Sideways (RM)
| The name or term "Sideways" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Sideways (disambiguation). |
- Sideways is a Decepticon from the Robotmasters portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Sideways is a Decepticon spy who has infiltrated the Autobots as an intelligence agent. It's probably not a great idea to trust what he says if you don't want to end up in a Decepticon ambush.[1]
Fiction
Robotmasters online comic
Sideways participated in the confusing war over solitarium, where he employed a special communications system called "Shadow and Bright".
Sideways acted as a source of intelligence for the Autobots, alerting them to a large supply of solitarium on Chaar. When Road Rocket led Optimus Prime and Optimus Primal to a crevasse filled with solitarium crystals, they were ambushed from above by Beast Megatron and Sideways, who was revealed to be in collusion with the Decepticons. They detonated the crystals around the Autobots.
Fortunately, Primal managed to shield the three from the explosion with a huge slab of rock, but they were unable to prevent the Decepticons from making off with a huge load of Solitarium. Defend the Solitarium!
Robotmasters 3D Diorama comic
Road Rocket and Sideways found a piece of Solitarium at the same time, though each claimed they saw it first. The Solitarium was located across a gorge, so the two revved up their engines to see who could cross it in their motorcycle modes. Unfortunately, Sideways miscalculated, falling down the gorge, while Road Rocket was victorious. Robotmasters Vol. 4
Sideways joined the other Decepticons in gloating over the success of Reverse Convoy's trap for the Autobot leaders. Their joy was short-lived, as Lio Convoy and another Optimus Prime arrived to save their comrades. United, the Autobot leaders blasted away the Decepticons with their combined energies. Robotmasters Vol. 11
TransTech
During the conflict between the Screaming Eagles and S.K.A.R. in Primax 806.30 Gamma, Sideways was a S.K.A.R.-allied Decepticon who defected along with his binary bonded human partner Quick Stryke to the Autobots/G.I. Joe. General Hawk was never quite certain whose side they were really on; he also noted that Sideways converted into the experimental Road Bullet assault cycle developed by Tank and Grill. Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News, 2016/05/03
2019 IDW Continuity
A racer on Velocitron, Sideways was one of the more noteworthy competitors for the Speedia 500. When the Wreckers were investigating to see if any of the racers had ties to Mayhem, Ricochet couldn't rule him out as a suspect, saying only that Sideways kept to himself and was hard to read. He was present when the race began. Tread & Circuits Part 2
Toys
Robotmasters
- Robotmasters Double Face, a purple, gray, and yellow redeco (and minor retooling, from changes made to the mold for a Japanese Microman version) of Road Pig, was released in Japan in 2005, transforming into a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide touring motorcycle with electronic light-up tailpipe/"blaster" weapon.
- There is a minor variation to this toy; though both versions feature an "electronics warning" on the robot mode's butt, some versions use a clear-plastic sticker, while others have the text tampographed there.
- This mold was also used for Robots in Disguise Axer. It was planned for use in Generation 2 as Soundwave, but that toy never saw release.
Armada
- Sideways with Crosswise and Rook (Super-Con, 2003)
- Takara ID number: MX-01
- Takara release date: April 24, 2003
- Accessories: 2 tailpipe-missiles
- First released in the second wave of Hasbro's Armada "Super-Con" (aka "Deluxe) class toys, Sideways transforms into a racing motorcycle of made-up model. As with most Armada toys, virtually all of his gimmicks are directly tied to Mini-Cons, and Sideways came with two of them: Rook and Crosswise. Rook and Crosswise can both ride on Sideways's cycle mode at the same time, held in place on his seat by small tab-slot connections, as can their combined form, which was designed to "grip" Sideways's handlebars. His tailpipes become arm-mounted Powerlinx-activated pressure-launch missile launchers.
- In robot mode, Sideways's head can be pushed back into his torso and replaced with Rook or Crosswise in their alternate head configurations. By sliding the Mini-Cons' arms down into Sideways's torso, each one pushes down plates behind Sideways's windshield-chest to reveal either an Autobot or Decepticon symbol. (You don't have to have the arms push into the torso if you don't want to, as the Mini-Cons attach in head mode just fine by having the arms positioned towards Sideways's back; arguably they fit better without the chestplates' springs pushing back up against the arms.) The initial run of Sideways toys had Rook reveal the Decepticon symbol and Crosswise reveal the Autobot brand. Later runs corrected this to match the faction-reveal gimmick as portrayed in the cartoon, with Rook forming the "Autobot" head and Crosswise the "Decepticon" head. (Crosswise was also altered to replace his red paint accents with a more Decepticon-y purple, making it easy to tell in-package which version of Sideways it was.)
Notes
- This iteration of Sideways did not technically have an English name for over a decade, until the Andromeda Facebook page established an English-original incarnation of him in 2016.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Double Face (ダブルフェイス Daburu Feisu)
References
- ↑ Depiction in Robotmasters
