Astrotrain (G1)


 * Astrotrain is a Decepticon in the Generation 1 continuity family.



Astrotrain loves to sow confusion. To this end, his Triple Changer abilities serve him well. Nothing pleases him more than confronting an Autobot in a dark corner and making him wonder if he's up against one Decepticon or two. He craves having this power over others. Single-minded, you may say, but when most of your time is spent transporting troops around, you have to take your jollies where you can. He wants more from life, but it's either fly the other Decepticons around, or get scrapped by them.

He also craves having power over a massive army of train drones. Follow your dreams, Astrotrain. Follow your dreams. "It's always the same thing. I fly them to points unknown, exhaust all my fuel, and they get to have all the fun."

- Astrotrain on his eternal role as the Decepticons' ride


 * Italian name: Triplex Uno
 * Chinese name: Da Huo-che ("Great Train")
 * Hungarian name: Űrvonat ("Space Train")

Cartoon continuity

 * Voice actor: Jack Angel (US), Takurō Kitagawa (Japan)



Astrotrain arrived on Earth during the second year of Megatron's campaign to conquer the planet and its energy resources. His activities prior to that point remain unclear.

He once transported Megatron to the Moon where he and the Decepticons' leader attempted to jam Earth's radio waves. The attempt was interrupted by the arrival of Omega Supreme, two humans and Optimus Prime. Astrotrain engaged in a bad pun, accused Omega Supreme of being too outdated to catch him, and then was the victim of a Cybertronian's impression of a sandworm (see image) before being thrown a few planetary diameters.



Typically one of the more easy-going among the Decepticons, even Astrotrain isn't above letting a little power go to his head. While tracking Cosmos, he shot down the Autobot, who had been on a fuel scouting mission, and managed to trick the people of Titan into believing that he was one of their Sky Gods, so that they would mine energy crystals for him and the Decepticons. Astrotrain used Jero, a corrupt High Priest who was as fanatical as he was ruthless, to further his ends. However, the Autobots Jazz and Perceptor arrived aboard Omega Supreme looking for Cosmos. Omega Supreme was virtually out of fuel after the trip, but the Autobots soon managed to refuel him using the energy crystals. Knowing that he, Starscream and Thrust alone couldn't beat Omega Supreme, Astrotrain destroyed the crystals in a fit of pique before flying off, leaving Jero to die like the worm he was. Harsh, Astrotrain, harsh.

However, the incident on Titan had given Astrotrain a taste of power, and he decided he liked it. With the help of Blitzwing, Astrotrain froze Megatron and Starscream in a sewer system in order to take over the Decepticons. He then created an army of trains to help him rule, thinking it was a good idea. Although he managed to amass a surprisingly large amount of Energon cubes, the productive day ended with him flooding the entire city after bursting a water main. Worse, Megatron thawed out. The embarrassment of these incidents forced Astrotrain to creep back into the Decepticon ranks quietly... at fusion cannon point.

Astrotrain transported Megatron, Starscream and Rumble to the lost Autobot colony of Antilla, where they discovered the entire civilization had been wiped out by the deadly Cosmic Rust. Not heeding a holographic warning from the Autobots, Megatron ventured further into the colony and seized an advanced heat ray weapon from its storage chamber. As they left Antilla, a Cosmic Rust spore-filled asteroid appeared to chase after Astrotrain, prompting Megatron to test out of the power of the 'lightning bug' weapon on the space rock. The blast obliterated the asteroid, but the shrapnel from the explosion pierced Astrotrain's hull and punctured Megatron's chest plate, infecting him with Cosmic Rust. Oddly enough, Astrotrain was never infected.

He also transported the Decepticons away after getting their aft-sections handed to them at Autobot City. He couldn't make it back to Cybertron with the amount of weight on board, so they tossed some dead weight overboard. After that, Astrotrain served as the ring for the subsequent fight among the Decepticons to replaced the ejected Megatron, where the Constructicons formed Devastator inside him (slag, Astrotrain is big!) and Rumble and Frenzy used their piledrivers (slag, Astrotrain is sturdy!) Apparently, they all made it back fine, and Astrotrain was the one to crown Starscream during his coronation as the new Decepticon leader.

When the Decepticons lost their hold of Cybertron, Astrotrain went with the rest of them to Chaar, where he was seen trying to deliver Energon cubes to the starving army. When he tried to take a cube for himself while the Constructicons were fighting amongst themselves for the energy, they merged into Devastator and kicked him aside. Devastator was then distracted by Menasor, and Astrotrain made another move for the cube, only to be shot by Cyclonus. Such is life. When Cyclonus insulted the Decepticons for their behavior, Astrotrain somewhat notably mentioned that he knew Galvatron and Megatron "were the same guy". Cyclonus later stated that he needed energon as it was needed to revive Galvatron, and Astrotrain gave him the rest of his supplies. He got an inspirational speech in return.

Astrotrain then helped Galvatron and the Predacons with the plan to destroy Cybertron with a death crystal cannon. Later on, when intruders found their way inside Trypticon, Astrotrain responded to the alarm but ended up being possessed by Starscream's ghost because of his useful cargo space. Starscream flew his body most of the way toUnicron's head, then left it when he closed in on Cybertron, leaving Astrotrain to be shot down by the Protectobots. Astrotrain was then captured and interrogated by the Autobots, but was as confused as they were. He was later released as a way of thanking Scourge for revealing Unicron's plans to them.

Later, Astrotrain stumbled upon Sky Lynx in space and battled him until the two were suddenly interrupted by a laser barrage from the nearby Planet of Junk and retreated. Astrotrain returned to Chaar to report this to Galvatron, who punched him in the face, insulted him and stated that he didn't care.

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform: The Transformers manga
Astrotrain photographed the incomplete Autobot City, with the aid of Reflector's camera mode, so that Megatron could decipher whether or not it was powerful enough to stand up to Trypticon.

Generation 1
''Astrotrain was one of Lord Straxus' warriors on Cybertron, operating out of Darkmount in Polyhex. At Megatron's demand, he called a group of Decepticons back from a planned assassination attempt on Emirate Xaaron and the Autobot leaders, leaving all the Decepticons unaware that it was actually a ploy by the Autobots to wipe them out. ''



Astrotrain and his fellow Triple Changers were commissioned by Ratbat to investigate the loss of his priceless cargo that had arrived on Earth via a low-cost freighter, but hadn't checked in as scheduled. Upon making contact with the crashed ship, Astrotrain and his companions were infected with Scraplets, and began to slowly waste away. Lucky for them, the Autobot Blaster was also infected, and his friends managed to re-discover the strange and wondrous chemical that acted as a cure. In saving Blaster, the Triple Changers were incidentally saved as well.

Having gathered the cargo and hypnotically secured the aid of a useful human, G.B. Blackrock, the Triple Changers linked up with Shockwave's Decepticons on Earth, which soon fell under the command of their former superior on Cybertron, Ratbat. The Triple Changers were eventually destroyed battling Starscream in the Underbase Saga.

Generation 2
Astrotrain shows up among a crowd of Decepticons all fired up to tackle the armies of Jhiaxus, just before they're pretty much slaughtered.

Classics
fanclub

Dreamwave comics continuity


When Megatron needed a major distraction to infiltrate the subsectors of Iacon and establish Cybertron as a living war world, he sent Shockwave to command a full frontal assault against the Autobot capital. Astrotrain was among the many Decepticons who aided Shockwave in this siege. Later on, after Megatron's disappearance led to a factioning of the Decepticon army, Astrotrain began serving with Starscream's Predacons. The Predacons remained the only major hold out among the factions when Ultra Magnus negotiated a great peace between the Autobots and Decepticons due to low energon reserves planet-wide. Astrotrain and the Predacons attempted to prevent the peace treaty and the consolidation of their opponents, but their efforts were in vain until the surprise return of Megatron with his new Aerospace Extermination Squad, thousands of super-charged warriors grown from Quintesson cloning technology. The Decepticons managed to establish an Age of Internment until Optimus Prime finally returned to free the Autobots and equalize the sides once more.

After the disappearance of the Nemesis and its crew, Astrotrain and his fellow future Triple Changers, Octane and Blitzwing, began serving directly under Shockwave's command. When Shockwave learned how to perfect his Triple Changer process after the Great Shutdown, due to Unicronian technology he pilfered from Scourge, Astrotrain was one of the first to benefit from the procedure.

In 2003, Astrotrain, along with Broadside, Blitzwing, Sandstorm and Octane arrived with Shockwave on Earth to place the Earth-bound Transformers under arrest for war crimes and take them back to Cybertron. When Shockwave was eventually defeated and his control of Cybertron lost, Astrotrain and Blitzwing remained his loyal servants until the return of Megatron caused Astrotrain to switch loyalties while Blitzwing was destroyed.

IDW comics continuity
Astrotrain was part of a Decepticon insurgent cell that had operated covertly on Earth for at least four years, working to destabilize Earth's governing organizations and create global anarchy. Under the command of Starscream, he oversaw the extraction and refinement of the mysterious, Energon-like substance, Ore-13, but despite having sampled its power, he was unwilling to stand alongside Starscream against Megatron.

Later on, he took Starscream's place as the Earthbound Decepticon Infiltration Unit's second-in-command under Megatron, and continued to oversee the Ore-13 research. During Megatron's scheme to escalate the tensions between Brasnya and Russia, Astrotrain served as air cover for their ground forces, but was severely damaged by Hardhead and later retreated.

The wire in his forehead nearly exploded when Megatron ordered Sixshot to come to Earth several phases before his presence is normally requested, but Megatron told him to shut up. Witnessing his leader straying further from protocol every nano-klik, Astrotrain decided to do the unthinkable, something no sane Transformer would ever do except as a very last resort: deliberately reactivate Starscream. However, the alien Reapers suddenly attacked their headquarters, which forced Blitzwing to cover for Astrotrain when Megatron enquired to his whereabouts. Astrotrain himself revealed to Starscream his fear that if their plan didn't work out, they would all be dead, due to Megatron having Ore-13 and Sixshot. Starscream reassured him that this would not be the case. After Starscream successfully revealed Sixshot's wavering loyalty and deactivated him, Astrotrain popped up in the command bunker to helpfully point out the fact that Starscream was bravely taking on the Reapers by himself. Megatron deduced what was going on behind his back, but instead of punishment, ordered the other Decepticons into battle. After the destruction of the Reapers, Astrotrain expressed surprise at their victory and callously declared that the deaths of Runabout and Runamuck were acceptable losses.

IDW Hearts of Steel continuity


Referred to as the Astrotrain, the Decepticons built (or modified) Astrotrain to be the locomotive engine pulling their battle train to New York City. Astrotrain never speaks or transforms out of train mode during the story, but the cover of issue 4 appears to depict him in robot mode, and he clearly has some airplane components, so he is apparently a triple-changing Transformer in this continuity as in most. He is tough enough to ram through an Army blockade undamaged, but ends up driving off a cliff, and apparently falling to his destruction, despite having wings. His train mode is a black-and-purple locomotive, with a retracted propeller on the front, and batwings along the side.

Generation 1

 * Astrotrain (1985, 1986, 2004, 2005)
 * Japanese ID number: D-48, TFC-11
 * Accessories: "Ionic Displacer Rifle"




 * Astrotrain was one of the two Triple Changer toys released in 1985. He transforms into both a purple steam locomotive and a gray space shuttle. Like several other characters from Generation 1, the pre-production toy shown in Hasbro catalogs and stock photography does not match the final product.


 * In Japan, the 1985 release of Astrotrain had a color scheme based upon the real-life versions of the vehicles he transformed into, with a white space shuttle and a black steam locomotive. In 1986, Takara released Astrotrain in his US toy colors.


 * In 2004, Takara reissued Astrotrain his original Japanese white color scheme, but with the "NASA" stickers changed to "ASTR", and with white paint on the shuttle side of the die-cast front. In 2005, Hasbro released this version of Astrotrain on the Hasbro Toy Shop.


 * Astrotrain Proto Color Version (2004)
 * Japanese ID number: D-48
 * Accessories: "Ionic Displacer Rifle"


 * Often referred to as "Anime Astrotrain" by collectors, this version was decorated in colors used on the original 1986 toy's packaging as well as the Generation 1 animation model. He was an e-Hobby exclusive.

Classics

 * Astrotrain (Deluxe, 2006, 2008)
 * Japanese ID number: D-03
 * Accessories: Rifle




 * Classics Astrotrain, like much of the Classics line, is an extensive update of the original Astrotrain designed based heavily upon their cartoon appearances and using modern toy engineering techniques. He still transforms into a NASA space shuttle, though there are two rather obvious locomotive front halves on the sides of the rear hull, and instead of a steam engine, his secondary vehicle mode is a bullet train locomotive.  His robot mode is based heavily upon his Generation 1 cartoon animation model design, and is armed with a large purple laser rifle similar to the original toy's rifle.  However, purple highlights aside, his deco's color scheme is predominantly based on the original Takara toy.




 * As with all Classics toys, he has a heat-sensitive rubsign.


 * Classic Astrotrain will be released in Japan as part of the Henkei! Henkei! Transformers line by TakaraTomy. The colour scheme is similar to his original color scheme in the Generation 1 cartoon. Unlike the Hasbro Classics release, instead of a rubsign, he has two Decepticon sigils tampographed onto his wings. All Henkei toys feature a somewhat randomly vacuum-metallized part somewhere upon them, and Astrotrain is no exception, with his entire engine array metallized purple.

Trivia

 * The 1985 catalogs show a prototype Astrotrain toy, whose gray and purple color scheme is the one used in the cartoon. The prototype also has a number of design changes from the retail version: arms that extended on a slide joint, different feet, and a different head sculpt that was the basis for his character model.  He was shown with Blitzwing's weapons.  Being resin hard copies, these prototypes didn't transform.


 * Astrotrain's animation model is rather odd. Despite having the shuttle tailfin rather clearly folded up and slid into place within the torso...  it has another mystery tailfin jutting straight out of the back.  Huh.


 * Astrotrain, along with Cosmos and Omega Supreme, was one of three space-faring characters added to cartoon in 1985. In addition to the usual voice flanging given to the show's robotic characters, all three had an echoing reverberation applied to their voices, presumably to play up the "outer space" aspect.


 * While Astrotrain does not appear in the Stormbringer comic series (due in part to him being on Earth at the time), the trade paperback includes a design sketch for a Triple Changer which appears to be intended as Astrotrain's pre-Earth Cybertronian form.


 * In the IDW Generation 1 continuity, Astrotrain's space shuttle is essentially a far more realistic rendering of a space vehicle, but his third mode has been upgraded to a diesel-electric six-axle locomotive resembling a General Electric U28C model, along with custom features like red and purple headlights and a all-purple paint-job. It also has a Big F**king Gun mounted on the engine cowling. That's badass.


 * Astrotrain believes that those who worship Transformers are fools.