| Blackout | |
| Transformers character | |
 | |
| First appearance | Transformers: Generation 1 |
| Voiced by | Brian Stepanek (animated prequel) Noah Nelson (video game) Bumper Robinson |
| {Japanese) | Kenta Miyake |
| Information | |
|---|---|
| Aliases | Search, Blast Off |
| Affiliation | Decepticon Mini-Con |
| Partner | Spaceshot Demolishor Barricade Blight Kickback Stormcloud Scorponok Megatron |
| Alternate modes | Half a B-1B Lancer bomber jet Mobile missile platform AH-64 Apache Cybertronian space craft, helicopter Cybertronian space craft |
Blackout is the name of six fictional robot supervillan characters from the Transformers robot superhero franchise. He is a Decepticon and is the predecessor of Grindor.
Transformers: Generation 1
Blackout was one of a team of two Micromaster Combiners. They came with a Gepard air defense vehicle that could transform to a base. Because Blackout and his partner Spaceshot are regularly pictured together and that they are amongst the lesser-known Micromasters, the exact identity of each Transformer is regularly mistaken for the other.
Transformers: Armada
Blackout is the Mini-Con partner of Demolishor. In the cartoon, Demolishor used him to find other Mini-Cons.
Transformers: Energon
Blackout was a member of the Decepticon Destruction Team and transformed into a helicopter. He was able to combine with his team to form a limb of the giant robot, Bruticus Maximus.
Animated series
In the Energon animated series, Blackout was a seemingly non-sentient drone commanded by team leader, Barricade. As with all of the Energon combiner limbs, Blackout has a twin brother on his team—Stormcloud. Their energon weapons were a cannon and a pair of guns. In the Japanese series, each member had the name of a Generation 1 Combaticon—Blackout's name was Blast Off.
Transformers Cinematic Universe
Early leaked scripts of the 2007 live-action film had a Decepticon helicopter named Vortex, after the Generation 1 Combaticon. Possibly due to Hasbro's lack of a trademark on the name Vortex, they changed the name to Blackout. Blackout has had various names before being finalized—Soundwave, Vortex and Incinerator; all names have been used on a Transformers toy at some point before. Leaked concept art for the character had the name "Incinerator" on it.
Blackout transforms into a Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low helicopter. According to screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, Blackout is the largest Decepticon. Blackout is armed with rotary machine guns and energon wave cannons. He is also able to detach and wield his tail rotor blades as a close-combat weapon. According to the book Transformers: The Movie Universe, Blackout's rotor weapon can spin at 6,000 rpm and is reinforced with toughened cobalt. When out of vehicle mode his main rotors fold into two sets of three onto his back, giving him the appearance of having wings. When in helicopter mode he can simulate the appearance of a human pilot, the same holographic model (referred to as "Mustache Man" on-set and in the credits) that "pilots" Starscream and "drives" Barricade. Blackout can carry Scorponok on his back, as seen in both the film and the game.
According to his profile in the second issue of the U.K. Transformers magazine, Blackout stands 33 feet 5 inches tall, weighs 2.9 tons and has a maximum speed of 800 mph. The official guide to the Transformers video game says he's 33 feet tall.
Films
In the 2007 live-action film, Blackout is the first active Decepticon (and first Transformer) to be seen. Blackout serves as the right hand of Megatron in the movie. He is Third-in-Command after Megatron and Starscream. Early in the film, he, along with his minion Scorponok, attacks the SOCCENT Forward Operations Center in Qatar, disguised as a MH-53M Pave Low IV helicopter, tail number 4500X, that was apparently shot down over Afghanistan three months earlier. Blackout is escorted to the base by two F-22 Raptors, where he transforms and single-handedly destroys the whole base. During his attack, he attempts to hack into the base's system to download data on the location of the Allspark and Megatron, only to have the hardline to the system cut off by a military officer. He then deploys Scorponok and send him to after a fleeing Captain William Lennox and his team.
Later, Blackout is seen rallying with the other Decepticons to Starscream's call, after Frenzy discovers the Allspark in the Hoover Dam, saying "All hail Megatron" as if to remind Starscream who his master is. Arriving in Mission City during the final battle, Blackout attacks Sam, who is saved by the timely intervention of Ironhide, who throws a car at Blackout, which the Decepticon blasts out of the way and then he shoots down Ironhide. Later he attempts to kill Sam with his rotor weapon, but misses him by a few feet. Towards the end of the battle he attempts to help Megatron finish off Optimus Prime; however, he is attacked by Captain Lennox and his team, the former racing underneath him on a motorcycle and firing at him with a sabot round, along with human pilots in F-22 Raptors firing a barrage of missiles from the air, eventually killing him. (The events of "Starscream's Militia" and Alliance issue #2 occur next.) His corpse is disposed of in the Laurentian Abyss, along with Megatron and the other fallen Decepticons. In Revenge of the Fallen a similar looking but much larger Decepticon named Grindor appears assisting Megatron and the Doctor in taking the All Spark fragment from Sam. Grindor is later killed by Optimus Prime during an attempt to rescue Sam.
Transformers Animated
Animated Blackout is a character who appeared in season 3 of the Transformers Animated series. He is a homage to the 2007 movie version of the character and incorporates the insect-like style of the movie Decepticons into his robot mode.
Blackout is a living legend who has destroyed Omega Sentinels. He is also the largest Decepticon ever seen. He can emit shockwaves from his feet that can shut down (and reactivate) machinery.
Transformers: Prime
In the "aligned" universe, Blackout was a battle-hardened gladiator who joined Megatron's Decepticons in the war against the Autobots. His loyalty to Megatron and defiance of Starscream mirror his live-action film incarnation.