Appearances:

UK Transformers

12 (Man of Iron, part 4.)

Collected Comics #3 (Man of Iron) (Reprint.)

US Transformers

34 (Man of Iron, parts 3 + 4) (Reprint.)

For a note about the differences between these reprints see the Man of Iron page.

Quote:  

None, he never had any speaking dialogue.

Alt-Mode:  

Unknown.

Description:  

The Navigator was, as described by the Man of Iron story was an Autobot hooked up to a rescue ship with the knowledge of Cybertron's whereabouts in his brain.

So basically, he was the pilot of the ship, in theory.

The really interesting thing about the Navigator was how he died. He was just laying there, minding his own business, when JAZZ slaughtered him! Jazz didn't even bother to see if anyone was inside, he just up and blew up the ship that the Navigator was laying in. Wow, talk about cold.

Biography:  

The Navigator was one of the two-Autobot crew sent on a rescue mission to save the Autobots who'd been lost on the Ark. The rescue mission went a little bit sour, unfortunately, and the rescue ship crash-landed in southern England. The Navigator was hooked up into the ship, seemingly to pilot it. But he was also the ship's navigation instruments; he was programmed with the location of Cybertron. An important piece of information if he wanted to get the rescued Autobots back home.

The Navigator continued to beam out a signal, trying to contact the Autobots on the Ark. It wasn't until 4 million years after the Ark crashed, when the Autobots and Decepticons there awakened, that the signal was received. During the time they had to wait, the Navigator's guardian (dubbed the Man of Iron by humans) would sometimes surface and make sure no one was endangering the crashed ship.

When the Decepticons came for the ship the Man of Iron surfaced, only to be killed by Skywarp. The Decepticons didn't get a chance to get to the shuttle, however, because the Autobots drove the Decepticons away.

The Navigator, his link to the Man of Iron severed, sat waiting, still beaming out his signal. Then on the surface the Autobot known as Jazz, unaware that the Navigator was still in the ship, blasted the rescue craft, atomising it. The Navigator went down with his ship.

Tech Specs/TFU:  

Hard to say, really. He didn't do anything but lay around. One can't tell if he was intelligent, had much endurance, or whether he was courageous. Speed would probably be a 1, or perhaps a 0. He just laid around all day!

Toy:  

Hrm. No real comment here. He looks sorta like a Transformer, minus the alt mode features, and a toy of him wouldn't have been much fun. (Then again, people buy those playsets of Luke floating in a stupid medical tank.)

Over All:  

The most interesting thing about the Navigator is that... he got blown to pieces by Jazz!! Here we thought Jazz was a nice guy. But nope, he just blew up the Navigator's ship without first checking to see if someone was on board.

As commented before (on the Man of Iron's page)  Man of Iron is a strange story. Motives and plot take a back-seat to atmosphere. So when trying to analyse the EVENTS it comes out sounding a little strange. Especially with characters who pop up seemingly for no reason like the Navigator.

The other interesting thing about the Navigator is the way he's described in the story. Here I'll write it up for you:

"Deep beneath the Autobots' feet in a sealed chamber, a special Autobot lay waiting..."

"He was Navigator, warrior and guardian of Autobot destiny..."

"In his long, slow, machine world, a million years were as fleeting seconds. Human history had passed over him."

"Locked in his dormant brain was the location of the planet Cybertron. He waited only to be re-activated, re-integrated with his mission."

"Restored to life."

"His attendant was no more, the link between them severed."

"Alone in the darkness he patiently beamed his signa. The same pattern of impulses... waiting."

The interesting thing here is the allusion to a 'link' between the Navigator and the Man of Iron. Obviously that link could easily be something as simple as a radio link, but it could also be something deeper. Like the link between Transformer and Pretender shell, or Optimus and Roller. Who knows? It's an intriguing thought, though.

Gallery:

Collected Comics #3: Man of Iron: