Doubledealer

ALLEGIANCE: NON-ALIGNED
SUB-GROUP(S): POWERMASTER
FUNCTION: MERCENARY
“The price of victory is never too high.”

First Appearance: Transformers 228

As his name suggests, Doubledealer is not to be trusted. No matter what situation he might find himself in as either an Autobot or a Decepticon, his goal is always the same—to make as much profit from as many victims as possible. He is ruthless in his dealings. Clients can turn into victims and vice verse, providing the price is right. Doubledealer lacks any real interest in either the Autobot or Decepticon ideals, but works hard to ensure that he is valued by both sides. It is rumoured that his personal stockpiles of Energon, collected over thousands of years, could tip the balance of the Autobot/Decepticon war to the army that Doubledealer might join if he ever decided to start being loyal.

Abilities: Doubledealer is a triple-changing Powermaster capable of converting from a missile trailer into either an Autobot-branded humanoid robot or a Decepticon-branded falcon. In robot mode, Doubledealer is armed with a solid-light blaster capable of shooting a stream of photons with pinpoint accuracy. In vehicle mode he can reach speeds of 200 km/h and has a range of 2,000 km. In this mode he can launch an intercontinental missile that can travel over 4,000 km in less than half an hour. When detonated, it has enough explosive power to level a small mountain range. In falcon mode, Doubledealer can fly at speeds of 480 km/h.

Weaknesses: Doubledealer is literally surrounded by enemies, each waiting for him to make a wrong move. In falcon mode, his wings are fragile. He can only carry one intercontinental missile at any one time, so he must make sure his shot counts.

Commentary

Doubledealer was released as part of the Powermasters sub-group in 1988. Following on from the concept of Punch’s double-agent triple-changing ability the previous year, Doubledealer had both an Autobot and a Decepticon mode. The difference was that two Powermaster figures (one human, and one bat) were included and their use determined which allegiance Doubledealer had. The concept was not used again until the Transformers: Armada line and the introduction of Sideways.

In the British Transformers comic, Doubledealer appeared in only one issue; a black-and-white story called “[Double] Deal of the Century”. A clever title, that one. In this short story Doubledealer was either the part of the Autobot “Double” or the Decepticon “Dealer”. His Powermaster components were neither featured nor mentioned. Doubledealer was never featured in the original Marvel US comic.

Doubledealer was included in the second issue of Dreamwave’s “More than Meets the Eye” profile book mini-series.

Doubledealer was featured in a few episodes of the Japanese “Masterforce” cartoon, going by the name of “Doubleclouder”. The dynamics of the toy were slightly altered and the human Powermaster (or Godmaster) component was a triple-changer (bat/robot/engine) instead of two separate engines.

History

Doubledealer spent his time on Cybertron acquiring a massive (and top-secret) stockpile of Energon by acting as a commodities broker on behalf of the Council of Elders. His ruthless business tactics and lack of morals eventually led to the demise of all competitors and it reached the stage where Doubledealer could name his price.

Once he learned of the Decepticon uprising, Doubledealer started his own one-robot weapons trade industry. Already accustomed to keeping his activities secret from the Council of Elders, Doubledealer found it no problem to supply Megatron with the munitions he needed.

When civil war erupted across the planet, Doubledealer was in a position to supply both the Autobot army and the Decepticons. However, it soon became apparent that Doubledealer alone was unable to supply the increasing demand and a member of Jhiaxus’s strike force known as Swindle rose through the weapons market and became a significant competitor.

After Swindle was assigned to Megatron’s Decepticons based on Earth, curiosity eventually drew Doubledealer to the planet. By the time Doubledealer arrived on Earth, he found that Scorponok was in charge of the Earth-based Decepticons, and in Doubledealer’s opinion, was an ideal target from which to benefit.