Highbeam
Hydraulic Harmonic Character Log
| Allegiance: | Independent |
| Subgroup: | Insecticon (Damselfly) |
| Occupation: | Thief and Bounty Hunter |
| Alt Mode: | Helicopter |
Character Biography
Highbeam is a damselfly Insecticon who makes a living through theft and bounty hunting. He uses his powerful searchlights to find wanted people, while avoiding bounty hunters himself.
He’s a friend of Sonata, who has a special cabin section cut out for him to live inside. Sonata hides Highbeam’s apartment by reassembling the train walls around it when he enters or leaves. Highbeam pays his rent by slotting a large refillable flask in the wall and pouring energon into Sonata’s reservoir. One of his most frequent heists is stealing energon from pumps and stations.
Highbeam works alone for fear that other hunters will find him and turn him in.
Abilities & Weapon Systems
Highbeam is a fast and agile flyer with the ability to hover, fly in any direction, and take off without running, both in robot and helicopter form. His powerful searchlights are useful for spotting targets, seeing in the dark, and disorienting a close pursuer.
Weaknesses
Highbeam doesn’t run very fast, and due to his light weight, can be easily pushed off balance while flying. His strategy is to make a quick escape and stay far away from enemies.
Artist Design Notes
Early Design: Highbeam was the second Transformer I designed, after Sonata. I was entranced by the lightning-quick movements of bright blue damselflies I had seen by the lake, and wanted to create a helicopter Transformer inspired by that. The helicopter design has the same blue and black stripes as damselflies, as well as the black wing spots. Highbeam's turqoise earmuffs are meant to resemble damselfly eyes, too.
Electromagnetic Field: Highbeam's electromagnetic field is a pink diamond-shaped panel, which orients depending on where he's looking. It's themed after his internal vision menu, which has geometric pink arrows and trackers resembling an action game screen, so he can quickly maneuver and avoid obstacles as he flies.
