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. He was voiced by the late Chris Latta.
Sparkplug is Spike Witwicky's father. He is also Carly's father in-law and Daniel's grandfather. He is described as a widower in the show bible. 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 Transformers: The Movie, which took place 20 years later.
Comics[]
Sparkplug appears in the initial Marvel US miniseries as the father of Buster Witwicky. He is uncertain about his son's bookish nature, feeling he would be better off learning a trade. When Buster brings the Autobot Bumblebee to his garage after he is involved in the first skirmish between Autobots and Decepticons on Earth, Sparkplug is introduced to the existence of Transformers and offers to help the Autobots find a way to use Earth fuel. Before he can do so, he is captured by the Decepticons and forced to do the same for them. Although he is quickly rescued by Gears and Spider-Man, on learning he gave in to the Decepticons' wishes, and unaware Sparkplug has poisoned their fuel, some of the Autobots turn on him, with Jazz accidentally causing Sparkplug to have a heart attack when using his flamethrower to stop him escaping. Although Ratchet rushes him to hospital where he quickly recovers, the experience permanently sours his opinion of the Autobots, although in the aftermath of the miniseries he does agree to Buster using his control of the Creation Matrix to help rescue Optimus Prime for Shockwave.
In the UK exclusive story "Devastation Derby", Sparkplug has to go to the Autobots for help when Buster begins having strange visions of combining Transformers as a result of his exposure to the Creation Matrix. After a lengthy absence, he turned up in US Issue #31, where he had installed one of G.B. Blackrock's new car washes at his garage, unaware it was a brainwashing scheme by the Decepticons. Sparkplug was among those brainwashed into giving fuel to the Decepticons, but Buster freed him and the others, after which they drove off Ratbat and Laserbeak.
In Issue #37, Sparkplug agreed to Buster helping Triple I agent Walter Barnett return the bodiless Throttlebots to the Ark, but had his garage subsequently attacked and destroyed by Ratbat and the Predacons. In the aftermath, he was reunited with his older son Spike, but was shocked when Spike joined up with the Autobot Headmasters and was binary bonded to their leader Fortress Maximus. When he was later asked by Ethan Zachary for help restoring Optimus Prime, he refused.
Despite this, with Buster being held prisoner by the Decepticons for several months, when Blaster approached him in Issue #46 for help infiltrating the island base where Buster was, Sparkplug agreed, although in the end it was Buster's girlfriend Jesse who accompanied Blaster. He made his last appearance in Issue #51, where both he and a freed Buster assured Spike he had done the right thing in leaving the Autobots.
Trivia[]
- In the Marvel comics, his first name was intended to be Stanislas Piotr (hence the name of his service shop being "S. Witwicky Auto Repairs & Tow Service"); though issue 4 has his name being William and issue 31 it's Irving. In the IDW comics it's Daniel.
- While he hasn't appeared in The Movie and the last two seasons, he was in the script for "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1", on the Earth Defense Command shuttle with Blaster and Outback going to Carbombya to investigate Decepticon activity. His single line in the script was given to Blaster in the final episode.
