Squawkbox
From Transformers Wiki
- Squawkbox is aDecepticonMini-Cassettecombinerfrom theGeneration 1continuity family.
Squawkbox—the combined form of the DecepticonsBeastboxandSquawktalk—is a passionate musician. He loves playing with sound, using the combined powers of his components. Listening to, creating, and manipulating sound is his life. The results of his compositions have been called "unnervingly cacophonous", but his Decepticon commanders came up with a way to put them to good use.
Squawkbox has been assigned the function of "Battlefield Dissonance" and set free to distract and disorient theAutobotswith his latest works. Squawkbox is thrilled to have both a captive audience and access to all the terrible sounds of a battlefield for future use. Unfortunately for him, his work can prove just as detrimental to his teammates as his opponents if he's not careful, and at that point it's anyone's guess as to which side will be the first to try and shut him up via photon blaster.
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Fiction
Hearts of Steel
Squawkbox served asStarscream's communications officer whileMegatronwas in stasis lock. When Starscream learned theAutobotswere active, he ordered Squawkbox to alert the other Decepticon forces by telegraph. All Squawkbox utters is "Yes,Starscream!"Hearts of Steel #3
MadmanThe Transformerscomic
In the year 2001, Squawktalk and Beastbox accompaniedSoundwaveand several other Decepticon mini-cassettes to spy on the construction site ofAutobot CityonEarth.The team recorded a secret meeting betweenOptimus PrimeandUltra Magnuswhere the two Autobot leaders discussed hiding theMatrix of Leadershipin a bunker on the building site. Once the majority of the Autobots had left forCybertron,Soundwave deployed Squawktalk, Beastbox,Ratbat,Slugfest,andOverkillto begin excavation. Squawktalk combined with Beastbox into Squawkbox and successfully dug up the Matrix, but was then run over by the AutobotHot Rod.The Transformers
2005 IDW continuity
- First appearance:Spotlight: Sixshot
At the beginning of the Autobot-Decepticon conflict, Squawkbox and a number ofSoundwave'sother minionswatchedStarscreammassacre the Senate.Megatron Origin #4
Much later, and much to Squawkbox's discomfort,Sixshotasked him to locate the missingTerrorcons.Squawkbox fearfully complied and directed Sixshot to the planetMumu-Obscurato find his comrades.Spotlight: Sixshot
Squawkbox eventually ended up onEarth,where he was captured byBumblebee's Autobot squad and handed over toSkywatch.The Hanging Sword
Following the Chaos War, Squawkbox was one of the Decepticons who began repopulating Cybertron along with the Autobots andNAILs.When riots broke out after the return ofMegatron,Squawkbox holed up inBlurr'sbarinstead of joining in.City on FireThey were soon forced to abandon their hideout after rioters began attacking it.The VergeDuring the subsequent battle overIacon,Squawkbox and several of the NAILs and disillusioned Decepticons he had been hanging out with preventedNeedlenosefrom killingSwindle.Heavy Is the HeadWhen it was all over, all Autobots and Decepticons were banished from the city, and Squawkbox was among those who abandoned their factions in favor of staying with the NAILs.Second Exodus
Beast Wars: Uprising
Squawkbox participated in theSiege of T'Muk,where he piloted asky-sledinto battle. Centuries later, the sled found its way into the collections of theMuseum of Decepticon Heritage.Cultural Appropriation
Toys
The Transformers
- Squawktalk / Beastbox(Mini-Cassette 2-pack,1988)
- Accessories:Left & right "high decibel sonic boomers", 2 "compression cannons"
- Sold in the fifth year of theoriginalTransformerstoyline,the Decepticon mini-cassettesSquawktalkandBeastboxwere packaged together, and combined to form the humanoid robot Squawkbox. The two components' guns combine to form two large double-cannons clipped to the combined robot's arms; as both sets of guns have "fin" clips, either one can be the "base" gun attached directly to Squawkbox's arms.
- They were the last Decepticon cassettes ever released in the original line, years after Soundwave himself stopped being available.
- In Japan, Squawkbox was only available as a mail-awayexclusiveduring theSuper-God Masterforceseries. He cost 980 yen and 2Robot Points.
Notes
- The 1988 North Americancatalogshows Beastbox (and ergo Squawkbox) with a fairly significant engineering difference: Beastbox was originally going to have a panel that flipped over in gorilla mode to hide Squawkbox's face on his butt, which would have become a chestplate in the combined mode. (The coloration in the catalog also suggests Beastbox/half of Squawkbox may have originally been burgundy, though how much of that is lighting is hard to say.)
- Squawkbox got his first ever official profile/bio in theDreamwaveMore than Meets the Eyeguide, 15 years after the toy was released.
Foreign names
- Japanese:Squawkbox(スクォークボックスSukwōkubokkusu)
