Paddles (story)

This article is about the eponymous story in which Paddles first appeared. For the character himself, see Paddles (G1).

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"Paddles"
Publisher	ibooks
First published	November 30, 2004
Writer	Jean Rabe
Continuity	Generation 1 (Unique)
Page count	21

The story of Paddles, the stupidest, gentlest Dinobot nobody loved, even the other Dinobots.

Synopsis

Lying under the sand, Paddles hears voices and the sounds of digging, and wonders if he's being rescued finally. He is, in point of fact, being dug out by Randall and Ed, two archaeology students on a field trip, who are a bit annoyed they've been sent to a desert island to dig instead of China. Before long, they've uncovered part of the object they detected on their scope. Paddles continues to hope for rescue, and remembers the battle decades before that left him in this position:

Paddles and Snarl track three Decepticons to the southern end of Dinobot Island, chasing off two of them, and cornering the last. Before Snarl is able to dispatch their foe, Paddles falls to a pulse-cannon burst and is later left for dead by the other Dinobots.

Ed and Randall excitedly complete their uncovering of an oddly-colored elasmosaurus, but quickly realise it's metallic in nature and suspect it's a joke on the part of their professor, Doctor Boxer, though at least it's a bit more interesting than the jukebox some of the other students have uncovered.

As the students have dinner, Paddles uses power from their discarded scope to start repairing himself. The Dinobot anticipates being able to rejoin his Autobot friends, and struggles out of the hole in the sand to wander off in search of them, but is surprised to find that the island is a barren desert, with no sign of the trees or volcanoes which previously characterized it.

His confusion is interrupted by the sounds of explosions—the Decepticon Raze has reactivated and is attacking the archaeology students. Paddles distracts the Decepticon and draws him away from the camp. The pair battle with the last of their energy, before falling into a crevasse opened by Raze's earthquake powers. Decades later, Paddles hears the sound of someone digging him out.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Paddles (1) Snarl (4) Grimlock (5)	Raze (6)	Ed (2) Randall (3) Dr. Boxer Shelly Marie Willicott "Dim Tim" Harcourt Rich

Notes

Errors

• "Pulse-cannon" is consistently misspelled "pulse-canon".
• Ed's friend changes names from "Shelly Marie" on page 55 to "Sheila Marie" on page 60.

Continuity notes

• Paddles takes place in its own continuity, roughly analogous to the 1984 cartoon with some significant differences.
• As in the cartoon, the Dinobots were created in two separate "generations", the first consisting of Grimlock and Slag (no Sludge), and the second Snarl and Paddles (no Swoop).
• The story takes place after events equivalent to the episodes "Dinobot Island 1 and 2", wherein the island was sealed off by Trailbreaker's force field.
• Paddles appears relatively newly created at the time of his deactivation; he had formed few associations among his fellow Autobots other than the affable Bumblebee, and though Grimlock and Slag were good friends with Spike, Paddles had never seen a human close up.
• Optimus Prime is frequently mentioned by Paddles, who swears by his leader's name frequently.
• Raze is a Decepticon jukebox unique to this world. He fulfills a role similar to Rumble.
• The story makes vague allusions that Paddles and Raze may have been transported to another world (not inconceivable, given Dinobot Island's temporal anomalies), which would seem to jibe with Randall and Ed's ignorance about the existence of Transformers.

Real-world references

• The Great Wall of China
• Toohey's beer

Trivia

• The character of Paddles has many broad similarities to the Dinobot Sludge (who does not exist in this continuity), but this is probably not intentional.
• Paddles was disabled when one of Raze's pulse-cannon bursts struck him at exactly the same spot as a "lucky burst of fiery breath," the signature weapon of the Dinobots.
• It is entirely possible that Grimlock, who disliked Paddles, arranged his accident. It wouldn't be the first time.