Sludge (FOC)
| The name or term "Sludge" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Sludge (disambiguation). |
- Sludge is an Autobot from the Fall of Cybertron portion of the Aligned continuity family.
Originally a member of Grimlock's Lightning Strike Coalition, Sludge was left for dead during the experiments that turned the team into the Dinobots. Though he was able to recover and rejoin the team as their logistics expert, he still harbors much rage over the fact that his own friends never came looking for him.
Fiction
IDW Aligned comics
Shortly before the Great Exodus, Sludge was a member of the Lightning Strike Coalition, a brutal subgroup of Autobots under the leadership of Grimlock, who reluctantly followed Optimus Prime's more cautious brand of warfare... when ordered. Swoop was sent to investigate Shockwave's energon sources but he worryingly disappeared. When the other four coalition members learned that Swoop had been captured by Shockwave at a Decepticon facility in the Sea of Rust, they disobeyed orders and went after him themselves. Good Intentions Sludge and the others followed Grimlock, secure in his arrogance, who was glad that the fate of Cybertron rested in their hands. Secrets Although the group attempted to rescue Swoop from Shockwave's experiments, they were overwhelmed by Insecticons. Siege Mentality
Of all the Coalition, Sludge was left weakest from the battle, and Shockwave decided that he would experiment on him merely for practice. After altering the Autobot to have an alien reptile alternate mode, the Decepticon scientist had the Insecticon Kickback dispose of Sludge in the tunnels beneath the facility without even reactivating him. When his teammates, similarly modified, escaped, and dubbed themselves "Dinobots", they did not search for Sludge, believing him deceased, and it was four cycles before he was recovered by an Autobot clean-up crew searching the tunnels for energon. Beast Hunters #2
After Optimus and Megatron left Cybertron with the majority of their forces, the Dinobots remained behind with remnant forces led by Ultra Magnus. Eventually, when the time for the final evacuation came, Sludge and his comrades helped the last convoy of ships, led by Impactor, escape Cybertron. Ultra Magnus told the Dinobots to get to their own craft, but another squadron of Decepticons drew Swoop into taking them out himself. This resulted in Magnus being shot down when he tried to fend them off. Grimlock convinced the other Dinobots to attempt a rescue for Magnus. A Predacon, however, managed to get there first and capture him. Swoop was downed and captured in the process. Rage of the Dinobots issue #1
Sludge examined the bodies of the Predacons that were destroyed while trying to capture Ultra Magnus. He let Grimlock know that there were welding lines that indicated the warriors were cut up and sewn back together again, just as Shockwave did to the Dinobots. Snarl got Ultra Magnus' ship up and running and they followed Swoop's transmitter.
The Dinobots found the prison atop a mountain. Once they arrived at the top, the Dinobots took out the guards and Snarl was able to steal a module from one of them. The Dinobots found that the prison contained far more prisoners than they were expecting. The Dinobots managed to open every cell, but had to manually release Magnus. When they returned to the top, they met eyes with Ser-Ket. The Dinobots demanded that she hand over Swoop, but she revealed that Swoop had been re-forged into a Predacon. Rage of the Dinobots issue #2
Games
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
Sludge and the rest of the Lightning Strike Coalition deserted their posts defending the Ark to look into some mysterious energy readings. He helped steal an Autobot drop ship and together the team traveled to the Sea of Rust. Unfortunately the energy readings related to Shockwave's recent activities near the energon lake, particularly his efforts on the space bridge and the creation of the Insecticons. The Lightning Strike Coalition battled the Insecticons, but while the others were captured for Shockwave's continued experiments, Sludge was left behind. His body was found by Jazz, partially dismembered and grafted to the wall of an Insecticon hive. Jazz stated that he was in stasis lock. Jazz removed Sludge's memory core while attempting to find out what had happened in the tunnels. Jazz later flooded the tunnels with a highly toxic fluid, quite possibly destroying Sludge's body in the process. What became of Sludge's memory core is unknown.
After escaping from captivity, the newly christened Dinobots found a hologramatic datacore which projected the body Shockwave had originally planned to give Sludge. Fall of Cybertron
Notes
- Sludge is the only member of the Lightning Strike Coalition to appear in Fall of Cybertron in his original, pre-Dinobot body.
- The only form of Sludge's Dinobot form in the game is a walking cycle of his alt mode, featured as a hologram in Shockwave's data logs and briefly seen among his fellow Dinobots in the game's credits.
- Sludge is currently the only Dinobot that isn't playable in Fall of Cybertron's multiplayer. Considering there are only four multiplayer class types, this is unlikely to change.
Foreign names
- Russian: Slyakot (Слякоть, "Slush")
