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2011-10-23T20:03:42Z

81.106.173.212: New page: Could the quadrupedal one be Beast Prime? And the one in the forcefield Minicon Prime? --~~~~

Could the quadrupedal one be Beast Prime? And the one in the forcefield Minicon Prime? --[[Special:Contributions/81.106.173.212|81.106.173.212]] 16:03, 23 October 2011 (EDT)

Human Error, Part I

2010-08-23T13:26:59Z

81.106.173.212:

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=TFA Human Error Part 1 Automen.jpg
|caption=''Humans Animated'' is a very popular show on Cybertron.
|ep=37
|title="Human Error, Part I"
|airdate=[[April 18]], 2009
|written by=[[Henry Gilroy]]
|directed by=[[Kalvin Lee]] [[Christopher Berkeley]] [[Naoto Hashimoto]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}
'''With the Christmas season upon them, the Autobots are not quite themselves following a run-in with Porter C. Powell's new mass-produced Soundwave action figures.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part 1 Powell Soundwave.jpg|thumb|left|180px|He's actually worse than [[wikipedia:Vince Offer|Vince Offer]].]]
It's [[Christmas]] in Detroit, but [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] is not in a festive mood. The hottest toy of the year is [[Sound Wave]], being marketed by [[Porter C. Powell]], who acquired the schematics and patent when he ran [[Sumdac Systems]]. Observing a commercial for the new toy, Optimus notices one of the small robots running across the plaza near the trains. Trying to follow it, he is nearly run over by a train and finally decides that he may be obsessing.

At the plant, [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] and [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] are interested in what they got for Christmas, but [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] tells them that [[Santa Claus]] will know if they try to peek. As the two help Sari decorate, a Sound Wave toy breaks out of the present and does something to the [[oilnog]] that Sari made for the Autobots. The toy is barely able to hide as Optimus, [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]], and [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] weigh in on Santa's ability to deliver presents to all the children. Sari tells them to just accept the holiday magic and be thankful for what they have, like family, leading to a toast of the spiked oil. Soon, the Autobots all begin to feel tired and decide to call it a night, as Sari heads back to [[Sumdac Tower]].

[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part 1 Optimus Human.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Who would want to be a human in ''Transformers''? The [[Fandom|fans]] all hate them.]]
The next morning, Optimus wakes up, still woozy, and discovers something frightening: his hands are made of flesh! Falling off his bed in shock, Prime's eyes fall upon a mirror, and he discovers the horrifying truth—He's become a human! Optimus hears Bumblebee and Bulkhead cry out, and discovers that all the other Autobots are human as well. Optimus is convinced that there must be a reason, but a few scans by Ratchet are unable to determine the cause of the change. Looking for Prowl, the Autobots head outside, where they find the ninja is mostly at home with the situation, except he feels that something is wrong. Since they're unable to contact Sari, the Autobots decide to [[roll out|<s>roll ou—</s>]] er, walk to Sumdac Tower.

[[Image:TFA Human Error Sumdac dance.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Truly fun for all ages.]]
The Sumdacs, meanwhile, are exchanging Christmas presents, although Sari is less than impressed with the Soundwave toy she receives, having less-than-fond memories of her previous experience with the musical menace. The next present, a scooter, likewise fails to excite, until her father reveals that it also transforms into a jetpack! Thrilled at the gift, Sari takes off to show the Autobots, leaving her dad dancing and singing along with Sound Wave.

On their way to Sumdac Tower, the Autobots stop at [[Burger Bot]] when Bulkhead experiences the odd sensation of "hunger". Before long, he is also experiencing the thrills and spills of "the bathroom", while Prowl makes the most of his new human form, having a salad and playing peek-a-boo with a greatly amused [[Nancy Witwicky|baby]]. The light-heartedness is brought to an end by a sudden explosion outside, and the Autobots race onto the street to see an armada of airborne [[Decepticon]]s, with [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] in the lead, opening fire on the city! As chaos erupts around them, more Decepticons led by [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] come stomping up the street . A blast from Shockwave sets a nearby building on fire, and Prime orders the Autobots into action despite their frail new forms. While Bulkhead and Bumblebee fight the fire, Prime and Ratchet rescue a woman, and Prowl heads upstairs to save her [[Gary|son]]. At the last minute, Prowl dives out a window several stories up with the boy in his arms and lands with ease, prompting Bulkhead to wonder exactly how he accomplished such a seemingly impossible feat. Before any thought can go into the matter, Starscream transforms to robot mode and lands in front of them!

Carried by her new jetpack to the Autobot plant, Sari is surprised to discover it locked up tight, and even more surprised when the Autobots don't respond to her knocking. She flies into the plant through a skylight, but the whole building seems deserted, so she uses the computer to scan for the Autobots' energy signatures, which turn out to be coming from...inside the plant?

[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part 1 Starscream Bumblebee.jpg|thumb|right|180px|GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!]]
As Starscream tears up the street and sends humans scattering in fear, Bulkhead and Bumblebee rather foolishly attempt to attack him, and the results are rather predictable. When Optimus tries slashing the Decepticon with an axe, Starscream backhands him into a wall, breaking his leg. Hearing the Autobots refer to each other by name, Starscream realizes who his opponents are, but is so busy smirking over things that he loses sight of them and finds that he can't tell one human from another! Dismissing them, he departs for more destruction elsewhere, leaving the Autobots to have their injuries tended to by paramedics. Requiring some of Professor Sumdac's technology to fight the Decepticons, the Autobots board a bus to get to the tower quickly.

Back at the Autobots' plant, Sari is still searching for her friends, when suddenly, a [[Laserbeak (Animated)|large, robotic bird]] flies out of a shaft in the floor, followed by a small army of Sound Wave action figures! Sari blasts the evil toys and heads down the shaft to investigate.

[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part 1 Bumblebee vs Blitzwing.jpg|thumb|180px|left|''You spin my head right 'round, right 'round''.]]
At the foot of Sumdac Tower, the Autobots have just stepped off the bus when suddenly, a huge shadow falls over Detroit. Looking up, the stunned Autobots see the entire planet of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] itself hanging in the sky. Sumdac tower is obliterated by a huge planetary laser weapon, and a full-scale Decepticon invasion force swarms the sky, led by [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] himself! The Decepticons are just as surprised by the Automens' appearance as they are, but Megatron decides to take advantage by destroying them last, so that they may watch their adopted home be destroyed. The sheer impossibility of everything that is happening finally hits Optimus Prime and Prowl, who realize that whatever may be happening to them, none of it is real. Megatron seizes Prowl, but amazingly, the Autobot breaks free of his grip, and with a single swipe of his hand, severs Megatron's arm. Blitzwing attempts to crush Prowl beneath his foot, but Bulkhead runs forward and smashes straight through the [[Triple Changer]]'s leg. As Bumblebee pummels Blitzwing's faces and Prowl knocks out Starscream by phasing into his head, Optimus Prime beats Megatron with his own arm, then hurls his axe into the barrel of the Decepticon leader's cannon, causing it to explode. As the dust cloud fades, Cybertron and all of the Decepticons have vanished, and the Autobots come to the realization that they are trapped in some kind of virtual reality.

[[Image:TFA Human Error Part 1 Soundwave Superior.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Giant virtual "Shattered Glass" ''Animated'' Soundwave?]]
Sari makes the same discovery as the Autobots when she reaches the bottom of the secret shaft and discovers their bodies, plugged into machinery being operated by the full-size [[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]], who is planning to use the illusion to reprogram the Autobots into Decepticons. Within the virtual world, the Autobots are able to will themselves back into robotic form (although Bulkhead has a little trouble), but before they can take any further actions, a gigantic arm bursts out of the ground beneath them, scooping them up in its hand. Soundwave's giant face looks down upon the Autobots, declaring escape impossible and shocking them all with blasts of purple energy. Soundwave also has his hands full in the real world, as Sari blasts a chunk out of his shoulder with one of her energy-balls,. Soundwave summons Laserbeak, the robotic bird Sari saw earlier, into his arms, where it transforms into a guitar and hits Sari with a powerful sonic shock wave. The wounded Sari retreats, promising to come back for her friends and leaving Soundwave to resume the final phase of his Autobot reprogramming with [[Ratbat (Animated)|another musical instrument]] that bathes the heroic robots in waves of sonic energy. As Soundwave gloats, Optimus Prime's optics activate and begin glowing Decepticon-red...

[[Human Error, Part II|To be continued...]]

==Featured characters==
{{note|Characters in italics appear only as part of Soundwave's virtual reality scenario.}}
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (1)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (2)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (3)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (4)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (9)
|c2=
*[[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]] (5)
*''[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]]'' (12)
*''[[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]]'' (13)
*''[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]]'' (14)
*''[[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]'' (15)
*''[[Strika (Animated)|Strika]]'' (16)
*''[[Oil Slick (Animated)|Oil Slick]]'' (17)
*''[[Spittor (Animated)|Spittor]]'' (18)
*''[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]'' (23)
*[[Laserbeak (Animated)|Laserbeak]] (24)
*[[Ratbat (Animated)|Ratbat]] (25)
|c3=
*[[Porter C. Powell]] (6)
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (7)
*''[[Nancy Witwicky]]'' (10)
*''[[Carly Witwicky (Animated)|Carly Witwicky]]'' (11)
*''[[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|Daniel Witwicky]]'' (19)
*''[[Spike Witwicky (Animated)|Spike Witwicky]]'' (20)
*''[[Gary]]'' (21)
*''Hydra'' (22)
*''[[Marty Isenberg]]'' (23)
*''Cancer'' (24)
|c4=
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (8)
}}

==Quotes==

"That toy rightfully belongs to me, Powell! You are a thieving crook!" 
"And a Merry Christmas to you too, Professor Sumdac, but I acquired your toy's patents fair and square when I owned your company. Now I'm sharing Sound Wave with the entire world, for only $19.99 each." 
"$19.99? ''How does he do it''?!" 
:—'''Professor Sumdac''' unwittingly provides PR for '''Porter C. Powell's''' products. Say that three times fast.

'''Ratchet''': And I'm telling you, there is no way that this "Santa Claus" could deliver billions of presents in one night. 
'''Prowl''': I can think of at least one way. Ho. Ho. Ho. 
''[Prowl projects holograms of himself]'' 
'''Optimus''': A sound theory, Prowl. I did see multiple Santas in the shopping district tonight.
:—The Autobots weigh in on the debate of how Santa does his job.

"We need to get to Sumdac Tower. Auto—uh, men. Transfo—er, uh, roll—er, uh, oh, let's...let's just go."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' has a few slips on his "[[roll out]]" command.

"Why would ze Autobots choose to be human?" 
"Not for the fashion sense, I can tell you that. A-ha-ha-ha!"
:—'''Icy Blitzwing''' and '''Random Blitzwing''', the next [[wikipedia:Tim Gunn|Tim Gunn]].

"Not a creature was stirring, not even a—''[Laserbeak flies out of the Autobrand on the floor]'' creepy robot bird?" 
:—'''Sari Sumdac''' adds a new twist to a classic Christmas tale.

"Oh, look! I have a hole in my rocket!"
:—Even horrible injury cannot faze '''Random Blitzwing'''.

"Hey, we're baaaaack!" 
"Not all of us!" 
"It might help you if you make the noise with your mouth like this: ''Choo-chuh-chah-chik''!" 
"Sounds silly... But, okay. Choo-chuh-chah-chah-chik! ''Choo-chuh-chah-chah-chik''!"
:— '''Bumblebee''' and '''Bulkhead''', making [[Transform#The_noise|the transformation noise]] like so many of us do—DID. As children. Yeah.

"Escape is impossible. Autobots inferior, Soundwave superior."
:-'''Soundwave''' makes sure that line is never forgotten.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical errors===
* When Bulkhead sets down his Christmas present, the box is missing the horizontal ribbon it has in the preceding and following shots.
* When Ratchet scans Optimus, all the equipment is human-sized, instead of the much larger, Transformer-scaled size. Of course, it's not actually ''real'', but still.
[[Image:HumanError-DanielSpike.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The popular "Invisible Booster Seat" image from Lolbots.com.]]
* In the bus tram scene, Daniel is shown levitating over his seat.
* We first see [[Nancy Witwicky|<strike>Jennifer</strike> Nancy Witwicky]] for a few frames in the background next to a mom who isn't Carly. She's Carly later, though.
* After the explosion is heard outside the Burger Bot, Bulkhead's previously half-eaten burger is now whole.
* Bulkhead punches Starscream with his right hand...then screams and clutches his ''left'' hand...then after a scene cut, he is shown clutching his ''right'' hand...and later he gets a bandage put on his ''left'' hand. Of course, it's...oh, you get the idea.
* Of course, if this was real, we'd point out that the force with which Starscream smashed Optimus into the wall should probably have killed him, or at least caused a lot more damage than a broken leg. Good thing it's not, then.
* When Cybertron approaches Earth, it's entirely ''in front'' of the clouds, which is absurd for anything planet-sized. (Still not real, though.)
* The elevator platform in the Autobots' base shrinks from Autobot-sized at the top (such that Sari is shown to be tiny in comparison to it) to human-sized at the bottom (such that Laserbeak couldn't fit through the door even if it had been open).
* Blitzwing's face changes from Icy to Random when he lifts up his leg, only to be Icy again when he's looking through the hole after the shot changes.
* When Optimus beats Megatron with his own severed arm, the arm is ''freaking colossal'', nearly as big as the rest of Megatron's body. (Megatron's face also goes significantly off-model in the same scene.) It's also hollow, but that's what virtual things look like on the inside.
* When Optimus commands the "Automen" to transform, one of his irises is bigger than the other.
* When being held by the giant Soundwave, Prowl is briefly missing his armor.
* The hole Sari blows in Soundwave's backpack comes and goes. Hey, this bit is real!

===Continuity errors===
* Where did Soundwave get images of the Decepticons? In particular, since there are several conceivable ways to get the Earth Decepts' images, what are [[Team Chaar]] and [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] doing there, as none of them have been to Earth? Even if you somehow presume the Autobots themselves generated the images, only Oil Slick—per ''The Arrival'' comic—and Shockwave's head have been seen by any of Optimus's team.
* Where did Sari's jetpack go while she was on the lift? (For that matter, why did she transform out of her robot mode at all?)
* Lugnut disappears with the other Decepticons, despite the fact none of the Autobots fought him.

===Transformers references===
* [[Derrick Wyatt]] stated this episode was a partial homage to a [[Only Human|"classic" Generation 1 episode]].
* Sari's transforming scooter-jetpack was an early idea that didn't make it into the series, but which was featured in a promotional reel for the ''Animated'' series (seen on the convention circuit in mid-2007 and featured on the DVD included with the "Optimus Prime and Megatron: The Battle Begins" action figure set). The version introduced with this episode is somewhat different from the original concept, which was a pedal-powered tricycle that transformed using the power of the [[AllSpark Key]].
* The scooter's jetpack form is, in turn, based on the backpacks worn by the Acroyear/Acroyer, the villains from Takara's [[Microman]] toyline.
[[Image:HydraMartyCancer.jpg|right|thumb|150px|This is a winning sitcom concept right here.]]
* The [[Burger Bot]] patrons include series head writer [[Marty Isenberg]], [[Carly Witwicky (Animated)|Carly Witwicky]], her baby daughter [[Nancy Witwicky|Nancy]] (who was close to being born during the Season 2 episode "[[Garbage In, Garbage Out]]"), and ''Animated'' homages to the ''[[Super-God Masterforce (franchise)|Super-God Masterforce]]'' characters [[Cancer]] and [[Hydra (Masterforce)|Hydra]]. Hydra, Marty, and Cancer are sitting together at one table, indicating a very interesting family.
* Speaking of Masterforce, this episode also features [[Pretender|Transformers turning into people and back]], though in this case, it actually makes some kinda sense.
* Starscream's missiles feature the shark-toothed smiley faces sculpted into his Voyager-class toy's missile accessories.
* Cybertron was brought into Earth orbit twice in the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1]] series: first in the multipart episode "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 1|The Ultimate Doom]]", and then in the series finale, "[[The Rebirth, Part 3]]".
* Soundwave's declaration of "Autobots inferior; Soundwave superior" is a paraphrase of his Generation 1 namesake's famous line of dialogue from ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'': "Soundwave superior; Constructicons inferior."
* The colors on the giant Soundwave in the virtual world come from Takara's "Sonic White" Soundwave MP3 player.
* Prowl had already chopped off Megatron's arm in the [[Transform and Roll Out|pilot episode]].

===Foreign dubbing===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Erreur humaine 1/2'''" ("Human Error 1/2")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

===Real-world references===
* Appropriately enough, the first act of this episode incorporates traditional Christmas songs "[[Wikipedia: Carol of the Bells|Carol of the Bells]]", [[Wikipedia: Jingle Bells|Jingle Bells]]" and "[[Wikipedia:God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen|God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen]]" into the background music.
* When Sari's searching the Autobot base for her friends, at one point, her jetpack sounds like a [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Podracer podracer] from ''[[Star Wars]] Episode I: The Phantom Menace''.
* Sari quotes from the Christmas poem, "[[Wikipedia: A Visit from St. Nicholas|A Visit from St. Nicholas]]" (more commonly known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"), replacing the word "mouse" with "[[Laserbeak (Animated)|creepy robot bird]]".
* When Laserbeak chases Sari into the elevator, he makes sounds like a seagull.
* Bumblebee says "We're not in Detroit anymore," which is another twist on an oft-paraphrased line from ''The Wizard of Oz''.
* The scene of Cybertron blowing up [[Sumdac Tower]] is straight out of the mid-'90s summer blockbuster ''Independence Day'', in which an alien mothership blows up the White House in a similar manner while using the [[Death Star]] sound effect from ''Star Wars''.
* The whole idea of the heroes acting in a virtual world where only those aware of its true nature can break the laws of physics is similar to [[Wikipedia: The Matrix (series)|the ''Matrix'' series]].
* Prowl going into the burning building to save the child, despite being in human form, is highly reminiscent of a scene in ''Spider-Man 2'' in which Peter Parker does the same thing, despite not wearing his hero outfit.

===Trivia===
* This episode features an unusually high amount of [[stock footage]] by ''Animated'' standards. Starscream's sequence is a few seconds longer than when it was last seen in "[[Megatron Rising - Part 1]]". Of course, all the sequences of the "human" Autobots transforming have been re-edited.
* Apparently, in future Detroit, you are allowed to use public transportation while bearing a giant axe. Well, it ''is'' Detroit...
* Back in "[[Sound and Fury]]", Soundwave's voice was modulated using only one tone, meaning it never rose or fell. With this episode, more tones are introduced into his voice, allowing it to rise and fall in the same manner as his [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]] [[Soundwave (G1)|counterpart]].
* Sari's abilities include being capable of holding a full barrel of oil on each hand and surviving getting slammed into a wall by Laserbeak and Soundwave. Plus, she makes a mean oilnog.
* Man, Professor Sumdac sure can ''dance''.
* Now in his samurai armor, Prowl can make two or more holographic projections of himself, whereas he could only make one at a time before getting the armor. It's ''that'' awesome!
* Technically, since most of this episode wasn't real, most of the errors above can be dismissed. So nyah!
* This isn't the [[Bee in the City|first time]] Bumblebee has a taste of human food.
* Considering the presence of snow at the end of the first season, and now again here, it seems fairly obvious that it's been well over a year since the Autobots awoke from their stasis under Lake Erie. Additionally, while "[[Along Came a Spider]]" explicitly showed the Autobots' first Halloween, this is never said to be their first Christmas.
* Just when you thought he couldn't get any more awesome, Prowl becomes a Ghost/Cop/Ninja.
* As the Decepticon Jets attack Detroit, Two lugnuts are attacking. Lugnut in his regular color scheme and behind him is the [[To sell toys| Atomic Lugnut redeco]].

==Home video releases==
This episode has yet to be released on home video.

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Human Error, Part I

2010-08-23T13:25:41Z

81.106.173.212:

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=TFA Human Error Part 1 Automen.jpg
|caption=''Humans Animated'' is a very popular show on Cybertron.
|ep=37
|title="Human Error, Part I"
|airdate=[[April 18]], 2009
|written by=[[Henry Gilroy]]
|directed by=[[Kalvin Lee]] [[Christopher Berkeley]] [[Naoto Hashimoto]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}
'''With the Christmas season upon them, the Autobots are not quite themselves following a run-in with Porter C. Powell's new mass-produced Soundwave action figures.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part 1 Powell Soundwave.jpg|thumb|left|180px|He's actually worse than [[wikipedia:Vince Offer|Vince Offer]].]]
It's [[Christmas]] in Detroit, but [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] is not in a festive mood. The hottest toy of the year is [[Sound Wave]], being marketed by [[Porter C. Powell]], who acquired the schematics and patent when he ran [[Sumdac Systems]]. Observing a commercial for the new toy, Optimus notices one of the small robots running across the plaza near the trains. Trying to follow it, he is nearly run over by a train and finally decides that he may be obsessing.

At the plant, [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] and [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] are interested in what they got for Christmas, but [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] tells them that [[Santa Claus]] will know if they try to peek. As the two help Sari decorate, a Sound Wave toy breaks out of the present and does something to the [[oilnog]] that Sari made for the Autobots. The toy is barely able to hide as Optimus, [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]], and [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] weigh in on Santa's ability to deliver presents to all the children. Sari tells them to just accept the holiday magic and be thankful for what they have, like family, leading to a toast of the spiked oil. Soon, the Autobots all begin to feel tired and decide to call it a night, as Sari heads back to [[Sumdac Tower]].

[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part 1 Optimus Human.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Who would want to be a human in ''Transformers''? The [[Fandom|fans]] all hate them.]]
The next morning, Optimus wakes up, still woozy, and discovers something frightening: his hands are made of flesh! Falling off his bed in shock, Prime's eyes fall upon a mirror, and he discovers the horrifying truth—He's become a human! Optimus hears Bumblebee and Bulkhead cry out, and discovers that all the other Autobots are human as well. Optimus is convinced that there must be a reason, but a few scans by Ratchet are unable to determine the cause of the change. Looking for Prowl, the Autobots head outside, where they find the ninja is mostly at home with the situation, except he feels that something is wrong. Since they're unable to contact Sari, the Autobots decide to [[roll out|<s>roll ou—</s>]] er, walk to Sumdac Tower.

[[Image:TFA Human Error Sumdac dance.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Truly fun for all ages.]]
The Sumdacs, meanwhile, are exchanging Christmas presents, although Sari is less than impressed with the Soundwave toy she receives, having less-than-fond memories of her previous experience with the musical menace. The next present, a scooter, likewise fails to excite, until her father reveals that it also transforms into a jetpack! Thrilled at the gift, Sari takes off to show the Autobots, leaving her dad dancing and singing along with Sound Wave.

On their way to Sumdac Tower, the Autobots stop at [[Burger Bot]] when Bulkhead experiences the odd sensation of "hunger". Before long, he is also experiencing the thrills and spills of "the bathroom", while Prowl makes the most of his new human form, having a salad and playing peek-a-boo with a greatly amused [[Nancy Witwicky|baby]]. The light-heartedness is brought to an end by a sudden explosion outside, and the Autobots race onto the street to see an armada of airborne [[Decepticon]]s, with [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] in the lead, opening fire on the city! As chaos erupts around them, more Decepticons led by [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] come stomping up the street . A blast from Shockwave sets a nearby building on fire, and Prime orders the Autobots into action despite their frail new forms. While Bulkhead and Bumblebee fight the fire, Prime and Ratchet rescue a woman, and Prowl heads upstairs to save her [[Gary|son]]. At the last minute, Prowl dives out a window several stories up with the boy in his arms and lands with ease, prompting Bulkhead to wonder exactly how he accomplished such a seemingly impossible feat. Before any thought can go into the matter, Starscream transforms to robot mode and lands in front of them!

Carried by her new jetpack to the Autobot plant, Sari is surprised to discover it locked up tight, and even more surprised when the Autobots don't respond to her knocking. She flies into the plant through a skylight, but the whole building seems deserted, so she uses the computer to scan for the Autobots' energy signatures, which turn out to be coming from...inside the plant?

[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part 1 Starscream Bumblebee.jpg|thumb|right|180px|GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!]]
As Starscream tears up the street and sends humans scattering in fear, Bulkhead and Bumblebee rather foolishly attempt to attack him, and the results are rather predictable. When Optimus tries slashing the Decepticon with an axe, Starscream backhands him into a wall, breaking his leg. Hearing the Autobots refer to each other by name, Starscream realizes who his opponents are, but is so busy smirking over things that he loses sight of them and finds that he can't tell one human from another! Dismissing them, he departs for more destruction elsewhere, leaving the Autobots to have their injuries tended to by paramedics. Requiring some of Professor Sumdac's technology to fight the Decepticons, the Autobots board a bus to get to the tower quickly.

Back at the Autobots' plant, Sari is still searching for her friends, when suddenly, a [[Laserbeak (Animated)|large, robotic bird]] flies out of a shaft in the floor, followed by a small army of Sound Wave action figures! Sari blasts the evil toys and heads down the shaft to investigate.

[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part 1 Bumblebee vs Blitzwing.jpg|thumb|180px|left|''You spin my head right 'round, right 'round''.]]
At the foot of Sumdac Tower, the Autobots have just stepped off the bus when suddenly, a huge shadow falls over Detroit. Looking up, the stunned Autobots see the entire planet of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] itself hanging in the sky. Sumdac tower is obliterated by a huge planetary laser weapon, and a full-scale Decepticon invasion force swarms the sky, led by [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] himself! The Decepticons are just as surprised by the Automens' appearance as they are, but Megatron decides to take advantage by destroying them last, so that they may watch their adopted home be destroyed. The sheer impossibility of everything that is happening finally hits Optimus Prime and Prowl, who realize that whatever may be happening to them, none of it is real. Megatron seizes Prowl, but amazingly, the Autobot breaks free of his grip, and with a single swipe of his hand, severs Megatron's arm. Blitzwing attempts to crush Prowl beneath his foot, but Bulkhead runs forward and smashes straight through the [[Triple Changer]]'s leg. As Bumblebee pummels Blitzwing's faces and Prowl knocks out Starscream by phasing into his head, Optimus Prime beats Megatron with his own arm, then hurls his axe into the barrel of the Decepticon leader's cannon, causing it to explode. As the dust cloud fades, Cybertron and all of the Decepticons have vanished, and the Autobots come to the realization that they are trapped in some kind of virtual reality.

[[Image:TFA Human Error Part 1 Soundwave Superior.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Giant virtual "Shattered Glass" ''Animated'' Soundwave?]]
Sari makes the same discovery as the Autobots when she reaches the bottom of the secret shaft and discovers their bodies, plugged into machinery being operated by the full-size [[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]], who is planning to use the illusion to reprogram the Autobots into Decepticons. Within the virtual world, the Autobots are able to will themselves back into robotic form (although Bulkhead has a little trouble), but before they can take any further actions, a gigantic arm bursts out of the ground beneath them, scooping them up in its hand. Soundwave's giant face looks down upon the Autobots, declaring escape impossible and shocking them all with blasts of purple energy. Soundwave also has his hands full in the real world, as Sari blasts a chunk out of his shoulder with one of her energy-balls,. Soundwave summons Laserbeak, the robotic bird Sari saw earlier, into his arms, where it transforms into a guitar and hits Sari with a powerful sonic shock wave. The wounded Sari retreats, promising to come back for her friends and leaving Soundwave to resume the final phase of his Autobot reprogramming with [[Ratbat (Animated)|another musical instrument]] that bathes the heroic robots in waves of sonic energy. As Soundwave gloats, Optimus Prime's optics activate and begin glowing Decepticon-red...

[[Human Error, Part II|To be continued...]]

==Featured characters==
{{note|Characters in italics appear only as part of Soundwave's virtual reality scenario.}}
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (1)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (2)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (3)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (4)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (9)
|c2=
*[[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]] (5)
*''[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]]'' (12)
*''[[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]]'' (13)
*''[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]]'' (14)
*''[[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]'' (15)
*''[[Strika (Animated)|Strika]]'' (16)
*''[[Oil Slick (Animated)|Oil Slick]]'' (17)
*''[[Spittor (Animated)|Spittor]]'' (18)
*''[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]'' (23)
*[[Laserbeak (Animated)|Laserbeak]] (24)
*[[Ratbat (Animated)|Ratbat]] (25)
|c3=
*[[Porter C. Powell]] (6)
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (7)
*''[[Nancy Witwicky]]'' (10)
*''[[Carly Witwicky (Animated)|Carly Witwicky]]'' (11)
*''[[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|Daniel Witwicky]]'' (19)
*''[[Spike Witwicky (Animated)|Spike Witwicky]]'' (20)
*''[[Gary]]'' (21)
*''Hydra'' (22)
*''[[Marty Isenberg]]'' (23)
*''Cancer'' (24)
|c4=
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (8)
}}

==Quotes==

"That toy rightfully belongs to me, Powell! You are a thieving crook!" 
"And a Merry Christmas to you too, Professor Sumdac, but I acquired your toy's patents fair and square when I owned your company. Now I'm sharing Sound Wave with the entire world, for only $19.99 each." 
"$19.99? ''How does he do it''?!" 
:—'''Professor Sumdac''' unwittingly provides PR for '''Porter C. Powell's''' products. Say that three times fast.

'''Ratchet''': And I'm telling you, there is no way that this "Santa Claus" could deliver billions of presents in one night. 
'''Prowl''': I can think of at least one way. Ho. Ho. Ho. 
''[Prowl projects holograms of himself]'' 
'''Optimus''': A sound theory, Prowl. I did see multiple Santas in the shopping district tonight.
:—The Autobots weigh in on the debate of how Santa does his job.

"We need to get to Sumdac Tower. Auto—uh, men. Transfo—er, uh, roll—er, uh, oh, let's...let's just go."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' has a few slips on his "[[roll out]]" command.

"Why would ze Autobots choose to be human?" 
"Not for the fashion sense, I can tell you that. A-ha-ha-ha!"
:—'''Icy Blitzwing''' and '''Random Blitzwing''', the next [[wikipedia:Tim Gunn|Tim Gunn]].

"Not a creature was stirring, not even a—''[Laserbeak flies out of the Autobrand on the floor]'' creepy robot bird?" 
:—'''Sari Sumdac''' adds a new twist to a classic Christmas tale.

"Oh, look! I have a hole in my rocket!"
:—Even horrible injury cannot faze '''Random Blitzwing'''.

"Hey, we're baaaaack!" 
"Not all of us!" 
"It might help you if you make the noise with your mouth like this: ''Choo-chuh-chah-chik''!" 
"Sounds silly... But, okay. Choo-chuh-chah-chah-chik! ''Choo-chuh-chah-chah-chik''!"
:— '''Bumblebee''' and '''Bulkhead''', making [[Transform#The_noise|the transformation noise]] like so many of us do—DID. As children. Yeah.

"Escape is impossible. Autobots inferior, Soundwave superior."
:-'''Soundwave''' makes sure that line is never forgotten.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical errors===
* When Bulkhead sets down his Christmas present, the box is missing the horizontal ribbon it has in the preceding and following shots.
* When Ratchet scans Optimus, all the equipment is human-sized, instead of the much larger, Transformer-scaled size. Of course, it's not actually ''real'', but still.
[[Image:HumanError-DanielSpike.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The popular "Invisible Booster Seat" image from Lolbots.com.]]
* In the bus tram scene, Daniel is shown levitating over his seat.
* We first see [[Nancy Witwicky|<strike>Jennifer</strike> Nancy Witwicky]] for a few frames in the background next to a mom who isn't Carly. She's Carly later, though.
* After the explosion is heard outside the Burger Bot, Bulkhead's previously half-eaten burger is now whole.
* Bulkhead punches Starscream with his right hand...then screams and clutches his ''left'' hand...then after a scene cut, he is shown clutching his ''right'' hand...and later he gets a bandage put on his ''left'' hand. Of course, it's...oh, you get the idea.
* Of course, if this was real, we'd point out that the force with which Starscream smashed Optimus into the wall should probably have killed him, or at least caused a lot more damage than a broken leg. Good thing it's not, then.
* When Cybertron approaches Earth, it's entirely ''in front'' of the clouds, which is absurd for anything planet-sized. (Still not real, though.)
* The elevator platform in the Autobots' base shrinks from Autobot-sized at the top (such that Sari is shown to be tiny in comparison to it) to human-sized at the bottom (such that Laserbeak couldn't fit through the door even if it had been open).
* Blitzwing's face changes from Icy to Random when he lifts up his leg, only to be Icy again when he's looking through the hole after the shot changes.
* When Optimus beats Megatron with his own severed arm, the arm is ''freaking colossal'', nearly as big as the rest of Megatron's body. (Megatron's face also goes significantly off-model in the same scene.) It's also hollow, but that's what virtual things look like on the inside.
* When Optimus commands the "Automen" to transform, one of his irises is bigger than the other.
* When being held by the giant Soundwave, Prowl is briefly missing his armor.
* The hole Sari blows in Soundwave's backpack comes and goes. Hey, this bit is real!

===Continuity errors===
* Where did Soundwave get images of the Decepticons? In particular, since there are several conceivable ways to get the Earth Decepts' images, what are [[Team Chaar]] and [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] doing there, as none of them have been to Earth? Even if you somehow presume the Autobots themselves generated the images, only Oil Slick—per ''The Arrival'' comic—and Shockwave's head have been seen by any of Optimus's team.
* Where did Sari's jetpack go while she was on the lift? (For that matter, why did she transform out of her robot mode at all?)
* Lugnut disappears with the other Decepticons, despite the fact none of the Autobots fought him.

===Transformers references===
* [[Derrick Wyatt]] stated this episode was a partial homage to a [[Only Human|"classic" Generation 1 episode]].
* Sari's transforming scooter-jetpack was an early idea that didn't make it into the series, but which was featured in a promotional reel for the ''Animated'' series (seen on the convention circuit in mid-2007 and featured on the DVD included with the "Optimus Prime and Megatron: The Battle Begins" action figure set). The version introduced with this episode is somewhat different from the original concept, which was a pedal-powered tricycle that transformed using the power of the [[AllSpark Key]].
* The scooter's jetpack form is, in turn, based on the backpacks worn by the Acroyear/Acroyer, the villains from Takara's [[Microman]] toyline.
[[Image:HydraMartyCancer.jpg|right|thumb|150px|This is a winning sitcom concept right here.]]
* The [[Burger Bot]] patrons include series head writer [[Marty Isenberg]], [[Carly Witwicky (Animated)|Carly Witwicky]], her baby daughter [[Nancy Witwicky|Nancy]] (who was close to being born during the Season 2 episode "[[Garbage In, Garbage Out]]"), and ''Animated'' homages to the ''[[Super-God Masterforce (franchise)|Super-God Masterforce]]'' characters [[Cancer]] and [[Hydra (Masterforce)|Hydra]]. Hydra, Marty, and Cancer are sitting together at one table, indicating a very interesting family.
* Speaking of Masterforce, this episode also features [[Pretender|Transformers turning into people and back]], though in this case, it actually makes some kinda sense.
* Starscream's missiles feature the shark-toothed smiley faces sculpted into his Voyager-class toy's missile accessories.
* Cybertron was brought into Earth orbit twice in the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1]] series: first in the multipart episode "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 1|The Ultimate Doom]]", and then in the series finale, "[[The Rebirth, Part 3]]".
* Soundwave's declaration of "Autobots inferior; Soundwave superior" is a paraphrase of his Generation 1 namesake's famous line of dialogue from ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'': "Soundwave superior; Constructicons inferior."
* The colors on the giant Soundwave in the virtual world come from Takara's "Sonic White" Soundwave MP3 player.
* Prowl had already chopped off Megatron's arm in the [[Transform and Roll Out|pilot episode]].

===Foreign dubbing===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Erreur humaine 1/2'''" ("Human Error 1/2")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

===Real-world references===
* Appropriately enough, the first act of this episode incorporates traditional Christmas songs "[[Wikipedia: Carol of the Bells|Carol of the Bells]]", [[Wikipedia: Jingle Bells|Jingle Bells]]" and "[[Wikipedia:God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen|God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen]]" into the background music.
* When Sari's searching the Autobot base for her friends, at one point, her jetpack sounds like a [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Podracer podracer] from ''[[Star Wars]] Episode I: The Phantom Menace''.
* Sari quotes from the Christmas poem, "[[Wikipedia: A Visit from St. Nicholas|A Visit from St. Nicholas]]" (more commonly known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"), replacing the word "mouse" with "[[Laserbeak (Animated)|creepy robot bird]]".
* When Laserbeak chases Sari into the elevator, he makes sounds like a seagull.
* Bumblebee says "We're not in Detroit anymore," which is another twist on an oft-paraphrased line from ''The Wizard of Oz''.
* The scene of Cybertron blowing up [[Sumdac Tower]] is straight out of the mid-'90s summer blockbuster ''Independence Day'', in which an alien mothership blows up the White House in a similar manner while using the [[Death Star]] sound effect from ''Star Wars''.
* The whole idea of the heroes acting in a virtual world where only those aware of its true nature can break the laws of physics is similar to [[Wikipedia: The Matrix (series)|the ''Matrix'' series]].
* Prowl going into the burning building to save the child, despite being in human form, is highly reminiscent of a scene in ''Spider-Man 2'' in which Peter Parker does the same thing, despite not wearing his hero outfit.

===Trivia===
* This episode features an unusually high amount of [[stock footage]] by ''Animated'' standards. Starscream's sequence is a few seconds longer than when it was last seen in "[[Megatron Rising - Part 1]]". Of course, all the sequences of the "human" Autobots transforming have been re-edited.
* Apparently, in future Detroit, you are allowed to use public transportation while bearing a giant axe. Well, it ''is'' Detroit...
* Back in "[[Sound and Fury]]", Soundwave's voice was modulated using only one tone, meaning it never rose or fell. With this episode, more tones are introduced into his voice, allowing it to rise and fall in the same manner as his [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]] [[Soundwave (G1)|counterpart]].
* Sari's abilities include being capable of holding a full barrel of oil on each hand and surviving getting slammed into a wall by Laserbeak and Soundwave. Plus, she makes a mean oilnog.
* Man, Professor Sumdac sure can ''dance''.
* Now in his samurai armor, Prowl can make two or more holographic projections of himself, whereas he could only make one at a time before getting the armor. It's ''that'' awesome!
* Technically, since most of this episode wasn't real, most of the errors above can be dismissed. So nyah!
* This isn't the [[Bee in the City|first time]] Bumblebee has a taste of human food.
* Considering the presence of snow at the end of the first season, and now again here, it seems fairly obvious that it's been well over a year since the Autobots awoke from their stasis under Lake Erie. Additionally, while "[[Along Came a Spider]]" explicitly showed the Autobots' first Halloween, this is never said to be their first Christmas.
* Just when you thought he couldn't get any more awesome, Prowl becomes a Ghost/Cop/Ninja.
* As the Decepticon Jets attack Detroit, Two lugnuts are attacking. Lugnut in his regular color scheme and behind him is the Atomic Lugnut [[To sell toys| Redeco]].

==Home video releases==
This episode has yet to be released on home video.

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Sideways (ROTF)

2010-08-22T19:19:53Z

81.106.173.212:

{{factions|decepticonfilm}}
{{disambig2|the live-action Decepticon|the Unicron-serving backstabber from every other continuity|Sideways (RID)}}
:''Sideways is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[Revenge of the Fallen (franchise)|Revenge of the Fallen franchise]] in the [[Live-action film series|live-action film]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:Sidewaysrotf.jpg|thumb|300px|Guess what? I'm not [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]]! Had you all fooled, didn't I?]]

Before the war, '''Sideways''' was a simple courier, not exactly a career demanding massive levels of courage. This means that in the battle against the [[Autobots]], Sideways prefers to team up with larger Decepticons. This way, his target-friendly companion takes all the heat! In fact, he generally shuns combat entirely. He's not a courageous fellow. But when he absolutely must face the enemy, he eagerly deploys the spinning saw blades on his arms.

Since he's arrived on [[Earth]], Sideways has started hanging out with the mountainous [[Demolishor (ROTF)|Demolishor]]. There are few larger Decepticons to lurk in the shadow of!

{{bigquote|Just 'cause I'd always ''rather'' flee than fight, don't mean I ''can't''!|Sideways to Arcee, [[Transformers Comic issue 2.5]]}}

{{note|Sideways' body design and destination on Earth match those of the ''other'' [[Sideways (RID)|Sideways]], in a manner fairly consistent with that latter character's preferred method of jumping between dimensions. It may in fact be the case that the two Sideways-es are one and the same, which would cast a very different light on "his" behavior in this continuity. See below for more details.}}

==Fiction==
===Titan Magazines===

[[Image:Titan5_Sidewayssideswipes.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Sideways HATES [[Sideways (RID)|purple motorbikes]]!]]

Sideways made an early landing in [[Australia]], with [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]] pursuing him through its northern territories. With his souped-up sports car alt mode, Sideways had them outclassed on the roads and was able to both outpace the Autobots and batter them about. Eventually, Optimus decided to change the terrain by blasting the Decepticon off the road. While willing to fight, the Decepticon gave up when human reinforcements arrived.

However, it became clear (to us, anyway) that he was ''meant'' to get captured as part of a plan to frame [[Skids (ROTF)|Skids]] and [[Mudflap (ROTF)|Mudflap]]: as soon as he was taken to [[Diego Garcia]], [[Scorponok (Movie)|Scorponok]] arrived to free him. Knocking Arcee aside and using debris as a weapon against humans, Sideways made good his escape. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.5|Reversal of Fortune}}

[[Image:Titan_deceptitwins.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''There is nowhere to run THIS time...'']]

Unfortunately for Sideways, the other part of [[Soundwave (ROTF)|Soundwave's]] plan was to get Skids and Mudflap into the Decepticons, and there was no escape from the twins talking ''all the time'' and dissing him as an "average, creativity-stifled grunt". When the twins were sent to bring in [[Ransack (ROTF)|Ransack]], he protested that they were halfwits, and was relieved to find out they were just bait and he'd get to kill 'em afterwards.

Trailing the twins with [[Grindor (ROTF)|Grindor]], he discovered to his disgust that the twins had talked to Ransack instead of fighting. That was "the sort of example that ''so'' needs nipping in the bud", so he and Grindor attacked! Unfortunately for Sideways, the twins were only pretending to defect so they could capture a Decepticon; Mudflap engaged Sideways in a game of chicken, forcing the 'con off the road and straight into a tree. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.7|Turnabout}}

{{-}}

===''Revenge of the Fallen'' film===
[[Image:ROTF Sideways Chromia.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Sideways desperately tries to flee from a rabid fangirl.]]

Sideways was hiding out in [[Shanghai]] with [[Demolishor (ROTF)|Demolishor]] when [[NEST]] came to investigate a possible Decepticon insurgence. At first, the two Decepticons remained concealed, but Demolishor soon transformed and attacked. While the soldiers and their Autobot allies were busy fighting off Demolishor, Sideways took advantage of the chaos and attempted to make his getaway. He was not entirely undetected, however, as [[William Lennox|Major Lennox]] sent out [[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]] and [[Mudflap (ROTF)|the]] [[Skids (ROTF)|twins]] in pursuit.

[[Image:ROTF Sideways death.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"well, at least, I had more screen time than [[Jolt_(ROTF)|Jolt]]..."]]
With Arcee and the Twins on his tail, Sideways turned a corner to an apartment complex in his way. Rather than turn and lose momentum, Sideways chucked caution to the wind and transformed, jumping through the apartment building and out the other side. The Twins were unable to keep up with the chase, and Sideways was soon able to fight off Arcee. Sideways didn't get far, and eventually met his end when [[Sideswipe (ROTF)|Sideswipe]] engaged in pursuit, transformed, and bisected Sideways as he attempted to flee. {{storylink|Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}

{{--}}

===''Revenge of the Fallen'' toy bios===
{{notemoviebio}}

Sideways and [[Rampage (ROTF)|Rampage]] burst from their cover when they found [[Breakaway (ROTF)|Breakaway]] and [[Longarm (Movie)|Longarm]] hunting them. While Rampage confronted Breakaway, Sideways battled Longarm through the streets. The final result of this battle is unknown.
{{storylink|#StrikeMission|Autobot Strike Mission toy bio}}

Long reliant on his high speed to make his getaways, Sideways found himself in shock when the body-modifying [[Blowpipe (ROTF)|Blowpipe]] was easily able to keep up with him. {{storylink|#SuperTunerThrowdown|Super Tuner Throwdown toy bio}}

Besides his speed, Sideways enjoys using deception to get himself out of trouble. This doesn't work very well on [[Rollbar (RPM)|Rollbar]], who plans to make the lying Sideways an acquaintance of his fists. Why Sideways decided to change his paintjob for this meeting is anyone's guess. {{storylink|#RollbarVsSideways|Rollbar VS Sideways}}

===Transformers (2010) toy bios===
[[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]] and her sisters [[Chromia (ROTF)|Chromia]] and [[Elita-1 (ROTF)|Elita-1]] had hunted Sideways in the past, but he always got away. After begging [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]], the three of them got another shot at bringing him down. {{storylink|#SneakAttack|Sideways Sneak Attack}}

After his defeat (read: bisection) by [[Sideswipe (ROTF)|Sideswipe]], Sideways "was rebuilt and sent deep undercover to infiltrate the Autobots".<ref>Seriously. What the hell?</ref> During Sideways' sojourn into the Autobot camp, however, [[Mudflap (ROTF)|Mudflap]] and [[Skids (ROTF)|Skids]] became suspicious of him, and reverted to their old ice cream truck form to keep track of him. Having discovered Sideways' treachery, they plan to prove their worth by defeating him on their own! {{storylink|#SpyBattle|High-Speed Spy Battle}}

==Games==
===''Revenge of the Fallen'' - The Game===
:''Voice actor:'' [[John DiMaggio]]

====''Revenge of the Fallen''- The Game (Xbox 360/Sony PS3/PC)====
=====Decepticon campaign=====
[[Image:ROTFTheGame_Sideways.jpg|300px|thumb|Bite my shiny metal ass!]]

Sideways operated as a high-speed reconnaissance operative with the ability to snipe at Autobot opponents from afar with his [[plasma sniper rifle]], engage them up-close with his rapid-firing slag repeater, and slow enemies to a crawl with his [[graviton mine]] when he needed to get away. He uses a pair of saws in melee combat.

Sideways was deployed to Shanghai after the Autobots and their NEST allies were detected interfering with an important operation in the area. Upon arrival, various [[Protectobot Scout|Protectobot drones]] were sent to stop him, but failed. Later, Sideways was sent to the Shanghai waterfront to retrieve [[Grindor (ROTF)|Grindor]], who had been damaged and captured by the Autobots. The nimble Decepticon sports car used a combination of speed and guile to fight his way through the numerically superior Autobot forces, freed Grindor and escorted his bigger buddy back to the extraction point. He was sent back to the waterfront again find a cloaked Autobot probe that threatened the Decepticon operations in China. Following the probe's wake, Sideways raced through the waterfront past startled human dockworkers and the [[Protectobot Warrior|Protectobot units]] assigned to the area, destroying the probe as it revealed itself. {{Storylink|Revenge of the Fallen (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)}}
{{--}}

=====Autobot campaign=====
The Autobots were deployed to China when NEST forces detected the presence of Decepticons in Shanghai. Sideways secreted himself within the urban jungle and sent waves of [[Stunticon Scout 2|Stunticon drones]] against [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]]. After the last batch of Stunticons had been defeated, Sideways revealed himself, taking pot shots at the powerful Autobot with his [[slag repeater]], after which he would <s>cheese it</s> flee through the narrow alleyways where Ironhide had difficulty following. While the Autobot struggled to pass the cramped causeways, Sideways set himself up on the roof of the tallest residential block and fired his plasma sniper rifle. Ironhide shrugged off the blasts, clambered up the building, and with a mighty punch, sent Sideways plummeting to the ground, reducing him to scrap. {{Storylink|Revenge of the Fallen (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)}}

==Toys==
===Revenge of the Fallen===
====Legends Class toys====
[[Image:ROTF-toy_Legends_Sideways.jpg|thumb|right|300px|]]
*'''Sideways''' (Legends, 2009)
**''Japanese ID number:''
: A smaller-scale Sideways with a simplified transformation reminiscent of [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]]'s, such as making the sides of the car into his arms. He features ball joint hips, backwards knee things, and ball joint arms for articulation. Like with the Deluxe toy, the car lacks the wide black stripe from the movie.

: This mold was also used to make [[Transformers (2010 toyline)|2010 ''Transformers'']] [[Override (TF 2010)|Override]].
{{-}}

====Deluxe Class toys====
[[Image:ROTF Deluxe Sideways.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Seriously, how could you mistake me for [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]]?]]
*'''Sideways''' (Deluxe, 2009)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''RD-05'''

:Deluxe-Class Sideways features [[Automorph]] action during the conversion from car to robot mode. When the front bumper is pressed, his front pair of wheels automatically flip underneath the hood, and his robot abs flip down. There is also some [[Mech Alive]]: you can see internal gears moving in his fore-arms when moving his arms, as well as a turning disk on each of his elbows. On his right arm is a spinning "saw" blade. He is probably the least film-accurate toy to date (that doesn't fall in a lesser [[Legends Class|size-class]] or different [[Movie (toyline) #Fast Transformers Fun|toy-line]]), but that doesn't make him any less awesome.

:Unlike the other on-screen characters in ''[[Revenge of the Fallen (toyline)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'' who turn into consumer vehicles, Sideways' vehicle mode is merely an approximation of an [[wikipedia:Audi_R8|Audi R8]] and is not an accurate replica. This is because the toy vehicle, lacking Audi signage, is unlicensed. Deluxe class Sideways is missing the black front lid, roof and rear hood seen on Sideways toys of other price points, and the real car. However, all of the toys are missing the unique silver stripes on top of the black areas seen on the [http://www.europeancarsblog.com/apr-audi-r8/ APR-tuned Audi R8], which was the car used in the movie.

:Yet another victim of late mold changes rampant among the 2008-2009 financial crisis, Sideways appears to have had a hinged thumb on his left hand in Hasbro stock photos whereas this is a solid section molded on to the arm on the final toy. Although not indicated on any early photos nor instructions, Sideways' windshield underside has two notches that connect to Sideways' hood on small square pegs immediately behind the front wheels. This requires folding up the two small triangular pieces on top of the hood. Also it seems as if the spinning saw blade was originally powered by gears, the gearbox and shaft for the lever can still be seen on his right forearm but are molded just like his thumb onto the arm.

:Along with [[Breakaway (ROTF)|Breakaway]], Sideways was initially released in two color schemes, a light silver version and a less common very dark silver version. If you move the headlights, doors and legs of the lighter Sideways to the darker one, allowing for a dark hood and roof, and silver everywhere else, it helps to make for a slightly more movie-accurate Sideways. However, the stripes will still be missing.

:This mold was retooled into the Deluxe class version of ''Revenge of the Fallen'' [[Dead End (ROTF)|Dead End]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2009/Decepticon/Sideways/sideways.htm More information on Sideways at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|StrikeMission}}
[[Image:ROTFAutobotStrikeMission.jpg|thumb|300px]]
*'''Autobot Strike Mission''' (Deluxe class figure multipack, 2009)
**''Accessories:'' Missile

:Available as a [[Sam's Club]]-[[exclusive]], this "battle damaged" version of Sideways was packed with ''Movie'' [[Longarm (Movie)|Longarm]], [[Rampage (ROTF)|Rampage]] and [[Breakaway (ROTF)|Breakaway]].

{{-}}
{{anchor|SuperTunerThrowdown}}
[[Image:ROTFtoy-BlowpipeSideways.jpg|right|thumb|300px|]]
*'''Super Tuner Throwdown''' (Deluxe class figure two-pack, 2009)
**''Accessories:'' Missile
:Another release of Sideways was available with [[Blowpipe (ROTF)|Blowpipe]], a [[Pipes]] homage, as a Walmart exclusive. It is identical to the single-packed darker version of Sideways.
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====Fast Action Battlers====
[[Image:Sideways ROTF FAB toy.jpg|right|300px|thumb|''"Do your arms hang low...?"'']]
*'''Magna Missile Sideways''' (Fast Action Battlers, 2009)
**''Accessories:'' Missile

:''[[Fast Action Battlers]]'' Magna Missile Sideways is a simplified toy that transforms into a somewhat cutesified car mode. Its right arm features a firing missile sculpted to resemble Sideways's buzzsaw weapon. The toy's robot mode has the entire sides of the car becoming his arms, making this toy even more similar to Barricade than Sideways's movie CG and Deluxe class toy robot design. Like most of the Sideways toys and merchandise (bar the Deluxe & Legends class figures), he features screen-accurate black paint on his vehicle front lid, roof and rear hood.

{{--}}
===Transformers (2010)===
====Deluxe Class toys====
{{anchor|SpyBattle}}
*'''High-Speed Spy Battle''' (Multi-pack, 2010)
:This [[Target]]-exclusive multi-pack contains a minimally-altered redeco of Sideways and a ridiculously mud-caked version of the deluxe [[Mudflap (ROTF)|Mudflap]]/[[Skids (ROTF)|Skids]] ice cream truck.
{{-}}

{{anchor|SneakAttack}}
*'''Sideways Sneak Attack''' (Multi-pack, 2010)
:This multi-pack is based on Sideways's scene in ''Revenge of the Fallen'', and contains a redeco of his Deluxe-class toy in movie-accurate colors. He's even adorned with a "cut" [[paint operation]] straight across his vehicle mode, replicating the lethal wound given to him by Sideswipe. The set also contains Legends-class toys of [[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]], [[Chromia (ROTF)|Chromia]] and [[Elita-1 (ROTF)|Elita-1]]. It will be a exclusive, but it's as of yet unknown which store will carry it.

{{comingsoontoy}}

==Merchandise==
===R.P.M.s - Robot Powered Machines===
====Speed Series====
[[Image:ROTFtoy-SidewaysRPM.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Sideways? More like UNDERside! OH!]]
*'''Sideways''' (R.P.M. Mini-Vehicle, 2009)
**''Number:'' '''01 of 04'''

: Number one in a series of four [[Robot Powered Machines]] [[Mini-Vehicle]] single packs, Sideways is an untransformable Hot Wheels-like car, unless you count his robot mode being sculpted and painted onto the underside of him. The toy features through-axle construction that allows it to zip along at fast speeds on flat surfaces.

: This mold was also used to make ''Revenge of the Fallen'' [[Wreckloose (ROTF)|Wreckloose]].

{{-}}

====Battle Series====
{{anchor|RollbarVsSideways}}
[[Image:ROTF_RPM_Rollbar vs Sideways.jpg|thumb|300px|]]
*'''Rollbar vs Sideways''' (R.P.M. [[Mini-Vehicle]], 2009)
**''Number:'' '''08'''
:The second release of Sideways comes packaged with [[Rollbar (RPM)|Rollbar]]. Sideways' new colours resembles the Deluxe class version of [[Dead End (ROTF)|Dead End]].

{{-}}

===Robot Heroes===
[[Image:Robotheroessideswipesideways.jpg|right|thumb|300px|My shiny metal saw will bite ''you!'']]
*'''Sideswipe and Sideways''' (2009)
: Sideways is part of the first wave of ''[[Revenge of the Fallen]]'' ''[[Robot Heroes]]'' figures and is packaged versus [[Sideswipe (ROTF)|Sideswipe]]. He has rotational articulation at both shoulders and extremely limited neck articulation. Curiously, he holds a chainsaw-like blade in his hand, rather than it being integrated into wheel-kibble on his wrist. However, this is pretty close to how his weapon actually works in the official video game; when Sideways fights in melee, his wheel-blades spread out to form razor-edged ovals, presumably for added reach.

{{-}}
[[Image:Robotheroestwinswidewaysprimedemolishorsideswipe.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The Twins aren't the only vehicle that splits in two in this scene.]]
*'''Shanghai Shootout''' (Multi-pack, 2009)
:Shanghai Shootout replicates the opening action scene from ''Revenge of the Fallen'', featuring figurines of [[Mudflap (ROTF)|Mudflap]]/[[Skids (ROTF)|Skids]] (ice cream truck), Sideways (vehicle mode), [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]], [[Demolishor (ROTF)|Demolishor]], and [[Sideswipe (ROTF)|Sideswipe]] (vehicle mode). Demolishor is a slightly-oversized figure and the centerpiece of the box set.

{{--}}

==Notes==
[[Image:Sidewaysanimated.jpg|right|thumb|100px|[[Talk:Sideways (RID)|Spreads chaos like nothing else.]]]]

* ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac Volume 2|The AllSpark Almanac Volume 2]]'' revealed that the other Sideways—the devious dimension-hopping minion of Unicron—had made contact with the ''Animated'' universe, and that, while inhabiting that universe, he adopted a body form similar to ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Sideways and shows an interest in visiting [[Shanghai]]. If that character were to make that transit in keeping with his past established behavior then it would mean that ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Sideways is, after all, ''Robots in Disguise''/Unicron Trilogy/''Robot Masters''/''Animated'' Sideways. However, the book only asserts his intention to visit Shanghai, not that he actually traveled there, nor does it specify which dimension's Shanghai he even meant—there is no unambiguous proof that such a jaunt was made and that the two Sidewayses must be the same character. Author [[Jim Sorenson]] characterized the book as being meant to match the ''Animated'' series' penchant for "in-jokes and Easter Eggs" [http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=70553&st=400] , suggesting that [[author intent|he might not have meant it to be taken seriously]]. It is left to individual fans to [[personal canon|judge matters for themselves]]. Well at least he's freakin' dead now!

*When [[Wikipedia:Audi|Audi]] was looking to win screen time for one of its cars in the summer films during 2009, Ruben Igielko-Herrlich, a marketing consultant from Propaganda Global Entertainment Marketing, helped the company to find an opportunity in the film ''[[Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen]]''. Ruben talked the staff from the film into finding a role for the [[Wikipedia:Audi R8|Audi R8]]. Ultimately, an Audi R8 appears in the film as Sideways. Thus, Sideways became the only car Transformer in the movie whose alternate mode is not manufactured by [[General Motors]].<ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_28/b4139068367113.htm Hollywood's Blockbuster Role for Product Placement - BusinessWeek]</ref>

* According to the pre-visualization animation from the movie DVD's bonus material, Sideways was originally supposed to have a Lamborghini [[alternate mode]] as compared to the Audi R8 seen in the film.

* Sideways's toys and merchandise are not licensed by Audi, and are thus merely approximations of the R8. However, Sideways' appearance in the [[Revenge of the Fallen (video games)|''Revenge of the Fallen'' video games]] is fully licensed, so he is accurate to the car used in the film and has Audi's logos and signage.

* According to designer [[Hisashi Yuki]], the wheels on the hands were a rushed late addition due to a design change in the movie character model. <ref>[http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/interviews-27/takaratomy-staff-interview-translation-hisashi-yuki-rotf-rid-prime-bt-skids-and-bwn-unicron-168426/ Hisashi Yuki interview from Takaratomy]</ref> This is why the hand tires are not integrated more properly into the toy.

* Sideways almost was Barricade! [[Chris Mowry]] had planned for Barricade to appear and be turned into Sideways in [[Alliance (comic)|''Transformers: Alliance'']], but Hasbro rejected the idea.<ref>[http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/members/mowry-73165.html#vmessage170099]</ref>

==Reference==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Decepticons]]
[[Category:Revenge of the Fallen characters]]
[[Category:Robot Heroes]]
[[Category:Transformers 2010 toyline characters]]

Bulkhead (Animated)

2010-08-21T18:44:32Z

81.106.173.212:

{{factions|autobot}}
{{picsneeded|Cartoon and comic 'caps}}
{{disambig3|Bulkhead}}
:''Bulkhead is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:AniBulkheadPromoModel.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Crumplezone (Cybertron)|Crumplezone]] called; he wants his head back.]]
The biggest and strongest of [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]]'s crew, '''Bulkhead''' appears to be little more than a big, dumb lummox at first glance. The second and third glances don't do much to improve that impression. Raised on a backwater [[Energon (fuel)|energon]] farm, he joined the Autobot academy to achieve the lofty goal of becoming a lowly [[space bridge]] technician rather than a warrior. He also has an unfortunate tendency to break stuff by accident due to his sheer strength and natural clumsiness. He's wrecked major thoroughfares and toppled skyscrapers in his zeal to be ''helpful''; when he gets angry, he's capable of berserker charges that even the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]] have learned to respect and fear. His penchant for being a little too eager to please others and getting a little too emotional at times further leads him to act without thinking. Add in a seeming lack of skills beyond "destruction", and it does not paint a pretty picture.

But despite all these shortcomings, one is hard-pressed to find a bot with a bigger heart, and he has astounding (if sometimes well-hidden) depths. He hates being thought of as the clumsy brute of the team, which has bred a certain amount of careful forethought and cautiousness. He's endlessly loyal to and protective of his friends, especially his best buddy [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] and the [[human]] girl [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]], even if their impulsive behavior is sometimes annoying. Since coming to [[Earth]], he has discovered a love of art and the urge to express his true feelings through it. He's not very good at it, but he keeps trying anyways. Perhaps most surprising of all is that he is [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s foremost expert in space bridge technology, even though he may not be able to build one himself without accidentally breaking at least half the components.

{{quote|You guys got it easy. All people want me to do is break stuff. I've got a sensitive side too, you know... but breaking stuff '''is''' kinda fun.|Bulkhead meditates on his lot in life|"[[Home Is Where the Spark Is]]"}}

:''Japanese name'': '''Ironhide''' (アイアンハイド ''Aianhaido'')
:''Russian name'': '''Tverdoloby''' ('''Твердолобый''', "Hard Head")

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
{{Idw-tfa}}
:''Voice actor:'' [[Bill Fagerbakke]] (English), [[Kenta Miyake]] (Japanese), [[Tilo Schmitz]] (German), [[Ireneusz Załóg]] (Polish), [[Lorenzo Scattorin]] (Italian), [[Fabio Moura]] (Portuguese)

[[Image:Autobot Cadets.jpg|thumb|left|250px-Autobot Cadets.jpg|Auditions for the new Transformers series are now closed...]]
Bulkhead was originally an energon farmer and attended [[Autobot boot camp]] in order to qualify as a space bridge engineer. It was there that he first met Bumblebee and their trainer, [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Minor]]. To begin with, Bumblebee had no interest in being friends with the gentle giant, insulting him with the nickname "mudflap". A friendship blossomed after Bulkhead saved Bumblebee from some "malfunctioning" turrets, dropping a building on Sentinel in the process. In order to prevent Bulkhead from being expelled, 'Bee took the blame, and they both ended up on space bridge detail. {{storylink|Autoboot Camp}}

[[Image:Ani crew.JPG|250px|thumb|right|ROAD TRIP!!!]]
Eventually, they were placed under [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime's]] command. While repairing a space bridge, the team discovered the long-lost [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]]. However, the [[Decepticon|Decepticons]] soon arrived, prompting Bulkhead to mention that he had never seen a Decepticon ship up close. (No one had and lived, as [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] pointed out.) Bulkhead did his best to hang on while the Autobots drove their ship through the space bridge. Coming out of warp, they went headlong toward [[Earth]], and he joined his fellow 'bots in heading into stasis to avoid the impact shock of an unpleasant landing.

After emerging from stasis and his [[reformatting]] into a terrestrial six-wheeled APC, Bulkhead accompanied the other Autobots to investigate a large, cybernetic creature that was menacing the local lifeforms (which they assumed were robots like themselves). Bulkhead requested help from a group of local drones, then noticed [[Sari Sumdac]] trying to take her keycard away from her robot dog, [[Sparkplug (robot dog)|Sparkplug]]. Assuming Sari was the pet, Bulkhead greeted her—which promptly sent her running and screaming. Way to make first contact there, big guy.

[[Image:Bulkh alt.JPG|200px|thumb|left|Let's see [[wikipedia:Grave Digger (truck)|Grave Digger]] beat this!]]
After [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] arrived to take the AllSpark, the Autobots engaged him in a fierce game of "Keep-away". At one point, Bulkhead tried to catch the AllSpark, shouting "I got it." Starscream snagged the AllSpark instead, but Bulkhead knocked the [[Seeker (body-type)|Decepticon flier]] out of the air with his wrecking ball, causing him to drop the AllSpark. It's not nice to contradict Bulkhead. {{storylink|Transform and Roll Out}}

Later, in Autobot HQ, he said he had some problems, because all humans wanted from him was to break stuff. After all, he had his sensitive side as well (even if breaking stuff was fun). When [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] attacked the Autobots' base, Bulkhead got in touch with his inner breaker, confirming that smashing stuff IS fun! Megatron had different plans for him, though, and Bulkhead discovered it's not as much fun to BE smashed. After Bulkhead was saved, he tried to catch a [[Pocketbot|tiny machine]] that looked like it might be the culprit. Prime hoped to study it and find out where it came from, but Bulkhead smashed the little critter to pieces when he grabbed it. {{storylink|Home Is Where the Spark Is}}

[[Image:TFA Blast Past Bulkhead Tutor Bot.JPG|250px|thumb|right|The pizza's ready!]]
After that [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] tried to train Bulkhead to be more subtle in his actions, to assess a situation, choose the right move, then execute it with grace and precision. This didn't meet with any real success, as Bulkhead's antics damaged the base and caused him to fall on Prowl. Moving to an island in Lake Erie, Bulkhead tried again. He knocked down some trees which fell on Prowl. Things actually got worse when Bulkhead tried to use Prowl's methods against the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]], a trio of animatronics run amok. Prowl wisely advised Bulkhead to stop doing what Prowl would do and instead do what Bulkhead himself would do. Bulkhead quickly discovered that his blunt, powerhouse approach had its place and time for proper use, charging and knocking down [[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]], hitting [[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]] out of the air, and throwing [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] into a pit of molten tar. Afterward, the Dinobots were due to be melted down. However, Prowl suspected the Dinobots were actually alive, not mere machines, so he enlisted Bulkhead's help in secretly transporting them from their prison to the deserted island on Lake Erie. There they could live undisturbed and perhaps get themselves under control. Prowl had realized that just because something was big and lumbering and destructive was no reason to give up on it, and Bulkhead knew just what he meant. {{storylink|Blast from the Past}}

When Bumblebee had his bout with [[Colossus Rhodes]] that escalated into a parking lot brawl, Bulkhead arrived with the others to stop the mad giant and tease Bumblebee about his size. Bulkhead's size proved a liability when he got caught in an opening in [[Sumdac Tower]]'s defense shield, making him a sitting (but not defenseless) duck for an upgraded Rhodes, using his wrecking ball to send the brute flying. When the shield was deactivated he was the first into the tower, scooping up [[Meltdown (Animated)|Meltdown]] in his fist... a very bad mistake, since the villain was made of acid. His action gave the other Autobots time to defeat Meltdown, so it turned out okay. {{storylink|Total Meltdown}}

On a shopping trip for Sari's birthday present, Bulkhead worked with Sari to rein in the pesky [[Professor Princess]]. The next day, Sari's birthday party began poorly, as the guests were all children of Sumdac Industries employees, who found Sari too weird for their tastes. The Autobots' arrival made things a little more interesting, but klutzy Bulkhead soon found himself ignored, alongside Sari, as the kids went for rides with the other Autobots (even Ratchet). Bulkhead wanted to give Sari her gift, a xylophone, but was too embarrassed to do so when he saw Dr. Sumdac's gift, a musical robot named [[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]]. For the next several days, Sari's attention was drawn away from her friend as she spent her free time plugging her key into the toy to upgrade it. Bulkhead realized that there was something off about Soundwave, but his attempts to prove it just forced a wedge between Sari and himself. Megatron's machinations to increase the split between them didn't help. It turned out the big guy was right on the money, however, as Soundwave was a creation of Megatron's that gained sentience through the key. Soundwave took control of the machines of Detroit and captured Sari. When Bulkhead came to her rescue, Soundwave attempted to convince Bulkhead of the inferiority of humans. For a few minutes, it seemed Bulkhead was on his side, but with a wink to Sari, he punched Soundwave so hard that the Decepticon shattered into his component parts. Sari apologized, and the pair played with Bulkhead's gift, albeit after Sari nearly broke her hand punching Bulkhead's fist. {{storylink|Sound and Fury}}

Soon afterwards, trouble arrived in the form of [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] and [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]]. Answering their challenge, the Autobots confronted the pair in a construction yard. Bulkhead charged Lugnut and the two engaged in a grapple, but even Bulkhead's power wasn't enough against the massive Decepticon, who threw him aside. The second round didn't go too well either, as Lugnut never had a chance to fight before the Decepticons were defeated by the Autobot ship's main cannon. {{storylink|Lost and Found (episode)|Lost and Found}}

After Sari was abducted by the Dinobots, Prowl and Bulkhead went to [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]] to investigate. What they found was Meltdown, who damaged Bulkhead to the point of unconsciousness and trapped Prowl and [[Carmine Fanzone|Captain Fanzone]] (who had been tailing them) underground. Bulkhead spent the rest of the episode out cold until Sari was able to restore him. On the boat ride home, Sari showed she could take care of herself by kicking Bulkhead, who pretended to be hurt and accidentally fell into the ship's hold. {{storylink|Survival of the Fittest}}

[[Image:Caged bulkhead.jpg|200px|thumb|left|And now we know how the caged Bulkhead sings...]]
After destroying a good portion of a city block trying to stop a missile impact, Sari suggested to Bulkhead that he explore his more creative talents to show the citizens of Detroit that he wasn't [[Sixshot|an engine of destruction]]. Bulkhead had difficulty making his creations (his paint brushes kept snapping between his fingers) and panicked when he learned that Sari had arranged an art show for him. (Girl has connections.) While lamenting his lot in life, he was knocked out cold by a sudden electrical surge. When he came back online, he found that his body had been stolen. As Bumblebee attempted to help him finish his art pieces in time for the show, the [[Headmaster (Animated)|Headmaster]] used Bulkhead's body to take control of a solar fusion plant, intending to detonate it unless he was paid a hefty ransom. Optimus used the ransom delivery to sneak the Autobots into the plant, where they defeated the Headmaster and reattached Bulkhead to his body...backwards. As the reactor reached critical, Bulkhead came up with a drone that would set the rods back, but the drone melted in the process. Not to be daunted, Bulkhead added it to his art collection, showing the citizens of Detroit his [[Slogism|warzone art]] without them even knowing it. {{storylink|Headmaster (episode)|Headmaster}}

When Decepticon energy signals were detected, the Autobots quickly realized that they were outnumbered. Bulkhead mentioned that the Dinobots might be able to help, not aware that Prowl hadn't told Optimus they had moved them to Dinobot Island. Prime was furious and ordered the two to take him there at once. After searching the island, the Autobots found the Dinobots. They were unwilling to help, so the Autobots left, unsure of their next move. When Bumblebee contacted Prime, saying that Starscream was at Sumdac Tower, he ordered him to stand down. When they arrived at the tower, they saw Bumblebee fighting Starscream. Prime dryly noted that disobeying orders was becoming a habit, but Bulkhead wasn't too insulted. He was too busy being shocked by [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] bursting through Sumdac Tower. {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 1}}

Quickly regaining his composure, Bulkhead charged Megatron, only to have his wrecking ball severed and be thrown into a building. After the short battle, Sumdac told them how he had rebuilt Megatron. Bulkhead sounded as if he was about to crush the professor, but Prime told him that it was unimportant. Using excess key energy in Sumdac's equipment, the Autobots repaired themselves, and Prime apologized for his harsh words. Ratchet and Sari came by in the ship, picking up the Autobots, but they were shot down over Dinobot Island. During the subsequent battle, Bulkhead brought down Lugnut. The zealous Decepticon was stronger than Bulkhead, but as he activated [[Punch of Kill Everything|his punch]], Bulkhead used his wrecking ball to detonate it, sending Lugnut flying. {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 2}}

While repairing a damaged overpass, Bulkhead became stuck in some cement, but hid it to avoid being embarrassed. He was nearly destroyed when he used outdated, unstable fixative, but was saved by two newly sentient machines named [[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] and [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]]. Once they helped him finish the repair work he'd been doing, Bulkhead reluctantly went with them for an oil break, though he wasn't sure it was okay to take it straight from a tanker ship. He WAS sure the rest of the Autobots would like his new friends. The crass construction workers did not impress the other Autobots, however, and things only got worse when a game of flattened-oil-can frisbee severed Sari's pigtails (and nearly her head), leading Prime to evict the two. The next day, Bulkhead went looking for his friends, discovering that they had stolen parts for something Megatron was building. When Bulkhead told them that the Decepticons were [[wikipedia:Men in Black (film)|the scum of the universe]], the two went to challenge the Decepticons, without telling Bulkhead where to find them. The other Autobots were concerned that Scrapper and Mixmaster would sell them out, but Bulkhead still defended them. Unfortunately, the newly dubbed [[Constructicon (Animated)|Constructicons]] ''did'' side with the Decepticons, taking Bumblebee hostage and demanding the AllSpark fragments the Autobots had. Bulkhead gave them the fragments and a cup of oil for the road, but he had spiked the oil with the outdated fixative from the other day. The subsequent explosion scrambled their memory circuits, and Bulkhead drove the amnesiac Transformers away, admitting that he had been wrong to trust them. {{storylink|Rise of the Constructicons}}

After [[Wasp]] escaped, Bulkhead tagged along with Bumblebee in an attempt to track a leaked signal, but 'Bee's attitude became unbearable, and Bulkhead stormed off. The kindhearted bot couldn't stay away, however, and helped Bumblebee out of a minor scrape. Bumblebee apologised, but Bulkhead shook it off; their friendship had rock-solid foundations. Reconciled, the two headed back to base, having missed a rather conspicuous mine shaft entrance. {{storylink|Autoboot Camp}}

[[Image:TFA ABTC1 Bulkhead Sumdac.JPG|thumb|left|Merry Christmas!]]
Bulkhead later made an abstract painting of Sari in the style of Picasso, but the other Autobots' suggestions ended up ruining the painting. He and Sari took a walk to clear his head, and Bumblebee came and genuinely tried to apologize. This went rather poorly, and got even worse when Megatron arrived. He kidnapped Bulkhead and took him to his base. Megatron revealed that [[Shockwave (Animated)|his double agent]] had learned that Bulkhead was Cybertron's top space bridge technician, and forced Bulkhead to help the Decepticons repair a space bridge they had reverse engineered. If Bulkhead refused, Megatron would use a Headmaster unit to steal his body and kill all of Bulkhead's friends, starting with Professor Sumdac. Bulkhead agreed to help, but Professor Sumdac believed that Bulkhead was trying to sabotage the device, and told Bulkhead to let him give the instructions to avoid sounding preposterous. Furious at everyone doubting his skill, Bulkhead actually ''fixed'' the space bridge, allowing Megatron to teleport the Decepticons to an underdefended Cybertron. See Bulkhead, this is why people don't take you seriously. {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part I}}

During a three-way battle between the Autobots, the Decepticons, and Starscream's [[Starscream clone (Animated)|clones]], Bulkhead tried to shut down the space bridge, but was locked with [[stasis cuffs]] by a [[Slipstream (Animated)|female clone]]. After Megatron explained his plans and how Bulkhead had helped. the other Autobots expressed confusion at his skills, and Bulkhead explained that he had read all the space bridge schematics on the energon farm. Unfortunately, power problems arose, which Megatron tried to fix with by adding Starscream's AllSpark powered head into the power core. Unfortunately, this caused an overload which Bulkhead theorized would suck up all of Michigan. Fortunately, [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] arrived and allowed himself to be sucked into the portal. When the Autobots escaped, Bulkhead theorized that Omega was merely transported to another section of space, and had hope that he was still alive. Unfortunately, any effort to locate Omega was put on hold when Sari noticed that the skin of her arm had been torn...revealing robotic circuitry underneath! {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part II}}

While Bumblebee and Bulkhead were surprised and concerned about Sari's revealed techno-organic nature, they remained focused on the more imminent problem; namely that their old friend Longarm was really a Decepticon spy. However, because Omega Supreme was transwarped to another part of the galaxy, they no longer had Teletran-1 and thus had no way to contact Cybertron. A suggestion from Optimus gave Bulkhead the idea of building their own Space Bridge, seeing as Bulkhead was the Space Bridge genius (a title Bumblebee claimed he'd never get used to). Bulkhead theorized that he might be able to put something together if they salvaged enough parts. The two of them quickly left to dig any useful parts out of the ruins of the mine, namely the [[plasmadynamic thruster]] (the component that generates the transwarp field) and the recon beacon generator (the component that allows one to lock on a specific area to transwarp to). Bulkhead found the recon beacon generator (after Bumblebee nearly tossed it away) and Bumblebee was about to give him the plasma dynamic thruster when it caught a stray transwarp signal (presumably from Omega Supreme's earlier transwarp) and was sent to another part of the galaxy. When Bulkhead turned around, Bumblebee was gone. Hearing a noise, he investigated, thinking it was his little buddy. But it was actually Henry Masterson who had found both his lost [[Headmaster unit]] and Starscream's discarded body (definitely not little and not Bulkhead's buddy). Masterson then soundly trashed Bulkhead and left him buried under a pile of rocks.

Later, Ratchet found him and brought him back to the plant. Ratchet was about to work on repairing Bulkhead when Sari beat him to it, much to Ratchet's annoyance. When Bumblebee's energy signature could not be found on Earth, Bulkhead realized that he wasn't on Earth. The plasmadynamic thruster must have caught a stray transwarp field and sent Bumblebee to another part of the galaxy. In theory, Bulkhead could retrieve him with the recon beacon generator, provided he could get it working. Ratchet was about to attempt to do so when Sari beat him to the punch again. A little while later, Bulkhead detected a stray transwarp field. Using the recon beacon generator, Bulkhead managed to reel Bumblebee back to Earth, inside the belly of a [[Rock Lord|giant rock alien]]. The alien, noticeably ticked about being exposed to the bright light of the [[sun]], went on a rampage in Detroit. Of course, Bulkhead couldn't just smash the alien with his wrecking balls since Bumblebee was inside it. However, Sari once again provided assistance with her new upgraded form and neatly disposed of the rock alien and rescued Bumblebee. But then her body became overloaded with Allspark energy and she started going on an uncontrollable rampage, causing every electronic device she touched to explode. When Bumblebee was stabbed by Sari in an attempt to stop her, Bulkhead, Prowl, and Optimus worked together to remove the Key from her system. However, its energy had been completely drained into Sari, making both the Key useless and Sari still unable to control herself. Bulkhead suggested that she tried to hold it in like when she had to go to the 'sleep-room'. Sari attempted this, but this only caused the initiation of a self-destruct sequence. Fortunately, Ratchet was able to temporarily shut her down with his EMP generator.

Later, the group was at the plant, mulling over the events of the day, including Optimus revealing the Autobots' secret base to Professor Sumdac. When Bumblebee threatened to transwarp again, Bulkhead took the plasmadynamic thruster from Bumblebee's backpack and turned it off. But then Omega Supreme appeared, under the control of Megatron. The group headed for the river to keep Megatron from damaging more of the city. Bulkhead and Bumblebee acted as decoys while Prowl and Optimus worked on freeing Omega from Megatron's control. Their plan worked, only for Starscream's head, which Megatron was using as a battery, to take over Omega's body and toss out Prowl and Optimus. With them unable to get back in and Starscream threatening to transwarp to Cybertron and use Omega to take it over, Bumblebee and Bulkead got the idea of using the plasma dynamic thruster on Omega Supreme. With a little teamwork from them and Optimus Prime, they attached the plasma dynamic thruster to Omega Supreme, causing him to go on an endless and random transwarp cycle throughout the galaxy. However, they still needed to find a way to contact Cybertron about Shockwave. {{storylink|TransWarped}}

[[Image:TFAni Threes a Crowd Stop Hitting Yourself.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself!]]
Soon afterwards, Bulkhead teamed with Prof. Sumdac to build a space bridge at Sumdac Tower. Sumdac was willing to make up to the Autobots for unwillingly helping the Decepticons during his long captivity, though he kept slowing down work by continuously mentioning Megatron and insisting the confiscated Headmaster Unit was staring at him. Eventually, the two of them got the power core assembled and loaded on a green and purple forklift. Bulkhead inserted an Allspark fragment into the power core for a source of energy. Prof. Sumdac warned Bulkhead that it might [[A Bridge Too Close, Part II|overload it]]. Bulkhead reassured the Professor that he knew what he was doing when it came to space bridges. Unfortunately, his leaning on the forklift caused too much pressure, and the floor gave out. Bulkhead managed to save the Professor, but the forklift, the power core, and the Headmaster Unit fell down through three floors. While Sumdac went to rest from his near brush with death, Bulkhead went to find some structural experts. Fortunately, he knew just the bots for the job.

Bulkhead found Mixmaster and Scrapper at an automobile disassembly factory, drinking motor oil and hooting at the stripping vehicles. The two Constructicons were less than pleased to see Bulkhead, as evidenced when Scrapper pinned him against the wall. Bulkhead managed to talk them into helping him, seeing as how the other Decepticons weren't going to turn up for them any time soon. The two construction bots agreed, since there wasn't any rule against moonlighting, but Megatron could never know about this. Bulkhead reassured them Megatron would never hear of it. After all, it wasn't like the two of them would be talking any time soon.

When they returned to Sumdac Tower, the Constructicons went to work, mentioning this was going to cost some serious overtime. Bulkhead told them to take all the time they needed. He was almost able to persuade them to switch to the Autobots when Scrapper pulled up the forklift from before, surprisingly in good condition despite its crashing through three floors. However, the materials that had fallen down before had been fused together by the Allspark, creating a grumpy new Constructicon named [[Dirt Boss (Animated)|Dirt Boss]]. Dirt Boss quickly took command and cowed Scrapper and Mixmaster into submission, using a cerebro-shell to force Scrapper to hit himself. Bulkhead tried to contact Prime about this new problem, but Optimus and the other Autobots were busy with Lugnut. Brought back into the lab by the commotion, Prof. Sumdac was upset to see the Constructicons, due to his unhappy dealings with them, and demanded that they leave at once. Dirt Boss didn't take too kindly to that and was about to squish the Professor, so Bulkhead quickly told Dirt Boss that Sumdac worked for him. Bulkhead then feigned anger at Sumdac, ordering him to build the plasmadynamic thruster or else. However, Sumdac didn't notice Bulkhead's conspiratorial winks and thought his ire was real.

Dirt Boss then took Mixmaster and Scrapper out into the city, where they started stealing oil so they could hold the city for ransom. Bulkhead tried to talk Mixmaster and Scrapper out of following Dirt Boss, but the two of them were too interested in gaining oil to listen. Mixmaster even stuck Bulkhead's feet to the ground with his cement. Later, Captain Fanzone inquired whether the "rude, 30-foot robots" were friends of Bulkhead's. Bulkhead tried to convince the Captain that Mix and Scrap were good bots, just misprogrammed, but Fanzone was only concerned about machines acting up his town.

Bulkhead followed the Constructicons back to the disassembly factory, where Dirt Boss was chewing out the other two about "drinking the profits". Prof. Sumdac then found Bulkhead and handed over the plasmadynamic thruster that the Autobot had so firmly demanded. Bulkhead told the Professor that he'd just been acting so the other bots wouldn't hurt Isaac. When said bots appeared behind him, Bulkhead had to put on his act once again, but now Sumdac was in on it. Dirt Boss then told of his plan to destroy the fossil-fuel refinery so they would have the only source of oil in Detroit. Bulkhead finally decided this had gone too far and tried to stop them. Unfortunately, his plan wasn't very well thought-out, and he got his wrecking ball stuck in Mixmaster's cement-cannon. The Constructicons simply dragged him along, with Bulkhead protesting all the way.

When the Constructicons got to the refinery, Bulkhead nearly won Mixmaster and Scrapper over by reminding them that if they destroyed the place, they wouldn't be able to get more oil. But Dirt Boss, having had enough of Bulkhead's mouth, used a cerebro-shell to order Mixmaster to take Bulkhead offline. As the two were still stuck together, this led to a rather awkward battle. Bulkhead managed to open his comm-link so the other Autobots would hear him in trouble. When Scrapper noticed this, he took the cerebro-shell out of Mixmaster and plugged into Bulkhead. Dirt Boss then ordered Bulkhead to light the oil tank and blow up the refinery, even though this would also destroy Mixmaster, who was stuck to Bulkhead. But when the other Autobots came, Dirt Boss had Bulkhead attack them instead, using Mixmaster as a wrecking ball. Eventually, Ratchet was able to remove the cerebro-shell. Bulkhead then separated himself from Mixmaster by using the spilled oil as a lubricant. One swing from his wrecking ball sent Mixmaster flying, but Mix fell onto Scrapper, and the sparks from their collision lit the oil. When the fire proved impossible to contain, Prof. Sumdac came up with the idea of transporting it with the plasmadynamic thruster. Bulkhead reprogrammed the thruster for a shorter distance and tossed it on top of the oil tank. The tank, as well as the Constructicons who were on top of it, as transwarped over Lake Erie near Dinobot Island, where it exploded harmlessly. The Autobots still needed to cart away Lugnut, but discovered that he had been freed by [[Ramjet (Animated)|someone]]. {{storylink|Three's a Crowd}}

When Wasp came to Earth, he attack Bumblebee and switched identities with him, via an [[electronic paint job]] concealed in the switched helmets that also altered their voice synthesizers. Even Bulkhead was confused by the clever disguising and nearly smashed Bumblebee with his wrecking ball, presumably to get even for Wasp's bullying at boot camp. Fortunately, Bumblebee was able to make Bulkhead realize who he really was by reminding how he took the fall for knocking that building on top of Sentinel Prime. Bulkhead realized the truth at the last second and bounced (yes, you read that right, ''bounced'', accompanied with squeaky footsteps too) over and hugged Bumblebee. But then they were attacked by a [[Jetfire (Animated)|new]] [[Jetstorm (Animated)|pair]] of flying Autobots, who thought that Bumblebee was Wasp and, since they also thought Wasp was a traitor, Bulkhead and Prowl were too. The minor misunderstanding was quickly settled when Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ratchet, and Sentinel Prime appeared and Bulkhead explained how he knew Wasp is really Bumblebee (with a squeaky bouncing dance thrown in too). When they went back to the plant, Wasp had already boned up on everything regarding Bumblebee on the computer files and thus an information quiz was therefore useless. However, Bulkhead knew one way to prove who was the real Bumblebee: a death match of [[Ninja Gladiator]] between the two suspected Autobots, on account that Bumblebee is "the best player around". Wasp, not knowing any fighting moves from his long time in the Stockades, panicked and threatened to slag Bumblebee. When Wasp claimed he used to be a good bot before Bumblebee ruined him, Bulkhead countered that he was always mean to him and Bumblebee, thus while not being a traitor, Wasp was never a good bot. Wasp then shot the lights out and made a break for it. Bulkhead found him outside lying on the ground and jumped on top of him, punching him repeatedly. Only to find that Wasp had switched identities again and Bulkhead had pounded Bumblebee. Oops. {{storylink|Where Is Thy Sting?}}

Bulkhead later witnessed Optimus Prime tell Jetfire & Jetstorm to stop taunting Sentinel behind his back, but later was instructed by Ratchet to roll on home along with Bumblebee and Prowl so Optimus & Sentinel could speak in private. {{storylink|Predacons Rising}}

On Christmas Eve, Bulkhead & Bumblebee were trying to figure out what they'd gotten for Christmas, but Sari told them that if they peeked, they would end up on Santa's naughty list. Later, Bulkhead joined the other Autobots in sampling some oil nog that Sari had made. However, it had been altered by one of Soundwave's toys), so Bulkhead and the rest suddenly felt very tired and decided to take a stasis nap. When Bulkhead and the other Autobots woke up the next morning, they had mysteriously been turned into humans. Prime decided that the Autobots needed to get to Sumdac Tower, as they believed Professor Sumdac could figure out what happened. On the way there, Bulkhead's stomach began to growl, so Optimus decided that their human bodies needed some refueling. They settled on a nearby Burger-bot, where Bulkhead proceeded to stuff his face with hamburgers. Bulkhead soon experienced abdominal discomfort, which he took for a malfunction, and headed off for the bathroom, only to discover a Decepticon attack as he returned. Attempting to punch Starscream in the leg, Bulkhead ended up severely injuring his hand. He was still able to help transport Optimus, whose leg Starscream had broken, to a paramedic. The Autobots then resumed their journey to Sumdac Tower...on a city bus, which Bulkhead discovered he actually kind of liked. When the Autobots arrived at the stop near Sumdac Tower, he shared their shock at the sight of Cybertron hovering overhead! Once it had destroyed the tower and unleashed a swarm of Decepticons, it seemed that all hope was lost. However, the whole experience was just a virtual reality illusion. Realizing this, Bulkhead was now strong enough to help defeat the virtual Decepticons, though he still needed a little coaching to restore himself to his robotic form. Just after he succeeded, he and the other Autobots were caught up in the hand of a titanic Soundwave and attacked by a surge of electricity. {{storylink|Human Error, Part I}}

Bulkhead later tried to use his wrecking-ball arm to avoid being reprogrammed by the virtual Soundwave, but was freed when Sari damaged Soundwave's system. However, Soundwave recovered and managed to fix his machine, forcing the Autobots to becom human again. Bulkhead then proceeded to use a traffic light he found to trash the virtual city in hopes of escaping the virtual reality, but Ratchet explained that it didn't work that way, and that they needed to find Soundwave's interface with the system. They then spotted an avatar of Soundwave's vehicle mode and took off in pursuit, driving some conveniently placed vehicles. Bulkhead, along with the rest of the Autobots, was horrible at driving and succeeded in ramming several other vehicles. They eventually cornered Soundwave in a drive-in movie theater parking lot, but Soundwave had actually trapped them there, and he succeeded in reprogramming the Autobots. Under Soundwave's control, Bulkhead later fought against Scrapper, who froze him with a fire hydrant. Once freed from Soundwave's control, Bulkhead joined the rest of the Autobots in watching the Disposal Droids (and [[Wreck-Gar (Animated)|Wreck-Gar]]) clean up the city. {{storylink|Human Error, Part II}}

Bulkhead and Sumdac eventually finished building a space bridge in record time, but soon got into an argument over whose fault it was that the bridge wasn't already operational. After Sari settled the matter by getting the bridge running,, Optimus received a call for help from Sentinel. Bulkhead located a transwarp field on the Elite Guard flagship that they could use to transwarp Prime to the ship, though it took Sari's skill to lock the space bridge onto the field. Bulkhead was unsure if they'd be able to transwarp Optimus back to Earth, but his leader insisted on going. Before long, the transwarp field separated from the ship, and Bulkhead seriously began to doubt he could transwarp Optimus back—but Sentinel gave Optimus a direct lift back to Earth, so it wasn't necessary. {{storylink|Decepticon Air}}

Bulkhead eventually helped Bumblebee transwarp to the Moon in order to spy on the Decepticons. 'Bee learned of their ultimate plans for Omega Supreme and managed to open Arcee's com-link, allowing them to listen in on the Decepticons from Earth. Bulkhead and his buddy discovered that the Decepticons were almost ready and warned the others. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}}

When the [[Lugnut Supreme]]s attacked Detroit, Prime ordered Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Ratchet to go to the Moon and sever Lugnut's connection to the clones, and Sari came with them. On the Moon, Bulkhead and Bumblebee took on Shockwave, while Ratchet and Sari got Arcee inside of the real Omega Supreme. Once they defeated and captured Shockwave, Bulkhead and Bumblebee took Sari to the part of the ''Nemesis'' so she could see the protoforms there for herself and better understand her origins. Bulkhead rode back to Earth on Omega Supreme to battle the Starscream Supremes, and was later stunned to hear that Prowl had sacrificed himself in order to save the city. After witnessing Optimus ultimately defeat and arrest Megatron, Bulkhead joined the Autobots when they went back to Cybertron, and he helped carry Prowl's coffin in their return victory/funeral parade. {{storylink|Endgame, Part II}}

===Animated shorts===
[[Image:BulkheadandGrimlock.gif|thumb|right|300px|Where did that tree disappear to anyway?]]
[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] attempted to jump over him and the other Autobots as part of stunt. {{storylink|Evel Knievel Jump}}
On some day, Bulkhead saw a mime performance along with Sari and Bumblebee. Sari had to explain to the two confused Autobots what a mime was. After Bumblebee successfully upstaged said mime, the audience applauded. He decided to join them and clapped so loud that he pretty much scared everyone away. {{storylink|Mime Time}}

He played fetch with Grimlock, using a tree. Grimlock liked that.{{storylink|Bulkhead Plays with Grimlock}}
At some point, Ratchet was performing surgery on him. Sari helped.{{storylink|Ratchet Performs Surgery on Bulkhead }}

===''Be the Hero'' books===
{{Note|As the following stories are [[multipath adventure]]s, details will vary depending on the path taken. See individual pages for information on alternate paths.}}
====''Prime Suspect''====
Bulkhead met the rest of the Autobots outside [[HomeTech]]'s laboratory, after [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Prime]] was caught on camera breaking in the night before. He knocked a hole in the side of the building to allow [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] and [[You|another kid]] to venture inside in search of the footage. When that line of inquiry turned up a sample of oil, the Autobots headed for HomeTech's main warehouse, where they encountered [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]], the actual perpetrator behind the crime. Bulkhead helped defeat him. {{storylink|Prime Suspect}}
====''Quest for the AllSpark''====
Bulkhead's favorite places in [[Detroit]] were the [[City Art Gallery]] and [[Detroit Sculpture Park]]. When [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] made an attempt to obtain the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] by taking control of Detroit's robot workforce, the Autobots came up with a plan to hide useless copies of the AllSpark, and Bulkhead opted to head for one of those locations to hide it. [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] managed to find him at the Sculpture Park, trapped in a force field dome created by the AllSpark and, with [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]]'s help, extracted him. {{storylink|Quest for the AllSpark}}
====''Web of Deception''====
When Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Prowl found the Autobot ship inactive, Bulkhead briefly considered using his wrecking ball to "nudge" a power conduit — an idea swiftly shot down by [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]. After they discovered Optimus was missing, Bulkhead set out with Bumblebee, Prowl, Sari and a friend to investigate the presence of [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]]'s ship on the lake bed nearby. While fighting the bounty hunter, they discovered the involvement of [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]], who wanted revenge on Prime. They hunted for Blackarachnia, but Bulkhead took a moment to admire an engraving on a cave wall, which inadvertently led to them finding their foe and her downfall. {{storylink|Web of Deception}}
====''Time-Quake''====
After strange time disturbances began appearing across Detroit, the Autobots searched the city using special scanners. Bulkhead finally struck pay dirt when he encountered a time-displaced tyrannosaurus rex. After dealing with the beast, he and a [[You|human]] tracked the signal back to the [[Lions Tower]] in Detroit's financial district where they met up with Bumblebee. On the top floor, the trio found an unstable time machine, that sent Bulkhead and his human friend hurtling back through time. The pair encountered several historical figures, retrieving the time machine's two missing control spheres before returning to the twenty-second century. The culprit behind the time machine's activity turned out to be the Decepticon [[Blast-X]], whom Bulkhead subsequently defeated with a good solid punch. {{storylink|Time-Quake}}

===Titan Magazines===
[[Hasbro|Toy companies]] have made an action figure of him! {{storylink|Animated Comic issue 3|Crossroads!}}

The Dinobots saved him and the others from [[Starscream clone (Animated)|Starscream clones]], which was good. They then didn't leave and Bulkhead's sleeping space was taken up by Grimlock, which was not good. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 17|Dino-MIGHT!}}

Later, the Autobots were buried by the villain [[Quake-Maker]]. Bulkhead's great strength freed them from the ground, and then he ''vanished completely'' from the battle. {{storylink|Animated Comic issue 1|Burnout}}

On his day off, Bulkhead was dragged to a basketball game by Sari, Prowl and [[Afterburn]]. Bulkhead didn't see the point of the game and was being mistaken for a litter bin by the humans. Luckily a demented supervillain attacked Detroit and they had to leave the game—but as a diversionary tactic, the evil [[Crossroads]] blackmailed Detroit into trying to destroy the Autobots! The Autobots saw through this and intercepted the villain at [[Sumdac Tower]], with Bulkhead taking down reprogrammed security drones. After beating the villain, Bulkhead now enjoyed basketball and happily watched the game ''for no reason''. {{storylink|Animated Comic issue 3|Crossroads!}}

When the Decepticons raided the Autobot base, Bulkhead joined the gang in successfully driving them back out. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 24|Megatron's Revenge}}

When Prowl and Bumblebee decided to have a race to see who was fastest, Bulkhead was eager to join in, much to Bumblebee's mockery. Nevertheless, off Bulkhead went... and, thanks to the other two being distracted by Decepticons, he ''won'' and was officially King of Speed. Optimus and Ratchet lifted him up in a display of victory (their shoulders hurt!). {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 25|The Race}}

===''The Cool'' comic===
Bulkhead was among the Autobots who traveled to the [[Earth]] city of [[Detroit]] in order to protect the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] from the Decepticons. When [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]], [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] and [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] attcked, Bulkhead joined in the fray. {{storylink|The Cool issue 1|The Cool #1}}

[[Image:The CoolAutobotsRevivePrime01.jpg|thumb|200px|left|]]

Bulkhead proved unable to prevent Starscream from seizing the AllSpark (the Decepticon snatching right out of his hands) and was subsequently helpless to defend himself from Starscream's AllSpark-powered aerial attacks. When [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] died stopping Starscream, and was quickly revived by the power of [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]]'s [[AllSpark Key|key]], Bulkhead was there to greet him. {{storylink|The Cool issue 2|The Cool #2}}

Bulkhead later took part in defending [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]] from a Decepticon raid. He was unable to counter [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]]'s aerial bombardments, however, and proved little more than a rather large target. Once the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobot]]s saved the day, however, Bulkhead saw them off along with the rest of the Autobots. {{storylink|The Cool issue 3|The Cool #3}}

After [[Blackout (Animated)|Blackout]] buried Optimus under tons of rubble during a Detroit battle, Bulkhead aided Bumblebee in digging their leader out. {{storylink|The Cool issue 4|The Cool #4}}

Bulkhead was present at [[Sumdac Systems]] headquarters when Megatron was resurrected in a new body. Megatron made short work of Bulkhead, grabbing his mace weapon and yanking him to the ground. Bulkhead survived the altercation and later joined Optimus Prime in greeting the [[Elite Guard]]. {{storylink|The Cool issue 5|The Cool #5}}
{{-}}

==Toys==
===Animated===
[[Image:TFAnimated Voyager Bulkhead toy.jpg|300px|thumb|right|And the world wants his kibble to turn into a chair.]]
* '''Bulkhead''' (Voyager, 2008)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''TA-03'''
:Bulkhead transforms from an armored, six-wheeled military-type van into a robot mode that is a bit on the short side for a Voyager, due to the stout, stocky nature of the character. The toy features two "[[automorph]]"-style gimmicks in its transformation: after flipping down the back doors, pulling down on them retracts a pair of black tabs holding his arms into pace, allowing them to spring forward into position; and moving his chest into place automatically causes a panel to flip over, exposing his head.

:The figure's left arm contains the character's signature gimmick, his wrecking ball. A concealed lever activates a pressure-launch system that fires the ball, which is attached to Bulkhead's arm by a sturdy string. Bulkhead's right arm, meanwhile, features a rather strange gimmick: after straightening the arm at the elbow, pressing the black lever on the upper arm causes Bulkhead's forearm to flip upwards. It ''might'' be an uppercut or some other sort of punch attack, but whatever this feature is supposed to be, it is not mentioned in either the toy's instructions, or on its packaging.

:No, his kibble can't transform into a chair. ''Aww''.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Autobot/Bulkhead/bulkhead.htm More information on Voyager Bulkhead at TFU.info]

{{-}}{{anchor|Mudbuster}}
[[Image:AnimatedVoyMudbusterBulkhead.jpg|thumb|300px|Bulkhead, el Hijo del Acero. LUUUCHAAARAAAAN!]]
* '''Mudbuster Bulkhead''' (Voyager, 20??)

: A [[redeco]] of the original Bulkhead in green and black, with caution stripes on the sides of the vehicle. As with nearly all new ''Animated'' figures after February 2009, it is on indefinite hiatus.

{{uncertaintoy}}

{{-}}{{anchor|Leader}}
[[Image:TFAnimated Leader Bulkhead toy.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Tired of being known as "the big guy with a gentle heart", Bulkhead became more trigger happy than [[Triggerhappy]].]]
* '''Bulkhead''' (Leader, 2008)
**''Accessories'': 4 "air torpedoes"

: This version of Bulkhead is decidedly more heavily armed than others, with the most distinctive additions to his arsenal coming in the form of a double-barreled turret for his vehicle mode, two missile racks (one per arm, each holding two removable "air torpedoes"), and a buzzsaw in his right hand, which spins when a black tab on his forearm is pressed. He ''doesn't'' have a wrecking ball, but his other hand does feature a "grabby" action, allowing you to clench and open his fingers by sliding a tab in his arm.

:Bulkhead is outfitted with a significant array of electronic light and sound gimmicks. Pressing the Autobot insignia on his chest in robot mode causes his head to turn, his mouth to open , as he speaks one of three sound clips—"Sorry, my bad," "You can do it, buddy!", and "Time for the big guns!"—accompanied by flashing yellow lights in his chest, shoulders and eyes. During transformation, when the vehicle mode turret is snapped into or out of place, the classic transformation sound effect plays as his lights flash. In vehicle mode, pressing the Autobot insignia activates a siren noise, which lasts as long as the button is held down and is accompanied by flashing red LEDs that illuminate his vehicle's light bar. Bulkhead also comes packaged with the [[Headmaster (Animated)|Headmaster]] unit, which can fit over the figure's head, altering his sound and changing his yellow lights to red. Once in place, the Headmaster will scream "Ownage! Total ownage!", and all of Bulkhead's lights flash, illuminating the villain's translucent horns. This is the Headmaster's only phrase; pressing Bulkhead's insignia repeats the effects. The Headmaster accessory fits over all other Leader class figures.

: The packaging photography and lineart indicate that Bulkhead's electronic lights shine a more [[Show-accuracy|show-accurate]] blue (well, accurate for his eyes, anyway). The final produced toy has yellow lights instead, because blue LEDs are apparently really expensive.

: ''This'' version of Bulkhead ''can'' transform his kibble into a chair! Hooray!

{{note|[[Derrick J. Wyatt]] has remarked ''{{fact}}'' that the additional weaponry this toy possesses is supposed to represent the alterations the [[Headmaster (Animated)|Headmaster]] would have made if he had possessed the body longer.}}

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Autobot/LeaderBulkhead/bulkhead.htm More information on Leader Bulkhead at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|Activator}}
[[Image:TFAnimated Activators Bulkhead.jpg|300px|thumb|right|"Whoa, I thought I was super-deformed ''before''..."]]
* '''Bulkhead''' (Activator, 2008)

: [[Activators]] Bulkhead can autotransform from a compressed version of a SWAT military van into his robot form when the middle siren bar is pressed. The vehicle mode lacks the back section's doors and bumper to better accommodate the gimmick, which leaves his robot mode's hands sticking out.

: His kibble is unable to become a chair as well. '''''Awww'''''. Unless you take the back-piece and switch it round and have him sit on it in a kind of... warped way.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Autobot/ActBulkhead/bulkhead.htm More information on Activators Bulkhead at TFU.info]

{{-}}{{anchor|BumperBattler}}
[[Image:BumperBattlers Bulkhead toy.JPG|250px|thumb|right|Bulkhead now knows how [[Han Solo]] feels.]]

* '''Bulkhead''' (Bumper Battler, 2008)

: Bulkhead is part of the second wave of [[Bumper Battlers]]. Pressing on the vehicle mode's front bumper activates electronic noises and pops up the roof, revealing a relief of Bulkhead's robot form. Pressing on the Autobot [[faction symbol]] on the hood activates a randomly-assembled collection of sound effects and voice samples.

: His face is disturbingly goofy.

* '''Workzone Bulkhead''' (Bumper Battler, 2009)

: A [[redeco]] of Bumper Battlers Bulkhead. Alongside [[Jazz (Animated)|Stealth Ninja Jazz]], it saw release in Australian stores, and has seen some limited release in North America (Canada and the US) in 2010. <ref> http://www.unicron.com/sightings/item_view.php?itemID=1409 </ref>

==Notes==
[[Image:RedBulkhead.jpg|thumb|right|Bulkred. Redhead? [[Big Red]]! Wyatt totally got paid for this.]]

* Bulkhead's design and demeanor likely owe themselves to Crunch from ''[[wikipedia:Mighty Orbots|Mighty Orbots]]'', a series [[Derrick J. Wyatt]] has admitted as being an inspiration.

* [[wikipedia:Patrick Star|Another]] big lug with a [[Bill Fagerbakke|similar]] voice, Bulkhead is best friends with a [[wikipedia:SpongeBob SquarePants (character)|little]] [[Bumblebee (Animated)|yellow guy]]. Obviously this analogy [[Tom Kenny|only goes]] [[Starscream (Animated)|so far]].

* Upon seeing a red [[Prototype|test shot]] of Bulkhead's ''Voyager''-class toy, Derrick J. Wyatt recolored a Bulkhead character model in the test shot's colors—on company time!<ref>http://derrickjwyatt.blogspot.com/2007/09/bulkhead-toy.html</ref> This also made him look familiar. [[Quickstrike (Energon)| Quickstrike]] anyone?

* While Bulkhead's Earth form features no continuous tracks, he still has them on his feet, like in his Cybertron form. This is probably an animation error that stayed in the show. The toy's legs are more developed, as the front wheels form the backs of the feet. The leader class toy, though, is show-accurate in the sense that flipping out his feet will reveal the tracks.

* After his reformatting into his APC mode, Bulkhead's robot mode [[kibble]] changes from the ''front'' of his vehicle mode (where it forms the scoop of the bulldozer) to the ''back'', where it forms the doors of the truck.
[[Image:Bulkheadchair.jpg|250px|thumb|right|The next step in Transformers evolution is here!]]

* Bulkhead can form his [[kibble]] into a chair. This is awesome.

* Bulkhead has a storage place in his chest which opens in at least two ways, like a drawer and/or like a door.

* Bulkhead's eyes can extend from his face and act as a microscope, as shown in "[[Rise of the Constructicons]]". This is slightly strange, but also awesome.

* In spite of the visual differences, it would appear that rather than simply swapping out his hands for his signature wrecking balls, Bulkhead's hands actually transform to ''become'' the wrecking balls. Although most episodes show his hand simply retract and then be replaced by the ball, a few instances show it actually stay in place, blur and change into the ball. Furthermore, in cases where Bulkhead has had the tether-line of his wrecking ball severed, he remains conspicuously handless until the ball is re-attached, such as in "[[Transform and Roll Out]]" and "[[Megatron Rising - Part 2]]".

* Bulkhead's vehicle mode design was used as the basis for [[Blurr (G1)|Generation 1 Blurr]]'s personal transport in [[Spotlight: Blurr]].

* Of all the vehicles that Teletran 1 scanned, the SWAT vehicle Bulkhead was reformatted into was the only one that didn't match his color scheme.

*For the Japanese release of ''Animated'', Bulkhead was renamed "Ironhide" to keep the names of the primary ''Animated'' Autobots consistent with the names of the primary ''[[Transformers (2007)|Movie]]'' Autobots. ''Animated'' [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] was in turn renamed "Armorhide" to escape confusion.

*[[TakaraTomy]] marketing director [[Masahiko Yamazaki]] has stated that Bulkhead actually ''is'' [[Ironhide (Movie)|Movie Ironhide]], as Animated was supposedly to be reworked in order to take place within Movie continuity, and Bulkhead would have his "world view" modified appropriately. The actual ''dub'' of the series seems to contradict Yamazaki's statements, as Bulkhead remains a big dumb lug as opposed to a psychotic gun enthusiast. In fact, he's played off as even ''dumber'' than in the English version, being prone to screaming things such as "Mommy!" when frightened. Thus far, the only change to his "world view" to make him more similar to Movie Ironhide has been a brief statement in his [http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/TF/products/animated/ta03.html TakaraTomy online bio], which says that he is "something of a weapons specialist".

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Artists]]
[[Category:Autobots]]
[[Category:Animated characters]]
[[Category:Demolitions specialists]]
[[Category:Engineers]]

Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac

2010-08-15T14:42:38Z

81.106.173.212:

{{Comicstory|
|seriesissue=''Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac''
|image=Allsparkalmanaccover.jpg
|caption=[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]'s going to have his hands full cleaning these two up.
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|written by=[[Jim Sorenson]] and [[Bill Forster]]
|date=[[August 19]], [[2009]]
|illustrated by=
|continuity=[[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]]
|pagecount=220
|price=$19.99 USD
|next=Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac Volume 2
|ISBN=ISBN 1600104878 
ISBN 978-1600104879
}}

{{bigquote|What a brilliant book! Probably the best I've ever read, human or Cybertronian. I can't recommend it strongly enough!|[[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]], the rear cover of The AllSpark Almanac}}

'''''Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac''''' is a <s>lusty</s> happy love-letter written to {{SITENAME}} for our carnal pleasure.

''The AllSpark Almanac'' is an encyclopedic examination of the entire ''Transformers Animated'' storyline universe. It presents exhaustively thorough character profiles and summaries of the first two seasons of the cartoon and the ''Animated [[The Arrival|Arrival]]'' comic book...''all written completely in-universe'', in the form of "interviews" with the characters or excerpts from their journals and other in-story media.

"Interstitial" interludes are presented out-of-universe and describe the design process behind the art, animation, and locations, as well as brief story summaries of the [[Transformers Animated (Titan)|Titan Magazines]] ''Animated'' issues. Elements of toy design are covered as well, but comparatively briefly.

There are also an ''insane'' number of [[easter egg|obscure references]] to Transformers minutiae culled from the 25-year history of the [[Transformers brand|brand]], as well as other sci-fi and entertainment franchises as well. Basically, ''all'' proper nouns and names refer to something or someone, even if that someone is a possibly non-existent character only mentioned once in a letters page of a foreign comic. And that's before we start talking about the ''numbers'': Almost every seemingly incongruous alphanumeric string is a reference to another franchise, be it a ''Star Trek'' stardate or a Terminator's official designation. And that's just the content in English—about a third of the book's pages have large stretches covered in [[Cybertronix]]. Deciphered, these are all revealed to be non-Transformers-related passages, including song lyrics, catchphrases, memes, map coordinates and extensive, verbatim quotes from diverse sources ranging from Tennyson's ''Ulysses'' to ''Max Headroom''. In particular, the book has a noticeable number of hidden references to [[wikipedia: Iron Maiden|Iron Maiden]], courtesy of author Bill Forster, a massive fan of the band.

A [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac Volume 2|sequel]] was published in late June 2010.

==Contents==
*Foreword, by [[Derrick J. Wyatt]]
*Introduction, by the authors
*Interstitial A: ''[[Transformers Hero]]''
*Chapter 1: [[Autobot]]s
*Interstitial B: Lighting
*Chapter 2: [[Decepticon]]s
*Interstitial C: [[Transformation]]s
*Chapter 3: [[Human]]s
*Interstitial D: Opening Credits
*Chapter 4: Events
*Interstitial E: [[Transformers Animated (Titan)|Titan Magazines]]
*Chapter 5: Culture
*Interstitial F: Design Evolution
*Chapter 6: [[Detroit]]
*Interstitial G: [[Bee in the City]]
*Chapter 7: Settings
*Interstitial H: Backgrounds
*Afterword, by [[Marty Isenberg]]
*A Word from [[Hasbro]]
*Acknowledgments

==Chapter 1 - Autobots==
Chapter one covers all Autobots who appear in the first two seasons of the cartoon.

{{collist|3|
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] by Ultra Magnus
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] by Lockdown
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] by Captain Fanzone
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] by Bulkhead
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] by Sari
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] by Sentinel Prime
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] by Optimus Prime
*[[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] by Sentinel Prime
*[[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] by Bumblebee
*[[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]] by Blackarachnia
**[[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]]
**[[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]]
**[[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]]
*[[Arcee (Animated)|Arcee]] by Ratchet
*[[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] by Bulkhead
*[[Wreck-Gar (Animated)|Wreck-Gar]] by Ratchet
*[[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] by Bumblebee
*[[Shockwave (Animated)|Longarm Prime]] by Bumblebee
*[[Wasp]] by Shockwave
*[[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] by Ratchet}}

===Transformers references===

* Pg 15 – [[Optimus Prime (Animated) | Optimus Prime]]'s axe is identified as a [[Solitarium]] ultra-axe.

* Pg 20a – As mentioned in his tech spec, [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] is a [[Protihex Medical Mechanics University|Protihex Medical Mechanical graduate]].

* Pg 20b – [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] refers to Ratchet with the nickname “Cool Hand Lube”, an epithet coined for [[Ratchet (G1)|the original Ratchet]].

* Pg 34 – Unnamed in the ''Animated'' cartoon, the alien planet visited by the young Optimus, [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel]] and [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Elita-1]] populated by giant spiders is here given the name [[Archa Seven]]. Presumably, this puts it in the same system as [[Akalo|Archa Nine]].

* Pg 35 – Sentinel Prime's [[Skyboom (Animated)|shield]] is dubbed a [[Skyboom (Armada)|Skyboom shield]].

* Pg 44 – Ratchet recalls an old flame from [[Crystal City]].

* Pg 55 – [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme's]] profile contains numerous references.
:The language describing Omega's strength deliberately hearkens back to Generation 1 [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega's]] Transformers Universe profile, describing how he can pulverize “steel cubes” of impressive volume and hit diminutive items from a great distance with his head cannon. Numerous Cybertronian units of [[Category:Measurements|measurement]] are used in the process; Omega is said to be able to lift 600,000 kilo-units (a measurement used by [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] in the ''Animated'' episode "[[Rise of the Constructicons]]"); the dimensions of the aforementioned cube are given in mechanometers (used in the Generation 1 episode "[[City of Steel]]" and mentioned twice more in the book); and the distance at which he can blast a small object is given in hics (from the Marvel UK 1991 annual story "[[The Magnificent Six!]]" and used once more in the book).
:Omega is also noted to be armed with concussion blasters (the personal weapon of Generation 1 [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]]), pulsar bombs (used by the [[Predacon (RID)|Predacons]] on two occasions in the [[Robots in Disguise (franchise)|Robots in Disguise]] cartoon), quasar beams (Generation 2 [[Blowout]] and Beast Wars [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] both wielded quasar cannons), friction cannons (G1 [[Runamuck (G1)|Runamuck]] was armed with a friction blaster) and aquasting missiles (weapon of choice of the Beast Wars Fuzor [[Injector]]).
:And finally, Omega has armor enhanced with [[rheanimum]].

===Real-world references===

* Pg 46 – Ratchet speculates that Wreck-Gar must have “27,000 gags” hidden in his trash bin. The number 27 is a running gag in [["Weird Al" Yankovic]]'s songs... Al, of course, being the voice actor who played Wreck-Gar.

===Errors===
* Page 33: The [[Magnus Hammer]] is referred to as a "Storm'''breaker'''" hammer instead of "Storm'''bringer'''," a previously-given name for the weapon.

==Chapter 2 - Decepticons==
Character models for all Decepticons who appeared in Animated seasons one and two.
{{collist|3|
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] by Lugnut
*[[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] by Optimus Prime
*[[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] by Blitzwing
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] by Lugnut
*[[Constructicon (Animated)|Constructicons]] by Bulkhead
**[[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]]
**[[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]]
*[[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] by Megatron
*[[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] by The Angry Archer
*[[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]] by Sari
*[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] by himself
*[[Slipstream (Animated)|Slipstream]] by Thundercracker
*[[Thundercracker (Animated)|Thundercracker]] by Ramjet
*[[Ramjet (Animated)|Ramjet]] by Sunstorm
*[[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]] by Skywarp
*[[Skywarp (Animated)|Skywarp]] by Slipstream
*[[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] by Prowl
}}

===Transformers references===
* Pg 60 – Mentioned here and restated on pg 127, Megatron's swords are forged from [[tironium]]. As noted in his tech specs, his armor can deflect anti-proton lasers.

* Pg 66 – As on his toy packaging, Lugnut is referred to with the nickname "The [[Kaon]] Krusher".

* Pg 74 – Shockwave's cannon can fire blasts from anywhere in the electromagnetic spectrum, just like Generation 1 [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] could.

* Pg 77 – Swindle's gyro gun and scatter blaster are named after the weapons of the original Generation 1 [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]].

* Pg 81 – Starscream claims to be the handsomest 'bot "this side of the [[Benzuli Expanse]]".

* Pg 83-84 – Having gone unnamed in the Animated cartoon, [[Thundercracker (Animated)|Thundercracker]], [[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]] and [[Skywarp (Animated)|Skywarp]] were all given names and powers derived from their Generation 1 counterparts when they were released as toys. The liar and female clones did not get toys, but ''The AllSpark Almanac'' carries on the trend; the liar clone is named [[Ramjet (Animated)|Ramjet]] and is noted to have a reinforced nosecone for mid-air collisions, while the female clone gets the brand new name of [[Slipstream (Animated)|Slipstream]] (which was previously revealed at [[BotCon 2009]]).

* Pg 88 – Numerous weapons used by Lockdown in the cartoon are here given the names of similar weapons from other corners of the Transformers multiverse. He is armed with [[sleep net]]s (from the Generation 1 coloring book ''[[Bumblebee to the Rescue!]]''), [[nova spray]], and a [[lightning whip]]. His chainsaw is also described as being “micro-serrated”, language frequently used to describe the beak of Generation 1 [[Buzzsaw (G1)|Buzzsaw]].

===Real-world references===
* Pg 66 - Blitzwing calls Lugnut a “five-eyed, no-brained, flying purple people eater,” paraphrasing the 1958 Sheb Wooley song, “Purple People Eater”.

* Pg 82 – Starscream's first sycophantic clone is given the numerical designation [[Clone number 2716057|#2716057]], the serial number of hard-drinking robot Bender from Futurama. The first cowardly clone, meanwhile, is marked [[Clone number 3370318|#3370318]], the serial number of Bender's identical duplicate, Flexo.

==Chapter 3 - Humans==
Character models and the occasional background image for the major humans of Animated.
{{collist|3|
*[[Sari Sumdac]] by Bulkhead
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] by Megatron
*[[Carmine Fanzone|Captain Carmine Fanzone]] by Sari
*The [[Angry Archer]] by Swindle
*[[Professor Princess|Professor Penny Princess, PhD]] by Sari
*[[Nanosec]] by Slo-Mo
*[[Slo-Mo]] by Nanosec
*[[Headmaster (Animated)|The Headmaster]] by Bulkhead
*[[Meltdown (Animated)|Meltdown]] by Blackarachnia
*[[Colossus Rhodes]] by Meltdown
*[[Fusion creature]]s
**[[Fusion creature|BAT-MONSTER]] by Grimlock
**The [[Fusion creature|Seafood Louis creature]] by Fanzone
*[[Master Disaster]] by Blurr
*[[Street Demon]] by Bulkhead
**[[Ming-Li]] and [[Roxy Sparkles]] by Sari
**[[Shana Story]] and [[Solon Kitakaze (Animated)|Solon Kitakaze]] by Bumblebee
*[[Porter C. Powell]] by Headmaster
}}

===Transformers references===
* Pg 94 – Swindle plans to imitate [[Angry Archer]]'s antiquated dialect to help facilitate his next deal with the [[Darkling Lords]] of [[Prysmos]]. This is a reference to the 1987 Hasbro toyline, [[Visionaries]]; Prysmos was the planet upon which that series was set, and the Darkling Lords were the villains of the franchise. Visionaries was also a back-up strip for the UK Marvel Transformers comics.

* Pg 101 – The name of Prometheus Black's company is given as [[Biotech Unbound]], referring to the Greek poem, “Prometheus Unbound”, which was also the title of a ''[[Beast Machines (franchise)|Beast Machines]]'' [[Prometheus Unbound|episode]].

*Pg 103 – In the Animated cartoon, the bat-monster is noted as having formerly been Meltdown's lawyer. Here, Captain Fanzone notes that the shark-monster was his stock broker. In addition, he calls it a "[[Seafood Louis]] creature", and claims that it "kicks some serious fin," one of the multiple catchphrases of the cartoon series [[Wikipedia:Street Sharks|''Street Sharks'']].

* Pg 105 – [[Solon Kitakaze (Animated)|Solon Kitakaze]] is named after [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]]'s [[Solon Kitakaze (Victory)|cyborg son]] from the infamously kooky [[Victory (franchise)|Victory]] [[Victory (manga)|manga]].

===Real-world references===
* Pg 97 – [[Slo-Mo]] is here given the first name of Samantha, and on pg 143, the surname of Lomow. So hey, it turns out that her real name is the same as Hasbro Senior Vice President of Global Marketing [[Samantha Lomow]], on whom she was based.

* Pg 105 – [[Ming-Li]] is named after author Jim Sorenson's wife, Ming-Li Wang. [[Shana Story]] is named for a friend of author Bill Forster, Shana Storey, who is credited in the acknowledgments section of their previous book, [[The Ark II — A Compendium of Japanese Character Designs|The Ark II]].

* Pg 106 – Porter C. Powell's limousine is branded as a “TUX model”, named for the Tonka [[Tonka GoBots|GoBot]] it was designed to resemble.

===Errors===
* Page 95: The "d" is left out of "Powdered Sugar."

==Chapter 4 - Events==
The episodes and comic stories that make up the primary Animated continuity, in order.
{{collist|2|
*[[Transform and Roll Out]] as three Autobot Incident Reports by Optimus Prime and a page from Isaac Sumdac's journal
*[[Dispatches]] as musings from [[Vector Prime]]
*[[Home Is Where the Spark Is]] as an Autobot Incident Report by Optimus Prime
*[[Total Meltdown]] as an Autobot Incident Report by Optimus Prime
*[[Blast from the Past]] as Megatron's Encrypted Internal Log
*[[The Arrival issue 4#.22A Few Loose Strands.22|A Few Loose Strands]] as [[Venus (magazine)|Venus]], the trans-dimensional magazine for Decepti-femmes
*[[The Thrill of the Hunt]] as an Autobot Incident Report by Ratchet
*[[The Arrival #5]] as a page from Swindle's ledger and an evaluation form
*[[Nanosec (episode)|Nanosec]] as an Autobot Incident Report by Optimus Prime
*[[Along Came a Spider]] as an Autobot Incident Report by Optimus Prime
*[[The Arrival issue 2#.22Whatever Happened To Whatisname.3F.22|Whatever Happened To Whatisname?]] as a page from Professor Princess' diary
*[[Sound and Fury]] as an Autobot Incident Report by Optimus Prime
*[[The Arrival issue 2#.22Attention Surplus Disorder.22|Attention Surplus Disorder]] as two pages from the [[Detroit Powell Press]]
*[[Lost and Found (episode)|Lost and Found]] as Lugnut's Encrypted Internal Log
*[[The Arrival #3]] as Megatron's Encrypted Internal Log and a medical report from Ratchet
*[[Survival of the Fittest]] as a police report from Captain Fanzone
*[[Headmaster (episode)|Headmaster]] as an Autobot Incident Report by Optimus Prime
*[[The Arrival issue 4#.22The Insincerest Form of Flattery.22|The Insincerest Form of Flattery]] as an Autobot Incident Report by Bulkhead
*[[Nature Calls]] as an Autobot Incident Report by Prowl
*[[Megatron Rising - Part 1]] as Megatron's Encrypted Internal Log and a medical report from Ratchet
*[[Megatron Rising - Part 2]] as an Autobot Incident Report by Optimus Prime
*[[The Elite Guard]] as an Autobot Incident Report by Optimus Prime
*[[The Return of the Headmaster]] as Sentinel Prime's private journal and a letter from Sari to her absent father
*[[Mission Accomplished]] as Megatron's Internal Log and a medical report from Ratchet
*[[Garbage In, Garbage Out]] as a box of [[Garbage O's]] cereal
*[[Velocity]] as an Autobot Incident Report by Bumblebee
*[[Rise of the Constructicons]] as an Autobot Incident Report by Optimus Prime
*[[A Fistful of Energon]] as Starscream's Internal Log
*[[SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy]] as excerpts from interrogations conducted by Captain Fanzone
*[[Autoboot Camp]] as Shockwave's Encrypted Internal Log
*[[First (and Second) in Flight]] as a page from Ultra Magnus' memoirs
*[[Black Friday (episode)|Black Friday]] as an Autobot Incident Report by Optimus Prime
*[[Sari, No One's Home]] as a letter from Sari to her absent father
*[[A Bridge Too Close, Part I]] as Megatron's Internal Log
*[[A Bridge Too Close, Part II]] as an Autobot Incident Report by Optimus Prime
}}

===Transformers references===

*Pg 112 – An observation of the events of the [[Dispatches|first issue]] of the Animated comic by the trans-dimensional [[Vector Prime]]. He uses the aforementioned Universal Stream classification system to catalog this manuscript, identifying the Animated cartoon universe as “Malgus 1207.26 Alpha”. The designation is later used again on pg 117.

* Pg 116 - Presumably, the trans-dimensional magazine [[Venus (magazine)|Venus]] is named for Beast Wars [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia's]] voice actor, [[Venus Terzo]]. Whatever currency its cover price is in, it's represented with a “B” in Predacon Cybertronix! Blackarachnia wears the crown, shoulderpads and cape donned by Generation 1 Starscream for his coronation in [[The Transformers: The Movie]]. References on the cover include:
:*“Sparkmate” is a term used in the N64 ''[[Transformers Beast Wars: Transmetals]]'' video game, to describe Tigatron and Airazor's romantic bond.
:*[[Chain of Command]] is the title of a Beast Wars episode.
:*Readers are invited to compare several pairs of Decepticon and Predacon fembots:
:**[[Clio]] is a Decepticon [[Powermaster]] mentioned by [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] in the letters page of issue #315 of Marvel UK's Generation 1 comic. She is pitted against [[Lyzack]], sister of Decepticon Breastforce warrior [[Leozack]], who appears in the final issue of the Victory manga.
:**[[Manta Ray (BW)|Manta Ray]] is a Beast Wars McDonalds Happy Meal figure, who was established as being female by IDW Publishing's Beast Wars Sourcebook. She is up against the equally aquatic [[Scylla]], from [[Beast Wars II (franchise)|Beast Wars II]].
:**[[Flamewar]] and [[Nightracer]] are both BotCon [[exclusive]] female Decepticons, from 2005 and 1995, respectively. The match-up has a deeper meaning; Nightracer was created by notorious Decepticon fan [[Raksha]], and some fans believe that Flamewar's personality is based on Raksha, though her creator [[Ben Yee]] denies it.
:*''Revenge of the Fallen'''s Pretender [[Alice]] teaches readers how to disarm a [[foldspace warhead]], a weapon which appears in the second issue of the UK's 2007 live-action movie comic.
:*The magazine's gossip columnist is [[Freezon]], the Decepticon car included with Tyco's Transformers Electric Racing Set released in the 1980s. She is dishing the dirt on Lugnut and [[Strika (Animated)|Strika]]'s relationship, which was established in Strika's profile, published in issue #24 of the Transformers Collectors Club Official Magazine.
:*[[Beta Maxx]] is the partner of BotCon 2007 exclusive Alpha Trion, while [[Caliburn]] is partnered with 2004 exclusive, [[Megazarak]]. The cover identifies them as Mini-Cons, despite the fact that no previous writing has ever done so (Caliburn is explicitly a [[Micromaster]], while Beta Maxx has only been referred to as an Autobot). Funnily enough, in late 2008, author Jim Sorenson was involved in an argument on the Transformers Wiki about Beta Maxx being a Mini-Con... hmmmn. Anyway, they're talking to Cybertron [[Thunderblast (Decepticon)|Thunderblast]].

* Pg 119a – Most of the weapons Swindle sells Lugnut and Blitzwing, and the planets he gets them from, are established, if obscure, Transformers items and locales. Most of them were named in the comic story this page covers, "[[Everything Must Go]]", but a few more things are named here. The full list includes:
:*An [[anti-gravity gun|anti-gravity cannon]] from the planet [[Andellor]].
:*A [[triple crusher cannon]] from the planet Talos Four (probably derived from a mistake on TFWIKI.Net, which misspelled [[Taros Four]] in this manner for a time).
:*A decompression pump from [[Torkulon]].
:*[[Glass gas]] and a [[Digital Impact Mace]] (the weapon of choice of [[BotCon 2000]] exclusive toy [[Apelinq]]) from the planet [[Darhos]].
:*Super glue from the [[Menonia]].
:*An [[omega bomb]] from [[Ganzvort]].
:*Two [[Nemesis Shield]]s from [[Garro|Garo]] and [[Comb|Com]].
:*A [[Chaosmaster Bomb]] from [[Xeptos]].
:*Circuitry repair patches from [[Cheyne]].

* Pg 119b – Optimus's evaluation form is rendered in the style of classic Transformers [[Tech Spec]]s, but not any one particular design. The training exercise from the comic story “Survival Skills” is revealed to have taken place on [[Kaiba-5]].

* Pg 124-125 The article text of the Detroit Powell Press included in the AllSpark Almanac contain numerous references.
:*[[Irwin Spoon (G1)|Irwin Spoon]] was a journalist who appeared in a three-part story in Marvel UK's Generation 1 comic.
:*[[Quake-Maker]] is a supervillain from the UK's Animated comic.
:*The [[Mechanic]] is a human criminal who battled the Autobots in two issues of the Marvel's original Generation 1 comic.
:*The [[Jack Boys]] are a motorcycle gang from the ''Super-God Masterforce'' cartoon.
:*[[Jake Lomax]] is a mob boss from issue #13 of Marvel's Generation 1 comic.
:*[[Jacob Lee Bonaventure]] is an industrialist from IDW's ''[[Hearts of Steel]]'' mini-series.

:The sidebar on the page also makes numerous references:
:*“Defensor United” refers, of course, to the Generation 1 [[Defensor (G1)|Protectobot combiner]], but more specifically to the recurring discussions of [[Mecha-soccer]] in the Marvel UK comic's letters page, where Defensor United played in the Cybertron Premier Division. The team is thrashed by real-life football team West Ham at [[Tigatron Stadium]], the venue named for the [[Tigatron|Beast Wars character]], which appeared in the Animated episode "[[Five Servos of Doom]]".
:*In the Animated universe, the Generation 1 Decepticon ally, mad scientist [[Doctor Arkeville]], is the surgeon general! He recommends [[Ding Dong]]s (favored by the [[President of the United States]] in the live-action movie!) as a cure for the [[Hate Plague]], a rage-inciting disease that appeared in the Generation 1 two-part episode, "[[The Return of Optimus Prime]]".
:*Racing queen [[Junko Shiragami]] is a human female from the ''Binaltech Asterisk'' toyline (who was in turn based upon [[Kelly (RID)|Kelly]] from ''[[Robots in Disguise (franchise)|Robots in Disguise]]''). Here, she is dating scientist [[Michael Avery]], who appeared in the 2007 movie prequel novel, [[Ghosts of Yesterday]].
:*Street Demon racer Roxy Sparkles (earlier named on page 105) is here noted to be a member of the band [[Purple Fungus]], who were a favorite of [[Buster Witwicky (G1)|Buster Witwicky]] in the Find Your Fate Junior novel, "[[Attack of the Insecticons]]".
:*“Princess Ringo” was the nickname by which ''[[Kiss Players (franchise)|Kiss Players]]'' character [[Ringo Chikuma]] preferred to be known. Here, she has recently visited [[Mont Porte]], the country that is home to the ''Super-God Masterforce'' Headmaster Junior [[Minerva]].

:Adverts refer to:
:*[[Dancitron]], a musical event named for a dance club from the Generation 1 cartoon episode "[[Auto-Bop]]". Cold Slither is playing here, a band from the G.I. Joe cartoon episode of the same name, created as part of an evil Cobra plot. The piece of music composed as their [[Cold Slither|signature tune]] was used as incidental music in several Transformers episodes.
:*Wyatt Toys, the toy store named after Animated art director [[Derrick J. Wyatt]] which appears in several episodes of the cartoon. The advert notes that the store sells [[Diaclone]] and [[Microman]] figures, the two toylines that were Transformers' progenitors.
:*Roadhog Horton's Motorcycle Show, named after [[Roadhog Horton]], a member of the bounty-hunting motorcyclist [[Roadjammer]]s from [[Ca$h and Car-nage!|issue #46]] of the Marvel Generation 1 comic. His show also features autograph signings from Rorza, a reference to the [[Rorza, the Rocket-cycle Racer from Rigel III|Rocket-Cycle Racer from Rigel III]] of the same name from issue #44.
:*A horror movie named “[[Monster from Mars]]”, an elaborate reference to the movie of the same name that was the central plot element of "[[Monstercon from Mars!]]", issue #45 of the Marvel comic. In said issue, Decepticon Pretender [[Skullgrin]] starred in the title role; this poster features a monster designed to look like Skullgrin in the style of Meltdown's [[fusion creature]]s, in reference to the fact that Skullgrin's fellow Pretenders [[Submarauder (G1)|Submarauder]] and [[Bomb-Burst]] were the base for the two fusion creatures in the cartoon. In both the original comic and this version, the movie is directed by [[Rollie Friendly]] and stars [[Jake Colton]] and [[Carissa Carr]]; this version also adds [[Karen Fishook]], an actress from the Generation 1 cartoon episode, "[[Hoist Goes Hollywood]]". The movie's soundtrack is by the [[High Rollahz]], a band featured in the “Keepers Trilogy” novel, [[Hardwired]].

* Pg 127 – Unnamed in the original comic "[['Bots of Science]]", Ratchet here notes that he has dubbed the cure for Cosmic Rust "[[Corrostop]]". Its ingredients include [[Ingredient X]] and [[razon gas]].

* Pg 134 – The [[Steelhaven (Animated)|Elite Guard ship]] is here given the name ''[[Steelhaven (G1)|Steelhaven]]''.

* Pg 136 – Sari's notebook paper is decorated with an illustration of "Hello [[Nekomimi A and Nekomimi B|Nekomimi]] Pop-Star", a chibified, "Hello Kitty"-style version of Nekomimi A from the Energon episode, "[[Distribution]]". Nekomimi B appears on pg 147 in a similar fashion.

* Pg 138-139
:*The brand of the tire in the logo is [[Wheeljack]] Tyres!

:*In the “fueltritional facts” box alone, there are references to:
:**mercury sauce, a favorite of the [[Mecannibal]]s from the Marvel Generation 1 comic
:**[[Rarified Energon]], introduced in the Transformers Collectors Club magazine storyline, [[Crossing Over]]
:**[[Energon Z]] from [[Zone (franchise)|Zone]]
:**budianskium basil (referring to Transformers writer [[Bob Budiansky]])
:**grated gears (a serving suggestion for ants by Beast Wars [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] in [[Transmutate (episode)|Transmutate]])
:**janick [[jaAm]] (see below.)

:*The word jumble unscrambles to read “You lived like a warrior ans died to an hero”, an infamous quote from the late-1990s fanfic by MG-Dinobot, “Dinobot's Old Technology”, which was itself a misquote from the Beast Wars episode "[[Code of Hero]]". The quote went on to become one of the most famous online memes from that era of Transformers [[fandom]].
:**The answer at the bottom of the page, however, claims it actually says “WhY mY ShOuldErs hUrT?”, a tortured quote from British fan Blueshift's [[JaAm|famous re-scripting]] of the first Armada pack-in mini-comic. This was also the source of the above-mentioned “jaAm” line, which was since been immortalized on the license plate and packaging bio of the 2009 Universe Hot Shot figure.

:*Illustration B in the “spot the difference” puzzle is, of course, Generation 1 [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock's]] [[character model]].

* Pg 145 – Ultra Magnus's memoir is prefaced with a haiku from "[[Sky-Byte (Animated)|Sky-Byte]], Decepticon poet", referencing the loveable haiku-writing [[Predacon (RID)|Predacon]] [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]] from ''[[Robots in Disguise (franchise)|Robots in Disguise]]''. He has to be a Decepticon here, of course, because there are no Predacons in the ''Animated'' universe. In the course of this page, Magnus mentions [[mitotic spark]]s and the [[Angarix Sector]], a region of space introduced in the Generation 1 episode "[[The Quintesson Journal]]".

* Pg 148 – Megatron refers to the act of [[branding]] the Constructicons with the Decepticon symbol as the "[[Rite of the Deceptibrand]]," after the Autobot equivalent, the "[[Rite of the Autobrand]]".

===Real-world references===
{{Main|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac/Events Real-world references}}

===Errors===

* Page 117: Blackarachnia is spelled "Blacharachnia"

* Page 133: "...have tried harder to recruit the Dinobots as allies, but I was so angry at Prowl's deception that I..." is repeated immediately following the first use in the third paragraph.

* Page 145: The "c" is left out of "First (and Second) in Flight."

==Chapter 5 - Culture==
A catch-all for other aspects of Animated including ships, monsters and customs.
{{collist|3|
*The [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] by Optimus Prime
*Autobot Cybertronian forms by Ultra Magnus
*Decepticon Cybertronian forms by Starscream
*The [[Death's Head (Animated)|Death's Head]] by Lockdown
*[[Autobot Shuttle (Animated)|Autobot Shuttle]] by Blitzwing
*[[Automaton|Sumdac robots]] by Porter C. Powell
*Bulkhead's Art by Ratchet, Optimus Prime and Sari
*[[Halloween]] by Bulkhead and Bumblebee
*[[Space barnacles]] by Sari
*[[Nanite|Nanobots]] by Ratchet
*The Media by Soundwave
*[[Ability|Powers]] by Prowl
}}

===Transformers references===
* Pg 161 – Starscream uses the expression “a few [[lipole]]s short of a nest”, referring to the metal-eating bat-creatures native to Jupiter's moon [[Io]], from the Generation 1 multi-part episode, [[Five Faces of Darkness]].

* Pg 164 – Lockdown's spaceship is named the ''[[Death's Head (Animated)|Death's Head]]'', after a certain [[Death's Head (G1)|freelance peacekeeping agent]], yes? It has been upgraded using parts obtained from the planets [[Jörmungandr]] and [[Taxxon]], and the [[Jabbi-Ko]] aliens, outfitted with Vandarian holographic technology (from the same planet as the [[Vandarian fuzz-worm]]s) and [[cybertitanium]] cables (among other items mentioned below as they're non-''Transformers'' references).

* Pg 170 – Bulkhead describes candy as being like [[Ultra-Energon]] for kids.

* Pg 174 – Newscaster [[Lester Black]] is revealed to be the great-nephew of [[Hector Ramirez (Animated)|Hector Ramirez]], a callback to the [[Hector Ramirez (G1)|Generation 1 news reporter of the same name]] (who was actually unnamed in his one ''Transformers'' cartoon appearance).

===Real-world references===
* Pg 164 – Lockdown's spaceship used to be an “IG-2000” class ship, referring to the [[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]] ship that bore that name. It is outfitted with Deckard cannons (named for Rick Deckard from ''Blade Runner''), Samus-blasters (named for Samus Aran from the ''Metroid'' series), and isomorphic controls preventing anyone other than Lockdown from piloting it, as does Doctor Who's TARDIS. Lockdown rounds out the paragraph by saying “a bot's got to know his limitations”, paraphrasing Clint Eastwood in ''Magnum Force''.

* Pg 165 - “A three hour tour!” cackles Blitzwing, quoting the theme tune of ''Gilligan's Island''.
*Pg 170/171 - Among the [[Halloween]] costumes are a [http://ghostbusters.wikia.com/wiki/Samhain Samhain], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headless_Horseman Headless Horseman], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro_Samurai#Afro_Samurai Afro Samurai], [[Destro]], [[Cobra Commander]] and [[Hawk (G.I. Joe)|General Hawk]].

==Chapter 6 - Detroit==
People, places and things in and about Detroit.
{{collist|3|
*[[Augustus Edsel|Detroit's Leadership]] by Sentinel Prime
*Buildings by Jazz
*[[Blackwater Prison]] by Captain Fanzone
*Solar Fusion by Porter C. Powell
*[[Human|Organic Inhabitants]] by Sentinel Prime
*Emergency Responders by Captain Fanzone
*Earth Vehicles by Jazz
*Stupid Organics (i.e. animals) by Sentinel Prime
}}

===Transformers references===
* Pg 178 – [[Augustus Edsel|Mayor Edsel]] is revealed to be the nephew of famous actor [[Harold Edsel (Animated)|Harold Edsel]].

* Pg 183 – The [[Sidney Biggles-Jones Memorial Solar Fusion Plant]] is named after the [[Sidney Biggles-Jones|scientist]] from the Marvel Comics ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' / ''Generation 2'' crossover. The other scientists named as working on solar fusion, [[Brian Jones (Animated)|Brian Jones]], [[Daichi Onishi]], [[Peter Morris (Animated)|Peter Morris]], and [[Felix Adle]], are named after (respectively) [[Brian Jones (Energon)|Dr. Jones]] from ''[[Energon (franchise)|Energon]]'', Doctor [[Kenneth Onishi]], [[Professor Morris]] and [[Professor Adle]].
* Pg 185 - [[Bobby Bolivia|Uncle Bobby B]], baby. Uncle Bobby B.
===Real-world references===
* Pg 189 – [[Jeff Litvack]] is a friend of Jim Sorenson's, who he credits in the acknowledgments of this book. [[Krista Kohlhausen]] is Bill Forster's “favorite person,” according to the acknowledgments of The Ark.

==Chapter 7 - Settings==
Background pictures and associated character models from the first two seasons of Animated.
{{collist|3|
*[[Autobot Earth Base]] by Bulkhead
*[[Decepticon Earth Base]] by Mixmaster and Scrapper
*[[Sumdac Systems]] by Isaac Sumdac
*[[Nemesis (Animated)|The Nemesis]] by Blackarachnia
*[[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]] by Prowl
*[[Meltdown's Subterranean Lab]] by Cyrus "The Colossus" Rhodes
*[[Archa Seven]] by Sentinel Prime
*[[Autobot boot camp]] by Ultra Magnus
}}

===Transformers references===
* Pg 200 – The generic Sumdac Systems technicians are named [[Eddie Fairchild and Matt Conroy]]. These are the names of two prototypical characters who existed in the development phase of the Generation 1 cartoon, who eventually evolved into [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] and [[Chip Chase]].

* Pg 203 – Noted architect George R. Apple. [[Grapple|G.R.Apple]]? Anybody? Anybody? C'mooon!

* Pg 206 – The [[Nemesis (Animated)|Nemesis]] is equipped with a Grand Mal class force field, named after the [[Grand Mal]], the giant fortress-cum-giant head occupied by Beast Wars [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] in the latter stages of the Beast Machines cartoon. It has a cybertroid alloy star drive (just like the Generation 1 [[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]], as mentioned in the G1 episode [[Microbots]]), and has the most sophisticated sensor array this side of the [[Eshems Nebula]], a region of space introduced in IDW Publishing's live-action movie-based [[Defiance]] series.

* Pg 207 – To escape the damaged Nemesis, the Decepticons used Devolan escape pods. The planet [[Devola]] was the site of a huge victory for the Decepticon [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Tidal Wave]] in the Armada universe.

* Pg 211 – The crashed Decepticon ship on Archa Seven is named the [[Twilight (Animated)|Twilight]], after the [[Twilight (G2)|flagship]] from the Marvel Generation 2 comics.

==Interstitials==
The only place in the book where out-of-universe is presented, the interstitial pages covered divergent continuities as well as select aspects of the animation process. These appears at the end of a chapter.

{{collist|3|
*Chapter 1: Lightning
*Chapter 2: Transformations
*Chapter 3: Opening Credits
*Chapter 4: Titan Magzines
*Chapter 5: Design Evolution
*Chapter 6: Bee in the City
*Chapter 7: Backgrounds
}}

==Literary elements==
Including the copyright information, title page, foreword and afterwords, notes from the authors and acknowledgments.

===Transformers references===
* Pg 9a – [[Jim Sorenson (Animated)|Jim Sorenson]] and [[Bill Forster (Animated)|Bill Forster]] hail from [[universal stream]] Quadwal -3760.925 Theta. Universal streams are a means of classifying the numerous Transformers universes devised by authors [[Greg Sepelak]] and [[Trent Troop]], which first appeared in the Transformers Collectors Club story, [[Withered Hope]]. This particular classification, however, makes no sense, save for the “Theta” suffix, which indicates a “spoken word” or “live performance” scenario. The “-” sign also indicates they're from a reverse parallel universe, akin to the Shattered Glass fiction introduced at [[BotCon 2008]], the only other universal stream to be marked like this. “Don't ask,” the authors say.
** But we're the goddamned Transformers Wiki, so screw that "don't ask" stuff. We're nerds, we're gonna do this thing. "Quadwal" is an obvious play on "fourth wall," which is what this universal stream is breaking. September 25, 3760 BC is the first day of the Hebrew calendar, specifically the date some believe Creation began. (So that "-" sign has a double meaning!) So Sorenson and Forster hail from the Real Life Universe, or the negative universe version of it, hence why they are incarcerated criminals.

* Pg 9b – The Reverse-Pretender technology used by Sorenson and Forster is a reference to several 1980s Transformers toy [[commercial]]s, which featured a child leaping into the air and transforming into Ultra Magnus.

* Pg 215 - Marty Isenberg mentions a [[GEEWUN|certain group of fans]], canonizing yet another fan-made term.

===Errors===
* Page 2: In the indicia, the latter "r" is left out of "characters".

==External links==
*[http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/digipedia/annotated_almanac.html The Annotated AllSpark Almanac], listing all the hidden references in the book

[[Category:Animated]]
[[Category: IDW titles]]
[[Category: Reference texts]]

Rodimus (WFC)

2010-08-15T13:14:41Z

81.106.173.212:

{{faction|autobot}}
{{disambig3|Hot Shot}}
:''Hot Shot is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers: War for Cybertron]] portion of the [[Transformers: Prime]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:WFC Hot Shot Rodimus bot.jpg|thumb|250px|The sound you hear is [[User:ItsWalky|David Willis]] crying bitter, bitter tears.]]

'''Hot Shot''' is an Autobot who participated in the Great War.

==Games==
===''Transformers: War for Cybertron — Autobots''===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Travis Willingham]]

The [[Dark Energon]] corrupted Hot Shot and he went on a frenzy of violent destruction until he was defeated by the Autobots and returned to normal.

{{Note|Hot Shot is an unlockable character for the Nintendo DS version of ''War for Cybertron''. He can be unlocked by beating Dam 6 in Arena Mode.}}

{{Storylink|Transformers: War for Cybertron (DS)|Transformers: War for Cybertron — Autobots}}

{{charstubfiction}}

==Notes==
*Hot Shot resembles Generation 1 [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]] and the concept art done by [[Hasbro]] artist [[Marcelo Matere]] identifies him as Rodimus. According to [[Aaron Archer]] at the [[BotCon 2010]] [[Activision]] panel, the character was named "Hot Shot" due to "Hot Rod" being an [[trademark|unprotectable name]]. Makes you wonder why they didn't just go with "Rodimus" like Hasbro usually does.
*He is named "Rodimus" in the [[Bumblebee at Tyger Pax|non-canon short story]] written by [[Alex Irvine]].
It is unknown if he likes [[JaAm]]
[[Category: Autobots]]
[[Category: Fiction-only characters]]
[[Category: Prime characters]]