Sideways (disambiguation) - Revision history

Saix at 05:42, 3 July 2025

2025-07-03T05:42:24Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:42, 3 July 2025
Line 4:		Line 4:
	If you encounter a 'bot going by the name '''Sideways''', do not trust him! Throughout the [[multiverse]], the name is associated with cheats and liars. Most oftentimes, a Sideways's allegiances are to be questioned. Many of them claim to be helpful allies, but more often than not, they work for a [[Unicron\|greater evil]]. Some would assume Sideways to be cowardly, but their true strength oftentimes lies in their speed and their cunning. A quick getaway today can assure that greater machinations come to fruition tomorrow. Some Sidewayses are known to possess dimension-hopping capabilities, and tracking which Sideways is responsible for what in whatever universe can be a tad confusing. Some of them have claimed to travel to other universes to slaughter and impersonate their native counterpart, or that Sidewayses are cloned from one another to fulfill their roles in multiple parallel events. Sidewayses are true sowers of confusion, and even if one were able to see past all the lies, one would still be hard-pressed to make sense of the chaos that they leave in their wake.		If you encounter a 'bot going by the name '''Sideways''', do not trust him! Throughout the [[multiverse]], the name is associated with cheats and liars. Most oftentimes, a Sideways's allegiances are to be questioned. Many of them claim to be helpful allies, but more often than not, they work for a [[Unicron\|greater evil]]. Some would assume Sideways to be cowardly, but their true strength oftentimes lies in their speed and their cunning. A quick getaway today can assure that greater machinations come to fruition tomorrow. Some Sidewayses are known to possess dimension-hopping capabilities, and tracking which Sideways is responsible for what in whatever universe can be a tad confusing. Some of them have claimed to travel to other universes to slaughter and impersonate their native counterpart, or that Sidewayses are cloned from one another to fulfill their roles in multiple parallel events. Sidewayses are true sowers of confusion, and even if one were able to see past all the lies, one would still be hard-pressed to make sense of the chaos that they leave in their wake.

	~~{{TOCclear}}~~
	==Conceptual history==		==Conceptual history==
	The idea of Sideways being a dimensional traveler who's the same across his cross-continuity appearances has been built up over time, with fans and writers extrapolating wildly from loose connections between his earliest incarnations.		The idea of Sideways being a dimensional traveler who's the same across his cross-continuity appearances has been built up over time, with fans and writers extrapolating wildly from loose connections between his earliest incarnations.

Escargon at 23:28, 12 June 2025

2025-06-12T23:28:41Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:28, 12 June 2025
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	==Not to be confused with...==		==Not to be confused with...==
	*[[Noisemaze (Cybertron)\|Noisemaze]]
	*[[Sideswipe (disambiguation)\|Sideswipe]]		*[[Sideswipe (disambiguation)\|Sideswipe]]
	*[[Side Burn (disambiguation)\|Side Burn]]		*[[Side Burn (disambiguation)\|Side Burn]]

Nevermore: /* Conceptual history */

2025-03-06T21:26:58Z

Conceptual history

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:26, 6 March 2025
Line 10:		Line 10:
	The original [[Sideways (RID)\|Sideways]], a [[2002]] ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)\|Robots in Disguise]]'' toy, was packaged with [[Axer (G1)\|Axer]], whose on-package [[bio]] was adapted near verbatim from his original [[Generation 1 continuity family\|Generation 1]] [[Tech Spec]], with new material implying he'd crossed dimensions via a black hole.<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/axer-662 ''Robots in Disguise'' Axer's package bio]</ref> The online bio for the ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)\|Armada]]'' [[Sideways (Armada)\|Sideways]] toy, released a few months later, similarly matched that of the ''Robots in Disguise'' character,<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-2-643 ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways's package bio]</ref> with new material suggesting that his duplicity was the result of being pulled in two mental directions by his [[Mini-Con]]s<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-with-rook-and-crosswise-814 ''Armada'' Sideways's online bio]</ref> (an aspect ignored by the ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)\|Armada]]'' cartoon, which simply portrayed him as a pure agent of [[Unicron]]). Because of the ''Armada'' toy's recycled bio text, fans suspected that if the ''Robots in Disguise'' and Generation 1 Axers were the same person who had hopped universes, then the same might also be true of the ''Armada'' and ''Robots in Disguise'' Sidewayses.		The original [[Sideways (RID)\|Sideways]], a [[2002]] ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)\|Robots in Disguise]]'' toy, was packaged with [[Axer (G1)\|Axer]], whose on-package [[bio]] was adapted near verbatim from his original [[Generation 1 continuity family\|Generation 1]] [[Tech Spec]], with new material implying he'd crossed dimensions via a black hole.<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/axer-662 ''Robots in Disguise'' Axer's package bio]</ref> The online bio for the ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)\|Armada]]'' [[Sideways (Armada)\|Sideways]] toy, released a few months later, similarly matched that of the ''Robots in Disguise'' character,<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-2-643 ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways's package bio]</ref> with new material suggesting that his duplicity was the result of being pulled in two mental directions by his [[Mini-Con]]s<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-with-rook-and-crosswise-814 ''Armada'' Sideways's online bio]</ref> (an aspect ignored by the ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)\|Armada]]'' cartoon, which simply portrayed him as a pure agent of [[Unicron]]). Because of the ''Armada'' toy's recycled bio text, fans suspected that if the ''Robots in Disguise'' and Generation 1 Axers were the same person who had hopped universes, then the same might also be true of the ''Armada'' and ''Robots in Disguise'' Sidewayses.

	It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.		It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in its bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.

	Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. Meanwhile, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column [[Ask Vector Prime]]). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", while the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\|Energon]]''—treated him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].		Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. Meanwhile, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column [[Ask Vector Prime]]). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", while the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\|Energon]]''—treated him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].

Nevermore: /* Conceptual history */

2025-03-06T21:25:28Z

Conceptual history

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:25, 6 March 2025
Line 8:		Line 8:
	The idea of Sideways being a dimensional traveler who's the same across his cross-continuity appearances has been built up over time, with fans and writers extrapolating wildly from loose connections between his earliest incarnations.		The idea of Sideways being a dimensional traveler who's the same across his cross-continuity appearances has been built up over time, with fans and writers extrapolating wildly from loose connections between his earliest incarnations.

	The original [[Sideways (RID)\|Sideways]], a [[2002]] ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)\|Robots in Disguise]]'' toy, was packaged with [[Axer (G1)\|Axer]], whose on-package [[bio]] was adapted near verbatim from his original [[Generation 1 continuity family\|Generation 1]] [[Tech Spec]], with new material implying he'd crossed dimensions via a black hole.<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/axer-662 ''Robots in Disguise'' Axer's package bio]</ref> The online bio for ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)\|Armada]]'' [[Sideways (Armada)\|Sideways]] toy, released a few months later, similarly matched that of the ''Robots in Disguise'' character,<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-2-643 ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways's package bio]</ref> with new material suggesting that his duplicity was the result of being pulled in two mental directions by his [[Mini-Con]]s<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-with-rook-and-crosswise-814 ''Armada'' Sideways's online bio]</ref> (an aspect ignored by the ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)\|Armada]]'' cartoon, which simply portrayed him as a pure agent of [[Unicron]]). Because of the ''Armada'' toy's recycled bio text, fans suspected that if the ''Robots in Disguise'' and Generation 1 Axers were the same person who had hopped universes, then the same might also be true of the ''Armada'' and ''Robots in Disguise'' Sidewayses.		The original [[Sideways (RID)\|Sideways]], a [[2002]] ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)\|Robots in Disguise]]'' toy, was packaged with [[Axer (G1)\|Axer]], whose on-package [[bio]] was adapted near verbatim from his original [[Generation 1 continuity family\|Generation 1]] [[Tech Spec]], with new material implying he'd crossed dimensions via a black hole.<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/axer-662 ''Robots in Disguise'' Axer's package bio]</ref> The online bio for the ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)\|Armada]]'' [[Sideways (Armada)\|Sideways]] toy, released a few months later, similarly matched that of the ''Robots in Disguise'' character,<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-2-643 ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways's package bio]</ref> with new material suggesting that his duplicity was the result of being pulled in two mental directions by his [[Mini-Con]]s<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-with-rook-and-crosswise-814 ''Armada'' Sideways's online bio]</ref> (an aspect ignored by the ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)\|Armada]]'' cartoon, which simply portrayed him as a pure agent of [[Unicron]]). Because of the ''Armada'' toy's recycled bio text, fans suspected that if the ''Robots in Disguise'' and Generation 1 Axers were the same person who had hopped universes, then the same might also be true of the ''Armada'' and ''Robots in Disguise'' Sidewayses.

	It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.		It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.

Cyberlink420: Undo revision 1720354 by K-Dawg26 (talk)

2023-09-08T21:54:23Z

Undo revision 1720354 by K-Dawg26 (talk)

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:54, 8 September 2023
Line 37:		Line 37:
	{{disamb\|y=[[2010]]\|[[Sideways (Animated)\|Sideways]], the Decepticon general from ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]''.}}		{{disamb\|y=[[2010]]\|[[Sideways (Animated)\|Sideways]], the Decepticon general from ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]''.}}
	{{disamb\|y=[[2015]]\|[[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]], the dimension-hopping serial liar from [[Ask Vector Prime]].}}		{{disamb\|y=[[2015]]\|[[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]], the dimension-hopping serial liar from [[Ask Vector Prime]].}}
			{{disamb\|y=2015\|[[Your mom (disambiguation)\|Your mom]], who may or may not be another instance of Sideways.}}

	==Other things called "Sideways"==		==Other things called "Sideways"==

K-Dawg26: /* Full list of Sidewayses */

2023-09-08T19:22:12Z

Full list of Sidewayses

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:22, 8 September 2023
Line 37:		Line 37:
	{{disamb\|y=[[2010]]\|[[Sideways (Animated)\|Sideways]], the Decepticon general from ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]''.}}		{{disamb\|y=[[2010]]\|[[Sideways (Animated)\|Sideways]], the Decepticon general from ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]''.}}
	{{disamb\|y=[[2015]]\|[[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]], the dimension-hopping serial liar from [[Ask Vector Prime]].}}		{{disamb\|y=[[2015]]\|[[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]], the dimension-hopping serial liar from [[Ask Vector Prime]].}}
	~~{{disamb\|y=2015\|[[Your mom (disambiguation)\|Your mom]], who may or may not be another instance of Sideways.}}~~

	==Other things called "Sideways"==		==Other things called "Sideways"==

TheLastGherkin: /* Conceptual history */

2023-05-19T20:37:26Z

Conceptual history

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:37, 19 May 2023
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	Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. Meanwhile, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column [[Ask Vector Prime]]). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", while the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\|Energon]]''—treated him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].		Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. Meanwhile, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column [[Ask Vector Prime]]). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", while the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\|Energon]]''—treated him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].

	In the [[2009]] movie ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)\|Revenge of the Fallen]]'', a character called [[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]] appeared, with absolutely nothing else connecting him to any prior Sidewayses. However, riffing on the by-then-common fandom perception of the character, [[2011]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II\|The ~~Allspark~~ Almanac II]]'' cheekily presented an ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]'' "[[Sideways (Animated)\|Land General Sideways]]" whose design combined aspects of both the ''Armada'' and ''Revenge of the Fallen'' characters. The book explicitly described him as hailing from another dimension, and subtly implied he would go on to become ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Sideways, as if to make ''Animated'' Sideways the exact missing link needed to connect the originally fully-disparate ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character to all the other Sidewayses (or rather, as believed at the time, the singular dimension-hopping Sideways).		In the [[2009]] movie ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)\|Revenge of the Fallen]]'', a character called [[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]] appeared, with absolutely nothing else connecting him to any prior Sidewayses. However, riffing on the by-then-common fandom perception of the character, [[2011]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II\|The AllSpark Almanac II]]'' cheekily presented an ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]'' "[[Sideways (Animated)\|Land General Sideways]]" whose design combined aspects of both the ''Armada'' and ''Revenge of the Fallen'' characters. The book explicitly described him as hailing from another dimension, and subtly implied he would go on to become ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Sideways, as if to make ''Animated'' Sideways the exact missing link needed to connect the originally fully-disparate ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character to all the other Sidewayses (or rather, as believed at the time, the singular dimension-hopping Sideways).

	But then, hidden Ask Vector Prime text in [[2015]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The Complete AllSpark Almanac\|The Complete ~~Allspark~~ Almanac]]'' went on to confound all expectations by explicitly stating that all incarnations of Sideways are actually ''not'' the same exact character after all. And yet, to ''further'' muddy the waters, it also stated that, despite not being the same character, ''all'' prior incarnations of Sideways ''were'' still dimensional travelers who had crossed between multiple [[Universal stream\|universal clusters]]. Of course, if that all seems confusing, it's nothing compared to the subsequent [[Ask Vector Prime#Facebook\|Facebook-based Ask Vector Prime feature]]. Helmed by ''Almanac'' author [[Jim Sorenson]] (one of the aforementioned fans who went on to write official ''Transformers'' fiction), the online Facebook column was, for a time, taken over by Sideways himself, sporting the ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character's design and a goofy, snarky personality similar to that of ''Cybertron'' Sideways. This [[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]] claimed to have been the one behind pretty much every instance of the character seen in the past, as well as claiming responsibility for many, many other events and disasters across the multiverse. However, in a depiction that seems even more fitting in retrospect, he was also a wholly self-admitted liar who took great delight in confusing and frustrating everyone.		But then, hidden Ask Vector Prime text in [[2015]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The Complete AllSpark Almanac\|The Complete AllSpark Almanac]]'' went on to confound all expectations by explicitly stating that all incarnations of Sideways are actually ''not'' the same exact character after all. And yet, to ''further'' muddy the waters, it also stated that, despite not being the same character, ''all'' prior incarnations of Sideways ''were'' still dimensional travelers who had crossed between multiple [[Universal stream\|universal clusters]]. Of course, if that all seems confusing, it's nothing compared to the subsequent [[Ask Vector Prime#Facebook\|Facebook-based Ask Vector Prime feature]]. Helmed by ''Almanac'' author [[Jim Sorenson]] (one of the aforementioned fans who went on to write official ''Transformers'' fiction), the online Facebook column was, for a time, taken over by Sideways himself, sporting the ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character's design and a goofy, snarky personality similar to that of ''Cybertron'' Sideways. This [[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]] claimed to have been the one behind pretty much every instance of the character seen in the past, as well as claiming responsibility for many, many other events and disasters across the multiverse. However, in a depiction that seems even more fitting in retrospect, he was also a wholly self-admitted liar who took great delight in confusing and frustrating everyone.

	Given the complication and ambiguity that resulted from a mixture of retcons and unreliable narrators, along with the ''enormous'' user-unfriendliness of [[#Ask Vector Prime\|sticking strictly to the "canon" versions]] of the character, we have decided to present each [[continuity family]]'s version(s) of Sideways on their own page. Whether you choose to think of them as being all the same character, or all strictly separate, is [[personal canon\|up to you]].		Given the complication and ambiguity that resulted from a mixture of retcons and unreliable narrators, along with the ''enormous'' user-unfriendliness of [[#Ask Vector Prime\|sticking strictly to the "canon" versions]] of the character, we have decided to present each [[continuity family]]'s version(s) of Sideways on their own page. Whether you choose to think of them as being all the same character, or all strictly separate, is [[personal canon\|up to you]].

Saix: clean up, replaced: ''Ask Vector Prime'' → Ask Vector Prime (2), ''Ask Vector Prime'' → Ask Vector Prime (2)

2023-04-25T04:02:31Z

clean up, replaced: ''Ask Vector Prime'' → Ask Vector Prime (2), ''Ask Vector Prime'' → Ask Vector Prime (2)

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:02, 25 April 2023
Line 12:		Line 12:
	It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.		It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.

	Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. Meanwhile, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column ''[[Ask Vector Prime]]''). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", while the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\| Energon]]''—treated him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].		Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. Meanwhile, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column [[Ask Vector Prime]]). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", while the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\|Energon]]''—treated him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].

	In the [[2009]] movie ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)\| Revenge of the Fallen]]'', a character called [[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]] appeared, with absolutely nothing else connecting him to any prior Sidewayses. However, riffing on the by-then-common fandom perception of the character, [[2011]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II\|The Allspark Almanac II]]'' cheekily presented an ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]'' "[[Sideways (Animated)\|Land General Sideways]]" whose design combined aspects of both the ''Armada'' and ''Revenge of the Fallen'' characters. The book explicitly described him as hailing from another dimension, and subtly implied he would go on to become ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Sideways, as if to make ''Animated'' Sideways the exact missing link needed to connect the originally fully-disparate ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character to all the other Sidewayses (or rather, as believed at the time, the singular dimension-hopping Sideways).		In the [[2009]] movie ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)\|Revenge of the Fallen]]'', a character called [[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]] appeared, with absolutely nothing else connecting him to any prior Sidewayses. However, riffing on the by-then-common fandom perception of the character, [[2011]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II\|The Allspark Almanac II]]'' cheekily presented an ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]'' "[[Sideways (Animated)\|Land General Sideways]]" whose design combined aspects of both the ''Armada'' and ''Revenge of the Fallen'' characters. The book explicitly described him as hailing from another dimension, and subtly implied he would go on to become ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Sideways, as if to make ''Animated'' Sideways the exact missing link needed to connect the originally fully-disparate ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character to all the other Sidewayses (or rather, as believed at the time, the singular dimension-hopping Sideways).

	But then, hidden ''Ask Vector Prime'' text in [[2015]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The Complete AllSpark Almanac\|The Complete Allspark Almanac]]'' went on to confound all expectations by explicitly stating that all incarnations of Sideways are actually ''not'' the same exact character after all. And yet, to ''further'' muddy the waters, it also stated that, despite not being the same character, ''all'' prior incarnations of Sideways ''were'' still dimensional travelers who had crossed between multiple [[Universal stream\|universal clusters]]. Of course, if that all seems confusing, it's nothing compared to the subsequent [[Ask Vector Prime#Facebook\|Facebook-based ''Ask Vector Prime'' feature]]. Helmed by ''Almanac'' author [[Jim Sorenson]] (one of the aforementioned fans who went on to write official ''Transformers'' fiction), the online Facebook column was, for a time, taken over by Sideways himself, sporting the ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character's design and a goofy, snarky personality similar to that of ''Cybertron'' Sideways. This [[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]] claimed to have been the one behind pretty much every instance of the character seen in the past, as well as claiming responsibility for many, many other events and disasters across the multiverse. However, in a depiction that seems even more fitting in retrospect, he was also a wholly self-admitted liar who took great delight in confusing and frustrating everyone.		But then, hidden Ask Vector Prime text in [[2015]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The Complete AllSpark Almanac\|The Complete Allspark Almanac]]'' went on to confound all expectations by explicitly stating that all incarnations of Sideways are actually ''not'' the same exact character after all. And yet, to ''further'' muddy the waters, it also stated that, despite not being the same character, ''all'' prior incarnations of Sideways ''were'' still dimensional travelers who had crossed between multiple [[Universal stream\|universal clusters]]. Of course, if that all seems confusing, it's nothing compared to the subsequent [[Ask Vector Prime#Facebook\|Facebook-based Ask Vector Prime feature]]. Helmed by ''Almanac'' author [[Jim Sorenson]] (one of the aforementioned fans who went on to write official ''Transformers'' fiction), the online Facebook column was, for a time, taken over by Sideways himself, sporting the ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character's design and a goofy, snarky personality similar to that of ''Cybertron'' Sideways. This [[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]] claimed to have been the one behind pretty much every instance of the character seen in the past, as well as claiming responsibility for many, many other events and disasters across the multiverse. However, in a depiction that seems even more fitting in retrospect, he was also a wholly self-admitted liar who took great delight in confusing and frustrating everyone.

	Given the complication and ambiguity that resulted from a mixture of retcons and unreliable narrators, along with the ''enormous'' user-unfriendliness of [[#Ask Vector Prime\|sticking strictly to the "canon" versions]] of the character, we have decided to present each [[continuity family]]'s version(s) of Sideways on their own page. Whether you choose to think of them as being all the same character, or all strictly separate, is [[personal canon\|up to you]].		Given the complication and ambiguity that resulted from a mixture of retcons and unreliable narrators, along with the ''enormous'' user-unfriendliness of [[#Ask Vector Prime\|sticking strictly to the "canon" versions]] of the character, we have decided to present each [[continuity family]]'s version(s) of Sideways on their own page. Whether you choose to think of them as being all the same character, or all strictly separate, is [[personal canon\|up to you]].
Line 36:		Line 36:
	{{disamb\|y=[[2009]]\|[[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]], the Decepticon courier from ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (franchise)\|Revenge of the Fallen]]''.}}		{{disamb\|y=[[2009]]\|[[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]], the Decepticon courier from ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (franchise)\|Revenge of the Fallen]]''.}}
	{{disamb\|y=[[2010]]\|[[Sideways (Animated)\|Sideways]], the Decepticon general from ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]''.}}		{{disamb\|y=[[2010]]\|[[Sideways (Animated)\|Sideways]], the Decepticon general from ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]''.}}
	{{disamb\|y=[[2015]]\|[[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]], the dimension-hopping serial liar from ''[[Ask Vector Prime]]''.}}		{{disamb\|y=[[2015]]\|[[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]], the dimension-hopping serial liar from [[Ask Vector Prime]].}}
	{{disamb\|y=2015\|[[Your mom (disambiguation)\|Your mom]], who may or may not be another instance of Sideways.}}		{{disamb\|y=2015\|[[Your mom (disambiguation)\|Your mom]], who may or may not be another instance of Sideways.}}

Sabrblade at 17:21, 25 February 2023

2023-02-25T17:21:53Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:21, 25 February 2023
Line 12:		Line 12:
	It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.		It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.

	Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. ~~In the meantime, however~~, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column ''[[Ask Vector Prime]]''). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", ~~with~~ the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\| Energon]]''~~—treating~~ him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].		Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. Meanwhile, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column ''[[Ask Vector Prime]]''). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", while the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\| Energon]]''—treated him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].

	In the [[2009]] movie ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)\| Revenge of the Fallen]]'', a character called [[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]] appeared, with absolutely nothing else connecting him to any prior Sidewayses. However, riffing on the by-then-common fandom perception of the character, [[2011]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II\|The Allspark Almanac II]]'' cheekily presented an ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]'' "[[Sideways (Animated)\|Land General Sideways]]" whose design combined aspects of both the ''Armada'' and ''Revenge of the Fallen'' characters~~, who was~~ explicitly described as hailing from another dimension, and ~~who was~~ subtly implied to go on to become ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Sideways, as if to make ''Animated'' Sideways the exact missing link needed to connect the originally fully disparate ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character to all of the other Sidewayses (or rather, as believed at the time, the singular dimension-hopping Sideways).		In the [[2009]] movie ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)\| Revenge of the Fallen]]'', a character called [[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]] appeared, with absolutely nothing else connecting him to any prior Sidewayses. However, riffing on the by-then-common fandom perception of the character, [[2011]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II\|The Allspark Almanac II]]'' cheekily presented an ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]'' "[[Sideways (Animated)\|Land General Sideways]]" whose design combined aspects of both the ''Armada'' and ''Revenge of the Fallen'' characters. The book explicitly described him as hailing from another dimension, and subtly implied he would go on to become ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Sideways, as if to make ''Animated'' Sideways the exact missing link needed to connect the originally fully-disparate ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character to all the other Sidewayses (or rather, as believed at the time, the singular dimension-hopping Sideways).

	But then, hidden ''Ask Vector Prime'' text in ~~the~~ [[2015]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The Complete AllSpark Almanac\|The Complete Allspark Almanac]]'' went on to confound all expectations ~~and muddy the waters further~~ by explicitly stating that~~, while~~ all incarnations of Sideways are actually ''not'' the same exact character after all, ''all'' prior incarnations of Sideways ''were'' still dimensional travelers who had crossed between multiple [[Universal stream\|universal clusters]]. Of course, if that seems confusing, it's nothing compared to the subsequent [[Ask Vector Prime#Facebook\|Facebook-based ''Ask Vector Prime'' feature]]. Helmed by ''Almanac'' author [[Jim Sorenson]] (one of the aforementioned fans who went on to write official ''Transformers'' fiction), the online Facebook column was, for a time, taken over by Sideways himself, sporting the ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character's design and a goofy, snarky personality similar to that of ''Cybertron'' Sideways. This [[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]] claimed to have been the one behind pretty much every instance of the character seen in the past, as well as claiming responsibility for many, many other events and disasters across the multiverse. However, in a depiction that seems even more fitting in retrospect, he was also a wholly self-admitted liar who took great delight in confusing and frustrating everyone.		But then, hidden ''Ask Vector Prime'' text in [[2015]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The Complete AllSpark Almanac\|The Complete Allspark Almanac]]'' went on to confound all expectations by explicitly stating that all incarnations of Sideways are actually ''not'' the same exact character after all. And yet, to ''further'' muddy the waters, it also stated that, despite not being the same character, ''all'' prior incarnations of Sideways ''were'' still dimensional travelers who had crossed between multiple [[Universal stream\|universal clusters]]. Of course, if that all seems confusing, it's nothing compared to the subsequent [[Ask Vector Prime#Facebook\|Facebook-based ''Ask Vector Prime'' feature]]. Helmed by ''Almanac'' author [[Jim Sorenson]] (one of the aforementioned fans who went on to write official ''Transformers'' fiction), the online Facebook column was, for a time, taken over by Sideways himself, sporting the ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character's design and a goofy, snarky personality similar to that of ''Cybertron'' Sideways. This [[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]] claimed to have been the one behind pretty much every instance of the character seen in the past, as well as claiming responsibility for many, many other events and disasters across the multiverse. However, in a depiction that seems even more fitting in retrospect, he was also a wholly self-admitted liar who took great delight in confusing and frustrating everyone.

	Given the complication and ambiguity that resulted from a mixture of retcons and unreliable narrators, along with the ''enormous'' user-unfriendliness of [[#Ask Vector Prime\|sticking strictly to the "canon" versions]] of the character, we have decided to present each [[continuity family]]'s version(s) of Sideways on their own page. Whether you choose to think of them as being all the same character, or all strictly separate, is [[personal canon\|up to you]].		Given the complication and ambiguity that resulted from a mixture of retcons and unreliable narrators, along with the ''enormous'' user-unfriendliness of [[#Ask Vector Prime\|sticking strictly to the "canon" versions]] of the character, we have decided to present each [[continuity family]]'s version(s) of Sideways on their own page. Whether you choose to think of them as being all the same character, or all strictly separate, is [[personal canon\|up to you]].

Sabrblade: /* Conceptual history */

2023-02-04T18:15:33Z

Conceptual history

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:15, 4 February 2023
Line 10:		Line 10:
	The original [[Sideways (RID)\|Sideways]], a [[2002]] ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)\|Robots in Disguise]]'' toy, was packaged with [[Axer (G1)\|Axer]], whose on-package [[bio]] was adapted near verbatim from his original [[Generation 1 continuity family\|Generation 1]] [[Tech Spec]], with new material implying he'd crossed dimensions via a black hole.<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/axer-662 ''Robots in Disguise'' Axer's package bio]</ref> The online bio for ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)\|Armada]]'' [[Sideways (Armada)\|Sideways]] toy, released a few months later, similarly matched that of the ''Robots in Disguise'' character,<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-2-643 ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways's package bio]</ref> with new material suggesting that his duplicity was the result of being pulled in two mental directions by his [[Mini-Con]]s<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-with-rook-and-crosswise-814 ''Armada'' Sideways's online bio]</ref> (an aspect ignored by the ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)\|Armada]]'' cartoon, which simply portrayed him as a pure agent of [[Unicron]]). Because of the ''Armada'' toy's recycled bio text, fans suspected that if the ''Robots in Disguise'' and Generation 1 Axers were the same person who had hopped universes, then the same might also be true of the ''Armada'' and ''Robots in Disguise'' Sidewayses.		The original [[Sideways (RID)\|Sideways]], a [[2002]] ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)\|Robots in Disguise]]'' toy, was packaged with [[Axer (G1)\|Axer]], whose on-package [[bio]] was adapted near verbatim from his original [[Generation 1 continuity family\|Generation 1]] [[Tech Spec]], with new material implying he'd crossed dimensions via a black hole.<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/axer-662 ''Robots in Disguise'' Axer's package bio]</ref> The online bio for ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)\|Armada]]'' [[Sideways (Armada)\|Sideways]] toy, released a few months later, similarly matched that of the ''Robots in Disguise'' character,<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-2-643 ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways's package bio]</ref> with new material suggesting that his duplicity was the result of being pulled in two mental directions by his [[Mini-Con]]s<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-with-rook-and-crosswise-814 ''Armada'' Sideways's online bio]</ref> (an aspect ignored by the ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)\|Armada]]'' cartoon, which simply portrayed him as a pure agent of [[Unicron]]). Because of the ''Armada'' toy's recycled bio text, fans suspected that if the ''Robots in Disguise'' and Generation 1 Axers were the same person who had hopped universes, then the same might also be true of the ''Armada'' and ''Robots in Disguise'' Sidewayses.

	It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.		It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.

	Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. In the meantime, however, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column ''[[Ask Vector Prime]]''). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", with the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\| Energon]]''—treating him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].		Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. In the meantime, however, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column ''[[Ask Vector Prime]]''). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", with the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\| Energon]]''—treating him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:26, 6 March 2025
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	The original [[Sideways (RID)\|Sideways]], a [[2002]] ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)\|Robots in Disguise]]'' toy, was packaged with [[Axer (G1)\|Axer]], whose on-package [[bio]] was adapted near verbatim from his original [[Generation 1 continuity family\|Generation 1]] [[Tech Spec]], with new material implying he'd crossed dimensions via a black hole.<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/axer-662 ''Robots in Disguise'' Axer's package bio]</ref> The online bio for the ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)\|Armada]]'' [[Sideways (Armada)\|Sideways]] toy, released a few months later, similarly matched that of the ''Robots in Disguise'' character,<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-2-643 ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways's package bio]</ref> with new material suggesting that his duplicity was the result of being pulled in two mental directions by his [[Mini-Con]]s<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-with-rook-and-crosswise-814 ''Armada'' Sideways's online bio]</ref> (an aspect ignored by the ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)\|Armada]]'' cartoon, which simply portrayed him as a pure agent of [[Unicron]]). Because of the ''Armada'' toy's recycled bio text, fans suspected that if the ''Robots in Disguise'' and Generation 1 Axers were the same person who had hopped universes, then the same might also be true of the ''Armada'' and ''Robots in Disguise'' Sidewayses.		The original [[Sideways (RID)\|Sideways]], a [[2002]] ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)\|Robots in Disguise]]'' toy, was packaged with [[Axer (G1)\|Axer]], whose on-package [[bio]] was adapted near verbatim from his original [[Generation 1 continuity family\|Generation 1]] [[Tech Spec]], with new material implying he'd crossed dimensions via a black hole.<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/axer-662 ''Robots in Disguise'' Axer's package bio]</ref> The online bio for the ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)\|Armada]]'' [[Sideways (Armada)\|Sideways]] toy, released a few months later, similarly matched that of the ''Robots in Disguise'' character,<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-2-643 ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways's package bio]</ref> with new material suggesting that his duplicity was the result of being pulled in two mental directions by his [[Mini-Con]]s<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-with-rook-and-crosswise-814 ''Armada'' Sideways's online bio]</ref> (an aspect ignored by the ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)\|Armada]]'' cartoon, which simply portrayed him as a pure agent of [[Unicron]]). Because of the ''Armada'' toy's recycled bio text, fans suspected that if the ''Robots in Disguise'' and Generation 1 Axers were the same person who had hopped universes, then the same might also be true of the ''Armada'' and ''Robots in Disguise'' Sidewayses.

	It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.		It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in its bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.

	Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. Meanwhile, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column [[Ask Vector Prime]]). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", while the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\|Energon]]''—treated him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].		Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. Meanwhile, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column [[Ask Vector Prime]]). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", while the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\|Energon]]''—treated him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:37, 19 May 2023
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	Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. Meanwhile, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column [[Ask Vector Prime]]). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", while the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\|Energon]]''—treated him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].		Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. Meanwhile, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column [[Ask Vector Prime]]). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", while the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\|Energon]]''—treated him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].

	In the [[2009]] movie ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)\|Revenge of the Fallen]]'', a character called [[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]] appeared, with absolutely nothing else connecting him to any prior Sidewayses. However, riffing on the by-then-common fandom perception of the character, [[2011]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II\|The ~~Allspark~~ Almanac II]]'' cheekily presented an ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]'' "[[Sideways (Animated)\|Land General Sideways]]" whose design combined aspects of both the ''Armada'' and ''Revenge of the Fallen'' characters. The book explicitly described him as hailing from another dimension, and subtly implied he would go on to become ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Sideways, as if to make ''Animated'' Sideways the exact missing link needed to connect the originally fully-disparate ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character to all the other Sidewayses (or rather, as believed at the time, the singular dimension-hopping Sideways).		In the [[2009]] movie ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)\|Revenge of the Fallen]]'', a character called [[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]] appeared, with absolutely nothing else connecting him to any prior Sidewayses. However, riffing on the by-then-common fandom perception of the character, [[2011]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II\|The AllSpark Almanac II]]'' cheekily presented an ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]'' "[[Sideways (Animated)\|Land General Sideways]]" whose design combined aspects of both the ''Armada'' and ''Revenge of the Fallen'' characters. The book explicitly described him as hailing from another dimension, and subtly implied he would go on to become ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Sideways, as if to make ''Animated'' Sideways the exact missing link needed to connect the originally fully-disparate ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character to all the other Sidewayses (or rather, as believed at the time, the singular dimension-hopping Sideways).

	But then, hidden Ask Vector Prime text in [[2015]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The Complete AllSpark Almanac\|The Complete ~~Allspark~~ Almanac]]'' went on to confound all expectations by explicitly stating that all incarnations of Sideways are actually ''not'' the same exact character after all. And yet, to ''further'' muddy the waters, it also stated that, despite not being the same character, ''all'' prior incarnations of Sideways ''were'' still dimensional travelers who had crossed between multiple [[Universal stream\|universal clusters]]. Of course, if that all seems confusing, it's nothing compared to the subsequent [[Ask Vector Prime#Facebook\|Facebook-based Ask Vector Prime feature]]. Helmed by ''Almanac'' author [[Jim Sorenson]] (one of the aforementioned fans who went on to write official ''Transformers'' fiction), the online Facebook column was, for a time, taken over by Sideways himself, sporting the ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character's design and a goofy, snarky personality similar to that of ''Cybertron'' Sideways. This [[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]] claimed to have been the one behind pretty much every instance of the character seen in the past, as well as claiming responsibility for many, many other events and disasters across the multiverse. However, in a depiction that seems even more fitting in retrospect, he was also a wholly self-admitted liar who took great delight in confusing and frustrating everyone.		But then, hidden Ask Vector Prime text in [[2015]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The Complete AllSpark Almanac\|The Complete AllSpark Almanac]]'' went on to confound all expectations by explicitly stating that all incarnations of Sideways are actually ''not'' the same exact character after all. And yet, to ''further'' muddy the waters, it also stated that, despite not being the same character, ''all'' prior incarnations of Sideways ''were'' still dimensional travelers who had crossed between multiple [[Universal stream\|universal clusters]]. Of course, if that all seems confusing, it's nothing compared to the subsequent [[Ask Vector Prime#Facebook\|Facebook-based Ask Vector Prime feature]]. Helmed by ''Almanac'' author [[Jim Sorenson]] (one of the aforementioned fans who went on to write official ''Transformers'' fiction), the online Facebook column was, for a time, taken over by Sideways himself, sporting the ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character's design and a goofy, snarky personality similar to that of ''Cybertron'' Sideways. This [[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]] claimed to have been the one behind pretty much every instance of the character seen in the past, as well as claiming responsibility for many, many other events and disasters across the multiverse. However, in a depiction that seems even more fitting in retrospect, he was also a wholly self-admitted liar who took great delight in confusing and frustrating everyone.

	Given the complication and ambiguity that resulted from a mixture of retcons and unreliable narrators, along with the ''enormous'' user-unfriendliness of [[#Ask Vector Prime\|sticking strictly to the "canon" versions]] of the character, we have decided to present each [[continuity family]]'s version(s) of Sideways on their own page. Whether you choose to think of them as being all the same character, or all strictly separate, is [[personal canon\|up to you]].		Given the complication and ambiguity that resulted from a mixture of retcons and unreliable narrators, along with the ''enormous'' user-unfriendliness of [[#Ask Vector Prime\|sticking strictly to the "canon" versions]] of the character, we have decided to present each [[continuity family]]'s version(s) of Sideways on their own page. Whether you choose to think of them as being all the same character, or all strictly separate, is [[personal canon\|up to you]].

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:02, 25 April 2023
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	It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.		It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.

	Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. Meanwhile, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column ''[[Ask Vector Prime]]''). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", while the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\| Energon]]''—treated him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].		Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. Meanwhile, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column [[Ask Vector Prime]]). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", while the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\|Energon]]''—treated him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].

	In the [[2009]] movie ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)\| Revenge of the Fallen]]'', a character called [[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]] appeared, with absolutely nothing else connecting him to any prior Sidewayses. However, riffing on the by-then-common fandom perception of the character, [[2011]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II\|The Allspark Almanac II]]'' cheekily presented an ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]'' "[[Sideways (Animated)\|Land General Sideways]]" whose design combined aspects of both the ''Armada'' and ''Revenge of the Fallen'' characters. The book explicitly described him as hailing from another dimension, and subtly implied he would go on to become ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Sideways, as if to make ''Animated'' Sideways the exact missing link needed to connect the originally fully-disparate ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character to all the other Sidewayses (or rather, as believed at the time, the singular dimension-hopping Sideways).		In the [[2009]] movie ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)\|Revenge of the Fallen]]'', a character called [[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]] appeared, with absolutely nothing else connecting him to any prior Sidewayses. However, riffing on the by-then-common fandom perception of the character, [[2011]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II\|The Allspark Almanac II]]'' cheekily presented an ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]'' "[[Sideways (Animated)\|Land General Sideways]]" whose design combined aspects of both the ''Armada'' and ''Revenge of the Fallen'' characters. The book explicitly described him as hailing from another dimension, and subtly implied he would go on to become ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Sideways, as if to make ''Animated'' Sideways the exact missing link needed to connect the originally fully-disparate ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character to all the other Sidewayses (or rather, as believed at the time, the singular dimension-hopping Sideways).

	But then, hidden ''Ask Vector Prime'' text in [[2015]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The Complete AllSpark Almanac\|The Complete Allspark Almanac]]'' went on to confound all expectations by explicitly stating that all incarnations of Sideways are actually ''not'' the same exact character after all. And yet, to ''further'' muddy the waters, it also stated that, despite not being the same character, ''all'' prior incarnations of Sideways ''were'' still dimensional travelers who had crossed between multiple [[Universal stream\|universal clusters]]. Of course, if that all seems confusing, it's nothing compared to the subsequent [[Ask Vector Prime#Facebook\|Facebook-based ''Ask Vector Prime'' feature]]. Helmed by ''Almanac'' author [[Jim Sorenson]] (one of the aforementioned fans who went on to write official ''Transformers'' fiction), the online Facebook column was, for a time, taken over by Sideways himself, sporting the ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character's design and a goofy, snarky personality similar to that of ''Cybertron'' Sideways. This [[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]] claimed to have been the one behind pretty much every instance of the character seen in the past, as well as claiming responsibility for many, many other events and disasters across the multiverse. However, in a depiction that seems even more fitting in retrospect, he was also a wholly self-admitted liar who took great delight in confusing and frustrating everyone.		But then, hidden Ask Vector Prime text in [[2015]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The Complete AllSpark Almanac\|The Complete Allspark Almanac]]'' went on to confound all expectations by explicitly stating that all incarnations of Sideways are actually ''not'' the same exact character after all. And yet, to ''further'' muddy the waters, it also stated that, despite not being the same character, ''all'' prior incarnations of Sideways ''were'' still dimensional travelers who had crossed between multiple [[Universal stream\|universal clusters]]. Of course, if that all seems confusing, it's nothing compared to the subsequent [[Ask Vector Prime#Facebook\|Facebook-based Ask Vector Prime feature]]. Helmed by ''Almanac'' author [[Jim Sorenson]] (one of the aforementioned fans who went on to write official ''Transformers'' fiction), the online Facebook column was, for a time, taken over by Sideways himself, sporting the ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character's design and a goofy, snarky personality similar to that of ''Cybertron'' Sideways. This [[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]] claimed to have been the one behind pretty much every instance of the character seen in the past, as well as claiming responsibility for many, many other events and disasters across the multiverse. However, in a depiction that seems even more fitting in retrospect, he was also a wholly self-admitted liar who took great delight in confusing and frustrating everyone.

	Given the complication and ambiguity that resulted from a mixture of retcons and unreliable narrators, along with the ''enormous'' user-unfriendliness of [[#Ask Vector Prime\|sticking strictly to the "canon" versions]] of the character, we have decided to present each [[continuity family]]'s version(s) of Sideways on their own page. Whether you choose to think of them as being all the same character, or all strictly separate, is [[personal canon\|up to you]].		Given the complication and ambiguity that resulted from a mixture of retcons and unreliable narrators, along with the ''enormous'' user-unfriendliness of [[#Ask Vector Prime\|sticking strictly to the "canon" versions]] of the character, we have decided to present each [[continuity family]]'s version(s) of Sideways on their own page. Whether you choose to think of them as being all the same character, or all strictly separate, is [[personal canon\|up to you]].
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	{{disamb\|y=[[2009]]\|[[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]], the Decepticon courier from ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (franchise)\|Revenge of the Fallen]]''.}}		{{disamb\|y=[[2009]]\|[[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]], the Decepticon courier from ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (franchise)\|Revenge of the Fallen]]''.}}
	{{disamb\|y=[[2010]]\|[[Sideways (Animated)\|Sideways]], the Decepticon general from ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]''.}}		{{disamb\|y=[[2010]]\|[[Sideways (Animated)\|Sideways]], the Decepticon general from ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]''.}}
	{{disamb\|y=[[2015]]\|[[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]], the dimension-hopping serial liar from ''[[Ask Vector Prime]]''.}}		{{disamb\|y=[[2015]]\|[[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]], the dimension-hopping serial liar from [[Ask Vector Prime]].}}
	{{disamb\|y=2015\|[[Your mom (disambiguation)\|Your mom]], who may or may not be another instance of Sideways.}}		{{disamb\|y=2015\|[[Your mom (disambiguation)\|Your mom]], who may or may not be another instance of Sideways.}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:21, 25 February 2023
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	It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.		It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.

	Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. ~~In the meantime, however~~, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column ''[[Ask Vector Prime]]''). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", ~~with~~ the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\| Energon]]''~~—treating~~ him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].		Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. Meanwhile, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column ''[[Ask Vector Prime]]''). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", while the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\| Energon]]''—treated him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].

	In the [[2009]] movie ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)\| Revenge of the Fallen]]'', a character called [[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]] appeared, with absolutely nothing else connecting him to any prior Sidewayses. However, riffing on the by-then-common fandom perception of the character, [[2011]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II\|The Allspark Almanac II]]'' cheekily presented an ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]'' "[[Sideways (Animated)\|Land General Sideways]]" whose design combined aspects of both the ''Armada'' and ''Revenge of the Fallen'' characters~~, who was~~ explicitly described as hailing from another dimension, and ~~who was~~ subtly implied to go on to become ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Sideways, as if to make ''Animated'' Sideways the exact missing link needed to connect the originally fully disparate ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character to all of the other Sidewayses (or rather, as believed at the time, the singular dimension-hopping Sideways).		In the [[2009]] movie ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)\| Revenge of the Fallen]]'', a character called [[Sideways (ROTF)\|Sideways]] appeared, with absolutely nothing else connecting him to any prior Sidewayses. However, riffing on the by-then-common fandom perception of the character, [[2011]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II\|The Allspark Almanac II]]'' cheekily presented an ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)\|Animated]]'' "[[Sideways (Animated)\|Land General Sideways]]" whose design combined aspects of both the ''Armada'' and ''Revenge of the Fallen'' characters. The book explicitly described him as hailing from another dimension, and subtly implied he would go on to become ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Sideways, as if to make ''Animated'' Sideways the exact missing link needed to connect the originally fully-disparate ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character to all the other Sidewayses (or rather, as believed at the time, the singular dimension-hopping Sideways).

	But then, hidden ''Ask Vector Prime'' text in ~~the~~ [[2015]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The Complete AllSpark Almanac\|The Complete Allspark Almanac]]'' went on to confound all expectations ~~and muddy the waters further~~ by explicitly stating that~~, while~~ all incarnations of Sideways are actually ''not'' the same exact character after all, ''all'' prior incarnations of Sideways ''were'' still dimensional travelers who had crossed between multiple [[Universal stream\|universal clusters]]. Of course, if that seems confusing, it's nothing compared to the subsequent [[Ask Vector Prime#Facebook\|Facebook-based ''Ask Vector Prime'' feature]]. Helmed by ''Almanac'' author [[Jim Sorenson]] (one of the aforementioned fans who went on to write official ''Transformers'' fiction), the online Facebook column was, for a time, taken over by Sideways himself, sporting the ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character's design and a goofy, snarky personality similar to that of ''Cybertron'' Sideways. This [[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]] claimed to have been the one behind pretty much every instance of the character seen in the past, as well as claiming responsibility for many, many other events and disasters across the multiverse. However, in a depiction that seems even more fitting in retrospect, he was also a wholly self-admitted liar who took great delight in confusing and frustrating everyone.		But then, hidden ''Ask Vector Prime'' text in [[2015]]'s ''[[Transformers Animated: The Complete AllSpark Almanac\|The Complete Allspark Almanac]]'' went on to confound all expectations by explicitly stating that all incarnations of Sideways are actually ''not'' the same exact character after all. And yet, to ''further'' muddy the waters, it also stated that, despite not being the same character, ''all'' prior incarnations of Sideways ''were'' still dimensional travelers who had crossed between multiple [[Universal stream\|universal clusters]]. Of course, if that all seems confusing, it's nothing compared to the subsequent [[Ask Vector Prime#Facebook\|Facebook-based ''Ask Vector Prime'' feature]]. Helmed by ''Almanac'' author [[Jim Sorenson]] (one of the aforementioned fans who went on to write official ''Transformers'' fiction), the online Facebook column was, for a time, taken over by Sideways himself, sporting the ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character's design and a goofy, snarky personality similar to that of ''Cybertron'' Sideways. This [[Sideways (AVP)\|Sideways]] claimed to have been the one behind pretty much every instance of the character seen in the past, as well as claiming responsibility for many, many other events and disasters across the multiverse. However, in a depiction that seems even more fitting in retrospect, he was also a wholly self-admitted liar who took great delight in confusing and frustrating everyone.

	Given the complication and ambiguity that resulted from a mixture of retcons and unreliable narrators, along with the ''enormous'' user-unfriendliness of [[#Ask Vector Prime\|sticking strictly to the "canon" versions]] of the character, we have decided to present each [[continuity family]]'s version(s) of Sideways on their own page. Whether you choose to think of them as being all the same character, or all strictly separate, is [[personal canon\|up to you]].		Given the complication and ambiguity that resulted from a mixture of retcons and unreliable narrators, along with the ''enormous'' user-unfriendliness of [[#Ask Vector Prime\|sticking strictly to the "canon" versions]] of the character, we have decided to present each [[continuity family]]'s version(s) of Sideways on their own page. Whether you choose to think of them as being all the same character, or all strictly separate, is [[personal canon\|up to you]].

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:15, 4 February 2023
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	The original [[Sideways (RID)\|Sideways]], a [[2002]] ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)\|Robots in Disguise]]'' toy, was packaged with [[Axer (G1)\|Axer]], whose on-package [[bio]] was adapted near verbatim from his original [[Generation 1 continuity family\|Generation 1]] [[Tech Spec]], with new material implying he'd crossed dimensions via a black hole.<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/axer-662 ''Robots in Disguise'' Axer's package bio]</ref> The online bio for ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)\|Armada]]'' [[Sideways (Armada)\|Sideways]] toy, released a few months later, similarly matched that of the ''Robots in Disguise'' character,<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-2-643 ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways's package bio]</ref> with new material suggesting that his duplicity was the result of being pulled in two mental directions by his [[Mini-Con]]s<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-with-rook-and-crosswise-814 ''Armada'' Sideways's online bio]</ref> (an aspect ignored by the ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)\|Armada]]'' cartoon, which simply portrayed him as a pure agent of [[Unicron]]). Because of the ''Armada'' toy's recycled bio text, fans suspected that if the ''Robots in Disguise'' and Generation 1 Axers were the same person who had hopped universes, then the same might also be true of the ''Armada'' and ''Robots in Disguise'' Sidewayses.		The original [[Sideways (RID)\|Sideways]], a [[2002]] ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)\|Robots in Disguise]]'' toy, was packaged with [[Axer (G1)\|Axer]], whose on-package [[bio]] was adapted near verbatim from his original [[Generation 1 continuity family\|Generation 1]] [[Tech Spec]], with new material implying he'd crossed dimensions via a black hole.<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/axer-662 ''Robots in Disguise'' Axer's package bio]</ref> The online bio for ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)\|Armada]]'' [[Sideways (Armada)\|Sideways]] toy, released a few months later, similarly matched that of the ''Robots in Disguise'' character,<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-2-643 ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways's package bio]</ref> with new material suggesting that his duplicity was the result of being pulled in two mental directions by his [[Mini-Con]]s<ref>[https://toys.tfw2005.com/sideways-with-rook-and-crosswise-814 ''Armada'' Sideways's online bio]</ref> (an aspect ignored by the ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)\|Armada]]'' cartoon, which simply portrayed him as a pure agent of [[Unicron]]). Because of the ''Armada'' toy's recycled bio text, fans suspected that if the ''Robots in Disguise'' and Generation 1 Axers were the same person who had hopped universes, then the same might also be true of the ''Armada'' and ''Robots in Disguise'' Sidewayses.

	It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.		It was misinformation surrounding the [[2004]] Japan-only ''[[Robotmasters (franchise)\|Robotmasters]]'' franchise that kicked this idea into overdrive. In Japan, the Sideways/Axer two-pack had been imported unchanged as a "[[USA Edition]]" release, while the Sideways from ''Armada'' (known in Japan as ''Legends of the Microns'') was called "Doubleface"—the [[Sideways (RM)\|''Robotmasters'' Double Face]] toy was named, colored, and described in bio in homage to this character. This alone would not be enough to imply the ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Armada'', and ''Robotmasters'' characters to be the exact same individual, but at the time fans misunderstood the ''Robotmasters'' story to be about Transformers converging from various time periods ''and dimensions'', not unlike the contemporaneous ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)\|Universe]]'' series—when in truth, it was only time travel taking place within the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity\|main Japanese continuity]]. Cementing the idea that all three were same Sideways jumping from universe to universe was a fan-given claim that the ''Robotmasters'' website had included a note declaring Double Face's first toy to be the earlier imported ''Robots in Disguise'' Sideways figure—a claim that, years later in [[2022]], would be found to have been totally spurious, with no evidence of such a note having ever existed.

	Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. In the meantime, however, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column ''[[Ask Vector Prime]]''). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", with the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\| Energon]]''—treating him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].		Nonetheless, the idea of Sideways being a dimension-hopper really took off with a number of fans, some of whom would even later go on to write and create new ''Transformers'' fiction under the brand's official license. In the meantime, however, Sideways subsequently appeared in the 2005 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)\|Cybertron]]'' franchise, intended by Hasbro to be the same faction-swapping character from ''Armada'' (a fact cemented by supplemental material like the Hasbro.com Q&A column ''[[Ask Vector Prime]]''). This idea was dropped in Japan, where he was again given an entirely different new name, "Noisemaze", with the cartoon—which was created to be separate from ''Armada'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)\| Energon]]''—treating him as a new character, originally from the mysterious [[Planet X (Cybertron)\|Planet X]]. In Hasbro's attempts to reconcile the many discrepancies between ''Cybertron'' and its two predecessors, they folded the Planet X backstory of ''Cybertron'' Sideways into the ''Armada'' character's history as a servant of Unicron, tying the two concepts back together with such media as the [[Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act\|''Cybertron'' comic series]].