Wideload (G1)
| The name or term "Wideload" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Wideload (disambiguation). |
- Wideload is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Wideload is the biggest and strongest of the Throttlebots; he can haul as much as one million pounds in his role as a materials transporter. But this supreme strength is no source of pride for Wideload: his work keeps him pretty filthy most of the time, and he's a consummate neat freak. Highly superficial, he prides himself on his appearance and judges others on theirs. His unusual susceptibility to rust is thus a source of embarrassment.
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Thanks to a Decepticon Titanium-class Destruction Drone, Wide Load and his fellow Throttlebots were captured and brought to the Chief Decepticon Fuel Auditor Ratbat. An outbreak of Scraplets had begun on Earth, and Ratbat ordered them to travel there and destroy all of the infected—or he would destroy the planet itself to prevent spread of the deadly disease. Given new Earth-style vehicle forms and canisters of corrosive acid, Wide Load and the others arrive on Earth and soon find Goldbug in the death throes of a Scraplets infection. They attempted to destroy him, but during the skirmish, Goldbug's human friend Charley Fong discovered a cure for Scraplets, the "rare chemical" water. With this knowledge, they managed to destroy all the Scraplets with help from G.B. Blackrock. The Cure!
Wide Load and the Throttlebots continued to travel on Earth with Goldbug and Blaster, but that only made them targets for virtually everyone—the Decepticons, the Autobot faction Goldbug had gone AWOL from, and the humans who hated and feared all Cybertronians. After escaping one of the Combaticons, Goldbug suggested they hide in a used car lot (because that worked so well for him before). Astonishingly the owner, Big Steve Ludwig, noticed a giant earthmover dump truck magically appearing on his lot, and soon put two-and-two together after receiving a notice from the local RAAT boys. After pouring sugar into the Autobots' gas tanks, he summoned the proper authorities. Wide Load and the Throttlebots were carted off and taken prisoner by RAAT's parent organization, Triple-I. Used Autobots
Still not recognizing the difference between Autobots and Decepticons, III's bigwigs publicly threatened to execute their prisoners if any more robot attacks took place. Guess what—the Decepticons were willing to call their bluff. After the inevitable raid, Forrest Forsythe ordered the Autobots crushed into cubes. However, a sympathetic (and borderline competent) agent named Walter Barnett realized Wide Load and his friends were telling the truth about there being two factions of robots, and salvaged their cerebro-circuits before the execution, transferring their brain chips into electronic toy cars. Toy Soldiers! Wide Load and the Throttlebots remained in Barnett's possession for some time, but were apparently returned to the Autobots at some point behind the scenes. The Throttlebots were reconstructed into new bodies replicating their old ones... only to be blown to smithereens by Starscream. Dark Star
Marvel UK future timelines
In 2008, Autobot City went off-line, and Rodimus Prime wanted to find out why. Wideload was part of the team who came to Earth and saw the horrific sight of their fellow Autobots strung up by the ramparts. Rodimus sent Wideload out on point with Kup, Blurr and Smokescreen, but a sudden surprise attack by the Quintessons quickly put them all on the defensive. Luckily, Roddy eventually got to the control center and woke up Metroplex, the living core of Autobot City, to drive off the invaders. Space Pirates!
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice actor: Corey Burton (English), Takao Ishii (Japanese)
Wideload was a member of the strike force assembled by Rodimus Prime to retrieve the body of Optimus Prime from Mark Morgan and Gregory Swofford. During the mission, he became infected with the Hate Plague. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1
Wideload later participated in the defense of Autobot City during the attack launched by Galvatron to divert attention while the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber was stolen. He was mauled by Apeface. The Rebirth, Part 1
The Headmasters cartoon
- Voice actor: Masato Hirano (Japanese)
Alongside his fellow Throttlebots, a pair of Dinobots and Beachcomber, Wideload tried his best to defend Vector Sigma from a major Decepticon assault on Cybertron. The entire force ended up being hypnotized and put to sleep by the Decepticon Headmaster Mindwipe. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky The Throttlebots came to the planet's defense again when the Decepticons sent the Madmachine to clear the way to Vector Sigma, but their firepower was no match for the machine's armor. The Great Cassette Operation
During a battle on Earth, the Throttlebots snuck off to destroy the Decepticon asteroid Metamorphose. They were all quite confident, with Wideload boasting that "it's so obvious that we're gonna win". Unfortunately, Metamorphose had the special power to warp any metal in close proximity to it, and the Throttlebots were horribly twisted and mutilated. Approach of the Demon Meteorite
They somehow got better, as they were seen challenging Predaking on Earth later on. Wideload and friends didn't do particularly well against the combiner, and had to be rescued by the Autobot Targetmasters. The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 1)
IDW Generation 1 continuity
Wideload was stationed on the Orvus Base orbiting Salvvatan VI until a deadly assault by Sixshot. He was one of the six Throttlebots that survived the assault and fled in a shuttlecraft. Upon landing on the surface of Salvvatan VIII, he stated that hiding from their foe would be a good idea. Sixshot appeared in front of the Throttlebots, causing them all to flee. Wideload attempted to shoot Sixshot while the Decepticon was busy smashing Freeway, but was spotted and blasted off a building before he could take his shot. Spotlight: Metroplex
Toys
Generation 1
- Wideload (Throttlebot, 1987/1991)
- Japanese ID number: C-92
- Wideload transforms into an orange "earth-mover" dump truck car with a blue load in the bed. Like all Throttlebots, he features a pull-back motor that zips him forward on smooth surfaces in both vehicle and robot modes.
- Though he was re-released as part of the European-market "Classics" line, unlike his fellow Throttlebots he retained the indent for the heat-sensitive rubsign insignia decal, even though said decal was replaced by a normal paper sigil decal.
Notes
- The Marvel US comics consistently parse the character's name as "Wide Load", specifically in his appearances in issues #30, #32 and #50, as well as in the Transformers Universe profile published in #56. However, his original toy's packaging parses his name as "Wideload" instead, as does the European-market "Classics" reissue. This version is also supported by Marvel UK issue #185, Dreamwave's More than Meets the Eye profile for him published in issue #7, The Ark and IDW's Spotlight: Metroplex. And considering Marvel US issue #50 also parses another Autobot's name as "Blue Streak"...
Foreign names
- Japanese: Wide Load (ワイドロード Waido Rōdo)
- English: Buck (Omni Productions dub)
- French: Fardeau (Canada, "Burden")
- Italian: Rollerbot
