Ion Storm

Ion Storm is a Decepticon Seeker from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Whats an Ion. I don't know?

One of the formidable Rainmakers, Ion Storm is an electrokinetic, able to personally generate EMPs.^[1]

Fiction

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

Say hello to mr camouflage

When a group of Autobots (and Chip Chase) journeyed to Cybertron to fetch a cosmitron for a wounded Optimus Prime, Megatron sent the Rainmaker trio to make things difficult for our heroes with some acid rain.

Guess what? They failed. Divide and Conquer

Ask Vector Prime

The Rainmakers were among the deadliest subordinates of Shockwave on Cybertron and Earth in many universal streams. Vector Prime considered himself fortunate to have never encountered an iteration of Ion Storm. Vector Prime noted, though, that in the case of Primax 509.28 Epsilon, if Ion Storm tried to disable all electronics in an area, then Ion Storm's EMP would affect himself as well. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/13

Generations Selects Special Comic

In 2050, Ion Storm was one of the Decepticons supporting the Selector revolt at Neo Scramble City. Volcanicus comic 1 When the Dinobots arrived, Ion Storm and the other Rainmakers fought Swoop, who blew their Acid Rain back into their own faces. This forced their systems to falter and made them fall to the ground. Volcanicus comic 2

War for Cybertron Trilogy marketing material

During the war for Cybertron, Ion Storm was an Air Force Infantry Raider. Siege toy packaging

2019 IDW continuity

First appearance: Transformers #19

During the War of the Threefold Spark, the Rainmakers were a military unit that included Ion Storm. When the Ascenticon Guard chose to swell their ranks in the modern era, he reconnected with existing guardsman Acid Storm, a reunion that would be seen as foreboding to some. All Fall Down When the Ascenticons, now rebranded as the Decepticons, took over the Senate building, the Rainmakers attacked from above. Having supercharged his abilities, Ion Storm created a massive electromagnetic blast that prevented the Senators from escaping. The attack left him drained of energy, his comrades tending to him. Megatron imagined that he would make a recovery. We Have Deceived You

After seizing full control of the governing body, Megatron introduced the Rainmakers to his fellow Senators before Clench reported that Sentinel Prime had escaped, the Rainmakers being deployed to down and recapture him. Catching up to the Prime, Ion Storm managed to down Sentinel, giving his comrades an opening to finish off the Prime. Touching down afterwards, the trio regarded the Prime's dying cries for aid before retreating when Chromia opened fire on them. Prime Though the Rainmakers' murder prompted a mixed reception in the Decepticon ranks, Ion Storm was present at the gladiatorial arena when Termagax returned to denounce the Decepticons, bearing witness to Megatron contemptuously opening fire on his mentor. Awakenings

Ion Storm and the Rainmakers were present when Megatron learned Optimus Prime and the Autobots had abandoned Iacon entirely. We Are Not Meant To Be Darkness

Sixshot brought forth the Rainmakers when the Decepticons journeyed out to the Sea of Rust. They had been alerted that Termagax was there, in possession of the Enigma of Combination. The Decepticons had begun to rely on the Rainmakers too much, though, as Pyra Magna had snipers on the roof of Termagax's house, prepared for their approach. Arcee and Sureshot shot down Ion Storm and Acid Storm, while Windcharger used his magnetic powers to snare Nova Storm. Sea of Rust II Ion Storm struggled to recover and later fled with the rest of the Decepticons after the Enigma was lost. Enigmatic

The Rainmakers later accompanied Megatron to his meeting with Exarchon. War's End Part Three The Rainmakers flew with Megatron to intercept Optimus Prime and the Autobots before they reached Darkmount. End of Time Ion Storm and many other Seekers later fought Sky Lynx during the battle of Darkmount. Fate of Cybertron

Precursor World

A Warrior of the Seven Lights resembling Ion Storm was a member of the Blue Order of the Primus Vanguard. When the traitorous Straxus twins unleashed a rage virus to destroy the corps from within, he was slain in the ensuing brawl. Vanguard supreme leader Primus later loaded the Warrior's lingering spark into his Golden Noah in an attempt to ferry his soul to the next world. God Neptune comic 1 Unfortunately, this did not work. Finale

War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon

No, the earlier blue guys weren't me!

Ion Storm was among the Seekers who showed up for Starscream's assault on the Ark Siege episode 6 and brought captured Autobots to Megatron. Earthrise episode 1

Ion Storm remained on Cybertron under Shockwave's command after Megatron and most of his forces left aboard the Nemesis. He was part of a team that used Shockwave's cloaking technology to capture Autobots. While on their way to deliver the captives to Shockwave, an injured-yet-functional Chromia attacked them, killing Ion Storm. His body was later destroyed when Elita-1's bombs soon went off, taking out the entire area. Earthrise episode 6

My Little Pony/Transformers

Ion Storm was among the many Decepticons transported to Equestria. Intent on proving their supriority over the Autobots and ponies, the Rainmakers and Misfire attacked Windblade and Rainbow Dash during a race. However, Rainbow Dash was able to bait them into a trap before both she and Windblade used their "Flyin' Fox Trot" maneuver to turn the Rainmaker's own heat-seeking missiles against them and blow them out of the sky. The Decepticons wound up piled in a defeated heap while the two heroes shared their victory at the finish line. The Flyin' Fox Trot

Games

Transformers: Heavy Metal

Ion Storm was among the Decepticons under Starscream's command who invaded Earth in search of Energon. Transformers: Heavy Metal

Transformers Roleplaying Game

Ion Storm had the unique power to seed clouds with intra-ferrous particles, generating devastating electromagnetic lightning strikes. He had little control over these powers, and preferred leaving a trail of indiscriminate destruction. Decepticon Directive

Toys

War for Cybertron: Siege

(Hasbro final version pictured)

(TakaraTomy prototype pictured)

• Seeker Acid Storm / Seeker Ion Storm / Seeker Nova Storm (Multi-pack, 2019)
  • Hasbro ID number: WFC-S53
  • TakaraTomy ID number: SG-EX
  • TakaraTomy release date: March 27, 2021
  • Accessories: 2 "RM Storm Range Null-Ray Laser Launchers"

Siege "Seeker Ion Storm" is a redeco of Voyager Class Starscream from the same line, transforming from a heavily Generation 1-inspired robot to a Cybertronian "tetrajet" based on the Seekers' appearance in "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1" and back. Noticeably, said jet mode has the robot legs sticking out from the undercarriage.

Fitting with the rest of Siege, Ion Storm has 5 mm posts on his biceps, forearms, shins, under his feet (thrusters), and wings. The 3 mm pegs on his shins, forearms, left bicep, and the tips of his Null-Rays can accommodate effects parts sold separately. Like the rest of Siege, his robot mode focuses on articulation, with double-jointed elbows, knees that bend at nearly 180 degrees, ankle rockers, and waist articulation, being notable articulation points for a Seeker toy. Being a rather heavy shellformer, he can be separated into both a wingless robot mode and a nearly complete tetrajet easily, via a friction hinge.

Ion Storm comes in a three-pack with "Seeker Acid Storm" and "Seeker Nova Storm", based on their cartoon appearance in "Divide and Conquer". All three feature painted battle damage (the exact same layouts across all three) and the smirkless head sculpt used by Starscream. Stock photos provided by Hasbro erroneously recycle the alt-mode shot of Thundercracker. In fact, the Hasbro release of Ion Storm has a slightly different hue of blue, lacks red wingtips, and has grey vehicular parts where Thundercracker has black. Unfortunately, the proliferation of Hasbro's alt-mode stock photo has enabled multiple instances of citogenesis.

This set was made available at general retail in U.S. Target stores without a prior announcement from Hasbro, then much later Entertainment Earth got a run of them in 2021.

Interestingly, not only was this set was not released in other Hasbro markets, but TakaraTomy would eventually schedule it for release in Japan nearly two full years later. Further, the toys stock photography used versions of the toys with slightly different paint applications: for Ion Storm, he has red wing edges and blue nosecones based on a screenshot from the original cartoon. However, the final product was the same as the Hasbro release.

Merchandise

The Loyal Subjects

Make it Rain. (Ion Storm is on the right)

• Rainmakers (2013)
  • Accessories: Pegged wings, blasters

The Loyal Subjects Ion Storm (though he had not received his name yet) is a 3-inch non-transforming vinyl figure designed by Les Schetkoe. He comes in the "Rainmakers" set alongside Acid Storm and Nova Storm. The set comes in a retro box and was released in a limited run of 500 pieces.

Transformers Trading Card Game

Hey, hey HEY! That's his pose from Angry Birds Transformers.

• Raider Ion Storm, Infantry-Rainmaker (2019)
  • Wave 3: War for Cybertron: Siege I
  • Rarity: CT
  • Card Number: T30/T48
  • Stars: 12

Raider Ion Storm, Infantry-Rainmaker is one of forty-eight double-sided character cards available in Wave 3 of the Transformers Trading Card Game, War for Cybertron: Siege I.

Raider Ion Storm, Infantry-Rainmaker features original artwork, with line-art by Dan Khanna and colors by Volta.

Notes

• Despite the many different designations thought up by fans, the blue Rainmaker went officially unnamed for over 30 years until Betsy Blackie gave the name "Ion Storm" in a 2015 entry of the Facebook edition of "Ask Vector Prime" (accompanying art at right). In prior fanworks, Blackie had used the name Stormfront for the character, but it was requested that this be changed due to "conflicting issues" for the official release, prompting Brandy Dixon and her to settle on "Ion Storm" as a replacement.^[2][3] If we had to hazard a guess, the "conflict" in question was probably with a prominent neo-Nazi website by the same name. So, uh, good call!
• The term "rainmakers" was originally used by Bluestreak as a colloquial description of their actions. However, repeated fan usage turned this into a widely accepted name for the group, which was eventually made official as such by Hasbro's bio for Acid Storm's Universe toy.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Ion Storm (イオンストーム Ion Sutōmu)

References

External links

• DeviantArt commentary by Brandy Dixon