Witwicky family

Witwicky is a surname frequently used for humans in the Transformers brand. The Witwicky family members are the closest human allies of the Autobots. Their motto is "No sacrifice, no victory". They appeared in the original television and comic book series and later in the live action films. They have made cameos in Transformers Animated, the only continuity so far where the Witwicky family don't know the Autobots personally. They have also appeared in the "Shattered Glass" storyline, as evil mirror universe counterparts of their G1 selves.

Archibald Witwicky

Archibald Witwicky

None
Information
Sub-group	Humans
Motto	"No sacrifice, no victory!"
Alternate Modes	None
Series	Transformers
English voice actor	W. Morgan Sheppard (film), Patrick Viall (animated prequel)

Captain Archibald Witwicky appeared in the Transformers: Movie Prequel and the Transformers live-action film itself.

Movie plot

Archibald Witwicky was a Dutch/English sea captain leading an exploration of the Arctic in 1897 when a crew member found something beneath the ice. They started digging and discovered the frozen Megatron. Witwicky then accidentally activated the Decepticon leader's inertial navigation system which led to a sudden power surge. Unbeknownst to him, the discharge etched a digital map to the All Spark onto the lenses of his glasses. Blinded and forever marked by his vision, Witwicky was committed to a mental institution for life, constantly ranting about visions of the future. A few of his personal items were given to his family, including the pair of glasses. These were passed down over time and eventually given to his great-great-grandson Sam.

The other Autobots and Decepticons arrived on Earth, both searching for the All Spark and the captured Megatron.

Buster Witwicky

Buster Witwicky

Early Marvel comic art work.
Autobot ally
Information
Sub-group	Humans
Function	Autobot leader (briefly)
Partner	Bumblebee, Jessie
Alternate Modes	None
Series	Transformers: Generation 1

Buster Witwicky was the first Witwicky depicted in fiction, and filled a similar role in the early comics that Spike filled in the animated series.

Marvel Comics

Events exclusive to the Marvel U.K. Transformers comics are in italics.

While at a drive-in movie with his girlfriend Jessie and best friend "O", Buster suddenly found his life in danger when the parking lot became a battleground in the first major Earth-based clash between the Autobots and Decepticons. Coming across the wounded vehicle-mode Bumblebee, he brought the car back to his father's workshop, and attempted to fix it, until his father stepped in and completed the job.

Before long, however, Buster had a much more pivotal role to play in the war, when the powerful Decepticon, Shockwave defeated and deactivated all the Autobots, save medical officer Ratchet, and planned to create new troops using the power of the Creation Matrix within Optimus Prime's mind. Sneaking into the Ark, Buster discovered Prime's disembodied head, and Prime transferred the Matrix into Buster's mind, keeping it from Shockwave. Buster soon found that the Matrix gave him the ability to manipulate metal and circuitry, and he used it to disassemble, rebuild and reprogram Shockwave's lifeless drone, Jetfire, and employed him to rescue Optimus Prime, who took the Matrix back into his own body.

A story called "The Gift" in issue #93 of the Marvel U.K. comics explored Jetfire's problems fitting in with the other Autobots. Jetfire then visited Buster Witwicky on Christmas Eve and tell him of his troubles of not fitting in with the Cybertronian-made Autobots. Buster encouraged the young Autobot by telling him he's the first of a new generation of Earth-made Autobots and he should be proud of what he is.

In the U.K. comics, the boy appeared in some further stories starting with Robot Buster, where - worried about the danger he kept being in - Wheeljack and Ratchet built a robot battle-suit for him. Optimus ordered it scrapped and Buster stole it to prove he could handle himself in battle, only to be nearly killed in battle against Frenzy and pursued relentlessly by Shockwave, who later sent the Constructicons out to murder the boy. The stress of these events combined with residual Matrix energy caused Buster to have visions of a strange new generation of Transformers. In order to decipher these visions and cure Buster of them, he and Optimus mind-linked (with the Decepticons spying) and the visions were revealed to be details for producing new "Special Teams" of combiners, which would lead to the development of the Aerialbots and Protectobots.

Angered and afraid for his safety, Sparkplug forbade Buster from seeing the Autobots any further. Outside of helping Jetfire through some morale issues on Christmas Eve, the boy was not seen again for some time, until Sparkplug himself fell victim to a trap laid by Decepticon local commander, Ratbat, which Buster foiled by breaking the hypnotic trance he and the other human victims had been placed under. After a fracas involving the Intelligence and Information Institute and the Predacons, Buster and Goldbug (a recreated version of Bumblebee), whose mind was trapped in a toy car, headed for the Ark, only to find that it had blasted off. At the abandoned site, Buster was attacked by a vengeful Ratbat and whisked away to the Decepticons' island base where he was initially used as a hostage to deter the United States navy from attacking. Buster was employed as part of an overly complex plan to acquire important data - appointing Buster "king" of the island to publicly dissuade human investigation, the Decepticons operated under the cover of a faux holiday resort while they searched for a sunken pirate vessel, which contained two stasis-locked Autobot messengers sent to Earth thousands of years before, containing information on the coming of the almighty Cybertronian data bank, the Underbase. Starscream proceeded to turn the tables on everyone by releasing Buster into the Arctic tundra, where he was forced to summon the Autobots or perish - an action which in turn resulted in the arriving Autobots being overwhelmed by the combined forces of Ratbat and Scorponok's Decepticons, while Starscream used the distraction to steal the power of the Underbase for himself. Buster's last appearance was in U.S. #51, finally back home with his family.

Books

Buster is featured in the 1985 Find Your Fate Junior book called Battle Drive by Barbara Siegel and Scott Siegel.

Buster appears in the 1986 story and coloring book The Lost Treasure of Cybertron by Marvel Books. In this story, he is the father of Daniel.

Buster (called "Butch" in this story) appeared in the 1985 Forest Rescue Mission coloring book published by Marvel Books.

Dreamwave Productions

Buster did not make any clearly defined appearances in Dreamwave Productions' re-imagined Generation 1 universe, but he did exist, and was referred to as having taken the death of his father particularly badly, turning to alcohol and running up particularly large gambling debts. Straightening out his act, Buster was said to have joined the military; a high-ranking official with the surname of Witwicky was later seen addressing Marissa Faireborn, and although it was not stated, it can be assumed this was intended to be Buster. However, Dreamwave's bankruptcy and subsequent closure left the story untold.

Fun Publications

In the "Shattered Glass" storyline, four Witwicky brothers, Spike, Buster, Butch and Bruce "Buzz" Witwicky, appeared evil mirror universe counterparts of the Witwickys. Spike was leader of the group, who allied themselves with Rodimus and the evil Autobots, guiding them on Earth and aiding them in taking temporary control of Burbleson Airforce base and the GODS satellite system.

In Transhuman, Butch brought the Autobot Tailgate with him to school to terrorize the students, only to be stopped by the Emulator.

Carly Witwicky

Main article: Carly Witwicky#Transformers: Generation 1

Daniel Witwicky

Daniel Witwicky

Autobot ally
Information
Sub-group	Humans, Headmasters
Partner	Arcee, Wheelie, Hot Rod
Alternate Modes	Head of Arcee
Series	Transformers: Generation 1
English voice actor	David Mendenhall
Japanese voice actor	Tomiko Suzuki

Daniel Witwicky is a young member of the Witwicky family. He is most often portrayed as the son of Spike and Carly, but was once portrayed as the son of Spike's brother Buster. In IDW continuity, "Daniel" is the first name of Sparkplug Witwicky, the grandfather of this Daniel.

Reception

Daniel was named the worst cartoon kid sidekick by Topless Robot.

Marvel Comics

Daniel's sole appearance in the Marvel era Transformers continuity is in part one of the U.K. story "Time Wars" (issue #199), where he is seen alongside his father pleading with Rodimus Prime to save the earth.

Animated series

Another character conceived for the animated universe, Daniel Witwicky is the son of Carly and Spike, born in 1993. (Note that Daniel's age is not given in the series, but the script for the movie describes him as being 12 years old by the year 2005.) Living in Autobot City on Earth, Daniel was friends with the young Autobot, Hot Rod, as they broke the rules and had fun together in various ways.

In 2005, when Daniel was particularly feeling the absence of his father (stationed on one of Cybertron's moons), events soon escalated to epic proportions as a Decepticon attack on the city foreshadowed the coming of the planet-eater, Unicron. Watched over by the female Autobot Arcee for the majority of the adventure, Daniel was given his father's old transforming "Exo-Suit" battle armor when the Autobots' shuttle crashed on the Planet of Junk, and he used its powers to escape attacks by the Decepticons and Junkions, and to aid Springer in battle against Wreck-Gar. Arriving on Cybertron, the Autobots' craft was piloted directly into Unicron's massive body, where Daniel was separated from the Autobots, but discovered his father and the three Autobots (Bumblebee, Jazz, and Cliffjumper) who had been captured earlier in the movie when Unicron had consumed Cybertron's twin moons and saved them from meeting a nasty end in an acid vat.

Subsequently, with Hot Rod now in the form of Rodimus Prime and consumed with the duties of leadership, Daniel made a new best friend in the form of new Autobot recruit Wheelie, and they got up to their fair share of trouble when they set out on their own to discover Ultra Magnus's birthday, and stumbled into the clutches of the Decepticons, necessitating rescue by the subject of their search. It was not the last time Daniel wound up in trouble, however, as he and Grimlock soon found their way to the sorcerous dimension of Menonia, where Daniel was imprisoned by the tyrannical Red Wizard. Not long after his return to Cybertron, he was kidnapped by the Quintessons, who sought to harness the unpredictable nature of humans against the Autobots by bringing Daniel's nightmares to life. Daniel was also able to aid the Autobots at times, acting as part of a plan to steal Trypticon's transformation cog.

In 2007, during a friendly race against Blurr, Daniel and Hot Rod worked together to achieve victory, proving one of the theories created by Autobot scientist Brainstorm - that Transformers and humans functioned better together than separately. Soon after, Daniel was among the Autobots and humans who were blasted to the planet Nebulos by the energies of the Plasma Energy Chamber. There, after the Decepticons followed them to the planet and attacked, Daniel attempted to defend Arcee and was mauled by Snapdragon, leaving him fatally wounded. Only the life-support equipment of the Nebulan rebels the Autobots had taken up with was able to keep him alive long enough for the incredible change that was to come. Brainstorm's idea of co-operation was taken to its ultimate extreme when idea Spike performed a procedure to bond some of the rebels and Autobots together as Headmasters to pool their abilities against the Decepticons and Nebulos's evil ruling "Hive". Additionally, to save Daniel's life, Arcee offered herself up as his Headmaster partner, and Daniel and she became bonded, Arcee's head transforming into a duplicate of the Exo-Suit Daniel had previously worn (though in one unusual animation error, when Daniel is seen inside her head, he is still wearing the exo-suit). In the resultant battles against the Decepticons, who duplicated the process, Arcee and Daniel were able to reacquire the stolen key to the Plasma Energy Chamber, but were captured by the Decepticon super-robot, Scorponok, and Daniel was tortured, forcing Arcee to give up the key. Spike - now a Headmaster himself - rescued his son and stopped the Decepticons' plan.

With the removal of'"The Rebirth" from Japanese continuity, replaced with the Transformers: The Headmasters series, Daniel never became a Headmaster on the other side of the Pacific Ocean - instead, he acted as the primary supporting human character of the series, appearing in almost every episode and regularly playing integral roles alongside Wheelie. Although by all rights supposedly older than he was in his American cartoon appearances, the Japanese interpretation of Daniel regresses his personality to a much more petulant, immature child who often bursts into tears; in that regard, much of the Headmasters series is actually about Daniel growing up and maturing.

After Fortress and his Headmasters joined up with the Cybertronian Autobots, Daniel and Wheelie sneaked aboard their battleship so that they could see other planets, and although they were discovered, Fortress allowed them to accompany them on their mission to Planet Beast. Daniel subsequently performed the remarkable act of saving Cybertron by planting the explosives that destroyed a gravity-warping meteor that Galvatron had set on course with the planet. Daniel's tales of Earth ninjas helped expose the deception wrought by Sixshot, and when captured by Decepticons on Mars, he activated the homing signal that brought the Autobots to the planet.

When Spike attempted to hold a peace conference with Galvatron, the Decepticon leader demanded that he leave Daniel on Earth as a show of his good faith. Spike was willing to comply, until the peace conference was revealed as a distraction that allowed the Decepticons to get a heard start on pillaging other planets for energy. Daniel and Wheelie were then permitted by Spike to travel with Fortress and his crew when they set off in pursuit of the Decepticons across the galaxy, so that he might see more planets and grow through his experiences - sadly, it was mostly violence that Daniel saw, although such experiences helped harden him to the realities of war. He was offered one peaceful respite, however, when he met the beautiful young girl, Papika, on the planet of Paradise.

As the Autobots were chasing the Decepticons back to Earth, Daniel foolishly disobeyed orders and sneaked into one of Battleship Maximus's weapons turrets, only for it to be damaged in battle and disconnected from the craft, sending Daniel plummeting to the deserted planet Diamond. Sixshot had also been caught in the storm that dragged him to Diamond, and he rescued the boy from the wreckage, much to Daniel's surprise. Sixshot explained that he might be a Decepticon, but he didn't kill children. In the subsequent adventure they had together, battling Diamond's dangerous native rock creatures, Daniel came to believe that Sixshot was an honorable warrior, and consequently attempted to stop the duel that ensued between him and Chromedome.

Back on Earth, natural disasters caused by Scorponok's plan to destroy the planet began to cause chaos, and Daniel proved to his father how much he had grown by rescuing his mother from the bottom of a cliff. Soon after, during the final battle at the North Pole, Daniel was defended against Decepticon attacks by Sixshot, and as Fortress Maximus was locked in combat with Scorponok, Daniel hit upon the idea of combining all the Transformers' and his energies with the Headmasters' Head Formation, channeling all their power into Fortress Maximus, who destroyed Scorponok's Transtector and won the battle. Daniel was then forced to say his tearful goodbyes as the Autobots left Earth to pursue the Decepticons into space.

Books

Daniel appeared in the 1986 story and coloring book The Lost Treasure of Cybertron by Marvel Books. In this continuity, his father was Buster Witwicky.

Manga

In the Japanese manga "Big War" #2 the Autobots Rodimus Prime, Grimlock, Kup and Wheelie, along with their human allies Spike Witwicky and Daniel Witwicky send Computron into battle against Galvatron's new warrior combiner Abominus. The Terrorcons spit "corrosive control liquid" against Computron, taking control of him and turning him into a Decepticon. Spike luckily uses his new Exosuit to free Computron with "defense spray". Defeated, Galvatron retreats.

Dreamwave Productions

Daniel would make a brief cameo appearance in Dreamwave Productions' first Generation One mini-series as a toddler.

3H Publishing

In the Transformers Universe comic released at Botcon 2001, in a story set some years after we had last seen Daniel, we see that he is now a teenager and a college student, who still adventures with the Transformers during semester breaks. Unfortunately, he and Wheelie are involved, with other Transformers including Arcee and Springer, in a major fight with an army of robot ninja drones patterned after Nightbird from the episode of the same name. Wheelie is injured and the only way to stop the robots from causing more harm is for Daniel to detonate manually a large number of explosives, committing suicide to give his friends time to get clear. His loss is deeply felt by Arcee, who enters a long period of depression as a result.

Transformers Animated

Daniel Witwicky

None
Information
Sub-group	Humans
Partner	Ratchet (briefly)
Alternate Modes	None
Series	Transformers Animated
English voice actor	Tara Strong
Japanese voice actor	N/A

Daniel is the son of Carly and Spike Witwicky. Since his parents work for Professor Sumdac, he is forced into being friends with his daughter, Sari.

Spike, Carly and Daniel are seen at a hot dog stand in "Transform and Roll Out" and was later seen in "Sound and Fury" and "Headmaster" voiced by Tara Strong.

Daniel, Carly and Spike were also seen in both parts of "Human Error", computer simulations of them riding a bus in the first part while their proper selves appeared in the second.

Daniel would later appear in an animated short where he asked Optimus Prime where his trailer goes when he transforms into robot mode, a question in which even Optimus himself cannot figure out the answer.

Toys

• Generation 1 Headmaster Arcee (unreleased)

Like all the new characters in the movie (with the exception of Ultra Magnus), Arcee was designed for animation first, but while the other new characters inspired toys that saw final release, Arcee's design never passed early prototype stages. When she became a Headmaster, Takara dallied with the idea of repainting the Chromedome toy to represent her, but the suggestion was abandoned. A few pictures of prototypes have appeared online. In robot mode,Daniel would have been able to turn into Arcee's head, in vehicle mode he would have formed the front of the car.

• Heroes of Cybertron Arcee (2001)

A non-transforming "Heroes of Cybertron" Daniel Witwicky was released in 2001 with Arcee.

Judith Witwicky

Judith "Judy" Witwicky

None
Information
Sub-group	Humans
Series	Transformers film series
English voice actor	Julie White

Judith "Judy" Witwicky is Sam's mother and Ron's wife, played by Julie White. She is somewhat flighty as she dresses up Sam's male dog, Mojo, in girly colors and jewelry. She is also very emotional and prone to cursing when in a bad mood.

Movie plot

She is one of the few humans to know of the Transformers, though she almost spills the secret in public after eating a brownie laced with marijuana while dropping Sam off at college. While high from the pot brownies, she also babbled to all the nearby girls that her son had lost his virginity, "popped his cherry" (with Mikaela presumably) whilst she was in the house and that he's "quite a catch". Sam and his father Ron quickly hustled her away before she could embarrass them further and reveal the secret of the Autobots. Afterwards, she goes to Paris with Ron where they are kidnapped by the Decepticons to serve as a bargaining chip. She and her husband are later rescued during the final battle in Egypt by Sam and Bumblebee who kills her kidnapper Rampage. Sam insists his parents leave him, but while his father refuses, Judy finally realizes Sam's grown up and convinces Ron to let him go. She later rushes back after Sam is killed by Megatron's plasma blast. She appears at the beginning of the third film, upon seeing the Bumblebee no longer lives with Sam, and has bought a similar looking car, which Judy calls a "sad piece of shit". Sam tells her and Ron to leave Washington DC before the Decepticons attack it the next day.

Sparkplug Witwicky

Irving/William/Col. Daniel "Sparkplug" Witwicky

Sparkplug in the episode "More Than Meets The Eye Part 2".
Autobot ally
Information
Sub-group	Humans
Alternate Modes	None
Series	Transformers: Generation 1
English voice actor	Chris Latta

Sparkplug Witwicky is the patriarch of the Witwicky family who was vastly unlike his two sons, in that he was portrayed in startlingly different ways across the two main fictions. The Transformers Classics Mirage toy sports an advertisement for Witwickey Sparkplugs, a reference to this character.

Marvel Comics

Although Sparkplug started out as being quite similar to his animated counterpart in the comic book universe, aiding in the repair of Bumblebee when his son, Buster, brought the injured robot to his garage, his personality took a sharp turn after he was kidnapped by the Decepticons. Instructed by Megatron to develop a process that would convert Earthen gasoline into fuel they could consume, Sparkplug drew on his memories of his time as a mechanic in the Korean War, recalling an instance where he had sabotaged the enemy vehicles' fuel and brake lines, and did the same to the Decepticons, poisoning their fuel and allowing the Autobots to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. However, before this heroic act could come to light, many of the Autobots believed that Sparkplug had betrayed them, and an over-reactive Jazz let loose with his flamethrower, causing Sparkplug to have a heart attack. Thankfully, he soon recovered, but his opinion of the Transformers had changed with that action, and he forbade Buster from interacting with them again.

Ironically, Sparkplug would also come to fall prey to a hypnotic Decepticon device in the comic book continuity as well, drawn in by Ratbat's "Wash and Roll" car wash scheme, which mesmerised humans into giving up their gasoline to the Decepticons in a complex-yet-effective plan. Buster was able to break the hypnotic effect with a splash of water, and Ratbat's plan was foiled, but Sparkplug was given even more cause to hate the Transformers and their involvement in his life when the Predacons destroyed his garage and a vengeful Ratbat captured Buster. Even worse for Sparkplug, when his older son, Spike, returned from college, he took up with the Autobots and was binary-bonded to Fortress Maximus, becoming a mechanical freak in his father's eyes. Spike subsequently saved Buster from the Decepticons, and his father was overjoyed to have his two sons back, although Spike's bond with Fortress Maximus kept him returning to the Transformer war and eventually resulted in his death in battle against Megatron.

Sparkplug's real first name was given as William in issue #3, but was later contradicted in #31 when he gives his first name as Irving.

Animated series

Sparkplug is Spike Witwicky's father. He is described as a widower in the show bible.^{[citation needed]} In addition to being a highly skilled automotive mechanic and engineer, "Sparkplug" Witwicky (for whom no real name was offered in the cartoon) had, in his lifetime, also worked in the crystal mines of Burma, and was working on an oil rig with his son, Spike, in 1984 when a Decepticon attack brought the Transformers into his life. Rescued from drowning by Optimus Prime, Sparkplug became a friend and ally to the Autobots, mainly excited at the prospect of encountering and learning about strange new alien machines and technology he could work on.

A frequent mechanical assistant to Ratchet and Wheeljack, Sparkplug is skilled in physical, practical arts, but like many fathers, lacks knowledge about his son's esoteric tastes, such as types of music, and dinosaurs. Sparkplug owns an automotive garage in New York, which the Autobots refitted to serve as a secondary command base while they were far from their main headquarters.

Aside from helping Bumblebee to plant a bomb that disrupted the Decepticons' crystal-mining operations in Burma, Sparkplug's biggest role in any Transformer adventure was when he was captured by the Decepticons and became the first subject of Doctor Arkeville's mind-controlling hypno-chip. Under Decepticon control, Sparkplug sabotaged many of the Autobots under the preface of repairing their systems, and was later taken to Cybertron to toil there under Shockwave's command, until Wheeljack successfully created a device to undo the hypno-chip's effects.

Sparkplug was never seen or referred to again after the second season of the original Transformers cartoon series, and it is possible that he died or retired at some point between the second season and The Transformers: The Movie, which took place 20 years later.

Books

Sparkplug appeared in the 1984 sticker and story book Return to Cybertron written by Suzanne Weyn and published by Marvel Books.

Sparkplug appeared in the 1984 sticker and story book The Revenge of the Decepticons written by Suzanne Weyn and published by Marvel Books.

Sparkplug was featured in the 1985 Transformers audio books Autobots' Lightning Strike, Megatron's Fight For Power, Autobots Fight Back and Laserbeak's Fury, as well as Decepticon Hideout from the 1986 series. He is not named in any of the books, simply being referred to as "Spike's father".

Sparkplug is featured in the Find Your Fate Transformers book 'Attack of the Insecticons' by Lynn Beach. His invention of the Sun-Pak, a way to power Autobots by solar energy, drives the plot.

Sparkplug Witwicky appears in the 1985 Forest Rescue Mission coloring book published by Marvel Books.

Dreamwave Productions

Sparkplug made no appearances in Dreamwave Productions' version of the G1 universe, instead playing a part in its newly sculpted backstory. After the successful defeat of the Decepticons through a joint Autobot/human operation, Sparkplug was one of the "Magnificent Seven" - a crew of seven humans who would accompany the Autobots and their Decepticon prisoners on the Ark II back to Cybertron, which also including Americans mechanical engineer Mark Marsh and sociologist Linda Richards, Japanese biologist Akira Yashimura, German chemist Rolf Meyer, Russian architect Rudolph Vesic, and British Oxford Professor, Henry Lanson. Sadly, shortly after the Ark II departed Earth's atmosphere, it exploded as part of a plan by Shockwave, taking the lives of Sparkplug and the Magnificent Seven and thrusting the Transformers into stasis.

IDW Publishing

A character by the name of Colonel Daniel Witwicky appears in the second issue of IDW Comic's All Hail Megatron series, it is unknown whether his full name is Daniel. When Danny makes his first appearance his dialog implies a knowledge of cars. This fact, as well as comments made by writer Shane McCarthy on the IDW forums, imply that this character may actually end up being "Sparkplug" Witwicky. Eventually, it was revealed that this is the case.

Transformers: Armada

Sparkplug

Mini-Con
Information
Sub-group	Mini-Cons
Rank	5
Partner	Optimus Prime
Motto	"We must all learn to live in peace!"
Alternate Modes	Sports Car, Cybertronian vehicle
Series	Transformers: Armada

Sparkplug is the young Mini-Con partner of Optimus Prime. He bears a striking resemblance to Bumblebee from the G1 series. He transforms into a sports car and normally powerlinks with Optimus on his left shoulder. He is very open and outgoing, and quickly makes friends with Alexis, Carlos, and Rad. Sparkplug usually operates the mobile command base trailer when Prime is not using it in his Super Mode.

While he was essentially the "leader" of the Mini-Cons in the Armada cartoon, like many Mini-Cons, he played a much bigger role in the comics. He was discovered inside the Mini-Con ship along with the Street Action Team (Perceptor) by the kids, and quickly teamed up with Optimus. In the episode "Runaway", Optimus Prime sent Sparkplug to get the Mini-Cons Astroscope, Payload and Skyblast to talk about using their Requiem Blaster form as a weapon for the Autobots.

Sparkplug appeared among the Mini-Cons in issue #18 of the Dreamwave Productions Transformers: Armada comic book who aided Over-Run using the Mini-Con Matrix in the defeat of Unicron. Sparkplug appeared in the book Transformers Armada: First Contact by Chris Sarracini and James Raiz.

Sparkplug appeared in the text story from Fun Publications called "Force of Habit." This story explained where he was during the events of the Cybertron story. Ultra Magnus was the commander of various Autobot ships sent to other planets in search for the Cyber Planet Keys. Sparkplug served as captain of the Valiant which was sent to a region near Betelgeuse.

Sparkplug is among the characters appearing in the 2004 Transformers video game for the Playstation.

Transformers film series

Ronald "Ron" Witwicky

None
Information
Sub-group	Humans
Function	Head of Neighborhood watch.
Series	Transformers film series
English voice actor	Kevin Dunn

In the Transformers film series, Ronald "Ron" Witwicky is Sam's father, played by Kevin Dunn. Unlike the cartoon, from which the film draws much of its inspiration, "Sparkplug" is not used as a nickname, although Roberto Orci has stated that this may possibly occur in any future sequels. In the first film, Ron is oblivious of the true nature of his son's car, even at a point when the entire Autobot team is moving around outside his house. He is portrayed as a caring father but also as a rather picky person, cheapskate and a miser, who is at time obsessive in regards to his lawn and often enjoys playing jokes on his son. He also seems to have an irrational fear of earthquakes. Screenwriter Roberto Orci confirmed Ron knows the truth about the Transformers by the end of the first film. Unlike the first two films, in the third film, he has a beard. He and Judy leave Washington DC before the final battle.

In the Transformers: Dark of the Moon toyline, there is a character named Major Sparkplug (last name unknown) who is partnered with the Autobot Whirl. It is unknown if he has any relation to Ronald Witwicky or the rest of the family.

Transformers Animated

Sparkplug Witwicky

None
Information
Function	One of Sumdac's miners, construction worker.
Alternate Modes	None
Series	Transformers Animated
English voice actor	Bumper Robinson (1st appearance), David Kaye (2nd appearance), John Mariano (3rd appearance)

In Transformers Animated, Sparkplug, also known as Sparky, is Sari's robotic pet dog who likes to chew on Sari's key. According to Professor Sumdac, he built Sparkplug as a gift for Sari on her birthday. In "Transform and Roll Out!", Sparkplug and Sari fight over the security key, and Sari got the key after the mutated lice scared away Sparkplug. Even though Sparkplug is Sari's pet, Bulkhead and Bumblebee first thought that Sari was Sparkplug's pet. Bulkhead questioned, "Why would a four-legged bot want a pet that big?". In "Sound and Fury", Sparkplug hasn't been seen much since Sari took an interest in Soundwave. Luckily for him, Isaac still loves him, who is aware Sparkplug's novelty wore off for Sari. He is not seen in the crowd towards Soundwave when mind-controlled. In "The Return of the Headmaster", once Henry Masterson got his hands on Sparkplug, he becomes an evil robot drone of Henry Masterson and attacks Optimus Prime and Sentinel (without his body).

An Animated version of Sparkplug Witwicky is introduced later on in the series as a human miner who works for Issac Sumdac. In "Nature Calls", Sparkplug Witwicky was overseeing two construction bots in a mine, being paid by Isaac Sumdac to find something. Only problem was, that something found them...and it had friends (space barnacles). Sparkplug was attacked, and was presumed dead. In "Sari, No One's Home", while the Autobots were looking for Scrapper and Mixmaster, the Autobot Bumblebee thought that Sparkplug Witwicky's truck was Mixmaster, and fired several bursts from his stingers, which did nothing to damage the truck. Upon being attacked by another alien lifeform, Sparkplug displayed both calmness and familiarity with modern slang by asking "Dude, why you whaling on my truck?" after Bumblebee's attack. In "Three's a Crowd", Sparkplug Witwicky drove an oil tanker and got mugged by the Constructicons.

Transformers: Rescue Bots

In Transformers: Rescue Bots, Chief Charlie Burn's dog is named Sparkplug. He has not yet appeared in the television series, only in the little pack in story comics that come with the toys.

Toys

• Classics Deluxe Mirage (2006)

The original Mirage received an upgrade in 2006 in the Transformers: Classics line. This Deluxe class car came out in the second wave of the Classics line. Instead of having advertisements from Ligier on it, this Mirage advertised Witwicky Sparkplugs on his spoiler, a reference to the human character from the original Transformers animated series, Sparkplug Witwicky. This toy was designed by Alex Kubalsky. The transformation of this Mirage is very faithful to the original toy.

The mold for this figure was also used for Universe Decepticon Drag Strip and Transformers: Allspark Battles Decepticon Fracture.

• Armada Mini-Con Sparkplug

Sparkplug was released as four toys. The first was a fairly accurate representation that came with the Armada Optimus Prime figure. As with all Mini-Cons, it could powerlink on any of a number of ports studded over Prime.

Sparkplug's overall design was heavily inspired by the Generation 1 character, Bumblebee. While the final animated version has some minor design changes, the comic book version retained a lot of details making him very similar to Bumblebee. The Sparkplug toys released in the Armada toy line all take on the more Bumblebee-like design.

• Armada Mini-Con Corona Sparkplug

The second, Corona Sparkplug, was a slight redeco with a metallic gold vacuum-metalized paint job and came in a number of different sets, including with the recolored Powerlinx Optimus Prime figure.

The golden Corona Sparkplug figure released in later sets is most likely inspired by Bumblebee's metamorphosis into Goldbug. Both characters had slight robot-mode redesigns with a similar vehicle mode and change from a basic yellow to gold. The two characters also have other parallels, such as being Prime's so-called "side-kick".

• TV-Boy Micron Prime

There was also a green version exclusive to TV Boy magazine in Japan under its Japanese name, Prime.

• Built to Rule Mini-Con Sparkplug

Finally, a Mega-Blox version was available with the Built-To-Rule Optimus Prime model set. While not very accurate in its robot mode, it was a fair representation in vehicle mode.

• Dark of the Moon Human Alliance Basic Major Sparkplug/Autobot Whirl (2011)

Major Sparkplug is packaged with the Autobot Whirl and is compitable with any Human Alliance figure.

Spike Witwicky

Spike Witwicky

Spike Witwicky as an Autobot Headmaster partner in Dreamwave comics.
Information
Sub-group	Humans, Headmasters
Partner	Cerebros, Cog, Gasket, Fortress Maximus, Bumblebee, Wheeljack, Backfire
Alternate Modes	Head of Cerebros
Series	Transformers: Generation 1
English voice actor	Corey Burton
Japanese voice actor	Show Hayami (Young), Masashi Ebara (Adult)

Marvel Comics

The role played by the young Spike in the animated series was filled in the Marvel comic book series by his younger brother, Buster, exclusive to that continuity. Indeed, Buster was fully intended to exist in place of Spike for the comic book series, until the release of the Fortress Maximus toy in 1987, which included Spike as a Headmaster partner, hence necessitating the hurried introduction of Spike into the comic book continuity.

Returning home from college to discover that his father's garage had been destroyed, Spike investigated the Autobots' deserted base at Mount Saint Hillary, learning that Buster had been captured by the Earth-based Decepticons. While there, he encountered a group of new Autobots, led by Fortress Maximus, who had just arrived from the planet Nebulos, and in a subsequent attack by Scorponok's group of Decepticons, Fortress Maximus's Nebulon partner, Galen Kord, was killed in a rockfall. Before dying, he gave his control helmet to Spike, allowing the boy to control Fortress Maximus in battle and force the Decepticons to retreat. In the aftermath of the battle, Spike accepted the Autobots' offer to be fully binary-bonded to Fortress Maximus as his new Headmaster partner in order to save Buster from the Decepticons.

As Fortress Maximus, Spike led the attack on the Decepticons' island base, defeating Shockwave in an outer space battle, but failing to rescue Buster, and turning to the other Earth-based Autobots for help. Acting commander Grimlock refused, disgusted at the thought of a human leading the Autobots, but relented when he saw the rationality of the act during a massive Decepticon attack on the Autobot forces. With the deceased Optimus Prime subsequently restored to life as a Powermaster, Spike rescued Buster from the Decepticons amidst the chaos caused by Starscream's attempt to gain the power of the Underbase.

Following that clash, Spike, having accomplished what he set out to do, attempted to abandon his Autobot life, and return to living a normal human lifestyle. Unfortunately, his connection with Fortress Maximus proved to be far deeper than anyone knew when he was attacked by the Decepticon Pretender Beasts, Snarler and Carnivac, and discovered that Maximus's mind actually continued to exist within his own. Despite recombining with Maximus to defeat the Decepticons, Spike again returned Maximus's body and his exo-suit to the Autobots, and succeeded for a short time in living a normal life, until he found himself drawn to the crash of the Ark in Canada in 1991. Merging with Fortress Maximus again, he defeated the maddened Galvatron, and some time thereafter, gave up his life to stop the plans of Megatron by sacrificing himself to destroy the Ark.

The post-movie Spike appears in the story "Time Wars", persuading Rodimus Prime to delay his journey back in time long enough to halt an attack on a human settlement by the Terrorcons. (Due to the temporal disruption later in this story, it is possible this future was later erased from the timeline.)

Spike is also present in the alternate 2009 seen in "Rhythms of Darkness", working with the handful of surviving Autobots led by Prowl. He was accompanied by an apparently African-American woman named Lisa, with whom he shared a mutual but unrequited attraction. Spike participated in what everyone involved expected to be a suicide attack on the Decepticon fortress city, attaching the US flag to its summit to demonstrate to the rest of the world, who were about to launch a nuclear strike on the area, that the American population was still fighting. After Galvatron was forcibly removed from that timeline, he presumably went on to rejoin the Autobots in their battle against the remaining Decepticons.

Animated series

The most famous of all the Autobots' human allies, Spike Witwicky was fourteen years old, aiding his father, Sparkplug, in his work on an offshore oil rig when the Transformers entered his life in 1984. A Decepticon attack on the rig left Spike and Sparkplug in peril where they were rescued by Optimus Prime. Afterward, they offered their friendship and aid to the Autobots, teaching them about the ways of Earth. Spike had a lot to learn about the robots in disguise, however, as one of his first actions saw him unwittingly bring the disguised Soundwave into Autobot Headquarters. He later aided Hound in battle against Rumble. When the Autobots were planning to return to their home planet of Cybertron, he intended to go with them.

However, that was not to be as the re-emergence of the undefeated Decepticons kept the Autobots on Earth, protecting it and its inhabitants from their enemies. Spike proved an invaluable source of information for the Autobots, teaching them about subjects such as dinosaurs and various Earthly sports. He also joined them on journeys to such fantastic locales as Cybertron, Dinobot Island and medieval England. However, he underwent his own share of troubles, occasionally being captured by the Decepticons for various reasons, and suffering the torture of seeing his own brainwashed father under Decepticon control. On another occasion he received brain damage in a Decepticon attack. To save his life, his mind was transferred to a Transformer body called Autobot X created by his father while his body healed. Unfortunately, the process drove Spike into thinking he was a "Frankenstein monster", and he sided with the Decepticons in an attack on the Autobots. However, he saw the truth after nearly killing his own father with Megatron in gun mode. He turned Megatron's firepower on the other Decepticons, and eventually his mind was put back in his own body. Spike formed a fast friendship with the young Autobot, Bumblebee, and the two often adventured and traveled together.

In one particular adventure in 1985, when he was fifteen years old, Spike met a girl named Carly. He immediately took a liking to her, although Carly was more interested in getting to meet the Autobots at first. As time went on, Carly developed an attraction to Spike and through adventures together, including a solo mission to Cybertron, it blossomed into a romance.

In the episode "A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court" Warpath, Hoist and Spike were battling Starscream, Ramjet, Rumble and Ravage in England. Low on power, the Autobots and Decepticons discovered a magical stone formation called the Dragon Mound and were transported back to the year 543. Although Starscream attempted to take over a castle and build a new empire with himself as lord, the help of local knights and a wizard refueled the Autobots, who defeated the Decepticons. After defeating a dragon who nested in the Dragon Mound, the Autobots and Decepticons returned to their own time where they rejoined the fight in modern-day England.

As they entered their twenties, Spike and Carly were married, and in 1993, Carly gave birth to a son, Daniel. As Spike himself grew older, his experience and closeness to the Autobots saw him appointed Earth's official ambassador to Cybertron, but as the Autobots pressed their attack to reclaim Cybertron from the Decepticons in 2005, the 35-year-old Spike was stationed on Moonbase Two, which was attacked and consumed by the planet-eater, Unicron. Wearing a transforming "exo-suit" battle armor, Daniel rescued his father before Unicron was destroyed.

Although Spike was generally limited to performing more diplomatic duties throughout 2006, he was pivotal in the initial defeat of the invading Quintessons, destroying the mechanism that the aliens had used to immobilize all Transformers and freeing them. In 2007, Spike was among the Transformers and humans blasted to the planet Nebulos by the energies of the Plasma Energy Chamber, where he performed the process that bonded some Autobots with a group of Nebulan rebels to form the Headmasters. Later, Spike became a Headmaster, merging with the pacifist Autobot, Cerebros, who in turn combined with a giant Transformer body Spike had created, forming Fortress Maximus. With the power of Fortress Maximus, Spike rescued Daniel from the clutches of the Decepticons, and was in the process able to reroute the destructive energy created by the opening of the Plasma Energy Chamber to revitalize Cybertron, creating a new Golden Age.

Across the Pacific Ocean, in Japan, however, the events of 2007 were stricken, and replaced with a full-length new series, titled Transformers: The Headmasters. Due to the different concept for Headmasters in Japan, which did not incorporate Nebulans or humans, Spike was not a component of Fortress Maximus in this series, but still played an important role in Cybertron/Earth relations. At one point, so desperate for peace, Spike even arranged negotiations between himself and Galvatron, in hopes of developing a joint energy-production program — hopes which were soon dashed.

Books

Spike was featured in the 1985 Find Your Fate Junior book called Battle Drive by Barbara Siegel and Scott Siegel.

Spike was featured in the 1985 Transformers audio book Autobots' Lightning Strike. In this book, he was said to be an engineering student. He also featured in Megatron's Fight For Power, Autobots Fight Back, Laserbeak's Fury, Galvatron's Air Attack and Decepticon Hideout.

Manga

In the Japanese manga "Big War" #2 the Autobots Rodimus Prime, Grimlock, Kup and Wheelie, along with their human allies Spike Witwicky and Daniel Witwicky send Computron into battle against Galvatron's new warrior combiner Abominus. The Terrorcons spit "corrosive control liquid" against Computron, taking control of him and turning him into a Decepticon. Spike luckily uses his new Exosuit to free Computron with "defense spray." Defeated, Galvatron retreats.

Dreamwave Productions

In the 21st Century re-imagining of the G1 universe by Dreamwave Productions, Spike was given a fragment of the Matrix by Optimus Prime when the Autobots departed Earth in 1999, having finally captured the Decepticons and intending to return them to Cybertron. They did not get that far, as an explosion tore their craft, the Ark II, apart shortly after it left Earth's atmosphere, leaving the Transformers, and the small human crew - including Spike's father - believed dead.

However, in 2002, Spike - now married to Carly and fathering Daniel - found that this was not the case when he was approached by General Hallo of the American military. A terrorist, Adam Rook, had recovered several of the inactive (but functional) Transformers and brought them under his control, intending to sell them on the black market as weapons of mass destruction; in order to stop him, the military had recovered a Transformer of their own. That Transformer was Optimus Prime, whom Spike was able to reactivate by replacing the Matrix fragment. Unfortunately, Spike soon discovered that Hallo was part of an even more insane scheme, having originally worked with Rook in developing the Transformer-controlling program, and being double-crossed by him. Confronting Hallo just as he launched a nuclear missile at San Francisco, Spike took his life in his hands and nearly met his end, until Hallo was gunned down by military agents.

In the More Than Meets the Eye character profile series, it is shown Dreamwave intended to eventually have Spike become a Headmaster partner for Fortress Maximus. However, unlike other similar entries in the MTMTE series, no information was given about Spike at all leaving many readers with more questions than answers. But with Dreamwave shutting down, this storyline may never come to be.

Transformers film series

Main article: Sam Witwicky

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Spike Witwicky

Information
Sub-group	Human Alliance
Partner	Backfire
Series	Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Spike Witwicky is a human allied with the Autobot Backfire. He may actually be the same character as Sam Witwicky, but no sources have supported this yet.

Transformers Animated

Spike Witwicky

Information
Sub-group	Humans
Partner	Carly Witwicky, Daniel Witwicky
Series	Transformers Animated
English voice actor	Corey Burton
Japanese voice actor	Katsuyuki Konishi

In the Transformers Animated episode "Garbage In, Garbage Out", a man who looked very much like Spike was trying to get a blond-haired girl to the hospital as she was in labor. The woman referred to him as "Spike". At BotCon 2008, it was confirmed that this was indeed intended to be Spike and Carlee (with Corey Burton reprising his role as Spike, specifically the adult post-movie Spike), and since Daniel had already been seen in the series too, Carlee was in labor with her second child. In "Transform and Roll Out", a segment about the wonders of modern society and the impact that robots have had upon it, Spike was seen with his wife and son purchasing some sort of bunless wiener of dubious origin from a robot vendor cart. In "Garbage In, Garbage Out", Spike flagged down a passing ambulance because his wife was about to give birth. After being drawn into a chase scene, armed robbery, and giant robot fight, he opted to take a taxi instead. Later, Soundwave hypnotized Spike and every human in Dietriot in "Human Error, Part 2". He was freed when Optimus destroyed Soundwave.

Fun Publications

Spike Witwicky

Information
Sub-group	Humans
Partner	Rodimus Prime
Series	Transformers: Timelines

In the "Shattered Glass" storyline, four Witwicky brothers, Spike, Buster, Butch and Bruce "Buzz" Witwicky, appeared evil mirror universe counterparts of the Witwickys. Spike was leader of the group, who allied themselves with Rodimus and the evil Autobots, guiding them on Earth and aiding them in taking temporary control of Burbleson Airforce base and the GODS satellite system.

Toys

• Generation 1 Fortress Maximus with Cerebros and Spike (1987)

The largest Transformers toy from Generation 1, Fortress Maximus has multiple altmode configurations. He transforms into a compact "city" mode, and can also assume a secondary mode described in the US instruction as a "battle station." This mode was rebranded as a starship for the Japanese instructions, and is the "default" mode for Fort Max in the Headmasters animated series. Additionally, the 1987 Hasbro toy catalog features a mis-transformed Fortress Maximus in a mode referred to as an "impenetrable fortress," essentially consisting of his city mode with the legs splayed outwards.

In all modes, Maximus has a wide array of pop-out (non-firing) guns and gimmicks. Its left leg hides a small prison cell, plus has a swing-out cannon/helipad. Its right leg has a small storage compartment. Its torso has a gear-activated spinner for the detachable radar array accessory, a "control socket" for Cerebros' "communications tower" mode, and a working elevator that can lift small toys up to its central ramp to be launched in its alternate modes. (The crank for this elevator ends up in a very unfortunate position in robot mode.) Each arm had a long ramp on the back with sliding launchers for small vehicles.

Its robot-mode head is formed by Cerebros, who does not actually need Spike to attach to the upper body. It came with both Headmaster units, plus the Gasket and Grommet mini-vehicles.

The Japanese release of Fortress Maximus came with a pair of swords; one for Fortress, a large one for Maximus. It is currently unknown if the swords were originally planned for the Hasbro version but dropped for price or safety concerns, or if they were a Takara-initiated addition to their release of the toy.

During its time of release, Fortress Maximus retailed at $89.99, making him the most expensive Transformers toy in the U.S. market (a record that wasn't met or broken for nearly two decades, until the release of 20th Anniversary DVD Edition Optimus Prime and Ultimate Bumblebee). Maximus was also the third most expensive toy Hasbro produced at the time (behind the USS Flagg and Defiant Space Shuttle Complex from the G.I. Joe series).

This toy was designed by Koujin Ohno, and is filed under U.S. patent D305,786.

• Masterpiece 10 Optimus Prime

Spike Witwicky is again released as part of the Masterpiece 10 Optimus Prime release.

• Dark of the Moon Human Alliance Basic Backfire with Spike Witwicky (not yet released)

A new 2-inch figurine of Spike is included with the Autobot Backfire as part of the Human Alliance line. Backfire transforms from a three-wheeled ATV to robot or a larger Mech Tech blaster that can be used with Voyager of Leader Class figures.

In real life

Contrary to popular belief, Witwicky is a real name, but a vanishingly rare one. The U.S. Social Security Death Index records the passing of only two people with that name in the United States in the last 50 years. However, the alternate spelling Witwicki is a relatively more common one, occurring 33 times in the Social Security Death Index. It is possible that the name originates from the Poland/Ukraine area of Eastern Europe, specifically the village of Witwica, and that the name itself means 'the one from Witwica'.

See also

• Mikaela Banes
• Kids (Transformers)