The name or term Downshift refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Downshift (disambiguation).
They're actually both looking for characterization.Let's see what you can see...
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Specifics: Fiction, Universe releases
Downshift doesn't say much, but apparently he's really easy to confuse for other guys. He's all about action, learning what he can from Earth's kung-fu movies. Apparently this has done well for him, as he even has a femmebot "lifebond partner".
Downshift was a rookie solder sent into the rift, along with his partner Cliffjumper, to locate Optimus Prime and his scattered crew. Characteristically gruff and headstrong. Cliffjumper and Downshift were both pupils of the teacher Bulkhead, and of the two, Downshift is easily the more irritated by Bulkhead's infectious laughter.
He is erroneously known as Cliffjumper at times.
Cybertron comic[]
Downshift. Always getting himself in some really awkward positions. At least he gets a dope upgrade from this one though
After the evacuation of Cybertron due to the threat of the Unicron Singularity, some soldiers chose to stay behind. Downshift was one of these brave souls, and he guarded the tunnels leading to the inner workings of Cybertron. While on duty, Downshift was attacked by the agent Nemesis Prime and impaled to a wall by one of his harpoon missiles. After these grave injuries, Downshift was repaired and reformatted by a worker drone into a new muscle car form.
During Downshift's maturation between the Powerlinx Battles and the arrival of the Unicron Singularity, Hot Shot has become his new mentor. Eventually, Downshift becomes a civilian on Earth, living with his unnamed female "lifebond partner" in Rhode Island.[1]
Downshift transforms into white rally-deco sports car of undetermined (possibly fictional) model with red and green stripes. He has a pair of clear-plastic guns, one a spring-loaded missile launcher, one non-firing. These can be hand-held or attached to Downshift in various ways in both modes. He can also form the top or bottom half of any silver or bronze "Powerlinx" combiner.
For his Takara releases, the pale-olive plastic of his humanoid parts was replaced with a medium silver.
Downshift's deco and sculpt is a clear homage to the Generation OneWheeljack. His robot mode has Wheeljack's head, a simulated car roof on his chest, and even the "Lancia" grill-feet.
Downshift was first released as part of the final wave of "normal" Energon black-backed cards, a shipment that appears to have been very brief, mostly showing up in Kohl's department stores and Canada. This naturally caused a panic. He was later released in much greater numbers in the "Powerlinx Battles" packaging.
For Universe, the original Energon Downshift was redecoed, with blue stripes and a large Autobot sigil on his car mode, which, strangely enough,has the "eyes" filled in. However, his robot mode was almost totally unchanged, save yellow plastic replacing the pale-olive.
A Kay-Bee stores exclusive alongside Snow Cat, the pair were released during a time when Kay-Bee was having great financial difficulty, closing multiple stores nationwide. Few Kay-Bees appear to have actually received these. The bulk of these exclusives appear to have been sent instead to "Kay-Bee Toy Works" outlet stores.
Search for the Pirate Moon (Multi-pack, 2007)
During Christmastime in 2007, Wal-Mart got several Universe-branded multi-packs of Cybertron toys. The Cybertron version of Downshift (see below) was packaged with Cannonball, with a cardback story about Downshift hunting Cannonball's gang of pirates... in a setting that had nothing to do with a moon. Oh well. Both toys were identical to their individual releases.
Cybertron[]
Downshift (Deluxe-Class, 2006)
Accessories: Left & right missile launchers, 2 missiles, Earth-type Cyber Key
"Am I Wheeljack now?"
Cybertron Downshift is a green sports car with styling heavily influenced by the Chrysler pony cars from 1970 through 1974. The car features a black hood and a texturing like vinyl roof applications from the 1960s and 70s.
Inserting a Cyber Planet Key into a flip-up slot in his rear window activates a claw from the car's grill. This feature is also available in robot mode. He comes with two large spring-loaded missile launchers, which can be mounted on his side-panels in car mode, or be used in robot mode as hand-held blasters or mounted on his shoulders.
While Downshift's Wheeljack-modeled head in this form is not surprising, he still retains his Lancia-grill feet.
As referenced above, the Energon cartoon switched Cliffjumper and Downshift's names around for the first few episodes after their introduction, until episode 33, "Crash Course". More often than not, the white robot would end up being called Cliffjumper, in defiance of the toy names. It also seemed as if the two characters randomly switched voice actors from episode to episode.
Downshift's design is an homage to Generation OneWheeljack, hence his Japanese name.
