Side Swipe (Armada)
| The name or term "Sideswipe" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Sideswipe (disambiguation). |
- Side Swipe is an Autobot from the Armada portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Side Swipe is a green Autobot. He's willing and eager, and also kinda dumb. He doesn't think before he leaps, gets really emotionally attached to commanders right away, and basically just messes things up. Optimus thinks that somewhere in there is the makings of a fine future soldier. Where?!
Despite his childish nature, Side Swipe is apparently a capable codebreaker and does manage to make himself useful on a few occasions by deciphering Decepticon data.
His Mini-Con partner is Nightbeat, who actually encourages his behavior.
Fiction
Armada cartoon
- Voice actor: Sam Vincent (English), Nobuyuki Kobushi (Japanese), Andreas Borcherding (German)
Having once been saved from a hanging rope trap by Blurr's marksmanship on Cybertron, he got himself transferred to Earth to join him upon finding out where he had gone. Blurr managed to pawn him off on Hot Shot, and the two went out for a little training.
Unfortunately, at the same time, Hot Shot's former protege Wheeljack arrived on Earth, intent on doing horrible things to Hot Shot. Side Swipe crossed paths with Wheeljack, immediately leapt to his new awesome commander's defense, and failed. Past He later tried this again, only this time Wheeljack captured him and chained him up somewhere in an abandoned oil refinery. The battle between Hot Shot and Wheeljack set the place ablaze, re-setting the scene where Wheeljack thought Hot Shot left him to die back on Cybertron centuries ago. Side Swipe blubbered a lot, thinking he was gonna die, but Hot Shot saved him. Back at the base, Side Swipe tried to give his commander a great big hug for saving his life. From then on, he called Hot Shot "Bro". Past II
Side Swipe was among the Autobots deployed to fight Starscream and Tidal Wave when they attacked a rain forest. However, they learned too late that Megatron had shifted strategies halfway through the battle, and had taken advantage of the Autobots' absence to infiltrate their base. The Autobots warped back, finding the place completely trashed and the children tucked away in an air vent. Side Swipe was tasked with guarding the kids while the rest of the group rushed to Smokescreen, who had been left behind to guard the Mini-Cons. They were too late to come to his aid, and Smokescreen was seemingly killed while Megatron retreated, Requiem Blaster in hand. Side Swipe was amongst those who saluted their fallen friend after he collapsed in Prime's arms. Sacrifice But Smokescreen clung on to life, if just barely. Red Alert took him to the Autobots' repair bay, and begun repairs. Hot Shot quickly grew restless, and had Side Swipe come with him to spar instead of standing around, watching Red Alert at his task. When a proximity alarm sounded, Hot Shot had Side Swipe come along with him to deal with the Decepticons, without waiting for the other Autobots. They came across Starscream, who had just defected, being chased down by Tidal Wave. Eager to avenge Smokescreen, Hot Shot took on the bigger of the two Decepticons while Side Swipe was tasked with tackling Starscream. They were in over their heads until Jet Optimus joined in and received the Star Saber, handed over willingly by Starscream. Starscream was taken back to Autobot headquarters, and the Autobots agreed to take him into their ranks. Smokescreen then returned to active duty, having been rebuilt into a new body. The Autobots used data provided by Starscream, and decoded by Side Swipe, to opened a warp gate to the Moon Regeneration and stormed the Decepticon camp. The attack on the Decepticon moonbase begun with the Autobots besieging Megatron’s throne room. Side Swipe, eager to prove his mettle, rushed Tidal Wave. When his attacks proved completely ineffective against the titan, Scavenger suggested Side Swipe pick on someone more his size. The battle then spread throughout the Decepticons' base, until the Decepticon-held Mini-Cons were located. Side Swipe was tasked with overlooking the Mini-Cons' evacuation back to the Autobots' headquarters, so they would warp there in an orderly fashion. He and the rest of the Autobots followed them shortly afterwards.Rescue
Cloud
Dreamwave Armada comic
Sideswipe was part of Jetfire's Autobot unit, stationed at the Autobase on Cybertron. He was present when Hot Shot contacted Jetfire to ask for assistance in locating the missing Optimus Prime. Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4 Seeking to discover the cause of the multiple space bridge events opening at the Decepticon Command HQ, Jetfire led a team that included Side Swipe, Blurr, Rhinox, Overload and Dropshot into the heart of the enemy stronghold, only to find dead bodies and a ruined base. They soon discovered the perpetrator when a mysterious, sword-wielding creature attacked them. Sideswipe was almost cut down when he sought cover amongst the dead Decepticon bodies, but survived to participate in Jetfire's plan to blind the creature and destroy its outer shell. Worlds Collide, Part 3 of 4 As more enemies arrived, Jetfire ordered his troops to retreat while he stayed behind to activate the base's self-destruct sequence. Side Swipe refused at first, but eventually followed orders and made himself scarce. Worlds Collide, Part 4 of 4
Side Swipe was present when Unicron attacked Cybertron, and despite being in pain only from hearing the Chaos Bringer speak, he followed Optimus Prime's order to launch the planetary defenses. He survived the battle, and was seen among the crowds that cheered after Unicron's defeat. The End
Transformers Legends anthology
Games
3D Battle-Card Game
Sideswipe was one of Optimus Primal's many allies in a fight against Megatron's own army, in what might possibly have been an inter-universe battle. Energon Wars Expansion Set
Transformers: Battle Tactics
Side Swipe participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! Transformers: Battle Tactics
Toys
Armada
- Side Swipe (also parsed Sideswipe) (Super-Con, 2003)
- Japanese ID number: MC-10
- Accessories: Pistol, bayonet
- Side Swipe transforms into a Nissan Skyline R32 Sedan. He is packaged with Mini-Con Nightbeat, who can store in a flip-out section of the back end of Side Swipe's vehicle mode. Pressing down on the sigil plate in vehicle mode swings his car hood halves forward in a spring-loaded attack (or "dragster mode"). These hood parts end up on his arms in robot mode, giving him a spring-loaded attack in that mode. Attaching Nightbeat (or any other Mini-Con mold) to the Powerlinx plug on his back activates a "punching" action gimmick in his right arm. Sideswipe's gun can attach the small bayonet via a 4mm[This isn't a typo, is it?] post, and both store inside his doors via the same.
- Early releases of Side Swipe parsed his name as "Sideswipe" on the packaging and instructions; this was changed to Side Swipe on successive versions.
- A slightly retooled version of this mold was used to make Universe Oil Slick and Treadshot, and a more heavily retooled version was used for Cybertron Runamuck.
Merchandise
3D Battle-Card Game
- Side Swipe (2007)
- A 24-point "common" character in the 3D Battle-Card Game's "Energon Wars" expansion, Side Swipe "transforms" into a blue sports car of indeterminate make. He uses the same parts layout as "Classic" Bumblebee and Blackjack.
Notes
- Aaron Archer, posting as "Orson", once gave signs that "Nightbeat" was actually meant to be Side Swipe's name and somehow had gotten swapped to his Mini-Con. He mentioned trying to get this corrected, but it never surfaced.
- Even though the toy's name was originally spelled "Sideswipe" on the packaging and in the instructions, Hasbro had been parsing the name as "Side Swipe" on toys from previous lines after they had successfully reclaimed it from another company that had been holding the trademark in the "toys" field during the 1990s. Curiously, while the Armada toy's name was initially parsed as "Sideswipe" on the packaging name insert, the tech spec card, the back of the packaging and the instructions[1], the redesigned "Unicron Battles"-style packaging had it parsed as "Side Swipe" both on the back of the packaging and on the name insert (but still as "Sideswipe" on the tech spec card).[2]
- Pre-release samples of Side Swipe had a lightning deco on the sides of the vehicle mode which was not included on the final version sold in stores.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Stepper (ステッパー Suteppā)
- Hungarian: Sűrű ("Dense")
- Russian: Uppercut (STS dub, Апперкот Apperkot)
References
- ↑ Armada Side Swipe in original packaging, named "Sideswipe".
- ↑ Armada Side Swipe in "Unicron Battles" packaging, named "Side Swipe".
