Doubledealer

Doubledealer is an Autobot/Decepticon Powermaster from the Generation 1 continuity family.

"I've got something for you...the lowest-cost SR-22!"

Doubledealer is unique among Transformers as he holds a place in the Autobot and Decepticon armies. The truth, however, is that this ruthless mechanoid is a mercenary loyal only to whomever is paying him, and then only if no better offer catches his eye. At times, even his own partners are unaware of all of Doubledealer's duplicitous dealings. His skills and power make him a valuable asset to both sides, but both really only trust him as far as they could throw a Guardian robot.

Doubledealer is also almost unique among Powermasters in possessing two binary bonded partners, Knok and Skar. In some universes, he is affiliated with the Mercenaries rather than the Autobots or Decepticons, making his unreliable nature front and center.

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel The Transformers comics

Little does Roadhandler know that you can get faction symbols at reprolabels.com.

A Decepticon named Dealer escaped with both Chainclaw and the secret Autobot plans he was carrying, despite the Micromaster Race Car Patrol's efforts. A mysterious Autobot named Double immediately offered his services, explaining that it was his fault that Dealer got away with Chainclaw. After Roadhandler scanned his Autobrand for authenticity and Optimus Prime granted him energon cubes for the mission, Double left to redeem himself. Meanwhile, Dealer presented the Autobot plans to Scorponok and left.

Double arrived back to the Autobots with Chainclaw, but he appeared severely damaged. He told of how Dealer had taken both his energon and the plans, and pleaded for his forgiveness. Optimus Prime, the Race Car Patrol, and Chainclaw left, leaving Double alone. Surprise! The mystery figure was both Autobot and Decepticon, both Double and Dealer! Having conned each side from both the Energon cubes and the Autobot plans, he took to the air in triumph. (Double) Deal of the Century!

Transformers Comic-Magazin

The "Powermaster Spy" attended the celebration in New York held by Megatron where a statue of Snaptrap was gifted to the city. The Troy Principle Those events were recorded on a videotape that was later found and watched by Autobots on Cybertron after a nuclear disaster in Kalis. In Memory of Earth

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Who wouldn't hire this guy?

Doubledealer carefully chose his partners to best represent him to each faction. Neither Knok nor Skar knows of the other's existence, nor of their master's double life. His two partners are loyal to the Autobots and Decepticons respectively.

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: Spotlight: Hot Rod

Would a guy with red eyes betray you?

A part of Hot Rod's first command, the Autobot called Dealer was left to face a Decepticon ambush alone while Hot Rod, having already lost the rest of his team, escaped with the mission's objective, the Magnificence. Stricken with guilt, Hot Rod infiltrated the Decepticon Penal Colony Styx and evacuated Dealer. Though Hot Rod was at first uneasy around Dealer, considering their history, Dealer explained that he understood Hot Rod's need to complete the mission and leave without him and that he wished to become friends.

Unbeknownst to the young Autobot, however, Dealer was the true reason for the loss of Hot Rod's team. Dealer was an undercover agent working for the Decepticon mercenary Banzaitron and in that capacity had sabotaged Hot Rod's equipment and staged the ambush. With the Magnificence stored in a location known only by Hot Rod, he befriended the Autobot with designs to learn its hiding place. Banzaitron, learning of his hire's double cross, renamed him Doubledealer. Spotlight: Hot Rod

"Doubledealer" attempted to persuade Hot Rod into bribing or coercing others into getting the two-faced double agent reassigned to Earth, but Hot Rod responded noncommittally. Devastation #2 The traitor maintained contact with Banzaitron, selling him bits of information such as the existence of Transformer combiner warriors discovered by the Autobots, which the Decepticon used to track them to the penitentiary on Garrus-9, staging a full-scale assault to acquire this revolutionary technology. Spotlight: Arcee

He's a chicken, I tell you! A giant chicken!

When the Autobots were faced with the growing threat of Nemesis Prime and his expansion project, Dealer saw opportunity in the chaos. Using their lack of knowledge about the current situation as an excuse, Dealer contacted Optimus Prime and suggested that the Magnificence could be the solution to their problems. Spotlight: Hardhead Agreeing with Dealer's suggestion, Prime sent him to Earth to make contact with Hot Rod and retrieve the Magnificence from its secret location. The two "old friends" returned to Ki-Aleta, as apparently Hot Rod had never removed the device from the very planet on which they acquired it. Seeing the Omega Bunker and the site of his greatest failure, however, made Hot Rod start ruminating about how everything went so wrong so fast on that fateful mission. Dealer did his best to console Hot Rod while still pushing him towards revealing the Magnificence's location. However, he also started to waver under the stress of the memories of belonging to a group who thought of him as a friend - and whom he betrayed. They eventually made it to the rocky mountain peak where the device was hidden, beneath a constant storm of ionic energy to mask its presence. As Hot Rod pulled the Magnificence from its hiding place at the summit, Doubledealer was prepared to shoot his former commander in the back and claim his prize. Unfortunately for Dealer, Hot Rod had finally pieced together enough of the evidence to suspect Dealer of foul play. Once the Magnificence confirmed his suspicions, he spun and shot down the treacherous Autobot first, while Dealer hesitated to shoot his once friend in the back. Doubledealer's chest exploded under fire, and he fell the entire height of the mountain, only to smash into pieces at the base. Spotlight: Doubledealer

TransTech

In Primax 806.30 Gamma, Double Dealer and several Decepticons partnered up with the Kalistanian terrorist organization S.K.A.R. in a bid to conquer the world. Double Dealer himself was binary-bonded to S.K.A.R.'s leader, Count von Rani, and the duo would confuse their enemies by assuming an Autobot disguise whenever von Rani was in not in his costume as Iron Klaw. A globe-spanning confrontation ensued between S.K.A.R. and the Screaming Eagles, but ultimately, the Joes and Autobots emerged victorious. Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News, 2016/05/01

War for Cybertron Trilogy continuity

War for Cybertron Trilogy marketing material

The Mercenaries were one of the few unforeseen dangers ahead of the Autobots and Decepticons in their race for the Allspark. Doubledealer was a Air Force Infantry Sergeant, whose function was a mercenary. His primary objective was profit, and his primary weapon was the Destructor Missile. Earthrise webpage^[1]

War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon

Voice actor: Michael Schwalbe (English), Tetsu Inada (Japanese), Gilles Morvan (French), Tilo Schmitz (German), Raul Labancca (Portuguese), Roberto Encinas (Castilian Spanish), Óscar Flores (Latin-American Spanish), Saverio Indrio (Italian)

"They called me Kid Gorgeous. Later on, it was Kid Presentable. Then Kid Gruesome. And finally, Kid Doubledealer."

A Mercenary who did not believe in the value of factions, Doubledealer served as captain of the starship Fool's Fortune, hired by the Quintesson Deseeus to bring in the Autobots of the Ark. Earthrise episode 2 As he and his team infiltrated the Ark, Doubledealer made his way to the bridge and spotted the inert form of Optimus Prime. Earthrise episode 1 Reactivating and commandeering the ship, Doubledealer forced Bumblebee to stand down upon the Autobots' reactivation.

Arriving on Chaar, Doubledealer explained to Optimus Prime explained his place as a Mercenary before delivering his captives to Deseeus. As the Quintesson Judge droned on to Optimus, Doubledealer lounged on the steps to the Quintesson's throne while waiting (impatiently) for his payment. However, Deseeus—whose Wrath face had turned on and killed the Judge's other faces—declined the Mercenaries' payment and demanded they leave. Doubledealer and Deseeus threatened each other with their respective armies, with the Mercenaries eventually conceding. Doubledealer left the scene to contact Megatron from the Ark, Earthrise episode 2 and worked out a deal regarding its location and crew, something Shockwave kept a record of. Earthrise episode 6 Aiming for a chance at revenge against Deseeus, Doubledealer and his crew returned to ally with the Autobots long enough for them to fend off Deseeus's army and escape Chaar aboard the Ark.

After leaving Chaar aboard the Fool's Fortune, Doubledealer and his crew subtly followed the Autobot ship at a distance so the Nemesis could travel to the Ark. Earthrise episode 2 During the journey, Doubledealer was captured and mentally controlled by Deseeus, causing three of his crew members to leave.

The Quintesson-controlled Doubledealer pursued the Autobots with the Fool's Fortune through the Dead Universe before arriving above Earth, where he faced off both the Ark and the Nemesis. Through ordered by Starscream to destroy the Autobots per his agreement with Megatron, the Fool's Fortune simply fired upon the Ark. After being questioned by Bumblebee as to who was paying him, Deseeus revealed himself as the one pulling the strings before tossing an unconscious Doubledealer aside. Doubledealer was presumably killed when the Fool's Fortune warp drive exploded during the dogfight. Earthrise episode 6

Commercial appearances

Piranacon we expect to fall for this. Hey, Prime...?

Various Autobots wondered amongst each other who the new Transformer with Powermaster Optimus Prime could be. Turns out, it was Doubledealer, the Powermaster Mercenary! And, uh, he was also talking to Piranacon! Well, lets hope that's addressed at some point. Doubledealer commercial

Games

Transformers: Battle Tactics

Doubledealer participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was a Rare character who could be recruited by collecting 150 units of Cybermetal, 90 units of Transmetal, and 55 hunter cores. Transformers: Battle Tactics

Transformers: Earth Wars

• Class: Special
• Lowest Star Rating: 2 star
• Ability: Cost: TBA
  • Toxic Mission: Toxic fumes reduce your enemies' normal attacks range by 50%. You shoot Acid balls, each dealing damage per target over 15 secs (up to 3x). You deal damage more to enemies on fire.
  • Incendiary Missile - Your missile deals damage to enemies in a small area. Heal for 40% of the damage dealt to targets under Acid. Additionally sets a large area on fire dealing damage per target over 25 secs.

Doubledealer at Transformers: Earth Wars Wiki

You left a piece out! This article is a stub and is missing information. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it.

Toys

The Transformers

Autobot, Decepticon, and evil imperialist military vehicle

• Doubledealer with Knok & Skar (Powermaster, 1988)

• Accessories: "Knok" & "Skar" Powermaster engines, engine holder/chest plate, missile front half, missile back half/"solid light blaster"

Released in the fifth year of the The Transformers toyline (fourth year in the European line), Doubledealer's "default" mode is an ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile) launcher truck with no visible faction sigils. His other modes are activated by his unique take on the Powermaster gimmick: Doubledealer comes with two Powermaster engines, the humanoid Knok and bat-like Skar, and each one unlocks a different "robot" mode. While he's in launcher mode, one engine can plug into a socket in the middle of the truck while the other fits into a bracket attached to the back of the missile.

Plugging Knok (or any other Autobot Powermaster engine) into the in-truck socket unlocks Doubledealer's humanoid "Autobot" form. In this mode, the engine-holding bracket becomes Doubledealer's chestplate, while the ICBM splits up to form a "solid light blaster" handgun and shoulder-mounted (non-firing) launcher. When in this mode, Skar can be stored on Doubledealer's backside thanks to a 5 mm post on Skar's engine mode.

Plugging Skar (or any other Decepticon Powermaster engine) into the socket pushes a different set of triggers that unlocks Doubledealer's falcon-bot "Decepticon" form. The missile again splits in half, with the blaster going up top and the warhead-having half plugging awkwardly onto his tummy. Knok stores in the chestplate/bracket in this mode, attached to the blaster's back-end.

This mold was also used to make Masterforce Doubleclouder.

• More information on Doubledealer at TFU.info
• Instruction booklet for Doubledealer at Botchthecrab.com

Generations

In robot mode, he's got an Autobot symbol on his butt and a Decepticon symbol on his mullet.

• Decepticon Doubledealer (Voyager Class, 2014)

• Series / Number: 02 / 004
• Accessories: Rifle, scimitar, missile
• Known designers: Joe Kyde (Hasbro)

Part of the fifth wave of 2012–2013 Generations Voyager Class toys, Thrilling 30 Doubledealer is a redeco/retool of Blitzwing from the same line, and transforms into two vaguely futuristic vehicles: a jet with an opening cockpit and back-mounted rocket boosters, with teeth and eye nosecone decorations to evoke the original toy's Decepticon mode, as well as a tank with a rotating turret and a spring-loaded cannon that launches its missile when the barrel is compressed. The cannon can also be swung out and deployed for use in jet mode. He comes with a blaster and a sword, both of which mount/are held by 5 mm post. He features 5mm ports for his hands, shoulders/vehicle sides, cannon base, and wings, while both weapons have numerous additional posts and ports. His head is based off his original toy's head (and yes, therefore, no more face-swapping feature). In keeping with the faction-switching part of the character concept, Doubledealer has no faction sigils on his robot mode, a Decepticon sigil on the jet mode, and an Autobot sigil on the tank mode.

Unfortunately, the design flaw in the shoulder construction remains from Blitzwing: the tabs meant to anchor the robot shoulders to the chest never solidly lock into place—they are simply too far apart. This makes his shoulder assemblies swing up and out of his chest when the shoulders are rotated up. Pressing the shoulder slots into the chest tabs sometimes works to counter this, but it depends on the tolerances of each individual figure. The problem can be completely eliminated with a little work:

1. For those not wishing to modify the toy itself, spacing material can be affixed to the back of the shoulder piece. This creates support in the back and allows the front tabs to remain in place.
2. Alternately, one can disassemble the figure and lightly sand the screw mounts and inside chest walls on the front half, bringing the back of the figure and the front closer together, and allowing the shoulder assemblies to lock in completely solid as originally intended. This has the potential risk of over-sanding, which prevents the legs from clipping securely to his chest for his vehicle modes.

Doubledealer's stock photography has him slightly mistransformed, depicting his shoulder wings folded inward in robot mode, and his waist flaps folded in tank mode.

This version of the mold was also used to make Cloud Starscream.

• More information on Generations Doubledealer at TFU.info

War for Cybertron: Earthrise

At least they had the courtesy of putting the missile on his bird mode back rather than letting it dangle below.

• Doubledealer (Leader Class, July 2020)

• Hasbro ID number: WFC-E23
• TakaraTomy ID number: ER-08
• TakaraTomy release date: September 26, 2020
• Accessories: (non-firing) missile front and back sections, bird tail section with vehicle stabilizer legs, radar pod, two non-firing missile pods, machine gun, faux "Knok" engine
• Known designers: Ken Christiansen (concept artist)

Released in the second (and final) wave of Earthrise Leader class toys, Doubledealer is the first Leader class figure in the War for Cybertron Trilogy to be a fully Leader-sized figure rather than a Voyager-size figure with added parts. Strongly resembling his original toy in all regards, he still transforms into a missile carrier and a robot bird. This version officially has the whole missile on top, similar to his Dreamwave design. However, the end can be mounted underneath for more accuracy to the original. Doubledealer also features a new fourth mode, featuring fold-out stabilizer legs that pose the vehicle as though it were launching the missile. His chest has a compartment inside to store Siege 'cassette'-type Micromasters similarly to Soundwave - and cassette versions of Knok and Skar were released in the Generations Selects subline to accompany him.

Speaking of Knok: Doubledealer's robot-mode abs are sculpted to look like he still has the original Knok Powermaster engine inserted. This faux Knok segment is actually removable and can be used by any toy with a 5 mm post. Optimally, it would be placed on the flipped out peg on Knok's back. Also undocumented in the instructions, Doubledealer's elbows can lock his arms into a 90-degree angle. This can be accomplished by lining up the flat corners of the arms and forearms surrounding the elbow joints. The locking function helps him hold up his cannon; without the feature in action, the extra weight can cause the arms' friction joints to droop. In a further undocumented feature, whichever cassette partner isn't stored in Doubledealer's chest compartment can instead peg into a hole in the middle of the bird tail.

Doubledealer features panels on his robot mode shoulders that can be flipped to display either Autobot or Decepticon insignias, referencing his duplicitous nature. He has no visible faction insignias in vehicle or bird modes.

Special care should be taken when transforming him into bird mode: it involves a "staircase" motion that pushes his double-jointed knees in one direction while pushing his lower legs in the opposite direction, and if excessive force is used the lower legs can pop out of the knee assembly and are subsequently very difficult to reattach.

Originally shown as a Mercenary at New York Toy Fair 2020, Doubledealer was released in outwardly-Decepticon themed packaging yet retains Mercenary symbols on both the instructions and the cardboard backdrop. Like all Earthrise toys, the backdrop is an exclusive clip-and-save piece of a larger star map, with a thin red piece of transparent plastic to read the star map. Doubledealer's piece of the map depicts an unknown planet that resembles Nebulos. Like most Earthrise figures from wave 2 onward, however, it is misprinted, and overlays the "decodable" red graphics from the map piece included with Earthrise Astrotrain on top of the details unique to Doubledealer's piece.

His missile was redecoed and included in the "Botropolis Rescue Mission"; specifically, it goes to Overair.

Notes

• Despite Doubledealer's packaging using the Decepticon color scheme and logo, contemporary fiction depicted him as a "whichever".
• Though his toy bio and all other material describe his Decepticon bird mode as a "falcon", the head of the toy actually looks like a vulture, which would seem more fitting given his mercenary nature.
• In the Super-God Masterforce cartoon, Doubleclouder is colored as if he was Doubledealer, rather than using the Doubleclouder toy's coloration. This isn't the only instance of the cartoon using Hasbro colorations over Takara's; the Decepticon Sparkdash use Hasbro colors as well, rather than their Takara-released toy colors.
• Likely due to him being a mercenary, his Earth Wars character is available for both sides (with respective bios) like Impactor and classified as a Triple Changer with his bird mode being an alternate mode rather than the Decepticon's identity. Like Impactor, he spots no faction symbol in all of his modes.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Doubledealer (ダブルディーラー Daburudīrā)
• Hungarian: Kétszín ("Two-Color")^[2]
• Mandarin: Kuài Qiāngshǒu (快枪手, "Quick Gunner")

References