Prisoners of War: Starscream
Featured Cartoon Appearances: More Than Meets of Eye, and much more
Featured Comic Appearances: The Underbase Saga, #47-50
Fanfic Appearances: "In Memorium" by the Lady Raxorsharp, "Human Urges" by Kendrick Kerwin Chau
Why write an essay about a Transformer who was in most, if not all, of the pre-movie episodes? With all of those episodes under his belt, he really should be one of the best known characters. The thoughts that seem to prevail from time to time are more along the lines of "Starscream the whiner" or "Starscream the traitor." I believe this is a too-simplistic view of him, a view that I had too until I watched "More Than Meets the Eye" a couple of years ago for the first time in ten years.
While Starscream is not the most respected individual walking around, he is a respected leader. Now that you're finished cleaning the spit-take off your keyboard, you're probably wondering where I get that from. Actually, there are several instances of this in the series. As just one example, in "SOS Dinobots" after Megatron was incapacitated by Wheeljack, Starscream orders the Decepticons to follow him into battle and they do so without hesitation. And again, in "Roll For It," he's seen leading the Decepticons. While Starscream is on the receiving end of more backtalk than Megatron was, the Decepticons still follow his command. The problem the other Decepticons have with Starscream is how he's always running around proclaiming that he will one day lead the Decepticons. It's a source of ridicule, especially from the other flyers. They laugh at him, and yet follow him on mission after mission.
But why does Starscream run around making such a claim? It would be better for him and his goals if Megatron never knew he wanted to be the leader. This was his "mistake number one," as Megatron said. To answer this question, you have to go back to pre-Earth Starscream. I'm not going to get into how I think Starscream joined the Decepticons or discuss his previous relationship with Megatron. It's obvious, however, that in order for Starscream to rise to the rank of second-in-command of the Decepticon army (he even outranks Shockwave, as seen in "Countdown to Extinction"), he either had to be loyal to Megatron or do an incredible job at feigning loyalty. However he truly felt, I leave to the fanfics. The point is, Starscream kept how to felt inside him, maybe waiting for the right moment to make his move. In one scene in "More Than Meets the Eye," Starscream blurts out that "the Autobots would have been defeated eons ago if I'd been calling the shots." The tone in Megatron's voice after hearing this, which sounds to me to be a mixture of surprise and amusement, signifies that this is the first Megatron had heard this claim. I also believe that Starscream didn't mean to say it aloud; more like it kind of slipped out, as it would make little sense to let Megatron know his future goals. But once said, his ego couldn't let the statement go unproven. He had to show the others that he was the Decepticons' hope for the future, and so he tries. And fails. This failure only adds to making him a punchline to many of the others' jokes.
Why would Megatron keep Starscream around? This won't come as a shock to anyone, but it's because Starscream is very good at what he does. Watch the movie during the battle at Autobot City. How many times do you see Starscream swooping in and being a general menace? While his tech spec states he's weakened because of his overconfidence, I don't think this is the case. He can back up his belief that he is a great warrior. He's a respected military commander. He's intelligent. He has the capability of building anything from weapons to a gestalt. The only thing that truly holds him back is his tendency to go too far. Because of his claim of being a better leader than Megatron, he tries to do more than he should or tries to find some backhanded way of removing Megatron. Because of his bid on the leadership, his skills may have actually diminished, but still not enough for Megatron to think that his usefulness no longer outweighs the potential threat that he is.
Threat? Yes, threat. In "More Than Meets the Eye" alone, Starscream made two attempts to remove Megatron as leader. One failed, when Soundwave warned Megatron about Starscream's attack. The other, aboard the spacecraft, could have been another story. Starscream had Megatron unarmed, and the other Decepticons backing away as to not interfere. One shot could have rewritten the mythos as we know it. Of course, this bid also failed, but by default. This is probably the most important scene in the series when dealing with Starscream's belief system. When Mirage appeared on board and caused the ship to lose control, Starscream did not hold his aim on Megatron. He turned and shot Mirage. (It should be noted that Megatron then shot Starscream instead of the Autobot. A rare moment of weakness on his part. I tend to think that the anger Megatron exhibited was a reflex action, as it was most likely the first time his future as leader was in question.) The scene epitomizes Starscream. He's unhappy with the leadership of the Decepticons, but his personal goals are not more important than the Decepticon cause. While he truly believes that he is the best leader of the future for Cybertron, their current mission to revitalize the planet was more important. Mirage tried to stop that mission, so Mirage had to be dealt with before Megatron.
The strength of Starscream's character is self-evident. He was given one of the most stunning scenes in the movie (of course, it was his death scene :). He appeared in nearly every pre-movie episode, starred in two episodes of the third season, and even managed to put in appearances in two episodes of Beast Wars. He is a character many fans are drawn to, one who is sometimes misunderstood. Sure, he can be arrogant and stubborn. But under the bravado, he is a Decepticon who truly believes in the cause he is fighting for.