Cliffjumper (Primax)


 * Cliffjumper is an Autobot in the Generation 1 continuity family.



Cliffjumper hates traitors. And anybody could be a traitor. Therefore, Cliffjumper hates everybody. It's unclear if he hates traitors more than he hates Decepticons, but it's at least a neck-and-neck thing.

He makes a habit of pulling ridiculously huge guns from nowhere and attacking impulsively despite orders or sanity. Somehow, this gets him neither killed nor demoted.

Cliffjumper's special weapon is his "glass gas", which embrittles metals on contact so that they shatter like glass. He is not immune to its effects, so its use requires careful consideration of wind direction. Actually, this may explain why he prefers the big guns. He doesn't seem like the calculating type.


 * Preliminary name: Blow-Out
 * South American name: Carrera
 * Japanese name: Cliff
 * Italian name: Grillo
 * French-Canadian name: Matamore/Rapido

Marvel Comics continuity


(Note: Italicized text occurs exclusively in the UK comics.)

Cliffjumper was a part of the crew on board the Ark when it crashed into Earth four million years ago while clearing an asteroid field in the path of Cybertron. He was deactivated for a while during Shockwave's occupation of the Ark, but was repaired without incident when Ratchet reclaimed it.

However, the head of Optimus Prime was still missing, and during an attempt to retrieve it, an impostor head took control of Prime's body, firing on Cliffjumper. ''Presumably repaired, he later participated in the Dinobot Hunt, along with Gears and Windcharger. Although they found Sludge, immediately thereafter all three were captured by the Decepticons. They were rescued by Bumblebee.''

He was one of the observers to Blaster and Grimlock's battle on the moon. How he fared in the following Decepticon attack is unknown, but he's never seen again.

Animated continuity
Voice Actor: Casey Kasem (US), Takurō Kitagawa (Japan)

Cliffjumper was a part of the crew onboard the Ark when it crashed into Earth four million years ago during a search for new energy sources. His alt mode was reformatted into an oddly proportioned Porsche 924 Turbo.

When the Autobots awakened from their four million-year slumber, Cliffjumper was eager for action. He volunteered to tag along on Hound's recon mission to scout out Decepticons because he was itching to "boot some Decepticon right in his turbocharger." Though Optimus Prime's orders were only to find the Decepticons, Cliffjumper brashly tried to engage the enemy once Hound sniffed them out.

Cliffjumper missed his shot, and the Decepticons dispatched Laserbeak to chase off the Autobot eavesdroppers. Hound got pasted by Laserbeak's laser blasts and ended up requiring extensive repair from Autobot medic Ratchet after being pulled out of a ditch by Hauler. It worked out in the end, though, since Cliffjumper was remorseful for having acted without thinking, and Hound didn't hold a grudge anyway.

Soon afterwards, Cliffjumper made a very public display of his paranoia by accusing fellow Autobot and reluctant soldier Mirage of being a traitor on some very flimsy evidence, much to the (correct) disbelief of the other Autobots. He kept up his rhetoric even after Optimus Prime ordered him to can it. So determined was he to prove his theory true that he followed Mirage when the latter returned to the Decepticon power station to sow seeds of discontent within the Decepticon ranks. Fortunately, in the end it was proven that Mirage was a loyal Autobot all along, and Cliffjumper fell across Mirage's body, asking Ratchet to fix. This prompted a rather awkward laugh from the present Autobots.

While pursuing Nightbird, the female robot ninja built to benefit mankind, Cliffjumper was the only Autobot unable to jump up the cliff after her. Ironic.

Dreamwave Comics continuity
Cliffjumper was a part of the crew onboard the Ark when it crashed into Earth four million years ago while clearing an asteroid in the path of Cybertron.

He was one of many Transformers captured and reprogrammed by arms dealer Adam 'Lazarus' Rook for lease to terrorist organisations and shady governments requiring brutal military might. Fortunately, Autobots under the command of Optimus Prime repaired and re-reprogrammed Cliffjumper and the remaining captive Autobots. Immediately, they were put to work on fighting Megatron's metallic virus, which had spread deep into Canadian territory, using their own internal power as the anti-virus.

As Cliffjumper collapsed into the snow out of exhaustion, the Canadian military arrived. Unfortunately, due to the recent attacks by both enslaved Autobots and Decepticons under the command of Rook, the Canadians attempted to stop the Autobots doing what they percieved to be an attack on their soil. Knowing that the virus feed upon weapons fire, Cliffjumper tried to stop a tank crew from causing further harm by bending the tank's main gun. The commander panicked, thinking Cliffjumper was attacking and fired, destroying himself and seriously damaging the Autobot.

Marvel Books Big Looker Storybook continuity


In "The Great Car Rally", a bunch of humans set up a race for charity. The victor would received a year's supply of oil and gasoline. Well, the Decepticons desperately wanted that bounty, so rather than just steal it, they decided to sneak into the race. Cliffjumper was one of the Autobots driving in the rally and was unaware that the scary black Cadillac was actually being driven by Megatron. Megatron dogged Cliffjumper for quite a while but ended up losing to the Minibot. Cliffjumper won the race and everybody smiled, even Optimus Prime.

Generation 1

 * Cliffjumper (Mini-Vehicle, 1984)
 * Japanese ID number: 13


 * Cliffjumper was part of the initial series of 1984 Autobots. His mold was originally used to make a Microchange "MC-04 #01 Porsche 924 Turbo", a cutesified 'Penny Racer' style representation of the real car. In the original Japanese release, this figure was available in red, yellow, and blue. For the first series Transformers release, there were common instances of the yellow version of Cliffjumper and the red version of Bumblebee being sold at US retail. This lead to some confusion about the two characters, especially if the toys were found without their packaging.


 * Like the other first series Minibots, Cliffjumper was released in many different color schemes by the companies who licensed Transformers for South American countries.


 * This mold was retooled to make Hubcap. He should not be confused with Bumper, who was erroneously packaged on Cliffjumper cards.


 * Cliffjumper (Keychain Mini-Vehicle, 2001/2003/2007)
 * Released in the US by Fun4All at the same time as a 'keychain' Bumblebee, this was a slight remold of the first Cliffjumper toy which added a loop to the back bumper for a keychain attachment. In 2003, Takara released all four of the remolded 'keychain' Minibots (Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, Windcharger, and Brawn) for the Japanese market in their original decos and in exclusive all-black coloration. Early in 2007, Hasbro re-released the 'keychain' Mini-Vehicles for the US under the "Heroes of Cybertron" sub-line.


 * This mold was redecoed into Tap-Out.

McDonalds

 * Happy Meal Toy( 1984)

One of the four toys given out during a 1984 promotion, came in four differnt colors Red, Yellow, Blue and Green. The toy was an statue in Robot Mode, only given out for a short time in St. Louis as a test run.

Classics

 * Cliffjumper (Deluxe, 2006/2007)

Classics Cliffjumper is a red, gray and black redeco of the Classics Bumblebee toy, transforming into a small sports coupe of made-up model, and towing a small trailer with a non-removable jet-ski. This "Wave Crusher" trailer/jet-ski transforms into a flight-pack that clips onto Cliffjumper's back.

Robot Heroes

 * Cliffjumper' (Decepticon Sneak Attack Five Pack, 2007) Cliffjumper is a red, gray and black redeco of the "Robot Heroes" Bumblebee toy in the Wal-Mart exclusive "Decepticon Sneak Attack" five pack.

Merchandise
A tiny unpainted red rubber figurine of Cliffjumper was packed randomly among the other 51 Decoys in the packages of 1987 Transformers toys. It is notable for being the first Cliffjumper figure to be based on his character model.
 * Cliffjumper Decoy (1987)