Skids (ROTF)

Skids is an Autobot from the Revenge of the Fallen portion of the movie continuity family.

Look, it's that robot child actor that grew up and robbed a convenience store.

The dopey-looking Skids spends a lot of his time arguing with his twin brother Mudflap and trying to outdo him in crazy stunts, all while believing he's the responsible, level headed one. In his own mind, everything dangerous and dopey he does is simply making him a better warrior. And that means one day, one glorious day, Optimus Prime will notice him! Prime even looking in his direction makes him babble, fall over, and generally fail to make an impression, but that won't stop him trying! Underneath it all, he harbors a secret fear that Mudflap is actually the superior warrior of the pair... which is probably true.^[1]

Skids' hyper-reactive optical imaging scanner allows him to process tactical information faster than anyone (except his twin). Add that to his supreme firepower and his unpredictable actions, and he's a pain in the aft for any Decepticon who wants to counter him! And that's only if they spot him. He changes alt-mode so much it's hard to keep track of him. On Earth, he's already been part of an ice-cream truck (combining with his brother), but he later scanned a Chevrolet Beat for a disguise, and, sometime after that, a Chevrolet Spark, but that's unlikely to last very long.

Fiction

Movies

Revenge of the Fallen film

Voice actor: Tom Kenny (English), Tomokazu Seki (Japanese), Zhao Zhen (Chinese), Gilbert Levy (European French), Martin Watier (Canadian French), Imre Józsa (Hungarian), Michael Pan (German), Vladimiro Conti (Italian), Alan Prieto (Latin American-Spanish), Juan Antonio Soler (Castilian Spanish), Philippe Maia (Portuguese), Murat Şenol (Turkish)

When the kiddies hear my bell, they all know to run like hell...

Skids and his brother were part of a taskforce deployed in Shanghai to root out Decepticon activity. In their combined ice cream truck alternate mode, they rolled through the evacuated zone, taunting and trying to lure out the Decepticons in the area. When the Decepticons did show themselves, they gave chase to the escaping Sideways. However, their slow and ungainly choice of vehicle could not keep up with the fugitive, and they rounded a corner too sharply, tearing their combined form in half. Even though Mudflap took the blame for the separation, Skids still berated (and smacked) his brother for his failure. Skids reminded his brother that they were in a combat situation and wondered what was wrong with him.

Yipee! It's Mister Whippy!

Upon arrival at Diego Garcia and NEST headquarters, the twins received new, separate alternate modes. A fight broke out between the two of them over which vehicle they wanted, and Skids "called" the Beat, resigning Mudflap to the form of a Trax.

Later, the twins, along with the other NEST-allied Autobots, were dispatched to look for Sam Witwicky when Decepticons were detected heading towards his college. After Optimus Prime was killed by Megatron, the twins helped the Autobot force fight off the Decepticon leader and Starscream, allowing Sam, Leo Spitz, Mikaela Banes and Bumblebee to make good their escape. Skids and Mudflap met up with Bumblebee and the humans, and together they fled to a remote location. After teasing Leo for a while for his panic attack, Sam inquired whether one of them could interpret the Cybertronic symbols he had become obsessed with, but the twins claimed that they couldn't read the ancient Language of the Primes, and weren't much into reading, anyway.

"Yousome people gonna die??"
"Yep. Wesa screwed."

With the help of the Decepticon Wheelie and former Sector Seven agent Seymour Simmons, the group made their way to the Smithsonian, where the humans reactivated the venerable ex-Decepticon Jetfire. He teleported them all to Egypt before telling them the tale of the original Primes, the Star Harvester, which had the potential to destroy all life on Earth, and finally, the Matrix of Leadership, the key to activating the harvester, and possibly the only thing that could bring Optimus Prime back to life. When the Matrix could not be found at the ruins of Petra, the twins began arguing with each other over why they were following Sam, which soon escalated into physical violence. As their brawl nearly crushed the humans, Bumblebee picked up the twins in each hand, slammed them together, and threw them outside the ruins, which Skids considered to be just rude. Fortunately, their bickering created a hole in the wall where the Tomb of the Primes lay, and with it, the Matrix.

More or less an improvement.

Making their way back to the Pyramids where NEST waited with Optimus Prime's body, the group came under attack by Starscream. Mudflap, Skids, Leo and Simmons acted as a decoy to lure the Decepticons away from Sam and Mikaela. Unfortunately, they attracted the attention of the Constructicons, who combined into Devastator and attacked by vacuuming up loose objects such as sand, cars, and Mudflap. As Skids mourned the loss of his twin, Simmons realized that the safest place to be was directly under the giant. But Mudflap had survived being vacuumed up by Devastator, and to escape he had blasted a hole through its head. To buy the humans time to escape, Skids clambered up Devastator's right forepaw to assist Mudflap. Skids threw a cable to Mudflap, who grabbed it and swung off Devastator's head onto his arm. However, once they landed, Mudflap accidentally shot Skids in the face, knocking them off the arm and knocking out Skids' gold tooth in the process. At Megatron's command, Devastator continued onto the Great Pyramid of Giza. Revenge of the Fallen

Dark of the Moon film

Skids: "Bay fired us from DOTM, what a pussy!"
Mudflap: "At least he forgot to remove us from this scene, HA!"

Skids and Mudflap could be spotted in vehicle mode at the end of an Autobot convoy as the team rolled into the hangar of NEST's Washington, D.C. base.

Later, what appears to be Mudflap can be seen parked next to Sideswipe, when Sam comes to NEST for the first time. Dark of the Moon

Age of Extinction film

Five years after the Battle of Chicago, Skids was not listed as "deceased" by the CIA taskforce, Cemetery Wind.^[2] Age of Extinction

Titan movie comics

Skids first met Bumblebee when they were about to be thrown into a smelting pool. Dogfight! He and his twin are well known for tall tales and messing about, enough so that people have stopped believing their claims. Learning Curve

You know what? You tell him he looks dopey.

Skids and Mudflap happily stayed on Cybertron, going through intensive training (which totally wasn't goofing off) and having extreme-sports contests. Neither wanted to leave their homeworld, and they were the only Transformers on it until Starscream turned up with a Decepticon army. When they heard him mention a Star Harvester, they realised they should tell someone...but Skids worked out the fastest way to do that would be in person, meaning they'd have to leave their homeworld.

The decision was made for them when the Decepticons attacked. Skids angrily blew away some of the jet-drones when they shot his brother, using an impressive missile barrage, and used transform-and-shoot moves to keep their pursuers away...but he realised this was delaying the inevitable. They fled the planet, with Skids remembering to head for Earth, the site of Optimus's message. Training Day

...actually, no, tell him to put some clothes on. JESUS!

The twins made it to Earth soon, crash-landing in Toronto, Canada. On the way in, Mudflap hit a big tower, but Skids felt it wasn't that big a deal. They swam their way to Ball's Falls, where they picked up Earth alternate modes and set out to try and find local Autobots and warn them about the Star Harvester.

Driving along the wrong side of the Interstate (Skids wanted a challenge!), the twins were attacked by the Seeker Ransack, trying to kill them on the Fallen's orders. While Skids dissed Ransack's retro alt mode, he pursued them across open countryside. With their energon levels low, the airborne enemy kept up with the twins, and Skids soon collapsed, unable to run any further. He and his brother would've both died, if not for Bumblebee arriving and forcing the Seeker into retreat. Dogfight!

"I hear you're racist now, Father! How'd you get involved in that sorta thing?"

Now living at NEST's Californian base with Bumblebee as their minder, Skids and Mudflap repeatedly asked to deliver their info to Optimus Prime—and only Optimus, much to Ironhide's annoyance. He was more annoyed when they ambushed him (Skids tipping crates on him!) to get to Optimus...who, as it turns out, was away on a need-to-know mission anyway.

After this defeat, and with Ironhide having bluntly told them nobody believed them, they desperately asked to join in a NEST op in Las Vegas...getting turned down, because they were too crap to get involved. Annoyed with this, Skids went along with Mudflap's suggestion to go to Vegas and show Ironhide just what they could do! What they could do, it turned out, was screw up a successful mission by freeing a captured Decepticon by trying to "shoot him down". Skids was left mortified. Ironhide, recognising what they were trying to do, told him that maybe they could work on training the twins not to jump in without looking, and that the trick was to learn from mistakes. The twins claimed they'd try. Learning Curve

They soon wished they hadn't, as they were condemned to NEST's Orkney Islands base for days of sim-com (simulated combat) training under Sideswipe. Skids had a nagging feeling this was just an excuse to keep them away from the main action, and both protested to Sideswipe that they could handle Decepticons. Him pointing out their failure with Grindor shut them up. However, the training was interrupted when a huge metal cat monster broke into the base, KOed Sideswipe, and tried to eat the twins!

That's a bad Mister Kitty!

They transformed and fled, drawing the creature into a trap where Skids used his weaponry to bring the roof down on it. When that failed, he deferred to and helped Mudflap carry out his plan of trapping the beast in a sim-com session on maximum setting. With that done, and with it revealed that the creature was sent after them by another Decepticon, they tried to fill in the revived Sideswipe... except the creature had gone, leaving their instructor with the view that they'd knocked him out in revenge for their training. Between that and Grindor, he thinks they're up to something... New Tricks

Which one of you left the tap running!?

The twins were later taken to Diego Garcia, and ecstatic to learn Optimus was coming there! Sideswipe stated he didn't know about their info and wasn't here to talk to them, cutting off Skids as he attempted to mention the "dude they call the F-". While their trainer told them how they weren't to see Prime, the twins cunningly drove off when he wasn't looking and headed for the base's runway. The mood soured when Skids noticed Mudflap was planning to pinch the credit for their intel, and soon the two of them were having a big fight and slagging match on the runway...

And so their first meeting with Optimus Prime was to be yelled at for conduct unbecoming of an Autobot warrior. (Mudflap started it!)

That was when Scorponok made his attack, blasting at the distracted Prime. Skids made the situation worse by accidentally tripping over Optimus, preventing him from taking control, and so Scorponok liberated the prisoner Sideways. Sideswipe, watching from a distance, believed Skids had done that deliberately, and convinced Prime that the twins were traitors: they must have helped Scorponok get here and now assisted him in his mission, on top of freeing Grindor and attacking him at Orkney! Skids and Mudflap protested they were being set up because they knew too much, but it fell on deaf ears as they were taken into custody. Reversal of Fortune

The car picks the driver.

Following this, the decision was made to exile the twins into orbit. A disgruntled Skids remarked they should've minded their own business and ignored the Fallen, but help was at hand... from the Decepticons? Freed by a Decepticon attack, an angry Skids realised they'd been framed again and now the Autobots would think they were massive traitors. The two went underground to clear their names, and hit on the foolproof plan of abducting Sam Witwicky from his house and pleading with him to tell their story to Optimus. All this did was cause Bumblebee to launch an attack to rescue Sam. Skids spat out the kid, remarking he'd need to clean his seats to get the organic off them, but that didn't stop Bumblebee holding him at gunpoint...

...until Soundwave arrived, gunning down the Autobot and offering the twins sanctuary in the Decepticons. Skids quickly agreed Outlaw Blues, intending to get into a position where they could whallop a Decepticon and hand him over to the Autobots to clear their names. After some fun times of annoying the other Decepticons, the twins were dispatched to bring in an AWOL member; Skids was annoyed to find Mudflap didn't know they were just pretending, and hoped Soundwave would be sending a minder (either Grindor or Sideways) they could ambush.

Two of these things are not like the other...

The AWOL member turned out to be Ransack. Skids quickly lied to him, saying they'd totally been sent by the Fallen to bring him in from the cold. This deception worked, until the Decepticon minders attacked... both of them! Skids ordered Mudflap after Sideways while he launched suppressive fire on Grindor and dodged each shot. Unfortunately, the chopper bugged out with Ransack held captive. While the twins had captured Sideways, Skids wasn't satisfied: he was tired of taking the fall and being pushed around. He decided they were going to go gunning for Soundwave and bring down his whole conspiracy! Turnabout

Upon returning to the Phobos base, it suddenly occurred to Skids that they had no plan... but, as Mudflap wisely pointed out to him, that never stopped them before! The twins stormed the base, but initial success was undone when Starscream and Soundwave fought back. Luckily, the two Decepticons were forced to run off after Ransack, who'd fled talking about reporting to the Fallen. Skids was left feeling that they'd just seen part of a really big, confusing picture. Unfortunately, this was just a short respite, as the twins discovered just what that army massing on Cybertron had been planning: to arrive at the Phobos base en route to Earth...

The twins stood ready to make their last stand, and Skids told his brother it had been an honour to work with him... when Optimus arrived with the other Autobots! The twins had been tracked to Phobos and to their shock, the other Autobots had realised they weren't traitors and were even apologising! And with all the street cred of uncovering the Phobos base, the twins were welcomed to the Autobots' Earth division. Skids briefly wondered if they should mention "the Fa-" again, but was convinced not to by Mudflap. Back-to-Back

IDW movie comics

Rob Schneider is... DERP!

Some time after hearing Optimus Prime's rallying call but before making it to Earth, Skids and Mudflap were kidnapped by Thundercracker and taken to an unspecified Decepticon outpost. There, unscrupulous Decepticon medic Flatline attempted to forcibly reprogram them into loyal Decepticon soldiers, but all he ended up doing was knocking out a good chunk of their intellect and reasoning skills. They probably would've spent the rest of their days locked up and experimented on if a recently upgraded Arcee had not sprung them from their cell. Even though they didn't understand everything the silly biker ladies were saying, Skids and Mudflap let Arcee escort them both to their stolen ship, past hordes of drones, Flatline and Thundercracker himself before the outpost self-destructed. Tales of the Fallen #6

Skids is the one in front.

Skids and Mudflap arrived on Earth as part of Autobot reinforcements that Optimus Prime with Topspin, Leadfoot, Roadbuster, Sideswipe, Arcee, Chromia and Elita-One on the Wreckers ship Xantium. The ship and the Wreckers stayed behind in NASA, Dark of the MoonDark of the Moon issue 3. They both chose the combined form of an old, beat-up ice cream truck. The newly arrived Autobots joined the human-Transformer military alliance NEST and began training in earnest on Diego Garcia, but soon had to be deployed to Shanghai, China. Alliance #4

Skids and Mudflap were in Seattle with NEST tracking the Decepticon straggler, Alice. They helped guide her stolen RV right into Sideswipe's sights, and he then impaled the "girl" in her seat. Nefarious #1

Later, when Theodore Galloway and his unit were attacked by Ransack en route to investigate the mysterious activities of the enigmatic Initiative at Hoover Dam, the Autobots dispatched Skids and Mudflap to Galloway's aid. Together, they held Ransack off until a NEST strike team could arrive and finish him off. The Twins then accompanied Galloway and the soldiers to Hoover Dam, and while the Initiative forces had already cleared out, Skids and Mudflap realized what they had been after: residal energy from the AllSpark that had been kept there. Nefarious #4 To uncover the Initiative's secret goals, the Autobot soon allied themselves with Soundwave, and followed his lead to the Initiative's base of operations in Crater Lake, Oregon. Skids and Mudflap were deployed to attack the base from the east; when they were met with resistance in the form of the Initiative's troops, they took them out of the equation by disabling the advanced weaponry they were wielding with precision blasts. Nefarious #5 He and Mudflap then worked as back-up for Bumblebee's team of cadets in the final battle at Crater Lake. Nefarious #6

When NEST discovered that Starscream was selling Transformer weaponry to humans, a sting operation was staged in which Theodore Galloway would pose as a buyer to lure the Decepticons in. When Skystalker, Divebomb and Fearswoop took the bait, the Twins joined Arcee, her sisters, and the human forces of NEST in tackling them. Fearswoop surrendered while the other Decepticons were killed. Rising Storm #1

After Sam Witwicky contacted NEST as Philadelphia was beign attacked by Decepticons, the Twins joined Prime and the other Autobots in helping the boy. Rising Storm #2 Rising Storm #3 Skids and Mudflap survived the battle when the Driller took Shockwave away. Rising Storm #4

This scan is for all you film critics out there!

Skids and Mudflap were present at NEST's Washington base during Optimus Prime's conversation with Charlotte Mearing about the moon landings.

Later, the Twins were on hand when Sentinel Prime revealed that he was in league with the Decepticons and killed Ironhide. As Sentinel turned his weapon toward Bumblebee, Skids charged forward to stop the treacherous Autobot, but wound up taking the full force of the blast himself and perished. But before he died, Skids last word's to Mudflap was "Sorry, bro … guess I wasn’t … as smart … as I thought … sor—" as he crumbled into dust under the effects of the Cosmic Rust. Skids's death sent Mudflap into a rage, but even his righteous anger could not make him a match for Sentinel, and he too met his ends moments later. Dark of the Moon Dark of the Moon Movie Adaptation

Mini Mayhem!

Skids and Mudflap wanted to be characters in a strip of Mini Mayhem, but wound up being late to the punch, and had to settle for a one-panel cameo. Mini Mayhem!

Hunt for the Decepticons storybooks

Skids and Mudflap had been tasked with looking over Sam while Bumblebee was away on a mission. The twins reported to Optimus that they suspected a new lab assistant working at the science lab at Sam's university to be a Decepticon spy. They turned out to be correct. Even after Megatron's latest plot had been foiled, and the Twins requested some time off from "spying" on Sam, Optimus informed them that their battle against the Decepticons was far from over. Prime Target

Upon learning that Buzzsaw and Ratbat were causing trouble, Optimus ordered Skids and the rest of the Autobots to roll out to face the Decepticons. Thanks to Soundwave's tampering with their communications, however, the Autobots arrived at an abandonned warehouse instead of where the trouble was taking place. Thankfully, Sam and Bumblebee met with the Autobots, and led them to the correct location. The Decepticons were defeated and the Autobots cheered Sam for his help in the mission. Satellite Meltdown

Toy bios

Skids and his brother idolise Optimus Prime and the other great Autobot heroes, and joined the battle on Earth solely to be part of their crew. Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Mudflap In an early mission, however, they found themselves used as guinea pigs for experimental combination technology; trying to stay combined in their gestalt vehicle mode took up more of their focus than fighting Decepticons! Autobot Skids and Mudflap (Deluxe Combiner)

Believing himself to be the "smart one" of the twins, Skids constantly tries to impress Autobot High Command with his inane, random babbling about everything insightful comments about things. Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Autobot Skids This chatter blows any stealth mission he's part of, so Ironhide has cunningly assigned Skids and his brother to create diversions (far, far away from him). Robot Replica Skids

Skids thought of himself as pretty capable, yet Mikaela was a better driver than he is. Concentrating on squeezing every last bit of power out of his engine while she takes the wheel, even the fastest and most powerful Decepticons have trouble keeping up with them. Human Alliance Autobot Skids / Arcee / Mikaela Banes

Oil Pan may be crazy good driving skills, but he was not used to dealing with someone as unpredictable as Skids. He was more than happy to cause total chaos on the freeway, as long as it meant catching his quarry. While the other Autobots wish Skids was more careful, at least he gets the job done. Turner Skids (Deluxe)

During Sideways's sojourn into the Autobot camp, Skids and Mudflap became suspicious and reverted to their old ice cream truck form to keep track of him. Having discovered Sideways's treachery, they planned to prove their worth by defeating him on their own! High-Speed Spy Battle

Having grown up a lot since the battle against The Fallen, Skids has learned a little bit about keeping his mouth shut. He has also spent months being trained by Ironhide on how to effectively handle himself in a fight. Cyberverse Autobot Skids While he has been hardened by frequent battles, Skids has also become more sensitive to the value of life thanks to his partnership with humans. He is still an eager warrior, his first priority would always be the defense of those under his protection. Dark of the Moon Deluxe Autobot Skids

Skids was eventually given to Robert Epps for proper training. Skids and Epps became good friends as they both love beating up Decepticons! Human Alliance Autobot Skids / Elita 1 / Sergeant Epps

Kre-O comic

Skids celebrated as the giant Devastator was tickled to defeat. A New Menace! The Giant Soldier Devastator Appears!

Commercial appearances

• Skids and Mudflap were present outside a Burger King, and watched patiently alongside a group of human children who were waiting for a familiar Chevy Camaro to transform. Much to their chagrin, however, the car was revealed to be just "some dude's car" and not Bumblebee himself. Transform Your Way television commercials

Games

Cyberverse Battle Builder

Skids joined the rest of the Autobots in combating the Decepticons on battlefields on Earth, the Earth's Moon and on Cybertron. Sometimes there were many of him! Cyberverse Battle Builder

Toys

Revenge of the Fallen

Legends Class toys

For some reason, Scrapper has no interest in making him into a chair anytime soon.

• Autobot Skids (Legends Class, 2009/2010)
  • TakaraTomy ID Number: EZ-13

Legends Class Skids is a simple, affordable small-scale toy that converts from robot into a licensed Chevy Beat. Due to the lack of stopping points on the head piece, Skids is prone to looking up if not transformed properly.

The prototype photos of his robot mode depicts his unpaintable joints being molded/painted in the same green as the rest of his body.

Skids was also available individually in Japan as part of the blindpacked EZ Collection line.

• More information on Legends Skids at TFU.info

Because what you want when you're offroading is a front-drive hatchback city car.

• Rally Mudflap and Offroad Skids (Legends Class multi-pack, 2010)

This redeco of Legends Skids features white stripes, yellow headlights and various other changed details. He was packaged with a redecoed Mudflap as a Target exclusive two-pack, and was part of the "N.E.S.T. Global Alliance" subline imprint.

• More information on Legends Offroad Skids at TFU.info

Deluxe Class toys

Kids, never try to deflect a fusion cannon blast with your face.

• Autobot Skids (Deluxe Class, 2009)
  • TakaraTomy ID number: RA-10

• Known designers: Hisashi Yuki (TakaraTomy)

Skids was released as part of the second wave of deluxe class Revenge of the Fallen action figures. He transforms into a green Chevy Beat Concept car with black stripe designs on either side and a black hood. His vehicle form features transparent blue windows. In robot mode, Skids features a "Mech Alive" gimmick that makes the fenders on the sides of his chest push out and his head move forward when the front grill is pushed inwards. Moving the head up and down through this gimmick may suggest it's meant to make him appear as though he is talking, but the packaging only says "Moving Armor Panels".

Skids's right arm is larger than his left, just like his movie counterpart's. It features a small cannon that, when pressed, both makes the cannon stick out in a position more suitable for firing and activates Skids's "Punching Robot Fist" action. Despite this, his right hand is surprisingly poseable.

Skids originally came with unpainted teeth cast in green plastic. A running change variant adds gold paint for one tooth and white paint for the other one.^[3]

• More information on Deluxe Skids at TFU.info

Hey look, it's the robot child actor who grew up and became a convenience store.

• Autobot Skids And Mudflap (Deluxe Class, 2009)
  • TakaraTomy ID number: RA-20

• Known designers: Hisashi Yuki (TakaraTomy)

This two-pack of the twin Autobot brothers can combine into a single, old-fashioned ice cream truck. The vehicle splits in half right down the middle of its chassis (similar to how it does in the film) to create the two small robot forms. Other than the transformation, the toy features no gimmicks.

Mudflap's heels are too thick for his feet to fold up properly in vehicle mode, though this can be fixed by trimming them. Also, this toy may be the first Transformer to feature the typeface Comic Sans, which is used to write "MADE FRESH FOR YOU" across both front wheel hubs. But that's on Skids's half, so Mudflap is partly absolved here.

The ice cream truck features unpainted rust detailing.

Amusingly, the ice cream truck accommodates Human Alliance human figures really well.

• More information on ice cream truck Skids at TFU.info

Muddy Skids. Wait, ew.

• Desert Version Skids (Deluxe Class, 2009)

This version of Skids has a sandblasted deco to closer match his onscreen appearance during the scenes in Egypt. It is only available in Japan with purchase of the Revenge of the Fallen DVD.

The good, the bad, the rusty.

• Shanghai Showdown (Multi-pack, 2010)

The twins in this set have additional decals for you to put on (save for the "suck my popsicle" slogan) and painted rust and "Caution Children" for the ice cream truck mode. They come with a redecoed version of Demolishor.

• More information on Shanghai Showdown Skids at TFU.info

Fast Action Battlers

That's not going to pick up any cowgirls any time soon.

• Missile Blast Skids (Fast Action Battler, 2009)
  • Accessories: Missile

Fast Action Battlers Missile Blast Skids is quite similar in transformation engineering to Plasma Punch/Plasma Blast Bumblebee, and even has a similar gimmick in having one arm being a spring-loaded projectile launcher.

• More information on Missile Blast Skids at TFU.info

Collect them all! This character article is a stub and is missing information on their toys & merchandise. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it.

Neither will this.

• Rally Mudflap & Offroad Skids (Fast Action Battler two-pack, 2009)
  • Accessories: Missile

A redeco of Missile Blast Skids with different details, such as silver on the back of his car mode, Autobot insignias on his doors and his name on his windshield.

This figure was only available in a two-pack alongside Rally Mudflap. So far, this two-pack has been confirmed to have been released in Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Australia. Despite misconceptions based on early solicitations, it appears these figures were never intended to be released individually.

Human Alliance

Then again...

• Autobot Skids / Arcee / Mikaela Banes (Human Alliance, 2009)
  • TakaraTomy ID number: RA-25
  • Accessories: Missile

• Known designers: Hisashi Yuki (TakaraTomy)

Human Alliance Skids is a Voyager-sized figure that transforms into a licensed Chevy Beat. He comes with a transforming figure of Arcee, as well as a posable figure of Mikaela Banes that can fit inside in Skids's vehicle mode, plugging into either of his seats via a small hole in her back. In robot mode, Skids' seats end up on his arms, and Mikaela can still sit in either of them. Skids' right arm also features a spring-loaded missile launcher that can rotate into place in front of the seat, with flip-up firing controls for Mikaela to take charge of. Mikaela can also stand on a small flip-up platform behind Skids (via peg-holes on her feet), manning a small non-firing minigun that flips out over the top of Skids' head. Additionally, Skids' palms each contain a peg, meaning Mikaela can securely stand or sit on her big buddy's hands.

Finally, pressing down on the middle gray piece above Skids' eyes opens and closes his mouth, to simulate a talking motion.

There is a small inaccuracy in the design of the toy's robot mode, being that the CGI robot's model doesn't have door wings; the doors cannot be hidden without modification. The primary weapons of HA Skids and HA Mudflap are also switched, being that the grappling hook actually belongs to Skids, while the gun belongs to Mudflap, instead.

• More information on Human Alliance Skids at TFU.info

Gravity Bots

From car to novelty trash can in the blink of an eye!

• Autobot Skids (Gravity Bot, 2009)

• Known designers: Alex Androski (deco artist)

An extremely simplified version of Skids with a small tab on the bottom of his feet that when he placed on his feet will automatically transform him to robot mode. There is also one on his back side that when placed upon will transform him to his vehicle mode.

Like the second half of the Gravity bots figures, Skids is not released in Japan.

• More information on Gravity Bots Skids at TFU.info

Robot Replicas

• Autobot Skids (Robot Replicas, 2009)

Robot Replicas Skids is a non-transforming, highly posable toy intended to be more accurate to Skids's CGI robot mode than transforming toys are capable of; in reality, it—along with the rest of Skids's Revenge of the Fallen toys—is based on early concept art by Steve Jung, rather than the CGI model itself (the biggest dead giveaway being the legs). Skids is approximately five inches tall and features articulation at his neck, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and feet. He also sports an arm cannon permanently attached to his right forearm.

• More information on Robot Replica Skids at TFU.info

Transformers (2010)

The white...

• Tuner Skids (Legends Class, 2010)

Released in the third wave of 2010 Transformers single-packed Legends-Class toys, Tuner Skids is a redeco of the Revenge of the Fallen Legends Class Autobot Skids, colored similarly to the Fast Action Battlers "Offroad Skids" toy, in bright green with white deco on his vehicle mode back end.

• More information on Legends Tuner Skids at TFU.info

... and the black.

• Tuner Skids (Deluxe Class, 2010)

• Known designers: Andrew Scribner (deco artist)

Released in the second wave of Transformers Deluxes, Tuner Skids is a redeco of Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Class Autobot Skids (the Chevrolet Beat version), in black and a darker shade of green, with copper-plastic robot parts. His license plate says "1H8CONS," and on the back is a bumper sticker that reads "I helped make the Fallen falled!"

While stock photography shows the figure with one gold painted tooth and one silver one, the final figure actually has both teeth painted silver.

• More information on Deluxe Tuner Skids at TFU.info

In hindsight, this is kinda morbid.

• High-Speed Spy Battle (Multi-pack, 2010)

This Target-exclusive two-pack (or three-pack, depending on how you want to count 'em) includes the Deluxe Mudflap and Skids ice cream truck toy. This version replaces most of the originals' robot-mode white plastic with a rusty brown color, adds even more rusty paint applications to the vehicle paneling than the earlier "Shanghai Showdown" version, and omits the comic-sans "Made fresh for you" text on the front wheel wells of the truck.

This set also includes a redeco of Deluxe Sideways with his silver/black/red swapped around a bit.

• More information on High-Speed Spy Battle Skids at TFU.info

Skid-Zette.

• Delivery Skids (EZ Collection, 2010)

• Release date: October 23, 2010

Released in "Vol.5" of TakaraTomy's EZ Collection (not the fifth wave of product, the fifth iteration of the cross-franchise line), sold under the Autobot Alliance banner, "Delivery Skids" is a redeco of Legends Class Skids in white with pink accents, referencing his and Mudflap's combined ice cream truck form.

Dark of the Moon

Right out of that one second he was in the movie!

• Autobot Skids (Cyberverse Legion, 2011)

• Series: 1
• Number: 005
• Known designers: Joe Kyde (Hasbro)

Released in the first wave of Dark of the Moon Cyberverse Legion Class toys, Skids is a retool of his Revenge of the Fallen Legends Class toy, retaining his Chevrolet Beat concept car mode from the previous movie (though his packaging refers to his vehicle mode as a "Chevrolet Spark Concept Mode"). The smaller hand on this figure has been remolded to accommodate 3mm-post weapons from other Cyberverse figures.

• More information on Cyberverse Skids at TFU.info

Screw being in disguise, he's getting rush hour traffic out of his way by any means.

• Autobot Skids (MechTech Deluxe Class, 2011)

• TakaraTomy ID Number: DA07
• Accessories: MechTech Hand Blaster/Double-Barreled Cannon
• Known designers: Eric Siebenaler (Hasbro), Andrew Scribner (deco artist)

Part of the first wave of Dark of the Moon MechTech Deluxe-Class toys, Autobot Skids transforms from a black Chevrolet Spark with narrow green stripes into a stumpy robot with big feet. He comes with a Hand Blaster that transforms into a Double-Barreled Cannon when the scope is pulled. He features seven MechTech ports in total, with two ports on the roof in vehicle mode, one for each of his hands, one each on the underside and the sculpted panel on his right arm, one on the foldable panel on his left arm, and one port on his back to allow the weapon to be mounted over his head. Unfortunately, due to his transformation, Skids' knees only bend forwards, rather than back.

His weapon was redecoed into the weapons of Specialist Ratchet and Streetside Bot Brawl Bumblebee. It is also similar to the MechTech weapon of Nitro Bumblebee, although that is an entirely new mold.

• More information on Dark of the Moon Deluxe Skids at TFU.info

How can Skids be racist? He's hanging out with the only serious black guy in the entire series.

• Autobot Skids / Elita-1 / Tech Sergeant Epps (Human Alliance, 2011)

• Accessories: Missile
• Known designers: Andrew Scribner (deco artist)

Released in the first wave of Dark of the Moon Human Alliance toys, Skids is a redeco of his Revenge of the Fallen toy in his new color scheme, retaining all of he play features of that toy.

He now comes with a figure of Robert Epps to drive him instead of Mikaela. He also comes with Elita-1 (a redeco of the "Arcee" mold that came with the Revenge set).

• More information on Dark of the Moon Human Alliance Skids at TFU.info

Merchandise

Revenge of the Fallen

RPMs - Robot Powered Machines

I ran myself over!

• Mudflap vs Autobot Skids (R.P.M. Mini-Vehicle, 2009)
  • Series: Battle Series
  • Number: 04 of 08

Number four in a series of eight Robot Powered Machines Mini-Vehicle versus packs, Skids is packaged against his twin, Mudflap. He's an untransformable Hot Wheels-like car, unless you count his robot mode being sculpted and painted onto the underside of him. On some, his name is printed backwards and upside down.

This toy is also available with the Devastator Showdown track set.

So yeah, the Mini-Vehicle pack is marked as a "vs" set instead of "&" despite consisting of two Autobot twin brothers. Maybe it was a reference to their occasional feud?

• Autobot Skids (R.P.M. Mini-Vehicle, 2010)
  • Series: Combat Series 2
  • Number: 04 of 04

An individual release of Battle Series Skids.

• Devastator Showdown (R.P.M. Mini-Vehicle Track Set, 2009)

A Mini-Vehicle of Skids also comes with this Devastator-themed race track set.

Robot Heroes

"My head is bigger than your cannon!"

• Autobot Skids & Megatron (Two-pack, 2009)

• Known designers: Marcelo Matere (concept artist)

Robot Heroes Skids is a super deformed figure with limited articulation in his neck and shoulders. He came in a two-pack with Megatron.

• More information on Robot Heroes robot mode Skids at TFU.info

Give me your fac—oh wait, wrong article.

• Desert Devastation (Multi-pack, 2009)

• Known designers: Marcelo Matere (concept artist)

Both Skids and Mudflap are sculpted in their individual vehicle modes for this box-set that also includes Devastator and Captain William Lennox.

• More information on Robot Heroes vehicle mode Skids at TFU.info

Pink smoke? Should probably get that looked at.

• Shanghai Shootout (Multi-pack, 2009)

• Known designers: Marcelo Matere (concept artist)

"Shanghai Shootout" replicates the opening action scene from Revenge of the Fallen, featuring figurines of Skids & Mudflap in ice cream truck mode, Sideways in vehicle mode, Optimus Prime, Demolishor, and Sideswipe in vehicle mode.

• More information on Robots Heroes ice cream truck Skids and Mudflap at TFU.info

Speed Stars

You shouldn't be able to moon someone in car mode, but Skids has found a way.

• Autobot Skids (2010)
  • Series: Lights & Sounds

Speed Stars Lights & Sounds Skids is a cute and round Chevy Beat with various playing sounds and flashing lights. Like the toys in the Robot Powered Machines line, it doesn't transform, but features a sculpted robot mode on its underside.

• More information on Speed Stars Skids at TFU.info

Notes

Caution children! Rude alien robots in disguise!

• The entire shell of the ice cream truck prop was pretty much custom-built from scratch,^[4] though it appears to be based on a 1937 Dodge D5 truck. Ben Procter apparently lifted the color scheme and deco for his early concept design for the ice cream truck^[5] directly off a photo of an Australian ice cream truck that had been added to the Wikipedia article for "ice cream van" in February 2006,^[6] down to identical placement and design of the fonts and graphics. The details were later slightly tweaked for the final design that can be seen in the movie... but only very slightly so. While the white and pink color scheme is used by ice cream trucks all over the world, it's a particularly common color combination in Australia.
• One of the decals on the ice cream truck's side that was created specifically for the movie reads " suck my popsicle!" Classy. Too bad the toy does not. (Because, you know, for kids...)

Skids and Mudflap would never get their Larry.

• In the brief scenes that the twins appear in robot mode while still in their ice cream truck-kibbled robot forms, both have four wheels present due to the redressing of their individual car-based robot CGI models. The wheels are considerably wider than the ones present on the ice cream truck too.
  • Also, in the scanning scene, Skids is very briefly seen changing from the full ice cream truck into a fetal positioned robot in a literal flash of light. This is most likely due to the pair having very little screentime in those forms meaning proper transformations weren't animated. Him being the full truck however can definitely be considered an error.
  • Speaking of transformations not being animated, the pair both proceed to curl up into a ball and turn into their new forms with the same burst of light, just as Skids did in his transformation mere seconds ago.
• The Twins' final alternate modes in the film, the Chevrolet Beat (Skids) and Chevrolet Trax (Mudflap), were designed by General Motors as small car concept vehicles. At one point in the film's pre-production, another small car, the Mercedes-Benz Smart, was evidently considered as an option for a film character; concept art of a "third twin" based on it appears in various sections of the Revenge DVD special features, always in close proximity to concept art of Skids and Mudflap. Whether it was meant to be a third character related to Skids and Mudflap or if it was supposed to be used in place of one of them is unknown. What is known is that Hasbro has had great difficultly in the past trying to get likeness licenses from German automakers, which is probably why the vehicle/character was dropped.
• In their combined ice cream truck mode, the Twins sport the license plate "KDM 814". A minor variant of this, "KDM 0814" with an extra "0", was later used for the life-sized Bumblebee prop on various displays from 2009 upuntil at least 2011. For the individual cars, two different sets of license plates were apparently used, either "Beat" and "Trax" referencing their car models or "Skids" and "Mudflap". Most likely, the intent was for the cars the two scan as their new alternate modes to feature the license plates with the cars' names, and for Skids and Mudflap themselves to have their names on their license plates in alternate mode... but then the production crew screwed up, resulting in various oddities. Most notably, in the scene where the Twins scan the Chevrolet Trax and Beat cars, those real cars already feature individualized license plates sporting their robot names, making their argument about who gets to choose which car all the more absurd. Throughout the rest of the movie, the license plates featuring their robot names are featured more prominently, although the "BEAT" plate for Skids can be seen briefly during the New York City scene (it's possible the "TRAX" plate for Mudflap was used for the same scene, but the car's plate is never seen on screen in that particular scene). All four plates were auctioned off in October 2009.^[7] The auction claims that the plates referring to their car models were used in vehicle mode, while those identifying the two Autobots by name were used in robot mode... which is directly refuted by screencaps from the movie included with the auction, which show the robot name plates on the cars in vehicle mode.
• Skids' left hand has three fingers while his right has four.
• The Chevrolet Beat, Skids's upgraded alternate mode, went into production in 2011 as the Chevrolet Spark.
• Amusingly, Hasbro's Battle Bio for Skids lists his arch-enemy as... Mudflap.
• Skids's name is only mentioned once on-screen (by Mudflap right before he loses his grip on Skids when Devastator is trying to suck them up).
• The Twins were originally supposed to return for Dark of the Moon. Even though General Motors provided two Chevrolet Sparks to serve as their alternate modes^[8] which were still spotted on the set as late as October 2010,^[9] the two were mostly edited out of the final movie (their vehicle modes can barely be glimpsed in a brief shot). Michael Bay even went so far as to offer a $25,000 reward for anyone who would see the Twins "perform" in the movie.^[10] In the novelization and the comic adaptation, Skids and Mudflap still appear... and promptly get killed off by Sentinel Prime.
• Like all non-toy robot Kreons in the Kre-O comic, Skids is made from existing Kre-O parts. He uses the Sideswipe helmet.
• Attinger's playing card of Skids was revealed in a prop auction for the Transformers film series held in 2019.^[11][12]

Controversy

From watching Revenge of the Fallen, it should be pretty obvious that the depiction of the Twins is rooted in racist stereotypes of African-Americans. Their illiteracy in Cyberglyphics is framed as "never learnin' to read", they speak in an overall stereotypical manner and are generally shown to not be very clever and quick to violence. Furthermore, compared to the other Autobots (and even fellow black-coded movie Autobot Jazz), their designs are visibly more hunched and ugly, with disfigured faces and a gold buck tooth on Skids. One later attempt to "smooth over" the problem would reveal that the pair act the way they do due to them being brain damaged, which only exacerbates the issue.

What's unclear is where exactly this imagery originated from: writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman claimed to have been following Michael Bay's lead on the character, while Bay stated that it came from a piece of improv by actors Tom Kenny and Reno Wilson. Though Kenny, who is white, declined to comment when interviewed, Wilson, who is black, stated that they had been given direction to play the twins as "wannabe gangster types". This was supposed to play off the fact that, as alien robots who had learned human language and culture from the internet, they could not be black, with Wilson likening them to white rappers like Kevin Federline.^[13] What this means for Jazz, as well as the other characters Wilson has played, is unknown. Whatever the intent, nobody involved seems to want to be tied to the issue. Orci and Kurtzman have attempted to distance themselves from the characters, stating that the stereotypes weren't in their script.^[14] For whatever reason, the Revenge of the Fallen novel, written by Alan Dean Foster and based on Orci and Kurtzman's screenplay, only depicts Skids as the film-accurate slang-talker, while Mudflap speaks like any other Autobot, albeit with a thick lisp. Meanwhile, Simon Furman's Revenge of the Fallen material has both of the twins using less slang; presumably, Furman likely did not wish to try his hand at "street".

Whatever the intended direction for the characters, the "wannabe gangster" shtick doesn't come across in the finished project. Robert Epps, the only prominent black human character in the film, is never shown having anything to say about them, for example. Ultimately, the Twins' portrayal was rightfully deemed pretty disgusting, and the resultant public backlash was likely what led the studio to quietly drop the pair partway into the filming of Dark of the Moon. While their intended role in the film survived into that film's novelization and comic book adaptation, the Twins are thankfully not present in any future movie stories, and are indeed conspicuous by their absence in the cross-film Studio Series toyline.

Around fifteen years after the film's release, the twins were referenced in a not-so-subtle way on Prime Video's The Boys television series.^[15]

Foreign names

• Japanese: Skids (スキッズ Skizzu)
• Mandarin: Shāchē (刹车, "Brake")

References