Sideways (Armada)

Sideways is a double-agent for Unicron in the Unicron Trilogy.

File:SidewaysArmada.jpg

Sideways as he appeared in Transformers: Armada

Sideways is the consummate con-artist. He is misleading and deceitful in everything he does, and he lives for the look of shock and betrayal on his victims' faces when they realize he's played them for fools. When the displaced population of Planet X allied themselves with Unicron to avenge themselves on Gigantion, this treacherous nature made him the perfect robot to pull off the ultimate act of treason - an attempt to sow confusion between Autobot and Decepticon to prevent them from uniting to oppose his dark master.

Japanese name (Armada): Doubleface
Japanese name (Cybertron): Noisemaze

Fiction

Animated continuity

Armada

Voice Actors: Paul Dobson (US); Takahiro Yamada Takahiro Sakurai (Japan)

Sideways first appeared as a beam of light striking the earth city near the Autobot base. He played the Autobots and then betrayed Hot Shot in order to obtain the star saber. After several bizarre encounters, one involving Sideways becoming nanites, he was revealed to be an incarnation of Unicron, and eventually was destroyed by the Requiem Blaster, wielded by Optimus Prime.

Cybertron

Voice Actors: Ted Cole (US), Susumu Chiba (Japan)

Sideways made his return in the Cybertron story as a faction-swapping agent that chose to manipulate those who'd recognize him in secret. He latched onto Starscream, having no memory of the Unicron Battles, and manipulated him into obtaining the Omega Lock. Sideways' long-term plan is to now avenge the destruction of his race from eons ago using the power of Primus. Soundwave is his partner in this series and they share the common goal of destroying the Giant Planet. The Ask Vector Prime forum on Transformers.com notes that Sideways was preserved by Unicron's dark power after Armada, although in Galaxy Force Noisemaze has no connection to Unicron. When Noisemaze uses his Force Chip to become a Decepticon his personality shifts as well, he goes from a cool collected ninja-like persona to a raging berzerker.

Dreamwave comics continuity

In the DW continuity, Sideways was simply shown as a background cameo Decepticon, and was not featured as a hearld of Unicron. In addition, the MTME profile book did list Sideways as a mysterious ninja, and a herald to Unicron. It is suspected that he was simply functioning as a sleeper agent in the mainstream DW Armada comic.

Robot Masters

A Motorcycle Transformer going by the name "Doubleface"(Armada Sideway's Japanese name) appeared in the Robot Masters saga. This Transformer had a special communications system called "Shadow and Bright" which were the Japanese names of Sideway's Mini-Cons.

Toys

Robots in Disguise

File:Sidewaysrid.jpg

Robots in Disguise Sideways

• Sideways

The first Sideways toy was released as part of a two-pack in the Robots in Disguise toyline. It was a yellow and black repaint of Road Rocket and was packaged with Axer, a repaint of Road Pig. Despite being a character placed in a different continuity, he has been established to be the same Sideways as the character from Armada. Both tech spec bios describe him as "conscientious, ninja-like warrior" who is "mysterious and silent." Years later, Takara publicity materials for their Robot Masters line confirmed that Robots in Disguise Sideways is the same character as their Robot Masters Doubleface toy.

Armada

• Sideways w/ Rook and Crosswise

The second toy of Sideways was released in 2002 in Armada. Two variations of the toy exist. The first variation features the opposite Mini-con heads revealing their intended faction logo. This was due to an error in the television series' animation which depicted Crosswise as the Decepticon head and Rook as the Autobot head. Hasbro made a running change so the toy reflected the series' faction alignments. The second variation changed the purple on Rook into a less Decepticonesque salmon color. This toy was also released in the Japanese Micron Legend toyline as Doubleface shortly afterwards, featuring a color scheme on the cockpit of the bike that was closer to the anime appearance.

Robot Masters

Doubleface, a purple, gray, and teal redeco of Road Pig, was released in 2005, transforming into a touring motorcycle with electronic light-up tailpipe/"blaster" weapon. It featured a fixed Decepticon logo, and was the second and last appearance of this character in Japan as of 2006.

Cybertron

Cybertron Sideways

• Sideways

The third toy of Sideways released in the US was in the Cybertron toyline. Sideways in this line is a black and orange alien spacecraft with Cyber Key-activated faction-switching ability built into his battle shield. The toy features a translucent face with his signature horns. This toy was released in Japan as Galaxy Force Noisemaze, but in Japan it is not the same character as Sideways.

External Links

Sideways at TFU.info

From Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki, a Wikia wiki.