Sweep (G1)
| This article is about the Unicron-created clones of Scourge. For the janitor from an alternate timeline in the IDW comics, see Sweep (IDW). |
- Sweeps are Decepticons from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Sweeps are the minions of Scourge created by Unicron. Sweeps are visually indistinguishable from Scourge himself, although Sweeps do not necessarily have identical voices. While only a few are seen initially during Unicron's threat, there appears to be an inexhaustible supply of them later on. That's actually a good thing, as Galvatron tends to shoot them.
Like, all the time.
Only three Sweeps have been graced with defined personalities and identifiers, namely Sweeps Two, Six and Seven.
Fiction
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice actor: Jack Angel, Dick Gautier, Jerry Houser, Aron Kincaid, Chris Latta, Hal Rayle, Frank Welker (English), Yoku Shioya (Japanese), Holger Schwiers, Reinhard Brock, Imo Heite, Hans-Rainer Müller, Ulrich Bernsdorff, Gerhard Acktun, Bernd Simon, Gernot Duda, Thomas Rau, Gerd Wiedenhofen (German)
Two Sweeps were created by Unicron from the fallen Decepticons Shrapnel and Kickback, though seconds later there were suddenly more of them. They soon followed Galvatron to Autobot City, where one Sweep was destroyed by the Dinobots' fire-breath. The Autobots fled the city, but Galvatron's troops followed suit, and the Sweeps killed Ultra Magnus on the planet of Junk. The Transformers: The Movie
After Galvatron's defeat at the hands of Rodimus Prime, the Sweeps followed Scourge and Cyclonus in their search for him. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1 They eventually discovered him on the planet of Thrull, only to be attacked by their crazed leader. Galvatron sent every single Sweep crashing into the planet's plasma pits, and the only one that fought back did no damage whatsoever to his leader. They all survived, though, and followed Galvatron's commands after he regained his senses (kind of). Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2
One of them got shot in the face by Wheelie, and promptly crashed into a storm on the surface of Jupiter, screaming all the way down. As this Sweep died an agonizing death, the last thing he likely heard was his own commander calling him a big baby. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3 Next, Galvatron led the Sweeps to the planet Goo and ordered them to fire on all Decepticons who were following the Quintessons instead of him. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4 After Galvatron joined forces with the Quintessons, the Sweeps participated in an all-out attack on Cybertron. Slingshot sent one of them spinning out of control, causing a bunch of them to crash into each other (and Cyclonus). Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5
Some Sweeps were part of the Decepticon armada that pursued an Autobot ship. They pursued the ship to an Autobot Mausoleum, where they were fought off by the resurrected Optimus Prime. Dark Awakening Much later, three Sweeps hunted the Decepticon exile Octane alongside Scourge and Cyclonus, and cornered him in a crypt on Cybertron. When Scourge ordered the Sweeps to enter the crypt, all three cowardly refused to be the first one in, until Cyclonus got fed up with it and offered to fight whoever was the last one in. The Sweeps were suddenly very quick on their feet after that. Starscream's Ghost
Cyclonus and Scourge were accompanied by some Sweeps when they followed Daniel Witwicky and Wheelie to a storage asteroid. Ultra Magnus turned up to rescue Daniel, and made short work of the Sweeps. Surprise Party Scourge was later possessed by the ghost of Starscream, and the Sweeps briefly fell under the command of Cyclonus. Ghost in the Machine
More Sweeps were unfortunately enough to be with Galvatron during a battle over isidrite, and were bashed around by their leader nearly as much as by the Autobots. Webworld Cyclonus was accompanied by a number of Sweeps as he investigated strange activity on Junk. Once the Junkions had been fried from the influence of the Quintessons, they sent Cyclonus and hsi men packing. The Big Broadcast of 2006 They later helped Galvatron temporarily take possession of a Quintesson Journal, at least until the Quintessons themselves arrived and took it back. The Quintesson Journal
A number of Sweeps followed Galvatron when he was tricked by the Quintessons into releasing the dangerous Trans-Organics sealed beneath Cybertron's surface. They didn't fare too well against the monsters, and even worse against the one known as the "Dweller". As Galvatron fled from the beast, he threw the remaining Sweeps at its horde of energy vampires in order to slow them down. The Sweeps all became energy vampires themselves, but were later cured by a massive power surge. The Dweller in the Depths
During a battle with the Autobots on the moon, "Sweeps Six and Seven" made an attack run on the enemy position. This is the only known occasion when the Sweeps received any form of individual identification. Call of the Primitives The Sweeps took part in a couple of attacks on Japan, but were beaten back by the Autobots both times. The Burden Hardest to Bear When the madness-inducing Hate Plague spread throughout the universe, the Sweeps were among its numerous victims. At least one of them was shot down by Galvatron as they chased him across Chaar. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2
After the great war, Perceptor noted that the Sweeps possess a limited form of the Insecticon cloning ability, thus accounting for the seemingly limitless number observed. The Transformers Menagerie
Japanese cartoon continuity
The Headmasters cartoon
Peeking their heads out to see if Galvatron was still kill-crazy, two Sweeps joined Scourge in sabotaging Autobot rescue operations after Metamorphose twisted the Aerialbots into a mess. Approach of the Demon Meteorite Several Sweeps were also seen on the moon during Scorponok's grand declaration of leadership. Return of the Immortal Emperor
The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers
Wings Universe
Cyclonus, Scourge, and his Sweeps surrounded an Autobot shuttle during a surprise attack. They temporarily lost track of the shuttle when it disappeared into a nebula, but eventually found it again and blasted their way into it. Unfortunately, what they found inside was five very angry Dinobots, who promptly tore the Sweeps apart. Wings of Honor
Serpentor was created from the discarded body of a Sweep. Serpent O.R.'s Wings Universe profile
Marvel coloring books
Marvel Comics continuity
The Sweeps were created by Unicron to be a pack of hunters for the sole purpose of hunting Autobots and their human allies. Their leader is Scourge. Scourge's Universe profile
Dreamwave Generation One continuity
Created by Unicron before he entered a period of hibernation and released into space to seek out information, the "first wave" split up and headed in different directions to cover as much of the galaxy as possible. The "alpha drone" (a.k.a. Scourge, or the "first herald") discovered Cybertron in the middle of the Great Shutdown and inadvertently awoke Shockwave, leading to his own capture. Later, Unicron began work on a second, improved wave of drones, this time resembling (and presumably including) Cyclonus. Generation 1 #0
G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers continuity
In a dystopian future where the Decepticons had conquered Earth, Sweeps patrolled the ruins of New York City. They discovered a group of time-displaced G.I. Joes and Cobra members, but were taken out by the Dreadnoks. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II #3 Some time after that timeline was averted via time travel, the Sweeps were seen among Serpent O.R.'s forces on Cybertron, fighting back against a combined Autobot/G.I. Joe strike force. The Art of War #5
IDW Generation 1 continuity
On Gorlam Prime, Galvatron tossed the dying Scourge into a solar pool and using the power of the Heart of Darkness, brought him back to full strength. The pool, which also contained the remains of denizens from the Dead Universe, reformatted the bodies into clones of Scourge, who would be their master. Galvatron was incensed that the Sweeps were not created in his image. Scourge, his Sweeps and Cyclonus then began to aid Galvatron on his new quest. Rebirth Their first mission was to scour Gorlam Prime for its inhabitants, who had disappeared without a trace. While Galvatron, Scourge and Cyclonus went underground and found Jhiaxus, the Sweeps were apparently all busy searching other parts of the planet. Heart of Darkness #1
The Sweeps accompanied Galvatron as he traveled the galaxy raising the dead to form an army with which to oppose D-Void. Among the many planets they visited was Spindrift. Heart of Darkness #3 They were present when Galvatron fought Nemesis Prime on the planet Dykayra, and several of them were killed when Scourge ordered them to attack D-Void-powered menace. Heart of Darkness #4 Over time, members of Galvatron's undead army were gradually turned into additional Sweeps until the army consisted of nothing but identical soldiers, a change likely brought about by the Heart of Darkness. A Better Tomorrow
In a universe where a zombie virus collectively called Undermind was attempting to spread to other universes, four portals opened that depicted scenes from four separate universes. In one of these portals, an infected Sweep or two was seen amongst zombified robots and humans. Infestation #1 The infection had occurred when Galvatron's ship encountered a space-time anomaly on its way to Earth. He ordered three Sweeps to retrieve a frozen chunk of wreckage that had been flung from the anomaly, but when it was brought on board, zombie humans and robots erupted from it, infecting the three Sweeps. Eventually, the ship crash-landed on Earth, where the infected Sweeps scattered through Las Vegas. The Transformers: Infestation #1
After the zombie threat had been dealt with, Galvatron took his army with him to Cybertron, their first line of defense against D-Void. As the Sweeps were sent out to scout the planet, one of them discovered Rodimus and Wheelie. Noting that they were armed, he broke Galvatron's orders by engaging the Autobots, and was subsequently shot down by Wheelie. Galvatron used the Darkness to heal the Sweep's injuries and scolded him, telling him that all Transformers needed to work together. The other Sweeps then tried and failed to stop Rodimus's starship from leaving Cybertron. Heart of Darkness #4 Space Opera Act 2: Out of the Silent Planet
Under the command of Cyclonus, a large number of Sweeps invaded Kimia Facility in order to take control of it for Galvatron's use. Their numbers easily overwhelmed the Autobot defenders, and some of them were even seen eating their enemies. Meanwhile, Optimus Prime arrived on Cybertron but refused to join Galvatron's army, and several Sweeps were sent to destroy him and his landing party. They were all killed, and Ironhide used one of the corpses to clobber Galvatron. Chaos Part One: Lamentations While a number of Sweeps defended Kimia from aerial Autobot forces, most stayed behind with Galvatron until Wheelie tried to snipe him only to kill a Sweep instead. An enraged Galvatron sent his entire Sweep army at him and Cliffjumper, who in turn called for reinforcements, leading to a large-scale battle between the Sweeps and Optimus Prime's troops. Wheelie and Cliffjumper were almost overrun, but were suddenly saved by Megatron. Chaos Part Two: Numbers
Megatron, heavily upgraded and very unhappy, took on hundreds and hundreds of Sweeps on his own with little trouble. Together with Megatron's Decepticon forces, the entire Sweep army then came under the influence of D-Void, causing them to combine into an enormous monster. Chaos Part Three: Kings Megatron challenged this "Deceptigod", blowing huge chunks of Sweeps off its body with his blasts and ultimately defeating it. When Galvatron gave up the Heart of Darkness and D-Void began to enter the universe, the Sweeps began disintegrating and returned to being dead. Chaos Part Four: Genesis
After Galvatron was defeated and Cybertron was "reset" into a primordial state, Sweep corpses could be found littering the planet. The Death of Optimus Prime The less-than-balanced Whirl used some of them as stress relief, mutilating the dead bodies and stringing them up on walls. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It Later, Sky-Byte found some of them and was reminded of someone he once knew. A Better Tomorrow Megatron was carrying several Sweep heads when he reemerged months after his battle with them. City on Fire
A number of Sweeps survived the destruction of the Heart of Darkness by being sent to the Dead Universe alongside the defeated Galvatron. Falling under the command of Galvatron's superior, Nova Prime, they acted as guards for his citadel. The Dead Are Not Enough Orion Pax, Rodimus, Cyclonus and Nightbeat fought their way through them in their bid to rescue Kup from Nova's clutches. Burning Bright The others held the Sweeps at bay while Orion dueled and ultimately killed the Prime. Finis Temporis
Games
Transformers: Legends
The Sweeps were loyal troops under Megatron. After their leader's demise, they opposed Starscream's bid to grab leadership. The Coronation of Starscream
Either Scourge, or one of his Sweeps, fell victim to a bear-like Trans-Organic when Galvatron was tricked into attacking the resting grounds of the Dweller. Dweller in the Depths
Toys
Timelines
- Sweeps (multipack, 2009)
- Accessories: Six wings/blades (left and right), three yellow Planet X-style Cyber Keys
- Sweeps Two, Six and Seven came in an exclusive three-pack at BotCon 2009, all three being identical redecos of the Timelines Scourge toy available at the same convention. The mold is a retool of Cybertron Sideways with a new head, transforming into a teal and white alien spacefighter with yellow detailing. The Sweeps are armed with "battle shields" with Cyber Key-activated pop-out blades. Their wings can also detach from their ankles and also be used as blades, with both pegging into their hands, either with one blade in each hand, or with both blades pegging into the top and bottom of a single hand, forming a double-bladed weapon. They come with three yellow Planet X-style Cyber Keys with teal deco.
- The Sweeps were later repurposed as Shattered Glass Scourge. The original version of this mold was also used for the Japanese DVD-exclusive Noisemaze Mass Production Type Version and Universe Ratbat.
Notes
- While there have been no official toys of the Sweeps that were mass-released, and no official toys at all prior to 2009, anyone interested in building a Sweep army is not without options! As the Sweeps are physically identical to Scourge, enterprising fans, like the one who created the scene pictured at right, can purchase multiples of the Scourge toy of their choosing and make pretend.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Sweeps (スウィープス Suīpusu)
- Italian: Incrociatori
- Mandarin: Sǎodàng Duì (扫荡队, "Sweep Team")
