Blackout (Movie)

Blackout (Movie)
Appeared in	Sector Seven
Status	Deceased Alive (in other continuities)
Gender	Male
Actor	Noah Nelson Brian Stepanek

The massive Blackout has been described as the "hound" of Megatron. In better days he was always to be found looming powerful and silent behind his leader's right shoulder. When given a target he hunts it down with fierce determination. Blackout is not happy with the progress Starscream is making towards finding the missing Decepticon leader. He suspects (quite rightly) that Starscream would prefer Megatron to stay lost. Blackout is openly mutinous and will challenge Starscream's leadership at any opportunity, not for his own sake, but to better serve his ultimate goal of finding his lost master. Blackout has a sneaky side and uses his symbiotic companion Scorponok's small size to great advantage.

Fiction

Sector Seven continuty

Sector Seven

Appearances/Actors

• Sector 7 canon (1 appearances)
  • Sector Seven (First appearance)

Notes

• Blackout was originally conceived as Soundwave, hence his symbiotic relationship with Scorponok, who was originally conceived as Ravage. Though this obviously changed, his portrayal in the Ghosts of Yesterday novel is rather Soundwave-esque. Likewise, in the IDW prequel comic, Blackout is the only Decepticon to land on Earth and acquire his alternate mode without any witnesses, whereas Starscream and Barricade had to kill existing witnesses. In the film itself, Blackout's only speaking role has him quickly reporting to Starscream's call... in Cybertronian, with he alone both hailing Megatron upon the AllSpark's discovery and attempting to aid him in battle against Prime. What's more, all this "Soundwave-ness" is further enhanced by Hasbro's official bio, calling Blackout "his leader's hound".
• Blackout wins the award for being the Transformers character from the 2007 movie that has gone through the most number of working names: Aside from "Soundwave", he was also supposed to be named "Grimlock", "Vortex", "Devastator", and "Incinerator" at different stages of the pre-production process. The name "Incinerator" was later used for a different toy from the Movie toyline.
• Blackout's working name "Incinerator" is also accounted for in the aforementioned Hasbro bio, noting how Blackout will "fill the air with fire and burn the land clear to take his revenge".
• The period of time that Blackout acquired his vehicle mode in the film, three months prior to the unfolding events, appears to contradict the origin of his vehicle mode in IDW's Movie Prequel comics, with him apparently having scanned and destroyed the MH-53 Pave Low all the way back in 2003. It's maaaaybe possible that he just kept on destroying different Pave Lows over time to maintain his covert status (with the U.S. government covering it up) until he finally realized how close he was to a military network access point.
• Scorponok's alternate mode is actually a part of Blackout's helicopter mode; he's made up of a General Electric T64 turboshaft engine and various other helicopter bits. Considering Blackout didn't appear to be missing any integral parts of his alternate mode when answering Frenzy's call or during the final battle in Mission City, either Scorponok reattached himself to Blackout after he escaped the US Air Force's counter-attack in Qatar, or Blackout somehow magically regrew the parts that were previously made up by Scorponok.
• Blackout is never actually seen using his chest cannon in the film, even though he unfurls it quite emphatically on two separate occasions.
• During a transmission from Burger King's website, Optimus Prime has decreed that we are not to ride this helicopter. The current ridability of other helicopters the world over is unknown. Stand by for further updates as they become available.
• Blackout uses a mouthplate in the movie, seen in a brief shot of the side of his face before Epps takes his photo at the beginning of the film, and again when Epps was targeting him during the climactic battle.
• Whilst Blackout is seen using his smaller rear Helicopter rotor as a weapon in the film, the console game shows that he is able to detach the main rotor from his back and swing it around in a somewhat similar manner.
• Revenge of the Fallen never explicitly establishes Grindor as a separate character from Blackout. Screenwriter Roberto Orci, when asked, was not sure whether they were supposed to be the same character or not. In the [[Hasbro Q&A/July 2009: Answers|Template:SITENAME SHORT Hasbro Q&A for July 2009]], it was confirmed that Grindor, not Blackout, appears in the movie.
• Internal files for the Revenge of the Fallen video game identify Grindor as Blackout, indicating that the game had been developed with the understanding that they were the same character... but had dialog re-recorded to refer to him as Grindor.
• In addition to Orci, several other official sources were also confused if Blackout or Grindor appeared in Revenge of the Fallen. The 2-disc special edition of the film features an inside look at some still poses of the Autobots and Decepticons, and names the helicopter as Blackout (he's 33 feet tall, by the way). The Revenge of the Fallen: The Movie Universe also features Blackout instead of Grindor.
• In Hasbro's online "Vector Sigma: The Cybertronian Database" feature, Blackout's alternate mode is erroneously portrayed as Skyhammer's alternate mode. Likewise, his "Energon Wave" weapon is portrayed as Skyhammer's MechTech weapon.
• In the Dark of the Moon: The Ultimate Guide it also states that Blackout stands 33 feet tall.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Blackout (ブラックアウト Burakkuauto)
• Hungarian: Kisülés ("Discharge")
• Mandarin: Hēi Mó (Taiwan, 黑魔, "Black Demon"), Xuan Yun (China, 眩晕, "Dizziness")
• Ukrainian: Vymyckach ("Switch Off")