Air Warrior

The Air Warriors areDecepticonsfrom theGeneration 1 continuity family.

It doesn't get more generic than "Decepticon Decepticon".

WhenStarscreamand the other standardSeekersjust aren't enough, call in theAir Warriors.Sometimes they're explicitlydronesand sometimes they're just quietly single-minded, depending on the continuity. But they're always obedient, determined, ruthless... and ultimately disposable.

Fiction

The Transformerscartoon

Voice actor:Michael Bell,Dan Gilvezan(English),Masashi Ebara,Keiichi Nanba(Japanese)

Stand in the place where you are.

When theDecepticonsfirst awoke onEarth,the core group of warriors was reinforced by a number ofunnamedDecepticon jets,all in various shades of blue and purple. They joined their more-famous comrades in battle and resource-gathering.

When the main Decepticon force departed their base of operations for theRuby crystal mines of Burma,two of these jets remained behind. Spotting the snoopingTrailbreakeras he was returning toAutobot Headquartersto report on the Decepticons' movements, the pair pursued and engaged him. However, the two jets soon found themselves outnumbered whenSunstreakerandSideswipecame to Trailbreaker's rescue. A shot from Sunstreaker wounded one of them, and he chose to return to base for repairs, his companion providing him with an escort.More than Meets the Eye, Part 2

These generic jets were last seen fighting the Autobots prior to the launch of the Decepticons' newly builtspace cruiser.They never reappeared after the cruiser's crash, but their disappearance was never mentioned, so their specific fate is unknown.More than Meets the Eye, Part 3

On-package bio

Air Warriors were "ruthless killing machines" with a "no-nonsense attitude" and "lack of compassion." They also had a motto ( "I will control the skies" ) and an intelligenceTech Specof 5. Whether this made themdronesor not is unclear. Either way, they were dedicated to destroying Autobot sympathizers with their cluster bombs and laser-guided missiles.

DreamwaveGeneration Onecontinuity

Of all the Seekers, they're the Seekiest.

Some time before theGreat Shutdown,Megatron andOptimus Primewere lost in aspace bridgeaccident. When Megatron returned millennia later, he brought with him theAerospace Extermination Squadron,a million-strong fleet of Seeker drones which he quickly used to dominateCybertron.The Age of Wrath

After capturing the planet, the drones policed theAutobotslaves. Progressing from one task to the next with no sign of true self-awareness, they communicated amongst themselves in sentence fragments via radio or perhaps telepathy. Megatron taskedShockwavewith reverse-engineering the cloning device that produced them. Shockwave asked him where it had come from, but Megatron refused to divulge that he had received it from theQuintessons.The Age of Wrath Pt.2Interestingly, he had started the war to fightagainstQuintessons who had infiltrated theCouncil of Ancients,so it's unclear how this move would jibe with his greater plans.The Route of All Evil

At least one drone showed an ability to materialize additional armaments in flashes of light. It nearly destroyed a team of Autobots singlehandedly, but they managed to subdue it with an inhibitor claw designed byPerceptor.The Age of Wrath Pt.3

What is it? Did Rumble fall down the well? Is Skywarp pinned under the tractor again?

Shockwave succeeded in mutating some of the drones given to him by Megatron, making it so they would obey only the leader of the Decepticons, and not their Quintesson creators. Back at the Autobots' headquarters, Nightbeat and Getaway brought the inert drone they had captured to Perceptor, who discovered upon analyzing it that it was powered by cyberstatic energy.The Age of Wrath Pt.4Using this information, Perceptor was able to defeat the clones by attacking their shared neural network.The Age of Wrath Pt.6

After the Aerospace Extermination Squadron was defeated, their bodies were all "zapped into space."Lost and FoundBy the modern day, at least a few of them had ended up on theplanet of Junk,resembling Earth-adapted Seekers for some reason.Generation 1 #0When Megatron was brought to that world byWreck-Gar,he had theJunkiongather and restore three drones. (Then he destroyed Wreck-Gar for his troubles.)Runnin' with the DevilHe took the drones to the planetBeestto recruit thePredacons.Welcome to the JungleThe growing troupe then headed to Cybertron, where Megatron used a drone to lure out two of Shockwave's warriors,AstrotrainandBlitzwing.TheTriple Changersmade short work of the drone but were ambushed byRazorclaw.Blitzwing refused to surrender and was destroyed; however, Astrotrain joined Megatron's band and helped him overthrow Shockwave.Lost and Found

Shockwave was then escorted to the Decepticons' base on Earth by an Air Warrior, where Megatron overpowered Starscream and took command of the Earthbound Decepticons from him.The Route of All Evil

Toys

Buzzworthy Bumblebee

There are many like me, but this me is mine!

• Troop Builder Multipack(4-pack, 2023)

• Series:Legacy: Evolution
• Accessories:2 cannons
• Known designers:Mark Maher(Hasbro)^[1]

The "Decepticon Seeker" is aredecoofEarthriseStarscream,retaining the neutral-expression head, with a blueish-lavender color scheme reminiscent of thegenericSeeker troopsfrom "More than Meets the Eye, Part 2".The Seeker transforms into a F-15 fighter jet and comes with two attachable arm/wing-mounted guns.

Like all other uses of the mold, the Seeker has a missing molded panel-line detail on the right wing hinge that is supposed to curve in towards the body of the jet. The reason for this missing detail is likely due to it missing from the metal mold itself.

The Seeker comes in a four-pack with aQuintesson Trooper,aG2 Universe Cybertronian Trooper,and anAnimated Universe Autotrooper.As aBuzzworthy Bumblebee-branded set, the pack was primarily stocked atTarget,although some quantities were available viaHasbro Pulse(those did not last long though, pre-selling outveryquickly).

Merchandise

Heroes of Cybertron

Some assembly required.

• Decepticon Air Cavalry Troop Builder Set(2003)

Aredecoof the standard SeekerHeroes of Cybertronfigure, this was available in triplicate as part of anarmy-buildersix-pack withStarscream,Thundercracker,andSkywarp(who were identical to their mass-retail releases). Like (almost) allHeroes of Cybertronfigures, they are cast in translucent plastic and entirely painted over, save for their eyes and a patch of the back of the head, giving them alight-pipingeffect.

This set was offered by3HatOTFCC 2003and other venues.

For some reason, the packaging lacked the molded plastic insert that normally heldHeroesfigures in place, so they tended to fall apart in the package. While this was normal for the toy and not a defect, they appeared "broken" at first glance.

This mold was also used to makeSunstorm,andretooledto makeSuper Collection FigureRamjet,ThrustandDirge.

• More information on "Decepticon" at TFU.info

Notes

• Nearly 20 years after their brief cartoon appearance, the nameless Seekers appeared asHeroes of Cybertrontoys atOTFCC 2003.While the label simply said "Decepticon", thebiopresented the full name of "Decepticon Air Warrior" for the first time.

References