The Witwicky family members are fictional characters from the Transformers universes, and are the closest human allies of the Autobots.
Captain Archibald Witwicky appeared in the Transformers: Movie Prequel and the Transformers live-action film itself. Archibald Witwicky was a Dutch/English sea captain leading an exploration of the Arctic in 1897 when a crew member found something beneath the ice. They started digging and discovered the frozen Megatron. Witwicky then accidentally activated the Decepticon leader's inertial navigation system which led to a sudden power surge. Unbeknownst to him, the discharge etched a digital map to the All Spark onto the lenses of his glasses. Blinded and forever marked by his vision, Witwicky was committed to a mental institution for life, constantly ranting about visions of the future. A few of his personal items were given to his family, including the pair of glasses. These were passed down over time and eventually given to his great-great-grandson Sam.
The other Autobots and Decepticons arrived on Earth, both searching for the All Spark and the captured Megatron.
Buster Witwicky was the first Witwicky depicted in fiction, and filled a similar role in the early comics that Spike filled in the animated series.
Events exclusive to the Marvel U.K. Transformers comics are in italics.
While at a drive-in movie with his girlfriend Jessie and best friend "O", Buster suddenly found his life in danger when the parking lot became a battleground in the first major Earth-based clash between the Autobots and Decepticons. Coming across the wounded vehicle-mode Bumblebee, he brought the car back to his father's workshop, and attempted to fix it, until his father stepped in and completed the job.
Before long, however, Buster had a much more pivotal role to play in the war, when the powerful Decepticon, Shockwave defeated and deactivated all the Autobots, save medical officer Ratchet, and planned to create new troops using the power of the Creation Matrix within Optimus Prime's mind. Sneaking into the Ark, Buster discovered Prime's disembodied head, and Prime transferred the Matrix into Buster's mind, keeping it from Shockwave. Buster soon found that the Matrix gave him the ability to manipulate metal and circuitry, and he used it to disassemble, rebuild and reprogram Shockwave's lifeless drone, Jetfire, and employed him to rescue Optimus Prime, who took the Matrix back into his own body.
A story called "The Gift" in issue #93 of the Marvel U.K. comics explored Jetfire's problems fitting in with the other Autobots. Jetfire then visited Buster Witwicky on Christmas Eve and tell him of his troubles of not fitting in with the Cybertronian-made Autobots. Buster encouraged the young Autobot by telling him he's the first of a new generation of Earth-made Autobots and he should be proud of what he is.
In the U.K. comics, the boy appeared in some further stories starting with Robot Buster, where - worried about the danger he kept being in - Wheeljack and Ratchet built a robot battle-suit for him. Optimus ordered it scrapped and Buster stole it to prove he could handle himself in battle, only to be nearly killed in battle against Frenzy and pursued relentlessly by Shockwave, who later sent the Constructicons out to murder the boy. The stress of these events combined with residual Matrix energy caused Buster to have visions of a strange new generation of Transformers. In order to decipher these visions and cure Buster of them, he and Optimus mind-linked (with the Decepticons spying) and the visions were revealed to be details for producing new "Special Teams" of combiners, which would lead to the development of the Aerialbots and Protectobots.
Angered and afraid for his safety, Sparkplug forbade Buster from seeing the Autobots any further. Outside of helping Jetfire through some morale issues on Christmas Eve, the boy was not seen again for some time, until Sparkplug himself fell victim to a trap laid by Decepticon local commander, Ratbat, which Buster foiled by breaking the hypnotic trance he and the other human victims had been placed under. After a fracas involving the Intelligence and Information Institute and the Predacons, Buster and Goldbug (a recreated version of Bumblebee), whose mind was trapped in a toy car, headed for the Ark, only to find that it had blasted off. At the abandoned site, Buster was attacked by a vengeful Ratbat and whisked away to the Decepticons' island base where he was initially used as a hostage to deter the United States navy from attacking. Buster was employed as part of an overly complex plan to acquire important data - appointing Buster "king" of the island to publicly dissuade human investigation, the Decepticons operated under the cover of a faux holiday resort while they searched for a sunken pirate vessel, which contained two stasis-locked Autobot messengers sent to Earth thousands of years before, containing information on the coming of the almighty Cybertronian data bank, the Underbase. Starscream proceeded to turn the tables on everyone by releasing Buster into the Arctic tundra, where he was forced to summon the Autobots or perish - an action which in turn resulted in the arriving Autobots being overwhelmed by the combined forces of Ratbat and Scorponok's Decepticons, while Starscream used the distraction to steal the power of the Underbase for himself. Buster's last appearance was in U.S. #51, finally back home with his family.
Buster made no further appearances in the Marvel Comics series.
Buster is featured in the 1985 Find Your Fate Junior book called Battle Drive by Barbara Siegel and Scott Siegel.[1]
Buster appears in the 1986 story and coloring book The Lost Treasure of Cybertron by Marvel Books. In this story he is the father of Daniel.
Buster did not make any clearly defined appearances in Dreamwave Productions' re-imagined Generation 1 universe, but he did exist, and was referred to as having taken the death of his father particularly badly, turning to alcohol and running up particularly large gambling debts. Straightening out his act, Buster was said to have joined the military; a high-ranking official with the surname of Witwicky was later seen addressing Marissa Faireborn, and although it was not stated, it can be assumed this was intended to be Buster. However, Dreamwave's bankruptcy and subsequent closure left the story untold.
Sixteen-year-old Carly first met Spike Witwicky in 1985 when he and Bumblebee were at a video game arcade. Spike was immediately smitten with the attractive girl, but left in a huff when she showed more interest in Bumblebee. Carly proceeded to follow the two to the testing ground of Wheeljack's newest invention, the Immobilizer, catching the attention of Ironhide and drawing him away from his security detail, enabling the Decepticons to attack. Ironhide quit his position over the incident, and, wracked with guilt, Carly penetrated the Decepticons' base in hopes of destroying it as some kind of penance, but instead achieved atonement by saving the Autobots when the Decepticons turned the Immobilizer on them, reversing its effects and winning the day.
Carly's other most prominent role in a Transformer adventure was when she and Spike travelled to Cybertron on a solo mission to recover the mineral Cybertonium to save the Autobots' lives from system degeneration caused by lack of the mineral. Escaping Shockwave and braving traps with the aid of the Dinobot Swoop, Carly and Spike grew closer, and were awarded the rank of Honorary Autobot for the success of their mission.
Carly participated in a few more adventures, and the attraction between her and Spike blossomed into full-grown romance. The two were wed as they entered their twenties, and in 1993, Carly gave birth to their first son, Daniel. By 2006, Spike was functioning as Earth's ambassador to Cybertron, and Carly made several public appearances with him during important events such as the Galactic Olympics and an intergalactic peace conference. She was among the small group who traveled to the sorcerous other-dimensional realm of Menonina to track down Daniel and Grimlock, who had vanished there.
In the first Transformers miniseries by Dreamwave, Spike was shown having a wife and a son, and later mentions them both by name.
[edit] Transformers Animated
In the Transformers Animated episode "Garbage In, Garbage Out", a man who look very much like Spike was trying to get a blond haired girl, who looked very much like Carly, to the hospital as she was in labor. The woman referred to him as "Spike". At BotCon 2008, it was confirmed that this was indeed intended to be Spike and Carly and, since Daniel Witwicky had already been seen in the series too, Carly was in labor with her second or later child. According to the character's model sheet, her name in this continuity is spelled "Carlee".
They are later seen in episode "Human Error, Part 2", with a young Daniel next to Spike and Carly holding their second child, stood outside as the soundwave toys take over the city.
[edit] Carly Spencer
[edit] Transformers: Dark of the Moon
In Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Carly Spencer, depicted as British due to her portrayal by British model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, is Sam's girlfriend, with whom he lives. The two met after Mikaela dumped Sam and he got a Medal of Freedom for his heroism. Carly believes Sam's stories and is annoyed by Brains and Wheelie who live with them. Carly works for Dylan Gould as a curator and is given an expensive car by him, making Sam jealous. Carly gets annoyed when Sam decides to work with Simmons on figuring out what the Decepticons are doing rather than going to Dylan's party with her and leaves angrily. She is shocked when it turns out that Dylan is a Decepticon collaborator and is taken hostage by him, Soundwave and Laserbeak to force Sam to cooperate. Sam launches a rescue mission for her and with the help of Bumblebee, rescues her and kills Laserbeak before using a shot-down drone to relay what she knew of the Decepticons' plans to NEST. During the battle, Carly travels with Sam and Epps' team to stop the plan and is attacked by Starscream who Sam kills. While Sam heads off to stop the space bridge, Carly convinces Megatron to help Optimus against Sentinel Prime, leading to the deaths of Megatron and Sentinel. Carly reunites with Sam after the battle and they admit they love each other.
Daniel Witwicky is a young member of the Witwicky family. He is most often portrayed as the son of Spike and Carly, but was once portrayed as the son of Spike's brother Buster.
Daniel was named the worst cartoon kid sidekick by Topless Robot.[2]
Daniel's sole appearance in the Marvel era Transformers continuity is in part one of the U.K. story "Time Wars" (issue #199), where he is seen alongside his father pleading with Rodimus Prime to save the earth.
Another character conceived for the animated universe, Daniel Witwicky is the son of Carly and Spike, born in 1993. (Note that Daniel's age is not given in the series, but the script for the movie describes him as being 12 years old by the year 2005.) Living in Autobot City on Earth, Daniel was friends with the young Autobot, Hot Rod, as they broke the rules and had fun together in various ways.
In 2005, when Daniel was particularly feeling the absence of his father (stationed on one of Cybertron's moons), events soon escalated to epic proportions as a Decepticon attack on the city foreshadowed the coming of the planet-eater, Unicron. Watched over by the female Autobot Arcee for the majority of the adventure, Daniel was given his father's old transforming "Exo-Suit" battle armor when the Autobots' shuttle crashed on the Planet of Junk, and he used its powers to escape attacks by the Decepticons and Junkions, and to aid Springer in battle against Wreck-Gar. Arriving on Cybertron, the Autobots' craft was piloted directly into Unicron's massive body, where Daniel was separated from the Autobots, but discovered his father and the three Autobots (Bumblebee, Jazz, and Cliffjumper) who had been captured earlier in the movie when Unicron had consumed Cybertron's twin moons and saved them from meeting a nasty end in an acid vat.
Subsequently, with Hot Rod now in the form of Rodimus Prime and consumed with the duties of leadership, Daniel made a new best friend in the form of new Autobot recruit Wheelie, and they got up to their fair share of trouble when they set out on their own to discover Ultra Magnus's birthday, and stumbled into the clutches of the Decepticons, necessitating rescue by the subject of their search. It was not the last time Daniel wound up in trouble, however, as he and Grimlock soon found their way to the sorcerous dimension of Menonia, where Daniel was imprisoned by the tyrannical Red Wizard. Not long after his return to Cybertron, he was kidnapped by the Quintessons, who sought to harness the unpredictable nature of humans against the Autobots by bringing Daniel's nightmares to life. Daniel was also able to aid the Autobots at times, acting as part of a plan to steal Trypticon's transformation cog.
In 2007, during a friendly race against Blurr, Daniel and Hot Rod worked together to achieve victory, proving one of the theories created by Autobot scientist Brainstorm - that Transformers and humans functioned better together than separately. Soon after, Daniel was among the Autobots and humans who were blasted to the planet Nebulos by the energies of the Plasma Energy Chamber. There, after the Decepticons followed them to the planet and attacked, Daniel attempted to defend Arcee and was mauled by Snapdragon, leaving him fatally wounded. Only the life-support equipment of the Nebulan rebels the Autobots had taken up with was able to keep him alive long enough for the incredible change that was to come. Brainstorm's idea of co-operation was taken to its ultimate extreme when idea Spike performed a procedure to bond some of the rebels and Autobots together as Headmasters to pool their abilities against the Decepticons and Nebulos's evil ruling "Hive". Additionally, to save Daniel's life, Arcee offered herself up as his Headmaster partner, and Daniel and she became bonded, Arcee's head transforming into a duplicate of the Exo-Suit Daniel had previously worn (though in one unusual animation error, when Daniel is seen inside her head, he is still wearing the exo-suit). In the resultant battles against the Decepticons, who duplicated the process, Arcee and Daniel were able to reacquire the stolen key to the Plasma Energy Chamber, but were captured by the Decepticon super-robot, Scorponok, and Daniel was tortured, forcing Arcee to give up the key. Spike - now a Headmaster himself - rescued his son and stopped the Decepticons' plan.
With the removal of'"The Rebirth" from Japanese continuity, replaced with the Transformers: The Headmasters series, Daniel never became a Headmaster on the other side of the Pacific Ocean - instead, he acted as the primary supporting human character of the series, appearing in almost every episode and regularly playing integral roles alongside Wheelie. Although by all rights supposedly older than he was in his American cartoon appearances, the Japanese interpretation of Daniel regresses his personality to a much more petulant, immature child who often bursts into tears; in that regard, much of the Headmasters series is actually about Daniel growing up and maturing.
After Fortress and his Headmasters joined up with the Cybertronian Autobots, Daniel and Wheelie sneaked aboard their battleship so that they could see other planets, and although they were discovered, Fortress allowed them to accompany them on their mission to Planet Beast. Daniel subsequently performed the remarkable act of saving Cybertron by planting the explosives that destroyed a gravity-warping meteor that Galvatron had set on course with the planet. Daniel's tales of Earth ninjas helped expose the deception wrought by Sixshot, and when captured by Decepticons on Mars, he activated the homing signal that brought the Autobots to the planet.
When Spike attempted to hold a peace conference with Galvatron, the Decepticon leader demanded that he leave Daniel on Earth as a show of his good faith. Spike was willing to comply, until the peace conference was revealed as a distraction that allowed the Decepticons to get a heard start on pillaging other planets for energy. Daniel and Wheelie were then permitted by Spike to travel with Fortress and his crew when they set off in pursuit of the Decepticons across the galaxy, so that he might see more planets and grow through his experiences - sadly, it was mostly violence that Daniel saw, although such experiences helped harden him to the realities of war. He was offered one peaceful respite, however, when he met the beautiful young girl, Papika, on the planet of Paradise.
As the Autobots were chasing the Decepticons back to Earth, Daniel foolishly disobeyed orders and sneaked into one of Battleship Maximus's weapons turrets, only for it to be damaged in battle and disconnected from the craft, sending Daniel plummeting to the deserted planet Diamond. Sixshot had also been caught in the storm that dragged him to Diamond, and he rescued the boy from the wreckage, much to Daniel's surprise. Sixshot explained that he might be a Decepticon, but he didn't kill children. In the subsequent adventure they had together, battling Diamond's dangerous native rock creatures, Daniel came to believe that Sixshot was an honorable warrior, and consequently attempted to stop the duel that ensued between him and Chromedome.
Back on Earth, natural disasters caused by Scorponok's plan to destroy the planet began to cause chaos, and Daniel proved to his father how much he had grown by rescuing his mother from the bottom of a cliff. Soon after, during the final battle at the North Pole, Daniel was defended against Decepticon attacks by Sixshot, and as Fortress Maximus was locked in combat with Scorponok, Daniel hit upon the idea of combining all the Transformers' and his energies with the Headmasters' Head Formation, channeling all their power into Fortress Maximus, who destroyed Scorponok's Transtector and won the battle. Daniel was then forced to say his tearful goodbyes as the Autobots left Earth to pursue the Decepticons into space.
Daniel appeared in the 1986 story and coloring book The Lost Treasure of Cybertron by Marvel Books. In this continuity his father was Buster Witwicky.
In the Japanese manga "Big War" #2 the Autobots Rodimus Prime, Grimlock, Kup and Wheelie, along with their human allies Spike Witwicky and Daniel Witwicky send Computron into battle against Galvatron's new warrior combiner Abominus. The Terrorcons spit "corrosive control liquid" against Computron, taking control of him and turning him into a Decepticon. Spike luckily uses his new Exosuit to free Computron with "defense spray". Defeated, Galvatron retreats.[3]
Daniel would make a brief cameo appearance in Dreamwave Productions' first Generation One mini-series as a toddler.
In the Transformers Universe comic released at Botcon 2001, in a story set some years after we had last seen Daniel, we see that he is now a teenager and a college student, who still adventures with the Transformers during semester breaks. Unfortunately, he and Wheelie are involved, with other Transformers including Arcee and Springer, in a major fight with an army of robot ninja drones patterned after Nightbird from the episode of the same name. Wheelie is injured and the only way to stop the robots from causing more harm is for Daniel to detonate manually a large number of explosives, committing suicide to give his friends time to get clear. His loss is deeply felt by Arcee, who enters a long period of depression as a result.
A character by the name of Colonel Danny Witwicky appears in the second issue of IDW Comic's All Hail Megatron series, it is unknown whether his full name is Daniel. When Danny makes his first appearance his dialog implies a knowledge of cars. This fact, as well as comments made by writer Shane McCarthy on the IDW forums, imply that this character may actually end up being "Sparkplug" Witwicky.
Spike, Carly & Daniel are seen at a hot dog stand in "Transform and Roll Out". Daniel was also seen in "Sound and Fury" and "Headmaster" voiced by Tara Strong. Daniel, Carly and Spike were also seen in both parts of "Human Error", computer simulations of them riding a bus in the first part while their proper selves appeared in the second.
Judith "Judy" Witwicky is Sam's mother, played by Julie White. She is somewhat flighty as she dresses up Sam's male dog, Mojo, in girly colors and jewelry. She is also very emotional and prone to cursing when in a bad mood, as seen in both films. She is one of the few humans to know of the Transformers, though she almost spills the secret in public after eating a brownie laced with marijuana while dropping Sam off at college. While high from the pot brownies, she also babbled to all the nearby girls that her son had lost his virginity, "popped his cherry" (with Mikaela presumably) whilst she was in the house and that he's "quite a catch". Sam and his father Ron quickly hustled her away before she could embarrass them further and reveal the secret of the Autobots. Afterwards, she goes to Paris with Ron where they are kidnapped by the Decepticons to serve as a bargaining chip. She and her husband are later rescued during the final battle in Egypt by Sam and Bumblebee who kills her kidnapper Rampage. Sam insists his parents leave him, but while his father refuses, Judy finally realizes Sam's grown up and convinces Ron to let him go. She later rushes back after Sam is killed by Megatron's plasma blast.
Ronald "Ron" Witwicky is Sam's father, played by Kevin Dunn. Unlike the cartoon, from which the film draws much of its inspiration, "Sparkplug" is not used as a nickname, although Roberto Orci has stated that this may possibly occur in any future sequels.[4]
In the first film, Ron is oblivious of the true nature of his son's car, even at a point when the entire Autobot team is moving around outside his house. He is portrayed as a caring father but also as a rather picky person, cheapskate and a miser, who is at time obsessive in regards to his lawn and often enjoys playing jokes on his son. He also seems to have an irrational fear of earthquakes. Screenwriter Roberto Orci confirmed Ron knows the truth about the Transformers by the end of the first film.[5] Unlike the first two films, in the third film, he has a beard.
In the 2007 Transformers film, the main protagonist, portrayed by Shia LaBeouf, is named "Sam" rather than "Spike". In early versions of the script, Sam had the nickname "Spike". This idea was later scrapped because, according to writer Roberto Orci, these nicknames were appropriate for a mechanic and an oil rig worker in the animated series, occupations in which the characters did not work in the film. He fights alongside the Autobots in the Battle of Mission City, and ultimately defeats Megatron at the end of the film. According to Roberto Orci, the character of Sam was written as a "2007 version of Marty McFly".[6] Despite being the main character the reaction to his presence in each movie is generally mixed from critics and fans.
Sam appears in Transformers: Tales of the Fallen #1 by IDW Publishing. Set between the 2007 and 2009 films Barricade kidnaps Sam in order to flush out Bumblebee and learn where the All Spark fragment is. Bumblebee saves Sam by fighting and defeating Barricade. However Barricade eventually escapes.
The drone calling itself Brains runs into Bumblebee and Sam Witwicky in Philadelphia.[7]
Sam appears as a character in the book Transformers: Dark of the Moon The Junior Novel.[8]
In the 2007 Transformers film, Sam is a social outcast who unintentionally buys Bumblebee as his first car. Sam is at first unaware of his car being a Transformer, despite the fact that Bumblebee was responsible for helping Sam to (somewhat) get close to his crush, Mikaela Banes. However, the first night, Bumblebee leaves the house, which caused Sam to follow believing his car had been stolen. Later that night, he becomes surprised to find that his car became a robot. After being saved from the Decepticon Barricade by Bumblebee, Sam learns the full story as he helps the Autobots by keeping the AllSpark away from the Decepticons until he uses it to kill Megatron.
In the 2009 sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Sam is going to college and is trying to have a normal life and get away from the world savior status. But while getting ready, Sam finds a sliver of the Allspark on his jacket which give him visions similar to his great grandfather, causing him to suffer a mental breakdown as a result. Optimus turns to him for help in convincing the human government to allow the Autobots to stay. Sam refuses, saying he wants a normal life and Optimus doesn't need him anymore to which Optimus replies that they need Sam more than he knows. One of the girls in Sam's dorm who apparently likes him, Alice, turns out to be a Decepticon Pretender who attacks him. Sam is saved by Mikaela, who kills Alice. Sam is then later abducted by Decepticons to acquire the information in Sam's mind before Megatron can vent out his aggression on the boy. But after being saved by Optimus, who is killed during the fight, Sam ends up leading Mikaela, Bumblebee, his roommate Leo, the Twins: Skids and Mudflap, and Simmons in a quest to find the Matrix and use it to revive Optimus. During the final battle, Sam is killed by Megatron until he was revived by the Dynasty of Primes so he can resurrect Optimus, allowing him to kill the Fallen and save the Earth. With Earth saved once more, Sam finally admits he loves Mikaela. On an aircraft carrier later, he and Optimus thank each other, Optimus thanking Sam for saving his life and Sam for Optimus believing in him.
In the 2011 film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Sam has been dumped by Mikaela and has a new girlfriend named Carly Spencer whom he met after being given a Presidential Medal of Freedom by the President Barack Obama for his heroic accomplishments in the past. Sam lives with Carly Spencer, a pet dog and former Decepticon Wheelie, and his partner, Brains. Bumblebee no longer lives with him, working with the other Autobots on secret missions, forcing Sam to drive a rundown car that vaguely resembles a small Bumblebee, Sam ends up finding a job as a mail boy despite wanting to work with the Autobots, but is dragged back into the war by Decepticon collaborator Jerry Wang and Laserbeak. Sam, with the help of Simmons, figures out the Decepticons' plot and is forced by Dylan Gould into finding out the Autobots' plans for the Decepticons. Sam is devastated when the Autobots are exiled from the planet and then apparently destroyed and teams up with Epps and other former NEST soldiers to rescue Carly from Chicago. Sam succeeds with help from Bumblebee and in the battle that follows, he kills Starscream and Dylan Gould who retriggers the space bridge after Optimus stops it. Sam reunites with Carly after the Decepticons are defeated and admits he loves her.
- Transformers Deluxe Barricade with Frenzy Screen Battles: First Encounter (2007)
- A mini-diorama gift set with Barricade and figurines of Sam and Mikaela, along with an extra, non-poseable Frenzy figure.
- The original "radiator" Frenzy available with Screen Battles: First Encounter Barricade was remolded in black (matching the car) but was installed with additional piece of plastic, preventing the black Frenzy figure from being removed -- due to redundancy -- without unscrewing the base of the Barricade's hood. This version of Frenzy has been referred to as "Restrictor Plate Frenzy" by collectors.[9]
- Revenge of the Fallen Human Alliance Bumblebee with Sam Witwicky (2009)
- A larger (between Voyager Class and Leader Class size) figure than the Deluxe Class figure with a 2-inch-tall figure of Sam, which can ride inside Bumblebee.[10]
- Transformers Human Alliance Bumblebee with Sam Witwicky (2010)
- A re-release of the Human Alliance figure with a remold of the Sam figure; this one wearing a white shirt instead of a black one. In addition, the Sam figure lacks the upper torso articulation of the previous version.
- Dark of the Moon Human Alliance Stealth Bumblebee with Sam Witwicky (not yet released)
- A redeco of the Revenge of the Fallen Human Alliance Bumblebee figure in reverse black/yellow colors.[11]
Sparkplug Witwicky is the patriarch of the Witwicky family who was vastly unlike his two sons, in that he was portrayed in startlingly different ways across the two main fictions. The Transformers Classics Mirage toy sports an advertisement for Witwickey Sparkplugs, a reference to this character.
Although Sparkplug started out as being quite similar to his animated counterpart in the comic book universe, aiding in the repair of Bumblebee when his son, Buster, brought the injured robot to his garage, his personality took a sharp turn after he was kidnapped by the Decepticons. Instructed by Megatron to develop a process that would convert Earthen gasoline into fuel they could consume, Sparkplug drew on his memories of his time as a mechanic in the Korean War, recalling an instance where he had sabotaged the enemy vehicles' fuel and brake lines, and did the same to the Decepticons, poisoning their fuel and allowing the Autobots to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. However, before this heroic act could come to light, many of the Autobots believed that Sparkplug had betrayed them, and an over-reactive Jazz let loose with his flamethrower, causing Sparkplug to have a heart attack. Thankfully, he soon recovered, but his opinion of the Transformers had changed with that action, and he forbade Buster from interacting with them again.
Ironically, Sparkplug would also come to fall prey to a hypnotic Decepticon device in the comic book continuity as well, drawn in by Ratbat's "Wash and Roll" car wash scheme, which mesmerised humans into giving up their gasoline to the Decepticons in a complex-yet-effective plan. Buster was able to break the hypnotic effect with a splash of water, and Ratbat's plan was foiled, but Sparkplug was given even more cause to hate the Transformers and their involvement in his life when the Predacons destroyed his garage and a vengeful Ratbat captured Buster. Even worse for Sparkplug, when his older son, Spike, returned from college, he took up with the Autobots and was binary-bonded to Fortress Maximus, becoming a mechanical freak in his father's eyes. Spike subsequently saved Buster from the Decepticons, and his father was overjoyed to have his two sons back, although Spike's bond with Fortress Maximus kept him returning to the Transformer war and eventually resulted in his death in battle against Megatron.
Sparkplug's real first name was given as William in issue #3, but was later contradicted in #31 when he gives his first name as Irving.
Sparkplug is Spike Witwicky's father. He is described as a widower in the show bible.[citation needed] In addition to being a highly skilled automotive mechanic and engineer, "Sparkplug" Witwicky (for whom no real name was offered in the cartoon) had, in his lifetime, also worked in the crystal mines of Burma, and was working on an oil rig with his son, Spike, in 1984 when a Decepticon attack brought the Transformers into his life. Rescued from drowning by Optimus Prime, Sparkplug became a friend and ally to the Autobots, mainly excited at the prospect of encountering and learning about strange new alien machines and technology he could work on.
A frequent mechanical assistant to Ratchet and Wheeljack, Sparkplug is skilled in physical, practical arts, but like many fathers, lacks knowledge about his son's esoteric tastes, such as types of music, and dinosaurs. Sparkplug owns an automotive garage in New York, which the Autobots refitted to serve as a secondary command base while they were far from their main headquarters.
Aside from helping Bumblebee to plant a bomb that disrupted the Decepticons' crystal-mining operations in Burma, Sparkplug's biggest role in any Transformer adventure was when he was captured by the Decepticons and became the first subject of Doctor Arkeville's mind-controlling hypno-chip. Under Decepticon control, Sparkplug sabotaged many of the Autobots under the preface of repairing their systems, and was later taken to Cybertron to toil there under Shockwave's command, until Wheeljack successfully created a device to undo the hypno-chip's effects.
Sparkplug was never seen or referred to again after the second season of the original Transformers cartoon series, and it is possible that he died or retired at some point between the second season and The Transformers: The Movie, which took place 20 years later.
Sparkplug appeared in the 1984 sticker and story book Return to Cybertron written by Suzanne Weyn and published by Marvel Books.[12]
Sparkplug appeared in the 1984 sticker and story book The Revenge of the Decepticons written by Suzanne Weyn and published by Marvel Books.[13]
Sparkplug was featured in the 1985 Transformers audio books Autobots' Lightning Strike, Megatron's Fight For Power, Autobots Fight Back and Laserbeak's Fury, as well as Decepticon Hideout from the 1986 series. He is not named in any of the books, simply being referred to as "Spike's father".[14]
Sparkplug is featured in the Find Your Fate Transformers book 'Attack of the Insecticons' by Lynn Beach. His invention of the Sun-Pak, a way to power Autobots by solar energy, drives the plot.
Sparkplug made no appearances in Dreamwave Productions' version of the G1 universe, instead playing a part in its newly sculpted backstory. After the successful defeat of the Decepticons through a joint Autobot/human operation, Sparkplug was one of the "Magnificent Seven" - a crew of seven humans who would accompany the Autobots and their Decepticon prisoners on the Ark II back to Cybertron, which also including Americans mechanical engineer Mark Marsh and sociologist Linda Richards, Japanese biologist Akira Yashimura, German chemist Rolf Meyer, Russian architect Rudolph Vesic, and British Oxford Professor, Henry Lanson. Sadly, shortly after the Ark II departed Earth's atmosphere, it exploded as part of a plan by Shockwave, taking the lives of Sparkplug and the Magnificent Seven and thrusting the Transformers into stasis.
An homage to the Sparkplug name would be found in Transformers: Armada, as the name of Optimus Prime's personal Mini-Con. In addition, its actual appearance was also an homage to Bumblebee.
Another homage to the Sparkplug name pops up in Transformers Animated, in the form of Sari Sumdac's pet robot dog, Sparkplug. In the episode "Nature Calls", the real Sparkplug (or a man who resembles Sparkplug) was attacked by Megatron's missing body. Here, he was voiced by Bumper Robinson. He later appears in the episode Sari, No One's Home when Bumblebee and Bulkhead mistake his concrete mixing truck as Mixmaster in disguise and is this time voiced by David Kaye.
Spike Witwicky
| Autobot |
| Sub-group |
Humans, Headmasters |
| Partner |
Cerebros, Cog, Gasket, Fortress Maximus, Bumblebee, Wheeljack, Backfire |
| Alternate Modes |
Head of Cerebros |
| Series |
|
| English voice actor |
Corey Burton |
The role played by the young Spike in the animated series was filled in the Marvel comic book series by his younger brother, Buster, exclusive to that continuity (see below). Indeed, Buster was fully intended to exist in place of Spike for the comic book series, until the release of the Fortress Maximus toy in 1987, which included Spike as a Headmaster partner, hence necessitating the hurried introduction of Spike into the comic book continuity.
Returning home from college to discover that his father's garage had been destroyed, Spike investigated the Autobots' deserted base at Mount Saint Hillary, learning that Buster had been captured by the Earth-based Decepticons. While there, he encountered a group of new Autobots, led by Fortress Maximus, who had just arrived from the planet Nebulos, and in a subsequent attack by Scorponok's group of Decepticons, Fortress Maximus's Nebulon partner, Galen Kord, was killed in a rockfall. Before dying, he gave his control helmet to Spike, allowing the boy to control Fortress Maximus in battle and force the Decepticons to retreat. In the aftermath of the battle, Spike accepted the Autobots' offer to be fully binary-bonded to Fortress Maximus as his new Headmaster partner in order to save Buster from the Decepticons.
As Fortress Maximus, Spike led the attack on the Decepticons' island base, defeating Shockwave in an outer space battle, but failing to rescue Buster, and turning to the other Earth-based Autobots for help. Acting commander Grimlock refused, disgusted at the thought of a human leading the Autobots, but relented when he saw the rationality of the act during a massive Decepticon attack on the Autobot forces. With the deceased Optimus Prime subsequently restored to life as a Powermaster, Spike rescued Buster from the Decepticons amidst the chaos caused by Starscream's attempt to gain the power of the Underbase.
Following that clash, Spike, having accomplished what he set out to do, attempted to abandon his Autobot life, and return to living a normal human lifestyle. Unfortunately, his connection with Fortress Maximus proved to be far deeper than anyone knew when he was attacked by the Decepticon Pretender Beasts, Snarler and Carnivac, and discovered that Maximus's mind actually continued to exist within his own. Despite recombining with Maximus to defeat the Decepticons, Spike again returned Maximus's body and his exo-suit to the Autobots, and succeeded for a short time in living a normal life, until he found himself drawn to the crash of the Ark in Canada in 1991. Merging with Fortress Maximus again, he defeated the maddened Galvatron, and some time thereafter, gave up his life to stop the plans of Megatron by sacrificing himself to destroy the Ark.
The post-movie Spike appears in the story "Time Wars", persuading Rodimus Prime to delay his journey back in time long enough to halt an attack on a human settlement by the Terrorcons. (Due to the temporal disruption later in this story, it is possible this future was later erased from the timeline.)
Spike is also present in the alternate 2009 seen in "Rhythms of Darkness", working with the handful of surviving Autobots led by Prowl. He was accompanied by an apparently African-American woman named Lisa, with whom he shared a mutual but unrequited attraction. Spike participated in what everyone involved expected to be a suicide attack on the Decepticon fortress city, attaching the US flag to its summit to demonstrate to the rest of the world, who were about to launch a nuclear strike on the area, that the American population was still fighting. After Galvatron was forcibly removed from that timeline, he presumably went on to rejoin the Autobots in their battle against the remaining Decepticons.
The most famous of all the Autobots' human allies, Spike Witwicky was fourteen years old, aiding his father, Sparkplug, in his work on an offshore oil rig when the Transformers entered his life in 1984. A Decepticon attack on the rig left Spike and Sparkplug in peril where they were rescued by Optimus Prime. Afterward, they offered their friendship and aid to the Autobots, teaching them about the ways of Earth. Spike had a lot to learn about the robots in disguise, however, as one of his first actions saw him unwittingly bring the disguised Soundwave into Autobot Headquarters. He later aided Hound in battle against Rumble. When the Autobots were planning to return to their home planet of Cybertron, he intended to go with them.
However, that was not to be as the re-emergence of the undefeated Decepticons kept the Autobots on Earth, protecting it and its inhabitants from their enemies. Spike proved an invaluable source of information for the Autobots, teaching them about subjects such as dinosaurs and various Earthly sports. He also joined them on journeys to such fantastic locales as Cybertron, Dinobot Island and medieval England. However, he underwent his own share of troubles, occasionally being captured by the Decepticons for various reasons, and suffering the torture of seeing his own brainwashed father under Decepticon control. On another occasion he received brain damage in a Decepticon attack. To save his life, his mind was transferred to a Transformer body called Autobot X created by his father while his body healed. Unfortunately, the process drove Spike into thinking he was a "Frankenstein monster", and he sided with the Decepticons in an attack on the Autobots. However, he saw the truth after nearly killing his own father with Megatron in gun mode. He turned Megatron's firepower on the other Decepticons, and eventually his mind was put back in his own body. Spike formed a fast friendship with the young Autobot, Bumblebee, and the two often adventured and traveled together.
In one particular adventure in 1985, when he was fifteen years old, Spike met a girl named Carly. He immediately took a liking to her, although Carly was more interested in getting to meet the Autobots at first. As time went on, Carly developed an attraction to Spike and through adventures together, including a solo mission to Cybertron, it blossomed into a romance.
In the episode "A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court" Warpath, Hoist and Spike were battling Starscream, Ramjet, Rumble and Ravage in England. Low on power, the Autobots and Decepticons discovered a magical stone formation called the Dragon Mound and were transported back to the year 543. Although Starscream attempted to take over a castle and build a new empire with himself as lord, the help of local knights and a wizard refueled the Autobots, who defeated the Decepticons. After defeating a dragon who nested in the Dragon Mound the Autobots and Decepticons and returned to their own time where they rejoined the fight in modern day England.
As they entered their twenties, Spike and Carly were married, and in 1993, Carly gave birth to a son, Daniel. As Spike himself grew older, his experience and closeness to the Autobots saw him appointed Earth's official ambassador to Cybertron, but as the Autobots pressed their attack to reclaim Cybertron from the Decepticons in 2005, the 35-year-old Spike was stationed on Moonbase Two, which was attacked and consumed by the planet-eater, Unicron. Wearing a transforming "exo-suit" battle armor, Daniel rescued his father before Unicron was destroyed.
Although Spike was generally limited to performing more diplomatic duties throughout 2006, he was pivotal in the initial defeat of the invading Quintessons, destroying the mechanism that the aliens had used to immobilize all Transformers and freeing them. In 2007, Spike was among the Transformers and humans blasted to the planet Nebulos by the energies of the Plasma Energy Chamber, where he performed the process that bonded some Autobots with a group of Nebulan rebels to form the Headmasters. Later, Spike became a Headmaster, merging with the pacifist Autobot, Cerebros, who in turn combined with a giant Transformer body Spike had created, forming Fortress Maximus. With the power of Fortress Maximus, Spike rescued Daniel from the clutches of the Decepticons, and was in the process able to reroute the destructive energy created by the opening of the Plasma Energy Chamber to revitalize Cybertron, creating a new Golden Age.
Across the Pacific Ocean, in Japan, however, the events of 2007 were stricken, and replaced with a full-length new series, titled Transformers: The Headmasters. Due to the different concept for Headmasters in Japan, which did not incorporate Nebulans or humans, Spike was not a component of Fortress Maximus in this series, but still played an important role in Cybertron/Earth relations. At one point, so desperate for peace, Spike even arranged negotiations between himself and Galvatron, in hopes of developing a joint energy-production program—hopes which were soon dashed.
According to an interview in the Transformers Collectors Club magazine Dan Gilvezan auditioned for the part of Spike Witwicky in The Transformers.[15]
Sparkplug was featured in the 1985 Find Your Fate Junior book called Battle Drive by Barbara Siegel and Scott Siegel.[1]
Spike was featured in the 1985 Transformers audio book Autobots' Lightning Strike. In this book, he was said to be an engineering student. He also featured in Megatron's Fight For Power, Autobots Fight Back, Laserbeak's Fury, Galvatron's Air Attack and Decepticon Hideout.[16]
In the Japanese manga "Big War" #2 the Autobots Rodimus Prime, Grimlock, Kup and Wheelie, along with their human allies Spike Witwicky and Daniel Witwicky send Computron into battle against Galvatron's new warrior combiner Abominus. The Terrorcons spit "corrosive control liquid" against Computron, taking control of him and turning him into a Decepticon. Spike luckily uses his new Exosuit to free Computron with "defense spray." Defeated, Galvatron retreats.[3]
In the 21st Century re-imagining of the G1 universe by Dreamwave Productions, Spike was given a fragment of the Matrix by Optimus Prime when the Autobots departed Earth in 1999, having finally captured the Decepticons and intending to return them to Cybertron. They did not get that far, as an explosion tore their craft, the Ark II, apart shortly after it left Earth's atmosphere, leaving the Transformers, and the small human crew - including Spike's father - believed dead.
However, in 2002, Spike - now married to Carly and fathering Daniel - found that this was not the case when he was approached by General Hallo of the American military. A terrorist, Adam Rook, had recovered several of the inactive (but functional) Transformers and brought them under his control, intending to sell them on the black market as weapons of mass destruction; in order to stop him, the military had recovered a Transformer of their own. That Transformer was Optimus Prime, whom Spike was able to reactivate by replacing the Matrix fragment. Unfortunately, Spike soon discovered that Hallo was part of an even more insane scheme, having originally worked with Rook in developing the Transformer-controlling program, and being double-crossed by him. Confronting Hallo just as he launched a nuclear missile at San Francisco, Spike took his life in his hands and nearly met his end, until Hallo was gunned down by military agents.
In the More Than Meets the Eye character profile series, it is shown Dreamwave intended to eventually have Spike become a Headmaster partner for Fortress Maximus. However, unlike other similar entries in the MTMTE series, no information was given about Spike at all leaving many readers with more questions than answers. But with Dreamwave shutting down, this storyline may never come to be.
In the Transformers Animated episode "Garbage In, Garbage Out", a man who looked very much like Spike was trying to get a blond-haired girl to the hospital as she was in labor. The woman referred to him as "Spike". At BotCon 2008, it was confirmed that this was indeed intended to be Spike and Carlee (with Corey Burton reprising his role as Spike, specifically the adult post-movie Spike), and since Daniel had already been seen in the series too, Carlee was in labor with her second child.
Four Witwicky brothers, Spike, Buster, Butch and Bruce "Buzz" Witwicky, appeared evil mirror universe counterparts of the Witwickys. Spike was leader of the group, who allied themselves with Rodimus and the evil Autobots, guiding them on Earth and aiding them in taking temporary control of Burbleson Airforce base and the GODS satellite system.[17]
- Generation 1 Fortress Maximus with Cerebros and Spike (1987)
- The largest Transformers toy from Generation 1, Fortress Maximus has multiple altmode configurations. He transforms into a compact "city" mode, and can also assume a secondary mode described in the US instruction as a "battle station." This mode was rebranded as a starship for the Japanese instructions, and is the "default" mode for Fort Max in the Headmasters animated series. Additionally, the 1987 Hasbro toy catalog features a mis-transformed Fortress Maximus in a mode referred to as an "impenetrable fortress," essentially consisting of his city mode with the legs splayed outwards.
- In all modes, Maximus has a wide array of pop-out (non-firing) guns and gimmicks. Its left leg hides a small prison cell, plus has a swing-out cannon/helipad. Its right leg has a small storage compartment. Its torso has a gear-activated spinner for the detachable radar array accessory, a "control socket" for Cerebros' "communications tower" mode, and a working elevator that can lift small toys up to its central ramp to be launched in its alternate modes. (The crank for this elevator ends up in a very unfortunate position in robot mode.) Each arm had a long ramp on the back with sliding launchers for small vehicles.
- Its robot-mode head is formed by Cerebros, who does not actually need Spike to attach to the upper body. It came with both Headmaster units, plus the Gasket and Grommet mini-vehicles.
- The Japanese release of Fortress Maximus came with a pair of swords; one for Fortress, a large one for Maximus. It is currently unknown if the swords were originally planned for the Hasbro version but dropped for price or safety concerns, or if they were a Takara-initiated addition to their release of the toy.
- During its time of release, Fortress Maximus retailed at $89.99, making him the most expensive Transformers toy in the U.S. market (a record that wasn't met or broken for nearly two decades, until the release of 20th Anniversary DVD Edition Optimus Prime and Ultimate Bumblebee). Maximus was also the third most expensive toy Hasbro produced at the time (behind the USS Flagg and Defiant Space Shuttle Complex from the G.I. Joe series).
- This toy was designed by Koujin Ohno, and is filed under U.S. patent D305,786.[18]
- Dark of the Moon Human Alliance Basic Backfire with Spike Witwicky (not yet released)
- A new 2-inch figurine of Spike is included with the Autobot Backfire as part of the Human Alliance line. Backfire transforms from a three-wheeled ATV to robot or a larger Mech Tech blaster that can be used with Voyager of Leader Class figures.[19]
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