Swindle (Cybertron)

The name or term "Swindle" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Swindle (disambiguation).

Swindle is a Decepticon from the Cybertron portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

BLARGH!

Swindle is Hardtop's scuffed, cracked, and filth-encrusted brother. Where Hardtop is a highly skilled sniper, Swindle would sooner beat your face in with his rifle than shoot you with it, all the while cackling madly like a hyenabot; in contrast to Hardtop's unwavering loyalty to Megatron, Swindle would gladly fight for someone else if they paid him enough.

Swindle thinks his brother is a coward for hiding behind his long-range scope, unwilling or unable to face the enemy face-to-face. He's not the smartest bot out there, but he's a genius when it comes to camouflage, trapping, and good old-fashioned head-smashing. He'll hide out in the wild for weeks, living like the animal he truly is.

Fiction

Timelines

Swindle and his brother Hardtop were assigned to the Upstart by Megatron, operating under Brushguard's command while they searched the galaxy for more Cyber Planet Keys. Their search took them to Combatron, a world devastated by conflict between more than a half-dozen factions. The factions had beaten themselves into extinction nearly 350 megacycles ago, leaving behind a wasteland of corpses. A remarkably unpleasant 'Con under the best of circumstances, the lack of anything to hit made Swindle even more insufferable, especially to his commanding officer. But then Swindle went off and insulted Brushguard's plants. Nobody insults Brushguard's plants. So when the Decepticons uncovered a gi-normous armored door, which likely contained weaponry and supplies to pillage, Brushguard decided to let Swindle test the defenses. Sure enough, when the brash Decepticon opened fire on the door, he was immediately targeted by a hidden set of auto-guns. Hardtop and Buzzsaw eliminated the threat easily enough, but Swindle made sure to deck Brushguard for using him as disposable bait.

Behind the door was a virtual treasure trove of death—weapons and armaments of all possible varieties, just ripe for the taking. Despite his hard feelings, Swindle openly agreed when Brushguard suggested they needn't necessarily tell Megatron about their find. Swindle quickly claimed dibs on what he considered the pick of the litter: a pair of nucleon shock gauntlets, banned by arms treaties across the universe, but just the thing to wipe a smile off an Autobot's face...and wipe their face off completely in the process. Eager for a small test of the merchandise, Swindle tapped his brother on the back...and accidentally sent him flying across the bunker, thanks to the nucleon boost. A more evolved robot would've felt guilty, but Swindle's CPU didn't get him any farther than pure shock.

When they finally encountered the Autobots, the 'Cons were backed by an army of newly minted Decepticlones. Having been deprived of his shock gauntlets by the super-fast Blurr, Swindle flew into a rage and simply began beating on the Autobot captain, Longrack, using his rifle as a club instead of a blaster. Capturing most of the Autobots, the Decepticons were on the verge of victory before some local Mini-Cons stole their shuttle...and the missing Autobot Armorhide crashed their shuttle straight down on the Decepticon position. Swindle and the other Decepticons were left behind on Combatron for three weeks waiting for pick-up. While the others got sucked in to Hardtop's world of comic books, Swindle vented his frustration by smashing Decepticlone copies of himself.

There's something just not right about that robot. Force of Habit

Toys

Cybertron

I've slept in a corpse of a water buffalo that's tougher than you!

• Swindle (Scout class, 2006)

• Accessoriers: Rifle, Earth Cyber Planet Key
• Cyber Key Code: s4mr

Premiering in the fifth wave of Cybertron Scout-class toys, Swindle is a redeco of Hardtop in yellow, maroon, and olive green, transforming into a dune buggy of indeterminate, probably-made-up model. Plugging a Cyber Key into the butt of his rifle flips out an extended barrel for a "sniper" mode.

This mold was also used to make live-action movie Hardtop, which was later repurposed as Shattered Glass Beachcomber.

• More information on Swindle at TFU.info