Dirge strives to be so much more than a Decepticon from the Animated continuity family.

Not pictured: The 30 other conehead hats he's hoarding.

Dirge is a Starscream clone, and like the other clones, represents an aspect of the original's personality... in this case, his implacable greed. No altitude is high enough, no amount of fuel is sufficient, and no grab for power will ultimately satisfy him. He lives only for what he doesn't yet have. He and Thrust were created by Swindle using stolen cloning tech, and they now serve as his bodyguards—though Dirge has by now seen plenty of space swag that he wants a lot more than another shift on guard duty!

This article is his and his alone. Stop reading it! You want an article to read? Get your own! On second thought, get your own, and then give it to him anyway.

Toys

Animated

"Thing is, this week has been absolute heaven for me and I couldn't just stand by and let you take your stuff back. That's why I've taken everything and done a runner." (Hasbro version pictured)

Me hungry! (TakaraTomy Version Pictured)

• Dirge (Activator, 2009)

• TakaraTomy ID number: TA-11
• TakaraTomy release date: March 27, 2010
• Known designers: Bill Rawley (Hasbro)

Part of the fifth wave of Hasbro's Animated Activators, Dirge transforms into a futuristic, forward-swept wing fighter jet based upon the Su-47 (S-37) Berkut Experimental Fighter and the YF-19 "Alpha One" from the series, Macross Plus. Like all Activators, he has a partial, spring-loaded transformation from vehicle to robot mode, though you need to flip around his arm-mounted guns manually to complete the conversion. Activators Starscream is a redeco of him, not the other way around! This mold is Dirge's and nobody else's!

Dirge and his wave-mate Cliffjumper saw widespread release in European markets well before they made it to US stores in decent numbers, leading to a certain amount of fan-panic over their potential cancellation.

He was released in Japan by TakaraTomy in 2010, inexplicably in the first wave their Animated Animated toyline (their releases tend to coincide with when characters premiere in the cartoon, and even though Dirge wasn't in the cartoon, the Starscream clones as a group don't show up until well into it). While most of Takara's Animated toys ended up with varying amounts of metallic-paint oversprays, this was not a thing they did the the Activators in the line. Which leaves the main difference between this toy and the US release the one that he shares with every other toy in the line: he now features full-color, white-outlined faction symbols rather than the Hasbro version's plain-black ones.

This mold was also used to make Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Ramjet. How dare they try to take what rightfully is not theirs!

• More information on Dirge at TFU.info

Notes

This is my packaging art now, Starscream! YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BACK!

• Dirge was the only character to be released in Hasbro's Animated line who didn't go on to show up in the cartoon (or The Arrival). When the show got to Japan, he was joined by another Starscream clone and Black Rodimus.

• With no in-show portrayals, he was not discussed in The AllSpark Almanac, but was featured along with Thrust in the broader fictional expansions in The AllSpark Almanac II. Here both he and Thrust appeared with coneheads, just like Ramjet, instead of the unaltered head of his toy.
• Dirge was initially planned as representing envy with Thrust as greed,^[1] but this was swapped for the published version.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Dirge (ダージ Dāji)

References