Skywarp (G1)


 * Skywarp is a Decepticon in the Generation 1 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.


 * Italian name: Corvo
 * French-Canadian name: Fraudeur
 * Hungarian name: Égretörő (translates to "Sky-springer")

Marvel Comics continuity
(Note: Events from the UK comics are marked in italics.) 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. 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's no way he could have killed Starscream in the future. Believing he was in an alternate past and thus nothing he did there would effect 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 on-line. 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.

Fun Publications Classics comics
fanclub

Generation 1 cartoon

 * 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-1. 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-1 to briefly take 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 use 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 part way 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.

(Note: Though no reason is stated in-story as to how or why or when Skywarp got this new body between the Great War and the Beast Era, Wreckers plotter Glen Hallit noted that Skywarp's body was based on a mass-production bodytype of its day, similar to Generation 1 ' s Seekers.)

Dreamwave comics continuity
Skywarp was one of several Decepticon invaders onboard 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 several Transformers who survived the disasterous 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 seperatate component robots.

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.

Note: ''Skywarp appeared sporadically in this mini-series, but was not shown again after issue 4, for whatever reason. Naturally he reappears in the subsequent mini-series and on-going the Generation 1 title.''

IDW comics continuity
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.

Starscream assigned him and Blitzwing to destroy all traces of the Nebraska operation, but, after demolishing the abandoned Nebraska command bunker, he is severely damaged by Megatron who, unfortunately for Skywarp had been inside at the time. This Megatron is apparently not one to hold grudges and he soon has Skywarp repaired and functioning again, under the understanding that there will be no further second chances.

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.

It would appear that Skywarp has the ability to teleport others in addition to himself in this continuity, as he and Astrotrain appear to both fly out of one of his warps during a battle.

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 1

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




 * (Note: For some reason, the stats on Skywarp's, Starscream's and Thundercracker's tech specs were switched around. Skywarp was given Starscream's numbers, which explains his high intelligence and rank.)


 * 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 ring, black feet, black shins, black outer arm panels, purple horizontal stabilizers, and both sets of missiles are purple.  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.


 * 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, and Robot Masters Wing Stun''.

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 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 1 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 attach under his wings in vehicle mode. As with most Classics toys, he also features a heat-sensitive rubsign.


 * Skywarp was retooled from the earlier Starscream figures. The retool is present in the jet intake area.  The slope of his shoulders was decreased from Starscream, 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.  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 for regular separate releases would be approximately $30 worth of toys. He was also available in Woolworth stores throughout the United Kingdom.

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

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, it was one of the two prizes, the other being a mostly clear reissue Starscream (not to be confused with Ghost Starscream reissue) 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 fists, and the hand weilding Megatron in gun mode), Skywarp was to be among the first of 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 loosing the license to run the offical Transformers fan club.  At least a couple sample versions were produced.

Robot Heroes

 * Skywarp (2007)


 * Skywarp is one of the five exculsive 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.

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 instead find 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 likeliness, 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 Austrailian (Madman) DVD release of Transformers: The Movie definitely claim that Skywarp became Cyclonus. Basically nobody considers that weighty "evidence".