Vortex is a minor antagonist in the Transformers franchise, especially Generation One. The original version of the character was a member of the Combaticons subgroup.
Vortex was voiced by the late Johnny Haymer who also voiced Swindle in the same series. In Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, he was voiced by Dave Boat.
History[]
G1 cartoon[]
Vortex and the other Combaticons were introduced in the late second season episode "Starscream's Brigade", in which Starscream created the Combaticons using Earth military vehicles and the brain modules of Decepticon criminals. He kept them loyal by making them unable to refuel without his help. Using their ability to form the giant robot Bruticus, they came close to overthrowing Megatron but were defeated by the Stunticons. They and Starscream were exiled to an asteroid.
In the following episode, "The Revenge of Bruticus", Vortex and the other Combaticons headed to Cybertron and managed to take control of the planet from Shockwave. They used the space bridge to cause Earth to nearly be flung into the sun but were defeated by the combined Autobots and Decepticons, aided by Starscream. Vortex was then reprogrammed to be loyal to Megatron and made a few more appearances among his troops.
In the aftermath of The Transformers: The Movie, Vortex was among the Decepticons who went into exile on Chaar and came to serve Galvatron. On one occasion, he was on guard duty when Rodimus Prime and Ultra Magnus attempted to sneak into a compound disguised as human vehicles and recognised them as Autobots. In the show's finale "The Rebirth", he took part in the Decepticon attack on Cybertron.
Marvel Comics[]
First seen in the UK-exclusive story "Second Generation" as part of a vision of the future, Vortex made his full debut in Issue #24. Here, a scouting mission saw him identify the new hydrothermocline as a possible energy source and summon Megatron and the other Combaticons to raid the computer plant where it was kept. They were intercepted by Optimus Prime and the Protectobots and convinced to fight in virtual reality. There, Vortex and Blast Off were defeated by Groove and Blades. However, Vortex's spying allowed him to supply Megatron with a cheat code that was instrumental in Optimus Prime conceding defeat and being destroyed, with the Decepticons getting the hydrothermocline.
Vortex and the Combaticons appeared prominently in the UK story "Ladies' Night", where they attempted to destroy the volcano where Ultra Magnus and Galvatron were buried only to be stopped by the Throttlebots. This led into the Marvel US storyline where they pursued the Throttlebots only to instead end up fighting the Protectobots again, finally being defeated by Blaster. Vortex reappeared in Issue #41 as part of the large Decepticon assault force battling the Autobots on the moon. He made his last US appearance during the Underbase Saga, among the troops stationed at Ratbat's island base, and may have been among those deactivated during the Underbase-powered Starscream's rampage.
However, the UK annual text story "Prime Bomb" showed him serving Scorponok and taking part in a raid on a military base as part of a plan to construct a missile keyed to destroy Optimus Prime. The post-movie version of the character appeared in "Space Pirates" as part of a Decepticon squadron that ended up defending Cybertron from the Quintessons alongside the Autobots, with Vortex being the one to ferry Decepticon leader Soundwave away at the climax of the battle.
Aligned Universe[]
Fall of Cybertron[]
- Main article: Vortex (Aligned)
Trivia[]
- Vortex was considered for inclusion in the first live action Transformers film but Blackout was chosen instead.
- In Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, Vortex revealed his fears of the dark.
- Vortex's colour scheme in Fall of Cybertron is red and beige rather than brown and pink. This is because the design was derived from G1 Vortex's character art from Dreamwave's More Than Meets the Eye guidebook, which at the time had a lower quality image on TFWiki, which gave the colours a warmer tone, which evolved to the in-game colors.
