Skyscorcher

Not quite finals, but you get the point.

The Skyscorchers, also known as the "Decepticon Skirmish Patrol",^[1] are a team of jets whose radar assemblies become powerful hand-held weaponry. They are the opposite numbers to the Axelerators on the Autobot side.

They're really evil.

The Skyscorchers are:

• Windrazor the F-16 Fighting Falcon and team leader
• Afterburner the F-104G Starfighter
• Eagle Eye the Eurofighter Typhoon
• Terradive the A-7E Corsair II

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel Generation 2 comic

The Skyscorchers aided Megatron and Starscream against Optimus Prime and the Dinobots in a battle on an unidentified rocky planet. War Without End!

Fleetway Generation 2 comic

The Skyscorchers (or at least Tornado, Hawk, and Terradive — Snipe was nowhere to be seen) were part of Bludgeon's troops who sacked London in a successful attempt to lure out Optimus Prime. War Without End When Megatron attempted to take back leadership of the Decepticons from Bludgeon, the loyal Skyscorchers gathered to attack him. Unfortunately, Hawk and Terradive were shot down and taken captive by the Autobots. War Zone

Regeneration One

Yeah, we're really important, there's no way the writer will kill us off.

The Skyscorchers tried to steal some cobalt-60 warhead-bearing Warbird missiles from the Pax Cybertronia Decommissioning Depot in Kalis, but were caught because of Terradive's clumsiness. Windrazor stomped on the bickering and came up with a plan: surrender to the Autobots, hand over the warheads outside, blow a detonator cap to create lots of light and noise, and then leg it. It would've worked if Soundwave hadn't decided to create Decepticon martyrs of them and sent three Insecticons in to ensure they were seen to die setting the warheads off. Loose Ends, Part 1

Wings Universe

As a "second generation" of Transformers was created in Earth's Cyberfactories, the Skyscorchers were among the many Transformers "born" as official citizens of Earth. Despite being created with no faction in mind, they and many other Earth-born Cybertronians chose to become a new faction of Decepticons—the Decepticon Syndicate, commanded by Clench. Generation 2: Redux

Toys

The Transformers

Tornado / Windrazor

• Hawk (Skyscorchers, 1993)
• Snipe (Skyscorchers, 1993)
• Terradive (Skyscorchers, 1993)
• Tornado (Skyscorchers, 1993)

• Known designers: Takio Ejima (TakaraTomy), Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)

Released in the ninth and final year of the original European/Australasian market Transformers toyline (two years after the line ended in the US), the Skyscorchers transform into various fighter jets with undercarriage radars that become non-firing handheld blasters in robot mode. They were first sold in the European market in 1993 (under different names) as part of the "transitional" line that used the Generation 2 insignias, but lacked the new subline name.

Tornado and Snipe were gang-molded together, as were Hawk and Terradive.

Generation 2

• Afterburner / Snipe (Jets, 1993 / Skyscorchers, 1994)
• Eagle Eye / Hawk (Jets, 1993 / Skyscorchers, 1994)
• Terradive / Terradive (Jets, 1993 / Skyscorchers, 1994)
• Windrazor / Tornado (Jets, 1993 / Skyscorchers, 1994)

Shortly after their European release, the Skyscorchers were made available in the United States as part of the proper Generation 2 line, with the subgroup simply identified as "Jet": Also, everyone except for Terradive was given a different name. Whereas their Autobot counterparts received minor deco changes for U.S. release, the Decepticons were identical on both sides of the Atlantic.

In 1994, they were re-released in Europe in Generation 2 packaging, though these versions were called "Skyscorchers" again, and all four figures retained their previous European names.

The Skyscorcher molds were supposed to be used for the ultimately-canceled Takara Block Town line, as the Autobots Sky Tornado, Snipe, and Terradive, though no Block Town Hawking has never been revealed.

Notes

• The name "Skyscorchers" originates with the European 1993 release of the figures. When they were released as part of the Generation 2 line in the US, the assortment was simply identified as "Jet" (they're sometimes referred to as the "Small Decepticon Jets" to distinguish them from the larger Decepticon "Jets" Starscream and Ramjet), but their European-market Generation 2 re-release retained the name "Skyscorchers".
• Judging by the "TM" under each, the Skyscorcher members apparently took the time to trademark each of their distinctive G2 Decepticon insignias (thunderbolt for Windrazor, flying Vs for Afterburner, dragon for Eagle Eye, and slashed bar for Terradive). Huh.
• Though the Skyscorchers were never released in Japan, each did gain a Japanese name via a BotCon Japan 1997 exclusive poster, which featured bios for all of the new Generation 2 characters released in the U.S. who weren't part of the Japanese line: the Axelerators, the Skyscorchers, Rotor Force, four of the Go-Bots, and the Color Changers.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Skyscorcher (スカイスコーチャー Sukaisukōchā)
• Italian: Colorflashes

References