Chatterbox

Back in Chatterbox’s past, they were a racer, nicknamed Chitchat for their eccentric, loud, and sociable public image. They were never the fastest but it was their personality that caught the attention of the audience.

As time went on, Chatterbox’s frame couldn’t keep up with other competing racers and eventually they started to place further behind. To keep themselves from fading into obscurity (some say they were desperately trying to hold onto the attention and fame) Chatterbox picked up stunt performance and abruptly quit racing, never giving the public a clear reason why. They would perform dangerous tricks and stunts, putting themselves in increasingly dangerous situations.

Why stunt performance? The thrill it gave them was similar to racing but with higher stakes and Chatterbox is quite the thrillseeker and daredevil. Their change in career paths was met with a lot of mixed reception, some calling them a wash-up, theorizing all sorts of reasons for their departure from racing. Others were just happy to see them, even if they were exploring other avenues.

When the Cybertronian war began, Chitchat aligned themselves with the Autobots and made use of their stunt and racing experience, invading Decepticon hideouts and generally just being bait and distraction.

They could talk their way out of most situations, their yapping personality coming in handy and saving their aft on multiple occasions. They also modified their frame, exchanging their speed for heavy artillery, weapons, and thicker armor for tanking hits. Wheels once forged for speed were replaced with ones made to handle rough terrain, maintain stability, and traction.

Their talkative personality also mellowed out throughout the war. The yapper in them once cranked to 10, was now a mild 5-6 (in small groups or 1 on 1 conversations). In front of larger groups, they tend to talk more, putting on a social performance and taking the yap up to 8-9. It’s more of a force of habit they can’t help from their days in the spotlight.

Throughout Chitchat’s racing career, they’ve won first place only a few times. their racing style stood out since they mostly did tricks on the track and provided funny commentary before and after races— they’re definitely more known for personality than being fast or winning

One of their first racing incidents caused a bit of a stir in the racing sphere. In a neck and neck race, another racer collided into Chatterbox causing them to basically spiral out of control, skidding to the finish line. Some joked that this was Chatterbox’s first “victory”but because of the amount of controversy and debate that followed after this race, no trophy was granted for that particular race and a rematch was held where Chatterbox made top 10.

Despite having a racing frame, Chatterbox’s top speed is notably slower compared to other racers. They excelled better in reaction time, quick maneuvers and pulling off risky tricks and they used it to their advantage. Most of their victories were won due to other racers falling for their taunts. Chatterbox’s favorite trick was baiting other racers into trying to hit them and using their maneuvering to wear them down or bait them into environmental hazards.

Their slower speed was also a topic of discussion among fellow racers and the endlessly speculating audiences + fans. It’s something Chatterbox tried to hide from the public out of embarrassment and they try to avoid the subject when it’s brought up.

Chatterbox remained in the top 5 for the racing popularity rank which is pretty impressive considering they never really had a win streak or anything of that sort.