| Blurr | |
| Transformers character | |
 | |
| First appearance | Transformers: Generation 1 |
| Voiced by | John Moschitta, Jr. Brian Drummond |
| (Japanese) | Ken Yamaguchi Isshin Chiba Takahiro Sakurai |
| Information | |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Autobot |
| Partner | Haywire Incinerator Backtrack Oval Spiral Longrack |
| Alternate modes | Cybertronian hover car, Sports car Cybertronian car, (resembling a Maserati MC12) Futuristic Race Car Velocitronian race car, Earth formula race car, Ferrari FXX Evoluzione Velocitronian race car |
Blurr is the name given to seven different fictional characters in the many continuities in the Transformers franchise. Blurr frequently appears as a blue Autobot who transforms into a swift car.
Transformers: Generation 1
Blurr is the fastest Autobot on land. He was used primarily by the Autobots as a high-speed messenger. Blurr was also portrayed having extremely fast-speaking mannerisms, and a nervous streak when dealing with his superiors. Despite this, he is a loyal warrior and friend. When he became a Targetmaster, he was paired with Haywire, an impulsive and excitable Nebulan youngster.
With his top speed of 800 miles-per-hour, Forbes named Blurr as the fastest fictional car in 2008.
Animated series
Blurr first appeared in The Transformers: The Movie. He continued to appear in season 3 of the television series as one of Rodimus Prime's closest allies. He was also typically shown as a companion to Wheelie or Wreck-Gar, who also had unique styles of speaking. All three could be seen as comic relief among the Season 3 cast.
Noted for his quick wit, and fast talking, his voice was supplied by well-known fast-talking actor John Moschitta, Jr., whose vocal talents complemented Blurr's high-velocity nature.
Blurr had several notable appearances over the course of the show. In "Five Faces of Darkness", he and Wheelie are charged with delivering the Transformation Cog to Metroplex. This subplot runs through the entire five parter and used to introduce various other Transformers characters into the season. Following this Blurr would have a starring role in "Forever is a Long Time Coming", in which he, Blaster and Wreck-Gar assist a young Alpha Trion in a Quintesson overthrow. Blurr would also be a key player in the retrieval of the "Quintesson Journal". Later Blurr appears in "Face of the Nijika", where he is injured and for the first time talks at normal pace. Blurr would also be among the uninfected Autobots to team up with Optimus Prime in "The Return of Optimus Prime". Finally in the three-part fourth series, "The Rebirth", Blurr became a Targetmaster, with his partner Haywire.
In the Japanese exclusive Transformers: The Headmasters series the events of The Rebirth were ignored. Blurr continued to appear as a member of the cast, and never became a Targetmaster. Instead he joined Rodimus Prime and Kup in searching for a new home world for the Transformers and vanished from the remainder of the serise. The Japanese version of the animated series portrayed Blurr as stuttering, not speaking quickly as he did in the English version.
Marvel Comics
Blurr first appeared in the Headmasters Limited series as one of the Autobot crew led by Fortress Maximus. He became a Targetmaster in the fourth and final issue of the series.
Blurr first appeared in the regular Transformers series in issue #42, where he quickly joined up with the Earth Autobots, and eventually served under Optimus Prime.
Although Blurr did not receive a big role in the US comics, he played a large role in writer Simon Furman's UK stories. Blurr's first chronological appearance came in the Marvel UK Transformers Target: 2006 arc. He was unwittingly sent by Unicron alongside Hot Rod and Kup, thwarting the future Decepticon Galvatron in his plan to destroy Unicron in 1986 with aid from the present-day Ultra Magnus. He would appear in many of the movie-future themed stories, time-traveling again with Kup and Hot Rod (now Rodimus Prime) to recapture Galvatron and stop Death's Head, battling against the Unicron-controlled Decepticons on Cybertron in Prime's absence and battling the Quintessons on Earth. Things would come to a head when Galvatron's continued presence in the past (along with Scourge and the now-deceased Cyclonus) opened a time rift that threatened to destroy Earth and Cybertron. Blurr was part of the group led back by Rodimus Prime to deal with the threat, but even they could not stand against Galvatron and his ally - a clone of Megatron (believed by all to be the real thing). Only Optimus Prime's defeat of Galvatron and Shockwave depositing Cyclonus' body into the rift saved everything. Blurr and the other future Autobots returned find to their own time-stream changed to a different, darker future, where Galvatron was alive and ruling most of Cybertron.
Blurr appeared among the Autobots under the command of Rodimus Prime in the alternate future story "Aspects of Evil 2" from Marvel UK Transformers #224. In this story Rodimus Prime remembered how Galvatron, Crankcase, Ruckus and Windsweeper killed Blurr and then attacked Rodimus Prime, Kup, Arcee and the Battle Patrol. Enraged, Rodimus nearly killed Galvatron, but to keep the Matrix from being contaminated by hatred he relented.
Transformers: Armada
Blurr (Silverbolt in Japan) appeared in the Transformers: Armada series.
Animated series
In the Transformers: Armada animated series, Blurr's portrayal was faithful to his tech spec. He was portrayed as a brave officer and a veteran of many battles. When he is first seen in the series, Blurr meets his mini-con partner Incinerator. He is portrayed as a snob, and was even once claimed to be anti-social from Hot Shot. It is learned that Blurr was sent to aid the Autobots due to a message from his past mentor, Scavenger. After a failed attempt at capturing a Mini-Con which involved tension between Blurr and Hot-Shot, the two Autobots are able to bond and became friends as well as rivals. Throughout the entire Armada series, Blurr is seen as being very patient at times, yet he still maintains his snob attitude to even his own teammates. During a training exercise, Blurr tells Smokescreen that he will not be able to keep up to the pace that Hot Shot and himself are going. To Blurr's dismay, Smokescreen is able to beat the obstacle course in a very unorthodox way.
At one point he saved the life of the rookie Side Swipe from Decepticon execution. Unfortunately this leads the young Autobot to hero-worship him. When Blurr comes to Earth, Side Swipe follows, but Blurr is soon able to unload him on Hot Shot - much to the latter's exasperation. Returning to Cybertron later in the series, Blurr is revealed to be a veteran pilot as he is seen piloting the Autobot ship. Blurr's no-nonsense attitude made him a valuable ally. However, it also led to friction between him and Hot Shot, as well as Rad, Alexis and Carlos. He survives the series-ending battle against Unicron. Unlike his G1 counterpart, Blurr talks at a normal pace, is a tough veteran, and does not have a mouth as he sports a faceplate.
Transformers: Cybertron
His bio seemingly painted him as a different character than Armada Blurr. This Blurr was a retired race champion who resided on Velocitron teaching rookie Transformers how to race. Though he appears to be a harsh taskmaster, this masks a genuine affection for his students. He takes their successes and failures to heart, and demands nothing less than the best - from them and him.
Unlike most other Velocitronian racers who seem to focus on improving only their vehicle mode's speed, Blurr prides himself on the fact that he may be the fastest Velocitronian racer on two legs. By using his Cyber Key he can run speeds in excess of the speed of sound, while maintaining the maneuverability of a robotic form. He can literally run circles around his opponents in combat. Although his vehicle mode is better suited for flat terrain, his wheels emit a low level energy which flattens uneven road conditions ahead of him, thus allowing him to drive over moderately rough terrain as if it was flat road.
When using his Cyber Key enhanced speed Blurr often talks so fast most people cannot understand him.
Animated series
Although there is a civilian Autobot vehicle in the TV series that resembles Blurr, he was unnamed and did not transform into robot mode. these 'Blurrs' comes in blue, red and green versions. He had some dialogue in the episode "Hidden", and made several cameo appearances, however these civilian Autobots seem to be from Cybertron and are not the Blurr from Velocitron.
Transformers Animated
Blurr is the name of an Autobot in the Transformers Animated series from Cartoon Network. He is a homage to the Generation 1 character of the same name, even having the same voice actor. In addition, he is also a homage of Cheetor in the shelved Transtech series.
Blurr is seemingly the fastest Autobot, perhaps the fastest of all Transformers. He can travel on his feet-wheels in robot mode and as a vehicle has been seen to drive right up walls.
Animated series
He first appears in the season 2 episode, "Velocity", in which he competes in Master Disaster's illegal street racing tournament and usurps Bumblebee's self-proclaimed title of "fastest thing on wheels". During that time, he was controlled by Master Disaster's AllSpark-powered remote device, and when it was destroyed, he regained control and saved Sari and Bumblebee from Blitzwing before driving off.
Blurr returned in the two-part season two finale episode "A Bridge Too Close", in which he was seen in robot mode for the first time. He is revealed to be an intelligence agent for the Elite Guard, sent to keep an eye on the earth Autobot crew. His personality reflects that of his G1 incarnation, in that he speaks at an extremely fast rate and has a tendency to rattle on in long-winded speeches, however unlike G1 Blurr, he does not repeat his words as he speaks. His cover is blown when Bumblebee, presuming him to be a Decepticon, attacks. After clearing up the misunderstanding, Blurr leads the Autobots to the Decepticons' base. Once inside, Blurr uses his speed to place stasis cuffs on Blitzwing and Lugnut, rendering them immobile. During the battle between the Autobots, Decepticons and Starscream's clones, while putting stasis cuffs on Skywarp, Blurr falls into the Decepticons' open Space Bridge with Skywarp and Thundercracker after being encased in Mixmaster's cement. The bridge's target coordinates had not been programmed, and all three were sent to an unknown location in the galaxy.
Blurr returned in the season three premiere special "Transwarped". It was revealed that after landing on a distant planet (still attached to the clones), Thundercracker helped the Autobot escape, only to attack him. Blurr escaped and fled to Cybertron, only to be greeted by Longarm/Shockwave. He reported his experiences on Earth to his colleague, only for Longarm to attack him and herd him into a series of hallways. Shockwave closed all the gates, trapping the speedy Autobot, who soon met his supposed demise by being crushed into a cube by the walls closing in on him. He was last seen when Longarm ordered Cliffjumper to dispose of the "sensitive material" by throwing it into an incinerator.
Despite being crushed into a cube, Blurr was not confirmed dead, and in fact kept his colors as a cube despite the Transformers in Transformers: Animated turning grey upon death. Later an animation model of Blurr's remains with his spark still active was revealed by Derrick Wyatt, the show's character designer, showing that the writers considered an option to bring Blurr back; however, the series ended with Blurr being disposed of despite this. Later, in a comic set after the series, Cliffjumper is clearly shown holding the Blurr cube, meaning that while still a cube, Blurr remains alive.
Transformers: Timelines (Shattered Glass)
In the Transformers: Timelines series Blurr is an evil alternate reality version of Generation 1 Blurr. This Blurr is soft-spoken but a fast thinker. Although a capable warrior, Optimus Prime prefers to use him to gather information on his enemies. He has a heroic cousin named Crasher.
Blurr has the power to steal speed, slowing down others while increasing his own speed. His face is scarred on the left side, with his left eye covered by a patch.
Aligned
Another version of Blurr appears in Transformers: Rescue Bots, along with another new character named Salvage. He hails from the planet Velocitron and is a Rescue Bot transforms into a race car. He loves being fast and takes pride in his speed, but he is also extremely reckless and impatient.
Animated series
Blurr debuts, along with Salvage, in "The New Recruits". He and Salvage crash landed on Earth during a meteor shower over 10,000 years ago in their cargo ship. Blurr was the pilot of the ship. During his training, he's always making Heatwave displeased with him. Blurr was revealed to have not have been involved in Salvage's plot to save the cave people of Wayward Island, in fact he abandoned Salvage to try and go home. After the footage of this was discovered, Optimus Prime allowed Blurr another chance at being on the Rescue Bots. Blurr and Salvage are later transferred to another location by Optimus Prime. He briefly references his origins from Transformers: Exiles as he tells Salvage about Velocitron.
Transformers Cyberverse
Animated series
His only appearance in this continuity was the episode "Terminal Velocity". Bumblebee meets up with Hot Rod and Blurr on Velocitron via space bridge. After an exchange of friendly quips between the two racers, they decide to find a proper track to race on, as Bumblebee sees a news report about the Plague of Rust that is affecting remote areas of the Cybertronian territories. Turning back to rejoin his friends, he almost bumps into a stumbling bot with rust on their arm. Connecting this to the news report, he tries to bring it to the others' attention, but they're already speeding away; transforming, he hurries after the two racers.
Bumblebee catches up to Blurr and Hot Rod, who are preparing to start a race. Hot Rod asks what Bumblebee had been trying to tell them, but caught up in excitement at the awesome-looking racecourse, Bee can't remember and shrugs it off. The three are quickly off, but soon discover that part of the track is closed for repairs - a fact Blurr had known and failed to mention, to Hot Rod's anger. The brewing argument is interrupted by the approach of a damaged track maintenance drone that crashes into the track just ahead of them. Deciding to take a closer look, they see that it is covered in rust, that spreads to the track and begins spreading rapidly. Desperately racing away from it and past some bots that have already fallen victim, a second drone seems to home on them, crashing just behind their fleeing wheels.
Blurr takes the two visiting bots to a hideout he's constructed. Bumblebee and Hot Rod demand that they get as far away from Velocitron as they can, but Blurr, saying that they'll be safe in the bunker-like hideout, refuses to abandon his homeworld. Sadly, his hopefulness is shortlived, as the three discover a victim of the plague has managed to break into the hideout, shouting about "red rust" as he lurches towards Blurr; Bumblebee knocks him down with a container before he collapses and dissolves against the wall, the trio looking on in horror as the rust rapidly starts consuming Blurr's hideout.
Realizing that staying on Velocitron is a death sentence, Blurr agrees that they have to get to the space bridge, but isn't quite fast enough to escape a patch of rust getting on his rear tires as they flee. Arriving at the bridge, they find the area devastated and desolate, the city and its inhabitants all but completely consumed. Bumblebee activates the space bridge, but he and Hot Rod realize that someone has to stay behind to shut it down so the plague can't spread through it. Blurr, revealing his infection, decides to stay behind, deactivating the bridge and disintegrating into rust as the two other Autobots make good their escape.