Viper is a Decepticon from the Generation 1 continuity family.

He's come to vipe your vindows.

Viper is well named. Among his very "serpentine" qualities are attacks and transformations that hit like the lightning fast strike of a cobra. His venomous bite often takes the form of a barrage of lethal acid pellets. Yet an even better word to describe him would be "Toxic." Viper's personality is so destructively malevolent that just being around him negatively affects the mental health of his allies as well as his enemies. This emotional collateral damage concerns the "mad, bad, and dangerous to know" Viper not at all.

Sometimes he combines with other Decepticons to form the dread combiner Galvatronus, and sometimes he is a tough drone airframe carrying a healthy supply of firepower into battle.

Fiction

Transformers vs. G.I. Joe

Viper, the "DeceptiCobra Alliance Incarnate", joined Starscream in attacking a group of Joes searching for Omega Supreme. The two jets were defeated when Omega turned out to be the very road below them, which coiled up and grabbed them out of the air. Pax Megatronus

Legends comic

The Concurrence utilized multiple mindless Vipers and used them in taking over Tera-Kura Co. and invading the Legends World. However, thanks to the efforts of the Decepticons residing in that universe, the Concurrence was repelled. Bonus Edition Vol. 63

Vipers continued to be used by the Concurrence in several battles with Greatshot and Earth Defense Command. Greatshot Bonus Edition

Games

Transformers: Battle Tactics

Watch out, XCOM!

Viper participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him!

He was a "Common"-rarity character who could be recruited after collecting 24 units of Cybermetal. Transformers: Battle Tactics

Transformers: Earth Wars

Acid gas Veterans. BUUURN them to a crisp!

During "Operation Snakebite", Sideswipe embarked on a covert-operation that discovered an entire military base of suspicious origin, cut off from the world. However, his recklessness left a trail, and an unforeseen threat soon followed: Viper. The Autobots knew little about this new enemy, but it seemed like the Decepticons had made an alliance with someone...

Viper was a prototype experiment of Cobra, who lobotomized him after they found his Acid Rain ability to be unsatisfactory. One way or another, Viper ended up joining the Decepticons in their Earth Wars.

When Rodimus Unicronus and Straxus attempted to take over Cybertron, Viper was part of a team of Decepticons sent to stop them. He was more than eager to attack a group of Autobots before everyone decided to team up for a common goal. Once Unicron left Rodimus' body and possessed Cybertron, Viper was one of the few to be swallowed up by the planet. Luckily, he survived and departed for Earth once Unicron was defeated. Afterwards, Viper decided to stick by Starscream and observe as the Seeker interfered with Beast Wars Megatron, Armada Megatron, and Deathsaurus' attempts to possess the Enigma of Combination, and thus leadership of the Decepticons.

During the Decepticon's alliance with Cobra, Viper didn't know about it until he reported to Megatron that the Autobots had aligned themselves with GI Joe. When Cobra decided to ditch the Decepticons after a battle with the Autobots/GI Joe alliance went pear-shaped, Viper was allowed to indulge in some payback for his lobotomy. But sometime before that, he received some major improvements to his ability, room in his cockpit to house the Baroness, and some Cobra decals to boot.Transformers: Earth Wars

Viper (Pre-Cobra Event)

• Class: Aerial
• Lowest Star Rating: 1 star
• Weapons: Viper uses his acid gas gun to fire at the target from short range.
• Ability: Acid Rain - Strikes the area across the target with acid pellets, and deals a large amount of damage over time across all targets..
  • Cost: 6 ability points +4 for reuses.

Viper (Post-Cobra Event)

• Class: Aerial
• Lowest Star Rating: 1 star
• Weapons: Viper uses his acid gas gun to fire at the target from short range.
• Ability: Corrosive Air Strike - Fire 4 powerful rockets at a target building dealing some damage and sets the target on fire for extra damage over 5 secs.
  • Cost: 4 ability points +2 for reuses.

Viper at Transformers: Earth Wars Wiki

Toys

Combiner Wars

Pictured: Hasbro's entire 2015 G.I. Joe line.

• Decepticon Viper (Legends Class, 2015)

• Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro)

Part of the third wave of Combiner Wars Legends Class figures, "Decepticon Viper" is a retool of Powerglide, transforming into a modified-for-legal-reasons approximation of an A-10 Thunderbolt II assault plane. He can also transform into a multi-barreled cannon that can be held by larger toys.

Viper's deco is an overt homage to the Cobra Rattler from G.I. Joe, including two Cobra insignias (with integrated Decepticon insignia, no less), and the "ZØ6" marking of Rattler pilot Wild Weasel's personal Rattler on his right wing. His new face is even styled after Wild Weasel's flight mask.

His packaging identifies him as an adjunct to Galvatronus.

The mold was redecoed to make Adventure Dogfight.

• More information on Viper at TFU.info
• Additional information at YoJoe.com

Notes

• Viper appeared in the Battle Tactics game before his toy was announced, leading some to believe he was an original character to the game. That didn't last long.
• When introduced at Toy Fair 2015, Viper was referred to as a "generic" style Transformer (i.e. fully-sentient, but with a shared design, such as Omnicons or Vehicons). This characterization is intended to facilitate army-building, recalling his namesake.
• Viper's product description on Hasbro's website describes him as having robot, jet, and "quick-strike drone" modes, presumably the result of some inexplicable misinterpretation of his gun mode.
• The line used to describe Viper in that bio "mad, bad, and dangerous to know" is a famous historical description of the English Romantic poet and rebellious, pro-Satan bad-boy, Lord Byron.
• The only physical difference between Viper's toy and the original release of the figure (Powerglide) is a different head piece, which also includes a slightly different nosecone for the plane mode. Bizarrely, the new nosecone omits the onboard gatling cannon, one of the most notable features of the real life A-10 Thunderbolt II! Since the A-10 is essentially a flying tank, this would make Viper the equivalent of a tank without a turret. Whoops.
• Writers Greg Sepelak and Trent Troop never canonically specified Shattered Glass Powerglide's colors, as they were hoping to use the Cobra Rattler color scheme, but weren't sure Hasbro would go for it.^[1] Presumably, their idea would've looked very similar to Viper!

Foreign names

• Japanese: Viper (バイパー Baipā)
• Mandarin: Kuíshé (蝰蛇, "Viper")

References