Sludge (FOC)

This subject of this article goes by multiple names that apply to other articles as well. See Sludge (disambiguation), Slog (disambiguation){{#if:|, [[{{{3}}}]]|}}{{#if:|, [[{{{4}}}]]|}}{{#if:|, [[{{{5}}}]]|}}{{#if:|, [[{{{6}}}]]|}}{{#if:|, [[{{{7}}}]]|}}{{#if:|, [[{{{8}}}]]|}}{{#if:|, [[{{{9}}}]]|}}{{#if:|, [[{{{10}}}]]|}}.
Sludge is an Autobot Dinobot from the Fall of Cybertron portion of the Aligned continuity family.
Category: Things that don't exist

Originally a member of Grimlock's Lightning Strike Coalition, Sludge (aka Slog) was left for dead during the experiments that turned the team into the Dinobots. Though he was able to recover and rejoin the team as their logistics expert, he still harbors much rage over the fact that his own friends never came looking for him.

Fiction

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IDW Aligned comics

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It's totally obvious we're gonna win.

Shortly before the Great Exodus, Sludge was a member of the Lightning Strike Coalition, a brutal subgroup of Autobots under the leadership of Grimlock, who reluctantly followed Optimus Prime's more cautious brand of warfare... when ordered. Swoop was sent to investigate Shockwave's energon sources but he worryingly disappeared. When the other four coalition members learned that Swoop had been captured by Shockwave at a Decepticon facility in the Sea of Rust, they disobeyed orders and went after him themselves. Good Intentions Sludge and the others followed Grimlock, secure in his arrogance, who was glad that the fate of Cybertron rested in their hands. Secrets The Lightning Strike Coalition stormed the base head-on, encountering minimal resistance... until they ran afoul of the multitude of Insecticons swarming Shockwave's installation. Despite this new obstacle, Sludge urged his teammates to press on, as he registered a lock on Swoop's signature. He and Grimlock took point while Snarl and Slag kept the Insecticons at bay. Eventually muscling their way to Swoop, Sludge pulled his teammate free from a harness he was being held in. As soon as this was done however, Shockwave appeared in person, backed up by innumerable more Insecticons. These enemy reinforcements overwhelmed the Lightning Strike Coalition. Siege Mentality Though Grimlock managed to struggle free and engage Shockwave as his teammates were carted away by the Insecticons, the Coalition's leader proved no match for the Decepticon scientist. Once the whole team had been defeated, Shockwave began in earnest his experiments on Sludge and the others. Last Stand

Sludge was then strung up and painfully vivisected. Fragmentation Of all the Coalition, Sludge was left weakest from the battle, and Shockwave decided that he would experiment on him merely for practice. After altering the Autobot to have an alien reptile alternate mode, the Decepticon scientist had the Insecticon Kickback dispose of Sludge in the tunnels beneath the facility without even reactivating him. When his teammates, similarly modified, escaped, and dubbed themselves "Dinobots", they did not search for Sludge, believing him deceased, and it was four cycles before he was recovered by an Autobot clean-up crew searching the tunnels for energon. Beast Hunters #2

After Optimus and Megatron left Cybertron with the majority of their forces, the Dinobots remained behind with remnant forces led by Ultra Magnus. Eventually, when the time for the final evacuation came, Sludge and his comrades helped the last convoy of ships, led by Impactor, escape Cybertron. As the mission drew to a close, Ultra Magnus told the Dinobots to get to their own craft, but another squadron of Decepticons drew Swoop into taking them out himself. This resulted in Magnus being shot down when he tried to fend them off. Grimlock convinced the other Dinobots to attempt a rescue for Magnus. A Predacon, however, managed to get there first and capture him. Swoop was downed and captured in the process, but the rest of the Dinobots were unable to pursue the Predacon immediately; they first had to contend with Grimlock, who had slipped into a berserker rage upon transforming into his beast mode. Grimlock mauled Sludge's arm, but returned to his senses in short order. Rage of the Dinobots #1

While Snarl got Ultra Magnus's ship up and running, Sludge examined the bodies of the Decepticons that had fallen while trying to capture Ultra Magnus. He informed Grimlock that the bodies had welding lines, indicating the warriors had been cut up and sewn back together again, just as Shockwave had done with the Dinobots. Though disconcerted by the news, Grimlock led the team out to the Sea of Rust as soon as Snarl managed to get a tracking signal out of the ship's computer.

The Dinobots found the prison in which their comrades were being held atop a mountain. Once they clambered to the mountaintop, the Dinobots took out the guards and engineered a mass jailbreak by stealing one of the guard's key modules. Once reunited with Magnus, they fought their way to the prison's roof, where they met eyes with Ser-Ket, Shockwave's lieutenant. The Dinobots demanded that she hand over Swoop, but she revealed that Swoop had been re-forged into a Predacon. Rage of the Dinobots #2

Desperate to win back Swoop's freedom, Grimlock challenged Ser-Ket to a one-on-one fight, waging himself and the rest of the Dinobots against the freedom of their wayward teammate. Ser-Ket agreed to his challenge, and Sludge created a fire-ring for them to duel in with the help of the other remaining Dinobots. Grimlock ultimately arose victorious by using his Tyrannosaurus mode's primal rage, and even managed to restore Swoop to his senses with some percussive maintenance. The Dinobots then readied themselves to take their leave, only for Ser-Ket to ambush Grimlock while his back was turned, and carry him up into the skies. Though Sludge, Snarl, and Slug tried to shoot her down, it was Swoop who rescued the Dinobot Commander by taking to the air himself. Ser-Ket was brought down, and Sludge watched on as Grimlock skewered her head, deactivating her permanently. Though the ordeal seemed at an end, the Dinobots were then approached by Shockwave. Rage of the Dinobots #3

Though the Dinobots and Ultra Magnus unleashed all of the firepower at their disposal against the new arrival, Shockwave managed to take them all out by strategic use of a force-field and an EMP. While Sludge and the others were put under guard in a force-field-enclosed cell, Grimlock was brought to Shockwave's operating theater to be stripped of his sentience once and for all. Sludge and the others managed to trick their guards into lowering the force-field holding them captive by pretending to fight between themselves, threatening the continued existence of Shockwave's future test-subjects. They then trounced the guards, bashed their way into Shockwave's lab, and tore Shockwave to shreds. Sludge was especially taken aback over the fact that they had finally managed to dispose of their long-time foe. Unfortunately, he was mistaken; as Grimlock was released from his restraints, a hologram of Shockwave materialized, informing the Autobots that what they had destroyed was merely one of his many avatars which carried out his work around Cybertron. The Dinobots then saw Ultra Magnus off-planet, telling him they planned to stay behind so as to continue helping whatever Cybertronians still lingered on the dying planet, as well as continue their hunt for Shockwave. Rage of the Dinobots #4

After returning from hunting Forged, Sludge joined Grimlock in his throne room to listen to the grievances and petitions of the many 'bots found on their dying world, and taken in under their care. As the session drew to a close, Sludge took Snarl aside and informed him that Grimlock wouldn't be seeing anyone for a while, lest he snap and go mad from the burden of leadership. Heading out to hunt again in order to vent some of his own frustration, Sludge came across Firestar being chased down by a swarm of Insecticons. After teaming up with her to destroy the bugs, Sludge brought Firestar to Grimlock, despite his earlier discussion with Snarl. Firestar revealed that she was from Last Spark, a settlement that had previously refused to associate with the Dinobots. Upon hearing this, Grimlock flew into a rage and threw Firestar out of his throne room, despite her insistence that her people were in a dire need of his help. Sludge asked Grimlock to reconsider aiding the settlement, seeing as their race faced extinction, and needed to look beyond old grudges. Telling Grimlock that he knew that coming to Last Spark's aid was the right thing to do, Sludge walked away with Firestar. Snarl joined the pair, insisting that he needed to ensure Sludge returned intact from Last Spark, for Grimlock’s sake if nothing else.

En-route, Firestar revealed to the two Dinobots that she hadn't received permission to ask for their help, but had instead acted of her own accord in the hopes of putting an end to the slaughter of her people, being dealt out by a mysterious entity. Sure enough, Last Spark's leader, Airwave, was none-too-pleased about the Dinobots' arrival. Though he saw them as little more than monsters, Airwave was talked into allowing the Dinobots to stay and help. Firestar showed Sludge and Snarl the remains of those murdered by the mystery killer. Looking over the bodies' injuries, the Dinobots speculated that Kickback might be involved. They headed out to scope out the Insecticon's lair, and had their suspicions confirmed as Kickback and his followers suddenly descended upon them. Beast Hunters #1 A brutal confrontation followed. Kickback taunted Sludge during the fight, reminding him that his fellow Dinobots hadn't initially bothered looking for him after Shockwave's experiments. Sludge had trouble keeping up with Kickback's incredible speed, but eventually manages to land a decisive blow by allowing himself to be stabbed. Before finishing him off, Sludge questioned Kickback, asking why he attacked Last Spark... only to find that the Insecticons had never breached the settlement. Sludge decided to kill Kickback nonetheless before heading back to Last Spark. Once there, Snarl claimed he had solved the case, and went to inspect the settlement's crypt. He confirmed his suspicions that many dead had been drained of their energon before the murders had allegedly started. Airwave soon revealed himself to be guilty of the crimes, and attacked Firestar and the Dinobots before fleeing and turning the rest of the town onto Snarl and Sludge. Firestar wound up slaying Air Wave herself, and cleared the Dinobots' name in the process. Sludge and Snarl then returned home, where Grimlock, in his own way, apologized for his earlier behavior. Beast Hunters #2

The Dinobots later settled in Last Spark to further help the settlement recover from its ordeal. While he was talking with Firestar, Sludge was approached by Zoom, who enthusiastically suggested he go on patrol with the Dinobots. Sludge retorted that the young 'bot simply wasn't ready for the kind of action the Dinobots got themselves into regularly, and walked away. Beast Hunters #3 When Grimlock and Swoop left to go on patrol, only to not return on schedule, Slug and Sludge began to worry their leader had gotten himself into some trouble. As they discussed with Snarl over whether or not they should look for their away-team, they were again approached by Zoom, who again volunteered to join up with the Dinobots. Sludge once more turned him down. Last Spark then came under attack from a group of organic dinosaurs. Sludge battled with a Tyrannosaurus Rex, deducing all the while that it wasn't a coincidence that the creatures had shown up while Grimlock and Swoop were missing. Though the beasts were powerful, they were unable to sustain themselves for long in Cybertron's atmosphere, and self-destructed mid-battle. Grimlock later explained that he and Swoop had accidentally released the dinosaurs while exploring one of Shockwave's abandoned labs, and that the creatures had been created from the same templates that Shockwave had used for their beast modes. Beast Hunters #4

While on an Energon gathering mission, Slug and Snarl felt a planet-wide quake rock Cybertron. Barely avoiding getting crushed by the tremor, the Dinobots soon found themselves in a completely restructured cavern after the mysterious event. Sludge managed to convince Slag that heading back to Last Spark and asking for help there would be the best course of action. While they made their way through Cybertron's subterranean maze, Sludge heard someone calling for help. Telling his teammate to stay put, lest they get lost, Slag went to investigate. Beast Hunters #5 Slug returned dragging along the Decepticon Blackout. He instructed Sludge to patch up their "prisoner" so he wouldn't die before he had a chance to face trial. After a crudely cauterizing Blackout's leaking leg, the group resumed their trek. While traversing a slick and narrow bridge, Slug slipped and nearly dropped Blackout in the chasm bellow. He injured his leg retrieving the Decepticon, and instructed Sludge to go ahead and fetch help without them, as they both would only slow him down. Sludge complied, and quickly ran into Zoom and Firestar. Unfortunately, these two came bearing bad news: Last Spark was gone, and they were its only survivors. Beast Hunters #6 Just as they decided that they should head for the surface, the three of them were attacked by a Predacon. Sludge instructed Zoom and Firestar to continue onwards while he battled the creature. But despite his best efforts, Sludge was unable to prevent the Predacon from getting away from him. Following it, he came across a torn-up Zoom, who told Sludge he fought the Predacon best he could. Before the young 'bot expired, Sludge told him that, in his eyes, Zoom was a true Dinobot. Then more 'bots crossed Sludge’s path... this time additional allies: Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead! The four of them rejoined the remaining Dinobots on the surface (including Snarl, who had healed in Sludge's absence) and sent the Predacon fleeing. Beast Hunters #7

The Autobots headed for Kaon together, battling their way through the Forged army. But once the Decepticons had been dealt with, the Predacon resurfaced. The Autobots split into groups to head to Kaon, with Sludge, Snarl, and Bumblebee leading one group of survivors. Swoop drew off the Predacon when it attacked, allowing Sludge and the other to reach Kaon. There, Grimlock announced that Dinobots wouldn't be able to help with Kaon, as they would be building a new city for the survivors: New Spark. Beast Hunters #8

Transformers: The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe

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Sludge serves under Grimlock as part of the Dinobots. He has yet to understand the strength of his human allies. The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe

2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon

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Following the restoration of Cybertron from the Great War, Sludge was one of the many Autobots blacklisted by the new High Council for being a supporter of Optimus Prime. Enemy of My Enemy

Rescue Bots Academy cartoon

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Voice actor: Billy Bob Thompson (English){{#if: |, {{{2}}}}}

Sludge was once trapped in hardened lava for two years. Dino-mite Duo Sludge and Snarl were old friends of Grimlock. They joined him on Earth for a mission that involved retrieving a crashed spaceship, and were unimpressed when Grimlock brought along Hoist as part of the mission. They set about trying to pull the ship free with a vine, only for Hoist to stop them as the movement was endangering a human village on the other side of the cliff. The Dinobots were skeptical, but followed Hoist's instructions to build a makeshift crane, and were able to safely take the ship to the Rescue Bot Academy where they were inclined to name Hoist an honorary Dinobot. Mission Dinobot

Grimlock called the two Dinobots in to help him and Hoist investigate a possible energon cache in an old Earth mine. They were keen to impress Hoist after last time, and charged straight in, however, their blundering caused the mine to become even more unstable. Though they succeeded in finding the energon, the mine collapsed, and they were forced to follow Hoist's plan to get them all out. The Great Energon Rush

When an energon reactor on Cybertron was in danger of going critical, Sludge and Snarl called in the recruits to help. The two Dinobots became trapped in the control room when Snarl accidentally put the power plant in lockdown, until Medix had some Scraplets he'd trained prevent the reactor from exploding. How To Train Your Scraplet Sludge and Snarl helped Grimlock and the recruits save a tree on Dino Island by being dropped onto an unstable butte so that it fell away from the tree. Bot Blog

The pair's clumsy nature led them to be accused by Hoist of trashing the Academy and Grimlock sentenced them to man a remote outpost on a gas planet despite their denials. When Hoist later realized he himself was the culprit, they accepted his apology. Things That Go Bot in the Night An emergency meant Sludge and Snarl were left in charge of the academy. Though they started off having fun, an emergency call had them respond to a construction incident on Mount Griffin. Despite being seriously out of their depth, they managed to muddle through stabilizing the construction platform and save the day. The others returned to the academy to find Sludge and Snarl cleaning the place. Dino-mite Duo

With Citadel Secundus on a collision course with Earth, Sludge and Snarl were among those enlisted by Whirl to help save the world. The two Dinobots were tasked with using their brute strength to re-align Griffin Rock's satellite dishes so that the Titan could be remote controlled to a safe landing next to the Academy. Once the crisis was over, the year two graduation ceremony was held, and Optimus Prime invited the Dinobots to join the Academy as students, along with the others who had helped. Crash of the Titan

Games

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Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

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Well, that can't be good.

Sludge and the rest of the Lightning Strike Coalition deserted their posts defending the Ark to look into some mysterious energy readings. He helped steal an Autobot drop ship and together the team traveled to the Sea of Rust. Unfortunately the energy readings related to Shockwave's recent activities near the energon lake, particularly his efforts on the space bridge and the creation of the Insecticons. The Lightning Strike Coalition battled the Insecticons, but while the others were captured for Shockwave's continued experiments, Sludge was left behind. His body was found by Jazz, partially dismembered and grafted to the wall of an Insecticon hive. Jazz stated that he was in stasis lock. Jazz removed Sludge's memory core while attempting to find out what had happened in the tunnels. Jazz later flooded the tunnels with a highly toxic fluid, quite possibly destroying Sludge's body in the process.

After escaping from captivity, the newly christened Dinobots found a hologramatic datacore which projected the body Shockwave had originally planned to give Sludge. Fall of Cybertron

Transformers: Battle Tactics

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"Me Slog am playable now!"

Slog (FOC) participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was an Epic character who first appeared in the "Grimlock's Escape" stronghold event, and could be recruited by collecting 500 units of Cybermetal, 250 units of Transmetal, and 50 cores of this character. Transformers: Battle Tactics

Toys

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Dinobot Adventures

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Does this makes Sludge the leader of the Dinobots now?
  • Dinobot Sludge (Dinobot Striker, 2021)
Dinobot Adventures Sludge is a redeco of the Rescue Bots Mini Dino Heatwave the Rescue Dinobot figure in traditional Dinobot colors and features a single-step autotransformation from Brontosaurus to robot mode. Pressing the button near the base of his tail in beast mode activates a mild headbutt gimmick.
It is currently unknown if this figure is prone to the same breakage issue as the original release.

Notes

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  • Sludge is the only Dinobot that isn't playable in Fall of Cybertron's multiplayer. He is also the only one with no voice actor, due to the script being written around his exclusion.
  • There's some indication that Sludge was initially planned to appear in the game as either a full NPC or character, including the fact that his models are set up to accept skeletal deformation, which would have only been necessary if the models had to transform (which Sludge never does in the final product). The robot mode model also sports beast-mode kibble, which is tactfully hidden within level geometry when his inert form is discovered in the game.
  • When writing for the Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters comic series Mairghread Scott envisioned Sludge sounding like David Sobolov.<ref>https://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/q-and-a-with-mairghread-scott-writer-of-transformers-prime-beast-hunters.917845/page-8#post-9578165
    "If I had to pick Sludge's voice, I'd have to say David Sobolov. He's so good at layering in subtle emotion into Shockwave. I know he'd do great with Sludge."</ref>

Foreign names

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  • Russian: Slyakot (Слякоть, "Slush")

References

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<references />
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