Phoenix (Transformers)
Phoenix is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers series. He was one of the stars of the anime series Transformers: Masterforce where he was voiced by Masato Hirano. He shouldn't be confused with American Transformers character Cloudburst, who looks nearly identical to Phoenix.
Transformers: Generation 1
 Cloudburst/Phoenix toy | |
| Autobot | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Sub-group | Pretenders |
| Function | Air Communication Soldier |
| Rank | 6 |
| Alternate Modes | Cybertronian Jet |
| Series | Transformers: Generation 1 |
| Japanese voice actor | Masato Hirano |
Phoenix's main role is to question signals and communications received and solve them. He is very proud with his use of the Snake Rod weapon, and uses it well in his aerial attacks. His final attack is the "The Cloud Ray Car" where he brandishes the Snake Rod when airborne to cause a jet-stream to destroy the enemy. Even though he’s an excellent engineer, when too many communications are received at once, he can become easily confused. In his human guise he works in a German airport as a communications engineer.[1] He also lectures fellow Autobot members on his code-breaking hobby.[2]
Animated series
Phoenix was a regular character featured in the early episodes of the Japanese exclusive series Transformers: Super-God Masterforce.
Eight thousand years ago, a starship containing the Autobot Pretenders Metalhawk, Lander, Diver and Phoenix pursued the Decepticon Pretenders Blood, Dauros and Gilmer to Neolithic-era Earth, where they crashed. Using their Pretender abilities, the Autobots adopted the form of humans - not using simple external shells like in the American fiction, but actually transforming the very structure of their bodies into an organic equivalent, shrinking down to normal human size to hide in plain sight among burgeoning humanity. The Decepticon Pretenders, on the other hand, adopted the forms of monstrous creatures, becoming feared as demons by early man. After many battles, the Autobots succeeded in defeating their enemies and sealing them away for thousands of years — Blood in the pyramids of Egypt, Gilmer in the ruins of Atlantis, and Dauros beneath the Nazca Lines in Peru.
Liberated in the near future by the mysterious Decepticon god, Devil Z, the three Pretenders entered his service, and immediately began to draw the Autobot Pretenders out of hiding, before turning their attention to a series of plans of acquiring energy and disrupting one of the three Chokoon Powers on Earth. After a string of failures, Devil Z supplanted them with his more powerful Godmaster minions, and although they would often participate in missions, their standing was downgraded and their regularity of appearance on the battlefield diminished. Eventually, they generally only served to supply comic relief, and departed Earth with the other surviving Decepticons when Devil Z was destroyed.
Toys
- Generation 1 Pretender Phoenix (1988)
- Although portrayed a s a different character, the toys for Cloudburst and Phoenix were identical.[3][4]
References
- ↑ Jim Sorenson & Bill Forster (July 22, 2008). Transformers: The Ark II. IDW Publishing. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-1-60010-180-9.
- ↑ http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/oblivionsgallery13/techsmasterforce.html&date=2009-10-25+23:54:38
- ↑ http://www.tfu.info/1988/Autobot/Cloudburst/cloudburst.htm
- ↑ Alvarez, J.E. (2001). The Unofficial Guide to Japanese and International Transformers. Schiffer Publishing Ltd. p. 38. ISBN 0-7643-1282-0.