Wheeljack
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wheeljack is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.
Contents |
[edit] Transformers: Generation 1 (1984)
| Transformers Character | |
 |
|
| Wheeljack | |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Autobot (Cybertron) |
| Sub-Group | Autobot Cars Lightning Strike Coalition Action Masters Spy Changers |
| Function | Mechanical Engineer |
| Motto | "Never do what your enemy expects you to do." |
| Alternate mode(s) | Cybertronian Vehicle Lancia Stratos Turbo Porsche 962 Ford Mustang |
| Series | Transformers: Generation 1 Transformers: Alternators Transformers: Universe |
| Voiced by | Chris Latta (English) Osamu Saka (Japanese) |
Wheeljack (Invento in Canada, Saetta in Italy) is the scientist (and warrior) of the Autobots in the Transformers television and comic series based on the popular toy line produced by Takara and Hasbro. His vehicle mode is a Lancia Stratos Turbo racing car.
The toy that was to become the Autobot Wheeljack was originally released as part of the Japanese Diaclone series by Takara. He was later released in 1984 by Hasbro in the US. According to a panel discussion at BotCon 2005, the original Wheeljack mold is "no longer available," and is most likely destroyed, limiting the likelihood of a future reissue of the toy.
Wheeljack is described as the mad scientist of the Autobot forces as he is always inventing new weapons and gadgets. These weapons and gadgets, while derived from the desire to benefit the Autobot cause, often bring great danger and introduce unpredictable elements into critical situations. He is the most accomplished driver (while in car mode) among the Autobots and enjoys displaying his skill level through various road stunts. Wheeljack possesses the ability to fly for relatively short distances (800 miles) using solid-fuel rockets in his arms. From his shoulder mounted cannons, Wheeljack can shoot magnetic inducer, shrapnel-needle, and gyro-inhibitor shells which can disrupt a target's sense of balance. He is often his own worst enemy due to the explosive and potentially damaging nature of his experiments.
[edit] Animated Series
Wheeljack, who was voiced by Chris Latta, was the first Transformer ever shown in the G1 cartoon series. Also, his is one of the few Cybertronian vehicle forms shown - in his case, a boxy vanlike vehicle. His robot form is distinguished by large bulbs on either side of his head that light up when he speaks. In most episodes, he was seldom seen at the front lines in battle - but he was often fundamental to the plot. He, the Autobot medic Ratchet and occasionally in cooperation with the human Sparkplug Witwicky were often shown working together creating various devices, weaponry, and even additional Autobots. Often, these devices were sought and sometimes obtained by the Decepticons and used against the Autobots. In the episode "The Immobilizer", he created a device capable of "immobilizing" anything and Decepticon forces were able to capture and use the device against the Autobots.
Wheeljack was the primary architect of the Dinobots, although they rarely seemed to have any particular affinity for him. Along with Ratchet he also helped to create the Aerialbots out of old Cybertronian shuttles. As the series progressed, Wheeljack's responsibilities were increasingly taken on by the Autobot scientist Perceptor.
In The Transformers: The Movie, set in the year 2005, Wheeljack was assigned to Autobot City on Earth. Wheeljack was killed in the invasion of Autobot City by Megatron’s forces, and his injured or possibly deceased body dragged to cover by Arcee. Interestingly, in the storyboards for the movie, it is Smokescreen, not Wheeljack, who lies dead, and Wheeljack himself can be seen alive amidst Devastator's attack. This may account for his anomalous appearance in Transformers: Victory.
[edit] Transformers: Victory
Wheeljack made an appearance in 1989, in the later series Transformers: Victory in Japan. Wheeljack, along with Perceptor and Minerva were called upon to save God Ginrai, who they converted into Victory Leo. The general explanation for this error (and similar ones perpetrated with other characters in the earlier series, Transformers: Headmasters) is that the Japanese animators and writers were not fully aware of which characters were alive or dead at the time, as Transformers: The Movie had not yet been released in Japan. This uncertainty may have been compounded by the storyboarding note above. It's also possible that, given his valuable capacities and given the existence of machinery able to fully revive a deceased robot(unveiled during Transformers:Headmasters) , Wheeljack had been rebuilt and existed anew in the years between the end of Transformers: The Headmasters and Transformers: Victory
[edit] Marvel Comics
Wheeljack was one of the original Autobot Transformers, making his first appearance in issue 1 of the original Marvel Comics Transformers series. In the initial four issue limited series produced by Marvel, Wheeljack was part of Prime’s elite crew that crash landed on Earth. Wheeljack existed as more of a background character through much of the series, with an early co-starring role in issue 9 when he & Jazz went to negotiate with G. B. Blackrock and battled Starscream, Frenzy and Circuit Breaker. In issue 36, Wheeljack called his old friend Sky Lynx for help in order to save a group of human kids from Grimlock. Grimlock attempted to use the children as blackmail against Blaster, who was defecting from the Autobots. Shortly after, Wheeljack was severely injured in a Decepticon attack in issue 41. He and many other Autobots were later revived by Grimlock using "Nucleon" in issue 75 and hesitant to advise battling against Unicron in their recently revived state. Wheeljack met another end at the hands of the Decepticons in issue 80, but was restored by the "Last Autobot". He appeared sporadically as part of the Autobot forces in the G2 comic.
[edit] Marvel UK
He was one of five injured Autobots who were accidentally reactivated by Galvatron when he probed their dreams looking for possible troops; it was revealed that soon after Jetfire was Matrixed, Wheeljack almost betrayed him to the Decepticons in return for technology and felt shame over this. He and Prowl were able to sucker-punch Galvatron, whom Wheeljack despised for his massacres during the Time Wars.
He later noted, along with Prowl, about how he missed the old days of non-gimmick based Transformer battles and that he was feeling outdated. Unfortunately he would soon get more than he bargained for as he and the other Earthforce members encountered Megatron, Shockwave and their "original" Decepticons as members of the Autobot Earthforce unit. Wheeljack worked as Earthforce's engineer, creating a powerful defensive system - unfortunately, it could only be turned off from the inside and he'd taken everyone outside to show it to them! Apart from that mistake, he worked well. He was responsible for thwarting Mindwipe's plot to brainwash humanity via nightlights, and repairing Tracks.
Wheeljack was severely damaged by the Quintessons in the six-part future arc Space Pirates.
[edit] Dreamwave Productions
Wheeljack was a scientist turned soldier on Cybertron at the dawn of the Autobot and Decepticon civil war. He was under Grimlock's command during the disastrous battle of Altihex and once again in a mission to rescue Optimus Prime in Cybertron's depths. When Megatron and Optimus disappeared in an accident with a space bridge, the Autobot and Decepticon forces splintered into smaller factions, and Wheeljack joined Grimlock's command once more in the Lightning Strike Coalition.
Wheeljack was among the Autobots commanded by Optimus Prime in the Ark mission, crashing deactivated on Earth and reawakening in Earth forms in 1984. Following initial Decepticon defeat and the explosion of the Ark II, the Autobots were deactivated and lost in the ocean. Wheeljack was among those reactivated by Optimus in 2002 and was part of a small task force lead by Jazz assigned to stop the spread of Megatron’s deadly metal virus in the Canadian Northwest territories. Wheeljack was temporarily deactivated once more, using all his power to neutralise the virus.
When a Cybertronian task force came to arrest the Earth-bound Transformers in 2003, Wheeljack was once more placed under Jazz's command was one of the few Autobots left on Earth to guard the Ark. Later in the year, Starscream and the Combaticons launched a vicious assault that left Wheeljack deactivated. He was retrieved and repaired by the Earth Defense Command, and later rejoined the other Autobots to be shown the site of construction for the new Autobot City.
[edit] Devil's Due Publishing
In this crossover series with G.I. Joe, the Ark, along with the Autobots and Decepticons within, is discovered by Cobra, who turn both factions into robotic drones to do their bidding. Wheeljack and Bumblebee managed to escape discovery, and are awakened when Cobra seals the ship. The two of them hide out in plain sight, until they managed to get in the middle of a battle between Transformer-augmented Cobra forces and G.I. Joe, the elite combat unit recently formed to battle Cobra. Throwing their lot in with the Joes, Wheeljack gained access to an emergency signal that had been released into the net by Optimus Prime, and was able to not only track down Cobra's hidden island base, but also awaken all the Transformers, both Autobot and Decepticon, and free them from Cobra's control.
With the situation on Cobra island quickly turning into a three-way battle, Wheeljack and Bumblebee planned to join the Joes to assault the island, rondevous with the other Autobots, and together take down both Cobra and the Decepticons. However, a group of US generals had other plans: the Joes were to disable Wheeljack and Bumblebee and take them to Area 51 for study, while the island would be destroyed by nuclear weapons. Commander Hawk reluctantly complied, hitting them with an EMP device, but Wheeljack was able to maintain consciousness long enough to warn the Joes that a nuclear explosion would have a cataclysmic reaction with the Energon Cobra sought to synthesize. With the fate of the world at stake, the Joes disobeyed their orders and went with their original plan. On the island, Wheeljack, with the help of Bumblebee and a large force of Joes, managed to take down the mighty Devestator, and helped Mainframe and Doctor Mindbender stop the nuclear missiles from destroying the island, and a good portion of the earth as well.
[edit] IDW Publishing
In IDW Publishing's new The Transformers: Infiltration mini-series, Wheeljack is part of an infiltration unit consisting of Ratchet, Ironhide, Jazz, Bumblebee and Sunstreaker, led by Prowl. He has not played a major role thus far, other than to accompany the other Autobots to the Decepticon base to watch the duel between Megatron and a super-powered Starscream.
In The Transformers: Escalation, when Sunstreaker is presumed destroyed by the Machination, Wheeljack and Jazz tracked them to their base - only to be temporarily disabled by the Machination's advanced weaponry. After this he accompanied Prime to Brasnya to hunt down Megatron and his human facsimile - only to wind up in battle with Skywarp and Astrotrain. He and Jazz put Skywarp to flight, but the Decpticon promised to return with reinforcements.The story is ongoing.
[edit] Toys
Action Master In 1990 Wheeljack was released as an Action Master toy, driving his own invention - the Turbo racer, a car that transforms into a jet.
Action Master Wheeljack was later repainted as the Decepticon Slicer.
Transformers: Universe (2004)
Wheeljack would appear again in the Transformers: Universe toy line as a Spychanger toy, a repaint of Robots In Disguise Daytonus (who was in turn based on an unused Generation 2 Go-Bot mold), in the colors of the original Generation One Wheeljack. He turns into a Porsche 962. Two packaging versions of this toy existed - a Kaybee version which did not attribute the toy to Universe (the packaging resembled latter-year Armada packaging, but with no subtitle under the Transformers name) and was packaged in vehicle form, and a version for discount stores which did and was packaged in robot mode. The Universe storyline has yet to feature Wheeljack in this form.
Wheeljack is a genius at combining throw-away objects into incredibly effective weapons. He is also a spectacular driver who never passes up a chance to show off his high-speed prowess. Arsenal includes a magnetic inducer sheel, gyro inhibitor and an ever-changing array of new gadgets.
There is also a Transformers: Universe version of Energon Downshift, who is called Wheeljack in Japan.
Transformers: Alternators (2005)
In an alternate Generation 1 timeline based on the Binaltech/Alternators toy line, the events of Transformers: The Movie did not occur due to temporal manipulation by the Decepticon Ravage. After an encounter with Ravage during which the Decepticon showed him a window into the future where Wheeljack and his comrades were destroyed. Using this knowledge, Wheeljack escaped his fate on Autobot City and converted his body using the Binaltech process into a white 'street tuned' Ford Mustang, a retooled version of Grimlock. In his new body, he possesses enhanced strength, defenses and he is also equipped with the "GT" system. Wheeljack is only the second Binaltech Autobot following Smokescreen GT to actually make use of the "GT" technology as part of the "Body Shop" project. The GT technology allows Wheeljack to control several doubles of himself. Currently, the storyline has Wheeljack faced with the dilemma of stopping Ravage - and therefore guaranteeing his own destruction - or saving himself and risking the future.
[edit] Transformers: Armada (2003)
The name Wheeljack was reused in Transformers: Armada, this time for a Decepticon.
[edit] Animated series
Wheeljack (Rampage in Japan) was formerly an Autobot serving in the same company as Hot Shot on Cybertron. When they were both caught in a conflagration on the battle field, and Wheeljack was pinned beneath debris, Hot Shot was forced to leave him to get him help, but was prevented from returning to his friend's side by his commander. Wheeljack believed that Hot Shot had abandoned him, and when Megatron found and rescued him, he swore loyalty to the Decepticon commander. As a result of damage inflicted either on the battle field or by the debris, Wheeljack's Autobot insignia had been slashed through. In an act of symbolism, he kept that same insignia on his chest, even once he had switched to the Decepticon cause. However, he does have a small Decepticon insignia under his Autobot insignia. In the present day, Wheeljack arrived on Earth around the same time as the Autobot, Side Swipe, and baited Hot Shot into a fiery face-off, forcing them to relive the past and put their issues to rest so they could go on to battle as enemies. Hot Shot won the day, and something inside Wheeljack seemed to soften, as, when both factions returns to Cybertron, he granted Hot Shot an audience with Megatron (now Galvatron), and worked closely and faithfully with him during the Unicron Battles. Wheeljack transforms into a sports car, and possesses the power of teleportation. Additionally, he can create illusionary duplicates of himself. His toy is partnered with the Mini-Con Wind Sheer (Hawk), who does not appear in this capacity in the animated series.
[edit] Dreamwave Productions
Wheeljack had a brief cameo in issue 12 of the Armada comic from Dreamwave Productions, being one of those guarding Megatron's rocket base in the desert.
[edit] Transformers: Energon (2004)
Wheeljack is the Japanese name of the Autobot Downshift, who greatly resembles the Generation One Wheeljack. It is generally assumed that Energon (Transformers: Superlink in Japan)'s Wheeljack/Downshift is neither the same character as the Autobot deserter Wheeljack, nor the Mini-Con Downshift from Armada. Energon's Downshift is carried over to Transformers: Cybertron, as a late 1960s-early 1970s era muscle car who again turns into an homage of Wheeljack.
[edit] Dreamwave Productions
Armada Wheeljack appeared in the Transformers: Energon comic series. Wheeljack would appear only once before Dreamwave folded, albeit in flashback, in Transformers: Energon #30. In this flashback we would see Scorponok leading Wheeljack Thundercracker, Predacon, Terrorsaur and Skywarp against the Autobots in an unspecified battle on Cybertron. In Megatron’s battle barge, Starscream warned Megatron to watch out for Scorponok as Thrust, Cyclonus and Demolishor piloted the barge.
Armada Wheeljack also was set to appear in the unreleased issue 31 of the Transformers: Energon comic series.
[edit] References
- Macchio, Ralph, Bill Mantlo (w), Springer, Frank (p) and DeMulder, Kim (i). "The Transformers." The Transformers v1 #1 (Sep. 1984), Marvel Comics.
- Sarracini, Chris (w), Lee, Pat (p) and Armstrong, Rob, Erik Sander (i). "Prime Directive." The Transformers: Generation One v1 #1-6 (Mar.-Sep. 2002), Dreamwave Productions.
- Mick, Brad (w), Lee, Pat (p) and Armstrong, Rob (i). "War and Peace." The Transformers: Generation One v2 #1-6 (Apr.-Sep. 2003), Dreamwave Productions.
[edit] External links
- tfu.info's page on the original toy, which also contains links to other toy incarnations of Wheeljack.
- Gallery of Generation One Wheeljack
- Gallery of Alternators Wheeljack
