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Starscream is a fictional character in the Transformers franchise. He is one of the most frequently occurring characters in the Transformers fictional work, appearing in almost all incarnations of the story. Starscream is usually portrayed with the same characterization. Formerly a scientist, Starscream is a treacherous, high-ranking Decepticon who turns into a jet and is openly known to want to replace Megatron as the leader of the Decepticons.
- 1 Transformers: Generation 1
- 2 Beast Wars II
- 3 Unicron Trilogy
- 4 Live-action films
- 5 Transformers Animated
- 6 Transformers: Timelines (Shattered Glass)
- 7 Transformers: Timelines (Transtech)
- 8 Transformers: Prime
- 9 References
- 10 External links
Transformers: Generation 1[edit]
Starscream art by IDW Publishing
|Seekers, Pretenders, Action Masters, Deluxe Vehicle, Predacons
|First Lieutenant, Seeker Leader
|9, 10 (formerly)
|Megatron, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Waspinator
|Alternate Modes
|Cybertronian jet, F-15 Eagle
|Transformers: Generation 1
Transformers: Generation 2
|English voice actor
|Chris Latta (The Transformers)
Peter Cullen (disguised as Optimus Prime in ep. 34)
Doug Parker (Beast Wars)
|Japanese voice actor
|Hirotaka Suzuoki (The Transformers, Japanese)
Kazuki Yao (Beast Wars, Japanese)
The appeal of Starscream's treachery and cunning has led authors to create many namesake characters later in the franchise; most of these share his desire to lead the Decepticons. Starscream makes no secret of this ambition to overthrow Megatron as the Decepticons' leader. He has in fact controlled the Decepticons at times, but his actions usually suffer defeat or Megatron's usurping power. Starscream is ruthless, cruel, and more intelligent than average Decepticons, but also unlikely to act directly on his aspirations without first securing conditions favorable to his ascension. He considers himself vastly superior to other Decepticons and finds Megatron contemptible for his antiquated military strategies and tactics. Starscream believes the Decepticons should employ guile and speed more readily than brute force to defeat the Autobots. However, given the chance to lead, he is often less successful in this than Megatron. While Megatron frequently overlooks him as a threat, authors suggest such reasons for Megatron's tolerance of Starscream's presence as grudging respect for his scheming nature and precautionary observation. Others suggest that Starscream's treacherous nature is welcomed; that without a threat to his command, Megatron believes he would become soft and overconfident. Even so, Starscream often quickly exhausts Megatron's patience; violent-yet-brief verbal and/or physical conflicts between the two are not uncommon.
Starscream transforms into a McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. As Decepticon Air Commander, he leads the other Decepticon Seeker jets, many of whom share his physical design. His technical specifications indicate top speed as Mach 2.8 and altitude ceiling as 52 miles (84 km), though the real-world aircraft has top speed Mach 2.5 and altitude ceiling 65,000 feet (19,800 m), or 12.3 miles. Starscream can accomplish nose dives from sub-orbital altitudes to ground level in minutes. Launchers mounted on his arm (under his wings in jet mode) can deliver cluster bombs capable of leveling a 10,000 square feet (900 m2) area and fire his signature null ray, which for brief periods disrupts the flow of electricity in any circuitry it contacts. This action temporarily renders inoperable any electronic device or machine, including Transformers.
Animated series[edit]
Starscream was formerly a scientist and explorer, working with the future Autobot Skyfire (Jetfire), during the Golden Age of Cybertron, shortly before the Autobot/Decepticon war re-erupted. Following the disappearance of Skyfire when the two were exploring a prehistoric Earth, Starscream returned to Cybertron and soon abandoned his scientific pursuits, becoming a warrior in Megatron's Decepticon army as the civil war exploded, considering it "far more exciting". Starscream attended the Cybertron War Academy, mentioned in the episode "A Prime Problem".
Acting as second-in-command of the elite troops Megatron took with him aboard the Nemesis, Starscream was among the Transformers trapped in stasis on Earth for four million years after the Decepticons attacked the Autobot craft, Ark, causing it to crash on the planet. When the ship's computer, Teletraan I, was reactivated by a volcanic explosion in 1984, the Decepticons were the first to be reactivated and were restored with new Earthly alternate modes. Before departing, Starscream shot at the Ark as a petty parting gesture, causing a small tremor that knocked Optimus Prime into the path of the reconstruction beam, allowing the Autobots to be restored, and the war to continue on Earth.
As the war continued, Starscream's old friend Skyfire was discovered frozen in the Arctic Circle, and Megatron noted how concerned Starscream was to see Skyfire rescued. Starscream even took control of the revival process and successfully re-awakened his old friend. It was this friendship that initially led Skyfire to join the Decepticons, but when the latter refused to hurt humans, both Megatron and Starscream voiced their disgust. Not long after, several Autobots came to investigate the Decepticon activity and were subsequently captured; Starscream prepared to execute them and Starscream offered to forgive Skyfire if the latter would accept the first shot. Skyfire, disillusioned by his old friend's new warlike ways, joined the Autobots instead, and Starscream no longer gave him a second thought.
During the cataclysmic events that ensued when Megatron transported Cybertron into Earth's orbit, Starscream attempted to use the Decepticons' human ally, Doctor Arkeville, for his own purposes. Starscream forced him to take him to his secret lab, where he destabilized Arkeville's exponential generator, which, when it reached critical mass, would destroy the Earth. Starscream then fled with Arkeville to Cybertron, where Starscream intended to collect the energy released in Earth's destruction. When Optimus Prime and Megatron were forced to work together to stop Starscream's plan, Starscream returned to Earth to investigate why the generator had not exploded. Meanwhile, to remove the threat of the generator, Prime loaded it into Megatron's gun barrel and fired it into space—blasting Starscream out of the air in the process, causing him to fall to Earth and into a vengeful Megatron's clutches.
Starscream was a prominent figure in most of Megatron's schemes over the next year, but also made several further plays for power—teaming up with the Triple Changers Blitzwing and Astrotrain to betray Megatron, only to be double-crossed himself; duping the paranoiac Autobot, Red Alert into allowing him to acquire the Autobots' Negavator weapon; incapacitating Megatron's Nightbird robot to maintain his own position of power; getting drunk on energon, and more. Ironically, given his invariably treacherous nature, he was the first to sniff out Nergill's treachery when the Decepticons united with the underwater residents of Sub-Atlantica to take over the world, even going as far as saving Megatron from being shot by Nergill. Generally, almost every time that (the virtually indestructible) Megatron sustained even the slightest damage in a battle, Starscream would claim that Megatron had "fallen", and frantically urge the Decepticons to immediately follow himself as their new leader.
Starscream would make use of his old scientist profession in the future, particularly when he and several other Decepticons were temporarily displaced in time to medieval England. When the weapons of the time-displaced transformers ceased functioning, Starscream knew how to use available materials to create gunpowder as a substitute for himself and the other Decepticons. He was also able create an electric dynamo to replenish their depleted energy.[1]
In 1985, Starscream was responsible for the creation of the Combaticons by liberating their imprisoned personality components from a detention center on Cybertron and installing them into five World War II vehicles left over from the Battle of Guadalcanal. He changed them into more modern vehicular forms (for example, he made Vortex the helicopter out of a crashed World War II fixed-wing aircraft). He intended them to be his own private army after he was exiled from the Decepticons for attempting to betray Megatron one too many times. Although the Combaticons had defeated Devastator and had Megatron relinquish control of the Decepticons to Starscream using their combined form, Bruticus, they were defeated by an intervening Menasor. Megatron subsequently had Astrotrain relocate Starscream and his giant ally Bruticus, to an asteroid in deep space. Finding himself once again in exile, Starscream vowed revenge.
Despite the promises of revenge on Megatron from his creations, Starscream abandoned the Combaticons, blaming them for his failure to take over the Decepticons (where in reality they had helped him succeed). In a mix of cabin fever and boredom, he took his chances venturing into outer space. Ironically, the Combaticons ended up taking control of Cybertron by exiling Shockwave into deep space [where he ran into Starscream] and altered the space bridge to push the Earth into then sun, achieving revenge on Megatron, the Autobots, the Decepticons, and the Earth. Starscream arrived on Cybertron and tried to reclaim his leadership over his creations, but was imprisoned by the Combaticons along with Shockwave. The Combaticon take over forced another uneasy alliance between the Autobots and Decepticons, who fought Bruticus and ultimately defeated him, thanks to a weak spot revealed by Starscream in exchange for Megatron not killing him on the spot.
In the year 2005, (the storyline year for the events of the 1986 release, The Transformers: The Movie), Starscream, along with many other Decepticons, hijacked an Autobot shuttle bound for Autobot City; Megatron's plan being to slip past the city's early warning systems and decimate the Autobots there. At one point during the conflict, Starscream was forced to blast off his own foot in order to escape after being trapped in a transforming section of Autobot City. The Decepticons were eventually forced to retreat after reinforcements led by Optimus Prime arrived. However, Starscream finally got his long-awaited chance to dispose of Megatron—who was severely damaged following his final battle with Optimus Prime—by jettisoning him from Astrotrain, into the endless void of deep-space. After this, Starscream won the surviving Decepticons' battle to decide a new leader. Starscream's long-dreamt-of reign did not last long, however—as he was crowning himself leader/king of the Decepticons, Galvatron arrived, deriding Starscream's coronation as "bad comedy". Just as Starscream realized that Galvatron was actually Megatron in a new, more powerful body (provided by Unicron), Galvatron obliterated him, literally turning Starscream's body to ashes with a single blast while in his cannon mode.
Starscream's spark (the core of each Cybertronian that contains their soul/consciousness—referred to as a "laser core" in the original animated series) survived, however, apparently confined to the Decepticon crypt on Cybertron, and he continued to exist in a ghost-like form. When the Decepticon turncoat, Octane, sought refuge from his pursuers in the crypt, Starscream's ghost seized control of Cyclonus' body, and worked with Octane to turn Galvatron over to the Autobots and take leadership of the Decepticons for themselves. Galvatron defeated his captors, escaped, and returned to blast Starscream (literally) out of Cyclonus—only for the ghostly Decepticon to quietly take up residence in a Sweep. A short time later, he possessed Scourge and entered into a bargain with Unicron, performing three labors for the planet-eater in exchange for getting his body back. Acquiring the eyes of Metroplex and the Transforming Cog of Trypticon, Starscream's body was restored so that he could comprise the final connection between Unicron's head and Cybertron, allowing the planet to become the chaos-bringer's new body. However, now that he had what he wanted, Starscream reneged on the agreement. At that point, an explosion instigated by the Autobots hurled Starscream and Unicron's head off into space. Starscream was last seen tumbling out of control through space. As Galvatron and the other Decepticons watched him Cyclonus remarked "Wait a minute... since when do ghosts tumble out of control through space?"
As the 1990s Transformers series, Beast Wars, officially occurred in a universe/continuity that contained aspects of both of the original animated series and Marvel comic, the show most commonly displayed its lineage with references to the animated series. To that end, Starscream's ghost made a brief but memorable appearance in the first season episode, "Possession". His spark, once again without a body through unknown means, wandered to prehistoric Earth and ended up in the Darkside's computer console. Taking control of Waspinator's body with Terrorsaur watching, Starscream went about his standard backstabbing ways, acquiring the trust of Predacon leader Megatron, telling him that he was defending Galvatron against Unicron and was destroyed, with his spark enduring. Starting off, Starscream manages to formulate a successful attack on the Maximal spaceship, forcing the Maximals to flee in defeat, leaving the Predacons to take control of the ship. As a reward, Megatron eagerly puts Starscream in command of the Maximal base with Blackarachnia and Scorponok while he returned to the Predacon base with Terrosaur and Tarantulas. However, Starscream had other plans, intending to use his position to overthrow Megatron. Eventually, his true intent was discovered by Blackarachnia, who knew he was really scrapped by Galvatron for betraying him, but she proposed that he could make her a better offer. Delighted, Starscream took her under his wing to teach her the ways of treachery, and at the same time, he wards off Scorponok and forced the surrendering Maximals to attack the Predacon base by threatening their leader Optimus Primal and Dinobot with death, revealing his true intentions to rule both Maximal and Predacons. However, this was anticipated by Primal and Dinobot themselves, as the latter had learned the history of Starscream through studying of military history, allowing to retake control of the Maximal base and forcing Starscream and Blackarachnia to retreat back to the Predacon grounds.
At the same time, Megatron learns of Starscream's treachery, swearing to finish him and Blackarachnia off to himself. Eventually Primal corners Starscream, who then calls for Blackarachnia for help. In an act of surprise, Blackarachnia betrays Starscream by engineering an energon explosion to force Starscream's spark out of Waspinator's body. Relieved, Primal and the Maximals return to their base, and Waspinator is repaired back to normal by Megatron, who is informed by Blackarachnia of the reasons of her betrayal were to find out Starscream's true intentions. Realizing how charismatic those moves she made to stop Starscream, Megatron pardons Blackarachnia of her actions, but warns her that it won't invoke confidence of her loyalties anymore. Starscream's spark is now set adrift in space once more, vowing vengeance on both Maximals and Predacons. In the second season of Beast Wars, the reason for Starscream's ability to survive beyond death was revealed—a mutation in his spark had rendered it indestructible. Maximal experiments to replicate this effect resulted in the creation of the insane monster Protoform X, later called Rampage. It is also revealed that Cheetor fully believes that they killed Starscream during his visit. Starscream's original body was seen, lying in stasis lock, in the last episode of season two when Megatron entered the Ark. Starscream was voiced by Doug Parker. The producers originally wanted Starscream's original voice actor Chris Latta to voice him; but Latta died a few years previous to the episode's airing.
Starscream also appeared in the Japanese exclusive Transformers: Robot Masters series. When Megatron disappeared, Starscream quickly seized command, only to be forcibly dethroned by a time-lost newcomer—the Megatron of the Beast era. Plotting all the while behind his new leader's back, Starscream nonetheless served him against the Autobots, battling another time-lost Transformer, Star Saber, and losing, before destroying a large chunk of New York City to uncover solitarium. He was shot down by the mysterious Reverse Convoy—who quickly revealed himself as Megatron in a new body.
Starscream appears in the following books:
- The 1984 sticker and story book Return to Cybertron written by Suzanne Weyn and published by Marvel Books.[2]
- The 1984 sticker and story book The Revenge of the Decepticons written by Suzanne Weyn and published by Marvel Books.[3]
- The 1985 Find Your Fate Junior book called Battle Drive by Barbara Siegel and Scott Siegel.[4]
- The 1985 Transformers audio books Autobots' Lightning Strike, Megatron's Fight For Power, Autobots Fight Back and Laserbeak's Fury, as well as Galvatron's Air Attack from the 1986 series. In the books, he is depicted as having a yellow visor.[5]
- The 1985 audio book Sun Raid.
- The 1986 story and coloring book The Lost Treasure of Cybertron by Marvel Books.
Starscream was featured in the 1993 Transformers: Generation 2 coloring book "Decepticon Madness" by Bud Simpson.[6]
Marvel Comics[edit]
Note: Events specific to the Marvel U.K. comic appear in italics. Again serving as one of Megatron's elite troops in the attack on the Ark, the Marvel Comics incarnation of Starscream possessed the desire to take leadership of the Decepticons, but in the early days of the war on Earth, he limited his actions to making snide remarks about Megatron's capabilities, and did not accomplish any notable acts apart from nearly getting scrapped by Megatron after one snide comment too many. When he participated in an attack on the Ark with several of his fellow Decepticons, Starscream was deactivated by Omega Supreme, and sealed in a stasis pod in the Ark for a prolonged period of time.
At the same time, the U.K. offices of Marvel Comics were producing their own storylines which were interspliced throughout the U.S. material. Here, writer Simon Furman portrayed the character's scheming and ambition with more subtlety than the animated series, making Starscream more intelligent and cunning than clownish. He was often the focus of his own stories, including a Christmas special based around Starscream's misery at being stranded on Earth. In this story and in many others penned by Furman, Starscream often came across as wry and sarcastic. He was one of the most formidable warriors in the Decepticon army and adversaries were often shown to be visibly intimidated by him before he had even begun to fight. At different points in the series, he bests fellow high-ranking Decepticons Ravage and Soundwave in combat, as well as the Autobot Brawn.
In the U.K. tales, Starscream was briefly revived from his stasis prison to participate in the events of the Target: 2006 mega-serial, where he teamed up with future Decepticon leader Galvatron. Galvatron tolerated his service with amusement, aware of the irony in the situation—Starscream thought that working with Galvatron would ensure his future, but thanks to Galvatron, Starscream had no future, since he was destined to die at his hands in 2006 (in the comic's alternate-future rendition of The Transformers: The Movie). When Autobots from the future duped Galvatron into turning against Starscream, a repainted Skywarp stood in for Starscream, who Galvatron then blasted. Believing that he had altered his timeline by killing "Starscream", Galvatron returned to his future, while the future Autobots returned the true Starscream to stasis.
In the U.S. stories, Starscream was liberated from his imprisonment by the new Decepticon leader, Ratbat, who appointed him second-in-command of his operations. Starscream would immediately return to form, learning of Ratbat's plan to acquire the power of the Underbase, and orchestrating a massive battle between the Autobot and Decepticon forces that allowed him to seize the colossal information bank's energy. Now imbued with incredible amounts of power, Starscream turned his attention to Earth, and deactivated scores of Transformers who attempted to stand against him. As he steadily mutated into a gigantic being, Starscream was stopped by Optimus Prime, who tricked him into absorbing more of the Underbase's energy—more than his body could handle, destroying him.
At this point, Simon Furman began penning the U.S. comic book as well as its U.K. counterpart, and quickly returned Starscream to the fold. In the U.K. comics, Megatron had Dreadwind and Darkwing locate Starscream's shattered body, only to find that it still possessed some of the Underbase's power, and drained it away using their Powermaster partners, leaving the body lifeless.
Megatron then had Autobot surgeon Ratchet reconstruct Starscream as a Pretender, and had him attack Optimus Prime and Scorponok's forces on Earth. Ratchet disobeyed Megatron's request to reprogram his mind, however, and Starscream's original cowardly personality soon re-emerged.
Issue #248 of the Marvel U.K. Transformers comic featured a story called "Fallen Star", where Starscream began to doubt himself, despite being among the most powerful Transformers. Soundwave, Mindwipe and Weirdwolf feared Starscream would attack, but Starscream thought they were laughing at him behind his back. Leaving, Starscream came across the Autobots Chainclaw, Cloudburst and Getaway, who were assigned by Optimus Prime to spy on him. Starscream soundly defeated all three Autobots and regained his self-confidence.
The U.K. comics then began a breakaway storyline that diverged the continuities, centering around the exploits of the Earthforce, the Earth-based Autobot sub-team. Through a team-up with Soundwave, Starscream succeeded in deposing Megatron and Shockwave briefly, before they returned seeking vengeance. Starscream, however, had some unlikely protectors—the Autobots needed him alive so that his compatible systems could boost those of the Dinobot Snarl, who was dying from the rusting disease, Corrodia Gravis.
Issue #279 of the Marvel U.K. Transformers comic featured a story called "Divide and Conquer!" where Soundwave led the bulk of the Decepticon forces on Earth against the Autobot Earthforce headquarters, while Starscream attacked an oil tanker. Sent into battle by Prowl, the Dinobots routed the main Decepticon forces while Springer led the Autobot Survivors, Broadside, Inferno, Skids, and Carnivac to defeat Starscream.
In the U.S. comics, Starscream went on from his rebirth as a Pretender to join up with Shockwave in instigating the Decepticon Civil War, and was transported to Cybertron along with all the other Transformers in preparation for the battle against Unicron. Following the Transformers' victory, Starscream and Shockwave fled the planet in a restored Ark. On the way the two discovered some unlikely company—Megatron and Ratchet, both restored by Nucleon. Starscream found Ratchet and prepared to kill him. However, in a fit of rage at Starscream's casual attitude to murder, Ratchet defeated the Decepticon. In order to prevent Megatron and Galvatron escaping to threaten the universe once more, Ratchet crashed the Ark on Earth.
In Generation 2 Starscream had been deactivated in the crash of the Ark, but Megatron, who had also been on board, was the only survivor, and over the next few years, restored the Ark, entering into a deal with the human terrorist organization, Cobra, which helped him obtain a new body and weapons. Desperate for troops and in spite of his own misgivings about doing so, Megatron then reactivated Starscream (considering his only other choice was Shockwave, Megatron still felt he had made a good decision). Starscream served Megatron with at least a semblance of loyalty, ferrying him to his showdown with Bludgeon, but when he realized Megatron was going to eliminate him after his new Matrix-created army was functional, he betrayed him by alerting the forces of the Cybertronian general Jhiaxus to the location of the joint Autobot/Decepticon base.
Starscream made an appearance in the Decepticon forces under the command of Megatron in issue #7 of the Marvel Generation 2 comic series, in a story called "New Dawn." Megatron led his Decepticons against Jhiaxus' second generation Cybertronians near the moon of Tykos. The Decepticons were defeated and Megatron left injured, presumed dead, but swearing revenge.[7]
Starscream was subsequently able to acquire the Creation Matrix (previously stolen from Optimus Prime by Megatron), and used it to merge himself with the Decepticon craft, the Warworld, turning himself into a living weapon. However, Starscream found his mind affected by the innate goodness of the Matrix, and rejected it in order to preserve his own personality.
Starscream appeared in his Generation 2 form in the short lived U.K. Generation 2 comic series. This series also printed a bio for Starscream where he had the new motto "I have a code of conduct—victory at all costs!"
Condor Verlag[edit]
In a story called "By their Blasters you shall know them ...!" from Transformers Comic-Magazin issue #12 by German comic publisher Condor Verlag Optimus Prime instructs Backstreet, Bumblebee and Ruckus on how to identify Autobots from Decepticons in battle using the Ark's computer. Pretender Starscream is one of those he displays to the Autobots.[8]
Fun Publications[edit]
Based on the Transformers Classics toy line, the Timelines 2007 story is set 15 years after the end of the Marvel Comics story (ignoring all events of the Marvel U.K. and Generation 2 comics). Megatron survived the crash of the Ark on Earth. He is joined by Starscream, who realized he needed a leader.
In Transformers: Timelines volume 2 #2, "Games of Deception" Megatron detects the arrival of Bugbite's ship on Earth and sends Starscream, Skywarp and Ramjet to investigate. The three Seekers are then taken over by Bugbite's cerebro shells (with Starscream swearing to painfully dismember Bugbite for it). When the Autobots eventually jam the shells to facilitate their own rescue of Mirage, Starscream is freed and battles Bugbite's faction. Whether he survived the battle is unknown. He seems to retain his usual second-in-command status in this story.
Starscream reported to Deathsaurus on the success of the Combaticons' attack on thr Autobot Elite Guard.[9]
Starscream was among Deathsurus's troops when Megatron defeated Deathsaurus in combat for leadership of the Decepticons and when Megatron attacked Iacon with his new weapon, Devastator.[10]
Image Comics[edit]
Genesis: The Art of Transformers, while by no means a primary source of story information, does contain several illustrations of Starscream. One of them is perhaps the only official illustration of his Machine Wars form besides the toy's box-art. Machine Wars Starscream is seen standing on a dais, wearing a purple cape and holding Galvatron's torn-off cannon.[11] The artist, Matt Kuphaldt, based the setting on the coronation scene from "The Transformers: The Movie", only golden to indicate a post-"Rebirth" timeframe. Kuphaldt intended the illustration to be a sequel to his fan-art of Starscream's ghost possessing the body of a fallen Decepticon and becoming his Machine Wars self on a similarly golden battlefield.[12]
Dreamwave Productions[edit]
In the 21st century reimagining of the Generation One universe by the comics company Dreamwave Productions, Starscream remained his treacherous, power-hungry self. In the early days of the war on Cybertron, he devastated Iacon with a terraforming process, and went on to form his own faction called the Predacons when Megatron vanished in a spacebridge experiment. When the other splinter factions attempted to reconcile their differences, Starscream's Predacons attacked the ceremony, although their bombing occurred concurrently with the return of Megatron, who immediately subjected Starscream to physical torture for stealing his glory.
Winding up in stasis aboard the Autobot spacecraft, the Ark, along with the other Decepticons when it crashed on prehistoric Earth, Starscream was reactivated in 1984 with the other Transformers. When the Autobots succeeded in defeating the Decepticons in 1999 and they all attempted to return to Cybertron aboard the Ark II, the ship exploded as it exited Earth's atmosphere, and the Transformers were believed destroyed. In actuality, many of their bodies were appropriated by the terrorist, Lazarus, including Starscream's. Bumblebee, Frenzy, Grimlock, Laserbeak, Prowl, Ravage, Soundwave and Starscream were forced to attack the Smitco oil refinery in the Arctic to display their power for sale to the highest bidder.[13]
When Megatron liberated himself from Lazarus's control in 2002, the other Decepticons were soon freed, and Starscream and the other Decepticon jets passed some time by dismembering the Autobot Mini-Bots before joining in an attack on San Francisco, during which they attacked Superion, forcing him to separate.
The following year, Starscream was offered the opportunity to return to type when Shockwave—who had unified Cybertron in their absence—arrived on Earth to arrest Prime and Megatron as war criminals. Seizing an opportunity to remove his main obstacle to power, Starscream blasted open the cargo hold of the ship taking them back to Cybertron, setting Megatron's damaged body adrift in space.
With the aid of Soundwave, he subsequently liberated the Combaticons from imprisonment, and returned with them to Earth, where they attacked the Ark in an attempt to acquire parts to make the Decepticons' space cruiser flight-worthy. With Bruticus defeated by the arrival of Starscream's Shockwave-spawned, super-powered clone, Sunstorm, Starscream fled and brought online Jetfire, who the Decepticons had previously uncovered frozen in ice. Operating together, they deduced Sunstorm's clone nature, and fashioned a power siphon to drain his energy; but Starscream turned the tables on everyone by freeing Sunstorm, who then took him to a mysterious Cybertronian seal beneath the ocean's surface. Sunstorm claimed that only Starscream could open the seal, which he proceeded to do, unlocking an underground reservoir of a powerful, energy-rich liquid, which Sunstorm planned to use to empower his "brother," so that they could achieve his goals together. Starscream turned on Sunstorm, who fell into the liquid, which reacted with his own powers and destroyed both him and Jetfire.
Starscream escaped the conflagration and returned to the Decepticon base, only to discover that Megatron and Shockwave had returned in his absence, and to receive the beating he had earned from his former leader. Starscream hinted that he had discovered some of the secrets in the Transformers' history that Megatron and Shockwave had learned in the past, but unfortunately, Dreamwave went bankrupt and closed its doors before resolution to this storyline could be offered.
Starscream also appeared in Dreamwave's Transformers/G.I. Joe miniseries, set during World War II, plotting with Destro to overthrow Megatron and Cobra Commander using a fusion of Cobra and Decepticon technology called Bruticus. However, he was himself betrayed and destroyed by Destro and the Baroness. In this series, Starscream and the other seekers had alternate modes based on P-51 Mustangs. He reappeared in a second G.I. Joe/Transformers crossover set in continuity with the first, but over 40 years later. Here, he had his familiar alternate mode of an F-15 Eagle. His ultimate purpose was left unknown, as Dreamwave's closure meant the series was left unfinished after just one issue.
Devil's Due Publishing[edit]
In this crossover from Devil's Due Publishing, the Ark was discovered by the terrorist Cobra Organization, and all the Transformers inside were reformatted into Cobra vehicles remotely controlled by the Televipers. In this storyline, Starscream turned into a Cobra Nightraven and was used as Cobra Commander's personal transport. Predictably attempting to betray Megatron when the Transformers broke free of Cobra's control, an animosity developed between Starscream and G.I. Joe member Snake Eyes. Starscream (controlled by Cobra Commander) was responsible for Snake-Eyes disfigurement in the initial Cobra attack. Snake-Eyes got his revenge when he confronted Starscream in the final issue, cut out Starscream's eye with his sword and shoved a hand-grenade in the empty socket. When the first series ended Starscream ended up making a deal with Cobra Commander to remove the grenade (which hadn't exploded) from his eye socket in return for transport to safety.
The second series from Devil's Due involved a plot by Starscream and Cobra Commander to get technology from Cybertron by breaking into their space bridge system. However, the intervention of both Ultra Magnus' Autobots and Shockwave's Decepticons complicated this plan, forcing Cobra and G.I. Joe (inadvertently teleported with them) to make a hasty truce to defeat the machinations of Shockwave and recover time-displaced Autobots and Decepticons, including Optimus Prime and the Dinobots. As Starscream tried to weasel his way out of being destroyed by Shockwave, he was instead eliminated when Cobra Commander activated his parting gift: 45 pounds of plastic explosives he had secretly placed in Starscream's housing during repairs.
IDW Publishing[edit]
After Dreamwave's closure, the rights to the Transformers comics were taken up by IDW Publishing. Their version of the Generation One universe begins with a miniseries called The Transformers: Infiltration. His alternate mode here is that of an F-22 Raptor, foreshadowing the events of the 2007 live action movie.
Chronologically, Starscream first appears in #3 of The Transformers: Megatron Origin series, which details the rise of the Decepticons. He is specifically sent to Megatron by Soundwave due to his flight capabilities; pledging complete allegiance, he is sent to launch a terrorist attack on Autobot Senator Decimus. It is later revealed that Megatron has asked him to carry out a task, one Starscream doesn't understand the purpose of but is told it is to "send a message". Shortly afterward, the Decepticons are captured by the Autobots. As part of Megatron's plan, Starscream swiftly becomes an Autobot informant. Starscream informs the senators they bear responsibility for the current situation; afterward, he and Soundwave massacre the Senate. After freeing Megatron and the prisoners, Starscream gives Megatron his fusion cannon, helping the Decepticon leader in his battle against Sentinel Prime. Although his robot mode is different and bears more resemblance to his original G1 incarnation, his alternate jet mode is the same as that seen in The War Within. It was also revealed in The Transformers: Devastation that Starscream also spent some time as Megatron's bodyguard.
By the time of Infiltration, Starscream is in command of a small group of Decepticons on Earth, including Skywarp, Thundercracker, Astrotrain, Blitzwing and the Battlechargers Runabout and Runamuck. Megatron, as stated in #6, believes the two of them have grown past the backstabbing and posturing of their mutual past. However, on Earth Starscream discovered a variant ore of energon on Earth that was the Transformer equivalent of steroids, making him bold enough to advance their infiltration phase ahead of schedule. As a result, the humans seemingly obtain evidence of the Transformers' existence, causing Starscream to desperately bump off everyone who has seen the evidence. (The evidence-gathering turns out to be a plot by the Machination to locate a Transformer base.[14])
Learning of this though, Megatron comes to Earth and duels with Starscream, battling physically and verbally. Even Starscream's supercharged power isn't enough, and Megatron ends the duel with the statement, "Take your punishment like a Decepticon" before blowing a hole clean through Starscream's torso with a blast of his arm cannon at point blank range. Despite the immense damage he took, Megatron's commands to Runabout and Runamuck indicate that Starscream had survived. In issue #1 of The Transformers: Devastation, Megatron's increasing instability forces the other Decepticons, led by Astrotrain, to consider reviving Starscream, who is seen in a stasis tank repaired. He makes his return during the midst of a pitched battle between the Reapers (an army of living weapons) and Sixshot. Sixshot, upon seeing Starscream, defects to the Reapers, but Starscream takes him out with a shut-off code learned during his time as Megatron's bodyguard. He then attacks the Reapers single-handedly, forcing Megatron to lead the other Decepticons in assisting him. The two managed to put their differences aside, with Starscream stating that he was still loyal to the Decepticon cause, and the Decepticons defeated the Reapers (unknowingly aided by Galvatron).
G1 Starscream and G1 Pretender Starscream received a cameo on the cover of Spotlight: Galvatron. G1 Starscream, standing with his back towards the reader, can be seen with a hole in his stomach (similar to that in Infiltration) among the creatures that attacked Galvatron. Starscream's Pretender shell can be seen beside him. A Sharkticon can also be seen.
Starscream is also a major player in the mini-series Evolutions: Hearts of Steel, which takes place in an out-of-continuity 19th century. Starscream and the other Seekers are reconfigured as Wright Brothers-esque early aircraft and Starscream plans the familiar concepts of taking over Earth and destroying Megatron. This version of Starscream is less impetuous and has thought his plans through, even using humans to help. Unfortunately his plan was still thwarted by John Henry and Bumblebee, who were able to redirect the railway so that the Decepticon train convoy was dropped into a chasm.
Kiss Players[edit]
The Japanese-exclusive Transformers: Kiss Players toy line features the concept of Transformers who attain power-ups through being kissed by young women, in a universe that branches off from the original animated series. Set in 2006 (one year after Starscream's death in The Transformers: The Movie, but four years before the third season of the show, which in Japan occurred in 2010), the Kiss Players radio drama sees Starscream's ghost possess Earth Defense Command (EDC) operative Atari Hitotonari, and forced her to seek out his old ally, Doctor Arkeville. Arkeville constructed a new body for Starscream (meant to represent his Masterpiece toy) out of a stolen fighter jet, and Atari transferred his spark into it with a kiss. Transforming into his new robot mode, Starscream was only able to enjoy it for a few minutes before EDC Autotrooper robots blew it up and sent his spark flying back into space.
Video games[edit]
Transformers Battle Circuit is a simple Flash-based video game on the Hasbro web site. In this one-on-one fighting game you press the right and left arrow keys to try to overpower your opponent. In the game you can play Rodimus, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Jetfire, Starscream, Astrotrain, Trypticon or Menasor. Optimus Prime and Megatron each appear as the boss you must defeat to win the game.[15]
Starscream appears as a playable character in Hasbro's Net Jet fighting game Transformers Battle Universe. Although other playable Transformers have several incarnations featured, the only playable incarnation of Starscream is the Generation 1 version.
A color scheme of Generation 1 Starscream is available in the Transformers: The Game video game by completing the Decepticon Campaign. This scheme of G1 Starscream also appears as an unlockable bonus form for Create-A-Bot, and a Target exclusive for the Transformers: Decepticons DS game, and can be obtained by earning 2500 tokens through Wi-Fi play.
The Generation 1 Starscream is also a downloadable character for the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game.
Starscream appears in the video game Transformers: War for Cybertron. In the Decepticon campaign he is a playable character, whereas he is a boss character in the Autobot campaign. He is portrayed at first joining the Decepticons. Starscream offers Megatron more Dark Energon in exchange for control over it and to be inducted into the Decepticons. He fights his way through heavy Autobot resistance and activates the Dark Energon bridge. Cybetron tries to purge itself of the disease but Starscream stops it from doing so. Megatron secretly impressed promotes Starscream to Sky Commander of Decepticon forces. With his new rank Starscream leads the attack on Iacon the Autobot capitial city. Later he is able to take control of the city placing Megatron and the Decepticons as the new rulers. He fights Optimus Prime, Ratchet, and Bumblebee but loses and flees. His character is also playable in the Escalation multiplayer mode, whereas his model can be used in the competitive multiplayer mode. In the game his character adheres much to his G1 behavior and established history as a friend of Jetfire who joins the Decepticons with desires of usurping Megatron when the time is right. In the video game Transformers: Fall of Cybertron Starscream leads an attack on the Autobot ship called the Ark. He is shown killing and executing Autobots. Later he shoots Optimus Prime in the chest severely damaging him and Starscream knocks Prime out and captures him. When Metroplex kills Megatron, Starscream becomes leader of the Decepticons. He leads an attack on the Autobots stealing energon from Shockwave who didn't protect it due to his experiments. Despite the Combaticons warnings he leads Decepticons into an ambush and fails. The Combaticons take control and crash land the Autobot ship but destroy half the energon. Starscream then arrests them for defying him. Megatron takes control once more humiliating Starscream and banishing him. Starscream betrays the Decepticons by killing them to get to Shockwave's lab. he attempts to take control of Grimlock but fails and Grimlock damages him. He then sneaks aboard the Nemesis and rejoins the Decepticons.
Other appearances[edit]
A parody of the Generation 1 Transformers was aired in the December 23rd 2008 episode of Frank TV, called "Frank the Halls". In the story, Optimus Prime and his Autobots (Bumblebee, Jazz and Wheeljack) battle Megatron and his Decepticons (Soundwave and Starscream) when Optimus runs out of gas. Optimus becomes enraged at the price of gas, steals the fuel from the annoying hybrid Autobot Prius Maximus, then joins the Decepticons in destroying the city.[16]
At BotCon 2010, Hasbro named Starscream as one of the first five robot inductees in the Transformers Hall of Fame.[17]
Wizard Magazine rated Starscream the 46th Greatest villain of all time.
The original Starscream toy was originally part of the Japanese Diaclone toy line and was designed by Kohjin Ohno in the early eighties. It was imported to become part of the Transformers toy line by Hasbro in 1984. The toy was later re-issued in Japan in 2001, with black-and-gold and translucent "ghost" variants, and again in 2003, redecorated into a more cartoon-accurate color scheme. He was also reissued in the west in 2003, with extended missiles to comply with safety regulations. Japan re-released Starscream once again in 2007 for their "Encore Series".[18] A highly prized collectable, the original Starscream toy has sold over $2000 on eBay.[19]
During the original Transformers toy line Starscream was also released as an Action Master and Pretender toy.
The original Starscream toy was altered somewhat and an electronic sound maker was added for the Generation 2 toy line.[20]
Beast Wars II[edit]
|Air Commander, General Chief of Staff
|"Power leads to victory and power is what I shall obtain."
|Alternate Modes
|Jet Fighter, Cyborg Shark
|Beast Wars Second
|Japanese voice actor
|Hiroki Takahashi
In the Japanese-exclusive animated series, Beast Wars II, a character named Starscream was one of Galvatron's most loyal minions (neither character, however, was meant to be the same as his Generation 1 namesake, as was the case in the original Beast Wars series; preexisting names were reused for entirely different characters). He was the only sophisticated member of the bunch, but used his hulking sidekick, BB, to back him up.
Like the Decepticon air commander who came before him, Starscream is both ambitious and deadly. He makes up for his lack of size with unmatched speed and maneuverability. Starscream desires power and lots of it. He hopes to one day dethrone Galvatron as the Predacon emperor of destruction and rule the universe himself. He is also slightly effeminate, often laughing and gesturing in a shaky way. Nevertheless, he is not a warrior to be taken lightly. He often psyches himself up for a battle by listening to music from the Earth composer Wagner. Along with his subordinate, BB, he is a Predacon one should never underestimate.
When transformed Starscream becomes a stealth fighter capable of soaring at speeds few can imagine. In fighter mode he can use the "Formation Scream" and combine with his partner BB to become a powerful air fighter. In robot mode his attack of choice are his "Screamwinder Missiles" which are strong enough to vaporize most opponents.
Starscream is often a little too ambitious for his own good. His attempts to gain power are not always subtle and occasionally backfire.
Though stronger as Hellscream, Starscream's lust for power still keeps him under the watchful eyes of his superior officers.
Animated series[edit]
Starscream first appears in episodes #1 of Beast Wars Second, called "The Birth of a New Army."
Starscream appears in episode #14, "The Combined Giant, Tripledacus." Upon arriving on Gaea the Jointrons briefly fight Bighorn, Diver, Tasmanian Kid, Starscream and BB. After chasing away the Predacons Tripledacus notices the remaining mechs are Maximals and becomes friends with them. Later, when Tripledacus confronts Megastorm, Starscream and BB the Maximals arrive to chase the Predacons away from their new ally.
In episode #31, "The End of Starscream," Starscream is unwillingly plunged into a lava crater riddled with Angolmois energy by Gigastorm. This evolves him into Hellscream, a cybernetic flying shark. Even more cruel and ruthless than before, Hellscream retains his hateful personality but with newfound abilities. He still has his Screamwinder missiles but has gained a new power, the "Terrorstorm". With this, he unleashes a hellish torrent of fire and missiles reducing any Maximal to ashes.
In The Maximal Brainwashing Project Starscream and BB were able to capture Diver and the Tasmanian Kid, brainwashing them into serving the Predacons. Meanwhile Leo Prime, Apache and Scuba were able to capture Dirge and Thrust. The shock of being damaged in capture had the side effect of making the Predacons think they were Maximals. Diver and the Kid were able to ambush the Maximals, allowing Galvatron to gain the upper hand on Lio Convoy, but the Maximals were aided by Dirge and Thrust. Furious that Lio had seemingly stolen his brainwashing idea Starscream had BB attacked the Maximals. Megastorm found the whole turn of events amusing and planned to use his main cannon to destroy all the Maximals and Predacons in the conflict, becoming the leader of the Predacons. His attack took so long to charge Diver was able to ruin it with a water geyser. The explosion was enough to shock the brainwashed Maximals back to their senses. Galvatron and the Predacons retreated with Dirge and Thrust in tow.
IDW Publishing[edit]
Starscream had a biography printed in the Beast Wars Sourcebook by IDW Publishing.[21] According to the Beast Wars Sourcebook Starscream saved BB from a Maximal reeducation camp, which is why BB is so loyal to him.
In Beast Wars: The Ascending Shokaract's heralds Hellscream, Max-B, Antagony, Thrustor and Hardhead defended their master on Cybertron until he was shunted into limbo by the Maximal Snarl. The heralds then retreated once there was no vessel for Unicron.
Beast Wars Second Starscream had two toys produced exclusively in Japan. In 1997 he was released as a black redeco of Generation 2 Smokescreen. He was packaged together with his larger partner BB. This same toy was recolored into Robot Masters Smokesniper. In 1998 he was released as "Hellscream", a remold of Beast Wars Cybershark. This second toy was eventually released with a slight color change in the US as Universe Overbite. Hellscream was voted the 9th strangest Transformers Beast Wars figure by Topless Robots.[22]
Unicron Trilogy[edit]
|Deluxe Vehicles, Micron Vehicles, Seekers, Voyagers
|Aeronautical Staff
9(Armada, Energon)10(Cyberton)
|Swindle, Zapmaster
|"My destiny is leadership." (Armada)
"Sooner or later, I will become leader." (Micron Legend)
"It is my destiny to lead." (Energon)
"There is a qualification which is worthy of to the dominant person in me." (Galaxy Force)
|Alternate Modes
|Cybertronian Fighter Jet resembling a Sukhoi Su-35 (Armada)
Modified F-22 Raptor Jet Fighter (Energon)
Cybertronian Space Jet (Cybertron)
|Transformers: Armada
Transformers: Energon
Transformers: Cybertron
|English voice actor
|Michael Dobson
The Starscream of the "Unicron Trilogy" universe has gone through many notable changes in his personality as his story has progressed. At times he is quite similar to his G1 predecessor, but on many other occasions has displayed markedly different traits to his namesake, for a variety of reasons.[23] This version is younger and less experienced than his G1 counterpart.
The Starscream of 2002's Transformers: Armada (Micron Legend in Japan) universe was notably similar yet different from his G1 predecessor. Unlike him, this incarnation of Starscream didn't want any real desire to take command of the Decepticons (although there are some hints of it in seasons 1 and 2) as he seeks to gain the approval and respect of his commander, Megatron, but started to loath and resent him simply because of the sheer mistreatment and contempt Megatron heaped upon him. Another notable difference between Armada Starscream and his G1 predecessor was that this Starscream was a formidable and brave warrior and a more serious character, never shying away from battle even when the odds were against him, while the G1 incarnation was rather faint-hearted and cowardly. He possessed a rivalry with Hot Shot and later information would credit him with the severing of the Autobot Red Alert's hand. He also possessed a samurai-like sense of warrior's honor and he transforms into what resembles a Sukhoi Su-35.
It is often thought that the inspiration for his character came from the Beast Wars-era Maximal Dinobot, who also defected from his initial faction, the Predacons, out of contempt for his universe's Megatron, possessed a code of honor and died a hero while gaining redemption. In his original body, Starscream transformed into a jet, armed with twin null laser cannons activated by his partner Mini-Con, Swindle (Grid in the Japanese version). In robot mode, his left wing transforms into an energised sword blade, which he wields expertly (at one point, managing to outduel Hot Shot who was using the Star Saber at the time).
In the Energon, all of the characters react to Starscream's return in an uneventful way. This is because in Super-Link, the Japanese original counterpart to Energon, Starscream is never referred to by his former name, yet is only recognized by Grand Convoy and Galvatron as being Starscream, from the previous series. He is quickly acknowledged as a soldier who once served Galvatron, and is christened "Nightscream", related to a poetic moment in the darkness when Galvatron formats his spark. In Super-Link, the characters would refrain from ever recognizing that this being was once Starscream, being that his spark signature had changed, as well as his voice, appearance, and personality. Nightscream, for all intent, was completely free of his former persona.
Although the Cybertron stage of Dreamwave comics was not reached due to Dreamwave's closure, the Cybertron comic strip available exclusively through the Transformers Fan Club indicates that at some point during the animated continuity, Starscream would have killed the Mini-Con, Over-Run. The Armada series of More Than Meets the Eye profile comics also revealed that not only was Starscream trained by the mercenary Thundercracker, but also that he and Skywarp are related.
Animated series[edit]
Starscream originally came to Earth as part of Megatron's expedition to gain the power of the Mini-Cons alongside Demolishor and Cyclonus. However, Starscream's frustration over having been made the last of the Decepticons to gain his partner Mini-Con led him to be manipulated by Sideways into battling with Megatron, which he promptly lost. A short time later, Starscream was given ownership of the Star Saber as part of a scheme by Thrust to make him the patsy in his plan to steal the Requiem Blaster from the Autobots. This led to him being abandoned on the battlefield. Surviving to return to the Decepticon base, Starscream went on a rampage with the sword and disowned the Decepticons, siding up with the wary Autobots, not out of any desire to do good, but out of sheer hatred for Megatron. After a clash with Hot Shot and a trip to Mars with Jetfire, Starscream befriended the Autobots' human allies, particularly Alexis, and then gave the Autobots access to the Decepticon base, resulting in a raid that freed all the captive Mini-Cons. Starscream's defection was not without difficulty however; he constantly clashed with the Autobots over morals and battle strategies. Nonetheless, he proved to be a capable Autobot. However, Thrust (himself being manipulated by Sideways) then toyed with Starscream, planting seeds of doubt in his mind. This eventually caused him to steal the Skyboom Shield from the Autobots and return to the Decepticon fold, giving the Decepticons possession of all three Mini-Con weapons.
Subsequently, Starscream was among the Transformers injured battling Nemesis Prime, and who then received power boosts from their Mini-Cons. Starscream gained a new, blue coloration that he commented made him look like his contemporary, Thundercracker. Returning to Cybertron, Starscream pursued Thrust into the depths of the planet when the turncoat tactician revealed his treachery by stealing the Requiem Blaster and Skyboom Shield. Starscream took a fatal shot from the Requiem Blaster as he battled Thrust in the subterranean tunnels, but the Mini-Con High Wire used his powers to restructure the timeline, saving Starscream. Thrust escaped and delivered the weapons to Sideways and his master, Unicron, presently disguised as Cybertron's moon. Following Thrust through a warp gate and briefly reuniting with Alexis, Starscream entered the belly of the beast along with Hot Shot and Wheeljack, but the unlikely trio were stymied by Unicron's internal defenses and failed to stop Sideways from using the weapons to begin Unicron's reactivation. Galvatron (the renamed Megatron after the Mini-con power boost) was unwilling to acknowledge Unicron's threat, however, dismissing it as an Autobot trick. Starscream, however, knew the threat was real, and that only united under a true leader like Optimus Prime – whose strength of character and nobility had touched Starscream during his time with the Autobots – could the Transformers hope to stop him. Unwilling to betray his leader, Starscream decided on a new course of action. To show Galvatron the error of his ways, he challenged him to a duel in which he allowed Galvatron to run him through with the Star Saber, and then turned his firepower on Unicron, right after he demands Galvatron to join forces with Optimus Prime to stop Unicron. Unicron promptly obliterated him, much to the shock of both Galvatron and Optimus Prime. It was then Galvatron realized that the danger of Unicron was real. Upon realizing Starscream's reasons of his treachery and rebellion, Galvatron became more than willing to have the Decepticons form an alliance with Optimus and the Autobots to destroy Unicron for good. Starsceam's final action saved everyone and is declared a brave hero for his actions; even Galvatron develops a newfound respect for Starscream and calls him a true soldier for his efforts of proving the threat of Unicron to the Decepticons. He is the only incarnation of Starscream in the various Transformers universes with a good heart in the end. Alexis, who Starscream had formed a close bond with, was deeply affected by his death. Starscream, or a version thereof, was briefly seen only once more, in a dream that Galvatron had while he was temporarily absorbed into Unicron's mind.
Starscream would return in the follow-up series, recreated by Alpha Q with raw Energon. He still transformed into a jet, and was now equipped with Hyper Power missiles and a colossal Energon sword. Additionally, Starscream (Nightscream in Japan) is suffering from memory loss (deliberately done by Alpha Q), at one point querying Scorponok as to why he kept calling him Starscream. Ten years after Starscream's death, a revived Megatron seized control of Unicron's body by ousting its former occupant, the alien being Alpha Q. The evicted extraterrestrial needed an assassin to eliminate both Megatron and Optimus Prime (who controlled the Autobot Energon deposits) so that he could return to his original task of recreating the worlds destroyed by Unicron. Using what little Energon he had left, Alpha Q recreated another victim of Unicron – Starscream. However, Alpha Q ran out of Energon before the process could be completed, leaving Starscream's body unstable, constantly shifting from a physical to an ethereal form, able to teleport by "ghosting" from location to location (in homage to G1 Starscream and his return as a ghost). Alpha Q unleashed Starscream upon Ocean City, where he battled Optimus Prime (nearly killing him) and then tracked Megatron back to Unicron's body. Even his awesome new abilities proved no match for the Decepticon leader, himself recreated through Unicron's power. Megatron used the Chaos-Bringer's power to wipe Starscream's mind, turning him into his right-hand man and most loyal subordinate. Rather ironically, Megatron now treated Starscream with far more respect than previously, even entrusting him with some of the most difficult missions. However when Shockblast joined Megatron he seem to respect the Decepticon criminal as defends him from Megatron's wrath and follows his order to listen to him. Later, when Megatron became Galvatron through immersion in a subterranean reservoir of Super Energon on Cybertron, Starscream was allowed to do the same as a reward for his loyalty; the influx of power stabilised his physical form, while allowing him to retain his teleporting powers. When Primus later used the Super Energon to create a sun, Galvatron plunged himself into it in order to contain Unicron's spark at its core, and Starscream seemingly sacrificed himself alongside his leader.
Starscream returned once again in Cybertron as a darker, more ruthless character. A decade after the events of Energon, when Primus's plan to contain Unicron's spark at the core of the Energon sun failed, the sun collapsed, becoming a deadly black hole that threatened Cybertron.[24] Freed from his imprisonment in the sun by Megatron as a reward for his loyalty during the events of Energon, Starscream's mind was his own again, and his body was refurbished into yet another new form. Transforming into a new style of Cybertronian jet craft, Starscream retained his standard array of null ray weapons (located on his arms and chest turrets), he could now call upon a Cyber Key to unlock twin blades in his arms to bolster his melee combat. Once enhanced by the power of the Cyber Keys, Starscream displayed abilities such as being able to channel blasts of raw energy, teleportation and the ability to increase or decrease his mass. Megatron began his campaign to acquire the legendary Cyber Planet Keys by stealing the map that showed their locations from the ancient Transformer, Vector Prime while Starscream, serving as his right-hand man, created a diversion that kept the other Autobots busy. During the fight, Starscream sent Landmine tumbling into the black hole, but Vector Prime saved him at the last moment, opening a dimensional gate that teleported him to Earth. The Autobots and Decepticons followed, and when it was deduced that the Cyber Planet Keys' focusing device, the Omega Lock, was hidden somewhere on the planet, Megatron charged Starscream with locating it while he focused on acquiring the Cyber Planet Key of Velocitron, the Speed Planet.
Little did Megatron suspect, however, that Starscream had evolved a new ambition – where in Armada he had sought little more than Megatron's respect, now he sought to oust Megatron and become the leader of the Decepticons, then the universe. Unlike his similarly styled G1 predecessor, however, Starscream was smart enough to keep his intentions to himself, quietly working to achieve his goals through subtle means. While on a brief mission to attack Red Alert on Velocitron, Starscream was able to secretly switch Megatron's map with a copy that would play an important role later, and in an attempt to acquire more troops loyal to him, recruited the disillusioned Autobot Mudflap into his service on Earth. Subsequent events would see him battling Primus himself and attempting to absorb his Spark, although he lost. Attempting to force Thunderblast to steal the Omega Lock, he was driven off by the Autobots and Thunderblast betrayed him by refusing to steal it. He clashed with Primus again when he interfered with Primus' reactivation sequence and grew to the size of a planet, although Primus defeated him once more and returned him to normal size. Thanks to the Autobots and humans, Starscream lost once more. Subsequent battles on the Gigantion ship Muriaé and with a Cyber Key empowered Landmine made Starscream ever more desperate. Despite this, Starscream remained a serious threat to both the Autobots and the Decepticons still loyal to Megatron.
With his options spent, Starscream eventually challenged Galvatron (Megatron's new form) to a final battle after his former leader had acquired the Omega Lock. Starscream nearly defeated Galvatron with his mastery of the planet forces he absorbed, such as his null-ray cannon and changing size, but Galvatron stubbornly refused to lose to his former lieutenant. The two combatants powered up for one final strike, with Galvatron's blow finally defeating Starscream. So incredible were the energies released during the battle that space and time itself was rended by the final explosion, and Starscream was hurtled into another dimension along with Sideways and Soundwave. At the end of the episode, Starscream's crown is seen floating in space. He would appear for one final time before a defeated Galvatron, his spirit reaching out across the dimensions to encourage him to fight on. Starscream's crown also somehow floated to Galvatron's location, motivating Galvatron even more as he crushed it in his hand. This, ironically, led Galvatron to his demise at the hands of Optimus Prime. At the conclusion of the series, however, Wing Saber – departing from the rest of the Autobots to continue with his "loner" lifestyle – radios Cybertron to inform Optimus that he had found a lead on Starscream's trail and was pursuing it. Landmine and Mudflap are dispatched to aid him, and in the montage of still images that runs through the closing credits, it seems their mission to locate him is a success.
Dreamwave Productions[edit]
Just as Marvel Comics produced a companion comic for the G1 toyline and cartoon, so too did Dreamwave Productions for the 21st century cartoon and toyline that was different from the animated continuity. In these comics, the Armada incarnation of Starscream had a much smaller role, but was written in a fashion much closer to the original treacherous G1 character – a trait that would ultimately lead to his seeming demise when the Energon comic book began. He still possessed elements of the animated Armada Starscream, such as an unwillingness to shy away from battle.[25]
Starscream would first appear as part of Megatron's strike squad that conquered Cyber City. With a set of Mini-Cons boosting their powers, they easily drove off the Autobot defenders. However, the Mini-Con leaders were able to commandeer a ship, allowing most of the Mini-Cons to escape. Over the next million years the Decepticons managed to conquer virtually all of Cybertron. When a signal from Earth revealing the location of the Mini-Cons was detected, Starscream was among the Decepticons assembled by Megatron to travel across the Spacebridge to find them. It was here he gained an Earthen alternate mode of a fighter jet and was also responsible for Megatron's reformatting into his Earth mode – a gigantic tank. Tracking down the Mini-Cons, the Decepticons engaged in battle with the Autobots, also recently arrived over the Spacebridge. Starscream and Cyclonus battled Hot Shot, Scavenger and Red Alert, winning due to their Mini-Con enhanced power, until the rest of the Mini-Cons arrived and bonded to the Autobots, forcing the Decepticons to retreat.
Starscream would appear in many of Megatron's subsequent schemes, including capturing Swindle, attempting to capture Mini-Cons for his own use and launching an attack on the Mini-Con base on the Moon. His next mission would not turn out to be so fortunate – while battling a group of Autobots both sides were ambushed by Gen 1 Galvatron, one of the Heralds of Unicron, barely escaping with his life. Escaping to inform Megatron, he then participated in an assault on the Autobot base, in which he blasted Red Alert before getting attacked by Galvatron. He was later seen when the Autobots and Decepticons teamed up to defeat Unicron. When Megatron was killed by Hot Shot, Red Alert, and Scavenger, Starscream was seen fleeing from Unicron.
His next appearance would be 10 years after Unicron's defeat. When Starscream gatecrashed a meeting of the Terrorcons – renegade Decepticons who were unhappy with the peace between Autobot and Decepticon that had emerged in the wake of Unicron's defeat – at an energon plant, his mistake soon became apparent when he discovered that they had struck a deal with Unicron and gained new "Hyper Mode" powers. When their leader, Scorponok, arrived, Starscream was unable to talk himself out of trouble and was blasted into the plant's machinery by Scorponok, seemingly dying.
True to form, Starscream soon proved that he was not that easy to kill. The raw energon in the plant reacted in some mysterious way, giving him a ghostly body of pure energon (like the cartoon Energon version, this was also a homage to the ghost form of the original Starscream). In this form he ended up attacking Demolishor and draining him of his energy. Due to the collapse of Dreamwave, further tales of Starscream would remain untold, but it is known that issue #33 of the Energon comic would have had him battling the Omnicons.[26]
Video games[edit]
Starscream is among the characters appearing in the 2004 Transformers video game for the PlayStation 2. He appears as a level boss, battling the player's character at two points[27][28]
The Armada toy was the first new-mould Starscream figure since 1990, and it clung to tradition with a jet alternate mode and a robot form featuring many callbacks to the original Starscream figure, such as shoulder-wings, air intakes on the shoulders, a cockpit in the chest, and a headsculpt designed to look like the original animated character. When the Mini-Con port on his backpack is pulled back and held, an electronic jet-take off noise is made. Attaching his Mini-Con partner Swindle to this port, however, unlocks his shoulder-mounted null laser cannons, and changes the sound to a repeating laser blast. Swindle can also mount under the jet-mode nosecone – by pressing the cockpit, Swindle is dropped to the ground with an accompanying electronic noise, while a press without Swindle attached yields more noises. In robot mode, Starscream's left wing can detach and unfold into a sword for him to wield.[29] Armada Starscream is supposed to be 19 feet 7 inches tall according to the Armada video game (597 cm) and the toy is 19 cm tall. So that's a scale of 1:31. A repaint of the Starscream toy in blue, grey and red coloration reminiscent of the original Generation 1 Thundercracker toy. While the American toyline opted to present this toy as a different character (actually named Thundercracker), the Japanese released it as "Starscream Super Mode," an upgraded version of Starscream himself. The change was reflected in the animated series, which necessitated an extra line being inserted into the English dub where Starscream compared himself to Thundercracker. Swindle, now grey and blue, was redubbed "Spark Grid" for the Japanese release, while he became a new character as Thundercracker's partner, Zapmaster.
Live-action films[edit]
|Fast Action Battlers, Micro Vehicles, Deluxe, Voyagers, Leaders
|Second in Command, Air Commander
|Megatron, Blackout, Grindor, Barricade, The Fallen, Bonecrusher, Rampage, and Sentinel Prime, Shockwave
|"Truly the universe favors those who persist. "Sometimes, cowards do survive.
|Alternate Modes
|Entry mode protoform, Cybertronian Jet Fighter, Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor
|Transformers film series
Transformers (2010)
|English voice actor
|Charlie Adler (films, 2009 video game, 2012 Theme Park ride)
Patrick Hallahan (animated prequel)
Daniel Ross (2007 video game)
Bronco O. Jackson (Cyber Missions)
Steven Blum (2011 video game)
|Japanese voice actor
|Tadashi Miyazawa (movies only)
Kenyu Horiuchi (games only)
During production of the live-action film, writer Alex Kurtzman stated that Starscream would not stray from his treacherous roots as he seeks to overthrow Megatron, and frequently engages in bickering arguments with him. In the first film, he is seen vehemently pledging his allegiance to Megatron when the latter breaks free from the Hoover Dam, but unlike the other Decepticons, he is not killed in the final battle and leaves Earth at the end of the movie. For unknown reasons, he passes up a chance to take the All Spark for himself. Although it could be that he didn't dare try, with Megatron so near. The last cut of his battle with F-22s showed him to disguise himself into the echelon, and the F-22s bombed Megatron but it seems to be an error in montage.
As always, Starscream transforms into a jet, in this case a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor; the real-life successor to his original Generation 1 jet mode: the F-15 Eagle. He has a somewhat hatred of Megatron and seeks to be Leader of the Decepticons. He is bulkier than most incarnations, due to the size of the Raptor combined with the lack of mass displacement. He maintains a simian body shape with a large, triangular chest, large shoulders formed by the jet's distinctive twin tails, long arms, and legs with a digitigrade structure. His design retains some iconic features of his original Generation 1 incarnation, such as his chest still formed by the jet's cockpit. The jet's powerful main engines end up on his back, allowing him to leap great heights into the air and take flight, much like a jetpack. They also allow him to control his descent if he transforms out of his jet form in midair. His movements are a combination of acrobatic and avian, grabbing hold of a bridge's bottom to launch himself up into the air and transforming in mid-flight to swoop down upon his prey. His arms store heavy weaponry, with a missile launcher carrying six missiles in both arms, a saw in his right arm, and a high caliber machine gun (probably the jet's Vulcan cannon). In the movie's video game tie-ins, he is also seen detaching one or both of his wings and using them as short swords (a reference to his depiction in Transformers: Armada). When in Raptor mode he can simulate the presence of a human pilot, the same holographic model (referred to as "Mustache Man" on-set and in the credits) that "pilots" Blackout and "drives" Barricade. The actor is Air Force Major Brian Reece, a helicopter pilot instructor at Kirtland Air Force Base.[30]
The official guide to the Transformers video game says he is 31 feet tall (9.4 m), although measuring his 2007 Voyager class toy suggests he would stand 55 feet (16.8 m) tall and the 2009 Voyager toy suggests he would stand 46.2 feet tall[original research?]. The Transformers U.K. magazine states he stands 31 feet (9.4 m) tall, weighs 5.3 (short) tons (4.8 tons) and can travel up to Mach 3.
The movie prequel comics show Starscream acquiring his Raptor form by scanning an experimental Raptor prototype before shooting it down, which should put him among the 411th Flight Test Squadron based out of Edwards Air Force Base (responsible for testing new F-22s). Movie scenes show him among a squadron bearing "ED" tail markings, placing him at Edwards. However, promotional photos of Starscream released with the movie show sufficient detail to recognize the markings on the fuselage of Starscream's disguise: the tail that forms his left shoulder bears a winged sword enclosed in a shield, denoting the Air Combat Command, as well as the letters "FF 1st FW" indicating the 1st Fighter Wing based out of Langley Air Force Base; a portion of the nose forming his chest shows a reversed version of the "flying fist" insignia of the 1st Fighter Wing's 71st Fighter Squadron. This is inaccurate on two counts, since the 71st still flies the F-15 Eagle; however, this could be a homage to the Generation 1 Starscream's F-15 mode.
In the prequel novel Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday it is revealed that Starscream is the leader of the Decepticons following Megatron's disappearance during his search for the Allspark. He and a crew of Decepticons travel aboard the Nemesis to search for the Allspark and Megatron, although Starscream is not keen on finding the latter. His leadership is uneasy at best: Blackout opposes him at every turn (rightly not trusting Starscream and thinking that he would prefer that they never find Megatron), while Barricade tolerates it only as a means of finding Megatron. Encountering Ghost-1, a human craft of Cybertronian design, Starscream manipulates them into revealing that Megatron and the Allspark are on Earth, then betrays them. After winning a vicious duel with Blackout for leadership, he launches a full-scale assault on the Autobots. Just as he and Bonecrusher almost kill Optimus Prime, Starscream is severely injured by Ghost-1. In retaliation, he destroys the human craft before retreating.[31] Optimus Prime notes that Starscream's Cybertronian jet mode resembles that of Megatron's.
Starscream returns in Transformers: The Veiled Threat. With Megatron dead, Starscream eventually returns to Earth around Zambia, where he gains control over local rebel groups by using his internal synthesizers to create gold coins. With his group composed of Dropkick, Macerator, and Payload, Starscream leads an attack on a local dam construction site, making short work of the security forces, and proceeds to steal mass quantities of explosives. But as the Autobots arrive to engage his followers, Starscream springs his trap as both sides are nearly killed with Beachbreak the only casualty before Macerator is killed. Making his way to Europe, Starscream strikes a deal with an Italian criminal named Bruno Carrera to help destroy Optimus Prime in exchange for dominion over Europe when the Decepticons triumph. With Swindle and Dead End to call out the Autobots, Starscream tricks Prime with the strong set of restraints arranged by Carrera before he attacks the remaining Autobots until Prime breaks free. Forced to fall back, Starscream attacks Carrera at this villa for his "failure".
IDW Publishing[edit]
The back story of the Transformers on ancient Cybertron is told in Transformers: Defiance. In this story, Starscream returns to Cybertron after encountering an enemy scout ship in the Eshems Nebula. After being repaired for minor damage by Ratchet, Starscream and Ironhide report to Optimus Prime and Megatron.[32] Later, the planet is invaded by aliens from the Eshems Nebula and Starscream is among the defenders in the city of Metrotitan, near the temple at Simfur. In issue #2, he sides with Megatron in his decision to counterattack Cybertron's invaders and is among the fleet that attacks their ships.
Starscream also appears at the end of issue #3 of Transformers: Movie Prequel, where he, Blackout and Barricade destroy the Mars Beagle probe. In issue 4, he travels to Earth, gaining his F-22 alternate mode by scanning an experimental Raptor before shooting it down. The three Decepticons, detecting emissions similar to that of the Allspark, then stumble onto Sector 7's trap for Bumblebee, wiping out their military backup. Starscream then approves Barricade's plan to follow Bumblebee and see if he could lead them to the All Spark, tailing him from the air.
He appears in the official movie sequel comic called "The Reign of Starscream".[33] In this story, Starscream leaves the battle in Mission City, where he finds Barricade alive, but damaged, and then goes to recover Frenzy's body from the Sector 7 base under Hoover Dam in hopes of gaining information on the All Spark. After recovering Frenzy, Starscream is confronted by Sector 7 forces commanded by Agent Salazar. After an unsuccessful attempt by Salazar to use L.M.-1 in battle Starscream kidnaps Salazar and leaves Earth for Mars. Salazar dies from decompression, much to Starscream's surprise, when they leave Earth's atmosphere. Starscream barely makes it to the Nemesis on Mars before he runs out of power. His return is noted by the Autobot Cosmos, who alerts Arcee, Cliffjumper, Smokescreen, Camshaft and Air Raid. Aided by Thundercracker aboard the Nemesis, Starscream recovers and sends the information Frenzy had gathered back to Cybertron just as Hardtop spots the Autobots closing on the Nemesis. In issue #5, Starscream sacrifices the sparks of Crankcase, Elita One, Grindcore, Signal Flare and Warpath to bring his new All Spark Cube online. Although the cube fails to function, Starscream does not have time to find out why, as Dreadwing makes his bid to overthrow the Decepticons using his army of drones. Ramjet and Divebomb side with Dreadwing, but Thundercracker and Stockade remain loyal to Starscream. Crosshairs beheads Ramjet and the Autobots are able to deactivate the drones as Starscream overcomes Dreadwing's remaining forces, including Divebomb. Dreadwing escapes to the Nemesis, but is followed by Starscream. Crashing on Mars, Dreadwing thinks he was free, but Starscream kills him before turning his eye to Earth.
In Transformers: Alliance, a month after the battle at Mission City, Epps and Lennox contact Optimus Prime, Ratchet and Ironhide about aiding them in escorting the remains of the Decepticons to the naval yard. Unknowingly, they are spied on by Barricade, who transmits the information to Starscream, who is applying Cybertronian symbols on his body. Unable to ignore the possibility of being able to take out Prime, Megatron and Wreckage at once, Starscream attacks, but is unable to overpower Wreckage, who is enhanced with a sliver of the All Spark. As Wreckage is about to deal a deathblow, he is distracted by Bumblebee. Starscream capitalizes and guts his foe before turning his firepower on the Autobot and the humans. However, he then retreats, having an unexpected communication from Soundwave.
In Transformers: Rising Storm, it is revealed that Starscream has broken away from Megatron's rule, and formed his own army - Club Starscream - with Barricade and some others under his command. However after blasting his way past Ruination and Deadlift, Shockwave tells Starscream that Megatron requires his services. Shockwave then sends Starscream to recover the drone called Brains.[34] Starscream fought against the Autobots in Philadelphia and later retreated back to Africa, where he complained to Megatron.
Role in the films[edit]
In the first film, Starscream rallies the other Decepticons to battle once Frenzy alerts them to the All Spark's location. Starscream destroys the electrical substation that powers Sector 7's base, allowing Megatron to come out of his deep freeze. Upon being reunited with Megatron, Starscream is scolded by his leader for letting the All Spark escape with the humans. In the movie's first battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, he is the first Decepticon to arrive on the scene, ambushing the Autobots when their human allies mistake him for a friendly fighter jet. Starscream fires missiles in Raptor form at Bumblebee and Ironhide, destroying the former's legs and injuring the latter. In robot form he stops Sam Witwicky from fleeing with the All Spark, disabling both Ironhide and Ratchet in the process; however, even though he has the opportunity, he does not take the All Spark with him. When Sam is about to hand off the All Spark to a Black Hawk crewman, Starscream shoots down the helicopter. When an airstrike has been called in on Megatron and Blackout, Starscream conceals himself among the attacking jets. He destroys three of them, but retreats after the F-22 pilots engage him, allowing the jets to complete their mission. An interlude during the end credits shows Starscream leaving Earth's atmosphere. He can be heard speaking in Cybertronian, though his words are not subtitled.
In the second film, Starscream is first seen aboard the Nemesis shipwreck and is confronted by a returning Megatron, angry that Starscream left him to die. He tells Megatron he left to spawn a new army, and needed to take command during Megatron's absence. After a couple of the Cybertronian protoforms in the Nemesis die prematurely, Starscream reveals that they have nearly run out of energon, the secondary source of life. Later in the film, when Grindor brings Sam, Mikaela and Leo and drops them into an abandoned warehouse, Starscream intimidates the protagonists by cutting open their car and seems to spit on Sam before Megatron confronts Sam himself. As Optimus Prime and Bumblebee arrive, Starscream battles Bumblebee for a short time before confronting Optimus. Overwhelmed by Prime, Starscream retreats. He and Grindor arrive at a nearby forest in response to Megatron's call as he chases after Sam but fails. When Megatron is temporarily out of the battle, Starscream battles Optimus again, but is still no match. Optimus chops off Starscream's arm and kills Grindor. Starscream and Megatron escape after Autobot reinforcements arrive. He reattaches his arm easily as he and Megatron have a quick meeting atop the Metlife Building in Manhattan, New York, where Megatron is furious at their failure to capture Sam. Later in the film, Starscream finds Sam and the others, opening fire on Bumblebee, Skids, and Mudflap, but fails to hit his target. He reports to Megatron that the soldiers have brought Prime's body; with Megatron realizing that Sam has the Matrix, he tells Starscream that Sam must not reach Optimus, and then orders the Decepticon assault. Starscream is later seen in Egypt with the other Decepticons hunting for Sam. He finds Sam and Mikaela, but they escape. He instructs Rampage to spring a trap when Sam and Mikaela get close, which results in the demise of Rampage and Ravage by Bumblebee. Once the Fallen is killed by Optimus, Starscream convinces Megatron the battle is lost and retreating is their only option.
In the third film, Starscream first appears assisting Megatron as the latter recuperates from his injuries at the Decepticon headquarters in Africa. Starscream is later seen in Washington D.C., along with Megatron and Sentinel Prime, complimenting Megatron on his brilliance. At the point when the Xantium departs Earth Starscream, having laid in wait, swoops in and destroys the ship. He then attacks the V22 Ospreys holding William Lennox's team as they try to enter Chicago. Although he destroys most of the Ospreys, Lennox and other soldiers jump to safety. In his final scene of the film, Starscream attacks Robert Epps' team, during which he corners Sam and Carly, intending to kill them. Sam fires a grappling hook into Starscream's eye, causing him to flail about in attempts to remove it, while Sam is unable to release the line. Starscream attempts to flee, but his boosters are malfunctioning. Lennox's team arrives, and Starscream fires upon the soldiers but misses due to his erratic flailing and partial blindness. At this point Sam stabs a "boomstick" Wheeljack gave him into Starscream's other eye. With the Decepticon blinded, Lennox attempts to free the dangling Sam. However Starscream makes it to the top of a nearby building, pulling Sam and Lennox with him. The grappling hook finally cuts loose - dropping Sam and Lennox to safety - and a moment later the boomstick detonates, decapitating and killing Starscream.
Titan Magazine[edit]
In "Twilight's Last Greaming" part 3, Starscream and Scorponok attack the Autobots Arcee, Armorhide, Elita One, Longarm, Skyblast and Strongarm on the moon. The Autobots flee to Earth, which is exactly what Starscream hoped they'd do.
Starscream would return in issue #22 of the Titan Transformers Magazine series in a story called "The Decepticon who Haunted Himself".
Video games[edit]
Starscream is a playable character in the video game, with a white and red 'G1 Repaint' unlockable after the player completes the Decepticon campaign. He would appear as a boss alongside with Blackout in the Autobot campaign, where he is seemingly killed by Jazz. In the Decepticon campaign he is playable, and is also featured in many cutscenes and communications. Starscream's color is the same as the jet's in the movie and the video game's cutscenes, but when Starscream is controlled by the player or the computer, his skin turns green.
In the Nintendo DS Transformers: Decepticons game, Starscream would kill Barricade and Blackout, and perhaps Brawl, who simply disappears after killing Ironhide, steal the Allspark and betray Megatron. Starscream is fought by Megatron as the final boss after he is heavily damaged and loses the AllSpark to Create-A-Bot. After being defeated, Megatron kills him for being a traitor, as well as Create-A-Bot for being weak. In the Autobots version he is a simple boss who ambushes Ironhide and the Autobot Create-A-Bot in the Arctic but retreats after a long battle and does not reappear or heard of again.
Starscream is among the playable characters in the 2009 Revenge of the Fallen video game by Activision. In the Decepticon campaign he kidnapped Theodore Galloway to learn the location of the Allspark shard, attacked the naval fleet guarding Megatron's body while he was being revived, and destroyed a museum while trying to kill Sam. In the Autobot campaign he appears at the building Sam was held in, attacking Optimus Prime but being forced to retreat, and later reappeared to help Megatron fight Optimus and Jetfire, only to be defeated again and retreat. There was also an unlockable skin for Starscream in which players could choose to play in his original G1 colours. With the character and map pack you can choose to play in his original G1 form
In the Nintendo DS game, Revenge of the Fallen: Decepticons, Starscream was the temporary leader of the Decepticons until Fallen forces him to revive Megatron. In the end he swore one day he would be the permanent leader of the Decepticons.
Starscream appears in the 2011 Dark of the Moon video game. As a Hunter, he can be played on Xbox Campaigne and multiplayer[35]
Starscream is among the characters who appear in the TRANSFORMERS CYBERVERSE Battle Builder Game.[36]
Starscream for the 2007 and 2009 movie had numerous toys released. He was one of two promotional figures released long before the 2007 movie as a "protoform".[37] During the 2007 film release he was sold in various size classes as a licensed F-22 Raptor replica. These toys were recolored and released as fellow Decepticons Ramjet, Skywarp and Thundercracker. During the 2009 film he was released as both redecos of the 2007 film toys as well as new molds. This time with the distinctive tattoos painted on the toy. Starscream was also released in the 2010 "Transformers: Hunt for the Decepticons" line in his largest size yet among Hasbro's "Leader" class, and in Japan, the Masterpiece collection by Takara. In 2011, a "Deluxe" class Starscream was released as part of Hasbro's Transformers: Dark of the Moon Mech Tech assortment. This figure retains the Cybertronian tattoos from the previous film, and is considered to be a miniature version of the Leader class counterpart. Maybe they might have a G1 color plus MechTech retool of the Leader mold. All toys of this character are officially licensed from Lockheed Martin.
Transformers Animated[edit]
|Activators, Micro Vehicles, Voyagers
|Air Warrior Supreme
|Megatron, Blitzwing, Lugnut, Blackarachnia, Shockwave, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Sunstorm, Ramjet, Slipstream
|"Power is its own justification."
"Conquest is made from the ashes of one's enemies."
|Alternate Modes
|Cybertronian Jet, Futuristic Harrier Jet (similar to the Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut)
|Transformers Animated
Transformers: Universe
|English voice actor
|Tom Kenny
|Japanese voice actor
|Jin Yamanoi
Starscream appears in the 2007 animated series. He transforms into a futuristic harrier jet, (sporting a notable similarity to the Variable Fighters of Macross fame in his transformation sequence) and resembles his Generation 1 counterpart in both design, personality, and ambitions. He flies at high speeds in both modes, and wields his trademark null-rays, though these function simply as powerful lasers. He's unintentionally comical in this incarnation displaying occasional incompetence. However, this incarnation displays a resolute tenacity towards his objective, shown by his flying around in a brutally damaged Nemesis to track down the Allspark's energy signature for 50 years by himself. Although cowardly, Starscream is an excellent warrior, since he almost single-handedly took down all of the Autobots in a battle over the Allspark. He is more narcissistic than most incarnations of the character, frequently congratulating praising himself, his plans and his looks. During season 2, upon being resurrected by a shard of the Allspark embedded on his forehead, Starscream displays a sense of perseverance in the series, making numerous attempts to eliminate Megatron before and after being destroyed by the Decepticon leader. He also cannot tell the difference between any two humans.[38]
In the Japanese translation of Transformers: Animated, the story has been changed to make it a prequel to the 2007 Transformers film. This makes this version of Starscream an earlier version of the film character.
Animated series[edit]
In "Transform & Roll Out", Starscream didn't even believe the Allspark existed in the first place, but when there was proof of the Allspark's existence on board the Autobot's ship (which he opted immediately to just destroy) he made it second on his priority list – right behind becoming the new leader of the Decepticons. Seeing an opportunity to realize his primary goal (and to get Megatron back for damaging his wing when he suggested getting the Allspark himself), he planted an explosive charge on Megatron's back as he, oblivious to the device, exited the ship to fly out and board the Autobot vessel containing the Allspark. The massive explosion, though, only severely damaged Megatron instead of expunging him like he had expected, leading Starscream to believe that his plan was a success. Overjoyed to the realization of his dream, he faked mourning the loss of his former leader as he immediately proclaimed himself the new leader of the Decepticons. Unfortunately, the other Decepticons abandoned ship while Starscream failed to notice the massive explosion caused by the ensuing battle that the ship was heading directly into. Starscream, along with the Nemesis, was engulfed in the explosion. It would be decades later that he ended up on Earth with what was left of the Nemesis, adapting his vehicle mode from intercepting fighter jets and blending in with an air show to ambush the Autobots, using his high speed flight abilities to fly rings around the Autobots and taking Bumblebee, Captain Fanzone, and the mayor of Detroit hostage to coerce them into giving him the Allspark. He even managed to wrench it from their possession, despite growing furious with their game of "Keep-Away," and harnessed the power of the Allspark as a devastating weapon, using it to destroy a large chunk of the city. It was his hysteria from this new-found power that led him to be caught off guard as Optimus Prime got the jump on him, and a devastating battle ensued, ending with the Allspark accidentally being unleashed in a similar fashion as the Matrix is activated in G1, only here due to its size, by Optimus and Starscream trying to pull it from each other's grasp. The resulting blast repelled Starscream away, forcing him to wait for a better chance.
Given some time to repair, Starscream resurfaced again later after Lugnut and Blitzwing were gravely wounded in "Lost and Found", offering to repair them in return for their pledge of loyalty to him.
In "Megatron Rising Part 1", he attempted to convince them both that Megatron had fallen to the hands of the Autobots, thus making him the new leader. Lugnut, however, with his undying, almost obsessive loyalty to Megatron, could not accept this, denying it repeatedly. Just as Starscream was getting angry with Lugnut's inability to consider him a leader, Megatron contacted Lugnut's frequency exclusively, where Lugnut promptly bowed and started addressing his master respectfully. Starscream, thinking Lugnut was talking to him, smirked and said, "Well...that's better...just don't let it happen again." Lugnut revealed to him that Megatron had just issued them orders, where Starscream was quick to jump that it was a treacherous impostor trying to lead them into a trap. He instructed Blitzwing and Lugnut to retrieve the Allspark, while he himself went to intercept the "fake" Megatron transmission. Starscream intercepted it back to Professor Sumdac's lab to discover Megatron's disembodied head. Starscream toyed and mocked Megatron, enjoying his superior's standing on the situation while making a speech of Megatron's feeble condition. However, Bumblebee interfered, annoying Starscream for interrupting him during the speech before he attacked the Autobot. Megatron, who had known of Starscream's earlier attempt on his life for quite some time, manipulated the lab's machinery to throw both Starscream and Bumblebee to the roof of Sumdac Tower. During the melee, Lugnut and Blitzwing arrived on the scene, inserting Sari's stolen key into Megatron's head. The charge from the key quickly rebuilt Megatron's body, much to Starscream's dismay and disappointment.
Noticing how the tides of battle changed with Megatron reborn, Starscream weighed his options of fighting the new, super-powered Megatron to claim his place as leader, or rejoin the ranks and wait for a better opportunity to present itself. Picking the latter, Starscream approached Megatron with a charm and gleam requesting to come back as Megatron's second-in-command as Megatron had his Fusion Cannon aimed at Prime. But at the last second, Megatron faked-out and delivered a massive fatal uppercut on Starscream with the Allspark key, taking him offline.
Later, in "Mission Accomplished", Starscream returned to life in a garbage barge and found his spark strangely extinguished before following Lugnut and Blitzwing to attack Megatron head on. It was from his vain attempt and second "death" by Megatron's hands that Starscream learned that a fragment of the Allspark was embedded on his forehead, keeping him alive and making him immortal. Though invincible, his repeated attempts at Megatron resulted with him being easily defeated, though unable to die. (At one point, he even attempts to pull a Captain Jack on Megatron before being damaged by Megatron's sword and fusion cannon.) After finding another fragment of the Allspark, he planned to lure Megatron out into the open by placing the fragment on a high-speed train which he set to explode, but only the Autobot Elite Guard fell for the trick while Megatron and Blitzwing watched from above before he had Blitzwing shoot Starscream down from the sky. He regained consciousness before attacking Ultra Magnus to take back his fragment. It took stasis cuffs to finally subdue Starscream, who is then sent to Cybertron for imprisonment.
However, in "A Fistful of Energon", he escaped and made his return to Earth, with Megatron setting a bounty on him. Setting up base on the Nemesis wreck on the moon, Starscream used the protoforms to create a massive supply of "decoy Starscreams" to act in his stead, using a cowardly version that Lockdown caught with Prowl's aid and a brightly colored "scheming" decoy that the Autobots captured while heading to Megatron and Lockdown's meeting area. When the Autobots and Decepticons learned the true nature of the Starscream decoys, Starscream activated the bombs in their spark chambers to take out both factions. But while the Decepticons escaped the warehouse to pursue Starscream, Prowl managed to launch the decoys with his newly acquired Samurai armor into the sky where they exploded near the Decepticons without any damage done to the city. However, Starscream had already made many more clones after learning that Megatron had increased the amount of his bounty.
Starscream returned in the two-part episode "A Bridge Too Close", installing life into five of his clones with chips of the Allspark fragment in his head. The clones each represented a different side of his personality – cowardice, egomania, dishonesty and sycophancy. There was also a fifth clone, the feminine Slipstream who advises Starscream not to ask about her origin while berating every choice he makes. He led his small army to attack Megatron and had the upper hand against him and the Autobots until his head was removed by a Headmaster unit piloted by Isaac Sumdac. Seeing their creator beheaded, Slipstream and the other remaining Starscream clones quickly sided with Megatron. Later, Starscream's head was used by Megatron to reactivate the Decepticon Space Bridge, overloading the systems and resulting in both Starscream's head and Megatron being sucked into an unstable portal. The two were later seen bickering with each other in a random part of space.
Starscream returned in the season three premiere event, "TransWarped". The AllSpark fragment in his forehead gave him the power to convert his mouth into a sonic laser, which freed Megatron from the stasis cuffs. Megatron later used Starscream to override an offline Omega Supreme's circuitry, taking control of him. Starscream planned to use Omega to take over Cybertron, but his plans were derailed when Optimus Prime placed a malfunctioning Space Bridge component on Omega, causing him to go through an endless Transwarp cycle. However, Megatron was able to remove the component, picking up Lugnut and then Shockwave with Arcee, who possessed Omega's activation codes. They returned to Earth's moon, where Starscream took the opportunity to sneak over to the ruins of the Nemesis and use a protoform to build a new body for himself, before Megatron arrived and destroyed all of the decoys. Learning of Megatron's plan to create clones of Omega, Starscream attempted to download the activation codes and take control of them himself. However, Lugnut intervened, gaining and downloading the activation codes himself, and Starscream ended up in pieces from the waist down, courtesy of Megatron.
In "Endgame-Part 2", Starscream returned to be an independent and got his chance at revenge, when it is revealed that he had furtively booby-trapped the Omega Supreme clones with self-destruct devices during their construction and also inserted a program that rendered him in control of the Lugnut Supremes. He eventually reconstructed himself and headed to Earth to watch Megatron die. However, he met his own demise at the hands of Jazz and Prowl, during the reconstruction of the AllSpark. His own AllSpark fragment was pulled out of his head. Lacking the fragment, Starscream fell to the ground, offline.
In a deleted scene from "Endgame- Part 2", Slipstream revived Starscream with another AllSpark fragment, but this was cut for time.
IDW Publishing[edit]
In IDW comics "The Arrival Part 2", Starscream was found unable to move by Professor Princess. The prankster villain then proceeded to put feminine makeup and a wig on him, while teasing him with her blaster. Once his systems were reset by the blaster, Starscream threatened to destroy the little girl, but she had set up a transmission of pictures of Starscream in makeup to be broadcast if she or her pony Powered Sugar were injured and Starscream agreed to leave and forget the whole affair. He never even noticed she had painted his back in rainbow colors.
Animated Starscream also received numerous toys in many size classes during the run of the Animated toy line. Many of the Starscream toys were recolored as his clones Skywarp, Thundercracker, Ramjet, Dirge and Sunstorm. In 2008 a McDonalds happy meal was produced with a simple transforming Starscream toy inside to promote the series. This Starscream was also released in the Universe toy as a small Legends figure, shipping with a whole wave of tiny Animated characters. In Japan the Starscream figures were released in metallic finish by Takara.
Transformers: Timelines (Shattered Glass)[edit]
|Convention Exclusives, Voyagers
|Lieutenant Commander
|"Among the mysteries of science lies the key to victory."
|Alternate Modes
|Cybertronian Jet
|Transformers: Timelines
This Starscream is a morally good version of the Generation 1 character from the BotCon exclusive "Shattered Glass" comic, in which the Decepticons are on the side of good and the Autobots on the side of evil.
According to his tech specs Starscream was a brilliant young scientist who graduated at the Crystal City Science Institute. When the war between the Autobots and Decepticons broke out Optimus Prime tried to recruit him, but he refused. After joining the Decepticons he helped refine the Transformation process Megatron invented. He turns into a Cybertronian jet.
This version is loyal to Megatron, as opposed to his normally treacherous portrayal. He longs to return to his life as a scientist, finding it much more exciting than war. Also, Megatron treats Starscream with far more respect and considers him a genius.
The Botcon 2008 set was chosen as the "Action Figure Digest Hot Pick."[39]
Fun Publications[edit]
Starscream appears in the 2008 April Fool's comic Shattered Expectations by Fun Publications. He and Razorclaw confront his world's Goldbug, Grimlock and Jazz. When the Autobots refuse to surrender the Decepticons call in the Mayhem Suppression Squad.
Starscream then appears in the BotCon 2008 Timelines comic Transformers: Timelines story "Shattered Glass" as one of the troops of the heroic Decepticon Megatron. Starscream, Divebomb and Whisper drop "glass gas" bombs on the Autobot's Ark launch platform to make it vulnerable to attack.[40]
Starscream appears in the fiction Dungeons & Dinobots, a text based story from Fun Publications. He defends the Arch-Ayr fuel dump from an Autobot attack.[41]
Starscream appears in the story Do Over. He is the first to discover that the Dinocons Slugfest and Overkill have gained the ability to transform. When Megatron is captured by the Autobot Targetmasters he wants to order a full scale rescue effort, but Cliffjumper talks him into only sending a small team of Micromasters to rescue Megatron, so that the Decepticons efforts in finishing the Nemesis won't be compromised. Starscream was later commands the Nemesis, which follows the Autobot's Ark to Earth before being shot down and ordering the crew to escape in life pods. Among his troops on the Nemesis are Cliffjumper, Demolishor, Heatwave and Soundwave.[42]
Starscream appears in Eye in the Sky, where it is revealed that he survived the crash of the Nemesis. Because he lacks a stasis pod to reformat himself, he maintains a Cybertronian style alternate mode. He becomes good friends with the human scientist Doctor Arkeville and his assistants. Starscream felt it was the Decepticon duty to make sure the supposedly deactivated Autobots posed no threat to Earth before the Decepticon returned to Cybertron. Sadly the Autobot threat surfaces shortly when Rodimus Prime's band take possession of a military base controlling an orbital defense system. Starscream sends a team of Decepticons and their human allies to destroy the defense system and defeat the Autobots.
Starscream defeated the human villain called the Arachnolord.[43]
Starscream appears in a flashback in Transformers: The Coming Storm.
The toy for the heroic Starscream is redeco of the Cybertron Voyager Starscream, and was available only at the 2008 BotCon. His color scheme is an homage to the Generation 1 Autobot Jetfire.[citation needed]
Transformers: Timelines (Transtech)[edit]
|Deluxe Vehicles, Transtechs
|Alternate Modes
|Cybertronian Jet
|Transformers: Timelines
Starscream works in civil intelligence on Transtech Cybertron.[44]
Fun Publications[edit]
Starscream appeared in the Fun Publications story "Transcendent", where he reported his findings on Skyfall and Landquake to Optimus Prime. Prowl and Starscream had a biographies printed by Fun Publications.[45]
Transformers: Prime[edit]
Starscream is confronted by Megatron
|Air Commander
|9 (formerly), 10
|Megatron, Soundwave, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Shockwave, Knock Out, Silas, Airachnid, Optimus Prime, Ratchet
|"Conquest is made of the ashes of one's enemies'."
|Alternate Modes
|Cybertronian jet, F-16 Fighting Falcon)
|Transformers: Prime
|English voice actor
|Steve Blum (Prime TV series & Video Game)
Sam Riegel (War for Cybetron & Fall of Cybertron Video Games)
Starscream is one of the main group of Decepticons in the 2010 computer animated series Transformers: Prime. In this series, he is a much darker character, plotting his rise to becoming the Decepticon leader and destroying the Autobots. He has displayed a contempt for Decepticons who do not choose a flying alternate mode, like Knock Out. Another key aspect about his character is that Starscream's insecurity and desire to be leader make him in some ways more dangerous than Megatron. During season 2 Starscream became a neutral until the season's climax when he rejoined the Decepticons.
It should be noted in the Prime cartoon, Starscream's colours are similar to that of his Machine Wars colour scheme.
Starscream appears in the short story Bumblebee at Tyger Pax By Alex Irvine.[46]
Starscream appears in the novel Transformers: Exodus,[47] and its sequels; Transformers: Exiles and Transformers: Retribution.
Video games[edit]
Starscream appears as a playable Decepticon character in the 2010 video game Transformers: War for Cybertron, voiced by Sam Riegel.
In the Decepticon campaign, Starscream starts out as a Seeker guarding Dark Energon, but when Megatron immerses himself in Dark Energon, he quickly allies himself under the Decepticon leader, hoping to learn from him the ways of controlling Dark Energon. Starscream – along with Skywarp and Thundercracker – are assigned to reactivate the Energon Bridge that connects his space station to Cybertron. He serves Megatron for the remainder of the game as leader of the Decepticon aerial forces, retaking his former title of Sky Commander, and at one point even attempts to usurp leadership of the Decepticons when it is believed that Megatron is killed in action by Omega Supreme. He is by Megatron's side when the Decepticon commander completely infects Cybertron's core with Dark Energon.
In the Autobot campaign, Starscream is a boss fought by Optimus, Ratchet and Bumblebee who leads an assault on the Autobot city of Iacon. He retreats after being defeated personally by Optimus.
Starscream appears as a level boss in the Nintendo DS video game Transformers: War for Cybertron Decepticons, where he is defeated by the Decepticons at Trypticon, but survives by begging to live and swearing to serve Megatron. After this point in the game, Starscream and Skywarp become playable characters.
Starscream appears again in the sequel Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. He is first seen by Optimus executing Autobots during the assault on the Ark, and soon afterwards blasts Optimus from point blank, and takes him to Megatron with Brawl and Onslaught. When Megatron is seemingly destroyed by Metroplex, Starscream assumes leadership of the Decepticons, and orders them to abandon the attack. He proceeds to start wasting resources having statues of himself built, ignoring Shockwave's discovery of a Space Bridge, and failing to listen to Onslaught's advice during an assault on an Autobot Energon transport. Never-the-less, he still believes himself to be the rightful leader of the Decepticons, and has the Combaticons arrested after they ignore his orders. When Soundwave restores Megatron, he interrupts Starscream's official coronation ceremony, and forces Starscream to flee off on his own. Starscream then attempts to recruit his own forces by breaking into Shockwave's facility and offering to free Grimlock, whom Shockwave has experimented on, in exchange for his loyalty. Instead, Grimlock throws Starscream into a console to set himself free, rendering him unconscious.
In Transformers: Prime - The Game, Starscream is present in the first level, where he watches the Autobots fall to Earth after a fight between them and the Decepticons for control of a Dark Energon meteor. Starscream believes that the Autobots are defeated, but Megatron knows better and sends him, along with Knock Out and Airachnid, to find them. Starscream finds Bulkhead and Miko in an ancient temple in the desert and captures Miko after a fierce battle. Later, Starscream fights Bulkhead in Greece and gets captured, Bulkhead forcing him to take him to the Nemesis and show him where Miko is. However, Starscream leads him into a trap, but is once again defeated and flees. He later tries to steal Thunderwing's power core for himself, but Megatron stops him. When Thunderwing frees himself and fires a purple fire blast at Megatron, he uses Starscream as a human shield as punishment for trying to betray him earlier, but the air commander survives.
Animated series[edit]
The flashback episode "Out of the Past" shows Starscream in charge of the Nemesis. His troops capture Arcee and Cliffjumper, who he intends to interrogate for a secret encrypted message. Eventually after Megatron is seemingly killed when their Space Bridge Gate exploded, Starscream eagerly takes over as leader. However, he later discovers in "Masters and Students"-after awakening Skyquake, who refuses to accept him as leader-that Megatron has barely survived, thanks to the power of a Dark Energon shard he had previously embedded in his Spark chamber. Hoping to finish off Megatron and secure his claim to leadership, Starscream removes the shard while they are floating in the debris of the spacebridge explosion that was thought to have killed Megatron. However, when they returned to base, Megatron was stabilized and let in a sort of coma-his body was inert, but his mind remained active.[48]
Predacons Rising[edit]
In the TV movie Predacons Rising, which functions as the finale to the animated series Transformers: Prime, Starscream is shown to share leadership of the Decepticons with Shockwave, who constantly has them move labs to avoid detection. They spend their time making Predacon clones, most notably their two pets Darksteel and Skylynx. They are later shown gathering many bones from Predaking's territory, unearthed by Cybertron's restoration, but they are confronted by Unicron in Megatron's body, who restores them with Dark Energon. Starscream retreats to the Nemesis, freeing all Decepticon prisoners to retake it in order to retreat while Unicron destroys Cybertron. He is betrayed by Knock Out, who joins the Autobots and helps lock him up. Starscream later escapes when the Nemesis crashes, and is seen when Unicron is separated from Megatron, and trapped in the Allspark's container. Taking the opportunity, Starscream tries to convince Megatron to finish off the Autobots and conquer Cybertron, but this time, Megatron refuses to do so, having felt what it is like to be oppressed after being suffered by the hands of Unicron. Seeing that there is no reason to continue the war against the Autobots anymore, Megatron declares that the Decepticons are no more and flies off to parts unknown. Despite being confused by Megatron's decision at first, Starscream however returns to Kaon, taking the opportunity to declare himself as the new Decepticon leader and hoping to rise them up again. However, Predaking and his fellow Predacons approach him. Starscream offers the throne to Predaking, but Predaking states he is only there to even the score, not to seize the throne.[citation needed]
- Prime First Edition Deluxe Starscream (2011)
- An all-new mold of Starscream from the Prime animated series.[49]
- Prime Cyberverse Commander Starscream (2012)
- A smaller scaled version of Starscream with translucent red arm cannons.
- Prime Robots in Disguise Revealers Deluxe Bumblebee vs. Deluxe Starscream Entertainment Pack (2012)
- A gift set featuring redecos of First Edition Bumblebee (with blue stripes instead of black) and Starscream (with more shades of purple). The bundle also comes with two figurines of Silas and a MECH soldier, as well as a DVD featuring three episodes of the series.
- Prime Voyager Starscream
- A Voyager Class figure of Starscream with missiles and a null ray blaster. Transforms into a fighter-jet.[50]
- Generations Cybertronian Starscream (Deluxe, 2013)
- Prime: Beast Hunters Deluxe Class Starscream with Clenching Thunder Talon (2013)[51]
- A remold of the Transformers Prime First Edition Deluxe figure of Starscream.
- ^ "A Decepticon Raider In King Arthur's Court" episode synopsis at tv.com
- ^ "Marvel Books- Transformers Sticker Book: Return to Cybertron". Physics.ohio-state.edu. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
- ^ "Ohio State University".
- ^ "Find Your Fate Junior – The Transformers". Gamebooks.org. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
- ^ Grant, John (1985). Autobots Fight Back. Ladybird Books. ISBN 0-7214-0942-3.
- ^ Simpson, Bud (1993). Decepticon Madness. Modern Publishing. ISBN 1-56144-346-8.
- ^ Seibertron.com (1994-05-01). "Transformers: Generation 2 #7: "New Dawn"". Seibertron.com. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
- ^ Robert Mann (w). "By their Blasters you shall know them ...!" Transformers Comic-Magazin 12 (December 1990), Condor Verlag
- ^ Pete Sinclair (February–March 2011). "Battle Lines Part 1". Transformers Collectors Club Magazine 1 (37): 9–14.
- ^ Pete Sinclair & Jesse Wittenrich (October–November 2011). "Battle Lines Part 5". Transformers Collectors Club Magazine 1 (41): 3.
- ^ Machine Wars Starscream art from Genesis, on the artist's portfolio site.
- ^ "And the fan-art that preceded the above". Spektakle.com. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
- ^ Transformers: Generation One #2
- ^ Revealed in previews of Devastation #1, printed in Spotlight: Optimus Prime
- ^ "Entertainment/OnlineGames/GameSelect/Action Games/Transformers/Transformers Battle Circuit". Hasbro.com. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
- ^ "Animation Corner: Transformers Satire For FrankTV". Doinkamation.blogspot.com. 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
- ^ Hasbro.com – Transformers Hall of Fame Robots
- ^ Google Patents
- ^ TRANSFORMING TOYS TO DOLLARS ORIGINAL HASBRO FIGURINES OF ROBOTS SELLING FOR THOUSANDS ON EBAY. Daily News, July 11, 2007, JULIA M. SCOTT
- ^ The African American entrepreneur: then and now By W. Sherman Rogers page 321
- ^ Creators of Transformers: Beast Wars: The Gathering are back
- ^ The 12 Strangest Transformers Beast Wars Figures By Rob Bricken in Daily Lists, Toys Wednesday, Jul. 8 2009
- ^ Television cartoon shows: an illustrated encyclopedia, 1949 through 2003 page 872
- ^ "Transformers – Galaxy Force Secret Special DVD!". TV Magazine. February 2006.
- ^ Cybertron war spreads as robots invade Earth. The Washington Times, June 19, 2004
- ^ "Transformers: Energon #33: "Transformers: Energon"". Seibertron.com. 2012-08-09. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
- ^ Atari Begins the ``Ultimate Conflict with Worldwide Release of 'TRANSFORMERS' Video Game, Business Wire, May 12, 2004
- ^ Transformers, Australian PC World; August 1, 2004, by Allen, Danny
- ^ Starscream with Swindle
- ^ Kirtland Air Force Base pilot's icy stare earned him a spot in `Transformers' movie
- ^ Dean Foster, Alan; David Cian (2007). Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday. Del Ray. p. 286. ISBN 978-0-345-49798-7.
- ^ Comics Continuum
- ^ From the Tip: Rain of Starscream Part Deux
- ^ John Barber (w), Carlos Magno (p), Aburtov and Graphiksslava (i). Transformers: Rising Storm 1 (February 2011), IDW Publishing
- ^ "Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Game Preview". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
- ^ "TRANSFORMERS CYBERVERSE Battle Builder Game". HASBRO. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
- ^ Transformers toys have evolved, The Malay Mail, May 18, 2007, by A J Smith
- ^ Character bios for Transformers Animated characters
- ^ "Botcon 2008 Transformers... Unite". Tomart's Action Figure Digest (Tomart Publications) 1 (164): 32–35. 2008.
- ^ Pete Sinclair & Benson Yee (w), Don Figueroa (p), Don Figueroa (i), Espen Grundetjern (col), Jesse Wittenrich (let), Pete Sinclair & Brian Savage (ed). "Shattered Glass" Transformers Timelines v2, 3 (Botcon 2008), Fun Publications
- ^ S. Trent Troop and Greg Sepelak (2008). Dungeons & Dinobots. Illustrator Evan Gauntt. Fun Publications.
- ^ S. Trent Troop and Greg Sepelak (2009). Do Over. Illustrator Yuki Oshima. Fun Publications.
- ^ Blitzwing Bop by Fun Publications
- ^ Transformers Club
- ^ "The World of... Transtech". Transformers Collectors Club Magazine 1 (23): 8–9. October–November 2008.
- ^ MTV.com – Learn How Bumblebee Lost His Voice in This Short Story from Exodus Author Alex Irvine
- ^ Alexander C. Irvine (2010). Transformers: Exodus - The Official History of the War for Cybertron. Del Rey Books. ISBN 978-0-345-52252-8.
- ^ Transformers Prime episodes #1–5 "Darkness Rising Parts 1–5"
- ^ TFW2005.com - Prime Deluxe Starscream
- ^ TFW2005.com - Prime Voyager Starscream
- ^ [1]
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