Starscream (Aurex)


 * Starscream is a Decepticon and briefly Autobot in the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.



Starscream is disillusioned by his leader Megatron. It took a while for Starscream to come to grips with Megatron's faults, but there's no turning back. Megatron doesn't respect him, doesn't appreciate him, and would casually toss Starscream's life away if it got him something he wanted. If following Megatron is the school of hard knocks, then Starscream is the valedictorian -- but not without a few scars. Starscream may have once been compassionate, he may once have known what true friendship is, but all that has been replaced, scab for scab, with the lessons of Megatron's abuse.

Unwittingly, Megatron may have created a monster even he cannot ultimately control.

Starscream's nominal Mini-Con partner is Swindle, though he has been seen to work with Zapmaster.


 * Japanese name (Super Link): Nightscream
 * Hungarian name (Armada): Csillagsikoly (literal translation)
 * Hungarian name (Energon): Surranó ("Sneaker")
 * Hungarian name (Cybertron): Üstökös ("Comet")
 * Polish name (Armada): Krzykotron ("Screamtron")
 * Russian name (Energon, Cybertron): Scandaleast (Скандалист, "Brawler")

Armada

 * Voice Actor: Michael Dobson (English), Jin Yamanoi (Japan), José Sant'anna (Brazil), Gerd Meyer (Germany)



Accompanying Megatron's forces to Earth, Starscream was deliberately made to be the last of the Decepticons to acquire a personal partner Mini-Con. Infuriated by this mistreatment, Starscream's resentment and hatred of Megatron made him a chink in the armor of the Decepticons that could be easily exploited by the manipulative Sideways.

Initially, Sideways coerced Starscream into a duel with Megatron, which he promptly lost. A short time later, Thrust, acting under the instructions of Sideways, further exploited Starscream by making him the patsy in his latest plan. Starscream was given the Star Saber and allowed to run riot to draw the Autobots out of their base, but was then abandoned on the battlefield so that the other Decepticons could invade the base and steal the Requiem Blaster.

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 simply 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 a smooth process, however; he constantly clashed with his new teammates over morals and battle strategies, but nonetheless proved a capable and, on at least some level, willing Autobot.

Soon thereafter, Sideways and Thrust approached 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 (for a chance to defeat Megatron by working from the inside), giving the Decepticons possession of all three Mini-Con weapons.

As Megatron readied his new super weapon to attack Earth, Starscream began to suffer a serious moral crisis. He had returned to the Decepticons but he still viewed those he'd left behind on Earth as his friends, and was torn between following orders, and a desire not to harm them. At times he found compromises, for instance, as Optimus led an attack to stop Megatron using the three Mini-Con weapons, Starscream, currently battling Jetfire, spotted one of the Decepticons sneaking up on Prime. Starscream then attacked Jetfire, allowing himself to be thrown away, and collided with the Decepticon who would have attacked Prime.



Subsequently, Starscream was among the Transformers injured battling Nemesis Prime, and who then received "Powerlinx" power boosts from their Mini-Cons. Starscream gained a new, blue coloration that he commented made him look like his contemporary, Thundercracker, with disgust just dripping from his tone. 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 (and throwing the human kids back in time, and.. well, it's confusing).

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.

Megatron - now Galvatron - was unwilling to acknowledge Unicron's threat, dismissing it as an Autobot trick, but Starscream 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. 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. Galvatron realized what happened and demanded to know what possessed Starscream to do such a thing.

Starscream told him that he tried to gain Galvatron's respect, but nothing was ever good enough, no matter how many battles he fought, his leader always found fault. Optimus Prime treated his men with respect, and was thus a leader of integrity, unlike Galvatron. But that didn't matter anymore, and after tearing the Star Saber out with his bare hands, Starscream turned his full firepower onto Unicron. The Chaos Bringer promptly obliterated him, to the shock of both Galvatron and Optimus Prime. When the dust settled, Galvatron stood reflecting upon Starscream's last words, and as a gesture, handed his enemy the Star Saber.

Unfortunately, Sideways ran off with it two seconds later. But it's the thought that counts.

Alexis, who Starscream had formed a close bond with, was extremely affected by his death.

Energon

 * Voice Actor: Michael Dobson (English), Nobuo Tobita (Japanese)



Ten years after Starscream's death, when Megatron seized control of Unicron's body by ousting its former occupant, the alien being Alpha Quintesson, the evicted extra-terrestrial needed an assassin to eliminate Megatron 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 incomplete - his memory blank, and his body unstable, constantly shifting from a physical to an ethereal form, able to teleport by "ghosting" from location to location.

Alpha Q unleashed Starscream upon Ocean City, where he battled Optimus Prime and then tracked Megatron back to Unicron's body. Even his awesome new abilities proved no match for the Decepticon leader, who used Unicron's power to brainwash Starscream, 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.

Later, when Megatron became Galvatron again 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 stabilized his physical form, while allowing him to retain his teleporting powers. When Galvatron was subsequently possessed by Unicron, Primus used the super energon to create a sun, and Galvatron plunged himself into it in order to contain Unicron's spark within it. Starscream seemingly sacrificed himself as well, diving into the sun alongside his leader.

Cybertron

 * Voice actor: Michael Dobson (English) Takaya Kuroda (Japanese)



A decade after the Powerlinx Battles (as they were called), 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. Along with Megatron, Starscream was freed from the sun, his mind his own once more and his body refurbished into yet another new form. He had no memory at all of what happened, but then it seems no one did.

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 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 - now, he sought to oust Megatron and become the leader of the Decepticons, then the universe. Unlike those with similar goals, 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. He later crossed paths once again with the mysterious Sideways, who saw in him the best chance to achieve his own goals.

With the Autobots having successfully acquired the Omega Lock and the Cyber Planet Keys from Velocitron and the Jungle Planet, Starscream realized it was time to step up his agenda. His duplicate planet map led Megatron and the other Decepticons to a dead sector of space and sealed them within a metal sphere, freeing Starscream to search for the third Cyber Planet Key, from Earth itself. Encountering the Autobot monster-hunter, Crosswise - one of the ancient Transformers whose ancestors had come to Earth with the Cyber Planet Key eons ago, who had recently been reactivated - Starscream discovered a vast underground holding cell in which Crosswise had imprisoned the ancient Decepticons of his time. Liberating them, Starscream took command of their forces and began a planet-wide search for the Cyber Planet Key, fighting back the Autobot and human military resistance. The Autobots had Crosswise's ally Evac recover the key from its hiding place in preparation for a retreat to Velocitron, but Starscream fought his way through the entire Autobot army and confronted Optimus Prime himself, successfully purloining the lock and all three keys by endangering the Autobots' human allies and drawing Prime out of the fight.



Retreating to a small volcanic island in the South Pacific, Starscream attempted to harness the power of the Cyber Planet Keys. Megatron, meanwhile, had been freed by Scourge, and immediately sought retribution, only to wind up clashing with the Autobots first. The extra time this afforded Starscream allowed him to tap the power of the keys and harness a fragment of the spark of Primus, growing to a gigantic height, complete with a familiar crown with which he crowned himself "Emperor of the Universe." With an extra power boost courtesy of his combination with Wing Saber, Optimus Prime was able to defeat Starscream, but Sideways teleported his body away to the ancient starship Atlantis to recuperate.

Not longer thereafter, when the Cyber Planet Keys were used by the Autobots to awaken Primus and transform Cybertron into his body, Starscream attempted a rather pitiful attack on the god, only to be swatted away like an insect. Later, when the Autobots assembled an energy converter that would allow Primus to direct his energy against the black hole in beam form, Starscream sensed the release of power and had Sideways warp the Atlantis into range. Plunging himself into the energy beam, Starscream tapped into Primus' powers once more, and this time, grew to planetary size. Ultimately, however, he fared little better in combat with the creator, winding up bludgeoned into submission by Cybertron's moons and drained of his excess power.

The discovery of the fourth Cyber Planet Key on Gigantion, the Giant Planet, set Starscream racing to acquire the key first, but Landmine reached it ahead of him and was able to use its power to pay him back for past indignities by growing to his size and pummeling him. Subsequently, Megatron - now Galvatron - stole the Omega Lock and all four keys, and Starscream challenged him to a final battle for possession of them. Declaring that he had given himself over to his pursuit of power, and had no reason to hold back as he had nothing to lose, Starscream channeled unprecedented levels of energy; Galvatron did the same, and so incredible was the reaction when the two fully-powered combatants clashed released that space and time itself was rended by the final explosion. Starscream was hurtled into another dimension along with the interfering Sideways and Soundwave. Only his crown was left, seen floating through space.

Finally, after Galvatron had been defeated in battle within the black hole, Starscream's spirit reached out across the dimensions, apparently via the fire dimension, to encourage him to fight on, adding a little extra motivation when Galvatron acquired Starscream's crown, crushing it in his hand.

As the Autobots made preparations to begin their new galaxy-spanning space bridge initiative, Wing Saber - having departed from the rest of the Autobots to continue with his "loner" lifestyle - radioed Optimus to report that he had found a lead on Starscream's trail and was pursuing it. Landmine and a reformed Mudflap departed to aid him, and would eventually encounter Starscream within what appeared to be the fire dimension.

Armada
Starscream lacked the more complex nature of his animated counterpart, filling the position of "snarky second-in-command" as Starscreams tend to do. He also gave Megatron the finger. (Behind his back, of course. He's not THAT stupid!)

Energon
In the wake of the unification of Autobots and Decepticons following Unicron's defeat, Starscream tried to ingratiate himself with Tidal Wave and the rest of the remaining Decepticons. His wheedling didn't last long, though, as Scorponok showed up and promptly blasted him into a trash compactor. Later, during the Terrorcon attack on Earth, Starscream reappeared in his new form as an energon ghost and incapacitated Demolishor.

(Note: Due to Dreamwave's subsequent bankruptcy, this ended up being his only appearance in his Energon form. He was going to gain a new form made of pure Energon and battle the Omnicons in #33 )

Fun Publications Cybertron comic
Starscream killed the Mini-Con Over-Run as the little guy was uploading himself into Cybertron's planetary mainframe.

Panini comics continuity
Starscream answered letters! A mere wiki article write-up cannot convey how rude he was to the five-year-old letter-writers.

Transformers Playstation 2 game

 * Voice actor: Matt Hetherington



Starscream was stationed in Antarctica, overseeing Decepticlone operations in recovering the Mini-Con storage panels found in the area, using a human research center they overran as his base of operations. When the Autobots ventured too close, Starscream attacked (blowing up the hangar he was holed up in first), but was shot out of the sky and left for dead.

Having survived his initial defeat, Starscream followed the Autobots to Alaska. There he collided his starship into a mountain in an attempt to crush them, but the Autobots escaped unscathed. This also gave them the chance to infiltrate the downed ship and free the captive Mini-Con Aftershock from the control room. Starscream used his null laser cannons at full power in an attempt to finish off his foes, but only succeeded in cutting the rock face below the ship, which collapsed and sent the precariously balanced ship plunging into the valley below. The impact of the crash buried the bow deep into the earth, forcing the Autobots to climb their way up and out to the surface.



When the Autobots pulled free from the buried ship and got back to ground-level, Starscream attacked again. But this battle too ultimately ended in defeat, leading Optimus Prime to interrogate him as to the whereabouts of Megatron. When Starscream refused and attempted to fire his functional null ray at point-blank range, Optimus knocked him unconscious with a well-aimed punch. He then ordered Red Alert to hack the treacherous Decepticon's warp transponder, which led them to Megatron's Pacific Island base.

Trivia

 * According the the Armada video game's instruction booklet, Starscream (in his Armada-era body) has the following statistics:


 * Height: 19' 7" (15' 1" vehicle mode length)
 * Weight: 22,050 lbs
 * Thrust: 28,000 lbs
 * Vehicle Top Speed: Mach 2.7


 * Armada Starscream's body parts made frequent cameos in the CGI models of the generic Decepticon and Autobot soldiers during the Energon cartoon series, despite Starscream not actually ever appearing in his Armada body during the series.


 * It's a popular rumor that the Starscream who appears in Super Link (the Japanese version of Energon) is not the original, but a clone. This stems from the story pages that accompanied Super Link, though it is not true in the anime. In the Super Link anime, Nightscream is not Starscream nor his clone, since Nightscream's spark is recycled by Alpha Quintesson from the inside of Unicron's corpse, while Starscream was killed on the Planet Cybetron.


 * The Cybertron Starscream design is based on the Generation 1 Starscream body from the Dreamwave comic series "The War Within", designed by Don Figueroa. Possibly as a "second try" at the design cues intended for the Energon toy that, as noted above, didn't come out as the designers had hoped.


 * The Supreme Starscream's crown is modeled directly after the crown Generation 1 Starscream wore in the 1986 Movie, though this Starscream actually wore it for more than thirty seconds before dying.


 * He is the only Starscream that has ever stood up to Megatron, earned the respect of his opponents, like Dinobot, "Lived a warrior and died a hero". Primus bless his spark.


 * He is the first Starscream based on the original to start the trend of Starscream being a capable fighter.


 * For all the fangirls this guy has, his G1 self still probably has more. That could be a good or bad thing, we'll let them work it out.


 * He is by far the only Starscream to fall in love with and form a close bond with a human. Make that a female human.


 * Armada DVD #9 has very odd cover with something of Starscream's top.