Slapdash (G1)
| The name or term "Slapdash" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Slapdash (disambiguation). |
- Slapdash is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Slapdash is a ditz. Being a likable ditz is the only thing that has kept his fellow Autobots from abandoning him on the battlefield during one of his mishaps. When charging into combat, he'll often forget to bring his gun, to fill up his tank, or even to notify his partner Lube that they're going on a mission, leaving himself unable even to transform. On the other hand, he often manages to bumble his way successfully through a battle, demonstrating the kind of sheer luck reserved only for the idiots.
In any case, he has excellent taste in Earth television. Miami Metal Clamp is his favorite show.
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Marvel The Transformers comics
While two Earth Autobots named Blaster and Grimlock settled their differences in a crater on Earth's moon, Slapdash, Joyride and Getaway remained behind on the Steelhaven as a skeleton crew to guard the ship from attack. When the Decepticons did attack, Goldbug commandeered the Steelhaven and its small crew to return to Nebulos, in the hopes of rebuilding the legendary Optimus Prime as a true leader to oversee all Autobots. Totaled!
They ran into difficulties on Nebulos, however. The inhabitants were less than cooperative and had poisoned their fuel supplies since Fortress Maximus's crew had left in order to prevent further Transformers involvement on their world. What's worse, a pair of crooked Nebulans had made an alliance with two Decepticon bandits and made them uniquely immune to the poison fuel, putting Nebulos at their mercy. Slapdash and the others tried to fight back against the Decepticons, but were running dangerously low on fuel due to their long journey and proved no match for their Powermaster opponents. But after seeing the Autobots' determination to revive their leader Optimus Prime at any cost, the Nebulan scientist Hi-Q and his research staff decided to help save the Autobots and underwent the Powermaster process themselves. Slapdash was binary-bonded to Lube, one of Hi-Q's top assistants. After successfully driving off the Decepticon Powermasters with their new strength, the Autobots and their binary-bonded partners all chose to leave Nebulos and return to Earth, with Optimus Prime once more functional. People Power!
While traveling back to Earth aboard the Steelhaven, Slapdash stood with the others as Optimus Prime displayed images of Cybertron and Earth for the benefit of their new Nebulon partners. This was interrupted by a transmission from the Cosmic Carnival, which Slapdash and Joyride agreed looked fun. The Cosmic Carnival Finally, they reached Earth on Christmas Day. As Optimus Prime stood outside their shuttle in the snow, Slapdash watched "Miami Metal Clamp" with some of their Nebulon partners. The broadcast was interrupted by an emergency news bulletin, which reported a Transformer-caused disturbance in town. Deciding to investigate quietly, Getaway took Slapdash, Joyride, and their partners into town, where they fought these mysterious Transformer troublemakers, only to find out they were Autobots! Wreckers, in fact. (Or what was left of them.) Optimus Prime returned from his moment alone to impart on Slapdash and the rest about their responsibility to the planet. Cold Comfort and Joy!
Slapdash frequently demonstrated his sloppiness while active on Earth. He, like, totally forgot to bring Lube along for a key defensive mission, leaving himself stuck in vehicle mode and of little use to his fellow Powermasters, except as a decoy for Decepticon target practice. For sure. Prime Bomb! On another occasion, he proved almost useful in underwater combat when he accidentally landed on one Seacon while falling to the ocean floor and backhanded another into unconsciousness without even realizing what was happening. Dreadwing Down!
Slapdash was one of several Autobots who, under Optimus Prime's command, responded to the Micromaster Air Strike Patrol's attack on MacDill Air Force Base. The Resurrection Gambit! When Prime realized that this was a diversion orchestrated by an unknown party, he ordered Slapdash and the others back on board the All-Terrain Turbo-Transport which brought them there. All the Familiar Faces!
During one of the Ark's quieter moments, he was seen sipping a refreshing drink while hanging out with his comrades. At least, until Thunderwing attacked the Ark, intent on getting revenge on Nightbeat and Siren. Assault on the Ark!
After the Autobots lost the Creation Matrix during Thunderwing's destruction, Slapdash and his fellow Powermasters were part of a team that retrieved the Classic Pretenders from VsQs. Thereafter, the Autobots pursued recreational exploits to get their minds off the imminent threat of Unicron. During this period, an unhappy Slapdash lost a game of Fullstasis to Getaway. Eye of the Storm
Following Unicron's defeat, the Autobots trailed the Decepticons secretly to the planet Klo. Unfortunately, the Decepticons were aware of the Autobots' surprise attack, and all but five Autobots were destroyed. Slapdash was not one of these five, and his wrecked vehicle mode was seen among the bodies. End of the Road!
Transformers Comic-Magazin
Template:TransformersComicMagazin Slapdash was among the Autobots monitoring the Decepticons from a distance when Megatron made peaceful gestures to Humanity in New York City, though nearly gave away their disguises by shouting loudly at the Decepticons. The Autobots returned to the Ark and discovered that a statue of Snaptrap that the Decepticons had gifted to New York was actually Snaptrap in disguise. Snaptrap went on a rampage and the Decepticons used this distraction to attack various other targets. Optimus Prime led the Autobots to narrowly defeat this menace. The Troy Principle
When the Autobots discussed why the Decepticons were winning, Slapdash (who was usually quiet at meetings) burst out with an impassioned speech, saying the Autobots were losing because each Autobot was trying to be, in their own way, the leader, instead of thinking about the team. He declared the Autobots need to form a centralised world government based around principles of justice and defence of the weak, and they should work to erect a world government on Earth as this was the best way of bringing about peace. The Autobots applauded this, and Optimus declared they needed to keep Earth's fuel from the Decepticons in order to see Slapdash's vision become reality.
As if to dramatically underscore this, the Autobots then had to go protect oil tankers from Decepticon attack. Slapdash helped drive off this attack, but was distraught when this turned out to be a diversion from blitz strikes across the North American continent. Under Prime's command, he went into action and helped drive the Decepticons back. A Big Day for Powermaster Optimus Prime
In a battle to preserve US nuclear missiles from falling into Decepticon hands, Slapdash challenged Darkwing and Dreadwind... who just flew away with the missiles. Whoops. Save Nevada Alpha
Marvel Generation 2 comic
Slapdash battled the Cybertronian army on planet Ethos alongside Joyride and Hound. His flaming wreckage could be seen at the end of the battle, possibly meaning he died. Escalation!
Classics
Slapdash helped rebuild the Ironworks. When the evil Autobots attacked from the negative polarity universe, Slapdash was one of the first wave assimilated by the Junkions. Invasion
Regeneration One
Template:Noterg1 Slapdash was stationed at the Iacon Civil Defense Hub when his fellow Autobots Brainstorm, Hardhead and Highbrow showed up. Unbeknownst to Slapdash, they had been genetically altered by Scorponok to be Decepticons of a sort. When Slapdash expressed surprise and shock at the trio's return from the dead, Highbrow remarked that it was Slapdash's turn to try, then shot him directly in the face, killing him. Highbrow then noted that it looked like Slapdash hadn't got the knack of resurrecting. The three then stepped over his still smoking body and entered the building. Natural Selection, Part Two
Apparently recovered but under the influence of Scorponok's Gene Key, Slapdash joined both converted Autobots and Decepticons in the search for Swoop, Snarl and Sludge in surface stratum zero of Iacon. Natural Selection, Part Four Later, he was at the Sonic Canyons as Scorponok prepared to use the Gene Key to rewrite the whole of Cybertron, only being stopped at the last minute by the intervention of Perceptor and the Dinobots. Natural Selection, Part Five
Dreamwave Generation One continuity
During the Age of Internment, Slapdash participated in an attempt to capture one of the Aerospace Extermination Squadron that Megatron had cloned using Quintesson technology. The Age of Wrath Pt.2 Unfortunately, the drone was far more than they bargained for, reactivating suddenly and grabbing Nightbeat. Slapdash was the only 'bot with enough sense to demand reprisal immediately, but the hesitation by the other Autobots allowed the drone to defeat most of the team. Slapdash tried to crawl away from the battle, calling out to his friends, but the drone quickly caught up with him and prepared to execute the Autobot. Fortunately, Getaway attached the inhibitor claw onto the Aerospace drone, shutting it down. The Age of Wrath Pt.3
IDW Generation 1 continuity
After the Great War, Slapdash joined the crew of the Lost Light in search of the legendary Knights of Cybertron and he watched a ship land on Shuttle Bay 3. Patternism He attended Rewind's second storytelling session over a bottle of "Old Corroder" in Swerve's (It seems he once had an adventure with Xaaron, Dipstick, Sprocket and Atomizer). An Intimate Beheading
Games
Transformers Legends
During a battle eons ago, Getaway, Slapdash and Joyride were defeated and almost killed by Dreadwind and Darkwing. They were only saved from certain doom when Optimus Prime arrived and drove both of the Decepticons off. Many years later on Earth, the three Autobots encountered Dreadwind and Darkwing again, and this time they weren't so lucky. End of the Road
Toys
Generation 1
- Slapdash (Powermaster, 1988)
- Accessories: "Lube" Powermaster partner, laser gun, engine block, spoiler
- Slapdash transforms into a yellow Lotus 99T Formula-1 race car with blue highlights. Like all Powermasters, Slapdash is "locked" in his vehicle form until his Powermaster engine Lube is inserted into the engine socket (or until you push down the relevant buttons in said socket) revealed by removing a large yellow engine block cover on the rear of his car mode.
- Unlike the other Autobot Powermaster cars, Lube plugs into what becomes Slapdash's robot mode chest, providing a very different look compared to the standard representation of the character, which features the yellow engine block in this position. The toy's instructions indicate you can "cheat" to achieve this look by not using his engine and that the cover and Lube are effectively interchangeable once Slapdash is transformed. Slapdash's spoiler plugs into his back and is designed to be able to hold whichever item is not attached to his chest at the time.
- This toy was sold in Japan as Road King.
Notes
- A commercial for the Powermasters which included Slapdash also advertised "People Power!," the Marvel Comics issue in which he had his first major appearance. It is the only time the American character model is animated.
- The photo of Slapdash in the American 1988 Transformers toy catalog shows a version with yellow shoulders and blue forearms, which is opposite from the final production version. (Slapdash's first appearance in "People Power!" uses this color arrangement.) Also, he's absent-mindedly left his crotchplate flipped up, exposing his junk. Mistransformation or attention to character detail?
- Slapdash thinks carnivals are fun, likes to watch cop shows, and isn't very good at board games.
- Slapdash's Marvel Comics in-fiction appearances use a character model with a head that differs greatly from the toy's. While the toy has a rounded helmet with a pronounced v-shaped crest and a mouthplate, Marvel gives him a very square head with a regular non-mouthplated face. It's unknown where the squared Marvel head comes from—even Slapdash's Transformers Universe profile character model art is based on the rounded toy head, albeit with a non-mouthplated face. His appearance in the commercial segment noted above uses the toy-head-with-mouth version as well.
Foreign names
- French: Distrait (Canada)
