Skydive (G1)

Skydive (スカイダイブ Sukaidaibu) is a member of the Aerialbots and part of the Autobots team to form the left leg of Superion. He transforms into a F-16 Fighting Falcon after he was created by Optimus Prime and his fellow Autobots by using old Cybertronian planes and shuttles on the planet Cybertron and was brought to life by Vector Sigma when Alpha Trion sacrificed himself to activated Vector Sigma to bring the new Aerialbots to life and be part of the Autobot team.
==Biography==
===Cartoon===
Skydive first appeared with the other Aerialbots in the second half of the second season story "The Key to Vector Sigma". The group were given life on Cybertron thanks to an act of sacrifice by Alpha Trion and followed Optimus Prime and the Autobots back to Earth. The Aerialbots had an unpromising first encounter with humans, when the Autobots were blamed for a raid by the Stunticons and fired on. Skydive seemed ready to follow Slingshot in abandoning both Autobots and humans and returning to Cybertron but Silverbolt convinced them the Decepticons would never leave them alone and used Sparkplug Witwicky's work on repairing Omega Supreme to show them the value of humans. Skydive and the others helped the Autobots defeat the Stunticons.
In the following episode "Aerial Assault", Skydive joined the other Aerialbots in investigating plane thefts in the Middle East. They were ambushed by the Combaticons, with Skydive joining Silverbolt in taking on Onslaught and rescuing Slingshot after a cave-in. He and the damaged Slingshot volunteered to go undercover as ordinary planes to catch the thieves. They ended up being stolen and dismantled before discovering the thieves were smuggling parts to the Decepticons. After being repaired by the country's deposed prince, Skydive joined Silverbolt and Air Raid in destroying the Decepticons' drones before forming Superion with the other Aerialbots to defeat Bruticus.
In "War Dawn", Skydive and the others remained unconvinced of the Autobots' cause and were tricked by the Decepticons into being transported back in time to the beginning of the war on Cybertron. They witnessed a brutal assault by Megatron that saw a group of Autobots they'd befriended slaughtered, and took an injured Orion Pax to Alpha Trion, who rebuilt him as Optimus Prime. Returning to their own time after destroying the energon Megatron had stolen, Skydive and the others were now committed to the Autobots.
Skydive continued to appear in the aftermath of the movie: In "Five Faces of Darkness", he was with the Autobots who accompanied Rodimus Prime to Quintesson to rescue Ultra Magnus, Kup and Spike Witwicky. He would make several minor appearances throughout the third season, including being led by a zombie Optimus Prime into a Quintesson trap in "Dark Awakening", battling Trypticon in "The Ultimate Weapon", ambushing Cyclonus and Scourge in "Flight or Flee", encountering a time-displaced Alpha Trion in "Forever is a Long Time Coming" and witnessing the activation of the Autobots' new reactor in "Grimlock's New Brain". He was infected by the Hate Plague and cured by the Matrix in "The Return of Optimus Prime".
In the three-part series finale "The Rebirth", Skydive helped defend Cybertron against Galvatron's attack but was shot down by Sixshot and then further disabled by the Combaticons.
===Comics===
Skydive was first seen in the UK-exclusive story "Second Generation", where Optimus Prime and Buster Witwicky had a vision of him and the other Aerialbots travelling to back up the Protectobots in a battle with Menasor and Bruticus, forming Superion. This led into his Marvel US debut in Issue #20, where he and the other newly-built Aerialbots were rushed into the field despite not being fully programmed in order to stop the Decepticons taking over Sherman Dam. Skydive came up with a battle plan against the Decepticons but was shot down by Thrust. Their first attempt to form Superion was a disaster as Silverbolt had to disengage the gestalt to stop him instinctively harming Decepticon-controlled human Ricky Vasquez.
Skydive was finally fully programmed and given life with the Creation Matrix in the next issue. He and his team were despatched to stop the Stunticons only to be captured by human robot hunters Circuit Breaker and RAAT and disassembled. They were only freed after helping Circuit Breaker stop the Battlechargers. In the G.I. Joe and the Transformers miniseries, they were fully repaired in time to back up Bumblebee guarding Power Station Alpha. After being seen among the Autobots mourning Optimus Prime in Issue #26, Skydive returned at the end of the miniseries, helping form Superion to battle Devastator.
Skydive would only make a handful of further appearances in the Marvel US title, being present when new Autobot leader Grimlock threatened a group of human children to draw out the renegade Blaster in issue #36 and for the duel between Grimlock and Blaster in issue #41. He last appeared during the Underbase Saga in issue #50, where he, Air Raid and Fireflight rescued Buster from the arctic. After Starscream absorbed the power of the Underbase and the Autobots and Decepticons united to stop him, Skydive was part of a team led by Blaster and Ratbat who protected New York but was quickly deactivated in Starscream's rampage.
He was mentioned as being active again in "Life in the Slow Lane", part of Marvel UK's Earthforce storyline, and appeared in "Mystery", where he was sent to relieve Wheeljack on guard duty only to find his colleague missing amid signs of a struggle. Convinced that a Decepticon had killed Wheeljack and was now about to attack the Autobots' shuttle, Skydive set off in pursuit only to learn that Wheeljack had caused all the mess by overloading a heater. In "The House that Wheeljack Built", he and the other Aerialbots provided air cover for Prowl when he fought his way through the base defences Wheeljack had accidentally activated.
The post-movie version of the character appeared in "Space Pirates" where he and Blaster were on watch duty at Autobot City when it was attacked by the Quintessons.
==Personality ==
Skydive is an Aerialbot who has fondness for the history and science behind aerial warfare. Within the limits of his design, he's capable of duplicating the flight patterns of anything he sees. Despite his knowledge of aerial warfare and tactics being unmatched, Skydive is quite modest to the point he barely realizes how smart and skilled he really is.
== Abilities & Weapons According to Transformers: More than Meets the Eye profile books & 1986 The Transformers Universe series ==
==== Primary function: Air Warfare Strategist ====
==== Abilities ====
* In his jet mode, Skydive can reach speeds of Mach 2.6 (~ 1995 mph or 3210 km/h) for up to 1,400 miles (~ 2253km).
[MTMTE's profile claims his top speed with is Mach 5.2 (3990 mph ~ 6421 km/h) for up to the same range above.]
* Skydive has extremely high intelligence: the capacity of information storage in his cerebro-circuitry is greater and he can absorb, process & access information much faster than most Transformers. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of history about war & strategies from studying datatracks of numerous words.
* Within the limit of his design, Skydive can duplicate almost all of fly manuverings including the techniques of WWII aces and even gliding pattern of birds. His flying skill is probably unmatched if compared not only to his fellow Aerialbots but also all Transformers.
* He can also fly in robot mode.
* He severs as one of the limbs (mostly right leg) for the gestalt form of the team - Superion.
* In some occasion, he is involved in the formation of a combiner known as Ultra Prime.
==== Arsenal: Skydive has great firepower ====
* His jet mode's armament includes laser-guided missiles with effective range of 80 miles (~ 128.7 km).
*In robot mode, Skydive wields nega-gun that crumbles objects by breaking molecular bonds of all but the strongest materials.
==== Weaknesses ====
* Sometimes, Skydive stalls in duplicating the maneuvers that is too complex for his limits. He can usually recover before crashing, but while stalled, he is completely vulnerable to attack.
* He also has below average strength & endurance.
Stats comparison to other Aerialbots
 	
Pros 	
*The highest intelligence & skill among the Aerialbots
* Higher speed than Fireflight & Slingshot
* Higher rank than most Aerialbots
* Higher firepower than Fireflight
Equals	
* Same speed with Air Raid & Silverbolt
* Same endurance with Slingshot
* Same firepower with most Aerialbots
Cons 	
* The lowest strength & courage among the Aerialbots
* Lower endurance than most Aerialbots
* Lower rank than Silverbolt
Specific differences
 	Strength	Intelligence	Speed	Endurance	Rank	Courage	Firepower	Skill
Air Raid 	- 1 	+ 3 	0 	- 3 	+ 2 	- 3 	0 	+ 3
Fireflight	- 3 	+ 5 	+ 1 	- 4 	+ 1 	- 2 	+ 1 	+ 7
Silverbolt	- 2 	+ 2 	0 	- 4 	- 1 	- 1 	0 	+ 5
Slingshot 	- 2 	+ 4 	+ 1 	0 	+ 2 	- 1 	0 	+ 1
== Gallery ==
File:(A) Dreamwave G1 Aerialbot Skydive.jpg|Dreamwave G1 Skydive Profile
File:Ts skydive.jpg
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