Thrust (Transformers)

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.

Transformers: Generation 1

Thrust
Transformers character
Voiced by	Ed Gilbert
Information
Affiliation	Decepticon
Sub-group	Convention Exclusives, Deluxe Vehicles, Seekers
Function	Warrior
Rank	5, 4 (Timelines)
Partner	Dirge, Ramjet and Thundercracker
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

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]

Marvel Comics

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.

Animated series

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.

Thrust was in episodes "Hoist Goes Hollywood" when Thrust,Megatron and the other Decepticons go to the movie studio trying to get the film to cover their tracks until the Hoist tricked the Decepticons and made them retreat. In "Starscream's Brigade" Thrust is seen with Astrotrain and Soundwave standing and looking straight at Starscream while he's fighting with Megatron.

In "Triple Takeover" Thrust is seen flying and talking to Astrotrain while he carrying energon cubes for his train cargo. In Child's Play Thrust,the decepticons and the autobots are shrunk small inside a house.

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 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. Thrust, along with Dirge, and Ramjet are crushed by Unicron yet they all appear in later episodes.

In "Ghost in the Machine", Thrust and Dirge are among other Decepticons (Runamok and Runabout) 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.

Dreamwave Productions

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.

Devil's Due Publishing

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 a different 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.

Fun Publications

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.

IDW Publishing

Thrust appears among the Cybertronians fighting alongside Megatron in Megatron Origin #3, where he is seen fighting Ironhide.

He also appears in The Transformers: Autocracy as one of the Decepticons who apprehend Orion Pax's team as they near the borders of Kaon. Thrust later followed Megatron to Nyon the prevent the death of Orion Pax at the hands of Zeta Prime. After Orion and Megatron join forces, he participated in the attack on the Citadel. When Megatron takes over Cybertron, he helps take Bumblebee, Ultra Magnus, and Ironhide into custody.

During the follow-up series, The Transformers: Monstrosity, following the exile of Megatron, he attacks a fuel refinery under the command of Scorponok, but is taken out by Slag. He later participates in an attack on a spaceport.

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]

Toys

• Generation 1 Decepticon Jet Thrust (1985)

A remold of the toy used for Starscream and the other first year Seekers. In jet mode, the toy is 21cm long (a scale of 1:93, suggesting that Thrust's 14cm robot mode would be about 13m tall). In what is considered to be a major drawback to the toy, the majority of its parts have to be removed for transformation, and it is rare to find a totally complete one, since neither mode can hold all the parts.^[6][7]

• Smallest Transformers Thrust (2004)

A tiny remake of the original Thrust character, available exclusively as a blind-packaged item in Japan. This toy is a remold of Smallest Transformers Starscream. Knockoffs of this toy have been sold out of China in transparent plastic and metalized finish.

• Timelines Deluxe Thrust (2007)

A BotCon 2007 exclusive Thrust figure was announced and released at the end of June 2007 along with four other figures (including two additional seekers). The Thrust figure is a remold of Classics Ramjet (which is itself a remold of Classics Starscream; it has Ramjet's head and missiles, Starscream's body as well as newly molded wings and tail fins). The release of this figure as a high-priced, limited run convention exclusive instead of a brick-and-mortar retail release has caused a divide among fans as half the Classics Seekers are rendered unattainable for those who could not pre-order them, attend the convention or afford the set second-hand. Hasbro and Fun Publications (owners of the remolded parts) have reiterated that the set will not be made available in any other form as it would diminish the value for those that purchased it at BotCon.^[8] Loose Thrust figures sell for over $170 in online auctions.

• Universe Classic Series Legends Thrust (2008)

Thrust is part of the Aerial Rivals Legends set. He is a redeco of Cybertron Legends Starscream in Thrust's Generation 1 colors.

• Gentei! Gentei! Deluxe Thrust (2009)

The Japanese version of the Timelines Deluxe figure by Takara Tomy has new wings, including spinning fan blades. Sold as a Ganbo Store exclusive.^[9]

• Universe Titanium Series 6 inch Thrust (2009)

A redeco of the 6 inch Titanium War Within Thundercracker. A Target store exclusive. Pictures of this toy first appeared on the internet in March 2009.^[10]

• Generations Deluxe Thrust (2010)

An international release of the 2009 Gentei Deluxe figure.^[11]

• PP03A Attack (2011)

An unofficial Masterpiece Thrust made by iGear Toys.

Beast Wars II

Thrust/Thrustor
Transformers character
The Predacon Thrust.
Voiced by	Junji Sanechika
Information
Affiliation	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

A second character named Thrust was introduced in the Japanese exclusive series Beast Wars II.

Animated series

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.

Manga

In "The Maximal Brainwashing Project" Starscream and BB were able to capture Diver and the Tasmanian Kid, brainwashing them into serving the Predacons. Meanwhile, Lio Convoy, 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]

IDW Publishing

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 longer a vessel for Unicron.

Thrust had a biography printed in the Beast Wars Sourcebook by IDW Publishing.^[13]

Toys

• Beast Wars Second Thrust (1998)

He is a redeco of the mold used for Machine Wars Megatron and Megaplex. The toy for Thrust stands 10 centimeters tall and the character is supposed to stand 2.6 meters tall, which means he's about 1:26 scale. He came packaged by himself and with the Maximal Scuba.

• Beast Wars Second Thrustor (1998)

A remold of Beast Wars Dinobot.

Beast Machines

Transformers: Armada

Thrust
Transformers character
Voiced by (English)	Colin Murdoch
Voiced by (Japanese)	Kōji Yusa
Information
Affiliation	Decepticon/Unicron
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

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.^[14]

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.

Animated series

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, the Chaos-Bringer Unicron. Following Starscream's self-sacrifice and 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. Because of this, both Optimus and Megatron (who is now reformatted as Galvatron) agree to form an alliance between the Autobots and Decepticons to defeat Unicron and save their planet. While Optimus tries to blast an opening on Unicron, Galvatron angrily confronts Thrust on Unicron's surface for his treachery, swearing that he will pay for it. However, Thrust retorts at this, saying that so much damage has been done on Cybertron and that Galvatron would be foolish to have the Decepticons to side up with the Autobots to save it. An angry Galvatron then prepares to fire his cannon on Thrust, who then attempts to fly away, only to bump 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 either 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, thus being consumed by his desire for ultimate power.

Dreamwave Productions

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.

Combiner Wars

In conjunction with the Combiner Wars (Unite Warriors in Japan) line, Takara Tomy released a comic detailing how the Galvatronus combiner came to be. Following his defeat at the conclusion of The Headmasters, Galvatron's icy tomb was discovered by Cyclonus, whose body Galvatron modified to accommodate his own head in the chest compartment. Seeking a more fitting form, Galvatron directed Cyclonus to approach the disembodied head of Unicron, who was convinced to help Galvatron attain a combiner form with Cyclonus as its core. To accomplish this, Unicron used his power to open dimensional rifts in order to bring Curse Armada Thrust, Zombie War Breakdown, and Wandering Roller into their world. To Cyclonus' surprise, Starscream then made an appearance, expressing interest in joining this new alliance. Unicron promptly granted Starscream a new physical form, and Galvatron's head took control of his new minions to take on his new form of Galvatronus.^[15]

Toys

• Armada Deluxe Thrust with Inferno (2003)

Came with the Mini-Con Inferno. An actual F-35 fighter is 15.47 meters long, while the Thrust toy is 16 centimeters long, making it a scale of about 1/97 scale.

The Universe character of Sunstorm was a redeco of Armada Thrust, painted to resemble Sunstorm from the Generation 1 series. He came with a redeco of Inferno.

• Armada Deluxe Powerlinx Thrust with Inferno (2003)

A redeco of Armada Thrust in the colors of Generation 1 Dirge.

• Superlink Toy Dream Project Thrust (2003)

A Japanese exclusive redeco of Armada Thrust in Generation 1 Thrust colors. This figure was also available in Hasbro packaging in numerous regions, including Israel and Europe, but never released in the U.S. as intended.

• Curse Armada Thrust (2016)

A Japanese recolor/retool of Combiner Wars Air Raid.

Transformers: Cybertron

Thrust
Transformers character
Cybertron Thrust
Information
Affiliation	Decepticon
Sub-group	Mini-Cons
Rank	5
Alternate modes	Jet

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.

Fun Publications

Thrust pays the price for his ways in the Collector's Club comic arc Revelations. When Unicron intervenes in the midst of the Mini-Con civil war, Thrust is amongst those killed by the chaos bringer.

Toys

• Cybertron Mini-Con Thrust

Thrust is a redeco of Energon Scattor. He was packaged with the Autobot-aligned Anti-Blaze.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Thrust
Transformers character
The F-35 Lightning jet
Information
Affiliation	Decepticon
Sub-group	Deluxe Vehicles
Rank	6
Alternate modes	F-35 Lightning II

Thrust is a cowardly Decepticon jet. He prefers fighting humans to Autobots, but will fly away in terror if they attack with heavy artillery.^[16]

Toys

• Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Thrust (2009)

Thrust appears in the Revenge of The Fallen toyline, as a redeco/remold of Deluxe class Breakaway. The figure includes a new head mold.

Thrust is a 1:87 scale F-35 Lightning II fighter jet. As a robot this 16 centimeter toy would stand about 45 feet 8 inches tall.

Transformers Animated

Thrust
Transformers character
Information
Affiliation	Decepticon
Sub-group	Starscream clones, Voyagers
Alternate modes	Futuristic harrier jet similar to Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut

Thrust is Swindle's bodyguard. He is a clone of Starscream, representing Starscream's envy.

Fun Publications

Thrust's sole, brief appearance is in The AllSpark Almanac II. He bears the dubious distinction of being the only Animated Starscream clone to get not only no in-show portrayal but also no toy as well.

References