Fearswoop (G1)

Fearswoop is a Decepticon Trakkon from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Evil, but with a hint of lemon scent.

Fearswoop (aka Black Omen) is really, really, super-evil and mean and nasty. He has advanced stealth capabilities that let him swoop down on unsuspecting targets fast, riddling them with machinegun fire before they even know what hit them. How advanced is his stealth ability? He's neon yellow and still can't be seen.^[1]

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

Fearswoop served under the command of Turmoil when their second-in-command Deadlock violated orders. Deadlock attacked the Autobots when Turmoil ordered him not to, and then executed a fellow Decepticon who planned on reporting his insubordination. Deadlock tried to rally Fearswoop and several other soldiers from Turmoil's forces under his new leadership. Fearswoop and his comrades refused, and turned Deadlock over to Turmoil to answer for his attempted mutiny. Drift #1

Hoooooooooooly crap.

Fearswoop was one of the countless Decepticons held prisoner on Garrus-9 until a security breach set him and his brethren free. Overlord quickly established himself as leadership of the Decepticon prisoners and suggested that they not return to Megatron, but stay on Garrus-9 and have some fun.

One year later, Fearswoop and a Predator began to have some doubts about Overlord. Their new commander was a sadistic and twisted, yet insanely powerful, individual who had little regard for anything but his own amusement. As Overlord oversaw a pair of Decepticons gang up on a lone Autobot they had kept alive for such purposes, Fearswoop agreed with the Predator that this was unsportsmanlike. And maybe Overlord should get his hands dirty as well, just maybe, instead of only watching! Scaring the crap out both Fearswoop and the Predator, Overlord appeared directly behind them, justifying his actions. If Overlord went after the Autobot, the outcome was assured. At least with the rabble, there was more than one possible outcome. As Overlord walked away, Fearswoop and the Predator collapsed with relief, surprised to be still alive.

Then Fearswoop watched as Overlord killed the two other Decepticons for allowing the Autobot to get a lucky shot in. Last Stand of the Wreckers #1

Beast Wars: Uprising

Long after the war had degraded into a series of Games, Black Omen was one of the Builders who, no longer having the energy to move, did nothing but motionlessly monitor Cybertron and the Games themselves. Responsible for overseeing Nyon Coliseum, he reveled in showing close-ups of Maximal combatants' faces as they died, but when there was no Game going on he was apathetic to his surroundings and spent his time disconnected from reality, watching holoscan dramas of the good old days. He was in this state when Lio Convoy visited his control room, and was thus unaware when the Maximal used his scanning equipment to search Nyon for Blackarachnia. Broken Windshields

Toys

The Transformers

Fear the lemon!

• Fearswoop (Trakkon, 1993)

• Accessories: Cannon emplacement
• Known designers: Takio Ejima (TakaraTomy), Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)

Available only in European markets, The Transformers Fearswoop transforms into a bright yellow Lockheed-Martin YF-22 fighter jet. In this mode, his large and very un-aerodynamic weapon stand can be mounted on his back end. This weapon uses a combination of the light-piping and gear-wheel gimmicks so that when you look through the "viewscope" and turn the wheel beneath, as the twin gun barrels pom-pom back-and-forth, the view from the scope makes it look like twin beams of laser-fire are striking your selected target.

This version of the toy was boxed, and made available during the "transitional" phase where the toys gained the new-design faction sigils but the packaging lacked the Generation 2 name.

• More information on Fearswoop at TFU.info

Generation 2

• Fearswoop (Trakkon, 1994)

• Accessories: Cannon emplacement

This release is identical to his 1993 release, but on a Generation 2 blister card instead of in a box.

Notes

• After languishing in obscurity for sixteen years, Fearswoop's name was trademarked by Hasbro in 2009 for a Revenge of the Fallen toy release after failing to trademark "Hooligan".
• While all Trakkons and Lightformers have the same 'laser sight' gimmick mechanism, Fearswoop is the only one with a weapon that could create converging tracer fire from opposite sides of the viewscope.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Fearswoop (フィアースゥープ Fiāswūpu)
• Dutch: Black Omen
• French: Black Omen

References