Skid-Z is an Autobot in the Robots in Disguise continuity.
Not a girl, damnit.
Skid-Z is really fast and really competitive. Some would say compulsively competitive. This intense drive for victory was greatly heightened after he arrived on Earth to join Optimus Prime's forces, but he's back to normal again.
Mostly.
Japanese name: Indy Heat
Fiction
Robots in Disguise Cartoon
Voice actor: Michael Lindsay (US), Jin Nishimura (Japan)
After arriving on Earth, Skid-Z scanned an F-1 race car once belonging to the legendary (and now dead) driver Auggie Cahnay for his vehicle mode. Cahnay had joked that he was in the car so much that it had taken on his personality - a statement that rang bizarrely true when Skid-Z was possessed by Cahnay's residual psychotrophic energy, apparently a result of Skid-Z forgetting to purge the vehicle with a high-frequency wave pulse before scanning it. Thereafter, Skid-Z began behaving increasingly erratic.
Whenever he saw a race, he instinctively joined it - never officially signing up for them, of course, which got Prowl on his tail when he illegally entered the European Europa 400 race. He won the race, but Prowl ended up in a pile of hay bales for his troubles.
"A personality quirk is still a personality, right?"
This single-mindedness quickly became a source of personal embarrassment for Skid-Z as he found himself outracing gradeschoolers and turtles. Although he was aware enough of his situation to realize he was having problems, he was unable to do anything about them.
Skid-Z soon found himself in battle with Sky-Byte after he rebuffed the poetic Predacon's offer of power amongst Megatron's troops. The fight didn't last long - after dodging Sky-Byte's Tsunami Blaster attack, Skid-Z heard the start of a foot race, and ran off to join it.
Meanwhile, T-AI, having researched Skid-Z's scanner log, learned the cause of his affliction and realized it would only get worse if he wasn't brought to base and decontaminated. As the Autobots debated what to do, Koji voiced that he had studied Cahnay's background and determined that Skid-Z would next show up at the International Grand Prix, a free-for-all race for all kinds of wheeled vehicles - a race that Cahnay had never been able to win. Seeing the logic in Koji's words, Optimus Prime instructed all available personnel to join the race.
Skid-Z didn't show up until the race was well underway. Most of the other Autobots had been taken out of the race by Megatron - and those few remaining (Optimus Prime, Prowl, Sideburn and X-Brawn) were trapped underneath a giant boulder, which would crush them when their strength ran out.
Optimus transmitted a call to Skid-Z for help. He was in the lead - he could win the race. He WANTED to win the race... didn't he? Skid-Z's desire to win struggled with his Autobot conscience. He had to make a choice... and so he did. Skid-Z drove back and saved his comrades, then helped them to beat Megatron away.
Victory is for the winners!
With evil vanquished for the day, Skid-Z rejoined the International Grand Prix, coming in first place. Finally, it was all over! He felt normal! He... mistook Koji's watch alarm for a starting signal, and was off again. Oh well. Prime knew he'd be back... sooner or later.
As it happened, Skid-Z was not seen again until after the total defeat of Galvatron and his Decepticons, when T-AI yelled at him to slow down as he was racing with the Spy Changers.
Oh, that nutty Skid-Z! Ha ha ha!
Toys
Robots in Disguise
- Indy Heat (Flip Changer, 2000)
- Japanese ID number: C-016
- Indy Heat is a redeco of the mold originally used to make the Machine Wars versions of Mirage and Prowl done in a variety of purples. He had orange lettering across his body, including the words "INDY" and "FLIP CHANGER", and the number "16" (matching his release number).
- Super Indy Heat (Flip Changer, 2000)
- Super Indy Heat was a transparent blue redeco of Indy Heat. Much of the lettering from his first release was dropped; in its place he had the number "20" in red on his hood and the phrase "2000 EXCLUSIVE" on his spoiler.
- Super Indy Heat was distributed exclusively through Jusco department stores.
- Skid-Z / Wind Sheer (Deluxe, 2001)
- Skid-Z's deco is significantly changed from his original Takara release, removing all of the orange lettering and changing the light purple to silver. Skid-Z was only available in a Deluxe two-pack with Wind Sheer.
- The mold was later redecoed to make the Robot Masters version of Mirage.
Trivia
- According to the Robots In Disguise TV show, Skid-Z's name is pronounced "Skids," rather than "Skid-Zee" or "Skid-Zed".