Slag (G1)

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

Slag is an Autobot Dinobot from the Generation 1 continuity family. Confusingly, he is sometimes known as Snarl.

His name is a swear word. Just the way he likes it.

Slag is the Dinobot most likely to live up to the team's bad reputation. Slag is surly, mean-spirited, nasty, and disturbingly violent, to the point where it really is a wonder he's not a Decepticon. Slag will fight anyone, over anything, at the drop of a microchip, and fight dirty. Slag enjoys nothing more than reducing his enemies (and he's more than willing to include annoying Autobots on that list) to pools of molten metal with his fire-breath. He'd swim in the pools to celebrate if he could.

None of the Dinobots really like Optimus Prime, but he and Sludge share an especially intense dislike of him. But it's not just Prime's orders he questions. He'll even mouth off at Grimlock every now and then, but somehow does not end up as scrap or lunch. Slag's bad attitude means the rest of the Autobot forces are unlikely to come to his aid when he bites off more than he can chew.

“	Me Slag no like anything.	”
—Slag on Life, the Universe, and Everything, "Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1"

Fiction

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

Voice actor: Neil Ross (English), Toshio Ishii (Japanese), Ken Yamaguchi (Japanese, The Transformers: The Movie only), Georges Atlas (French), Roberto Alexander (Latin American), Hans-Rainer Müller (German, Grimlocks New Brain), Bernd Simon (German, Call of the Primitives), Thomas Albus (German, Generation 2 Season 1), Christoph Jablonka (German, Generation 2 Season 2)

One angry mother slagger!

Slag was developed, along with his fellow Dinobots Sludge and Grimlock, after the Autobots discovered dinosaur bones in their volcanic headquarters. Inspired by the power of the prehistoric beasts, Wheeljack and Ratchet built a trio of Dinobots to add firepower to the Autobot forces. The Dinobots proved too dangerous at first, and Optimus Prime ordered Wheeljack to abandon the Dinobot project. Wheeljack continued improving the trio of titans in secret, crafting memory components that made them smarter and easier to control. When the rest of the Autobots were captured by the Decepticons at the Great Falls hydroelectric power plant, Wheeljack dispatched the Dinobots to free their comrades and destroy the Decepticons. The Dinobots succeeded in forcing a Decepticon retreat and were welcomed as members of the Autobot team. S.O.S. Dinobots

I know he's a raging sociopath... but he's so cute!

One of Slag's greatest weaknesses was his hostility, and Megatron was able to use this to his advantage, turning the Dinobots against Optimus Prime. A new pair of Dinobots, Snarl and Swoop, stalled the old trio until the unstable meteor nearby exploded. Witnessing Optimus Prime valiantly save Grimlock from the explosion, the Dinobots decided that he was a good, passionate leader, and turned against Megatron as his squad escaped. War of the Dinobots

When Cybertron was being pulled into Earth's orbit, Slag pitched in to help stop the destruction. He and his fellow Dinobots created a moat that successfully captured an incoming tidal wave.The Ultimate Doom, Part 2 After that, the Dinobots were called upon to fight against Devastator. Heavy Metal War

Hound and Bumblebee had trouble teaching Slag and the other Dinobots how to play football. However, when the Autobots needed help to stop the Decepticons and King Nergill's attack on Washington, D.C., the Dinobots responded quickly. After the battle, Slag pitched in by using his fire breath to repair the Washington Monument. He came to Sub-Atlantica with the other Autobots, where he raised hell with his fellow Dinobots.Atlantis, Arise!

The Dinobots' powers proved invaluable when they needed to save Optimus Prime from rogue vehicles. Slag transformed into triceratops mode and melted them down. Day of the Machines

While Wheeljack attempted to show off Grimlock's newfound finesse, Slag bumped into Grimlock and caused him to run amok. Then Sludge stepped on Slag's tail, and Slag instinctively breathed fire, scorching the Ark's computers. Afterwards, the Dinobots were sent to a new island that Bumblebee and Powerglide had discovered so they could master their abilities. Slag liked it, and thought that it'd offer room to move and stumble around. After practicing his "fire stuff", Megatron arrived and using fear, led a pack of dinosaurs to push the Dinobots into a tar pit. Dinobot Island, Part 1 However, they managed to get out, and Slag used his fire breath to get the tar off his comrades. Dinobot Island, Part 2

H-hey! That's my funny circuit!

Slag was sent with the four other Dinobots to an airport with Decepticons in the vicinity, despite his dislike of everything. Breaking into their secret hideout with Snarl, Slag then melted Starscream's null-ray, to the Seeker's horror, and when he was dogpiled by Thrust and Thundercracker, threw them into a plane. When the Dinobots carelessly reverted to robot mode, an explosion knocked them down. Back at the base, Ratchet, Hoist and Wheeljack were able to repair them after countless hours of work. But after the Dinobots heard Optimus send them out for another mission, they had enough. Slag was sick of taking orders and decided to take orders from Grimlock only, and the Dinobots left the Ark. However, when Carly informed the Dinobots that the Autobots were low on cybertonium, Slag refused to help out, but Grimlock dragged him to Cybertron anyway, since they would be away from the Autobots. Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1 When they reached Cybertron, Slag rammed Shockwave and then tried to turn him into a chew-toy. For this, the logic-driven Decepticon altered the Dinobots' memory circuits and put them to work in the Cybertonium Pit. Two squishies ended up saving them. Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2

He may be in favour of grisly murder, but no one could ever accuse Slag of not having manners.

During the Battle of Autobot City, the Dinobots battled Devastator. Slag was the only one that managed to get a hit on Devastator, ramming into him at full speed. After evacuating Autobot City in the wake of Galvatron's attack, the Dinobots refused to leave, and Kup was forced to push Slag into the ship. Possibly to avoid being killed, Kup told the Dinobots about one of his encounters with an Ick-Yak. The Dinobots, along with Kup and Hot Rod, were shot down and crashed on Quintessa. The Dinobots searched for the two Autobots, with Grimlock believing they were close by, but Slag disagreed. They started hurling insults, and things might have turned violent, had Wheelie not appeared and pointed them in the right direction. He and Sludge broke down a door as Sharkticons prepared to execute the Autobots, giving a belated "Excuse me!" to a Quintesson prosecutor—who was being crushed under the combined weight of Slag, Sludge, and the door. Later, Slag literally burned the butt of a god. The Transformers: The Movie

Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4 Thief in the Night Grimlock's New Brain

Slag was one of the Primitives who were called by Primacron's assistant to battle Primacron's newest creation, Tornedron. When Grimlock was believed destroyed when Trypticon crashed on him, Slag took command of the Dinobots. He came up with an incredibly innovative strategy—lead the Dinobots away until he got a better idea. Hun-Gurrr thought it was the best idea yet. After Tornedron dispatched the other Primitives, Slag and the Dinobots attacked him, only to have their energy sucked from them. Fortunately, Grimlock survived Trypticon's weight and destroyed Tornedron, fixing everything. Call of the Primitives

The Headmasters cartoon

So cute when he's not killing things.

In the year 2011, Slag, along with his fellow Dinobots, was deployed by Wreck-Gar to deal with the sudden invasion of the Decepticon forces. Slag and his team attempted a resistance but were quickly disabled by one of Mindwipe's hypnotic spells, which forced them all to fall asleep.

Slag was adorable. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky

Later, Slag fought alongside Jazz, Optimus, and his fellow Dinobots against Galvatron and his lieutenants. The Mystery of Planet Master

Marvel Comics continuity

Generation 1

Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

Slag and the other Dinobots were among the Autobots selected to accompany Optimus Prime aboard the Ark on a mission to clear a path for Cybertron through an asteroid belt. The Transformers After their ship crashed on Earth, the Dinobots were reactivated to deal with Shockwave. The team tracked Shockwave to the Savage Land. The Last Stand During the battle, Shockwave was buried under a collapsed mountain, but the Dinobots ended up in a tar pit. There they stayed for four million years, until Ratchet found them. Slag was the first Dinobot Ratchet uncovered from the tar pit; Ratchet probed his memory bank to find out what had happened to the team. Awakened by the probe, a confused and enraged Slag nearly attacked Ratchet, but stopped once he realized he was an Autobot. Told that Shockwave lived again, Slag readily agreed on behalf of the Dinobots to hunt him down once more. However, the Dinobots had to deal with Megatron first; they did not fare well. After Ratchet managed to defeat the Decepticon leader, the Dinobots accompanied him back to the Ark. Repeat Performance!

On the way, Ratchet tried to explain to the Dinobots that scarring the piss out of humans wasn't a good idea, but the lesson didn't really take. At the Ark, they were confronted by a little going-away present from Shockwave — the defense drone known as Guardian, reprogrammed to attack the Autobots. Decepticon Dam-Busters! Slag and the others did little damage to the battle droid before Ratchet chased it off by blasting a weak spot on Guardian with a laser emitter. The Dinobots continued to hunt Guardian through the Ark while Ratchet made with the repairs to the other Autobots. The situation became more difficult, however, once they uncovered the presence of a thermonuclear bomb inside of Guardian. The Wrath of Guardian! Eventually, after the bomb was activated, it was Swoop who carried Guardian a safe distance away from the Ark before he exploded, apparently killing Swoop in the blast. With the loss of one of their comrades, Slag and the other Dinobots chose to leave the Ark and seek their own path on Earth. The Wrath of Grimlock!

Over the following weeks, each Dinobot began suffering from a breakdown of their cybo-dendrons, an anomaly in their neuro-circuitry caused by their extended time spent immersed in the tar pits. This corrosion caused them to revert to a near mindless, animal state. Slag had retreated to the Old River Valley in the Idaho badlands and, once they learned about the Dinobots' problem, it was there that the Autobots sought him out. A search team consisting of Jazz, Ironhide, and Jetfire arrived in one of the shuttles and found Slag in a one-sided struggle with two human cowboys. After getting the humans to safety, the Autobots tried to wrangle themselves a turbo-steer. They tried some amusing tactics like taking the triceratops by the horns or using Ironhide like a red flag to distract the fighting mad Dinobot, but ultimately they couldn't have won without the help of the Decepticons. Ironhide found Laserbeak spying on them and, after stunning the tin-plated turkey, he grabbed the Decepticon and thrust him inside Slag's mouth just before the Dinobot let loose with his flame breath. The resulting backwash took Slag off-line and allowed the Autobots to take him into protective custody. Dinobot Hunt!

Although Ratchet managed to repair the cybo-dendron damage, the Dinobots remained trapped in comatose states, experiencing the occasional dreams as their minds attempt to wake up. Slag's dreams revolve around the epic battle he had with Shockwave four million years ago, and the haunting feeling of going off-line beneath the tar pits. Victory! Slag and the other Dinobots eventually recovered fully from their ordeal, although they were still none too happy to see Ratchet upon awakening. Second Generation!

The Dinobots were largely uncomfortable under Optimus Prime's command. When Prime organized a battle unit to assault the Decepticon base, not to demolish their enemy but to record some vital data, the Dinobots balked at the idea. The idea of going into battle without intending to win was an anathema to them. Grimlock, Slag and the other Dinobots chose to abandon the Autobot cause instead of putting up with Optimus Prime's "cowardly" ways any longer. Command Performances!

After their big speech, the Dinobots apparently hung around the Ark for a little while anyways, but soon became bored with their inactivity (as they were now soldiers without a general). Finally, on a whim, they decided to help Sludge go after the "beautiful golden human" he had met while his cybo-dendrons were malfunctioning. Joy Meadows, the aforementioned "human", was a reporter who drew some serious heat after she started questioning the Robot-Master cover story being pumped over the air waves. Both the Decepticons and the US government had a stake in making sure the public believed all the Transformers were under the control of a so-called "terrorist", and so they wanted her silenced. After the Dinobots agreed to do an interview with Meadows to set the story straight, Swoop flew off to pick up her camera crew, but found his transformation controls malfunctioning when he returned. Demonstrating his rarely acknowledged tech-smarts, Slag located and identified a homing beacon on Swoop, crushing it. Despite that, they were still found by the Decepticons. The 'Cons ultimately won the skirmish — Soundwave wiped Meadows' tapes and the Constructicons personally laid the beatdown on Slag and the others. Despite some grumbling afterwards, Slag and the Dinobots mostly decided to give up on the idea of "telling their story" to the humans. In the National Interest

When the future Decepticon named Galvatron returned to the 1980s, his first act was to destroy Centurion, a mechanoid who had befriended the Dinobots. Seeking revenge, they came after Galvatron in a pitched battle alongside several Autobots and Decepticons. Despite all the force levelled against him, however, the battle against Galvatron ended with a stalemate, at best. Fallen Angel

After some time on their own, the Dinobots wound up living in the Cascade Forest range in Oregon, some distance away from Mount St. Hilary. Once they heard of Optimus Prime's death, Grimlock planned on storming the Ark and demanding that the Autobots name him the new leader. On the way, however, they found that the Decepticon had unleashed the living battle station known as Trypticon on the Autobots. When Grimlock joined the battle to protect an endangered human, Slag and the other Dinobots joined in the fight as well. They did so much damage that Trypticon was forced to return to Cybertron to replenish his fuel supplies. After this impressive showing, Grimlock was voluntarily named the new Autobot leader, and the Dinobots rejoined the Ark's crew. King of the Hill!

When Swoop got into a fight with his old sparring partner, Divebomb, the Dinobots and Predacons were drawn into a pitched war with each other. Slag and Snarl engaged in head-butting games with Headstrong and Tantrum. After playing with them a bit, the Dinobots easily brought down their Predacon opponents. Grudge Match!

Grimlock and the Dinobots started to let their new power go to their heads pretty soon. Grimlock started wearing a tin crown of all things, while Slag and the others began acting more like mob enforcers than Heroic Autobots. After the Autobot named Blaster went AWOL, Grimlock swore out a vendetta against him and even went so far as to cast some of Blaster's human acquaintances into space (albeit with space suits). When another Autobot named Sky Lynx intervened on the humans' behalf, the Dinobots chased him into an asteroid belt. In order to prevent any further harm from coming to the humans, Blaster surrendered himself to Grimlock. Spacehikers! A short time thereafter, Grimlock and Blaster settled their differences through trial by combat, Totaled! and the return of Optimus Prime as Autobot leader gave the Dinobots a chance to mellow out a little.

The super-Decepticon known as Galvatron had become more and more of a threat to the Transformers, not only due to his raw power but also because of the time-warping effect his prolonged presence in the past was having. Optimus Prime and Grimlock were in the midst of rallying their troops for a major offensive against Galvatron, before the time storm consumed them all, when several Autobots teleported back in time from 2009. The resulting mass-displacement effect, however, made it appear as if Prime and several other Autobots were disintegrated on the spot. Enraged, Fortress Maximus led Slag and several other Autobots into battle against the murderous impostors". Slag and the remaining Dinobots showed off their awesome warrior strength by ganging up on Arcee, or "the broad" as Slag called her. The future Ultra Magnus stepped in to teach Slag a lesson in manners, using him as a bludgeon to knock out Sludge. Time Wars

As temperamental as he was, Slag at least had the sense to point out during the Underbase fiasco that the people of Tokyo were not well aware of Transformers as a whole, and possibly mistook the Dinobots for movie props. Unfortunately, this was right before the Dinobots had to deal with Starscream, and like his teammates, Slag got, well, slagged. Dark Star

Many months later, Grimlock managed to bring Slag and the other Dinobots back on-line using the Nucleon reservoirs of Hydrus Four. He filled the containment units in his shuttlecraft, hoping to bring back enoug Nucleon to revive the Ark's entire crew. ...All This and Civil War 2 Surprisingly enough, the returning Dinobots found the Ark empty, as Primus had teleported all Transformers from Earth to Cybertron to engage in final battle with Unicron. En route to Cybertron, Slag and Sludge pumped enough Nucleon into the life sustaining pods to bring back a full battle unit of Autobots. The Void! Slag and the Dinobots eagerly joined in the fight against Unicron once they arrived home. On the Edge of Extinction!

After Prime died in the war, Grimlock was named Autobot commander once more. His first mission was to look for the Ark, which had gone missing after the Dinobots used the ship to clock Unicron in the jaw and crashed it. They didn't find the Ark, but Slag and the Dinobots fought a group of metallic demons who had been unearthed during the cataclysmic fight with Unicron. Still Life! Although Prowl was attempting to maintain a truce with the Decepticons, Grimlock and the Dinobots recognized how improbable that was. Therefore, while the peace talks were going on, Grimlock sent Slag and the other Dinobots to the Rad Zone to recover some hidden starships they had hijacked millions of years prior. It was a good thing he did, because the Decepticons betrayed the Autobots, leaving them stranded on the dying planet without transport off it otherwise. A Savage Circle Using a homing beacon he had planted on one of the Decepticon ships, Grimlock tracked them down to the planet Klo. The Autobots had been expected, however, and the Decepticon welcoming party annihilated the Autobot army. Within a short period of time, only five Autobots were left alive: Grimlock, Slag, Prowl, Kup and Blaster. They continued to fight on, regardless of the hopelessness of the situation, and their stubborn refusal to just lay down and die was rewarded. Optimus Prime arrived on Klo to turn the tide, thanks to his new Action Master body and the help of the Last Autobot, a powerful Transformer who revived the entire Autobot army with his powers. The Decepticons were driven from Klo, and the Autobots celebrated a true victory. End of the Road!

Marvel UK future timelines

In 2008, Slag and the Dinobots were one of several special units unleashed on the Decepticon attack force when Scourge and Cyclonus led the 'Cons on a siege of the Autobots' main base on Cybertron. Slag was seen barrelling through the Decepticon forces like a living juggernaut. Autobot High Command soon learned this assault was only a distraction, however, engineered by Unicron himself who was reconstructing himself on the planet of Junk. When Smokescreen returned from Junk with this news, Rodimus Prime gathered Scattershot, Grimlock, and the rest of the Dinobots with him to make an assault on Junk. Much to Rodimus's dismay, Slag and the Dinobots didn't hold back at all when attacking the Junkions Unicron had mind-controlled into doing his bidding, and tore through them as if they were any other enemy. The Legacy of Unicron!

Earthforce

These stories do not fit into the normal Marvel continuity. See Earthforce for details.

Slag was constructed without the necessary emotional dampers that would allow him to regulate his moods and rage. This fact made him unpleasant company at the best of times, but also caused a regular glitch in his circuits, turning him into a raging homicidal berserker for a brief period every four million years. Shortly before leaving aboard the Ark with Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobot crew, Slag experienced one of these "glitches" and wiped out his entire tactical unit. His fellow Dinobots managed to cover up the incident, and Prime and Autobot High Command never learned about it. The 4,000,000 Year Itch!

Sometime shortly after the Matrix Quest, Slag and his fellow Dinobots were revived by Grimlock and returned to action in the Autobot army. Their more brutal methods didn't sit well with Optimus Prime, but ultimately he chose to leave Grimlock in charge of a special Earthforce, guarding the planet while he led the Ark's crew out in space to deal with the threat of Unicron. Break-Away! While the Autobot Earthbase was under construction, Slag and his fellow Dinobots decided to engage in an Earth custom known as April Fools' Day and have a little fun at their leader's expense. Slag used his vast technical knowledge to rig up a fake video message from Decepticon commander Shockwave, and the Dinobots used it to lure Grimlock out into a blizzard, convinced that he was going to a one-on-one duel with the Decepticon. Instead, he found a snowman with a cardboard sign, proclaiming him an "April Fool". Amusing as it was, Grimlock was last seen heading towards the Dinobots with a massive snowball over his head, so he might not have taken it too well. Snow Fun!

When the Survivors joined up with Earthforce in order to get help for their ally Carnivac, Slag was part of the strike team that went to attack the Mayhems' island, and he fought the Pretender Stranglehold. Where Wolf? He was present at Earthbase for the unveiling of Wheeljack's new defense system The House that Wheeljack Built! and, shortly thereafter, fought back against a major Decepticon offensive led by Soundwave. He roasted the Constructicon Scavenger with his flame breath, and the 'Cons eventually retreated. Divide and Conquer!

With the sort of bad timing that only happens in comic books and soap operas, Optimus Prime came to Earthbase for a tour and inspection right when Slag's next 4,000,000 year berserker rage came due. This led to a hilarious romp through Earthbase, as the Dinobots desperately attempted to keep Slag under control while Grimlock tried to keep Prime unaware of what was going on. Comedy gold! The 4,000,000 Year Itch!

Later, when Snarl was suffering from Corrodia Gravis, the Autobots were forced into the unpleasant circumstance of seeking out the only known compatible Transformer for a transfer: Starscream. What's worse, their petition for aid came right in the middle of Megatron and Shockwave's assassination attempt on the treacherous Seeker. Forced to fight for Starscream's life, Slag held his own against Megatron in combat. He rear-ended the Decepticon with his horns and then set him on fire with his flame breath. Megatron tore out of there as if his reactor linkage was on fire. Which, incidentally... The Lesser Evil!

Another Time and Place

Several months after the golden age of Cybertron was reintroduced, more and more Transformers were succumbing to the effects of Nucleon. Slag was the only Dinobot still able to transform at this time. When Grimlock received information that the Hydrus Four facilities had reopened and discovered a means of reversing Nucleonic changes, the Dinobots jumped at the idea. Despite Prime's half-hearted warnings, Slag and his teammates followed Grimlock back to Hydrus Four in the hopes of becoming Transformers once again. They were followed by the "exiled" Decepticons, however, and a battle with a huge native creature delayed the Dinobots long enough for Bludgeon's crew to get ahead of them and take over the Nucleon facility. The Dinobots were laid low by a Holocaust Trigger, overloading their sensory circuits so that they were helpless before the Decepticons. Cruelly tortured, the Dinobots were still left alive so that they could witness the rebirth of Megatron, thanks to the Nucleon infusions Bludgeon was feeding him. Luckily, the Autobots had long since learned to become worried whenever the Dinobots were out of sight for too long, and had followed them to Hydrus Four. Roadhandler, Tote and several Micromasters managed to free the injured Dinobots, and an Autobot strike force brought down their Decepticon captors. The Nucleon reversion process was a success, and Slag and his comrades were restored as fully operational Transformers. Another Time & Place

Generation 2

What's a little cannibalism between buddies?

Slag and the Dinobots were fighting alongside Grimlock and a small group of Autobot firestormers when they uncovered the Cybertronian Empire and their terraforming measures. After calling in Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots, they became part of a major offensive against not only Jhiaxus and his ilk, but everything they represented. War Without End! Despite Prime serving as overall commander, however, Slag and his buddies were still Dinobots first and foremost. So when Grimlock wanted to take first strike action against Prime's orders, there was no question whom they'd follow. Slag and the others were captured almost immediately, though, and only escaped thanks to the timely intervention of Optimus Prime and his more loyal group of soldiers. Devices and Desires!

Slag continued to fight alongside the Autobots with his Dinobot comrades, on both Earth and Ethos. The Gathering Darkness Escalation! Later, after the Autobots forged an alliance with the first-generation Decepticons against the Cybertronians, the Dinobots got into the spirit of things—they teamed up with Headstrong and Weirdwolf in a metal-munching contest to see who could chow down on the most Cybertronians.

Man, too bad Hun-Grrr and Skullcruncher weren't there to make it a real contest. Total War!

In the final battle with the Swarm, Slag was seen arranging the alliance's defenses against the voracious creature. He later gave his life in a futile attempt to protect Slingshot from the Swarm, proving once and for that all Dinobots truly do care about their other Autobots... as long as they're also obnoxious loners. A Rage in Heaven!

Classics

When Grimlock, Snarl, and Swoop joined that huge jerk Ultra Magnus, that was just asking too much. Slag and Sludge instead ended up in the entourage of Nightbeat and his friends, becoming the muscle to his wandering detective organization. And when push comes to shove the other guy through something, he doesn't aim for the window. Cheap Shots

Slag goes absolutely crazy-murderous-berzerker once every 4 million years. Slag's Classics profile

Slag's rage-every-four-million-years thing was ganked from an Earthforce story, despite Classics ignoring nearly all the Marvel UK material.

Dreamwave Generation One comics

Slag was chosen by Grimlock to join his commando unit, and was with them in the Dark Ages when they split off to become the Lightning Strike Coalition. Upon learning that Jetfire was meeting with Shockwave in the Neutral Territories, Grimlock took the Dynobots to kill them for treason. The others, however, were more worried about the new Decepticon battlestation that was massacring the Prowl's Autobots (Slag didn't care about the bots, he wanted a piece of the action). Grimlock got pissed, poked Slag, and ordered him to follow his orders or get physical. Swoop finally convinced Grimlock to let them go while he went for Jetfire and Shockwave. After the battle, they discovered that someone had taken Grimlock and Jetfire, and there was no sign of Shockwave. When The Fallen was discovered, the LSC were forced into a temporary alliance with Shockwave's Decepticons to rescue Grimlock and the others.

Despite the truce, Slag still decked Shrapnel. Nobody cared. War Within: The Dark Ages

Me Slag like collect trophy like him.

After the Ark and the Nemesis crash-landed on Earth, the Dynobots followed the Insecticons there. They owned the Insecticons, who subsequently played dead until Grimlock and Slag got bored and wandered off. Extermination However, the Dinobots became trapped in stasis lock. After awakening, Megatron captured the Dinobots, using their imprisonment to force Grimlock to side with the Decepticons. Prime Directive issue 3 Grimlock freed them after Shockwave captured Megatron and Optimus Prime. Brothers' Burden After returning to the Shockwave-controlled Cybertron, Octane poked Slag in the head and called him a "primitive".

Octane doesn't have a body anymore. Cold War

The Dinobots launched an attack on Iacon, heading for Shockwave's Tower. Grimlock ordered Slag and the others to keep pushing forward as he made a side-trip to the smelting pits to personally confront Shockwave. Before they could reach their destination, the Dinobots were halted by the newly-reawakened Omega Sentinels. Slag barely managed to send a distress call to Grimlock before being defeated. Passive Aggression

Much later, after Shockwave's defeat, the Dinobots were ordered by Ultra Magnus to accompany Kup on a trip to establish a base on one of Cybertron's moons. The Route of All Evil

Then Dreamwave died.

G.I.Joe vs Transformers

Along with Grimlock, Snarl, Sludge and Swoop, Slag was transported into Earth's distant past by a malfunctioning Teletran 3, where he was reformatted into a triceratops. A group consisting of three G.I. Joes and a Cobra Viper successfully retrieved them, and the new "Dinobots" made short work of Shockwave and his troops. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II #4

IDW Generation 1 comics

This section covers fiction that is ongoing. It will be added to as the story progresses. If it isn't current, you can help by updating it.

Slag first met Grimlock in a brig on Cybertron, after he'd shot his commanding officer in the back to convince him they were outflanked and had to make a frontal assault. Grimlock thought this made him an awesome, clear-thinking guy, and the two of them discussed forming their own semi-autonomous strike team, one that Slag declared would follow no rules. Maximum Dinobots #2

Slag and the other Dynobots were in the Ring of Trials in Ironfall when they witnessed Optimus Prime's rallying call for additional support against the Decepticon tyranny. Broadcast They responded to the call and joined the Autobots in the following battle for control of Cybertron, during which they took out a lot of tanks. Endgame

With the Dynobots, his contribution to the grand Autobot cause of freedom for all was to murder Decepticons who surrendered and play "kick the can" with severed heads. Maximum Dinobots #1 He constantly tried to deny they were a team at all, saying they put the "un" into "unit" (and apparently he put the "lame" into "jokes"). Maximum Dinobots #2

Slag knows that Grimlock is the harshest critic of his light sculpting.

Slag and the other Dynobots followed Grimlock to revenge themselves against Shockwave, who blew up a cache of energon they had stolen. When Shockwave traveled to Earth, the Dynobots pursued him. Slag appeared to be the team's tech specialist, originating the idea of organic beast modes as a defense against energon overload. That's pretty innovative for a guy who spends most of his time thinking how better to kill everyone around him. Sadly, it did not protect the Dynobots from Shockwave's energy blasts, which melted the artificial skin and caused the Dynobots to go into stasis lock due to excessive Energon radiation. Due to a dead man's switch, the Dynobots' ship blasted a volcano that buried everyone in molten lava. Spotlight: Shockwave

The Dynobots were eventually excavated by Skywatch, and though Grimlock was the first to be brought back online, he was freed from Skywatch's control through a virus implanted by a Machination spy (under orders from Scorponok). Scorponok wanted Grimlock to join him, but Grimlock refused, fought Scorponok and escaped, vowing to find and rescue Slag and the other Dynobots. Scorponok, however planned to take control of the Dynobots himself and use them to assassinate Grimlock. Spotlight: Grimlock

Skywatch activated Slag, and in a test run, had him melt a tank. When Grimlock showed up in Fallon, he and the other Dynobots were sent to intercept him. Maximum Dinobots #1

This is revenge for the Triceratops always losing the fights in the movies.

Grimlock tried to break Slag's programming by reminding him of their shared past, which not only didn't work but got him set on fire. Making matters worse, Scorponok decided to reduce the programming remotely, at which point Slag shot Grimlock more and got enraged to find out Grimlock had set up a dead man's switch that nearly killed them without telling anyone. Slag even decided they had been a team after all and this was a betrayal. However, Grimlock silenced him by reminding Slag of what he wanted the Dynobots to be, and how what he did was following Slag's ethos exactly. Maximum Dinobots #2

Grimlock took the opportunity to inform the others of the current situation and what they needed to do, but Slag and the others weren't going to fall in line so easily. In particular, Swoop expressed his anger and disappointment in Grimlock's actions and decided to leave on his own. Slag, Snarl, and Sludge departed as well, leaving Grimlock standing there and fuming. Scorponok had his Sunstreaker clone army attack Grimlock at this point and they did so with gusto, ignoring the other Dynobots. Seeing their leader besieged, Slag and the others decided, for better or worse, that they were still Dynobots and had to stick together. They set to the task of trashing Sunstreaker clones until they were surrounded and nearly overwhelmed. But the Monsterbots arrived on the scene, having been summoned by Grimlock earlier, and began to turn the tide. Slag was quite disbelieving that Grimlock would even think of calling upon Repugnus' crew for help, but that didn't stop him from continuing to wreck Sunstreaker clones. Maximum Dinobots #3

Realizing they didn't have the advantage anymore, the surviving Sunstreaker clones retreated. The Dynobots hitched a ride in the Monsterbots' ship and headed for Machination headquarters. Aboard the ship, Grimlock discussed the matter of payment with Repugnus as the other Dynobots discussed how distasteful they found the whole situation (And you know it had to be really distasteful if the Dynobots were grousing about it!). Slag kept quiet but appeared as annoyed as the others as Grimlock told them he had worked out a temporary alliance with the Monsterbots. But again, as annoyed as the other Dynobots were, it didn't stop them from leaping into battle after Grimlock when they arrived at Machination HQ. They were greeted by yet more Sunstreaker clones, and proceeded to go about demolishing them. Finally, the clones were switched-off when Hunter O'Nion disconnected the original Sunstreaker's head, thus robbing the Machination grunts of their ability to control the clone bodies. The badly-damaged Hot Rod arrived, having just escaped from Machination HQ and explained what had occurred to the Dynobots. Sludge began to celebrate their victory when he was suddenly blasted by Scorponok, who decided to take a personal hand in the battle. Maximum Dinobots #4

"You're jerks, but do you have what it takes to be SUPER-jerks?"

To top it off, Shockwave arrived on the scene, and quickly engaged Scorponok for the right to destroy the remaining Dynobots. With Sludge apparently dead, Grimlock told the others to retreat without him, as he was finally seeing the cost of his uncompromising attitude. Slag asked Hot Rod if he wanted to bolt with them, but Hot Rod declined. Slag, Snarl, and Swoop decided to cut out while the getting was good and headed due east to an extraction point where the Monsterbots were waiting. Upon arrival, Repugnus mentioned that they'd be good fits for the team, due to their apparent concern with self-preservation. This remark did not seem to sit well with Slag and the others and they decided to go back and help Grimlock. When they returned to the battlefield, they found that Scorponok had retreated and Grimlock was fighting Shockwave. What's more, Sludge had come back online, thanks to a spark-jump from Grimlock. They leaped into battle with Shockwave, even as Grimlock implored them to go find Scorponok. Grimlock managed to drag himself and Shockwave away from the others, giving the other Dynobots an opportunity to infiltrate the main Machination complex. They managed to find their way to the chamber where Scorponok had stored his original head, and engaged the Decepticon Headmaster in battle there. Hot Rod directed Swoop to sever the connections keeping Scorponok's original head functional. Swoop did so, and Scorponok was painfully disabled and left at the Dynobots' mercy. But before they could kill him, Ultra Magnus arrived and told them that Scorponok would instead be jailed and made to pay for his crimes. He also suggested that they quickly remove all Cybertronian technology from the facility and leave as soon as possible. Everyone was totally cool with this.

In the end, Ultra Magnus canceled outstanding warrants he had on the other Dynobots when Grimlock (who had managed to disable Shockwave) took the fall and admitted that going rogue was completely his idea. Grimlock was satisfied that he managed to save Sludge and his team was online and together again. Slag and the others were seen repairing the Skyfire and preparing to leave Earth. Maximum Dinobots #5

After traveling space for a few years, Slag and the newly dubbed "Dinobots" returned to a reborn Cybertron and joined Ironhide for a mission to find the Aerialbots who had gone missing in the wilderness. After a run-in with a ferocious turbofox, which the Dinobots dealt with in their usual fashion, they discovered signs of Transformer weaponry which made Ironhide suspicious that Megatron was still around after the Decepticon leader had disappeared during the Autobot's last battle which ended the war. His behavior bothered Slag, who had respected his toughness but now saw him as just another regular Autobot. Ironhide explained that he had changed because of a vision of the future, which Slag could relate to, having himself become a Dynobot because of a vision. The night they set up camp, a battle suddenly broke out and ended with Slag and Swoop impaling Ironhide for reasons unknown. Dinobot Hunt

However, this didn't kill Ironhide and the Dinobots continued to fight each other. Eventually, they somehow stopped clashing among themselves and began to pursue Ironhide, who was saved thanks to the timely arrival of the combined form of the Aerialbots, Superion. Night and the City

Wings Universe

Together with Hot Rod and Kup, the Dinobots were onboard a shuttle fleeing from Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps, though they were more concerned about hearing one of Kup's war stories than being under attack. When they found temporary safety inside a nebula, Kup relented and told them about the time he was in the Elite Guard and fought on Beta-Nine. Eventually the Decepticons found them, but Slag and the other Dinobots were so angry about the interruption that they made short work of the attackers. Wings of Honor

Games

The Transformers (PS2)

Slag is a non-playable character. He appears among the legion of Autobot duplicates in the Decepticon campaign.

The Transformers

Toys

Generation 1

This... good enough for... Slag!

• Slag (Dinobot, 1985/1986/1991/1992)
  • Japanese ID number: 28
  • Accessories: "Energo Sword", "Electron Blaster", "Rocket Pod", 3 rockets

Slag was released as part of the second series of Transformers in 1985. The toy transformed into a robotic Triceratops, and came with a missile launcher that could fit in the shoulder socket of both the robot and dinosaur, a red sword, a silver "electro blaster" and three silver rockets. Like many Diaclone-era toys, Slag had a conspicuous driver compartment contained in his chest.

Slag was later re-released in the European-markets "Classics" series. In Japan, he and the other Dinobots were offered as mail-away items during Operation Combination, at a cost of 2300 yen (his original retail price) and two Robot Points.

Generation 2

• Slag (Dinobot, 1993)
  • Accessories: "Kinetic Sword", "Blaster Gun"

The original Slag toy went through several iterations in the Generation 2 line. First, he was re-released in the original silver base color; the only notable difference in the toy proper is the inclusion of the "AUTOBOT" tampograph on one of his robot-mode legs.

The toy then had its silver changed to red, and then changed again to dark green. The final green coloration is the most common, while the red and silver variations go for a little more on the secondary market.

All three versions retain his original sword and rifle (which were renamed), but do not have the rocket pod or missiles from the Generation 1 release.

Merchandise

Decoy

• Cybertron Hero Collection 9 (multi-pack, 1986)

• Slag (1987)
  • Decoy number: 5

The figurine was later brought over to Hasbro markets as part of the Decoy promotion, largely identical to the Japanese release except for the fact that the number on his back was replaced with a simple "checklist" number. Like all Autobot Decoys, he was a randomly-chosen pack-in available with the carded Throttlebots, Aerialbots, Protectobots and Technobots.

• More information on Decoy Slag at TFU.info

Robot Heroes

Generation 1 Series

• Snarl Vs Sharkticon (2009)

A tiny, adorably homicidal "Slag" that came packaged with a Sharkticon. Like Animated Snarl, who was also designed with G1 Slag in mind, the Robot Heroes figure was released using the name of Slag's fellow Dinobot Snarl, so Hasbro could release the toy in the United Kingdom ("Slag" is considered an insult there).

Notes

Hey Weevil. Check it out. My dinosaur is horny.

Angriest idiot.

• Slag had the preliminary name of Tricerabot.
• Slag's original toy was originally a Diaclone Dinosaur Robo Triceratops. In the Diaclone lore, this dinomech was a pilotable vehicle that could travel at speeds up of to 250 kilometers per hour and was designed for grasslands operation and melee combat. It also had a slightly different color scheme for its robot-mode bits.
• Slag's cartoon coloration deviates notably from his toy. His robot-mode head is red instead of black, his Triceratops jaw is gold-chrome instead of silver-chrome, and his large horns are silver-chrome like the Diaclone toy instead of the Transformers version's bare red.
• The European exclusive Action Master Decepticon Charger cribs Slag's quote, his function, much of his bio, and his Tech Specs. Whether there was any relation intended between the characters or if the copywriters just got lazy is unknown.
• The overall design and transformation sequence of the original Slag toy served as the basis for Horn Geist, one of four recurring villainous henchmen on the Takara/Sunrise co-production Brave Exkaiser. In what might be called a vision of things to come, the four "Geisters" were once briefly fused into a single robot called "Mad Geister" (マッドガイスター Maddogaisutā). However, because each Geister controlled a portion of the combined body—and, aside from Ptera Geist, they had the accumulated brain power of a Froot Loop—this ended rather badly. In a more successful (if not also prescient) later development, the Geisters learned to merge in groups of two, with Horn Geist forming the upper body of "Hormor" (ホーマー Hōmā).
• Slag's name is also a popular Cybertronian expletive. That just seems right, for some reason. In The Real World, Slag is also a term of abuse in the United Kingdom and some parts of Europe, which has forced Hasbro to release toys (such as an Animated toy designed with G1 Slag in mind) under the name Snarl in recent years to avoid possible problems with cultural sensitivities. It is also the reason why Slag is referred to now as Slug in Fall of Cybertron. The original Snarl has yet to comment on the matter.
• A Slag toy can be seen in the recreation of the Scottish artist Sir Eduardo Paolozzi's studio at the Scottish Dean Gallery This makes him the second Dinobot to have a toy in a museum.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Slag (スラッグ Suraggu)
• French: Scories
• Hungarian: Salak
• Italian: Tricex
• Portuguese: Chapado (Brazil comic)

External links

• Slag at TFU.info
• Slag's Universe profile at NTFA.net