Cliffjumper (Aligned)

Cliffjumper is a recurring character in Transformers Aligned continuity, serving as a major character in Fall of Cybertron and a minor protagonist in Transformers Prime. 
He was killed by Starscream and became a Terrocon by Megatron using Dark Energon.
He was voiced initially by Dwayne Johnson, before Billy Brown voiced him in flashbacks. In the Cybertron games, he was voiced by Nolan North.
== History ==
===War for Cybertron (DS version)===
Following the unleashing of Omega Supreme, Cliffjumper spotted a party of Decepticons preparing to assault the giant. He attempted to slow their advance with force fields and gun turrets, and when that didn't work, led them on a high-speed chase while trying to shoot them. They eventually caught up with him when he crashed into a wall and, though his spirit was still defiant, he was unable to stop them passing him. Of course, they immediately ran into Jetfire...
=== Backstory ===
As revealed in Predatory, during the Great War, Cliffjumper and Bumblebee invaded the lair of Airachnid, who had captured Arcee and Tailgate. Airachnid had already killed Tailgate by the time Cliffjumper and Bumblebee arrived, but they were able to pull a shellshocked Arcee to safety. 
===Exodus===
Note: Exodus tells it's own account the War on Cybertron, which conflicts with the Cybertron games.
Cliffjumper concurred with Ironhide that while Sentinel Prime was not an Autobot, he deserved to be rescued. He and Ultra Magnus's Wreckers later escorted Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Jetfire to the Well of All Sparks when they made their journey to purge Cybertron's core of Dark Energon.
Cliffjumper was with the Wreckers when they went on mission to help Optimus Prime guard the Well of Allsparks from Megatron's encroaching forces. He was partnered up with Bumblebee, and tasked with harrying the Decepticons should they get passed the rest of the Wreckers. On their way to their post, they ran afoul of Barricade. They engaged the Decepticon, and after a brief tussle, left him behind beaten and unconscious. Cliffjumper and Bumblebee then doubled back to help the Wreckers flank the incoming Decepticons. In doing so, they helped disrupt the Decepticons' entire field position. The pair got separated during the battle.
After the AllSpark was launched into space and the Decepticons retreated, Cliffjumper would learn that Bumblebee had gotten his vocoder crushed while keeping Megatron at bay.
=== Rise of the Dark Spark===
When Swindle and Shockwave were returning to Kaon, Dark Spark in hand, Cliffjumper led an Autobot attack in a desperate gambit to retrieve the Dark Spark from them. Unfortunately, he was defeated and forced to retreat, reporting to Optimus as he did so. Cliffjumper later tried to redeem himself on the outskirts of Kaon. Attempting to stop Bruticus's rampage, Cliffjumper attempted to place a det pack on the combiner, but was crushed for his troubles. The Decepticons then retreated into Kaon with Cliffjumper's unconscious body. Optimus Prime and Jazz then proceeded to infiltrate Kolkular to rescue Cliffjumper. They succeeded in freeing Cliffjumper, and, despite Cliffjumper's pleas, Optimus ordered Jazz to evacuate Cliffjumper while he went on to face Megatron alone.
=== Fall of Cybertron ===
After Grimlock went missing from his post, Optimus Prime met Cliffjumper and Jazz in the armory as they were preparing to go find Grimlock and his team. Sideswipe took the duo in a dropship to the Sea of Rust where they explored the ruins. After encountering a number of Decepticon Guardians, Cliff got the opportunity to save Jazz's life when the other Autobots was caught under debris during a rust storm. They followed a distress signal to a huge pit, which Jazz insisted on going down alone, though Cliff kept in contact with him via radio. Cliffjumper ended up facing the hordes of Insecticons that poured out of the pit when Jazz flooded it, but with the other Autobot's help, survived. Exploring further, they found an energon lake and spotted the huge tower in which Shockwave was conducting his space bridge experiments. Jazz and Cliffjumper infiltrated the facility, eventually finding Shockwave himself. Cliffjumper attempted to sneak up on the Decepticon, only to end up trapped behind a force field. While Jazz faced the swarm of Insecticons outside, Cliffjumper reversed the flow of toxic waste into the facility, escaping just before the place exploded. After being picked up by Sideswipe, they reported the energon lake back to Optimus before returning to finish preparing the Ark for launch.
=== Prime ===
====Out of the Past====
Note: As with Exodus, both the Prime prequel by IDW, and Out of the Past depict the same event, with some differences, but the Prime comic continues Cliffjumper's story.
Following the Great Exodus, Cliffjumper was investigating reports of a Decepticon operation on the deserted Cybertron when he was captured by Starscream's forces along with Arcee. When interrogated, he held out and faked a shutdown, being thrown into the same cell as Arcee. The pair were taken to Shockwave, who used a cortical psychic patch on Arcee to decode the transmission—a message from Optimus Prime calling the Autobots to Earth. Cliffjumper subsequently kept Starscream busy long enough for Arcee to free herself and the pair went to destroy the space bridge that Shockwave had build. Cliffjumper distracted the Decepticons while Arcee sabotaged the bridge though Shockwave caught them in the act. Cliffjumper ended up fighting the Decepticon scientist and came off second best, though he was saved by Arcee. The two Autobots jumped through the space bridge, encountering Shockwave one last time mid-bridge before they ended up on Earth. As the pair went off to find Optimus, Cliffjumper regaled Arcee with the story of the time he was lost in the Sea of Rust, which happen in the Fall of Cybertron with his partners, Jazz and Sideswipe. The duo were unaware that Shockwave survived their encounter. Although, Cliff hoped Shockwave did survive because he wanted a rematch.
==== Darkness Rising ====
Cliffjumper was one of the starting members of Team Prime to fight the Decepticons on Earth as well as being partner of Arcee. Three years after the last reported Decepticon activity on Earth, Cliffjumper was still marooned on the planet with his fellow Autobots. Still a strong-willed individual, Cliffjumper had sometimes run afoul of human authorities, resulting in receiving multiple traffic tickets and once having a boot affixed to his tire due to a parking violation. Unfortunately in his debut episode he is killed by Starscream in the first episode. The Decepticons later used his body to reanimate him with the Dark Energon to use him as a test subject and transformed into a Terrorcon.
====Legacy====
Cliffjumper's death would have many effects on the Autobots, mostly Arcee as they would mention Cliffjumper (despite Ratchet mentioning Cliffjumper's demise when he was on Synthetic Energon) in some cases. Starscream use to mention killing Cliffjumper and bragging about it a lot. Starscream revealed to Airachnid that he killed the Autobot, much to her own surprise. Later, the Decepticon let it slip to Arcee that he was his killer. Arcee even tried to avenge her fallen partner by nearly terminating Starscream though stopped because she noticed that Bumblebee was watching. During Bulkhead and Ratchet's assistance of Starscream, Arcee reminded the two that she had already lost two partners and wasn't exactly willing to cooperate with their killers. In Grill, Agent Fowler told Bryce that Cliffjumper's death was an unexpected and sadden loss of a member of the Autobots. When Bulkhead was trapped on the Nemesis, he encountered a clone version of Starscream that soon mentioned Cliffjumper (like Starscream would do in battle). This enraged Bulkhead to brutally attack, then kill the clone in his attempt to avenge his comrades, including Cliffjumper. When the new Autobot, Smokescreen, arrived on Earth, his personality matched with Cliffjumper, which was why Arcee scolded him for putting Jack in danger (even though she, ironically, also put her human partner at risk a few times in the series) and thinking about destiny. However, when the Autobots (mostly Arcee) thought that Smokescreen was killed ("once" by Megatron and "twice" when he fell into the ground), Arcee felt regret as she didn't want to lose him, like how she lost Cliffjumper. When the Autobot base was destroyed by the Nemesis, Cliffjumper's memorial was destroyed in the explosion. While Miko, in the Apex Armor, was scrapping the Vehicons, Starscream reminded her that he terminated Cliffjumper, only for her to tell him that she scrapped Hardshell in Chain of Command. Cliffjumper was mentioned by Optimus in his speech in Predacons Rising. 
In RID (2015), the sequel of Transformers Prime, despite his death, Cliffjumper was one of the Autobots blacklisted by the High Council for associating with Optimus Prime. His old partner, Jazz, also reunites with Bumblebee. In half of Season 2, Cliffjumper's old rival and killer, Starscream, returns to get revenge on the Autobots for the Decepticons' defeat and get revenge on Megatron for leaving him at the mercy of the predacons (and for tormenting him before, during, and after his stay with the Decepticons). Cliffjumper was finally avenged when Optimus and Bumblebee worked together and defeated him.
== Gallery ==
Cliffjumper facing Starscream.png|Cliffjumper facing Starscream, when before killing him.
==Trivia==
* Despite appearing on posters and promos, Cliffjumper is killed off in the series premiere. 
* Cliffjumper is almost similar to Ripcord from "G.I. Joe: Renegades: 
** Both are the sixth member of the main team. 
** Both are killed off in the series premiere. 
** Both fall victim to the villains' evil experiments. 
** However, the main difference between Cliffjumper and Ripcord is Cliffjumper stays dead, but is mentioned and appears only in flashbacks later in the series. While Ripcord shows up alive and remains survived.
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