Dreadwind (G1)


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

"As ominous as a storm cloud and as chilling as a winter breeze." Not everyone could make Dead End look fun by comparison, but Dreadwind manages just that. After all, Dead End just depresses himself, but Dreadwind manages to export the feeling to everyone around him. Like a bad case of Scraplets, Dreadwind's gloom is contagious and there's no mood so positive that he can't kill it within moments of entering the room. Mournful and doom-laden at the best of times, Decepticons avoid him socially and Autobots avoid him on the battlefield, leaving Dreadwind wracked with loneliness and despair.

He tends to think that he has no friends, but the truth is that he couldn't have a more perfect match than his partner Darkwing, and the two are fairly inseparable. He gets along less well with his binary-bonded Nebulan Powermaster partner Hi-Test, a villainous, overachieving perfectionist who tries to bully Dreadwind into enjoying their evil acts.

Generation 1

 * (Note: Events in italics are from UK-only stories.)

Dreadwind and Darkwing came to Nebulos in search of Scorponok's group of Decepticons, but they had by then moved on to Earth. Furthermore, they were warned by the scientist Hi-Q that if they stayed on Nebulos, they would perish, as the Nebulans had poisoned their world's entire fuel supply to prevent another war with the Transformers from occurring. Dreadwind and Darkwing ignored this request, and eventually they lanquished on the brink of permanent shutdown.

Hi-Q's jealous protege, Hi-Test, and his accomplice Throttle offered Dreadwind and his partner salvation, by way of Powermaster technology stolen from Hi-Q. The dying Decepticon duo reluctantly agreed, and, restored, they began destroying Nebulos once again. Hi-Q and his scientists were forced to undergo the Powermaster process themselves, binary bonding with Optimus Prime and a few others. Ultimately, Dreadwind and Darkwing were forced off Nebulos.

Dreadwind, Darkwing, and their Powermaster partners eventually found themselves working for the Mecannibals at Grand Central Space Station, wrangling not only clients, but robots for the Mecannibals to devour. They discovered that two of their clients, Landmine and Cloudburst, were actually robots disguised as humans, and turned them in to their hungry bosses. The Autobots-in-disguise made a savory deal with the Mecannibals, and so Dreadwing and Darkwing followed them to Femax. In the process, however, they were not only beaten up by Sky Lynx, but Hi-Test and Throttle's ship was discovered to be Dreadwind and Darkwing, robots themselves. Cloudburst and Landmine snitched, and the Mecannibals angrily chased the pair and their Powermaster Partners across the cosmos.

After losing the Mecannibals, Dreadwind and Darkwing were recruited in secret by Megatron to bring him the corpse of the Underbase-destroyed Starscream. ''They found him in southern Peru, where his zombie body stalked the Earth, somehow animated past death by the remainder of the Underbase's energies. They successfully retrieved the corpse, despite a tangle with the Triggerbots and archaeologist Susan Hoffman. '' The corpse was delivered to Megatron on Cybertron, who had recently abducted the Autobot medical officer Ratchet to exhort him into rebuilding Starscream using Pretender technology. But Ratchet doublecrossed Megatron, unleashing his own Pretender army, and the battle, involving Dreadwind, Darkwing, the Pretender Classics, and the Micromaster Sports Car Patrol, spread outside Megatron's headquarters, moments before the headquarters detonated with Ratchet and Megatron still inside.

''Feeling like losers, Dreadwind and Darkwing chose to drink away their sorrows at Maccadam's Old Oil House. The Mecannibals followed them to the pub, eating their way past Rocky, the bouncer. The Mecannibals immediately began tearing up the joint, with the pair of innebriated Decepticons blissfully unaware of the chaos around them. Luckily, Quickswitch was present and leapt into action. After a brief skirmish, Quickswitch used his tunneling mode to bury the Mecannibals alive deep underground.''

Dreadwind and Darkwing were present during the battle with Unicron. Though they survived, the pair was even more mopey than usual, and on their way to a joint Autobot/Decepticon conference to discuss the imminent demise of their homeworld, Dreadwind was hit on the noggin by a large piece of falling debris. Dreadwind was shaken, but survived to escape Cybertron on a starship with several other Decepticons led by Bludgeon, stranding the Autobots behind to die. Finally, when the Autobots managed to follow the Decepticons to Klo, the Decepticons ambushed them upon their arrival. Dreadwind and Darkwing, combined as Dreadwing, picked off some of the last remaining Autobots, including Getaway. However, their victory was halted by the divine intervention of the Last Autobot, and the wounded remnants of the Decepticon army fled Klo to parts unknown.



"Another Time and Place" UK text story

 * (Note: "Another Time and Place," the last original Marvel Generation 1 material printed, was soon invalidated by the events of the Generation 2 comics.)

Dreadwind was among Bludgeon's decimated Decepticon forces when they followed Grimlock and his Dinobots to Hydrus Four, hoping to steal the power of Nucleon for themselves. Dreadwind helped ambush the rogue Dinobots, but when Grimlock was freed by a rescue team, the Decepticon was shot by Grimlock using Crankcase's concussion blaster. He and the remnants of the Decepticon army under Bludgeon were defeated.

Classics

 * (Note: Classics ignores both the Marvel UK material and Generation 2.)

fanclub In the fifteen years after the battle on Klo, Dreadwind was one of the Decepticons recruited by the mysterious Bug Bite.

IDW comics continuity
Dreadwind was a part of Darkwing's Infiltration unit on Nebulos when the planet was ravaged by a resurrected, supernaturally-powerful Thunderwing. Darkwing ordered Dreadwind and the other Decepticons under his command to try to stop Thunderwing before he blew up the planet, which would ruin their long-reaching plans to harvest its natural resources, but all but Dreadwind, Darkwing, and Thrust were annihilated. They fled the planet, fearful of Megatron's reaction to their failure.

Generation 1

 * Dreadwind (Powermaster, 1988)


 * Dreadwind transforms into a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon jet. In order to transform back into robot mode, a Powermaster engine --like his pack-in partner Hi-Test-- must be plugged into his back, unlocking the wings and a few other bits. Once he has an engine attached, his jet mode can also combine with Darkwing's to form the Dreadwing super-jet.  He also comes with two non-firing handguns that can be held separately, or combined into a large double-barreled weapon.


 * This mold was used to make Masterforce Buster.

Timelines

 * Games of Deception! (Multi-pack, 2007)


 * A retool of Classics Jetfire, Dreadwind is part of the upcoming Classics-themed BotCon 2007 box set, along with Bugbite, Dirge, Thrust and Thundercracker. His inner robot head has been retooled to resemble his original head.


 * Like Jetfire, Dreadwind comes with a number of removeable accessories, including a booster pack, two arm-mounted missile launchers, two missiles, and a helmet. The toy's add-on booster pack has flip-out reveal cannons.