Marissa Faireborn
Encyclopedia
Marissa Faireborn is a fictional character
from the Transformers series. A human female, she holds the rank of captain in the Earth Defense Command, a military organization helping the Autobot
s fight against the evil Decepticon
s. In some interpretations, she is depicted as an unlikely love interest for Autobots such as Jazz (G.I. Joe/Transformers), and, more prolificly, Optimus Prime (Kiss Players).
's moon, Io
, in order to rescue the stranded Autobots Blurr
and Wheelie
. The lipoles that were native to the moon destroyed her spacecraft, however, leaving her stranded with them until Sky Lynx
arrived to rescue them, fending off an attack by Predaking.
Marissa was later captured for study by a Quintesson
scientist, along with Ultra Magnus
, Cyclonus
and Wreck-Gar
, but when the entire group was trapped in a negative universe beyond a black hole, they all worked together to liberate themselves. The Quintessons crept into Marissa's life again when she was briefly reverted into a baby by unstable chronal energy leaking from a malfunctioning Quintesson time portal.
Marissa had a very brief tumultuous fling with smuggler Dirk Manus, as the smuggler both used her to further his own deals with the Quintessons, and aided her against them. It is apparent that both Marissa and Manus cared about each other to some degree, but although Manus avoided arrest, Marissa did manage to switch his ill-gotten gains with counterfeit "mimic dust", which made even Manus laugh; the straight-and-narrow law enforcement officer had conned a conner.
Marissa's final appearance saw her aiding the Autobots' diplomatic relations in Japan
.
Transformers series. However, she finally made her first appearance on the printed page in the 21st century reimagining of the G1 universe by Dreamwave Productions
.
Holding the rank of Commander, rather than Captain, Marissa is again portrayed as a member of the EDC, which in Dreamwave continuity clandestinely handles terrestrial/extraterrestrial encounters. Following the Transformers' return to activity on Earth after a period of absence in the early 21st century, the EDC stepped in to control the situation, capturing Warpath and Bumper, along with the bodies of several deactivated Autobots who had previously been attacked by Bruticus
. Taking them to their subterranean desert base, the EDC reactivated Jazz, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, who joined with Warpath, Bumper and Marissa in investigating the mysterious events going on in the town of San Desto, which turned out to be the hive of the Insecticons
. The Insecticons' plans were stopped, but Marissa's superior officer did not share her fondness for the Transformers.
Dreamwave's bankruptcy and subsequent closure left remaining stories of Marissa Faireborn untold.
In the "Kiss Players♥" story line Marissa (メリッサ/Romanized as Melissa) is a young American woman from New York, where she met and became friends with Shao-Shao Li. As a child, she resented her military father, and when she was once rescued by Optimus Prime
, she quickly came to view the Autobot leader as both a father figure and more. Ten years later, she joined a (possibly all-female) commando resistance movement and attempted to steal Prime's corpse from the Earth Defense Command. When the rest of her strike team was taken by surprise and slaughtered, Marissa elected herself as the backup plan. She quickly sliced the clothes off the Kiss Players who stood in her way, but was briefly incapacitated when struck from behind by a Kremzeek bullet fired by a nearby Autrooper. Hurling her knife through the air, she cut open Prime's trailer and discovered his body...only to see the Autrooper summarily eject its Kiss Player partner and begin to fuse with the Autobot's corpse. Marissa kissed Prime, fusing with him and triggering a transformation that restored him to life and upgraded his body into its Dodge Ram SRT 10
form. Now the two travel together, battling Legion agents and eluding both the E.D.C. and Hot Rod, who believes to be an impostor.
Marissa wears various skull-themed accessories. As they have a pattern of renaming one another's possessions, Optimus Prime has dubbed the design on her shirt "The Three Skull Brothers". She has been known to carry several knives, at least one of which is sharp enough to slice through reinforced metal when hurled through the air.
Marissa considers Optimus Prime to be her boyfriend, and merges with him to share her knife-wielding skills by kissing him. Marissa is also a professional surfer, this comes in handy as her surfboard doubles as a knife.
character Flint
(Real Name: Dashiell R. Faireborn) as being Marissa's father. He is never actually identified by name in the episode, but aside from the obvious connection of sharing a last name, he is voiced by the same actor, Bill Ratner, and is visually designed to look like an aged version of the character. Consequently, it is theorised that Marissa's mother could be Flint's paramour, Lady Jaye. The 20th Anniversary edition DVD
of The Transformers: The Movie
provides a commentary that confirms this fact—Sunbow's writers had indeed always imagined her as the daughter of the two G.I. Joe characters.
In the Dreamwave comics, the connection between Flint and Marissa is not so cleanly drawn—the G1 comics instead make reference to her grandfather, Nathaniel Faireborn, who established the EDC. Then, in the second Transformers vs. G.I. Joe miniseries—which, it is important to note, is not set in the same continuity as the G1 series—a relative of Flint's is cited, named Nathaniel, although it is never stated that he is his father. Though this could just be because Flint is a G.I. Joe
character, and that property is handled by Devil's Due.
IDW Comics has recently acquired the license to G.I. Joe and already publishes Transformers, so perhaps some closure may eventually be reached on this matter.
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 series. A human female, she holds the rank of captain in the Earth Defense Command, a military organization helping 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 fight against the evil 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...
s. In some interpretations, she is depicted as an unlikely love interest for Autobots such as Jazz (G.I. Joe/Transformers), and, more prolificly, Optimus Prime (Kiss Players).
Animated Series
Marissa debuted in the 5-part mini-series "Five Faces of Darkness", travelling to JupiterJupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
's moon, Io
Io (moon)
Io ) is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter and, with a diameter of , the fourth-largest moon in the Solar System. It was named after the mythological character of Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of the lovers of Zeus....
, in order to rescue the stranded Autobots Blurr
Blurr
Blurr is the name given to five different fictional characters in the Transformers universes. He frequently appears as a blue Autobot who transforms into a swift car...
and Wheelie
Wheelie (Transformers)
Wheelie is the name of two different fictional characters in the Transformers series.-Generation 1:The first Wheelie is a young Autobot who turns into a car. He has a distinctive style of speech, in which he rhymes his sentences while speaking in a high pitched voice, making him sound like a child....
. The lipoles that were native to the moon destroyed her spacecraft, however, leaving her stranded with them until Sky Lynx
Sky Lynx
Sky Lynx is the name of several different characters in the fictional Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:Sky Lynx consists of two separate components: a space shuttle that can transform into a bird-like creature , and a ground transport vehicle,...
arrived to rescue them, fending off an attack by Predaking.
Marissa was later captured for study by a Quintesson
Quintessons
Quintessons are fictional aliens from the Transformers universe. Within the TV series, they are the creators of the Transformers, although in most other fictional universes featuring the Transformers, they have no such status...
scientist, along with Ultra Magnus
Ultra Magnus
Ultra Magnus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers storylines.-Transformers: Generation 1:The greatest Transformer of them all. A commander could want no finer a soldier than Ultra Magnus...
, Cyclonus
Cyclonus
Cyclonus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:The tech spec from the box art of the Cyclonus toy describes him as a compassionless Decepticon air warrior and saboteur...
and Wreck-Gar
Wreck-Gar
Wreck-Gar is the name of two characters from the Transformers universes. Both are unpredictable good-aligned characters who provide comic relief in their series.-Transformers: Generation 1:Wreck-gar is the idiosyncratic leader of the Junkions....
, but when the entire group was trapped in a negative universe beyond a black hole, they all worked together to liberate themselves. The Quintessons crept into Marissa's life again when she was briefly reverted into a baby by unstable chronal energy leaking from a malfunctioning Quintesson time portal.
Marissa had a very brief tumultuous fling with smuggler Dirk Manus, as the smuggler both used her to further his own deals with the Quintessons, and aided her against them. It is apparent that both Marissa and Manus cared about each other to some degree, but although Manus avoided arrest, Marissa did manage to switch his ill-gotten gains with counterfeit "mimic dust", which made even Manus laugh; the straight-and-narrow law enforcement officer had conned a conner.
Marissa's final appearance saw her aiding the Autobots' diplomatic relations in 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...
.
Dreamwave Comics
As Marissa was a character conceived uniquely for the animated series, she did not make any appearances in the original 1980s Marvel ComicsMarvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
Transformers series. However, she finally made her first appearance on the printed page in the 21st century reimagining of the G1 universe by 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...
.
Holding the rank of Commander, rather than Captain, Marissa is again portrayed as a member of the EDC, which in Dreamwave continuity clandestinely handles terrestrial/extraterrestrial encounters. Following the Transformers' return to activity on Earth after a period of absence in the early 21st century, the EDC stepped in to control the situation, capturing Warpath and Bumper, along with the bodies of several deactivated Autobots who had previously been attacked by Bruticus
Combaticons
The Combaticons are a group of Decepticon military vehicles in the assorted fictional universes of the Transformers.- Transformers: Generation 1 :...
. Taking them to their subterranean desert base, the EDC reactivated Jazz, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, who joined with Warpath, Bumper and Marissa in investigating the mysterious events going on in the town of San Desto, which turned out to be the hive of the Insecticons
Insecticons
Insecticons is the name given to a sub-group of fictional characters in the Transformers Universes, referred to as Insectrons in the Japanese version. The name was also used for several fictional characters in the Transformers Universes...
. The Insecticons' plans were stopped, but Marissa's superior officer did not share her fondness for the Transformers.
Dreamwave's bankruptcy and subsequent closure left remaining stories of Marissa Faireborn untold.
Kiss Players♥
Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime is a fictional character from the Transformers franchise. Prime is the leader of the autobots, a faction of transforming robots from the planet Cybertron. The autobots are constantly waging war against a rival faction of transforming robots called Decepticons...
, she quickly came to view the Autobot leader as both a father figure and more. Ten years later, she joined a (possibly all-female) commando resistance movement and attempted to steal Prime's corpse from the Earth Defense Command. When the rest of her strike team was taken by surprise and slaughtered, Marissa elected herself as the backup plan. She quickly sliced the clothes off the Kiss Players who stood in her way, but was briefly incapacitated when struck from behind by a Kremzeek bullet fired by a nearby Autrooper. Hurling her knife through the air, she cut open Prime's trailer and discovered his body...only to see the Autrooper summarily eject its Kiss Player partner and begin to fuse with the Autobot's corpse. Marissa kissed Prime, fusing with him and triggering a transformation that restored him to life and upgraded his body into its Dodge Ram SRT 10
Dodge Ram SRT 10
The Dodge Ram SRT-10 is a sport pickup truck that was produced by American automaker Dodge in limited numbers. It was introduced at the January 2002 North American International Auto Show, but was not put into production until 2004...
form. Now the two travel together, battling Legion agents and eluding both the E.D.C. and Hot Rod, who believes to be an impostor.
Marissa wears various skull-themed accessories. As they have a pattern of renaming one another's possessions, Optimus Prime has dubbed the design on her shirt "The Three Skull Brothers". She has been known to carry several knives, at least one of which is sharp enough to slice through reinforced metal when hurled through the air.
Marissa considers Optimus Prime to be her boyfriend, and merges with him to share her knife-wielding skills by kissing him. Marissa is also a professional surfer, this comes in handy as her surfboard doubles as a knife.
Family
When abducted by the Quintessons in the animated series episode, "The Killing Jar", Marissa is duped by a hologram of her father—Commander Faireborn. For a long time, fans have suspected the G.I. JoeG.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a military-themed line of action figures and toys in Hasbro's G.I. Joe franchise. The toyline lasted from 1982 to 1994, producing well over 500 figures and 250 vehicles and playsets. The line reappeared in 1997 and has continued in one form or another to the...
character Flint
Flint (G.I. Joe)
Flint is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series. He was originally created as a character for the Sunbow cartoon series in 1984, and later introduced into the comic book and produced as an action figure in 1985.-Profile:...
(Real Name: Dashiell R. Faireborn) as being Marissa's father. He is never actually identified by name in the episode, but aside from the obvious connection of sharing a last name, he is voiced by the same actor, Bill Ratner, and is visually designed to look like an aged version of the character. Consequently, it is theorised that Marissa's mother could be Flint's paramour, Lady Jaye. The 20th Anniversary edition DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of The Transformers: The Movie
The Transformers: The Movie
The Transformers: The Movie is a 1986 animated feature film based on the animated series of the same name. It was released in North America on August 8, 1986 and in the UK on December 5, 1986....
provides a commentary that confirms this fact—Sunbow's writers had indeed always imagined her as the daughter of the two G.I. Joe characters.
In the Dreamwave comics, the connection between Flint and Marissa is not so cleanly drawn—the G1 comics instead make reference to her grandfather, Nathaniel Faireborn, who established the EDC. Then, in the second Transformers vs. G.I. Joe miniseries—which, it is important to note, is not set in the same continuity as the G1 series—a relative of Flint's is cited, named Nathaniel, although it is never stated that he is his father. Though this could just be because Flint is a G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe is a line of action figures produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier , Action Sailor , Action Pilot , Action Marine and later on, the Action Nurse...
character, and that property is handled by Devil's Due.
IDW Comics has recently acquired the license to G.I. Joe and already publishes Transformers, so perhaps some closure may eventually be reached on this matter.