Blaster

"When the music is rockin', I'm rollin'!"

BLASTER likes to turn it up loud. That goes for the way he does everything: fighting, talking, playing - living! If Blaster is involved, he makes his presence known. He is in the forefront of any situation. But aside from the things he normally does in the course of being an Autobot, he has a special passion: Rock 'n' Roll. His ability to monitor radio transmissions has exposed him to many Earthen musical styles, all of which he finds interesting. But it is rock music - good, hard and loud - that really sparks his circuits. He'd much rather be lost in the sound of a searing guitar solo than fight Decepticons. However, when called upon he will do what he must for the Autobot cause, albeit reluctantly at times. As Blaster likes to point out, "I hate changing channels in mid-song."

Blaster can assume the form and shrink to the size of an AM/FM stereo cassette deck. In addition to performing the normal functions of a deck, he can receive radio signals for all frequencies. He can detect signals with power outputs as weak as a millionth of a watt. His ability to transmit radio signals up to 4000 miles makes him the communications center for the Autobots. In robot form he carries an electro-scrambler gun, which emits powerful waves of electromagnetic energy that disrupt the operations of all but the most heavily shielded electrical devices. In theory, the gun should interfere with the minute electrical impulses of the human nervous system, but Blaster has never used the gun on a human.

Blaster's most obvious weakness is for rock 'n' roll. He will walk unwittingly into a trap for the promise of hearing some new tunes. Radio static has the effect of hampering his operation and even, if strong enough, knocking him out completely.

Canonical/Pre-MUX/Theme History:
Blaster is a fun-loving, hip and happenin' robot. Loud and energetic, he is happy to share his choice of rockin' tunes with anyone, whether they want to hear them or not.

Blaster arrived on Earth during the initial impact of the Ark into the planet. He had been present when the Ark crashed onto prehistoric Earth during the encounter wih the Nemesis, but due to being in the more heavily-damaged Ark belowdecks, he was not recovered and repaired for almost a year.

Soon after Blaster was revived, he attended Wheeljack's demonstration of the modifications he'd made to the Dinobots to improve their sense of balance and coordination. To that end, Blaster was requested to play something "nice." Due to his then-unfamiliarity with Earth, Blaster had trouble tuning into a station until Grimlock (obviously tired of this padding) blasted fire at Blaster's controls, allowing the Autobot boom box to tune into the local rock 'n' roll/big band music fusion station.

Ironhide, Trailbreaker and Sideswipe showed their appreciation for the fine selection of elevator music by jerkily dancing around and claiming their audio sensors were being fried. Blaster continued to enthrall Grimlock until Slag and Sludge bumped into their leader and totally freaked him out. At a not-so-secret EJK testing facility for the new Ultraplane, Blaster was sitting in the back of Ironhide's vehicle mode and didn't seem to notice the fact that Soundwave was sitting right next to him — at least until the Decepticon tape deck launched Ravage, whom Blaster quickly transformed to grab. The cat turned to attack the Autobot while his master escaped to report to Megatron. Blaster continued to tussle until Ironhide transformed into robot mode and threw them both out of his caboose. After being initially distracted by the Ultraplane's destruction, the Autobots returned to EJK's lab to confront the Decepticons. Blaster greatly appreciated Jazz's taste in fusion rock/big band music to confound the hapless villains.

Blaster's taste in music often got him into trouble. He attended a concert by a popular '80s rock/big band fusion hair metal band with Spike and Carly. Concerned that the other Autobots weren't enjoying the concert with them, Blaster flooded the Autobot communications channels with the music, though only Cosmos and Jazz seemed to appreciate it. Unfortunately, his taste in music also disrupted an emergency communique from the Helix Observatory, until the other Autobots told him to shut up. After the Voltronic Galaxer was stolen, Blaster was teamed up with Cosmos to search for signs of the Decepticons, but both were rather quickly captured. Blaster was welded into place to be used as a trans-scrambler for Megatron's scheme to use the voltronic galaxer to disrupt communications on Earth and then demand all the energy on the planet in exchange for normality. While Megatron ranted about his demands, Blaster secretly played his music, which served both to rally the Autobots and inform them of Megatron's location — until Megatron kicked him in the face. After foiling the Decepticon plans, Blaster was assigned to the abandoned moon base with Cosmos, but quickly got into trouble with Prime again for his music.

Later, Blaster and Tracks helped the New York police crack a car theft ring by posing as an attractive target for punks to steal. After Blaster teamed up with car thief Raoul, they learned that Megatron was behind the criminal operation, stealing cars to rebuild them into transforming drones. Blaster defended the Washington Bridge from the Decepticon drones alongside the other Autobots, but they were nearly overwhelmed by sheer numbers. After Ratchet realized the cars were remote-controlled, Blaster jammed the frequency, allowing the Autobots to attack and defeat the Decepticons.

Blaster proved useful again, even pivotal, in allowing the Autobots to save Cosmos and some robotic insecticide from the Morphobots. It turns out even plants hate Blaster's music.

Soon afterward, the Autobots were attacked by the malevolent Kremzeek, an energy life form created by Megatron. Blaster and a small number of other Autobots were the only ones to stay functional long enough to be sprayed with an insulating foam that protected them from the creature's attacks. The Autobot team chased it to Japan, where it wreaked havoc with the massive electronics industry there. The creature spawned copies of itself, one of which managed to slip inside Blaster, and after the other Kremzeeks were seemingly destroyed, it jumped out of his chest and the pursuit began again. Kremzeek!

Blaster was watching "As the Kitchen Sinks" with his Auto-buddies when Prime informed them that Tracks and Bumblebee were late returning from their supply run. Suspecting foul play, the Autobots took off to search for their missing comrades. While on the search, Blaster was forcibly transformed by a Creamy Cream billboard (They can do that?), then carted away by the big game hunter Lord Chumley and his butler Dinsmoore as bait to lure Optimus Prime into a hunt. Chumley apparently couldn't think of a suitably dastardly device in which to store Blaster, though, as he was totally absent from Chumley's prisoner showcase later on.

“ I've been waiting a long time for this, you poor excuse for a sound system! ” — Blaster confronting Soundwave, "Auto-Bop"

Tracks and Blaster were reunited with Raoul when they saved their human friend and his Bop Crew from a bunch of hoodlums in the employ of the Dancitron nightclub. When a punk tried to ensnare him in a chain, Blaster simply remarked that the humans were seriously out of their league, then broke the chain by moving his arm slightly. The Autobots forced their way into the nightclub, where Blaster appreciated the atmosphere and the impressive sound system. He then went off to dance with some oddly well-dressed ladies who sounded like Penny Marshall.

Soon after leaving the club, Tracks and Blaster had to save Raoul again when a Decepticon-controlled train driver sent the train Raoul was in hurtling out of control. Conferring with Teletraan I, Blaster discovered that Dancitron controlled its patrons by using hypnotic signals, and he suggested countering them with his own sonic powers. Entering the club, Blaster finally faced his Decepticon counterpart Soundwave in battle. At first, the combatants appeared to be evenly matched, but Soundwave drove Blaster back with his sonic assaults.

Improvising, Blaster jury-rigged Dancitron's own sound system into his speakers. He turned the combined sonic force against Soundwave, forcing him into retreat and wrecking the nightclub in the process.

When Megatron journeyed to Cybertron to bring life to his new Stunticons, Optimus Prime took Blaster and a small group aboard Omega Supreme to stop him. Megatron sent a cadre of Centurion droids after the Autobots, delaying them long enough for him to access Vector Sigma and bring his Stunticons to life.

As a counter-measure, Blaster and the other Autobots worked to retrofit five Cybertronian shuttles as Earth vehicles, and then used Vector Sigma in turn to bring life to these Aerialbots. Once they returned to Earth, the Autobots and Aerialbots confronted the newly-minted Stunticons. Impressively, Blaster used his sound system to generate a miniature earthquake using sonic vibrations, but Wildrider just sailed over the cracks and smashed into Blaster's face. On a second encounter with the Stunticons, Blaster converted into tapedeck mode and used his sonics to try blasting down a tree to make Breakdown crash. Instead, Breakdown used it as a ramp and Wildrider casually drove by and ran Blaster over. Ouch.

Blaster and Cosmos were sent on an inter-galactic shopping trip to pick up more Ingredient X for Perceptor's protective chemical spray, Corrostop. Unfortunately there was no more Ingredient X. Anywhere. In the entire universe. Bummer.

When the Stunticons returned performing a series of heists for Megatron, Blaster joined Prime and Bumblebee in hunting down Motormaster. He didn't do much, but he did get to witness the most awesome game of chicken ever, when Prime totalled Motormaster and proved himself the real "King of the Road."

Blaster then travelled to Cybertron, intending to destroy the Space Bridge. However, before he could commit his act of sabotage, he was confronted by Straxus in a one-on-one duel. Crippling Blaster with his axe, Straxus was duped into accidentally severing the bridge's fuel line, destabilizing its teleporting arch, through which Blaster then kicked Straxus, destroying him.

Ramhorn was built on Earth by Blaster in 1986 as one of Blaster's first attempts at creating Transformer life (as opposed to just converting existing Transformers to tape-bots, as he did with Discord and Eject.

MUX History:
Blaster was second in command of the Special Operations division until Optimus Prime combined it with Infantry.

With Wheeljack's help, he rebuilt Snoop from a Dinobot into a Tape-bot.

Blaster remains head of Autobot Communications, and sometimes acts as an Autobot Infantry field commander.

When Snoop disappeared into the Shattered Glass universe, Blaster took a shuttle and went to look for her. When his shuttle was damaged in an attack, he set down in Antarctica to try to make repairs. He finally got the ship flight-worthy in May of 2011, only to have it shot down again almost immediately by Ebony. Blaster was able to stun Ebony and get away, ultimately picked up by Prowl along with Snoop and returned to the main TFUniverse. He has since recovered from his harrowing trip to the other side.

In 2012, Crosscut was tracked to Mexico by Scourge, where he was briefly captured before Scourge was driven off by Blaster piloting the Autobot Shuttle Outrider.

In October of 2012, the Uber-Seeker was found by Decepticons Bombshell and Windshear. Windshear challenged the Uber-Seeker for leadership of the Dweller cult, and demonstrated his ability by leading a successful attack against the Centurion droids. However, soon after the battle, Bombshell and Windshear were tracked down by Blaster and Scourge, who subdued Bombshell and Windshear and brought them back for examination towards a possible cure for the Dweller nano-virus. At Windshear's command, the Uber-Seeker took his shambling horde of undead and retreated to the Underworld.

Before leaving for Cybertron, Blaster built a helperbot to assist Buster and Spike in taking care of Sparkplug in Autobot City. Snoop assisted by giving Helperbot a Santa hat and teaching it how to dance.

Blaster travelled to the Temple of Knowledge in Shattered Glass Cybertron to help guard Alpha Trion while Trion attempted to build a device to close the rifts between worlds. However, before Trion could complete his device, the Temple of Knowledge was attacked by Ultra Magnus, who teleported into the temple with the use of one of Wheeljack's Stellar spanners.

Blaster defended the temple, attacking Tracks and getting his one of his optics burned out in the process. Magnus attempted to use a doomsday device to destroy Cybertron, but before Wheeljack was able to complete the device Dust Devil preemptively activated it with the Terminus Blade. Magnus attempted to escape before the doomsday device detonated, but Trailbreaker tossed it through the Wheeljack's portal before it closed. It is unknown if Magnus and his troops survived the deontation.

Soon after, Throttle was assigned by Sir Soundwave to assist Alpha Trion in the Temple of Knowledge. Although initially distrusted by Red Alert (surprise!), she was welcomed by Blaster and asked to patrol the Manganese Mountains until needed for infiltration and sabotage missions.

OOC Notes
On the MUX, Blaster is usually portrayed as a combination of his cartoon and comic personas - a bombastic exterior masking a serious warrior within.

Some of his tape troops were built by him with the help of Wheeljack - others, like Snoop, started as small Autobots and were converted into Tape-Bots.

2007

 * February 19 - Snoop Intro
 * April 16 - Blaster and Spike discuss music
 * June 06 - Snoop finds a key
 * June 25 - Assault on the Citadel
 * June 25 - Autobots Attack Luminous - Blaster's POV
 * June 26 - Blaster's Report on Luminous
 * July 23 - Luminous TP Finale
 * October 15 - Blaster Returns to Autobot City
 * October 16 - The Key Returned
 * October 22 - Snoop learns to use the radio!

2008

 * February 25 - Snoop returns to Autobot City
 * May 26 - Autobots v. Megatron on Mars

2009

 * March 24 - "Niagra Energy Raid," Snoop's POV - Warpo is attacking the Niagra Falls power station. Snoop goes to investigate.
 * March 24 - "Browning v. Snoop" - The faceoff of the century! Violence!  Mayhem!  Or, just looking at pretty water...


 * September 07 - "Big Water" - Blaster takes Snoop to Florida to see Big Water... in the form of an incoming tsunami!


 * October 19 - "Blaster: Public Relations" - Blaster has another run-in with Turborat, this time on Earth.


 * November 5 - "Turborat"


 * November 10 - "Intelligence Request"

2011

 * May 17 - "Our Triumphant Return" - Blaster reports on his and Snoop's return to Autobot City

2012

 * August 02 - "Attack in Germany" - Blaster reports in intercepted communications indicating a terrorist attack against a US base in Germany
 * August 30 - "Autobot/G.I._Joe_communications" - Blaster sets up a joint Autobot-G.I. Joe command channel
 * October 3 - "Overheard" - Blaster reports on an unusual situation with the Decepticons
 * Nov 1 - "Nano-Virus" - Blaster reports on the capture of Bombshell and Windshear
 * Nov 2 - "Cure Procured" - Blaster reports on a cure for Jetfire
 * Nov 8 - "Disturbing Reports from Cybertron" - Blaster heads to Cybertron in pursuit of Hubcap
 * Nov 9 - "Hubcap" - Blaster reports on Hubcap's escape
 * December 02 - "Autobot Invasion" - Ultra Magnus attacks the Temple of Knowledge in an attempt to destroy all of Cybertron.
 * Dec 3 - "Temple Attack" - Blaster reports on Shattered Glass Ultra Magnus's attack on the Temple of Knowledge

Players
Blaster was played by crashinibon for a few months starting in June of 2008.

Blaster is currently temped by BZero. However, he is available for application.