Dust Up

Dust Up is a Camien Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Not Nightbird in disguise....Or is she?

Not one for subtlety, Dust Up (also Dustup) has trouble acting with moderation. Once she decides on a course of action, it's best to work with her than against her, because nothing is likely to stop her. Even in the absence of conflict, she's more likely to start something than stand idly by. Her teammates worry this flaw will inevitably put her in a situation even she can't fight her way out of, but in the meantime they feel secure knowing all that fury and passion she wields is always on their side, no matter the odds.^[1]

Dust Up can combine with her team of Torchbearers, sometimes known as the Rust Renegades, to form Victorion.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: Combiner Hunters #1

Before becoming a Torchbearer, Dustup was a civilian living in the desolate mining town of Parvus Oppidum. Dustup was attacked by bandits who were after the town's meager energon supplies. Though she managed to kill one of her attackers, Dustup was still convinced by her Conjunx Endura Jumpstream that she should call in the Torchbearers for assistance. A Torchbearer fangirl, Dustup had to have her excitement at finally getting to meet her idols up close contained by her wife. After she'd calmed down a bit, Dustup led Torchbearer second-in-command Pyra to Parvus' energon supply, explaining how she'd killed one of the marauders on the way there. Though she didn't understand why Pyra didn't seem to be impressed with the amount of energon they'd managed to procure, Dustup still began leading the Torchbearer to where they were keeping the body of the bandit she'd killed. Before Pyra got a chance to see it, however, she suddenly received a transmission from Torchbearer leader Praesidia Magna informing them that the marauders had returned. Rushing back to the surface, Dustup took a shot at a bandit that was attacking Jumpstream. After a black hole opened up under the town, Dustup joined her wife and the Torchbearers in trying to get as many townspeople to safety as they could. Though the singularity and the marauders eventually disappeared, the town was completely destroyed. Helping the Torchbearers clear away the rubble and search for survivors, Jumpstream and Dustup both watched with interest as the Mistress of Flame helped Pyra to her feet as she regained consciousness.

When Pyra returned to Parvus, which was now being reconstructed with assistance from the Torchbearers, she spoke with Dustup in private. Dustup explained that there had actually been two bandits that attacked her and that she'd intentionally spared one. After telling them how much energon the town had so that they'd bring the rest of the marauders to Parvus, Dustup called in the Torchbearers in hopes that they would stop them once and for all. She'd kept this a secret from Jumpstream and asked Pyra not to tell her, saying that it was never her intention to destroy her home or get any of the Torchbearers she thought invincible killed. Sensing potential in the pair, Pyra inducted Dustup and Jumpstream into the Torchbearers once she was made leader. Ghost Stories

Yes, I'm a retool. In fact, we're all retools.

Soon after Caminus entered the Council of Worlds, Dustup's team was sent to Cybertron to search for the remains of Crystal City.

Dustup and Jumpstream were really excited when Pyra (now Pyra Magna) decided to investigate a nearby fight, and soon found themselves involved in a battle to save the Enigma of Combination. Said Enigma turned Dustup and her friends into a new combiner, Victorion, and after they uncombined, a startled Jumpstream had learned something about her. A somber Dustup told her to stay quiet about it. An Uneventful Night

The Torchbearers opted to stay in the Rust Sea for a time, still learning to control their new powers. The inhabitants of the wasteland soon learned to avoid them. On one occasion, the team appeared to scare off a group of zombified Sweeps. Redemption

They remained in exile until Optimus Prime- seeking answers about what it truly meant to be a Prime, decided to visit the group. Aphelion Merging into Victorion, the Torchbearers tested Optimus's physical and spiritual resolve. Optimus's agnosticism about the Matrix of Leadership prompted Victorion to lay claim to the Matrix and vow to build Optimus into a worthy Prime. Lagrange

The Torchbearers travelled back to Iacon, where they combined and joined Starscream's forces in quelling a Decepticon riot at the space bridge. Perihelion After Optimus declared Earth a member of the Council of Worlds, the Torchbearers- still combined- took part in a skirmish against Galvatron's splinter force of Decepticons, but had to separate and fall back to the Skyroller after China deployed its anti-Transformer weaponry. Once Upon a Time on Earth

As a show of good faith, the Autobots began patrolling impoverished and troubled regions around the world; Dustup and the other Torchbearers would defend a Middle Eastern girl's school from religious fanatics. The Torchbearers would later travel to the White House after Aileron went rogue, forming Victorion and extricating the Autobots from the White House lawn. Edge of the Earth

The Torchbearers participated in Optimus and Soundwave's joint operation on the Nemesis. They found, however, that Galvatron had prepared for their arrival by creating a planetary Enigma of Combination from G.B. Blackrock's Onyx tech, and Victorion was subsequently torn apart. It's Beginning To And Back Again As Above...So Below By the time that the Torchbearers had regained consciousness, the fight had already moved offworld, and the Torchbearers stayed behind to coordinate the extraction effort. No Fair Fights The team helped mop up the Decepticon stragglers, White Light but the intervention of the Earth Defense Command forced them to change their priorities and form Victorion to see off the humans. White Heat

Over the course of several months, the Autobots settled into their new role as global protectors, unaware of a growing conspiracy spearheaded by Miles Mayhem and supported by his allies Baron Karza and the Dire Wraiths, each seeking to get their hands on Earth's supply of Ore-13. Dustup and the Torchbearers were deployed from Autobot City in Monument Valley to Oregon, where they defended Arcee and Jazz from an unprovoked G.I. Joe attack. As Victorion, they used her gravity powers to harmlessly take down human aircraft in the wake of Soundwave's EMP attack. Concorde Hymn Victorion maintained guard outside Autobot City as the situation intensified. The New Colossus Not long afterwards, the Dire Wraiths and M.A.S.K. besieged Autobot City for the deposits of Ore-13 beneath. As Victorion, the Torchbearers went up against a monstrous Baron Karza, but when the Microspace tyrant released an army of Dire Wraiths from his innards, Victorion split into her components to better deal with the swarm. Valley Forge

When Karza had been thwarted, the Autobots and their allies returned to policing an increasingly volatile Earth. Dustup accompanied her leader to the Matterhorn, where they witnessed a massive alien ship make planetfall. To Walk Among the Chosen It turned out that it contained the nomadic Junkions, and, as Victorion, the Torchbearers watched as Wreck-Gar and Rum-Maj made their introductions. A Lonely Pillar on the Plain

Dust Up and the Torchbearers stood by when Pyra Magna finally came to blows with Optimus Prime over his hypocrisy of leading via religious mandate when he himself did not believe. Nevertheless, they attended the meeting between the peoples of Earth, Cybertron, and Junk arranged by the Prime. Which, of course, immediately descended into open warfare. Dance Among the Shadows They engaged the attacking Junkions on the orders of the Prime, forming Victorion to deal with their foes. Future Glories Lost In the aftermath of the battle, the Junkions were given Bikini Atoll as a refugee city, building their own Little Cybertron on the island, with the somewhat reluctant assistance of the Torchbearers.The Next Day, and the Next

Dust Up was at Autobot City when Metrotitan's Space Bridge ferried Earth's envoy of ambassadors to Cybertron to be accepted into the Council of Worlds. When contact with Cybertron was cut off, she and the Torchbearers locked down Autobot City in case an attack was directed back through the bridge. Primeless, Part 1 She met Pyra Magna, Skyburst, and Stormclash at the Space Bridge once they returned from Cybertron and the assault had been quelled. The Dead Come Home, Part 2 (of 2)

The Torchbearers awaited Optimus Prime at Autobot City when he returned from the Ore-13 mines with a supply of energon for Cybertron. Surfeit of Primes A situation developed when he delivered the energon to Cybertron, but Pyra Magna chose to keep her forces in reserve rather than rush to the Prime's side. Another Mine Of course, they had no say in the matter once Autobot City acted on its own accord and transported to Cybertron through its own space bridge portal. Metrotitan was then slain by the Nemesis, flagship of the prodigal Prime, Onyx Prime. The Ground

In the wreckage of Metrotitan, the Torchbearers were faced the Maximals of Liege Maximo and the fanatical combiner, Devastator. They formed Victorion in order to better defend their allies. The power of Devastator seemed to be so great that he overcame Victorion's gravity-manipulation abilities. The Hallowing Victorion's fight with Devastator went poorly for some time and he held the upper hand. Endless Forever Eventually, however, it was revealed that the Liege Maximo manipulated the gravity power of Ore-4 to counteract Victorion's powers. Once Arcee dispatched him, Devastator fell easily and was pulverized by sustained gravimetric pressure. Dust Up and the Torchbearers disconnected as Pyra Magna confronted Onyx Prime in his true form as Shockwave of the Decepticons. Unforgivable

Dust Up and the other Torchbearers narrowly escaped the destruction of their homeworld Caminus by the jaws of Unicron. Last Stand Dust Up and the others were concerned for Pyra Magna as they mourned the death of the Mistress of Flame. Stranger Eons After Unicron appeared above Cybertron, the Torchbearers combined into Victorion to attack the planet-eater directly at the command of Elita One. However, Victorion was defeated by Monstructor, who killed Stormclash and forced them to de-combine. Our Finest Hitching a ride on Bludgeon's Worldsweeper to Earth, the Torchbearers arrived in time for the final battle with Unicron and its followers. Assembly With Slide taking Stormclash's place, the Torchbearers were able to form Victorion again and slay Monstructor with Superion's help. In the aftermath of Unicron's defeat, Dust Up watched as Pyra Magna accepted Slide into the Torchbearers. Ceremony

In the days following Unicron's defeat, Dust Up helped rebuild and attended Optimus Prime's funeral. Post

Prime Wars Trilogy cartoons

Dust Up was severely injured when Victorion was burned by Megatronus's flames, melting off most of her arm. All Things Must Pass

Games

Transformers: Earth Wars

Overload everything with Grenades. That seems like a good idea.

Dust Up was in the district of Polyhex with the rest of the Rust Renegades when they discovered the Insecticons. They were all confused as to why the Insecticons fled, until Pyra Magna found a broken Cerebro Shell. They then attempt to rescue Slog (Sludge?) from the clutches of Bombshell's cerebro shells. Polyhex Saga

• Lowest Star rating: 2 Star
• Class: Gunner
• Weapons: Dustup uses a standard issue grenade launcher in a custom paint scheme. (Unfortunately not a Bat'leth bow though)
• Ability: Cluster Strike: Fire off 16 grenades over a large area dealing widespread damage. Level up to deal more damage!
  • Cost: 3 ability points. +1 for reuses.

Transformers Roleplaying Game

Dust Up was a stubborn member of the Torchbearers. The Enigma of Combination

Toys

Combiner Wars

That is....A lot of red

• Victorion (Collection Pack, 2016)
  • Accessories: Blade

• Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro), Shogo Hasui (TakaraTomy), You (initial concept)

Combiner Wars Dust Up is a retool of Deluxe Class Dead End from the same toy line, with a new head, forearms, and chestplate, transforming into a sports car that resembles a Ferrari 458 Italia. She can also form either an arm or a leg for any standard-issue Combiner Wars or Unite Warriors gestalt or into one of Legends Godbomber's legs, though she was intended to combine with her teammates Stormclash, Skyburst, Pyra Magna, Jumpstream, and Rust Dust to form Victorion, with her weapon forming the chappe of Victorion's sword.

Dust Up has a design flaw, in that her chest is unable to peg onto her torso due to her pegs being too thick to fit in their slots, though many later units saw this issue fixed.

Like the rest of her Torchbearers, Dust Up features Cybertronic tampographs on her vehicle mode, which reads "Just like us" on the right, and "You soon will rust" on the left.

Dust Up was only available as part of a Victorion box set, including a poster and a collector card based on the set's packaging art. The set was one of several so-called "Collection Packs" that were "online exclusives" in the United States, available from online retailers such as Hasbro Toy Shop, Amazon, and BigBadToyStore as well as the online stores of "big box" retailers such as Toys"R"Us, Walmart, Target, and Kmart. In Hasbro's Asian markets such as Singapore and Taiwan, the set was available at general retail. In Australia, it was sold at Toys"R"Us stores, whereas in Canada, was both sold at Toys"R"Us stores and available via Amazon Canada. In the United Kingdom, it was available via the UK Toys"R"Us website (but never sold in stores), whereas in Spain, it was available via the Spanish subsidiaries of Amazon and Carrefour, as well as the department store chain El Corte Inglés, supposedly also only available online.

This version of the sculpt was also redecoed into Unite Warriors Flowspade.

Notes

When you think about that name from a Cybertronian's perspective....It's pretty gruesome.

• According to a slide at a Comic-Con International 2015 presentation, an early name for Dustup was Crash Test, which ended up being used for two separate characters.
• On the toy's packaging, her name is spelled "Dust Up", but some of her in-fiction appearances render it as "Dustup".
• Before Combiner Wars, Hasbro almost used the trademark "Dustup" for the Kre-O Decepticon ultimately named Liftoff.
• The similarity of Dust Up's head to that of Nightbird eventually led to the Shattered Glass version of Nightbird having a Dust Up-based design.
• Dustup's pre-Torchbearer coloration in IDW's comics is based on Holi.
• In the Earth Wars mobile game, Dustup, Dead End, Brake-Neck share an identical body model based on the head and chest of Dustup's toy.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Dust Up (ダストアップ Dasuto Appu)
• Mandarin: Xuānnào (China, 喧闹, "Noisy")

References