Throttlebot
From Transformers Wiki
- The Throttlebots are an Autobot subgroup from the Generation 1 continuity family.
The Throttlebots are a team of Autobots who share a common transformation scheme. Though they are far from the most powerful Autobots around, they are noted for their speed and agility. They often serve as couriers, spies, scouts and saboteurs.
The Throttlebots are:
- Goldbug (gold Volkswagen Beetle)—the rebuilt form of Bumblebee; though in some universes, Goldbug is his own individual
- Chase (red Ferrari Testarossa)—an impatient scout
- Freeway (blue Chevrolet Corvette C4)—a thin-skinned comedian
- Rollbar (green Jeep CJ-7)—a rough-riding macho tracker
- Searchlight (white Ford RS200)—a quiet and reclusive spy
- Wideload (orange dump truck)—a vain and judgemental hauler
On one occasion, their ranks also included:
- Throttlebot (helicopter)—a reconnaissance flier with a tautological name
Contents |
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Marvel The Transformers comics
The Throttlebots were among the numerous Autobot guerrilla units on Cybertron, and they led a successful campaign of fuel raids against the ruling Decepticons. However, thanks to a Decepticon Titanium-class Destruction Drone, the Throttlebots were eventually captured and brought to the offices of the Chief Decepticon Fuel Auditor Ratbat. An outbreak of Scraplets had begun on Earth and unwilling to waste Decepticon troops, Ratbat had ordered them captured so they could go and destroy all of the infected instead—or he would destroy the planet itself to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.
Given new Earth-style vehicle forms and canisters of corrosive acid, the Throttlebots arrived on Earth and soon found Goldbug in the death throes of a Scraplets infection. They attempted to destroy him, but during the skirmish, Goldbug's human friend Charlie Fong discovered a cure for Scraplets, the "rare chemical" water. G.B. Blackrock provided two tanker trucks full of water at the crater; but the water treatment proved ineffective when the Scraplets merged themselves into a giant monster. It did, however, allow them to heal all the affected Transformers, who disabled the creature with their weapons. The acid was then used to destroy all the remaining Scraplets. The Cure!
Joining Goldbug and Blaster on their travels, the group discovered that the bodies of Galvatron and Ultra Magnus had been found. While they initially intended to let the Combaticons destroy Galvatron, they were forced to intervene to save human lives. Ladies' Night This unfortunately attracted the wrath of the Combaticons, and they came under attack from Vortex. Blaster saw him off, but their attempts to refuel at a Blackrock gas station were blocked by a RAAT team, Rollbar being damaged during the battle.
Running low on fuel and seeking a place to hide and regroup, the Throttlebots chose to stay at a used car lot. When the owner, Big Steve Ludwig, tried to have the damaged Rollbar towed, the Throttlebots revealed themselves to Big Steve to stop him. With a reward posted for information on the group, Big Steve promptly reported the Throttlebots to the authorities, and filled the Throttlebots' fuel tanks with soda to immobilize them.
Later that night Walter Barnett arrived with a RAAT strike force to pick up the immobile Throttlebots when the Combaticons and Protectobots both arrived to take the Throttlebots themselves. Even as he began to realize that there might be two warring factions among the Transformers, Barnett ordered the Throttlebots to be towed away as the Autobot and Decepticon combiner teams attacked each other. Used Autobots
Taken to Triple-I, the Throttlebots were dissected, rebuilt and constantly interrogated over an increasing volume of Decepticon raids. Unwilling to believe their repeated explanations about two factions, Triple-I made a public declaration that if the raids continued they would execute their prisoners in retaliation. Eager to bump off some Autobots, the Decepticons did just that.
Unable to stop his boss from carrying out the threat and realizing the Throttlebots spoke the truth, Barnett transplanted their brain modules into his young son's remote control cars, allowing the Autobots to survive and even control their new "bodies".
This turned out to be kind of handy after the Ratbat and the Predacons discovered their brain modules were missing from their trashed bodies and gave chase as Barnett sought out Buster Witwicky. Evading the Decepticons in a local mall, Barnett fled with the five original Throttlebots while Buster took Goldbug to the last known location of the Ark. Toy Soldiers!
When the US Navy and Triple-I blockaded the mysterious desert island where the Decepticons were keeping Buster hostage, Barnett arrived with the still-remote-control-car-housed Throttlebots. When an Autobot turbo-transport arrived to assault the island and rescue Buster, Rollbar piped up to stop the humans attacking it. The Desert Island of Space!
Recovered from Triple-I, Optimus Prime had the five Throttlebots' bodies rebuilt stronger than before. His hope that they would be strong enough to survive the Underbase-powered Starscream was a vain one, however, as the rogue Decepticon dispatched them before they could even transform. Dark Star
According to Blaster (in an answer in the UK Marvel comic letters page) his favourite Cybertronian football team were the "Throttlebot Wanderers", whom he described as "non-league no-hopers".[1]
Marvel Generation 2 comic
Chase was resurrected at some point, with a new paint job, and was part of Hot Spot's team sent to capture Megatron. He was swiftly killed for the second time, right after saying "We'll fight to the death." Final Transformations
Regeneration One
During the invasion of Cybertron by the Decepticon Warworld, Rollbar was seen in a foxhole being shelled by oncoming Blitz Engines and Neo-Decepticon troopers. Destiny, Part Five
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
The Throttlebots first saw action when they participated in Rodimus Prime's plan to rescue the body of Optimus Prime, only for themselves, Ultra Magnus and the Aerialbots to enter a trap and become infected by the Hate Plague. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1 Bumblebee, having been badly damaged by a rampaging Superion, received a Throttlebot upgrade when he was rebuilt, and the revived Optimus renamed him Goldbug. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2 Oddly, Rollbar was mysteriously absent, but his comrades were soon cured of the disease.
By the time Optimus Prime had been firmly re-established as Autobot leader, Rollbar finally had caught up with his chums, and the Throttlebots were part of the defense of Autobot City against a Decepticon raid (with varying degrees of success). The Rebirth, Part 1 They were later part of the Autobot forces that arrived on Cybertron to fight the Decepticons. The Rebirth, Part 3
The Headmasters cartoon
In the year 2011, the Throttlebots helped defend Cybertron when Galvatron's forces attempted to conquer Vector Sigma. They teamed up with Grimlock, Slag and Beachcomber to fight the new Decepticon Headmasters, but were put to sleep by Mindwipe's hypnosis. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky The Decepticons were eventually driven away, but soon returned with a new weapon known as the Madmachine, and the Throttlebots were dispatched to fight it. They lost pretty badly against the machine itself, but managed to hold their own against the Headmasters assigned to protect it. The Great Cassette Operation
Later on, they were really, really stupid. During a battle on Earth, the over-eager Throttlebots sneaked off in an Autobot frigate to try to deal with the Decepticon-created Metamorphose asteroid, confident that they would succeed where others failed. Their hubris proved to be their undoing, as they fell victim to its gravity-warping field. Approach of the Demon Meteorite Fortunately for them, they were recovered and put back together in time to take part to the final battle on Earth between the Autobots and Decepticons. They attacked Predaking alongside the Autobot clones, but they were defeated again—as usual—and only the intervention of Pointblank saved them from being taken apart by the gestalt. The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 2)
Legends comic
In 2021, Goldbug found out that Universal Peace Alliance chairman Spike Witwicky had been replaced with an evil fake and left the Throttlebots to help the real Spike. The impostor declared him a traitor to the Alliance and ordered the other Throttlebots to destroy him, and while they accompanied him to the Legends World to confront their leader, they were ultimately too unruly to follow orders and stayed out of the fight. Bonus Edition Vol. 54
2005 IDW continuity
The Throttlebots were an elite subgroup of couriers noted for their exceptional speed. They were assigned to Orvus Base, protecting important scientific research. They themselves were not told any of the details of the research. The base was attacked by Sixshot, who, naturally, tore the place up. The Throttlebots were the only ones to escape in a shuttle. Sixshot pursued them to the planet Salvvatan VIII, still after the information.
They landed on the planet and found a store of energon cubes and used them to top-off their energy, preparing to take a stand against Sixshot. When Sixshot caught up with them, they put up a fight, but were steadily being overpowered, until Metroplex intervened and crushed Sixshot. Metroplex then suddenly took off, rambling on about his mission to keep it safe being more important than helping fellow Autobots. He did, however, leave them with provisions and a shuttlecraft, but the Throttlebots were left on the planet wondering what the "it" was that Metroplex referred to. Spotlight: Metroplex
Soon afterwards, Freeway and Wideload perished from their injuries. Using the ship Metroplex provided them with, the Throttlebots left Salvvatan VIII only to be attacked by the damaged but still alive Sixshot. The Throttlebots seemingly managed to kill the wounded Phase Sixer but the damage he inflicted on their ship caused them to be stranded on a planet they would nickname Botanica. They attempted to call for rescue but their hails went unanswered due to the Surge. They remained stranded for ten years, convinced that the Decepticons had won the war and would one day come to kill them. The Dead Come Home, Part 1 The Autobots assumed that the Throttlebots had died and mounted no rescue mission even after the Great War had ended. The Dead Come Home, Part 2
Salvation came for the Throttelbots when they were attacked by a group of bestial Cybertronians. Though Searchlight fell to the beasts, Goldbug, Chase and Rollbar were rescued by Prowl, Garnak, Wheelie, and Stardrive, The Dead Come Home, Part 1 managing to escape aboard the Peaceful Revolution. The Dead Come Home, Part 2 They remained with the group even as Devisiun came under attack by Unicron, though the Throttlebots' wounded state meant they were unable to leave the ship and aid in the planet's defence. Unstopped and Unstoppable
Beast Wars: Uprising
The Throttlebots were an Autobot team active during the Great War. Goldbug was their leader, and Wideload another member until Rodimus Prime's leadership disgusted him to the point of quitting and joining the Decepticons. The Inexorable March
Presumably the Throttlebot team inspired the name of the Throttlebot Wanderer mecha-soccer team. Broken Windshields
Toys
The Transformers
- Known designers: Takayuki Ishizawa (TakaraTomy), Takashi Matsuda (initial concept)
- The Throttlebots were first released in 1987, effectively supplanting the Mini Vehicle assortment at the $3 price point. Some versions also came with free Decoys; in fact, the Throttlebots are the only toys that could have the red Decepticon Decoys.
- Each Throttlebot features a pull-back motor that pushes them along smooth surfaces in both vehicle and robot modes. Their transformations are simple, and they have no articulation whatsoever; in fact, their robot modes have panel-thin arms and no defined feet at all, instead standing on the compacted wheelbase of their vehicle mode. The figures' transformations are similar to the Battlechargers, even though the Throttlebots lack the autotransformation feature. Their simplicity has earned the scorn of many adult fans; however, it makes them extremely durable, a definite asset when in the hands of a young child. It is very hard to break a Throttlebot.
- Chase, Freeway, and Searchlight maintain the compacted, Choro-Q/Penny Racers-inspired proportions of the original Mini Vehicles, while Goldbug and Rollbar are more proportionate to their real-life vehicle counterparts (Wideload, while roughly proportionate, has the separate issue of being wildly out of scale with the rest of his team). In fact, the Goldbug figure was the first - and, until the announcement of Bumblebee's Masterpiece figure, only - version of Bumblebee/Goldbug to depict a Volkswagen Beetle in realistic proportions.
- The Throttlebots were later re-released in European markets in the early Nineties as part of the "Classics" assortment. In this release, everyone but Wideload was retooled to remove their rubsign indent, the heat-sensitive decal proper replaced with a glossy-paper faction sigil. Wideload kept his indent, but like the others, had his rubsign replaced.
Alternators
- Known designers: Steve Bono (Hasbro)
- Rollbar is a redeco of Alternators Swindle (himself a retool of Alternators Hound), transforming into a 1:24-scale licensed Jeep Wrangler TJ custom with oversized off-road tires and a new bumper with bullbar.
Titans Return
- Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro)
- A redeco/retool of Titans Return Legends Class Bumblebee, with a new head based on Searchlight as a tribute to the art chaos surrounding the character. Originally Chase, the decision to change the name to his new monicker was likely made very late in the design process as the instruction booklet in some samples states his name as Autobot Chase. This was likely done to not confuse kids with a different Chase.
Other
- Early solicitations for Alternators Grimlock were listed as "Freeway".
- An evil version of Goldbug was released as a convention exclusive in 2008.
Notes
- Artwork provided by Shinya Ohira for TV Magazine offered its own interpretation of the self-propulsion gimmick that thematically linked all members of the Throttlebots. In their case, it was wicked sweet jet packs.
- The character models for Chase and Searchlight featured swapped heads, an attribute that would appear in all their major classic appearances, including the Marvel comic, the Generation 1 animated series, and even The Headmasters anime. The Marvel comic screwed things up a step further, though, by also switching their color schemes; hence, "Chase" appeared as "White Chase With Searchlight's Head," while "Searchlight" was "Red Searchlight With Chase's Head." This only applied to their robot forms, though—when in vehicle mode, Chase was red and Searchlight was white!
Foreign names
- Japanese: Throttlebot (スロットルボット Surottorubotto), Throttrobot (The Rebirth, スロットロボット Surottorobotto)
- English: The Stallion Forces (Omni Productions dub)
- Italian: Racerbot, Motorizzati Rollerbots (Classics)
- Russian: Drosselbot (Дроссельбот Drossel'bot)
