Skid-Z (RID)

Skid-Z is an Autobot from the Robots in Disguise continuity family.

Skid-Z is my name, and speed is my game.

Skid-Z is really fast and really competitive. Some would say compulsively competitive. He's obsessed with speed, improving his speed, and proving his speed. It was perhaps annoying before, but having made it to Earth, an errant alt-mode scan seems to have really pushed this urge to ridiculous extremes, much to his chagrin. Any kind of race, and he's in, pretty much always uninvited and unwanted. Road race, bike race, foot race, potato sack race... if there's a finish line, he compulsively has to be the first to cross it, whether he actually wants to or not.

Thankfully, some intervention from his fellow Autobots has curbed the worst of this behavior, and he's back to being a useful member of the team.

Mostly.

Fiction

2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon

Voice actor: Michael Lindsay (English), Jin Nishimura (Japanese), Oleg Kutsenko (Russian), Gabriel Ortiz (Latin American Spanish), Marco Antônio Costa (Brazilian Portuguese)

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 psychotropic 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 erratically.

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 grade schoolers, and even the tortoise and the hare. No, really. 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, Side Burn, 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, eventually ending up in Africa looking for a race. Oh well. Prime knew he'd be back—sooner or later. Skid Z's Choice

And it was later... much, much later. When all Autobots were assembled for a counter-strike against their advancing enemies, Skid-Z fought in the final battle against the Predacon/Decepticon forces. Surprise Attack!

In the Autobots' last visit to Earth following the total defeat of Galvatron and his Decepticons, he was racing with the Spychangers, and T-AI yelled at him to slow down as he bashed his comrades aside to win. The Final Battle

Oh, that nutty Skid-Z! Ha ha ha!

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

As a member of the Dimensional Patrol, Skid-Z was brought to the Legends World by Skids and Sky-Byte to defend it against the attack of Majin Zarak and the Zamojin. Targetmaster Chapter Finale: Legends World in Imminent Danger! Part One

Toys

Robots in Disguise (2001)

• Indy Heat (Flip Changer, 2000)

• ID number: C-016
• Accessories: 2-part "Indy Gun" rifle
• Known designers: Takio Ejima (TakaraTomy), Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)

Sold in the fourth wave of Takara's Car Robots series, Indy Heat is a redeco of the Machine Wars Mirage/Prowl mold. He transforms from a Penske PC-18 Indycar to robot mode via spring-loaded autotransformation by pulling up on his spoiler; pushing it back into place and locking it there returns him to car mode.

His rifle splits into two parts, which store in the hollow portions of his lower legs in vehicle mode. However, the main body of the rifle still works as a blunt-barreled double-blaster without the extension piece attached.

• Original Super Indy Heat (Flip Changer, 2000)

• Accessories: 2-part "Indy Gun" rifle

"Original Super" Indy Heat is a transparent-blue and white redeco of Indy Heat, which ends up making him look an awful lot like Generation 1 Mirage (again). Much of his extensive deco has been dropped, with the hood/chest text now replaced by a simple "20" in red, and "2000 EXCLUSIVE" printed across his spoiler.

Super Indy Heat was part of a JUSCO department stores promotional campaign, given to customers as a free gift with the purchase of a JRX giftset.

• More information on Super Indy Heat at TFU.info

Speed, I am speed. With a grape flavor.

• Skid-Z / Wind Sheer (Deluxe Class two-pack, 2001)

• Accessories: 2-part rifle
• Known designers: Takio Ejima (TakaraTomy), Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)

Hasbro's Robots in Disguise toyline included "Skid-Z" in a two-pack with the Decepticon Wind Sheer, released in the second wave of Deluxe Class toys.

Skid-Z's deco has been significantly changed from his Takara "Indy Heat" release, one of the more dramatically changed toys in the line. All of the bright-orange lettering has been removed, replaced with a simple Autobot logo on his hood/chest, his lavender paint has been changed to silver, and his hubcaps are now silver chrome rather than aqua-blue chrome.

On top of that, his shoulders and the beam holding his spoiler in place are now a darker purple plastic, due to being gang-molded with the inner robot parts of his pack-in rival Wind Sheer. His head is also now painted metallic blue over gray plastic, as that part is gang-molded with Skyfire's jet parts. (The original Indy Heat head is sparkly blue plastic, as the jet toys were not being produced in Car Robots so that part could be whatever color Takara wanted.)

• More information on Skid-Z at TFU.info

Notes

• According to the Robots in Disguise cartoon, Skid-Z's name is pronounced "Skids", rather than "Skid-Zee" or "Skid-Zed".
• While Skid-Z knew of the Autobots' strategy in case their base was found, his long absence from the main events of the series (having been gone from episode 11 to 36) does seem to imply he spent all of the intervening time looking for a race.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Indy Heat (インディヒート Indi Hīto)
• Italian: Skid