Broadside (G1)

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

Broadside is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Every mode is a loser.

Broadside is a huge loser. He's the forgotten Autobot Triple Changer who turns into either a tiny aircraft carrier and a jet, or an impossibly large "jet" and an aircraft carrier. Broadside also happens to be terrified of heights. And gets seasick on the water.

His life must suuuuuuck.

Fortunately, as one of the Wreckers, Broadside is almost constantly shooting the slag out of Decepticons, which is probably a good outlet for any frustration.

Italian name: Mistral

French-Canadian name: Navalo

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Generation 1

Events from the UK-only comics are in italics.

Broadside and his fellow Triple Changers were late recruits into Operation: Volcano by Emirate Xaaron, taking the place of Ultra Magnus in the battle scenario. Their introduction into the Wreckers was marred with tragedy, however, as their leader Impactor was killed when Volcano finally went down. Broadside's fellow Triple Changer Springer succeeded Impactor as squad leader. Target 2006

Broadside served on several missions with the Wreckers, battling zombie robots in Kalis and engaging the future Decepticon Galvatron on Earth. City of Fear! Wrecking Havoc That last mission nearly proved to be a disaster, however, when the Wreckers blindly portal-jumped into a battle with Galvatron, only to find themselves in the middle of a populated human city, surrounded by potential civilian casualties. In order to guard against future problems such as that, Xaaron assigned Broadside, Inferno and Sandstorm to Earth full time as an advance guard, gathering information on the planet so that they would be better prepared for the next battle with Galvatron. Firebug! The three Autobots engaged in some rather comical situations while on Earth, including fighting a cute-but-dangerous Firebug, and nearly causing a panic when they tried to celebrate Christmas with a bunch of humans. Cold Comfort and Joy!

Broadside was somehow present to watch Blaster and Grimlock duke it out on the moon. Totaled!

The trio's mission became serious once the timestorm raging at both ends of Galvatron's time-jump began to tear apart the fabric of the universe. Xaaron had isolated Galvatron -- and his time-tossed minions Scourge and Cyclonus -- as the source of the distortion, and sent the full contingent of Wreckers to Earth, complete with unexpected back-up from their Decepticon counterparts, the Mayhem Attack Squad. Broadside balked at the idea, but honestly...they needed all the help they could get. Even that wasn't enough, however, against the combined might of Galvatron and Megatron. The twin titans tore through the Wreckers and Mayhems without mercy: at the end of the so-called "Time Wars", less than half of the warriors were left alive. Time Wars

Cut off from any supplies or assistance from Cybertron, Broadside, Springer and Inferno felt left behind and abandoned to their fate on Earth. In order to survive, they formed a new group aptly known as the "Survivors" with the limbo-lost Autobot Skids and the remaining Mayhems, Carnivac and Catilla. Survivors Unfortunately, the Mayhems' former superiors on Cybertron didn't take kindly to this apparent mutiny, and assembled a new Mayhem Attack Squad to assassinate the traitors. Their first strike led to Catilla's death, and Carnivac ran off on his own afterwards to seek vengeance. A Savage Place! In order to take on the Mayhems effectively, Broadside and the other Survivors joined up with Grimlock's Earthforce, and came to Carnivac's rescue just in the nick of time. Where Wolf? Later on, the Earth-based Decepticons under Starscream and Soundwave attempted to divide the Autobots' attention, staging a full-scale assault on Earthbase while Starscream secured a tanker full of fuel in the meantime. While the main Earthforce defended their base, however, the Survivors fought back Starscream's energy-stealing attempt. Broadside used his rarely seen carrier-mode to transport his fellow Survivors into battle on the high seas against Starscream, and the Seeker was driven off without much effort. Divide and Conquer!

Generation 2

Broadside appeared with Sideswipe, Hound and Blades as part of a team of firestormers under Grimlock's command. It was they who first uncovered the existence of Jhiaxus and his Cybertronian Empire, and alerted Optimus Prime to the threat. War Without End! Broadside continued serving as a soldier throughout the Autobots conflict with the Cybertronians. He was last seen fighting alongside Springer and several other veteran Autobots on the planet Ethos. Escalation!

Broadside's appearance on the moon in US #41 was almost certainly a continuity error. Broadside appeared consistently in the Marvel Comics as a normal-sized Autobot in his prototype character model design, as opposed to his toy design.

Cartoon continuity

American cartoon

Voice actor: Bill Martin (US), Masashi Ebara (Japan)

When Teletraan II casually brought up in conversation that Trypticon, the Decepticons' largest weapon of mass destruction, had not been destroyed as everyone thought, Rodimus Prime sent Broadside and Seaspray out to investigate the site where Trypticon fell into the sea. Sure enough, they found no body, but instead a trail of massive footprints leading back towards land. Once the Autobots tracked Trypticon down to the Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya, Broadside transported the Autobot strike force in by the coast. Thief in the Night

During a strike against a new Constructicon weapon asteroid, the Autobots and Decepticons alike were interrupted by a powerful harmonic discharge. Ultra Magnus, Blaster and Broadside broke away from the main battle to prevent Galvatron and Soundwave from taking control of the harmony for their own evil ends. Although Soundwave did manage to temporarily copy the harmony onto his tapes, Blaster erased the recording and the Autobots were able to drive off the Decepticons. Carnage in C-Minor

Broadside was among the Autobots attending the unveiling of a generator on Cybertron when the Decepticon anti-electron attack was unleashed. Grimlock's New Brain

At a time when the Decepticons were carrying out a series of assaults on the nation of Japan, Broadside confronted Devastator in the waters near a fishing village. Broadside nearly capsized a small boat due to the waves generated by their fight, but he managed to stabilize the craft before returning to battle. The Burden Hardest to Bear

Japanese Headmasters anime

Broadside appeared briefly fighting alongside Springer and Sandstorm in defense of Autobot City on Earth. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky

Broadside had a troubled history in the animated continuity. His jet model was used as a generic ship before his first appearance, by the Autobots in Five Faces of Darkness and the Decepticons in The Killing Jar. He appeared in both his prototype and toy design robot modes in the series, as seen in Carnage in C-Minor and Grimlock's New Brain, respectively. Furthermore, Broadside was consistently depicted as either larger or MUCH larger than the average Transformer in the American episodes, yet for his Japanese Headmasters appearance he was basically the same size as his fellow Triple Changers.

Dreamwave comics continuity

During the first arc of Optimus Prime's tenure as leader of the Autobots, Broadside was an enormous warrior, as tall as the special combiner teams, and supposedly nearly as powerful. He helped defend the Autobot capital of Iacon. The War Within

A few thousand years after that, Broadside, now the size of a standard Transformer, was a member of the Wreckers fighting for control of the Tagan Heights region. Most notably, he organized the evacuation of his team when Devastator and Defensor were decimating the area. Possibly, Broadside had himself reduced after the signing of the Crisis Intervention Accords to keep his combat status nominal. The War Within: The Dark Ages

In the modern era, Broadside was one of the Autobots upgraded into a Triple Changer by Shockwave's new process, after the Autobots and Decepticons negotiated a truce following the Great Shutdown. Along with his fellow former Wrecker Sandstorm, Broadside served as part of Shockwave's Triple Changer Strike Force alongside the Decepticons Astrotrain, Octane and Blitzwing. But, while Shockwave was making many promises of a new world order where Autobots and Decepticons could live forever in peace, Broadside eventually concluded he could not be trusted. As a result, Broadside and Sandstorm made contact with Smokescreen and Tracks in the Autobot resistance, and began reporting of Shockwave's activities.

The Triple Changer Strike Force accompanied Shockwave to Earth, where they took into custody the castaway Transformers from the Ark and the Nemesis who had been cut off from developments on Cybertron for the last four million years. As soon as they got the chance, Broadside and Sandstorm freed the Ark's crew from imprisonment, and took them to meet Smokescreen's unit to plan an uprising against the Decepticon rule. The insurrection went off successfully, and the Autobots reclaimed control of Cybertron from Shockwave. War and Peace

Broadside appeared consistently in his toy model design in Dreamwave. Also, according to his DW "More Than Meets the Eye" bio, Broadside was magically cured of his fear of heights and seasickness when Shockwave turned him into a Triple Changer, but he still likes to complain about both anyway. (So basically, in the DW-verse, he's a whiner instead of a loser.)

IDW Comics continuity

Broadside was there. He saw it happen. The conquest of Kaon. The fall of a Prime. The beginning of the Great War. Broadside was there, and amazingly well armed for such a "peaceful" period, though perhaps he took a clue from Sentinel Prime. Either way, the huge old bot was one of the survivors who managed to evacuate before Megatron's takeover. Megatron Origin

Around four hundred years ago, Broadside was attempting to defend Autobot territory on Cybertron from Decepticon expansion. He was seen working with Kup, Getaway and Huffer shortly after the Battle of Thunderhead Pass, stuck in the trenches on what was left of Cybertron after Thunderwing stomped through it. Spotlight: Blaster

Presently, Broadside is a member of the elite combat unit "The Wreckers". Broadside appears to be the team's strongarm and is second only to Roadbuster for total armament. He is also quite large (easily the tallest Wrecker), solving some of the issues of his mass-shifting. Typically, in the air he worked alongside Whirl and Sandstorm, while on the ground he worked with Roadbuster and Scoop. He appears not to have the animated continuity version's phobias. But then, there isn't really time to complain when a homicidal Pretender is trying to kill you. Stormbringer

Toys

Generation 1

A loser in three modes.

• Broadside (Triple Changer, 1986)
  • Japanese ID number: C-85
  • Accessories: Plasma pulse gun, Vibro-axe, 2 missiles

Broadside is the most blatantly out-of-scale Transformer ever. He transforms into an aircraft carrier and a rather unconvincing, apparently aircraft-carrier-sized jet fighter. He carries a rifle and a (comparably) small axe as weapons in robot mode. Two non-firing missiles attach to his wings in jet mode.

Trivia

Awesome...no wait, the opposite.

• Broadside has the distinction of having two animated character models, one based on a prototype toy that apparently went just short of production for some reason, and one based on the actual toy. The prototype design—which could be seen in a European toy catalog, at right—was rendered in animated form only in "Carnage in C-Minor" and the commercial for the 1986 Triple Changer toys, where it featured a different color scheme that appeared to be derived from the actual finished toy (lacking the prototype toy's blue). The prototype design also appeared in the 1986 package art mural, and was consistently used for Broadside's Marvel Comics appearances, colored to resemble the prototype toy, blue and all.

• According to "Carnage in C-Minor", Broadside has quite a temper when it comes to his paint job.

• His italian name, "Mistral", refers to a French Navy helicopter carrier and the Grand Prix car Maserati Mistral, not Chilean woman poet Gabriela Mistral.

External links

• Broadside at TFU.info
  
  
  From Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki, a Wikia wiki.