Side Burn (G1)
| The name or term "Side Burn" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Side Burn (disambiguation). |
This article is a featured article, and considered to be one of the most informative on this wiki.
- Side Burn is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.
It's hard to believe that Side Burn and Prowl are from the same production run. A glitch in the production run caused Side Burn to roll off the assembly line vastly different in appearance from the others, and especially different in personality from Prowl in specific. Side Burn is prone to distraction, uninterested in rules, interested in speed, and super interested in females. These traits combined get Side Burn into all sorts of trouble, and Prowl feels it falls to him to keep his friend on the straight and narrow. This task may, however, be a fool's errand.
Side Burn wields a plasma rifle, and his rear-mounted thruster engine can support him in battle either as a weapon or as a jetpack. When the occasion calls for it, he can reveal the Sonic Buzz Saw in his left arm. There are probably other things he can reveal when other occasions call for it, but let's not talk about that, please.
Fiction
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Japanese cartoon continuity
Car Robots cartoon
Wings Universe
At the dawn of the Great War, Side Burn was a young Autobot who had joined the resistance movement against the growing Decepticon threat.
In order to get sympathy from some sexy fembots, Side Burn posed as the survivor of the Combaticons' raid on the Elite Guard. It seemed to be working until Prowl showed up and called Side Burn by name. Since the real survivor's name was Dion, the ladies became less interested. Reminding Side Burn that it was a felony offence to impersonate an Elite Guardsman, Prowl dragged Side Burn away to his real duties elsewhere at the Autobot High Council Citadel. Side Burn was among the Autobot warriors present when Optimus Prime accepted his appointment as commander of the new Autobot military. Battle Lines, Part 1
Side Burn was absent from Optimus Prime's mission briefing. When asked about his absence, Prowl believed he knew where he was. It turned out, he was shadowing Magnum and the Elite Guard as they searched for Deathsaurus. Battle Lines, Part 2 Side Burn interrupted their search, claiming to know where their target's newest base was located. Though Side Burn didn't really know, he was loud enough that the Decepticons homed in on them first. The Autobots were suddenly surrounded by an immense Decepticon army led by Deathsaurus' new lieutenant, Starscream. Side Burn joined the Autobots in desperately fighting off their attackers, including grabbing Blast Off. But at a crucial moment, he was distracted by a hot femicon with a sword. Blast Off took advantage of this by shooting Side Burn, lecturing the Autobot on the importance of paying attention. Battle Lines, Part 3
Thankfully, Side Burn and the others were backed up by reinforcements composed of several of the Elite Guard previously thought dead. In the confusion, Side Burn was able to turn the tables on Blast Off by securing him with power bonds and sitting on him. Still, Side Burn remained distracted by Lyzack, especially when she started laying into Magnum with her sword, but his painting-her-red fantasies were cut off when Thunderclash belted her. At that point he realized he was standing right next to Starscream, and blasted the Decepticon. The Decepticons retreated and Side Burn returned with the other Autobots to their headquarters. Battle Lines, Part 4
One week later, Side Burn was in Iacon with Magnum and Optimus Prime when the pair were interrupted by another Decepticon attack. As they rushed to the walls, they saw them being broken through by the newly created Devastator. Battle Lines, Part 5 The ensuing battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons was won in the Autobots' favor, but not without Autobot death. An initiative to gather energy had an Autobot crew formed for the Ark. Side Burn was to be part of it, but a Decepticon attack blocked Side Burn and others from reaching the Ark. Thus forced to wait on Cybertron, Side Burn, with the other Autobots remaining on the planet, went into stasis hibernation pods, to preserve the little energy they had left till new sources were found. Battle Lines, Part 6
In 2012, Runamuck and Runabout stumbled on Side Burn's pod and it opened, waking the Autobot. A Flash Forward, Part 2 As he turned out to be amnesiac, they took him to meet Jhiaxus. A Flash Forward, Part 3 Jhiaxus took him to Qre, where Side Burn got very bored and resorted to racing with the Battlechargers. A Flash Forward, Part 4 He attempted to hit on Nightracer, only to be rebuffed with a comment that he was a little young for her. Undaunted and egged on by Runabout, Side Burn went after her. A Flash Forward, Part 5 When Jhiaxus's base was destroyed, Side Burn suddenly regained his memory. He was able to talk Nightracer into joining the Autobots, and persuaded the Battlechargers that they would be treated leniently if they turned themselves in. Back on Earth, he followed up that promise by speaking up for the pair to Ultra Magnus. A Flash Forward, Part 6
Sideburn was present at the signing of the Pax Cybertronia. A Common Foe
IDW Generation 1 continuity
Side Burn fought alongside Sunstreaker before the later's reassignment to Earth. Replay
Marvel Comics continuity
Classics
Games
Transformers: Battle Tactics
Side Burn participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! Transformers: Battle Tactics
Toys
Timelines
- Side Burn (Deluxe, 2011)
- Accessories: Thruster/missile launcher, "flame" missile
- Timelines Side Burn is a blue and white redeco of Classics Rodimus, transforming into a heavily-altered Dome Zero. Side Burn's rear-mounted thruster engine becomes a hand-held weapon in robot mode, launching a spring-loaded missile, or can remain attached to his back to act as a jetpack. His left arm hides a flip-out (non-spinning) buzzsaw.
- Side Burn is the 2011 Transformers Collectors' Club free figure, mailed to new or returning club members who got their registration in by March 16, 2011. Due to customs delays, he was ultimately shipped to members in late July/early August. The remaining stock was put on sale at the Club store on August 17, and sold out in under three hours. Due to insufficient packaging, many Side Burns arrived with their spoiler tips bent. Like many later versions of the Rodimus toy, Side Burn sadly suffers from a loose left arm and an unstable backpack.
- A noticeable percentage of Side Burns sent to international club members took an exceptionally long time to arrive, but most (or all) did eventually turn up, a full month or more after the advertised latest possible delivery date. Fun Publications won itself no praise by selling the excess stock of the figure through their store half a month before the actual delivery deadline was even up.
- This mold was also used to make Timelines/Shattered Glass Rodimus and Gentei! Gentei! Wildrider.
Notes
- Car Robots, the Japanese version of the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon, is regarded as part of the Generation 1 continuity family and the Primax universal cluster. However, Robots in Disguise itself constitutes a different continuity family and is designated as the Viron universal cluster. To prevent duplication of information, see Side Burn (RID)#2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon for "Generation 1" Side Burn/Speedbreaker's exploits in the cartoon.
- Megatron shows off the Side Burn toy in "Mega Spice -- The Transformer Your Fan Could Be Like".
- Side Burn's profile card is full of fragment sentence errors, plus it uses "can't" when it wants to use "can," rendering its opening sentence nonsensical.
- On top of that, even though the toy was advertised as "Side Burn" (two words) on the Collectors' Club website, the profile card prominently features his name as "Sideburn" (one word) with a "registered trademark" ® after it. Whoops. The profile text itself refers to him as "Side Burn" twice.
