Sideswipe (SG)

Sideswipe is a heroic Decepticon and former evil Autobot from the Shattered Glass continuity family.

In the mirrorverse, Sideswipe is a good guy! What a twist.

Sideswipe was once an evil Autobot, and one of the most sinister of Optimus Prime's elite Seeker trio. This began to change when Prime killed the Seekers' leader, Drench. Though Sideswipe and Drench had their differences, he thought the assassination was a step too far, though Sideswipe kept quiet about his feelings. Things came to a head, however, when Prime suspected Sideswipe of increasingly conflicted loyalties, and conspired to have him ambushed and killed. As a result, Sideswipe joined the heroic Decepticons. He now fights against Prime and all his evil Autobots, though for different reasons than his new comrades.

Megatron has since partnered him up with Whisper to improve his dour outlook. Since then, the two of them have become steadfast friends.^[1] His brother, Sunstreaker, is still loyal to the Autobots.

Fiction

Fun Publications Shattered Glass continuity

Sideswipe: Exposition machine.

Sideswipe was a member of the Autobots as one of Optimus Prime's elite soldiers until he was ambushed and left for dead by his comrades. He then joined the Decepticons. When Cliffjumper traveled into his universe, Sideswipe immediately knew he was from an alternate dimension, as he had seen the other Cliffjumper die in front of his eyes. He then proceeded to explain to Cliffjumper the origins of their Decepticon-Autobot war. He then followed Megatron during the attack on the Ark. Shattered Glass

Later, Sideswipe was part of the group of Decepticons who battled the Autobots for control of the Arch-Ayr fuel dump when Soundwave arrived with the Mayhem Suppression Squad, which managed to fight off the Autobots. Suddenly, Wheeljack's army of Dinobots arrived, and the mad scientist threatened to destroy the Autobots as revenge for exiling him. Optimus Prime managed to convince Wheeljack to use his army to destroy the Decepticons instead, and the mad scientist agreed...only for his army to turn on each other and scatter. Later, Sideswipe was one of the top Decepticons ordered by Megatron to bring back the Dinobots for reprogramming, and he and Cliffjumper managed to locate Slugfest, only for the hulking Goryu to come to Slugfest's aid. The two managed to defeat the Dinobots and noticed an Autobot on the horizon, who admitted that he was running from Grimlock, but not before Sideswipe "convinced" him to admit it by telling him that Cliffjumper believed in Primus. The two later managed to track Grimlock to an old bunker which Sideswipe hesitated to enter, as it was where Optimus Prime had Sideswipe attacked for insubordination. Cliffjumper dismissed his concerns, and the two entered the bunker. While they examined some hieroglyphics, a booming voice ordered them to get out. However, the way out was obscured, as the tunnels around them had changed. While continuing on their journey, Cliffjumper fell into a trap and injured his leg. Later, the two met up with Rodimus and Blurr. Cliffjumper and Rodimus tumbled into a hidden passage, activating yet another trap, while Blurr and Sideswipe fought off a group of Mutants. Rodimus deactivated the crushing trap, realized that this was the hiding place of the Omega Terminus, and decided to use it to create his own army. The mutants broke off their pursuit when Blurr and Sideswipe reached the Omega Terminus chamber.

Now that he's smart, I bet he won't hurt us!

The four met up again on a narrow bridge overlooking a deep chasm, on the opposite side of which they found Grimlock, who explained that he was guided to the chamber by a strange voice. A light suddenly shot out of the Omega Terminus, giving Grimlock an ember, an actual personality, and a robot mode. Upon assuming said mode, he told the four that the Omega Terminus did not want them there. Cliffjumper attempted to challenge Grimlock, but additional lights shot out of the Omega Terminus, reanimating four corpses, among them Drench's and the native Cliffjumper's. Grimlock explained that the mutants bring the corpses to the chamber so that the Omega Terminus can recycle them as new life. The zombies were dispatched with Scraplets, and the formless voice ordered the four to leave the chamber, which they were all too pleased to do. Dungeons & Dinobots

Sideswipe was later present when Megatron announced the impending launch of the Nemesis, and later boarded the Decepticon flagship. Do Over He, Blitzwing, and Bombshell attacked a Roll-N-Wash car wash which the Autobots were using to create an army of drone cars. Sideswipe kept the drones busy while the others attacked Brawn and Elita-One, but when Blitzwing began broadcasting his interference on the Autobot frequency, the drones went wild and Bombshell had to come to Sideswipe's aid. One of the pair blew a hole in the side of the car wash, coincidentally preventing Elita-One from killing Blitzwing. Bad news for them soon came, as they realized that Blitzwing's musical transmissions had begun spreading to Decepticon frequencies, and Blitzwing was unable to shut them off. It eventually forced Sideswipe and the Decepticons to go into emergency stasis until it was all sorted out. Blitzwing Bop

After Shockwave was injured by a missile, Sideswipe put forward the theory that Shockwave could have died were it not for the fact he carried a large amount of kibble on his back. Transhuman

Recordicons

Sideswipe wound up taking a dip in a smelting pool after Ravage was distracted from his guard duties, allowing the Autobots to ambush the Decepticons. Recordicons #29

IDW Shattered Glass comic

I can't...believe...my legacy....is to be....just a placeholder image... on Hasbro's store.

Sideswipe fought and died in the war's final battle on Earth. Shattered Glass #2

Toys

Timelines

I used to be a more interesting character!

• Convention Souvernir 3-Pack (Multi-pack, 2008)

• Accessories: Two missile/tonfas, Mini-Con Whisper
• Known designers: Joe Moore (concept artist)^[2]

Part of BotCon 2008's exclusive figure series, Sideswipe is a redeco of Armada Wheeljack, transforming into a gullwing-doored supercar resembling a Ferrari F50. His most distinctive feature is the large, scarred Autobot symbol on the center of his chest. When his partner Whisper is attached to his active rooftop Powerlinx port, both doors either side of the vehicle mode open up like wings, which also give access to the triggers for his door-mounted missile launchers. In robot mode, these missiles can be held in his hands as melee weapons. Unusually, his right wrist features a swivel joint while his left wrist is immobile.

The main reason this mold was used for Sideswipe was because someone at Takara decided to give Armada Wheeljack a head-sculpt reminiscent of Generation 1 Sideswipe. People at Hasbro were never quite certain as to why this happened.

He was only available in an at-show "souvenir" set along with Whisper, Blurr, and Rampage.

• Designer commentary on Timelines Sideswipe from Joe Moore on Twitter
• More information on Sideswipe at TFU.info

Shattered Glass Collection

I got redecoed into a more interesting character!

• Rodimus / Sideswipe & Decepticon Whisper (Multi-pack, 2023)

• Accessories: 2 clubs, shoulder cannon, missile
• Known designers: Mark Maher (Hasbro), Shogo Hasui (TakaraTomy)^[3]

Shattered Glass Collection Sideswipe is a retooling of Kingdom Deluxe Class Sideswipe (itself a retool of the Siege version of the same character) with a new hood, head and doors, transforming into a sports car. Aside from the (non-firing) launcher and missile that came standard with the mold, he includes 2 new club weapons designed to form the car mode's "running boards" based on the original Armada mold's missiles, which could be held as clubs. The aforementioned running boards are highlighted in the instructions as being capable of lifting up in vehicle mode to replicate the original toy's vehicle mode Powerlinx feature.

In a show of faithfulness to the original tooling, the new hood has an embossed Autobot insignia, after many years of using flat surfaces and tampograph printing to future-proof designs for use in different factions. Promotional shots depict him with a standard black and silver Sideswipe head, and not the light gray head with dark gray face of the final product. Curiously, the package art depicts him wielding the mold's standard rifle, a weapon he does not actually come with.

He was only available in a Hasbro Pulse exclusive set with Whisper and Rodimus, which went up for preorder on July 22nd 2023.

Merchandise

Blokees

• Shattered Glass Sideswipe (Defender Version, 2024)

• Series: Galaxy Version Defender 01 - Galaxy Shining

Released for the Galaxy Version Defender line of blind boxes, Blokees Shattered Glass Sideswipe is a 5.5 cm tall articulated, and non-transforming "chibi-style" snap-on model kit.

Notes

• Sideswipe is the club's take on the unreleased Drench redeco for Universe's Battle in a Box assortment that would have been released with Smokescreen.
• What happened to Sideswipe in the past bears a slight resemblance to Armada Wheeljack, with whom he also shares a mold.
• The colors of Shattered Glass Sideswipe were considered for the Animated incarnation of Sideswipe, but Fun Publications ultimately chose to go with Generation 2 colors instead.

References