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Mirage is a Mini-Con from the Armada portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

I'm not the one that has apparent sympathies with the Decepticons, nor am I the one who goes gaga for Galvatron.

Once upon a time, Mirage was the cowardly sort who believed it was better to run and hide than live in the knowledge that he fought. However, when he was faced with the oppressive cruelty of the Decepticons and acts perpetrated by the less scrupulous Mini-Cons upon their own kind, Mirage was forced to realise that to do nothing in the face of injustice was the worst crime of all. No longer the shrinking violet, Mirage stepped up to become the intelligent, observant commander of the Race Mini-Con Team and a leading 'bot in Mini-Con society. However, he is still plagued by feelings of remorse over his past cowardice and inaction to such an extent that he vigorously pushed for the Race Team to side with the Autobots, in the hopes of never showing that other side of his personality ever again.

Fiction

Armada cartoon

Mirage was one of the first two Mini-Con panels belonging to the Race Team that were captured by the Decepticons. Overmatch Conspiracy He finally came on-line when the Decepticons gathered all three panels, and joined with Downshift and Dirt Boss to form the Skyboom Shield under Megatron's control. Reinforcement

In the next battle, Megatron assembled both the Air Defense Team and the Race Team into the two most powerful weapons in the universe. Armed with both the Star Saber and the Skyboom Shield, he toyed with Optimus Prime until his overconfidence caused him to lose his grip on the Shield. Prime's Mini-Con partner Sparkplug then "locked on" to the Skyboom Shield and brought it under Prime's control, thwarting Megatron's killing strike with the Saber and balancing the powers between the two sides. Decisive Battle

Because the Skyboom Shield was in such demand by the Autobots to protect them from the Star Saber (and later the Requiem Blaster), Mirage and the Race Team appeared quite infrequently as individuals. One day, they went for a walk with the kids to catch some fresh air. Unfortunately, their little stroll happened just as Billy and Fred reported that Thrust had met with Starscream. Squidhead had asked for the Skyboom Shield Mini-Cons as collateral for letting Starscream back into the Decepticons, so their sudden disappearance from the base didn't look too good for the former Decepticon. The Autobots' distrust for Starscream in part led to his decision to take Thrust up on his offer, and so even after Hot Shot uncovered the kids and the Race Team and cleared his name, Starscream stole the Skyboom Shield for Megatron and returned to the Decepticons. Crack

Mirage and the Race Team had little time to act as individuals after that, remaining powerlinxed as the Skyboom Shield while the Decepticons used the shield as one-third of the Hydra Cannon, before it was stolen by Thrust and used to provide power to the heart of Unicron. Mirage, Dirt Boss and Downshift reawakened as individuals with the help of High Wire and the Street Action Mini-Con Team, who had journeyed to Unicron's core with Optimus Prime, Galvatron and the Earth children to grant the super-weapon Mini-Cons their freedom. Origin Mirage fled Unicron aboard the Autobot Jetfire just before the Chaos-Bringer was finally destroyed. Mortal Combat

Dreamwave Armada comic

Mirage and the rest of the Race Mini-Con Team were among the Mini-Cons captured by the Decepticons before the war began. Armada #1 After escaping from Cybertron, he became one of a myriad Mini-Cons living in the Destruction Team's hidden base on the Moon. Armada #9 After more Mini-Cons were brought to the moon, he used his ability to turn invisible to listen in on their conversations and report his findings to Dualor. Moments later, the Decepticons broke into the base, so Mirage used his invisibility to save Sparkplug from being captured. Armada #10 Mirage and Sparkplug then recruited the Space Mini-Con Team to help save Rad White from a mine the Destruction Team had stuck him in. After their rescue attempt succeeded, they boarded escape pods and fled to Earth. Armada #11

Like many of the moonbase's Mini-Cons, Mirage then joined the Autobots. Even while other Mini-Cons felt they should leave the Autobots, Mirage remained supportive, but reminded the other Autobot-supporting Mini-Cons to put themselves in their fellow Mini-Cons' shoes in regards to the situation. Fire & Ice Soon afterwars, Mirage, along with his fellow Race Mini-Con Team members, took part in the salvage operation to dig out the Street Speed Mini-Con Team, Comettor, and Inferno from a frozen wasteland, encountering a Cyclonus overpowered by the Destruction Team in the process. Armada #13

Later, Mirage used his invisibility powers to save Over-Run from an alternate-timeline Galvatron. Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4 When Over-Run's null-reality pods were needed to rescue the time-lost Optimus Prime from an alternate dimension that Unicron was attacking, Mirage was one of the Mini-Cons who volunteered to sneak into the Decepticon base at Silver Ridge to retrieve it. As soon as they made it inside the base undetected, Unicron's heralds Thunderwing, Dirge, and Scourge suddenly appeared. Worlds Collide, Part 2 of 4 Fortunately, Thrust provided the distraction the Mini-Cons needed to use Over-Run's pod and pull both Optimus Prime and Jetfire back to their reality. Worlds Collide, Part 3 of 4 They did so just in time, as the alternate the Autobots had found themselves on was about to be destroyed by Unicron. The Mini-Cons powerlinked to the bulks, granting them the strength to wound Unicron before going back to their home reality. Worlds Collide, Part 4 of 4 Mirage later joined in Optimus Prime's call to arms against Unicron, who followed them through to their universe. He and the other Mini-Cons joined their sparks together to empower the Mini-Con Matrix, which delivered an almighty blast at the Chaos Bringer. The End

Panini Armada comic

When the Decepticons began kidnapping Mini-Cons, Mirage was captured by Thrust and painfully re-engineered to be bound a Decepticon. He apparently escaped, and joined Dualor when he thought up a plan to lure Megatron to the Autobot HQ and blow them both up. As the plan moved forward, Mirage discussed it with Sparkplug, who was against sacrificing the Autobots just to kill the Decepticon leader. Counter-Strike!

Cybertron toy bios

Mirage and Hot Shot traveled together to Speed Planet at the command of Optimus Prime. Although he initially missed Downshift and Dirt Boss, Mirage soon came to appreciate the racing atmosphere of Speed Planet, and became a valiant team with Hot Shot. Wal-Mart exclusive Hot Shot two-pack toy bio

Meanwhile, an alternate-universe version of Mirage fell through a rift in space-time into another universe thanks to the Unicron Singularity, and was found by Override, who repaired him. Unfortunately, Downshift also fell through the rift and was enslaved by Dirt Boss (who had no relation to Mirage and Downshift's teammate). Override and Mirage joined forces to free Downshift from Dirt Boss's control. Wal-Mart exclusive Override two-pack toy bio

Toys

Armada

• Race Mini-Con Team (Mini-Con 3-pack, 2002)

• Takara name: Race Micron
• Takara ID number: MM-05
• Takara release date: December 26, 2002
• Known designers: Shogo Hasui (Takara)

Armada Mirage transforms into a Formula racer; while he is very similar in design to Armada Swindle, he is an entirely new mold. He also forms the bottom portion of the Race Team's combined Skyboom Shield form.

As a Mini-Con, he has a Powerlinx socket on the underside of his vehicle mode that allows him to attach to larger toys with compatible Powerlinx plugs, activating special gimmicks on the larger toys when attached to a "live" plug.

In the Hasbro line, the Race Mini-Con Team was released in the second assortment of Mini-Con teams. In Japan, it was part of the massive first wave of Legend of the Microns product, released in December 2002. Aside from packaging, there are no noteworthy differences between the two releases.

This mold was also used to make Top Gear.

• More information on Mirage at TFU.info

• Grap & Race Micron (Multi-pack, 2002)

• Sonokong name: Smoky & Race
• ID number: MS-02
• Takara release date: December 26, 2002

The Race Microns were also available in Japan in a multi-pack with Grap and his Mini-Con partner Lift. Grap's expandable crane-boom serves as a launching ramp for the Race Micron's jet-like Cosmotector combined mode. All of the toys in this set are identical to their individual Takara releases.

This set was also released by Sonokong in Korea, with no changes from the Takara release, other than the packaging. This was also the only way to obtain "Smoky" (Smokescreen) and the "Races" in Korea.

• Race Micron Exdimensions (Mini-Con 3-pack, 2002)

• ID number: MM-10
• Release date: December 26, 2002

A limited-edition (but still regular-retail) redeco of the Race Microns was made available in Japan as part of the Exdimensions series. The entire team was given a deco in varying shades of blue.

This toy also doubles as the separate character Indy.

• More information on Exdimensions Indy at TFU.info

The only toy of this character with the eyes painted separately from the rest of his face.

• Indy (Change Micron, 2003)

• Change Micron ID number: 1
• Release date: August ?? 2003

This version of the toy is a "candy toy" produced by Kabaya as part of the second Change Micron assortment, sold mainly in grocery and convenience stores, and packed in with a baggie of fizzy ramune candy.

The toy is actually an all-new tooling based on the original mold, with minor changes to small details. This release lacks the silver paint on the seat and rear wheel hubs, but adds yellow paint to his sculpted eyes, and only paints the facemask red rather than the entire face.

• More information on Change Micron Indy at TFU.info

• Road Assault Mini-Con Team (Mini-Con 3-pack, 2003)

Released in the sixth wave of Armada Mini-Con teams, this set is a redeco of the Race Mini-Con Team under a new team name. Mirage and his teammates were now colored black, red and white.

This redeco of the team was given the distinction of being a corrupted version of the Skyboom Shield when in possession of the Decepticons, to coincide with the Air Assault Mini-Con Team/Dark Saber repaint, via the Dreamwave More than Meets the Eye profile books.

• More information on Road Assault Mirage at TFU.info

• Indy Road Assault Edition (Promotional Micron, 2003)

• Release date: August 2, 2003

In Japan, individually-bagged members of the "Road Assault Edition Race Microns" were only available as promotional giveaways, a random member of the Team given free with the purchase of Legends of the Microns Jetfire or Shockwave at Ito Yokaido stores in August.

• Indy (Micron Booster, 2003)

• Booster ID number: 8
• Release date: August 7, 2003

Part of the first Micron Booster set, this version of Indy is almost totally identical to the retail version, only this uses a slightly-sparkly plastic and paint.

• More information on Micron Booster Indy at TFU.info

• Predacon with Side Burn and Skid-Z (Max-Con Class, 2003)

• Scavenger with Rollbar (Max-Con Class, 2003)

• Thundercracker with Zapmaster (Max-Con Class, 2003)

The complete Race Mini-Con Team was also included as bonus add-ons with several Max-Con Class toys; samples of Predacon, Scavenger and Thundercracker have been found.

Unfortunately, what retail chain offered these is unknown at this time.

• Mirage (Tiny Tin, 2004)

• Accessories: Carrying tin

In Europe, all three members of the Race Mini-Con Team were made available individually via the Tiny Tins line, under the original Armada branding. The toys themselves were unchanged from the original versions, but now each figure included a Tiny Tin carrying case.

Universe (2003)

• Mirage (Tiny Tin, 2004)

• Accessories: Carrying tin

In the United States, the Tiny Tins versions of the Race Mini-Con Team members were released in different packaging than their European counterparts, branded as part of the Universe line that didn't exist in Europe. Some errors occurred, resulting in European Armada-branded Tiny Tin carrying cases being sold on American Universe cardbacks.

Energon

• Race Mini-Con Team / Space Mini-Con Team (Mini-Con 6-pack, 2004)

An unaltered version of the Road Assault Mini-Con Team was released as part of an Energon "Mini-Con 6-pack" with the Space Mini-Con Team. However, the team is not only called the "Race Mini-Con Team", the character art and stock photography show the original Race Team decos rather than what's actually in the package.

This set was exclusive to both Toys"R"Us and Walmart stores.

Cybertron

• Hot Shot with Mirage (Bonus pack, 2006)

• Override with Mirage (Bonus pack, 2006)

• Accessories: Carrying tin

Mirage was redecoed again for the Cybertron toyline, in colors similar to his Road Assault deco, but with gray instead of white plastic. He was only available in Walmart-exclusive bonus packs with Hot Shot and Override, and came with a Tiny Tin carrying case.

Hasbro copywriter Forest Lee confirmed that the Cybertron Tiny Tins-exclusives were originally planned with two different Race Mini-Con Team decos in mind, hence the backstory involving one version of the team being from an alternate universe and the tins' decos showing the Mini-Cons in silhouette rather than the normal full-color images. He could not confirm what the then-chosen decos were, however, but it seems likely they would have been rebranded re-releases of the two schemes from Armada, given the use of "Road Assault Mini-Con Team".

• More information on Cybertron Mirage at TFU.info

Notes

• The Photoshop editing by Dreamwave Productions in their More Than Meets The Eye profile books were less than satisfactory on some pages. Mirage in particular suffered from having the tops of his wheels and part of his left foot cut off during editing. The image that appears at the top of this article has been repaired by the uploader.
• In Dreamwave Armada continuity, Mirage was shown to have the ability to make himself (and anyone he touched) invisible, a power similar to the one displayed by the cartoon version of Generation 1 Mirage.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Indy (インディー Indī)
• Korean: Drift (드리프트 Deuripeuteu)