Snarl (Transformers Animated)

Snarl Smash!

Name: Snarl
Allegiance: Autobots
Function: Brawler
Sub-group: Dinobot, Substitute Autobot
Timeline: Transformers Animated timeline

Toyline: Transformers Animated

Profile:

Snarl is proud to be a Dinobot. He's a very simple sort who loves the fact he's really, really strong and loves showing off that strength. Snarl is the most animalistic of the Dinobots, and he's the one who spends the least amount of time in robot mode. He just doesn't feel comfortable standing on just two legs as a robot, and besides, being a triceratops gives him a lot more options for smashing things. For Snarl, fun is crushing boulders into powder, charging into trees head on, or stomping cars flat. Some, like Sentinel Prime, think Snarl is no better than a Decepticon, but this does Snarl a disservice. Unlike Decepticons, Snarl does not take pleasure in random destruction. He knows that randomly destroying things upsets others, and in spite of his destructive tendencies, Snarl wants to be liked. He's quite an amiable sort when you get to know him, which is why he's made some friends outside of the Dinobots, including the castaway Constructicon Scrapper, Wreck-Gar, and Sari. Snarl's problem is that he's just so simple-minded that he sometimes struggles to express himself in ways that don't involve smashing things. Those who realise that, and can look past it, can find a strong ally in Snarl.

Just don't call him Slag - he really hates that.

Abilities:

Snarl is incredibly tough in both of his modes. In triceratops mode, he is almost indestructible - even the most advanced weapons barely dent his thick armour. Coupled with this, a unique quirk in Snarl's design means that he has a lower than average number of pain receptors - for good or ill, Snarl feels no pain. This makes him an implacable opponent who cannot be stopped when he starts charging at an opponent. Couple this with Snarl's incredible strength that is second only to Grimlock's, and you have a hard-hitting warrior who shrugs off anything short of Lugnut's super-powered punches with little ill-effect.

In robot mode, Snarl is armed with a club. It's a big, solid, heavy bit of rock. It has no special properties. It is just something Snarl picked up to hit things with. Snarl probably found it lying around somewhere on Dinobot Island. In triceratops mode, Snarl possesses flame breath which is hot enough to melt a garbage truck into a very smelly puddle of molten metal (it may well be hot enough to melt other things - Snarl hasn't tried yet). Complementing his flame breath, Snarl can fire a powerful laser blast from his horns. This blast is enough to tear through an armoured car, but using it dramatically depletes Snarl's energon reserves. Because of this, Snarl doesn't use this ability very often. He finds this to be a bit disappointing, because he loves the sound it makes when it tears through whatever is in front of him at the time.

Weaknesses:

"Snarl dumb!" is Grimlock's summary of Snarl's intelligence. Even though none of the Dinobots are particularly intelligent, Snarl is by far the least intelligent of the trio. He's closer to an animal than a sentient being, always looking to others like Grimlock or Scrapper for leadership, never really thinking for himself. Although even then, Snarl only pays attention for as long as it suits him - quite often he'll get bored and wander off to smash something.

Triceratops mode:

Additional images of Snarl:

More information on Snarl at TFW2005

Author notes:

I found writing Snarl was a bit of a challenge. It would have been easy to supplement his Animated toy packaging bio with the Generation 1 Slag bio and make him an analog for his Generation 1 incarnation. This would have made Snarl an anti-social beast. I didn't want to go that route though - I felt it didn't really reflect Snarl's character in Transformers Animated, particular as his bio says he doesn't enjoy random destruction - this characterisation was at odds with Generation 1 Slag. So I instead looked to Sludge and wrote Snarl as a "nice but dim" kind of character, playing up that he's not unfriendly just misunderstood. I started his bio with a couple of gags, actually - one about the club (and how it's just something Snarl found one day to hit things with) and the line about his name which comes from Animated Season 3. That helped me set a tone for Snarl's bio, and I wrote the rest from there.

Snarl's toy is something that I'd just call "decent". I found the poseability of Snarl to be a bit limited - there's no elbow or upper leg swivels, which limits some of the poses that Snarl can be put into. I never liked how his chest always felt like it should push in a little more than it does - it doesn't look great from some angles. But, that being said, I love the look of the robot mode - it has a ton of personality whether you're standing it on the shelf or posing it. That's something that a lot of the Transformers Animated toys pulled off - the toys are loaded with personality - and Snarl is one of the ones who pulls it off well. I feel his triceratops mode is very cool, too - it is a nice size and looks very solid.

Overall, I like the character and his toy. He's my least favourite of the three Dinobots, but that's not a knock against Snarl - the Transformers Animated line is a favourite, I love all of its toys, so even my less favoured toys still rank as some of my most beloved Transformers.