Dreadwind (RID)

Dreadwind is a Decepticon from the 2001 Robots in Disguise continuity family.

"Fear is the final gift I give to those I destroy. And brown betty. But mostly fear."

Dreadwind is something of a perfectionist, and will not choose a second target until he is absolutely sure he has finished the first. He is always searching for increasingly interesting and hard-to-find objects to destroy. His obsession in finding targets worthy of his attentions is near pathological, much like a collector of rare items. Unfortunately, what Dreadwind finds interesting to destroy is often at odds with his mission objective. Even worse, if he's forced to stop firing upon a target before he thinks he's finished, he will become madly enraged and fire on Autobot and Decepticon alike.

Dreadwind and his partner Smokejumper can combine to form the superjet Dreadwing, in which form Dreadwind's lust for destruction and Smokejumper's eye for detail join to create a dangerous force to reckon with.

Fiction

Universe comic

Dreadwind and Smokejumper were the subordinates of Megazarak Megazarak's profile in Viron 403.0 Beta. Members of the Destructicons, they battled against the Dinobots, the sole remaining Autobot resistance in their reality. Having conquered their reality, Megazarak decided to explore interdimensional conquest. He sent Ask Vector Prime Dreadwind and Smokejumper to Primax 1087.09 Alpha, where they trapped the Lunar Battle of 2011 in a time loop, prompting the Autobot Science Harmonium to develop the Challenge Blaster to combat them. The AllSpark Almanac II They brought Sunstorm back with them. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/11

They subsequently accompanied their leader to Aurex 304.0 Epsilon, where they allied with the local Decepticons in the war for the Mini-Cons. As part of this alliance, Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/11 Dreadwind and Smokejumper gained the ability to combine with Galvatron during the Unicron Battles, using the Spark of Combination to form the mighty MegaWing Galvatron. In this form, they were powerful enough to challenge Jet Convoy. They were further able to combine with Tidal Wave to form Dark MegaWing Galvatron. MegaWing Galvatron instructions However, once the Decepticons proved their use, the Destructicons wiped them out.

Following this, Unicron abducted the surviving Destructicons to fight for him in the Universe War. Sunstorm joined the Children of Primus and Smokejumper and Dreadwind, a mercurial duo, used this to make contacts on the other side. Once it was clear Unicron was losing, they just happened to defect Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/11 to the Children of Primus. Dreadwind's profile

Toys

Robots in Disguise (2001)

• Dreadwind & Smokejumper (Ultra, 2003)

• Accessories: 12 missiles

A redeco and very slight retool of the Generation 2 Dreadwing toy, Dreadwind transforms into a "flying wing" style stealth bomber with underslung six-missile Gatling cannon. Rotating the back of the cannon fires his missiles one after the other; the missiles have been slightly retooled with an extra nub on the very back, used to lock the missiles in place (missiles from older versions of this mold will not lock in), plus a long groove has been carved down their length which matches added guide-rails on the bottoms of the launching tubes of Smokejumper's missile launchers. The missiles stored under his wings can be dropped via pressure-"launch" by pressing on the red "gems" on the tops of the wings. He can also transform into a treaded "tank" mode. In jet form, he can combine with his pack-in partner Smokejumper's jet mode to make a complete aircraft, Dreadwing.

Dreadwind and Smokejumper are notable for including a sheet of customer-applied decals, the first U.S. main-line toys to do so since the end of Machine Wars in 1997.

Thanks to a screwhole which was new to this version of the mold, Dreadwind and Smokejumper can combine with Armada Megatron/Galvatron (or any redeco of that mold) to form "MegaWing Galvatron". Instructions for this bizarre but official mode appeared in the only issue of 3H's The Official Transformers Collectors' Club Magazine. The instructions also included a note to check online for "Dark MegaWing Galvatron" directions, combining the whole shebang with Tidal Wave. Due to the disintegration of 3H, this never materialized.

Packaging photography shows a very different deco for the pair, with numerous metallic silver paint applications, dark green launchers, bright red missiles and no Decepticon insignias.

This set was a very late addition to the Robots in Disguise line, released as a Target exclusive in the United States in April of 2003, a good year into the next line, Armada. Like other later additions to the Robots in Disguise line, this set was even released in Armada-style packaging, complete with character art stickers.

Somewhat surprisingly, this set was also released as a Toys"R"Us exclusive in the United Kingdom, complete with European packaging, only a month later than its Target-exclusive United States release. Additionally, it was also available in Japan as "USA Edition" in Hasbro packaging, also exclusive to Toys"R"Us.

• More information on Dreadwind at TFU.info
• Instructions for MegaWing Galvatron Page 1
• Instructions for MegaWing Galvatron Page 2

Notes

• Smokejumper and Dreadwind had apparently been slated to make a cameo in an issue of the Dreamwave Armada comic, but were replaced at Hasbro's insistence by Skywarp and Sideways.^[1]

Foreign names

• Japanese: Dreadwind (ドレッドウインド Doreddouindo)

References

1. ↑ Guido Guidi, in an interview with Transfans.co.uk (archived)