Shadow Striker is a Decepticon from the Cyberverse continuity family.

"When I was a girl, I had a fear of spiders. I was told they felt no emotion, that their hearts never beat, but I know the truth. At the moment of the kill, they are never more alive."

On the surface, Shadow Striker (also Shadowstriker) seems like another stone-cold Decepticon killer: her face is in a perpetual glare, and she calls any Autobot she sees a fool. But this ruthless façade conceals a much darker origin story than any other Decepticons she fights alongside; blown to bits and left for dead by Bumblebee, Shadow Striker was given a second lease on life by Shockwave—one that she didn't ask for. Reconstructed as a patchwork 'bot from bits and pieces and robbing her of her once-legendary fighting skills in the process, Shadow Striker's new goal in life is to hunt down Bumblebee, the one she holds responsible for her gruesome transformation.

Though her combat skills aren't what they used to be, she's still no slouch compared to your average Decepticon. Toting a personal arsenal of knives, machetes, and rifles, if she's got a weapon it's best advised to steer clear of her.

Fiction

Cyberverse cartoon

Voice actor: Deanna McGovern (English), Akeno Watanabe (Japanese), Rosa Leo Servidio (Italian), Pino Pirovano (Italian, "Allspark" only), Fanny Dreiss (French), Tim Moeseritz (German, one episode), Nina Herting (German), Jose Bermúdez (Castilian Spanish), Karen Vallejo (Latin-American Spanish), Carla Dias (Brazilian Portuguese)

"What are you looking at?"
"An annoyance."

In the days before the Autobot-Decepticon war, Shadow Striker was a patron of Maccadam's. During one visit to the bar, she argued with Hot Rod over who should've won the latest cube match. Maccadam's As the gladiator Megatron began recruiting followers, Shadow Striker was an early convert to the faction, standing behind Megatron on the podium as he unveiled the Decepticon movement. Later on when Optimus Prime and Bumblebee visited Megatron's current base to try and talk the Decepticon leader down, Shadow Striker glared at the yellow Autobot and intimidated him into moving on. Megatron Is My Hero In a later visit to Maccadam’s, Shadow Striker watched a beatboxing match between Soundwave and Soundblaster. The Immobilizers

During the subsequent war, Shadow Striker became renowned as a skilled and vicious fighter. She and her Seeker underlings were even able to capture Optimus Prime, keeping him imprisoned in an energon warehouse while Shadow Striker arranged for Megatron to take custody of her prisoner. During a brief absence, however, Bumblebee took out her guards and freed Optimus. On discovering the intrusion, Shadow Striker battled Bumblebee as he dragged the disoriented Optimus to safety, but a shot from Bumblebee's blaster wound up igniting a nearby energon tank that consumed the building and seemingly destroyed Shadow Striker with it.

"You were once a legend, but what are you now? Just a shell of a woman."

This, however, would not be the end for Shadow Striker. Having somehow survived the explosion, Shockwave would recover her body, piecing her back together using parts from the remains of her Seeker guards. Though online once more, Shadow Striker resented the circumstances behind her unlikely rebirth; her new patchwork body limiting her once-vaunted combat skills, she was unable to fight the way she used to and eventually came to swear vengeance against Bumblebee, whom she held responsible for her fate.

She and Bumblebee next crossed paths some time later aboard a crashing energon tanker bound to hit Iacon City. Though Bumblebee was able to steer the ship away from the city, Shadow Striker knocked him unconscious before he could pilot the ship to safely land. As Bumblebee came to, Shadow Striker chased him through the ship before shooting a leaking energon pipe, inadvertently pinning them both beneath a fallen bulkhead. Both of them trapped, the Decepticon explained the story behind her unlikely return, but Bumblebee was soon freed after another explosion blew the bulkhead loose from on top of him. Bumblebee was momentarily conflicted as to whether or not he should save Shadow Striker as well, but his conscience won out and he set her free... only for the Decepticon to follow him up the ladder to freedom, where she was blasted by Grimlock. Though Grimlock was prepared to finish her off, Bumblebee convinced his friend to let the troubled Decepticon retreat. Shadowstriker

"Ça pique, n'est-ce pas?"

In the later days of the war, Shadow Striker was part of the Decepticon team that chased Bumblebee after the scout learned of Megatron's plan to seize the AllSpark. Bumblebee was able to take her out of the fight by paralyzing her with his stinger, but was ultimately captured by Soundwave, and the two Decepticons delivered him to their leader. Megatron Is My Hero

During the battle to eject the Allspark through Cybertron's space bridge to put it beyond Decepticon hands, Shadow Striker attacked Bumblebee, but was quickly dispatched by Windblade. Allspark Some time later, following the launch of the Ark from Cybertron, Shadow Striker was present when Megatron located the AllSpark on Earth. Fractured

Shadow Striker joined Shockwave onboard one of his magnetic disrupter vessels, and ended up taking Slipstream, Thundercracker and Nova Storm to the North Pole. She abandoned her post in favor of slagging Bumblebee, and her patchwork body failed to stop their getaway plane after they blew up her ship. The Extinction Event Fortunately, Shockwave had sent one of his drones to spy on the Autobots, Awaken Sleeping Giants leading them to the Ark for a heated (no pun intended) battle. She squared off against all three, chafed Shockwave for retreating, knocked out Teletraan-X and was knocked out cold. The Seekers dragged her out before Shockwave fully triggered a volcanic eruption. Eruption

After the reawakening of the Autobots and arrival of the Decepticon fleet under Megatron himself, at one point Shadow Striker and Prowl engaged in a high speed chase that quickly devolved into a hand-to-hand fight. This fight was apparently one of the first public battles fought between Autobots and Decepticons, as an observing human expressed confusion at what he was watching. Later on, she was part of the Decepticon contingent defending Shockwave's Planet Smasher against the Autobots as both sides fought a pitched battle on the moon. Detecting Prowl and Hot Rod attempting to make their way to the device through a crater, she ambushed the pair and managed to cause them to crash, temporarily taking them out of the fight. She was also present when an enraged Megatron stripped Starscream of his rank as leader of the Seekers. Sea of Tranquility

Having retreated to the Decepticon secondary position beneath the moon's surface, Shadow Striker was witness to Starscream suddenly and viciously attacking Megatron. Before she or anyone else could react, Starscream apparently terminated Megatron and declared himself their new leader. The approach of the Autobots led by Optimus Prime prevented any argument, and she joined the others in retreating to the Nemesis. Once aboard, she managed to restrain Soundwave from attacking Starscream by pointing out it was not the time for in-fighting. She was then witness to Megatron's return to the ship's bridge, and she arrived at the ship's hangar just in time to watch Megatron blast Starscream with a full power shot from his fusion cannon, apparently killing the Seeker. Bad Moon Rising

"This is no place for children..."

After attending Starscream's eulogy, Shadow Striker was among the Decepticons present when Megatron declared that whoever brought him Optimus Prime's head would take Starscream's place as second-in-command. She recruited Lockdown and Clobber as part of her scheme, not knowing that the hapless duo had already been caught up in Soundwave and Shockwave's plotting against each other. She was annoyed when she ran into the pair later for not carrying out her orders and preparing a shuttle for them, and was even more annoyed when it turned out they had somehow captured Hot Rod. When the Autobot broke free, she attempted to pursue him but failed to prevent his escape. Bring Me The Spark Of Optimus Prime

Shadow Striker was part of a team Megatron intended to take with him to secure the AllSpark, but something went wrong with the GroundBridge and only Megatron was actually transported. Trials When the Autobots launched a full scale assault on the Nemesis in the mistaken belief the Decepticons had the AllSpark (not knowing that Starscream, the one who actually stole the AllSpark, had gone rogue), Shadow Striker was one of the defenders. Dark Birth

During peace talks between Megatron and Optimus Prime to discuss an alliance against Starscream, Shadow Striker tried to take advantage of the lull in the fighting by scanning the Ark but was prevented from doing so by Prowl. The two foes were later seen happily discussing the pros and cons of modifications she had made to a blaster. The peace, sadly, did not last when a fight broke out after (unbeknownst to almost everyone) Bludgeon murdered Slipstream. Parley

When Optimus Prime and the Autobots arrived at the Nemesis in response to a distress signal from Megatron, they found Shadow Striker and Shockwave paralyzed from having their energon drained. The two Decepticons had apparently been taken by surprise by Starscream's new army. She was presumably restored along with everyone else when Starscream was driven away. Starscream's Children

Shadow Striker was present on the bridge of the Nemesis when one of Shockwave's drones (a floating hand) went berserk and began rampaging throughout the bridge. She was unable to hide her glee at the idea that Shockwave was finished, outright whispering as such to Soundwave. Sadly, when Shockwave arrived and disabled the rogue drone, he managed to mollify Megatron by showing that he now had a way of taking control of Starscream's monsters. Secret Science

Shadow Striker was one of the Decepticons who accompanied Megatron in confronting Jetfire when the Autobot superjet attacked the Nemesis in search of his arch-rival Sky-Byte. When the shark actually did appear and arrived at the Nemesis, Shadow Striker grumbled that he was about as welcome as "a hole in the head". Considering that shortly after Jetfire reappeared in a suit of spark armor and kidnapped Megatron, she might've been onto something. Infinite Vendetta

Nevertheless, she was part of the Decepticon strike force Megatron assembled in order to take back the AllSpark. Led by Sky-Byte, the team arrived at the cavern formerly used as the artifact's hiding spot just as the Autobots were making their own way through. Before a battle could really begin, an AllSpark-infused Starscream arrived and attacked everyone present. Shadow Striker nearly lost her spark alongside everyone else when Optimus Prime used the Matrix of Leadership to disable the AllSpark and knock out Starscream. During the confused brawl that followed, Shadow Striker found herself battling Windblade but was finally taken out of the fight by a blast of the Autobot's turbines. I Am The Allspark Shadow Striker was part of the bridge crew of the Nemesis as they attempted to prevent the Autobots from fleeing Earth with the AllSpark. Escape From Earth

Shadow Striker returned to Cybertron along with the other Decepticons and joined in a chant of "Destroy them! Destroy them!" when Megatron successfully lured the unsuspecting Autobots back to Cybertron, where they secretly laid in wait. The Crossroads When the Autobots bailed the Ark before it was destroyed by Shockwave, Shadow Striker took part in the subsequent battle against the Autobots, during which she fought Wheeljack and accidentally offlined Prowl when he took a shot that was meant for Optimus. Battle For Cybertron II

When the AllSpark restored Cybertron, and Megatron was beset by a pack of Scraplets, Shadow Striker moved to attack Optimus, but stood down after a glare from Optimus. Battle For Cybertron IV

When Dead End was inadvertently freed from the Loop, he saw Shadow Striker among the scores of enraptured Cybertronians. The Dead End

Shadow Striker and all the Cybertronians were freed from the Loop by Perceptor. She later participated in a training simulation with Bumblebee, Arcee and Lockdown. Cooperation was fleeting at first, but over time the two factions began to work together. During the battle at the Quintesson tower, Shadow Striker fought alongside Bumblebee. The Alliance

Wheeljack explained his plan to use the Quintessons’ multiverse drive to send the Quintessons into another universe to the alliance leadership, including Shadow Striker. When Maccadam suggested disabling Iaconus’s cloaking system to lure the Quintessons away from their ship, Shadow Striker enthusiastically agreed with the plan. Shadow Striker reported ready as she, Arcee and Lockdown gleefully armed themselves in preparation for the Quintesson attack. When the Quintessons attacked, Shadow Striker met them with ferocity. The alliance was momentarily victorious, and the Judge and the Quintesson ship was destroyed, but the assembled forces had little time to celebrate, as the new Judge arose and declared their universe guilty. The Judge

Shadow Striker watched Croaton descend to Cybertron to battle Iaconus. When Maccadam arrived to free the captive Cybertronians, Shadow Striker watched as he used his incredibly powerful alternate mode to dispatch the attacking Prosecutors and Sharkticons. The End Of The Universe III

Shadow Striker battled Starscream’s Sharkticon forces. When Megatron returned from the multiverse, Shadow Striker was granted a power boost alongside other alliance members. Following Starscream’s destruction, Shadow Striker was present as Optimus and Megatron established a ceasefire between Autobots and Decepticons. The End Of The Universe IV

When Bumblebee infiltrated Croaton city on the Decepticon half of Cybertron, Shadow Striker found and confronted him. Pretending to lead him away for arrest, she instead led him to the comatose Windblade, and allowed him to escape. She later confronted the Autobots with the other Decepticons. Enemy Line

When Wildwheel rampaged through Croaton city, Shadow Striker flanked Megatron as he confronted the outlaw. Wild Wild Wheel

When Rack’n’Ruin infiltrated the secret Decepticon facility where Astrotrain and Dead End were testing an unspace weapon, Shadow Striker and Soundwave approached the Autobots and questioned them. When Rack’n’Ruin revealed their intention was to investigate the facility, the Decepticons encouraged them to continue, as they were intending on doing the exact same thing. Later, the two Decepticons attempted to sneak into the facility themselves, and the door Shadow Striker was picking open was removed by the haywire multiverse ray. Dead End and Astrotrain confronted them, and Astrotrain grabbed both of the interlopers, but the multiverse ray zapped him into unspace. Rack 'n' Ruin 'n' Ratchet

Shadow Striker and Soundwave reviewed Laserbeak’s footage of Megatron. Suspicious of Megatron’s plans, the two Decepticons interrogated Dead End. Dead End was uncooperative, and fled, directly into the arms of Optimus and his infiltration team. Chasing Dead End, Shadow Striker and Soundwave engaged the Autobots. Silent Strike

Shadow Striker was one of the Autobots and Decepticons surrounded by the "Other One”’s Decepticon supersoldiers. When Optimus and Megatron granted their respective forces a burst of power, Shadow Striker took one out with a flying kick. When the Other One himself arrived, Shadow Striker and the other Decepticons pledged themselves to him. The Other One disregarded their service, and when Bumblebee absconded with the Other One’s Matrix of Leadership, Shadow Striker helped him against the Decepticon supersoldiers that attacked him. Following the Other One’s defeat and Windblade’s recovery, Shadow Striker joined the Autobots in welcoming her back. The Other One

Shadow Striker was part of the Decepticon delegation at the signing of the Treaty of the Wall, with Soundwave, Alpha Strike and Sky-Byte. She was frozen in time with the rest of Cybertron by Trypticon's Mercenaries. When Wheeljack returned the planet to normal, Shadow Striker noticed Soundwave’s absence, having been removed from the stage by Soundblaster, and she signed the treaty in his stead. The Immobilizers

Shadow Striker participated in the ceremony at the grand opening of Trypticon Plaza. Following Astrotrain’s dire warning, Shadow Striker reported every Decepticon on the planet was ready to defend Cybertron. When the Dinobots interrupted the meeting, Sludge got a little too close for Shadow Striker’s comfort, and she pushed him away. When Tarn arrived, under attack by two Decepticon supersoldiers, Alpha Strike and Shadow Striker restrained one of them. When Tarn explained his situation, Shadow Striker was content to let the warring supersoldiers destroy each other. When Soundwave ordered the Decepticons to attack the supersoldiers, Shadow Striker participated in the battle. All conventional weapons, including a massive bomb, were ineffective. At Bumblebee’s suggestion, Shadow Striker and Soundwave accompanied Tarn, Bee and Optimus to find Thunderhowl, who could help them find the Cortex Helm. Thunderhowl led them to the Isle of Onyx Prime, where after being faced by living statues of Alpha Trion and nearly plummeting to their doom in a collapsing passageway, Tarn claimed the Cortex Helm for himself, bringing the Decepticon supersoldiers under his control. Supersoldiers teleported in and restrained everyone, as Tarn declared himself the true leader of the Deceptions, and his intentions to annihilate the Autobots. Tarn ordered Shadow Striker to execute Bumblebee and Thunderhowl. She refused, and allowed Bumblebee and Thunderhowl to escape. She was brought before Tarn, who ordered Soundwave to kill her. When Soundwave and Tarn were momentarily distracted by Optimus, Shadow Striker used the opening to escape. She and the other Decepticons agreed that the Treaty with the Autobots still stood, and when Tarn ordered the Decepticons to attack the Autobots at the Cube arena, they refused, and Shadow Striker stepped forward to defy Tarn. She ordered the Decepticons to attack, and they charged Tarn’s forces. She battled the supersoldiers, and was aided by Dead End when she was knocked down. When Soundwave sacrificed himself to destroy Tarn, Shadow Striker looked on in shock and sorrow as the smoke cleared. She later attended Soundwave’s memorial, and Laserbeak perched on her shoulder. She later joined Bumblebee, Optimus, Windblade and Hot Rod outside Maccadam’s, and reluctantly joined a group hug, which the Dinobots also joined, quite uninvited. The Perfect Decepticon

Alternate universe

In Megatron X's reality, after the tyrant fatally wounded Optimus Prime when his once friend refused to join the Decepticons, Shadow Striker restrained Bumblebee alongside Starscream. She was also present to see the Quintesson flagship descend onto Cybertron and be destroyed by a laser snare. However, she was later executed by Megatron X, who claimed she outlived her usefulness after easily winning the Great War. The Other One

Games

Transformers: Battlegrounds

Voice actor: Deanna McGovern (English), Laura Landauer (German), Georgia Lepore (Italian), Cristal Álvarez (Spanish), Juliette Croizat (French)

I want to tell you about the Transformers! This character article is a stub and is missing information on their fictional appearances. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it. Transformers: Battlegrounds

Toys

Cyberverse

"Adieu, chérie!"

• Shadow Striker (Scout Class, 2019-2021)

• Action Attack: "Stealth Sniper Shot"

Cyberverse Scout Class Shadow Striker transforms from robot into a vehicle-with-her-torso-sticking-out, officially called a "transformational mode". She features a rocket-trail gimmick on the legs/vehicle rear called "Stealth Sniper Shot"...what?

Shadow Striker has been released multiple times throughout the Cyberverse line: first in the third wave of the original 2019 series in the original Cyberverse packaging design, then again in 2020 in the then-current Bumblebee: Cyberverse Adventures subline imprint packaging refresh, and then again in 2021 in the line's final Dinobots Unite subline imprint packaging refresh.

"One shot, one kill."

• Shadow Striker (Ultra Class, 2018)

• Action Attack: "Stealth Sniper Shot"

Shadow Striker is part of the second wave of Ultra Class Cyberverse toys, and transforms between robot and Cybertronic car modes. Designed to resemble her pre-accident self, Shadow Striker transforms simply with little useful articulation, and her "Stealth Sniper Shot" action gimmick results in a large backpack that hangs to her feet while in robot mode. Her gimmick, which works best in vehicle mode, involves pushing the inner portion of her front bumper towards the vehicle, causing the back middle portion of the vehicle to flip forward and unveil weaponry. If you manipulate this mechanism in robot mode, her head merely ducks inside. Still, you can force the deployed weapon past the ratcheting clicks if you want to tuck more of the backpack away during robot mode while keeping the head outside her torso.

Legacy

Side Burn Roulette retool in 3..2...1...

• Cyberverse Universe Shadow Striker (Deluxe Class, 2023)

• Accessories: Blaster, Roof Shield, Bumper
• Known designers: Mark Maher (Hasbro), Tomoki Tatsumi and Shogo Hasui (TakaraTomy)^[1]

Released in the seventh wave of Legacy Deluxes as part of the Evolution subline imprint, Shadow Striker is a stylized version of the character, hybridizing her Cyberverse and Universe incarnations, using the latter for her robot mode and the former for her alternate mode, a Cybertronic sports car that vaguely resembles some sort of fusion between a Dodge Viper and the alternate mode of her movie counterpart.

Shadow Striker's accessories also draw on the Universe toy: a bladed blaster (complete with posts for both orientations), a car roof that serves as an arm-mounted shield, and a detachable rear bumper which pegs into the blaster to evoke the original toy's missile launcher as her Evo-Fusion gimmick. The blaster can be stored in robot mode via a hidden port under her backpack, while it is stored on the roof in vehicle mode. The roof shield is also detachable and fits into 5mm ports. The instructions tell you to plug it onto her right arm for transformation, but due to the way the hinge works it is possible to put it on her left arm as well. The bumper can also act as a smaller shield and removal is required for transformation.

To have her hold the weapon in blade mode, the tab on the grip must be slipped between her thumb and finger. The purpose of this tab is unknown, other than to look like an iron sight if the blaster is held backward, but the shape of the arm prevents this from pegging in firmly. It unfortunately prevents any figure with a closed fist from being able to hold it in blade mode.

Execise caution while handling the knee-and-thigh tabbing; As they're meant to lock and straighten the legs in place for the vehicle mode, they can snap off depending on the tightness of each copy. This issue does not affect the transformation, however. If anyone is concerned about this, one can slightly carve some space on the upper area of the knee guard's tab hole.

She was later redecoed with a new head into Legacy United Side Burn.

Notes

• Early in the development of Cyberverse, Shadow Striker started out as a new incarnation of Nightracer, another female Decepticon with a sports car mode who originated as a convention exclusive. According to Randolph Heard, the character was named Nightracer in early script drafts, leading to the designers to start with Nightracer when crafting the design.^[2] The name had to change when "Nightracer" turned out to not be available,^[3] but several design elements remain: in her concept art, she's seen holding a gun closely based on the one that came with the original Nightracer's toy. It also shows her with a battlemask and detachable kibble shield.
• This is the first major usage of the name "Shadow Striker", having only been used previously for a convention exclusive and an obscure Target exclusive, both of whom are female Decepticons with sports car-like alternate modes.
• All of her toy iterations use her design from before the events of the flashback in "Shadowstriker", favoring the more cohesive design over the pieced-together design used from then on, mainly for constructive ease and to match her packaging artwork. If you want a patchwork version, splatter it with paint.
• In the Italian dub of "Allspark", Shadow Striker was erroneously given a male voice. This was corrected in her later appearances. A similar gender error happened with Shadow Striker's Canadian French^[4] and Brazilian Portuguese^[5] online toy descriptions.
• Dick Terhune has an interpretation of Shadow Striker and Prowl having a frenemy/mutual respect for each other believing that Shadow Striker's accidental murder of Prowl changed her a lot afterwards.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Shadow Striker (シャドウストライカー Shadō Sutoraikā)

References