Marissa Faireborn

Marissa Faireborn (occasionally misspelled "Fairborne") 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 Autobots fight against the evil Decepticons.

Animated Series
Marissa debuted in the 5-part mini-series "Five Faces of Darkness", travelling to Jupiter'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.

Marissa Faireborn was voiced by Susan Blu. Marissa is the daughter of Flint and Lady Jaye of G.I. Joe.

Dreamwave Comics
As Marissa was a character conceived uniquely for the animated series, she did not make any appearances in the original 1980's Marvel Comics 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/extra-terrestrial 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.

Family
When abducted by the Quintesson in the episode, "The Killing Jar", Marissa is duped by a hologram of her father - Dashiell "Flint" Faireborn from Transformers sister series, G.I. Joe. Flint is never actually identified by name in the episode, but aside from the obvious connection of sharing a last name, he is voiced by his original actor, Bill Ratner, and is visually designed to look like an aged version of the character. Official documents from the show's production absolutely confirm Flint's identity. Consequently, it is theorised that Marissa's mother could be Flint's paramour, Lady Jaye.

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.