Rook (Armada)

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

Rook is a Unicron-allied Mini-Con from the Armada portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

Life has many doors, head-boy.

Rook is the Mini-Con partner to Sideways, servant to Unicron. His job is to serve as a spy and saboteur, and sow discontent among the Mini-Cons. He's a charismatic, bold-faced liar with no scruples whatsoever, who enjoys playing mind games and setting others up for a fall. And if they need a push, the combat-trained Mini-Con will give them one. He'll happily destroy someone he "promised" to help without the slightest hesitation.

Fiction

Armada cartoon

Rook never appeared as an individual robot in the cartoon. He was shown either as Sideways' Autobot head, or combined with Crosswise into their Mirror form.

When Sideways came to Earth and Transformed into robot mode for the first time, his rider split in half and Rook covered Sideways's head, revealing his Autobot insignia. Crosswise vanished from the scene. Gale Rook continued to serve as Sideways's head covering until Sideways chose to switch factions. Then Rook launched off of Sideways's head, Transformed into Crosswise, and returned to Sideways's shoulders. Credulous

Dreamwave Armada comic

Unicronian spy for President 2012.

Rook was among the other Mini-Cons in Dualor's sanctuary in the Moon. He cheered with Crosswise and Dirt Boss when it seemed they had fended off an attack from Megatron and his Decepticons. Armada #9 But soon enough Megatron made it inside and started destroying the base, prompting Rook to leave in an escape pod. Armada #11

After the failure of Dualor's plan and the Autobots taking in the refugee Mini-Cons, Rook lectured to the other Mini-Cons, saying that they were still treated as a commodity. Thus, they should break all ties with the Autobots. To give the Mini-Cons confidence in the Autobots, Optimus Prime promised to Rook that the Autobots would help find some of their members that were lost in the devastation of Dualor's sanctuary. Fire & Ice

After the arrival of Unicron's heralds, all of the Mini-Cons were gathered to make the return to Cybertron. When the Decepticons arrived, Rook immediately assumed they had been set up by the Autobots. The End

Rook was supposedly Unicron-affiliated in this continuity, but this was never shown in the fiction, only mentioned in his More Than Meets The Eye profile. His outspoken criticism of the Autobots kind of hinted towards it though.

TransTech

When Sideways became a finalist in Cybertron's Got Talent, an interpretive transforming competition, Rook's status as a double-Headmaster Combi-Micromaster gave Sideways an edge. Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/05/14

When Crosswise became an intern for Axiom Nexus News reporter Rook, Crosswise revealed that he was looking for the "real" Rook so that he could herald the coming of Unicron. Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/06/01

Rook joined the Offworlder Zone Security Administration at some point prior to or during the hunt for Sideways, who had botnapped Vector Prime. When Cheetor led a team of OZSA agents to Sideways's hideout only to find their way blocked by an Absolute Terror Field, Rook looked into legal precedent for the use of a Vortex Grinder. The High Senate's bill turned out to be unnecessary as the field came down on its own and Vector Prime walked out unharmed because Sideways's head suddenly exploded. Before everyone's optics, however, Rook initiated a Headmaster sequence with Sideways, who then escaped by Dimensional Interfacer. Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/06/27

Sideways himself claimed he met Rook on Tinder. Ask Sideways, 2015/06/28

Ask Vector Prime

Vector Prime speculated that there may have been a "continuity of consciousness" between this Rook and the Rook affiliated with the Cybertronian Empire, given the ties between Planet X and said empire. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/29

Toys

Armada

First-release Decepticon-sigil Rook.

File:Arm-toy RookAutobot.jpg

Second-release Autobot-sigil Rook.

• Sideways w/ Rook & Crosswise (Super-Con, 2003)
  • Japanese ID number: MX-01

Available only with Armada Sideways and Crosswise, Rook's primary altmode is a head unit for Sideways' robot mode. By inserting the robot-mode arms into holes in Sideways' torso, a faction sigil is displayed in Sideways' chest. He also forms the upper half of the combined Mini-Con robot Mirror (unnamed in the Hasbro line) with Crosswise.

The original Hasbro Sideways setup had Rook as the Decepticon-sigil-revealing head, but the television series 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. This change did not affect Rook's individual toy in any real capacity, since they simply changed the sigils on Sideways' chest-plates around. The Takara version uses this setup, and has no significant differences from the Hasbro Rook.

This mold was used to make Energon Nightscream.

• More information on Rook at TFU.info

Notes

• So his Japanese name is "Bright", despite his being the black-colored one of the pair. Ahuh. Yeah, he's the Autobot-symbol head, but still.
• In Robotmasters, Sideways/Double Face is said to have "Bright" and "Shadow" programs which help him... do... things. Yeah. Any rate, this is a reference to the Japanese names of his two Mini-Con partners.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Bright (ブライト Buraito)
• Korean: Bright (브라이트 Beuraiteu)