Swoop (G1)


 * Swoop is a Dinobot and Autobot in the Generation 1 continuity family. He used to go by the name Divebomb.



Swoop is the friendliest and most outgoing of the Dinobots. He's surprisingly good natured, kind, and upbeat. Few of his comrades realize this however, as his team's reputation and his alt-form, considered (for some reason) particularly "horrifying" to Transformer aesthetics, makes others wary of getting close enought to learn about the bot himself. Swoop is an excellent aerial combatant and bombardier, and has become skilled at using the fear his alt-mode creates in battle. He considers it his greatest weapon. Like all the Dinobots, Swoop tends to be arrogant, disobedient, and generally disagree with Optimus Prime's leadership style. He's also a bit of a show-off.


 * French-Canadian name: Assailo
 * Italian name: Reptilo
 * Preliminary name: Wing

Generation 1

 * (Note: Events from UK-only stories are in italics.)

''On Cybertron, Swoop was once a member of the Autobots' Elite Flying Corps and named Divebomb. After disobeying orders from Optimus Prime he came into battle with the Predacon now called Divebomb, who defeated him and stole his name. This began a continuing rivalry between the two. Millions of years later on Earth they clashed again intending to finish things between them once and for all, but their respective team mates interfered and the battle went unresolved. ''

Swoop was one of the original crew of the Ark. After it crashed, Shockwave came to Earth in pursuit and landed in the Savage Land. The Ark rebuilt Swoop along with Grimlock, Slag, Sludge and Snarl into the Dinobots and sent them to the Savage Land to defeat Shockwave. The battle ended with the Dinobots submerged in a tar pit where they remained until they were dug out by Ratchet millions of years later. Swoop along with the other Dinobots then helped Ratchet defeat Megatron and reclaim the Ark and free the deactivated Autobots within.



''Upon their return to the Ark however Swoop was badly damaged and thought destroyed when he attempted to fly the booby trapped battle droid Guardian away from the Ark to prevent the explosion from destroying Mount St. Hilary. ''

''In reality he was blown clear and crashed into a nearby lake where he was later found by Professor Morris. The professor had developed a machine capable of transferring his consciousness to a robot allowing him to take control of it. He recovered Swoop’s body and used the machine to take control of him. He used Swoop to attack the Autobots who he had mistakenly assumed were under the control of his company’s competitor G.B. Blackrock. Swoop’s personality eventually broke free of the professor’s control however. ''

''Not long after this he went mad due to the burning out of his cybodendrons after being submerged in the tar pit for millions of years. He was subdued and went into a coma like state. This alerted the Autobots the danger that the other Dinobots were in and they set out to find them. ''

''Swoop later recovered from his coma along with the other Dinobots. He and the other Dinobots left the Ark shortly afterwards to help Sludge save his friend Joy Meadows from both the Decepticons and Swoop’s former tormentor Professor Morris and his new robot Centurion, funded by Triple-I. ''

''Swoop would later battle the future Decepticon Galvatron, being severely beaten in the process. '' After the death of Optimus Prime, Swoop helped to battle Trypticon who had been sent from Cybertron by Ratbat to attack the Ark. Having driven Trypticon away Swoop and the Dinobots returned to the Ark where Grimlock was declared Autobot leader.

Following the return of Optimus Prime as Autobot leader, Swoop and the other Dinobots were critically damaged by the Underbase-powered Starscream. After being repaired by Ratchet using Pretender technology, Grimlock took Swoop and the Dinobots to Hydrus 4 and restored them using Nucleon. This ultimately caused Grimlock to lose the ability to transform but it is not know if Swoop suffered any similar side effects.

At some point Swoop was sent to Earth to become part of the Earthforce team under the command of Grimlock. He later returned to Cybertron and took part in the battle against Unicron which he survived.

Generation 2
Swoop took part in the war against Jhiaxus and his Cybertronian Empire.

Classics
Swoop is part of Grimlock's crew on the Graviton. He is is now a Minicon.


 * (Note: The Classics story takes place in a post-Marvel Generation 1 comics universe where neither Generation 2 nor the Marvel UK material happened.)

Animated continuity

 * Voice actor: Michael Bell (US), Yoku Shioya (Japan)



While guarding a mysterious meteorite, the original Dinobots, Grimlock, Slag and Sludge, were fooled by Megatron into joining the side of the Decepticons. To counter the threat of their former comrades, the Autobots constructed two new Dinobots; Snarl and Swoop. Snarl and Swoop did battle with the original Dinobots but were only strong enough to force them into a stalemate. The original Dinobots chose to return to the Autobots after their leader, Grimlock, was saved from the exploding meteorite through a selfless act of heroism from Optimus Prime.

Swoop was rarely seen apart from the other Dinobots. Together, they fought the likes of Devastator and moved to a bizarre island (later dubbed Dinobot Island) to hone their skills.

Some time after that, the Dinobots chose to desert the Autobots during their time of need (the Autobots were dying from lack of Cybertonium) and go to Cybertron. Sparkplug, Spike, and Carly sought out the Dinobots to convince them to help, but Grimlock, angered that they had been followed, decided to crush them. Swoop, however, saved them, wanting to hear the "brilliant part" from the humans. Grimlock was convinced to go, but instead led the Dinobots to Cybertron itself. All the Dinobots were captured by Shockwave, reprogrammed and forced to work in the cybertonium mines at the planet's organic core. All, that is, except for Swoop. Swoop soon encountered Spike and Carly, the Autobots' human allies, deep within the bowels of the planet. The three teamed up and, after learning a brief history of the Transformer race, freed the Dinobots and returned to Earth with a shipment of Cybertonium.

In 2005, Swoop and the other Dinobots fought Devastator during the battle of Autobot City. They didn't fair too well. They later evacuated the city (reluctantly) when Galvatron attacked. Swoop and the Dinobots became briefly stranded on Quintessa along with Hot Rod and Kup when their ship was shot down. With help from Wheelie, the Dinobots found their friends, with Swoop using Sharkticons as bombs. The Autobots escaped Quintessa and rescued the remaining Autobots on the Planet of Junk from a horde of confused Junkions. Later, Swoop did one of his greatest life accomplishments when he bombed the butt of a god.

In the year 2006, Swoop and the other Dinobots spent much of their time on Cybertron fishing for robot fish (or organic fish, depending on which shot you're looking at). Swoop and the others briefly ostracized Grimlock when he attained super intelligence. Grimlock eventually returned to normal and was welcomed back among their ranks. Swoop and the Dinobots were also summoned by Primacron's Assistant to do battle with Tornadron, a creation of the villainous Primacron. Swoop failed to defeat the enrgy monster, but Grimlock managed to save the day just in the nick of time.

Big Looker storybooks
During an incomprehensibly heavy-handed Decepticon plot to steal a single fuel tanker, the Autobots - also oddly determined to protect this single tanker - found themselves outnumbered and outgunned. Swoop, still recovering from a previous battle, arrived to assist, and was fired on by Megatron. This so enraged the mild-mannered Autobot that he dropped an air-to-air missile launcher with the power of 5000 pounds of TNT. Swoop comes across as uncharistically modest, and grateful just to be able to help Prime and pals. Also, Swoop has hair.

Dreamwave continuity
Swoop was an Autobot once named Divebomb, though the circumstances sorrounding his name change are unspecified. When Optimus Prime and Megatron disappeared, Swoop joined Grimlock's Lightning Strike Coalition. When Grimlock took the future Dinobots to execute Jetfire and Shockwave, Swoop argued that they should instead focus on the new battle base the Decepticons had built. Once the base was called away to rescue Shockwave, Swoop told him to come back and fight, then called him a coward (once the base was already leaving). Heading to the Neutral Territories, they found no sign of Grimlock or Jetfire. Tracking Shockwave down, the LSC worked with the Decepticons to locate their missing members.

3H comic continuity
In a distant future of the Beast Wars timeline, the dark warlord known as Shokaract had conquered Cybertron and much of the galaxy. Only a handful of Maximals and Predacons survived to oppose him, under the command of the Predacon Sandstorm. Among them was an ancient warrior known simply as The Veteran. Reflecting on his long history and all his many departed comrades, the Veteran began to wonder if he had survived so long as to become a figurative dinosaur.

The Veteran's finely honed skills and instincts allowed him to survive an assassination attempt by The Cub, one of Shokaract's servants. Returning in defeat, The Cub was severely wounded as punishment for his failure and left to die in the wilds of Cybertron. Before he could perish, however, Sandstorm's band of rebels recovered him. In an attempt to learn more about Shokaract's plans, The Veteran merged his Spark with that of The Cub, and thus was born the dual-Sparked Windrazor.

Though Windrazor was essentially a new being, within him the Sparks of The Veteran and The Cub continued to grapple for control and dominance of their joined form.

The Veteran also appears in Simon Furman's psudo-cannonical story 'The Last Days Of Optimus Prime' and is depicted, in shadowy form, as having a pterosaur-like silhouette.

 Though never named specifically, it is strongly implied that the Veteran is Swoop.

Generation 1

 * Swoop (Dinobot, 1985/1986/1991/1992)
 * Japanese ID number: 30


 * Swoop's transforms into a robotic pteranodon. Along with his sword, he also comes with two spring-loaded missile launchers, the only Dinobot to have two projectile-launchers (and no non-firing gun to boot.) His beak and tail were rounded for safety reasons. However, the remolding of the tail kept the tail sticker from fitting correctly.


 * In Japan, Swoop and the other Dinobots were offered as mail-away items during Operation Combination. Swoop cost 1800 yen (his original retail price, less than the other four) and two robot points.

Classics

 * Dinobots (Mini-Con Team, 2006)


 * Swoop transforms into a robotic pteranodon. His jointing allows him to stand on his hind-feet as well as assume a normal "flying" position.  He was only available in a Mini-Con Team set with Knockdown and Terrorsaur.


 * This mold was also used to make Reptix.

Trivia

 * Swoop was originally a Diaclone Dinosaur Robo Pteranodon type piloted mech. Whoever made Swoop's animation model used this Diaclone toy as a reference, as the Dinobot sports the pre-Transformer's blue chest, and gold lower beak, missiles, and dino feet. Swoop's box art has the Transformer toy's red chest, but keeps the gold parts from the Diaclone toy.


 * This Diaclone incarnation of Swoop was also used as the model for the "restored" version of the Autobot Ravenus in the Micron Legend "Linkage" mini-comics.


 * Thanks to the Robo-Capers strip in the UK Comic, Swoop became the first and possibly only Transformer to defecate in a licensed and approved presentation.




 * Swoop and Sludge's absence from Generation 2 has never been fully explained, though rumors of what might have been persist. Recently, packaging art of Swoop in new colors was unearthed, indicating what he might have looked like in the line... but among that art is also a screaming yellow and turquoise Grimlock, colors he was never released in, so who knows.


 * The Energon Swoop toy was originally intended to be the original Generation 1 character, and was to be released in Universe. However, it was ultimately shunted into Energon, reportedly for a combination of budgetary concerns and keeping the combination gimmick (since he combines with the packed-in Grimlock to form a super robot) only in the main-line, which had combination as a central theme.


 * Swoop is the only original Dinobot who is not technically a dinosaur. Following in his foot-steps are Terranotron, Wal*Mart Sludge, Paddles, and two-thirds of Magmatron.


 * There are numerous paint application differences between the Classics Swoop pictured on the cardback and the final product. One possibility is that since the molds were originally intended to be in two-packs rather than three-packs, the number of available paint applications (which are carefully monitored) per piece was larger in the two-pack arrangement, necessitating some omissions for the three-pack release.