Bumblebee (G1)


 * Bumblebee is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family. He was known as Goldbug for a time in some continuities.



Bumblebee is one of the smallest and weakest Autobots. While this does allow him to do his job better than most Autobots could manage, he is self-conscious about his size. He looks up (so to speak) to the other Autobots, but what he doesn't realize is that they look up to him. He may be small, but he's brave, and he's one of the most likable Autobots around. Bumblebee already has the respect he craves.

As Goldbug, his rebuilt and "matured" form, Bumblebee retains most of his earlier strengths and weaknesses, but without his crippling need for approval. (This is true of some "matured" versions of Bumblebee without new names or bodies, as well, but is quite markedly associated with the change to Goldbug).


 * French-Canadian name: Bourdon/Coccinelle
 * Japanese name: Bumble/Goldback
 * Italian name: Maggiolino, Wagenbot (as Goldbug)
 * South American name: Volks
 * Hungarian name: Űrdongó/Aranybogár

Generation 1


Four million years ago, Optimus Prime led a crew of Autobots including Bumblebee aboard the Ark to clear a path through an asteroid belt for Cybertron to pass through. Once their objective was completed, they were attacked by Decepticons and both their ships crashed in a volcanic mountain on a primitive planet known as Earth. In 1984, the volcano (Mount Saint Hilary) erupted, awakening their ship, which rebuilt them. Bumblebee was reconfigured to transform into a yellow Volkswagen Beetle.

Prowl led a mission into a human city to investigate their new world. Bumblebee, anxious to be the first to meet the planet's inhabitants, rear-ended a car full of teenagers at a drive-in movie theater. Before he could introduce himself, he was under attack by Decepticons and damaged badly. One of the teenagers, Buster Witwicky, brought the car back to his father's auto repair shop. Bumblebee weakly pleaded to them to fix him, for he was dying. His father, Sparkplug Witwicky, fixed Bumblebee and offered to help the Autobots convert their native fuel resources into a form that Transformers could use. Bumblebee took Buster with him back towards the Ark to relay this message.



After a seemingly final battle with the Decepticons, the long-lost Decepticon Shockwave arrived and reversed the Autobots' victory with a single blast. Bumblebee and the rest of the Autobots were kept captive aboard the Ark until Ratchet managed to free the Ark from Decepticon control and repair them. However, Buster had been entrusted with safeguarding the Creation Matrix, which the Decepticons discovered, so Bumblebee and Bluestreak were sent to protect him. Buster was attacked by the newly-built but lifeless Jetfire. Bumblebee and Bluestreak did their best to defend Buster, but it was Buster's use of the powers of the Creation Matrix which saved them all, disassembling Jetfire in mid-air. Bumblebee removed Jetfire's brain so Buster could remote-control the body with his mind.

After the Creation Matrix was returned to a restored Optimus Prime, Bumblebee was charged with giving four new recruits (Hoist, Skids, Smokescreen, and Tracks) a tour of the planet. Bumblebee decided a Brick Springhorn concert would be a good destination, but the Decepticons had sabotaged the event to harvest energon. Bumblebee disobeyed orders and led the four into battle, saving the concert. When Robot-Master appeared on television and claimed to control the Transformers, it was Bumblebee's job to ask their human business parter G.B. Blackrock what the deal was. Robot-Master broadcast next in a coal mine next to a de-energized Megatron, but Bumblebee and several other Autobots were pushed away by overwhelming Earth military forces.

This event caused Bumblebee to question his usefulness to the Autobots, and he abandoned them without a word. The Decepticons, however, saw much use for him and attempted to apprehend him. Hiding in a used car lot, he was stolen by two humans, who he adopted for a while. The Decepticons did not relent, and Bumblebee was ultimately rescued by the rest of the Autobots, an act which reminded him how valuable he was to them.

Due to conflicting circumstances, Bumblebee was damaged and rebuilt into a stronger but similar form, Goldbug. Goldbug and Blaster were ordered by the new Autobot leader Grimlock to track down the Mechanic, who had stolen Autobot technology from the Ark. Grimlock was a terrible leader and had no regard for human life, so both Goldbug and Blaster exiled themselves from his command. Grimlock was furious, and sent the Protectobots to bring them in. Goldbug and Blaster found themselves in the desert of the American southwest and, thanks to a run-in with the Decepticon Triple Changers, were infested with the disease known as Scraplets. Goldbug and his human friend Charlie Fong left to get help and possibly a cure, but Blaster believed Goldbug had abandoned him to die. Near death himself, Goldbug and Charlie arrived at a gas station, where they met up with the Throttlebots, sent from Cybertron by Ratbat and armed with acid to contain the disease. Goldbug narrowly escaped extermination when it as discovered that the cure for Scraplets was none other than water. Goldbug called industrialist G.B. Blackrock (on a pay phone), and Blackrock trucked in tanks of water himself. Blaster was cured and his trust in Goldbug was restored.

Goldbug, Blaster, and the Throttlebots found refuge in a used car lot owned by Big Steve. However, they were all in bad need of fuel. They attempted a deal with Big Steve, but he double-crossed them, filling them up with soda pop instead of gasoline. It was then that the Protectobots caught up with them, followed by the Combaticons. During the ensuing battle, the immobilized Throttlebots (including Goldbug) were carted away by RAAT.



Destroyed by Starscream in Tokyo along with the other Throttlebots, Goldbug was repaired by Ratchet using Pretender technology ... sort of. Instead of simply restoring Goldbug, Ratchet rebuilt him as a much larger Bumblebee. , explaining that he always preferred Bumblebee's original form. Before they could discuss it further, Bumblebee had to help Jazz and Grimlock against Megatron and his minions. While the new Pretenders defeated the other Decepticons, Ratchet seemingly sacrificed himself to destroy Megatron and his base.

Afterward, the three Pretenders briefly joined the Autobot resistance movement on Cybertron. Thanks to his increased stature, Bumblebee experienced a big boost of confidence as he and the others rejuvenated the resistance. In response, Thunderwing ordered the Mayhem Attack Squad to assassinate them. As Bumblebee, Jazz, Grimlock and the Rescue Patrol prepared to teleport to Earth, the three Decepticons attacked Autobase, sabotaging the trans-time dimensional portal. All nine Transformers found themselves teleported into the heart of Cybertron, where the Autobots discovered the resting place of Primus.

There, they encountered the Keeper and learned the secret origin of the Transformers, as well as Primus' never-ending battle with Unicron. As the Keeper's tale ended, the Mayhem Attack Squad found the Autobots. Their initial attack destroyed the Keeper, but Bumblebee and the others handily defeated them. However, a stray blast woke Primus seconds before the repaired portal sent the Transformers back to Earth.



With Unicron undoubtedly on his way to devour Cybertron, Bumblebee and his fellow Pretenders embarked on a quest to find the lost Creation Matrix. The three traveled to Vsqs, the last known location of Optimus Prime's funeral barge, to search for clues. Finding an abandoned science station, Bumblebee searched through its computer records. He confirmed that the scientists had found Prime's body and the Matrix, but also a strange creature that promptly attacked one of the scientists. Before they could investigate further, Thunderwing attacked, also seeking the Matrix. Bumblebee used his Pretender shell to combat the Decepticon, only for Thunderwing to destroy it. The feedback temporarily knocked Bumblebee unconscious, and it seemed Thunderwing would destroy all three Autobots, until the Matrix Spawn attacked. While Thunderwing pursued the creature, Bumblebee and the other Autobots searched the science station for the Matrix. They recovered it, but were so low on Energon that they were becoming unable to compensate for the moon's heavy gravity. While attempting to reach their shuttle, Thunderwing overtook them, seizing the Matrix and leaving them for dead.

Fortunately for Bumblebee, the Autobots sent a shuttle to rescue him and the others before they entered final shutdown

Conflicting Goldbug origins


In G.I. Joe and the Transformers, Bumblebee is destroyed by G.I. Joe due to a misunderstanding. They later rebuild him as Goldbug with help from Ratchet. However, Marvel UK did not initially print the crossover, so an alternate origin for Goldbug was conceived. In the pages of the UK comic, Bumblebee was destroyed by a time-traveling Death's Head and repaired by a time-traveling Wreck-Gar. (The Marvel Joe/TF crossover was published in the UK towards the end of the series.) The conflicting origins for Goldbug is the single largest difference between the American and British Marvel Transformers comics; most everything else kinda sorta meshes together, if you squint.

Generation 2
Years after the battle on Klo, and the Autobots had returned to a renewed Cybertron, Bumblebee received a distress signal from G.I. Joe on Earth, notifying them of Megatron's return. He passed this information on to Optimus Prime. He also accompanied Prime and a team of Autobots to an unnamed planet home to an ancient civilization which reportedly stored a cache of superweapons, and battled the Decepticons there until a monsterous native scared them away.

Bumblebee was among the Autobot/Decepticon forces battling the Cybertronian Empire on Ethos.

Classics

 * (Note: Classics ignores both Generation 2 and the Marvel UK comics.)

Animated continuity

 * Voice actor: Dan Gilvezan (US), Yoku Shioya (Japan)



After pilfering energy conductors with Wheeljack, the little, yellow different Autobot boarded the Ark with several other Autobots under the leadership of Optimus Prime to search for energy. After Decepticons attacked the Ark, Bumblebee, along with the battle's participants and their two ships crash landed on Earth 4 million years ago. They all laid dormant until 1984 when the Ark's computers were shaken alive as the volcano it crashed in erupted. Bumblebee was rebuilt to transform into a Volkswagen Beetle. After befriending the humans Spike Witwicky and his father Sparkplug after a Decepticon attack on an oil rig, Bumblebee was part of the team of Autobots sent to stop Megatron and the Decepticons from overpowering Sherman Dam. Bumblebee helped Ironhide carve out a new riverbed for the raging waters, saving a nearby neighborhood from being flooded. Such acts were one of the earliest that helped endear the Autobots to the humans.

During the Decepticon development of their Space Bridge program, Megatron captured Bumblebee and altered a bank of his memory circuits to lure the Autobots into a trap. Bumblebee recovered in time to alert the Autobots to the true location of the Space Bridge.

In 2005, he and Spike Witwicky were on Moonbase 1. Unicron ate it. Luckily, Unicron takes some time to digest things, and the two (as well as Jazz and Cliffjumper) were spared an acid-bath in Unicron's guts by the timely arrival of Spike's son Daniel.





When the body of Optimus Prime was retrieved by Gregory Swafford and Jessica Morgan, Rodimus Prime led a team that included Bumblebee to investigate. However, Bumblebee and his teammates were attacked by a Hate Plague-infested Superion and heavily damaged. After Optimus Prime was rebuilt by the Quintessons, so too was Bumblebee into a more powerful but similar form. Bumblebee remarked that he now looked like a "gold bug". Optimus Prime decided this would be his new name.

Goldbug journeyed with Optimus Prime and the other survivors to Chaar in search of a heat-resistant alloy that could insulate Prime from the Hate Plague. However, infected Decepticon forces attacked and contaminated Goldbug as well. Goldbug and every other contaminated being were restored when Optimus Prime retrieved the Matrix and unleashed the remainder of its energy.

Both Bumblebee and Goldbug (what?) are among the cheering crowds after the Plasma Energy Chamber ushers in a new Golden Age of Cybertron.

Headmasters cartoon
Goldbug and the Throttlebots appear a few times, their only real actions of note are attempting to deal with a strange metal-warping asteroid and being horribly twisted and warped by it, but they got better.

Redemption Center
Bumblebee, Spike, and Hound happened upon a badly damaged Starscream while out racing. Bumblebee convinced the others to bring Starscream back to the Ark for repairs, under the rationale that while Starscream wouldn't have done the same for them, they weren't Decepticons.

Joyride
Hey, remember that time in the comics when a couple of guys stole Bumblebee? What if they were kind of jerks? What if Bumblebee decided to make them pee themselves?

Dreamwave Transformers/G.I. Joe continuity
Bumblebee transforms into a WWII era mortorcycle with side-car. During their joint efforts to stop the Cobra/Decepticon axis of power he teams with the G.I.Joe member Scarlet. Bumblebee feels they make a good team and she can ride him any time.

Presumably he shutdown with the other Transformers when the Matrix was destroyed.

Devil's Due G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers continuity
Bumblebee and Wheeljack were the only Transformers aboard the Ark to avoid capture and reprogramming by Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world. After disguising themselves as a Volkswagen Beetle and Lancia Stratos, respectively, the two tried to work out a way to free their comrades. They joined forces with G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe turned on them, Bumblebee and Wheeljack saved them anyway, Bumblebee beat up Stormshadow's robotic armor, and they ultimately saved the Earth from nuclear holocaust.

Later, Bumblebee was sent back through time to Earth's 1970s by a malfunctioning Teletran 3, which also helpfully disguises him as a Ford Pinto. Bumblebee is unamused.

And then Serpent O.R. violated him to death with tentacles. Ew. This made Optimus Prime sad.

IDW comics continuity



 * (Continuity Specific Character Note: IDW Bumblebee is as easygoing and daring as his incarnations in previous continuities; that positive nature is tempered, though, by a pragmatic streak not often seen in previous incarnations of the character; while their human allies explore the Decepticon's Nebraska bunker, Bumblebee commented to Ratchet that, given the need for evidence of unusual Decepticon activity, the humans would be "acceptable losses". However, this did not prevent him from leaping to the humans' aid as they attempted to exit the collapsing command bunker.


 * Bumblebee uses a "holomatter" [[Media:Hotbumblebee.jpg|avatar]] when in public to avoid looking like an unmanned vehicle, which has the appearance of a young human female. It is unknown whether he has a feminine voice (or can affect one) to match his avatar's appearance.)

Bumblebee was part of Prowl's secret counter-infiltration unit on Earth. When Ratchet broke cover by rescuing a trio of humans, Bumblebee was the one Autobot who supported his efforts. He was true to his role as an espionage agent and fereted out their plans to continue joint operations against orders and joined in. He accompanied Ratchet and the humans to investigate an abandoned Decepticon bunker in Nebraska. At the bunker, while the humans were inside, two Decepticons attacked, and Bumblebee managed to take down Skywarp, but not before Ratchet was shot and run over by Blitzwing.

Bumblebee left the humans with Ratchet and traveled to Oregon, location of the second Decepticon command bunker, observing the situation until the rest of the Autobot unit could arrive. After witnessing Megatron "disciplining" Starscream and subsequently downgrading the infiltration unit's status to Phase Two, Bumblebee departed Oregon with the rest of the unit.

IDW Hearts of Steel continuity
Following a long period of deactivation, Bumblebee is the first of the Transformers to awaken during the age of humans. Bumblebee is impressed by the humans' industriousness, and disguises himself as a small steam locomotive, with no control cab, and a built in steam-hammer for driving spikes. He thus directly competes with steel-driving legend John Henry. Henry sets aside his mistrust of automation after realizing that Bumblebee is a person (not just a machine) who wants to put in a fair day's work.

Bumblebee wakes several of his fellow Autobots, who soon discover that the Decepticons are also active in this era. Bumblebee, the Autobots, and their new human friends work together to prevent the Decepticons' mighty Astrotrain from reaching New York City. With the Decepticons defeated, Bumblebee and the Autobots return to their slumber.

Bumblebee's pre-locomotive "Ice Age Wars" altmode appears to be a spiky dinosaur, possibly a gastonia. He also has a transitional body, while he is preparing to take on his locomotive form, which is similar to his dinosaur body, but with no spikes.

Timelines: Descent Into Evil


Having been on the trail of the Decepticon agent Flamewar for a long, long time, now-espionage director Bumblebee (in his unreleased Alternators body) made his move, interrupting a supposedly-secure secret communication between Flamewar and the Tripredacus Council. He revealed that his agent Ricochet had installed a degenerative virus into Deathsaurus' clone army. Oh, and that since the Autobots now knew Flamewar's whereabouts and who she was working for, the Tripredacus Council would certainly consider her a liability. Which they did. So they blew her ship up.

Energon cartoon
A robot using Bumblebee's character model is shown in a still-shot flashback as a member of the Autobot group led by Rodimus. Whether this robot is an alternate-universe incarnation of Bumblebee or simply a similar-looking robot is --like all Unicron Trilogy character-model cameos-- left to conjecture.

Trivia

 * The original Bumblebee toy was taken from the Japanese Microchange line, available in both yellow and red versions.


 * Bumblebee/Goldbug was clearly a 'top-tier' character in the first decade of Transformers, receiving more toys during Generation 1 than any other character. However, Hasbro lost the right to use "Bumblebee" as a toy trademark during the Beast Wars and Beast Machines years, when Generation 1 names were in disuse.  That's right, the name "Bumblebee" was lost during the years everyone turned into an animal.


 * Bumblebee appeared in one of five Generation 1 public service announcements, informing children that they shouldn't run away from home because it's "mean". From the guy who ditched the Autobots for no real reason.


 * The Armada Mini-Con Sparkplug is pretty clearly an homage to Bumblebee, from the coloration, placement of car-parts in robot mode, segmented-pipe biceps and even the head design.