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Starscream is part of a race of machines from a planet called Cybertron. In Cybertron, two feuding factions - the Autobots and the Decepticons - wage war against each other, a war that continues centuries after it began. Starscream belongs to the side of the Decepticons, a devious group that is out to do no good, led by Megatron. On the other hand, the Autobots are the good guys and are under the leadership of Optimus Prime, a wise leader who seeks to protect the innocent and prevent the Decepticons from destroying the earth.

These robots from Cybertron can hide in plain sight by transforming into different types of machines, mostly vehicles or planes. The Autobots and the Decepticons are fighting each other over the control of a mystical talisman called the Allspark. The Autobots want to use the Allspark to rebuild Cybertron and stop the war, whereas the Decepticons want to use it to give life to Earth's machines and build a huge army from them.

From the above explanation, it is clear that Starscream is not one of the good guys, but he is certainly one of the most entertaining characters in the Transformers movies and comics. Starscream is second in command to Megatron, a position he is eager to get a promotion from, regardless of how the promotion to leader comes about. Much about his character makes fans of the Transformers Franchise love him so much, mostly regarding how he has to submit to Megatron and the comments he makes in the process.

Here are 15 things about Starscream that you probably do not know. Which of these is the most shocking?

15. They Wanted To Call Him Pretty Poison

Have you ever thought about the effort that goes into naming characters in film franchises? Naming a child is hard enough, although you do not need to justify your reasons for choosing a particular name for your child, but the creator of a character has to consider very many factors. In most cases, characters get names that agree with their roles in movies, one of the easiest ways of naming them. However, not all names are ideal for characters, but we usually go along with them just because we cannot do anything about that. In the case of Starscream, the creators of this character had come up with a number of suggestions for his name; thankfully, they settled on Starscream. Can you imagine calling him Pretty Poison or The Silver Snake? Chances are that we might not have noticed that there was something wrong with either of the two dumped choices, but we are sure grateful that they settled on the cooler name.

14. The Mayor Of Townsville In Powerpuff Girls Has A Relationship With Starscream

Even though this probably makes no sense at first glance, there is a relationship here. If you have watched The Powerpuff Girls, and I am pretty sure you have, then you know about the mayor of the town they live in. The creators of The Powerpuff Girls are not big on naming their characters or anything else in the show since they live in a town called Townsville and their mayor has no other name, he is just called Mayor. To suggest a relationship between Starscream and Mayor seems out of this world since these two characters have absolutely nothing in common, they are not even the same species or existing in the same universe. However, their connection comes in the form of the man voices the characters. Tom Kenny is a voice actor who has voiced numerous characters since getting into voice acting, some of which include SpongeBob SquarePants, Starscream, Waspinator, the Mayor, and many more.

13. Starscream Attempted To Bomb Megatron On His Birthday

Birthdays are some of the happiest occasions in anyone's life since they are a celebration of the life that someone has lived and a wish for an even longer and more prosperous life ahead. It is a tradition on birthdays for people to bring gifts to whoever is turning a year older and, needless to say, the gifts ought to be something that the birthday boy or girl will appreciate. First, it is a surprise that the transformers actually have birthday celebrations, although theirs would go by the name "creation day celebrations" since these machines were not born. One day the Decepticons decided to throw Megatron a birthday party, one that Megatron was not too amused with. Starscream took that opportunity to hide a bomb in the cake, but Megatron discovered it too easily and was disappointed at how predictable and unoriginal Starscream was getting. This is one of Starscream's worst schemes. Why would he do such a thing on someone's birthday?

12. Starscream Is The Most Valuable Decepticon

Most people might take this the wrong way, but this is actually true. Starscream is the most valuable Decepticon, owing to the fact that he is still one of them despite the rest knowing how untrustworthy and deceitful he is. Starscream is undoubtedly our most favorite Decepticon despite being the most annoying. If Starscream were not the most valuable Decepticon, Megatron would have destroyed him a long time ago, knowing just how cunning he is, plotting how to become the leader of the Decepticon, yet Megatron is still there. Somehow, his continued attempts to taking the lead illegally and disrespectfully always go unpunished. Starscream is not the most powerful Decepticon, but his efficiency in battle, speed, and agility make him a worthy foe. Perhaps Megatron sees Starscream's malice and power of manipulation will work well for him one day, otherwise, it makes no sense to keep him in the team and make him second in command.

11. Starscream Was A Scientist And A Graduate Of The Cybertron War Academy

When you meet someone and they introduce themselves as being scientists, chances are that you will develop a deep respect for them, simply because of what they do and possibly how smart they are. The fact that Starscream used to be a scientist and an explorer is so shocking, because nothing about him would make you think that he is smart at all. Before the eruption of the Autobot/Decepticon war, Starscream and Skyfire were conducting scientific investigations on what appeared to be a prehistoric earth. Starscream soon abandoned science upon returning to Cybertron and joined the Decepticon army, probably because life as a scientist was boring. Starscream later attended the Cybertron War Academy and graduated, becoming the fierce fighter we know him to be. This ought to teach us to judge people, not by appearances or even by the first impression they make, but through the experiences we go through with them and the histories that make them who they are.

10. He Had Quit The Decepticons And Fought As An Independent

We are so used to seeing Starscream at Megatron's side that it is hard to imagine that there was ever a time that he had quit being a Decepticon and decided to fly solo. In Transformers: Prime, Starscream's character was darker than usual, and his plots of rising to power included killing Autobots mercilessly and attempting to assassinate Megatron while he was on life support following a critical injury. When Megatron came to and discovered what was going on, he beat up Starscream and attempted to exterminate him. In addition, when Airachnid further humiliated Starscream, he felt like his only option was to leave and fight against Megatron and the Autobots as an independent. This independence led to Starscream joining forces with M.E.C.H. - a terrorist organization that did not help him much, since he ended up losing most of his fights. During this period, Starscream also cloned himself, an action that also played to his disadvantage.

9. Starscream Created The Combaticons

This occurs immediately after one of Starscream's attempts to overthrow Megatron. It began with an argument where Starscream was claiming that Megatron was favoring Shockwave, an argument that led to Starscream shooting Megatron in the back and then proclaiming to be the new leader of the Decepticons. Since all other Decepticons were loyal to Megatron, they refused to kill him on Starscream's orders. Megatron recovered in time to shoot down a fleeing Starscream. Starscream was dumped on Guadalcanal, after suffering humiliation like never before. It is here at Guadalcanal that he stumbled upon old and abandoned World War II vehicles, which he got the idea of creating an army from. Starscream broke into Cybertron's Decepticon Detention Center and stole five Renegade Decepticon personality components, which he installed into the vehicles at Guadalcanal, converting them into Combaticons. His army of Combaticons are anything but happy with their new terrible bodies, and they threaten to beat up Starscream. Since they all came to an agreement, the Combaticons managed to fight the Decepticons and emerged the winners, but they came crashing down after the Autobots defeated them with one massive punch. Starscream was banished once again.

8. Starscream's Leadership Is Dreary

It is no secret that Starscream is willing to do anything to become the leader of the Decepticons. For someone who does not know Starscream well, he or she might think that he's one of those brave Decepticons willing to change a terribly tyrannical leadership under Megatron with a better one where he is the leader. First, even though serving under Megatron is not the most exciting things to do, Starscream is a terrible leader who would not improve the Decepticons in any way. In one of the few occasions when Starscream got the opportunity to become the leader, following Megatron's crushing by Metroplex, he proved to be a terrible leader. The only thing he managed to do was use the Decepticon Energon to fuel his ego, he put up portraits and statues of himself in the Decepticon bases and broadcast speeches of how great he was to his troops.

7. He Will Take Over The Decepticon Leadership One Day

When someone wants leadership so much, chances are that they might actually get it. Since the Decepticons do not have democratic governance and a leader's term in office is not limited to a period, one day Starscream will succeed in his attempts to eliminate Megatron and occupy his seat. Furthermore, few other Decepticons hardly ever seem to have a desire to lead the others comparable to Starscream's, and few have ever tried to assassinate Megatron. Over the years, Starscream has managed to lead the Decepticons and other groups for short periods, one of the factors that probably make him obsessed with power, because he has tasted it. The day that he will eventually become the leader, the Decepticons will probably be more entertaining to watch compared to the Autobots, because Starscream is crazy. In a different universe, Starscream did manage to achieve his goal of leading the Decepticons and acquired the name Megascream just to show his might.

6. He Has A String Of Failed Coup Attempts

So far, it is clear that Starscream is hungry for power and he is not willing to wait until Megatron gets too old to lead or to get to the point where Megatron will hand him power in an official ceremony. Therefore, Starscream has taken steps to organize a number of coups, with most of those attempts ending up with his humiliation and being transported to other dimensions. It is quite clear that no other robot in the Transformers world has this deep desire for leadership, to the extent of obsessing over it all the time. Most of the instances mentioned in this article where Starscream has grabbed power are those that present themselves without his foreknowledge, opportunities that he never hesitated taking advantage of. In IDW Generation 1 continuity, the Unicorn Trilogy, and in Robotmasters online manga, and many other instances, Starscream had actually planned the coups, which were obviously not successful.

5. In The Japanese-Exclusive Animated Series Starscream Is Second In Command, But Not To Megatron

It seems like Starscream, regardless of where he is, is always be second in command. This is the case in Beast Wars II when a Japanese-exclusive animation featured Starscream as being second in command to Galvatron. In this series, Starscream has not lost any of his ambition to dethrone his commander, meaning that he is still the same dangerous and deadly warrior we have come to know and love. Despite being small in stature, this Starscream can fly at super speeds and can maneuver with ease, since he transforms into a stealth fighter. Starscream's "Screamwinder Missiles" are his weapons of choice when in robot mode, weapons that can easily vaporize any foe. In fighter mode, Starscream uses the "Formation Scream" to combine with a partner a form an extremely powerful fighter with flight capabilities. Perhaps the Starscream in this Japanese-exclusive animated series will become the emperor and rule in place of Galvatron sooner than other versions of Starscream.

4. Starscream Is Immortal

Fans of Starscream will really love this point, because his immortality means that we will be seeing the character for a very long time. When most other transformers go through explosions or are attacked and wounded beyond repair, they can die off completely and cease to exist. However, Starscream belongs to a special type of Transformers, who possess a "mutant" immortal spark, meaning that the destruction of their bodies does not translate into an extinguished spark. The third season of the G1 cartoon gave us some insight into the concept of Transformers ghosts, where we could clearly see Starscream's spark. At another instance, Starscream's ghost had possessed Waspinator, following a defeat in Maximal's hands. This possession gave Waspinator a third jet mode, appearing like Starscream's older alternative form. This possession was funny, because Starscream and Waspinator were constantly arguing about who should control the body, with their two different voices making the scene comical.

3. There Is A Version Of Starscream Where He Is Morally Good

How would you feel if all of a sudden what you thought was right was no longer right, but wrong, and everyone you thought was bad was actually good? This is the feeling you would get if you came across any of the Transformers: Shattered Glass comics. In these comics, the Decepticons are the good guys whereas the Autobots are the bad guys, with every Transformer having a different paint scheme to what we are used to seeing them in as well as facial "hair". In Shattered Glass comics, Optimus Prime is a ruthless and cruel Tyrant in a world called Cybertron, who makes plans to attack earth; a resource-rich planet. In this version, Starscream is a good guy, noble and righteous, standing up and fighting for the rights and freedoms of all the Transformers. This storyline is twisted in every way, so whoever decides to indulge must be prepared to have an open mind.

2. The G1 Starscream Is The All-Time Fan Favorite Version

Just like all the other Transformers, Starscream has gone through many changes since we first saw him in the first generation of the Transformers. Different people like the different versions of Starscream, because not everyone will have the same opinion on all matters including character appearances. When artists make changes on the appearance of characters, most of the time they want to improve a character's appearance, their capabilities, or to reflect the changing technologies or times. With this in mind, then the most recent version of Starscream is the one you would expect to win the hearts of the fans, but that is not the case here. Although fans have love for all the versions, the G1 Starscream seems to be the most popular. One of the reasons for this might be the fact that people were introduced to this version first and he stuck in their minds. Besides, all other versions have been built from the original one.

1. Starscream Is Untouchable Under The Combined Leadership Of Optimus And Megatron

It seems highly unlikely for Optimus and Megatron to unite, but that is hardly the case in the Transcendent Technomorph or TransTech by Fun Publications. The TransTech's Cybertron did not get to the point of an apocalyptic war, despite having a few battles in different parts of the planet. This state of peace led to amazing scientific discoveries and technological advancements. The partnership between Jhiaxus, Shockwave, and Liege Maximo played a central role in the technological advancements. The TransTech heroes even went up against the Unicorn Phenomenon and diverted it without much trouble. In this publication, Optimus and Megatron collaborated to become the best military and political leaders respectively, and in the process, they uncovered Leige Maximo's ties with Sentinel Prime, a scandalous relationship that led to a violent battle. In this universe, Starscream is a civil intelligence operative, who is heavily involved in the battle with Liege Maximo, a battle from which he emerged intact.

Sources: imdb.com, tfwiki.net, villains.wikia.com, en.wikipedia.org, warforcybertron.wikia.com, gamefaqs.com.