Smokescreen (Transformers)

Smokescreen is the name of several different fictional characters in the Transformers universes.

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 even his fellow Autobots. Autobot leaders even 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 Transformers: Generation 2 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 decapitated 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 famed Seekers — including Starscream — with his disruptors.

Smokescreen was not amongst the Autobots whose death was shown in The Transformers: The Movie, although an animation mistake which colored the body of the deceased Wheeljack in red did caused some speculation — indeed, the storyboard of this scene clearly depicts Smokescreen's dead body, not Wheeljack's. Smokescreen did not appear in the post-movie Season Three, and so it is generally assumed that, even if he was not featured in this particular scene (or even the movie for that matter), that he was killed in the attack on Autobot City, or even in the years before the movie. If this was not the case, neither animators nor series editors for Season 3 made an effort to alleviate confusions regarding which characters' deaths in the movie were included, or excluded.

Smokescreen appears 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 Transformers: The Headmasters.

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

 * Generation 1 Autobot Car Smokescreen (1985)
 * A red/blue redeco of the Nissan Fairlady robot toy used for Prowl and Bluestreak.




 * Alternators Smokescreen (2003)
 * Smokescreen was the first Transformer to be released in the highly anticipated Transformers: Alternators/Binaltech toy line by Hasbro/Takara. Smokescreen's alternate mode is a Subaru Impreza WRC (2003).  Smokescreen captures a fantastic amount of detail from the real car while still providing plenty of poseability in robot form.  Smokescreen includes an engine that can turned into an "Electro-Disruptor Rifle".  The Alternators rear view mirror is inset and painted silver while the Binaltech is reflective and solid.
 * Smokescreen was still a racing version of a production car — this time, however, the 2003 Subaru Impreza World Rally Championship car, driven by Tommi Mäkinen. His character card explained that he had been revived by Subaru's STI tuning group, who had built his new body, and that he was more dedicated to dispelling fear and apprehension amongst his comrades than ever.
 * Smokescreen is very faithful to the original Generation 1 incarnation. He has many similarities beyond the name and the fact that he is a blue vehicle which makes him easily recognizable.
 * While the Alternator line only released one Smokescreen, the Binaltech line released two. They were very similar, but had a few minor differences to accurately depict the two distinct WRC cars: The number seven or eight was printed on the top and on the doors. The number seven version license plate is "S40WRT" while the number eight license plate reads "S30WRT" There is an image of a cartoon pig on the side view mirrors of only the number seven version. The number seven version of the car has the names of Solberg and Mills on the rear door windows while the number eight version has the names of Makinen and Lindstrom, indicating the names of the drivers of each respective car. Each name has the flag of that drivers' nationality next to it.
 * Smokescreen was later remolded into Silverstreak and Smokescreen GT. His bio indicates he still plays his morale boosting role within the Autobot ranks.


 * Binaltech Smokescreen GT (2004)
 * In 2004, the seventh Binaltech character was released, as Smokescreen GT. Based on the first Binaltech incarnation of Smokescreen, BT-01, the GT version was modified to resemble the 2004 World Rally Championship Subaru Impreza. Changes to the mold included revised front bumper, grille and wheels, and deco changes included revised sponsor labels and driver details. Smokescreen GT also included a missile launcher accessory, and was available in variations with either "1" or "2" on the door. Smokescreen GT was not released into the Alternators toy line.
 * To explain the presence of the Smokescreen GT, the Binaltech story offers the following, also translated by Doug Dlin: "In conjunction with Smokescreen's volunteering, the EDC's Advanced Technologies Development Bureau conducted the customization and function expansion of a GT System-compatible model in an experimental base, using the latest BT-model body frame made by Subaru. The "life force" that is the source of a Transfomer's life is propagated through its entire body by a "laser core", which is at the center of a force field. The GT System separately contains this laser core outside the body in subspace storage, and by synchronously connecting with translink ports installed on each BT terminal, it is able to breathe life into each of the multiply duplicated personality data. Each unit's memory data undergoes integration processing after it returns from an operation."


 * Titanium'' 3 inch Smokescreen (2006)
 * Smokescreen was released in 2006 as a non-transforming 3 inch tall member of the Transformers: Titanium line. His form is based on the Alternators version of Smokescreen. Because this toy lacks a vehicle mode, it did not require a license from the car maker like the Alternators version did.


 * Universe 25th Anniversary Series Smokescreen (2009)
 * A red redeco of Universe Deluxe Silverstreak with a racing livery faithful to the original G1 toy.


 * Henkei! Henkei! C-21 Deluxe Smokescreen (2009)
 * The Japanese version of the Universe figure by Takara Tomy has the weapons remolded in chrome silver and the rear spoiler repainted in a metallic red finish. The number labels are also printed in a larger font.

Transformers: Generation 2
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

 * Generation 2 Dreadwing with Smokescreen
 * A new mold. This toy was later redecoed into an unreleased Generation 2 Starscream, Beast Wars Second Starscream, Robots in Disguise Smokejumper and Robot Masters Smokesniper.

Transformers: Cybertron
Smokescreen was the original name given to the Autobot who was based on the Galaxy Force 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, Smokescreen, Swoop, Wreckage and the Sky Scorcher Mini-Con Team.

Toys

 * Cybertron Deluxe Smokescreen (2006)
 * Cybertron Smokescreen was released as a repaint of Cybertron Crosswise in colors based on his Generation 1 counterpart. The name Smokescreen was intended to be unveiled at a Transformers convention during early 2006 but never materialized. He was falsely rumored to be a remold of an Armada toy, likely to incorporate a Cyber Planet Key. The toy of Smokescreen is 13 centimeters long in vehicle mode, whereas a real Bugatti Veyron is 447 centimeters long, so the toy is at a scale of about 1:34. The toy stands about 14 centimeters tall, which means Smokescreen would stand about 481 centimeters or 15 feet 10 inches tall.

His head colors are more intended as an homage to Rad_(Transformers) the Action Master.

Transformers
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.

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.

Toys
All toys of this character (except the Revenge of the Fallen Legends figure) are officially licensed from General Motors.


 * Transformers Fast Action Battlers Sonic Shock Smokescreen (2008)
 * A Deluxe-sized toy with simplified transformation for younger children. Repaint of Autobot Jazz.


 * Transformers 3D Battle Cards Smokescreen (2007)
 * Smokescreen is among the characters which appeared in the Transformers 3D Battle Card Game by Wizards of the Coast. He is a blue redeco of movie Jazz.


 * Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Smokescreen (2009)
 * A redeco of the Jazz figure.


 * Revenge of the Fallen Legends Smokescreen (2010)
 * A redeco of Universe Legends Rodimus packed together with Legends Starscream.

Transformers (Decepticon)
At the 2010 Tokyo Toy Show, Takara Tomy released a Decepticon version of Smokescreen as an homage to the Generation 2 incarnation. In keeping with the homage, both Smokescreen and Dreadwing sport Generation 2 Decepticon symbols.

Toys

 * Transformers Voyager Dreadwing and Scout Smokescreen (2010)
 * A Tokyo Toy Show exclusive in Japan, this figure is a blue redeco of Scout Skystalker, while Dreadwing is a blue redeco of Voyager Mindwipe.