Countdown (G1)

Countdown is an Autobot Micromaster from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Hero of a thousand worlds, champion of the oppressed, and destroyer of thousands of Decepticons, but no... let's tell more stories about stupid Bumblebee. Not that he's bitter.

Countdown is a legend on thousands of inhabited worlds. Before all the other Autobots, he had gone out into space to explore, travelling from one end of the galaxy to the other, and overthrowing tyrants and monsters wherever he found them. Countless beings owe Countdown their freedom.^[1] Now, he identifies planets under threat from the Decepticons and meddles to the Autobots' benefit. He looks forward to the day when the Decepticons are defeated, and he can start toppling other tyrannical regimes^[2] again.

He possesses an interstellar rocket and command base that can "slingshot" across entire galaxies. The base is used to launch the rocket, but also fits inside the rocket.

Fiction

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Countdown was an Autobot Aerospace Commander, who volunteered for the prototype Micromaster process which downsized him and several others as a means for conserving fuel. Alongside Jetfire, Groundshaker, and Omega Supreme, he was assigned to Operation: Containment. This was a two-fold mission—the Decepticons had begun expanding their tyranny off-planet, and the Autobots could not in good conscience allow the war to engulf other innocent worlds. At the same time, the mission team was charged with making efforts to find Optimus Prime, the Matrix and the lost crew of the Ark. Initially, Countdown did not appreciate the methods of his second-in-command, Groundshaker. A... rambunctious fighter, Groundshaker's gun-first approach to combat sometimes made it difficult for the Autobots to ingratiate themselves with local populations when confronting the Decepticon expansion. Countdown submitted a troop transfer request to Autobot Command, but it was rejected. More than Meets the Eye, Issue #3 Eventually, the duo began to work better together, and Countdown came to consider Groundshaker a valuable friend and ally.

Eventually, the two missions of Containment became cross-purposes: Decepticon forces moving in one direction, towards Paradron; a stray signal beacon emanating from the other direction, towards the Sol system. While Jetfire and Omega Supreme followed the beacon, Original Sin Countdown and Groundshaker continued on to Paradron, in order to combat the Decepticon Interstellar Assault Commander, Skystalker, and his men. The Decepticons very nearly wiped out the entire populace, and only a climactic personal battle between Countdown and Skystalker engineered a temporary stalemate. Skystalker was left to die on the planet, while Countdown acquired a mysterious artifact.

The Autobot duo chose to return to Cybertron seeking reinforcements, only to find Ultra Magnus woefully unsupportive of their plight. Countdown had dreams of establishing an interplanetary force, not only to stop the spread of Decepticon evil, but to actively take steps to better the other worlds in the cosmos. Seeing how little Magnus and the others had bettered their own world in his absence, though, Countdown began looking for other options. After passing the Hot Rod Patrol in the halls, and hearing them voice similar complaints about the current Autobot management, Countdown and Groundshaker decided to keeps tabs on those Micromasters. Destined for Nothing

When the Hot Rod Patrol broke free from the Autobot ranks, they set off for the Wastelands and were nearly hijacked by Venom and his team of cannibals. Groundshaker arrived to shake them up a bit, and took the Patrol to see Countdown for a recruitment speech. Countdown tried to explain the epiphany he'd had on Paradron, and the mission he had assumed for himself to bring justice to the universe. Big Daddy and the gang weren't quite ready to hear it yet, though, and so Countdown sent them on their way to Little Iacon. The Gray Race

Once Skystalker returned and informed the Decepticons of Countdown's inevitable attempts at recruitment, the Hot Rod Patrol were targeted by Shockwave's men because of their contact with Countdown. Infuriated when Countdown told him to sit and wait, Groundshaker finally exploded and revealed that he knew about the old transfer request Countdown had filed against him. Dismayed and chagrined, Countdown apologized profusely to his comrade for the error, and insisted that he had long since changed his mind about his partner. As a show of good faith, he fully explained his reasoning and recent actions to Groundshaker. On Paradron, he had uncovered a Golden Disk containing vast amounts of information on Cybertron, despite the lack of any previous known communications between the two worlds. The artifact apparently contained files on the past, present, and future of the Transformer race. Countdown justified leaving the Patrol to their fate for the time being, since the Decepticons' efforts were clearly an attempt to draw them out and steal the artifact and its secrets for themselves. Groundshaker still wasn't wholly impressed, and warned Countdown that focusing too much on the big picture would only ensure that no one was left to watch out for the little guy. Recipe for Hate

The discussion became moot, though, after the Decepticon attack forced the Hot Rod Patrol to come looking for aid from Countdown. Eager to forge ties with the Patrol, Countdown agreed to join them in infiltrating Decepticon headquarters and rescuing their fellow Autobot Micromasters, who had been taken hostage from Little Iacon. This led him back into direct conflict with Skystalker for the first time since Paradron. Skystalker had been busy as well, beheading Shockwave and sending the larger Decepticons out to die in battle, clearing the way for a new Micromaster regime under his iron foot. Big Daddy interfered in their grudge match, and Skystalker vanished before Countdown could complete what he started on Paradron. With the help of Big Daddy and Barricade, he negotiated a ceasefire between the Micromasters, and they in turn forced the larger Transformers to put an end to the fight Skystalker orchestrated as well. Ultimately, however, Countdown failed to convince Big Daddy and the others of the virtues of his cause. Already weighed down by the horrors of war, Big Daddy just saw Countdown's mission as another excuse for fighting and death. Victims of the Revolution

Wings Universe

Hero. Legend. Salesman.

Nine million years ago, as the energies of Cybertron dwindled, Countdown and Cop-Tur were proponents of the Micromaster Initiative as a solution to the planet's energy woes. Flak was persuaded to agree. Battle Lines, Part 6

2005 IDW continuity

"...I have cooler ones at home."

Countdown was an absolute legend. A student of the Thunderclash School of Heroic Arts (Class of Cycle 1022), he was taught, inspired, guided and befriended by the heroic Thunderclash and went on to be a decorated war hero himself. He was one of the many notable soldiers at the Simanzi Massacre. Despite his many accomplishments, he disliked wearing his medals and only did so out of politeness.

With Thunderclash's death imminent, Countdown went aboard the Vis Vitalis to pay his respects and leave his medals (bar his graduation badge, "the only one that ever meant anything") at his tires. However, upon opening up his old teacher's trailer to investigate a strange knocking coming from within, he was attacked and fell victim to the personality tick infestation. The Sensuous Frame Greedy infant parasites feasted on his charisma until he was dead, and Nightbeat and Getaway later found his still-warm corpse in the ship's morgue. The Frail Gaze

Beast Wars: Uprising

Countdown was a Micromaster working for Hot Rod's command team in Micropolis. From the Star Convoy, they oversaw Builder operations and counter-Resistance activities. Countdown debriefed Hot Rod on the theft of the G-Virus from the Forever Vaults. Micro-Aggressions

Countdown remained part of the Micromaster command team as the Resistance made their final push on the High Pavilion of Iacon. Ratbat and the Builder Assembly insisted the Micromasters continue fighting the Resistance all the way to the Pavilion, though it meant guerrilla tactics or even open warfare in civilian areas. Anything to slow the Resistance down until the Vehicons hordes arrived from the rear. Countdown and the Micromaster commanders objected to the idea of accepting innocent casualties for a delaying tactic, and claimed communications were breaking down in order to ignore the Assembly's orders.

When the Vehicon Apocalypse began, Countdown and Hot Rod accepted B'Boom and the surviving army of the Resistance to bunker down in the High Pavilion Arena, combining forces to survive the horde of attacking drones. Derailment

Toys

The Transformers

Lunar golf cart.

• Countdown (Micromaster Autobot Rocket Base, 1989)

• Accessories: "Rocket Base", rocket, platform, large ramp, helipad, 3 short ramps, mechanical arm, large double laser, 2 small double lasers, large laser, gunner pod, scout vehicle

Released in the sixth year of the The Transformers toyline (fifth year in the European line), Countdown transforms into a fanciful moon rover. His little comm-dish can swivel upwards and back.

He was only available with the colossal Rocket Base playset, which can transform into a command center and connect with other Micromaster bases via modular ramps.

In the UK, Countdown was available exclusively through Woolworths.

This toy was sold without changes in Japan as Moonradar.

• More information on Countdown at TFU.info

Universe (2008)

"Is it safe to wear a functioning rocket like a backpack? No. Do I care? Also no."

• Autobot Countdown (Ultra Class, 2009)

• Series: Generation 1 series
• Accessories: Large missile, projectile, shield/multi-tool arm, hammer tool, claw tool, opaque grey Earth-style Cyber Key
• Known designers: Andrew Scribner (deco artist)

A redeco of Cybertron Cybertron Defense Red Alert, Universe Countdown transforms into a vehicle based upon a cross between a Russian R-400 Oka mobile ballistic missile launcher and a BTR-90 armoured personnel carrier, colored mostly blue with a white and grey rocket as an homage to the Rocket Base that came with his original figure. The left side of his vehicle mode has a flip-up non-firing double-blaster, which can also be "used" in robot mode. Inserting a Cyber Key into the rear of the missile rack splits the missile open, activates lights and an electronic beeping sound, and exposes the inner spring-loaded projectile-launching translucent "laser cannon". When the missile itself is "launched"/slid off, it lights up and plays a sound of it taking off.

In robot mode, he is mostly red and white, a clear homage to his original Micromaster figure. He comes with a shield that can be mounted on either arm. When a Key is inserted into the top of the shield, a cannon flips out, and its barrel tip can be equipped with several tools stored in his shins (a spring-loaded hammer-head or a gripping claw). He has two (nonfunctional) Mini-Con hardpoints in vehicle mode, and two different hardpoints in robot mode.

Countdown and his casemate Darkwind were "stealth" exclusives to Toys"R"Us, meaning they appeared in stores before Hasbro officially acknowledged their existence.

This mold was also retooled to make Timelines Darksyde Megatron.

• More information on Universe Countdown at TFU.info

War for Cybertron: Siege

He liked being big, but being with someone else who's even bigger works, too.

• Omega Supreme (Titan Class, 2019)

• Hasbro ID number: WFC-S29
• TakaraTomy ID number: SG-39
• TakaraTomy release date: December 26, 2019
• Hidden message code: CRYSTALCITY
• Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro), Takashi Kunihiro and Shogo Hasui (TakaraTomy)

Siege Countdown once again transforms into the same general kind of made-up lunar rover, only with different proportions and more robot-mode posability. Stock renders showed him with a red chest peg, though the final toy has a gray one.

He was only available packed in with the Titan Class Omega Supreme.

This mold was redecoed into Generations Selects Lunar-Tread.

Countdown's classic Rocket Base was homaged in Earthrise by the "Galactic Odyssey Collection" release of Ironworks and Overair.

• Official conversion video at the TRANSFORMERS OFFICIAL YouTube channel
• Ten facts of Siege Omega Supreme at the TRANSFORMERS OFFICIAL YouTube channel

Notes

• The trademark "Countdown" was previously considered for the 1985 Decepticon Combaticon who was ultimately named Vortex.
• Alex Milne gave Countdown a toy-based redesign (at right) for his brief appearance in More than Meets the Eye.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Countdown (カウントダウン Kauntodaun)
• French: Rebours (Canada, "Countdown")
• Italian: Uranius

References