Wasp (TFA)


 * Wasp is Formely an Autobot from the Transformers Animated continuity family.



Wasp is a lot like Bumblebee... physically, at least. Built from the same chassis and sharing many of the same specifications and subroutines, the two Autobots attended boot camp together. Wasp's pompous, smarmy personality leaves something to be desired, but he had a lot going for him as a soldier, being highly skilled in the use of his stingers and knowing just how to tow the line with the drill sergeant. In a better life, he might have been Cybertron Elite Guard commander material.

Might have.

"Looks like the hybrid found himself a new friend... a total mudflap!"

- Wasp lets the world know his high opinion of Bumblebee and Bulkhead

Animated cartoon

 * Voice actor: Tom Kenny (English), Jaron Löwenberg (German)

Wasp was a cadet in the same group as Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Ironhide and Longarm. Right away, Wasp took an instant disliking to Bumblebee, insulting him out of the blue as the yellow bot mused to himself about his future in the Elite Guard. He also dubbed Bulkhead a "mudflap", much to the amusement of his fellow cadets. The loud-mouthed drill sergeant Sentinel Minor took an immediate liking to "Wasp", as he dubbed him. Wasp and Ironhide quickly became close friends, often competing in little tests of strength, usually involving Wasp hitting or stinging Ironhide while the latter was in armor mode.

After Bumblebee "bumbled" several times, leading to many transform-ups for the whole group, Wasp and Ironhide decided to take matters into their own hands, unscrewing Bumblebee's lower legs and leaving them out of reach even before they dumped the rest of him in a locker.

Unbeknownst to Wasp, however, the reason for Bumblebee's foul-ups was that he was trying to out a traitor in the groupand had pegged Wasp as the likely culprit after seeing him walk out of a hangar in which someone had contacted Megatron. (Plus, let's face it, he was a complete jerk. And Decepticons are jerks, right?) At Longarm's prompting, Bumblebee eventually found evidence incriminating Wasp as a spy. Wasp was stripped of his Autobot insignia and wheeled away, protesting his innocence and swearing revenge on Bumblebee.



Many years later, Wasp escaped from Autobot custody and apparently eluded the now-Sentinel Prime by jumping through a space bridge. What was left of Wasp hid beneath the bridge as Sentinel left, buzzing and twittering to himself, still swearing revenge on "Bumblebot". In reality, however, the innocent botbroken mentally by his years of imprisonmenthad been set up with evidence planted by "Longarm", who had also arranged Wasp's "escape" to divert suspicion from himself.

Needless to say, when the truth was revealed to Bumblebee by his old "friend" Longarm Prime (aka the Decepticon Shockwave), he took it pretty hard.

Pursued by Sentinel Prime and Jazz, Wasp heads for Earth to exact revenge on the one held responsible for his time in the stockade. Disabling Bumblebee, Wasp switches paint applications with him, convincing the other Autobots that Bumblebee is... er... Wasp. Prime's crew, knowing now that the traitor is Longarm Prime and not Wasp, is wary of taking Wasp back into custody, but before reason can be allowed to prevail, Sentinel appears. When Bumblebee (as Wasp) reveals to Bulkhead that he took the fall for Bulkhead's wall blunder, the Autobot rally behind Wasp (who is Bumblebee). Meanwhile, Wasp (as Bumblebee) plays video games and tries to bone up on Bumblebee's history to pass any tests. Unveiled when threatened with a challenge of Robot Gladiator, Wasp flees into the night.

Animated

 * Waspinator (Deluxe class, 2009)
 * Amazingly enough not a redeco or remold of Bumblebee, Waspinator transforms from a techno-organic wasp into a winged robot, and for some reason has joined the Decepticons, just like the other beast bot in this storyline.


 * Like the original, Waspinator's robot mode looks like his beast mode.

Trivia

 * A wasp and a bee, sharing the same mold? How preposterous!


 * Wasp's time in prison seems to have shattered his mind and transformed him into a character akin to Waspinator of Beast Wars fame, for his speech pattern is now quite similar to the latter as he refers to himself in the third person and speaks in crude and incorrect grammar, for example, "Wasp make Bumblebot pay for ruining Wasp life,". Both of these people get misfortune sprung on them, but this character's misfortune is in a more serious vein than slapstick violence. The role of whipping boy is another's.


 * In the present day, after Wasp escapes, his gold is now lime green and his eyes are now purple.


 * We certainly hope Hasbro recognizes the redeco/retool potential here, but they didn't by far.


 * David Kaye hinted before the debut of the show that Waspinator would make an appearance. Perhaps this is what he meant.


 * Judging by recently released promotional pictures of Wasp's upcoming toy, it seems Season 3 may see him reformatted as a giant, actual cybernetic wasp. And looking a whole, whole lot bug-like, slicker, faster, cooler-looking, but meaner, and deadlier. Unfortunately, he is a deluxe class bee, named  after a certain Predacon klutz


 * According to his toy bio, Wasp's alt mode is the result of bizarre experiments conducted by Blackarachnia.


 * His bio also metions he can survive being blown to pieces. Seems like he is similar to his |Beast Wars counterpart.