Starscream (Aurex)


 * Starscream is a Decepticon in the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.



Starscream is disillusioned by his leader Megatron. It took a while for Starscream to come to grips with Megatron's faults, but there's no turning back. Megatron doesn't respect him, doesn't appreciate him, and would casually toss Starscream's life away if it got him something he wanted. If following Megatron is the school of hard knocks, then Starscream is the valedictorian -- but not without a few scars. Starscream may have once been compassionate, he may once have known what true friendship is, but all that has been replaced, scab for scab, with the lessons of Megatron's abuse.

Unwittingly, Megatron may have created a monster even he cannot ultimately control.

Starscream's nominal Mini-Con partner is Swindle, thought he has been seen to work with Zapmaster.

Japanese name: Nightscream (Energon)

Armada

 * Voice Actor: Michael Dobson (English), Jin Yamanoi (Japan)

Accompanying Megatron's forces to Earth, Starscream was deliberately made to be the last of the Decepticons to acquire a personal partner Mini-Con. Infuriated by this mistreatment, Starscream's resent for and hatred of Megatron made him a chink in the armor of the Decepticons that could be easily exploited by the manipulative Sideways.

Initially, Sideways coerced Starscream into a duel with Megatron, which he promptly lost. A short time later, Thrust, acting under the instructions Sideways, further exploited Starscream by making him the patsy in his latest plan. Starscream was given the Star Saber and allowed to run riot to draw the Autobots out of their base, but was then abandoned on the battlefield so that the other Decepticons could invade the base and steal the Requiem Blaster.

Surviving to return to the Decepticon base, Starscream went on a rampage with the sword and disowned the Decepticons, siding up with the wary Autobots, not out of any desire to do good, but simply out of sheer hatred for Megatron. After a clash with Hot Shot and a trip to Mars with Jetfire, Starscream befriended the Autobots' human allies, particularly Alexis, and then gave the Autobots access to the Decepticon base, resulting in a raid that freed all the captive Mini-Cons. Starscream's defection was not a smooth process, however; he constantly clashed with his new teammates over morals and battle strategies, but nonetheless proved a capable, and on at least some level, willing Autobot.

Soon thereafter, Sideways and Thrust approached Starscream, planting seeds of doubt in his mind. This eventually caused him to steal the Skyboom shield from the Autobots and return to the Decepticon fold, giving the Decepticons possession of all three Mini-Con weapons.



Subsequently, Starscream was among the Transformers injured battling Nemesis Prime, and who then received "Powerlinx" power boosts from their Mini-Cons. Starscream gained a new, blue coloration that he commented made him look like his contemporary, Thundercracker, with disgust just dripping from his tone. Returning to Cybertron, Starscream pursued Thrust into the depths of the planet when the turncoat tactician revealed his treachery by stealing the Requiem Blaster and Skyboom shield. Starscream took a fatal shot from the Requiem Blaster as he battled Thrust in the subterranean tunnels, but the Mini-Con High Wire used his powers to restructure the timeline, saving Starscream (and throwing the human kids back in time, and.. well it's confusing).

Thrust escaped and delivered the weapons to Sideways and his master, Unicron, presently disguised as Cybertron's moon. Following Thrust through a warp gate and briefly reuniting with Alexis, Starscream entered the belly of the beast along with Hot Shot and Wheeljack, but the unlikely trio were stymied by Unicron's internal defenses and failed to stop Sideways from using the weapons to begin Unicron's reactivation.

Megatron - now Galvatron - was unwilling to acknowledge Unicron's threat, dismissing it as an Autobot trick, but Starscream knew the threat was real, and that only united under a true leader like Optimus Prime - whose strength of character and nobility had touched Starscream during his time with the Autobots - could the Transformers hope to stop him. To show Galvatron the error of his ways, he challenged him to a duel in which he allowed Galvatron to run him through with the Star Saber. Galavatron realised what happened and demanded to know what possessed Starscream to do such a thing.

Starscream told him that he tried to gain Galvatron's respect, but nothing was ever good enough, no matter how many battles he fought, his leader always found fault. Optimus Prime treated his men with respect, and was thus a leader of integrity, unlike Galvatron. But that didn't matter anymore, and after tearing the Starsaber out with his bear hands, Starscream turned his full firepower onto Unicron. The Chaos Bringer promptly obliterated him, to the shock of both Galvatron and Optimus Prime. When the dust settled, Galvatron stood reflecting upon Starscream's last words, and as a gesture, handed his enemy the Star Saber.

Unfortunately, Sideways ran off with it two seconds later. But it's the thought that counts.

Energon

 * Voice Actor: Michael Dobson (English), Nobuo Tobita (Japanese)

Ten years after Starscream's death, when Megatron seized control of Unicron's body by ousting its former occupant, the alien being Alpha Quintesson, the evicted extra-terrestrial needed an assassin to eliminate Megatron so that he could return to his original task of recreating the worlds destroyed by Unicron. Using what little energon he had left, Alpha Q recreated another victim of Unicron - Starscream. However, Alpha Q ran out of energon before the process could be completed, leaving Starscream incomplete - his memory blank, and his body unstable, constantly shifting from a physical to an ethereal form, able to teleport by "ghosting" from location to location.

Alpha Q unleashed Starscream upon Ocean City, where he battled Optimus Prime and then tracked Megatron back to Unicron's body. Even his awesome new abilities proved no match for the Decepticon leader, who used Unicron's power to brainwash Starscream, turning him into his right-hand man and most loyal subordinate. Rather ironically, Megatron now treated Starscream with far more respect than previously, even entrusting him with some of the most difficult missions.

Later, when Megatron became Galvatron again through immersion in a subterranean reservoir of super energon on Cybertron, Starscream was allowed to do the same as a reward for his loyalty; the influx of power stabilised his physical form, while allowing him to retain his teleporting powers. When Galvatron was subsequently possessed by Unicron, Primus used the super energon to create a sun, and Galvatron plunged himself into it in order to contain Unicron's spark within it. Starscream seemingly sacrificed himself as well, diving into the sun alongside his leader.

Cybertron

 * Voice actor: Michael Dobson (English) Takaya Kuroda (Japanese)

A decade after the Powerlinx Battles (as they were called), when Primus's plan to contain Unicron's spark at the core of the energon sun failed, the sun collapsed, becoming a deadly black hole that threatened Cybertron. Freed from his imprisonment in the sun by Megatron, Starscream's mind was his own again, and his body was refurbished into yet another new form.

Megatron began his campaign to acquire the legendary Cyber Planet Keys by stealing the map that showed their locations from the ancient Transformer, Vector Prime while Starscream created a diversion that kept the other Autobots busy. During the fight, Starscream sent Landmine tumbling into the black hole, but Vector Prime saved him at the last moment, opening a dimensional gate that teleported him to Earth.

The Autobots and Decepticons followed, and when it was deduced that the Cyber Planet Keys' focusing device, the Omega Lock, was hidden somewhere on the planet, Megatron charged Starscream with locating it while he focused on acquiring the Cyber Planet Key of Velocitron, the Speed Planet.

Little did Megatron suspect, however, that Starscream had evolved a new ambition - now, he sought to oust Megatron and become the leader of the Decepticons, then the universe. Unlike those with similar goals, however, Starscream was smart enough to keep his intentions to himself, quietly working to achieve his goals through subtle means. While on a brief mission to attack Red Alert on Velocitron, Starscream was able to secretly switch Megatron's map with a copy that would play an important role later, and in an attempt to acquire more troops loyal to him, recruited the disillusioned Autobot Mudflap into his service on Earth. He later crossed paths once again with the mysterious Sideways, who saw in him the best chance to achieve his own goals.

With the Autobots having successfully acquired the Omega Lock and the Cyber Planet Keys from Velocitron and the Jungle Planet, Starscream realised it was time to step up his agenda. His duplicate planet map led Megatron and the other Decepticons to a dead sector of space and sealed them within a metal sphere, freeing Starscream to search for the third Cyber Planet Key, from Earth itself. Encountering the Autobot monster-hunter, Crosswise - one of the ancient Transformers whose ancestors had come to Earth with the Cyber Planet Key eons ago, who had recently been reactivated - Starscream discovered a vast underground holding cell in which Crosswise had imprisoned the ancient Decepticons of his time.

Liberating them, Starscream took command of their forces and began a planetwide search for the Cyber Planet Key, fighting back the Autobot and human military resistance. The Autobots had Crosswise's ally Evac recover the key from its hiding place in preparation for a retreat to Velocitron, but Starscream fought his way through the entire Autobot army and confronted Optimus Prime himself, successfully purloining the lock and all three keys by endangering the Autobots' human allies and drawing Prime out of the fight.

Retreating to a small volcanic island in the South Pacific, Starscream attempted to harness the power of the Cyber Planet Keys. Megatron, meanwhile, had been freed by Scourge, and immediately sought retribution, only to wind up clashing with the Autobots first. The extra time this afforded, along with the distraction of having Starscream's new troops (including Thunderblast and Lugnutz) defending him from both sides, allowed Starscream to tap the power of the keys and harness a fragment of the spark of Primus, growing to a gigantic height and besting Megatron in combat. With an extra power boost courtesy of his combination with Wing Saber, Optimus Prime was able to defeat Starscream, but Sideways teleported his body away to the ancient starship Atlantis to recuperate.

When the Cyber Planet Keys were used by the Autobots to awaken Primus and tranform Cybertron into his body, Starscream successfully attempted to drain more of his power and grew to planetary size. He was defeated in one-on-one combat with Primus himself, battered into submission by Cybertron's moons, and drained of his excess power. The discovery of the fourth Cyber Planet Key on Gigantion, the Giant Planet, set Starscream racing to acquire the key first, but Landmine reached it ahead of him and was able to use its power to pay him back for past indignities by growing to his size and pummelling him.

With all four Cyber Planet Keys finally acquired, Starscream challenged Megatron - now Galvatron once more - to a final battle for possession of them. So incredible were the energies released during the clash that space and time itself was rended by the final explosion, and Starscream was hurtled into to another dimension along with the interfering Sideways and Soundwave. He would appear for one final time before a defeated Galvatron, his spirit reaching out across the dimensions to encourage him to fight on - leading Galvatron to his final demise at the hands of Optimus Prime on Cybertron's Moon.

As the Autobots made preparations to begin their new galaxy-spanning space bridge initiative, Wing Saber - having departed from the rest of the Autobots to continue with his "loner" lifestyle - radioed Optimus to repot that he had found a lead on Starscream's trail and was pursuing it. Landmine and a reformed Mudflap departed to aid him, and would eventually encounter Starscream within the walls of firespace, where Galvatron last saw him.

Armada
Starscream lacked the more complex nature of his animated counterpart, filling the position of "snarky second-in-command" as Starscreams tend to do. He also gave Megatron the finger. (Behind his back, of course. He's not THAT stupid!)

Energon
In the wake of the unification of Autobots and Decepticons following Unicron's defeat, Starscream tried to ingratiate himself with Tidal Wave and the rest of the remaining Decepticons. His wheedling didn't last long, though, as Scorponok showed up and promptly blasted him into a trash compactor. Later, during the Terrorcon attack on Earth, Starscream reappeared in his new form as an energon ghost and incapactitated Demolishor.

(Note: Due to Dreamwave's subsequent bankruptcy, this ended up being his only appearance in his Energon form.)

Fun Publications Cybertron comic
Starscream killed Mini-Con Over-Run as the little guy was uploading himself into Cybertron's planetary mainframe.

(Note: This is an allusion to a Dreamwave Comics continuity event, but apparently it also took place in the animated continuity, too? Well, okay.  Don't think too hard on this one.)

Panini comics continuity
Starscream answered letters!

Transformers Playstation 2 game

 * Voice actor: Matt Hetherington



Starscream was stationed in Antarctica, overseeing Decepticlone operations in recovering the Mini-Con storage panels found in the area, using a human research center they overran as his base of operations. When the Autobots ventured too close, Starscream attacked (blowing up the hangar he was holed up in first), but was shot out of the sky and left for dead.

Having survived his initial defeat, Starscream followed the Autobots to Alaska. There he collided his starship into a mountain in an attempt to crush them, but the Autobots escaped unscathed. This also gave them the chance to infiltrate the downed ship and free the captive Mini-Con Aftershock from the control room. Starscream used his null laser cannons at full power in an attempt to finish off his foes, but only succeeded in cutting the rock face below the ship, which collapsed and sent the precariously-blanaced ship plunging into the valley below. The impact of the crash buried the bow deep into the earth, forcing the Autobots to climb their way up and out to the surface.



When the Autobots pulled free from the buried ship and got back to ground-level, Starscream attacked again. But this battle too ultimately ended in defeat, leading Optimus Prime to interrogate him as to the whereabouts of Megatron. When Starscream refused and attempted to fire his functional null ray at point-blank range, Optimus knocked him unconscious with a well-aimed punch. He then ordered Red Alert to hack the treacherous Decepticon's warp transponder, which led them to Megatron's Pacific Island base.

Armada

 * Starscream with Swindle (Mega-Con, 2002/2003)
 * Japanese ID number: MD-02




 * Starscream transforms into a Cybertronic jet fighter. In both modes, pressing down on his cockpit canopy activates electronic sound effects; in jet mode, it also deploys his Mini-Con partner Swindle if he is stored under the cockpit.  Plugging a Mini-Con onto his rearmost Powerlinx plug releases two spring-activated over-shoulder spring-loaded missile launchers, as well as more electronic sound effects.  His left wing detaches and unfolds to form a large sword for use in robot mode.


 * The Takara verion of this toy is largely identical to the Hasbro version, but uses a brighter light gray plastic, gold paint instead of yellow, more detailed paint applications on the wings, and has a "separated" Decepticon sigil deco. The canopy section on the Japanese version is parallel to the rest of the jet mode, while the American points more downward.  This is due to a retooling of the area that meets his chest, and was done for safety reasons, making the nosecone "collapse" easier if pressed point-first into, say, your little brother.


 * This mold was also used to make Universe Ramjet, Armada Skywarp and Armada Thundercracker.


 * Starscream (Happy Meal premium, 2003)


 * Part of the McDonald's Armada promotion, this version of Starscream transforms into a Cybertronic jet the somewhat resembles his larger toy. It features a pull-back motor gimmick that propels his jet-mode forward, then leaps up to instantly convert to robot mode, like the Generation 1 Jumpstarters.  In jet mode, he can combine with the other three Happy Meal Decepticons to form a goofy-looking super vehicle.


 * Starscream Supermode with Spark Grid (Mega-Con, 2003)
 * Japanese ID number: MD-09




 * The Takara version of the Armada Thundercracker toy represents a powered-up version of Starscream instead of a new character. This toy is almost identical to the Hasbro Thundercracker, but uses a darker more vivid blue plastic and a darker more vivid red.  Also the canopy section on the Japanese version is parallel to the rest of jet mode, while the American points more downward.  This is due to a retooling of the area that meets his chest and was done for safety reasons.


 * He comes with a powered-up version of his Mini-Con, Grid.


 * Starscream with Swindle (Built to Rule, 2003)


 * Built to Rule Starscream is a building-brick set that can be assembled into a Cybertronic fighter jet or a robot, or to whatever else you feel like. He came with a building-brick version of Swindle.  The set features two missile launchers that use a unique "twist-block" pressure-launch mechanism.


 * This set was later released in different colors as Thundercracker and Zapmaster.

Energon

 * Starscream (Deluxe, 2004)
 * Japanese ID number: SD-01




 * Energon Starscream transforms into a jet fighter loosely based upon the F/A-22 Raptor, cast mostly in dark clear-green plastics to emphasize his "energon ghost" status. The toy also features numerous spots of sculpted battle damage and asymmetrical plastic-color layouts to further enhance the effect.  He comes with two very large accessories, a sword and a non-firing blaster, which can combine to form a really larger sword and/or non-firing blaster.  In jet mode he has two wing-mounted spring-loaded missile launchers, which can flip up over his robot-mode shoulders for "Hyper Mode".


 * The Japanese version of this mold, called "Nightscream", uses gray instead of blue, a lighter shade of red paint, and darker blue paint.


 * He is not a retool of Generation 2 Smokescreen, dammit.


 * Prowl with Longarm & Starscream with Zapmaster (Multi-pack, 2004)


 * Part of a Sam's Club exclusive set, the original Starscream toy was redecoed in primarily dark gray with burgundy and black accents. His Mini-Con partner was Zapmaster this time around rather than Swindle.  The set also included Energon Prowl as an Armada Red Alert redeco with Longarm.


 * Energon Starscream (Deluxe, 2004)
 * Japanese ID number: SD-19




 * Energon Starscream was redecoed into a more Generation 1-inspired color scheme, primarily light gray with blue and red accents. The Takara "Nightscream Rebirth" release of the toy has some significant differences, the most notable being the use of clear-blue plastics in the place of some of the solid-gray in the Hasbro version.  Gray plastic was used in place of black, and many paint details were different.  It also came with a yellow version of Energon Insecticon's energon drill weapon.


 * Starscream (Built to Rule, 2004)


 * The Energon version of Built To Rule Starscream was designed with a much more solid skeleton with larger, blockier limbs. He can be rebuilt from a Cybertronic jet fighter with pressure-launch missiles, to a robot, to basically whatever you feel like doing with the parts.


 * Unfortunately, due to the slow performance of the Built to Rule line overall, the Energon versions only had a limited, test market release initially in and around Cincinnati, Ohio. The sets later filtered out into many "Tuesday Morning" chain stores at drastically dropped prices.

Cybertron

 * Starscream (Voyager, 2005)
 * Japanese ID number: GD-03


 * Galaxy Force Starscream transforms into a Cybertronic starfighter. In both modes, plugging a Cyber Planet Key into his back end flips out a spring-loaded blade from each arm.  His spring-loaded missile launcher can be used as either a hand-held weapon, or mounted under his jet-mode nosecone.  He comes with a Cybertron-Decepticon-style Cyber Planet Key.


 * This mold in these colors was never released in the Habsbro Cybertron line, most likely to not interfere with sales of the much larger Supreme Starscream toy (see below).


 * Starscream (Supreme, 2005)
 * Supreme Starscream is a colossally-upscaled version of the Voyager-class Starscream toy, with quite a few changes. The most notable is the change in his Cyber Planet Key gimmick: each arm has a separate Key jack in it rather than the Voyager's single joint-jack.  While the right arm still deploys a blade, the left arm now reveals a "null laser cannon" spring-loaded missile launcher.  The original back-mounted Key jack still exists in a fashion, though it does not activate any gimmicks and merely serves as a Key storage space (a rarity among Cybertron toys).  A second storage-only jack is found on the underside of the same assembly.  The two small guns on the sides of his cockpit can swivel up to firing position in robot mode, and he also has several electronic light and sound gimmicks, including one activated by moving his sword-arm.


 * He comes with a Decepticon "Crown of Leadership" that fits over his noggin, and also is the only Cybertron toy to come with two Cyber Planet Keys, a Cybertron-Decepticon Key, and a gold-bordered Earth-style Key. Both Keys have the Key Code "s5a3" tampographed on their backs.  (The placement of these accessories in the box varies in later releases.)


 * In Japan, this toy was released as a Toys "R" Us exclusive, basically in US packaging.


 * Starscream vs. Vector Prime (Multi-pack, 2005)


 * The only Hasbro release of the Voyager Starscream mold, this primarily-burgundy redeco came in a two-pack with an unaltered Vector Prime, and was exclusive to Toys "R" Us stores. It was also sold for slightly less than the cost of two Voyagers.


 * Starscream (Legends of Cybertron, 2005)
 * A colossally downscaled and simplified version of the Cybertron Starscream figure was released as part fo the first wave of the Legends of Cybertron series. He transforms into the same Cybertronic starfighter altmode, and has flip-out weapons (one sword, one non-firing blaster).


 * In Japan, the toy was sold as part of the very short-lived "EZ Collection". It was given more extensive paint applications than the Hasbro version.


 * This mold was used to make Legends of Cybertron Ramjet, Skywarp and Sunstorm.


 * EZ Collection Clear Set (Multi-pack, 2005)


 * A three-pack of Legends of Cybertron Megatron, Optimus Prime and Starscream using clear plastics in some parts was released in Japan. It was a mail-away exclusive to TV Magazine.

Attacktix

 * Starscream (Booster, 2006)
 * Attacktix ID number: TF08


 * Attacktix Starscream is a missile-launching piece based on his Cybertron robot mode, a 30-point "Commander" with a common 6 "tix" of movement, and a maximum of 8 "tix". His Special Power, "Rally", enables a player to return any one of their already-defeated Decepticon pieces to play.


 * As with all Booster-pack pieces, Starscream came with both black and chrome-silver bases. A "Super-Rare" piece, there is a one in twelve chance of getting Starscream in any blind-packed Booster set.


 * Starscream (Booster, 2007)


 * This Starscream is a missile launching piece based on his Energon Energon form's vehicle mode.

Merchandise

 * A soft-plastic PVC figurine of Starscream's animation model was released in "Act-9" of Takara's Super Collection Figure series. It came in both full-color and pewter-finish version, one each per case of twelve.


 * A larger non-transforming PVC figure of Starscream was released in the Mega Super Colleciton figure series. Like other toys in the line, he came with a few extra pieces, like a separate wing-sword, and a mini-PVC of his Mini-Con partner Swindle.

Trivia

 * According the the Armada video game's instruction booklet, Starscream (in his Armada-era body) has the following statistics:
 * Height: 19' 7" (15' 1" vehicle mode length)
 * Weight: 22,050 lbs
 * Thrust: 28,000 lbs
 * Vehicle Top Speed: Mach 2.7


 * Aaron Archer has expressed disappointment in how the Energon Starscream toy turned out, largely its design cues not quite coming across as intended.


 * The Cybertron Starscream design is based on the Generation 1 Starscream body from the Dreamwave comic series "The War Within", designed by Don Figueroa.


 * The Supreme Starscream's crown is modeled directly after the crown Generation 1 Starscream wore in the 1986 Movie, though this Starscream actually wore it for more than thirty seconds before dying.


 * Armada Starscream's body parts made frequent cameos in the CGI models of the generic Decepticon and Autobot soldiers during the Energon cartoon series, despite Starscream not actually ever appearing in his Armada body during the series.