- “Are we fighting this alone, or are we fighting it
- together?”
- ―Noah Diaz to Kris Diaz
Noah Leon Díaz the human friend of Autobot Mirage, a proud Brooklyn native, he has been looking for a job after leaving the military. He hasn't exactly had the best luck, what with apparently being a bit of a loose cannon during his army days, and the fact that people like him rarely get a chance isn't exactly helping matters. Still, he needs the money to help pay for his little brother's medical treatment, so he's not giving up. You can always count on Noah Diaz to look after his family and protect them at all costs.
History[]
While serving in the military, Noah had developed an unfortunate reputation as someone with poor teamwork skills. After ending his service, Noah returned home to Brooklyn to try to help support his mother and little brother Kris. It wasn't going too well, with Noah having to resort to scraping together little odd jobs like providing his friend Reek with an illegal cable box, and the family's medical expenses piling up. In the summer of 1994, Noah lost his chance at a security job thanks to the hiring manager having heard from Noah's commanding officer of his lackluster past. This, combined with the family unable to get Kris medical attention due to D. Greene refusing them service due to their outstanding balance, demoralized Noah. He reluctantly went to Reek, who had earlier promised him a "real" job that could make some real money. Noah was dismayed to learn this "real" job entailed stealing a Porsche from a parking garage. After struggling to get into the vehicle, Noah was surprised when the mighty voice of Optimus Prime came through the radio, alerting "Mirage" to roll out. As a security guard confronted Noah, the Porsche came to life and began going for a wild chase through the streets of New York. During the chase, Noah was shocked to find the Porsche had the ability to generate realistic holograms of itself and him as well, though he understood why the voice on the radio called it "Mirage" as a result.
Noah was brought to a warehouse where the Porsche deposited him before transforming into the Autobot Mirage, who revealed he was an alien in disguise. The other Autobots - Optimus, Bumblebee, and Arcee arrived, and Optimus was displeased to see Mirage had brought a human to the meeting. Noah found his background checked by Arcee and set aside by Optimus, and tried to escape while the Autobots discussed the discovery of the Transwarp Key. Mirage hit on the idea of sending Noah inside the Ellis Island museum to retrieve the key for them, allowing Noah to sell him for some much-needed big bucks in exchange. Despite both Optimus and Noah's reluctance, the group agreed. Noah complained about Optimus's harsh attitude, but Mirage asked him to take it easy on him since he'd been worn down by being stranded on Earth while their war raged on their home planet. Noah and Mirage snuck in only for Noah to run into Elena Wallace, a museum worker who understandably called him a thief and called security. Noah desperately tried to explain he meant no harm, but they were interrupted by the arrival of the Terrorcons. Realizing they were not his allies, Noah helped Elena flee with him, dodging attacks from Freezer and Novakane as they were hunted through the museum.
Once they escaped, they found a battle raging between the Autobots and Terrorcons, forcing the pair to desperately try to stay hidden and safe. However, Bumblebee fell and the key was stolen, forcing Noah, Elena, and the Autobots to flee with the newly arrived Airazor. Retreating to an alley, Noah was disgusted when Optimus blamed the humans for the disastrous mission, and was only further dismayed when he learned of the threat of Unicron.
As the group eventually decided to go to Peru to retrieve the other half of the key, Noah and Mirage went back to the former's house so he could say goodbye to Kris. The boy soon discovered Mirage, and Noah was bemused at how casually Kris accepted Mirage's presence and witnessed the boy ordering Mirage to watch his older brother's back. The next day, everyone regrouped to board Stratosphere for the flight to Peru, though Noah and Optimus still exchange tense glares. During the flight, Noah tried to comfort the nervous Elena, and revealed that he intended to destroy the key if it meant preventing any chance of Unicron arriving on Earth, regardless of the fact the Autobots would be marooned on their planet.
The group met up with Wheeljack in Peru, where Noah was impressed by his accent, though he was annoyed when Wheeljack called him racist for assuming he wasn't from Cybertron because of it. Noah subsequently volunteered himself and Elena to go for the key fragment in town to cover his scheme to destroy the artifact. Noah was gifted a wrist-mounted device Mirage made from his body before going in. After sneaking through the festival, Noah and Elena descended to the tombs below ground where the sarcophagus meant to hold the key was empty. The Terrorcons returned, and Noah was able to kill Freezer by unintentionally firing a weapon from Mirage's gauntlet.
Noah and Elena fled through the tomb to the outside jungles where they were cornered by Optimus Primal, triggering a stand-off between Autobot and Maximal until Airazor arrived to defuse it. While Primal led the group to their human allies nearby, Noah was surprised to learn that Mirage had been in regular radio contact with Kris to ensure the Autobot was keeping his promise. The group made camp at Amaru's village, and that night Elena tried to convince Noah to see things differently, comparing him to Optimus's single-minded desire to protect his own. The next morning, Airazor attacked the group, having succumbed to a corruption from Scourge.
Noah prepared to destroy the key upon seeing how overwhelmed the group was, but Optimus arrived and begged him to not do so. Noah reluctantly stood down, but the key was delivered to Scourge, seemingly dooming them all. Optimus apologized to Noah, but Noah, having seen the wisdom in Elena's words, admitted he couldn't resent Optimus for looking after his people. Inspired by Optimus, Noah rallied everyone to think of a way to fight back, and soon a battle plan was enacted; while the Autobots and Maximals engaged the Terrorcons, Noah and Elena would sneak to the transwarp base erected by Scourge to shut down the portal for Unicron. Mirage accompanied them but was quickly defeated by Scourge, who soon discovered the infiltrating humans. Noah found himself pinned down under Mirage as he began to perish from his wounds inflicted by Scourge. He was able to make radio contact with Kris, who was observing the arrival of Unicron from back home, and received a strong pep talk inspiring him to not give up.
Mirage used the last of his strength to convert most of his body into an exo-suit for Noah to use to directly participate in the battle. Noah found himself backed up by Optimus and the others as they held the line to give Elena time to shut down the transwarp base, and Noah also teamed up with the revived Bumblebee while being swarmed by Sweeps and Unicron's Predacon reinforcements. However, Scourge was able to destroy the console before Optimus slayed him, forcing Optimus to declare his intent to sacrifice himself to save Earth and stop Unicron. Noah initially retreated with the others, but doubled back and held onto Optimus so he wouldn't be sucked into the destruction. When Primal arrived to lend a paw, Prime was saved and fled for safety with Noah and the others. The Autobot-Maximal-human alliance reflected that though the day was won, Unicron may one day return, but they would stand together against him once again.
Noah returned home and reunited with his mother and Kris, and was pleased to see Elena receive national acclaim for her discover of the Maximal tomb in Peru on his way to a job interview. Agent Burke admitted that Noah's professional history was rather thin, but Noah became uneasy when Burke revealed he knew about his recent adventure in Peru. Burke tried to put him at ease by thanking Noah for helping save the world, and that he was hired, and his new job would guarantee all healthcare for Kris covered as a bonus. Burke encouraged Noah to think about things before revealing he had been hired on to G.I. Joe.
Later, Noah was able to restore Mirage to life thanks to some hard hours and repairs in his garage.