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Character History: Character History: Skywarp was the second Starscream clone (that we know of) to sport a purple paintjob and pathological fear of everything. The prototype, which had slightly different paintjob but identical behaviour, didn't really live for long, but might be worth mentioning in any case: he was used as an explosive decoy in a failed plan of Starscream's to get rid of both Megatron and the Autobots.
Moving on to the Cybertronian of interest, (whose designation we found out thanks to the toy, much like his fellows'), Skywarp was the last of the clones Starscream created while hidden away on the moon, using small pieces of his own All Spark fragment and stolen blank protoforms to give them life. We witness the very moments he's brought online, after Starscream put the last missing piece in place--his head--and placed the fragment in his chamber. After a a pause and a whirr he came online... only to immediately panic about their mission.
The clones were intended to be the army who'd lead him to victory against Megatron, but started showing hints of troublesome behaviour right away, each in his own special way. Skywarp, for one, sprang an oil leak at the very mention of their enemy.
Despite the bickering, the group of jets managed to take off to fight Megatron, and while Skywarp tagged along as ordered, he spent the whole time he was in battle cowering and screaming in fear, afraid of being shot and even more afraid of stasis cuffs, once Blurr slapped them on his wrists without really meeting any resistance, thanks to his superior speed and Skywarp's surprise.
While still struggling uselessly and screaming about his irrational fear of cuffs, Thundercracker, immobilized by Mixmaster's cement, crashed into him. This caused both the seekers and Blurr to become stuck in the weird concoction, and accidentally sent through the space-bridge to unknown coordinates.
In season 3 they were found trapped in that very same blob and lost on some small asteroid; resulting in what was probably the first time Skywarp's pitiful whining and moaning about the situation had some real justification.
Freed by Thundercracker's sonic booms, he's still stranded (and most likely hiding) on the very same planetoid when I imagine he'd be dragged to Axiom Nexus.
Character Personality: As Slipstream very bluntly explained as they first onlined, the clones each represent one aspect of the original Starscream's personality, and coincidentally none of them is a positive one. Skywarp in particular embodies the "cowardly" side, drawing the shortest stick in the deal.
He possesses all of Starscream's fears in their purest state, blown out of proportion by the lack of what, in the prototype, could have covered or countered them, such as Starscream's incredible arrogance or the ability to save himself with lies and flattery. Poor Skywarp's default 'configuration' is just that of an all-out coward, so he's more likely to run away screaming than attempt sugary diplomacy like Starscream (or his other clone, Sunstorm) would.
It could be said that the purple seeker's main (or only) feature is being afraid of everything, to the point of being somewhere between comical and pathetic; while he'd avoid conflict as much as he can, he could be easily threatened into doing things: he followed Starscream's lead and faced Megatron, despite panicking at the very mention of the tyrant's name, because his prototype was most likely the scariest individual currently in power. Either that, or he was afraid to be left alone on the moon. I'd hazard a guess that, if he hadn't been hurled somewhere in space by the accident with the space bridge, he'd have joined his fellows into swearing allegiance to Megatron, utterly terrified of him as he was, out of fear alone.
Among the set of clones, Skywarp is the one who mostly acts his 'age'; which means, arguably, a few Earth days old. Considering he was the last one brought online, we could jokingly consider him the youngest clone, by ...admittedly a handful of seconds. (And, really, isn't the little brother always bullied the most in stereotypical families?)
(A curious tidbit of information, although sadly this development was cut from the actual show for lack of screentime, is that the clones were, according to D. Wyatt, supposed to gradually develop their own personality, surely growing much more complex than they started out.)
Powers: Just like his fellow clones (as one would expect, even with the scarce use Skywarp made of them), he is equipped with null rays and two missile launchers. Despite having, in theory, all of Starscream's potential and skill, being by definition identical to him in all but his paintjob, he's never made good use of it... or any use to be spoken of, since the only time he found himself engaged in a real fight, he spent the whole time screeching in fear and trying to disordinately dodge shots.
According to his toy bio, he technically possesses warping skills that allow him to flee faster; while it'd make a whole lot of sense, especially if teleportation is only used as an escape route, whether this can be applied or not to his in-show version is unknown. He didn't show any inclination to make use of it in the cartoon, even when in danger, so we could assume, for one, that he was either unaware of his ability or just too scared to use it. (Who knows where he could have landed? And what if he forgot a limb or two on the way?) I'm down with either option, any indication would be loved!
Samples
First person:
[Video: there's some rustling and low, apprehensive mumbling before the top of Skywarp's head and one wide optic come into view in a corner of the screen.]
I-is anybody there? No? Good.
How did I even get here? I didn't know what to write in most of that paperwork; hope they aren’t mad... or m-maybe hold it against me. I don't want to anger anyone with my presence so… pretend you didn't see me.
I won't bother you at all, honest, I'll j-just hide somewhere, there are too many weird mechs and things all around.
P-Please don't tell Megatron where I am. Nor Starscream. Nor a-any scary individual.
Actually, don't tell anyone.
[The video abruptly ends with a crackle.]
Third Person:
Oh it was horrible, processor numbing, downright terrifying, and a genuine panic gripped Skywarp's fuel tanks in an all-too-familiar clutch; he fell on his knees, shaking hard enough to make his ailerons clatter.
"P-please!" he wailed, "please don't hurt me!" He scrambled on hands and knees towards a small building and curled up on himself behind it, legs drawn to his fuselage to make himself as small as he could.
Skywarp wished so, so fervently he hadn't attempted a landing all by himself in an unknown location, but the brewing thunderstorm, with its rumbling dark clouds and electricity that could be tasted in the air, had momentarily scared him witless. He'd never seen anything like that on the moon!
The thing had welcomed his arrival (a crash landing that had seen him digging a long burrow in the soft soil with his chin) with nothing but brooding silence, a threat in itself; its appearance was monstrous, worse than he'd ever imagined, and Skywarp sure had a vivid imagination when it came to scaring himself in advance, thinking up all the possible terrible outcomes of the task at hand.
"I-I am not going to fight! Leave me alone, I beg you!" the Seeker squeaked, loud enough for the ghostly white creature to hear, "t-this is a misunderstanding and I didn't mean to invade your territory or take any of your time, so please, p-please spare me!"
Too terrified to move and attempt a getaway, Skywarp pushed himself against the side of the building, all quivering wings and limbs, and hid his head in his hands, claws ticking and scratching nervously at his helmet ridges.
Nothing happened.
For long, long breems he sat there shivering, expecting the monster to reach through the building and tear him to pieces, but the green landscape was as silent as a tomb, no sound nor movement his sensors could pick up.
Shaking, Skywarp forced himself to peek out from behind the corner, only to dive back immediately with an 'eeep.' The skeletal, mechanical thing was still there, definitely staring, no doubt waiting for him to make a move to reach out and hurt him.
"P-please..." Skywarp whimpered, squeezing his optics shut, "I haven't been online for a megacycle yet--" his pathetic mutter died in his vocalizer when an ominous gust of wind suddenly blew, and the creature's long flat arms started rotating with increasing, vertiginous speed.
"Ahhh- it's g-going to c-cut m-m--" the seeker's broken screeching soon turned into wordless wails as he turned and planted his face into the ground, arms crossed on his head and wings flattened against his back, trying to shut out the horrifying howl of the wind.
Much later, when Thundercracker found him still huddled and shivering in the very same spot, his disgust was evident. Yet Skywarp felt the tiniest hint of relief upon realizing he was no longer alone facing the bladed monster. ... Which, in the meantime, had gone still and silent again.
Pointing a shaky claw at the monster, Skywarp explained: "I-it attacked me!"
His fellow clone regarded him with much disdain for a long moment, before snapping: "Human constructs are no threat to Cybertronians, even as pathetic as you are. Besides, windmills aren't war machines."
Skywarp tittered a weak 'I see,' even if he didn't really, and followed trailed behind Thundercracker at what, he hoped, was a safe distance. All the while he made a mental note of adding this odd creature to his interminable list of Scary Things to Avoid at All Cost, which so far included abacus, zucchini and just about everything in between. Mulling over what he'd picked up of the other clone's speech, still ongoing, he decided that no doubt 'windmill' was a frightening name in its own right, squirming a little because he was too afraid to repeat it aloud.