Swoop

Swoop is the Pteronadon member of the Dinobots, and a supporting character in the Transformers franchise. His tech spec indicated that Swoop loved seeing his enemies break and run as he launched his aerial attack. However, his vicious exterior hid a gentle, good-natured Autobot. He has the ability to fly at 250 mph and is armed with air-to-air missile launchers under each wing. His greatest weakness perhaps are his fragile wings which are vulnerable to enemy firepower. He joined the Autobots in the cartoon in their first year, but did not have a toy until 1985. In some continuities Swoop is depicted as formerly being known as Divebomb, but changed the name when it was taken by a Decepticon. 
Swoop was first introduced in 1985 and was voiced by Michael Bell in the animated The Transformers series. 
==Transformers: Generation 1==
===Animated series===
Swoop is the only Dinobot who can fly in his dinosaur mode (although Grimlock was once depicted flying in dinosaur mode in season three of the television series, assumed animation error). Swoop is also believed to be one of the smartest Dinobots, yet appears to lack the brute strength of his comrades.
Swoop first appeared in episode 10, called "War of The Dinobots." Swoop was created by Wheeljack and Ratchet on Earth in 1984. He was created along with Snarl to be the two new Dinobots to go along with the already-created Grimlock, Slag, and Sludge. It has not been explained why he or the other Dinobots were able to be fitted with personalities which can only be found on Cybertron from Vector Sigma. Apparently there is a difference between the brain and personalities in Transformers. Their brains are simple, yet still it is the personalities that make them sentient. It is evident that addition of personalities or "sparks" and its origin was after the fact, and was hoped that this inconsistency would be overlooked.
While Snarl and Swoop were being created, Megatron convinced Grimlock, Slag, and Sludge that Optimus and the Autobots were their enemies and the three original Dinobots kidnapped Optimus Prime. After Wheeljack and Ratchet, with the help of Chip Chase, created Swoop and Snarl, the two new Dinobots were used to rescue Prime from Grimlock, Slag, and Sludge. During that battle, Optimus saved the original Dinobots' lives before the meteorite near them exploded and they then realized that the Autobots were really their friends.
In 1985, an island with real dinosaurs was found by Powerglide and 
Bumblebee. Optimus decided that Dinobot Island would be a good place for the Dinobots to train and practice their fighting skills, because the Ark was too small for the giant Dinobots. Megatron and the Decepticons found out about the island and wanted to harvest it for all the energy it produced. The Dinobots were thrown in a tarpit, but were later rescued and enlisted a group of real dinosaurs to help them attack Megatron.
Some time later, the Cybertronian Autobots and Decepticons began to malfunction because they ran out of Cybertronium, a crystalline substance only found on Cybertron. The Dinobots were made on Earth, so they were the only Transformers not affected and were sent to Cybertron to get some. When they got to Cybertron, they disappeared. Spike and Carly went to Cybertron to find them and found Swoop, who led them to the other Dinobots that were captured and working for Shockwave. Eventually they were freed and brought the Cybertronium back so that the Autobot's bodies could be restored.
In The Transformers the Movie, the Dinobots traveled in the shuttle with Optimus Prime towards the end of the attack on Autobot City. their orders were to destroy Devastator, who had been a long-running enemy of theirs. Though Devastator appeared to have the upper hand at first, the Dinobots did manage to finally knock him down and halt his movements; taking him out of the fight. Swoop himself was knocked down by falling debris from Autobot City. When Galvatron attacked, they went in the shuttle with Kup and Hot Rod. This took no small amount of effort due to their innate stubbornness and desire to fight. The shuttle was shot down on Quintessa and Kup and Hot Rod were captured by the Quintessons. On Quintessa, the Dinobots met Wheelie, who led them to Kup and Hot Rod and they were able to rescue the two Autobots from the Quintessons. They took a Quintesson ship to the planet of Junk and were with the Autobots when they attacked Unicron. They helped with the attack on Unicron, inflicting more damage than most of the other combatants, striking at the Chaos-bringers flanks, attempting to break inside and rescue their friends. None of the Dinobots but Grimlock played large roles in the episodes following the movie.
===Marvel Comics===
Swoop was first mentioned near the end of the initial miniseries as one of five Autobots reactivated and reformatted by the Ark's computers millions of years earlier to fight the Decepticon Shockwave. Swoop and the other Dinobots made their full debut in Issue #8, where they were found and reactivated by Ratchet. It transpired that the battle had left the Dinobots stranded in a tar pit and Shockwave buried under rocks. Ratchet hoped to enlist the Dinobots' help against Megatron, but although they successfully sprung an ambush, Megatron defeated them, only to end up falling off a cliff during a clash with Ratchet.
Although it would be some time before he reappeared in the US title, Swoop's storyline continued in the UK-exclusive story "Decepticon Dambusters". He and the other Dinobots followed Ratchet back to the Ark, where most of the Autobots lay deactivated, but they were attacked by a Guardian robot left behind by Shockwave and Swoop was badly damaged. He was finally reactivated in "The Wrath of Grimlock" to find the Guardian about to explode. He saved the other Autobots by carrying the Guardian into the sky and was believed killed in the explosion.
He reappeared in "The Icarus Theory", found by the human scientist Professor Morris who brought him under his control and used him to attack the Autobots. Optimus Prime played on Swoop's opposition to authority to shock him into breaking the control and confronting Morris. However, Swoop immediately when berserk and had to be subdued: His circuits had corroded from the time in the tar pit. He and the other Dinobots were brought back online in "Second Generation", just in time for their cameo in US Issue #19, where they refused to join Optimus Prime in an attack on the Decepticon base on learning he intended to retreat after getting information on combiner technology, and headed out on their own.
In the subsequent "In the National Interest", Swoop agreed to help track down Joy Meadows, a human journalist who had once befriended Sludge and who was trying to reveal the truth of the Transformers' war. Swoop saved her from an assassination attempt by agents of the intelligence organisation Triple I and offered to bring her camera crew to her so she could record the Dinobots' side of things. The rendezvous was interrupted by Megatron, but an attack by the human-created robot Centurion allowed Swoop to leave with the camera crew. However, the interview was interrupted by the Decepticons. Centurion again aided the Dinobots in the ensuing battle, during which Swoop took down Mixmaster, but the encounter came to an abrupt end when Soundwave destroyed Joy's recording and threatened her into abandoning her plan.
Centurion was later destroyed by Galvatron on his arrival from the future, prompting Swoop and the other Dinobots to attack him in retaliation. Even with back-up from Blaster, they were outclassed. Swoop learned that Centurion had been controlled by his old enemy Professor Morris and agreed to let Morris control him again. Together, they fought Galvatron until he was driven off by Shockwave and the present day Decepticons. Swoop finally rejoined the Marvel US title in Issue #27, accompanying Grimlock as he tried to stake a claim to the Autobot leadership in the aftermath of Optimus Prime's death. They belatedly joined a battle with Trypticon which saw the Autobots accept Grimlock as leader.
Swoop had a key role in "Grudge Match", where it was revealed his original name, Divebomb, had been taken by a Decepticon who defeated him on Cybertron. Swoop had told the other Dinobots he later killed Divebomb, but in fact he had been saved by Optimus Prime. With Divebomb now on Earth, Swoop challenged him but again came off second best, and received a beating from Divebomb's fellow Predacons. When the other Dinobots weighed in, Swoop fought Divebomb again and tricked him into firing on Grimlock. It was at this point that Grimlock revealed he had learned the truth months earlier. Swoop stopped him from killing Divebomb, instead confessing to the other Dinobots.
With Grimlock's command becoming increasingly unpopular, Swoop joined him in pursuing Sky Lynx and a group of humans who had helped Blaster after he deserted Grimlock's command. The arrival of the Nebulan Autobots led by Fortress Maximus brought things to a head and ended with Grimlock and Blaster duelling on the moon's surface. Swoop was one of the few cheering for Grimlock but a Decepticon attack saw all the Autobots put aside their differences.
When Optimus Prime resumed command, he took Swoop with him to confront Galvatron. The confrontation was delayed by the arrival of Rodimus Prime and a group of Autobots from the future, who were mistaken for attackers, with Swoop strafing Arcee in the resulting melee, before they finally joined the battle. Swoop made his last appearance for some time during the Underbase Saga, where he was among those deactivated defending Tokyo from the Underbase-powered Starscream.
He was brought back online by Grimlock with nucleon shortly before the events of Issue #72 and was at his side during subsequent events, taking the Ark to Cybertron to join the battle with Unicron, fighting demons from Cybertron's depths and evacuating the apparently doomed planet with the other Autobots. Following the Decepticons to Klo, Swoop blindly followed Grimlock in attacking the first Decepticons they saw only to be ambushed and deactivated. He was likely revived by the Last Autobot.
In Marvel UK's Earthforce storyline, Swoop first appeared in "Two Steps Back", where he and the other Dinobots were ambushed by a group of Shockwave's Decepticons, with Grimlock having to save Swoop from Runamuck. He acted as Grimlock's second in his fight with Optimus Prime, which ended with Optimus giving Grimlock command of a new Autobot Earthforce, which Swoop quickly joined along with several other recently revived older Autobots. His most prominent appearance was when he and the other Dinobots prevented Slag being exposed as a berserker during a visit by Optimus Prime. He last appeared in "The Lesser Evil", where he and Sludge protected Soundwave and Starscream from the Decepticon Mayhem Squad, since Starscream was needed as a donor to save Snarl.
The post-movie version of the character appeared in "The Legacy of Unicron", first taking part in the battle with the Decepticons on Cybertron ordered by Cyclonus and Scourge, then accompanying Rodimus Prime to Junk to destroy Unicron's head, where he fought with the Unicron-controlled Junkions.
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