Starscream (SG)

Starscream is a heroic Decepticon from the Shattered Glass continuity family.

True North, Strong and Free!

Starscream is an intelligent and personable scientist who acts as Megatron's main science guy and second-in-command, and constantly peppers his sentences with (genuine and effusive) admiration for his great leader.

In fact, Starscream may be his commander's greatest advocate. Even when Megatron has lost faith in himself, Starscream is there to support him. His faith isn't the blind faith of a zealot, but the earned trust and loyalty of a comrade. Starscream understands that if the Decepticons are to succeed, they need their leader. Even if Megatron himself will never understand.

He still cares for his old friend Jetfire, even as their paths have put them against each other.

Fiction

Shattered Expectations

"...and I've got fifteen packets of gum, punk!"

Working for the Quintesson Federation, the just and fair-minded Starscream, backed by the Micromaster Razorclaw, attempted to arrest Goldbug and his comrades Jazz and Grimlock. Tracking them to a secret bunker containing ancient Pretender technology, he burst into the room before they could claim the prize, declaring their plot was over "before it even begins!" and requested they surrender. He was quickly subdued by a grumpy Grimlock, but remained defiant. Because his companion Razorclaw had just opened up the bunker's ceiling, allowing the Mayhem Suppression Squad to dive in with guns blazing.... Shattered Expectations

Fun Publications Shattered Glass continuity

Starscream graduated from the Crystal City Science Institute as the most ingenious 'bot on all of Cybertron. Then the war broke out. When Optimus Prime tried to draft the genius, he refused, and, as punishment, the Autobots demolished Crystal City before Starscream's very eyes. Fleeing underground, Starscream joined the Decepticon resistance headed by Megatron. Starscream threw himself into his work, hoping that, one day, his scientific acumen could be used for peaceful purposes. BotCon 2008 Starscream profile card He got a chance to pursue that ideology, even if by somewhat violent means, when an alternate version of Cliffjumper accidentally crossed over from a universe in which the Autobots were good into Starscream's world. With Cliffjumper's help, Starscream created "glass gas" bombs to use on the Ark's launching platform to destroy it. He then participated in the attack that followed, leading the initial attack run. Shattered Glass

Sometime later, Starscream was part of the defense of the Arch-Ayr fuel dump that the Decepticons had recently rediscovered. When Megatron was injured enough to be taken out of the fight, Starscream fussed over and helped repair him. He also helped provide cover fire for the Mayhem Suppression Squad's assault after they were called in by Soundwave.

After the Autobots were beaten back into hiding behind cover, he was as surprised as everyone else by the appearance of the Dinobots, and their disruption of the fight that caused the Autobots to retreat fully back to Iacon. As the Decepticons then discussed the now running-loose Dinobots, Starscream agreed with Dirge's suggestion that they attempt to capture some of them to bolster their own forces. He especially looked forward to being able to recover the AI matrix he had developed that Wheeljack had stolen to make the Dinobots. Megatron ordered Starscream to gather a small force of their best mechs and have them commence the "Dinobot Hunt".

After the hunt was successful in recovering eight of the Dinobots (now Dinocons), Starscream successfully upgraded the Dinocons' brain modules and ensured they were comfortably housed, fed, and otherwise cared for. Until Grimlock took them on a little trip, that is... Dungeons & Dinobots

Several cycles later, Starscream discovered that the Dinocons had somehow gained embers and the ability to transform. Despite this sudden revelation, the Decepticons moved forward with their plan to follow the Autobots into space.

Later on, Starscream was present when Ricochet called the Decepticons to demand a ransom for the return of Megatron. Starscream insisted that the safe retrieval of Megatron was the highest priority. Cliffjumper was able to convince the panicked Starscream that Megatron would want them all to proceed with the readying of the Nemesis, and Starscream reluctantly agreed.

Finally, the Ark lifted off, and the Nemesis followed. Starscream presided over the bridge of the Decepticon ship as it jumped into transwarp towards Earth. Upon their arrival, the two ships engaged in battle, with the Decepticons taking the upper hand and managing to shoot the Ark out of the sky and send it crashing down to Earth. The humans, however, would prove to be a more successful threat. A fusion bomb detonated near the Nemesis, severely disrupting the ship. Starscream remained on board as the rest of the crew escaped in pods, guiding it away from population centers with the help of Cliffjumper. Do Over

Starscream and Cliffjumper both survived the ship's crash-landing while ensconced in the crash compartments. When Heatwave and Soundwave finally discovered them with several humans in tow, Starscream helped explain their situation to the humans. After Starscream finished his explanation by saying he felt the Ark was taken care of and their priority was gathering their crew and returning home, Cliffjumper disagreed and said they should make certain that the Autobots were indeed out of commission. Starscream mulled this over and decided Cliffjumper was correct, and ordered them to go out and work on finding the escape pods of their crew while he remained behind, as his altmode would be too conspicuous.

When Rodimus broadcast a message about holding Earth hostage with the military base and Global Orbiting Defense Satellites he had taken control of, Starscream overheard it and ordered the others (who had since located Crasher) back to the Nemesis. They discussed the situation, and after Heatwave was able to locate the base the Autobots were holed up in, Starscream ordered them to assault it while he remained behind to serve as "mission control". The mission was ultimately successful. Eye in the Sky

Stuck on Earth, Starscream and his men busied themselves helping out the humans, such as when they thwarted Arachnolord. When Blitzwing was augmented with an oPod, Starscream realised that as it was broadcasting on an Autobot frequency, Blitzwing would render any Autobot near him helpless. He tested the theory by taking Blitzwing and Slugslinger with him to stop Swoop and Star Saber from attacking a restaurant. He was impressed when it worked, however Blitzwing's new ability became uncontrollable and began broadcasting on Decepticon frequencies as well. After Blitzwing fled, Starscream blamed himself for neglecting the well-being of one of his men. To protect themselves from the broadcast, he ordered the base locked down and all of the Decepticons into emergency stasis while Soundwave, who was unaffected, searched for Blitzwing. Once Blitzwing was retrieved, Starscream helped extract the oPod and was able to help out Soundwave with some legal trouble he had gotten himself into with Thunderwing. Blitzwing Bop

The Decepticons worked on building a stellar spanner of their own, though Starscream had to put up with Soundwave's atrocious puns while doing so. They finally contacted Cybertron, and sent up the specifications so they could build a two-way travel system. Thus Shockwave joined them on Earth. Starscream and a number of the Decepticons (and Cliffjumper) attended R.J. Blackrock's unveiling ceremony, though Starscream found the event's formality uncomfortable. The Autobots attacked the event, and when Shockwave was seriously injured protecting Sephie Beller, Starscream blamed himself for not being fast enough to help. He was disappointed when Sephie subsequently had herself augmented with Cybertronian technology, and confined her to base. He took opportunity to do a thorough scan of her, which gave the medics some pointers on how to improve their repair technology and help Shockwave.

When Sephie went out to face the Autobots on her own, Starscream modified Fistfight to act as an exosuit for Rick Ottman, and they went to try to help her. Instead, the Decepticons fell into an Autobot trap, and were overwhelmed by superior forces. The Autobots were attacked by Blackrock, using his Centurion battle suit, but the Decepticons were surprised when Blackrock revealed that he regarded all the Cybertronians as potential technology goldmines. When Sephie appeared to sacrifice herself to carry the overloading Centurion away and save everyone present, Starscream gave a heartfelt eulogy. Fortunately, she still functioned. To Starscream's disappointment, Blackrock wriggled his way out of being turned over to the authorities. Back at base, Starscream offered Sephie a place on the Decepticon team, but she turned him down in favor of taking her own course. Transhuman

At the Decepticons' base on Cybertron, Reflector reported to Starscream that he had spotted Computron chasing several unknown individuals. Starscream had Reflector alert Megatron and send out Abominus to deal with Computron. Starscream then helped greet said individuals as they sought safety inside the base, and listened to them explain their situation to Megatron. Reunification: Part 4

When Megatron was killed by Cyclonus during the meeting in question, Starscream cried out in anguish and lamented over Megatron's body, wondering why it couldn't have been himself that had been hit instead of his "king". Reunification: Part 5 The Coming Storm: Part 1

Later, after the visitors were revealed as really being Nexus Prime—who then revived Megatron as Galvatron—Starscream was part of the group that saw Nexus Prime off on his next interdimensional journey. Reunification: Part 6

Starscream struggled for the first time to follow Megatron's orders now that their leader had become Galvatron. The change in Galvatron's behavior was enough to truly worry him. In particular, Starscream could not understand Galvatron's decision to forgive and pardon Cyclonus for his assassination. As his commanding officer and the wounded party, Starscream had no choice but to accept Galvatron's will, but he and the other Decepticons were hardly welcoming to Cyclonus on his return. They suspected the worst when Cyclonus took off without authorization with the shuttle Annex, but he returned having saved some of their human friends from the Underbase. Coalescence

Starscream and Soundwave apparently made a bet about the importance of a distress signal that the Decepticons received from Paradron. When Soundwave traveled with Treadshot's team to a strange parallel universe universe and saw that the dangerous Ultra Magnus had indeed escaped prison, he remarked that he owed Starscream five credits. Invasion

The Stellar Spanner was rendered inoperable after the inter-dimensional incursion of the positive Earth to the space around negative polarity Cybertron. To compensate, the positive polarity Wheeljack created a Mental Spanner to transmit a Cybertronian's mind between two distant bodies. Starscream constructed a second body for Soundwave on negative Earth so that the Mental Spanner could return him to the Ark and its crew. Solar Requiem

Starscream was present at Decepticon City on Earth when Galvatron's victory over Optimus Prime drove the Autobot invaders into retreat. Restoration After Prime's defeat, Starscream and Galvatron flew the Annex back to Cybertron, as Galvatron's connection to the Thirteen anticipated some new threat. He was right. Cybertron itself arose to become the Dark God called Primus, driving the Annex off with his devastating breath. Miraculously, the positive-Earth came to life as well, transformed by Rarified Energon into a Light God called Gaea, who defeated Primus and then transformed herself into a new technological world to serve as a replacement Cybertron. The Future Buried...

Lil Formers

Starscream compared himself to his positive-polarity counterpart, and wondered whether he would end up somehow betraying Optimus Prime or if he would just remain the most loyal out of all Decepticons. Lil Formers

SD SG

Starscream convinced Skywarp to accompany him on an "information retreat" to Earth, only to pack insufficient fuel cells for the trip. Their power ran out as Skywarp complained to Starscream over his lack of foresight, but a solution presented itself readily: Thundercracker was called into the room, which he illuminated with his garish color scheme. SD SG #4

Timelines

In the Cybertron -PA84 universe, Starscream reported to Megatron about the Nightbird robot that the Decepticons had subdued after she tried to infiltrate their base and steal the World Energy Chip entrusted to them by the humans. Epilogue Two

IDW Shattered Glass comic

Before the war, Starscream was a scientist and a close friend of Jetfire. As part of their research, the pair discovered and partially excavated Metroplex, an ancient Titan buried near the city of Iacon. Shattered Glass #3 Thanks to his unique spark, Starscream would be able to handle the power surge that came with directly linking with a Titan, and the pair hoped that they could find a way to reactivate and communicate with their subject in the hopes of better understanding Cybertron's history. However, mundane academic concerns got in the way of their lofty ideals, and to secure funding for their project the pair decided to meet with the Cybertronian Senate in the hopes of convincing one or more senators to support their research. Shattered Glass #3 In between fundraising meetings, the pair watched one of Megatron's many civil rights protests outside the Senate building; although the Decepticon leader came to blows with Senate security officer Prowl, Starscream was inspired by the sight of a humble miner taking on the establishment and eventually developed sympathies for the nascent Decepticon movement. Shattered Glass #2

As it turned out, their next meeting was with senator Orion Pax—ambitious, power-hungry, and with designs of his own, he took an immediate interest in the idea of reactivating a Titan and promised them all the funding they'd ever need if they got him results and kept their research a secret. While Jetfire jumped on the offer, Starscream, who'd heard rumours of encroaching senatorial corruption, turned down the offer and walked out. Although the pair managed to scrape together the resources needed to continue their work, Jetfire continued to worry that they'd run out of money before they made any significant headway with their project, and continued floating the idea of taking Orion up on his offer. Although Starscream, correctly fearing that Orion was a tyrant in the making, made Jetfire promise that he wouldn't talk about Orion anymore, Jetfire went behind Starscream's back to meet with Orion and his followers in secret—unaware that a suspicious Starscream had trailed him to the meeting.

When Bumblebee found Starscream and dragged him before Orion, Jetfire tried to convince the Autobots that Starscream was not a Decepticon—however, a furious Starscream told Jetfire that he'd betrayed his ideals and that he would never join the Autobots. Before Orion or his followers could deal with him, however, Starscream transformed and fled back to their dig site; knowing that the Autobots would find a way to compromise and weaponize their peaceful research, Starscream destroyed all of the necessary scientific equipment, then tried to bind the remaining data to his own spark, to permanently put it beyond Optimus's reach. However, when Jetfire and the other Autobots arrived, Starscream was forced to sever the link, leaving the data corrupted on both ends. Shattered Glass #3

With nowhere else to go, Starscream fell in with Megatron and the other Decepticons as the war against the evil Autobots began. Shattered Glass #5 In time, Starscream became Megatron's closest lieutenant and developed a reputation as the spokesman for the Decepticon movement, Shattered Glass #1 even writing some of Megatron's pre-battle speeches for him. Shattered Glass #2 In private, Megatron and Starscream discussed the possibility of using Starscream's spark as an indestructible safe, although the idea did not come to fruition before the end of the war. Although circumstances had driven them apart, Starscream never stopped believing that there was a kernel of goodness somewhere in Jetfire. Whenever they encountered each other on the battlefield, Starscream would try and reach out to his former friend. Shattered Glass #5

Starscream was one of the many Decepticons who followed Megatron to the planet Earth to keep its supplies of Rarified Energon out of Autobot hands. However, as the conflict between the two factions intensified, their battles grew increasingly destructive. Finally, on the cusp of an unwinnable battle in Hollywood, Megatron made the drastic decision to martyr himself for his cause, so that the Decepticon movement could survive: before he threw himself into one-on-one combat with Optimus Prime, he ordered Starscream to gather up every Decepticon left and flee the planet while he bought time for them to escape. Despite his urge to help out his commander, Starscream followed his orders to the letter, and, along with his fellow Seekers Thundercracker and Skywarp, coordinated the Decepticon evacuation from Earth, while the triumphant Autobots defeated Megatron and pillaged the planet to their heart's content. Shattered Glass #2

As the Autobots won the war and consolidated their power over Cybertron, Starscream went into hiding and spent at least a megacycle in self-imposed isolation, combing through his corrupted databanks in an attempt to make himself whole again. Shattered Glass #3 After Megatron had returned to Cybertron, he gave the Seekers the coordinates to his hideout in the Rust Sea should they ever need to contact him. Shattered Glass #2 Finally, Starscream returned to Metroplex, intent on recovering the part of himself he'd abandoned all those years ago, and initiated the mental merge again—this time, however, Starscream was able to successfully complete the procedure, and discovered how to awaken and control the still-dormant Titan. Shattered Glass #3 Unfortunately, however, his activity caught the attention of the Autobot Goldbug, who deduced what he was up to. Goldbug put a bounty on his head and promised to handsomely reward the first Autobot bodyscrapper who successfully brought him in alive. Shattered Glass #1 Shattered Glass #4

While he waited to contact Megatron, Starscream lay low in the ruins beyond Gold City, Starscream came under attack from the bodyscrappers Chromedome and Hardhead, who attempted to bring him in... only for Blurr, another Autobot bodyscrapper, to rescue him. Blurr offered to escort him deeper into the lawless Static Zone, in reality a means of stalling for time until he could summon Goldbug, but Starscream proved immediately skeptical of this impromptu teamup. Blurr tried to play on his sympathy by lying that he'd been pressured into joining the Autobots, and Starscream played along until they reached the deadly Chrome Ridge. In the ensuing battle, the Decepticon flier turned Blurr's infamous speed against him by tricking the speedster into running straight into a deadly flow of molten metal. To ensure that Blurr was dead, Starscream stood by his melted corpse until morning, at which point he flew away; the adventure had brought him one step closer to finding Megatron. Shattered Glass #1 An injured Starscream limped to Megatron's hideout in the Rust Sea, and forced the Decepticon commander to bring him inside his bunker to repair him. Although Megatron, feeling himself a failure, had long since lost the will to go on as leader of the Decepticons, Starscream reminded him of his past glories and inspired him to retake command, in the hopes that they could use a Titan to fight back against the triumphant Autobots. Shattered Glass #2

An elegant weapon for a more civilized age.

Their first stop would be Gold City; travelling incognito, Megatron and Starscream met up with Soundwave, who agreed to put out the call to every remaining Decepticon. However, when the pair stopped off at a nearby bar to discuss their next steps, Blaster and his minions through their disguise and attacked them. As more and more arriving Autobots threatened to overwhelm them Megatron ordered Starscream to get to safety while he held them off. Starscream did so., cursing himself for abandoning his leader once more... until Jetfire shot him unconscious and delivered him to Goldbug. Shattered Glass #3 Goldbug put Jetfire in charge of the interrogation, but although Jetfire implored him to surrender the knowledge willingly and escape death, Starscream refused to break, even after Goldbug announced that he'd murdered Starscream's would-be rescuer Skywarp and showed him his head as proof. Furious by Jetfire's inability to get results, Goldbug snapped and pointed his blaster at Starscream, ready to kill him even if it meant losing the information he'd sought. Shattered Glass #4

Despite Jetfire's protests, Goldbug released Starscream from his shackles and prepared to kill him—but when an explosion from outside heralded the arrival of Megatron's Decepticon army, Jetfire turned on his former leader and punched him out. However, as he helped Starscream to his feet, Goldbug was able to regain his bearings quicker than Jetfire had anticipated, reach for his gun, and shoot Starscream in the back, opening a gaping wound in his torso. Wounded but still alive, Starscream reassured Jetfire that the shot had missed his spark—at which point Goldbug ripped Starscream's pulsing spark from his body and killed him.

Although Megatron and his followers successfully liberated Gold City, Goldbug escaped in the chaos and successfully used the information encoded on Starscream's spark to reactivate Metroplex. In a later conversation with his spy Slicer, Ultra Magnus told him that Optimus Prime and Prowl had plans of their own regarding the Titan, and Goldbug's fall from grace, combined with his possession of Starscream's spark, had painted a target on his back. Shattered Glass #5 Goldbug eventually plugged Starscream's spark into Metroplex's systems but found that the giant proved temperamental, activating and deactivating without Goldbug's input. Shattered Glass II #3

By the time of Goldbug's demise, Shattered Glass II #4 Starscream's spark had roused Metroplex, sending the Titan marching towards New Kaon. Using Starscream's spark caused Metroplex's mind patterns to slowly merge with Starscream's own, the process threatening to erase Starscream's mind entirely. Soundwave and Jetfire managed to fight their way through Metroplex and remove Starscream's spark, Jetfire flying off with the spark to the Static Zone. Shattered Glass II #5

Games

Transformers: Forged to Fight

Shattered Bridges

Toys

Timelines

He and his best friend are so close, they even dress alike!

• Shattered Glass (BotCon box set, 2008)

• Accessories: Launcher, missile, Earth-style Cyber Key

Part of BotCon 2008's exclusive box set of five figures, Timelines Starscream is a redeco of Cybertron Voyager Class Starscream in a color scheme that homages the original Jetfire. He transforms into a Cybertronian starfighter. In both modes, plugging a Cyber Key (his is a red-plastic Earth-style key with a white border and black symbol) into his back pops out a blade-weapon from each of his wings/arms. He also has a spring-loaded missile launcher which can be hand-held, or mounted on the underside of his vehicle mode.

Starscream was only available as part of a set of six toys, along with Optimus Prime, Grimlock, Goldbug, Autobot Jazz, and Razorclaw.

This mold was also used to make Universe Dirge.

• More information on "Shattered Glass" Starscream at TFU.info

Combiner Wars

• Shattered Glass Starscream (TFSS 5.0, 2017)

• Accessories: Weapon/combiner extremity, Atari-Scream rifle
• Known designers: Marcelo Matere (packaging artist)

Released as a bonus figure for the Figure Subscription Service 5.0, Combiner Wars "Shattered Glass Starscream" is a redeco of Ghost Starscream from the Unite Warriors Grand Galvatron set, itself a retool of Combiner Wars Deluxe Class Skydive. He transforms into a fighter jet roughly based on a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon (as evidenced by the nose cone shape, cockpit design, as well as the characteristic clipped delta wings), although with twin vertical stabilizers.

He can also combine to form the leg or arm of any Combiner Wars-style Combiner or one of Legends Godbomber's legs, although the amusingly non-committal "possible suggestion" given is to make him part of Modulus.

Starscream was packaged along with Wrecker Toxitron and Wrecker Counterpunch.

Shattered Glass Collection

The (not-so) white knight.

• Starscream (Voyager Class, 2021)

• Accessories: 2 rifles, 2 Energon swords
• Known designers: Lenny Panzica (Hasbro), AJ Piejko-Brown (packaging)

Released as part of the Shattered Glass Collection subline, Starscream is a redeco of Siege Starscream, transforming into a Cybertronian tetrajet. In addition to the blasters included with the original mold, he includes two energy swords that can combine together into a single blade. He features numerous 5mm ports for compatibility with the C.O.M.B.A.T. System.

Unfortunately, Starscream's unpaintable plastic is notorious for yellowing extremely easily, sometimes before he is even unboxed.

Starscream also includes the third issue of IDW Publishing's Shattered Glass comic, with an exclusive cover featuring spot UV.

Merchandise

Magic: The Gathering

• Starscream, Power Hungry / Starscream, Seeker Leader (2022)
  • ID number: 020
  • Set code: BOT
  • Color identity: Black
  • Casting cost: {3}{B} (front), {2}{B} (back)
  • Artist: Sara Pitre-Durocher

"Starscream, Power Hungry" is part of the 2022 Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond Transformers card set, found in Collector Booster packs of Magic's The Brothers' War set. It can be reversed to become "Starscream, Seeker Leader", representing Starscream in vehicle mode.

A variant of this card was available in both Set Booster and Collector Booster packs, depicting "Generation 1" Starscream.

Notes

• Before Starscream was decided as the final Transformers Figure Subscription Service figure, Fun Publications nearly chose Sunstorm.^[1] Randy Para drafted the profile for Sunstorm, later recycling fragmentary elements for SG Starscream.
• In Forged to Fight, Starscream appears as a minor recoloring of his Generation 1 counterpart's CG model, based upon the Combiner Wars Leader Class Starscream toy.
• In IDW Publishing's comic series, Starscream mainly appears as his Siege-based toy on Cybertron but in the Earth sequences appears as a "virtual redeco" of the Earthrise Voyager Class Starscream toy.

References

Gallery

• 

  2008 vehicle mode profile art

• 

  2016 robot mode profile art

See also

You look familiar...

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Versions of Shattered Glass Starscream have appeared in other continuity families, including:

• Starscream, the heroic counterpart to Animated Starscream.

For more information, see Starscream (disambiguation).