Smokescreen



Smokescreen is one of the second year Autobot Cars in the Transformers series. His toy was remolded from Prowl and Bluestreak, itself originating from an earlier Japanese line named Diaclone. Smokescreen's vehicle mode was based on an actual existing car—a 1979 Nissan Fairlady Z race car in the Electramotive team livery. Team founder Don Devendorf's car was accurately recreated, except that his number 83 was changed to a 38.[1]

Smokescreen's bio originally indicated that while he appeared calm and easy-going, he was in reality the closest thing the Autobots had to someone who thought like a Decepticon. He would cheat to win without hesitation, and often covers his true goals from even his fellow Autobots. Autobot leaders even use him as a spy amongst the ranks at times.

Animated series
Smokescreen originally appeared in "Dinobot Island pt 1". Smokescreen was used quite frequently in season 2, taking the starring role in the episode "The Gambler". This saw him strike a deal with a gambler named Bosh in order to save his fellow Autobots—he would win energon for Bosh if Bosh used some to restore the others. Predictably cheating his way to victory, he was caught and lost all his winnings. With the help of Devcon, he and Bosh ended up battling and defeating Astrotrain, Dirgeand Ramjet. After this Bosh freed the other Autobots. The cartoon actually made use of his abilities—in "The Key to Vector Sigma", for example, his smoke saved the Autobots' super-fuel after Prowl's security detail was compromised, and in "Auto Berzerk" he downed the famed Seekers—including Starscream—with his disruptors.[2]

Smokescreen was not amongst the Autobots whose death was shown in The Transformers: The Movie, although an animation mistake which colored the body of the deceased Wheeljack in red did caused some speculation—indeed, the storyboard of this scene clearly depicts Smokescreen's dead body, not Wheeljack's. Smokescreen did not appear in the post-movie Season Three, and so it is generally assumed that, even if he was not featured in this particular scene (or even the movie for that matter), that he was killed in the attack on Autobot City, or even in the years before the movie. If this was not the case, neither animators nor series editors for Season 3 made an effort to alleviate confusions regarding which characters' deaths in the movie were included, or excluded.

Smokescreen appears in the Japanese opening for season 3, as the movie was not shown in Japan at the time.

Smokescreen also made a brief appearance in the first episode of Transformers: The Headmasters.