Bumblebee (TF2017)

Goldbug
Biographical information
Homeworld	Cybertron
Date of birth	At least over 4,000,000 B.C.
Physical description
Alternate Mode	Cybertronian economy car, Volkswagen Beetle Type 1 economy car
Gender	Male
Sensor color	White
Personal information
Enemies	Decepticons
Profession	Espionage
Position	Espionage Director
Chronological and political information
Era(s)	Generation 1
Affiliation	Autobots

Bumblebee/Goldbug from The Transformers (2017 TV Series).

Bio

Bumblebee is one of the smallest and physically weakest Autobots. While his stature allows him to do his job better than most Autobots could manage, he is self-conscious about his size. Maybe this is why he makes fast friends among the humans. He looks up (so to speak) to the other Autobots, especially Optimus Prime, but what he doesn't realize is that they look up to him. He may be small, but he's brave, and he's one of the most well-liked Autobots around. Bumblebee already has the respect he craves.

As Goldbug - his rebuilt and "matured" form — Bumblebee retains most of his earlier strengths and weaknesses, but without his crippling need for approval.

History

Main Timelime

Arc 1

Four million years ago, Optimus Prime led a crew of Autobots including Bumblebee aboard the Ark to clear a path through an asteroid belt for Cybertron to pass through. Once their objective was completed, they were attacked by Decepticons and both their ships crashed in a volcanic mountain on a primitive planet known as Earth. In 1984, the volcano erupted, awakening their ship, which rebuilt them. Bumblebee was reconfigured to transform into a yellow Volkswagen Beetle.

Prowl led a mission into a human city to investigate their new world. Bumblebee, anxious to be the first to meet the planet's inhabitants, rear-ended a car full of teenagers watching A Kiss for Us at the Community Drive-In. Before he could introduce himself, he was under attack by Decepticons and damaged badly. One of the teenagers, Buster Witwicky, brought the car back to his father's auto repair shop. Bumblebee weakly pleaded to them to fix him, for he was dying. |The Beginning|

Buster's father, Sparkplug Witwicky, fixed Bumblebee and offered to help the Autobots convert their native fuel resources into a form that Transformers could use. Bumblebee relayed the message to the Ark, and Optimus Prime brought the Autobots to the garage. Soon, a Decepticon attack began, and Prime charged Bumblebee with keeping the humans safe. Unfortunately, Bumblebee was struck down from behind by Megatron, and the Decepticons then made off with Sparkplug. |Power Play| Bumblebee was sorry he failed Buster, and the Autobots brought the boy back to the Ark to prep a rescue mission. Because of his injuries and the Autobots' poor fuel reserves, Bumblebee was not a part of the rescue team, however. |Prisoner of War|

Bumblebee participated in the Autobot defense of Sherman Dam, though the Autobots were unsuccessful in preventing the dam's destruction at Megatron's hand. Racing ahead of the flood, the Autobots helped evacuate a nearby town before the waters reached it. Bumblebee and the others managed to prevent any loss of life, only for the humans to blame the Autobots for what had transpired, not understanding the difference between their saviors and the Decepticons. |Decepticon Dam-Busters|

After a seemingly final battle with the Decepticons, the long-lost Decepticon Shockwave arrived and reversed the Autobots' victory with a single blast. |The Last Stand| Bumblebee and the rest of the Autobots were kept captive aboard the Ark in a deactivated state |The New Order| |Repeat Performance| until Ratchet managed to free the Ark from Decepticon control and repair them. Afterwards, to make sure all of the Autobots were back in fighting shape, Ratchet had Bumblebee and the others go on a diagnostics run through the open plains. |DIS-Integrated Circuits| The Decepticons had moved on to Blackrock Aerospace Assembly Plant Number One by then, which Bumblebee kept under surveillance at Prowl's command. He tracked the newly-created Constructicons to a deserted site where they began construction of a Transdimensional radiowave scrambler. |The Next Best Thing to Being There|

Meanwhile, Buster had been entrusted with safeguarding the Creation Matrix, which the Decepticons discovered, so Bumblebee and Bluestreak were sent to protect him. Buster was attacked by the Decepticons' newly-built but lifeless Jetfire. Bumblebee and Bluestreak did their best to defend Buster, but it was Buster's use of the powers of the Creation Matrix which saved them all, disassembling Jetfire in mid-air. Bumblebee removed Jetfire's brain so Buster could reassemble and remote-control the body with his mind. |Brainstorm| |Prime Time|

Post Arc 1

After the Creation Matrix was returned to a restored Optimus Prime, he was still somewhat disconcerted by his ordeal. When the Decepticon spy Ravage was briefly captured, only to escape again, Bumblebee saw how much this troubled his already upset leader and took it upon himself to chase down and capture the fleeing spy. Unfortunately, he got in over his head and was captured by Soundwave's Decepticons after being led into a box canyon. In order to show the Autobots they meant business, Soundwave had Laserbeak deliver Bumblebee's severed arm to the Ark as a message. Soundwave had learned from Ravage how low Prime's self-confidence was at that juncture, and planned to lure the despondent Autobot leader to his death. Instead, kidnapping Bumblebee just pissed Prime off, and he single-handedly bashed and battered his way through the entire Decepticon front, rescuing Bumblebee and restoring his confidence in the process. |Crisis of Command|

One day, Bumblebee was assisting with repairs on the Ark when Brawn's mind was damaged in electrical feedback. Brawn went on a rampage until the Autobots managed to recover him, and reverse his mental damage. |The Enemy Within| When the Ark's computer Aunty went haywire, Bumblebee was one of the Autobots trapped by her powerful electromagnetic field. |Raiders of the Last Ark|

Bumblebee was one of the Autobots who helped defend the Ark from a mind-controlled Swoop. |The Icarus Theory| During the Dinobot Hunt, Bumblebee went to Alaska with Optimus and Ratchet to reinforce the unit trying to overcome the rampaging Dinobots, Grimlock and Sludge. While scouting the perimeter, Bumblebee was shocked to discover a cloaked Autobot shuttlecraft and three of his comrades who had gone missing earlier in the Hunt. He also discovered a Decepticon-issue sonic lance (that was being used to drive Sludge "berserker mad") installed in the ship. Rightly suspecting a booby trap, instead of just turning the device off, Bumblebee instead evacuated his comrades and got a good distance away from the ship before using his gun to blow up the sonic lance. Good call — the shuttlecraft exploded violently the moment he did so. |Dinobot Hunt|

Arc 2

When the Autobots took steps to fill out their ranks, Bumblebee was charged with giving four new recruits (Hoist, Skids, Smokescreen, and Tracks) a tour of the planet. During this outing, Bumblebee received word that a Brick Springhorn concert had been targetted by the Decepticons. Though Optimus ordered Bumblebee to lead an observation-ony mission to the concert in anticipation for reinforcements, Bumblebee's hand was forced into action when he learned that the Decepticons were literally stealing the event's music to harvest energon. Bumblebee led the four into battle, saving the concert, joined by Red Alert and Inferno. Optimus scolded him afterwards, but also took note that Bumblebee had handled himself well in what had seemed insurmountable odds. |Rock and Roll-Out| When Robot-Master appeared on television and claimed to control the Transformers, it was Bumblebee's job to ask their human business partner, G.B. Blackrock what the deal was. Robot-Master broadcast next in a coal mine next to a de-energized Megatron, but before Bumblebee and several other Autobots could investigate, they were pushed away by overwhelming Earth military forces. |I, Robot-Master|

This event caused Bumblebee to question his usefulness to the Autobots, and he abandoned them without a word. The Decepticons, however, saw much use for him and attempted to apprehend him. Hiding in a used car lot, he was stolen by two humans, whom he grew to think of as his friends. The Decepticons did not relent, and Bumblebee was ultimately rescued by the rest of the Autobots, an act which reminded him how valuable he was to them. |Plight of the Bumblebee|

When Buster Witwicky ran off to confront the Decepticons alone, Bumblebee was one of the Autobots who rescued him from Shockwave. |Robot Buster| Upon learning that both Shockwave and Megatron were dueling for leadership of the Decepticons, the Autobots sent out Bumblebee to spy on the battle. The broadcast of the event was interrupted by Soundwave, and Bumblebee was forced to return to headquarters in order to avoid combat. |Second Generation|

Later, the Autobots decided to create combiner robots of their own, to match the power of the Constructicons and their united form, Devastator. To accomplish this goal, Optimus Prime staged a frontal assault on the Decepticon quarry base as a cover for Bumblebee to infiltrate the area unnoticed. When the Decepticons inevitably unleashed Devastator to counter the Autobot offensive, Bumblebee was on hand to take a sensor recording of Devastator's transformation sequence, giving Wheeljack a blueprint to start from and improve upon. |Command Performances| He also witnessed the apparent death of Optimus Prime, Prowl, and Ratchet when Galvatron's mass-displacement time-jump first took them. Bumblebee was particularly distraught by his leader's apparent demise, letting out a defiant cry upon Optimus's vanishment. The Autobots mustered up their forces nonetheless, and launched an offensive against the newly-arrived Decepticon... only to be soundly thrashed by Galvatron's two cronies, Cyclonus and Scourge. Bumblebee and the others slinked back to the Ark, and were pushed to join forces with Megatron in order to best the time-traveling tyrant. |Target: 2005|

When the Decepticons staged a hostage situation at Hoover Dam, Bumblebee was monitoring the communications at the Ark. He relayed the situation to Optimus, who in turn sent out the newly-built Aerialbots to deal with it. |Aerialbots over America|

As Optimus Prime became concerned that the Autobots were too reliant on him as leader, he arranged for Wheeljack to create a facsimile construct of him to temporarily divert the Autobots into believing he was dead so that they would think for themselves. Upon Prime announcing that he would be heading out on a solo scouting mission near Decepticon territory, Bumblebee protested, insisting that a more expendable Autobot carry out the task instead. Optimus insisted on carrying out his plan despite Bumblebee's and several other Autobot's disapproval. |Prey| Unfortunately, Prime was attacked by the Predacons during his staged mission, and ended up being transported to Cybertron. Bumblebee and the others were left behind to collect the scattered remains of Prime's construct, and Optimus was in no position to return. |...The Harder They Die| A funeral was held for the Autobots' fallen leader, attended by all. At least, until Optimus spontaneously reappeared on Earth standing atop his headstone, and the whole matter was quickly forgotten. |Resurrection|

This respite of good luck didn't last long, because soon Optimus Prime actually died. Bumblebee was one of the several Autobots who watched on as Ratchet futilely tried to repair Optimus Prime's body. Once the Autobot leader was declared irreparable, the Autobots held a funeral service for their leader, and launched his remains into space. |Funeral for a Friend|

Arc 3

Bumblebee was at the receiving end of massive firepower once more when Trypticon attacked the Ark. Had it not been for the Dinobots' timely intervention, the behemoth would have likely reduced all of the Autobots' forces to scrap. |King of the Hill|

Bumblebee was with First Aid when the medic disappeared into Limbo as part of the Mass substitution required for Death's Head's time travel. Not desiring a witness for his presence in 1987, Death's Head shot Bumblebee, blowing him to pieces. |Wanted: Galvatron - Dead or Alive| The Autobot's pieces were soon found by a time-travelling Wreck-Gar, who rebuilt him into Goldbug. |Hunters| Goldbug went on to aid Autobots from the future in dealing with Galvatron and his power siphon. An attempt at sending all of the future individuals back to their native time did not work, |Fire on High| leaving only Goldbug and Ultra Magnus to deal with Galvatron. When Ultra Magnus momentarily gave in to hopelessness, Goldbug carried on the fight alone despite being completely out of his league. A timely rescue from the returning Ultra Magnus stopped the Decepticon's doomsday machine, saved Goldbug, and left both Galvatron and Ultra Magnus encased in hardened lava. |Vicious Cirlce|

Goldbug and Blaster were ordered by the new Autobot leader, Grimlock, to track down the Mechanic, who had stolen Autobot technology from the Ark. Their first stake-out on this mission met with difficulty, as two juvenile delinquents tried to steal Blaster from Goldbug's dashboard, forcing them to flee in an attempt to maintain their cover. An outraged Grimlock insisted that the next time the duo encountered human interference, they were to eliminate the fleshlings. Goldbug and Blaster were then sent back out, with promise of punishment should they fail once more in acquiring their target. The Autobots tracked down Forbes as he was in the middle of a heist, and cornered him as the local police were boxing them in... only for the officers to turn on the Autobots, allowing the criminals to escape once more. Eventually managing to broker an alliance with the police, the group made their way to the Mechanic's hideout and took down his entire operation with a concerted effort, though the villain himself escaped once again. Figuring that Grimlock was a terrible leader and had no regard for human life, both Goldbug and Blaster exiled themselves from his command rather than return home empty-handed. |Mechanical Difficulties|

Goldbug and Blaster tracked down G.B. Blackrock and informed him of their current situation. Though Blackrock was quick to label them as deserters, they insisted that they would continue to help Earth in fighting against the Decepticons, and asked if he had any information on their whereabouts. The human directed them to a desert of the American Southwest, where unusual reports of a meteor crash had been made. Indeed, the meteor turned out to be a Cybertronian spaceship. Befriending the research scientist Charlie Fong, the Autobots bypassed the military blockade surrounding the crash-site. But upon their approach, the Autobots had a run-in with the Decepticon Triple Changers, who had become infested with Scraplets. With Blaster cornered by the enemy and contaminated by the disease, Goldbug and his new human friend left to get help and possibly a cure. Goldbug drove off without saying a word, leaving Blaster to believe that Goldbug had abandoned him to die. But despite leaving the site without making contact with the Decepticons, Goldbug was also infected. |Crater Critters| As the disease spread, Goldbug neared death himself. He arrived with Charlie at a gas station, where they met up with the Throttlebots, sent from Cybertron by Ratbat and armed with acid to contain the disease. Goldbug narrowly escaped extermination when it was discovered that the cure for Scraplets was none other than ordinary water. After being hosed down, Goldbug called Blackrock, and the industrialist trucked in tanks of water himself. However, upon Goldbug's return to the crater, Blaster refused the cure; dispensing it meant curing his Decepticon captors as well, and he was dead-set against having any Decepticon be spared death for his own sake. Though downtrodden that he couldn't save his friend, Goldbug decided to honor Blaster's wishes and instructed the Throttlebots to use the acid instead of the water. Before they had a chance to do so, thousands of Scraplets combined to form a monster, and attacked the Autobots. The Throttlebots being weaponless, Goldbug was forced to cure all those in the crater after all, since the Decepticons had the firepower necessary to down the beast. All of the Scraplets were eliminated, though the Decepticons escaped with their cargo. Goldbug apologized to Blaster for going against his instructions, but Blaster's anger was outweighed by the renewal of his trust in his fellow Autobot. |The Cure|

With the Throttlebots joining Goldbug and Blaster on their travels, the group discovered that the bodies of Galvatron and Ultra Magnus had been found, encased in stone after both robots had plunged into a volcano. They traveled on-site in the hope of freeing their comrade, only to find the Combaticons already there upon their arrival. Learning that the Combaticons were planning to destroy Galvatron once and for all, Goldbug decided to not interfere; he reasoned that this might be their only chance at ridding themselves of the mad tyrant, and risking Ultra Magnus's release might do little more than undo his heroic sacrifice. But a human friend of Magnus, Cindy Newell, refused to stand by and risk Ultra Magnus being reduced to collateral damage. She teamed up with two other humans, Susan Hoffman and Joy Meadows, to run interference in the Combaticons' demolition project. Goldbug's team was forced to intervene in order to protect the trio. The Throttlebots saw the Combaticons off, but Goldbug's warning that the humans should not further endanger themselves by getting involved in the Transformers' conflict fell on deaf ears. |Ladies' Night| This unfortunately earned him the ire of the Combaticons. The group found refuge in a used car lot owned by Big Steve. However, they were all badly in need of fuel. They attempted a deal with Big Steve, but he double-crossed them, filling them up with soda pop instead of gasoline. It was then that the Protectobots caught up with them, followed by the Combaticons. During the ensuing battle, the immobilized Throttlebots (including Goldbug) were carted away by the humans' anti-robot organization, RAAT. |Used Autobots|

Future Timelines

Target: 2005

Arc 3

In 2008, Bumblebee was stationed on Cybertron. Under the command of Rodimus Prime and Ultra Magnus, he helped ambush a group of Decepticon attackers, catching them in a pre-planned crossfire. |Wanted: Galvatron - Dead or Alive|

Trivia

• Dan Gilvezan reprises his role as Bumblebee.

Changes

• As the episodes in the adaptation, compared to the original comic, are out of order: Bumblebee wasn't in the repair bay in The Icarus Theory as he was already repaired beforehand.
• Red Alert and Inferno were not involved in the battle in Rock and Roll-Out!
• The episode form of Target: 2006 was renamed Target: 2005, and all references to 2006 were also changed to accomodate.
• Bumblebee didn't appear in Funeral for a Friend or King of the Hill!

Gallery

as Bumblebee