Sparkstalker
From Transformers Wiki
- Sparkstalker is a Decepticon Firecon from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Sparkstalker is an example of bad allotment of resources. He is a brilliant cryptologist, a criminal mastermind capable of hacking Autobot datatrax and disabling the firewalls around their secure files or coded transmissions with incredible skill and secrecy, uncovering entire battle-plans without Autobot high command even knowing they've been uncovered. Decepticon military intelligence would raise several levels of efficiency if they employed him full-time. Instead, Sparkstalker has been made a Firecon, teamed with pyromaniacs and military dropouts like Cindersaur and Flamefeather, who require constant supervision so that they don't burn down the Decepticons' own fortifications. Sparkstalker spends most of his time physically grabbing his partners by the head and aiming their fire breath towards the Autobots, or at least away from their fellow Decepticons. It's a gruelling job, and one he's hardly suited for.
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Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Marvel The Transformers comics
Sparkstalker and his fellow Firecons were based on Cybertron for "homeland detail" for most of the war prior to Unicron's arrival. They were given their first mission to Earth when the Cybertronian Decepticons were interested in forming an alliance with Galvatron, the lone super-powerful Decepticon from the future. En-route to meeting Galvatron, the envoys encountered the Autobots Fizzle, Guzzle, and Sizzle on a Florida beach and proceeded to torch the three of them with their fiery breaths. They held the upper hand for quite some time, until their opponents finally managed to fight back; Sparkstalker got a taste of his own medicine when Sizzle unleashed his own flaming torrent onto him from his vehicle mode's exhaust port. The fight ended when Galvatron came upon it, and he rejected the Decepticon envoys' proposal for an alliance outright. Enemy Action! Later on, the Firecons worked together with an alien named Zabra to run an illegal gladiatorial arena in Tyrest out of the old Jekka Amphitheatre. Their chances at profit came to a close, however, when the operation was discovered by Ultra Magnus and the Sparkler Mini-Bots. Deadly Games!
The Firecons worked at a detention facility, where their old nemeses the Sparkabots were being held as prisoners. Reluctantly, Sparkstalker and his pals agreed to set free Fizzle, Sizzle and their Triggerbot friend Backstreet as part of a test run for Scorponok's new Roadjammers project. That didn't mean they didn't take the chance to rough up the Autobots a little bit before letting them go, though. Ca$h and Car-nage!
Decepticon High Command decreed that the Transformers Annual 1989 was anti-Decepticon propaganda and sent the Firecons to Earth to incinerate every copy not protected by the Autobots. Transformers Annual 1989
When a trio of Decepticons were sucked dry of energon, the remaining 'Cons naturally blamed the Autobots. Sparkstalker and Cindersaur went looking for trouble alongside Ruckus and Windsweeper, and found the Pretenders Jazz, Bumblebee, and Grimlock. Demons! The fight quickly ended, however, when Bumblebee drew everyone's attention to the real culprits... giant mechanical demons from deep within Cybertron's core! The Autobots and Decepticons joined forces against the creatures until Emirate Xaaron arrived and blasted the demons with pure energon, returning them to the stuff of legend. Dawn of Darkness
After the defeat of the Planet-Eater, the Firecons came under Bludgeon's command, and left Cybertron to bring devastation to the planet Klo. Unfortunately for Sparkstalker, his luck finally ran out and he was incinerated by his crazed partner Cindersaur during a mission of destruction on that planet. The Last Autobot?
Transformers Comic-Magazin
The Decepticons stole nuclear missiles and planned to use them to extort oil from the world powers. The Firecons guarded the Decepticon base where the missiles were set to launch, prompting the Autobots to call in the Classic Pretenders to defeat them. Transformers in Action: Megatron's Ultimatum
Fleetway Generation 2 comic
Sparkstalker re-appeared along with Flamefeather under the command of Bludgeon. First attacking a human city to draw out Optimus Prime, the two Firecons took the amusing target of a movie theatre playing Jurassic Park. War Without End Later, they attacked Megatron when he entered the fray to wrest command from Bludgeon. Sparkstalker then got promptly roasted after attacking the Dinobot Slag—"If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen!" War Zone
Regeneration One
Twenty-one years after being incinerated on Klo, Sparkstalker was sufficiently recovered to be present when Soundwave was recruiting for the "Neo-Decepticon" insurgency at Fort Scyk. He later participated in the attack on the Kalis Baird Beaming Transmitter, burning a way into the facility for the other Decepticons to follow, that led to the destruction of the Last Autobot. Counterpoint He was still with the Neo-Decepticons when the resurrected Scorponok commandeered them to create a giant version of the Gene Key in the Sonic Canyons. Sparkstalker was defending the Civil Defense Hub when the remaining free Autobots besieged and took control of it. Natural Selection, Part Five
Transformers '84
When Straxus took over leadership of the Decepticons, Sparkstalker fell under his command and took part in a purge to eliminate every surviving Autobot on the planet. Secrets & Lies #3
Wings Universe
Sparkstalker and the Firecons were among the first generation Decepticons sent back to Earth by Galvatron to join up with Clench's second-generation Decepticon Syndicate. The Syndicate captured the Large Hadron Collider facility, where Clench and Sky-Byte manipulated forestonite into a substance capable of upgrading Transformers and giving them special abilities. The Firecons were exposed to the forestone, causing Sparkstalker to turn bright red and purple and probably become stronger, but the Decepticons were eventually defeated and driven off by the Autobots anyway. Generation 2: Redux
Clench presented the three Firecons to Jhiaxus as a "bonus incentive". A Flash Forward, Part 2 When some captive Autobots freed themselves, the trio attacked them, only to be blasted by a tornado from Windbreaker. A Flash Forward, Part 5 A Flash Forward, Part 6
2005 IDW continuity
- First appearance: Transformers: Punishment #1
Sparkstalker became a Decepticon out of a desire to destroy the social hierarchy. The Possible Light
During the war, the Firecons torched an outpost on Varas Extrinsecus, attracting the Dinobots and the Wreckers who followed them to Varas Centralus. The Killing Jar During the great battle that followed, numerous war crimes were committed. The Firecons burned the planet's atmosphere while other Decepticons reverse-engineered their abilities to create nasty infernus bullets. Sparkstalker and his team had a lasting rep for this. Quest for Fire Forever Is a Long Time Coming
Once the war was over, the Firecons came to live in a Decepticon ghetto on Cybertron, where they took offense to the presence of Optimus Prime and joined an angry lynch mob that attacked him. City of Steel Optimus had to be airlifted to safety. Fight or Flee When Gutcruncher's bar was burned down shortly afterwards, Sparkstalker suspected—and feared—an act of Autobot reprisal for their actions. Their hideout was then attacked by Sandstorm and the Dinobots, suspecting their involvement in recent murders making use of infernus bullets, and in spite of Sparkstalker's pleas that there'd been a misunderstanding, Sandstorm blasted his legs off and prepared to execute him. The vengeful Autobot was talked down by Optimus Prime, Quest for Fire after which the Firecons were taken into custody and proven innocent—after all, they didn't need infernus bullets to kill people with fire. The Killing Jar The actual killer turned out to be Sandstorm, who was disgusted anyone would care that he tried to kill such blood-stained monsters as the Firecons. Forever Is a Long Time Coming
When Cybertron had a disastrous first contact with the lost colony of Caminus, Sparkstalker was one of the former Decepticons who went over to help. On camera, he grumped that after all his efforts Cybertron had just ended up with a new social hierarchy, one powered up with a space bridge and a combiner. His cynicism was interrupted when he found the Camiens being nice to him and glad he had shown up. The Possible Light He helped Lightbright clear rubble to rescue people (while dissing her for trying to lift on her own).
It all ended in tears when Devastator, Prowl's pet combiner, demanded every Cybertronian must leave Caminus or be destroyed. Sparkstalker shot first rather than allow an Autobot to push him around again. The resulting battle went poorly but battle damage caused by Superion allowed Sparkstalker, as part of Chromia's squad, to have a second go by shooting into his wounds. Mistakes and Mayhem After the fight was over and Starscream took all credit and political capital, Sparkstalker muttered that the High Chancellor was "prancing around like the king of the universe". You, Me, and the Universe
At the end of the Combiner Wars, Sparkstalker stood with Lightbright and the other Camiens against an attack by Swindle. All That Remains When a group of Camiens were proselytizing in the Decepticon ghetto, Sparkstalker defended their Prime worship since they had treated Decepticons well. This opinion earned him the ire of Needlenose, who accused him of having low standards. The Transgressors
Sparkstalker and Lightbright developed a close relationship, hanging out and flirting with each other at Maccadam's Old Oil House during a party. D'aww. Windblade vol. 2 #4 He later asked Lightbright to be his Conjunx Endura. She agreed! Choose Me
When Galvatron called upon the Decepticons on Cybertron to retake their rightful place as conquerors, Sparkstalker was among those who stood ready. Aphelion He and a small army of Decepticons stormed Iacon Spaceport 1 and captured the spacebridge, allowing them to travel to the Ark-7 and begin an onslaught against the ship's crew. Lagrange When Optimus Prime fought back against the Decepticon invasion of Earth that followed, he also declared Earth a Cybertronian colony, attempting to annex it into the Council of Worlds. Sparkstalker took to the streets with many Neutrals and colonists who opposed the idea of a Prime's prerogative bringing imperialism back to Cybertron. The Medium and the Message
Sparkstalker joined a furious mass of Transformers on a march to the capital building, all of them pushed to breaking point by a Badgeless killing a Decepticon. Once there, Ironhide emerged to tell them he'd been put in charge of reforming the Badgeless and he was opening the ranks to anyone who wished to help. Sparkstalker, respecting Ironhide from their time on Caminus, stepped forward. Applicable Skills Sparkstalker went through basic training with Blast Off and the Tankors as they prepared for struggle on the streets. Things We Said We'd Never Do Their first mission came when Blast Off betrayed them, and joined with the other Combaticons via the Enigma of Combination to become Bruticus. Eventually, the new combiner was brought down and the Combaticons were arrested by Sparkstalker and his comrades. The Line Between Us
When a fleet of undead Titans was detected approaching Cybertron, Ironhide rallied the Cybertronian Security Force into action. Ping When the Titans reached Cybertron, Sparkstalker and Lightbright fought in the streets, Sparkstalker encouraging his love to run ahead and help Windblade inside the increasingly overwhelmed Metroplex. When the two cityspeakers shut down Metroplex to save him, Starscream asked Elita One to transform Carcer but she refused. Gambling that Carcer himself might be willing to help, Windblade assembled an infiltration team. At Windblade's order, Sparkstalker procured a holo-generator, Desperate Times so that Lightbright could disguise herself as Windblade and act as a decoy while Windblade accessed Carcer's brain module. Piloting Lightbright's ship, Sparkstalker infiltrated Carcer only for their group to be found by Elita. Desperate Measures
Though Windblade managed to use Carcer to repel the invasion, the Titan turned out to be Vigilem, the Titan of Liege Maximo who freed his master. When Chromia was sent to him down, Sparkstalker and Lightbright loaded up the Sabre for her. The Chosen One
When Unicron began its assault on the Council of Worlds, Lightbright and Sparkstalker were part of the force defending Caminus from Unicron. They were saved from a group of Maximals by Dirge, only for a clawed one to kill the Seeker. Sparkstalker briefly summarized Dirge to his wife, eulogizing his comrade. Last Stand After Unicron had been destroyed and the Cybertronian race had moved on to Earth, Lightbright and Sparkstalker helped with cleanup efforts in San Francisco alongside Jazz and Rom. Post
2019 IDW continuity
- First appearance: Transformers #16 (mentioned); #28 (full)
A member of the Rise, Sparkstalker was one of Shockwave's trio of technical experts. He and Bitstream created a data-bomb that Slipstream's strike team used to disable the Titan Net. The Change In Your Nature Part Four
Although it was necessary at the time for the Rise's sedition, things changed once Megatron and his forces staged a coup and seized control of the government. Megatron wanted the Titans back online and in service of the Decepticons, so he had the existing Hub staff cleared out and replaced with Mindwipe, Bitstream, and Sparkstalker. Hunt Even with direct access to the Titan Net, however, their initial attack proved too effective. The data-bomb had caused damage that seemed irrevocable. The orbit of the slumbering Titans was already beginning to decay. Thinking in terms of triage, Megatron was concerned some other data specialist not loyal to the cause may gain access to the Titans from a subsidiary Hub as they did. If the Titans would not serve the Decepticons, Megatron ordered Sparkstalker's team to eliminate them entirely. They accelerated the damage, causing all the Titans in orbit to crash down to Cybertron. Titans
The Trinity were given access to the last Titanspark by Megatron, in hopes they could bring it online. However, when Exarchon returned, Bitstream and Sparkstalker saw another use for the spark cage technology holding the Titanspark. Against Mindwipe's whining, they explained to Megatron that the cage could be modified to trap and contain the Threefold Spark indefinitely. War's End Part Two Megatron saw the necessity, and sent the Trinity out to the Sonic Canyons, where Sixshot was engaged with Exarchon's forces. They explained the plan, and Exarchon was successfully contained and then eliminated, forevermore. War's End Part Four
Commercial appearances
The Firecons battled the Sparkabots in the middle of a Cybertronian city, with Sparkstalker taking on Guzzle. Seacons / Sparkabots / Firecons commercial
Games
Transformers Roleplaying Game
Sparkstalker attended a round-table discussion at the New Polyhex Training Academy regarding the history and efficacy of beast mode Transformers. During the debate, he argued that purely robotic mechanimal Transformers such as himself were superior to all other beast-formers. Technorganic Secrets
Toys
The Transformers
- Sparkstalker (Firecon, 1988)
- Known designers: Takashi Kunihiro (TakaraTomy)
- Released in the fifth year of Hasbro's US The Transformers toyline, Sparkstalker transforms from a robot to a bipedal insectoid monster thing, much resembling a chibi Gigan from Godzilla. In this mode, his rear limbs can be swung up, allowing him to be rolled forward on the rubber gear-wheel on his belly (and further balanced by a wide free-rolling wheel under the monster-neck, though as it is hard plastic this makes it very prone to being severely scraped up). Rolling the gear-wheel with sufficient speed activates the Firecon team's gimmick, shooting "cold" sparks from their beast mode mouths.
- His leg has an indent for a rubsign (as do all the other Firecons and Sparkabots), but as both Hasbro and Takara had phased that gimmick out by that point, he simply has a normal factory-applied Decepticon faction symbol sticker there.
- This mold was also used to make Javil.
Generation 2
- Sparkstalker (Sparkabot, 1994)
- Sparkstaker was garishly redecoed for release in the first year of the European/Australasian-market Generation 2 toyline along with his fellow Firecon Flamefeather, though now both were branded as "Sparkabots". He retained his cold-sparking gimmick, but it is a bit harder to properly work, as the friction-wheel uses a softer rubber that has a harder time getting the proper traction.
- As with all the Generations 2 Sparkabots, the translucent plastic is particularly prone to breaking.
Merchandise
Transformers Trading Card Game
- Sergeant Sparkstalker, Black Ops-Cryptology (2019)
- Wave 3: War for Cybertron: Siege I
- Rarity: CT
- Card Number: T46/T48
- Stars: 8
- Sergeant Sparkstalker, Black Ops-Cryptology is one of forty-eight double-sided character cards available in Wave 3 of the Transformers Trading Card Game, War for Cybertron: Siege I.
- The card's features original artwork, with line-art by Marcelo Matere and colors by Volta.
Notes
- All of the Sparkabot/Firecon molds have indentations on their beast mode legs seemingly meant for a rubsign. But both Hasbro and Takara stopped using rubsigns after 1987, so the spaces are "filled" with normal faction sigil decals.
Foreign names
- French: Feu Jaseur (Canada)
