Sideways (Armada)
Sideways is a double-agent for Unicron in the Unicron Trilogy.
Sideways is the consummate con-artist. He is misleading and deceitful in everything he does, and he lives for the look of shock and betrayal on his victims' faces when they realize he's played them for fools. When the displaced population of Planet X allied themselves with Unicron to avenge themselves on Gigantion, this treacherous nature made him the perfect robot to pull off the ultimate act of treason - an attempt to sow confusion between Autobot and Decepticon to prevent them from uniting to oppose his dark master.
Japanese name (Armada): Doubleface
Japanese name (Cybertron): Noisemaze
Fiction
Animated continuity
Armada
Voice Actors: Paul Dobson (US); Takahiro Yamada, Takahiro Sakurai (Japan)
Sideways first appeared as a beam of light striking the earth city near the Autobot base. An enigmatic warrior, he sided with the Autobots until he brought Hot Shot with him to the Decepticon base on the moon. He betrayed Hot Shot, kicking the Star Saber sword to Starscream, and switched Mini-Con heads, revealing his allegiance to the Decepticons. Hot Shot was beaten and dropped back at the Autobot base. Once Sideways' loyalty to the Decepticons seemed to be confirmed, he began manipulating them and playing them against each other to suit his mysterious goals. The Decepticons began to distrust Sideways, suspecting he was not what he seemed, and Sideways was confronted and seemingly destroyed. Or so they thought. Sideways' corpse rose up and evolved into a twisted nanobite creature before the Decepticons' eyes. After his "demise," he would return frequently on computer screens to continue his mysterious goals. Soon, Sideways was revealed to be an incarnation of Unicron, and eventually was destroyed by the Requiem Blaster, wielded by Optimus Prime.
Cybertron
Voice Actors: Ted Cole (US), Susumu Chiba (Japan)
Sideways made his return in the Cybertron story as a faction-swapping agent that chose to manipulate those who'd recognize him in secret. He latched onto Starscream, having no memory of the Unicron Battles, and manipulated him into obtaining the Omega Lock. Sideways' long-term plan is to now avenge the destruction of his race from eons ago using the power of Primus. Soundwave is his partner in this series and they share the common goal of destroying the Giant Planet. The Ask Vector Prime forum on Transformers.com notes that Sideways was preserved by Unicron's dark power after Armada. When Noisemaze uses his Force Chip to become a Decepticon his personality shifts as well, he goes from a cool collected ninja-like persona to a raging berzerker. It's possible that the Cyber Key gives Sideways a large dose of Unicron's essense, sending him into brief moments of maniacal rage.
Dreamwave comics continuity
In the DW continuity, Sideways was simply shown as a background cameo Decepticon, and was not featured as a hearld of Unicron. In addition, the MTME profile book did list Sideways as a mysterious ninja, and a herald to Unicron. It is suspected that he was simply functioning as a sleeper agent in the mainstream DW Armada comic.
Robot Masters
A Motorcycle Transformer going by the name "Doubleface"(Armada Sideway's Japanese name) appeared in the Robot Masters saga. This Transformer had a special communications system called "Shadow and Bright" which were the Japanese names of Sideway's Mini-Cons.
Toys
Robots in Disguise
- Sideways
- The first Sideways toy is a yellow and black redeco (and minor retooling, from changes made to the mold for a Japanese Microman version) of Road Rocket, transforming into a Yamaha GTS1000A racing motorcyle with a light-up real wheel suspension/buzzsaw weapon. He came packaged with Axer in a Wal*Mart exclusive two-pack.
- Despite being a character placed in a different continuity, he has been established to be the same Sideways as the character from Armada. Both tech spec bios describe him as "conscientious, ninja-like warrior" who is "mysterious and silent." Years later, Takara publicity materials for their Robot Masters line confirmed that Robots in Disguise Sideways is the same character as their Robot Masters Doubleface toy.
- This mold was intened for use in Generation 2 as Jazz, but that toy never saw release.
Armada
- Japanese ID number: MX-01
- The second toy of Sideways was released in 2002 in Armada, transforming into a Cybertronic motorcycle, and was the first larger Armada toy to come with two Mini-Cons; Rook and Crosswise. Each Mini-Con could form a new head for Sideways, as well as reveal a faction sigil behind his clear-plastic chestplate in that mode. Their individual and combined robot modes were designed to act as riders when Sideways is in vehicle mode. His tailpipes become amr-mounted Powerlinx-activated pressure-launch missile launchers.
- Two variations of the Hasbro version of the toy exist. The first variation features the opposite Mini-Con heads revealing their intended faction logo. This was due to an error in the television series' animation which depicted Crosswise as the Decepticon head and Rook as the Autobot head. Hasbro made a running change so the toy reflected the series' faction alignments. The second variation changed the salmon on Crosswise to a more Decepticon-like purple. This toy was also released in the Japanese Micron Legend toyline as "Doubleface" shortly afterwards, featuring a color scheme on the cockpit of the bike that was closer to the anime appearance.
Robot Masters
- Doubleface
- Doubleface, 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. It featured a fixed Decepticon logo, and was the second and last appearance of this character in Japan as of 2006.
- 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.
Cybertron
- Sideways
- Japanese ID number: GX-01
- The third toy of Sideways released in the US was in the Cybertron toyline. Sideways in this line is a black and orange alien spacefighter with Cyber Planet Key-activated faction-switching ability and pop-out blades built into his battle shield. The toy features a translucent face with his signature horns. This toy was released in Japan as Galaxy Force Noisemaze, but in Japan it is not the same character as Sideways.
- This mold was also used for the Japanese DVD-exclusive Noisemaze Production Type (which, at the time of this writing, has not been released).
External Links
