Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity

"Are you trying to stall us, or are you just senile?"
"A little from Column A, a little from Column B."

In one particular universe, Kup is a crotchety old Autobot who tells a lot of old war stories. No change there, then.

The Transformers cartoon

Voice actor: Lionel Stander (English, The Movie), John Stephenson (English), Osamu Saka (Japanese), Takao Ishii (Japanese, "The Rebirth"), Zhan Che (Chinese), Carl Béchard (Canadian French), Bernard Musson (French, The Movie), Georges Atlas (European French), Unknown (European French, "Five Faces of Darkness" episodes), Philippe Roullier (European French, "The Dweller in the Depths" & "Only Human"), Ulrich Bernsdorff (German), Walter von Hauff (German, "Dark Awakening", "Forever Is a Long Time Coming", "Starscream's Ghost", "Ghost in the Machine"), Imo Heite (German, "Fight or Flee", "The Big Broadcast of 2006"), Toni Orlandi (Italian, first "The Movie" dub), Mario Bombardieri (Italian, second "The Movie" dub), Alfonso Vallés (Spain-Spanish, "The Movie"), Enrique Garduza (Latin-American Spanish), Marcos Miranda (Portuguese, "The Movie" VHS dub & "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1 - 5"), Élcio Romar (Portuguese, "The Movie" Globo dub), Armando Tiraboschi (Portuguese, "The Movie" Fox Kids dub), Sílvio Navas (Portuguese, most of season 3), André Luiz Chapéu (Portuguese, "Ghost in the Machine"), Gyula Szersén (Hungarian, "The Movie" 1st dub (some lines)), Zoltán F. Nagy (Hungarian, "The Movie" (2nd dub, all but a few lines)), Jeong-kyung Kim (Korean "The Movie", KBS dub and Iljin Video dub)

"Let's go! If I'm not back at the home by nine they declare me legally dead and collect my insurance!"

In his younger days, one hundred thousand years ago, Kup once found himself crash-landed on the planet Dread, where he was stalked by an Ick-Yak. Although Kup was able to lure the creature into a swamp of quick-mud, he was then captured by the evil Orbs, who forced him to work in the death crystal mines of Queeg Mountain. When the miners were attacked by Chaos, the creature on whose hide the crystals grew, Kup was afforded an opportunity to escape. Before exiting the mines, he quickly grabbed the key to the cell in which the other slaves were held... but before he could open the cell door, Chaos came roaring into the cavern. Petrified, Kup dropped the keys and fled, escaping with his life, and a guilt that would gnaw at him for millennia. Chaos

Kup was stationed in another part of the galaxy while Optimus Prime and Megatron's forces were battling on Earth, but eventually joined up with the Earthbound Autobots when the Decepticons took over Cybertron in the early days of the 21st Century. Secret Files of Teletraan II

"What do you people like?"
"Sleep!"
"Sexy dames 'n plenty of 'em!"
"Maaatlooock!"

In 2005, Kup was supervising the erection of a security cordon at the foot of Lookout Mountain when the work was interrupted by an impetuous drive-through by Hot Rod. Kup shook his finger at the adventure-seeking youth, vowing to straighten him out yet. Even Kup couldn't believe it, however, when mere minutes later, Hot Rod began firing upon the approaching Autobot shuttle. The shuttle had, in fact, been hijacked by the Decepticons, who immediately began pouring out of the craft and attacking Autobot City. Kup saved Hot Rod from being blasted by Blitzwing, and the pair then headed back towards the city, but they didn't move fast enough to avoid being trapped outside of the city's fortress-like defenses. Luckily, an attempted hull breach by the Insecticon opened a small hole in the city's blast doors, and Kup used Kickback's skull as a ramp to leap the gap and make it into the city safely.

"Oh, it's not a swindle. What you do is, see, you give 'em all your credit card numbers, and if one of them is lucky, they'll send you a prize!"

Once inside the city, Kup and Hot Rod joined Arcee and Springer in shoving an explosives launcher into place to help defend against the might of Devastator. The battle continued through the night, but the arrival Optimus Prime the next day turned the tide and the Decepticons were defeated—but at a terrible price. Despite Kup's warnings, Hot Rod had interfered in Prime and Megatron's one-on-one battle, and had given the Decepticon leader the opening he needed to fatally wound Prime. Prime had used the last of his strength to dispatch Megatron, but as Kup and the other Autobots gathered around their fallen leader, Optimus Prime died, passing the Matrix of Leadership on to Ultra Magnus.

"One trick is to tell 'em stories that don't go anywhere, like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. "Give me five bees for a quarter," you'd say..."

Even as the Autobots began to pick up the pieces, they came under assault on two fronts. First, reports came in from their moonbases of a monster planet that was bearing down on Cybertron; when Hot Rod eagerly announced that he was sure the Matrix could stop the creature, Kup was less than convinced, asking what the youth would know about it. The Autobots made quick preparations to join their comrades on Cybertron's moons, but just before they were able to board their shuttles, a group of new Decepticons led by the powerful Galvatron launched another attack upon the ruins of Autobots City. Kup, Hot Rod and the Dinobots boarded one of the shuttles and hot-footed it into space. Once they were safely away, Kup passed the time during the trip by telling the Dinobots the tale of his encounter with another Ick Yak on Beta 4. The story was interrupted by the sudden arrival of the Decepticons, and while Kup's experience with the Shrikebats of Dromedon allowed him to out-manoeuvre the villains' moleculon missiles, an attack by Cyclonus crippled the shuttle and caused it to crash-land into an ocean on the planet Quintessa. Kup was set upon by a robotic squid, which tore off several of his limbs before Hot Rod was able to fight it off. Hot Rod gathered up all of Kup's pieces and put his friend back together again, but despite the fact that he managed to get rid of a burr on Kup's rotator, Kup was fairly insistent that Hot Rod had left a piece out.

"Now, where were we? Oh yeah, the important thing was I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones..."

Setting out to explore Quintessa and find the Dinobots, Kup and Hot Rod came across a herd of strange transforming creatures which Kup attempted to placate with the universal greeting and some energon goodies. Unfortunately, when the goodies ran out, so did the creatures' good nature, and Kup and Hot Rod were set upon, captured and dragged before the planet's rulers, the Quintessons. The whole experience reminded Kup of the Niter Slave Mines on Golgonath Seven, but Hot Rod didn't see what good the old-timer's experienced was doing them at that moment. Hurled into a jail cell to await trial, the pair met another captive named Kranix, whose world had been consumed by the monster plant currently threatening Cybertron: a monster that Kranix told them was named Unicron. Sadly, Kranix soon met his end in the jaws of the Quintessons' Sharkticons, and Kup and Hot Rod were dropped into the creatures' pit soon after. The pair did not accept the Quintessons' judgement with gentle grace, however, and fought back against the Sharkticons, creating a whirlpool by driving around their watery pit and sweeping the fight to dry land. Kup tore off one of the Sharkticons' tails and used it as a mace, but the duo was in danger of being overwhelmed until the timely arrival of the Dinobots, who routed the Sharkticons and turned them against their Quintesson masters. With the aid of the Dinobots' new friend, Wheelie, the team found a ship and reunited with their fellow Autobots on the planet of Junk. There, Kup was able to talk a little TV with native Junkion leader Wreck-Gar, but even the levity the Junkions brought to the proceedings did not obscure the tragic news that Galvatron had stolen the Matrix from Ultra Magnus.

"Oh, son, don't overreach. Go for the dented car, the dead-end job, the less attractive girl. I blame myself. I should have had this talk a long time ago."

Proceeding on their way to Cybertron, the Autobots arrived just in time to witness Unicron transforming to robot mode and attacking their home planet – a sight so awesome that it left Kup speechless, unable to recall anything like it that he had ever seen. Ever eager, Hot Rod ploughed their ship straight into Unicron's eye, but was separated from the rest of the group on the fall through the chaos-bringer's interior. While Kup and the other Autobots battled against Unicron's internal defences, Hot Rod battled Galvatron (who had been betrayed Unicron and been swallowed in punishment) and reclaimed the Matrix from him, becoming the Autobots' new leader, Rodimus Prime. Rodimus unleashed the power of the Matrix, which began to destroy Unicron from within, and as the Autobots retreated from the planet-eater's exploding body, Kup congratulated Rodimus, claiming he had always known he had potential. In the wake of Unicron's destruction, the Autobots forced the Decepticons off of Cybertron and reclaimed the planet for their own. The Transformers: The Movie

"The year is nineteen-aught-six! The President is the divine Miss Sarah Bernhardt! And all over America, people were doing a dance called the Funky Grandpa!"

Appointed as Chief of Security for Cybertron, Kup accompanied Rodimus Prime and the other Autobots to the opening of the Galactic Olympics, only for the ceremony to be attacked by a commando squad of mysterious shadowy figures. The raiders captured Kup, Ultra Magnus and Spike Witwicky and took them back to their masters, Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1 who turned out to be the Quintessons. This time around, the aliens interrogated Kup a lot more thoroughly, questioning him on the state of Cybertron's security and meticulously analyzing his responses, seeing through the sarcastic misdirection he attempted to throw back in their faces. After a failed attempt escape landed the trio in the Sharkticon pit, the end seemed inevitable, until a team of Autobots led by Rodimus Prime arrived in time to save them. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2 In retaliation, the Quintessons detonated a core bomb and blew up Quintessa, and the explosion hurled Kup and the Autobots through space to the planet Goo 8739-B. As the Autobots struggled through the planet's sticky surface, they were set upon by a massive machine that swept the goo clean, and Kup was awestruck by Rodimus's single-handed attempt to stop the dangerous device. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3 As they continued on their gooey trek, the Autobots came under attack from Galvatron and the Decepticons, who had entered into an alliance with the Quintessons, but were whisked to safety by Wreck-Gar and the Junkions.

A short time later, back on Cybertron, a mayday request came through from a crippled shuttle requesting clearance to land. Unable to risk the lives on the humans that he believed were on board, Kup allowed the shuttle to land... but as it approached Cybertron, it veered off course and crashed into the planet's central power facility, taking out power across the board. The shuttle had been a dupe perpetuated by the Decepticon/Quintesson alliance, which promptly invaded the planet. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4 In the ensuing battle, Rodimus and Kup were surprised when Blitzwing fell out of the sky in front of them, and begged them no to shoot. The Triple Changer revealed that the Quintessons had double-crossed the Decepticons, and had sent a team of Sharkticons into the depths of Cybertron to activate a large switch that would shut down all the Transformers. Rodimus and Blitzwing were unable to stop the switch being thrown, but Spike Witwicky was then able to destroy the mechanism and reactivate the Transformers, forcing the Quintessons to flee Galvatron's wrath. Kup stood by Rodimus's side as he announced their uneasy victory to the other Autobots. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5

"Kup, am I cute as a bug's ear?"
"No, you're homely as a mule's butt!"

The past came back to haunt Kup when he was called in to investigate a Decepticon attack on the Earth Defense Command post on Goo. Discovering that the attack had been perpetrated using death crystals, Kup was finally forced to return to planet Dread to stop the Decepticons' plan to destroy Cybertron using a death crystal cannon. Venturing into the mines alone, through swarms of shrikebats, Kup located Chaos in the depths of the mountain and lured him back to the surface, taunting him all the way. Before exiting the mines, Kup freed all the slaves, and in turn, they helped him to re-aim the Decepticons' cannon, pointing it right at Chaos at the monster emerged from the tunnels. Kup pulled the trigger, blasting Chaos with its own death crystals and finally destroying it. With his demons laid to rest, the high-spirited Kup spent the journey back to Cybertron tell his comrades of the time he flew the shuttle Jonagar in the mouth of a space whale. Chaos

"Ah, can't get a good sarsaparilla like this back in Iacon. It angries up the blood."
"Heh, you like it, huh?"
"Up yours!"

Kup was among a team of Autobots who were caught off-guard by the Decepticons while traveling through space in a shuttle, and were forced to dock their damaged craft at the giant mausoleum the Autobots had constructed to hold the bodies of those who had died in the Great War. There, they were shocked to discover that Optimus Prime had apparently returned to life, only to find themselves suddenly betrayed by their old leader when he set the mausoleum on a collision course with a sun and escaped aboard a spaceship of his own. The Autobots quickly improvised a ship of their own before the mausoleum was destroyed, which Kup piloted back to Cybertron. Upon their returned, it was discovered that "Optimus Prime" was merely a robotic zombie, animated as part of a Quintesson plan to destroy the Autobots, forcing Rodimus Prime to defeat him in battle. His true personality re-emerging as he neared death again, Optimus seemingly sacrificed himself, getting the other Autobots to safety and triggering the Quintessons' explosive trap. Dark Awakening

When a survey mission led by Perceptor sent out an SOS, Kup responded with Rodimus Prime, Pipes and the Aerialbots. The team fought off the Quintessons occupying the asteroid, and discovered that the aliens had been attempting to alter history using a Time Window. Most of Perceptor's team had vanished through the portal into Cybertron's distant past, and Kup and the others fought off a Quintesson attempt to reclaim the asteroid while their teammates were returned to the present. Forever Is a Long Time Coming

The arrival of an Autobot named Sandstorm on Cybertron gave Kup cause for concern, as the newcomer claimed to be from the planet Paradron, which Kup was unable to locate on any star charts. A lie detector confirmed the truth of Sandstorm's story, however, and the Autobots rallied to save his world from the Decepticons. Fight or Flee Soon after, when Kup discovered that a team of Decepticons had been able to sneak their way past Cybertron defences, he, Rodimus, Magnus and the Aerialbots headed out to force the villains off the planet. Starscream's Ghost

"Looking at that tired old freak has made me realize I'm no spring chicken myself. I can feel death's clammy hand on my shoulder. Wait, that's my hand."

While making a security inspection of Autobot City on Earth, Kup was impressed by the work Blaster had been doing in his absence. Blaster's choice of music, however, still rattled his transistors. During Kup's visit, Autobot City was attacked by Scourge and the ghost of Starscream. They did serious damage to Metroplex, stealing his eyes and then blowing up a bomb inside his brain. Hopefully, Kup didn't mark that up in his report as a strike against Blaster. Ghost in the Machine

"Dear Mr. President, there are too many states nowadays. Please eliminate three. I am not a crackpot."

Alongside Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Blaster and Omega Supreme, Kup headed to Junkion to investigate a strange hypnotic television signal that was coming from the planet. On their way, they were attacked by Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps and crashed on an asteroid, where Kup helped draw the Decepticons off so that Magnus could repair the damage done to Omega Supreme. The team voyaged on to Junkion, where they stopped the hypnotic broadcast. The Big Broadcast of 2006 Not long after, Kup was among the Transformers who fell victim to the energy-draining touch of the Trans-Organic Dweller, becoming an energy vampire who menaced the other Autobots until Perceptor restored them to normal with a surge of energon. The Dweller in the Depths

Kup was working out of Autobot City on Earth when Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Springer and Arcee went missing investigating the human terrorist, Victor Drath. Unbeknownst to Kup, the crime lord transplanted the four Autobots' minds into human-like synthoid bodies, and when the humanized Arcee attempted to get his attention near the entrance of Autobot City, he just drove on by. Only Human

"I couldn't quite put my finger on it. There was something strange about the way he walked. Much more vertical than usual."

When the Autobots all began experiencing malfunctions following the activation of Cybertron's newest power generator, Kup was part of the team that ventured below the planet's surface to investigate the cause. The source of the malfunctions was discovered to be anti-electrons snuck into the generator by the Decepticons, which began to affect Kup's mind, leaving his much vaunted memory of past adventures so badly scrambled that he couldn't even remember who he was or where they were. The generator was shut down, but the Autobots soon deduced that the anti-electrons had come from Unicron, and followed the Decepticons to the planet-eater's decapitated head to stop them from acquiring more. Once they arrived on Unicron's head, the anti-electrons began affecting them once more, but Kup fought off their influence long enough to hold his own against Sinnertwin. The Decepticons were then routed by the Technobots, new Autobots created by Grimlock using the super-intelligence the anti-electrons had given him. Grimlock's New Brain

Running the security center on Cybertron, Kup detected the cataclysmic arrival of Tornedron shortly before the energy creature devoured all energy on the planet, leaving every Autobot completely inert. Only a small group of Primitives from both factions managed to reach the creature's creator, Primacron, and reverse the process. Call of the Primitives

"That raccoon stole my lamb chop!"

During a series of missions in Japan, Kup could see the burden of leadership weighing heavily on Rodimus Prime's shoulders. Kup tried to teach him about the Japanese concept of giri, the "burden hardest to bear", but Rodimus departed to blow off some steam on his own, and Kup recognized that it was a problem Rodimus would have to resolve for himself. Unfortunately, Rodimus was attacked by the Stunticons and had the Matrix stolen, which then wound up in the clutches of Scourge, who led a Decepticon attack on Tokyo. Kup face off against the Matrix-powered Decepticon, but was hit by energy beams that left him convulsing. Luckily, Hot Rod made peace with his giri and arrived in time to defeat Scourge and reclaim the Matrix. Kup sagely noted that regardless of who held the Matrix, that missing part of himself that Rodimus had discovered would always be with him. The Burden Hardest to Bear

"Optimus Prime is not a Communist. He may be a liar, a pig, an idiot, a Communist, but he is NOT a porn star!"

When the Autobots learned that Optimus Prime might still be alive, Kup was part of an enormous task force assembled by Rodimus Prime to retrieve Optimus's body from the treacherous human scientists who had taken possession of it. While Ultra Magnus and Rodimus led several team members inside the laboratory, Kup remained outside on guard with Bumblebee, Wheelie, and several others. The situation turned deadly when the scientists unleashed space spores that induced a Hate Plague among the Autobots. The Aerialbots were among the first exposed, and Kup's team soon had to face off against a crazed Superion. They suffered serious damage and were taken off-line but, as a silver lining, also managed to escape contamination. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1 As his last order before he too was lost to the plague, Rodimus Prime had Sky Lynx locate a Quintesson, who was put to work restoring Optimus Prime to life at last. At Prime's instruction, the Quintesson repaired Kup and the rest of his team, and the group then headed for the Decepticons' base on Chaar to recover a heat-resistant alloy the villains had stolen. Battling through the dangers of Chaar's native wildlife, the Autobots were able to recover the alloy, but not before Kup and most of his team were infected by the Hate Plague. Optimus Prime subsequently used the alloy to shield himself from the plague's effect and recovered the Matrix from Rodimus Prime, then released its wisdom to cure the madness of the spores. A cured Kup and Hot Rod watched as Optimus Prime and Galvatron shook hands, as the Decepticon leader declared there would be no war that day. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2

"You see, back in those days, rich men would ride around in Zeppelins, dropping coins on people, and one day I seen J. D. Rockefeller flying by. So I run out of the house with a big washtub and-- Where are you going?"

Galvatron's promise did not last long, unfortunately. Kup was on Cybertron when the Decepticons launched a massive assault on Autobot City on Earth and stole the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber, but word of the attack soon reached Cybertron as the Decepticon bore down on the planet. During the ensuing conflict, Kup and a team of other Autobot boarded a shuttle and pursued Scourge into the depths of the planet, but when Scourge used the key to momentarily open the Plasma Energy Chamber, the energy released blasted the Autobots' shuttle across the galaxy. The ship crashed on the planet Nebulos, which reminded Kup of the time he was stranded on Regulon Four and faced off against the planet's native metalmongers. The Autobots were soon captured by a rebel cell of native Nebulans, who believed them to agents of the planet's evil rulers, the Hive, but the Autobots were able to convince them that they were on the side of the angels when the Decepticons followed them to Nebulos and attacked. The Rebirth, Part 1

"Anyway, about my washtub... I just used it that morning to wash my turkey, which in those days was known as a "walking bird". We'd always have walking bird on Thanksgiving with all the trimmings: cranberries, Injun eyes, yams stuffed with gunpowder. Then we'd all watch football, which in those days was called "baseball"."

During the battle that resulted, Kup, Hot Rod, Blurr, Pointblank, Crosshairs and Sureshot were captured by the Decepticons and tortured for information about the location of the Plasma Energy Chamber key. Kup and his comrades were soon rescued by the other Autobots, who had bonded with the Nebulons rebels to become powerful "Headmasters", and soon decided to undergo a variation of this bonding process themselves, becoming "Targetmasters". By the time Optimus Prime finally tracked his warriors to Nebulos and arrived to join them, Kup had been bonded to the Nebulan Recoil, and was the first to display his new powers to the shocked Prime. Alas, even with this added power, the Autobots were unable to prevent the Decepticons from stealing back the Plasma Energy Chamber key. The Rebirth, Part 2

Pursuing the Decepticons back to Cybertron, Kup delivered the shocking report to his fellow Autobots that the planet itself had disappeared. The Decepticons had, in fact, moved it into Earth's orbit, where Galvatron intended to open the Plasma Energy Chamber and overload the sun, destroying both planets in one fell swoop. As the chamber was opened, Kup and all the other Transformers on the planet were disabled by its energy, but thankfully, Spike Witwicky and the Autobots' Nebulan partners were able to stop the process and use the energy to revitalize Cybertron, bring about a new Golden Age for the planet. The Rebirth, Part 3

Japanese cartoon continuity

Macrocosmic Seekers

"She did things your mother would never do. Like have sex for money."

In the midst of a Christmas celebration, Kup and Rodimus Prime were called to Junk by Scrapheap, a Junkion who had uncovered a rare treasure. He found a piece of Optimus Prime's armor among the refuse, a physical reminder of Rodimus's predecessor. A Gift from the Planet of Scrap Unfortunately, Galvatron had been monitoring Junkion transmissions, and arrived on Junk to claim the "priceless treasure" for the Decepticons. Unable to convince Galvatron the treasure merely had sentimental value, a battle broke out. Kup was hit by a stray blast, prompting Galvatron to use him as a bargaining tool—turn over the treasure, or else Kup dies. Unending Battle

Before the situation could escalate any further, a strange transparent ship appeared in the skies over Junk, and snared Rodimus, Galvatron and his minions in beams of light. Kup and Scrapheap were swept up in the beams as well, and found themselves on board the mysterious ship. A Treasure Lost Kup and the Junkion found Rodimus, Galvatron, Scourge, and Cyclonus being preserved as specimens of change in the ship's gallery. The ship's controller, the Seeker, wished to preserve unique forms of change throughout the universe, such as the transition between Hot Rod and Rodimus and Unicron's minions into their current state. Kup tried to free Rodimus, but was struck down by a force that caused him to rust and corrode. Eternal Moment With the captives freed by Scrapheap, the Transformers all attempted to flee the Seeker's ship. Time to Move Rodimus protected the weakened Kup with a new force field the Seeker's machinations accidentally gave him, and the transparent ship was torn apart by weapons fire. Those Who Resist Once he learned the true nature of the Junkion's "treasure", Galvatron sullenly departed. A Treasure's True Worth

Kup was still suffering from the rapid corrosion the Seeker infected him with, but Scrapheap devised a way to drain off the excess energy of change lingering in Rodimus's body to restore Kup to full health. Journey to the Future Back to his normal, talkative self, Kup congratulated Scrapheap on his quick thinking in combat, and warmly invited him into the Autobots. Macrocosmic Seekers

Controverse

Kup was present when the Prowl and Wheeljack of BT-World discovered they were trapped in the OG-World. Controverse

Generations Selects Special Comic

In 2011, Kup was present when Unicron tried to reform himself. He witnessed Optimus Prime and Oracle defeating Unicron and sealing him away in the Triple Z Point. Finale

The Headmasters cartoon

Voice actor: Osamu Saka (Japanese), Rik Thomas (English, Omni Productions dub), Leonardo Araujo (Latin-American Spanish)

"I'm gonna get me a job! A real Malibu...and see if Stacy... can help... invent... me... young... Heeeeelp!"

In 2011, one year after Optimus Prime's resurrection, Kup was stationed on Cybertron when Vector Sigma began to destabilize as a result of the release of the Matrix's energy. Exploiting the opening, the Decepticons invaded the planet, and, at Optimus Prime's command, Kup withdrew to the Autobots' secondary headquarters on the planet Athenia. This sudden, violent re-ignition of the Transformers' war stirred four-million-year-old memories in Kup, but Spike stopped him before he got started by informing that this wasn't a time when thinking of the past was going to do any good. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky As it turned out, the past did play a major role in winning the battle, when a mysterious spaceship arrived carrying new Autobot warriors who helped turned the tide of the battle. These new "Headmasters" were led by a robot named Fortress, who turned out to be an old friend of Kup's who had left Cybertron four million years ago to escape the war. The Mystery of Planet Master

"Put it all on 41! I've got a feeling about that number."
"The wheel only goes up to 36, sir."
"Okay, put it all on 36! I've got a feeling about that number."

Kup stayed on Athenia with Arcee, Blurr, Wheelie and Daniel while the other Autobots began searching across Earth for the Matrix, which had been hidden away by Optimus Prime, but which would be necessary to stabilize Vector Sigma. Kup recalled the battle on Feminia and told the other Autobots to trust in Hot Rod – and Kup's trust was not misplaced, as Hot Rod and the Headmasters soon had the Matrix in their hands. Kup's team returned to Cybertron to monitor Vector Sigma as its condition grew worse, but alas, before Hot Rod (now Rodimus Prime once again) could use the Matrix to stabilize the computer, Optimus Prime sacrificed himself by merging with it to bring it back under control. Birth of the Fantastic Double Prime

Kup later conferred with Rodimus Prime on the Decepticons' new weapon, the Madmachine, and tried to help console the Autobot Mini-Cassettes over the loss of Blaster. The Great Cassette Operation Not long after, when Athenia was threatened by the Decepticons' metal-warping meteor, Metamorphose, Kup hit upon the idea of sending a human to disable the space-rock, as they would be unaffected by its powers. Approach of the Demon Meteorite

Rodimus Prime was on a mission to Earth when an SOS from the planet Praum reached Kup, Arcee and Blurr on Athenia, reminding Kup of several times in the past when the Decepticons deliberately attacked when the Autobots were without a commander. Kup was eager to go into battle on Praum alongside the Headmasters, but they encouraged him to stay behind and guard Athenia with Blurr and Arcee. The Four-Million-Year-Old Veil of Mystery

"Where'd you get all the money?"
"The government. I didn't earn it, I don't need it, but if they miss one payment I'll raise hell!"

When the Decepticons launched a massive attack on Cybertron in order to obtain a new alloy created by Vector Sigma named Cybertonuron, Kup and Arcee leapt into action, but were held up from joining the battle when they had to stop to pull Blurr free of the chair he'd managed to get stuck in. They soon made it to Cybertron, however, and watched from the sidelines as Rodimus battled Galvatron. Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 1 When Galvatron broke off the fight, Rodimus and Kup withdrew to debate strategy with Fortress, but the bad news kept on coming: Chromedome reported in to inform them that the Decepticon had planted bombs at the core of Cybertron which would destroy the planet within ten minutes. With no possible recourse, the Autobots evacuated Cybertron just before the bombs detonated, reducing the planet to a burnt-out husk. Deciding that the age of his generation had come to an end, Rodimus Prime passed the mantle of Supreme Commander to Fortress and prepared to embark on a mission to find a new planet on which the Transformers could make their home. Kup and Blurr announced that they would accompany Rodimus on his mission, and the trio departed for space. Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 2

15 Go! Go!

"Well, whenever I'm confused, I just check my underwear. It holds the answer to all the important questions."

While on her journey through time and space, Teletraan 15 found herself in a future era where she was harassed by a feisty Wheelie. Kup—now bonded to Recoil—came to the rescue, grabbing Wheelie by the scruff of the neck and tossing him away. As Teletraan 15 looked up at him with sparkly eyes and thanked him for his help, he claimed he recognized her and gave her a big old spine-cracking hug. As Kup started rambling about some past encounter they had supposedly had with giant Ick-Yaks, Teletraan 15's sarcastic partner, Teletraan 10, boggled over the sheer scientific illogicality of Kup's "musket laser", unable to comprehend how something that shot acid could be classified as a laser. Suddenly, Kup realized that he actually had no idea who Teletraan 15 was, and drove off. Kup Volume

Legends comic

Upon recognizing Arcee from The Transformers: The Movie, the Legends World's Rhinox and Tigatron recalled the scene where she fought Unicron's inner defenses alongside Kup and Springer. LG10 Arcee

After finding himself in the Legends Universe, a past-his-prime Springer (hailing from beyond the year 2030) recalled his adventures with Rodimus Prime and Kup. Kup was rendered as an inconsequential background character, dwarfed by Springer's romantic heroism. LG19 Springer Prologue The Blurr of 2021 also had fond memories of Rodimus and Kup, recalling the time they spent searching for a new homeworld together. LG25 Blurr

Kup himself continued to follow Rodimus, later converting to a Micromaster body to found the planet Micro alongside his leader, but his small size left him unable to fight back when he faced a stray Sharkticon, and he panicked and fled the planet. Stricken with fear of larger opponents and the guilt of abandoning his friends, Kup refused to relive these memories and stopped talking about his past. He further converted into a Headmaster and traveled to the Legends World in search of a transtector body, becoming a used car dealer and taking in the lost human girl Sue. Sue helped him with his trauma by encouraging him to relive his good memories instead, and when Sharkticons attacked his shop and left him paralyzed with fear, she helped carry him to a transtector so he could grow large and fight back. LG46 Targetmaster Kup

When Sue brought home a new "pet" in the form of White Lune only for a group of Sweep clones to try to capture the Beastformer, Kup held them off while Sue took White Lune to safety. The conflict led to Kup running into Hot Rod, and while he was at first embarrassed and apologized for running away, Hot Rod was just happy to learn that his old friend was still alive and embraced him. Together with Hot Rod, Blurr and their Targetmaster partners, Kup and Sue then took out the Sweeps. Late Xmas Present Chapter Kup was later knocked out by Slugslinger's anti-electrons, upsetting Sue who then helped defeat the Decepticon. LG55 Targetmaster Slugslinger

Kup gave Pointblank, Crosshairs and Sureshot some transtectors from his shop when they arrived in the Legends World. Legends World in Imminent Danger! Part One He participated in the battle with Majin Zarak as part of the "2010 Team" and evacuated alongside everyone else when the dimension was destroyed. Legends World in Imminent Danger! Part Two The Headmaster-era Transformers returned to Beast of their own dimension, where Kup watched happily as Sue returned to her mother's side. The Road to Legends' Revival Chapter 1

e-HOBBY comics

Kup was on board Broadside, investigating the disappearance of numerous Carbombian freighters. Their investigation eventually uncovered a secret undersea Decepticon laboratory. Full of monsters, of course. MP-1B Cybertron Commander / Convoy Black Ver.

Upon hearing from Splashdown that his fight against one of the monsters was not going too well, Kup and Hot Rod assured him they were on their way to help out, and that they would bring Seaspray along to help with the underwater mission. MP-3G Destron Air Commander / Starscream Ghost Ver.

TV Magazine comic continuity

Story of the Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers

"I admit it! I am the Lindbergh Baby! Wah Wah! Goo Goo! I miss my fly-fly da-da!"

Responding to an SOS from deep space, a team of Autobots including Kup helped rescue a human spacecraft from the jaws of a spaceship-eating Decepticon vessel. The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #1

When the Autobots were attacked by the Megatron Corps, Kup was decidedly puzzled, as he had understood that Megatron had been recreated as Galvatron. The Megatrons proved to be tough opponents, and Kup and the other Autobots encouraged Rodimus to get away to safety while they held the Megatrons back, but the Autobot leader refused. Soon, it was discovered that one of the Megatrons was Galvatron in disguise, who was remote-controlling the duplicate Megatrons himself. Rodimus dispatched Galvatron, and the Megatrons lost power, allowing Kup and Springer to make short work of them. The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #2

After Ultra Magnus and Metroplex repelled an attack on Autobot City, Kup was among the Autobots who came to Earth to congratulate their efforts. The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #3 Later, Kup was part of the Autobot team who traveled to the planet Feminia to defend its Prime Energy Tower against a Decepticon attack. Kup deduced that the villains would deploy Predaking to steal the energy, and he was right, but thankfully, arrival of the Omnibots won the day. The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #5

The Great Transformer War

Kup watched the battle between the upgraded Abominus and Computron, The Great Transformer War #2 then later joined Hot Rod, Springer and the resurrected Optimus Prime in battling Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps in space shortly after Prime was resurrected. The Great Transformer War #3

Madman The Transformers comic

"You, a Prime? This is the greatest country in the world. We got a whole system set up to keep people like you from ever becoming Prime! Quit your daydreamin', melonhead!"

In the year 2001, the Decepticons had managed to conquer Cybertron completely. Before Optimus Prime left to lead the evacuation of the remaining Autobots on their home planet, he told Ultra Magnus about his intention to hide the Autobot Matrix of Leadership at a not-so-secret bunker on the construction site of the future Autobot City on Earth. The Decepticon Soundwave and his array of Decepticon Mini-Cassettes managed to spy on meeting and moved to capture the Autobot relic for the Decepticon cause, but fortunately that young lad Hot Rod foiled their dastardly and vague plans. Upon arriving on Earth, Kup was present when Hot Rod returned the Matrix to Optimus, and explained the strange Matrix-induced vision he received, to which Optimus Prime commented that perhaps Hot Rod's destiny was greater than the young Autobot realised. Kup had a decidedly different opinion, however. The Transformers

Rodimus vs. Cyclonus

"No, Rodimus. They may say she died from a burst ventricle, but I know she died of a broken heart."

After Kup and company left Quintessa following the Battle of Autobot City, Wheelie helped track down the remains of Ultra Magnus's ship using its last known speed and trajectory. Kup surmised from the remaining wreckage that they had disengaged the nosecone and set down on the Planet of Junk for repairs. The Quintesson ship was then attacked by Cyclonus. While Hot Rod and Cyclonus faced off in the ship's anterior propulsion silo, Kup was surprised that Hot Rod managed to hold his own in battle, despite Cyclonus's overwhelming power. When Hot Rod began winning, the dishonorable Cyclonus fled.

In the meantime, Kup, fearing for Hot Rod's life, had radioed for help to distract Cyclonus. The gambit worked, and a short time later they were welcomed on the Planet of Junk by Wreck-Gar and Ultra Magnus's crew. Rodimus vs. Cyclonus

Wings Universe

"Is a coma painful?"
"Oh heck no. You relive long lost summers, kiss girls from high school. It's like one of those TV shows where they show a bunch of clips from old episodes."

Before the Great War, Kup was part of the crew of the Autobot Guard transport ship, the Eight Track, under the command of Thunder Clash. After Kup transmitted the results of their scan of the Outer Rim, he patched through a transmission from Autobot High Command. A cargo hauler, the Van De Graaff, crashed on Beta-Nine, possibly due to an early Decepticon uprising. Kup and the others were charged by Autobot Guard Commander Magnum with retrieving a very important piece of cargo that was on board the Van De Graaff and return it to Cybertron. Unfortunately, the Eight Track was shot out of the sky, crash-landing on the swampy surface of Beta-Nine.

Thunder Clash, Kup, Flak, and Landshark set out from the wreckage to find the Van De Graaff and its precious cargo. Along the way, an attack from a squad of prototypical Decepticon Skyraider warriors separated Kup from the rest of his crew. He soon found himself surrounded by their leader, Banzai-Tron, and two other Skyraiders. One of them, Hellbat, hypnotized him into submission, but he was inadvertently rescued when a sea monster ate the Decepticon. Kup escaped, and the other two Decepticons pursued.

"That's my son up there!"
"What, the balding fatass?"
"Uhh, no. The Hindu guy."

Kup was the first to reach the Van De Graaff, where he found its dead crew, the cargo, and some creepy dead aliens. Soon, the Decepticons were upon him, and when Thunder Clash arrived to give him backup, Kup had a plan. He set his blaster to overload, placed it in one of the dead crewmen's canister-looking body parts, and handed it over to Banzai-Tron. When it exploded, Thunder Clash was able to put the Decepticons under arrest.

Thunder Clash, Kup, and the others returned to Cybertron as unheralded heroes. Commander Magnum told them that their battle was the first of the new civil war against the Decepticons, and assigned them to a new elite military unit, the Elite Guard! However, Kup never did learn what was in that cargo... Wings of Honor

After returning home victorious, Kup starred in recruitment videos for the Elite Guard. BotCon 2009: Join the Elite Guard!

"Ehh, why didn't you get something useful, like storm windows, or a nice pipe organ? I'm thirsty! Ew, what smells like mustard? There sure a lot of ugly people in your neighborhood. Oh! Look at that one."

A few years later, Kup's team teamed up with Metalhawk's team to battle a horde of Virulent Clones. He asked the team's youngest recruit, Dion, if fighting bugs was what he expected on his first mission. Dion was about to answer in the affirmative when he got a facefull of bug goo. Nevertheless, Kup and the rest of the Elite Guardsmen were victorious.

Kup leaned back to join the others in relaxing for a bit, until a call bleeped over Thunder Clash's comm, causing him to flail in surprise. Landshark told Kup that he really need to learn to finally relax, until Thunder Clash told everyone to quiet down, as the call was Magnum informing them that Metalhawk's squad had to ferry Thunder Clash's squad to Space Port Bravo straightaway. Dion and Kup helped load everyone's gear onto the Hawk's Claw, then they all disembarked.

Once at the spaceport, the two squads bid their goodbyes. Kup told Dion that he'd make sure to share any stories he came across with the "lad". When Dion reacted to the nickname by pointing out Kup wasn't that much older, Kup replied that it was just the first time he'd gotten to meet a younger Elite Guard member than himself. His squad then walked off into the spaceport, with Kup waving goodbye to Dion until the last moment. The Coming Storm: Part 1 The Coming Storm: Part 2

Some time later, the Beast With Wings approached Elite Guard HQ after Bruticus's rampage and couldn't raise anyone on the ground. Kup found a newsfeed reporting on the attack that said pretty much everyone was dead. The Coming Storm: Part 6 As Magnum's team walked through the Autobot High Council Citadel, Kup ventured the opinion that they would be better utilized out in the field. The entire team was surprised to find that the High Council was appointing Optimus Prime as the leader of a new Autobot military. Battle Lines, Part 1 Magnum took his team, including Kup, to the Elite Guard Auxiliary Weapons Locker to pick up more weapons and troops. Battle Lines, Part 2 They proceeded to look for Deathsaurus's base so they could attack it, but were ambushed by Starscream and the bulk of Deathsaurus's troops. As they fought the Combaticons, Kup commented that it reminded him of the time they fought the Omacronians of Persei Eight. He was first belted and then shot by Brawl, and therefore unable to react when moments later the Combaticons formed Bruticus and were promptly blasted by a newcomer. Battle Lines, Part 3 The newcomer turned out to be Ironfist along with Big Bang, Rumbler and Sprocket, and Kup watched them join in the battle. After the Combaticons were captured, he helped secure them. Battle Lines, Part 4

"Maybe if I go to sleep for a few days some good mail will build up."

A week after the battle, he was part of the Autobot forces at Iacon's city walls as the Decepticons broke through with Devastator. Battle Lines, Part 5 He was reminded of an adventure on Derelictus Five, and he and Thunderclash reenacted their solution to that problem by hitting Devastator with a high-energy power cable. It was unsuccessful, but inspired Dion to try something else that worked. The battle was eventually won, but not without casualties on the Autobots' side. As the war continued, Cybertron's energy levels dipped dangerously low. While some Autobots left the planet in search of energy, and most of the others opted to go into stasis hibernation pods until the planet was reenergized, Kup opted to remain online, despite Alpha Trion's warning that operating during periods of low energy would accelerate the aging process. Battle Lines, Part 6

Thunderclash and Kup's Cybertron Defense Team valiantly fought Shockwave's forces but were ultimately forced offworld. Jhiaxus profile in Club magazine #44

Millions of years later, a battle against Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Sweeps reminded Kup of his battle on Beta Nine, and he told the story to Hot Rod and the Dinobots. But soon, the Autobots were found within their hiding spot inside a nebula, and they were forced to fight the Decepticons one-on-one inside their own ship. Kup repeated the overloading weapon trick to defeat Scourge. After the Dinobots finished off the Sweeps, and Cyclonus made a lone escape, Kup and the others declared victory. Wings of Honor

Ask Vector Prime

In an unstable hybrid universe where the Autobots were at war with Cy-Kill's Renegades, Kup participated in the defense of Autobot City after Cy-Kill's forces launched an attack, crushing Spoons with his vehicle mode.

Gong and Sideways kept playing merry hell with the timelines, and reality shifted back and forth, creating a world where the Autobots and Guardians co-existed with the Decepticons and Renegades. After escaping Galvatron's siege on Guardian City, Hot Rod and Kup crash-landed on Antares III, where they were taken hostage and put on trial by the Master Renegade. He battled the Master Renegade's Monster GoBot forces with the help of the RoGuns and Dinobots. Kup befriended a Dactyl, whom he tamed and named Gnaw. The group commandeered a ship to make their way to Major Mo, and the other Autobots and Guardians stranded on Quartex. There, they made an alliance with Boulder's friendly Rock Lords, and defeated Magmar's hostile Rock Lords.

The Autobots, Guardians, RoGuns, and Rock Lords made their way to Cybertron, where they battled Unicron. Vector Prime ultimately undid the damage to the two universes, separating them once again. Echoes and Fragments

Deviations

"No door is going to keep me from my meddling!"

In an alternate universe where the Battle of Autobot City happened very differently, Kup was more proactive in stopping Hot Rod from interfering with Optimus Prime's duel with Megatron. Rather than just yell at Hot Rod, Kup tackled him to the ground; the event which ultimately altered the timeline in many ways.

Prime killed Megatron in the fight and Ultra Magnus never received the Matrix of Leadership. Kup soon left with Optimus Prime following the counterattack on Autobot City led by Megascream and they made an emergency landing on Quintessa. Kup's attempt to use the Universal Greeting on the local Sharkticon population failed and a fight erupted. Kup survived to return to Cybertron with Prime and witness Hot Rod's sacrifice that ultimately destroyed both Megascream and Unicron. Deviations

Notes

"You're in the newspaper business? Something that's going to die before I do."

I'll take that secret to my grave, or urn, or medical school dissecting table or wherever you're dumping me.

• Like the rest of the central The Transformers: The Movie cast, Kup had a preliminary character model (at right) by Floro Dery that was revised by Japanese artists before final animation. And just like the rest of the central movie cast, that early model was used as a basis for his toy design, and for his Marvel Comics appearances. Like the other movie characters, Kup's early model often appeared in the Generation 1 cartoon as a result of production errors (in particular, he spends the entirety of "The Rebirth, Part 2" in the design), but it was also deliberately employed in the episode "Chaos", where it was used in flashback scenes to represent a younger version of the character. The final model features a slimmer torso, a differently-shaped belt and boots and signs of aging.
• Regardless of whether they were drawing him to the specifications of his finalized character model or the early design, AKOM would always use the early design as a colour reference. Consequently, Kup always appears with a slightly different colour scheme in AKOM episodes, with grey boots and hip-pouches instead of the grey-green they should be.
• In 2010, a set of Kup's original color models (at lower right) from The Transformers: The Movie went up for sale on Heritage Auctions, sold from Ron Friedman's collection of Sunbow Productions materials. He looked extremely teal.
• In the Japanese Asterisk Story online manga, a little lost kitty is rescued from certain death (well, being stuck in a tree) by Ai Kuruma and Red Alert. That kitty is named Cher,^[1] Kup's Japanese name.
• An alternative concept considered by Jesse Wittenrich to explain Wings Kup's great aging between Battle Lines and the present day was that Kup was trapped in a time loop on an alien planet.^[2]

References