Sky Shadow (BW)

Sky Shadow is a Predacon from the Beast Wars portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Almost enough faces and ugliness to be a Quintesson.

Sky Shadow is a slimy politician, and not just because of his beast mode. As an elder statesman, he's popular, well-spoken, and generally liked by his constituents... but it's not like Sky Shadow went into his line of work to actually help anyone besides himself, oh no. A two-faced (or three, really) backstabber, Sky Shadow's record of successful doublecrosses and betrayals would make even Starscream turn green with envy. Charming and ingratiating, Sky Shadow maneuvers his way up the Predacon ranks by helping others into influential positions, then using the good will and trust earned to seize that position for himself!

Sky Shadow's patient maneuvering and shrewd tactics extend to the battlefield, where he excels in both reconnaissance operations and arranging ambushes for unsuspecting Maximals. His razor-sharp wings can slice through most Cybertronian armors, and his arsenal of turbo-missiles will mop up whatever remains. So charismatic is he, that few realize that Sky Shadow despises everyone, even Megatron; frankly, Sky Shadow is quietly waiting for the day when he'll pull enough strings and permanently oust his political opponents, leaving him in charge of the Predacons.

Fiction

Toy bio

Sky Shadow served under Megatron as one of his most trusted counselors. Unfortunately for his leader, Sky Shadow, like many other Predacons, longed to overthrow Megatron and be leader himself, in order to use his "more imaginative techniques" to win the war. Sky Shadow bio

2006 IDW Beast Wars continuity

Sky Shadow had his claws in Cybertron's planetary politics for a long time; his involvement was believed to predate the forming of the Tripredacus Council. In an attempt to glean more information about Protoform X, he inserted his spark into a blank protoform aboard the Axalon, hoping to unearth some secrets beneficial to his career. Beast Wars Sourcebook #4

As a result, Sky Shadow ended up on Earth, and his stasis pod was activated by Magmatron. The Gathering #2 He was sent to search for Razorbeast and his team of Maximals from the air by the recently revived Ravage. The Gathering #3

It was Sky Shadow himself who discovered the Maximals' lair. He and the Predacons participated in the battle that ensued. After being beaten by the Maximals and their newly arrived reinforcements, Sky Shadow presumably retreated along with the other Predacons. The Gathering #4

Sky Shadow took part in the massive all-out assault against Razorbeast's Maximals weeks later. The Ascending #1 He hoisted Bantor into the air during the battle. The Ascending #2

Beast Wars: Uprising

During the Grand Uprising, Sky Shadow served as the Independent Predacus State's ambassador to the Maximal Nation.

In the aftermath of the Vehicon Apocalypse, he was appointed one of the three representatives of the IPS to the new Cybertronian Parliament, alongside Ram Horn and Shadow Panther, which gave Lio Convoy some hope Ram Horn's bellicosity would be restrained. Derailment

Toys

Beast Wars

Still much cooler than Injector, right?

• Sky Shadow (Deluxe Fuzor, 1998)

• Accessories: Missile
• Known designers: Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)

Part of the first wave of third-year Beast Wars Deluxes, Fuzor Sky Shadow transforms from robot mode into an iguana/dragonfly fusion. His beast mode tail (which forms his robot head) contains a pressure-launch missile. His flapping-wing gimmick becomes a snapping-claw attack in robot mode. While many fans assume that his left hand is simply formed by his beast mode head, he in fact has a three-clawed "hand" on his forearm revealed by pushing the beast-head back. He can't actually hold anything, but it's clearly meant to be a hand of some variety. His right beast-mode neck panel has an energon chip inside it.

This mold was also used to make Drancron.

• More information on Sky Shadow at TFU.info

Notes

• Cybertron Jetfire uses the alias "Sky Shadow" when going undercover as a Decepticon, and took the name from a strategist during that continuity's Beast Wars...despite the fact that the Beast Wars were supposed to take place in Generation 1 universes. This continuity kerfuffle stood as its own mystery for years until the Facebook edition of Ask Vector Prime clarified that some Unicron Trilogy universes did indeed have their own Beast Wars, in which the native Sky Shadow was a participant. But who knows? Maybe Cybertron Sky Shadow looks like Beast Wars Sky Shadow.
• All fictional appearances of Sky Shadow, including his bio card, depict him using his beast mode head as his hand rather than the molded hand on the back of it (as mentioned above). His mold-mate Drancron is depicted with the hand on the back in most fiction, though IDW kept with the beast head-hand.

Foreign names

• French: L'Ombre (Canada, "The Shadow")
• Italian: Locusta ("Locust")
• Mandarin: Tiān Yǐng (天影, "Sky Shadow")
• Spanish: Sombra Aerea ("Aerial Shadow")