Blast Off
Blast Off is a devious Combaticon and a villain in the Transformers franchise.
He was voiced by Milt Jamin in the original cartoon, and Keith Silverstein in Fall of Cybertron.
Generation One[]
Although Blast Off appears to be a cruel and ruthless opponent to the Autobots and a snob to his fellow Combaticons, he is in reality somewhat lonely as his missions in space shuttle mode leave him feeling isolated.
Cartoon[]
Blast Off made his debut in the late second season episode "Starscream's Brigade", as one of a group of Decepticon renegades whose personality recordings were taken by Starscream and placed in a group of Earth military vehicles to form the Combaticons. In order to ensure their loyalty, he did not install energy absorbers so they were unable to refuel. The group first attacked a statue unveiling and captured the Autobots Jazz and Cliffjumper. Starscream told them that once they had five captives, he would transfer their energy absorbers to the Combaticons. They then confronted Megatron and the Decepticons: Most of the Decepticons fled, but they added Dirge and Ramjet to their captives. The Combaticons came close to defeating Megatron after combining into Bruticus but were defeated by Menasor and exiled to an asteroid.
In the following episode, "The Revenge of Bruticus", Blast Off was able to tow the asteroid to Cybertron, where the Combaticons quickly defeated Shockwave and imprisoned him and Starscream. Blast Off approved of Onslaught's plan to use the space bridge to crash Earth into the sun but the group were defeated by the combined might of the Autobots and Decepticons. Blast Off was reprogrammed to serve Megatron. In "B.O.T.", he was damaged during an encounter with the Autobot combiner Defensor and had to be reconstructed by Swindle.
Blast Off returned in the post-movie third season as one of the Decepticons in exile on Chaar, who were manipulated into serving the Quintessons. He continued to appear throughout the season as one of Galvatron's troops, notably in "Chaos" where he and Runamuck tested the new death ray weapon. He made his last appearance in the three-part series finale "The Rebirth" as part of Galvatron's attack on Cybertron, shooting down Silverbolt during a skirmish with the Aerialbots.
Marvel Comics[]
Blast Off is first seen in the UK-exclusive story "Second Generation", as part of a vision of the future experienced by Optimus Prime and Buster Witwicky. He joins his fellow Combaticons at a stricken power plant and forms Bruticus with them in order to battle Defensor. The vision was monitored by Decepticon commander Shockwave and construction began on Brawl and the others.
Blast Off makes his first full appearance in US Issue #24, when he and the other Combaticons join Megatron in trying to steal the hydrothermacline. They were resisted by Optimus Prime and the Protectobots and the two groups agreed to battle in virtual reality. Blast Off worked with Vortex and ambushed Blades and Groove, but the computer game players turned on the two Decepticons and Blast Off "died" in the game after crashing. However, using a cheat code allowed Megatron to cause Optimus Prime to kill some game characters, resulting in the Autobot leader forfeiting the contest and his life and the Decepticons taking the hydrothermacline.
Blast Off returned to a central role in the UK story "Ladies' Night", where Shockwave sent him and the other Combaticons with Soundwave to destroy the volcano where Ultra Magnus and Galvatron were trapped. Their efforts were thwarted first by three human females, who detonated a jeep full of explosives in front of them, and then the arrival of the Throttlebots. This led into US Issue #32, where the Combaticons tried to capture the Throttlebots only to encounter the Protectobots. Blast Off fought Groove in the ensuing melee but the Combaticons were ultimately forced to retreat.
In Issue #36, the Combaticons ambushed the Protectobots again but were defeated by Blaster, who agreed to give four human children who had helped him a ride in Blast Off, controlled by a mode lock that kept him in space shuttle mode. In the following issue, Blast Off was taken into custody by the Autobots aboard the Ark.
That marked Blast Off's last appearance in the Marvel US comic, but the UK annual text story "Prime Bomb" saw him free and working for Scorponok, joining the other Combaticons in raiding a military base for the parts to build a computer-controlled bomb. The Protectobots arrived to stop them but Blast Off was able to deliver the components to Scorponok while the other Combaticons kept the Protectobots busy.
The post-movie version of Blast Off appeared in "Space Pirates" as part of a fleet of Decepticons planning to attack the supposedly deserted Autobot base on Cybertron, who were instead ambushed by the Quintessons.
Fall of Cybertron[]
- Main article: Blast Off (Aligned)
