Sam Witwicky

### Likes

Driving with Bumblebee, assisting Optimus Prime and the Autobots, being with Mikaela

### Dislikes

Human and Autobot casualties, Dylan Gould, being made a fool of, losing his friends, the Sector Seven agents, Bumblebee being experimented on, the Decepticons, war

### Powers and abilities

Messenger intuition
Athleticism
Extensive knowledge
Intelligence

### Paraphernalia

His grandfather's glasses (formerly)
AllSpark
Matrix of Leadership (both briefly)

## Family

### Parents

Judy Witwicky (mother)
Ron Witwicky (father)

### Other relatives

Archibald Witwicky † (great-great-grandfather)
Herbert Witwicky † (grandfather)
Ben and Stan Witwicky (uncles)
Butch Witwicky (cousin)
Charles (uncle)

### Pets

Mojo (Chihuahua)
Franklin (dog)

**Samuel James "Sam" Witwicky** is the main protagonist of the 2007 DreamWorks • Paramount sci-fi film *Transformers* and its 2009 sequel *Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen*.

He is a human teenager whose father buys him an apparently normal Camaro who turns out to be the Cybertronian warrior, Bumblebee, who would later become his best friend. Soon, Sam and his girlfriend Mikaela are recruited by Optimus Prime, into a centuries old civil war between two alien factions: the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons.

### Personality

Sam has been described as being sarcastic, brave, charming, funny, and very lucky. He is initially an awkward young man trying to impress a girl he likes and fill the need to fit in. He rarely cares about his family legacy, believing his great-grandfather of being "crazy" without knowing the full story. However, after Optimus told the humans of his great-great-grandfather's explorations, Sam seemed to gain a new level respect for Archibald. It is also shown through extreme stress or formal events, Sam begins to feel stressed or become very talkative to the point he starts babbling and mixing up words. He began mixing his words when he talked to Mikaela, such as asking personal questions and gets romantic with her. Sam also has a fiery temper, a trait he seemed to have inherited from his mother, angrily telling Mojo to not urinate on Ironhide's foot. Humans such Sam regards the Autobots and Decepticons as sentient beings, often emphasizing Megatron's name when Simmons continued calling him by his experiment designation in the first film. As the film progress, Sam becomes more confident since fighting and defeating Megatron. Feeling indebted to him since Sam saved Optimus, the leader of the Autobots saw him as an equal and someone who proved humanity was worth saving. After these events, Sam just wanted to have a normal life in college. When Optimus came to him for help, Sam refused to return to the war, opting to be a "normal kid with normal problems." Despite his self-doubt, Prime still had complete faith in Sam since the boy saved his life and gave him words of wisdom. After his friend was killed by Megatron while defending him, Sam feels extreme guilt and remorseful for his actions. Meanwhile, he struggles to tell Mikaela the way he feels about her, as Sam worries about making things right.

Despite his actions, Sam also seems to be a victim of the Decepticon attacks, especially from Barricade and Alice. At Sam's college, Grindor kidnapped both him and his friends, Mikaela and Leo. However, he still remains is one of the Decepticons' most dangerous human adversaries, having killed both of their leaders: Megatron in the first film and successfully killing Starscream in *Dark of the Moon*.

### Production

In 2006, Shia LeBeouf was cast as Sam Witwicky. However, LaBeouf almost didn't get his role as Sam Witwicky because he was around twenty years old at the time of the film, which they felt was too old. However, after a convincing audition and makeup, he convinced the creators they could pass him off as a teenager. He said also got the role due to his previous portrayal of Chas Chandler from the film *Constantine*. Preparing for his role, LaBeouf worked out five days a week for three months, and gained twenty-five pounds of muscle. However, his character relies on agility rather than strength.

Most of Sam's character was based off of Spike and Buster Witwicky, a pair of brothers who are both Bumblebee's best friend and the Autobots' closest human ally. Due to not having mechanical skills like his cartoon counterpart, Sam and his father lacked their nicknames, Spike and Sparkplug. An abandoned concept in the 2007 film was during the Battle of Mission City, Sam received a brief vision of Sentinel Prime, telling him how to defeat Megatron.

In the final cut, Sam is given the idea to defeat Megatron by Optimus ordering the boy to merge the AllSpark with his own spark. His  vision with a Prime was later recycled in *Revenge of the Fallen* and Sentinel Prime was introduced in the third film, this time as a villain.