Skydive (G1 Aerialbot)

The name or term Skydive refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Skydive (disambiguation).

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Skydive is an Aerialbot from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Bookish flying ace extraodinaire.

Skydive, it has been said, would rather read about an aerial battle than take part in one. He's the Aerialbot's resident bookworm and is fascinated by the history and science behind aerial warfare. Within the limits of his design, he's capable of duplicating the flight patterns of anything he sees. His knowledge of aerial warfare and tactics is unmatched. Skydive is probably the most skilled Autobot flier in existence. All of that, and you're more likely to find him secluded in a cozy library than actually in the sky. He's simply too modest and bookish to realize how smart and skilled he really is. Thankfully the rest of the Autobots definitely do.

Skydive combines with his fellow Aerialbots to form Superion.

Italian name: Log

French-Canadian name: Parachuto

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Generation 1

Note: Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

Thanks to his previous connection to the Creation Matrix, Buster Witwicky began experiencing dreams and visions of new Transformers, beginning with an etching of Superion he made without even being consciously aware of it. Devastation Derby! By sharing his visions with Optimus Prime, Buster was able to clarify the images and understand the future of the evolution of the Cybertronian race -- amalgam model robots like the Constructicons' Devastator, capable of a more-streamlined merging into a more powerful form. It was these visions which allowed Optimus Prime and Wheeljack to conceive of and construct the Aerialbots. Second Generation!

Working on a plan to reverse engineer the gestalt technology the Decepticons used to create Devastator, Optimus Prime and the Autobots staged a daring raid on the Decepticon base of operations, giving Bumblebee enough time to digitally record the Constructicon's electrical transformation pattern for study. Command Performances! Working off that blueprint, Wheeljack successfully created Skydive and the Aerialbots. During the new warriors' testing phase, however, the Autobots were alerted to a Decepticon operation at Hoover Dam. Only the Aerialbots were fast enough to reach the location in time, and so Prime was forced to send them into battle before their programming was completed.

Arriving to find a giant energy siphoning device being channeled through the Space Bridge, Silverbolt deferred to Skydive's strategic knowledge on how to deal with the target. Skydive's preliminary attack run failed to even damage the device, however, and before he could make a second pass the Decepticon jet Thrust took the offensive, temporarily grounding Skydive with the disruptive power of his engines.

The Aerialbots eventually turned the tide on the Decepticons and drove them off, giving them time to focus on the energy siphon which was the core of the problem. At Silverbolt's command, they merged into Superion and began dismantling the drill device. A problem arose, however, when Bombshell's cerebro-shell controlled pawn Ricky Vasquez pointed Megatron (in his gun mode) at the giant Autobot. Because the majority of the Aerialbots were not programmed specifically to protect human life, Superion only saw a potential threat that needed to be eliminated. As the human fought against the Decepticons' control, Silverbolt too fought inside Superion's gestalt mind to protect the human. In the end, Silverbolt was forced to disengage Superion to keep him from destroying the human. Luckily, Ricky was more successful and managed to break the cerebro-shell's hold long enough to point Megatron at the drill and destroy it, ending the threat. Aerialbots over America!

After the near disaster at Hoover Dam, Optimus Prime had the Aerialbots shut down and their programming completely erased. Returned to a blank slate, he then inputed fully-programmed personalities for them with the Matrix before their next mission. It, uh...didn't help. In battle with Menasor as Superion, the Aerialbots were attacked by Circuit Breaker, deactivated, and captured by RAAT. It was only a lucky break that they were eventually freed. Heavy Traffic!

As Grimlock took over the Autobots, Skydive and the other Aerialbots took an extended leave of absence from the war, since the Dinobot commander focused Autobot resources on repairing their fallen comrades and prepping the Ark to become spaceworthy again.

Sometime later, it was Skydive, Fireflight, and Air Raid who were the first to respond to a distress call from Buster Witwicky, the Autobots' old human ally who had been prisoner to the Decepticons for nearly a year. This led the combined Autobot and Decepticon forces into battle with Starscream, who had acquired the nigh-infinite power of the Underbase for himself. The Aerialbots were his first victims, wiped out in a single blast of cosmic power in the skies over New York City. Dark Star!

Along with the other deactivated Autobots aboard the Ark, Skydive and the Aerialbots were eventually revived by the Nucleon super-energy Grimlock and the Dinobots recovered from Hydrus Four.

Another Time and Place text story

When Bludgeon and the Decepticons took control of the Nucleon supply at Hydrus Four, Skydive joined Air Raid and Silverbolt in bombing the medical center to announce the Autobots' imminent arrival. Another Time and Place

Generation 2

After the Autobots split into smaller combat units throughout the universe, Skydive was sent to Earth with a group of Autobots under Hot Spot's command to deal with the re-emergence of Megatron. The Decepticon's new abilities and Cobra allies proved a considerable challenge, though. After half their number were killed and their transport destroyed, Skydive volunteered for a strategic play to get inside the enemy-controlled Ark. Shutting off his systems on a time-delay to appear as lifeless machinery to the sensors Megatron had set up in the ship, he was smuggled aboard the Ark by some disguised G.I.Joe soldiers. Final Transformations Once inside, he received some surprise help from Spike Witwicky, who had returned just in time to reconnect with his Headmaster partner, Fortress Maximus. With Fort Max sacrificing his life to distract Megatron and destroy the Ark, Skydive got to safety with Doctor Biggles-Jones, the human scientist Megatron had taken prisoner. All or Nothing!

Once Megatron resurfaced with Starscream and reassumed command of the Decepticon army from Bludgeon, Skydive sent a transmission to Optimus Prime and soon left Earth duty to reunite with his fellow Aerialbots in the stars. The Gathering Darkness He was later involved in the ill-fated defense of the planet Ethos, Escalation! and the battle for Earth against Jhiaxus's Cybertronian armada. Total War

Animated continuity

At one point during the eternal war with the Autobots on Earth, Megatron grew fed up with how his opponents ruled the roads and created a group of Decepticon cars known as the Stunticons. In order to give his new warriors life, he brought them to Cybertron and tracked down the ancient supercomputer, Vector Sigma, to input cybernetic personalities into the Stunticons. Thanks to a series of traps and drones in their way, the Autobots failed to prevent Megatron from succeeding and returning to Earth. Seeking to even the playing field, Optimus Prime conceived of the idea of retrofitting several broken-down Cybertronian ships into Earthen jets, and bring them to life as a team of Autobot flyers. With the help of his technical savvy soldiers, Hoist, Wheeljack, Ratchet, and Prime's own creator, Alpha Trion, Optimus's plan was enacted and the Aerialbots were born. The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2

Because Optimus Prime specified to Vector Sigma that the Aerialbots be given personalities that required them to learn and grow, and make their own decisions, however, Skydive and his friends were not instantly bound to the Autobot cause. Their sense of pride in their flying ability caused many of them to look down on the other Autobots. Despite their personalities being like night and day, Skydive and Slingshot were frequent flying partners and often on the same side of any argument. Skydive's eye for aerial maneuvering left him just as impressed as the more emotional Slingshot when it came to the Seekers' flight skills, and this innocent zest for knowledge led him and his partners into a Decepticon trap. Turning the Kronosphere on the hapless Autobots, Megatron sent the Aerialbots back in time nine million years. Their journey led them to the earliest days of the war, and they personally saw Megatron maliciously gun down unarmed Cybertronians in his quest for power. Skydive and the other Aerialbots returned to the present with an unshakeable commitment to seeing the Decepticons threat ended. War Dawn

Skydive and Slingshot were once carved up into pieces and somehow put back together by a street kid who also just happened to be a deposed royal prince of a Middle Eastern nation who is also a mechanical genius. Convenient. Aerial Assault

Toys

Generation 1

• Skydive (Aerialbot, 1986)
  • Team ID number: A2
  • Japanese ID number: C-51
  • Accessories: "Nega-gun"

Skydive transforms into an F-16 Falcon fighter jet. As a "Scramble City" style combiner, he can form the arm or leg to any super robot of compatible construction, though his nominal placement is as the right leg to Superion.

All five Aerialbots were made available as mail-away offers in Japan during Return of Convoy. Skydive (like all the other limb-jets) cost 1000 yen and two robot points.

• Superion (Multi-pack, 1986)
  • Japanese ID number: C-55

All five Aerialbots were made available in a gift set, released in most markets. The toys are identical to their individually-packaged versions.

Generation 2

• Skydive (Aerialbot, 1994)
  • Team ID number: A1
  • Accessories: "Mega Gun"

Skydive was redecoed for his Generation 2 release, gaining a fetching gray and blue scheme.

External links

• Skydive at TFU.info