Cliffjumper (Primax)


 * Cliffjumper is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.



Within Cliffjumper burns the spark of a hero and a dedicated Autobot. On the outside is a trigger-happy, untrusting jerk with serious impulse-control problems. Cliffjumper utterly hates the Decepticons. He also hates traitors. And anybody could be a traitor. Therefore, Cliffjumper hates everybody. It's unclear if he hates traitors more than he hates Decepticons, but it's at least a neck-and-neck thing.

He makes a habit of pulling ridiculously huge guns out of nowhere and attacking impulsively despite orders or sanity. Somehow, this gets him neither killed nor demoted.

Cliffjumper's special weapon is his glass gas, which embrittles metals on contact so that they shatter like glass. He is not immune to its effects, so its use requires careful consideration of wind direction. Actually, this may explain why he prefers the big guns. He doesn't seem like the calculating type.

"Look at Megatron. I'm gonna blast that smile off his faceplate."

- Cliffjumper, raring to go


 * Nickname: CJ
 * Preliminary name: Blow-Out
 * South American name: Carrera
 * Japanese name: Cliff
 * Italian name: Grillo
 * French-Canadian name: Matamore / Rapido
 * Hungarian name: Sziklaugró (exact translation)
 * Chinese name (Taiwan): Tiau Yai (跳崖, "Cliff Jumping")
 * Chinese name (China): Fei Guo Shan (飛過山, "Fly Across a Mountain")

Generation 1


Cliffjumper was a part of the crew on board the Ark when it crashed into Earth four million years ago while clearing an asteroid field in the path of Cybertron. Upon reviving in 1984, Cliffjumper was chosen as part of the first field expedition into the world under Prowl's command. Their simple recon mission to a drive-in movie theatre quickly turned into a battle when the Decepticons arrived. Cliffjumper acquitted himself well in combat, single-handedly driving off Starscream and Thundercracker with his glass gas.

Later, he joined Optimus Prime on the mission to rescue their human friend Sparkplug Witwicky from the Decepticons. Unfortunately, the human military got in the way, distracting Cliffjumper and Huffer long enough for Rumble's earthquakes to throw them for a loop. Whether because of this or just a general lack of fuel, Cliffjumper was unable to stand up and fight against the Decepticons in the battle at the Ark. He was deactivated for a while during Shockwave's occupation of the Ark, but was repaired without incident when Ratchet reclaimed it for the crew. However, the head of Optimus Prime was still missing, and during an attempt to retrieve it, an impostor head took control of Prime's body, firing on Cliffjumper.

''Presumably repaired, he later participated in the Dinobot Hunt, along with Gears and Windcharger. Although they found Sludge, immediately thereafter all three were captured by the Decepticons. They were rescued by Bumblebee. ''

He was one of the observers to Blaster and Grimlock's battle on the moon. How he fared in the following Decepticon attack is unknown, but he's never seen again.

Marvel UK future timelines
''After surviving the destruction of Moonbase One, Cliffjumper returned to the Autobot combat movement on Cybertron by 2007. He joined Ultra Magnus in a concerted effort to surprise a group of Decepticon skyraiders, using Rodimus Prime as bait to draw them in close for a crossfire.

Cartoon continuity

 * Voice Actor: Casey Kasem (US), Takurō Kitagawa (Japan)

Cliffjumper was a part of the crew onboard the Ark when it crashed into Earth four million years ago during a search for new energy sources. His alt mode was reformatted into an oddly proportioned Porsche 924 Turbo.

When the Autobots awakened from their four million-year slumber, Cliffjumper was eager for action. He volunteered to tag along on Hound's recon mission to scout out Decepticons because he was itching to "boot some Decepticon right in his turbocharger." Though Optimus Prime's orders were only to find the Decepticons, Cliffjumper brashly tried to engage the enemy once Hound sniffed them out.



Cliffjumper missed his shot, and the Decepticons dispatched Laserbeak to chase off the Autobot eavesdroppers. Hound got pasted by Laserbeak's laser blasts and ended up requiring extensive repair from Autobot medic Ratchet after being pulled out of a ditch by Hauler. It worked out in the end, though, since Cliffjumper was remorseful for having acted without thinking, and Hound didn't hold a grudge anyway.

Soon afterwards, Cliffjumper made a very public display of his paranoia by accusing fellow Autobot and reluctant soldier Mirage of being a traitor on some very flimsy evidence, much to the (correct) disbelief of the other Autobots. He kept up his rhetoric even after Optimus Prime ordered him to can it. So determined was he to prove his theory true that he followed Mirage when the latter returned to the Decepticon power station to sow seeds of discontent within the Decepticon ranks. Fortunately, in the end it was proven that Mirage was a loyal Autobot all along, and Cliffjumper fell across Mirage's body, asking Ratchet to fix him for not trusting a comrade. This prompted a rather awkward laugh from the present Autobots.

While pursuing Nightbird, the female robot ninja built to benefit mankind, Cliffjumper was the only Autobot unable to jump up the cliff after her. Ironic.

In 2005, Cliffjumper was stationed Moonbase One, and was left there with Jazz when Optimus Prime left with a few other Autobots to reinforce Autobot City. Cliffjumper was then eaten by Unicron along with the moon, but was saved from his internal acid pits by Daniel Witwicky. Rodimus Prime then helped Cliffjumper escape from Unicron, but for some reason, he was never seen again.

Dreamwave comics continuity
Cliffjumper was a part of the crew on-board the Ark when it crashed into Earth four million years ago while clearing an asteroid in the path of Cybertron.

He was one of many Transformers captured and reprogrammed by arms dealer Adam 'Lazarus' Rook for lease to terrorist organizations and shady governments requiring brutal military might. Fortunately, Autobots under the command of Optimus Prime repaired and re-reprogrammed Cliffjumper and the remaining captive Autobots. Immediately, they were put to work on fighting Megatron's metallic virus, which had spread deep into Canadian territory, using their own internal power as the anti-virus.

As Cliffjumper collapsed into the snow out of exhaustion, the Canadian military arrived. Unfortunately, due to the recent attacks by both enslaved Autobots and Decepticons under the command of Rook, the Canadians attempted to stop the Autobots doing what they perceived to be an attack on their soil. Knowing that the virus feed upon weapons fire, Cliffjumper tried to stop a tank crew from causing further harm by bending the tank's main gun. The commander panicked, thinking Cliffjumper was attacking and fired, destroying himself and seriously damaging the Autobot.

Sometime later, the unified Cybertronian army arrived on Earth and demanded the surrender of all active Autobots and Decepticons. After the initial encounter left several Autobots damaged, Optimus Prime brought most of his crew back to the Ark for repairs while Prowl organized a small detachment for reconnaissance purposes. Cliffjumper and Mirage were teamed together for the recon assignment, but were captured by Ultra Magnus and his contingent of soldiers. Mirage gave up without a fight, eager to return home to Cybertron, which led Cliffjumper to declare him a traitor to the Autobot cause (deja vu...rising...).

Still, they settled their differences once Mirage saved him from Dirge during the uprising on Cybertron.

Following the Autobot takeover of Cybertron, Cliffjumper was assigned to the shuttle Orion under Bumblebee's command, bringing supplies back to Jazz and his troops on Earth. Their routine mission was almost immediately interrupted by one of Shockwave's rogue creations, the super-clone known as Sunstorm who was engaging Autobot and Decepticon alike on Earth. Cliffjumper worked loyally under Bumblebee's command during this endeavor, participating in Ratchet and Jetfire's plans to disable the solar-powered Decepticon, but missed out on the final battle because he was attending to the injured Omega Supreme.

Marvel Books Big Looker Storybook continuity


In "The Great Car Rally", a bunch of humans set up a race for charity. The victor would received a year's supply of oil and gasoline. Well, the Decepticons desperately wanted that bounty, so rather than just steal it, they decided to sneak into the race. Cliffjumper was one of the Autobots driving in the rally and was unaware that the scary black Cadillac was actually being driven by Megatron. Megatron dogged Cliffjumper for quite a while but ended up losing to the Minibot. Cliffjumper won the race and everybody smiled, even Optimus Prime.

IDW comics continuity
Cliffjumper was seen mourning Bumper and Fastback at the Security Services HQ in Kaon.

Generation 1

 * Cliffjumper (Mini-Vehicle, 1984)
 * Japanese ID number: 13


 * Cliffjumper was part of the initial series of 1984 Autobots. His mold was originally used to make a Microchange "MC-04 #01 Porsche 924 Turbo", a cutesified, "Penny Racer"-style representation of the real car. In the original Japanese release, this figure was available in red, yellow, and blue. For the first series Transformers release, there were common instances of the yellow version of Cliffjumper and the red version of Bumblebee being sold at US retail. This lead to some confusion about the two characters, especially if the toys were found without their packaging.


 * Like the other first series Minibots, Cliffjumper was released in many different color schemes by the companies who licensed Transformers for South American countries.


 * This mold was retooled to make Hubcap. He should not be confused with Bumper, who was erroneously packaged on Cliffjumper cards.


 * Cliffjumper (Listen 'n Fun, 1985)
 * A yellow version of Cliffjumper was packaged with an audio cassette featuring the story "Sun Raid" as part of Hasbro's multi-brand Listen 'n Fun subline. As the other known Listen 'n Fun releases—including Tripwire for G.I. Joe and "Ember" for My Little Pony—had intentional deco changes from their original releases, it is likely that Cliffjumper becoming yellow was intentional as well.


 * Cliffjumper (Keychain Mini-Vehicle, 2001/2003/2007)
 * Released in the US by Fun-4-All at the same time as a "keychain" Bumblebee, this was a slight retooling of the first Cliffjumper toy which added a loop to the back bumper for a keychain attachment. In 2003, Takara released all four of the keychain Minibots (Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, Windcharger, and Brawn) for the Japanese market in both their original decos and in exclusive all-black coloration. Early in 2007, Hasbro re-released the "keychain" Mini-Vehicles for the US under the "Heroes of Cybertron" sub-line, which popped up in stores like Wal-Mart as well as smaller chains like the original releases.


 * This mold was redecoed into Tap-Out.


 * Cliffjumper(McDonald's Happy Meal toy, 1984)


 * One of the four toys given out during a 1984 McDonald's Happy Meal promotion, Cliffjumper came in four different colors: red, yellow, blue and green. The toy was a statue in robot mode, only given out for a short time in St. Louis as a test run.

Classics

 * Cliffjumper (Deluxe, 2006/2007)
 * Accessories: "Wave Crusher" trailer



Classics Cliffjumper is a red, silver, gray and black redeco of the Classics Bumblebee toy, transforming into a small sports coupe of made-up model and towing a small trailer with a non-removable jet-ski. This "Wave Crusher" trailer/jet-ski transforms into a flight-pack that clips onto Cliffjumper's back.


 * This mold was also used to make Bug Bite.

Robot Heroes

 * Decepticon Sneak Attack (Figure Multi-pack, 2007)


 * Cliffjumper is a red, gray and black redeco of the Robot Heroes Bumblebee toy. He was only available in the Wal-Mart exclusive "Decepticon Sneak Attack" five-pack along with "Supermetal" versions of Optimus Prime and Megatron, a clear-plastic Mirage, and Skywarp.

Merchandise

 * Cliffjumper Decoy (1987)
 * A tiny, unpainted, red rubber figurine of Cliffjumper was packed randomly among the other 51 Decoys in the packages of 1987 Transformers toys. It is notable for being the first Cliffjumper figure to be based on his character model.

Released by Diamond Select Toys in 2008, Cliffjumper was sculpted by Mark Wong of Art Asylum and limited to 1,000 pieces. The sculpt features Cliffjumper holding the gun he was seen using in "More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1". However, this version omits the stabilizing struts that were present in the episode. This bust is also notable for being the first new mold G1 Cliffjumper has received since his Decoy in 1987, a period of over twenty years!
 * Cliffjumper Mini Bust (Diamond Select, 2008)

Unreleased

 * One of the earliest proposals in the Alternators/Binaltech line was for Bumblebee as a Volkswagen New Beetle, with Cliffjumper as the redeco. Unfortunately, VW had similar concerns as Porsche, what with not wanting to be associated with "war toys", therefore the design never made it past the control drawing stage. Control drawings for both Bumblebee and Cliffjumper have been published in the Japanese Transformers: Binaltech & TF Collection Complete Guide book.