Silverbolt (G1)


 * Silverbolt is an Autobot Aerialbot and a Maximal from the Generation 1 continuity family.



Silverbolt's character is defined by his extreme fear of heights and by his refusal to bow to it. He constantly struggles to project the image of a brave, determined soldier to hide his fear from others. Optimus Prime named him leader of the Aerialbots in the hopes that worrying about them would give him something else to focus on besides his own phobia. This has proven true and, not surprisingly, the mature, responsible Silverbolt makes an excellent commander.

He can combine with his fellow Aerialbots to form the torso of Superion.


 * French-Canadian name: Éclairo
 * Italian name: Radiant

Cartoon continuity

 * Voice actor: Charles Adler (US), Tomomichi Nishimura (Japan)

Silverbolt was constructed out of a low-flying cargo transport vessel, which was modified to resemble an Earthen Concorde. He was later given life by Vector Sigma, along with the other Aerialbots, then returned to Earth with the Autobots via Omega Supreme. It was soon discovered that Silverbolt had a crippling weakness: an intense fear of heights, due to his low-altitude origins. Conversely, he was the only Aerialbot who wasn't a complete jerk. Because of this, Optimus made him commander of the Aerialbots, reasoning that it would give him something to worry about other than his acrophobia. He proved worthy of this role when he persuaded his mutinous team mates to help the Autobots protect humanity, by showing them how Sparkplug was able to disregard his fatigue at will due to his concern for Omega Supreme's well-being, something robots cannot do.

As the combined forces of the Autobots and Aerialbots sent the Decepticons into retreat, Silverbolt bravely went after Megatron and destroyed the Key to Vector Sigma, despite his great fear of heights. As he fell, he was saved at the last moment by Slingshot, who was impressed by his courage.

As a leader, Silverbolt was something of a killjoy to his fellow Aerialbots, encouraging moderation and self-control over daredevil flying and adventuring. One day, though, he congratulated Air Raid on strategically getting himself set on fire by Trypticon, and then personally flew down the monster's throat, throwing out laser bolts and imaginative taunts all the way down his gullet. Someone slipped a little too much caffeine into Silverbolt's oil that day.

Generation 1
The Aerialbots were created when Bumblebee filmed Devastator's combining sequence, following a Matrix-sent vision by Buster Witwicky of new Special Teams. Using the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, Optimus Prime gave the Aerialbots life. The leader, Silverbolt's alternate mode is that of a human transport airplane. After given life and during testing, Prime ordered them to stop the Decepticon assault on the Hoover Dam.

The fight went well, but Dirge used his super-sonic ability to bring out a Transformer's deepest fear, it warped Silverbolt's fear of heights (ironic for an Aerialbot) and forced him to land. The Aerialbots prevailed the fight, however, and as the Decepticons fled, Silverbolt combined them all to form Superion, trying to stop the drill from absorbing all of the Hoover Dam's electricity.

Superion's reflex was to strike out and kill the human who held Megatron in his gun form, but Silverbolt mentally stepped in and prevented him from doing so. He forced the Aerialbots to disassemble. The human fired Megatron's gun at the drill, winning the day for the Autobots.

Nonetheless, Silverbolt's mind was wiped along with his fellow Aerialbots shortly afterwards, due to Optimus Prime's dissatisfaction with the mission. Silverbolt would appear in other later battles with his teammates, usually getting blown out of the sky, if not to pieces.

Later, when Skids was transporting the human Donny Finkleberg home, Silverbolt and the Aerialbots were sent to do battle with the Stunticons. Both combiners fused, creating Menasor and Superion. Josie Beller, known as Circut Breaker, fired upon Superion, however, crippling him heavily and leaving Menasor the victor.

''They would battle Menasor again at a Blackrock plant, and this time the fusion worked so well everyone found out the other's weaknesses and neuroses. Horrified at his fear of heights being found out, Silverbolt drove Superion into a vicious, brutal fury. Following this, Silverbolt and the other Aerialbots would come under Jetfire's command to investigate enemy activity in Charlston. They would combine into Superion for the fourth and final time - their collective neuroses and loathing of each other's weaknesses made it impossible for Superion to focus on more than one thing at a time. Superion would never be seen after this. Silverbolt would later work to get over his fear. ''

With Optimus dead, Silverbolt was one of the high-ranking Autobots gathered by Perceptor to decide their new leader. Silverbolt voted for Grimlock - nice one... He later got killed by the Underbase-powered Starscream.

During the Unicron War, Grimlock revived Silverbolt along with other fallen Autobots to help in the battle against the Dark God, and when the Decepticons tried to strand the Autobots on a ruined Cybertron, Silverbolt was one of the pilots for Grimlock's reserve ships.

Silverbolt and the Aerialbots also resurfaced to counter the next-generation Cybertronians, but as usual, save for Skydive, they didn't really do anything noteworthy except fall for one of Hot Rod's tricks in a war game. His expression was priceless, however. He later fought at the planet Ethos, and had to be saved by Decepticons - ha ha.

Earthforce
''In the Earthforce side-continuity, Silverbolt was resurrected after the Underbase battle by Galvatron - he and his team went on to serve in the Earthforce unit. This would eventually see him part of Superion, once again rampaging thanks to Bombshell - I bet Buster wished he'd never had those bloody Special Teams visions. ''

''Sent on a mission to Yanix with five other Autobots, he was captured by Megadeath, who had tortured his comrades millions of years ago. Silverbolt got them to face their fear and move past it, saving their lives.''

Generation 2
After the defeat of Bludgeon and his Decepticons on Klo, the Autobots split into smaller combat units throughout the universe. Once Optimus Prime and Grimlock learned of the threat posed by the second generation Cybertronian army, though, the Autobot forces reconsolidated under their command. Slingshot and the other Aerialbots were first seen after the Autobots had retreated to an asteroid sanctuary for retraining. They were, um, outsmarted by Hot Rod.

Later, when Grimlock decided to countermand Prime's orders and come to his aid against the Decepticons on Earth, Silverbolt was part of the rescue team he assembled. He was also involved in the two major offensives against the Cybertronians, on Ethos and at Autobase Earth.

Dreamwave comics continuity
Although they were apparently not part of the Ark's original crew, Silverbolt and the Aerialbots somehow arrived on Earth and were part of Optimus Prime's unit in the 1980's. They were left inactive for roughly a decade after the explosion of the Ark II, immobile in the Arctic waters until Prime revived them with the Matrix. As Superion, the Aerialbots fought against Devastator in California, but were called away to deal with a tactical missile strike that was being launched at their position. Silverbolt and his teammates stopped the missile, but were apparently destroyed in the process. Their remains were collected secretly by Earth Defense Command and held in Area 51.

IDW comics continuity
With Optimus Prime leading the Autobots in the field, Silverbolt became Operation Commander on the Autobot Orbital Command Hub; Perceptor was one of his senior officers. He was involved in trying to find the attempted assassin of Blaster, deducing the assailant had to be an Autobot. To catch the would-be killer, Silverbolt and Blaster concocted a plan where the Autobot morale-booster set himself as bait. Silverbolt and his men waited as backup while Blaster dealt with the assassin, who turned out to be a mind-controlled Beachcomber, but he nearly stormed into the room when he saw that "the Voice" was not armed with a weapon.

Generation 1

 * Silverbolt (Aerialbot, 1986/1991)
 * Team ID number: A1
 * Japanese ID number: C-50
 * Accessories: Gun, chest plate, Superion's head, 2 fists (left & right), 2 feet (left & right) and waist plate




 * Silverbolt transforms into a Concord SST jet liner and can serve a launcher/base for the other Aerialbots. A particular weakness of Silverbolt's design is the way both his legs are connected to his hips by a long pin going through several very small (and weak) plastic hinges that are put under stress as the immediate joint underneath this assembly is a swivel used during transformation. His Japanese release has a spring powered launcher mechanism that was removed from his Hasbro releases, leaving only a piece that flopped around uselessly on his chest. He was available both alone and in a gift set with his teammates.


 * In Japan, the entire Aerialbot team was offered (as individual purchases) as mail-order items during Return of Convoy. Silverbolt cost 2000 yen and three robot points.

Generation 2

 * Silverbolt (1994)
 * Team ID number: A5
 * Accessories: 2 Missile launchers, 2 missiles, chest plate, Superion's head, 2 fists (left & right), 2 feet (left & right) and waist plate


 * For the Generation 2 toy line, Silverbolt's toy was redecoed in blue and red, and his wings were retooled to hold a new pair of spring-loaded missile launchers (reused from the Generation 2 versions of Starscream and Ramjet).

Beast Wars

 * Magnaboss (Ultra, 1997)


 * Silverbolt transforms from an eagle into a robot, with portions of his wings turning into a pair of swords. Each wing also contains a spring-loaded missile launcher. He is able to combine with Ironhide and Prowl, his package buddies, forming part of the torso and helmet to the giant robot Magnaboss.


 * This mold was used to make Beast Wars II Skywarp.


 * The toy packaging gives no indication as to who the Magnaboss components are as characters. Their being Generation 1 characters was established by IDW.

Trivia

 * G1/G2 Silverbolt, due to the size of his altmode, should be one of the biggest Transformers around.  This means he's one of the most out of scale Generation 1 characters, both as a toy and in all of his depictions in fiction.