Circuit Breaker (Transformers)

Circuit Breaker
Circuit Breaker leads a giant Autobot she created from parts of other Autobots against the Decepticon Battlechargers in Marvel's Transformers comics.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics, Fun Publications, Dreamwave Productions, and IDW Publishing.
First appearance	Transformers #6 (July 1985)
Created by	Hasbro
In-story information
Alter ego	Josephine "Josie" Beller Spike Witwicky
Species	Human, Anti-Robot
Team affiliations	(Josie): Neo-Knights Rapid Anti-Robot Attack Team G. B. Blackrock (Spike): Autobots Humans Headmasters.
Supporting character of	(Spike): Cerebros, Cog, Gasket, Fortress Maximus, Bumblebee, Wheeljack, and Backfire.
Notable aliases	(Josie): Emulator, "Sephie" Beller (Spike) Circuit-Smasher, Head of Cerebros
Abilities	(Spike): Transformation, able to transform in to the Head of Cerebros. (Both): His/her suit allows her to disrupt a Robot's circuitry, causing it to malfunction and break down.
Altered in-story information for adaptations to other media
Team affiliations	(Sephie): Professor Arkeville R. J. Blackrock Decepticons (Shattered Glass).

Circuit Breaker (also known as Circuit-Smasher and the Emulator) is the name of two fictional comic book characters originally from the 1980s Marvel Comics Transformers series. The first character, Josie Beller, invented a kind of bodysuit with imbedded circuits that allowed her to move her body after a spinal cord injury, disrupt the circuits of electronic devices and Transformers and fly. During Marvel's Secret Wars II miniseries, the Beyonder encounters Circuit Breaker. She introduces herself to him and would want to become a servant of his. But he didn't accept her offer. This appearance of Circuit Breaker was published so Marvel Comics could claim ownership to the character. She would later appear in the Transformers series in issue #6 (July 1985).

Circuit Breaker predates the introduction of the Neo-Knights. Unlike the other three members, and Blackrock, she does not distinguish between Autobots and Decepticons but instead treats all robots as her enemies. G. B. Blackrock and the Neo-Knights were accidentally transported to Cybertron along with the Transformers when Primus sought to unite all his children against the dark god Unicron. Upon first contact with Unicron, Circuit Breaker fainted because of his sheer size and complexity, and Dynamo was unable to fight because Cybertron's nature was too unlike Earth. However, Rapture did manage to briefly convince Unicron that he had succeeded in destroying the universe. Issue #68, where the Neo-Knights first appeared, was the only issue in the entire series drawn by Dwayne Turner, whose dark-shaded drawing style was noticeably different from other artists in the comic.

The second character is Spike Witwicky, the main human protagonist who frequently in the Transformers brand. Spike and the rest of the Witwicky family members are the closest human allies of the Autobots. Their motto is "No sacrifice, no victory". They appeared in the original television and comic book series and later in the live action films. Contrary to popular belief, Witwicky is a real name, but a vanishingly rare one. The U.S. Social Security Death Index records the passing of only two people with that name in the United States in the last 50 years. However, the alternate spelling Witwicki is a relatively more common one, occurring 33 times in the Social Security Death Index. It is possible that the name originates from the Poland/Ukraine area of Eastern Europe, specifically the village of Witwica, and that the name itself means 'the one from Witwica'.

Fictional character biography

Note: Stories published by Fun Publications are in italics.

Josie Beller

After being severely injured in a raid for Earth oil by the Decepticon Shockwave, computer genius Josie Beller was left paralyzed in both legs and one arm. She developed cybernetic implants and an outfit that allowed her to not only move, but disrupt a Robot's circuitry, causing it to malfunction and break down.

Beachcomber, Blaster, Cosmos, Perceptor, Powerglide, Seaspray and Warpath were part of an Autobot team on Cybertron in the Earth year 1986. They battled the Decepticons led by Straxus over the Space Bridge and the Autobots were stranded on Earth. They were then captured by Circuit Breaker and her Rapid Anti-Robot Attack Team, taken to her lab and then dissected.

Circuit Breaker then captured Autobots Air Raid, Fireflight, Silverbolt, Skids, Skydive and Slingshot. Using the parts from all the captured Autobots she created a giant Autobot with herself in control, striking a deal with them that if they would co-operate she would let them go. She had been injured in an earlier battle with the Decepticons and was too weak to fight them again by herself. Circuit Breaker then used them to oppose the Decepticon Battlechargers Runabout and Runamuck who were attacking the Statue of Liberty. After defeating the Decepticons with Circuit Breaker the Autobots were released. Despite defeating the Decepticon threat, by releasing the Autobots she held captive, she went against R.A.A.T.'s directives and was fired as a result.

Circuit Breaker reemerged when news reports came out about a creature called Skullgrin, an entity believed to be a Yeti-sasquatch-like being who was in fact a Pretender Decepticon (a Decepticon who wears an outer shell making him appear to be a member of another species). Skullgrin, in order to gain oil for the Decepticons, agreed to allow a film producer to use him in a production, in return for oil as payment. Circuit Breaker suspected Skullgrin to be a Cybertronian, going to California to investigate him. She had a glimpse of Skullgrin at a press conference held by the producer, but could not be certain if Skullgrin was a Transformer or not. However, she did run into Carissa Carr, who was to appear in the film with Skullgrin. Circuit Breaker, whom Carr believed to be a harmless physically challenged person, discovered that the filming with Skullgrin would commence in a couple of days at the Grand Canyon. During the making of the film at the Grand Canyon, Skullgrin took off his Pretender shell. Seeing this from nearby, Circuit Breaker finally had irrefutable proof that Skullgrin was a Transformer, and jumped into combat. She took control of Skullgrin's Pretender shell and attacked him with it. During the skirmish between Circuit Breaker and Skullgrin, Carissa Carr was caught on a crumbling cliff, but Skullgrin selflessly rescued her, though it gave Circuit Breaker the chance to press her attack. Before she could totally destroy Skullgrin, the Hollywood producer who had been dealing with Skullgrin called out to Circuit Breaker. He informed her that his workers taped her battle with Skullgrin, and that he would pay her a fortune to slay Skullgrin in front of the camera. Circuit Breaker, disgusted at the producer's greed destroyed the camera and left.

She later joined the Neo-Knights. G. B. Blackrock and the Neo-Knights were accidentally transported to Cybertron along with the Transformers when Primus sought to unite all his children against the chaos bringer Unicron. Upon arriving on the planet, Circuit Breaker fell into a catatonic state as her phobia of a planet full of robots overwhelmed her human mind. However, she did awake as Unicron descended, and attacked him with her own power, weakening and distracting the chaos bringer long enough for Optimus Prime to destroy him with the Matrix of Leadership. She returned to her catatonic state shortly afterwards, and over the course of the "Unicron" and the "Autobot/Decepticon Truce" arcs, she would remain in this state as the title folded.

When Megatron ravaged Earth with nuclear fire in 1994, Josie recovered enough to join the final, already-too-late battle against him. She died but her legacy lived on: Blackrock was able to use her neural-cybernetic innovations and merge it with Headmaster tech to turn a paralysed Spike Witwicky into Circuit-Smasher!

Spike Witwicky

The role played by the young Spike in the animated series was filled in the Marvel comic book series by his younger brother, Buster, exclusive to that continuity. Indeed, Buster was fully intended to exist in place of Spike for the comic book series, until the release of the Fortress Maximus toy in 1987, which included Spike as a Headmaster partner, hence necessitating the hurried introduction of Spike into the comic book continuity.

Returning home from college to discover that his father's garage had been destroyed, Spike investigated the Autobots' deserted base at Mount Saint Hillary, learning that Buster had been captured by the Earth-based Decepticons. While there, he encountered a group of new Autobots, led by Fortress Maximus, who had just arrived from the planet Nebulos, and in a subsequent attack by Scorponok's group of Decepticons, Fortress Maximus' Nebulon partner, Galen Kord, was killed in a rockfall. Before dying, he gave his control helmet to Spike, allowing the boy to control Fortress Maximus in battle and force the Decepticons to retreat. In the aftermath of the battle, Spike accepted the Autobots' offer to be fully binary-bonded to Fortress Maximus as his new Headmaster partner in order to save Buster from the Decepticons.

As Fortress Maximus, Spike led the attack on the Decepticons' island base, defeating Shockwave in an outer space battle, but failing to rescue Buster, and turning to the other Earth-based Autobots for help. Acting commander Grimlock refused, disgusted at the thought of a human leading the Autobots, but relented when he saw the rationality of the act during a massive Decepticon attack on the Autobot forces. With the deceased Optimus Prime subsequently restored to life as a Powermaster, Spike rescued Buster from the Decepticons amidst the chaos caused by Starscream's attempt to gain the power of the Underbase.

Following that clash, Spike, having accomplished what he set out to do, attempted to abandon his Autobot life, and return to living a normal human lifestyle. Unfortunately, his connection with Fortress Maximus proved to be far deeper than anyone knew when he was attacked by the Decepticon Pretender Beasts, Snarler and Carnivac, and discovered that Maximus' mind actually continued to exist within his own. Despite recombining with Maximus to defeat the Decepticons, Spike again returned Maximus' body and his exo-suit to the Autobots, and succeeded for a short time in living a normal life, until he found himself drawn to the crash of the Ark in Canada in 1991. Merging with Fortress Maximus again, he defeated the maddened Galvatron, and some time thereafter, gave up his life to stop the plans of Megatron by sacrificing himself to destroy the Ark.

The post-movie Spike appears in the story "Time Wars", persuading Rodimus Prime to delay his journey back in time long enough to halt an attack on a human settlement by the Terrorcons. (Due to the temporal disruption later in this story, it is possible this future was later erased from the timeline.)

Spike is also present in the alternate 2009 seen in "Rhythms of Darkness", working with the handful of surviving Autobots led by Prowl. He was accompanied by an apparently African-American woman named Lisa, with whom he shared a mutual but unrequited attraction. Spike participated in what everyone involved expected to be a suicide attack on the Decepticon fortress city, attaching the US flag to its summit to demonstrate to the rest of the world, who were about to launch a nuclear strike on the area, that the American population was still fighting. After Galvatron was forcibly removed from that timeline, he presumably went on to rejoin the Autobots in their battle against the remaining Decepticons.

Spike was able to keep everyone from poking around in the Ark for a year or two, but he eventually stopped being Fortress Maximus full-time so he could live his life. Unfortunately, that meant some greedy/bored people were able to sneak into the Ark and poke around it in 1994... awakening Megatron! With nuclear weaponry turned against Earth's cities by the Ark computer and zombie Decepticons roaming the Earth, Spike became Fort Max again and led a final battle alongside Josie Beller and G.B. Blackrock. The final battle was a bust: Fort Max was killed and Spike's mind and nervous system went with him.

Blackrock, however, used Beller's neural-cybernetic technology and bonded them with Spike's Headmaster parts, bringing him 'back to life', retarding his aging, and giving him powerful electric powers. Taking up the name Circuit-Smasher, Spike became the main weapon for the rebels in Argus Base against Megatron's genocide. Unfortunately, he could only do so much and the Decepticon corpses were incapable of being permanently killed (again), and by 2012 he was angry enough to attack the first Autobots he saw on sight, blaming them for Earth's demise. Only some appeals from Topspin and fellow rebel Gordon Kent calmed Spike down.

He led the Autobot Wreckers to Argus Base, filling them in on the destruction of Earth and how this was the Ark's fault. He then formed part of a conference with Springer, Blackrock, Kent, and Sandstorm, running through their new options now the Wreckers were on Earth, only to be interrupted by a broadcast from Megatron, taunting the Autobots with the tortured body of Kup. Spike, along with a few of the Wreckers and a handful of humans armed with Battlesuits, attacked the Ark, with the intention of shutting down its supercomputer Auntie. Before attacking, Spike made it clear that they were to deactivate the Ark, and if he began to suspect any of them were thinking of trying to get it back under control and using it to leave, he would crash every single one of their circuits. He blasted a projectile that was launched at one of the humans. After Leadfoot was blasted by the Ark's auto-turret defenses, Spike coldly commanded everyone to keep moving, saying that all of the Wreckers were expendable. Once they broke through the Ark's outer defenses, Auntie deployed Guardian to protect herself. As the Wreckers and humans fought the Guardians, Spike infiltrated the Ark, but was detected by Auntie, who detained him. However, Spike was still able to use his powers to smash every single one of Auntie's circuits, deactivating her and the Guardians. After Megatron and his army were taken care of, Spike came to Optimus Prime, telling him that he and the others had unanimously decided on the Autobots leaving Earth for good. When Prime offered to help, Spike angrily rejected the offer, warning Optimus not to make ask them to leave more than once.

In the 21st-century re-imagining of the G1 universe by Dreamwave Productions, Spike was given a fragment of the Matrix by Optimus Prime when the Autobots departed Earth in 1999, having finally captured the Decepticons and intending to return them to Cybertron. They did not get that far, as an explosion tore their craft, the Ark II, apart shortly after it left Earth's atmosphere, leaving the Transformers, and the small human crew - including Spike's father - believed dead.

However, in 2002, Spike - now married to Carly and fathering Daniel - found that this was not the case when he was approached by General Hallo of the American military. A terrorist, Adam Rook, had recovered several of the inactive (but functional) Transformers and brought them under his control, intending to sell them on the black market as weapons of mass destruction; in order to stop him, the military had recovered a Transformer of their own. That Transformer was Optimus Prime, whom Spike was able to reactivate by replacing the Matrix fragment. Unfortunately, Spike soon discovered that Hallo was part of an even more insane scheme, having originally worked with Rook in developing the Transformer-controlling program, and being double-crossed by him. Confronting Hallo just as he launched a nuclear missile at San Francisco, Spike took his life in his hands and nearly met his end, until Hallo was gunned down by military agents.

In the More Than Meets the Eye character profile series, it is shown Dreamwave intended to eventually have Spike become a Headmaster partner for Fortress Maximus. However, unlike other similar entries in the MTMTE series, no information was given about Spike at all leaving many readers with more questions than answers. But with Dreamwave shutting down, this storyline may never come to be.

In IDW Publishing, Spike Witwicky is the son of four-star general "Sparkplug" Witwicky. From a young age, he wanted to be a soldier just like his idolised dad. Sparkplug often took him on long camping trips in the woods, and this outdoors lifestyle caused Spike to develop a dislike for relying on machines.

He met his friend Joe Henderson at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. By this point, Spike had let his family ties go to his head and was insufferably arrogant and obnoxious. Worse, he started to act like he was in an action movie, treating everyone else as the supporting character and doing "cool" stuff like rule-breaking, acting reckless, and taking personal vendettas, which is less "cool" and more "dangerous and illegal" in real life. But since he was both protected by his daddy and also genuinely smart and competent as a soldier, he was able to get away with this. He graduated second in his class and went to work in special forces, where he continued to act like he was in a story.

In the wake of the Decepticons' devastating attack on Earth, Commander Spike Witwicky met his dad inside a secret bunker where the remnants of the United States military had gathered to mount a desperate counteroffensive. Regrettably, Sparkplug had selected Spike for a mission to assassinate the leader of the Decepticons, Megatron, even though he feared his son would not make it back. It was a suicide mission, but Spike was the most qualified. Spike accepted, despite the consequences, but ignored his father's pleas for him to call his worried mother first.

Other Versions

Shattered Glass

In the "Shattered Glass" storyline, four Witwicky brothers, Spike, Buster, Butch and Bruce "Buzz" Witwicky, appeared evil mirror universe counterparts of the Witwickys. Spike was leader of the group, who allied themselves with Rodimus and the evil Autobots, guiding them on Earth and aiding them in taking temporary control of Burbleson Airforce base and the GODS satellite system. In Transhuman, Butch brought the Autobot Tailgate with him to school to terrorize the students, only to be stopped by the Emulator.

An alternate version of Circuit Breaker appears in the Shattered Glass storyline as Josephine "Sephie" Beller, Professor Arkeville's teaching assistant. Dark-haired and unrelentingly cheerful, she's an unabashed technophile. This version of Circuit Breaker is called the Emulator.

In "Eye in the Sky", Sephie joined Arkeville and her co-interns Will and Rick as they investigated what they believed was a recent meteorite crash in the Arizona desert. Upon discovering that the impact had caused a huge mountain avalanche, the four started digging, until Rick noticed an unmanned missile truck and Cold Slither van approaching the site. Before they could decide what to do, they were suddenly greeted by a large metal laughing at them. The four panicked and ran away as the cat bounded after them. The cat chased Will and Rick, but Sephie and Arkeville bumped into the calmer Frenzy as they ran instead, who explained why he, the feline Ravage, the "van" Soundwave, and the "missile truck" Heatwave were on the planet, and that the "meteorite" was really their crashed ship, the Nemesis. Sephie ended up staring in raptured awe at the marvel of the giant mechanical beings surrounding her.

The humans and Decepticons all boarded the Nemesis, met up with Starscream and Cliffjumper, and explained their current situations to each other. Sephie was hopeful that even more Decepticons might come to Earth, only to have her hopes dashed by Starscream's explanation. Still, she and the others were eager to help in whatever way they could, and Sephie was ecstatic that the Decepticons would be staying on Earth for a long time. She, Will, and Rick then went along to help the Decepticons start recovering the stasis pods of the rest of their crew members who had escaped the Nemesis before it crashed. She was even happier to learn that Crasher was one of the Female Transformers. Eventually their quest was cut short by hearing Rodimus' broadcast about holding the Earth hostage with the Global Orbital Defense Satellite he had hijacked, so they all headed back to the ship.

While everyone discussed what to do about the situation, Sephie was busy petting her newfound buddy Ravage, who was content to curl up and purr at her attentions in a moment of uncharacteristic quiet. She recognized that Rodimus was in a military base from his transmission, and when Arkeville realized they could find out which base had been hijacked by using the internet, offered up her oPod for the purpose (fascinated by Heatwave's ability to "talk" to machines). She then volunteered to help the Decepticons infiltrate the base, and Cliffjumper paired her with Ravage. The two were able to sneak into the base while riding in Soundwave, with the help of a cover story from Will and Rick. They then all split up, with Sephie and Ravage heading towards the control room. Before they could get there, however, they ran into Wheeljack. Sephie tried to get Ravage to hide, but Ravage preferred to wave and say that it was just "crazy old Wheeljack", which made the Autobot start frothing and ranting that he wasn't crazy. Sephie sarcastically noted that of course he wasn't, with Ravage naively pointing out that yes he was. When that provoked Wheeljack into starting to pound the walls, Sephie and Ravage took off running. They eventually managed to lose Wheeljack, but by that point Heatwave had already managed to talk the base's transmitter into evacuating the base in preparation for destroying it with the GODS, so Sephie and Ravage opted for getting out of there themselves.

In "Blitzwing Bop", when the Decepticons' emergency comm systems were being overloaded by Blitzwing's "bop", Sephie and their other human friends volunteered to watch over the Transformers as they entered emergency stasis lock long enough for Soundwave to find a solution. Sephie took the responsibility very seriously, staring intently at the surveillance monitors as they waited for word from Soundwave. That didn't stop her from checking her e-mail, though... at least when a message from Jetstorm chirped on the console. Before she could respond, however, the Nemesis was assaulted by the evil Beachcomber, who was too crazy to be affected by the comm problems. Sephie and the others kept him busy, until the Decepticons were reactivated and chased the lone loon away.

In "Transhuman", Sephie managed to score a job with R.J. Blackrock, working in research and development. She was put to work on Project Shieldbreaker, but it was not long before Blackrock called her to his office to ask her to invite the Decepticons to the unveiling of the company's new Mega-Rig. They came, but so did the Autobots. Sephie tried to herd the humans present to safety, but when she was threatened by Seaspray, the newly arrived Shockwave protected her from the missiles, taking a large amount of damage in the process. Sephie blamed herself for Shockwave's injuries and, determined to find a way to protect herself better, arranged a meeting with Stormbringer99.

Her secret contact turned out to be a neutral Cybertronian, Jetstorm, who gave her a suit made from Cybertronian tech. Using it, she protected Franklin Burns High School from an attack by Butch Witwicky and Tailgate, though the amount of power involved destroyed Jetstorm's gift. Resolving not to give up, Sephie gathered medical supplied from the Nemesis and had Jetstorm augment her further. The Decepticons and Sephie's friends were aghast at what she'd done to herself, and Starscream confined her to base until he and Professor Arkeville could try and remove her cybernetic implants. Sephie was upset, and when Blackrock rang her to ask for the Decepticons' help in setting an ambush for the Autobots, she decided to go herself.

She managed to take out both Groove and Elita One, using her inbuilt ability to duplicate their power chip rectifiers. At the same time, she decided her superhero name would be Emulator. By the time she reached Arizona Bay, Rick caught up with her and tried to talk her out of attacking the Autobots. Unfortunately they were interrupted by the Autobots, and Wheeljack used a microwave emitter to knock her out. She was shackled to a table so Wheeljack and Ratchet could vivisect her. Before that could happen, the Decepticons arrived, though they were overwhelmed by the Autobot forces, and then Blackrock turned up piloting the Centurion mech his company had been working on. While the Autobots were distracted fighting the newcomer, Rick freed Sephie. She, in turn, released Cliffjumper, knowing that he would be compelled to help the Decepticons while she was free to attack Blackrock. She used Groove's fuel evaporating power on the Centurion, which had the side effect of sending it into a meltdown, and Sephie was forced to fly the mech high into the air so its explosion wouldn't kill her friends. She herself survived the explosion thanks to Elita-One's time bubble power, though she was shocked when Blackrock announced that she was fired.

The Decepticons offered her a position on their team, but to their disappointment Sephie turned them down in favor of striking out on her own, but not before she had surreptitiously duplicated Soundwave's ability. She returned to Jetstorm to have her blood replaced with mech fluid, and wondered aloud what she would do next.

Buster Witwicky

Buster Witwicky

Autobot ally
Information
Sub-group	Humans
Function	Autobot leader (briefly).
Partner	Bumblebee, Jessie
Alternate Modes	None
Series	Transformers: Generation 1

Buster Witwicky was the first Witwicky depicted in fiction, and filled a similar role in the early comics that Spike filled in the animated series.

Events exclusive to the Marvel U.K. Transformers comics are in italics.

While at a drive-in movie with his girlfriend Jessie and best friend "O", Buster suddenly found his life in danger when the parking lot became a battleground in the first major Earth-based clash between the Autobots and Decepticons. Coming across the wounded vehicle-mode Bumblebee, he brought the car back to his father's workshop, and attempted to fix it, until his father stepped in and completed the job.

Before long, however, Buster had a much more pivotal role to play in the war, when the powerful Decepticon, Shockwave defeated and deactivated all the Autobots, save medical officer Ratchet, and planned to create new troops using the power of the Creation Matrix within Optimus Prime's mind. Sneaking into the Ark, Buster discovered Prime's disembodied head, and Prime transferred the Matrix into Buster's mind, keeping it from Shockwave. Buster soon found that the Matrix gave him the ability to manipulate metal and circuitry, and he used it to disassemble, rebuild and reprogram Shockwave's lifeless drone, Jetfire, and employed him to rescue Optimus Prime, who took the Matrix back into his own body.

A story called "The Gift" in issue #93 of the Marvel U.K. comics explored Jetfire's problems fitting in with the other Autobots. Jetfire then visited Buster Witwicky on Christmas Eve and tell him of his troubles of not fitting in with the Cybertronian-made Autobots. Buster encouraged the young Autobot by telling him he's the first of a new generation of Earth-made Autobots and he should be proud of what he is.

In the U.K. comics, the boy appeared in some further stories starting with Robot Buster, where - worried about the danger he kept being in - Wheeljack and Ratchet built a robot battle-suit for him. Optimus ordered it scrapped and Buster stole it to prove he could handle himself in battle, only to be nearly killed in battle against Frenzy and pursued relentlessly by Shockwave, who later sent the Constructicons out to murder the boy. The stress of these events combined with residual Matrix energy caused Buster to have visions of a strange new generation of Transformers. In order to decipher these visions and cure Buster of them, he and Optimus mind-linked (with the Decepticons spying) and the visions were revealed to be details for producing new "Special Teams" of combiners, which would lead to the development of the Aerialbots and Protectobots.

Angered and afraid for his safety, Sparkplug forbade Buster from seeing the Autobots any further. Outside of helping Jetfire through some morale issues on Christmas Eve, the boy was not seen again for some time, until Sparkplug himself fell victim to a trap laid by Decepticon local commander, Ratbat, which Buster foiled by breaking the hypnotic trance he and the other human victims had been placed under. After a fracas involving the Intelligence and Information Institute and the Predacons, Buster and Goldbug (a recreated version of Bumblebee), whose mind was trapped in a toy car, headed for the Ark, only to find that it had blasted off. At the abandoned site, Buster was attacked by a vengeful Ratbat and whisked away to the Decepticons' island base where he was initially used as a hostage to deter the United States navy from attacking. Buster was employed as part of an overly complex plan to acquire important data - appointing Buster "king" of the island to publicly dissuade human investigation, the Decepticons operated under the cover of a faux holiday resort while they searched for a sunken pirate vessel, which contained two stasis-locked Autobot messengers sent to Earth thousands of years before, containing information on the coming of the almighty Cybertronian data bank, the Underbase. Starscream proceeded to turn the tables on everyone by releasing Buster into the Arctic tundra, where he was forced to summon the Autobots or perish - an action which in turn resulted in the arriving Autobots being overwhelmed by the combined forces of Ratbat and Scorponok's Decepticons, while Starscream used the distraction to steal the power of the Underbase for himself. Buster's last appearance was in U.S. #51, finally back home with his family.

Buster is featured in the 1985 Find Your Fate Junior book called Battle Drive by Barbara Siegel and Scott Siegel. Buster also appears in the 1986 story and coloring book The Lost Treasure of Cybertron by Marvel Books. In this story, he is the father of Daniel.

Buster did not make any clearly defined appearances in Dreamwave Productions' re-imagined Generation 1 universe, but he did exist, and was referred to as having taken the death of his father particularly badly, turning to alcohol and running up particularly large gambling debts. Straightening out his act, Buster was said to have joined the military; a high-ranking official with the surname of Witwicky was later seen addressing Marissa Faireborn, and although it was not stated, it can be assumed this was intended to be Buster. However, Dreamwave's bankruptcy and subsequent closure left the story untold.

Buster was also the name of a human in the Japanese exclusive Transformers: Super-God Masterforce show, which span out of G1. Buster, and his partner Hydra, were two humans recruited by the self-styled Decepticon God Devil Z to serve to power two lifeless Transtector bodies, becoming Godmasters. Unlike their counterpart Overlord, the two willingly were transformed into wholly robotic beings by Devil Z near the series' close.

Butch Witwicky

Butch Witwicky is the name of Sparkplug Witwicky's son who appears in the 1985 Forest Rescue Mission coloring book published by Marvel Books.

In other media

Animated series

The most famous of all the Autobots' human allies, Spike Witwicky (voiced by Corey Burton in the English version) and in the japanese version by Show Hayami when he was Young and by Masashi Ebara as an Adult.) was fourteen years old, aiding his father, Sparkplug, in his work on an offshore oil rig when the Transformers entered his life in 1984. A Decepticon attack on the rig left Spike and Sparkplug in peril where they were rescued by Optimus Prime. Afterward, they offered their friendship and aid to the Autobots, teaching them about the ways of Earth. Spike had a lot to learn about the robots in disguise, however, as one of his first actions saw him unwittingly bring the disguised Soundwave into Autobot Headquarters. He later aided Hound in battle against Rumble. When the Autobots were planning to return to their home planet of Cybertron, he intended to go with them.

However, that was not to be as the re-emergence of the undefeated Decepticons kept the Autobots on Earth, protecting it and its inhabitants from their enemies. Spike proved an invaluable source of information for the Autobots, teaching them about subjects such as Dinosaurs and various Earthly sports. He also joined them on journeys to such fantastic locales as Cybertron, Dinobot Island and medieval England. However, he underwent his own share of troubles, occasionally being captured by the Decepticons for various reasons, and suffering the torture of seeing his own brainwashed father under Decepticon control. On another occasion he received brain damage in a Decepticon attack. To save his life, his mind was transferred to a Transformer body called Autobot X created by his father while his body healed. Unfortunately, the process drove Spike into thinking he was a "Frankenstein monster", and he sided with the Decepticons in an attack on the Autobots. However, he saw the truth after nearly killing his own father with Megatron in gun mode. He turned Megatron's firepower on the other Decepticons, and eventually his mind was put back in his own body. Spike formed a fast friendship with the young Autobot, Bumblebee, and the two often adventured and traveled together.

In one particular adventure in 1985, when he was fifteen years old, Spike met a girl named Carly. He immediately took a liking to her, although Carly was more interested in getting to meet the Autobots at first. As time went on, Carly developed an attraction to Spike and through adventures together, including a solo mission to Cybertron, it blossomed into a romance. In the episode "A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court" Warpath, Hoist and Spike were battling Starscream, Ramjet, Rumble and Ravage in England. Low on power, the Autobots and Decepticons discovered a magical stone formation called the Dragon Mound and were transported back to the year 543. Although Starscream attempted to take over a castle and build a new empire with himself as lord, the help of local knights and a wizard refueled the Autobots, who defeated the Decepticons. After defeating a dragon who nested in the Dragon Mound, the Autobots and Decepticons returned to their own time where they rejoined the fight in modern-day England.

As they entered their twenties, Spike and Carly were married, and in 1993, Carly gave birth to a son, Daniel. As Spike himself grew older, his experience and closeness to the Autobots saw him appointed Earth's official ambassador to Cybertron, but as the Autobots pressed their attack to reclaim Cybertron from the Decepticons in 2005, the 35-year-old Spike was stationed on Moonbase Two, which was attacked and consumed by the planet-eater, Unicron. Wearing a transforming "exo-suit" battle armor, Daniel rescued his father before Unicron was destroyed. Although Spike was generally limited to performing more diplomatic duties throughout 2006, he was pivotal in the initial defeat of the invading Quintessons, destroying the mechanism that the aliens had used to immobilize all Transformers and freeing them. In 2007, Spike was among the Transformers and humans blasted to the planet Nebulos by the energies of the Plasma Energy Chamber, where he performed the process that bonded some Autobots with a group of Nebulan rebels to form the Headmasters. Later, Spike became a Headmaster, merging with the pacifist Autobot, Cerebros, who in turn combined with a giant Transformer body Spike had created, forming Fortress Maximus. With the power of Fortress Maximus, Spike rescued Daniel from the clutches of the Decepticons, and was in the process able to reroute the destructive energy created by the opening of the Plasma Energy Chamber to revitalize Cybertron, creating a new Golden Age. Across the Pacific Ocean, in Japan, however, the events of 2007 were stricken, and replaced with a full-length new series, titled Transformers: The Headmasters. Due to the different concept for Headmasters in Japan, which did not incorporate Nebulans or humans, Spike was not a component of Fortress Maximus in this series, but still played an important role in Cybertron/Earth relations. At one point, so desperate for peace, Spike even arranged negotiations between himself and Galvatron, in hopes of developing a joint energy-production program — hopes which were soon dashed.

In the Transformers Animated episode "Garbage In, Garbage Out", a man who looked very much like Spike was trying to get a blond-haired girl to the hospital as she was in labor. The woman referred to him as "Spike". At BotCon 2008, it was confirmed that this was indeed intended to be Spike and Carlee (with Corey Burton reprising his role as Spike, specifically the adult post-movie Spike), and since Daniel had already been seen in the series too, Carlee was in labor with her second child. In "Transform and Roll Out", a segment about the wonders of modern society and the impact that robots have had upon it, Spike was seen with his wife and son purchasing some sort of bunless wiener of dubious origin from a robot vendor cart. In "Garbage In, Garbage Out", Spike flagged down a passing ambulance because his wife was about to give birth. After being drawn into a chase scene, armed robbery, and giant robot fight, he opted to take a taxi instead. Daniel is the son of Carly and Spike Witwicky. Since his parents work for Professor Sumdac, he is forced into being friends with his daughter, Sari, as seen in "Sound and Fury". Daniel, Carly and Spike were also seen in both parts of "Human Error", computer simulations of them riding a bus in the first part while their proper selves appeared in the second. Daniel would later appear in an animated short where he asked Optimus Prime where his trailer goes when he transforms into robot mode, a question in which even Optimus himself cannot figure out the answer.

Manga

In the Japanese manga "Big War" #2 the Autobots Rodimus Prime, Grimlock, Kup and Wheelie, along with their human allies Spike Witwicky and Daniel Witwicky send Computron into battle against Galvatron's new warrior combiner Abominus. The Terrorcons spit "corrosive control liquid" against Computron, taking control of him and turning him into a Decepticon. Spike luckily uses his new Exosuit to free Computron with "defense spray." Defeated, Galvatron retreats.

Books

Spike was featured in the 1985 Find Your Fate Junior book called Battle Drive by Barbara Siegel and Scott Siegel. Spike was also featured in the 1985 Transformers audio book Autobots' Lightning Strike. In this book, he was said to be an engineering student. He also featured in Megatron's Fight For Power, Autobots Fight Back, Laserbeak's Fury, Galvatron's Air Attack and Decepticon Hideout.

Toys

Main article: Fortress Maximus#Toys

The largest Transformers toy from Generation 1, Fortress Maximus has multiple altmode configurations. He transforms into a compact "city" mode, and can also assume a secondary mode described in the US instruction as a "battle station." This mode was rebranded as a starship for the Japanese instructions, and is the "default" mode for Fort Max in the Headmasters animated series. Additionally, the 1987 Hasbro toy catalog features a mis-transformed Fortress Maximus in a mode referred to as an "impenetrable fortress," essentially consisting of his city mode with the legs splayed outwards. In all modes, Maximus has a wide array of pop-out (non-firing) guns and gimmicks. Its left leg hides a small prison cell, plus has a swing-out cannon/helipad. Its right leg has a small storage compartment. Its torso has a gear-activated spinner for the detachable radar array accessory, a "control socket" for Cerebros' "communications tower" mode, and a working elevator that can lift small toys up to its central ramp to be launched in its alternate modes. (The crank for this elevator ends up in a very unfortunate position in robot mode.) Each arm had a long ramp on the back with sliding launchers for small vehicles. Its robot-mode head is formed by Cerebros, who does not actually need Spike to attach to the upper body. It came with both Headmaster units, plus the Gasket and Grommet mini-vehicles.

The Japanese release of Fortress Maximus came with a pair of swords; one for Fortress, a large one for Maximus. It is currently unknown if the swords were originally planned for the Hasbro version but dropped for price or safety concerns, or if they were a Takara-initiated addition to their release of the toy. During its time of release, Fortress Maximus retailed at $89.99, making him the most expensive Transformers toy in the U.S. market (a record that wasn't met or broken for nearly two decades, until the release of 20th Anniversary DVD Edition Optimus Prime and Ultimate Bumblebee). Maximus was also the third most expensive toy Hasbro produced at the time (behind the USS Flagg and Defiant Space Shuttle Complex from the G.I. Joe series). This toy was designed by Koujin Ohno, and is filed under U.S. patent D305,786. Spike Witwicky is again released as part of the Masterpiece 10 Optimus Prime release. A new 2-inch figurine of Spike is included with the Autobot Backfire as part of the Human Alliance line. Backfire transforms from a three-wheeled ATV to robot or a larger Mech Tech blaster that can be used with Voyager of Leader Class figures.

Collected editions

• Furman, Simon (2004). Transformers: The Ultimate Guide. DK Publishing Inc.. p. 40. ISBN 1-4053-0461-8. 

External links

• Circuit Breaker at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
• Circuit Breaker at the Transformers Wiki

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