Bumblebee (G1)

Bumblebee is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes. In most incarnations, Bumblebee is a small, yellow Autobot with the altmode of a compact car.

Animated series
Bumblebee holds the distinction of being the second character to appear on-screen in the original Transformers animated series, while on a mission to recover a small clutch of energy conductors with Wheeljack, illustrating the energy crisis holding sway over their home planet of Cybertron. Bumblebee is subsequently among the Transformers aboard the Ark as it set off searching for new worlds and new energy sources, which crashed on Earth, causing the Transformers within to be trapped in stasis for four million years. Awakening in 1984, Bumblebee helps Ironhide quell a raging river and uses his small size to help Sparkplug Witwicky plant explosives in the midst of a Decepticon mining operation.

He later befriends Sparkplug's son Spike, but on their first adventure together they are both kidnapped by the Decepticons, and Bumblebee is brainwashed into luring the other Autobots into a trap.

As a regular character throughout the show's first two seasons, spanning 1984-1985, Bumblebee's escapades were almost always carried out alongside Spike. His adventures take him back to Cybertron, to the prehistoric Dinobot Island, the sunken city of Sub-Atlantica, a world of alien giants, a debaucherous gambling asteroid locale and more. He is scorched by acid rain, fights as a mindless gladiator, is mauled by a monstrous alien cat, quests for "robotic insecticide" and, in one of his most significant roles, is one of the few Autobots to survive a brainwashing scheme by the Decepticons, leaving it up to him to save his comrades.

In episode 51, "Prime Target", the big game hunter Lord Cholmondeley captures a secret Soviet jet, leading to panic of possible war. Cholmondeley then set his sights on the ultimate trophy, the head of Optimus Prime. In order to lure Optimus in, Cholmondeley captures Bumblebee and several other Autobots. Optimus Prime accepts Cholmondeley's challenge and defeats the big game hunter, freeing the Autobots.

In episode 59, "Trans-Europe Express", a charity auto race from Paris, France, to Istanbul, Turkey, is held. The Autobots Bluestreak, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Smokescreen, Sunstreaker, Tracks, and Wheeljack participate alongside several human racers including Augie Canay. Meanwhile, Megatron has discovered the whereabouts of the Pearl of Bahudine, the power core of a Cybertronian weather control machine. Megatron has the Stunticons eliminate the Autobots from the race while stealing Augie's car to use its experimental engine's metal to make a control device for the pearl. Bluestreak, Tracks, Bumblebee and Augie are able to stop the Decepticons by unleashing the power of the pearl, but to stop the pearl Bumblebee has to destroy it. Augie has the gold shell of the pearl sold and the money given to charity when he learns the race was a fake set up by the Decepticons merely to get his car.

By the time of The Transformers: The Movie, set in 2005, the Autobots have been forced off of Cybertron, and Bumblebee and Spike man Moonbase Two on one of the planet's satellites as the Autobots prepare a strike to take back the planet. The attack is scuppered by the sudden appearance of the giant planet-eating robot Unicron, who consumes Moonbase One. As Unicron turns on their moon, Spike and Bumblebee set a cache of explosives to detonate in his maw and abandon the base in a small shuttle, but the detonation fails to even scratch the chaos-bringer and he inhales their ship. Deep in his digestive system, the pair are trapped on a conveyor that threatens to drop them in an acid vat, but they are saved by Spike's son Daniel, and they and the other Autobots escape Unicron's body as it is destroyed through the power of the Autobot Matrix of Leadership.

Bumblebee was one of the few characters from the beginning of the series to continue appearing in the show's third season, set in 2006, in which he could regularly be found performing duties in Autobot City on Earth. He and Spike are reunited for another adventure when the ghost of Starscream invades the city in order to steal the eyes of the giant Autobot Metroplex, but they are unable to stop the villain from accomplishing his task.

When the body of the deceased Optimus Prime is recovered from space by a pair of Transformer-hating human scientists who intend to use it to lure the Autobots into a trap, Bumblebee is part of the rescue team led by Rodimus Prime to recover it. Entering the lab, some of the Transformers are exposed to rage-inducing alien spores that cause them to run wild, and although Bumblebee avoids infection, he is seriously damaged by the rampaging Superion. A member of the alien race called the Quintessons subsequently repair and restore Optimus Prime to life, so he can stop the "Hate Plague" and repair Bumblebee. The little Autobot has been so severely damaged, however, that he requires an entire reconstruction. In his new, shiny body, he comments that he has gone beyond just being Bumblebee, and is now a "gold bug", prompting Optimus Prime to redub him "Goldbug." As Goldbug, Bumblebee travels with Optimus Prime to the planet of Chaar in order to secure a heat resistant alloy that can protect him from the plague, only to be infected on the mission and later cured when Prime uses the power of the Matrix to purge the plague.

Goldbug also makes a brief appearance in the fourth and final season of the series, defending Autobot City and Cybertron against a massive Decepticon attack. Because of a scene showing Bumblebee instead of Goldbug, it still makes him one of only nine characters to appear in all four seasons of the show.

Live action films
Bumblebee appears in the 2007 live-action Transformers movie, returning to his role as the friend of the Autobots' human ally - in this case, Sam Witwicky. Sam possesses the glasses of his great-great-grandfather Captain Archibald Witwicky, a famous explorer. Unknown to Sam, the glasses are engraved with the coordinates sh

owing the location of the life-giving All Spark. Bumblebee is assigned to guard Sam from the Decepticons, and poses as a dilapidated 1977 Chevrolet Camaro as Sam and his father are buying a car for Sam. They eventually purchase Bumblebee, due in no small part to Bumblebee damaging every other car at the dealership to ensure his purchase. Later, Bumblebee drives away from Sam's home to summon the Autobots. Sam thinks Bumblebee is being stolen, and chases the car on his bike. Sam then witnesses Bumblebee transforming into robot mode and reports it to the police, who believe he is on drugs. Bumblebee returns to Sam and his crush Mikaela Banes and protects them from an attack by Barricade and Frenzy, earning Sam's trust. When Mikaela criticizes the poor condition of Bumblebee's vehicle mode, he scans a passing Camaro Concept and transforms into the same model. Bumblebee then drives Sam and Mikaela to an alley where they meet the other Autobots. They return to Sam's house and retrieve the glasses, but a secret government organization, Sector 7, arrests Sam and Mikaela. The Autobots attempt to rescue them but Bumblebee is captured and taken by Sector 7. There he is tested/tortured by the Sector 7 scientists using electric shocks that appear to hurt him. Sam eventually negotiates his release. Bumblebee survives the massive battle at the film's climax, although he loses the use of his legs after helping Ironhide deflect missiles from Starscream. With Mikaela's aid, he is able to rejoin the battle supported by a tow truck (later confirmed to be the Autobot Longarm), and destroys Brawl. After the battle, Bumblebee is fully repaired and asks to stay with Sam and is granted permission from both Sam and Optimus Prime. He is later seen alongside Ironhide, Ratchet, and Optimus watching the sunset while Sam and Mikaela recline on his hood at the end of the movie.

Bumblebee is voiced by Mark Ryan in the films, but he mostly speaks with his radio, having had his voice processor damaged (though his actual voice squeaks and whines laboriously through much of the movie). He also speaks with quotes from television shows and movies, in a way similar to Wreck-Gar from the 1986 film and season three of the G1 cartoon series. Screenwriter Roberto Orciexplained Bumblebee regained his voice through the regenerative laser Ratchet fires at his neck as they meet, and it eventually works its magic by the end of the film. He agreed this was not made clear.[27] Frenzy is regenerated upon coming into contact with the All Spark, and so it is entirely plausible that Bumblebee's voice, along with his legs, is also healed by the All Spark, though no mention of this is made in the film. It was said that making Bumblebee mute was to show that his bond with Sam went beyond words.

Bumblebee also appears in the film's sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. When a fragment of the All Spark inadvertently turns the kitchen appliances in Sam's home into feral robots, Bumblebee intervenes to save him and his family. In doing so, he nearly destroys their house. He still uses his radio to speak, despite his vocal processors being repaired in the first film. However, he does respond half-way when Sam tells him to get in the garage by saying "whatever." Bumblebee shows excitement at the thought of going with Sam to college, only to be disappointed later when Sam tells him that he can not come. Because of the incident at the Witwickys' he is also forced to leave their garage. Soon after Sam begins his semester at college, Bumblebee follows him and tries to alert him to the Decepticon Pretender (named Alice) that is following Sam. As both Sam and Alice are riding inside Bumblebee, the Autobot attempts to warn Sam through his radio. Having failed at this, Bumblebee intentionally brakes hard multiple times and throws Alice around the interior in an attempt to damage the Pretender. Bumblebee then proceeds to spray lubricant over Alice, thereby embarrassing Sam and forcing Alice to flee.

Soon after Megatron and Scalpel begin to torture Sam, Bumblebee arrives alongside Optimus Prime to fight Megatron, Starscream andGrindor. After Optimus dies, Bumblebee arrives with Sideswipe, Ironhide and Ratchet to cover Sam's escape. As they mourn for Optimus, Sam tells Bumblebee that he has failed the Autobots, but Bumblebee tells Sam through his radio,..."You are the person I care for most in my life, and if there is anything you need I won't be far away..." After taking Sam, Mikaela, Leo and Simmons to theSmithsonian museum to reawaken Jetfire, Bumblebee then travels with the humans through a Space Bridge to Egypt (caused by Jetfire) along with Jetfire, the Twins Skids and Mudflap, and Wheelie to find the Matrix of Leadership. While the twins have a sibling argument (resulting in a fist fight) inside the ruins of Petra (which supposedly houses the Matrix when everyone thinks it is a dead end), Bumblebee breaks them up and tosses them out before seeing their fight. But once seeing the Tomb's entrance after the Twins' brawl reveals it, Bumblebee helps the humans enter it by blasting the rest of the wall off.

During the final confrontational battle, Sam and Mikaela inadvertently spring a trap set by Rampage (who uses Sam's parents as the bait). Bumblebee stays hidden from Rampage's sight, allowing Sam to put Rampage in a spot where Bumblebee can initiate a surprise attack. During the subsequent fight Ravage attacks him from behind and jumps on his back. After a brief struggle, Bumblebee gets a hold of Ravage and literally tears him apart with his hands, allowing him to finish off and kill Rampage. With Sam's parents free, Sam tells Bumblebee to take care of them, thus removing him from most of the final fight. After Sam is killed by Megatron, Bumblebee arrives with Sam's parents and sees Sam's body on the ground, he is heartbroken, overcome with sadness and stricken with sorrow, believing that he has failed in his duty to protect Sam, but is overjoyed to see him return. Bumblebee is among the remaining Autobots at the end of the film.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">In Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Bumblebee no longer lives with Sam and goes on other missions with the Autobots such as dismantling a secret nuclear facility in the Middle East. When Sam arrives with Carly, Wheelie and Brains, Bumblebee saves them from the soldiers taking them captive. Bumblebee is reassigned to protect Sam and moves back in with him. Bumblebee later teams up with Dino/Mirage to take out Hatchet while trying to protect Sentinel Prime who later attacks him and the other Autobots. After Sentinel forces the Autobots' exile from Earth, Bumblebee sadly says goodbye to Sam and reunites with him in Chicago where he helps him rescue Carly and kill Laserbeak. After Sam kills Starscream, Bumblebee saves him and Lennox from a great fall. Bumblebee is captured by Soundwave and is nearly executed in front of Sam (telling Sam "we had a hell of a run") after Barricade executes Que before Wheelie and Brains save him at the cost of their own lives, allowing him to break free and attack Soundwave. Bumblebee battles Soundwave while the other Autobots fight the other Decepticons and proves more than a match for the Decepticon spy-master, even managing to kill another Decepticon during the fight. Finally Bumblebee knocks Soundwave off-balance with a shot to the leg, knocks his gun from his hand and uppercuts his cannon into his chest, firing at the same time, destroying Soundwave's head and killing him. Bumblebee fights Sentinel alongside the other Autobots and humans but is no match for him, but avoids injury. After Sam kills Dylan Gould, Bumblebee destroys the Control Pillar by crashing through it, shutting off the Space Bridge and destroying Cybertron and the remaining Decepticons. Bumblebee survives the battle and gives Sam a bunch of gaskets to use as rings while playing wedding music after Sam and Carly admit they love each other. Though Sam says to Bumblebee that he's thinking too fast. He replies by 'saying', "I'm just trying to help out."

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