Doubledealer
Encyclopedia
Doubledealer is a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 from the Transformers
Transformers
A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling.Transformer may also refer to:* ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, an Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet computer manufacturer by Asus...

 series. He is a Decepticon Powermaster who can disguise himself as an Autobot. He should not be confused with Doubleclouder.

Transformers: Generation 1

Although nominally a Decepticon
Decepticon
The Decepticons are usually depicted as the antagonists in the fictional universes of the Transformers stoyline and related comics and cartoons, and the enemies of the Autobots and the University of California Davis Aggies...

, and branded as such, Doubledealer believes in neither the philosophy of the Decepticons nor the Autobot
Autobot
Autobot, a faction of sentient robots from the planet Cybertron, are usually the main protagonists in the fictional universe of the Transformers, a collection of various toys, graphic novels, paperback books, cartoons and movies first introduced in 1984. In all but one Transformer story, the...

s, and has no allegiance to anyone except himself – and the highest bidder. As a Powermaster with three forms, he is bonded to both the humanoid Knok and the bat-like Skar, who transform into engines to allow him to transform from his vehicle mode - a missile trailer
Transporter erector launcher
A transporter erector launcher is a vehicle with an integrated prime mover that can carry, elevate to firing position and launch one or more missiles. Such vehicles exist for both surface-to-air missiles and surface-to-surface missiles...

 - into two other modes. When Knok becomes his engine, he transforms into an Autobot robot, but with Skar in place, he becomes a Decepticon falcon. Armed with an intercontinental ballistic missile
Intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a long range typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery...

 capable of flattening a mountain and a solid-light blaster, Doubledealer uses both his modes to switch back and forth between factions, working for both and neither. Doubledealer is a backstabber extraordinaire – utterly ruthless and treacherous, he is valued by everyone, but trusted by no-one.

Marvel Comics

Doubledealer's first comic appearance came in one five-page black-and-white strip in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

's exclusive Transformers comic. Attacking the Autobot Chainclaw in his Decepticon form, Doubledealer captured him and the Autobot battle plans he was transporting, and, calling himself "Dealer", proceeded to ransom him off to the Autobots for energon. Then, taking on his Autobot form and calling himself "Double", he offered to perform the switch, then resumed Decepticon form and simply sold the plans to the Decepticons. Returning with Catilla as "Double", he feigned injury and informed the Autobots of the Decepticons' location, sending them off into battle while he calmly departed with double the profit.

Animated series

Although the US animated series was canceled before Doubledealer was released, he did appear in animated form in Transformers commercials.

Dreamwave Productions

Although Doubledealer did not appear in any of the stories published during Dreamwave Productions
Dreamwave Productions
Dreamwave Productions was a Canadian art design studio and comic book publisher founded in 1996 and is best known for their multiple Transformers comic book series...

' 21st Century re-imagining of the Transformers universe, he did receive a biography during their "More Than Meets the Eye" profile series which added an extra layer of depth to the character and his partners. Although normally, Powermaster partners are aliens from the planet Nebulos, Doubledealer's original toy tech specs did not state them to be such, and his Dreamwave profile exploited the opening to present them as native Cybertron
Cybertron
Cybertron is a fictional planet, the homeworld of the Transformers in the various fictional incarnations of the metaseries and toyline by Hasbro. In the Japanese series, the planet is referred to as "Cybertron" pronounced as セイバートロン Seibātoron...

ian Transformers, neither of which is aware of the other's existence, keeping Doubledealer's shady side-switching activities all the more secret.

IDW Publishing

Doubledealer would make his first IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...

 appearance in a Spotlight issue focusing on Hot Rod. In this he was shown to be a double agent called Dealer working for the Decepticon secret service - specifically Banzai-Tron. Charged with locating the Magnificence - a device that could effectively tell the future - Dealer orchestrated the sabotage of his teams' mission, getting all but Hot Rod killed by the Guardians. However, Hot Rod was able to switch the real one for a decoy, forcing Dealer to pretend he had been captured by the Decepticons. A guilty Hot Rod soon rescued him, and Dealer now intended to gain the location of the Magnificence. In this continuity it was Banzai-Tron who named him Doubledealer in recognition of his duplicitous ways.

Doubledealer's storyline continued in issue 2 of The Transformers: Devastation
The Transformers: Devastation
The Transformers: Devastation is a six-issue comic book miniseries, published by IDW Publishing, based on the Transformers and following on from The Transformers: Escalation. Issue 1 of Devastation was released on October 3, 2007, with issue 2 following on the 24th of October and was published...

, where he was seen communicating with Hot Rod to get him reassigned to Earth. He is also noted in the Spotlight issue on Arcee
Arcee
Arcee is the name of a fictional character in the Transformers franchise. She is a female Autobot, usually pink in color. Being the most famous of the Female Transformers, she has two primary forms...

 to be the one who gave Banzaitron the information on the existence of Monstructor
Monster Pretenders
The Monster Pretenders are a group of fictional Decepticons in the Transformers franchise. The team is the last of the traditional combiners from the Generation 1 series and is one of the few non-Micromaster combiner teams to have six members .-Transformers: Generation...

 and where to find his component parts.

Toys

  • Generation 1 Powermaster Doubledealer with Knok and Skar (1988)
Released in 1988, Doubledealer was the only Powermaster with two partners sold in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The only other such figure is Overlord
Overlord (Transformers)
Overlord is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:-Animated series:Outside of Japan, Overlord's sole animated appearance was in the toy commercial aired in Europe....

, exclusive to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, but while both of his engines could be in place at the same time, Doubledealer can only use one engine at a time. This toy was redeco
Redeco
A redeco is a re-released version of an existing toy with a color scheme that is significantly different from the original release. Redecos normally include changes to the toy's paint application scheme, as opposed to a more straightforward repaint, which only alters the colors, not the ways in...

ed into Doubleclouder.
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