Dogfight (G1)
- Dogfight is an Autobot Triggerbot from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Dogfight is tough, unflinching, and extremely aggressive. He is a skilled air warrior, and with grim humor will refer to a hard-fought aerial combat as a "dance of doom". Despite Optimus Prime's teaching of mechano-meditation, Dogfight remains violent-tempered and easily provoked. He is extremely protective of his personal airspace and will readily attack any who approach him with unclear intentions.
Dogfight's short temper is not all there is to him, however, nor is he a purely ruthless fighter like Sunstreaker. He does value life; he does value friendship. He knows from sad experience that the merest indecision on a warrior's part may bring defeat in battle, perhaps permanently. Worse, it may mean deactivation or damage to friends, or to non-combatant bystanders. At the same time, he knows that rashness may bring the same result. So, while his quick temper does control him at times, at others he uses it to motivate him, and in the midst of rushing madly upon an enemy he will do his level best to preserve a fragment of his wits, and to fight with lethal skill as well as fury. He is a dangerous opponent.
Besides his temper, his greatest weakness is his great flying skill. Like Powerglide, he is an aerial acrobat who can often outmaneuver a larger foe or one with heavier weapons or stronger armor; even one who is faster in level flight. Such airborne acrobatics earned him his name, but can also earn him a mid-air stall, and a potentially fatal fall. So far, he has managed to recover from these.
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Marvel The Transformers comics
When Optimus Prime was still a junior commanding officer, he led Dogfight and the other Triggerbots on a quest to acquire the knowledge and power of the Underbase. During this quest, Dogfight became the latest in a long series of flying characters inexplicably undone by a hole in the ground. The Flames of Boltax!
Some millions of years later, Dogfight was being held prisoner by the Decepticons along with the rest of the Triggerbots and Sparkabots. Ca$h and Car-nage! Race with the Devil Eventually getting free, he became involved with the Matrix Quest with his fellow Triggerbots. On the planet Cheyne, Dogfight intervened when a group of armed riders were seen chasing down a helpless child. The Triggerbots easily outgunned the riders and drove them off. Hud, the boy's father, invited the Autobots to come into his home and freshen up before heading out. Despite the urgency of their mission, Dogfight and the others agreed. As the night wore on, the Triggerbots learned from Hud about how he and his family had been chased off their last homeworld by a political upheaval, and came to Cheyne to settle and build a simple farming life. The riders represented a land development interest who wanted to buy out their farm, and weren't willing to take "No" for an answer. Despite having a vague recollection of somewhere they needed to be, the Triggerbots allowed themselves to be convinced to stay the night and, the next morning, to help work the fields.
When Hud needed to go into town for supplies, Dogfight quickly volunteered to go along with him as protection. While there, he was confronted by a hostile group of robots, demanding to know about something called "the Matrix". Dogfight at first ignored their confusing words, and began firing upon them to protect his friend. Still, these new robots seemed strangely familiar, like something nagging at the back of his central processor. Lost in his own confusion, Dogfight was tossed aside by the robots once they realized he knew nothing of their prize. With Hud having run away in the scuffle, Dogfight was found by the riders who had confronted him earlier. As his mind began to clear, they explained that Hud's family weren't all that they pretended to be. Dogfight realized that Hud had been manipulating his mind and molding his behavior to suit the family's needs. They had pierced his outer gruff nature by toying with his deep inner desire for a peaceful life and an end to the fighting.
Feeling violated, and having regained enough composure to confront his "hosts", Dogfight returned to the farm and forced Hud to reveal his true, hideous form. It seems the family were Vrobians, psychic vampires growing fat by feeding off of the tasty Matrix-energy found in the Autobots' sparks. Dogfight was forced to defend himself against Hud, and the alien was killed in a blaster explosion. Backstreet and Override similarly had to...deal with the rest of the family, for their own survival. The Triggerbots were left feeling empty inside, and no closer to finding the Matrix than they had been when they started. Kings of the Wild Frontier.
Transformers Comic-Magazin
Template:TransformersComicMagazin Dogfight was present when the Decepticons unleashed a robotic hell-beast known as 'King Con' on New York; however Optimus Prime rented a helicopter to fly a banner announcing huge raw oil deposit finds in the Rocky Mountains. After a short hesitation, the Decepticons retreated to pursue these findings. New York — A City Sinking in Terror
Regeneration One
Template:Noterg1 Twenty-some years on from the end of the war, Dogfight was part of a security team alongside Backstreet, Crosshairs, Sureshot and Override that accompanied the new Autobot leader Hot Rod in apprehending the errant Dinobot Grimlock on his return to Cybertron. Although offered the choice to come quietly, Grimlock chose to do things the hard way, resisting all the way to Bastion-five lock-up. Natural Selection, Part Two Shortly afterwards, Dogfight fell victim to Scorponok's Gene Key. Natural Selection, Part Three cover Later, Dogfight was present at the Sonic Canyons when Grimlock and Perceptor succeeded in reversing the Gene Key's effects. Natural Selection, Part Five
Dogfight joined Blades, Doubleheader, Skyhammer, Cloudraker, Crossblades, Jetfire and the Aerialbots in defending Cybertron against Bludgeon's Warworld. Destiny, Part Four This was a diversionary tactic devised by Prowl to allow the Wreckers to sneak aboard the Warworld. Destiny, Part Five
Dreamwave Generation One continuity
In the Age of Internment, Dogfight was one of the few Autobots left free on Cybertron. He served under Blaster and Perceptor's command as they simultaneously tried to track down the missing Optimus Prime and find a way to eliminate Megatron's cloned Aerospace Extermination Squadron. The Age of Wrath Pt.2 The Age of Wrath Pt.3
IDW Generation 1 continuity
Dogfight was called upon to crew Optimus Prime's mission to Cybertron on board the Ark-27, and he was just so gosh-darn grateful for the opportunity. Stormbringer #2 It was like a dream come true for him. He later assisted Prime in the battle against Thunderwing by reprogramming Centurion droids to blow the frag out the crazed Pretender. Surprisingly, he did not tragically die in the mission that followed.
His next dream is for Optimus to actually remember his name.
Dream the impossible dream, Dogfight. Dream the impossible dream. Stormbringer #4
Unfortunately, when they next met, Optimus Prime was too busy talking to Omega Supreme as the crew of the Ark-27 were hauling him out of a comet. Spotlight: Optimus Prime He was present on the Autobot Orbital Command Hub when Blaster announced his return to the airwaves, and was one of the trusted Autobots Silverbolt choose to help him apprehend the mind-controlled Beachcomber, who was programmed by Soundwave to kill Blaster. Spotlight: Blaster After the Surge, Dogfight was in a skirmish with the Decepticon Justice Division. He received minor wounds on his shoulders and rushed to Delphi to get his team medical assistance. As soon as he stormed into the medical ward, First Aid took special interest in Dogfight's two Autobot symbols. Bullets
Dogfight later joined the crew of the Lost Light as one of the survivors rescued from a recent plague on Delphi. He was among those shot down by Fortress Maximus when he went on a rampage and began firing on Autobots with color schemes similar to Overlord's, but survived and received medical attention. Interiors He later participated in the battle with a group of rogue Decepticons on Temptoria, Before & After and helped defend the Lost Light from Overlord himself. Under Cold Blue Stars Dogfight was among those who celebrated when the Lost Light was finally able to return to Cybertron and reunite with the other Autobots. The Becoming
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Wings Universe
During the Machine Wars, Dogfight was promoted to Autobot City Commander by Obsidian. He defended one of the city-states of Cybertron against the onslaught of Jhiaxus's clone soldiers. Termination
Toys
Generation 1
- Dogfight (Triggerbot, 1988)
- Dogfight transforms from robot to hypercritical-winged Grumman X-29 fighter jet. Activating his Triggerbot gimmick rotates his wings to a swept configuration, flipping over a pair of large cannons with a geared jackspring mechanism (and making him look less like a winged brick). In robot mode, this simply brings his arms up into a firing position.
Notes
- It has been speculated that Dogfight was originally supposed to be a Triggercon, not a Triggerbot. His unchromed, geared-jackspring-activated guns line up with the two ground-based Triggercons, while the Decepticon flier Windsweeper's chromed, spring-loaded guns (and less overtly-aggressive alternate mode) would make him seem a more likely match with the Autobots.
Foreign names
- French: Batailleur (Canada)
