Blitzwing
Bombshell
Cliffjumper
Cyclonus
Elita-One
Galvatron
Gears
Grimlock
Hoist
Hot Rod
Hound
Inferno
Ironhide
Jazz
Megatron
Optimus Prime
Perceptor
Prowl
Ramjet
Ratchet
Rodimus Prime
Rumble
Skyfire
Skywarp
Slag
Snarl
Starscream
Swoop
Thundercracker
Thrust
Tracks
Ultra Magnus
Wheeljack

Function: Glorified Taxi Voice Actor: Gregg Berger First Appearance: "Fire in the Sky"

Nightwind's Words of Wisdom:

Poor, poor Skyfire... *sigh* I feel so badly for him on so many levels. Not the least of which is that, after millions of years frozen in a polar ice cap, what does he end up doing for a living? Carting Autobots around to the ends of the Earth. How fun... :P

But anyway... Seems you can't talk about Skyfire without answering the "Is he or isn't he?" question. (And there are actually quite a few such questions surrounding him, if you think about him in certain ways. ;) ) But the way I mean here is whether or not Taxi Boy here is a Decepticon traitor or not. And you know what? I wrote a long dissertation about that in my review of "Fire in the Sky." So, in the interests of general laziness and of taking up space here... Woo! Watch Nighty cut and paste! Off we go:

Much controversy surrounds Skyfire. Some G1 fans, it seems, can talk endlessly about Skyfire and his choice of allegiance, and the schools of thought concerning him seem to break down into essentially two main viewpoints. One viewpoint, held mostly by Decepticon fans, brands Skyfire as nothing less that a vile traitor, an ingrate who rewarded the Decepticons' kindness in deicing and going to great lengths to revive him by defecting the the Autobots' side of the war. The other view — probably the majority view, I would imagine — would point to Skyfire as a model case of "doing the right thing," of discovering for yourself what is "right" for you and then pursuing "rightness" no matter where that path might lead and no matter the personal cost.

I am, perhaps, a rare Decepticon fan in that I hold the latter opinion, not the former, and I hold that opinion without a qualm. Yes, the Decepticons discovered and unburied Skyfire. Yes, they went to great lengths to revive him after that. But that was where the "kindness" ended. After that, there was no option open to Skyfire but to do what Megatron wanted him to do, and he was expected to do so without question. And, in fact, the Decepticons (or Megatron, at least) did not revive Skyfire out of the kindness of their hearts, really, but out of selfishness and greed for power (Which is par for the course for Megatron, but that's beside the point.) Megatron, getting his first eyeful of Skyfire, practically drools and, his voice full of avarice, says, "With his size and probable strength, he will make an excellent Decepticon." Any thought as to what Skyfire might want or what might be best for him? Ummmm...no. There isn't even a hint that the notion to ask what Skyfire might want crossed Megatron's mind. Megs is clearly not thinking, "Oh, poor guy! Stuck in the ice like that. Let's help him!" here. No, he's thinking, "Holy cow! This guy could kick some serious keister for me. Let's get him out of there and onto the battlefield!"

And, once revived, there's no adjustment period for Skyfire. No time for him to get his bearings. No real introductions. No history lesson — propaganda-laden or otherwise — as to why the Autobots need to get pounded. And, most disturbingly, virtually no lag time between Skyfire's awakening and his assignment, essentially, to the front line. The poor guy wakes up, and Megatron basically says, "Hi! I'm Megatron. You're a Decepticon now and the Autobots are your enemies. Here's a gun. Go kill them. Have a nice day!" Gotta wonder what Skyfire thought about that. Imagine waking up from ten million years or so of doing a popsicle impression, and being given a gun and told to shoot someone you didn't know, even if told that they were an enemy. Would you do it? I wouldn't. Not without a lot more information than the little that Skyfire received, at least.

Think about things from Skyfire's viewpoint for a minute. Last thing he knew, he was doing a fly-over of an uncharted planet on an exploratory mission with his buddy Starscream. Something went horribly awry. He crashed. Then he wakes up. He doesn't quite comprehend, I'm sure, how much time has passed. He doesn't know that his species is plagued by a brutal civil war. He doesn't know where he is. Heck, after being down so long, he might not know who he is! And the only person he does know, his only link to reality — Starscream — is (to him) suddenly and vastly different than he was before. I should think it would be...a little disconcerting. But the Decepticons did "save" him, and Starscream is a friend, so Skyfire decides that he owes the Decepticons a favor and that he will "try to bring [them] credit." And, it should be noted, he does try to do so — until presented with irrefutable evidence that the Decepticons and their philosophies are not in line with Skyfire's personal beliefs and that Megatron in general does not easily tolerate those who have opinions which differ from his own. And then all hell breaks loose, of course, leading Skyfire to decide that the Autobots' way of thinking is more in line with his own personal way of thinking, which leads to his "defection."

Why the quotes around "defection?" Because, to me, Skyfire's change of allegiance was not a defection or a betrayal or a traitorous act, at least not to the Decepticon cause. (Whether or not Skyfire betrayed Starscream is entirely another matter, one that I can't really discuss here without going off in a direction that some people won't want to read about... ;) ) If nothing else, Skyfire was never really a Decepticon. For one thing, at the time of his crash on Earth, Skyfire was non-aligned, as was Starscream. Neither of them wore sigils, and Megatron comments that it was before the final falling out with the Autobots. (In fact, it's unclear to me whether or not the two factions even existed as such at that time. "War Dawn" would seem to indicate that they didn't, but the cartoon is notoriously contradictory in its continuity so you can't really say for sure...)

But even after his reawakening, I wouldn't call Skyfire a Decepticon. Sure, he wore the symbol, perhaps...but it never seemed to weigh lightly on him. Why? Because, quite simply, he wasn't given a choice in the matter of his allegiance. He wasn't allowed to make up his own mind about his allegiance. Megatron (and Starscream) assumed that Skyfire would join them and be loyal to the cause, perhaps out of gratitude, perhaps out of friendship. (And you know what happens when you assume: You make an "ass" out of "u" and "me.")

This lack of choice for Skyfire is ironic to me because, amongst the more...uh, vociferous Decepticon fans, you hear much talk about freedom and personal choice from people trying to justify the Decepticons' ruthless actions in relation to "lesser" forms of life. (Like...oh...humans.) There's much talk amongst Decepticon fans about how the Autobots are "bad" because, so it's said, they spout off about freedom — and in fact insist upon it — but at the same time they want to make everyone accept their altruistic, cooperative, and peaceful worldview as the only valid one. If they succeeded in that endeavor, of course, the result would not be "freedom." It would be "everyone has to think like the Autobots," which is just as much "tyranny" as "everyone has to think like the Decepticons" would be. (Now, to me personally, "freedom" as everyone talks about it and exalts it — related to TFs or not — does not exist. The only real "freedom" is chaos and anarchy...and anarchy and chaos don't work well, either. But that's beside the point.) Anyway, the Autobots get branded as "hypocrites" when it comes to the "freedom" issue almost as much as the Decepticons get branded as "evil" when it comes to...well, to any issue, really.

But then along comes Skyfire, a non-aligned Transformer who's been out of the loop for ten million years or so. And he's offered no choices, is he? He's offered none of that elusive "freedom" that everyone jabbers on about, especially by the Decepticons. So, if the Decepticons do what they do in the name of "freedom to live as they choose," then who are the hypocrites here? Well, I'd say they all are, Autobots and Decepticons! Except for Skyfire, who decided for himself what was right for him and makes no demands of anyone else in that regard. And then Skyfire stuck by his decision without wavering. Even if you don't agree with his ultimate decision, you can perhaps admire his conviction in making it and then in standing by it. I know I do.

The Official Word:
(Skyfire's known in the comic and toy line as "Jetfire"...and the character is a lot different, as well... So, I'm not sure why I'm even putting this in here...but here it is. Take it or leave it, as you will. Me, I leave it. ;) )

Profile: With a reckless daring that comes from being the swiftest of all the Autobots, Jetfire is the most eager of his comrades to plunge into battle. But his bravado is tempered by one overriding thought: he sincerely believes that victory over the Decepticons can only come through advancements in Autobot technology. As the first of a new generation of Autobots such a credo is perhaps only natural. Also, because he was created on Earth, Jetfire is one of the few Autobots who has no memory of his home planet. His allegiance to his cause is only matched by his devotion to scientific research.

Abilities: In jet-fighter mode, Jetfire's unique swing-wing design allows him to take off like a normal jet and then, pulling his wings back, reach speeds of up to Mach 4.2. Adding twin supersonic combustion ramjet (i.e. scramjet) engine modules along with twin liquid hydrogen fuel tanks allows Jetfire to achieve orbital velocities, or to even escape Earth's gravity altogether. With this capability, he can launch like a missile, shoot up above the atmosphere, and, at a speed of Mach 29, dive down like a blazing meteor (hence his name) half a world away only 30 minutes later. In robot and jet mode, he is equipped with four independently targetable particle beam cannons around his head and eight heat-seeking armor-piercing missiles.

Weaknesses: Jetfire's range is limited by his fuel consumption; any transatmospheric trip requires his refueling when he lands. Since he is newly constructed by the Ark, he is prone to numerous mechanical failures as the bugs in his system are worked out. Anything from a malfunctioning radio to an engine stall in deep space has been known to happen.

Miscellaneous:

Best Place to Skyfire-Watch:
His initial episode, "Fire in the Sky," is really the only episode where Skyfire gets any sort of noticeable character development. Other that that, he's basically just carting Autobots around and getting shot by Starscream and/or kicked by Kickback.

Nightwind's Favorite Skyfire Quotes:

"My function is to further science and learning, not to destroy innocent life forms."
~Ah, poor conflicted Skyfire in "Fire in the Sky."

"I'm a scientist, not an executioner!"
~Refusing Starscream's order to kill some Autobots in "Fire in the Sky." Woo! Watch Skyfire channel Dr. McCoy!

"I'm too darn big to sneak around like this."
~Realizing that it's kind of dumb for a guy his size to be a spy in "Fire on the Mountain."

"Holy halogen luminators!"
~Watching the volcano explode in "The Ultimate Doom." And am I the only one who add the word "Batman!" to the end of that line?

"Have no fear! Skyfire's here!"
~Rumble rhymes...Blaster rhymes...Wheelie rhymes...and now Skyfire rhymes in "The Ultimate Doom." *Insert heroic fanfare here*