Smokescreen (Transformers)


Smokescreen is the name of several different fictional characters in the Transformers robot superhero franchise.

Transformers: Generation 1

Smokescreen is one of the second year Autobot Cars in the Transformers series. His toy was remolded from Prowl and Bluestreak, itself originating from an earlier Japanese line named Diaclone. Smokescreen's vehicle mode was based on an actual existing car—a 1979 Nissan Fairlady Z race car in the Electramotive team livery. Team founder Don Devendorf's car was accurately recreated, except that his number 83 was changed to a 38.
Smokescreen's bio originally indicated that while he appeared calm and easy-going, he was in reality the closest thing the Autobots had to someone who thought like a Decepticon. He would cheat to win without hesitation, and often covers his true goals from his fellow Autobots. Autobot leaders use him as a spy amongst the ranks at times.

Marvel Comics

Smokescreen first appeared in issue 14 of the Marvel Transformers comic. Here, he was brought to life alongside
Grapple, Hoist, Skids and Tracks via the downloading of their personalities and Sparks from storage. Bumblebee took all but Grapple on a tour of the surrounding area—but ended up in a trial by fire when the Decepticons tried to steal sonic energy from a rock concert. The group battled Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker, defeating them, but left when the humans accused them of sabotaging the concert.
After this, Smokescreen played more of a peripheral role, battling the Decepticons, but not having any major roles. He was one of the many casualties when trying to stop the Underbase-powered Starscream. He was not shown to be revived, but returned in the pages of the comic, where he accompanied Grimlock on a disastrous raid on Jhiaxus' forces. After this, he battled against Jhiaxus forces under Optimus Prime's command—only to be killed by a squad of Jhiaxus' troopers alongside Ironhide.
The Smokescreen of the post-movie universe appeared in the Marvel UK comics, most prominently in the "Legacy of Unicron" arc. He and Inferno were dispatched to escort Wreck-Gar back to the planet Junk. There, they discovered it had been taken over by the severed head of Unicron. The two escaped to warn Rodimus Prime, leaving Wreck-Gar behind to free his people, with Inferno being badly injured by the mind-controlled bounty hunter Death's Head. The two arrived on Cybertron—only to discover that Unicron's puppets Cyclonus and Scourge had launched an all-out Decepticon assault. The Decepticons badly damaged the shuttle, and Smokescreen refused to leave his injured friend. Inferno had other ideas and bodily threw him through the windshield to safety, before crashing and killing as many Decepticons as he could. Smokescreen returned to Junk with Prime and the Dinobots, determined to avenge Inferno, and contributing to the Chaos-Bringer's eventual defeat.

Animated series

Smokescreen originally appeared in "Dinobot Island pt 1". Smokescreen was used quite frequently in season 2, taking the starring role in the episode "The Gambler". This saw him strike a deal with a gambler named Bosh in order to save his fellow Autobots—he would win energon for Bosh if Bosh used some to restore the others. Predictably cheating his way to victory, he was caught and lost all his winnings. With the help of Devcon, he and Bosh ended up battling and defeating Astrotrain, Dirge and Ramjet. After this Bosh freed the other Autobots. The cartoon actually made use of his abilities—in "The Key to Vector Sigma", for example, his smoke saved the Autobots' super-fuel after Prowl's security detail was compromised, and in "Auto Berzerk" he downed the Seekers—including Starscream—with his disruptors.
Smokescreen was not among the Autobots whose death were shown in , and did not appear in the post-movie Season Three, appearing only in the Japanese opening for season 3, as the movie was not shown in Japan at the time. Smokescreen also made a brief appearance in the first episode of.

Other media

Smokescreen is one of the characters appearing in the unlicensed comic book Transformers Chronicles Book One by Hirofumi Ichikawa. This story has him working with the Autobot Axelerators against the Skyscorchers, facing Dreadwing, and being reformatted into the Generation 2 Decepticon jet Smokescreen.

Toys

In addition to the appearance of the original Smokescreen in the Generation 2 comic, the 1994 Generation 2 toy line featured a different character with the name Smokescreen: a Decepticon who transformed into a fighter jet and combined with Dreadwing, who transformed into a stealth bomber.

Toys

The name Smokescreen is reassigned to an Autobot who transforms into an orange construction crane. The name is unrelated to his personality or function, but his Japanese name in 'Micron Legend' is Grap; the Japanese name for G1 Grapple who also transforms into a construction crane. However, due to copyright reasons the name Grapple could not be used.
His bio indicated that he was an Autobot who was always in the thick of battle — not because he enjoyed it, but because he can't be bothered thinking about complex tactical maneuvers. He was immensely strong, but sometimes this habit of rushing in without thinking rebounded against superior odds.
In ', Hoist''' is the new name adopted by Smokescreen after he was rebuilt following severe damage at the hands of Megatron and the Requiem Blaster. He transforms into a white backhoe, and is partnered with the Mini-Con Refute.

Animated series

In the cartoon, Smokescreen is the first Autobot reinforcement to join the Autobots on Earth. In his first mission, he encountered Rad, Alexis and Carlos, who unwittingly foiled his attempt to rescue the Mini-Con Drill Bit. However, after he rescued them from Cyclonus, he revealed his role to them. Smokescreen served as one of Optimus Prime's most trusted soldiers, acting as the group's sniper. He put up the most resistance when Prime welcomed the double agent Scavenger into the group, eventually making up with him after he contributed to an Autobot victory.
Later, he was nearly killed when he sacrificed himself after to stop Megatron using the Requiem Blaster on the other Autobots. Megatron gunned him down at point-blank range, although Smokescreen refused to give up until the Decepticons had retreated. Only then did he allow himself to go offline, much to his comrades' grief. This was not the end for him, as he was rebuilt by Red Alert into a new and improved body. After this, he renames himself Hoist.
After nearly being killed by Megatron's requiem blaster, Smokescreen was rebuilt by Red Alert as Hoist. Hoist went on to have many further battles against the Decepticons, and survived the battles against Unicron.

Dreamwave Productions

In Dreamwave Productions's accompanying Armada, Smokescreen would play a smaller role than his animated counterpart. One of the first Autobots to appear, he was unable to prevent the fall of Cyber City to the Mini-Con enhanced Decepticons. One million years later, when the signal from the escaped Mini-Cons was received, he was one of the Autobots who journeyed to Earth under Optimus Prime. After battling the Decepticons and gaining his Mini-Con partner, he disappeared, revealed in issue #12 that he and Scavenger had been sent to an observation post in California. He was subsequently recalled to the Autobot base after Prime's disappearance — only to be confronted by a full-scale Decepticon assault. Scavenger and Smokescreen battled Megatron and Demolishor, only for Smokescreen to get shot in the head by Megatron at point blank range. Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scavenger subsequently avenged him by knocking Megatron into Unicron's gaping maw.
Although it was not clear if Smokescreen survived or not, Hoist appeared in the subsequent ' comics, indicating he had died at one point, making it likely that as in the animated continuity, Smokescreen was resurrected as Hoist.
Armada Hoist continued to appear among the Autobots in the ' comic series by Dreamwave. His back story was never fully explained, but he mentioned he had died at one point, indicating that as in the animated continuity, he was Smokescreen in a new body.

3H Enterprises

In the Transformers: Universe comic, Armada Smokescreen and Generation One Smokescreen were both been abducted from their home dimensions by Unicron, and were forced to fight each other to the death in gladiatorial combat. Armada Smokescreen prevails in the contest. Please note that the depictions of these two combatants are of the original G1 Smokescreen and the original Armada Smokescreen; the comic was written before the Universe Smokescreen toys were created.

Toys

Smokescreen was the original name given to the Autobot who was based on the character Autovolt, but later Hasbro changed their minds and called him Crosswise.

Fun Publications

Smokescreen appeared in the text story from Fun Publications called Force of Habit. This story explained where he was during the events of the Cybertron story. Ultra Magnus was the commander of various Autobot ships sent to other planets in search for the Cyber Planet Keys. He also served as captain of the Iron Hope which was crewed by Bonecrusher, Grimlock, Ironhide, Knock Out, Overcast, Prowl, Quickstrike, RipTide, Skyblast, Swoop, Wreckage and the Sky Scorcher Mini-Con Team.

Toys

His head colors are more intended as an homage to Rad the Action Master.

Transformers Cinematic Universe

Smokescreen is the Autobot in charge of diversionary tactics. He's fully loaded with sonic burst weapons, magnetic smoke bombs and oil slicks designed to scramble Decepticon sensors.

IDW Publishing

Smokescreen appears in Transformers: Defiance by IDW Publishing. In issue #2 Smokescreen sides with Optimus Prime against Megatron's orders to counter-attack their invaders. In issue #3 Megatron learned that Optimus has broken into his room he sent Bumblebee, Camshaft, Cliffjumper, Jazz, Prowl and Smokescreen to arrest Optimus for treason. Optimus demanded to speak directly to Megatron, but when the group was traveling to Megatron's location they were ambushed by Barricade, Brawl, Crankcase, Frenzy, Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker who had orders to kill the lot of them. Smokescreen was able to cover Optimus and his group's retreat in the confusion of an explosion. In issue #4 Arcee, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Jazz and Smokescreen ambush Ironhide, who they believe works for Megatron, but Ironhide instead joins Optimus Prime's Autobots.
Smokescreen is among the Autobot forces who witness the launching of the Decepticon ship Nemesis.
In Reign of Starscream the Decepticon Starscream barely makes it to the Nemesis on Mars before he runs out of power. His return is noted by the Autobot Cosmos, who alerts Arcee, Cliffjumper, Smokescreen, Camshaft and Air Raid. Aided by Thundercracker on the Nemesis Starscream recovers and sends the information Frenzy had gathered back to Cybertron just as Hardtop spots the Autobots closing on the Nemesis. When the Autobots attack the Decepticons Smokescreen is seemingly killed by Starscream.
In reality, Smokescreen survived and came to Earth successfully. However Smokescreen was captured and brainwashed by the anti-cybertronian group the Initiative. Smokescree is eventually freed from this brainwashing at the climax of Nefarious.
After being rescued from control by the Initiative, Armorhide, Blaze Master, Brawn and Smokescreen join the Autobots at the NEST base on Diego Garcia. Optimus Prime insists they spend time there recovering. However, Smokescreen, along with multiple Autobots, NEST members, and Theodore Galloway meet their ends at the hands of Shockwave, but he was not along with the Autobots who were giving graves as his fate is unknown.

Toys

All toys of this character are officially licensed from General Motors.
At the 2010 Tokyo Toy Show, Takara Tomy released a Decepticon version of Smokescreen as a homage to the Generation 2 incarnation. In keeping with the homage, both Smokescreen and Dreadwing sport Generation 2 Decepticon symbols.

Toys

In Transformers: Prime, Smokescreen is a young Autobot, he greatly admires Optimus Prime which makes him a loyal Autobot, even though he is a rookie, he is shown to be the joker of the group. He appears to have an aspiration of becoming a great warrior like Optimus where his ego occasionally annoys most of the other Autobots, but as the series goes on he develops into a loyal friend who thinks less about himself and more about his teammates including Bumblebee, Arcee, and Bulkhead. Aside from having a color scheme similar to G1 Jazz, Smokescreen still carries some elements from his original character, most notably the number "38" on the doors of his car mode. In the midpoint of season 3 Smokescreen receives a new paint job which makes him resemble his G1 counterpart even more, the exception being the 38's on the doors becomes 7's. His weapons include energon blasters in both his arms, along with his signature weapon the Phase Shifter which allows him to move between objects and stray immune to blaster fire. Many fans have considered him a variation of Hot Rod due to Smokescreen idolizing Optimus Prime and almost becoming the next prime.

Animated series

Smokescreen was a former student of Cybertron's Elite Guard during the Cybertronian War, and while he passed the training never had a formal graduation ceremony. He ended up becoming a guard at the Vault of Iacon where he guarded Alpha Trion during the final days of the war. Though initially unhappy with the assignment, he came to respect Alpha Trion's wisdom and considered him a valued mentor and friend. Trion apparently reciprocated the feeling of trust, as he shared with Smokescreen the knowledge that he had supported Optimus for the position of Prime, recommending him to the Autobot High Council. When the Vault of Iacon was attacked, Smokescreen was the last defense willing to fight the Decepticons, which would be for the first time in his career, until everything went black. In reality, he was knocked out by Alpha Trion so he could store one of the Omega Keys within him as a means of keeping the key safe. He then woke up on a Decepticon ship. Smokescreen gave a Vehicon guard the slip and managed to enter a long-distance escape pod to Earth which returned him to stasis.

Predacons Rising

In the true conclusion TV movie Smokescreen witnesses Bumblebee's ceremony as he is promoted from scout to warrior by Optimus. As Optimus leaves Cybertron with Wheeljack to bring the AllSpark back to Cybertron, Ultra Magnus and Smokescreen partake in patrols to find Starscream, Shockwave and Predaking. However, when searching Magnus and Smokescreen encounter two more Predacons Skylynx and Darksteel. Though Smokescreen is able to hold his own against Darksteel, Skylynx severely wounds Magnus and almost kills him forcing Smokescreen to bridge Magnus to base as Ratchet returns to fix him. Smokescreen later accompanies Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Arcee as they look for answers and find Predaking who has abandoned the Decepticons but refuses to be considered as an Autobot. Predaking also refuses to help the Autobots look for his brothers so the group heads to the fortress Darkmount. Smokescreen also sits in Megatron's former high chair jokingly declaring himself "Emperor of Destruction" but moments later Unicron, in possessing of Megatron's body, arrives and attacks them forcing them to retreat to the Nemesis. Later the Autobots discover that Unicron is attempting to create an army of Terrorcons from the remains of the Predacons at Predaking's refuge, aiming to destroy Primus with them. Smokescreen tries to gather the remaining relics they have which include the 'Phase Shifter', 'Polarity Gauntlet' and 'Immobilizer' but Smokescreen is ambushed by Knock Out, who escaped captivity with Starscream, and placed back inside the wall until Knock Out betrays Starscream and frees him. During the final battle when the Predacons come to their aid, Smokescreen finally reveals to Bumblebee that he almost became a Prime. When the Nemesis was shot down the Autobots stepped outside ready to fight and were soon joined by the Predacons. Optimus and Wheeljack returned and joined the fight in which Unicron was defeated and Megatron was freed, though he abandoned his cause and exiled himself much to everyone's shock. Smokescreen was present when Optimus sacrificed himself to restore the AllSpark to Cybertron's core.

Robots in Disguise

Although, he didn't appear in the series, a statue of him was constructed in his honor following Cybertron's rebirth. However, when a new High Council came into power, Smokescreen was blacklisted for being a supporter of Optimus Prime. A picture shows his resemblance to his G1 counterpart.

Toys