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This article is about the original Sky-Byte from the Robots in Disguise franchise . For the Generation 2 Redux version, see Sky-Byte (Timelines).



Deep within Sky-Byte beats the spark of a poet, a scholar, a brilliant and cultured military general who can command armies capable of conquering worlds. But without aptitude and patience that means jack squat, and Sky-Byte lacks both. Still he soldiers on, for he is driven by a desperate need for approval. He needs the blessings of his commander Megatron quite possibly more than he needs energon. And Megatron, being Megatron, doesn't dole out praise much, so Sky-Byte tries harder and harder, getting more and more desperate.

This drive is the root of all his problems. He's actually quite intelligent and physically powerful, but he pushes himself to extremes to impress his leader. When he's in control of a situation, he's a deadly effective foe. But as soon as the situation begins to slip even the smallest bit, he starts to panic, and usually ends up doing something to mess things up and lose the upper hand, which makes him panic more, so he overreacts, and gets in more trouble, etc. etc. etc. It doesn't help that while he's ruthless towards Autobots, humans seem quite safe from his ire — maybe he sees a little something of himself in these underdogs. After all, they developed his new favorite form of expression, the haiku. And they do seem rather impressed by him.

Sky-Byte is in charge of the Predacon lackeys Dark Scream, Gas Skunk and Slapper, not that they give him any modicum of respect. In fact, they're more likely to try and shuffle the blame for their failures onto the shark, a gambit that's actually moderately successful, since Sky-Byte is so very good at making things worse for himself. He has a hate-hate relationship with the new Decepticons, especially Scourge, who he sees (rightly) as being a huge threat to his position as Megatron's second-in-command.

Poor frustrated shark.
Megatron is a dumbass.
Why do you bother?
Japanese name: Gelshark (ゲルシャーク Gerushāku)

Fiction[]

Robots in Disguise cartoon[]

Voice actor: Peter Spellos (English), Konta (Japanese)
Rid7

Finding the O-Parts was no challenge compared to finding Waldo.

As Megatron was dressing down the Predacon trio for their latest failure, Sky-Byte suddenly appeared—demonstrating a skill for either invisibility or teleportation that he would never display again. An Explosive Situation He later showed the power and skill to go one-on-one with Optimus Prime and almost win, as well as a newfound love for poetry. The Hunt for Black Pyramid

Sky-Byte soon found himself going from feared warrior and commander of dangerous missions to commander of missions that were flawed from the jump, with Megatron openly getting annoyed with his failures. Tow-Line Goes Haywire Despite these indignities, he was still viewed as "sneaky, clever and dangerous" by the Autobots Hope for the Future.

And then Scourge and the Decepticons turned up. Serious, militaristic and (mostly) competent villains, they replaced the Predacons in Megatron's eyes. Sky-Byte became desperate to get his old status back, attempting to ruin Decepticon plans and usurp them for himself Commandos and even trying to bump off Scourge in battle Volcano. The Decepticons, for their part, mocked him. Soon, Megatron stopped even telling Sky-Byte about his plans. The Test

Sky-Byte as Optimus Prime

I AM SHARKIMUS PRIME!

Sky-Byte's self-esteem was soon non-existent (especially after an Online Fish Personality test told him he was a jellyfish) and he became desperate to gain Megatron's approval - but every attempt he made to discredit Scourge ended disastrously and his attempt to carry out his own evil plot just served to ruin one of Megatron's plans The Fish Test.

Sky-Byte as Rail Racer

I'M RAIL-BYTE!

Eventually, to get attention, Sky-Byte led the Predacons in the attempted destruction of a new tower. This plan would've worked except the Autobots, thinking the humans in the tower were the Predacon's hostages, asked what demands he wanted met for their safety. Wanting to seem like he knew what he was doing, Sky-Byte made up a random demand on the spot that by sheer chance was interpreted as a demand for O-Parts. He'd achieved accidental success - only to accidentally take out the tower's last support and be forced to stop it collapsing so he'd still have his hostages. This single-minded desire to keep the tower up was interpreted by the hostages and TV news crews as the Predacons trying to save them for altruistic reasons, and when the hostages started to cheer him on, Sky-Byte gave his all to keep them safe out of an increasingly genuine desire to save them ("my hostages need me!"). It was only hours after the tower was saved and the Predacons were nursing their damaged backs that they remembered about getting the O-Parts... Sky-Byte Saves the Day

This accidental heroism, plus his generally comic persona during events Koji and his friends witnessed, led the children to become very fond of Sky-Byte, following him and pestering him for autographs. A proud Predacon, Sky-Byte was bewildered by this attention, although he briefly thought of using it as a way to get his haikus published. Ultra Magnus

Sky-Byte took Dr. Onishi out of the Predacon base to help him search for Fortress Maximus, in an attempt to be the first to find it. In the process, he ran into Koji who appealed to him to help him rescue his father or at least to pass on a birthday present - the Predacon actually felt bad for him and was reduced to a blubbering wreck by Koji's appeal, but was mortified to find the boy didn't believe he was a threatening villain anymore. Sky-Byte later became so preoccupied with battle that he tossed Dr. Onishi to Koji, leading the youth to believe Sky-Byte had deliberately rescued his father out of the goodness of his heart. The Autobots believed this too and apologized to Sky-Byte for fighting him (after they'd already blown the tar out of him). Koji Gets His Wish

To make matters worse, Sky-Byte's cunning plans to beat both Autobot & Decepticon to the O-Parts only caused the Autobots to gain them all A Friendly Contest, and he later saved Koji's life and was horrified at the idea Galvatron would find out. The Human Element Later on, while talking to himself he would admit to having a friendship with Koji, though it was nothing to getting into Galvatron's good books and he still attempted to kidnap the boy to help control Fortress Maximus. (Being Sky-Byte, he grabbed the wrong person.) Mistaken Identity

Eventually Sky-Byte's loyalty paid off - when Scourge's treachery was revealed, Galvatron remarked the Predacons had always been trustworthy and gave Sky-Byte command of the Decepticons. He even managed to locate the Autobot base by following Koji, but in the process led everyone into an Autobot trap. The array of Autobot firepower caused him to cower behind rocks crying for his "blankie". Surprise Attack

Skybyte happy at last

No, not the final scene from Free Willy.

During the final battle, Sky-Byte was almost killed when he led the Predacons into the Global Space Bridge after the Decepticons - not realising Galvatron intended to kill them. Sky-Byte was left on his own, Galvatron's Revenge and escaped certain death just in time to be ordered to hold off the entire Autobot army. This did not go well for him, oh no. Following Autobot victory, every Decepticon and Predacon was rounded up to be incarcerated, but the Autobots hadn't captured Sky-Byte (if they'd forgotten about him or he was hiding well is unknown). He was left to spend the rest of his life on Earth, a fate the other Predacons seemed to view as worse than death, though his own attitude as he swam off into the sunset singing suggests he felt quite differently. The Final Battle

Ultra Magnus...to the Rescue?[]

Sky-Byte and Scourge were sent on a joint mission, although they did nothing but bicker until Optimus and Ultra Magnus showed up. While Scourge battled them, Sky-Byte took advantage and made off with the goods, leaving Scourge with a haiku to keep him thinking. Ultra Magnus...to the Rescue?

TransTech comic[]

Sky-Byte somehow ended up at Axiom Nexus and was "processed". Transcendent: Part 1

Toys[]

Robots in Disguise[]

  • Sky-Byte (Mega, 2000/2001)
    • Japanese ID Number: D-005
    • Accessories: Launcher, 2 missiles
RID Sky-Byte Toy

Love child of Peter Benchley and H.R. Giger.

An extensive redeco of the Transmetal 2 Maximal Cybershark, Sky-Byte transforms into a large monstrous bio-mechanical great white shark. His tail has a gear-system that spins the fins like a propeller when a wheel in his side is turned (this system becomes his left arm, forming a spinning claw weapon). He also has a double spring-loaded missile launcher concealed in his shark mouth that doubles as a hand weapon.
First available as part of the Car Robots line in Japan, there are no noteworthy differences between the Takara and Hasbro versions.


Generations[]

Gen-toy SkyByte

I'm a shark, I'm a shaaaark...

  • Sky-Byte (Voyager Class, 2014)
    • Series / Number: 02 / 007
    • Accessories: Missile
    • Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro), Tomoya Miyake (Takara Tomy), Emiliano Santalucia (concept artist)
Released in the fifth wave of the Generations Thrilling 30 Voyager Class toys, Sky-Byte once again transforms into a bio-mechanical shark. The rounded nose and more circular jaw-shape suggest his beast mode is based on a bull shark, rather than the great white shark of his predecessor toy. He lacks the mouth-based missile launcher of his previous toy, instead having a single spring-loaded missile firing from the center of his (still gear-activated) spinning claw weapon. His beast mode articulation consists of an opening mouth and a tail that moves up and down. As with many Generations toys, he has a hexagonal peg-hole on his underside which is compatible with some collector display stands.
In robot mode the missile launcher in his claw weapon still functions. Sky-Byte is much less of a shellformer than his original form, with many parts of his robot mode actually becoming parts of the shark mode, though much of it still piles up on his back. These parts can be arranged in a variety of ways to form a more show-accurate or cleaner robot mode. He also features several design elements from his IDW design, most notably the small wrist-gun detail on his right arm.
This mold was also used to make Cloud Hellwarp.

Legends[]

800px-Takara transformers legends skybyte bothmodes

The baddest shark in town deserves the most badass paint-job!

    • Gelshark (Sky-Byte) (Voyager, 2014)
      • ID number: LG06
      • Release date: December 27, 2014
      • Accessories: 1 missile
    Legends "Gelshark" is TakaraTomy's version of the Generations Voyager Class Sky-Byte mold. This version has considerably more paint applications than its Hasbro counterpart to create an overall more show accurate color scheme. It notably includes the two-colored chest, a much darker shade of blue, and less use of white. Some of the yellow plastic on the Hasbro version has also been replaced with dark blue. He comes with the Legends "Bonus Edition Volume 6" mini-comic.


    Merchandise[]

    KT Figure Collection[]

    • Ai-chan (KT Figure Collection, 2004)
    This figurine was produced by KT Figure Collection, and included in a set of four others. It is notable in that not only is this the only non-Generation 1 PVC in the entire set, but Ai-chan is portrayed bathing in a hot spring, and is thus completely nude, aside from her hat. A super deformed Super Fire Convoy is seen peeking over the side, and a miniature Sky-Byte bath toy is in Ai-chan's hands.
    Yes, it's creepy. And you may find her face is familiar, BECAUSE the figure is designed by Yuki Ohshima, who did the creepiest thing in the Transformers brand ever.


    Special attacks[]

    • Shark Missile
    • Shark Spike
    • Tsunami Blaster

    External links[]

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