Sludge (G1)


 * Sludge is an Autobot in the Generation 1 continuity family.



"Sludge dumb," is how Grimlock, the Dinobot commander himself, describes the plodding Autobot. The Dinobots have a perhaps undeserved reputation for being dimwitted, but Sludge is the genuine article. He makes the other four look like scholars in comparison.

As Sludge can't make much of an impression in the mental department, he likes to make his presence known physically. He'll stomp his hefty hide around just so you know he's there.

None of the Dinobots really like Optimus Prime, but he and Slag share an especially intense dislike for him.


 * Italian name: Bronto
 * Preliminary name: Bronton
 * French-Canadian name: Terro

Animated continuity
Voice actor: Frank Welker (US), Kenyu Horiuchi (Japan)

Sludge was developed, along with his fellow Dinobots Slag and Grimlock, after the Autobots discovered dinosaur bones in their volcanic headquarters. Inspired by the power of the prehistoric beasts, Wheeljack and Ratchet built a trio of Dinobots to add firepower to the Autobot forces. The Dinobots proved too dangerous at first, and Optimus Prime ordered Wheeljack to abandon the Dinobot project. Wheeljack continued improving the trio of titans in secret, crafting memory components that made them smarter and easier to control. When the rest of the Autobots were captured by the Decepticons at the Great Falls hydroelectric power plant, Wheeljack dispatched the Dinobots to free their comrades and destroy the Decepticons. The Dinobots succeeded in forcing a Decepticon retreat, and were welcomed as members of the Autobot team.

Generation 1

 * Sludge (Dinobot, 1985/1986/1991/1992)
 * Japanese ID number: 27


 * Sludge was released as part of the second series of Transformers in 1985, transforming into a robotic "brontosaurus". He has a trio of silver rockets, a rocket launcher, a black gun, and a red sword. Like most Diaclone-era molds, Sludge also has a conspicuous driver compartment located in his chest.


 * Sludge was re-released in the European "Classics" line in 1991. In Japan, he and the other Dinobots were offered as mail-away items during Operation Combination; Sludge cost 2300 yen (his original retail price) and two robot points.

Trivia

 * Sludge turns into a brontosaurus, a dinosaur that, due to skeletal misidentification at its discovery, does not actually exist.