Sureshot (Transformers)

Sureshot is the name to two different fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.

Transformers: Generation 1
Sureshot was part of the Autobot Targetmaster team. He transforms into a racing car and his Nebulan Targetmaster partner is called Spoilsport. Sureshot did make appearances in both the original cartoon and comic-book but did not feature in any main storylines - he was usually relegated to the background.

Sureshot's name is indicative of his abilities - he is a crack shot, able to practically hit targets blindfolded. This skill has led to a self-confidence bordering on arrogance, something that has led to a difficult relationship with his Nebulan partner Spoilsport, who doesn't need Sureshot to aim or fire.

In Japan Spoilsport was called Spoil.

Marvel Comics
Little is known of Sureshot's background before the war: however, the text story "State Games" in the 1986 Transformers U.K. annual indicated he had taken part in a sharpshooting contest with both Optimus Prime and Megatron at one point.

Much later after both leaders had disappeared on Earth, Sureshot was amongst those captured by the Decepticons to await death in the smelting pools. Saved by Fortress Maximus, Sureshot then followed the Autobot leader to Nebulos in an effort to get away from war. However, they were followed to Nebulos by Scorponok's Decepticons, and the war began anew.

Desperate to prove their peaceful intentions to the Nebulans, Sureshot was amongst those who surrendered their weapons. When the Decepticons ran roughshod over the planet, the Nebulans pioneered a bioengineering process where Nebulans in robotic suits could transform into the guns of the Transformers. Sureshot became a Targetmaster as a result, battling the Decepticons on several occasions. After the war proved devastating to Nebulos, Maximus' crew left for Earth, where they encountered the Earthbound Autobots under Grimlock.

He appeared amongst the Autobots watching the duel between Grimlock and Blaster, before it was interrupted by Ratbat's Decepticons. Sureshot appeared less after this, rarely appearing after issue 50.

Animated series
Sureshot and Spoilsport were introduced in "The Rebirth", the three-part fourth-season finale to the original Transformers animated series. When the Decepticons attempted to seize the power of the Plasma Energy Chamber in 2007, a group of Autobots were blasted across the galaxy to the planet Nebulos by the ancient foundry's energies, where they took up with a group of rebel Nebulons. To fight the Hive, the evil rulers of Nebulos, some of the Autobots and Nebulons bonded their bodies a minds together, becoming Headmasters, serving up a definitive defeat to the Decepticons pursuing them. This group of Decepticons was then approached by the Hive, who sought to replicate the Headmaster process with them, but Cyclonus was able to bargain them to down to taking only half the Decepticons' heads, offering up the weapons of the others as alternatives. Using Nebulan technology, the guns were engineered into a transforming exo-suits which were donned by five members of the Hive, creating the Targetmasters, giving their Transformer wielders ten times the accuracy and firepower. The Decepticon Targetmasters overcame the Autobots and reclaimed the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber, but in the struggle, the Autobot Brainstorm was able to scan Cyclonus's partner, Nightstick, and that data was used to duplicate the Targetmaster process with the remaining Autobots and Nebulan rebels, creating the Autobot Targetmasters. Their power, however, was nothing in the face of the Decepticons' newest weapon, the super robot, Scorponok, who transported the Decepticon forces back to Cybertron, where their plans were foiled by Spike Witwicky and Fortress Maximus.

Sureshot was featured in the Japanese series Transformers: Headmasters. The concept of the Targetmasters in this series was somewhat similar. Instead of Nebulans the Targetmaster partners were small Transformers from the planet Master. After being bonded to their partners the Targetmasters developed a telepathic link with their companions. The weapons replaced the robot's hands rather than held by them.

In the world of Transformers: Headmasters, there are no Nebulons - the Headmasters themselves are simply small Transformers, who, having settled on the planet Master, learned to transform into heads and connect to lifeless larger bodies named Transtectors. It was to Master that the Decepticon forces returned after the Autobots forced them to flee Earth, and consequently, a ship was dispatched by the planet's inhabitants to alert the Earth-bound Autobots to the Decepticon invasion. At the same time, the youthful Autobot, Wheelie, had summoned three of his old superior officers - Pointblank (Blanker in Japan), Sureshot and Crosshairs - to Earth to aid in the clean-up operation currently going on, when Autobot Headmaster Chromedome accidentally activated one of the plasma bombs the Decepticons had left behind. Heading out into space so that the bomb might harmlessly explode out in the void, the Autobots then crossed paths with the approaching Master ship, which was being pursued by the Decepticon Sixshot and three new troops - Slugslinger, Misfire and Triggerhappy. As Pointblank and his men tangled with the Decepticons, the Master refugees offered their help by transporting away the plasma bombs, only to have the bombs detonate in the middle of the battlefield. Recovering from the explosion, Pointblank, Crosshairs and Sureshot discovered that the six Master refugees had been fused to their arms. Although Fortress was able to surgically remove them, a bond now existed between the larger Transformers and the Master refugees, who could now freely attach and detach to their wrists as guns. Unfortunately for these new Targetmasters, the same had happened to Slugslinger and his fellows. The Targetmasters joined up with Fortress's crew on the mission to Master, but quickly clashed with the Headmasters - Pointblank and his men were hard, experienced warriors who thought little of the Headmasters, and Pointblank spent a good deal of time attempting to soothe Chromedome's fiery temper to improve his battle ability.

Books
Sureshot appeared in the 1988 Ladybird Books story Decepticons at the Pole by John Grant.

3H Enterprises
Sureshot appeared in a flashback sequence in the Transformers: Universe - Wreckers comic series. He works with the Autobot Targetmasters and Hot Spot against an army of Nightbird robots.

Dreamwave Productions
Although Sureshot and Spoilsport did not appear in any fiction produced by Dreamwave Productions before it went out of business, they did get a one page biography in their More Than Meets The Eye series.

IDW Publishing
Sureshot was among the Autobots who took Omega Supreme for repairs after he was injured by Monstructor in Spotlight: Optimus Prime. He was also seen as one of the crew in Stormbringer.

Mosaic
Sureshot appeared in the Transformers: Mosaic story "The Sting of Scorponok" by Josh “Richter” van Reyk.

Toys

 * Generation 1 Sureshot with Spoilsport (1987)

Transformers: Generation 2
The name Sureshot was given to the European release of Combat Hero Optimus Prime to differentiate from the other Generation 2 Optimus Prime toys. This has never appeared in any fiction under the name Sureshot and is largely forgotten about, given the popularity of Optimus Prime.

Sureshot is described as a great leader of the Autobots and protector in his short bio.

Toys

 * Generation 1 Sureshot (1994)
 * The toy is identical to the American toy however the chest stickers have the words "Optimus Prime" removed.
 * The mold used for Combat Hero Optimus Prime and Sureshot was later recolored into Robots in Disguise Destructicon Scourge.