging him to run while he still could. As Sam reluctantly left, Mikaela drove Bumblebee away from the fighting to relative safety, but she was soon overcome with guilt for leaving Sam and the battle. With Bumblebee's assent, she turned headed back in, driving the truck in reverse so that Bumblebee could fire his weapons at Brawl, helping take the tank Decepticon out. Subsequently, Sam used the AllSpark to destroy Megatron, and in the aftermath, Bumblebee found that his voice had returned, and he used it to request permission to remain with Sam. Optimus and Sam agreed, and after his legs were repaired, Bumblebee allowed Sam and Mikaela to make out on top of him as Optimus sent his message to space calling other Autobots to Earth. Transformers

The story of the film inspired numerous books, from novels to children's story and activity books. In several, Bumblebee has his own Moustache Man hologram driver, which does not appear in the finished film.

Revenge of the Fallen film

Voice actor: Mark Ryan (dialogue cut from final movie), Omar Soto, Enrique Cervantes and Arturo Acosta (Latin American-Spanish radio voice)

Two years after the battle of Mission City, his voice still not properly repaired, Bumblebee was dozing in the Witwicky garage the day Sam was packing for Princeton University when a scream from Sam saw him called into action to blast the AllSpark Mutations a surviving sliver of the AllSpark had made of the Witwicky kitchen appliances. Shrugging off Judy Witwicky's complaints that he had blown up much of their house, 'Bee returned to the garage, where he was dismayed to learn that Sam was not planning on taking him to college with him, as just he wanted a normal life.

Hoping that Sam could serve as an ambassador of sorts to help convince the President of the United States that it was important the Autobots stay on Earth to fight off the Decepticons, Optimus Prime had Bumblebee pick up Sam from college so he could talk to him. 'Bee caused trouble for Sam right away, disrupting a frat party he was attending, then wound up with an unwanted passenger in Alice, about whom he could tell something wasn't right. Bonking her head off his dashboard and spraying her in liquid to get rid of her, he then took Sam to meet Optimus, but the boy turned down the Autobot leader's offer. Unfortunately, Sam soon proved to have little choice in whether or not he would be involved in the Transformers' war, when a resurrected Megatron captured him, and Bumblebee and Prime had to come to his rescue. 'Bee took Mikaela and Sam's roommate Leo Spitz, to safety, but Optimus died protecting the boy.

Bumblebee, together with Skids and Mudflap, took the three humans to an abandoned prison where they would be safe, but soon, the Decepticons' master The Fallen struck across Earth, demanding Sam he turned over to them. Bearing Sam no grudge for Optimus's death, Bumblebee promised to help his fugitive friend in any way, though he advised against Sam turning himself in. At Leo's suggestion, the group went to New York City to meet his internet rival, the Robo-Warrior—in actuality, Bumblebee's old lubrication post Seymour Simmons, who provided evidence that a group of Decepticons had been on Earth thousands of years ago. Following this information, the group located and reactivated the ancient Jetfire, who teleported them to Egypt to search for the Matrix of Leadership, which Sam hoped could be used to revive Optimus.

Respect my authoritah!

Bumblebee transported the humans to Petra, the supposed location of the Tomb of the Primes, but when it appeared to be a dead end, the Twins got into an argument over why they were following Sam around. The argument turned into a brawl which threatened to crush the humans in the close quarters, so Bumblebee picked his two subordinates, slammed them together, and threw them out of the temple. However, the Twins' brawl had managed to unearth the Tomb of the Primes, and Bumblebee further opened the hole with his plasma cannon, where they found the Matrix...which instantly turned to dust. Gathering up the dust in hopes it would still work, the team headed back to Egypt, but were assaulted by Starscream on the way. 'Bee, Simmons, Leo, and the Twins led Starscream and the Decepticons away while Sam and Mikaela went on ahead, and when it became apparent that Starscream was no longer pursuing them, Bumblebee left to rejoin the pair.

Move your body Rampage! Yeah, like that, gymnastics are really easy when you have two legs. Oh wait...

Arriving in the abandoned town Sam and Mikaela were hiding from the Decepticons in, Bumblebee found that Sam's parents were being held captive by Rampage. Sam distracted the Constructicon long enough for Bumblebee to jump him, but while they were grappling, Ravage ambushed Bumblebee. The plucky Autobot managed to fight off Ravage and rip out his spine, then overpowered and killed Rampage. At Sam's instruction, Bumblebee took the boy's parents to safety, returning in time to see Sam apparently be killed by a blast from Megatron, upon which he broke down in grief. However, Sam miraculously survived the attack, and with the reformed Matrix of Leadership, resurrected Optimus Prime. Together, the assembled Autobots and humans watched as Optimus combined with the remains of Jetfire, destroyed the harvester and killed The Fallen. Revenge of the Fallen

The story of the film inspired numerous books, from novels to children's story and activity books. In the novelization of the film, Bumblebee speaks—with difficulty—in his own voice several times, a story element that was cut from the finished film.

Dark of the Moon film

Voice actor: N/A (English), Omar Soto, Ferso Velázquez and Alfredo Gabriel Basurto (Latin American-Spanish radio voice)

Stealth Force? Right...

Three years after the defeat of The Fallen, Bumblebee no longer lived with Sam, having been put back on active NEST duty now regularly engaged in top secret missions with the rest of the Autobots, mostly to prevent human conflict. Alongside Sideswipe, Dino and Que, 'Bee investigated an illegal nuclear facility, employing his Stealth Force mode to destroy it. Upon returning to the NEST base, he assisted in teaching soldiers how to fight Decepticons.

Having received information from his co-worker Jerry Wang that suggested a conspiracy of humans collaborating with the Decepticons, Sam and his new girlfriend Carly Spencer went to NEST headquarters to share what Sam had learned, but when the guards would not let him enter, he grabbed a radio and called for Bumblebee to "convince" them. The guards quickly backed off when Bumblebee burst out of the building, but the reunion wasn't an entirely happy one, as Sam made clear to his big 'bot buddy that he was upset that he wasn't around much any more. National Intelligence Director Charlotte Mearing had no interest in Sam's conspiracy theories, so Sam left with Bumblebee to investigate the matter himself. To "repay" Sam's boss eccentric Bruce Brazos for a few leads he was able to provide them, Bumblebee play-fought with the man, who tried some karate moves on him.

Here comes another Flight of the Bumblebee joke...

After Sam, Simmons and Dutch learned that the Autobots' recent actions—recovering their lost former leader Sentinel Prime and his space bridge pillars from the wreck of the Ark they had discovered on Earth's moon—had actually been orchestrated by the Decepticons, Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Dino escorted the humans and Sentinel back to the NEST base. En route, they were attacked by the Dreads, and Bumblebee was forced to execute an impressive mid-air transformation to avoid a crashed truck, tossing Sam into the air as he switched modes, before transforming back to vehicle mode around the boy. When the group arrived back at NEST, Sentinel revealed he was in league with Megatron, and Bumblebee was unable to prevent Ironhide from being killed and the base from being destroyed as Sentinel retrieved his pillars.

Bee good.

Sentinel used his pillars to open a space bridge in the heart of Washington, and Bumblebee and the Autobots were vastly outnumbered by the Decepticon forces that poured through and had to retreat. When Sentinel forced the humans to exile the Autobots on their ship, the Xantium, Bumblebee was allowed a short time to say goodbye to Sam, and assured him he was always going to be his friend, before helping the others prepare the ship for launch. However shortly after lift-off, the Xantium was destroyed by Starscream, and Bumblebee and the rest of the Autobots were presumed dead.

In actuality, the Autobots had hidden in a rocket booster that was jettisoned before the Xantium's destruction, and arrived in the Decepticon-occupied Chicago in time to help Sam, Epps and a team of soldiers in finding the kidnapped Carly. Bumblebee piloted one of the downed Decepticon fighters to get Sam into the building in which Decepticon conspirator Dylan Gould was holding Carly, and used it to both rescue the pair and blast off Laserbeak's head. He rejoined his fellow Autobots in attacking the Decepticon forces, and arrived in time to save Sam and Lennox from falling to their deaths after Sam managed to kill Starscream.

He's right behind me, isn't he?

Unfortunately, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Dino, Ratchet and Que were soon captured by Soundwave and his troops, and Bumblebee could only watch as Que was executed. He had barely a moment to mourn before he was pulled forward, sharing what seemed to be a final, heartfelt look with Sam... before Wheelie and Brains suddenly started dropping Decepticon fighters from a Decepticon warship above. With Soundwave distracted, Bumblebee took his would-be executioner out, punching straight through his chest and blasting his head to bits. Subsequently, Bumblebee joined the final battle, and with Ratchet's help, he tackled and destroyed the space bridge's control pillar, shutting the bridge down. After the defeat of the Decepticons and Sentinel Prime, Bumblebee produced a selection of gears and washers from inside his body so that Sam could use one as a ring to propose to Carly with, but Sam just told him that he needed to slow it down. Dark of the Moon

Age of Extinction film

Voice actor: N/A (English), Kōichi Yamadera (Japanese radio voice), Ferso Velázquez and Alfredo Gabriel Basurto (Latin American Spanish radio voice)

After a wild bender, Bumblebee woke up in the desert, stripped of his 2011 Camaro kibble.

At some point in the past, Bumblebee had a phase where he became extremely insubordinate and disrespectful to his father figure Optimus Prime.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Chicago, Bumblebee remained on Earth with the other Autobots, but they were all soon forced to go on the run when US government disbanded NEST, and Harold Attinger's Cemetery Wind taskforce began hunting down Transformers. Disguised as a beat-up 1976 Camaro, Bumblebee even found himself having to take command of the remaining Autobot refugees when Optimus Prime disappeared, even though the others saw him as brash and inexperienced.

Five years after Chicago, Optimus returned and Bumblebee relinquished command, but this did not stop Drift from complaining about Bumblebee's leadership skills. Indignant at being called a "child" by the Autobot samurai, Bumblebee briefly brawled with Drift, but greater matters soon demanded the Autobots' attention. Following information provided by Optimus's new human ally Cade Yeager that revealed Cemetery Wind were delivering the bodies of the Transformers they captured to Kinetic Solutions Incorporated, the Autobots prepared to infiltrate the company's Chicago headquarters; Bumblebee falsified ID cards to get Cade and Shane Dyson into the building, then drove them to the site, masquerading as a non-sentient vehicle bring brought in for scanning. Upon seeing the company's display of Stinger, a drone based on his own design, as well several videos and posters claiming that he was inferior to the human-made Transformer, Bumblebee flipped out and knocked over the prototype, then left Shane to take the blame for the accident.

The information Cade brought out of KSI revealed to the Autobots that the captured Transformers were being melted down for their raw transformium metal. Learning that Ratchet had suffered this grisly fate, Bumblebee joined the Autobots in attacking the building, though not before he scanned a 2014 Camaro along the way, taking on a sleek new alternate mode. He got a lift from Drift's helicopter mode to the buildings upper levels and was able to rescue Cade from Attinger's clutches. The Autobots then withdrew, but were pursued by Stinger and KSI's premiere creation, Galvatron; 'Bee attempted to blast Galvatron with a cluster of missiles, but was left in utter shock when the drone disintegrated and reassembled himself to avoid the attack.

Never mind the fact we should be ripped to shreds by the shattered glass from this skyscraper, you're the best, Bee!"

When Optimus was captured by Lockdown, Bumblebee and the Autobots infiltrated the bounty hunter's ship. Bumblebee helped their human allies escape from several Steeljaws, and though he could not stop the ships anchors from being detached, causing the humans to fall towards Chicago, he still managed to save them by swinging down on the cables and grabbing them out of the air. Given a lift by Crosshairs in a stolen gunship, 'Bee had to take over piloting the craft while Crosshairs engaged Lockdown's pursuing henchmen, and although he managed to lose the ships chasing them by diving into an underground roadway, he then promptly crashed the gunship into the city streets.

Bumblebee and the humans regrouped with the other Autobots at a disused train yard, where they learned from Brains that Galvatron was, in actuality, a reborn Megatron, and was planning to detonate a cyberforming seed—given to KSI head Joshua Joyce by Lockdown—in Hong Kong. The team immediately headed for China, but upon arrival, their ship was shot down, and Bumblebee, Hound and the humans fell out and had to escort the seed out of the city.

But how does he feel about the length of his toy page?

Bumblebee and Hound acted as a defensive line against Galvatron's forces, and though they destroyed many drones, they slowly became overwhelmed by the onslaught. Salvation came in the form of Optimus Prime and the newly-recruited Dinobots; their airborne member Strafe partnered himself up with Bumblebee, and together, they took out Stinger, who 'Bee "eulogized" by calling him a "cheap knockoff" and let Strafe gnaw on his head. With the battle reaching fever pitch, Bumblebee was tasked by Cade with taking his daughter Tessa and Shane out of the city, but the pair soon convinced him to turn around and help Optimus and Cade fight the returned Lockdown. Bumblebee quickly found he was no match for Lockdown, but his intervention gave Tessa and Shane enough time to help Optimus recover, and the Autobot leader slew the bounty hunter. Bumblebee, alongside the other Autobots, was tasked with protecting the Yeager family from any threats when Optimus left Earth to confront Lockdown's employers, the mysterious creators. Age of Extinction

Novels

Ghosts of Yesterday

Before coming to Earth, Bumblebee was part of the crew of the Ark, searching through space for the lost AllSpark. In 1969, Earth-time, the crew encountered an alien ship, the Ghost 1, in an abandoned solar system. After the ship turned tail and headed for one of the local planets, Optimus Prime sent Bumblebee down after it. Bumblebee located the ship, and was about to approach it when Starscream arrived, and he was forced to retreat under the Decepticon's superior firepower. Shortly after Bumblebee discovered some apparently artificial pillars, the ground gave way beneath him, and 'Bee found himself plunged into a cave system. With his radio damaged, he explored the caves, and was attacked by giant, monstrous worm creatures, whose organic nature did not make them any less challenging as opponents. Fortunately, Optimus arrived in time to save him.

Prime and Bumblebee had a brief encounter with Starscream and the Ghost 1, the crew of which had been persuaded by the Decepticon that the Autobots were the aggressors in the Transformer war. The pair retreated back below ground, and later found the Ghost 1 in a battered state, having been abandoned by Starscream. Bumblebee made contact with its crew, a species known as "humans", and the earlier misunderstanding was soon cleared up. When more of the worm creatures turned up, Bumblebee acted as a diversion so Optimus could blast a way out of the caves, and everyone escaped intact. They returned to the Ark in time to fight the Decepticons once more. Bumblebee joined Ratchet in attacking Barricade, though the Decepticon gave them more than enough trouble. When the Ghost-1 and its crew were lost during the battle, the Autobots turned their attention toward the planet from which it had hailed... Earth. Ghosts of Yesterday

The Veiled Threat

Following the battle of Mission City and the destruction of the AllSpark, Bumblebee guardianship of Sam Witwicky meant that he was not an activate participant in any missions carried out by the forces of NEST. The Veiled Threat

Classified novels

Psst, down here!

After the defeat of The Fallen, NEST resumed their regular business of hunting down rogue Decepticons. Bumblebee was at Edwards Air Force Base with Ratchet when they received word that two Cybertronians in transition forms had landed near Hurley's Crossing. The pair went there by helicopter and encountered Reverb, who claimed to be a Decepticon defector hunting down another Decepticon who was after the technology at Hawthorne Army Depot. Though Bumblebee was highly skeptical, he followed Ratchet's lead, and they took Reverb to the depot. When they reached it, Kevin Bowman let them know that Gears was an Autobot and in reality trying to protect an ancient weapons cache. The warning came too late, as Reverb turned the weapons on Bumblebee and Ratchet, who were unable to penetrate the personal forcefield Reverb had acquired. Despite this, Bumblebee lasted out Reverb's defeat with minimal damage. Switching Gears

When Bumblebee and Gears were left at base, they received word from Douglas Porter that the Decepticon Blowback was heading up to Battle Mountain where a storehouse of Cybertronian artifacts had been discovered. The pair were compelled to travel to Battle Mountain with Kevin and Douglas, though Bumblebee made a detour to a Kwiki-Burger on the way. On arrival, they were attacked by Blowback and his men, and by the time they'd dispatched the four Decepticons, Kevin and Douglas had found the storehouse. They were subsequently picked up by Ironhide and taken back to face Optimus Prime's anger at them having gone off on their own. Battle Mountain

When the Battle Mountain cylinder was in danger of activating, Bumblebee and Gears took part in a convoy to transport the device to a NEST vault near Yucca Mountain. The trip was cut short when the convoy was ambushed outside Beatty by Reverb and some stolen Hyperdynamix autonomous tanks. They caught a break when Reverb was called away to the nearby Hyperdynamix Aerospace facility, and while Gears and Kevin followed the Decepticon, Bumblebee remained to protect the remains of the convoy. Satellite of Doom

IDW movie comics

"Tell Hasbro that I don't want to be a repaint of you anymore!"

Bumblebee was born over 10,000 years ago, one of the second generation of Cybertronians spawned by the AllSpark since its rediscovery and the revitalization of Cybertron. Movie Prequel #1 He and Cliffjumper were guardians of the AllSpark at the Temple of Simfur. One day, when the AllSpark suddenly began giving off energy spikes, a nervous Bumblebee was troubled by the fact that planetary leaders Optimus and Lord High Protector Megatron were more concerned with a nearby archaeological excavation than with the source of the spikes, but Cliffjumper reassured him that they could handle whatever came their way. He would soon regret those words when aliens from the nearby Eshems Nebula attacked Simfur. The pair were seeking cover inside the temple when Lord Megatron swooped in, berated them for not taking the fight to the enemy, and destroyed their opponent. Defiance #1 Instructed to stay out of the military's way, Bumblebee was concerned that the attack signalled the start of something big, but Cliffjumper was unconcerned on the basis that two lowly guards wouldn't be part of whatever it was. Prowl agreed, ordering them to stay at their posts, after which he quizzed them on how the AllSpark had reacted during the battle. Defiance #2

Well, that's one way to make a first impression.

His ambition ignited by the the mysterious relic discovered at the archaeological dig, a power-hungry Megatron sought to have Optimus disposed of, and sent a team led by Prowl—including Bumblebee—to apprehend him on charges of treason. When Optimus angrily demanded to know what he had done, Bumblebee pointed his weapon at the science leader and said they were just following orders, which seemed to satisfy Optimus. What 'Bee and the other security officers didn't know, however, was they were being led into a trap; on the way to the city of Metrotitan, they were ambushed by a soldiers loyal to Megatron, who had been ordered to kill them all, save Optimus. Bumblebee helped haul Arcee to safety after the group was hit by an explosive round, and Optimus ordered them all to withdraw to Burthov while he took care of their attackers personally. Defiance #3 Foundation #3

My alt mode is Pac-Man!

After it was learned that Megatron had rebuilt his Defense Force as an army known as the "Decepticons", Optimus—now Optimus Prime, embracing his destiny—organized Bumblebee and the others loyal to him to stand against Megatron's forces as the "Autobots". While on an apparent scouting mission, Bumblebee and Arcee discovered the Decepticon starship Nemesis while it was under construction; some time later, when the vessel was complete, they also observed as the majority of the Decepticon forces boarded. Defiance #4 Returning to the camp at Burthov, they and all the assembled Autobots watched at the Nemesis took off. Foundation #3 With the bulk of the Decepticons gone, the Autobots launched their first strike against the Decepticons, and the war between the two factions truly began. Defiance #4

Megatron's attempt at a "Give me your arm!" meme didn't really take off...

After years of war, with no end in sight, Bumblebee participated in an assault on Simfur Temple to activate the "torch" Sentinel Prime had created, which Sentinel had promised would end the conflict. Foundation #3 Alas, Starscream blew up Sentinel's ship, and Bumblebee retreated with the rest of the Autobots. However, the battle had weakened Decepticon forces to the extent that the Autobots were soon able to steal the AllSpark. Foundation #4 After moving the relic around the planet, Optimus Prime finally made the desperate decision to launch the AllSpark into space to put it beyond Megatron's reach. This decision took Bumblebee by surprise, but he supported Optimus. Defiance #4 Bumblebee was placed in command of a small Autobot unit at the AllSpark's hiding place in Tyger Pax, on the assumption that the Decepticon would focus their attention on Simfur; unfortunately, Megatron sensed the AllSpark's true location, and Bumblebee and his men found themselves under attack by the Decepticon leader and his troops. Swindle tried and failed to torture the AllSpark's precise hiding spot out of Bumblebee, forcing Megatron to take up the task, but even 'Bee did not know exactly where it was—moments later, both he and Megatron could only watch as the cube was blasted into space from a launch site nearby. A furious Megatron crushed Bumblebee's voice capacitor beyond repair in a petty act of revenge and took off after the AllSpark; although the young bot survived and was dubbed a hero for his actions, he feared that all the Autobots had done was potentially spread their war to other worlds. Movie Prequel #1

In time, the Autobots left Cybertron aboard the Ark in search of the AllSpark. The Reign of Starscream #1 After years of questing, in 2003, Bumblebee traced the AllSpark to Earth's Solar System, first touching down on Mars, where his image was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and passed to human organization Sector Seven. Movie Prequel #2 Landing on Earth in the state of Virginia, 'Bee quickly evaded S7 by scanning a battered old Camaro and making for St. Louis, Missouri. There, he used a remote link to a coffee shop computer to search Shwiggle for any signs of extraterrestrial sightings, and discovered the story of Captain Archibald Witwicky, who claimed to have seen an "Ice Man" that Bumblebee recognized as a frozen Megatron. Movie Prequel #3 Bumblebee's followed Witwicky's trail to an asylum in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where the late captain had been committed, Movie Prequel #4 then headed downtown to another asylum that had computerized records he could scan. Having thus obtained a list of Witwicky's descendants, Bumblebee set course for Springfield, Missouri, in search of his son Clarence, evading an attack by by Sector Seven along the way. In Springfield, he found records of Clarence's children and started out to track them down, starting with his eldest son Ben in Denver, Colorado. Ben proved a dead end, so 'Bee took off for Tucson, only to be again attacked by Sector Seven, evading their helicopters by blinding them and rocketing off at high speed. Not long after, he learned the Decepticons had followed him to Earth when he was attacked by Barricade in the desert. Interlude

Escaping his various pursuers, a damaged and smoking Bumblebee stopped by the roadside on the way out of Colorado to rest and recover. Suddenly detecting a burst of AllSpark energy, he trace the source to New Mexico, where Barricade tracked him down and attacked once again. Other Decepticons, meanwhile, attacked the energy source and found it to be a Sector Seven ruse; consequently, assuming Bumblebee would have further leads they could exploit, Barricade let 'Bee escape so that they would be able to covertly track his movements. Eventually, Bumblebee's search took him to Tranquility, Nevada, Movie Prequel #4 where he would soon encounter Sam Witwicky, whom he befriended and allied with during the subsequent battle for the AllSpark. Transformers: Movie Adaptation

"Why do they always aim for the throat!?"

Immediately following the battle in Mission City, Bumblebee had his legs reattached by Ratchet, then he and the other Autobots rolled out to avoid Sector Seven's inquiries. 'Bee remained behind to guard Sam when the other Autobots were summoned to a meeting with Lennox a month later, Alliance #1 but then took part in the mission Lennox requested their help with: transporting the dead Decepticons' body to a navy base in San Diego, California for disposal at sea. Before departing Sector Seven's Nevada base with the convoy, Optimus Prime gave the surviving AllSpark sliver to Professor Vine for safekeeping, but had second thoughts about his decision partway into the mision and sent Ironhide and Bumblebee back to the facility to retrieve it. Racing ahead, Bumblebee was greeted with an unexpected sight: the base aflame, and Decepticons Wreckage and Starscream brawling in the midst of it all. 'Bee disarmed Wreckage with a well-aimed blast and Starscream finished him off, then turned his firepower on the humans; Bumblebee dived in front of them and took the blast, damaging his vocal processor once again. Alliance #2 Ironhide praised him for his bravery and selflessness, Bumblebee regretted not being able to save everybody. Alliance #3

"I see dead people, I mean it, look there's one right over there."

Two weeks later, Bumblebee was present for the burial at sea of Jazz and the Decepticons, following which it was announced that the Autobots and Lennox's team would be working together as a new special unit, dedicated to protecting the Earth from threats posed by the remaining Decepticons. They began training on the island of Diego Garcia, but it took time for the humans and Autobots to learn to work together; during a training exercise on a shooting range, when Bumblebee instinctively fired on a target, he only narrowly avoiding blasting Epps in the process. Alliance #3 For their first mission, NEST was deployed to San Francisco to take out the Decepticons Deadend and 'Bee's old opponent Swindle. Bumblebee and Lennox chased Swindle onto the deserted Golden Gate Bridge, where the Decepticon was amused upon realizing who it was he was facing once again. When Swindle turned on Lennox, however, he learned the folly of underestimating Bumblebee, who blasted his one-time torturer through the back, killing him. Alliance #4

Concerned that Sam Witwicky would become the target of the Decepticons again, Optimus selected Bumblebee to act as Sam's guardian again and sent him to live with the boy. Alliance #4 However, Bumblebee's attempts to integrate himself into Sam's life were not as smooth as he had hoped. Without the team structure of the Autobots, Bumblebee tended to act upon instinct, taking revenge on Mikaela's ex-boyfriend Trent DeMarco for his previous humiliations of Sam by wrecking his truck, smashing a would-be car thief with the door he was attempting to unlock, and inadvertently giving Sam traffic tickets by not observing the rules of the road. When Bumblebee was alone, he attempted to learn as much as he could about human culture, feeling that he owed it to his friend. Tales of the Fallen #1 Though no longer on active NEST duty, Bumblebee very occasionally helped his Autobot allies out; in November 2008, he came on-scene to assist his team-mates after Demolishor had... demolished a sizeable amount of human property in Uruguay. Tales of the Fallen #2

Soon, the problem of Sam's impending departure for college arose: 'Bee intended to follow Sam wherever he went, but Sam feared that he might not be able to bring his car along with him. Not thrilled the prospect of Bumblebee continuing to live with them, Sam's father Ron decreed that once Sam had gone to school, Bumblebee would have to leave. However, unexpectedly, Ron came to Bumblebee seeking aid when Mikaela reported that Sam had never made a rendezvous with her. Speeding out of the garage without Ron (and without waiting for the garage door to open), Bumblebee searched for clues to Sam's whereabouts and eventually found a message from his old foe Barricade, who demanded the AllSpark in exchange for the boy. Finding the pair at an car wrecking yard, Bumblebee attacked Barricade, but was considerably outmatched, with the Decepticon gloating that Earth had made the Autobot soft, and their last encounter was down to pure luck. Eventually, with a distraction from Sam, Bumblebee was able to force Barricade into a pool of gasoline. With the Decepticon hardly down for the count, Bumblebee told Sam to run and ignited the gasoline, causing a tremendous explosion that sent both Transformers flying. In the aftermath, Bumblebee told Sam he had a feeling they hadn't seen the last of Barricade. Tales of the Fallen #1

If you have a problem... if no one else can help... and if you can find them... maybe you can hire... The Bee Team.

In the wake of the Autobots' battle with The Fallen, Revenge of the Fallen movie adaptation with more new Autobots arriving on Earth regularly, Bumblebee was brought back onto active duty and placed in charge of a team made up of rookies Jolt, Knock Out, Dune Runner and Breakaway. Bumblebee's team responded to Decepticon activity at Kingdom Petrochemicals in Florida, but 'Bee and the other ground-based team-members arrived too late to save Breakaway from dying at Soundwave's hands. The Decepticons soon fled, as did a mysterious group of humans also active at the sight, leaving Bumblebee mystified as to what was going on. Nefarious #1 He and his team returned to Edwards Air Force Base, where Galloway was annoyed that he hadn't been notified about the arrival on Earth of some of the members of Bumblebee's team. Nefarious #2

After Optimus managed to capture Soundwave in Utah, Bumblebee's team was assigned to escort the captive Decepticon to a NEST base in Odessa, Texas. Decepticon. En route, their transport plane was shot down by Buzzsaw, and when they attempt to contiue the mission on the ground, they were soon obstructed by Soundwave's "mini-militia". Bumblebee tussled with Rumble, but quickly realized that his team was outmatched. Rather than a repeat of the loss of Breakaway, Bumblebee opted to release Soundwave. Nefarious #3 Subsequently, Soundwave chose to ally himself with the Autobots to bring down the Initiative, the human organization who had also been at Kingdom Petrochemicals, who were conspiring against the Transformers. Bumblebee's team were part of the NEST unit that follow Soundwave to the supposed location of the Intiative's base in Inyokern, but the mobile facility had already relocated to Crater Lake, Oregon, by the time they got there. Pursuing it, 'Bee's team was sent to assault the base from the north, but when Bumblebee broke through the base wall, he was confronted by a most unexpected set of opponents: Initiative-controlled Transformers! Nefarious #5 The damage he took from the initial blast knocked him out of the fight, but he had recovered in time to help during the clean-up. Nefarious #6

While Bumblebee was picnicking with Sam and Arcee, a small earthquake, followed by the emergence of a Transformer energy signature, prompted the trio to investigate. Tracing the signal to a nearby cave, they were attacked by Space Case, who had been freed from his subterranean prison by the 'quake, and who promptly brought the cave down on top of the threesome. Transformers: Space Case Separated from Arcee in the cave-in, Bumblebee managed to hold up the collapsed ceiling, but could not get any transmissions out through the rocks, and found his strength slowly ebbing as the weight pressed down. 'Bee's mind drifted back to a recent encounter he and Sam had with Starscream, and remembered how the boy had aided him by using downed power lines to electrocute the Decepticon. Reminded that friendship meant trying your hardest and not letting your friends down, Bumblebee dug deep, and when a crack of light appeared overhead, managed to wrench the rocks clear. The pair were lifted to safety by Ratchet, who had been digging for them, and who was amazed that Bumblebee had had the strength to carry the weight for as long as he had. Transformers: Bumblebee

While visiting Sam at college in Philadelphia, Bumblebee was parked at the roadside waiting for him while he grabbed lunch when he was approached by "Brains", a Decepticon brain unit who had just recently come online and escaped from Shockwave and Astrotrain. Believing him to be an ordinary Earth vehicle, but not understanding that said vehicles were not alive, Brains tried asking Bumblebee for help; naturally, Bee did not break cover by replying, but when an angry Brains then kicked him, 'Bee's temper got the better of him and he transformed. Rising Storm #1 Sam and Bumblebee brought Brains back to his college, but this only made them targets for a force of Decepticons heralded by 'Bee's recurring opponent, Barricade. Vastly outnumbered, Bumblebee nearly met his maker at the end of Sonar's blaster, but was saved when NEST reinforcements Mirage and Wheeljack arrived. Rising Storm #2 As the battle intensified, Bumblebee and Barricade squared off once more, Rising Storm #3 but as more Autobot backup came to join the fight, Bumblebee got the better of his old enemy and defeated him yet again. Rising Storm #4

Concurrently with the battle in Philadelphia, Shockwave had staged a devastating attack on NEST's Diego Garcia base, necessitating a restructuring of the organization. NEST's new director removed Bumblebee from his position as Sam's guardian, and placed him on full-time NEST activity. Rising Storm #4 Some time later, the Autobots faced the return of Sentinel Prime and Bumblebee and Sam were reunited to thwart his space bridge plot. Dark of the Moon movie adaptation

Transformers: Beginnings

It's a great big universe, and we're all really puny
We're just tiny little specs about the size of Mickey Rooney

Voice actor: Mark Ryan

Optimus Prime entrusted Bumblebee with the secret that the AllSpark would be sent into deep space to prevent Lord Megatron from possessing and corrupting it. Just after the launch, Megatron attacked Bumblebee in rage at losing the AllSpark and shattered the Autobot's voice capacitor beyond repair.

Bumblebee arrived on Earth and, sensing the AllSpark was near, took on local camouflage to search for the artifact. He immediately attracted the attention of Sector Seven agents and the Decepticons. Transformers: Beginnings

Transformers: Beginnings is a condensed, flash-animated retelling of the events of the Movie Prequel, described in the above section.

Titan movie comics

Bumblebee lost his voice when Megatron crushed his vocal processor upon witnessing the launch of the AllSpark. The Decepticon leader immediately discarded his body and took off after the cube. Prelude: Megatron

Bumblebee and his fellow Autobots would ultimately follow the AllSpark to the planet Earth, where Bumblebee befriended the human Sam Witwicky. Some time after the battle of Mission City, Bumblebee was driven by the Witwickys to Sam's college, where he quietly endured their bickering while scanning everything around him for potential threats. When he picked up radio transmissions from two new Autobots, he drove off into battle, and saved Skids and Mudflap from being slaughtered by the Decepticon Ransack. But with the villain threatening a long game, Bumblebee knew that trouble was on the horizon. Dogfight! 'Bee brought Skids and Mudflap to meet with the other Autobots at Edwards Air Force Base in California, but no sooner had he turned his back than the pair snuck off to find Optimus Prime on their own, insisting they had a message for his ears only. Learning Curve

There's only room for one kid-appeal character...

Some time later, Bumblebee was hanging out in Sam's garage when he received an emergency call from NEST: the twins, having apparently fallen in with the Decepticons, had abducted Sam! 'Bee tore out of the garage, tracked down the twins, and demanded they stop immediately. When they didn't, he launched suppressive fire and began ramming Skids, which soon convinced them to release Sam. As Bumblebee held the twins at gunpoint, ready to eliminate if necessary, Mudflap's tried to explain that they hadd been framed and there was a bigger threat coming... but before 'Bee could hear any more, he was gunned down in a surprise attack from Soundwave. Outlaw Blues The "bigger threat" the twins had warned of soon arrived, in the form of The Fallen, but the Autobots were able to defeat the ancient Decepticon. Afterwards, back in the field in Beverly Hills, Bumblebee was part of a unit assigned to captured Reverb; Jolt messed the mission up, but Bumblebee saved the day by ramming the bike head-on. Culture Shock

Later, with Lennox and his crew searching for Seekers, Bumblebee was left with only Robert Epps to investigate an attack on Malmstrom Air Force Base and the disappearance of Optimus Prime. Epps worked out that Optimus had been victim of an electromagnetic bomb, and Bumblebee tracked his leader to where he was being held (Poor Epps had to ride in Bumblebee jumping a ravine, and almost spewed up his breakfast). After locating Prime, they found he was a captive of the Free Men militia. At Epps command, Bumblebee hit the Free Men compound with his full firepower, swiftly defeating the militia. Bring Me the Head of Optimus Prime

It's true!

Bumblebee selected Death Valley as the site for a survival exercise for raw recruits Jolt, Dune Runner, and Rollbar.Spare Parts! Later, he was summoned as back-up by NEST South Africa due to a Decepticon jailbreak led by Bludgeon, but Optimus ordered him to let the Decepticons leave to prevent civilian casualties. Inside Out! This failure left the Autobots' reputations in the toilet, and with concerns that public fights risked alienating humans, Bumblebee was tasked to head a covert unit with Slap Dash and Hubcap. They were charged with operating under NEST's radar, monitoring Decepticons and waiting for windows of opportunity out of the public eye, before hitting hard and fast. In practice, this meant allowing Decepticons like Crankstart, Brimstone, and Trenchmouth to run amok in cities, with Bumblebee restraining his desire to stop them and keeping his men from taking action. After an uncomfortable period of hoping nobody would be killed, the Decepticons went to an isolated stretch of road: now free to act, Bumblebee led his men in a vicious ambush and personally drove through Crankshaft. Shadow War

Intrigued by the human ritual of "Christmas", Bumblebee convinced Sam to let him secretly observe the Witwicky family during the festive proceedings. Unfortunately, the cannibalistic Decepticon Dead End tracked the Autobot to the Witwickys' house and attacked on Christmas Eve, tearing bits of Bumblebee's mechanisms out to integrate into his own body. Luckily, 'Bee managed to shock the zombie-con into submission before their fight awoke Sam's parents, and he was even able to get into the gift-giving on Christmas morning, buying Judy Witwicky car wax. Sam's present was particularly timely: a new traction bearing to replace the one Dead End had torn out! The Nightmare Bee-4 Christmas

Information obtained from the Decepticon unit Bumblebee's covert squad had brought in allowed the Autobots to trace the location of Bludgeon's Decepticons' base to Arkhangelskaya Oblast in Russia. Regrettably, while strategizing together, Bumblebee and Ironhide made the mistake of dismissing Wheelie when he offered to help; insulted and angry, the little scrap drone sold the Autobots out to Bludgeon's Decepticons, who were able to ambush 'Bee and the Autobots when they moved to attacked their base. Divided Loyalties Fortunately for the Autobots, Megatron himself soon arrived and slew Bludgeon for his transgressions, meaning Bumblebee and the others did not have to battle the rogue Decepticon at all. In the wake of the two Decepticons' brawl, Bumblebee discovered the shattered remains of Wheelie, torn to bits by Dead End. Unaware of his treachery, 'Bee gathered up his parts to take back to Ratchet for repair... unaware that Dead End was now on his trail once again! A Short, Sharp Lesson!

When the Autobots were summoned to Fiesole Cathedral in Fiesole, Italy to examine a mysterious object discovered there by an archaeology professor, Bumblebee accidentally smashed the cathedrals shrine to Saint Donatus. Determined to prevent the Autobots from getting ahold of the object—actually a piece of Sentinel Prime's Ark—Starscream attacked the cathedral, blasting Bumblebee through a wall with a volley of missiles. Recovering, 'Bee joined Optimus Prime in pursuing Starscream to the cathedral's belltower, but the Decepticon then brought the tower down on top of them and escaped with the Ark component. Fight for Fiesole

Bumblebee was later teamed with Robert Epps to hunt down Soundwave in the Spanish Sierra Nevada mountain range, but NEST's intelligence regarding the Decepticons' operational status was flawed: Soundwave's weapons systems were in perfect working order, and Bumblebee was badly damaged by his attacks. Luckily, Optimus Prime arrived to save them. Dealing with the Devil

After the return of Sentinel Prime and the battle of Chicago, Bumblebee, Optimus Prime Crosshairs tracked three Decepticon survivors of the conflict to Jakarta, Indonesia. When the Decepticons retreated and Crosshairs tracked them to Pulau Bidadari, Bumblebee monitored the ranger and relayed the events to Optimus. Thousand Island Fight Not long after, Bumblebee was shocked to see a news report claiming that he had attacked a human power plant. Though 'Bee was eager to hunt down his mysterious doppleganger, Optimus Prime encouraged him to wait until he had the Autobot leader to back him up. The choice was soon taken out of Bumblebee's hands, however: responding to a fire at a remote human homestead, he was attacked by his mysterious duplicate, who introduced himself as "Stinger", and promptly welded 'Bee's battle mask shut so they would be totally indistinguishable from one another. Optimus Prime soon arrived and had to train his guns on the two identical Bumblebees... but the standoff was brief, as the real 'Bee revealed himself when he dived to save a human who had fallen from the burning building. Prime quickly dispatched Stinger, and he and Bumblebee rolled out together, wondering where Stinger had come from... Accept No Substitutes!

Alternate timeline

Why is he apologizing, you ask? Look where his left hand is.

In a parallel universe, the battle of Mission City turned out very differently—Megatron killed Sam, captured Optimus, and obtained the AllSpark. The Decepticons proceeded to conquer North America, and by the start of 2008, had begun a plan to cyberform the Earth using the AllSpark's energies. Bumblebee—his voice still functional—and Mikaela Banes went underground, working with Tom Banachek to fight a guerilla war against the Decepticons.

Considering Optimus their last, best hope for victory, Bumblebee and Mikaela went on a mission to rescue him from the old Sector Seven base in Hoover Dam, which the Decepticons were now using as their headquarters. Mikaela quickly shot down Bumblebee's concerns about her safety, though she did almost get squished when 'Bee took out the bunker guard Swindle. Entering, the pair quickly located Optimus, but in a most unexpected condition: frozen solid in the old cryo-system previously used to contain Megatron. Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 1 Stalked by Megatron, Bumblebee kept the Decepticon leader busy while Mikaela attempt to deactivate the freezing system, Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 2 but was baited into revealing himself when the tyrant threatened to kill Mikaela. Bumblebee made a desperate attack, only to be beaten aside with ease, Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 3 but he remained defiant to the end and refused to beg for mercy. Luckily, Autobot reinforcements arrived; although even they were no match for Megatron, their added distraction provided Mikaela time to thaw out Optimus Prime. Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 4 While Prime and Megatron battled, Mikaela arrived with Phase Two of their plan: a Sector Seven nanovirus that targeted AllSpark energy. Loading the virus into himself, Bumblebee charged Megatron, forcibly transmitting the nano-virus into him via a light-beam from his headlights. The virus killed Megatron once and for all, but Bumblebee did not celebrate too loudly, as he knew too well that this just left a power vacuum... Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 5

Bumblebee and the Autobots Savannah, Georgia, to survey the damage done by the Decepticons' AllSpark cyberforming project. He took Mikaela to a nearby refugee camp, but as Optimus Prime had feared, the humans the were fearful of him, viewing all Cybertronians as an unwanted presence. Aftermath, Part 1 In apparent further validation of this fear, the Autobots soon came under attack from a NATO unit while attempting to defend the camp from a Decepticon attack, but intel from Banachek suggested something was not right. Spotting the human in charge of the unit, Bumblebee and Mikaela ran a gauntlet of human and Decepticon firepower, blinding the former with his headlights and roasting the latter with his fiery exhaust, in order to get to the man. Having got in close enough, Bumblebee was able to detect a mind-controlling Decepticon cerebro-strip on the man, and Mikaela freed him from its effects, ending the conflict. Aftermath Part 2 Following this battle, the Decepticons continued their attacks on human infrastructure; Bumblebee was part of a unit defending an oil pipeline in Crooked Creek, Alaska. Dark Spark

Bumblebee was part of a unit under Ironhide's command that was sent back to Cybertron in order to retrieve Nucleon in hopes it could be used to repair the damage inflicted upon the Earth by the AllSpark. Touching down on their homeworld, Bumblebee was sent on recon and discovered a strange satellite dish, but when the team investigated it, they were jumped by a team of Decepticons led by Stockade. The revelation that Stockade's "New Decepticons" were in control of the planet's Nucleon supply, followed by the appearance of a strange energy anomaly in Cybertron's orbit, Return to Cybertron: Part 1 convinced Bumblebee to try talking, rather than fighting; after convincing Ironhide to stop throwing his face at Stockade's fists, he learned from Stockade that the anomaly was a living entity the Decepticons had deliberately summoned, believing it would rejuvenate Cybertron. Return to Cybertron: Part 2

Not trusting this entity and wanting to stop all the Nucleon being used up, Bumblebee had the Autobots create a distraction while he turned the Nucleon transfer off, and sent a distress call to Optimus Prime on Earth. His efforts to prevent the arrival of the entity failed, and it revealed itself to be Unicron, the Anti-Life, as it began to possess Cybertron itself. Return to Cybertron: Part 2 In the resulting chaos, Bumblebee had to rescue Ironhide when the satellite dish collapsed on him. Return to Cybertron: Part 3 Optimus soon arrived in response to Bumblebee's summons, brokered an alliance with Stockade, and came up with a plan: Cut off the Nucleon that Unicron's body was using for power. Bumblebee and Armorhide were dispatched to drain the Nucleon seam, but were not able to siphon all of the fuel off fast enough, so Ratchet came up with a quicker alternative: blowing it up. Return to Cybertron: Part 4

OTP!

Upon returning to Earth, the Autobots found the Decepticons had pinched their base and all 600 square miles around it. They retreated, leaving Mikaela in Decepticon hands; Bumblebee was distraught over this. Hard Target He would be part of the raid to get her back, perfectly aware it was an obvious trap, but not caring due to how much they owed Mikaela. The raid was successful and the two were reunited, awwww! The Decepticon Who Haunted Himself

The pair's time together was short, as soon, the Decepticon-blackmailed American government ordering the Autobots off the planet. Revolution, Part 1 Knowing that the Decepticons were behind, Optimus Prime had Bumblebee and Ironhide prepare a decoy ship; Revolution Part 3 the following day, after Bumblebee said his farewells to Mikaela (and beat up the Decepticon Dropkick as an "up yours" gesture), the Decepticons had the ship blown up shortly after take off.

Revolution, Part 1 Believed dead, Bumblebee and the Autobots hid themselves on Cybertron, where they readied their final weapon against the Decepticons: a teleportation system that would trap the Decepticons on the dead planet, then teleport it off to the far reaches of the universe. When all was in readiness, the Autobots returned to Earth; Mikaela was not happy to find out they had not told her of their plan, but Bumblebee denied that it was because they didn't trust her—they had simply had to minimize any possible exposure. In the final battle that followed, Bumblebee tagged Megatron with the teleport tech, and the Decepticon leaders and his followers were soon exiled forever.

In the aftermath, after it became clear the Autobots had just exiled themselves to Earth forever—"Hey, there are worse fates," said Bumblebee—Mikaela forgave Bumblebee. Both had a lot of clean-up work to do, but also a brave new world to explore together...! Revolution, Part 3

Toy bios

Bumblebee learned hand-to-hand combat at the most prestigious combat training center on Cybertron, where he received his converting energon blade as a reward for his skills. Dark of the Moon Walmart-exclusive Bumblebee It was on the battlefields of Cybertron that Bumblebee first met the Decepticon Starscream, who he would meet again and again in combat. Bumblebee/Starscream He also repeatedly crossed paths with fellow elite spy Decepticon Hardtop; initially a professional rivalry, the relationship between the two 'bots slowly evolved into a personal vendetta that saw the pair battle across the galaxy. It was a crack shot by Hardtop that damaged Bumblebee's vocal processors, causing the Autobot pain when he tries to speak. Hardtop

Bumblebee was sent to Earth ahead of the other Autobot by Optimus Prime. Deluxe Bumblebee ('76 Camaro) Prior to his arrival on the planet, Bumblebee cared little for the appearance of his alternate mode, simply scanning the first vehicle he saw, Evolution of a Hero but that changed upon befriending Sam Witicky. At the boy's urging, Bumblebee scanned a new Concept Camaro form, and came to appreciate how stylish he looked. Deluxe Bumblebee (Concept Camaro) His shiny new form was soon badly damaged, however, during the battle of Mission City—with his legs blown off, Bumblebee had to be towed to safety by the newborn Longarm. Towed to Safety

When the AllSpark was destroyed, Bumblebee was briefly empowered by its radiation, and put the new power to use hunting down the straggling Decepticons. AllSpark Power Bumblebee Once such Decepticon was Scorponok, who he hunted across the Middle East. Bumblebee vs. Scorponok Then, with the initial threat over, Bumblebee decided to kick back and relax. Transcanning a rally car, he began hanging around at race tracks, pitting himself against the human racers. Rally Rocket Bumblebee Following this, he volunteered to be Sam's guardian. It was a pretty swank deal: he got to hang with Sam and Mikaela all the time, got lots of oil, and could join Ironhide in killing Decepticons whenever he wanted. Revenge of the Fallen Bumblebee Peacetime afforded him the luxury of becoming meticulous about his alternate mode; he even had Ratchet learn a little about the cosmetic side of repair work. Premium Series Bumblebee

In time, Bumblebee came to realize that with pictures of him all over the internet, everyone recognised him... including newly arriving Decepticons, which put Sam and others in danger! With Mikaela's help, Bumblebee recoloured himself to help restore his disguise and make it easier to sneak up on the enemy. Stealth Bumblebee With the Decepticon forces constantly growing, he also decided to upgrade his arsenal and modified his vehicle mode so he could use weaponry in it, deciding he'd been caught off guard too many times before. Cannon Bumblebee When the battle shifted to the deserts, he threw himself into the fray, upgrading himself for desert combat and wielding the mighty sand blast! Sand Attack Bumblebee

Following the defeat of The Fallen, Bumblebee returned to active NEST duty, hunting down the Decepticons hiding across Earth; Sam even began joining him in the field. Human Alliance Bumblebee Discovering that Dirge had secreted himself inside NEST itself, Bumblebee teamed with Armorhide to ferret him out. Alliance Bumblebee He had particular dislike for Shadow Striker, who really got under his metal skin. Bumblebee vs Shadow Striker He later took on Soundwave, Battlefield Bumblebee vs Infiltration Soundwave and brought his battle blade to bear in combat with Ravage and Insecticon. Battle Blade Bumblebee His experience fighting fliers also meant that he was fully equipped to deal with Thrust Crash Landing Attack and Grindor. Bombing Run Battle

Bumblebee was the first Autobot try out the new MechTech weapons developed by NEST, Dark of the Moon Leader Bumblebee and also began toting a Mobile Battle Bunker around. Bumblebee Mobile Battle Bunker Like several other Tranformers, he took to inscribing Cyberglyphics on his armor before significant battles, out of a superstitious racial belief that they granted good luck. "Cyberglyph" Bumblebee When Soundwave reappeared on Earth, Bumblebee put a plan together to take care of him once and for all. BeeSoundwaveRodimus Together with Sam and Backfire, he formed the Autobot Daredevil Squad Autobot Daredevil Squad and battled Shockwave alongside Optimus Prime. Streetside Bot Brawl

Cyber Missions

BUUU!

Voice actor: Tom Anderson, David Kledzik, Tony Gialluca II, Bronco D. Jackson (English), José Antonio Macías (Latin American-Spanish), Alexandre Moreno (Brazilian Portuguese)

Bumblebee and Ironhide were reviewing some data tracks that Optimus Prime had made for preservation in Vector Sigma when they detected an explosion outside their base. Bumblebee remained to lock down the most important data tracks while Ironhide went to investigate the cause of the explosion. However, that is what the Decepticons wanted, as moments later, Soundwave burst into the base, overwhelming Bumblebee with a sonic attack, and mocking Bumblebee for being the smallest Autobot. Bumblebee countered that he wasn't as small as Soundwave thought, but in the battle that followed, Soundwave was able to physically overpower Bumblebee. Bumblebee fired a shot from his shoulder cannon, but Soundwave absorbed the sonic boom and sent the acoustic energy back at him. Bumblebee decided to use a more ingenious method: fire automatic weaponry at Soundwave, giving too many sonic booms for Soundwave to absorb, defeating the Decepticon. Bumblebee then tried to inform Ironhide of what had happened, but he had unfinished business with Bludgeon.Cyber Missions 1 Following this, Bumblebee placed Soundwave in an electromagnetically sealed bubble, leaving him unable to absorb any sonic booms to escape. Cyber Missions 2

After Ironhide went missing in the jungle, Bumblebee reported the problem to Optimus, who was luckily in the area. Prime asked him to conduct a scan of the area in which Ironhide went missing, and Bumblebee discovered that the rocks in the area had an unusually high concentration of energon deposits. Cyber Missions 5 Bumblebee took part in a training exercise with Ironhide in the Arctic when his comrade decided that the smaller 'bot was too often a target for the Decepticons. During their sparring, they discovered what appeared to be a sentient plant growing in the snow. Cyber Missions 8

Bumblebee and Ratchet were dispatched to a building in Scramble City by Optimus, who briefed them that Smolder and Chopster were causing trouble. On reaching the building, they encountered Chopster, who screamed and ran away when Bumblebee looked menacing. Bumblebee called after him to bring his friend out, replying to a bemused Ratchet that not every encounter had to be a battle. The pair were almost run down a short time later by Smolder, and Bumblebee was forced to grapple at length with the Decepticon while Ratchet worked on repowering his EMP blaster. Afterward, the two Autobots stood over the disabled Decepticon and cracked jokes. Cyber Missions 9

Optimus reported finding Megatron and Starscream in the Arctic regions of Earth, and Bumblebee was summoned to aid his leader in battle with Ironhide, Ratchet and Sideswipe. Starscream broke off from the two on one duel, and attacked all the Autobots at once, only to be defeated in due time. However, Optimus let Megatron go, and Starscream apparently followed suit. Cyber Missions 12

Optimus later laid a trap to lure the Decepticons to a final confrontation with a hologram of Soundwave, and Megatron indeed walked right into it. Bumblebee, Ironhide, and Ratchet arrived to join the battle, and in the ensuing fight, Bumblebee took on Mindwipe. The Decepticon tried to hypnotize Bumblebee into not fighting, but he nonchalantly ingnored him, and continued fighting. An army of humans arrived and surrounded the combatants, and the day went to the Autobots. Optimus once again let Megatron and the Decepticons go at their choice. After Megatron fled, Bumblebee decided to give the Decepticons a reminder of who protected this planet, and stamped out an Autobot symbol in the dirt. Decepticons Attack

Transformers Annual 2011

Bumblebee charged to Sam's defense when Starscream tried to abduct the boy, but proved no match for the Decepticon, and was flung around the yard. As Starscream started making off with Sam, Bumblebee made another attempt to stop him, and was brushed aside. Luckily Optimus arrived to help, and Starscream soon fled, but the Witwicky's yard was in ruins. Sam in Danger

How to Ride your Dinobot

Cartoon

I'VE CHANGED INTO WILE E. COYOTE.

Bumblebee had never ridden a Dinobot before, and decided to start by trying to mount Strafe. Guided by a kind but astonishingly unhelpful narrator, Bumblebee's attempts to mount Strafe left something to be desired. After many failed efforts, Bumblebee simply destroyed the instruction manual to riding Dinobots before storming off in annoyance, much to the narrator's surprise. Getting on a Dinobot

Comic

How to Ride a Dinobot!

Cheetos comics

Cheetos/Transformers: Age of Extinction

Q-Transformers

Voice actor: Ryōhei Kimura (Japanese)

Second Life

In the online virtual world simulation/game Second Life, there was a full replica of the Sector Seven base which contained a giant discussion room where Michael Bay held a question board. This room contained a giant frozen Megatron replica and free avatars of both Bumblebee and Barricade. Both freebies were non-transforming. Also, the Bumblebee avatar had his battle mask down and it could not be raised.

Notes

Classic Camaro

• According to an article on Edmunds.com, the film makers wanted Bumblebee's original Earth form to be the 1976 iteration of the Camaro because it was the worst Camaro possible that also had chrome bumpers.
• The same article indicates that the 1976 Camaros used in the film were all purchased via online auction for under $6000 each, one for less than $2000. That one didn't run.
• One of the 1976 Camaros was sold on eBay. The bidding ended on July 18, 2007; the final price was $40,100.01.

Modern Camaro

• The 2008 Concept Camaro used for Bumblebee in the first movie was built by Saleen in 30 days, using a heavily modified 2006 Holden Monaro chassis as the basis. The '08 Camaro was not in production at the time that the first film was being made, hence an identical mock-up was needed to fill the role.
• In Transformers, Bumblebee scans a working, driveable new generation Camaro — conveniently with the same paint job as his classic Camaro disguise at that time — that wouldn't be released until some time in the year 2009. However, it is possible that the Camaro in question was being road-tested by GM engineers, like they were doing in the real world.
• Although unexplained in the films, Bumblebee's vehicle mode changes appearance subtly between Transformers and Revenge of the Fallen. This is probably because of product placement: Bumblebee's old alternate mode was an unavailable concept Camaro, while in Revenge he uses what seems to be the new Z/28 Camaro... whose mass production has since been canceled. Oops. However, it is perfectly reasonable to assume that it is the Camaro ZL1 that uses the same design.
• He changes models again between Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon and becomes a production Camaro SS (rather than the previous two movies GTO-Based mock-ups); the movie prop car changes include the addition of a rear spoiler, the black racing stripes now being further apart while at the same time losing the outer pinstripes, the racing stripes now also covering the roof and Autobot badges in the front fenders.

Robot mode and CG model(s)

He uses it once, then dies.

• The Bumblebee computer-generated model consisted of 7608 individual parts, 1,511,727 polygons, 19,722 rig nodes, and 8094 texture maps. The volume of all the pieces came to 1069.01 cubic feet.
• Bumblebee's character animation is based on the performance of Michael J. Fox in the Back to the Future movies.

But will we ever get an orange Bumblebee? No, we'll just keep getting slightly different yellow ones.

• Bumblebee is equipped with a pair of arm-mounted electrical "stingers." While designed, the stingers were ultimately not featured in the movies, though they may have influenced other media.
• Speaking of weapons, for someone whose main job is being subtle, Bumblebee is quite well armed, with a cannon powerful enough to rattle Brawl and a ring-shaped light missile launcher in each shoulder. He is also a capable close-combat fighter, as seen in his fights against Barricade, Rampage, Soundwave, and Stinger.
• Despite this, he has a Fireblast rating of three.
• According to designer Paul Ozzimo on his website, at one point there were plans to make Bumblebee into a Z/28 convertible for Revenge of the Fallen, and the possibility of changing his color to orange or black with yellow was also discussed. While none of these alterations happened, concept art for both appeared on the "25 Years of Transformers" feature on the Revenge DVD... though the black version is only seen from behind.
• Bumblebee stands approximately 16 feet tall, according to the official game strategy guide.
• In 2011, Bumblebee appeared in a Super Bowl XLV-related commercial, parodying car dealers by tossing a squirrel mascot knocking his hood to literally hammer the point of low prices. The TV spot also revealed ILM's modifications to his design for Dark of the Moon, namely more pronounced shoulders and ribs ala his Prime counterpart.
• Despite his Camaro alternate mode used for Dark of the Moon no longer sporting the outer pinstripes bordering his black racing stripes, the CG robot model still has them. Whoops.
• Similarly, in the first movie, after he gains the modern Camaro alt mode, Bumblebee's robot mode still features the scratches and dirt on his paint job of his original 1976 Camaro alt mode.

License plates

Bumblebee sported several different license plates between the movies, the video games and the toys:

• 489 PCE, registered in California, was the 1976 Camaro's license plate in the first movie, which was kept consistent between the car prop and the CG model for the robot mode. The license plate was later auctioned off in 2008.
• 900 STRA, without a state-specific registration, was the new license plate for the Concept Camaro car prop, which was kept for the production models used for all three subsequent movies. It was also used when the modern Camaro prop cars from the movies were on display at car shows and other events. Finally achieving consistency between both modes, Bumblebee also sported this plate in robot mode in Dark of the Moon. Furthermore, Hasbro started to use this license plate number with the Leader Class Bumblebee and Deluxe Class Nitro Bumblebee toys from the Dark of the Moon toy line (both sporting sculpted license plate inscriptions in both modes), and the Activision Dark of the Moon video game also uses it for the vehicle mode. The license plate used in Revenge of the Fallen was auctioned off in October 2009. In Age of Extinction, he even uses this license plate in his 1967 Camaro disguise, and still keeps it when he upgrades to his new 2014 Camaro concept form.
• 4NZZ454, registered in California, is probably the most well-known license plate number due to being used on the CG model for the robot mode in the 2007 movie and Revenge of the Fallen. This number number was also used for a lot of Hasbro's toys from the first two movies' toy lines (in robot mode and often also in vehicle mode), including the Deluxe Class Classic Camaro.
• 4NZZZ454, with a red line indicative of a California registration, was an erroneous version of the above number with an extra "Z", used on some of Hasbro's toys, namely the Deluxe Class Concept Camaro Bumblebee toy from the first movie's toy line (including several redecos and retools) and Revenge of the Fallen Human Alliance Bumblebee.
• 5LKZ213 can be spotted on some photos of the life-sized robot prop from the Hoover Dam set from the first movie.
• BUMBLBE, registered in California, was used for the life-sized robot prop on various exhibits in 2007.
• FXPERTS (registered in California), a reference to the special effects company that built the life-sized robot prop, was used on various exhibits in 2008.
• KDM 0814, registered in California, was used for the life-sized robot prop on various exhibits from 2009 to at least 2011. A variant of this, "KDM 814" minus the "0", had been previously used as the license plate of The Twins' combined ice cream truck mode in Revenge of the Fallen.
• 5BBM2 (registered in California), mirrored on the other side, is used by Activision for the robot models used in the Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon video games. Due to its mirrored nature, this plate wouldn't actually be legal.

Lack of voice

• For the first movie, Paramount had originally preferred the Transformers not to talk at all throughout the movie, a notion Hasbro heavily contested. Bumblebee still ended up being mute throughout most of the movie, which, according to Orci and Kurtzman, was inspired by Steven Spielberg's E.T. and is supposed to signify that his friendship with Sam transcends words.
• According to the prequel comic by IDW Publishing, Megatron ripped out and crushed Bumblebee's voice capacitor during the battle at Tyger Pax back on Cybertron. Hardtop's toy bio claims the damage came from a shot fired by Hardtop. In the film itself, Ratchet only states to Sam that Bumblebee's "vocal processors were damaged in battle" and he was "still working on them" after firing a single plasma beam at Bumblebee's throat; by the end of all the conflict (the climax of the film proper), Bumblebee has regained his ability to speak. Although it was not confirmed on-screen, screenwriter Roberto Orci did confirm off-screen that Ratchet's (regenerative) beam was indeed the reason.
• Just as well, Roberto Orci also admitted that Bumblebee's brief contact with the AllSpark would be an equally valid (and an even more "in-continuity") explanation.
• When asked, Orci admitted there had been plans to have Bumblebee speak in Revenge of the Fallen; however, ultimately they liked his "musical ability" too much, and Michael Bay wanted to focus more on Skids and Mudflap, since he thought kids would like the two characters.
• When Bumblebee finally did speak, he had a slightly British accent.

Other

• Bumblebee is the only member of the original five Autobots to have appeared in all four Transformers films without dying.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Bumblebee (バンブルビー Banburubī)
• Cantonese: Daai Wong Fung (大黃蜂, "Bumblebee" or "Hornet")
• Hungarian: Űrdongó ("Space Bumblebee")
• Mandarin: Dà-huáng-fēng (大黃蜂, "Bumblebee" or "Hornet")
• Spanish: Abejorro ("Bumblebee")
• Ukrainian: Bdzhilka (Бджілка, "Bee")

External links

• Bumblebee at TFU.info
• Galleries of various different Bumblebee toys from the Movie