Rook (Armada)

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This article is about . For other uses of "Rook", see Rook (disambiguation)|The name or term "Rook" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Rook (disambiguation).}}
Rook is a Unicron-allied Mini-Con from the Armada portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Life has many doors, head-boy.

Rook is the Mini-Con partner to Sideways, servant to Unicron. His job is to serve as a spy and saboteur, and sow discontent among the Mini-Cons. He's a charismatic, bold-faced liar with no scruples whatsoever, who enjoys playing mind games and setting others up for a fall. And if they need a push, the combat-trained Mini-Con will give them one. He'll happily destroy someone he "promised" to help without the slightest hesitation.

He combines with Sideways's other Mini-Con partner, Crosswise to form Mirror.

{{#if:Rook's bio quote.|
“ 'Friend' is another word for 'fool'. ”
{{#if:Rook's bio quote.|

—Rook's bio quote.{{#if:|, {{{3}}}}}

}}

}}

Fiction

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Armada cartoon

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Rook never appeared as an individual robot in the cartoon. He was shown either as Sideways' Autobot head, or combined with Crosswise into their Mirror form.

When Sideways came to Earth and transformed into robot mode for the first time, his rider split in half and Rook covered Sideways's head, revealing his Autobot insignia. Crosswise vanished from the scene. Gale Rook continued to serve as Sideways's head covering until Sideways chose to switch factions. Then Rook launched off of Sideways's head, transformed into Crosswise, and returned to Sideways's shoulders. Credulous

Dreamwave Armada comic

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Unicronian spy for President 2012.

Rook was among the other Mini-Cons in Dualor's sanctuary in the Moon. He cheered with Crosswise and Dirt Boss when it seemed they had fended off an attack from Megatron and his Decepticons. Armada #9 But soon enough Megatron made it inside and started destroying the base, prompting Rook to leave in an escape pod. Armada #11

After the failure of Dualor's plan and the Autobots taking in the refugee Mini-Cons, Rook lectured to the other Mini-Cons, saying that they were still treated as a commodity. Thus, they should break all ties with the Autobots. To give the Mini-Cons confidence in the Autobots, Optimus Prime promised to Rook that the Autobots would help find some of their members that were lost in the devastation of Dualor's sanctuary. Fire & Ice

After the arrival of Unicron's heralds, all of the Mini-Cons were gathered to make the return to Cybertron. When the Decepticons arrived, Rook immediately assumed they had been set up by the Autobots. The End

Rook was supposedly Unicron-affiliated in this continuity, but this was never shown in the fiction, only mentioned in his More Than Meets The Eye profile. His outspoken criticism of the Autobots kind of hinted towards it though.

TransTech

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When Sideways became a finalist in Cybertron's Got Talent, an interpretive transforming competition, Rook's status as a double-Headmaster Combi-Micromaster gave Sideways an edge. Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/05/14

When Crosswise became an intern for Axiom Nexus News reporter Rook, Crosswise revealed that he was looking for the "real" Rook so that he could herald the coming of Unicron. Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/06/01

Rook joined the Offworlder Zone Security Administration at some point prior to or during the hunt for Sideways, who had botnapped Vector Prime. When Cheetor led a team of OZSA agents to Sideways's hideout only to find their way blocked by an Absolute Terror Field, Rook looked into legal precedent for the use of a Vortex Grinder. The High Senate's bill turned out to be unnecessary as the field came down on its own and Vector Prime walked out unharmed because Sideways's head suddenly exploded. Before everyone's optics, however, Rook initiated a Headmaster sequence with Sideways, who then escaped by Dimensional Interfacer. Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/06/27

Sideways himself claimed he met Rook on Tinder. Ask Sideways, 2015/06/28

Ask Vector Prime

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Vector Prime speculated that there may have been a "continuity of consciousness" between this Rook and the Rook affiliated with the Cybertronian Empire, given the ties between Planet X and said empire. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/29

Games

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Transformers: Earth Wars

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Rook is not available as a playable character, but is rather shown riding Sideways in motorcycle mode or as his Autobot side head.


Toys

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Armada

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Wait... I'm the bad guy? (First-release Sideways pictured)
  • Sideways with Crosswise and Rook (Super-Con, 2003)
Available only with Armada Sideways and Crosswise, Rook transforms into a head unit for Sideways's robot mode. In this form, inserting the robot-mode arms into holes on alternate sides of Sideways's neck reveals a faction sigil under Sideways's chest-windshield. (It is not necessary to do the arm-thing to attach Crosswise in head mode, it's actually a bit easier to attach him with the arms pushed to the back since they don't have to fight the chest-plate springs.) As a Mini-Con, he has a "Powerlinx" socket on his back which allows him to attach to any toy with a Powerlinx style 5 mm post; some toys have special Powerlinx posts that activate/unlock gimmicks when a Mini-Con is attached.
Rook has a small tab on his rump, which allows him to securely ride Sideways's motorcycle mode, seated up front. He also forms the top half of the combined Mini-Con robot Mirror (unnamed in the Hasbro line) with Crosswise.
He also has an "attack mode", intended to be attached to larger robot via Powerlinx, where he forms... maybe some kind of bow-like weapon? It's really awkward-looking, especially since his head is still very visible.
The original Hasbro Sideways setup had Rook as the Decepticon-sigil-revealing head, but the television series depicted Crosswise as the Decepticon head and Rook as the Autobot head. Hasbro made a running change to Sideways, swapping the sigils on the inner plates so the toy reflected the series' faction alignments, but Rook himself was unchanged. (The Sideways variants can be identified in-package by Crosswise's paint colors: red paint is the first version, purple the second.) The Takara/Sonokong version uses this setup, and has no significant differences from Hasbro Rook.
This mold was used to make Energon Nightscream.


  • Sideways with Crosswise and Rook (Super-Con, 2003)
US Toys"R"Us stores had special bonus pack Max-Con toys, which came with a single bonus Mini-Con attached to the card over their sticker, for less than the price as a normal Max-Con, during Toys"R"Us's Black Friday sale.
Sideways could come with one of the Destruction Mini-Con Team members: Buzzsaw, Drill Bit, or Dualor.


  • Bonus Pack (2003)
Kmart stores offered "Bonus Packs" later in the line's run, which were basically just a normal-release Super-Con and Mini-Con Team pack clamshelled together for slightly less than the cost of the two individually.
Sideways has been found packed with the Destruction Mini-Con Team and the Street Action Mini-Con Team.


Age of the Primes

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Does this look like the face of a bad guy?
  • Sideways (Voyager Class, 2026)
Included with Age of the Primes Voyager Class Sideways, Rook is a somewhat faithful update of his original Armada design; the torso is flipped such his arms form the head mode horns instead of his legs, and the eyes are colored red like the toy but the mouthplate is painted like in the cartoon. He transforms into Sideways's Autobot head (with the horns near his neck as opposed to the top of the head) as well as the upper portion of Mirror, with Crosswise forming the lower half. While his arms feature ball-jointed shoulders and elbows, his legs are a single molded piece with no articulation, and must be removed for both transformations. The leftover limbs can be stored on the sides of Sideways's legs/motorcycle mode.

Notes

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  • So his Japanese name is "Bright", despite his being the black-colored one of the pair. Ahuh. Yeah, he's the Autobot-symbol head, but still.
  • In Robotmasters, Sideways/Double Face is said to have "Bright" and "Shadow" programs which help him... do... things. Yeah. Any rate, this is a reference to the Japanese names of his two Mini-Con partners.

Foreign names

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  • Japanese: Bright (ブライト Buraito)
  • Korean: Bright (브라이트 Beuraiteu)

References

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