Slugslinger (Energon)

Slugslinger is a Decepticon from the Energon portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

"The only morality in a cruel world is chance. Unbiased. Unprejudiced. Fair."

Crude and obnoxious, Slugslinger doesn't care whether he's annoying Autobots or his fellow Decepticons. His skill as a gunfighter and as a pilot is valuable enough for the Decepticons to want him around despite his personality, but just barely.

Fiction

Energon comic

"We're interested in the basics- cash, jewelry, cellular telephones. Just hand them over nicely, and no one will be hurt."

Slugslinger and Sharkticon were assigned by Alpha Quintesson to join Mirage (who had been recently reformatted from Tidal Wave) on a mission to abduct Kicker Jones and beat up on the Omnicons. According to Alpha Quintesson, they were chosen for this because they had no love for Scorponok. Multiplicity, Pt. 2

Slugslinger introduced himself to the Omnicons by strafing Signal Flare. Multiplicity In pretty quick order, everyone but Strongarm had fallen or been knocked out, Slugslinger and his acolytes proving themselves to be more than the Omnicons could handle. Multiplicity, Pt. 2 Then Sharkticon surfaced from the nearby body of water, having snatched up Kicker while the other two Decepticons had been taking care of the Omnibots. Miraculously, Kicker burst out of the Decepticon, aglow with the power of energon. Multiplicity, Pt. 3 Unsure what to make of the sight, and unable to open fire thanks to Alpha Quintesson's orders, Slugslinger could only watch as Kicker revived his comrades. The rejuvenated Omnicons quickly overwhelmed both remaining Decepticons. Without bothering to pick up Sharkticon, they ran for it. Multiplicity, Pt. 4

Later, Slugslinger was one of three Decepticons assigned to attack Ocean City. He failed as miserably as his competitors did, but when it came time to defend his failure to Megatron, his lies were so cunning, so audacious, that he earned a measure of his leader's respect. Megatron promoted him on the spot. Perspective

Energon pack-in comics

"You could say we're of two minds on the subject."

Slugslinger was part of an Eclipse-Team mission to steal refined Energon from an Autobot installation on Earth. After he and Sharkticon snuck in through the sewers, Slugslinger disabled a protective energy fence and an Autobot attack drone. However, the Autobots had planned an ambush, and Slugslinger was shot down by Tow-Line. Energon Volume 3

Timelines

Slugslinger^[1] participated in a Decepticon attack on the Iron Hope during the Unicron Singularity crisis. Force of Habit

Toys

Energon

If the Bat wants to play, we'll play!

• Slugslinger (Combat Class, 2004)

• Takara name: Storm Jet
• Takara release date: October 28, 2004
• Accessories: Missile
• Known designers: Aaron Archer (Hasbro), Takio Ejima (TakaraTomy)

Released in "wave 5.5" of Hasbro's Energon Combat Class toys, Slugslinger transforms into a Cybertronian jet fighter with two nosecones, in a rather obvious homage to the Generation 1 Decepticon of the same name. His vehicle mode also has a Hyper Mode, formed by separating the two halves of the vehicle to expose the body and missile launcher underneath (which can also be slung over his shoulder in robot mode). However, doing so makes him very unstable, and attempting to lift him without supporting both sides will cause him to fold up.

Slugslinger is notorious for his inability to peg together securely in either mode.

In Japan, Slugslinger was not released in the standard Super Link toyline, but did get a limited release as a "USA Edition" exclusively through Toys"R"Us. Basically the Hasbro toy was imported and new stickers with Japanese-language legal information and the Toys"R"Us logo were applied to the packaging... stickers which inexplicably call him "Storm Jet" despite "SLUGSLINGER" still being all over the packaging.

This mold was retooled to make the Timelines Airazor. Additionally, a proposed 2005 3H Productions OTFCC exclusive would have used the mold as the basis for Devcon; however, 3H lost the license to host the convention and it is unknown if it would have been accepted had they continued.

• More info on Slugslinger at TFU.info

Notes

• Slugslinger's original face sculpt was deemed not mean-looking enough by Hasbro. Takara resculpted only one side, giving the toy its distinctive "Two-Face" look.^{[citation needed]}

Foreign names

• Japanese: Storm Jet (ストームジェット Sutōmu Jetto)

References