Starscream (スタースクリーム Sutāsukurīmu?) is a character introduced in the Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers television series. A Destron scientist, he was Megatron's second in command.
Personality & Character
History
4 Million B.C.
Starscream was the Destrons' second-in-command. He was rash, boastful, cowardly, and even whiny. Millions of years before the war between Autobots and Decepticons would force both sides off Cybertron, Starscream was not a warrior but rather a scientist, sort of like another character with the same voice. He and his colleague Skyfire were exploring an unnamed planet—the ancient Earth—when severe atmospheric conditions separated the two friends. Starscream circled the globe looking for Skyfire, but he never found his colleague. Fire in the Sky
Starscream became one of the many Decepticons in stasis lock on board the Ark. More than Meets the Eye, Part 1 The Agenda (Part III)
The ghost of Starscream from the future went back in time to posses Waspeeter.
EBENEZER SCROOGE...!
Little was known about Starscream among the Maximals, as the Maximal Elders had classified most of his information. However, Dinobot, a student of military history, was familiar with Starscream's record of deceit and betrayal. It is possible that Megatron was also aware of his history, as he ordered Scorponok to keep an eye on Starscream.
Starscream's ghost travelled through time and space to the prehistoric earth of the Beast Wars, where he possessed Waspinator's body during an electrical storm. He ingratiated himself with Megatron, claiming that he had been destroyed by Unicron while protecting Galvatron. After leading a successful raid on the Axalon, he was left in command of the captured Maximal ship, along with Blackarachnia and Scorponok, the former of whom he took as his "protégé". When the defeated Maximals surrendered to him, he took Dinobot and Optimus Primal hostage and ordered the remaining Maximals to attack the Darksyde. Scorponok objected, but he was very forcefully overruled. Shortly after the attack began, the two captive Maximals broke out- having faked the level of damage sustained to lull Starscream into a false sense of security- and drove the Predacons out of the Axalon. Starscream fled, pursued by Primal, and abandoned Blackarachnia to her fate. After a spirited chase, Primal cornered Starscream at an energon deposit, paralyzing him. As he tried to bargain his way out of his predicament, his vengeful ex-partner Blackarachnia detonated the energon, blowing Waspinator to scrap and forcing Starscream's spark out of his body.
Adrift in space once more, Starscream's ghost screamed vengeance into the void... Possession
Experiments to duplicate his indestructible spark resulted in the creation of Protoform X, who proved to be a powerful and dangerous member of the Predacons after he was reactivated. Bad Spark
1984
Starscream's rash and spiteful actions led to the resurrection of the Autobots on Earth, when a blast intended to trap the Autobots there forever caused Optimus Prime to fall into the life-giving rays of Teletraan I, who soon had all his fellow Autobots ready for action again. More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1 Starscream would always demand action rather than waste time with planning, often calling Megatron a coward or taking action himself without waiting for the order. Needless to say, this got him nearly killed by Megatron on more than one occasion.
Starscream's status probably came from the fact he had command over the other jet fighter Decepticons, who formed pretty much 50% of the entire Decepticon force at the time of the first and second seasons. Megatron, very desperate for troops (especially ones who were so predictable), kept Starscream around.
Although he was often an impulsive warrior, Starscream still showed some signs of his scientific background. In "War of the Dinobots", he was the only Decepticon who urged caution before using the energy taken from an unstable meteor. Even Megatron himself showed little concern about the potential risks, bickering with Starscream and threatening to take his share. Starscream was ultimately correct about the volatile nature of the energy, and the resulting explosion nearly killed a number of Transformers, including Optimus Prime and Grimlock. War of the Dinobots
Starscream's childhood dodgeball traumas were a deciding factor in his personality.
Starscream's ambition was also great, and he often sought to take command away from Megatron. One such attempt was to challenge him to a duel, then shoot him in the back when Megatron turned away laughing. His "victory" here was short-lived, as Megatron was just stunned, shot Starscream, and banished him from his forces. This led Starscream to "create" the Combaticons from a bunch of wrecked army vehicles he found on the island on which he was deserted, and some Decepticon "brains" he stole from a Decepticon prison on Cybertron. Starscream's Brigade Megatron let him and his newly formed army back into the Decepticons soon afterwards, despite the fact they were all Decepticon outcasts and criminals. The Revenge of Bruticus
Ironically, despite his frequent attempts to overthrow Megatron, Starscream actually saved his leader's life on one occasion. When the Decepticons allied themselves with the people of Sub-Atlantica, Starscream was the only one who distrusted them. Naturally, his suspicions were disregarded by Megatron. Later, during a duel between Megatron and Grimlock, Nergill, the Sub-Atlantican king, tried to shoot the dueling pair with the Magnetic Dysfunction Ray, only to be stopped by Starscream. Megatron "thanked" Starscream by calling him a dribbling dirtbucket.
At least Rumble realised Starscream had been right all along. Atlantis, Arise!
Robot Masters
- Voice actor: Kunihiro Kawamoto (Japan)
When Beast Megatron traveled back in time to modern day Earth in search of solitarium, he immediately recruited Starscream to his cause. Starscream went head to head with another time-displaced Transformer, Star Saber only to find himself defeated once Optimus Prime arrived as back-up. Beast Megatron, arriving on Gigant Sniper, saved Starscream from a crashing into the ground but quickly chucked him aside after lamenting over the Decepticon's worthlessness.
Later, Beast Megatron discovered a large deposit of solitarium beneath New York City and ordered the Decepticons to tear the city apart. Starscream, Smokesniper, Gigant Bomb and Wing Stun did just that, blowing up buildings and razing a good portion of the Big Apple. Starscream was then shot out of the sky by another time-displaced Autobot, Reverse Convoy. Reverse Convoy quickly gained the trust of the other Autobots after being seen blasting Starscream. 10 seconds later, Reverse Convoy reveals himself as the original Megatron, now going by the name Rebirth Megatron. Makes sense.
2005
- "How do you feel Mighty Megatron?"
- ―Starscream after Megatron lost his fight with Optimus Prime[[ The Transformers: The Movie| [src]]]
Unfortunately, Starscream forgot the safeword.
Starscream's thirst for leadership led to his death when, during the Decepticon's dramatic siege on Autobot City, Megatron would fight his final battle with Optimus Prime. By the end of it, the Decepticon leader was battered beyond repair, left on the verge of stasis lock. Starscream, able to see an opportunity in every situation if nothing else, took advantage of this moment of weakness to rally the healthy Decepticons that remained after the battle, ejecting the "dead weight" of his wounded former comrades into space. With transparent satisfaction, Starscream threw Megatron out personally before closing the door on that part of Transformers history and beginning an inter-Decepticon brawl that would eventually place him at the head of the ranks.
Starscream couldn't have known, of course, that Megatron would be found and reshaped by Unicron before his spark faded completely. Reborn as Galvatron, he made it his first order of business to take back what Starscream had taken, interrupting the pompous and overblown coronation Starscream had set up for himself and killing him with a single, terrible blast, likely setting a record for the shortest reign in Decepticon history: approximately 40 Earth seconds. The Transformers: The Movie
Starscream had a little accident at the Decepticon BBQ.
Kiss Players
15 Go! Go!
Not his finest moment, but possibly his most fabulous.
As the mysterious saboteur of Teletraan I was about to be revealed, Teletraan 15's personality suddenly changed. She had been possessed by the ghost of Starscream! Learning of the power of kiss-playing, the rogue spirit quickly left her body and departed for Earth Defense Command Headquarters on Earth.
There, young Atari Hitotonari was using the ladies' room. This was not enough to stop Starscream, who took over the girl's body, transforming her E.D.C. uniform to black and making her pull a gun on her fellow Kiss Player officers.
But Starscream's ignorance of human custom and basic biology worked against him as the E.D.C. Kiss Players totally failed to take "Atari-scream's" demands and threats seriously. Unfortunately for the Air Commander, he had neglected to pull Atari's underwear back up when leaving the bathroom.
Dammit, Japan.
Kiss Players Radio drama
One night, the disembodied spirit of a Transformer possessed the body of the E.D.C. Kiss Player Atari Hitotonari. Discovering that it could not transfer itself to the bodies of other Transformers with souls, it forced Atari to seek out the twisted Doctor Arkeville, who built it a new body converted from a stolen fighter jet. Kissing it, Atari transferred the spirit into its new form. Starscream was reborn!
A couple of minutes later, Starscream's new body got blown up by Autroopers and his ghost flew back into space again.
2010
This was not the end, however, as Starscream's ghost came back with "cunning" schemes. First he possessed Cyclonus and, with the help of the Banished Octane, handed Galvatron over to Rodimus Prime. Rodimus didn't kill or even imprison Galvatron, however, and the Decepticon leader came back angered and shot his second-in-command, not realizing Cyclonus had not been himself. Starscream's Ghost
Starscream's ghost teamed up with the Quintessons, who built him a powerful new body. This new body, equipped with attacks such as "Right Arm Decepticon Gun" and the "Revolver Laser", was created using a combination of Optimus Prime's and Megatron's designs. The result was Guiltaur.
Guiltaur joined the Decepticons and quickly became Galvatron's right-hand man (literally—in, like, 5 seconds). Galvatron tricked Rodimus Prime into engaging him in a one-on-one battle in which Guiltaur faked defeat. When Rodimus least suspected it, Guiltaur attacked and laid the smack down. Galvatron complimented Guiltaur on his power and loyalty, and instinctively, Guiltaur beat the crap out of Galvatron and declared his ambition to take over the Decepticons. Rodimus Prime and Galvatron called a truce and joined forces to defeat Guiltaur. They wrecked him something fierce, destroying his body and forcing out Starscream's ghost. They then ended the truce and went about their business. [[|]]
By this time, Starscream had already found a new host in Scourge, whom he used in his next "master plan." This one involved making deals with Unicron, who requested Starscream help him find new body parts in return for a new body for Starscream himself. Starscream followed his orders exactly, until his host ran off before connecting Unicron's head to Cybertron as a new body. This is where Starscream showed his true cunning, stating that if Unicron wanted him to connect him to his new Planet, he would have to provide Starscream's new body first. Unicron did so, repeating his order that Starscream finish connecting his head to his new body. However, Starscream turned on him immediately, telling Unicron mockingly to do it himself. At this point, the Autobots, unaware of this turn of events, set off a load of explosives that sent Starscream, new body and all, spinning out of control through space, past Galvatron and his crew (Galvatron took this chance to fire at what he thought was a ghost), never to be seen again.
One last thing to note is Cyclonus' line after the last glimpse of Starscream: "Wait a minute... since when do ghosts tumble out of control through space?" Ghost in the Machine
Relationships
- Megatron
He constantly strived to overthrow his only superior, Megatron.
- Skyfire
Skyfire was once his friend and fellow scientist.
Gallery
See Also
Notes & Trivia
References