Crosswise - Transformers: Cybertron

Transformers: Cybertron

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 Optimus Prime and the Autobots.

Cyber Key Power - (Force Missiles) Two missile launchers deploy on his back and fire.

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.

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.

Autovolt is not a new name for a Transformer in Japan. It was the Japanese name for the Generation 2 Laser Rod known simply as Volt in the U.S.