Beachcomber is an Autobot geologist and recon officer. He's never felt entirely at home on Cybertron and loves the natural beauty of many Earth landscapes. He has a very laid-back attitude and is very much the pacifist; he would much rather relax and study the various environments of Earth than participate in the Autobots' ongoing war with the Decepticons.
History[]
The Transformers (G1 cartoon)[]
Beachcomber appeared during the second season of the original Transformers cartoon series. Although willing to fight for the Autobots' cause, he much preferred to study Earth's natural beauty, taking a keen interest in all manner of Terran flora and fauna.
In the two-part episode "Dinobot Island", Beachcomber was a part of the Autobot strike force that attempted to prevent the Decepticons from plundering Dinobot Island's vast resources. During the mission, he expressed his fear that the fighting between the Autobots and Decepticons would destroy the island before he had a chance to study it. While the Decepticons were defeated, it is unknown if Beachcomber ever returned to the island.
In "The Golden Lagoon", Beachcomber discovered a hidden grove within a cave system while conducting a geological survey with Perceptor. Not only was the grove teeming with wildlife but it also contained a lagoon filled with electrum, a shimmering golden substance that bonded to inert material and rendered it temporarily indestructible. Beachcomber decided to keep the lagoon a secret, fearing that if either Autobots or Decepticons found it, they would end up destroying the surrounding grove. Sadly, the lagoon was found and both factions made use of the substance, their fighting devastating the natural splendor of the surrounding area. Realizing that neither side could destroy the other as long as the electrum existed, Megatron destroyed the lagoon in order to deny the Autobots an asset. Beachcomber sorrowfully acknowledged how the Autobots had 'won' the battle as he looked over the destruction left in its wake.
Marvel Comics[]
NOTE: Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.
An erroneous account placed Beachcomber as part of a group of Autobots posted on Cybertron hundreds of years ago who, upon detecting the Underbase heading towards Earth, sent out two mini-cassettes to forewarn the Autobots posted on the organic world of its arrival.
Beachcomber was a member of Perceptor's resistance cell on Cybertron who disobeyed orders along with most of the cell to help Blaster recover Scrounge from the smelting pool. He actually demonstrated some uncharacteristic strength and gusto, tearing down a laser sentinel tower with his bare hands. The rescue mission failed, but they did recover Scrounge's stolen data, and learned that Optimus Prime and the crew of the Ark were alive and fighting on Earth.
Soon after, Perceptor's crew began a mission to destroy the space bridge before the Decepticons on Earth and Cybertron could begin trading resources. Beachcomber used his geological skills to map out a safe path underneath the planet's surface to bomb the underlying support structures of Darkmount, bringing down Straxus's whole fortress. The unit failed to destroy the space bridge, however, and were ultimately forced to retreat across the Bridge to Earth. Immediately upon arrival, they were approached by the Decepticon fliers Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp, who correctly identified them as Autobots and were about to open fire when Megatron realised the Ark was undefended and diverted his troops there instead.
However, the humans belonged to the anti-robot attack team, RAAT. While Beachcomber and the other Autobots, unfamiliar with how things worked on Earth, tried to talk to their vehicles, RAAT deployed "electric snow" missiles to disorient them. Beachcomber's group was then too dazed to fight back, and were defeated with the help of Circuit Breaker. Beachcomber and his fellows were subsequently taken captive, and the robot-hating Circuit Breaker mounted their heads on the wall of RAAT's headquarters. Meanwhile, Skids and the shifty human Donny Finkleberg were sent on a mission to determine their whereabouts, but Finkleberg sold out Skids to RAAT as well. Ultimately, Finkleberg redeemed himself by forcing the captured Autobots' release as part of a deal. If the combined bodies of Beachcomber and the other captives could successfully aid in the defeat of the vandalizing Battlechargers, they would be set free. And so it was. Beachcomber and the others headed home, directed by Skids, when the time-travelling Galvatron took their guide's place. Galvatron tore his way through the group, one by one, with Beachcomber one of his casualties, though he was ultimately driven off by the arrival of the Dinobots and Shockwave's Decepticons.
Following the Dinobots' directions, the Cybertron Seven finally joined up with the Autobots aboard the Ark only to discover that Optimus Prime was dead. They attended his funeral but it was cut short by none other than Optimus Prime himself, who had returned from Cybertron.
Some time later, after Optimus Prime's real death, Beachcomber was one of the several Autobots who watched on as Ratchet futilely tried to repair the Autobot leader's body. Once Prime was declared irreparable, the Autobots held a funeral service for their leader, and launched his body into space. Upon their return to the Ark, Beachcomber and the other grieving Autobots were shot at by their ship's own defense systems, which had been activated by a human intruder in their absence. Ratchet, who had elected not to attend the funeral, was able to defeat the villain and then tended to the wounded. The Ark then came under attack by Trypticon and Beachcomber was one of the first casualties, getting blasted by the monstrous Decepticon's battle station mode. Under the direction of the Autobots' new leader Grimlock, Beachcomber, Cosmos and Wheeljack constructed a variable voltage harness with which to punish the "traitorous" Blaster. After capturing Blaster's "accomplices"—a quartet of human children and a stuffed bear—Beachcomber and the other Autobots watched as Grimlock tried them before an Autobot Multi-Circuit Court and sentenced them to death. Meanwhile, much to Beachcomber's relief, Blaster had snuck aboard the Ark and rallied the Autobots in his support, but he was forced to surrender to Grimlock in order to save the children's lives. While he did champion Blaster for replacing Grimlock as the Autobots' commander, this didn't stop Beachcomber from whining about senseless violence throughout their duel on the moon. Luckily, a Decepticon strike force arrived to drown out his voice with some lasers and explosives.
When the Autobots rescued Buster Witwicky from the Arctic and were ambushed by the Decepticons, Beachcomber was among the first to be attacked, set upon and mauled by Mindwipe. Presumably, this rendered him non-functional, as Beachcomber was last seen laying deactivated aboard the Ark as Ratchet attempted to repair him.
Marvel UK future timelines[]
When the Quintessons raided Autobot City in 2008, Beachcomber and Air Raid rushed to defend their home with a team of fellow Autobots. Unfortunately, the Quintesson shock troops were too much for them, and quickly overran the defenders. Beachcomber and his Aerialbot comrade made a run for back-up, but were jumped from behind and taken out with the rest.
Regeneration One[]
Beachcomber was part of Rodimus Prime's assault on Jhiaxus's Hub Network, serving on board the Lancer Two alongside Jazz, Sky High and Skids under Getaway. Though their part of the mission was carried out successfully, Jhiaxus had anticipated the Autobots' strategy and they were quickly overwhelmed by his reinforcements and forced to crash land on a nearby planet.
Dreamwave Comics[]
Beachcomber was seen as one of the civilians on the united Cybertron after Shockwave and Ultra Magnus's forces returned from Earth. He was spurred into action against Shockwave's regime when Optimus Prime returned to the planet and rallied the Autobots into an organized army.
Afterwards, Beachcomber was assigned to a mission suitable for his pacifism, as part of Bumblebee's supply crew on the Orion, bringing news and fuel to their comrades on Earth. Little did they know they would be caught up in heavy combat with Sunstorm. As part of an alliance to defeat their mutual enemy, Beachcomber was supposed to be guarding Sunstorm's primary target, the Decepticon Starscream, aboard the Orion shuttle.
IDW Publishing[]
Beachcomber originally hailed from Ibex, where he wrote The Primal Prophecies: A New Interpretation. Early in the war, Beachcomber, along with Brawn and Cosmos, met with the damaged Jazz and Tracks when their transport ship returned to HQ.
Four million years ago, Beachcomber was present at a victory celebration after the Autobots halted a major Decepticon energon convoy.
Later, Beachcomber was captured by Soundwave, who used Bombshell to inject him with a cerebro-shell. Under its control, Beachcomber attempted on three occasions to assassinate Blaster. Ultimately, Blaster confronted him about it and forced him to fight against his Decepticon control. Though his mental resistance shorted out the shell, his neural processors were severely damaged as well.
After eventually recovering, Beachcomber ended up among the Autobot forces on Earth. When Ultra Magnus visited to investigate Optimus Prime's surrender, Beachcomber feared that they might all get arrested, and decided to leave the team. Alongside Blurr, Hoist and Tracks, he attempted to find and join Hot Rod, who was trying to get off the planet, only to drive straight into a Skywatch ambush. Beachcomber was the first to be deactivated when a human named Campolongo zapped him using a hi-tech suit. The captured Autobots were brought into the hangar where Optimus Prime was imprisoned by Major Witwicky in an attempt to get the Autobot leader to cooperate.
After Bumblebee became Autobot leader and formed an alliance with Skywatch, Beachcomber was freed. He would later completely ignore Bumblebee's leadership once Rodimus returned from space with the Matrix and demanded to see Optimus Prime. Beachcomber was also amongst those who volunteered to return to a restored Cybertron and fight Galvatron's army. Upon arriving, he transformed and rolled out alongside the other Autobots.
In the post-Great War era, Beachcomber joined the Cybertronian Security Force. In early 2018, following Chancellor Starscream's public confession to a myriad of crimes, Beachcomber was assigned to guard his cell. After Thundercracker stopped by to show Starscream the movie he'd been working on, the former ruler of Cybertron requested Beachcomber pass along a message to some friends of Starscream.
Shortly afterwards, Onyx Prime and Liege Maximo returned to Cybertron with Beachcomber being among those assigned to guard the latter. Feeling guilty about aiding Starscream, he let Soundwave and his entourage interrogate the latter for five minutes. He and Seaspray later escorted the captive Shockwave through the streets to be imprisoned, with Beachcomber telling the monologuing cyclops to shut up along the way. Beachcomber's bad luck as a guard continued when an escaped Starscream later returned and knocked him out in order to converse with Shockwave. Beachcomber managed to escape Cybertron's destruction at Unicron's hands, being transported to Earth with many survivors.
Abilities[]
- Alt-Mode - As his name implies, Beachcomber transforms into a dune buggy and has a range of 800 miles in this form. In the IDW comics, his original alt-mode was that of a Cybertronian hover-car.
- Scanners - Beachcomber is equipped with a vast sensor array consisting of magnetic, infrared, ultraviolet and electrostatic among others. He uses this scanning array to locate vital resources and to construct geological maps.
- Energy Beams - Beachcomber can fire energy beams from his fingertips.