Missile
From Transformers Wiki
Missiles are projectile weapons that are released and fly through the air toward a target. An ICBM, an arrow, or a flung beer bottle—all are missiles, though their effectiveness varies. Rockets are a certain type of missile that includes entirely self-contained propellant. Transformers use a variety of different kinds of missiles. Examples include Prowl's wire-guided incendiary missiles, Sunstreaker's laser-guided, ground-to-air missiles, Thundercracker's drone rockets, and Skywarp's heat seeking missiles.
Typically, though, the term 'missile' refers to a self-propelled weapon that may or may not have some sort of guidance system to get where it's going. Those without them usually end up bearing the 'rocket' label.
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Fiction
Generation 1
Marvel The Transformers comic
Before the Great War, Cybertron faced an overpopulation crisis causing the once unified world to fragment into several feuding city states. In this political landscape, photon missiles were developed as "the ultimate deterrent". When Vos and Tarn finally went to war with one another, the photon missiles each side had launched collided with one another, the explosion devastating both cities. State Games
In the early days of the war, Ripsnorter and Switchblade were killed by an incendiary missile fired by one of the Magnificent Six. The Magnificent Six!
Sunstreaker had the ability to fire laser-guided, ground-to-air missiles from his shoulder mount. The Transformers He used them to put Skywarp in his place. Prisoner of War! When the Decepticons attacked the Ark, Bluestreak fired both of his rockets at Megatron, though this did little but gain the Decepticon leader's attention. The Last Stand
On a mission to the UK, Jazz attempted to apprehend Zeke Heilmann but Starscream managed to spirit him away in jet mode. After shooting at Starscream (and inadvertently killing Heilmann) with a heat-seeking missile, Jazz shot the grounded Decepticon with his photon blaster before they were interrupted by the Red Arrows. To a Power Unknown!
Ravage fired proton missiles, using them to incapacitate Skids in battle. Command Performances!
The Transformers cartoon
Mirage, Sideswipe, Red Alert and Wheeljack had shoulder-mounted missile launchers but these were rarely utilized. Likewise, the vehicles modes of the Seekers and Blitzwing possessed missiles that often went unused in favour of energy weapons.
In 1985, the Earth-bound Decepticons did use their missiles once in aerial combat with the US Air Force. Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2
The Revenge was armed with a complement of moleculon missiles which Galvatron used to destroy two Autobot shuttles. The Transformers: The Movie Judgment Day!
Ultra Magnus once used his shoulder missiles to break down a door. The Dweller in the Depths
2005 IDW continuity
When the Lost Light stopped off at Hedonia, Rodimus took the opportunity to purchase some proton missiles. Signal to Noise Some years later, they were used to cripple the O Fortuna after the Protectobots aboard has discovered Getaway's treachery. Full Circle When the Lost Light arrived at Mederi, it expended all but one of its remaining missiles defending itself from the Phantom Fleet. The last was used to bait Team Rodimus aboard the ship. A Dance Before Dying
War for Cybertron Trilogy marketing material
Missiles were primary weapons for many Transformers, such as Megatron. Kingdom webpage[1] Certain Transformers used heat-seeking missiles in particular, such as Hoist Earthrise webpage[2] and Tracks. Kingdom webpage[1]
Other Transformers had specialty missiles, with Doubledealer's being the Destructor Missile, Sunstreaker's being laser-guided ground-to-air rockets, Airwave's being Anti-Aircraft Missiles, Earthrise webpage[2] and Scorponok's being mega missiles. Kingdom webpage[1]
Beast Era
Beast Wars cartoon
Both Scorponok and Terrorsaur utilized missiles during the Beast Wars, the former used them as his primary offensive weapon while the latter reserved them mainly for special attacks. Beast Wars season 1
The Nemesis was armed with a comically large amount of missiles. Nemesis Part 2
2021 IDW Beast Wars comic
When the Maximals attacked the Darksyde, they made themselves known with a missile barrage. Maximals Strike Back, Part 1
Unicron Trilogy continuity family
Energon comic
The F-19 Vipers were equipped with Omega Sidewinder missiles. They were ineffective against Scorponok and his forces. What Lies Beneath
Cybertron cartoon
To prevent Optimus Prime from seizing the Omega Lock, Starscream fired a missile at the Autobots' human allies forcing Prime to break off and intercept the projectile. Retreat
Scattorshot's Cyber Key power was dubbed "MISSILE STORM!" in which he fired a cluster of missiles upward whereupon they would strike an enemy while leaving said enemy little room to maneuver. Retreat Revelation After being reformatted by the power of the Omega Lock, Scattershot scanned a military tank with even more missiles. Critical
Live-action film series
Transformers film
To free Megatron from the Hoover Dam, Starscream fired his missiles at the dam's power generators. Transformers
Dark of the Moon film
When the Ark left Cybertron, an Orbital Assault Carrier fired a missile that unleashed six missiles which crippled the warship and sent it hurtling aimlessly through space/time. Dark of the Moon Convergence #1
In 2011, Starscream unleashed his missiles on the Xantium, destroying it after it launched from Earth. Dark of the Moon
Bumblebee film
When the Autobots evacuated Cybertron, the Seekers fired a cluster of missiles at their launchpad in failed attempt to prevent the escape craft from launching. Soon afterwards, on the planet Earth, Blitzwing attempted to use his missiles to execute B-127 only for the scout to grab one of the weapons, jam it into his foe's armor, and trigger it, graphically killing the Decepticon. Bumblebee
Rise of the Beasts film
Battletrap utilized missiles as his primary projectile weapon. In his vehicle mode, he fired them out of his engine's air intake. Rise of the Beasts
Animated cartoon
When he first faced off against the Earth-bound Autobots, Lugnut fired a volley of missiles, one that Ratchet stopped with his magnets. Lost and Found (episode)
Aligned continuity family
In the early days of the Great War, Shockwave used photon missiles as part of a scheme to bring both Tarn and Vos under Decepticon control. Exodus
Starscream possessed missiles on each of his arms, Darkness Rising, Part 1 which he triggered to fire by clenching his fingers. One of these missiles was powerful enough to sever Skyquake's arm. After losing the Seeker lost his right arm, Knock Out scavenged a replacement that sported many missiles attached to it. Shadowzone Eight of Starscream's missiles could theoretically fell Megatron himself. Two of them were sufficient to terminate Starscream. Or at least a clone of him. Armada Starscream later used his missiles to shoot down the Jackhammer. Darkest Hour In the war's final hours, Starscream used of one his missiles to shoot down Chip and used his other to distract Predaking when the clone mutinied, wounding him enough for Megatron to turn the tide of their duel. Synthesis
Breakdown also possessed an integrated missile launcher in his upper left shoulder. In vehicle mode, this weapon manifested itself from his roof. Deus ex Machina
The Jackhammer had a missile launcher on its underside. Two of them were powerful enough to detonate three tons of raw energon. Hurt
Befitting his name, Heatseeker's primary weapon was heat seeking missiles, ones that possessed a rather impressive fuel supply and persistent tracking systems. King of the Hill (Part 1) King of the Hill (Part 2)
Cyberverse cartoon
Seekers were armed with high-speed missiles launched from an internal bay. Memory Allspark Awaken Sleeping Giants
After he'd been demoted, a furious Starscream finally snapped and openly attacked Megatron, unleashing his missiles on his leader before declaring himself the new Decepticon leader. While Starscream thought his artillery had felled the tyrant, in reality, Megatron had only been forced into stasis lock, returning to personally beat the slag out of Starscream. Bad Moon Rising
When Iaconus had been reactivated and set against a Quintesson-controlled Croaton, the War Titan unleashed his every missile on his opposite, turning the tide of the battle in his favor. The End Of The Universe III
The Decepticon supersoldiers were armed with missiles on their outer legs. Silent Strike The Perfect Decepticon
Toys
Many Transformers toys include simulated missiles. Some are nonfunctional dummies, partly or wholly visible as a removable, affixed, or molded-on detail. Functioning Transformer missiles operate in several ways:
- Spring-launched
- Loading the missile compresses a spring. At full compression, a lock of some sort engages the missile. When released, the spring recoils, propelling the projectile into the air, towards unsuspecting Decepticons, siblings, or cats.
- Pressure-launched
- Also called "marble-shooter" missiles, these were first seen on the Generation 2 Cyberjets. A rounded, annular protrusion on the missile rests in a claw-like holder. The missile is held in place due to tension in the launcher, because the launcher's sides have to be bent slightly outward in order to insert the missile. The tail of the missile protrudes from the launcher. To fire, finger pressure is applied to the missile's tail. When the missile's bulb begins to push out of the launcher's grip, the tension becomes even stronger, and once the bulb has passed the halfway point, the launcher squeezes the missile out at high speed. This speed may be increased further by force from the operator's finger, which accelerates after the missile's release, but briefly remains in contact with its tail.
- 2001 Robots in Disguise Megatron and the Galvatron redeco use a variation of the pressure launcher in which a finger-pressed jaw squeezes the "marble" directly, instead of built-in tension.
- This entire mechanism can be scaled up to create a "Disk Launcher", firing disks of two to three inches in diameter. These usually incorporate a lever mechanism to push the disks, rather than direct contact from a finger. They also commonly incorporate a gravity-feed magazine to deliver multiple projectiles in succession.
- Toys such as Depth Charge, Laser Optimus Prime and all his various repaints, and more recently the Fast Action Battlers and Robot Replica versions of Frenzy feature such launchers. Hailstorm and Mindset each feature eight(!) pressure-launched missiles.
- Air-launched
- These use air pressure to drive the projectile from its launcher. On the Laser Optimus Prime, Combat Hero Prime, and Combat Hero Megatron figures, the missiles are hollow and fit over the open mouth of a tube with one closed end, which communicates via a flexible hose with a plastic bellows. Depressing the bellows compresses air, displacing it into the tube, and launching the missile. However, the rubber tubing tends to wear down over time, and thus the air-launching technology was widely phased out.
For safety reasons, missiles in Transformers have to satisfy a number of length, hardness, and pointiness requirements. Before these requirements, and to this day in countries where they are not in effect, some missiles were quite small. For instance, Generation 1 Inferno's fists can be launched as missiles from his original toy, but the springs of his 1985 US release were quite weak.
Launching missiles and other projectiles have largely been phased out as a gimmick in modern day Transformers toy lines, with the last toyline to feature the gimmick prominently being Combiner Wars. The gimmick has been dropped in favor of Fire Blast effects, which are both cheaper to make and less likely to cause injury.