Thrust is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers series. The original character was an evil red Decepticon jet, with most of the following character using the name Thrust being a variation on that concept. The biggest exception being the Thrust who appeared in Beast Machines who was an evil Vehicon who turned into a motorcycle.
Contents |
The Decepticon Thrust Box Art |
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| Decepticon | |
|---|---|
| Sub-group | Convention Exclusives, Deluxe Vehicles, Seekers |
| Function | Warrior |
| Rank | 5, 4 (Timelines) |
| Partner | Dirge, Ramjet, Bug Bite, Thundercracker, and Dreadwind |
| Motto | "My engines' roar is my enemies' song of doom!" (Generation 1) "I'll wash my actuators in your spilled lubricant, weakling." (Timelines) |
| Alternate Modes | Cybertronian jet Modified McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle |
| Series | Transformers: Generation 1 Smallest Transformers Transformers: Timelines Transformers: Universe Transformers: Henkei Transformers: Generations |
| English voice actor | Ed Gilbert |
Thrust in the original Transformers toyline is the name of a Decepticon who transforms into a red VTOL jet.[1]
Thrust, Ramjet, and Dirge are part of a team dubbed by Transformers fans as the "Coneheads" for the way their animation models were drawn to make them visually distinct from the original Decepticon jets Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker despite their toys being modifications of the same mold used to create that original trio.
Thrust's personality is that of a braggart who tries to psyche out his opponents with the roar of his engines, but is in fact a coward when it comes to actual battle.[2]
Thrust was named the 24th top unfortunately named Transformer by Topless Robot.[3]
Thrust first appeared in issue #17 of the US Marvel Transformers comic, acting as a bodyguard for Straxus.
He played a larger role in the Marvel UK storyline Target: 2006, where he was portrayed as one of the Decepticons' deadliest killers, and one that needed to be taken out by the Autobot commando group the Wreckers to signal a mass-Autobot uprising on Cybertron. The Decepticons had prepared a major offensive to wipe the Autobots out and capture Emirate Xaaron, unaware this was part of the Autobot trap. Megatron's summoning the Insecticons to Earth scrapped both sides’ plans.
He subsequently joined the Decepticons on Earth. He was seen entering Earth via the Spacebridge, alongside Ramjet and Dirge around the same time as the Aerialbots were being created. Despite acquitting themselves well against the inexperienced Autobots they were eventually forced to flee when the Aerialbots formed Superion.
A story called The Gift in issue 93 of the Marvel UK comics explored Jetfire's problems fitting in with the other Autobots. Jetfire accompanied Jazz to a Blackrock fuel plant to oversee the creation of more fuel for the Autobots. The plant was attacked by Decepticons Thrust and Bombshell. Although Jetfire was able to put out a fire at the plant before it exploded, he blamed himself for being slow to react.
Thrust would serve as part of the Earthbound forces under first Shockwave, then Ratbat, battling both the Autobots and Scorponok's Decepticon faction. When Starscream seized the power of the Underbase, Dirge, Thrust and Ramjet were part of the forces sent against him.
Although they were not shown to be deactivated by the villain, they were not seen again in the comic continuity, although they would be seen in the UK. Earthforce tales under the command of Megatron and Shockwave. In the alternate Movie themed future of the UK comics, Thrust was indicated to have taken command of the Seekers.
It is unclear if Thrust was revived with many of the other Decepticons deactivated by Starscream's power, but as Dirge and Ramjet were both shown to be alive and well, it is likely.
In the cartoon, Thrust first appeared in the second season episode "Dinobot Island".[4]
In the episode "The God Gambit" Cosmos collected data in space on a potential new power source, but was attacked by Astrotrain, Thrust and Starscream. Crashing on the moon Titan, the local priests worshiped the Decepticons as "Sky Gods", but rebels were able to reactivate Cosmos and call for aid from the Autobots. Optimus Prime sent Omega Supreme with Perceptor and Jazz. Astrotrain set himself up as the chief god of the moon and forced the natives to gather energy crystals. The trip to Titan drained Omega of most of his energy, but Perceptor and Jazz were able to gather enough crystals to reactivate Omega and defeat the three Decepticons. Vowing to not let the Autobots gain the crystals, Astrotrain set up a chain reaction destroying them. The Autobots aided the natives to escape the explosion and helped them settle in another area of the moon.
In "The Golden Lagoon" Thrust is the one that discovers the lagoon after Beachcomber left. He was also one of the nine Transformers to be transported to the giant alien world in "Child's Play". He attempted to warn the Insecticons about the Morphabots in "Quest For Survival," but was simply fired upon. In "Kremzeek!" he was responsible for dropping Kremzeek in the Autobot base.
Thrust also appeared in the The Transformers: The Movie. Among other roles he had in the movie, Thrust is most recognized as the first Decepticon run over by Optimus Prime as the Autobot Leader made his way towards Megatron.
In his last U.S. appearance, "Ghost in the Machine", Thrust and Dirge are among other Decepticons being punished by Galvatron for failing to stop a demoralizing assault by Starscream—now a ghost possessing the bodies of other Decepticons. Just before he and the other offenders are to be hunted down, Trypticon, the Decepticon city is possessed, trapping Thrust, Dirge, Runamuck and Runabout inside. He and Dirge liberates Trypticon from Starscream's control, just before the traitorous ghost was about to aid Unicron in destroying Cybertron.
Thrust appeared in episode #1 and #15 of the Japanese exclusive Headmasters series.
Thrust was recruited as a Decepticon under the leadership of Megatron in his war against the Autobots on the planet Cybertron. Thrust became a member of the elite Seekers under Aerospace Commander Starscream. He often worked with fellow Seekers Ramjet and Dirge. He appeared defending Cybertron's planetary engines from Grimlock's group, but was later seen slumped against the wall. Staying with the Decepticons during the chaos following Megatron's disappearance, Thrust was one of those who defeated the Chaos Trinity.
In the third War Within series Thrust appeared among the Decepticon troops under the command of Shockwave.
After the Great Shutdown ended, Thrust was reformatted by Shockwave into the form of an Earth-style jet, serving as one of his bodyguards. After the War between the Autobots and Decepticons ended on Cybertron, Ultra Magnus led a mission to Earth to arrest the Autobots on Earth for continuing their violent ways. Thrust was among the troops under Ultra Magnus.
Defeated by the Autobots on Cybertron, Shockwave was forced to set up a new secret headquarters in the wastelands of Cybertron, with Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Dirge, Ramjet and Thrust following him. Shockwave completed work on his new warrior, Sixshot. Megatron returned to Cybertron with three clone warriors and the Predacons and was able to defeat Shockwave. Shockwave was kept alive, but restrained. All Shockwave's warriors except Blitzwing, who was destroyed, joined up with Megatron in his plan to invade the Earth.
Thrust would appear again in the second G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers crossover from Devil's Due Publishing with Dirge, Ramjet, Scourge and Cyclonus, acting as bodyguards for Shockwave. When the Dinobots returned from different a time period they routed Shockwave's troops. Ramjet was presumably killed either during this event, or when Cobra Commander detonated a store of explosives inside Starscream, killing everyone present. In this story, Thrust had not received an Earthen mode and transformed into a Cybertronian jet.
Despite this Thrust (or at least a cone-headed jet Decepticon with a similar color scheme) would be seen amongst the Decepticon troops trying to hold back the Autobot/G.I. Joe force attempting to rescue Optimus Prime. Here, like most other Transformers featured, he was in his Earthen form.
In Transformers: Timelines volume 2 #2, "Games of Deception" (set in the Marvel universe but not following the continuity of either Generation 2 or the later Marvel UK tales) Thrust appeared under the command of Bugbite. Coming to Earth with him, Thrust served him loyally, hitting Ramjet with a cerebro shell. However, in the final three-way battle between Bugbite's group, Megatron's forces and Ultra Magnus' Autobots, Thrust was gunned down by Magnus.
Thrust appears in At Fight's End.
Thrust appears among the Cybertronians fighting along side Megatron in Megatron Origin #3, where he is seen fighting Ironhide.
Thurst appears in The Transformers: Stormbringer as part of the Decepticon infiltration cell on Nebulos when Thunderwing arrived. Thrust was ordered to stay in their base in order to be able to have a recording of the events in case things went wrong. Despite the Decepticons' best efforts the monster devastated much of the planet and Thrust fled along with Dreadwind and Darkwing.
In All Hail Megatron #16 Thrust was among the Decepticons discovered wounded and hiding in abandoned buildings in New York by the U.S. military.[5]
The Predacon Thrust |
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| Predacon | |
|---|---|
| Sub-group | Basic Vehicles, Deluxe Beasts |
| Function | Aerial Officer (As Thrust), Shock Troop Commander (as Thrustor) |
| Rank | 3 (as Thrust), 4 (as Thrustor) |
| Motto | "Whoah, everybody looks like ants from way up here! Wait, I haven’t taken off yet. Then . . . what the heck are those things? . . . Oh, ants. Right." |
| Alternate Modes | F-22 Raptor, Cybernetic Velociraptor |
| Series | Beast Wars Second |
| Japanese voice actor | Junji Sanechika |
A second character named Thrust was introduced in the Japanese exclusive series Beast Wars II.
In the Japanese exclusive Beast Wars II series, Thrust is a Predacon who transformers into a yellow jet, and is a soldier in the forces of a transformer calling himself Galvatron.
Like his best friend Dirge, Thrust has the attitude of a manzai comedian. He never calms down and hates acting serious. He’d much rather have fun and take things in stride. Thrust has a shrewd personality, though, and along with Dirge he forms a well-known duo among the Predacons. Unfortunately, the duo isn’t known for exactly what they’d like to be. For the most part they are thought of as bunglers. Thrust hates sea breezes since they tend to cause him to rust and for that reason alone he strangely has a great hatred of the Maximal Scuba.
Thrust and Dirge share a great deal in common. Thrust transforms into a stealthy fighter jet just like his partner. He also carries his weapon of choice, the Thrust Gun, in his leg compartment and can attach a barrel to it for increased power.
Thrusts inability to focus on anything for a length of time reduces him and his partner to the more menial tasks while complex assignments are left to more appropriate Predacons.
Later, he is upgraded by Gigastorm using the power of the Angolmois energy, thereby transforming him into Thrustor, a cybernetic velociraptor.
In "The Maximal Brainwashing Project" Starscream and BB were able to capture Diver and the Tasmanian Kid, brainwashing them into serving the Predacons. Meanwhile Leo Prime, Apache and Scuba were able to capture Dirge and Thrust. The shock of being damaged in capture had the side effect of making the Predacons think they were Maximals. Diver and the Kid were able to ambush the Maximals, allowing Galvatron to gain the upper hand on Lio Convoy, but the Maximals were aided by Dirge and Thrust. Furious that Lio had seemingly stolen his brainwashing idea Starscream had BB attacked the Maximals. Megastorm found the whole turn of events amusing and planned to use his main cannon to destroy all the Maximals and Predacons in the conflict, becoming the leader of the Predacons. His attack took so long to charge Diver was able to ruin it with a water geyser. The explosion was enough to shock the brainwashed Maximals back to their senses. Galvatron and the Predacons retreated with Dirge and Thrust in tow.[12]
In Beast Wars: The Ascending Shokaract's heralds Hellscream, Max-B, Antagony, Thrustor and Hardhead defended their master on Cybertron until he was shunted into limbo by the Maximal Snarl. The heralds then retreated once there was no vessel for Unicron.
Thrust had a biography printed in the Beast Wars Sourcebook by IDW Publishing.[13]
Beast Wars Waspinator |
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| Predacon/Vehicon/Decepticon | |
|---|---|
| Sub-group | Basic Vehicles, Deluxe Beasts, Deluxe Vehicles, Transmetals |
| Function | Aerial Attack |
| Motto | “Waspinator tired of being universe's chew toy!” |
| Alternate Modes | Jet Fighter, Giant Wasp, Giant Transmetal Wasp/Jet, Cybertronian motorcycle, Technorganic Wasp |
| Series | Beast Wars Beast Machines Transformers: Universe Transformers: Timelines |
| English voice actor | Scott McNeil (as Waspinator), Jim Byrnes (as Thrust) |
| Japanese voice actor | Kenzo Kato |
Thrust (formerly Waspinator) is best remembered for being the universe's whipping boy: getting destroyed or demolished in almost every episode of Beast Wars, yet returning in almost perfect condition in the very next episode. He is also dim-witted, talks in a broken third-person speech pattern, often referring to other characters, except Megatron, Optimus Primal, and himself,(however when Megatron became a dragon, Waspinator referred to him as "Dragon-Bot") by names that reflected their transformation modes instead of their true names (example: referring to Silverbolt as "Doggy-Bot") and spent most of the series as an underdog, causing him to take constant abuse from Maximal and Predacon alike (thus summing up Waspinator's most well-known line "Why universe hate Waspinator?!") making him one of the more fan-favorite characters on the show. His beast mode is a wasp and his name is based on The Terminator.[14]
Waspinator's toy was recolored as the Predacon Buzz Saw, a character who only appeared in the comic series. Waspinator came with two different heads, a robotic and mutant head, but the television series only ever depicted him with the mutant head. Buzz Saw was depicted in the comics with the robot head.[15]
Although a transmetal version of Waspinator was made in the toy line, Waspinator remained in his original form in the television series from first episode to last (the only one of the original five Predacons to do so). There was also a "Fox Kids" repaint of his original form, which was in new colors, and one of his transmetal form which had the colors of Buzz Saw.
In 2005 the original Waspinator toy was one of the toys selected for the Beast Wars 10th Anniversary toyline, repainted in more show-accurate colors. He came packaged with one of the six pieces used to make the Transmutate toy and a DVD with the episode Possession on it.
As the Vehicon General Thrust he was in charge of the Cycle Drones and was one of the few who remained an ally to Megatron until the very end.
Scott Mcneil attended Botcon 2006 at the Lexington Convention Center for the 10th anniversary of the TV series.[16]
Wired Magazine once nominated him as one 12 most ridiculous Transformers of all time.[17] In 2011, Waspinator was the second fan choice Transformer to be put in the Transformers: Hall of Fame.[18]
Waspinator was a follower of the Predacon criminal Megatron, joining him on his raid of the Golden Disk artifact from the Maximals and being on the Darksyde when it was chased through Transwarp Space by the Axalon and crashed on prehistoric Earth. High energon levels threatened to destroy the crew unless they adopted organic alternate modes, and Waspinator took the form of a wasp ("Beast Wars Part 1"). Waspinator's body was blasted apart, crushed or disassembled numerous times throughout the series (“Oh sure...don't mind Waspinator; Waspinator just lie here and suffer... drag himself to CR tank...”). Even his fellow Predacons had little respect for Waspinator, often letting him take the shots in battles. Despite the fact that Waspinator never actually led or participated in a rebellion against Megatron, he was not loyal to the Predacon tyrant but merely too cowed and frightened of Megatron to overthrow him, a sentiment which only got worse as Megatron grew more powerful during the series and Waspinator did not. This can be best observed during the first season when Waspinator was shown in a private conversation with himself, revealing his desire to, like most Predacons, overthrow Megatron and establish himself as leader.
In the first season, he was often partnered with Terrorsaur and proved himself to be a capable aerial combatant. However, Waspinator had few notable roles other than acting as Megatron's aerial muscle. But he did get a successful victory when he stole the Axalon's Energon shielding system in "Call of the Wild" and also blinding and nearly destroying some of the Maximals in "Dark Voyage". During the episode "Possession", Waspinator was possessed by the spark of the ancient Decepticon Starscream. Starscream betrayed Megatron with the help of Blackarachnia and managed to capture the Axalon from the Maximals, but his own ego and a betrayal in turn by Blackarachnia saw him defeated. In another bizarre incident, he was severely damaged by a reprogrammed Rhinox, who had developed his own ideas about leading the Predacons. As usual Waspinator survived but this time he had been temporarily damaged mentally, referring to himself as the original Insecticon Shrapnel, and talking with his speech impediment. In the same scene he refers to himself as Wonko The Sane, which is in turn a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as well as to a prominent Transformers fan who used that name as his online handle. This episode of insanity lasted until an annoyed Cheetor shot him down and Waspinator was repaired (with his last insane line being part of the original transformers theme song "more than meets the eye")..
Waspinator spent much of the season partnered with Inferno and Quickstrike ("Ant-Bot and Two-Head"). He was briefly teamed up with the transmetal II clone of Dinobot (who sliced him to ribbons), only to end up quickly shot by Cheetor after the young Maximal completed his own 'upgrade' into a transmetal II. Waspinator's status grew increasingly poor as time went on, to the extent that he was literally taken to pieces by the proto-human girl Una, who had been taught by Cheetor to go for the hinges when attacking robots. Megatron merely described this as "situation normal then". Throughout most of this series he was used as Predacon cannon fodder, while the slightly more powerful ones did more active combat. When the Predacons broke into the Maximal base, he was told that he would be leading the attack, but instead turned out to be a decoy that was literally squashed by Optimus.
After the destruction of the Predacon Base, Inferno, Quickstrike and Waspinator were sent to establish a new base for the Predacons and discovered caves that were inhabited by a tribe of early humans. Just as the Predacons were about to engage the early humans in battle, Waspinator decided he was sick of the evil Predacon ways and of the constant physical abuse he was always receiving and quit in a furious and surprising rant. As the Beast Wars came to an end and the Maximals left for Cybertron, it was revealed that Waspinator stayed behind on Earth, living amongst a tribe of early humans and being worshiped as a god. He even got the last line of the series: “Waspinator happy at last!”.
Waspinator was captured by Megatron's Vehicon Drones and his spark was transferred into the Vehicon General Thrust in Beast Machines. During the series, it was revealed that, following the conclusion of the Beast Wars that the early humans got tired of Waspinator, despite having worshipped him as a deity, and forced him to leave (although he claimed he was tired of them and left because he missed Cybertron). How he got home afterwards was never revealed, though he did say "Took forever, but waaayyy worth it". Even writer Bob Skir mentioned in his website that "someone someday has to explain to me how he hitchhiked his way home..." [1] It is possible that he just flew under his own power and it took him so long to reach Cybertron that he arrived just prior to the Maximals exiting from transwarp space.[19]
Thrust was the only one of the original three Vehicon Generals who was able to remember on his own that he used to be someone else. For a while, Blackarachnia believed that this someone else was Silverbolt, since Thrust kept displaying a soft spot for the she-spider. She was disappointed to learn that Thrust was not Silverbolt, but the Predacon Waspinator. Waspinator had been left on prehistoric Earth, to be worshiped by the early humans, but Waspinator accidentally boringly flung a pebble at a human who was building a statue to worship his "godlike" performance, and chased him off. Somehow he returned to Cybertron where his spark was extracted by Megatron and reprogrammed into Thrust. Waspinator was actually very pleased to be inside the "cool biker-bot" because "Chick-bots dig 'brooding loner' bit! " Each of the three original Vehicon Generals had their own personalized command codes; Thrust's was: "Thrust Overdrive!!"
With Cybertron's reformatting at the end of the series, Waspinator was reformatted into a surprisingly small technorganic wasp, but with the head of Thrust. He was then swatted by Rattrap and sent spiraling away through the air. His final line in this series is an ironic contrast to his last on Beast Wars. Bob Skir referred to this version of Waspinator as Thrustinator in the DVD commentary of the last episode.
In the Transformers: Universe storyline Thrust would return in his Vehicon form as one of the many Transformers kidnapped by Unicron from alternate timelines.
The original Waspinator also put in an appearance in the BotCon voice actor play. When Rhinox's attempts to stop Unicron pulling victims from alternate realities resulted in two groups of dimensionally-displaced Autobots being marooned on frozen planetoids, Waspinator, on the side of good for once, was sent alongside Silverbolt and Rattrap to help. They ended up battling Unicron's minions alongside a crew of time lost Autobots (Bumblebee, Cosmos and Tracks) and the two groups of Autobots they had been sent to help (both from the RiD universes), and, with Rhinox's help, sent them back to their own times and realities.
The Predacon General now known as Megatron gathered a crew of like-minded individuals. While Waspinator and Terrorsaur stole a ship, Megatron, Dinobot and Scorponok stole the Golden Disk artifact, battling the guards and destroying one, disabling a second, and leaving a third to commandeer a ship to pursue them. Waspinator would lose a contest to name the ship with Terrorsaur, christening it the Darksyde (Waspinator's choice being "Buzzerbot"). Picking up the others, they fled and were pursued by two ships: one of which was the Axalon commanded by Optimus Primal, the other the Chromia 10 piloted by Airazor. With a little help from Laserbeak and Buzzsaw (secretly sent by Divebomb to ensure Megatron's plan to change history succeeded) they destroyed one of their pursuers, and the newly christened Darksyde fled into Transwarp space, with the Axalon in pursuit - thus beginning the Beast Wars.
Beast Wars Second Galvatron, Megastorm and the technorganic Predacon Waspinator appeared together in the story Wreckers: Finale Part II by the Transformers Collectors Club in 2007. During the invasion of Cybertron by the Quintessons the Predacons worked together to ambush a Quintesson contingent commanded by Overseer Vashik. Vashik's troops were caught in a pool of molten magma and destroyed.[20]
Waspinator had a biography printed in the Beast Wars Sourcebook by IDW Publishing.[21][22]
Waspinator appears among the characters in Re-Unification, the 2010 TFcon voice actor play prelude comic.[23]
For BotCon 2011, Hasbro named Waspinator as the "Fans' Choice" robot inductee in the Transformers Hall of Fame, beating Shockwave, Grimlock, Jazz and Erector. He is the second Beast Wars character to be given this honor.[24][25]
| Decepticon | |
|---|---|
| Japanese name | Strato |
| Sub-group | Deluxe Vehicles |
| Function | Troop Instructor |
| Rank | 9 |
| Partner | Inferno |
| Motto | "I fight, I prevail, I conquer! " (Hasbro), "Arrogance and ambition are shortcuts to victory." (Takara) |
| Alternate Modes | Modified F-35 Joint Strike Fighter |
| Series | Transformers: Armada |
| English voice actor | Colin Murdock |
| Japanese voice actor | Kōji Yusa |
In the Transformers: Armada cartoon series, Thrust is a noted Decepticon strategist called to Earth by Megatron. He becomes second in command of the Decepticons under Megatron replacing Starscream who had served that role prior to leaving the Decepticons.[28]
Note: According to the Japanese tech spec and animated series Thrust can become invisible, but in the Dreamwave comics, they attribute his ability to turn invisible to his Mini-Con partner Inferno.
Stealthily stalking the skies in his jet mode, Thrust is aided by his optical camouflage powers that render him invisible. He personally selected the Mini-Con Inferno to be his partner when he arrived on Earth from Cybertron. In addition, he worked in conjunction with the Air Military Team (Terradive, Thunderwing, Gunbarrel) on several occasions.
Heralded as a master tactician and general, Thrust won numerous victories for the Decepticons on the planets Duke and Vector. The schemes he crafted for the Decepticons certainly seemed to confirm that fact, but they came crashing down when he failed to factor in the arrival of Jetfire on Earth, and later, his ability to combine with Optimus Prime.
Following these, and other disastrous encounters with the Autobots, Thrust was approached by Sideways and given promises of great power and respect, Thrust began to work against Megatron. At the same time, he arranged a scheme to manipulate Starscream and eventually allow the Decepticons to gain possession of all three Mini-Con weapons, which Thrust then used to power the mighty Hydra-Cannon. Back on Cybertron, however, Thrust's treachery was revealed when he absconded with the Skyboom Shield and Requiem Blaster, and delivered them to Sideways, who planned to use them to revive his master, Unicron. Following Sideways' theft of the Star Saber, Unicron was fully reborn and attacked Cybertron, with Thrust perched on his shoulder cheering over the destruction of the Transformers race. When confronted by Galvatron (formerly Megatron) on Unicron's surface for his treason, Thrust is more to willing to face Galvatron, as he finds no longer to flee from him as so much damage to Cybertron by Unicron has been done. He eventually flew into a portion of Unicron's body by accident and became lodged in a shifting joint, and found that his cries for help elicited no response from the Chaos-Bringer or his former leader. Galvatron warned him that this was the fate of those who dared to dream of both power and treason, and walked away as Thrust was crushed to his death.
Thrust had a much lesser role in the accompanying Dreamwave comics. He first appeared in issue #9, arriving from Cybertron to equip the Decepticons with rocket boosters, providing them with some much needed mobility. He then took part in the Decepticon assault on the Mini-Con base on the moon, and also battled Hot Shot and Red Alert alongside Starscream in order to discover the location of the Autobot base. He then became part of Megatron's forces on Earth, hunting the Mini-Con adventure team, accidentally being taken out by a super-powered Cyclonus and accompanying Starscream and Demolishor in search of Over-Run and the Mini-Con Matrix, battling Hot Shot again. However, they ran into trouble in the most unexpected of forms - the original Galvatron, who took out Thrust. Left for dead by the other two, Thrust managed to make his way to the Decepticon base on Earth. His luck didn't improve: he was confronted by Galvatron's fellow Heralds of Unicron - the original versions of Scourge, Thunderwing and Dirge - and subsequently beaten to a pulp. He did not appear again in the Armada comics.
Although the character of Thrust did not appear in the Energon animated series he continued to appear in the Transformers: Energon comic series by Dreamwave, allying himself with the Autobots after the disappearance of Megatron. He was one of those who aided the Autobots when Cybertron was attacked by the Four Horsemen of Unicron: Airazor, Cheetor, Rhinox and Terrorsaur. Subsequently, he was one of those who volunteered to head to Earth to battle the Terrorcon invasion. He was one of the defenders of Toronto alongside Hot Shot, Red Alert, Hoist, Beachcomber and Rodimus, battling against Divebomb and a swarm of Terrorcon clones before receiving help from a very unlikely source: Megatron, resurrected in a new body by Optimus Prime. Megatron decimated the Terrorcon invasion, and Thrust attempted to ingratiate himself with his bemused former leader.
Thrust would make one more appearance in flashback in Transformers: Energon #30 as one of the Decepticons piloting Megatron’s battle barge as Starscream delivered a warning of Scorponok's ambitions. Unfortunately Dreamwave went out of business at this point, so any further development of Thrust remains untold.
Cybertron Thrust |
|
| Decepticon | |
|---|---|
| Sub-group | Mini-Cons |
| Rank | 5 |
| Alternate Modes | Jet |
| Series | Transformers: Cybertron |
Another Thrust appeared in the Transformers: Cybertron line as a Mini-Con.
Thrust was presented as a revolutionary who enjoyed defying the pointless laws of the Mini-Con Council. Thriving on chaos, he took advantage of the black hole created by the Unicron singularity, sabotaging the Mini-Cons' ships and leaving them trapped on Cybertron as the black hole expands, then leading a rebellion.
Thrust pays the price for his ways in the club comic. When Unicron attacks Cybertron in the midst of the Mini-Con civil war, Thrust is amongst those killed by the chaos bringer.
The F-35 Lightning jet |
|
| Decepticon | |
|---|---|
| Sub-group | Deluxe Vehicles |
| Rank | 6 |
| Alternate Modes | F-35 Lightning II |
| Series | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen |
Thrust is a cowardly Decepticon jet. He prefers fighting humans to Autobots, but will fly away in terror if they attack with heavy artillery.[29]
| Autobot/Decepticon | |
|---|---|
| Sub-group | Deluxe Beasts, Deluxe Vehicles, Predacons |
| Function | Fugitive |
| Motto | "Waspinator Rules!" |
| Alternate Modes | Cybertronian Sports Car, Futuristic Car similar to a Chevrolet Beat, Technorganic Wasp |
| Series | Transformers Animated |
| English voice actor | Tom Kenny |
| Japanese voice actor | Kenji Nojima (Wasp), Kenzo Kato (Waspinator) |
Waspinator is introduced as former Elite Guard trainee, named Wasp, around the same time as Bumblebee, both being of the same model with similar abilities, though Wasp is faster, stronger, angrier, and arrogant in personality. Due to Longarm's intervention, Wasp ended up being his scapegoat when Bumblebee believed Wasp to be the double agent working for Megatron. Though it was truly Shockwave disguised as Longarm who was the double agent, using Bumblebee's blind conviction to his own advantage. In the flashbacks, Wasp's color scheme consists of light green and yellow with black highlights, and he has the signature Autobot blue eye color.
By the time of his introduction, Wasp resembles more of his Beast Wars version in both eye/body color and speech pattern. But once converted into Waspinator, his design is very similar to his original Beast Wars CGI model but with a smaller second set of arms that jut from his sides. Originally able to talk normally as a cadet, his time in the Stockade rendered him to speak in a brooding voice that mimics the ravings of The Lord of the Rings' Sméagol/Gollum, speaking in Waspinator's trademark third-person and adding "-bot" to the names of fellow Transformers. (ex. Bumblebee=Bumblebot)
In his upgraded technorganic form he can fly and shoot stinger lasers from his robot mode hands or his beast mode forelimbs. He is also much larger and more powerful as a technorganic being. According to his toy bio and as seen on the show, Wasp can survive being blown to pieces, just as the original Waspinator famously could. It is unclear, however, if this is a side-effect of his mutation or if Wasp has had this ability from the start.
One notable difference between this newer Waspinator and his Beast Wars counterpart, was that whilst the original Waspinator was a bumbling idiot unlike his Animated counterpart had a murderous, psychotic and deadly personality.
David Kaye said at TFcon 2010 that the creators wanted to get Scott McNeil to voice Waspinator, but since he could not work in the US without a permat, they were unable to get him to revise his role.
Wasp made his debut in the opening scenes of the episode "Autoboot Camp" when he broke out of his imprisonment and escaped his former drill sergant Sentinel Minor via Space Bridge. However, the long imprisonment reduced Wasp into a completely cold and impassive shell of his former ego, seeking vengeance on Bumblebee for ruining his life. Though hunting him down on the impression he was heading to Megatron, Bumblebee would learn from Shockwave the truth that he really sent an innocent bot to the Stockade. Being pursued by a small team composed of Jazz, Sentinel Prime, Jetfire and Jetstorm, Wasp managed to get to Earth in order to get his revenge. Though Bumblebee attempted to explain what had happened, Wasp was bent to make him suffer just like he had, knocking him out before swapping paint jobs, helmets and voice synthezisers with him, so Bumblebee could take his place while he remained free. To further the trick, Wasp downloaded information from the earth Autobots' computer to know everything he knows. However, when his deception ultimately failed, Wasp used Bumblebee as a shield to make an escape.
After being found, Wasp attempted to evade his Autobot captors as they cornered him, refusing to go back to the Stockade. It was only when two of his pursuers, Optimus Prime and Sentinel Prime, begin arguing over what to do with him that Wasp escaped before being abducted by Swoop. Swoop took Wasp to Dinobot Island and dropped him before Blackarachnia, whom he fell in love with. Blackarachnia used her charm and mutual past of Autobot betrayal to gain Wasp's trust, using it to make him step into her transwarp generator and be exposed to its energy along with Wasp DNA. A few cycles (minutes) later, as Sentinel confronted Blackarachina, Wasp exited the generator as Waspinator to protect his friend. During the fight, Waspinator entered the hallway and ran into Bumblebee. Bumblebee tried to apologize for sending Wasp to the Stockade, and though Waspinator said "Wasp" forgave Bumblebee, he angrily stated that "Waspinator would never forgive him." Waspinator was about to blast Bumblebee when the transwarp radiation stored inside him became unstable, followed by Waspinator overhearing Blackarachnia's rant of using him to suit her own ends. Enraged for being betrayed again, Waspinator followed Blackarachnia outside and tried to kill her, but he went critical with Blackarachnia spinning a chrysalis around her and Waspinator so only they were effected by the energy. Ending up in an African jungle in pieces, Waspinator began to put himself back together, stating that he had "plans". Unfortunately, with the series having ended after its third season, his objectives are a mystery.