Blitzwing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Transformers character | |
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| Blitzwing | |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Decepticon  |
| Sub-Group | Triple Changer |
| Function | Ground and Air Commando |
| Motto | "Destroy first, think later." |
| Alternate Modes | MiG-25/Type 74 Main Battle Tank Cybertronian Tank/Jet |
| Series | Transformers: Generation 1 |
| Voiced by | Ed Gilbert (English/Deceased May 1999) Keiichi Nanba, Yutaka Shimaka (Japanese) |
Blitzwing (Le Blitz in France and Triplex 2 in Italy) is the name given to a fictional character in the Transformers universe.
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[edit] Transformers: Generation 1 (1985)
Blitzwing is a Decepticon triple changer, capable of transforming into a Type 74 main battle tank and a MiG-25 jet fighter. His fellow Decepticon triple changers are Astrotrain and Octane.
A battle-loving Decepticon warrior, Blitzwing frequently uses his jet mode to strafe land-bound Autobots, then quickly transforms to tank mode to finish them off with his powerful energy mortar. In robot mode, he prefers to use his electron scimitar to fight foes one on one.
Blitzwing's function was confused by the toy's profile (found on the back of his box) classifying as a "Ground & Air Commander", whereas Marvel's comic and the cartoon series (also written by Marvel) lists Blitzwing as a "Ground and Air Commando". Considering nothing other than his abilities make him stand out as officer material alongside Starscream and Shockwave, "commando" seems more appropriate.
In 2002 Blitzwing's toy was recolored and released as the Decepticon Overcharge by retailer eHobby.
[edit] Animated series
Blitzwing was a minor character who appeared in the second and third seasons of the animated series; very rarely did he stand out other than as a fierce warrior known more for his strength and abilities than his intelligence. On one occasion, he and Astrotrain managed to take command of the Decepticons by freezing Megatron and Starscream — but when they were defeated by the Autobots, Megatron forcibly resumed command at gunpoint.
After this Blitzwing was seemingly let back into the Decepticons after this, being sent alongside Blitzwing in Prime Target to forge an alliance witht the big-game hunter Lord Chumley, although Chumley had no interest in the Decepticons, merely wishing to hunt the ultimate prey, Optimus Prime.
In The Transformers: The Movie, Blitzwing was present at the Battle of Autobot City, targeting Hot Rod and Daniel Witwicky. He was takenout by Kup, who engineered a collision between him and Shrapnel. being defeated by Kup.
Blitzwing had a somewhat significant part to play in the 5-part episode The Five Faces of Darkness. When the defeated Decepticons were accosted by the Quintessons to launch an attack on Cybertron, Blitzwing stayed behind, awaiting the return of Galvatron. Later, when Galvatron and the Quintessons joined forces to defeat the Autobots, Galvatron sent Blitzwing to report back to the Quintessons. It was then that Blitzwing discovered the Quintessons' treachery and their plan to paralyze all the Transformers and take Cybertron for themselves. When Blitzwing tried to warn Galvatron, the fearsome Decepticon leader didn't believe him and knocked Blitzwing down, telling him to "tell it to the Autobots".
Blitzwing told Rodimus Prime about the Quintessons' plan, and stopped a group of Sharkticons sent to trigger the shut down mechanism. Galvatron followed them, thinking Blitzwing a traitor, and triggered the shut down himself, causing all the Transformers to freeze. The Quintessons came down to claim Cybertron for themselves, but Spike Witwicky destroyed the fail safe device, unfreezing the Transformers. Galvatron, now realizing their treachery, chases after the Quintessons, who barely escape. Galvatron was about to restart the fighting between the Decepticons and the Autobots, but Blitzwing stood in the way, threatening him. Backing down, Galvatron left with the other Decepticons, telling Blitzwing that he was no longer welcome in their ranks, and would suffer for his betrayal. The Triple Changer however refused an offer to become an Autobot.
Blitzwing would appear twice more as a part of the Decepticon forces in later episodes, but it is unclear if these were animation errors or not. The episode "Starscream's Ghost" was originally written for Blitzwing, but was hastily rewritten to star Octane (who was a new toy at the time). He is clearly shown fighting alongside his fellow Decepticon Triple Changers again in the Japanese anime, The Headmasters.
[edit] Marvel Comics
Blitzwing would first appear in the Transformers comics in the Target 2006 arc of the UK comics. Along with the other Triple Changers, the Insecticons, and the seekers Dirge, Thrust and Ramjet, they are the Decepticons' most feared killers and have to be taken out before a major Autobot uprising can take place. Megatron inadvertently scuppered the plan by summoning the Insecticons to Earth.
Blitzwing's first appearance in the U.S. comics would be in issue 29, sent to Earth along with Astrotrain and Octane to retrieve a crashed shuttle which was carrying fuel for one of Ratbat's operations. However, the shuttle was infected with Scraplets, a plague of sentient micro-robots that ate metal and the dying pilot then accidentally infected them. After battling with Blaster and Goldbug, they became infected as well. Goldbug eventually found the cure — water, but Blaster refused to let Goldbug spray them, reluctant to save the Decepticons. The Scraplets took matters out of his hands, however, and formed into one huge creature. Options spent, Goldbug cured all four Transformers and let the heavily-armed Decepticons deal with it. The three Triple Changers then escaped with the cargo. It should be noted that Blitzwing is portrayed as being mindlessly cruel.
With the influx of new toys, like Headmasters,Targetmasters and Pretenders, older Decepticons like Blitzwing appeared less. He was part of Ratbat's forces, launching a major raid on the Autobots to recover various captured Decepticons before being cleaved in half by Grimlock. Presumably repaired, he was next seen battling Scorponok's Decepticons and then the Autobots. He was then deactivated by the Underbase-powered Starscream and did not appear again in the U.S. comics.
He has appeared sporadically in the U.K. comics; at one point recovering the clone of Megatron from the Thames with Dirge, Thrust and Ramjet for Shockwave to battle Galvatron. He also appeared in the Earthforce stories as part of the Decepticons of Megatron and Shockwave's forces, in one notable instance leaving Octane to be blasted by the U.S. army after it was revealed he had simply been chasing a car out of sheer spite — unaware that the car was actually Jazz. In the alternate movie-themed future of the UK comics he is indicated to be the leader of the Triple Changers.
[edit] Dreamwave Productions
The Triple Changers would appear again in Dreamwave's reinterpretation of the Generation One Universe — this time with a greatly expanded origin. First appearing during Shockwave's attack on Iacon city along with Astrotrain, Bludgeon, Brawl, Chopshop, Dirge, Frenzy, Octane , Onslaught, Ramjet, Tantrum, Venom and Vortex, Blitzwing would appear again as one of the four Transformers needed by the Fallen for the unbinding.
During the civil war on Cybertron, Shockwave envisioned a Transformer with multiple alternate modes, studying Astrotrain and Blitzwing. However, the Great Shutdown meant his plans could go no further — until Unicron's servant Scourge located Cybertron and reactivated him for study. When Shockwave was attacked by Sharkticons Scourge saved him, only to be shot in the back by Shockwave. Shockwave then proceeded to examine and study him, using the secrets gleaned to create first the Duocons and then the Triple Changers — Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Octane and at least two others — appearing to be the Autobots Sandstorm and Broadside (interestingly, in the Micromasters mini-series by Dreamwave, Blitzwing and Astrotrain are suffering from severe physical changes. As this is before the Great Shutdown, this might imply that the change was a natural one rather than a result of experiments).
The Triple Changers then served as Shockwave's bodyguards, accompanying him to Earth to capture Optimus Prime and Megatron's troops, with Blitzwing taking down Megatron, leaving him vulnerable for a follow-up attack by Shockwave. Blitzwing was himself taken down by Grimlock. They were unable to prevent him from being stopped by Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus back on Cybertron, but Astrotrain and Blitzwing accompanied Shockwave on his exile in the wastes of Cybertron, where his experiments resulted in Sixshot.
However, the arrival of Megatron and the Predacons resulted in Shockwave having his arm severed by Megatron. The rest of Shockwave's troops surrendered, but Blitzwing was seemingly killed by Razorclaw. In a later issue a shadowy figure (presumably Sixshot) discovers his severed head.
Blitzwing is the subject of two continuity errors in the Dreamwave universe. In a flashback to the building of the Ark 2 in the Generation One comics, Blitzwing is seen among the captured and deactivated Decepticons, despite being seen to arrive with Shockwave's troops in the second arc. Also, in the War Within series, during Shockwave's attack on Iacon City Blitzwing is seen to transform between two alternate modes, despite the rest of the series establishing he did not become a Triple Changer until much later.
[edit] Devil's Due Publishing
Blitzwing appeared in the second Devil's Due series reformatted into a small passenger airplane by Teletran 3.
In the third crossover between G.I Joe and the Transformers from Devil's Due Publishing, Blitzwing appeared as part of the Decepticon air attack on the Autobot Capital City, led by Sixshot, but was driven off by Omega Supreme.
[edit] IDW Publishing
After Dreamwave's closure, the rights to the Transformers comics were taken up by IDW Publishing. They have begun to publish their own new material, including a miniseries called Infiltration featuring some of the Generation One Transformers. In Infiltration, Starscream is in command of a small group of Decepticons on Earth consisting of Skywarp, Thundercracker, Astrotrain, Blitzwing, and the Battlechargers Runabout and Runamuck.
Starscream had discovered an energon ore on Earth that was the Transformer equivalent of steroids, making him bold enough to advance their infiltration phase ahead of schedule. However, it seems that humans have somehow obtained evidence of the Transformers' existence, which would derail Starscream's plans. Blitzwing appeared as part of Starscream's elimination squad along with Skywarp, disposing of any evidence of their operation on Earth. While bombing an abandoned base, Blitzwing battled Ratchet, who shot him down. However, Ratchet's inexperience in battling Triple Changers allowed Blitzwing to change to his tank mode and blast Ratchet.
Completing their bombing runs, Blitzwing and Skywarp were confronted by a far more dangerous threat — the Decepticon leader Megatron, who had come to Earth to find out why Starscream's unit had broken cover. Megatron, reacting to the treacherous Decepticons, shot Skywarp out of the sky while the surprised and afraid Blitzwing futilely engaged his leader in tank mode, only to be grabbed by the barrel and repeatedly slammed into the ground, seriously damaging him. However, Blitzwing did survive, as Megatron put his crippled subordinates in CR tanks after dealing with Starscream.
In The Transformers: Escalation #1, he is seen to have been repaired since his battle with Megatron, and he quickly accepted the Decepticon leader's ultimatum of no second chances. Accompanying Megatron to the disputed Soviet border state of Brasnya, Blitzwing used his Soviet tank mode to make it appear as if the Russians were attacking. However, Blitzwing then got an unexpected bonus — Optimus Prime himself, utterly unaware of his presence — or so it seemed. As Blitzwing prepared to fire he was taken out by Prime's Roller drone. The story is ongoing.
Blitzwing also appeared as one of the troops under Starscream's command in the Evolutions tale "Hearts of Steel". He was seen guarding the Decepticon manufacturing facility. He was presumably destroyed when John Henry and Bumblebee diverted the Decepticon train convoy into a chasm.
[edit] Toys
- Generation 1 Blitzwing (1985)
- The toy that became Blitzwing was original part of the Diaclone line in a green color. It sported spring loaded missiles, a sword, a tank turret and a rifle.
- This toy was later released in its original Diaclone colors as the new character Overcharge, a Japanese ehobby exclusive.
- Knockoffs of Blitzwing are common, sometimes made in the original Diaclone colors. There have even been remolds where his tank mode is changed to become an earth-mover by removing the turret and adding a shovel.
