APPLICATION luceti
Character
Name: Starscream
Fandom: Transformers Prime
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown. Probably around 20 million years.
Time Period: Post Episode 19: Rock Bottom
Wing Color: Metallic gray fading into red
History: Transformers Prime
Personality:
"Perfect, just like the one who fired it!"
Starscream is a schemer plain and simple. There isn’t anything he wouldn’t do to take his "rightful" place as leader of the Decepticons. Unfortunately Starscream is also a coward and this naturally does not help him in achieving his ultimate goal. He is also, on top of being a coward, a megalomaniac and highly egotistical. He basically thinks that all his plans are much better than Megatron’s and he feels that he has earned the respect of his fellow Decepticon subordinates, as well as the title of leader. Ultimately though this is shown to definitely not be the case and his coming into power was met with little rejoice when Megatron was supposedly killed.
Starscream only has his subordinate’s respect due to subterfuge and a once deceased Megatron. When the former returns to life and practically beats Starscream within an inch of his life it always goes back to Megatron ruling, Starscream following his orders. Starscream unfortunately has the reoccurring propensity for making grand and bombastic speeches, with bold hand gestures for emphasis. When he speaks he often goes off on tangents, even in face of the enemy, often revealing plans and actions committed better left unsaid. All these factors of his personality make him seem somewhat unstable since he switches from being pompous and confident, to cowering and fearful in an instant. At other times though they work to his benefit as one cannot say if he is telling the truth or simply acting to get on the side that he needs to be on in order to enact his plan.
When it comes to survival Starscream knows how to do it; being a coward and highly tenacious in meeting your goals means you learn how to survive no matter what it takes. For example: When in the face of Arcee in Partners he begs for mercy and says that he’s sorry he killed her partner, Cliffjumper, just to throw her off her game and gain the upper hand and injury Arcee in the process. Most of the time however Starscream is usually seen groveling and begging for mercy in the face of Megatron and yet he makes very apparent notions of going against the other, not helping his cause in the slightest. Actually it only makes the jarring division between the two more apparent. But he does try to keep up his facade whether out of learned fear or because he's just waiting for Megatron to fall and stumble so that he may take up the throne is a different story entirely.
Starscream also has a viciously deceptive and ruthless side and he’s actually rather good at fighting compared to his other series incarnations. When he was leader he punished Knockout a very self-conscious and overly vain Decepticon by scratching the finish off of his armor knowing full well that it would cause the other the most pain and distress. This also might be because he hates Decepticons that have taken an alternate path and choose to be automobiles, saying it’s not fit for a Decepticon. However in Operation Breakdown the Decepticon Breakdown is taken hostage and Starscream goes against Megatron’s back to save the other despite it being against orders. Ultimately though he only saved the other so that when Starscream fully acts out against Megatron Breakdown may choose which side he will follow.
And he killed an Autobot, Cliffjumper, by stabbing into his chest and ripping out his heart (spark) in a fit of rage. A rather fierce reaction to take and it was only done because Cliffjumper brought up Megatron. Usually Megatron is a key factor to making Starscream lose his cool as he gets irrationally angry when people undermine his authority and he does things out of punishment towards them. He also regards humans as pathetic and a weak link in terms of warfare seeing no point in associating with them. He tortured Fowler, a human that knows of the Autobot base’s whereabouts, with much amusement and he’d pretty much love any reason to squish them under his feet.
Strengths:
Physical: Starscream’s first a foremost physical advantage is his size. Stand at least 30 feet tall the second in command is one of the taller of the Decepticons. But despite his lean figure he is a very competent fighter and very study at that. He’s also rather agile in that he can dodge multiple shots at his person in a three to one battle and escape unscathed. Darkness Rising Part 3 His arm was shot off in the episode Shadowzone and Starscream recovered from it without so much as a second’s glance and managed to retreat. He also survived the punishment dealt to him by Megatron after Megatron’s awakening at the end of Sick Mind. Granted Starscream rather use underhanded tactics and have the drones to his dirty than actually fight. But when it comes down to it he can hold his own and usually always makes “tactical retreats” if the odds are against him. He usually uses his extremely sharp claws when fighting enemies and it is his main method of fighting. To accompany that he has two laser canons which both his arms can transform into in a split second. On top of his laser canons he also sports two missiles one on each arm. And naturally being a jet Starscream can fly at extreme speeds, hover in place, and transform in midair and he can fly through space as well.
Mental: Starscream’s true power lies in his ability to formulate and devise plans which would usually succeed, if it weren’t for the Autobots thwarting him at every turn, and of course something jokingly always going wrong. Along with his ability to plan things he has the capability to lie, very well at that, when it comes down to things. His theatrical display in Partners even gets the Autobots to take him in as a prisoner. It’s also been alluded to that he’s something of a scientist or at least is interested in such things, however canon has yet to show this. More often than not Starscream usually attempts to talk Megatron out of his outrageous plans, as if he cares, knowing better than the other that the path being taken is dangerous and will produce ill results. However he never really makes a true effort to stop Megatron because he knows the other will either hit him or just outright ignore him. In the end Starscream is in it for himself and no one else. He will help others just to gain their trust and he will obey Megatron just to keep the other out of his metaphorical hair. But in the end he is deceitful, prone to betraying the one he works for, and above all else egotistical to a dangerous degree. Whether or not these traits are seen as good is one thing but being alive and surviving a war that destroyed and killed and entire planet has to make them count for something.
Emotional: Starscream is pretty much in it for himself when it comes to most things. He does, however, have the capacity to help his fellow colleagues such as breakdown Operation Breakdown. And given his theatrics he can manipulate people by changing his tone, and entire personality at the drop of a hat. This ability of his makes him an emotional wildcard while mostly this only happens when he’s up against people he knows are stronger than him, like groveling to Megatron or begging Arcee not to kill him because he’s changed. Usually Starscream is more often than not annoyed though because he never gets the full respect or treatment he believes he deserves from his fellow Decepticons.
Weaknesses:
Physical: Extreme cold temperatures are shown to have extremely adverse effects on Cybertronians. It’s shown to be so effective that it might even be able to kill them. Extremely high voltages of electricity are also capable of stunning and dropping a Cybertronian as well. So while their armor and size make them formidable they are still capable being damaged.
Mental: Starscream’s mentality is probably his greatest weakness. Never one to take orders from Megatron as seriously as he should and always attempting to overthrow Megatron via backstabbing and the like this, naturally he never succeeds but only once and in the end it comes back to bite him. This combined with his smarts gets Starscream put on the radar rather quickly. He doesn’t like taking orders and he even goes out of his way to blatantly disobey Megatron such as going to assist Breakdown when Megatron left him to rot with the human organization MECH.
Starscream also tries to keep Megatron from doing anything brash but really it’s usually just a front to make it seem like he cares about the other. In truth Starscream could care less which brings out his vicious side. Pulling out the dark energon, the only thing keeping Megatron alive at one point, in thought that Megatron would never come out of his stasis is one such instance. Starscream knows full well what the action would do and he does it anyway, backstabbing to the bitter end it’s no wonder Megatron and his interactions are so jaded and awkward. Also after the space bridge collapse on top of Megatron he automatically claims his role as the Decepticon’s new leader without so much as a second’s glance.
He is also a blatant coward and when it comes to it he rather wave himself than those he fights alongside with. So he has the uncanny ability to get out of most situations unscathed if only because he makes well timed "strategic retreats".
Starscream also boasts a lot thinking that his plans are fool proof and have worked before any true outcomes have even been seen. This unsurprisingly gets him into trouble, as do most things and it often leads to oversight on his part. Because how could anyone escape a foolproof plan created and enacted by Starscream? No one obviously.
Starscream also has a form of bigotry towards both Knockout and Breakdown because their alternate modes are both cars. He even states to Knockout that no self accepting Decepticon would choose such a form, calling Knockout one of “those” types. His bigotry doesn’t end there, sadly, as he holds true towards humans calling them useless and a weak link this makes him susceptible in various ways towards humans who are above average but Starscream would never admit as much.
Emotional: Emotionally the Seeker is hardly a complex book to read. Despite his capabilities to manipulate people and their emotions to such a degree that they actually believe in them this in and of itself makes for a weakness. Never one to confide in anyone but Soundwave at times Starscream has shown us that he is capable of at least giving some figment of thought into changing his ways. He renounces himself and vows to Soundwave that he’s made mistakes and will even try become the second in command that Megatron and the Decepticon army rightfully deserves in the episode Partners (it’s pretty short-lived as he tries to take sides with the Autobots). Another thing about Starscream is his grand and bold gestures that he makes often make him little to completely unserious in the eyes of his fellow Decepticons. And probably the only reason anyone follows him is because of his title and little else. Another weakness would be Starscream’s perchance to boast about what he’s done. For example when Arcee brings up Arachnid killing her partner Tailgate Starscream takes this as a personal offense and thinks Arachnid has taken credit for killing Cliffjumper. Obviously this leads to Arcee finding out the truth and almost having her kill Starscream in the process.