Crosswise
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Crosswise is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes.
Contents |
[edit] Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001)
| Transformers character | |
 |
|
| Crosswise | |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Autobot  |
| Sub-Group | Spy Changers |
| Function | Gravity Ninja |
| Partner | W.A.R.S. |
| Motto | "Lighten up!" |
| Alternate Modes | Car |
| Series | Transformers: Robots in Disguise |
Crosswise (X-Car in Japan) was the name of one of the Autobot Spy Changers. He is the science officer of the Spy Changers, and is based on the mold first used for Generation 2 Highbeam. He was packaged with fellow Spy Changer W.A.R.S.
Crosswise and his Japanese counterpart X-Car were released in a number of color variants.
Crosswise is a quiet and mysterious Spy Changer. He's completely dedicated to the Autobot causes of peace and protection of all life. He keeps very much to himself and so not much is known about him. He is very technologically inclined.
The Spy Changers' science officer, X-Car is well-versed in space engineering and also helps out in the development of new machinery and maintenance of his teammates. He is equipped with a gravity beam gun with which he can control antigravity, causing all manner of objects to rise up into the air.
Like all Spy Changer toys, Crosswise is 1/64 scale.
[edit] Transformers: Armada (2002)
| Transformers character | |
 |
|
| Crosswise | |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Mini-Con  |
| Partner | Rook Sideways |
| Motto | "If things are going wrong, that means I'm doing my job right." |
| Series | Transformers: Armada |
In Armada, Crosswise was the non-canonical name applied to the Decepticon head of the herald Sideways. Once doublecrossing Hot Shot, Sideways shed his black helmet in favor of the silver helmet created by Crosswise. Although Crosswise and Rook are technically Mini-Cons, they share a personality with their motorcycle host, Sideways, as a single entity much like Optimus Prime shared with his trailer and Roller in the Generation 1 series.
In the Micron Legend "linkage" comic, Mini-cons can be captured and reformatted to become part of Unicron's mind again. In the Armada cartoon, this seems to be the state that Sideway's two mini-cons exist in.
[edit] Transformers: Cybertron (2005)
| Transformers character | |
 |
|
| Crosswise | |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Autobot |
| Sub-Group | Deluxe Vehicles Earth Autobots |
| Rank | 6 (Habsro) 8 (Takara) |
| Function | Bounty Hunter (Hasbro) Aggressive Capture Member (Takara) |
| Motto | "These villains are to be retired!" (Takara) |
| Alternate Modes | Bugatti Veyron |
| Series | Transformers: Cybertron |
| English voice actor | Kenichi Mochizuki (English) |
Crosswise is an ancient bounty hunter tricked centuries ago into following a target to Earth, where he was captured and sealed into the side of a glacier in the Alaskan wilderness. Gruff, sarcastic, and always spoiling for a fight, he isn't above resorting to dirty tricks to take down an enemy. Though he rarely works without getting paid, he also has a strong sense of right and wrong, and when he hears about the danger to Cybertron, he is only too glad to sign on with Oprimus Prime and the Autobots.
Cyber Key Power - (Force Missiles) Two missile launchers deploy on his back and fire.
Originally, this character was intended to be called Smokescreen in the U.S. version, as an upgrade to the upbeat Armada character of the same name. Because of obvious continuity concerns, his name was changed. This led to a production mistake where he was initially called this in the first airing of the episodes he was in on Kid's WB. However, by the time his first episode, Trap, aired on Cartoon Network, the dialogue was edited to change all references of Smokescreen to Crosswise. Slated for a fall release is a repaint of Crosswise named Smokescreen, sharing the Generation 1 character's deco.
Like the noble and vampire vanquishing VanHelsing, Crosswise is a Decepticon monster hunter. A true Autobot through and through, Crosswise was one of the original Autobots sent to Earth on the starship Atlantis along with Evac to protect the Earth Cyber Planet Key. When the rogue Decepticons began to make their appearances all over the Earth, his bounty hunters background kicked in and he went into full-on monster hunter mode. After sealing the Decepticons in statis pods, he was somehow frozen, but freed himself by scanning a car from an excavation site. He went back to the monster prison to check if no maniac had released them. He was then ambushed by Starscream and Sideways. When Starscream released all the monsters, he goes to seek out Evac. Later, he and Evac join the Autobots.
Takara Tech Spec (Courtesy of Soundwavesoblivion.com): Since many years ago, Autovolt has continued to protect the Earth from the Destron threat. Usually mistaken for an Earthen car while patrolling the city, and once he spots an enemy, his engine burns with turbo speed and races immediately to deal with the enemy at high speed.
[edit] Animated series
Crosswise (Autovolt in japan) : A monster hunter who sealed away the ancient Earth Decepticons long ago. After he was freed from the glacier he perished in, Crosswise scanned an FBI car and took it's alt mode, before speeding off to find Evac. He attempted to keep the ancient "monsters" sealed away, but Starscream freed them, leading to his joining the Autobots.
In Family Crosswise begins to live among the Autobot civilians.
[edit] Toys
Transforms into a black FBI cruiser, greatly inspired by the extremely expensive Bugatti Veyron. The toy of Crosswise is 13 cm long in vehicle mode, whereas a real Bugatti Veyron is 447 cm long, so the toy is at a scale of about 1:34. The toy stands about 14 cm tall, which means Crosswise would stand about 481 cm or 15 feet 10 inches tall.
According to Hasbro panelists at BotCon 2006 the head design for Crosswise was inspired by the Generation 1 Autobot Rad.
In 2006 a Target store exclusive 2 pack called the Ground To Air Blast Pack included Cybertron Crosswise and Thundercracker. The toys were identical to their original ones, and the front included a brief mention of how the Autobot Bounty Hunter was hunting the Decepticon criminal Thundercracker.
Crosswise loves this kind of job - going up against an airborne foe more maneuverable and well armed than him is just the thing to get his oil pump going. After all, he's made a career out of tracking and capturing criminal wingnuts just like Thundercracker. He's known for improvisation, often constructing traps unheard of on Cybertron out of objects in the local environment. He'll go to ground for months, taking his time, learning every aspect of his surroundings, so when it comes time to spring his trap, he can be sure there'll be no escape.
