Skywarp (G1)


 * Skywarp is a Decepticon from the Generation One continuity family.



Teleportation is a dangerous tool in the hands of a capable adversary. Thankfully for the Autobots, Skywarp is the Decepticon who possesses that ability. Skywarp's not so bright, so without supervision he's worthless as a warrior. He mostly uses his teleportation power for immature pranks on both friend and foe. He takes a charmingly puerile angle at thuggery, so his pranks are well-received amongst his Decepticon peers (excepting the victim, of course).

Because, come on, a surprise push down a staircase is hilarious.

"Don't think. Just do."

- Skywarp's life motto.


 * French name (Canada): Fraudeur ("Cheater" or "Evader" or "Smuggler")
 * Hungarian name: Égretörő ("Sky-springer")
 * Italian name: Corvo ("Crow")
 * Portuguese name (Portugal comics): Espião Celeste
 * Portuguese name (Brazil comics): Viajante
 * Russian name (TV): Деформер ("Warper")
 * Chinese name (Taiwan): Tīen Wān (天彎, "Sky Warp")
 * Chinese name (China): Nao Fan Tian (鬧翻天, "Extreme Ruckus")

Generation One
Skywarp was one of Megatron's troops who attacked the Ark during its mission to clear a path for Cybertron through an asteroid field. He was deactivated when it crashed on Earth, and he lay dormant for four million years. When he and his fellow Decepticons awoke, Skywarp was given a new altmode, that of an Earth jet. He aided the Decepticons in their building of their new base constructed of parts from Harrison Nuclear Power Plant and joined in their attack on Sparkplug Witwicky's auto repair shop. After the successful abduction of Sparkplug Witwicky, Skywarp, Thundercracker, and Starscream defended their base from Autobots, though Gears and Spider-Man were able to sneak through and rescue Sparkplug.

''When Starscream fired upon his teammate Ravage for eavesdropping on his plot to overthrow Megatron, Skywarp and the other Decepticons sought deadly revenge on the Decepticon Air Commander. Though Starscream escaped, the Decepticons soon regrouped to attack the Ark, but their battle was ended prematurely when Auntie, the Ark ' s computer system, magnetized the walls, immobilizing both factions. On another occasion, he and Thundercracker made a strafing run on two Autobot spies, Jazz and Sunstreaker. Jazz was deafened and blasted off the road, but Sunstreaker led them into a human military zone, prompting Megatron to call them back to base. Skywarp also traveled with the Decepticons to the United Kingdom, where he and his teammates attempted to learn about a mysterious Autobot rescue ship buried under a castle. An initial attack on the Autobots left Skywarp seriously wounded by a bomb from Bluestreak. ''

Though Sparkplug Witwicky was able to devise a way for the Decepticons to convert Earth fuel into a usable substance, he also poisoned the result, so Skywarp and his fellow Decepticons were immobilized at the climax of their would-be final battle with the Autobots. The Decepticon Shockwave took command of the Decepticons and the Ark shortly thereafter and nursed Skywarp and his comrades back to full health. Skywarp may have helped Shockwave attempt to capture and brainwash Bumblebee into a Decepticon, or it may have been Thundercracker without red stripes. It's hard to tell. He served the Decepticon cause up until he was deactivated while battling Omega Supreme and placed in prison stasis at Autobot headquarters.

''When Galvatron traveled back from the year 2006 to build a super-weapon to destroy Unicron, Skywarp was a key player in the defeat of the mad Decepticon. Sorta.''

''The Autobots took Skywarp out of stasis, painted him to look like Starscream, and sent him stumbling toward Galvatron with a tape-recorder of Starscream's voice on his back. Galvatron, still sore about Starscream tossing him out of Astrotrain during his Megatron days, shot and presumably killed Skywarp. Galvatron then realized that if he killed Starscream in the past then there'd be no way he could have killed Starscream in the future (never mind that killing Skywarp now opens up that whole issue of Cyclonus' identity). Believing he was in an alternate past and thus nothing he did there would affect his personal timeline, Galvatron hurried back to his proper time. Way to take one for the team, Skywarp. ''

During a massive battle between the Autobots and Decepticons on Earth's moon, Skywarp and the other Decepticons held in stasis aboard the Ark were liberated by the Constructicons and subsequently brought back online. During the first Decepticon Civil War, Skywarp battled with Ratbat's Decepticons against Scorponok's Decepticons. Skywarp surprised Bugly with his teleportation powers and blasted him, temporarily stunning him. However, Bugly successfully returned fire, striking where he guessed Skywarp would next teleport. Skywarp was repaired in time to face an Underbase-powered Starscream in Tokyo, but both he and Thundercracker were destroyed by their former flying partner.

Generation 2
The Autobots and the Decepticons had just agreed to make an alliance against the Cybertronian Empire, but the Decepticons disagreed about aiding other planets' people. When the Autobots went alone to fight the Cybertronians, they almost were defeated, until Skywarp (yes, this article is about him) suddenly appeared, followed by the rest of the Decepticon army, to aid the Autobots.

And you just know he mocked the Aerialbots he saved. Relentlessly.

Classics
His broken body rescued from Tokyo, Skywarp was rebuilt using Shockwave's upgraded Seeker schematics. He was told that it was Starscream, driven mad with the power of the Underbase, who did him in. Skywarp's okay with that. After all, the traitor's going to have to let down his guard sometime.

After the appearance of the mysterious crossdimensional Decepticon Landquake, Skywarp and the other rebuilt Decepticons under Megatron's command traveled to South America to investigate an equally mysterious power source that seemed to share traits with Landquake. En route, they were attacked by Walter Barnett's RUNT squad. Skywarp managed to shake off these interlopers just before Optimus Prime and his Autobots arrived in search of this same power source, and a new battle between the factions began in the jungles surrounding the power source. As the battle escalated, Skywarp and Starscream fought Jetfire across the skies, but ultimately, Megatron was forced to call for a withdrawal.

Cartoon continuity

 * Voice Actor: Frank Welker (US), Masashi Ebara (Japan)



Skywarp was one of the elite Decepticons that accompanied Megatron in infiltrating the Ark four million years ago. After crash-landing on Earth, the Decepticons and Autobots laid dormant for four million years, until volcanic activity stirred them into consciousness. Skywarp was the first of the Ark ' s Transformers to be reformatted and awakened by Teletraan I. Now an F-15 fighter jet, Skywarp next dragged Megatron's body into the reformatting rays of the Ark ' s computer.

Since the Decepticons were so badly short-staffed during their early days on Earth, Skywarp was usually involved in whatever crazy plot for universal domination Megatron was hatching. This included attacks on an off-shore oil rig, Sherman Dam and the ruby crystal mines of Burma. When the Decepticons escaped the Burma operation with a cache of energon cubes, Skywarp requested permission from Megatron to teleport in order to scare off Autobot pursuers. Teleporting behind the strangely airborne duo of Ironhide and Bluestreak, Skywarp pasted the ornery old Autobot with a heat-seeking missile, knocking him out of the sky that he probably shouldn't have been able to fly around in.

Skywarp continued to serve the Decepticons for many more years, never really doing anything notable. He was first to fall victim to an invention developed by Wheeljack that allowed Teletraan I to take brief control of his body. Chip Chase, a human ally of the Autobots, planted the device on Skywarp's ankle in the thick of battle. Skywarp's teleportation power did come in useful when he was needed to sneak up on the Autobots (who were all in vehicle mode) and zap them with the Transfixatron.

In 2005, Skywarp was badly injured during the battle of Autobot City. Though he escaped with the rest of his comrades aboard Astrotrain, he was tossed out into space with other badly damaged Decepticons en route to Cybertron so that the rest would be able to make it home. Skywarp's body was gathered by Unicron and, among others, used to make Galvatron's new warriors. Skywarp arguably became either Cyclonus or Cyclonus's Armada, the identical warrior who was never seen again. Either way, Skywarp effectively ceased existing.

Universe: The Wreckers


After the Decepticons lost the Great War and Maximals and Predacons claimed the planet, another Megatron subjugated nearly every Transformer alive with a transformation-lock virus and an army of Vehicons. Skywarp was one of the handful of Transformers who had slipped through Megatron's fingers, and eventually he and Cyclonus joined up with the legendary strike team, the Wreckers. Given a mission by the Oracle, the Wreckers fought through an army of Vehicons to steal an Autobot shuttle in order to get off-planet.

Dreamwave comics continuity
Skywarp was one of Megatron's earliest recruits for the Decepticons, gathered to his inner circle after word spread about treachery in the Council of Elders. He served under the primary Decepticon faction for millennia, under Megatron and for a time under Shockwave in the Dark Ages. His teleporting power enabled him to get the best of Bludgeon during the Fallen's ceremony at the Well of All Sparks.

Skywarp was one of several Decepticon invaders on board the Ark when it crashed into Earth four million years ago while the Autobot ship was clearing an asteroid in the path of Cybertron.

In 2002, he was one of the Transformers who survived the disastrous launch of the sabotaged Ark II, and was later captured and reprogrammed by arms dealer Adam "Lazarus" Rook, who intended to rent out the services of the enslaved robots to various terrorist groups. After Megatron reactivated himself, he freed his Decepticon subordinates in order to put forward his plans to infect Earth with a metallic virus of doom. To pass the time while this happened, Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp busied themselves by tearing apart the Autobot Minicar team.

Skywarp later participated in Megatron's attack on San Francisco, where he followed Starscream's orders to maintain formation and drop cluster bombs on the Autobot giant Superion, forcing the Aerialbots to split into their separate robot forms.

Skywarp presumably stood watch over the defeated Autobots while Megatron tried to persuade Optimus Prime to help the Decepticons conquer Earth. After some human firefighters distracted the Decepticons long enough for Optimus Prime to free the Autobots, Skywarp was presumably beaten up and escaped when Superion sacrificed himself to stop a nuclear missile launched by rogue US General Robert Hallo.

When Shockwave arrived on Earth with his new army, he quickly disposed of Megatron and demanded loyalty from Skywarp and the others. Somewhat begrudgingly, they assented and accompanied him back to Cybertron. Back on their home planet, Skywarp and Thundercracker were amazed at what Shockwave had accomplished in their absence and were planning to sign on for the duration. After getting run down and beaten up by Optimus Prime on his way to Shockwave, though, the Seekers took an offer from Starscream and Soundwave to abandon the rising conflict on Cybertron and return to Earth for some good ol' fashioned looting.

On Earth, Skywarp was part of Starscream's initial salvo against the Ark, a decoy to be deliberately taken prisoner in order to draw out the remaining Autobots where the newly reformatted Combaticons could get at them. After decimating the Autobots' ranks, Bruticus freed the fallen Decepticons, and they were about ready to terminate their opponents when the awe-inspiring clone known as Sunstorm emerged from fold-space, looking to have words with Starscream. Sunstorm's "purifying light" induced an energon overload in their systems, knocking them into stasis lock. Skywarp and the others remained Autobot prisoners until Starscream negotiated a deal for their release in exchange for his aid against Sunstorm.

Skywarp fell back under Megatron's command once the former leader arrived on Earth and forced Starscream back under his thumb.

IDW comics continuity
Skywarp, Thundercracker and Starscream were early recruits for Megatron, helping sow terror across Cybertron and kidnap Senator Decimus just prior to the Great War and founding of the Decepticons.



In the modern era, Skywarp is part of a Decepticon infiltration unit that has operated covertly on Earth for at least four years, working to destabilize Earth's governing organizations and create global anarchy. His alternate form is an F-22 Raptor fighter jet, and his main job seems to be using his teleporting powers to transport his comrades to places.

Starscream assigned him and Blitzwing to destroy all traces of the Nebraska operation, but after demolishing the abandoned Nebraska command bunker, he was severely damaged by Megatron, who, unfortunately for Skywarp, had been inside at the time. Megatron was apparently not one to hold grudges, and he soon had Skywarp repaired and functioning again, under the understanding that there would be no further second chances. While on a mission to destabilize Middle Eastern energy supplies, Skywarp confessed to Thundercracker that he believed Megatron had it in for all of them, especially himself, though his fellow Decepticon pointed out the fact that Megatron did have him repaired. Skywarp participated in the operation at Brasnya where he injured Hot Rod and evacuated Megatron before the Autobots could destroy him.

When Ramjet began his coup, he first contacted Skywarp in an effort to get a viable ally. Skywarp thought it was a big load of crap, but said that if Ramjet could get some results in one day, they'd talk. However, Skywarp did mention that he always "bets on the leader." This turned out to be a prudent decision.

Skywarp was among the concerned Decepticons who feared that Megatron had lost all sense of reason when he deployed Sixshot on Earth. They conspired to bring Starscream back into the fold to talk some sense into their leader. Emboldened by Starscream's lone stand against the Reapers, the Decepticons attacked and eventually the alien invaders, with Skywarp participating in the destruction of their starship.

A year later, Megatron had somehow regained Skywarp's confidence, with the Seeker bigging him up to Starscream during the Decepticon attack on New York City. During that attack, Skywarp got to make stuff go boom and kill a lotta folks, and it was the best day out ever.

After taking out several military helicopters, Skywarp was assigned to accompany Soundwave, Hook and Astrotrain as they took Frenzy to deal with a large ground force. Hook voiced his doubt that the tiny Decepticon had a chance against such a huge number of enemies, but Skywarp, enjoying a chance for a dig at the new guy, simply told him to make sure he kept his distance. After Frenzy massacred the humans, Skywarp, alongside Starscream and Thundercracker, took out the Brooklyn Bridge.

IDW Hearts of Steel continuity
Skywarp listened to Starscream discussing his plans for conquering Earth and was told that he (Skywarp) would fly ahead of Astrotrain, leading the way. (There's no evidence in the story that he actually did this, but if it's true, he may have survived the Decepticon defeat unharmed.) His altmode is the same as Starscream's one-engine-per-wing body. He only gets two lines of dialogue.

Generation One

 * Skywarp (Decepticon Jet, 1984/1985/2001/2003/2008)
 * Japanese ID number: 23




 * The only 1984 Seeker with a deco not used previously in Takara's Diaclone line, Skywarp transforms into an F-15 Eagle fighter jet, sharing his mold with his teammates Starscream and Thundercracker. Many parts need to be removed completely for transformation from robot to jet and back, which nowadays is considered a major drawback of the toy. It is rare to find it complete, as neither mode can hold all the pieces required. There are a few minor mold variations of this toy (common for the first two years of Transformers, really), the most immediately noticeable being that early versions did not have visible "clip-tabs" on the inner face of the gauntlets.


 * Early Hasbro stock photos show Skywarp with a plastic purple nosecone. This was changed to a soft, black rubber nosecone when the toy was actually released. However, a Mexican variant retained the purple plastic nosecone. The same stock photos also show him with purple launchers with black triggers and muzzle rings, black feet, black shins, black outer arm panels, purple horizontal stabilizers, and both sets of purple missiles. These stock photos were also later used to promote Takara's 2001 reissue.


 * In 2001, Skywarp was given a short-run reissue (limited to only 1,000 pieces) by Takara as a convention-exclusive item, bundled together with Thundercracker as "Collector's Edition" Set C. The toy would later be more extensively released in 2003 as part of Hasbro's Commemorative Series series IV, though due to US toy-safety regulations, his missiles were made extra-long.


 * In August, 2008, Skywarp was once more reissued with Thundercracker as number 11 in Takara's Transformers Encore line.


 * This mold was redecoed into Sunstorm and retooled to make Dirge, Ramjet, and Thrust.

Machine Wars

 * Skywarp (Basic, 1997)


 * Sharing a mold once again with Thundercracker, Skywarp transforms into a white Dassault Rafale fighter jet with spring-loaded one-step transformation from jet to robot. The two halves of his rifle store in his lower legs. Like all Machine Wars toys, Skywarp was an exclusive to Kay-Bee stores and related stores like Toy Liquidators.


 * This mold is also used by Beast Wars II Dirge, Robots in Disguise Skyfire, Robot Masters Wing Stun and Timelines Waspinator.

Universe

 * Skywarp (Deluxe, 2003)


 * Universe Skywarp is a redeco of Beast Machines Jetstorm in his G1 colors. He transforms into a Cybertronic fighter jet, armed with two projectile launchers that can fire orange energon bolts.


 * His spark crystal has a Decepticon sigil tampographed on top of it.

Smallest Transforming Transformers

 * Skywarp (2003)
 * Japanese ID number: GTF X-1


 * Smallest Transformers Skywarp was a very small-scale simplification of the original G1 Seeker toy, retaining most of its functionality and accessories, except for his long null-rays. Skywarp was one of two chase figures from the first wave of the line.


 * This mold was redecoed from Starscream, then re-redecoed into Thundercracker, and finally retooled to make Thrust.

Robot Masters

 * Skywarp & Thundercracker (Multi-pack, 2005)


 * Robot Masters Skywarp is a redeco of Starscream from the same series, a smaller yet more advanced version of the original toy, adding more articulation and reducing the amount of part-forming required. He was available only in a two-pack with Thundercracker, which also came with a Decepticon sigil pin and chromed missile pods. This set was the very last product released in the Robot Masters line and wasn't even strictly sold in a box from that series; instead, it used an e-Hobby Generation One reissue box, with a small Robot Masters sticker in the corner tab noting its origin from the front.

Classics

 * Ultra Magnus vs Skywarp: Battle For Autobot City (Multi-pack, 2006)


 * Classics Skywarp is a slight retool of the Classics Starscream mold, transforming into an F-15 Eagle fighter jet, though with a canopy like that of an F-14 Tomcat. He comes with a pair of spring-loaded missile launchers that can be mounted on his biceps or used as hand-held weapons in robot mode and can attach under his wings in vehicle mode. As with most Classics toys, he also features a heat-sensitive rubsign.


 * Skywarp was slightly retooled from the earlier Starscream figures. The retool is present in the jet intake area. The slope of his shoulders was decreased from Starscream's, and a rectangle added to the vertical area, making the number now five instead of four. This retooled version was used for the Classics Ramjet, Thundercracker, Thrust, and Dirge, as well as Acid Storm from Universe. At the end of Classics Starscream's production run, he too used this version of the mold.


 * He was only available as part of a Target stores exclusive two-pack with Ultra Magnus. The set's price was $19.99, despite including both a Voyager-class and Deluxe-class mold in it, which was approximately $30 worth of toys if they'd been sold separately. He was also available in Woolworth stores throughout the United Kingdom.


 * Stock photos of Classics Skywarp showed a more detailed color scheme than the actual released figure. Much like Classics Ultra Magnus, the changes were most likely due to an over abundance of paint applications.  This more detailed version was shown at Botcon 2006 and at least one sample found its way to a collector's hands.  The sample also used the original Starscream mold, and not the retooled version used for every version of the mold since and even including Starscream.

Masterpiece

 * MP-06 Masterpiece Skywarp (2007)




 * Masterpiece Skywarp was released in Japan in September of 2007. It is a redeco of the Masterpiece Starscream mold in black, gray, silver, and purple, though the purple and silver are more minimal than usual. It is able to switch between a minimally retooled stoic face and a new snarly face, retooled from Starscream's previous smirk. The tiny Doctor Arkeville is also included, as well as a clasp for jet-mode Skywarp to hold the gun-mode Megatron that came with Masterpiece Convoy.




 * The sticker sheet includes Skywarp-esque stripes, as well as several whimsical squadron markings.

Attacktix

 * Skywarp

Henkei! Henkei!

 * Skywarp (Deluxe, 2008)
 * Accessories: 2 missile launchers (left and right), 2 missiles

Henkei Skywarp is a redeco of Henkei Starscream. He features a colour scheme similar to his Generation One cartoon appearance. Henkei Skywarp and his fellow Seeker Henkei Thundercracker were released in September, 2008 as an exclusive through Toy Hobby Market.

Soon after release, there were numerous complaints from both Japanese and Western collectors about the poor quality control for both Thundercracker and Skywarp. Skywarp's most common fault was missing paint for one of his shoulders. Some reported both toys suffering misassembly issues such as having two left or two right thighs.

Universe
Masterpiece Skywarp is to be released in 2009 or 2010, with a more show accurate color scheme than the Takara version.
 * Masterpiece Skywarp (2009)

Heroes of Cybertron

 * Skywarp (2002)
 * Recolor of the Japanese SCF Skywarp figure. Non-transforming, true to the animation model. Distinctive from the Japanese release with its glossy paint, "light-up" eyes, and slightly different paint details. The Japanese version was a Lucky Draw figure limited to 200 pieces and was one of the two prizes, the other being a mostly clear reissue Starscream (not to be confused with Ghost Starscream reissue), offered from the original run of the Transformers: Generations book.


 * Skywarp (2003)


 * Above, but part of a six-pack of figures which also included Starscream, Thundercracker, and three Clones from the OTFCC 2003 convention set. It featured a more metallic paint job from the normal release and slightly different paint details.

Legends of Cybertron

 * Skywarp (2004 - Unreleased)


 * A recolor of Mega Super Figure Collection G1 Starscream (minus the extra coronation accessories, open-palm hands, and the hand wielding Megatron in gun mode), Skywarp was to be among the first of the fan club exclusives offered by OTFCC as well as the first in their Legends of Cybertron line. The figure was delayed and never saw a full release due to 3H Enterprises losing the license to run the official Transformers fan club. At least a couple of sample versions were produced.

Robot Heroes

 * Skywarp (2007)


 * Skywarp is one of the five exclusive figures in Wal-Mart's "Decepticon Sneak Attack" set. He's a black and purple redeco of Starscream, yes. His left hand's for pushing you down stairs, his right fist's for pumping the air in victory. Sweet, sweet stair-based victory.

3D Battle-Card Game

 * Skywarp (2007)
 * A 25-point "uncommon" character in the 3D Battle-Card Game's "Energon Wars" expansion, Skywarp "transforms" into a black and purple jet. He uses the same parts layout as Movie Starscream and Dreadwing.

Trivia



 * A commercial for Transformers reflective iron-on patches advertised the "Prizes in Disguise" competition. When the iron-on patch was used, it was possible to find instead an instant win ticket for a Transformers voice changer (of the Enemy variety)—or to have a party with "life-size" Transformers! Among the "life-size" Transformers shown were Jazz and Skywarp. In all likelihood, you did not party with them.




 * In a possible fit of madness, a triple changer was proposed that would switch between Skywarp (possibly mistaken for Starscream), Megatron, and Skywarp's jet mode.


 * Character bios written by unknown persons for the Australian (Madman) DVD release of The Transformers: The Movie definitely claim that Skywarp became Cyclonus. Basically, nobody considers that weighty "evidence".


 * For such a popular character, Skywarp doesn't DO much of anything in the original show.