Beachcomber (G1)


 * Beachcomber is an Autobot from Generation 1 continuity family.



Warfare holds no interest for Beachcomber; he much prefers to take long, lone journeys into the vast expanses of desert wilderness and along the rugged coastal shores that occupy so much of the American landscape. Only in these places of such natural beauty does can he completely escape the conflict between the Autobots and Decepticons. He's what Earthlings would refer to as "laid back." Despite his feelings to the contrary, his many physical weaknesses, and the looks of contempt from the more warlike of his fellow Autobots, he never shirks his responsibility to fight for the Autobot cause. Deep down he knows that until his side wins there is no true escape, no matter how far he travels into the desert.

In vehicle mode, Beachcomber has a range of 800 miles and is capable of traveling over rugged terrain. He's equipped with various magnetic, ionic, electrostatic, infrared, and sonic sensors, among others, which enable him to accurately determine the chemical composition of any terrain he visits. He uses this ability to locate vital resources for the Autobots. Beachcomber can use his magnetic sensors like a compass, but magnetic disturbances can lead him astray. His sonic probes possess limited range.


 * French-Canadian name: Déferlo, Pacifico (Generation 2)
 * Greek name: Agelioforos (Αγγελιοφόρος)
 * Hungarian name: Guberáló (Scavenger)
 * Portuguese name (Portugal comics): Onda
 * Portuguese name (Brazil comics): Pacífico
 * Italian name: Pulce

Cartoon continuity

 * Voice Actor: Alan Oppenheimer (US), Osamu Saka (Japan)



Beachcomber showed up out of nowhere one day, helping Hound, Inferno and Bumblebee investigate some Insecticon attacks on an old growth forest. This unit proved to be sufficiently under-powered when it came to confronting freshly fed Insecticons, and their battle strategy amounted to hiding behind Hound's holograms until the bad robots went away. He was next seen on Dinobot Island, worrying that the battle with the Decepticons would destroy the environment before it could be properly studied, but at least he was still fighting while complaining.

Unlike the next time. On a geology expedition with Perceptor and several other Autobots, Beachcomber abandoned them in the middle of a firefight to explore a cave in the nearby cliffside. While his friends were dodging laser fire and trading blows, Beachcomber was learning to speak parakeet and communing with nature. He also found a golden lagoon full of electrum, a naturally-occuring element which would make any Transformer impervious to harm. He dipped his hand into the lagoon, and it turned completely gold in color. Beachcomber hid this information from his fellow Autobots, and even kept his silence after Thrust arrived coated in electrum and drove the Autobots into retreat, capturing two of their number in the process. Valuing the scenic beauty surrounding the electrum pool, Beachcomber still refused to warn his comrades after the entire Decepticon army arrived coated with invincible golden armor. He went solo to check on the lagoon, and was captured by the Decepticons. Some of the dumber Seekers acted as his prison guards at the Decepticon sunken base, though, and Beachcomber managed to escape alongside his fellow prisoners Perceptor and Seaspray.

Reaching the electrum pool, the trio was met by Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots, who had independently uncovered the pool's location thanks to Powerglide. Realizing his golden hand would give him away, Beachcomber quickly dove into the electrum to disguise his prior knowledge of the substance. In the final battle with the Decepticons, Megatron ordered the electrum pool destroyed rather than sharing it with the Autobots. In the aftermath of the explosion, the wilderness was totally decimated. Beachcomber never told the Autobots that he had known about the Decepticons' secret weapon and had kept silent, and instead sat around mourning the loss of the grass and trees.

He was next seen protecting San Francisco from an alien bird-dragon unleashed on Earth by the Constructicons. He tried appealing to the creature, thinking that we're all one with the same universe. Yeah...that didn't work well.

Beachcomber was later kidnapped by a greedy toll booth and forced to drive in a circle while hopping over spike-traps. It might make more sense if we explained it better, but it would be nowhere near as funny.

In 2006, Beachcomber was stationed at the Ark' with Warpath, Pipes and several others when Trypticon came to destroy it. Their feeble efforts to defend the spacecraft were barely noted by the dinosaur robot.

Marvel Comics continuity
Beachcomber was a member of Perceptor's resistance cell on Cybertron who disobeyed orders along with most of the cell to help Blaster recover Scrounge from the smelting pool. He actually demonstrated some uncharacteristic strength and gusto, tearing down a laser sentinel tower with his bare hands. The rescue mission failed, but they did recover Scrounge's stolen data, and learned that Optimus Prime and the crew of the Ark were alive and fighting on Earth.

Soon after, Perceptor's crew began a mission to destroy the Space Bridge before the Decepticons on Earth and Cybertron could begin trading resources. Beachcomber used his geological skills to map out a safe path underneath the planet's surface to bomb the underlying support structures of Darkmount, bringing down Straxus's whole fortress. The unit failed to destroy the Space Bridge, however, and were ultimately forced to retreat across the Bridge to Earth. Beachcomber and his fellows had to battle RAAT and the time-traveling Galvatron before finally making their way to the Ark. 

Beachcomber managed to avoid virtually all kinds of fighting for the rest of his time on Earth, doing nothing more strenuous than getting shot at by the Ark's own defense systems. While he did champion Blaster for replacing Grimlock as the Autobots' commander, this didn't stop Beachcomber from whining about senseless violence throughout their duel on the moon. Luckily, a Decepticon strike force arrived to drown out his voice with some lasers and explosives. A flash of light, the smell of burning chemicals, the roar of falling bombs -- violence is anything BUT senseless, Beachcomber!

When the Autobots rescued Buster Witwicky from the Arctic and were ambushed by the Decepticons, Beachcomber was among the first to be attacked, set upon and mauled by Mindwipe. .

''Presumably, this rendered him non-functional, as Beachcomber was last seen laying deactivated aboard The Ark as Ratchet attempted to repair him. ''

Marvel UK future timelines
''When the Quintessons raided Autobot City in 2008, Beachcomber and Air Raid rushed to defend their home with a team of fellow Autobots. Unfortunately, the Quintesson shock troops were too much for them, and quickly overran the defenders. Beachcomber and his Aerialbot buddy made a run for back-up, but were jumped from behind and taken out with the rest. ''

Find Your Fate Junior
Beachcomber had to find a path to the surface from the cave system the Autobots were trapped in. He explored the system of underground lakes, marveling at the many strange things that lived there. While recharging the Sun-Pak on the surface, he was attacked by Kickback, and had to be saved by Sparkplug. How humiliating.

''In the 'unsuccessful' ending to this multipath adventure, Beachcomber became lost when his magnetic sensors erroneously led him directly to Megatron. He did not regret this error for long.''

Beachcomber discovered Rumble practicing his earthquakes near a concealed base and learned of a Decepticon plan to destroy nearby Central City.

Optimus Prime decided that such grave news required a pinpoint response with utmost secrecy...so he sent the recklessly impulsive Windcharger, the bombastic Powerglide, and Beachcomber to babysit the other two.

Dreamwave comics continuity


Beachcomber was spurred into action against Shockwave's regime on Cybertron when Optimus Prime returned to the planet and rallied the Autobots into action. His actual contribution to the insurrection is undocumented, but it's entirely possible he may have even picked up a weapon. Really.

Afterwards, Beachcomber was assigned to a mission suitable for his pacifism, as part of Bumblebee's supply crew on the Orion, bringing news and fuel to their comrades on Earth. Little did they know they would be caught up in heavy combat with Sunstorm. Beachcomber was supposed to be guarding Sunstorm's primary target, the Decepticon Starscream, in an Alaskan bunker. Now, of course, the question isn't whether Starscream betrayed them at the first opportunity; it's whether Beachcomber even bothered to pick up his gun and try to stop Starscream, or just passively let the 'Con gun him down.

IDW comics continuity
Beachcomber was captured by Soundwave, who used Bombshell to slip him the brown acid. Under its control, Beachcomber attempted on three occasions to assassinate Blaster. Ultimately, Blaster confronted him about it and forced him to fight against his Decepticon control. Though his mental resistance shorted out the shell, his neural processors were severely damaged as well.

Beachcomber is now in stasis in a C.R. chamber. Whether or not he is functional enough to experience flashbacks is unknown.

Generation 1

 * Beachcomber (Mini Vehicle, 1985)
 * Japanese ID number: C-63




 * Beachcomber transforms into a blue and gray dune buggy of probably made-up model. The figure came in several variants, one with "Hasbro" stamped across the left arm (removing half the "mesh" pattern), and one without (leaving the full mesh there).


 * Later on, Beachcomber (along with all of the then-current Mini Vehicles) came packaged with a bonus Mini-spy as well.

Generation 2

 * Beachcomber (Mini Vehicle, 1993)


 * Generation 2 Beachcomber uses the exact same mold as his Generation 1 counterpart. However, this time around, the blue was replaced with a chrome green and the grey of the upper legs and lamps was replaced with neon red.  This version removed the "half-mesh" on the left arm and simply replaced it with a large Hasbro copyright stamp.


 * A rare variant exists that may have been a testshot run with grey legs. These figures were apparently given out internally by Hasbro as Christmas ornaments, as they have been found bagged with a string attached and a card reading "Transformers Christmas ornament" on one side and "Merry Christmas from the Boys' Toys Marketing" on the other.  The same treatment has been seen with a G2 Seaspray as well.

Universe (2008)

 * Beachcomber (Legends Class, 2008)
 * Beachcomber is a new-mold toy of the original Beachcomber inspired by his character model in Legends-class scale. Photos of him (and Brawn) were displayed at Hasbro's slideshow presentation at BotCon 2008.