Laserbeak/Cartoon continuity

Laserbeak. The annoying evil bird spy from your favorite 1980s cartoon.

The Transformers cartoon
Laserbeak was the first of the cassette Transformers. Prior to his arrival on Earth, Laserbeak had less of an avian shape, resembling instead a stylized jet with an ovoid silhouette and a hooked nosecone. He still transformed into a cassette, which is kind of strange when you consider his "carrier" transformed into a lamp-post and not necessarily any device that played cassettes. But anyway, this Laserbeak often carried out spy missions, able to sneak into places the larger Soundwave could not manage, including Iacon, the Autobots' headquarters. There, Laserbeak learned of the Autobot mission to seek out new sources of energy away from Cybertron, which prompted a Decepticon interception mission in turn. This led to the whole lot of these spacefaring Transformers crashlanding on Earth and taking a four million-year dirtnap in the heart of a spastic volcano.

In the year 1984, the Transformers were awakened by volcanic activity, and Laserbeak was reformatted with terrestrial aesthetics in both robot and altmode. His altmode was an audiocassette, while his robot mode was that of a vulture. His missions, though, were largely unchanged, and he continued to serve as a spy.

Laserbeak was the first Decepticon to tangle with Autobots on Earth when he was dispatched by Soundwave and Megatron to chase down two snooping Autobot spies, Hound and Cliffjumper. The Autobots tried to scurry away, splitting up so that Laserbeak couldn't follow both of them. He had the last laugh (or squawk) on them, as he launched one of his laser cannons to follow Cliffjumper remotely while he continued to hound Hound, at least until Cliffjumper gas-bombed the drone. Laserbeak fared better than his cannon, and managed to blast the Autobot snoop off the road. Continuing with his scouting missions, Laserbeak uncovered the oil refinery which served as the Decepticons' first major strike against Earth, and their first battle with the Autobots on our planet.

Floating above the main battle, Laserbeak saw a safe chance to be useful, and flew between Megatron and Prime, pecking at Optimus's face long enough for Laserbeak's glorious leader to take to the skies. When the Autobots attacked the Decepticons' new space cruiser before it could depart, Laserbeak was ejected for warfare (for a change) along with his fellow Cassettes. Being the coward that he is, though, Laserbeak managed to be conspicuously absent throughout the battle, besides a single strafing run from the safety of the air.

Once the Decepticons dug their space cruiser out of the briny deep, they resumed their attacks on a nearby solar power station. While the others engaged the larger Autobots, Laserbeak kept to squawking around Bumblebee's head. Later, Laserbeak spied on the Autobots to ensure they took the bait for a trap Megatron had set for them. He tried to help in the cave trap later on, but Ratchet trapped him instead inside a tiny net. After Megatron was accidentally sent to Cybertron following an early space bridge test, Laserbeak and Rumble were present to greet Megatron on his return. Laserbeak perched on Megatron's arm, signifying Megatron's resumption of command of the Earthbound Decepticons. Once the Decepticons set their sights on the antimatter formula, Laserbeak attempted to steal it from Chip Chase and Bumblebee, but to no avail.

After Starscream's strike team blasted Optimus Prime something fierce, Megatron assigned Laserbeak to infiltrate the Ark and ascertain the Autobot leader's true condition. For once, Laserbeak demonstrated his cowardice in Megatron's presence, but reluctantly went forth on his mission. Perhaps looking to prove himself after showing his yellow streak, Laserbeak took some extreme risks. First, he transformed into cassette mode and landed right on the powerhouse Brawn's shoulder to enter the Autobot base. Then, at Megatron's prodding, he flew down in full sight of the entire Autobot team and fired laser beams straight into Prime's exposed chest cavity. This exacerbated the damage and made the Autobot mission to find a replacement cosmitron for Prime of great priority.

On another scouting mission in the Arctic Circle, Laserbeak alerted Megatron to Starscream's bumbling execution of some Autobot prisoners using a weird Morse Code signal. Later, he joined Soundwave and Reflector in gathering information on the Great Falls.

When the Decepticons were on a mission in South America, they were temporarily interrupted by an attack from Brawn and Windcharger. Windcharger soon realized the duo were outclassed fighting so many Decepticons at once, and directed Brawn to pull back. Well, bless his cowardly tin-plated heart, Laserbeak waited until after Windcharger sounded the retreat to get involved, showing great "courage" as he shot the Autobots in the back as they were driving away. Still, never let it be said that Laserbeak doesn't have his uses. When Brawn later returned and stole Megatron's fusion cannon, blasting the Decepticon leader with his own weapon, it was Laserbeak who flew in to retrieve the cannon for his master. Of course, he naturally flew in from behind Brawn for maximum safety, but really, who could blame him?

One afternoon, while the Seekers engaged in yet another grab for energy, Soundwave and the Cassettes carried out Operation: Guinea Pig at the Ark. As his partners Rumble and Ravage created a distraction for the present Autobots, Laserbeak swooped in and carried off one of their human comrades, Sparkplug Witwicky. Laserbeak delivered the human to Megatron and Doctor Arkeville for testing of their new hypno-chip. After a successful test, Laserbeak flew out to collect more potential slaves for the Decepticons. He also took advantage of a well-placed earthquake to kidnap Spike Witwicky as well, while Bumblebee was dangling over a crevace. Unfortunately for the beryllium buzzard, Bluestreak was on the scene. His sharpshooting ability blasted Spike right out of Laserbeak's clutches, and drove off the Decepticon spy. After the plot to change Cybertron's orbit failed, Laserbeak reported to Megatron about the treachery of Starscream and Doctor Arkeville. Seeking out the traitors, Megatron and the Decepticons ran afoul of the Autobots along the way. To deter pursuit, Megatron led the Autobot cars into a valley of quicksand, hoping they would sink out of his way forever. He left Laserbeak behind to monitor their demise. When Ironhide started to get his hand free, Laserbeak tried to divebomb the Autobot, only to be blasted by Mirage's rocket launcher. Stunned, the Decepticon reverted to his cassette mode, and was captured by Jazz. Once the Autobots got free, Jazz used his own audio system to replay Laserbeak's findings, alerting the Autobots to the Decepticons' destination at Arkeville's secret lab.

On a routine scouting mission, Laserbeak uncovered information about giant robotic insects in Bali, and relayed the info to Megatron. When Megatron arranged a bout of single combat between himself and Optimus Prime, Soundwave ejected Laserbeak to watch the festivities along with the rest of the two armies.

Proving once again that he spends more time at the Ark than with the Decepticons, Laserbeak happened to be on the scene to learn Spike Witwicky was mentally unstable and possessing the powerful "spare" Autobot called Autobot X. On his next mission, Laserbeak attacked a group of innocent gold prospectors. After he had his fun, though, Soundwave put him back in his cage for awhile. He popped out again later on to take potshots at his favorite weak target, Bumblebee. When the Decepticons moved their operations to New York City, Laserbeak was put on Autobot patrol, and alerted Megatron to their enemies' rendez-vous in Central Park. He was also joined by his flying buddy, Buzzsaw, for the first time in this battle. In an attack on the Ark, Laserbeak and the Decepticons were charged with distracting the Autobots while Megatron and Starscream snuck inside to sabotage the Autobots' equipment. Laserbeak bit off more than he could handle with Prowl, though, and ended up being lassoed to the Autobot's rifle. It was a stand-off as Laserbeak fired at Prowl from the air while Prowl tried to drag him to the ground, until Megatron sounded the retreat. Laserbeak cut the wire with his blasts and took off as fast as his little wings could carry him.

Laserbeak's next patrol duty was around the desert laboratory where Megatron was testing his stolen electro-cells. He alerted Soundwave the moment he sighted Autobot intruders, then hid inside his cozy chest cavity. When the human girl named Carly attempted to raid Decepticon headquarters on her own, Soundwave sent Laserbeak up to the surface to capture her. He succeeded, proving once again that he is occasionally strong enough to defeat a single human. He did, however, fail to recapture the Immobilizer for the Decepticons soon thereafter. Returning to his spying duties, Laserbeak learned of Spike and Chip's plan for an Autobot road rally for charity.

Laserbeak and Buzzsaw discovered the city of Sub-Atlantica on the bottom of the ocean floor, which led to an uneasy alliance between the Sub-Atlanticans and the Decepticons, and the subsequent attack of both parties on Washington, D.C. In D.C., Laserbeak popped out of Soundwave and was almost immediately shot down by Hound. By the time he was back in the air, the Dinobots had broken through the Decepticon defenses and Swoop took out Laserbeak and Buzzsaw with missiles moments after arriving at the battle. Some days it just doesn't pay to come out of the tapedeck.

In order to gain control over the super-computer TORQ III, Laserbeak was joined by Megatron and Soundwave in his infiltration of the defense compound where the computer was housed. Laser blasting their way to the core, Megatron was able to reprogram the computer to serve only him. Using TORQ to guide them, Megatron arranged for countless oil tankers to converge on Decepticon headquarters. An Autobot scouting party attempting to thwart his plans at the site, but Laserbeak swiped Spike Witwicky in the middle of battle and forced the Autobots to lay down their arms. Luckily, another contingent of Autobots confronted TORQ directly, deactivating the computer, and made their way to Megatron's refinery, freeing their friends. At the unveiling of Doctor Fujiyama's robot ninja, Nightbird, Laserbeak stormed the ceremony with Rumble and Frenzy, causing considerable chaos.

Despite his well-documented cowardice, Laserbeak is sometimes surprisingly effective in combat. Immediately after Optimus Prime single-handedly disarmed Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp at once in battle, Laserbeak swooped out of the sky and managed to incapacitate Prime just as easily with a hail of laser beams. At Megatron's direction, however, he did not finish the job. Instead, Laserbeak used his recording equipment to create a fully-body holographic scan of the Autobot leader, allowing Megatron to manufacture a perfect duplicate of Optimus Prime for his plans. Later on, he also easily overpowered Starscream and unceremoniously dragged him back to Megatron in his talons. Clearly, Laserbeak had been eating some top notch birdfeed that week.

Laserbeak observed the Autobots observing the Constructicons deep core drilling project. He alerted Megatron to the spies, and the Decepticons rose to the surface to drive off the snoops. When the Decepticons assaulted the Nova Power Plant, Soundwave released Laserbeak and Buzzsaw to torment the Autobots. Instead, Inferno and Jazz were overjoyed at being part of an "overgrown turkey shoot", and they blasted Laserbeak out of the sky. Laserbeak was also briefly taken over by Bombshell's cerebro-shells when the Insecticons were at odds with Megatron, but soon recovered.

Stationed outside the Autobot base, Soundwave learned of the prehistoric Dinobot Island and its potential for rich sources of energy. At Megatron's behest, he dispatched Laserbeak to follow Powerglide and the Dinobots to the island and observe. One time, he got "over-energized" and crashed beak-first into a sand dune. Did a nice loop-the-loop, though.

Megatron's next plan involved some masterful manipulation of the power-hungry human named Shawn Berger. Laserbeak snuck himself into Burger's office in cassette mode, then retrieved the human for a friendly chat with Megatron on a nearby hillside. When the Decepticons' plan to turn the people of Earth against the Autobots succeeded, they briefly acted as "friends of the Earth" for Megatron's amusement. Laserbeak and the cassettes went to a local teen dance with Soundwave to mingle with the fleshlings. One of the kids asked if "Laserbeak wanna cracker". Never has a giant, speechless robot bird conveyed so much raw hatred with a single look.

When the Decepticons got involved in a massive scheme with the Insecticons, the Autobots attempted to acquire some robotic insecticide to use against the enemy. Laserbeak reported their search back to Megatron, who became interested in acquiring the insecticide himself, in case the Insecticons ever proved troublesome. After receiving a distress signal from Deceptitran, the Decepticons arrived to help stop the revolt of the Tlalakans. Laserbeak performed some reconnaissance, and uncovered the Autobot allies of the Tlalakans. He also located the secret city of the Tlalakans after a raiding party hit Deceptitran's temple.

Laserbeak's keen observational skills failed him when the Autobots disguised themselves as Stunticons in order to get close to Megatron and his latest scheme. His sensors were unable to penetrate the camouflage paint they used to hide their true identities. After Megatron infected the Autobots with the cosmic rust virus, Laserbeak infiltrated the Ark to bring back visuals of their enemies' suffering. When Starscream finally mouthed off one time too many, Megatron finally kicked him out of the house. Soundwave sent Laserbeak to unceremoniously drop Starscream on an island near Guadalcanal.