Sludge (Transformers)

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Sludge is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers series. all versions of Sludge are members of the Dinobots, who turn into a large and powerful dinosaurs.

Transformers: Generation 1

Transformers character
Sludgeg1.jpg
Generation 1 Sludge box art
Name Sludge
Autobot
Series Transformers: Generation 1
English voice actor Frank Welker
Japanese voice actor Kenyu Horiuchi
Information
Alternate modes Mechanical Apatosaurus, Cybertronian tank, Apatosaurus
Function Jungle Warrior/Demolitions
Gender Male
Motto "Stomp your enemy, crush him under your feet."
Rank 4
Sub-group Dinobots, Dynobots, Lightning Strike Coalition

Sludge (sometimes called Slog, called Terro in Québec, Bronto in Italy) is the Brontosaurus Dinobot.[1][2]

Sludge sometimes forms an unnamed Inferno Combiner with Jazz, Moonracer, Inferno and Slag.

Reception

According to an article in The New Yorker Sludge represents both prehistoric times and an ultra-tech future, which are many children's preferred worlds these days.[3]

Fictional biography

Profile: Sludge likes to make his presence known. A few steps of his incredibly lumbering legs and everyone within a three-mile radius can hear - and feel - that he's around. But his awesome physical appearance belies his unusually gentle and shy nature. Like his fellow Dinobot, Slag, he is not happy with the leadership of Optimus Prime. He feels, however, the Autobot cause is more important than any personal misgivings and so he rarely exhibits his feelings. Such is not the case when Sludge is fired to battle - he then becomes a terrifying, unstoppable force.

Abilities: In Dinobot mode, Sludge can exert pressure up to 40,000 pounds per square inch with a single step, enough force to shatter a bridge or even crack a mountain. Only a handful of his comrades can match his immense strength and endurance. His armored hide can withstand all but the most powerful blasts. He's adept at operating in watery and swampy environments and in jungles.

Weaknesses: Sludge is often victim to the calamities he causes. Often his fellow Autobots must dig him out of the rubble he's brought down upon himself. Perhaps if he were more clever he'd figure out ways to avoid these predicaments. He's very slow due to his huge bulk.

Animated series

1984 The Transformers

Sludge in The Transformers

Sludge was created by Wheeljack and Ratchet on Earth in 1984. He was created along with Grimlock and Slag as the original three Dinobots. At first they rampaged through the Ark and Optimus Prime ordered that the Dinobots be put offline permanently, but when he and the other Autobots were captured by Megatron, Sludge and the other Dinobots were used to rescue Optimus and the other Autobots.

Shortly after, Megatron convinced Sludge and the Dinobots that Optimus and the Autobots were their enemies and the Dinobots kidnapped Optimus Prime. Wheeljack and Ratchet, with the help of Chip Chase, created Swoop and Snarl and the two new Dinobots were used to rescue Prime from Grimlock, Slag, and Sludge. During that battle, Optimus saved the original Dinobots' lives and they then realized that the Autobots were really their friends.

In 1985, an Island with real dinosaurs was found by Powerglide and Bumblebee. Optimus decided that Dinobot Island would be a good place for the Dinobots to train and practice their fighting skills, because the Ark was too small for the giant Dinobots. Megatron and the Decepticons found out about the island and wanted to harvest it for all the energy it produced. The Dinobots were thrown in a pit of tar, but were later rescued and got a bunch of real dinosaurs to help them attack Megatron.

Later, the Cybertronian Autobots and Decepticons began to malfunction because they ran out of Cybertonium, a crystalline substance only found on Cybertron. The Dinobots were made on Earth, so they were the only Transformers not affected and were sent to Cybertron to get some. When they got to Cybertron, they disappeared. Spike and Carly went to Cybertron to find them and found Swoop, who led them to the other Dinobots that were captured and working for Shockwave. Eventually they were freed and brought the Cybertonium back so that the Autobot's bodies could be restored.

In The Transformers: The Movie, the Dinobots came in the shuttle with Optimus Prime towards the end of the attack on Autobot City. When Galvatron attacked, they went in the shuttle with Kup and Hot Rod. The shuttle was shot down on Quintessa and Kup and Hot Rod were captured by the Quintessons. On Quintessa, the Dinobots met Wheelie, who led them to Kup and Hot Rod and they were able to rescue the two Autobots from the Quintessons. They took a ship to the planet of Junk and were with the Autobots when they attacked Unicron. They helped with the attack on Unicron but were not very effective. Sludge's speaking role in the movie was very limited. He only said "QUIET!" but with Grimlock's voice.

Only Grimlock played a large role in the episodes following the movie, although Sludge and the other Dinobots could be seen from time to time.

In the episode "Call of the Primitives" Primacron's assistant mistakenly called Sludge by the name Sweep.

Transformers: Animated

Sludge had a cameo appearance in the Transformers Animated episode "Three's a Crowd", an oil tanker is seen that has a picture of Sludge in his alternate mode getting stuck in a pool of tar on the side.

Books

Sludge made a cameo, as with the other Dinobots, in the audio book Jaws Of Terror.

Ballantine Books

Sludge was featured in the 1985 Find Your Fate Junior book called Dinobots Strike Back by Casey Todd.[4][5]

Marvel Books

Sludge appeared in the 1986 story and coloring book The Lost Treasure of Cybertron by Marvel Books.

Comics

1984 Marvel Comics

Sludge was among the Autobots who joined Optimus Prime in his mission on board the Ark to save the planet Cybertron from a meteor shower 4 million years ago. They were attacked by Megatron and his Decepticon forces. After crashing on the planet Earth, they were followed to Earth by the Decepticon named Shockwave.[6] Grimlock and his soldiers were reformatted by the Ark's computer Teletraan I using the last of its energy to resemble Earth native animals. They attacked Shockwave and were buried with him together in a tar pit in the Savage Land until the 1980s when the Autobot Ratchet recovered and repaired them.

Snarl, Slag, Sludge and Grimlock on the cover of Transformers #47 by Marvel UK

The tar pit had corroded vital systems and the Dinobots lapsed into primitive savagery. Sludge took up a peaceful existence in a swamp, which was discovered by TV journalist Joy Meadows; as a result of the attention she gave to him, Sludge developed a long-standing crush on her. During the Dinobot Hunt, he was captured by Soundwave and made to fight Grimlock, a battle that destroyed a town and which Sludge won before the Autobots could recapture him. Once fully repaired, Sludge's crush on Joy lead him to seek her out and this led the Dinobots to assist her in trying to expose the Robot-Master scam, battling both the Decepticons and the Triple-I intelligence organisation.

Sludge remained tied to the Dinobots and happily followed them in going AWOL, returning to the Ark & supporting Grimlock as leader, battling the Predacons, and joining the Autobot Earthforce.[7]

He was seemingly destroyed by the Underbase-powered Starscream.

Sludges's body was seen among the deactivated Autobots Ratchet was doing his best to revive in Transformers #56, "Back from the Dead".

Along with his fellow Dinobots was one of the first Transformers to be revived by Nucleon. He was part of the united Autobot and Decepticon forces who opposed Unicron's assault on the planet Cybertron in 1991 (Transformers 75).

Devil's Due Publishing

In 2004 Sludge was among the Autobots under the leadership Optimus Prime who attempted to take back the planet Cybertron from the Decepticon tyrant Shockwave. After an accident with the teleportational systems of the supercomputer Teletraan 3, Slag found himself sent back in time and on the planet Earth. He was reformatted in the form of an Earth dinosaur with several other Autobots. A group of humans were able to bring the new Dinobots back to Cybertron and they helped overcome Shockwave (G.I. Joe vs. The Transformers II #4).

Dreamwave Productions

When civil war broke out on the planet Cybertron 8.7 million years ago between the Autobots and Deceptions, Sludge joined the Autobot cause.

When Autobot leader Optimus Prime and Decepticon leader Megatron disappeared in an accident with the space bridge 7.4 million years ago, the Autobot and Decepticon forces broke up into factions. Sludge joined up with the Lightning Strike Coalition under the command of Grimlock. In The War Within, Sludge's alternate mode is a Cybertronian driller.

Grimlock lead L.S.C. members Ironhide, Kup, Slag, Sludge, Snarl, Swoop and Wheeljack in stealing a shipment of Energon from Starscream and the Predacons at the Moon Alpha Space Port (Transformers: The War Within - The Dark Ages #1).

Ultra Magnus reunited the Autobot factions, with Grimlock working as one of his advisors. Sludge became a member of the Dynobots, a special Autobot unit directly under Grimlock's command.

The Dynobots were assigned to security at the peace talks between the Autobots, Decepticons and Ultracons 6 million years ago. It was their actions which saved the participants from being blown up in a sneak attack by Starscream and his Predacons (Transformers: Age of Wrath #1).

After Optimus Prime and the crew of the Autobot ship the Ark were lost in space 4 million years ago, the Dynobots formed a search party to recover them. They tracked the Autobot ship to the planet Earth, where the Dynobots were reformatted into mechanical dinosaurs, and Sludge gained his current form. The Dynobots were ambushed by the Insecticons, and left in stasis lock until they were discovered by Prime and his crew in the 1980s. Because of their new alternate forms they were renamed the Dinobots.

Fun Publications

Classicverse

According to the biography printed in the Transformers Collectors Club magazine, Slag and Sludge were part of Grimlock's band of Decepticon hunters on board the ship Graviton. When Grimlock left Ultra Magnus in charge to join Optimus Prime on Earth Slag and Sludge departed the Graviton, not wanting to be under the command of Magnus. The two Dinobots went off on their own, and happened across Nightbeat. Nightbeat offered them a job as muscle, which they took because they figured Nightbeat has a nose for finding trouble, which they enjoy.

The Fun Publications 2008 Timelines Summer Special, entitled "Cheap Shots", features Autobots Nightbeat, Slag, Sludge and Siren.[8] In this story Nightbeat's crew are hired by a sentient ship named Amory to relocate her pilot. After investigating they find the whole job is a trap set by the Decepticon Ruckus, now leading the Mayhem Attack Squad. Ruckus is holding the pilot hostage, but Slag cuts Ruckus' arm off and recovers the pilot, for which Amory pays them.

Sludge appears in At Fight's End.

Wings of Honor

Kup told the Dinobots and Rodimus the story of how he became a member of the Autobot Elite Guard.[9][10]

IDW Publishing

In a flashback in Maximum Dinobots #1 Grimlock lead the Dynobots in taking a Decepticon energon silo in Sub-Sector Nine on Cybertron.[11]

In the Transformers Spotlight issue on Shockwave, Grimlock and the Dynobots (sporting Cybertronian designs much like their War Within designs) appear in a story that partially homages their Marvel Comics origin. Seeking payback for a humiliating defeat by Shockwave, Grimlock pursued him to prehistoric Earth (which Shockwave was seeding with Energon). In order to protect themselves against Energon surges, the Dynobots required alternate modes covered by a layer of synthetic flesh; Grimlock refused to transform into Ice Age mammals and made the decision to go with dinosaurian forms instead as he thought them more impressive. The Dynobots got the initial jump on Shockwave, as their attack was too illogical for him to understand, but he quickly recovered and blasted the entire team into stasis lock with their synthetic skins destroyed. Grimlock got the final laugh, as the Dynobot ship fired a pre-programmed blast into the surrounding volcanoes to unleash a flow of lava that engulfs all six Transformers until they were uncovered by human paleontologists in 2006.

TFcon comics

Sludge appears in the TFcon 2008 voice play prelude comic called "Ground Effects" where Grimlock orders the other Dinobots to dig up a Transformer on Dinobot Island.[12]

Toys

  • Generation 1 Dinobot Sludge (1985)
Based on the Diaclone toy. Turns from humanoid robot to robotic dinosaur.
An unlicensed reproduction of this toy was released by Chinese toy company Zhong Jin.
  • Generations Thrilling 30 Slog (2014)
A recolor of Age of Extinction Slog in Generation 1 Dinobot colors.
  • Generation 1 Zhong Jin Clear Sludge
An unlicensed reproduction of Sludge done in mostly clear plastic made by Chinese toy company Zhong Jin.
  • Generation 1 Zhong Jin Pink Sludge
An unlicensed reproduction of Sludge done in mostly pink plastic made by Chinese toy company Zhong Jin.
  • Generation 2 Dinobot Sludge (not released)
Although never released as a toy, concept art existed for a recolor of Sludge for the Generation 2 toy line.
  • Hasbro Transformers: Generations Power of the Primes Deluxe Sludge (2017)
A new mold.

Gallery


Transformers: Dinobots

Transformers character
Snarl-sludge-carded.jpg
Dinobots Snarl and Sludge on card
Name Sludge
Autobot
Series Transformers: Dinobots
Information
Alternate modes Dimetrodon
Gender Male
Partner Snarl
Sub-group Basic Beasts, Dinobots

Comics

According to Fun Publications Ask Vector Prime the Dinobots hail from a Robots in Disguise continuity (Viron 403.0 Beta), where they are enemies of the Destructicons, Dreadwing and Smokejumper.

Toys

  • Dinobots Dinobot Sludge and Snarl (2003)
In 2003, a set of Wal-Mart-exclusive toys sold simply as Transformers: Dinobots featured recolors of Beast Wars molds as six Dinobots. One of the Dinobots sets included Snarl (a recolor of Beast Wars Neo Saberback) and Sludge (a recolor of Beast Wars Neo Sling).

Gallery


Shattered Glass

An evil mirror universe version of the Generation 1 character. His form is based on Generation 1 Sludge in Constructions green and purple.[13]

Fun Publications

Sludge appeared, unnamed, in the Fun Publications story "Dungeons & Dinobots". He was among the numerous Dinobots created by Wheeljack. He was among the Dinobots captured by the Autobots.

Toys


Transformers: Prime

Transformers character
Sludge-focart.jpg
Fall of Cybertron Sludge art
Name Sludge
Autobot
First appearance Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
Information
Alternate modes Mechanical Apatosaurus
Gender Male
Sub-group Dinobots, Lightning Strike Coalition

This version of Sludge is based on the 1985 version of the character, taking on the updated alternate mode of an Apatosaurus.

Animated series

Following the restoration of Cybertron from the Great War, Sludge was one of the many Autobots blacklisted by the new High Council for being a supporter of Optimus Prime.

Comics

Sludge appeared in the Transformers: Fall of Cybertron comics series by IDW Publishing. In this comic Sludge was a member of the Lightning Strike Coalition, under the command of Grimlock. When Swoop was captured by the Decepticon scientist Shockwave Grimlock lead the Coalition to save him. In the attempt to rescue Swoop the Coalition was overwhelmed by the Insecticons.

In Rage of the Dinobot the Dinobots helped cover the escape of the last Autobots from the dying planet Cybertron when Ultra Magnus was shot down saving Swoop. The Dinobots attempted to rescue Magnus. This resulted in the Dinobots coming into conflict with the Predacons Shockwave had created.

Games

Sludge appears among the Dinobots in the 2012 video game Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. He is separated from the other Dinobots, wounded and attached to a wall with slime by the Insecticons. It is unknown if he escaped along with the other Dinobots.

Toys


References

  1. Alvarez, J.E. (2001). The Unofficial Guide to Transformers 1980s Through 1990s Revised & Expanded 2nd Edition. Schiffer Publishing Ltd.. p. 27. ISBN 0-7643-1364-9. 
  2. Furman, Simon (2004). Transformers: The Ultimate Guide. DK Publishing Inc.. p. 31. ISBN 1-4053-0461-8. 
  3. The New Yorker: Volume 61, 1985
  4. http://www.gamebooks.org/show_item.php?id=1144&PHPSESSID=4d7776a874ecb72d37230c8f12a49c24
  5. Dinobots Strike Back. Ballantine Books. 1985. ISBN 0-345-34150-3. 
  6. "Transformers" #4 (March 1985)
  7. Marvel graphic novels and related publications: an annotated guide to comics By Robert G. Weiner page 92
  8. New Club Exclusive And Transformers Timeline #3 Announced!
  9. Forest Lee & Rik Alvarez (w), Guido Guidi & Dan Khanna (p), Guido Guidi & Josh Warner (i), Thomas Deer & Josh Perez (col), Jesse Wittenrich (let), Pete Sinclair & Brian Savage (ed). "Wings of Honor" Transformers Timelines v2, 4 (Spring 2009), Fun Publications
  10. http://www.botcon.com/BotCon09/
  11. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=1590
  12. Meesum Abidi (2008). Ground Effects. Illustrator Dylan G.. TFcon. 
  13. https://twitter.com/evangauntt/status/975289857282015232

External links