Throttle (G1)
From Transformers Wiki
| The name or term "Throttle" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Throttle (disambiguation). |
- Throttle is a Nebulan Powermaster from the Generation 1 continuity family.
A (self-admittedly) low-life thief, Throttle revels in his chosen profession and loves mixing with society's dregs. Throttle sees this as simple honesty and appreciates that in others. If he doesn't like you, he'll tell you in no uncertain terms. With Throttle, what you see is what you get. While his Powermaster partner Darkwing may disagree, the pair get on well because of that honesty. Sure the Decepticon may be a pessimist, but at least he doesn't pretend to be anything he's not.
The only serious issue in their relationship is Throttle's hotheaded and reckless nature in combat; the Nebulan is so keen to outdo Dreadwind and Hi-Test that he has a tendency to over-exert himself and overheat, robbing Darkwing of power just when he needs it the most.
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Fiction
Marvel The Transformers comics
A hot-headed thief, Throttle was recruited by Hi-Test to serve as his new partner to allow the scientist to get even with his former friend, Hi-Q. Following Hi-Test's instructions, Throttle stole Hi-Q's research data on fuel conversion. With this data, Hi-Test was able to bio-mechanically engineer the pair's bodies to become Powermasters, returning the Decepticons Dreadwind and Darkwing to operation and putting the lie to Hi-Q's promise of a Nebulos free of Transformers.
The Decepticons and their allies went on to ravage Nebulos, stealing the mass quantities of food so the binary bonded Nebulans' accelerated metabolisms could remain sated. During one such raid, on the Gardens of Eternal Peace and Harmony Macrobiotic Restaurant, Throttle was sure to warn the manager to make their food to his specifications. Their antics were only stopped by the arrival of a group of Autobots seeking to rebuild the body of Optimus Prime. Though Dreadwind and Darkwing maintained the upper hand in this first encounter, the Autobots returned for a rematch shortly after having underwent the same binary bonding procedure with Hi-Q and his staff. Their Powermaster advantage negated, Throttle, Hi-Test and their partners were defeated, exiled, and driven off of Nebulos. People Power!
Next, they took up a job as middlemen and "robot-spotters" for the Mecannibals. Because Master Mouth and his brood lived off of eating robots, Darkwing and Dreadwind posed as a non-sentient spacecraft, allowing Hi-Test and Throttle to act as the primary partners in their dealings. Working with J'oh of the Black Hole Bar and Grill in Grand Central Space Station, the team delivered many robots to the dinner plates of the Mecannibals, receiving large commissions in the process. The Mecannibals also sold the discarded parts of their meals, so when two enormous humans came around asking for some microchips, the Nebulans set up an exchange for them: 500 million high-quality chips for 4,000 Energon units. The deal hit a rough patch when the two buyers insisted on meeting the Nebulans' boss directly, leading to Master Mouth's meal, the Autobot Sky Lynx, escaping. This snag cost Throttle and Hi-Test half their commission. Embittered by this loss, they decided to spy on the pair, coming upon them as they were talking with another human, Berko. Through the course of the conversation, the Nebulans discovered that they weren't dealing with organics, but a pair of Autobots with Pretender shells! They rushed off to inform J'oh of this fact, and arranged for Cloudburst and Landmine to be delivered to Master Mouth. Guess Who the Mecannibals Are Having for Dinner?
Despite the Nebulans warning Master Mouth not to trust the Autobots, the Mecannibal was talked into letting the Pretenders go free so that they could fetch spices from a nearby planet and season themselves. So long as Berko was his prisoner, Master Mouth felt the Autobots were guaranteed to return. Knowing better than to let the Autobots go off unsupervised, Throttle and Hi-Test pretended to resume their robot-spotting duties to follow them to the planet Femax. There, they laid in wait for the Autobots to return from their errand, combining with their Decepticon partners to ambush them. But they were unaware that Sky Lynx had in turn followed them. When they lunged out to attack Landmine and Cloudburst, Sky Lynx sprung forth, knocking Darkwing and Dreadwind unconscious. The Autobots then secured both their own and Berko's safe release from the Mecannibals by holding the Nebulan pair hostage. On their way out, the Autobots told Master Mouth of Throttle's and Hi-Test's own partially robotic natures, and with their ruse uncovered, the Powermasters found themselves on the run from their now former bosses. Recipe for Disaster!
At some point, Darkwing, Dreadwind, and their Nebulan partners fell under the command of Scorponok on Earth. Learning of an Autobot-made power cell that would allow him to energize his binary-bonded partner without the need to consume copious amounts of food, Throttle stole the device and made his getaway aboard the Dreadwing. As they fled over the ocean, the Decepticons were shot down by the Aerialbots, forcing them to wait on the seafloor while the Seacons came to retrieve them. But the Autobots were intent on retrieving the power cell, and fought Throttle's rescuers in the briny deep. Hi-Q made his way to the Dreadwing's cockpit while the larger combatants were preoccupied with one another, and breached it to take the battery by force. With their Nebulan allies now at risk of drowning, the Seacons abandoned the fight to see to them safely reaching the surface. Dreadwing Down!
On Scorponok's orders, Dreadwind and Darkwing raided an Alternate Reality, Inc. warehouse, where Optimus Prime had left behind a floppy disk containing a copy of his mind. They found the facility being guarded by Getaway, Slapdash, and Joyride. While Hi-Test and Dreadwind kept the Autobots busy, Darkwing called upon Throttle's burglarizing skills to infiltrate the building without setting off any alarms. Once inside, Throttle found the sought-after disk in short order. But on his way out, he and Darkwing were met by Getaway and Rev, who had managed to slip past their allies. Throttle met Rev in hand-to-hand combat, and though his opponent managed to seize the disk, Darkwing succeeded in disarming Getaway by destroying his plasma-shell shotgun with his electro-kinetic blasters. Held at gunpoint, the Autobot Nebulan was forced to surrender the disk back, and the Decepticons rushed outside with it back in their possession. Their mission a success, Darkwing and Dreadwind combined into their Dreadwing configuration for a quick getaway. Prime Bomb!
Throttle and his allies eventually made their way to Cybertron, where they took a job working for deposed Decepticon leader Megatron. The latter hired them to retrieve a special cargo from Earth: the deactivated body of Starscream. En-route to Earth, the group crossed paths with an Autobot shuttle and Darkwing insisted they postpone their job to go after it. The ensuing chase was fun for the Decepticons, but Throttle and Hi-Test quickly grew bored of it. Thankfully, the whole pursuit soon came to an end with the Autobots' shuttle crashing down into Earth's atmosphere. Resuming their mission, the Powermasters made their way planet-side, unaware that the Autobots had managed to ditch their ship at the last moment, and were now covertly following them.
Upon arriving in southern Peru, Throttle and his allies found that Starscream was NOT so deactivated after all: his zombie body stalked the Earth, somehow animated past death by the remainder of the Underbase's energies. Darkwing and Dreadwind were trounced by the zombie, and the two Nebulans took off running. The Throttlebots then arrived on the scene, and questioned the pair. Though hesitant at first to divulge any information, Hi-Test quickly relented and explained the whole situation, finishing up as Starscream caught up to them. The Autobots were soon too busy battling the zombie to pay the Nebulans any heed. As soon as the coast was clear, Throttle and Hi-Test doubled back towards their Decepticon partners, and linked-up to re-energize them into working order. Despite the mission's rocky start, Dreadwind insisted on seeing it through to its conclusion. He had Throttle and Hi-Test run up to Starscream as soon as the Autobots created an opening for them. Thanks to their unique systems, the Nebulans were able to drain out the Underbase energies keeping Starscream ambulatory, causing him to collapse into a heap. Before the Autobots could properly react to the situation, Throttle's team gathered up Starscream's parts, and flew off to meet with their employer. Race with the Devil
Commercial appearances
- Throttle accompanied Darkwing in an assault against the Autobot Powermasters, allowing his partner to transform in mid-air. The Decepticons possessed the advantage until Optimus Prime showed up and made a display of his considerable firepower. Powermasters commercial
Toys
The Transformers
- Darkwing (Powermaster, 1988)
- Released in the fifth year of the original Transformers toyline (fourth in the European line), Throttle is an armored humanoid figure that converts into an engine block. In this form, he can fit into the engine socket of any Powermaster mold, releasing a catch and unlocking its transformation from vehicle to robot mode.
- He was only available packed in with his partner Darkwing.
- Redecoed versions of Throttle and Darkwing were sold in Japan as the Godmaster Hydra and his transtector. The Hasbro-colors version of the set was also made available in Japan via mail-order, dubbed "Hydra Darkwing".
