*ੈ✩‧₊˚꒰𝓢𝓽★𝓻𝓼𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶꒱

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐭

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Starscream is genuinely one of the saddest, traumatised, and depressed characters in the entire Transformers franchise. Not only does he bear the constant burden meeting up to Megatron's expectations, this poor bot witnessed the death of his best friend and went through hellfire to avenge him.

In the IDW comics, issue Spotlight Megatron, Starscream is seen to be beaten up many times by Megatron for failing to lead the Decepticons while Megatron was absent (the crew ended up resorting to cannibalism because they ran out of resources). It gets so terrible to the point where Starscream begs Megatron to execute him in order to put him out of his misery, only to be met with Megatron's sadistic actions to spare him so that he would continue to suffer. Starscream is an extremely selfish character and is a coward as he only attempts to be the leader of the Decepticons when Megatron is weakened or absent. However, when he finally does wield this power, it results in absolutely nobody listening to him to even ridiculing him. Starscream's ultimate goal is to be appreciated and loved yet and it crushes him entirely when he is rejected by those of his own faction. His flashbacks involve the other Decepticons to isolate him and so upon Megatron’s return, Starscream has already hidden himself away in a darkened room, sunken to his knees and holding his helm while sobbing uncontrollably. He cries out his suppressed pain and suffering, expressing that he desperately tried to lead the Decepticons with his brilliant ideas and wished the others would take him seriously but only resulted in his suicidal tendencies to arise again. In reality, Starscream never wanted to rule or have authority over anybody but rather to just be loved and cared for.

In a Christmas episode, Starscream was seen to be sulking alone as he believed everybody forgot him but when he was included he genuinely felt happy in a long time. Here, we also see Starscream express a warm smile, one that is extremely rare as he spends most of his days suffering from his trauma. Starscream can also be an extremely compassionate character. He even greets a passing human a Merry Christmas and sits by a decorated tree, which strangely mirrors our hero and leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime’s kind behaviour towards humans, such as Optimus’s unwillingness to hurt humans in the Bayverse live action films and his appreciation of Earth and its life forms when he first arrives in G1 comics.

An important thing to consider of Starscream's past is how he got his name. Starscream's real name is Ulchtar. Starscream originally joined the Decepticons when his best friend was killed by an Autobot. He stayed by his friend's corpse and cried for days on end, looking up at the stars and hoping to see his friend. That was when Megatron found him and asked if his name was Ulchtar, to which he replied with "no, sir...it's Starscream."

Starscream joined the Decepticons, still shaken and mourning for his friend's passing and his fragile mental state led him to find comfort in everything he comes into contact with. This resulted in Starscream to develop Stockholm Syndrome as hinted towards in many different universes. For instance in Transformers Prime, Starscream was the only one who reacted visibly to Megatron's death. Even after leaving the Decepticons due to Megatron's abuse, he still begged for Megatron to allow him to "become a Decepticon again,” to which Megatron responds by making him endure a beating and then harshly refusing to hand Starscream his Decepticon title back. Here, Megatron’s reasoning is that Starscream willingly left the faction because he couldn’t handle what it took to be a Decepticon even though the real reason Starscream left was because he no longer wanted to suffer under the hands of Megatron. With his unstable, broken self while the news of Megatron's death was revealed, Starscream was seen to sink to his knees and cry out in anguish. He also let out a heart-wrenching declaration to avenge his "master." As mentioned before, Starscream is extremely selfish and never took revenge as he was too afraid but in that moment, Starscream was genuinely prepared and willing to sacrifice whatever it took to bring vengeance for Megatron despite all the abuse he suffered under Megatron's hands (or servos?). Starscream's trauma mostly stemmed from his desperation to gain Megatron's approval, only to be hurt and have his hard work dismissed over and over again in this toxic cycle of endless hardships going unnoticed. All his life, he yearned for love, attention, and to be truly appreciated for who he is, evident in his lines in TFP when he tries to make Megatron see how much he sacrificed for him: “I’ve always put your wellbeing before my own!” and “I even risked getting buried alive for you!” Starscream goes through an emotional breakdown in this scene and his usually sarcastic and confident voice cracks, showcasing the depth of his character as not only the cold and ruthless Decepticon scientist and second in command to Megatron but rather a feeling bot who’s gone through and been hurt too much.

Furthermore, Starscream's PTSD is evident as he is seen to flinch at any sudden movements from Megatron or any larger bot. It is canonically confirmed that he tries to make himself "cuter" in the face of stronger bots to avoid getting beaten up. Starscream's posture in TFP is most of the time as a hunchback, his elbows jutting out from the sides and his overall build fragile and thin. In G1, Starscream's most feared phrase from Megatron was "Starscream, you have failed me yet again," and so Starscream tries so hard to please Megatron and be recognised for his hard work, which has rarely ever happened.

Starscream yearns for love. He's just a boy in a cruel world that forces him to grow up quickly.

Please love and cherish the Starscreams in your life.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

The IDW comics changed the way I saw the Decepticons. Although the Autobots had their own reasons supported by their morals, characters from the nemesis faction are often overlooked, like our precious bot, Starscream. Initially, I saw Starscream as a cowardly, selfish, and cruel character who only considered situations that benefited himself but the IDW comics’ portrayal of Starscream’s side revealed a tragic story of an individual who had his innocent life tainted with the horrors of war and the menacing greed of those around him. Starscream’s facial expressions in Spotlight Megatron vividly displayed the cruel extent of his devastation and heartbreak, as if he was on the verge of tears. Although we could not physically hear his voice from the comics, we could still imagine his iconic scratchy voice to be weakened and shaky as he trembled uncontrollably from all his pent up self-hatred and desperate pursuit for love and recognition.