Skyquake (G1)

Skyquake is aDecepticonPredatorfrom theGeneration 1continuity family.

Taste thepainbow.

PredatorleaderSkyquakeis driven—you might say consumed—by a pathological hatred of anything and anyone that is not 100% pure evil. This leaves him with many targets of contempt even among the Decepticon forces. That rage, however, does not blind or control him. In battle, Skyquake is a cold, calculating destroyer, attributes which also even apply to his contempt for theAutobots.When he locks together with the smaller Predators under his command, he magnifies his long-range supersight abilities and enables instant communication with the minds of his underlings.

Skyquake even hates the small groups of Decepticons put under his command, and often subjects them to his experiments inbody-structurescience. His hatred is magnified by the sheer quantity of sensors built into his body; he's able to absorb such vast amounts of information, his apparent clairvoyance seems supernatural to those around him. He can literally smell fear and taste betrayal.

Hispaint joballows him to blend into the unique environment of theSkomiloch Territories.

Fiction

Predator Air Attack!

"Troops! Prepare for action! EVIL action!"

During a Decepticon Predator attack on the Autobot base, Skyquake was inSkyswoop,commanding his troops. Skyquake gazed into hisSupersightas he was about to join the battle. Suddenly, "into his Supersight view looms a menacing shape that strikes terror even into his hardened heart..."Predator Air Attack!

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance:Megatron Origin#2

He lurks silently to counter his loud color scheme.

Millions of years ago, Skyquake was part ofClench's gladiatorial team. Once Clench had departed the mortal plane, Skyquake fought alongsideMegatronin theForge.Megatron Origin #2

After theSimanzi Massacre,Skyquake was running aDecepticonhygiene team:picking up Autobot survivors and dragging them toGrindcore.When Skyquake picked upSkids,he hadWingthingperched jauntily on his shoulder.Speak, Memory: Part 1

In the course of the Great War, he led a force to theSkomiloch Territoriesto put down local resistance to the Decepticons'star harvestingefforts. After crushing the resistance, Skyquake set up a mini-empire there, ruling the area while managing to stay on good terms withDecepticon High Commandand Megatron himself. While there, Skyquake's team, thePredators,made adaptations to their bodies to suit the unique local environment.Snare's personnel evaluation

Shot through the heart and you're to blame!

2412meta-cycleslater, during a galaxy-wide assault on Autobot-held positions, Skyquake led his Predators in a siege against theGarrus-9prison world. Unfortunately, when the loose cannonOverlordarrived, Skyquake was visibly distraught. At first, Overlord asked Skyquake nicely to hand over leadership to him; he refused to be Megatron's lapdog and had his own plans for Garrus-9. After some stammering, Skyquake refused. He would take Garrus-9 for Megatron as ordered.

Overlord apologized and fired into Skyquake's back as he walked away. As the Predators stood over Skyquake's smoking corpse, they viewed their new master in wide-eyed fear.Last Stand of the Wreckers #1

Wings Universe

The odd thing is, he has no taste receptors.

Skyquake, known as a leader in body-structure science, particularly in creating unique "talent powers" and war-capable designs, developed an experimentalSkyraiderbody refitting program.Leozackwas his first test subject for this new body design, and soon Skyquake had converted not only several others but also himself.

UnderBanzai-Tron's command, Skyquake, Leozack,Hooligan,Hellbat,andGuyhawk,followed the Autobot shipEight Trackto the planetBeta-Nine,where they hoped to beat them to a mysterious cargo that had crashed there aboard theVan De Graaff.Skyquake, Leozack, and Hooligan attacked the Autobots, separating the crew'syoungest memberfrom them. The Autobots' commander,Thunderclash,drove Skyquake and the others away with a barrage of firepower, allowing his crew to escape into the trees where the Decepticons would have to fight them on the ground.

Skyquake departed after Thunderclash and ordered Leozack and Hooligan to kill the remaining two Autobots,LandsharkandFlak.Unfortunately, Skyquake and the others were defeated and brought back to Cybertron as prisoners. The battle on Beta-Nine began the Autobot/Decepticon civil war.Wings of Honor

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Ask Vector Prime

Skyquake was presumably present with the other Predators as they clashed with theMultiforcein the Skomiloch Territories.Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/01

e-HOBBY comics

Using his powers of psychometry,Magnificussaw a vision of who he thought was Skyquake giving orders toEagle Eye.In reality, "Skyquake" was actuallyScrash.Badlands

Legendscomic

Kidnapped and tied up byHawkingand Magnificus, Skyquake was taken to Scrash's prison, where Scrash leapt from his immobileAssaultmasterbody into Skyquake, possessing the Decepticon.Epiloge

Regeneration One

I'm in the wrong colors!

Following the resurrectedScorponok's return toCybertronwith aGene Keycapable of turning Autobots into Decepticons, Skyquake helped guard the creation of a planet-scaled version in theSonic Canyons.He watched as Scorponok lost his patience withRoadblock,knocking him to his death in one of the bottomless canyons, then when the installation was attacked by theDinobotsSkyquake looked on asGrimlocksent Scorponok himself to share the same fate.Natural Selection, Part Five

Ask Vector Prime

InPrimax 092.0 Beta,Predator leader Skyquake obtainedforestoniteand tried to destroy theSol Systemwith it, only to be sent running back toNew KaonbyApex Armor-wielding Autobot leaderHyperdriveandRotorstorm.Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/16

InPrimax 903.0-M Lambda,Starscreampossessed the deceased body of Skyquake, defeatingGalvatronand initiating theMachine Wars.Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/27

2019 IDW continuity

I am also here.

Skyquake held a position of governmental authority onVelocitron,but was secretly affiliated with the terrorist organizationMayhem.He attendedKnock Out's inauguration and took cover when there was an assassination attempt on the newFirst Senatorby members of Mayhem. TheWreckersengaged Mayhem, but the entire attack was a smokescreen to frameone of the Wreckersfor the crime. After Minerva was captured, Skyquake stood behind Knock Out as the sentence was passed, and proudly declared their allegiance to both Mayhem and the Decepticons.Tread & Circuits Part 4

Toys

The Transformers

Skyquake, before your dreams (and his scope) are broken.

• Skyquake(Large Predator,1992)

• Accessories:Missile launcher, 15 missiles
• Known designers:Andy Couzens(Hasbro),Takio Ejima(TakaraTomy),Masakatsu Saito(concept artist)

Skyquake transforms into a large bomber jet, its model pretty much made-up but seemingly based on an experimental SovietDSB-LK strategic bomber.His primary gimmick is the "Megavisor",a periscope system that the smaller Predator jets can attach to, showing their slides. Skyquake himself has two built-in slides; in jet mode an image ofRotorstormcan be viewed, while the robot mode picture showing theunmadeAutobotTurbomasterHyperdrive.Each wing also contains a "carpet bombing" gimmick, a rolling drum that drops the Predator-style missiles. This can also be targeted via the Megavisor; by twisting the small tail wings at the back, a mirror swings into a 45 degree angle. When you look through the eyepiece, you can then see directly down relative to the jet, enabling you to see where the bombs will land. He also has a standard Predator hand-held missile launcher, which mounts under his jet mode.

Skyquake's vertical stabilizer fins have what appears to be a unique personalinsignia- a Decepticon symbol inside a shield, with an unfurled scroll featuring (illegible) writing, superimposed atop a jagged bolt of lightning. Exactly what this is supposed to denote is unclear. A year later the same lightning design was reused for fellow UK toy villainClench.

Skyquake's scope is prone toGold Plastic Syndrome,and is very delicate. It can break rather violently if one of the smaller Predator jets is attached to him. So don't do it. Attach them toStalkerinstead.

Unusually, Skyquake,Thunder Clash,and theMotorvatorswere all sold in Japan at the tail-end of 1992, after the original JapaneseTransformerstoyline had already ended. The toys were identical to their European releases—down to the packaging—except for some Japanese-language stickers on the boxes, and, curiously, all-new Japanese-language instructions.

Skyquake was laterredecoed(with neutered gimmicks and no handgun) to makeMachine WarsStarscreamandUniverseKing Atlas.

• More information on Skyquake at TFU.info

Timelines



Hooray, I don'tbreak!
• Skyquake(BotCon 2009 souvenir)

• Accessories:Sword, rifle, 2 missiles

TimelinesSkyquake is aredecoofEnergonCombat ClassStarscream,availableexclusivelyatBotCon 2009.The existence of this figure was first announced by artistAndrew Wildman(who drew the character's profile art) in a blog post onFebruary 23,2009... and apparently Wildman jumped the gun a bit, as he soon had to delete the posting.^[1]

Skyquake transforms into a jet fighter loosely based upon the F/A-22 Raptor. The toy features numerous spots of sculpted battle damage. He comes with two very large accessories, a sword and a non-firing blaster, which can combine to form a larger sword and/or non-firing blaster. In jet mode, he has two wing-mounted spring-loaded missile launchers which can flip up over his robot-mode shoulders. Limited to 1500 sets, Skyquake came bagged withBanzai-Tron.

This mold was also redecoed asEnergonEnergon Starscream and BotCon 2009Leozack.

• More information on Skyquake at TFU.info

Energonmold:Starscream
Hasbro: EnergonStarscream Energon Starscream Fun Publications: TimelinesSkyquake Leozack Takara: Super LinkNightscream Nightscream Rebirth

Merchandise

Transformers Character Card



• Thunder Clash & Skyquake Set(April 22,2023)

• ID number:51 & 52

Released as part of the seventh wave of thee-HOBBYexclusiveTransformers Character Cardseries, this pair of holographic trading cards depict super-deformed art ofThunder Clashand Skyquake along withcharacter profilesandtech specs.

• Translation of Skyquake's Transformers Character Card

Notes

• Skyquakemighthave been the physical model forOperation Combination's Decepticon leaderScrash,who was never visually depicted in fiction but described as having a massive jet-mode in theOperation Combinationtelephone audio adventures. Whether this was truly the original intent or not is unknown, but later fiction featuring Scrash would proceed to use Skyquake's model, beginning withUnited EX.A direct reference to the uncanny resemblance shared between Skyquake and Scrash was made in the comic "Badlands",where Scrash is mistaken for Skyquake by another character.
• An unrealizedFun PublicationsBotConexclusiveproposal was redecoes ofUniverseSilverboltinto Skyquake/Scrash andDai Atlas/King Atlas.^[2]

Foreign names

• Japanese:Skyquake(スカイクエイクSukaikueiku,スカイクェイクSukaikweiku)
• Dutch:Crash
• French:Aéroséisme(Canada, "Aeroquake" ),Crash(Europe)

References

1. ↑Andrew Wildman's blog
2. ↑BotCon 2014 attendee report