Prisoners of War: Bluestreak
Featured Cartoon Appearances: More Than Meets the Eye, Roll For It
Featured Comic Appearances: #4 - The Last Stand
Fanfic Appearances: "Meltdown" by Tim J. Emert (?)
But is he really blue? Not counting the near-mythical blue Bluestreak (hey, I swear I've seen one before too. Twelve years ago at a Hardware Hank in Sauk Rapids, MN. Swear. :), outwardly he isn't blue. Ah, but what about inside? To most around him, he would probably seem like a pretty cool guy. He talks a lot, sure, but he's always around to contribute a good laugh. Of course we, the fans, with our God-like view of the Transformers' universe, see something more. The tech spec states that Bluestreak hates war. The reason is really a very good one: his home town was destroyed in battle. Now I can't speak for anyone else, but I know that would cause me to hate war. On an aside, Cliffjumper hates the Decepticons for a similar reason, but this sparks his desire to fight. Cliffjumper uses this memory for a reason to fight. Bluestreak fights despite his memories.
This is the main reason why I've always disliked Bluestreak's courage rating on his tech spec. I consider him one of the bravest of the Autobots, not because he's kamokaze like some others, but because every time he steps onto the battlefield he fights away the demons inside him. Every time he raises his rifle, he sees charred bodies of friends. He hears the screams of his fellow Autobots and he remembers how he was virtually powerless to help them. Yet he's always able to go beyond these haunting memories to find something deep within himself, to stand his ground and not let something like that happen again.
The cartoon never says "Bluestreak doesn't like to fight." It shows Bluestreak flying after Ironhide in More Than Meets the Eye. He knows he won't talk Ironhide out of trying to stop the Decepticons, so he helps him. When Ironhide is shot down, he quickly goes after him and, with Jazz's help, he saves him. In another episode, of which I can't remember the title for the life of me, Bluestreak takes a laser bound for Optimus. The cartoon shows a young, funny, smart-mouth kid. The comic shows him even less. He's one of the five (and later six. Can anybody explain where Sunstreaker came from in the last couple of battle scenes.) Autobots trying to hold off the Decepticons in #4. Here again he's shown to come to the aid of his fellow Autobots. He jumps in front of Megatron and fires on him to get Megatron's attention away from Prime. But in Huffer's thought bubble a short time later, we find out that Bluestreak was shaken pretty bad by that confrontation. Yet he fights on. Even with this, though, Bluestreak's motivation is never really explored. I wish we had gotten to see exactly what happened to Bluestreak's city. We might have a better understanding of the character then. But I guess someone could always write a fanfic... :)
I'd like to jump back to the cartoon again. It appears that Bluestreak's actions bely the courage of two the tech spec has and the fact that he hates war. Or do they? The sense of humor, the constant chattering, could be ways of covering his hatred of war to others who might not comprehend his feelings. While Optimus more than likely knows, he's a warrior. There's a good chance that he'll spend a good deal of his time around other warriors. And even though I like him and everything, Sunstreaker does not strike me as the sensitive type. :) But I don't think his sense of humor is a way to hide his feelings from himself. I think his feelings make him stronger. Look at his actions in the cartoon again. Now look at what happened to him in his past. He lost his city and his friends. He might think that if he did something different, none of that would have happened. Maybe he didn't think he did enough. The Autobots he's with now are his new friends and his new community. His actions in the cartoon then stem from the destruction of his city, from the loss of his friends. He simply refuses to allow that to happen again. He won't stand by to watch a friend take a stray laser or fly off on a suicidal mission when he can do something to help. And the fact that he does all this despite his feelings about war makes him that much more admirable in my mind.