Side Burn (SG)
| The name or term "Side Burn" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Side Burn (disambiguation). |
- Side Burn is an evil Autobot from the "Shattered Glass" continuity family.
This character has no official visual representation in any Transformers product or media... yet, at least.
Side Burn is a rising star in the Autobot hierarchy. Although young and new on the scene, he has recently come to the attention of both Optimus Prime and Rodimus Prime as a promising operative. Completely undistracted by the wiles of passing femme bots, Side Burn is diligently devoted to the progression of the Autobot cause. Why then do Blurr and other Autobots have difficulty trusting him? Is it suspicions about where he came from? Questions about how he survives fatal injury without a scratch? Or just simple jealousy? Time will tell.
Fiction
Shattered Glass
Side Burn was reporting to Optimus Prime along with Blurr after the disasterous melee between the Mayhem Suppression Squad and Wheeljack's newly-minted Dinobots at the fuel depots of Khon. Despite Prime's rage, Side Burn gently reminded his liege that had the Wreckers been reformed at his earlier suggestion, the Suppressors would be less of a thorn in their sides. When Optimus Prime declared routing the Dinobots overtake the preparations for the Ark as the Autobots' top priority, Side Burn was unusually perturbed. As Optimus prepared to banish Wheeljack back to Gygax, Side Burn instead stepped in to offer an alternative punishment -- put the high-minded Wheeljack to work on computer programming maintenance for the Ark, punishing him with "menial" technical labor while accelerating the Ark's time table. Prime found it delightfully cruel, and accepted the notion over Blurr's misgivings.
After Prime left the room, Blurr violently confronted Side Burn for overstepping his boundaries. Although Side Burn pleaded loyalty and innocence, Blurr was nevertheless quite suspicious of the young Autobot's true intentions. Dungeons & Dinobots
Side Burn was among the Autobots who journeyed to Earth aboard the Ark, abandoning Optimus Prime in favor of his usurper, Rodimus Prime. He participated in the raid on Burpleson Air Force base to capture the control center for the GODS orbital weapon system. Reluctantly standing guard duty outside, Side Burn chose to make contact with an approaching Earth vehicle instead of driving it off or simply having the Scrounges eliminate it. When Big Daddy questioned him about his curious bout of initiative, Side Burn merely said they would need to learn all they could about humans if Earth was to be their new home.
The arriving humans claimed to be caters delivering Cold Slither Brand Frozen Treats to "refuel" the soldiers. Big Daddy saw the value of feeding their slaves/hostages, and overruled Side Burn to allow the catering van into the base. He also noted, with a mildly-threatening curiosity, that Side Burn hadn't been himself lately...questioning orders, complaining about his duties, etc. Side Burn defended his actions by merely saying he wanted to do all he could for the Autobot cause. Eye in the Sky
Side Burn later assisted Goldbug and Wheeljack in the creation of a Stellar Spanner, a project that was absolutely, definitely of course authorized by Rodimus. After Wheeljack determined there was an equally good chance the device would deposit passengers on Cybertron or somewhere in the void of the Antares System, Goldbug was quick to nominate Side Burn as a test pilot. Side Burn respectfully reminded his lieutenant commander that his mechanical knowledge contributed to the device's construction, and he might be needed to help Wheeljack with repairs.
Luckily, the Decepticon named Heatwave happened to reveal his presence soon after, and the Autobots had found their volunteer. He didn't go quietly, however, launching a volley of missiles that caught Side Burn square in the torso, slamming him backwards into one of the Spanner's pylons with enough force to nearly snap him in two. Astonishingly, Side Burn rejoined his fellow Autobots minutes later, seemingly no worse for the wear. When Goldbug asked him point blank why he wasn't dead, Side Burn innocently claimed the hideous trauma and systems crash was "just a flesh wound", and it only looked bad from Goldbug's perspective. Blitzwing Bop
Hmmmm...
Notes
- Side Burn may not be exactly what he seems. He is clearly acting suspiciously on several occasions, and can also suffer massive physical trauma while showing no ill effect moments later. Alongside Crasher and Demolishor (and, of course, Heatwave), he is one of the few SG characters without a clear G1 counterpart. Some people have lept to the conclusion that he is RiD Side Burn who arrived in the SG universe after the Universe War at the Cauldron, but that would do little to explain his behavior and recuperative powers. In defense, they have claimed that Fun Publications writers regularly contribute to the Wiki and haven't corrected them, but FunPub can be notorious bastards when they want to be.
