Swerve (G1)
| The name or term "Swerve" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Swerve (disambiguation). |
- Swerve is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family. He is sometimes known as "Shut the Hell Up."
Gregarious would be a good word to describe Swerve. So would outgoing, enthusiastic, upbeat, joyfully irreverent, flippant, sarcastic, wise ass, troll, or "total pain in the aft." Depending on which side of his weapons-grade mouth you happen to fall on and how long you've been listening to him use it. Swerve has a sense of fun and even whimsy that stands out from your run of the mill Autobots fairly dramatically. The little fellow may get on their nerves... he'll probably get on their nerves... But it'll always be with a smile, a laugh, and an epic level quip.
He is also a menace to anyone driving nearby. He's easily distracted by just about anything that catches his attention. Despite this, he's quite intelligent and skilled as a metallurgist, analyzing the properties of a material with unique sensors in his hands. When he gets caught up in a scientific problem, he becomes almost laser-like in focus and intensity. Unfortunately, this generally leaves him just as distracted from any other tasks at hand and just as accident-prone a driver as ever. Swerve and "traffic accident" just go hand in hand. He's almost always in need of some repairs, major or minor, because of it.
Now if only Prime could get him to not get easily distracted when receiving his orders too...
Fiction
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice actor: Minoru Inaba (Japanese)
Swerve participated in the defense of the Ark in 2006, but was trod upon by Trypticon. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5 Later, after the Quintesson scientist Inquirata attempted to change history by removing the Autobot resistance leader known as A3 from the past, a race Swerve was participating in repeated itself in an endless loop due to the ripples in the timestream. Forever Is a Long Time Coming
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers comic
Swerve appeared on Earth as a member of the 4-Wheel-Drive Brigade. Led by Hound, the Brigade confronted the Insecticons out in the desert, only to be caught in an explosive mine trap and fall into a pit. Working together, Swerve and the others combined their Scramble Power and worked their way free of the pit. A concentrated Scrumbuster attack drove off the Decepticons, and the Autobots won the day. Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #3
Dreamwave Generation 1 comics
Swerve was on Cybertron observing the anti-Prime propaganda that Shockwave pumped through the data-net after retrieving the Ark's crew from Earth. Cold War Later, after the Autobots toppled Shockwave and the Decepticons' rule, he was among the group of new recruits seen failing to take on the auto-combatant training drones on Cybertron after Shockwave's rule was toppled. Black Sunshine
IDW Generation 1 comics
Before the war, Swerve and Blurr planned to open a bar. The Chaos of Warm Things Swerve's metallurgical skills prompted Thunderwing to contact him along with several other Transformer scientists with his discovery about Cybertron's dwindling energy reserves. Swerve, like the rest, disregarded Thunderwing's warnings. Stormbringer #1
In modern times, Swerve was stationed at the Kimia Facility. He was a fan of the Wreckers: Declassified datalogs, although he thought Fisitron was a bit of a hagiographer. Bullets
Swerve was present when Cyclonus and the Sweeps invaded Kimia. Chaos Part One: Lamentations He survived the massacre and got away aboard an escape pod piloted by Chromedome and Brainstorm. Arcee soon came to rescue them. Everyone seemed to feel the need to remind him in particular not to say something tactless that might set her off. Chaos Part Three: Kings
Aboard Arcee's shuttle, Swerve listened with the others to Hardhead and Arcee's explanation of the situation with Galvatron, the Heart of Darkness and the D-Void. Swerve reiterated everything he had just heard to Hardhead, just to confirm he understood the complicated scenario (he got it all right, except for missing the hyphen in "D-Void"). He was quite naively optimistic at the prospect of putting a stop to Galvatron's plans and saving the universe. However, once they arrived in Cybertron's atmosphere and Arcee had ordered the shuttle to fly directly at the planet's surface, Swerve was among the first to bail out. Chaos Part Four: Genesis
Swerve was one of the Autobots who chose to accompany Rodimus on his quest to find the Knights of Cybertron. Red Alert reluctantly allowed Swerve to board the Lost Light if he'd stop talking. Swerve doesn't know. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It He was in the medibay when Tailgate recovered consciousness, and got to be the one who broke the news about how long Tailgate had been trapped underground. He and Tailgate went out for some fresh air and, along with Chromedome and Rewind, encountered Skids and watched him fight the Legislators. Skids wasn't keen on Swerve's suggestion they should team up. Hangers On
During the incident with the Sparkeater, Swerve and Skids stumbled on a bar, reminding Swerve of his earlier plans to run such an establishment. The Chaos of Warm Things Swerve opened the bar for a celebration of the Sparkeater's demise. As a subscriber to Fisitron's "Wreckers: Declassified", he received a strange new datalog and discussed it with Ratchet, prompting the latter's trip to Delphi. Life After the Big Bang
 Spoiler warning: Plot details for Interiors follow. |
Unfortunately Ultra Magnus finally found out about the bar, stormed in, and led Swerve away in handcuffs. Swerve was soon on rivet duty with Rewind, clambering around on the Lost Light's hull and replacing rivets. The pair were pressed into service when Fortress Maximus flipped and took Rung and Whirl hostage, as the only way to get near the hostage situation was via an exterior window. While Rewind distracted Maximus with a recording of Garrus-9, Swerve fired his rivet gun. Unfortunately his protests about his poor arm turned out to be true, and instead of wounding Maximus, he blew Rung's head off. Interiors
Toys
Generation 1
- Swerve (Mini-Vehicle, 1986, 2008)
- Japanese ID number: C-58
- Swerve is a retool of the Microchange toy originally used to make Gears, and therefore has a similar pickup truck vehicle mode, a 4WD Off-Road. He is largely maroon and white, with squarer legs and a more elaborate face than Gears.
Alternators
- Swerve (Alternator, 2004)
- Alternator ID number: 15
- Accessories: Engine/blaster
- Swerve is a retool of Alternators Tracks and transforms into a red Corvette Z06 featuring opening doors and hood and a realistic interior. Amusingly enough, his rocket launchers are stored next to the passenger and driver seats. Swerve is armed with his double-barreled engine gun formed from his engine, two pairs of double-barreled slide-out wrist blasters, and two shoulder-mounted rocket launchers, making him one of the most heavily armed Alternators toys.
- He came with a flame hood decal reminiscent of the flames on Tracks's original toy (which was originally available with Tracks's Binaltech release), thus making him resemble Road Rage in vehicle mode.
Encore
- Bumble & Minibots (Multi-pack, 2008)
- Japanese ID number: 10
- In 2008, Swerve was reissued in the Encore line, bundled with Bumblebee, Pipes, Tailgate and Outback. As with his pack-mates, his face paint was given more detailing to resemble his cartoon model better.
Generations
- Swerve (Deluxe, 2012)
he's scowling because he still doesn't have his own mold
- Planned for an Asia-only release, Swerve is a retool of Generations Sergeant Kup using the planned-in alternate head for the mold. [1]
Notes
- Swerve and Hubcap are curiously absent from 1986's Transformers Universe profile book. The only other missing characters were the two Deluxe Vehicles and the four Deluxe Insecticons, whose absence might be explained by their toys' origins with companies in competition with Takara. Swerve and Hubcap's omissions, however, appear to be errors; all the other toys in their wave and subgroup were included. The extended, unused TFU entry ended up on Disciples of Boltax.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Werve (ウェーブ Wēbu; sometimes ウエーブ Uēbu)
- French: Embardo (Canada)
