Seeker (Transformers)
| Synonyms: | skyraider, tetrajet, non-blunderscrounge |
| See also: | Decepticons, Starscream |
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Seeker is a Transformers term of obscure origin that refers to a class of Decepticon jet troopers that share the same body-type.
The term has been widely used within the fandom since the early 1990s, but its unknown origin meant that it was long suspected of being fanonical and thus its use was controversial. The term was finally made indisputably canon in 2002, when it was used in issue 1 of the comic miniseries Transformers: The War Within.
The first known usage of the term is from a 1984 JC Penny catalog, leading to speculation that the term was handed down from Hasbro at some point and may have been used in other promotional material. The TFWiki states:
It's impossible to know one way or the other with any certainty, but the most curious aspect is that the online Transformers fan community was already using the word in the early '90s, when the fandom was just getting on its feet. Were those obscure toy ads strong enough in the fandom's collective memory to determine common parlance almost ten years after the fact? Or were there more official usages that have since disappeared?Even the '90s-era fandom didn't know where the term had come from, as evidenced by confused conversations from that time on alt.toys.transformers. While no one cited those toy ads, there were plenty of wrong answers, which may explain the term's staying power. The strongest of those erroneous explanations was that it had come from the phrase "hunter-seeker skyship" used in issue 17 of the Marvel US comic. However, the Decepticons it is applied to are shown only in their flight modes, which look nothing like the jets in question.