Marissa Faireborn
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- Marissa Faireborn is an Autobot-allied human from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Marissa Faireborn (sometimes Marissa Bishop) is an officer in the Earth Defense Command. Hailing from a family with a history in the military, Marissa is tough, headstrong and independent. She's a take-charge woman who's always calm in a crisis and performs her duties with strict professionalism. She may be small and squishy, but her boldness, strength of heart and skill with many weapons from blaster to knife mean she is respected by both Autobots and Decepticons alike. When a Decepticon looks upon Marissa Faireborn, they see a genuine adversary, while the Autobots know her as a trusted ally and friend... and in some cases, even an unlikely romantic partner!
Also, she's great at surfboarding.
Contents |
Fiction
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice actor: Susan Blu (English), Kazue Komiya (Japanese), Michele Sterr (German, "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3 - 5", "Money Is Everything", "The Burden Hardest To Bear"), Michaela Amler (German, "The Killing Jar"), Maria Böhme (German, "Forever Is a Long Time Coming"), Gloria García (Spain-Spanish), Myriam Thereza (Portuguese, "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3 - 5"), Emília Rey (Portuguese, "The Killing Jar"), Jane Kelly (Portuguese, "Forever Is a Long Time Coming" & "Money Is Everything")
In the year 2005, Captain Marissa Faireborn was stationed at the EDC's base on Mars when a call for aid came through from Autobot communications officer Blaster. Marissa had been tracking an Autobot shuttle which had come under attack by Galvatron and the Decepticons in the vicinity of Jupiter, and Blaster requested that she provide back up to the stricken craft. Marissa deployed immediately, but before she could make it onto the scene, the shuttle was destroyed by a cosmic storm, and its occupants—Blurr, Wheelie and the new transforming cog for Metroplex that they were couriering to Earth—were blasted to the planet's moon Io. Tracking their trajectories, Marissa set course for the moon, Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3 and arrived to witness the two Autobots being terrorized by a swarm of the moon's native lightpoles. Blurr was able to clear the swarm with cog in hand, and the militaristic Marissa set her ship down and instructed him to come aboard. Unwilling to leave Wheelie behind, the speedy Autobot raced back into the heart of the swarm in order to save his friend, an action that Marissa seemed unable to comprehend, deeming her digital wristwatch capable of better decisions. Nonetheless, she disembarked her ship and entered the fray herself with a jet pack, firing at the lightpoles with a null-ray blaster. Marissa was able to thin the swarm out enough for Blurr and Wheelie to get clear, but before they could get aboard her ship, several of the lightpoles transformed into their missile forms and fell upon the craft, blowing it up.
Marissa quickly took stock of the situation and stopped Blurr from panicking so they could examine the wreckage and see if the ship's radio was still working. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4 The radio was, indeed, still functional, and Marissa used it to contact Blaster on Earth as the trio were again set upon by the lightpoles. Blaster tried to assuage her fears by assuring her that Sky Lynx was on his way, but Marissa didn't even know who or what that was, so it didn't raise her spirits much. Soon after, the powerful Sky Lynx arrived on Io and blasted the lightpoles to bits, but before Marissa, Wheelie and Blurr could board his cargo pod, they were set upon by the newest Decepticon warriors, the Predacons. Marissa could do little in the battle that ensued, but was at least able to escape injury, nimbly vaulting over Rampage as he charged at her. After Sky Lynx had successfully dispatched the Predacons, the team headed for Earth at top speed, and successfully delivered the transforming cog in time for Metroplex to transform and fend off an attack by Trypticon. Soon after, Marissa stood beside her allies and watched as Rodimus Prime addressed the Autobot forces on their concurrent victory over the Quintessons. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5
As 2006 settled in, Marissa was aboard the EDC's space station in orbit above Earth when an unexpected EDC shuttle started an approach. Marissa demanded an identification from the shuttle's pilot, and was overjoyed to discover that was it was actually her father, come to visit. As the shuttle touched down in the landing bay, Marissa boarded quickly and embraced her father, but before she could lead him off the ship, its doors shut behind her and it quickly took off again. The shuttle was, in actuality, a disguised Quintesson vessel, and her "father" was nothing more than a solid hologram which abruptly transformed into a monstrous shape and attacked her. With a few quick martial arts kicks and chops, Marissa had downed the simulation, and then discovered she was not the Quintesson scientist's only captive: Ultra Magnus, Cyclonus, and Wreck-Gar had also been abducted to participate in the Quintesson's experiments. Knocked out by a submission field, Marissa was to be the Quintesson's first examination subject, but Wreck-Gar was able to deactivate the submission device, allowing her to overpower the feeble Quintesson scientist.
Chaos ensued when the ship passed through an electron storm, and Marissa used the fighting as a cover to reach the ship's controls, intending to plot a course back to Earth. Unfortunately, the ship was now caught in the gravity of a black hole, and Marissa had to stop everyone from fighting so they could work together to assess the situation. The Quintesson scientist attempted to flee aboard the ship's lone working escape pod, but Ultra Magnus hauled him from the pod and attempted to send Marissa to safety in his place. Unfortunately, interference from the Quintesson's guard delayed Marissa from boarding, and the whole ship was sucked through the black hole, into a negative universe. Only through finally putting aside their differences and working together, were Marissa, the Transformers and the Quintessons able to repair the ship and return to their universe of origin, where Sky Lynx soon arrived to take Marissa, Wreck-Gar and Ultra Magnus home. The Killing Jar
Marissa was engaging in a bout of regular target practise at an EDC gun range on Earth, trying out "level 3" in her pursuit of a challenge. After blasting a target of Cyclonus, she was suddenly struck by a wave of chronal energy released into the universe by a malfunctioning Quintesson Time Window. The energy caused Marissa to regress into a crying infant, much to the shock of the EDC trooper on watch at the time. Luckily, the Autobots, working with the Quintessons, were able to shut down and destroy the time window, undoing the effects of the chronal energy. Forever Is a Long Time Coming
Teamed with the Technobots as part of a science unit, Marissa and her Autobot allies were called into action to rescue smuggler "free trader" Dirk Manus when his ship, the Lazy Sue was attacked by the Terrorcons. A mutual attraction between Marissa and Manus sprang up immediately, but Marissa did not trust the trader entirely when he claimed that he had found a Quintesson base on the moon of Titan. As Computron, the Technobots supported investigation of his claims, but until the Lazy Sue could be repaired, Marissa resolved not to let Manus out of her sight, leading to a romantic evening of dinner and dancing. This did not win Marissa over entirely, however, and she soon confirmed her suspicions when she tracked Manus back out into the desert where he had crashed, and discovered that he was actually attempting to transport a highly-experimental molecular recreator to the Quintessons. Marissa attempted to arrest Manus, but he pulled a concealed weapon on her and shot the blaster from her hand before overpowering her in a struggle, knocking her out and tying her up. She was not found until the next morning, by Afterburner and Nosecone—the rest of the Technobots had already departed for Titan with Manus.
Marissa, Afterburner and Nosecone quickly made their way to Titan, and discovered that Manus had been double-crossed by the Quintessons, and a team of Sharkticons were now on his and the other Technobots' tails. Marissa and her companions disposed of the Quintessons, but purely to rescue the other Technobots: Marissa slugged Manus in the jaw and was prepared to leave him to rot. Manus spun the situation around, informing Marissa of the molecular recreator and promising to disable it, forcing her to keep him around. As they trekked back to the Quintesson base, Marissa and Manus confessed their attraction to each other, but both also admitted that their jobs came first... not that that stopped them from getting rather hot and heavy in the middle of the jungle floor when Manus helped save Marissa from some living vines. But even that was a ruse: Manus used their closeness to grab Marissa's blaster, and walked her and the Technobots into the Quintessons' base as his prisoners. Marissa was horrified when Manus used the recreator to molecularly disassemble the Technobots, and when she attempted to rush the smuggler, she was downed by the Terrorcons. Yet again, however, Manus's actions had a hidden purpose: while the Quintessons were distracted by Marissa's outburst, he reassembled the Technobots, having always intended to double-cross the Quintessons himself in just this manner. With their injuries healed by the process, the Technobots formed Computron and battled the Terrorcons while Marissa argued with Manus that he could have trusted her with his plans. With the villains dispatched, Marissa took possession of the recreator, and everyone returned to Earth. Marissa regretted that she could not give Manus the credits the Quintessons had duped him out of... until Lightspeed came racing up to inform her that the credits had disappeared from the EDC coffers. Marissa turned to Dirk, and before she could even finish accusing him, he kissed her, threw her to the ground, and escaped aboard the Lazy Sue. Out in space, however, Manus discovered that Marissa had replaced the credits with mimic dust, and he could only laugh at the prim and proper EDC captain having pulled a con of her own. Money Is Everything
Marissa accompanied the Autobots to Japan during a series of Decepticon attacks upon the country. Rodimus Prime was feeling the burden of leadership particularly heavily at the time, and Marissa's request for yet more help after the latest Decepticon assault had been squashed proved to be the last straw for the troubled Autobot. Telling Marissa to leave him alone, Rodimus departed to blow off some steam. Understanding what he was feeling, Marissa followed in order to offer Rodimus someone to talk to, but Rodimus told her he would rather race, and Marissa decided to play along. As the pair raced, however, they were attacked by Dead End and Wildrider and run off the road. By the time Marissa had got her car back on the road, the two Stunticons had plucked the Matrix from Rodimus's body, reverting him to Hot Rod. Marissa called in the other Autobots, who were shocked to discover what had happened, but Hot Rod himself cared little, happy to be young and carefree again. The Matrix, meanwhile, wound up in the hands of Scourge, who led a Decepticon attack on Japan; Marissa alerted the Autobots to the appearance of the Decepticons through an EDC Warp Gate, and Hot Rod was able to defeat Scourge, reclaim the Matrix, and accept his burden. The Burden Hardest to Bear
Japanese cartoon continuity
Kiss Players
- Voice actor: Lyrian (Japanese)
As a child in the 1990s, Marissa lived in New York, where she met and became friends with Shaoshao Li, who developed an extremely strong attachment to her. The young Marissa resented her military father, so when one of his missions went awry and she and her father had to be rescued by Optimus Prime, she quickly came to view the Autobot leader as a surrogate father figure... and perhaps a little bit more. Kiss Players #34 Shaoshao didn't take Marissa's friendship with Prime very well, resenting the Autobot for, in her eyes, stealing Marissa away from her, and Shaoshao was forced to move back to Japan with her family before reaching an understanding with her friend. Kiss Players #23
Shortly after Optimus Prime's death in 2005, the body of the new Decepticon leader Galvatron crash-landed on Earth, decimating Tokyo and utterly shattering Transformer-Human relations. A governmental organization known as the Earth Defense Command, headed up by the rabid anti-Transformer fanatic Hitoshizuku Amaō, was quickly established to force the Transformers off Earth, but support for the movement was not universal, and Marissa was amongst its opponents. Alas, these voices went unheard, and by 2006, Earth was Transformer-free, and the embittered Marissa decided that rather than try to fight the EDC with peaceful protests, she'd have a go at fighting them with big, pointy knives, as part of a female commando resistance group.
When Earth Defense Command brought Optimus Prime's corpse to Japan, Marissa secretly observed the arrival of the cargo plane carrying the Autobot leader's body. Kiss Players #1 She and her commando unit were quick to attack the convoy transporting the body, only to discover that the cadaver was a decoy concealing an EDC Autorooper that slaughtered them all, save for Marissa herself. Recognizing an unassuming trailer amongst the other vehicles in the convoy, Marissa sliced it open with her knife, revealing that it contained the remains of the real Optimus Prime. The exposure of Prime's body, however, had a bizarre effect on the Autorooper, which ejected its Kiss Player partner and begin to fuse with the Autobot's corpse. As if to bid farewell to her friend, Marissa kissed Prime, but with this action, she discovered that she was a "Kiss Player"—a human being who had been infused with the scattered cells of Galvatron, giving them the ability to fuse with other beings. Her Kiss Player powers unleashed, Marissa fused with Prime, triggering a transformation that restored him to life and converted his body into a new Dodge SRT-10 form. Kiss Players #2
Marissa and Prime promptly made themselves scarce, and began travelling together, battling the monstrous creatures known as Legion that Galvatron's dispersed cells had also produced, while also eluding the EDC. Marissa thought of Prime as her boyfriend, Kiss Players #1 and Prime himself certainly cared for the girl, unwilling as he was to put her in harm's way, despite the prodigious knife-wielding skills that she could share with him via their kiss-fusion. Kiss Players #4
Knife skills were not Marissa's only attribute, however: she was also a talented surfer, and wondered if she could share that ability with Prime via their fusion. As it turned out, Prime was actually already quite skilled in that area. Kiss Players #7 Prime soon found a better use for Marissa's surfboard when he used his new powers to transform it into a knife so he could make use of the skills Marissa's fusion gave with him. Marissa was not very happy, Kiss Players #10 but took it in stride, and dubbed the new weapon the "Surfblade". In response, Prime named her shirt "The Three Skull Brothers", after the image on it. Kiss Players #16
Prime and Marissa had a close relationship, as the girl washed Prime in "intimate" spots like his gas tank, Kiss Players #19 and they would go on "dates" together, at one point visiting the seaside, only to wind up in battle with a Legion created from the fusion of an octopus and a shipwreck. Prime regretted that these activities had to be carried out under the cover of night, and vowed that he and Marissa would visit the beach under the light of the sun. Someday, Beneath the Sun
Marissa later crossed paths with a girl named Atari Hitotonari, and quickly became friends with her. Sadly, Marissa soon discovered that Atari was actually a member of the EDC, and realized regretfully that this would likely mean they would have to fight. Kiss Players #13 Nevertheless, when Atari found herself in danger, Marissa and Prime rescued her on several occasions. Kiss Players #9
Soon, Optimus Prime found himself suffering from a recurring nightmare filled with visions of his old enemy, Megatron. In the grip of one of these hallucinations, Prime lost control of himself and almost crushed Marissa in his fist, but was thankfully able to regain his senses before he hurt her. Marissa and Prime subsequently fused, and were able to corral a legion of Legion for an attack upon the EDC headquarters. They found their way barred by a pair of most unexpected opponents: Hot Rod had returned to Earth and become Kiss Player partners with Marissa's old friend, Shaoshao. Hot Rod believed Prime to be an impostor, and Shaoshao wished to see him dead so that she might "reclaim" Marissa as her friend, and so Prime and Hot Rod began battling. The tide shifted when Atari entered the battle, the attack was broken off, and Prime and Marissa now found they had to elude Hot Rod and Shaoshao as well as the EDC's force. Kiss Players #3 Marissa could likely never have predicted that Hot Rod would steal her underwear for Shaoshao, though. Kiss Players #28 Kiss Players 29
Marissa spent a lot of time reflecting on things after that, thinking back on the summer she had spent with Prime, Kiss Players #22 on Prime's own past, Kiss Players #25 and his current nightmares. Kiss Players #31 After viewing a seaside fireworks display for their "last date", Kiss Players #34 Marissa and Prime again launched a Legion-backed attack upon the EDC. This time, however, Marissa, Shaoshao, Atari, Prime and Hot Rod all decided to set their differences aside in order to discover the true, dark secret lurking within the EDC. Kiss Players #37 Venturing into the mysterious Genital System facility hidden beneath the EDC headquarters, the team discovered a mad plot by EDC Commander Hitoshizuku Amaō to resurrect her daughter, who had died in Galvatron's impact. Thanks to the efforts of Marissa and her friends, the plan was foiled, the anti-electron field keeping Transformers off Earth was deactivated, and Galvatron's cells were extracted from the Legions and Kiss Players and reconstituted within his body, which was launched off into space. As a result, Marissa lost her Kiss Player powers, and Prime slipped back into death once more. I, You, and the Spinning Earth
Following the deactivation of the anti-electron field, the Autobots returned to Earth in early 2007, but Transformer-human relations were still in tatters. Ultra Magnus came up with the idea of a Transformer-human singing group to try and repair relations and spread goodwill between the two races, and to that end, Marissa joined with Shaoshao, Atari, and cassette Transformers Glit, Sundor and Rosanna to form this group, the "Kiss Players".
While on their world goodwill tour, the Kiss Players arrived in North America to perform at Brave Maximus but just before the concert began, three mysterious glowing orbs appeared before the Kiss Players, and telepathically spoke to them. Introducing themselves as the Sparkbots, Star Dust, Angela and Zangetsu, they instructed the three girls to kiss them. When they did so, the girls and Brave Maximus were suddenly whisked off through time, rematerializing at Sherman Dam in the year 1985, where they witnessed Optimus Prime's historic battle with Megatron atop the structure. Kiss Players #39
At Angela's behest, Marissa kissed the Sparkbot to transform her and rode the flying lion to Prime's side, where, unseen by the combatants, she was instructed to kiss the Autobot leader. Marissa complied, and a fragment of what the Sparkbots called the "AllSpark" emerged from his chest. This, the Sparkbots explained, was the Kiss Players' mission—to recover all the fragments of the Allspark, scattered throughout space and time. Marissa regretted that she could not stay and try to avert Prime's deadly fate-to-come, but continued voyaging through the timestream with the rest of her friends to accomplish this task. Kiss Players #40 Sparkbots Volume 1
The Kiss Players traveled from past to future, collecting AllSpark fragments along the way. Their adventures soon led them to the year 2011, where they fell into the clutches of the Quintessons. Even the power of moe, despite transforming Marissa into a sailor-suited bunny girl, was not enough to spare them from the Quintesson judge's verdict of "not guilty". Fortunately, Optimus Prime and Goldbug came to their accidental rescue, and the Kiss Players' voyage continued. Kiss Players Picture Story Show
On her next mission, Marissa witnessed a robot she believed to be Optimus Prime being brutally beaten in combat in a desert by the Decepticon warrior Overlord. Marissa hastily kissed what she thought was her longtime robotic beau, but as the Allspark fragment emerged, Angela explained that this was not Prime, but Ginrai, a human man who had bonded with a Transtector intended for Prime's use. Marissa was horrified that she had kissed someone other than Prime, and made Angela promise not to tell anyone. Kiss Players #43
Things were proceeding smoothly until the Kiss Players began obtaining Allspark fragments from Transformers participating in the Beast Wars. At the point of the Allspark fragments' emergence, an enigmatic, invisible force began appearing to steal the fragments away, starting with the fragment Atari recovered from Optimus Primal, Sparkbots Volume 2 and carrying on with those Marissa recovered from Lio Convoy and Big Convoy. Kiss Players #46 The Kiss Players gave chase across the timestream, but Brave Maximus wound up crashing into the "Wall of Time", Kiss Players #47 and the team was scattered across the multiverse. Kiss Players #48 Sparkbots Volume 3
Marissa found herself transported to the MD World, during the height of the Transformers' war for energon. There, she met the native Mini-Con Blackout, who had become separated from his partner Demolishor after the larger 'bot's death. Having felt a similar loss when Optimus Prime died, Marissa empathized with Blackout, and told him that their partners lived on in their hearts. As the Transformers battled in space overhead, the mysterious force suddenly seized Marissa and dragged her off through time and space, Kiss Players #49 bringing her to prehistoric Earth in her home universe, where she was reunited with the other girls. It transpired the intangible force that had been plaguing their adventures was, in actuality, the power of Primus, god of the Transformers, and that the Sparkbots were in fact, servants of his nemesis, Unicron. The "Allspark" that the Kiss Players had been gathering was, in fact, Unicron's shattered lifeforce, and the Sparkbots were attempting to resurrect their deceased master. Sparkbots Volume 4 Thankfully, Primus was able to trap Unicron's lifeforce within the Earth, but he would not answer the Kiss Players questions on what their own future would be. As his last act before he transformed into a golden sphere, Primus returned the Kiss Players to the present day 2007, mere moments after they had left on their adventure. Realizing that her future was not defined by Primus or any god, Marissa vowed to make her own future, and enlisted in the reformed, restructured EDC. Kiss Players #51 Sparkbots Volume 5
Legends comic
Marissa was one of the many women brought to the Legends World by Tigatron using the ultra-drill in an attempt to get women who liked him better than Springer. It did not work out, as all of the women brought over eventually swooned over Springer. Bonus Edition Vol. 19
Story of Binaltech
In a parallel universe which was diverged off from the mainstream timeline by the powers of a mysterious entity known as the Protector, Marissa was stationed at the EDC's Mars base in 2005 when Megatron and his Decepticons attacked. Marissa watched as Nemesis Prime appeared on the scene and challenged Megatron to battle for control of Earth's solar system. Kill Switch
The Headmasters cartoon
In 2011, Marissa was briefly mentioned by Daniel Witwicky as a human candidate for the mission to stop Metamorphose, but he was informed by Wheelie that the Earth Defense Command couldn't get involved in the situation. Approach of the Demon Meteorite
Masterpiece toy bios
Following 2011, Marissa befriended an Autobot named Powerdrive who eventually revealed a secret about himself—he was actually Delta Magnus. When he was appointed City Commander and panicked over the possibility of his secret identity being found out by the Decepticons, Marissa helped him through his crisis with kind words and advice. Masterpiece Delta Magnus bio
Unite Warriors/Legends
In 2021, Marissa and her daughter Sue were on Cybertron as Grand Galvatron arrived and announced his intention to conquer the planet. Sky Reign Chapter When Optimus Prime came back to life only to reveal that his return was temporary and that he would die again in seven days, Marissa's daughter Sue burst into tears. Ruination Chapter, Part Two In order to make new happy memories with Prime while she had the chance, she gifted a Transformer-scaled surfboard to her old friend, inspiring him to take the other Autobots surfing in Hawaii. Marissa and her daughter came along and sat in Prime's hand as he watched his soldiers enjoy themselves. Crossing the Pacific Ocean!? She also accompanied Prime to the Disaster Relief Team's musical rehearsal. Invitation to the Dress Rehearsal!
When Waspinator summoned Deltra Magnus to the Legends World, Marissa happened to be brought along for the ride. On her suggestion, they spent a day checking the dimension out just for fun. Bonus Edition Vol. EX Marissa and Sue later had a fight that caused Sue to run away from home. Bonus Edition Vol. 46 In 2022, Marissa led the EDC against the forces of the Concurrence, personally piloting Jetfire into battle. Bonus Edition Vol. EX The following year she accompanied Jetfire to the planet Beast where she was reunited with Sue. The Road to Legends' Revival Chapter 1 In 2039, Marissa enjoyed some leisure time with her daughter. Epiloge
Generations Selects Special Comic
When humanity's Selectors rebelled in the year 2050, receiving support from the Decepticons, an elderly Marissa, now the director of Earth Defense Command, was present at EDC headquarters where she and her fellow former Kiss Players were shocked to learn that the Autobots would be fighting on the Selectors' side as well. Volcanicus comic 2
Dreamwave Generation One continuity
Marissa was the granddaughter of Nathaniel Faireborn, founder of the Earth Defense Command.
As Bumper and Warpath attempted to haul the deactivated bodies of Jazz, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Windcharger, and Wheeljack out of an Oregon lake, they were arrested by Commander Marissa Faireborn and a legion of EDC troops. The Omega Effect Bumper and Warpath were rendered unconscious, and the seven Autobots were taken to the EDCs subterranean headquarters in the Nevada desert. Atonement Contrary to first appearances, the EDC actually helped to repair the damaged Autobots, hoping for their aid in investigating a mysterious Cybertronian energy signature emanating from the deserted town of San Desto. Marissa recruited Jazz, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Bumper for the job, and led them and the EDC Night Force Unit into action.
Even before they touched down in San Desto, Marissa had established a good rapport with Jazz, with both parties mutually respecting the other's skills. As such, when a sweep of the town turned up no civilians, Marissa instructed her troops to follow Jazz's orders as they would hers, as they began a more thorough search. Soon enough, they were attacked by an army of Insecticon clones, who killed off most of the EDC soldiers and captured Bumper. Infestation Jazz and Marissa managed to escape to a garage, where they found a veritable abattoir of human and bovine remains. The Insecticons tracked them down, forcing them to flee into a subterranean egg chamber, which Jazz promptly torched. This provoked an attack from an enraged Shrapnel, but Sideswipe and Sunstreaker managed to cover Jazz and Marissa's escape back to the surface. Once there, they were confronted with yet more Insecticon clones and the cerebro-shell-controlled human citizens of San Desto. While the Autobots were unwilling to risk killing the helpless thralls, Marissa waded into the army with fists flying. Further bloodshed was prevented, however, when Bumper took out Bombshell, neutralizing both clones and slaves. Extermination
Soon after, back at EDC headquarters, Marissa shared a few parting words with Jazz as he and the other Autobots waited for their comrades to pick them up. Marissa assured Jazz that he was not to blame for the loss of the entire Night Force, and seemed about to bring up the strange relationship that had bloomed between the pair of them, until Wheeljack interrupted. Lost and Found
Sometime later, Marissa was chewed out by her superior over the loss of Night Force, who blamed the involvement of the Autobots for the mission going sour. Marissa defended the Autobots (and left the colonel distinctly unimpressed in the process, particularly when he learned that she was on a first-name basis with Jazz), but the colonel demanded that she reinstate her grandfather's Project Centurion, in order to put the EDC on a more equal footing with the Transformers, in terms of power. Marissa objected vocally, but could not sway her commanding officer. The Route of All Evil
2005 IDW continuity
- First appearance: Robots in Disguise #28
Marissa Bishop was the illegitimate daughter of G.I. Joe officer Dashiel Faireborn and his old girlfriend Claire Austin. Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook #2 She spent an unhappy childhood with her alcoholic mother and surrogate father Howard in New Jersey; when her parents divorced, she learned who her biological father was and took his surname out of spite. As G.I. Joe operatives were, at the time, required to fake their death to join, Marissa naturally assumed that her father had died. Marissa Faireborn profile
While still a college student at New York University, Marissa Faireborn profile Marissa was participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City when the Decepticon invasion struck, killing thousands and devastating the city. As one of the businessmen she'd been protesting against died in her arms, she realized there were much greater evils out there that humanity needed to stand united against. Detonation Boulevard Ghost in the Machine She enlisted in the military the very next day. Unification Day: Dawn Two years later, she graduated and joined Skywatch, under the command of General Daniel Witwicky; when Skywatch was decommissioned circa 2012, she became a field commander in its replacement, the UN-chartered Earth Defense Command. The Obliterati Marissa Faireborn profile
When the Decepticons returned in 2014 proposing a truce, Marissa was part of the group General Witwicky brought to the South Pole to meet with their new leaders: Galvatron and Soundwave. Galvatron revealed that Megatron, humanity's tormentor, had recently defected to the Autobots; thanks to Galvatron deliberately twisting the nature of this "betrayal," he persuaded EDC to form an alliance with the Decepticons against the Autobots should they return to Earth. Detonation Boulevard Secret Raiders
At the same time, Marissa helped to forge an alliance of convenience with the Decepticon deserter Thundercracker, providing him asylum on Earth and a source of energon. Eventually, Marissa caved and gave the marooned ex-Decepticon a dog named Buster for companionship. Marissa Faireborn profile
Marissa's second-in-command Ayana Jones, who had served in G.I. Joe prior to the organization's dissolution, eventually revealed to her that Flint was still alive. Marissa Faireborn profile The two met, but never formed a meaningful relationship. Behind My Bleeding Back
Two months after ratifying this-human Decepticon alliance, Marissa led a strike team to shoot down an intruding Cybertronian starship, one that belonged to Alpha Trion. Marissa Faireborn profile The EDC took custody of the ship and its occupant and interred them in the EDC's Bikini Atoll base. The Mind Bomb
When the Autobots arrived four months later to find Trion, Marissa contacted Thundercracker, using him as bait to lure Optimus Prime's Autobot team into an ambush. Once Prime and his troops arrived at Thundercracker's home, she revealed the existence of the EDC-Decepticon alliance and placed them under arrest. Hello Cruel World The Autobots resisted and escaped, and Marissa left the pursuit up to her Decepticon allies. This turned out to be a bad idea when the Decepticons confronted the Autobots in a populated area, prompting her to try to call off the operation, but the Decepticons didn't listen. Detonation Boulevard Bad came to worse as Devastator joined the fight and the Transformers revealed their robot modes to the civilians, forcing Marissa to deploy the EDC's trump card: a mindbomb that knocked the Decepticons out cold, cutting the conflict short. The Autobots got away, and Marissa and her troops quickly got busy covering up what had happened. The Mind Bomb
While reporting on the clean-up to General Witwicky and Sanjay Bharwaney, located at the EDC's Marshall Islands base, Marissa was interrupted by Galvatron and Soundwave teleporting into the base and crushing the comm-link. Full Fathom Five She immediately had Thundercracker fly her to the base, arriving in the middle of a battle between the Autobots and Decepticons only to find Witwicky dead. Galvatron claimed the general had been killed by the Autobot Prowl, which Marissa believed, knowing of Prowl's grudge against Spike Witwicky. I Dream of Wires
Marissa and Ayana Jones traveled to Tokyo to meet with Garrison Blackrock, CEO of Onyx and provider of much of the EDC's tech, in response to the reemergence of Spike Witwicky and his threat against Onyx. She was unimpressed with Blackrock's outrage and informed him that Witwicky was never part of the EDC, but that they would capture him regardless. Signals, Calls, and Marches When Prowl and the Constructicons appeared in Tokyo also in search of Witwicky, Marissa's called for reinforcements as she herself prioritized evacuating Blackrock. Blackrock shocked her with the revelation that he possessed Cybertronian relics, then requested they change course to Wanmu to protect them. Vs. At the Wanmu Onyx base, Marissa was given a tour on Blackrock's collection, most importantly the Enigma of Combination that he claimed had caused the evolution of human society. The tour was rudely interrupted by Prowl's Devastator, come to retrieve the Enigma. ONoffON Faireborn and Ayana Jones found themselves drawing guns on Spike, who pretended Faireborn was an old romantic conquest to confuse and get the drop on her (you're a creep, Spike). When the aforementioned Devastator distracted him, she clobbered him. The incident ended with Spike arrested, the loss of EDC's robot drone army, and Galvatron irked that Faireborn and the EDC had kept information about said drones from him. The Obliterati
Soon after, Faireborn and Jones visited the Decepticon's new space station commune alongside a gladhandling Blackrock. Both EDC women were worried about him and his stories, and Marissa dropped the bombshell that they had no trace of Blackrock existing until three years ago. Still, she thought, better to have him on their side than running unchecked, right? South of Heaven Not long after, Blackrock used this to gain access to Spike's cell. (Marissa wasn't interested in anything the prisoner had to say. Nor was she interested in listening to Thundercracker's new script, but tough shit there) The Nothing Man
Soon after, Thundercracker learned about Christmas and decided to write a children's story where he was a noir detective investigating a murder caused by Megatron to frame Santa Claus which he read to Marissa. She had some criticisms to offer, namely being killed on page two. The Thirteenth Day of Christmas
What Marissa didn't know was that Blackrock had Autobot prisoners under the EDC base and his Onyx Interface was allowing him to spy on all Earth systems. While she groused about Buster the dog peeing on the floor, that same dog and D.0.C. busted the conspiracy wide open! Faireborn had just enough time to realise what was going on before Galvatron attacked, revealing Blackrock was a sleeper agent for his rival Cybertronian, Onyx Prime. Helden Thundercracker, the Autobots, and the E.D.C. gathered their forces in order to prepare for Galvatron's oncoming invasion of the planet. Perihelion
When an all out brawl between Autobots and Decepticons broke out in Shanghai, Faireborn ordered the Mind-Bomb fired on all Cybertronians in the city, offering her apologies to the Autobots present for what would befall their comrades. When the victorious, and very ticked off, Autobots arrived at Bikini Atoll, Faireborn acknowledged that Optimus had saved the city from Galvatron and let him take his men without a fight but wondered if she'd done the right thing shortly afterward. The fact that Optimus annexed Earth hours later did not reassure her. Once Upon a Time on Earth She and Jones were called to the White House. To her dismay, the President had reinstated Spike and made him her liaison the EDC while also putting Zilong Qian as a contact for the People's Liberation Army Mecha Force. New Worlds Order She and Jones later tried to explain to the President that war with the Autobots was a bad idea and that they should at least consider Optimus' message of peace at face value. Unfortunately for her case, Aileron showed up making threats and Faireborn was forced, somewhat reluctantly, to coordinate a defence. Edge of the Earth Marissa was present as the EDC received satellite imagery of the Cybertronians' location from an anonymous source and half heartedly warned Spike to be careful when engaging Optimus Prime. It's Beginning To And Back Again She and Jones received a secret message within the larger message of Blackrock singling his location in the Nemesis. The two removed him before Arcee could kill him, with Skywarp teleporting them away. As Above...So Below She spoke to the President again, trying to highlight the positives, only for her superior to warn her that she would soon be removed from her post as head of the EDC. No Fair Fights Her replacement was General Joe Colton. She continued to work for the EDC and called back Spike per his orders. She later explained who Colton was to Skywarp and her opinion that the General was in over his head. White Light
After Joe Colton was revealed to have been replaced by a Dire Wraith and killed by the Space Knight, Rom, Faireborn was called to the White House, where she was to courier a briefcase. She defended her actions to the President, before she highlighted the recent string of failures suffered by the G.I. Joe's. The debate was interrupted when Marissa got an alert that Scarlett had launched an attack on Bikini Atoll to kill the Wraiths there. The Wraiths in the Oval Office took this as their cue to attack Marissa for the Ore-13 in the briefcase. Marissa was able to mow through them with her custom firearm and deduction of their biology before she called in Thundercracker for backup. Just as she and the President were cornered by Wraiths, the Seeker arrived and began casually cutting through the Wraiths. When he pointed out the Seeker clones had attacked him, that led Marissa to conclude the situation room was compromised by Wraiths before Buster revealed her ability to sniff out Wraiths. Marissa led the fight to the situation room, where she mowed down countless Wraiths with her rifle as Thundercracker killed their leader. After the crisis had passed, Marissa reunited Thundercracker with his friends, before the Cybertronian announced he was going on a road trip. Thundercracker & Buster Save the World Marissa was still fired but at least the President apologized for it. Behind My Bleeding Back
Marissa joined Thundercracker on his road trip and was in Egypt taking in the sights before Thundercracker received a call. The Seeker however dismissed it as a wrong number and Marissa went off, followed by Buster. A Lonely Pillar on the Plain Marissa was soon reunited with her estranged father, who wanted her to join G.I. Joe, so that Thundercracker would aid the team with a Cybertronian problem. The discussion did not go well, as Marissa would not be in charge again before she derisively commented on her father's latest romantic partner (a woman barely older than her), lamenting that he never changed. Behind My Bleeding Back
Marissa then went to take in the sights of a local bazaar with Buster before Thundercracker convinced her to meet with Flint by suggesting he wanted to get to know her better. With little choice, she went to meet her father and ordered him to land his Sky Hawk in Sicily. There she confessed to her father that she had turned down his offer, not because she didn't want to work with him, but because she felt there was no way to win against the Cybertronians. Therefore, she was just seeing the world before it all went to hell. Dance Among the Shadows
Sure enough it went to hell when Sharkticons began invading the world...and then all began leaving. Flint left to follow them but Marissa stayed behind, until Thundercracker convinced her otherwise. Arriving at the Matterhorn after Optimus found a peaceful resolution, she brought forward the idea of a refugee camp for the Junkions and was rehired to oversee construction. Feel Safe Without Regrets After donning a new catsuit, she argued with her dad about the merits of change before she went to defend Thundercracker from Pyra Magna, an act that impressed the Torchbearer. Pyra drove Marissa around and expressed her belief that she and the human were the same and that the Camien wanted Marissa's help in overthrowing Optimus Prime. The Next Day, and the Next Marissa and the President later watched Brad Emory report on Jazz's interview before the President commented on Marissa's good relations with most Cybertronians, saying it was just what the humans needed, asking if she'd given any thought to travelling abroad. The Life of Sideswipe After getting approval from the United Nations, Marissa was appointed Earth's first interstellar ambassador. Origin Myths
Wearing a stunning (and bulletproof) Barber original, Marissa departed Autobot City escorted by her father. Primeless, Part 1 At the grand ceremony within Iacon, Marissa gave a television interview about her past experiences with Cybertronians, saying that the mechanical aliens were part of life and humanity would do well to work with them rather than fight them forever. Riding on a G.I. Joe Bridge Layer through Iacon, Marissa caught up with Mayday as they discussed the many unknown Cybertronians and that fake smiling was all Marissa could do in the face of thirty-foot tall politicians. Unification Day: Dawn
Arriving at the plaza, Marissa was interviewed by Circuit before a large explosion cut Starscream off before he could finish his third word. At Optimus Prime's command, Marissa and Starscream were evacuated to "Echo Point" by Onslaught and Brawl. First Strike #1 Marissa, however simply grabbed her firearm and opened fire on the Red Shadows before her father and Mayday insisted she retreat from the battlefield. As Marissa was being led away, she and Mayday questioned the lack of reinforcements, before Flint deduced the Space Bridge was closed and Arcee saved them from death via a COBRA truck. Arcee then carried Marissa and Mayday to safety before the latter went off to find Blackrock and Centurion. Unification Day: Dawn On Earth, Thundercracker feared what had become of Marissa once Starscream ordered the Space Bridge nexus shut down. Primeless, Part 1
Brought to the Spire, Marissa witnessed the harmonious teamwork and democratic progress of Starscream and Elita One, before Elita put forth the suggestion that all humans were to blame for the attack on Iacon and summoned her weapon to execute all humans, starting with Marissa. Far from being intimated, Marissa instead chewed out Elita for thinking indiscriminate mass murder was the sign of great leadership and mocked her intelligence, humbling the Carcerian into taking a more tactical approach. First Strike #2
Elita next proposed mass deportation, and Marissa agreed that the humans should have stayed on Earth but since Earth was already a member of the Council, she and her species had every right to be present. After Starscream had locked up G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K., Marissa visited Scarlett and promised that despite Starscream's blustering, he would mobilize forces against Colton to not look weak. When Scarlett expressed doubt that Starscream could stop Colton, Marissa revealed that all she could do was try to convince Starscream to take the threat seriously and that she was regretting taking the position of ambassador. First Strike #4 After the creation of New Prysmos, Elita glared at Marissa from behind. First Strike #6
Marissa then attended a Council meeting to discuss the state of Cybertron's energon and alternative energy sources. When Elita put forth the idea of invading Earth for resources, Marissa lampshaded the double standard present in the Council before noting that it had taken only forty-seven humans to bring Cybertron to knee and that angering six and a half billion more was a bad idea. The Dead Come Home, Part 1 Marissa was later retrieved by Blackrock and brought to the Cybertronian wilderness, where Optimus revealed his plan to have Trypticon become Earth's embassy on Cybertron to protect the new generation of protoforms and show that Earth was as deserving of a spot on the Council as the other colony worlds. The Dead Come Home, Part 2
After moving into her new embassy, Marissa found herself beset by paperwork before Starscream stopped by and, to Marissa's horror, hired Thundercracker to produce a biopic about him. After Thundercracker came to Marissa to vent his woes about production troubles, Marissa arranged for him to speak to Richard Ruby about advice on film making. Starscream: The Movie Marissa was later present when Windblade returned to her seat on the Council. After Starscream kicked out Circuit and Longtooth to prevent news of Liege Maximo's freedom leaking to the public, Marissa asked Knock Out what a Liege Maximo was. The Chosen One After Thundercracker's film had bombed in virtually all respects, Marissa comforted her friend before a call came in from J.J. Hackensack who wanted to collaborate with Thundercracker on his next project. Starscream: The Movie
With Optimus, Marissa oversaw the opening of a jointly operated and employed human/Cybertronian Ore-13 mine in Kentucky. However, when the two delivered the energon to Cybertron, Onyx Prime and Liege Maximo returned to the planet. Surfeit of Primes During the Council session regarding the two Primes, Marissa attempted to make her voice heard, only for Onyx to continuously shut her up. When an explosion ripped through the Spire, Optimus and Windblade shielded Marissa. Another Mine When it transpired that Alpha Trion had perished in the blast, Onyx took the opportunity to slander humans as a party that had corrupted Cybertron before fermenting chaos in Iacon, prompting Marissa to call Rashid Nasir and have him send the Dinobots to help. When Onyx left for his ship, Marissa rode on Windblade's shoulder as the cityspeaker carried Optimus, only for the Prime to fall when Metrotitan arrived. The Ground
Returning to the Spire, Marissa continued her attempts at summoning the Dinobots, only for Trypticon himself to decide that Cybertron was doomed and spacebridge himself to Earth. The Hallowing After fliers failed to find the missing Optimus Prime, Elita advocated turning Carcer on Nemesis, but Marissa dissuaded that line of thought in light of the poor luck Metrotitan had already had against the evil Titan. Endless Forever When Onyx was unmasked as Shockwave and brought before the Council, the Decepticon had his crimes read out, with Marissa superfluously pointing out the damage that the scientist had wrought to Earth. Unforgivable
Marissa soon went back to Earth to speak to the President regarding the presence of Trypticon - now perched atop Mount Rushmore - on Earth. As Marissa assured the President that no more Cybertronians would be squatting on Earth, Jazz drove up and turned himself in for killing John Powell in exchange for Rom being allowed usage of Trypticon's spacebridge. Unstopped and Unstoppable
The Dinobots soon arrived at Jazz's prison to petition for their friend's release, Marissa acting as a mediator between the Joes and Autobots before the Colonist Soldiers arrived on a half-cocked rescue mission. Despite Marissa's attempts to keep the peace, the situation escalated to the point that Gimlet, in a burst of instinct, killed Mainframe before Slug, in another burst of instinct, slayed the Eukarian. When the Junkions chose that moment to try and conquer Earth again, it was Jazz who defused the situation before Unicron appeared in the skies overhead, Marissa reflecting that the time of chaos had come at last. Time Will Rust
Not wasting a moment, Marissa called Thundercracker so he could put his skills to use in the crisis before the President called her regarding Metroplex materializing by Victoria Falls. When Rom and Soundwave explained Unicron before the Peaceful Revolution materialized, underground, to take all the Transformers to Africa. A Sunrise Dark Donning a new catsuit, Marissa attended the briefing in Trypticon. Before Thundercracker left to play his role in the battle, he asked Marissa to watch over Buster, even should he not return. Assembly
The Aerialbots soon arrived at Mount Rushmore, combining into Superion to revive the "Earth-Enigma" and allowing Soundwave to make use of the physical Enigma of Combination. Before the plan could be put into motion, Marissa pointed out Monstructor dropping from overhead, only for Superion and a revived Victorion to engage him while the Worldsweeper flew off out of control. As Marissa protected Buster during the chaos, Soundwave and Optimus Prime initiated their plan to defeat Unicron using the Enigma and were ultimately successful. Marissa comforted Buster in the aftermath, assuming Thundercracker hadn't survived, but was soon happily proven wrong as her friend returned from space with Skywarp. They had a joyful reunion and Marissa nuzzled up with Buster as everyone basked in the sunlight. Ceremony As Little Cybertron underwent repairs, Marissa talked to Arcee about her gender reassignment and her plans for the future. Marissa was later present at Optimus' funeral, openly mourning his passing. Post
Games
Transformers: Forged to Fight
Marissa was present on the Ark when it strangely crash-landed on a mysterious planet. In the Campaign she gives some helpful suggestions to the Commander and the Autobots.
Toys
Binaltech Asterisk
- Black Convoy meets Melissa (2006?)
- ID number: BTA-04
- Accessories: Engine/blaster
- A planned release of the Alternators Optimus Prime in Japanese markets, Binaltech Asterisk Black Convoy was solicited to retailers in 2005, in a set with an accompanying "Melissa" figurine (as was usual for the Asterisk line). However, those solicitations were withdrawn and the toy quietly cancelled by the end of the year, with the mold and Melissa instead being released as Kiss Players Convoy × Melissa in 2006.
 Proceed on your way to oblivion. |
Kiss Players
- Known designers: Yuki Ohshima (concept artist)
- Available only as part of the headliner Kiss Players set, Marissa's first-ever toy is a soft-plastic PVC figurine with a permanent pucker, designed mainly to sit demurely on the robot mode shoulder of her partner Convoy. Marissa comes with several interchangeable limbs; a pair of legs bent at the knee to allow her to perch on Prime's shoulder or sit in his driver's seat, a pair of straight legs to allow her stand upright (but only with the aid of the small stand included), a set of straight arms, and a set of arms bent at the elbow to allow her mime the act of placing her hands on Prime's steering wheel while she's sitting in him. She comes with a surfboard (that she really can't use) that becomes either Optimus Prime's "Surfblade" sword or a pair of long serrated knives. The set also comes with a CD containing the first 5 episodes of the Kiss Players radio drama and the exclusive 10-minute audio story, "Someday, Beneath the Sun".
- This set was originally intended for release in the Binaltech Asterisk line as "Black Convoy meets Marissa", but was cancelled due to low sales of the previous toys before it was even officially solicited. How much difference there is between the planned Asterisk version of Marissa and the final Kiss Players version is currently unknown. (Although it could be assumed she was originally wearing some pants.)
G.I. Joe and the Transformers
- Marissa Faireborn with Afterbreaker (2015)
- Accessories: Jetpack with rifle, pistol, figure stand
- Marissa is one of two exclusive figures available through both the Transformers Collectors' Club and the G.I. Joe Collector's Club stores in 2015. She consists of a combination of redecoed parts from existing G.I.Joe figures; namely, the head first used for the 2006 version of Agent Courtney Krieger (aka Cover Girl), the torso and waist of the 2010 Resolute version of Scarlett, the arms of the 2009 Rise of Cobra "Paris Pursuit" version of the Baroness, the thighs/upper legs of the 2009 Rise of Cobra version of Shana "Scarlett" O'Hara, and the hands, lower legs and feet of the 2009 Rise of Cobra version of Courtney "Cover Girl" Krieger. This combination of parts has the unfortunate effect of making her neck appear disproportionally long.
- Her accessories are likewise recolored from existing G.I. Joe accessories: Her gun originally came with the 2008 comic pack version of the Iron Grenadier, her rifle originally came with the 2010 Pursuit of Cobra "Arctic" version of Destro, and the rocket pack is a redeco of the JUMP pack that was first released by itself all the way back in 1982, and has since been available with multiple different figures. These accessories are meant to emulate the rocket pack and null-ray blaster she used in "Five Faces of Darkness".
- Also included is a non-transforming "Afterbreaker" (aka Afterburner, renamed due to trademark issues), redecoed from the 2012 Retaliation Wheel Blaster Bike, in homage to her work with the Technobots in the original The Transformers cartoon episode "Money Is Everything".
Masterpiece
- Delta Magnus (2016-08-27)
- Japanese ID number: MP-31
- Accessories: Super Blaster Gun, 2 missiles, Marissa figure, 2 neutral faces, 2 screaming faces
- A mini-figure of Marissa is included with the Masterpiece Delta Magnus figure and can be seated inside his cab in vehicle mode.
Notes
- Although Marissa's father in cartoon continuity has long been accepted to be the G.I. Joe member Flint (aka Dashiell Faireborn), there were no statements as to the identity of her mother for several years. In an interview on the Sony BMG re-release of The Transformers: The Movie, former Transformers writer and story editor Flint Dille confirmed fellow G.I. Joe member Lady Jaye as Marissa's mother. This would subsequently make Marissa a distant relative of Destro as well. However, in an interview with G.I. Joe fansite Joe Headquarters, Dille added the caveat that "I've always thought of Flint as being too young to have a daughter that old."
- Kiss Players designer/illustrator Yūki Ōshima based Marissa's black leather battle outfit on that of the Baroness. He originally wanted her to infiltrate Cobra, but had her join an anti-government resistance team when the idea was shot down.
- Early previews of Kiss Players implied Marissa to be a current or former EDC member, going so far as to feature an EDC logo on her shirt in early images. The idea was discarded, and the EDC logo was replaced with the set of three eyepatch-wearing skulls referenced above.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Melissa Faireborn (メリッサ・フェアボーン Merissa Feabōn)
