Cosmos (G1)


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



Fast and intelligent, bored and lonely, Cosmos has reason to regret his abilities, which often separate him from his Autobot friends. Alas, his skills are far too extraordinary to ignore.

Few of his faction can achieve escape velocity and enter planetary orbit unaided, as he can, from planets as big as Earth or slightly larger. He carries fuel reserves sufficient for short orbital journeys; he is quite able to land on Earth's Moon, then take off and return to Earth. Cosmos enjoys such diversions immensely. Generally, however, he remains in orbit, relaying messages, observing enemy installations, and watching for Decepticon activity in nearby space. His optical sensors are able to observe a human radio host standing outside in the high desert from 600 miles up.

As a living Transformer, his advantage over a simple satellite is great, but it is a boring life for Cosmos. Every so often he breaks the monotony by hovering eerily above the backyards of Earth citizens, drifting silently behind the cars of lone drivers with his running lights on, or briefly jamming TV transmissions with reruns of The Outer Limits. He has also been known to zigzag through meteor showers on a clear night, showing off his space piloting skills. Naturally, this causes some consternation to the poor humans he is supposed to defend, but it's all in good fun. Primus save us from bored techies.

"This is terrible!"

"Cosmos has been in worse predicaments..."

- Jazz and Perceptor on one of our hero's many misadventures, "The God Gambit"


 * Preliminary names: Spaceracer, then Spaceshot, then Shooting Star
 * Japanese name: Adams
 * Portuguese name (Brazil comics): Cosmo
 * Italian name: Disco
 * Greek name: Kiriarhos (Κυρίαρχος)
 * Hungarian name: Kozmosz

Generation 1 cartoon

 * Voice Actor: Mike McConnohie (English), ??? (Japanese)



Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of Cosmos, Autobot deep-space reconnaissance officer. His continuing mission -- to observe Decepticon activities. To provide intelligence to the Autobots in their never ending war. To boldly crash where no other Autobot has crashed before.

Our hero began his adventures with a bang, appearing out of nowhere to blindly lead the Autobot spacecraft straight into the sun. If not for the impetuous Cliffjumper trying to change their course and realizing the controls were locked, Cosmos would have had the greatest crash of all. Still, he did his best to save his fellow Autobots in the end, as his deep space armor allowed Cosmos to come inside the ship and continue poking vainly at the control panel long after the others collapsed from their circuits overheating. Trailbreaker's force field eventually saved the Autobots, and they managed to vacate the crumbling ship inside a massive force sphere, tethered to Cosmos to bring them back to Earth. Cosmos' knack for crashing almost did them in anyhow, though -- the same reprogrammed guidance directives that were controlling their ship were now being beamed by Teletraan I to Cosmos himself, forcing him to lead the force sphere back on a course into the sun. Only the freak chance of the Decepticon Thrust visiting the Ark and blowing up Teletraan on a whim saved the Autobots, and allowed Cosmos to begin towing them back to Earth. Even though time was of the essence, we can only assume Cosmos didn't crash-land upon re-entry.

When next seen, Cosmos was patrolling the spaceways for Decepticon activity with Blaster (probably as a punishment for actually liking Blaster's taste in music) when they came across a lunar base being run by Megatron and Astrotrain. Against logic and precedent, Cosmos actually managed to make a perfect two point landing on a hillside near the base to eavesdrop. Enraged at Cosmos for defying all expectations and NOT crashing (not to mention the, uh...spying he was doing), Megatron ordered Astrotrain to bring him in as a prisoner. Prisoners of war, Cosmos and Blaster were then welded to the wall and used as a power booster and tuning mechanism for Megatron's trans-scrambler, wiping out all radio contact on Earth. Luckily, Blaster managed to send his own signal along Megatron's scrambling beam, alerting the Autobots to their location. Omega Supreme arrived and drew the Decepticons' attention away from their base. Left alone, Cosmos had to do little more than raise his arm to fire off a particle beam that totally destroyed Megatron's antenna array and saved the day, teaching tyrants everywhere once and for all not to underestimate an Autobot just because he's short, fat, ugly, lonely, nerdy and more than a little (Dare we say it?) spacey...



Possibly Cosmos' shining moment was one for most of which he wasn't even conscious. Cosmos crash-landed rather dramatically on Titan after being shot down by the pursuing Astrotrain, who was after the energy data the Autobot carried. Cosmos' body was discovered by the moon's natives, but Astrotrain quickly followed up, having overheard their superstitious discussion and set himself up as one of their Sky Gods. The cowed, religious people quickly obeyed him, and Astrotrain put Cosmos' body in the main temple for use as an idol. The rebel Talaria overheard Astrotrain musing to himself about Cosmos' short-circuit and managed to use Cosmos' systems to get an SOS to the Autobots on Earth. With barely enough power flowing through his systems to stay active, Cosmos found a better use for it: shooting Starscream. With the Decepticon occupied for the moment, Talaria was able to escape unmolested. Jazz and Perceptor were dispatched to Titan via Omega Supreme, and Cosmos was recovered, the Decepticons sent packing, and the Titans (Titanians? Titanoids? Whatever.) were freed from religious dogma.

Somehow, Cosmos managed to talk Prime into letting him serve on Earth for a while as part of the Autobots' joint Crimebuster program with the NYPD. He observed a traffic jam while hovering over Times Square, and later tried to chase down Starscream on foot with Powerglide, only to end up causing massive structural damage to a human mall. Incidentally, Cosmos was back in space very shortly.

After Shrapnel and Bombshell pumped out hundreds of Insecticlones to swarm over the countryside and gather power, Prime sent Cosmos into space to retrieve a giant can of robotic insecticide. (Really -- we can't make this stuff up.) On his way back with Spike and Bumblebee, though, Cosmos was attacked by Morphobots on Floron III. Although he managed to break loose of their grip, the techno-organic plants left behind spores on his hull which quickly developed into fully functioning vines that entangled Cosmos as he tried to re-enter Earth's atmosphere. Spike and Bumblebee escaped in an ejector chamber, but Cosmos did his crash-landing bit and was covered in Morphobots by the time he came to a stop, with the robotic insecticide can still inside him. Bumblebee summoned the other Autobots to try and help, and it was Blaster's obnoxious music that ultimately cleared the way and allowed them to free Cosmos. Hoist promised to give Cosmos "the best overhaul he'd ever had" when they got back to the Ark. Uh-huh...niiiiiice...

When he uncovered a Decepticon operation to mine ore from an asteroid they'd pulled into orbit, Cosmos rushed back to warn Prime and gather a strike force. Optimus stressed caution instead and ordered Cosmos back up into space to acquire some hard evidence on the Decepticon activity. Cosmos did as he was asked and actually managed to grab a sample of ore right out of Astrotrain while the Constructicons were loading him up. He brought this "hard evidence" back to Earth to show Prime. The Autobot leader commended Cosmos on his work, but he wasn't quite done and sent Cosmos back out into orbit yet again, this time to track Astrotrain to the refinery the Decepticons must have been using to process the ore. Prime loves him his outer space yo-yo.

When Seaspray intercepted a distress signal, Cosmos carried him, Bumblebee and Perceptor to the planet of the Tlalakans, a humanoid race held captive by the Decepticons. Too late, they realized that it was a Decepticon distress call. Droids blasted Cosmos, who (surprise, surprise) crashed on the planet. He remained damaged for a time, too much so to participate in many of the Autobots' adventures on the planet.

Cosmos, once again teamed with Blaster, scoured the universe for more Ingredient X so that Perceptor could concoct more corrostop. One can only imagine how many moons and planet he bravely crash-landed on in his fruitless search.

In the year 2006, Cosmos was late flying in to Cybertron with Sky Lynx to see the activation of the new power platform. On his entry vector, Cosmos was blasted with anti-electrons, a dangerous substance designed to disrupt his normal operating functions. However, the anti-electrons seemed to have no effect on Cosmos at all, as moments later he crashlanded on Cybertron's surface. Perfectly normal.

Marvel Comics continuity
Cosmos was a member of Perceptor's resistance cell on Cybertron. Like most of the cell, he had a stronger respect for their top fighter Blaster than Perceptor, and along with the other Autobots overruled Perceptor's order not to search for Blaster's missing friend Scrounge. In the Dead End, Cosmos provided some life-giving fuel to ol' Wheezel for information, only to find that Scrounge had been taken away to Darkmount by the Decepticon Shrapnel. Realizing Scrounge was probably dead already in the smelting pool, Blaster went after his buddy anyway, and Cosmos and the others had to come after him and save his hide (video evidence of Cosmos' rampage through Darkmount is still used to scare Decepticon recruits). Though Scrounge died, the Autobots managed to retrieve the last data from his infobanks, and learned that Optimus Prime and the crew of the Ark were alive and well on the planet Earth!

Galvanized by this knowledge, the Autobots planned a daring assault on Lord Straxus, planning to destroy both his seat of power at Darkmount and the new Space Bridge allowing transit to Earth. Darkmount was destroyed, but the Decepticons interrupted Blaster before he could finish setting the charges on the bridge. Instead, Cosmos, Blaster, and the rest of their unit were chased over the other side, and found themselves stuck on planet Earth. Over time, Cosmos and the others were captured by the human agency known as RAAT, but later released after striking a deal with their captors to defeat the Decepticon Battlechargers who were rampaging through America. After that, Cosmos and his friends joined up with the Autobots at the Ark.

Marvel UK future timelines
''Cosmos was part of a team brought to Earth by Rodimus Prime to investigate why Autobot City was taken off-line, only to run into heavy Quintesson opposition. Luckily, no matter the continuity, Metroplex is their kinda town! ''

Find Your Fate Junior
Cosmos was sent to investigate signs of Dirge's presence and discovered a Decepticon Base. He was captured, and Hook built a perfect replica of Cosmos with a bomb inside, using information from Cosmos' own memories to send him to Optimus Prime.

''Cosmos escaped with a surprising lack of difficulty and hurried to intercept his replica, arriving almost simultaneously. In the end, Cosmos was able to convince Optimus Prime he was the real deal, and the replica was destroyed.''

The Autobots stormed the base, and Cosmos acquitted himself bravely against Dirge in battle, despite being badly outclassed. What a hero!

Dreamwave comics continuity
Cosmos was one of many Autobots who rose up and took arms against Shockwave after Optimus Prime and the Ark's crew returned to Cybertron to lead the population in revolt against the Decepticon's corrupt rule. He joined up with a resistance cell under Tracks and Broadside, and fought alongside his comrades in the insurrection. Afterward, Cosmos was placed under Bumblebee's command during a supply run to Earth aboard the starship Orion. Their mission led them into an uncomfortable alliance with Starscream against an even greater evil -- the super-powered clone known as Sunstorm. Starscream turned on them first chance he got, of course, and Cosmos was one of the Autobots he knocked off-line while making his escape. Doc Ratchet had Cosmos fixed up in a few days, though, and he was last seen helping with the construction of Autobot City on Earth.

G.I. Joe Vs. Transformers
Cosmos was stationed on Earth, part of a small detachment under Prowl's command. In cooperation with Hawk and Firewall, the team worked to round up stray Cybertronian technology on Earth. When an emergency came up, he arrived over Hawk's back yard to beam him aboard and carried him to the Arc II. Cosmos then joined Prowl's team on a mission to capture Destro and some of his arms-purchasing clients; Cosmos himself lassoed the buyer, then evacuated the squad before the G.I. Joe team could arrive.

Later, when the submerged Arc II was attacked by the Pretender Monsters, Cosmos dodged the giant organic craft that had flown the Decepticons there. Eject brought Firewall to the water's surface, where Cosmos picked her up. The two headed for Tibet to help out the team under Optimus Prime's command.

On arrival, though, all they found was snow-blown mountain wastes, until something grabbed Firewall and pulled her below ground. Shortly afterward, an avalanche swept Cosmos away.

Recovering, Cosmos searched near and far for Firewall, but finally came upon Flint and Joe Colton, holding off a band of Yeti; his firepower quickly turned the tide of the fight.

Then, Cosmos and his best mate Flint flew into space, flew down Unicron's throat, and totally killed him with fungus.

Cosmos is more badass than every single Prime ever.

IDW comics continuity
After Blaster was found alive and well, Cosmos was one of many Autobots who traveled to the Hub to see "The Voice" again with his own optics. His appearance alongside Bluestreak suggests Cosmos is part of that Autobot's counter-insurgency unit. He is seen very briefly, almost unoticeable in the background, as part of the group trying to repel Nemesis Prime when he breaks into The Garrus-9 Pentitiary.

Fun Publications Continuity
Hopefully, his arrival in Axiom Nexus wasn't a crash landing.

Generation 1

 * Cosmos (Mini Vehicle, 1985/1986)
 * Japanese ID number: 86


 * Cosmos transforms into a "flying saucer." His underside has little wheels for when you just gotta roll a saucer around.


 * In 1986, he was made available as a mail-away item (as he was no longer shipping to retail shelves) in the Digital Doom on the Highway to Destruction flier packed with most boxed Transformers toys. He cost $4 and one robot point.


 * In Japan, he was released only as a mail-away item. He cost 500 yen and 2 robot points.


 * Minibots Team (Multi-pack, 2005)
 * Japanese ID number: TFC-12


 * Cosmos was reissued in the Transformers Collection series in a multi-pack with Bumblebee, Gears, Huffer, Powerglide and Warpath. This release has a modified chest sticker that contains an Autobot sigil.


 * This version, with the altered sticker, was used to make Path Finder.

Universe (2008)

 * Autobot Cosmos (Legends, 2009)
 * Yes, they actually made one.
 * Bill Rawley claims responsibility for the markings on Cosmos, which allegedly spell out his name ("Cosmos") in "Cybertronian" lettering.

Trivia



 * Mike McConnohie's voice for Cosmos is a heavily processed impression of film star Peter Lorre. More precisely, McConnohie has stated in his BotCon appearances that he was doing an intentionally bad impression of Peter Lorre, which he sheepishly admitted came off sounding like a Spanish accent at times. (Until the source of Cosmos's voice was confirmed, fans would sometimes speculate that Cosmos sounded Spanish.)


 * It is presumed that Cosmos' Japanese name, Adams, is derived from that of George Adamski, who provided the famous flying saucer design after which Cosmos was modeled.


 * Early Japanese promotional material shows Cosmos with a blue body rather than his final green. The toy would see release in this coloration much, much, much later as Path Finder.




 * Concept art of a Classics version of Cosmos was shown at BotCon 2006, but the design was rejected because higher-ups felt the vehicle mode was too "boring". Many fans were pleasantly shocked they even considered making a new Cosmos. The art was later printed as part of the supplementary material in the Stormbringer trade paperback. Despite the rejection, it remained on the development team's "look into this" file should they revisit the Classics line in the future. True to their word, the design was moved to the Titanium Cybertron Heroes line of die-cast metal transforming toys, but with the cancellation of the Transformers portion of this franchise, the Cosmos design exists only as a resin prototype that was on display during the Hasbro tour portion of BotCon 2007.


 * Cosmos' G1 concept art isn't terribly out of the ordinary, but it's also pretty badass.


 * Where did he scan his alt mode again?


 * Cosmos is ... kinda c:Chuck Norris.