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Ratchet (Animated)

2012-07-15T08:45:35Z

118.209.252.155: /* Toys */

{{factions|autobot|hofsilver}}
{{disambig3|Ratchet}}
:''Ratchet is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:AniRatchetPromoModel.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Rassa-frassa [[Sari Sumdac|KIDS]] with their [[Bumblebee (Animated)|loud music]] and their [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|rocket-powered axes]]...]]
Before the [[Great War (Animated)|Great Wars]], '''Ratchet''' was a [[Protihex Medical Mechanics University|civilian mechanic]], and one of the best on all of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. But war is [[Pit|hell]], and Ratchet learned that all too well. It left him bitter and cynical. After the war, he got himself placed in a dead end position of repairing [[Space bridge|space bridges]], seeing it as a chance to get away from what he had experienced. And in his experience, "hero" is another word for casualty, because that's what most of the heroes ended up being. Still, he knows one when he sees it, and [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] definitely is one.

His main "weapons" are two electromagnets that can extend from his forearms. With them, he can move metal-based objects, levitate downward from high heights, manipulate or tear apart metallic objects in midair, or create magnetic shields. More recently, he won his [[electromagnetic pulse]] generator back from [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] the bounty hunter, a device capable of knocking out a [[Transformer]].

He enjoys grumbling about almost everything, being sarcastic, and having war flashbacks, just like any old man.

{{quote|You're a ''tough'' old model, aren't you?|[[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] shows his grudging respect|"[[This Is Why I Hate Machines]]"}}

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
{{Idw-tfa}}
:''Voice actor:'' [[Corey Burton]] (English), [[Tōru Ōkawa]] (Japanese), [[Horst Lampe]] (German), [[Dariusz Stach]] (Polish), [[Sidney Lilla]] (Portuguese), [[Stefano Albertini]] (Italian), [[Javier Rodríguez]] (Latin American Spanish, seasons 1 and 2), [[Eleazar Osorio]] (Latin American Spanish, season 3), [[Im Chaeheon]] (Korean)

[[Image:BotsofScience-RatchetOilslick.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Millions of years ago, knee-insignia were all the rage.]]
''Millions of years ago, Ratchet arrived at [[Hydrax Plateau]] looking for survivors of a Decepticon chemical attack, which had slaughtered soldiers from both sides. The only survivor was a Decepticon named [[Oil Slick (Animated)|Oil Slick]]. Against orders, Ratchet tried to save his life. Oil Slick, however, revealed he had the formula for an antidote to the chemical, known to the grunts as "[[Cosmic Rust (disease)|cosmic rust"]], but he lacked the equipment to create it. Ratchet warily agreed to help, and as they worked, tried to learn a little bit more about who was fighting. Once the cure was complete, Ratchet used it on Oil Slick, who promptly revealed he had created the cosmic rust, didn't care if his own soldiers got killed, and infected Ratchet before driving off. However, Ratchet had managed to snag some of the antidote, so he used a little on himself and took the rest back to headquarters for mass production, regretfully realizing he'd learned a little bit about a good deception that day.'' {{storylink|The Arrival issue 3#"'Bots_of_Science"|'Bots of Science}}

[[Image:Ratchetanimatedthrill.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Before the gut.]]
Some time later, Ratchet was sent by [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] on a wartime mission to recover Autobot intelligence officer [[Arcee (Animated)|Arcee]], who was carrying important security codes in her memory core. Shortly after he found her, the pair were captured by the [[Decepticon]]-affiliated bounty hunter [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]]. The hunter made a habit of collecting the powers of defeated enemies as trophies and did so with Ratchet's medical EMP device. Before he could attach it, Arcee was able to pass the device to Ratchet, and she begged him to use it on her to wipe the codes and preserve their safety. In the ensuing skirmish with Lockdown, the device accidentally produced a wider blast, erasing Arcee's entire memory. Ratchet would have flashbacks of the incident for centuries to come. {{storylink|The Thrill of the Hunt}}

[[Image:TransWarped-youngRatchetArcee.jpg|left|thumb|250px|In your heeeeeaad, in your heeeeead, zombie zombie zombie-ee-ee...]]

At a certain point, Ratchet was ordered by Ultra Magnus to perform open processor surgery on Arcee to retrieve the access codes. As the operation began, Arcee uploaded the codes into Ratchet's processor, so he was conducted to a secret hangar and introduced to [[Project Omega]] a.k.a. Omega Supreme. Perceptor, along with Highbrow and Ultra Magnus, explained that Omega was the Autobots' last line of defense against the Decepticons and that the codes that Arcee was carrying were for Omega's activation. Arcee was supposed to be Omega's mentor to imprint upon and take orders from, but now Ratchet had inherited her role. Hearing that Omega had been built with a simple processor in order to carry out his duties with no remorse, Ratchet refused to teach him to be a weapon of mass destruction and instead tried to instruct him to be an Autobot.

[[Image:TransWarped-Ratchetaltmode.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Ratchet's older than the wheel.]]

Upon winning the Great War against a massive Decepticon onslaught, Omega was damaged extensively and at risk of losing his Spark. Ratchet was able to put him into a modified stasis until he could repair the giant. Before going into stasis, Omega questioned how he could be an Autobot but destroy like a Decepticon. The best assurance Ratchet could offer was, "We do what we must, even though sometimes it doesn't make sense," and he coaxed the giant Autobot to rest. {{storylink|TransWarped}} Ratchet stayed with Omega after he'd been repurposed as a space bridge repair vessel. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}}

During a routine repair assignment with Optimus Prime's crew, Ratchet was with the group when they found the [[AllSpark]]. His first reaction upon seeing it was to urge the others to throw it through the space bridge. However, events soon overtook them when [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] arrived and tried to claim the AllSpark. The Autobots took their ship through the space bridge, where Prime defeated Megatron, and the crew was forced to go into stasis to avoid injury in a crash-landing on [[Earth]].

Awakening fifty years later, the Autobots went to help battle a renegade nanomachine construct, while Ratchet studied a specimen of the construct on the ship. Learning that it was vulnerable in its command centers, Ratchet sent a kill program to the Autobots to place in the monster. His program worked.

Ratchet had the most difficulty getting used to Earth's customs, as the humans kept interrupting his stasis naps to put parking tickets on him. {{storylink|Transform and Roll Out}} To make things more complicated, those annoying camera bots followed the Autobots everywhere. Always watching, waiting... {{storylink|Home Is Where the Spark Is}}

[[Image:TFA Thrill Hunt Ratchet Lockdown reunion.JPG|left|thumb|300px|Duh-nananana... waw ''waw'' waw.]]

To Ratchet's horrified disbelief, Lockdown appeared on Earth and captured Optimus Prime, intending to hand him over to the vengeful remaining Decepticons for the bounty offered against him. The Autobots attempted a rescue, with Ratchet initially absent due to haunting flashbacks over his last encounter with the bounty hunter. He was forced to intervene after Lockdown eliminated [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]], [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] and [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]]. Ratchet was able to free his commanding officer and retrieve his EMP device, using it to send [[Death's Head (Animated)|Lockdown's ship]] crashing back to Earth. After reinstalling Prime's stolen gadgets, the veteran finally opened up to the younger soldier. {{storylink|The Thrill of the Hunt}}

When the Decepticons [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] and [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] arrived on Earth, the Autobots were quickly bested by the duo. Prime realized that the AllSpark was no longer safe on the planet and decided that they should leave Earth and return to Cybertron. [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] was not pleased by this, but Ratchet's response was a gruff, "Grow up". When Optimus asked Sari to help, Ratchet was displeased with the thought of working with a "[[protoform]]", but Optimus silenced them by making it an order. Once aboard the Autobots' ship, Sari accidentally opened an airlock, nearly flooding the hold, then admitted that she had tried to sabotage the ship, not wanting them to leave. In a moment of empathy, Ratchet told her the Autobots didn't want to leave either, but they had to, or else the Decepticons would wipe out the humans, including Sari, and Ratchet couldn't live with himself if that happened. With the help of a now-willing Sari, Ratchet brought the ship's weapons back online, defeating Lugnut and Blitzwing. {{storylink|Lost and Found (episode)|Lost and Found}}

[[Image:Megatron Rising 1 Ratchet Blitzwing Key.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Hey! I'm still using that!]]
After receiving a report on increased Decepticon activity from [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Teletran-1]], Optimus ordered Ratchet to remove the [[AllSpark Key]] from Sari's possession forcibly, as it was no longer safe in the hands of a [[Human|dumb stubby]]. Ratchet was hesitant to take the object from the girl, but followed his superior's orders with a gruff, professional "Yessir." After Sari fled the base in tears, Optimus then told Ratchet to take the Key to the Autobots' ship, under [[Lake Erie]], in order to protect the [[AllSpark]] from the Decepticons. Unfortunately, the medibot was intercepted by Blitzwing and Lugnut, who demanded that he hand over the Key. He stoically refused, challenging them to take it from his "cold, offline servo." Icy Blitzwing complied by blasting Ratchet and the surrounding scenery with an ice beam. He switched to Random Blitzwing, made a smart remark, and wrenched the Key (and the arm holding it) from Ratchet.

Despite this handicap, the mechanic was able to break free from his icy prison, report the AllSpark Key's theft to Optimus, single-handedly bring the ship online (pun intended), and still participate later in the [[Megatron Rising - Part 2|final battle]] against [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] and his forces. {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 1}}

[[Image:Wreck-garisgoodforonlyonething.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Wreck-Gar wouldn't get off his lawn.]]

While helping to dispose of garbage in the city, Ratchet's crotchety attitude became such a problem that Optimus asked Sari and Bumblebee to help him work on developing a more positive attitude. His experience in helping a [[Spike Witwicky (Animated)|young]] [[Carly Witwicky (Animated)|couple]] who were in the process of making a protoform did not help with his attitude, and things got even worse when some trash-toting nuisance named [[Wreck-Gar (Animated)|Wreck-Gar]] came along, spouting that he was an Autobot. Telling the newly sentient [[Transformer]] that he was only good for garbage, Ratchet unwittingly inspired him to deliver garbage to the people of Detroit. Unfortunately, Wreck-Gar also had a sample of [[Sumdac Systems]]' new and improved nanobots, designed to disintegrate garbage. Fearing what the AllSpark-infused nanites might do, Ratchet apologized to Wreck-Gar, saying that the befuddled newcomer could be whatever he wanted, including a hero. Wreck-Gar did become a hero—after he vacuumed up the microbots, they exploded, causing Wreck-Gar to fall into the river. Ratchet assumed he was dead. When [[Porter C. Powell]] said that Ratchet had ruined his presentation, Ratchet forced him and [[Augustus Edsel|Mayor Edsel]] to make a compromise by threatening to have them join Wreck-Gar in the river. They came to an agreement, and Ratchet assumed that the bystanders were cheering for him, leaving him with the assumption that he ''did'' have people skills. {{storylink|Garbage In, Garbage Out}}

When there were reports of rampages coming from Dinobot Island, Ratchet loaned Prowl his EMP Generator as a just-in-case measure. When Prowl discovered that a spike was wedged into [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]]'s foot, Ratchet instructed him on how to use the EMP to remove it. Later, when Prowl decided to go off on his own after Starscream, Ratchet, along with Prime, told him to turn his shuttle around, but Prowl faked some static and cut the transmission, though Ratchet thought his fake static was less-convincing than Bumblebee's. Later, the Autobots managed to find Prowl, equipped with new Samurai armor, tied up in the middle of the street, and freed him. Ratchet blamed himself for the whole mess, as he was the one who loaned Prowl the EMP. The Autobots next encountered Clone [[Clone number 2716057|#2716057]], who tries to propose an alliance with them, but Prowl easily rejects the alliance and attacks the clone. During the fight, Prowl accidentally destroys a bird's nest, which snaps him back to reality, and causes him to realize that he doesn't need the armor, but he won't get rid of it until he captures Clone [[Clone number 3370318|#3370318]]. Ratchet and the other Autobots followed Prowl to a warehouse, where they discovered that the Starscream clones were armed with bombs, and watched Prowl use his armor to launch the clones into the sky, right into the flight path of the fleeing Decepticons. {{storylink|A Fistful of Energon}}

When Bulkhead was kidnapped by Megatron, Bumblebee brought Autobot intelligence agent [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] to the plant, who revealed that Megatron was building a space bridge to conquer Cybertron from within. Realizing they'd need more firepower, Prime ordered Ratchet and Sari to get the ship operational. Unfortunately, their efforts failed to get it back online. Running out of time, Ratchet decided that they'd need to perform open [[spark]] surgery. {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part I}}

After placing the remaining AllSpark fragments in the ship's spark core, Ratchet explained that the ship was once a living Autobot who sacrificed himself to help win the wars. Ratchet's gamble succeeded, and the ship was brought back to life. Getting it to the Decepticons' base, Ratchet and Sari provided enough power (and encouragement) to allow the ship to transform into [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]]. Omega defeated the Decepticons, but sacrificed himself to save the Autobots by being sucked into a blind space bridge portal. Once the Autobots escaped, Ratchet was left to mourn Omega Supreme a second time, but Bulkhead was optimistic that he was still alive, somewhere out in space.

Unfortunately, any effort to locate Omega Supreme was put on hold when Sari noticed that the skin of her right arm had been torn...revealing robotic circuitry underneath! {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part II}}

[[Image:TFAni TransWarped Ratchet Repairs Bumblebee.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Well, if the patient really wants to live, the surgeon never can do anything about it!]]
Because Sari was reluctant to submit to a full diagnostic, Ratchet was only allowed to perform the most basic scans on her. He was able to determine that Sari was part basically organic, but with Cybertronian circuitry. Following a period of no contact with Bulkhead and Bumblebee, who had traveled to the mine to salvage space bridge equipment to contact Cybertron, Ratchet went to check up and help them out. What he found was a damaged Bulkhead and no sign of Bumblebee. Bringing Bulkhead back to the plant, he then attempted to repair Bulkhead, only to have Sari's Key overshadow his medical expertise, leaving him feeling unappreciated. Soon afterward, a giant [[Rock Lord]] was transported to Detroit after Bulkhead tried to bring back a transwarping Bumblebee. Ratchet equipped his EMP generator, which he hadn't used since he won it back from Lockdown, to help his team take down the creature and rescue Bumblebee, only to witness a newly upgraded Sari defeat the monster and save her friend instead. However, the Key's power overwhelmed Sari and caused her robotic systems to go berserk, blowing up everything she touched and even accidentally attacking Bumblebee. Ratchet initially requested Sari's Key to help him save Bumblebee, but discovered it no longer had any power after Prowl retrieved it. Despite the setback, he managed to save Bumblebee from going offline without the Key's aid. When the others failed their attempts to stop Sari from exploding and save Detroit, Ratchet used his EMP generator to subdue her, even though he was unsure what the effects would have on a technorganic.

Afterward, he operated on Sari to subdue the extra AllSpark energy she had stored in her body. When Omega Supreme reappeared on Earth, Ratchet was shocked to discover that his old friend had been taken over by Starscream and Megatron. Forced to take action, Ratchet upgraded Bumblebee's stingers to a more powerful battle-grade mode, even though such a modification was illegal for non-combat bots. When Optimus ordered Ratchet to reverse Sari's operation in order to use her AllSpark energy against Omega Supreme, Ratchet refused and instead aided his teammates directly in the heat of battle. He tried reasoning with Omega to help the titan gain control of his body, but was afraid that he might have to use his EMP on his old friend. Omega was able to fight off Starscream's control long enough to insist that Ratchet use the EMP to let him sleep again, echoing Ratchet's own advice from the last time the medic had put him in stasis. However, despite Ratchet's new resolve, Starscream's Allspark-fragment-powered consciousness rendered him immune to the blast. Once Bumblebee and Optimus planted a [[plasma dynamic thruster]] to make Omega transwarp around space randomly, Ratchet saved the pair from falling to their deaths.
{{storylink|TransWarped}}

Later, when Wasp arrived on Earth, and attacked Bumblebee in the plant, Ratchet witnessed Bumblebee wake up from the attack colored like Wasp. Bumnblebee tried and failed to convince the Autobots that it was him, and when he failed, Ratchet prepared to arrest him. Bumblebee escaped as the Elite Guard arrived, and made it very clear that they were going to arrest Wasp. Optimus assigned Ratchet to go with him, and while looking for Wasp, they encountered [[Jetfire (Animated) |Jetfire]] and [[Jetstorm (Animated) |Jetstorm]], who were also going after the renegade Autobot. Assuming them to be Decepticons, Prime and Ratchet tracked the pair to a dark alley and attacked them. Their fight was interrupted by [[Sentinel Prime (Animated) |Sentinel Prime]], who revealed that Jetfire and Jetstorm were flying Autobots. Ratchet then proceeded to follow Sentinel, [[Jazz (Animated) |Jazz]], and Prime around the city, and responded to Jetstorm's call claiming that Bulkhead and Prowl are Wasp's "fellow-double-agents". Ratchet then witnessed the video-game face-off between Bumblebee and Wasp to determine who was who, and also witnessed Wasp threaten the real Bumblebee's life. When Wasp escaped, Ratchet was one of the many Autobots to run outside, where they found Bumblebee back in his original colors, and witnessed Sentinel finally accept [[Shockwave (Animated)|Longarm Prime]] was the REAL Decepticon traitor. {{storylink|Where Is Thy Sting?}}

[[Image:TFA Human Error Part 1 Automen.jpg|thumb|left|250px]]
On Christmas Eve, Ratchet was seriously doubting that Santa could deliver billions of presents in just one night, but Sari told him not to worry about it. Later, after drinking oil nog that Sari had made (which was altered by one of Soundwave's toys), Ratchet, along with the rest of the Autobots, suddenly felt very tired, and Ratchet was the first one to head off for a stasis-nap. What was even more mysterious was that, the next morning, the Autobots discover that they had been transformed into humans, and there was no rational explanation as to why. When Prime suggested that their minds had been implanted into the human bodies, Ratchet questioned where their Cybertronian bodies were. The Autobots then headed off to Sumdac Tower, and while they decided to stop at Burger-Bot for a bite to eat, they hear a noise outside, which turned out to be a Decepticon attack. Ratchet helped Optimus Prime get a woman out of a burning building, but was useless in trying to ward off Starscream, and when Optimus Prime's leg was broken, Ratchet was forced to help get him to a paramedic. The Autobots eventually got to Sumdac Tower (via City Bus), only to look up and see none other than...CYBERTRON! Not only that, but after the planet settled, Decepticons began to swarm down from it. Prime and Prowl figured out that none of it was happening, and that everything was fake, including the Deceptions. This established, the Autobots discovered that they could slag the Decepticons surprisingly easily. After they defeated the Decepticons, the Autobots managed to transform back into their Cybertronian forms, but just after that, they were attacked by a giant Soundwave. {{storylink|Human Error, Part I}}

After managing to escape the giant Soundwave, the Autobots were transformed back into humans, much to Ratchet's annoyance. When Bulkhead tried to escape the virtual reality by trashing the virtual city, Ratchet told him it didn't work that way, and that they needed to find Soundwave's interface, which just conveniently turned up at that point. The Autobots decided to follow the vehicle driving nearby vehicles which happened to match their respective vehicle modes only to find that driving wasn't as easy as it looked. Ratchet though disagreed, thought he was actually driving backwards (Nice one, Ratchet!). The Autobots eventually cornered the vehicle in a drive-in movie-theater parking-lot, but soon discovered that they had been lured into a trap, and were successfully reprogrammed by Soundwave. Ratchet's body later went up against Snarl, who defeated him by wrapping him up, immobilizing him. Afterward, Ratchet joined the Autobots in standing around and watching the Disposal Droids (and Wreck-Gar) clean up the city. {{storylink|Human Error, Part II}}

Later, as Ratchet attempted to calibrate Bulkhead's space bridge to locate Omega Supreme, the bridge powered up and sucked in a visiting [[Carmine Fanzone|Captain Fanzone]]. Seeing a potential problem in this turn of events, Ratchet followed him into the bridge and found himself back on Cybertron. At first overjoyed to be back home, Ratchet's mood soon soured when he discovered that his favorite watering hole, [[Maccadam's Old Oil House]], had been shut down, a victim of the paranoid reign of [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], who had been placed in charge of the planet following the near-fatal attack on Ultra Magnus by the Decepticon deep-cover agent, [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]. Just as Sentinel was in the middle of reprimanding Ratchet for bringing Fanzone to the planet, however, Omega Supreme made a sudden appearance in the skies overhead, his body now under the control of Megatron once more. Ratchet's refusal to support Sentinel's plan simply to blast Omega out of the sky left him branded a traitor, and he and Fanzone fled into Cybertron's underground tunnels, where they stumbled upon Shockwave's hideout. In the course of the brief battle that ensued, Ratchet discovered that Shockwave was in search of Arcee, intending to use the activation codes for Omega Supreme stored in her processor to wipe clean his mind and put all of his systems in Megatron's hands. With a little help from [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]], Ratchet and Fanzone were able to get to Arcee first, but alas, in the process, they unwittingly wound up leading Shockwave right to her. The pair battled again, and although Ratchet was able to recover Ultra Magnus's stolen [[Magnus Hammer]] from the Decepticon, he failed to prevent Shockwave from escaping with Arcee in his clutches. Despite Sentinel Prime's protestations, Ratchet brought the Magnus Hammer with him back to Earth. {{storylink|This Is Why I Hate Machines}}.

Upon the discovery that Megatron had control of Omega Supreme, Ratchet began to stress the fact that they needed to rescue him and Arcee from the Decepticons, and that they needed to use the Magnus Hammer to aid them in doing so. He was shocked when Prime asked him to build him a jetpack, stating that Autobots didn't fly. Though hesitant, Ratchet, along with Sari and Prof. Sumdac, proceeded to build Prime a jetpack that he could use to go up against Megatron. After the failure of the initial test of the jetpack, Ratchet added stabilizer wings to it, which gave Prime control when flying. Unfortunately, the flying Optimus Prime attracted the attention of [[Slipstream (Animated) |Slipstream]], who proceeded to shoot Prime out of the sky. Ratchet then simply repaired Prime, and just in time, as just then, the [[Lugnut Supreme]]s arrived on Earth {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}}

Ratchet was sent to the moon with Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Sari to take back Omega Supreme to stop the Lugnut Supreme drones. With advice from Sari, he was able to reactivate Arcee and in turn able to take control of Omega Supreme. After Starscream's plan came into action, he took Omega Supreme in to try and stop the "Starscream Supremes" from self-destructing, successfully taking down one but unable to take down the other. He was present with Optimus Prime on their return to Cybertron with the Decepticon prisoners, holding Prowl's casket with Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Jazz. {{storylink|Endgame, Part II}}

===''Be the Hero'' books===
{{Note|As the following stories are [[multipath adventure]]s, details will vary depending on the path taken. See individual pages for information on alternate paths.}}
====''Prime Suspect''====
After [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus]] saved a [[You|young human]] from being run down, Ratchet was stuck with checking the youngster over for injuries. When evidence was discovered at the scene of the crime Prime was accused of, he paid the Autobot ship a visit to conduct a scan, leading the Autobots to [[HomeTech]]'s main warehouse. Ratchet joined them there and helped them break in. He stayed out of the battle until the end, trapping [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] in a magnetic field and unraveling the Decepticon's plan. {{storylink|Prime Suspect}}
====''Quest for the AllSpark''====
When [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] took control of [[Detroit]]'s robot workforce in an attempt to find the [[AllSpark]], Ratchet and Prime came up with a daring plan to create false AllSparks and hide them in various locations. Ratchet took his to [[Paris]] to hide, and was attacked as soon as he set foot in [[France]]. After winning that fight, he returned to the Autobot base and beefed up the defences to prevent Megatron from ever gaining access to it, and ended up battling [[Crush-A]] with the rest of the Autobots. {{storylink|Quest for the AllSpark}}
====''Web of Deception''====
Ratchet and Optimus were in the Autobot ship at the bottom of [[Lake Erie]] when it was struck by a number of [[Sparkseeker]] missiles and Prime was abducted. Once he recovered, Ratchet was able to detect [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]]'s ship parked near [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]]. While the other younger bots went to rescue Prime, Ratchet stayed on board the ship and eventually detected the holotransmitter that [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] was using. He was able to track it back to its source and rescue Prime. {{storylink|Web of Deception}}
====''Time-Quake''====
When strange time effects began taking place across Detroit, Ratchet made special detectors to trace the source of the temporal energy. After Bulkhead and a human discovered the time machine that was causing the odd effects, Ratchet assisted in taking down the perpetrator. {{storylink|Time-Quake}}

===Titan Magazines===
He was the only person to realise the earthquakes plaguing Detroit couldn't be natural as it wasn't on a fault-line. He got to zap the villain responsible, [[Quake-Maker]], once everyone else had done all the hard work. {{storylink|Burnout}}

Ratchet oversaw a mission to Dinobot Island with Sari, Bumblebee and [[Afterburn]], to investigate a Rage virus infection in the Dinobots. Soon after landing, the group were jumped by [[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]] and Ratchet was soon pinned; luckily, Sari reminded him of the magnetic powers he uses all the time, and he was able to get Snarl off.

The Dinobot had stolen his spare oil thermos in the process though and, wanting to see if Afterburn was really up to joining them, lied to his friends and told them a vital component had been ripped out and ''he was dying''. They risked their lives getting the thermos back on top of curing the Dinobots, and after hearing why they'd been made to do it, Afterburn shook Ratchet's hand for being an emotionally manipulative bastard. {{storylink|Ratchet & Grimlock Are DEAD?|Ratchet & Grimlock Are DEAD?}}

===''The Cool'' comic===
[[Image:TheCoolRatchetExplosion01.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Run, Bumblebee! The Japanese sound effects are exploding!]]

Witnessing the mysterious Allspark being uncovered, Ratchet along with the rest of Optimus Prime's crew fled through a space bridge gate in order to keep the artifact out of Decepticon clutches. Unfortunately, Megatron was able to board their ship and left Ratchet defeated on the floor, leaving Optimus to deal with the Decepticon leader by himself. {{storylink|The Cool Extra issue 3|The Cool Extra #3}}

Ratchet was among the Autobots who traveled to the [[Earth]] city of [[Detroit]] in order to protect the [[AllSpark#Animated|AllSpark]] from the Decepticons. When [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]], [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] and [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] attacked, Ratchet joined in the fray, pitting his magnet pincers against Lockdown with the aid of [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]]'s stingers. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 1}}

The Autobots were unable to prevent Starscream from seizing the AllSpark, however, and Ratchet was helpless to defend himself from Starscream's AllSpark-powered aerial attacks. When [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] died stopping Starscream, and was subsequently revived by the power of [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]]'s [[AllSpark Key|key]], Ratchet was the first to greet him (and tell him he was dead for a minute). {{storylink|The Cool Episode 2}}

Ratchet later took part in defending [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]] from a Decepticon raid. Ratchet expressed displeasure at [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]]'s aerial bombardments, not thinking the Autobots could hold out much longer. Once the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobot]]s saved the day, however, he saw them off along with the rest of the Autobots. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 3}}

Ratchet was present at [[Sumdac Systems]] headquarters when Megatron was reborn. Megatron blasted Ratchet away with his [[fusion cannon]] easily, though Ratchet survived the fight. He later joined in greeting the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]] to Earth. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 5}}

Ratchet later joined the Autobots in a battle against [[Clone number 2716057|Clone #2716057]]. Though Prowl defeated the clone, Ratchet berated his comrade for destroying an entire park in the process. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 6}}

Along with [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]], Ratchet piloted the ''[[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Orion]]'' toward the battle for the Decepticon [[Space bridge#Animated cartoon|Space Bridge]]. Intensely, Ratchet urged his comrades to hold out long enough for him to arrive.{{storylink|The Cool Episode 7}}

They arrived in time and Ratchet immediately activated Code Omega and transformed the ''Orion'' into his old friend, [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]]. Omega vanquished the army of [[Starscream clone (Animated)|Starscream clones]] then chose to sacrifice himself to stop the overloaded Space Bridge. Ratchet pleaded with his old friend not to do it, as they'd only just been reunited. Omega thanked Ratchet for everything and then vanished in the vortex. After the battle, Ratchet solemnly bid his departed friend farewell. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 8}}

When Ratchet returned to Cybertron to oversea Ultra Magnus's recovery, the Autobot leader believing himself on his death-bed, requested that Ratchet let Optimus know that unto him the Magnus Hammer would be passed on. Ratchet was to deliver the hammer to him and let Optimus know that he was to rejoin the Elite Guard, having been dismissed from it cruelly. Ratchet nonetheless insisted that Ultra Magnus should tell this to Optimus himself, but the moment was interrupted by another assassination attempt from Shockwave! The Decepticon spy was nonetheless defeated through a combination of Ratchet using his magnetic powers to pummel him with the Magnus Hammer, and Ultra Magnus activating the hammer's electrical powers at a key moment, frying Shcokwave dead. Upon his return to Earth, Ratchet informed Optimus that it was now the time to put the hammer in Optimus's possession to good use against their Decepticon enemies. {{storylink|The Cool Extra issue 1|The Cool Extra #1}}

When Starscream attacked Detroit in Omega Supreme's body, Ratchet expressed shock at the sight of seeing his friend alive. Prowl was quick to point out to him that Omega was merely a puppet of Starscream's. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 9}}

Upon Megatron's defeat, Ratchet accompanied the rest of the Autobots back to planet [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], where they were all hailed as heroes by the citizenry and even [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel]]. {{storylink|The Cool Episode Final}}

==Games==
===Transformers Animated: The Game===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Corey Burton]] (English)
[[Image:TFAnimated Game Ratchet.jpg|thumb|left|134px|"Darn it, my shoulder kibble fell off again."]]
Ratchet took up the task of giving hints to Optimus, Bumblebee and Bulkhead as they tried out an obstacle course. He picked up a Decepticon signal, which turned out to be a [[Decepticon Transmitter Drone]]. After [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] retrieved the drone, Ratchet was able to use it to intercept some Decepticon transmissions indicating that [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] was planning to make a move on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. He attempted to contact [[Cybertron Command]] to warn them, only to find the communication network was down. Ratchet rigged the transmitter drone to return to base, so the Autobots could track it back to the hidden Decepticon lair, but it escaped before they could do so. Once Optimus located the base, Ratchet sent the Teletran-1 probe to act as a temporary repair drone. After Optimus's team returned triumphant from Cybertron, Ratchet wondered if Optimus's processor needed looking at, as their leader had turned down a position in the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]]. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The Game}}
{{--}}

==Toys==
===Animated===
[[Image:Ratchetanimatedeluxe.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Gut doesn't fold down as well as it used to...]]
*'''Autobot Ratchet''' (Deluxe, 2008)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''TA-04'''
**''Accessories'': Hammer, wrench, screwdriver, can opener

: First shipping in Wave 2, Ratchet transforms into a stylized ambulance. In robot mode, his "magnets" are simulated by spring-loaded pieces in the underside of his forearms that flip up through his open hands. He also features a veritable arsenal of fixit tools that attach to the undeployed magnets to simulate him holding them, so you too can experience the glee of having the old coot savagely beat someone with a servo-wrench. These tools can store in his backpack in robot mode, but cannot be stored in his vehicle mode.

: The "war wound" on his left forearm is actually a socket into which one may peg the EMP generator included with the deluxe [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] toy. Early releases of the Ratchet toy had the peg slightly too long, forcing the EMP to pop out of the socket. Later releases (basically most everything beyond the original "test market" release) had a shorter peg, allowing the EMP to clip in just fine.

: The original instruction sheet for this toy has an error in step 5, where it depicted the front wheels as staying immobile (i.e., the visible wheel isn't tinted orange), whereas in fact they are part of the front bumper assembly, and swing back in that step along with the bumper.

: This toy would later be [[redeco]]ed to make [[Ratchet (Animated)#Rescue|Rescue Ratchet]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Autobot/Ratchet/ratchet.htm More information on Deluxe Ratchet at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|BumperBattler}}
[[Image:BumperBattlers Ratchet toy.JPG|right|300px|thumb|It's just ''water retention, DAMN IT!'']]
*'''Autobot Ratchet''' (Bumper Battlers, 2008)

: An even ''more'' simplified version of Ratchet, the [[Bumper Battlers]] version also features a spring-loaded transformation from ambulance to robot. However, in this instance, when the front bumper of the ambulance mode is pushed in, the spring-loaded roof/sides of the vehicle flip up to reveal a relief of Ratchet's robot mode (complete with magnet-clamps), as well as activating electronic sound effects.

: Pressing his Autobot sigil activates numerous randomly-selected sound effects and original voice samples, including a very disturbing laugh.

{{-}}{{anchor|McD}}
[[Image:Animated happymeal ratchet.jpg|right|300px|thumb|The only toy version of Ratchet without a paunch and he's used to sell transfat-laden fast-food.]]
*'''Autobot Ratchet''' (McDonald's Happy Meal Toy, 2008)
**''McNumber'': Week 5

: A simple version of Ratchet with a very basic transformation sequence, this toy was (naturally) part of the McDonald's ''Transformers Animated'' Happy Meal promotion.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Autobot/McRatchet/ratchet.htm More information on McDonald's Ratchet at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|Activator}}
[[Image:Ratchetanimatedactivators.jpg|right|300px|thumb|The Grampulance.]]
*'''Autobot Ratchet''' (Activators, 2008)

: A smaller, simpler version of Ratchet, the [[Activators]] Ratchet toy has a spring-loaded [[autotransformation]] [[gimmick]] that springs him from ambulance mode to robot mode in one easy step.

: Pre-release samples of the toy (used for the stock photography seen on the packaging and in online solicitations) show Activators Ratchet to have an unbroken right crest on his head, contrary to his [[character model]]. The final released version of the toy has the broken crest as he should.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Autobot/ActRatchet/ratchet.htm More information on Activators Ratchet at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|AnimatedSuperCollection}}
*'''Animated Super Collection Vol. 1''' (multipack, 2010)

: Released in October 2010 in Japan, the "Animated Super Collection Vol. 1" giftset contained slight redecos of Activators Ratchet, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]], [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] and [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]].

{{-}}{{anchor|Rescue}}
[[Image:Animated-toy_RescueRatchet.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Lemony-fresh goodness!]]
*'''Rescue Ratchet''' (Multi-pack, 2008)
**''Accessories'': Hammer, wrench, screwdriver, can opener

: A Target-[[exclusive]] [[redeco]] of Deluxe Ratchet in a yellow and light gray. The photo of the toy on the back of the packaging shows a fairly obvious [[homage]] to the [[Movie (franchise)|live-action movie]] incarnation of [[Ratchet (Movie)|Ratchet]], with bright green instead of yellow and movie-inspired zig-zagged stripes, but the toy-as-released is in yellow, using the same tampos as the original ''Animated'' deluxe. He comes in a set with two [[Legends Class|Legends-class]] figures, [[Prowl (Animated)#RescueRatchet|Prowl]] and [[Starscream (Animated)#RescueRatchet|Starscream]]. He retains all of his original toy's [[Gimmick|gimmickry]], and features metallic paint on his front bumper. The hinged clip portion of his tools are cast in the same color plastic as he is, to prevent accessory cross-contamination with the original deluxe toy.

: His "magnets" are ''also'' cast in the same yellow plastic, making him look like an aye-aye.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Autobot/RescueRatchet/ratchet.htm More information on Rescue Ratchet at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|VsSunstorm}}
*'''Sunstorm VS Autobot Ratchet''' (multipack, 2009)

: Activators Ratchet was packaged with Voyager [[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]] in a Target-exclusive multipack. There are no notable differences between this and the original individual release of the toy.

{{-}}{{anchor|BumperBattler2}}
[[Image:CanceledBBAniRatchet.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Thank you for dialing WHINE-one-one. If you hold the line, a WAAAAAAAAAHmbulance will be over shortly.]]
*'''Autobot Ratchet''' (Bumper Battlers, <strike>2009</strike>)

:A [[redeco]] of Bumper Battlers Ratchet was evidently planned, as the instruction sheet for it made its way to Hasbro.com's instruction archive. As the instructions reuse the packaging art from the Target-exclusive Rescue Ratchet (see above), it was presumably going to share its color scheme.

{{canceledtoy}}

{{-}}{{anchor|Cybertron}}
*'''Cybertron Mode Ratchet''' (Deluxe, 2010)
**''Accessories'': Two shock paddles
[[Image:Animatedtoy-RatchetCybertronMode.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Just take the slaggin' EMP, Lockdown. It doesn't stay in anyway.]]

: Cybertron Mode Ratchet is an entirely new mold based upon his pre-Earth form seen in many flashbacks, particularly when he was younger. (Lockdown's EMP weapon is required to complete the look, though half of the owners report that it doesn't stay in very well, while the other half oddly reports it to fit on this figure better than it does on any other figure.) He comes with two "shock paddles" which peg over his fists, and his right fist punches forward when a tab on his elbow is pushed. The "shock paddles" plug into the rear of his vehicle mode.

: Cybertron Mode Ratchet is exclusive to Toys"R"Us, along with Arcee.

: The sprues for this mold included heads for both Ratchet and [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]], a later release in a new deco. It was later [[retool]]ed to make the [[BotCon 2011]]-exclusive [[Ironfist (Animated)|Fisitron]] and [[Autotrooper (Animated)|Autotrooper]] toys.

{{-}}
[[Image:Takara animatedratchet.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Pimp My Ride: Detroit EMS Edition]]
*'''Autobot Medic Ratchet''' (Deluxe, 2010)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''TA-04'''
**''Accessories'': Hammer, wrench, screwdriver, can opener

: The [[TakaraTomy]] ''Animated'' Ratchet uses the same mold and comes with the same accessories as the [[Hasbro]] release, but features a shinier paint job. Ratchet's hood, roof, and legs are painted in a metallic red, and the non-metallic red paint apps are considerably glossier than the Hasbro toy. The toy is cast in a lighter, off-white plastic instead of gray, and also possesses a full-color Autobot symbol.

: Included in the packaging are an instruction booklet, a collectible trading card, and a brochure highlighting many other quality products on which you can spend your hard-earned cash.

{{-}}
[[Image:Takara animated ratchetcybertronmode.jpg|right|300px|thumb]]
*'''Autobot Medic Ratchet Cybertronmode''' (Deluxe, August 2010)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''TA-40'''
**''Accessories'': two "shock paddles"

: Continuing the metallic theme, TakaraTomy's version of "Cybertron Mode" Ratchet uses the same mold as Hasbro and has a shiny crimson paint job and full-color symbol to match TA-04. Included in the package in addition to the usual trading card and instruction booklet, is an "Autobot Database" pamphlet, which contains information about the character squeezed into the spaces between advertisements for other toys.

{{-}}

==Merchandise==
===Animated===
{{anchor|TakaraKeychain}}
[[Image:Animated ratchet keychain.jpg|right|200px|thumb|I caught my fancy in my zipper once. Eee-ouch.]]
*'''Autobot Medic Ratchet''' (Key chain, 2010)
:Key chain Ratchet is an adorable, brightly painted, tiny figure of robot mode Ratchet in a super-deformed visual style. He includes a ball chain to attach him to your keys, rear-view mirror, or anywhere else that might catch your fancy.
{{-}}

==Notes==
* The Autobot medical officer was originally conceived as a female robot named [[Red Alert (Animated)|Red Alert]].[http://tformers.com/transformers-interview-transformers-animated/8992/news.html] Even after it was decided to make the character male later in development, he retained the name "Red Alert" until executive producer [[Sam Register]] was able to convince Hasbro that "Ratchet" was a more identifable name for the character. Because of this, Ratchet's final design carries influences from various [[Red Alert (disambiguation)|Red Alert]] incarnations. In particular, [[Derrick J. Wyatt|Derrick Wyatt]] was inspired by the box art for [[Red Alert (G1)|G1 Red Alert]]'s ''[[:Image:BTAAlert toy.jpg|Binaltech Asterisk]]'' incarnation. [http://community.livejournal.com/tf_animated/271043.html#cutid1]
* The "war wound" on his left arm (seen in his main picture, above) was briefly gone after "The Thrill of the Hunt", apparently representing the replacement of his arm-mounted EMP generator. However, it has since returned in several instances. The "real world" reason is probably the animators sticking to the original animation model. Within story context, he apparently didn't carry the EMP generator around as standard until "[[TransWarped]]", when Prowl (who borrowed it [[A Fistful of Energon|once before]]) notes that he hadn't "taken it into battle since [he] got it back from Lockdown." It later emerges ''from'' the wound in "[[Endgame, Part II]]".
* There is a potential contradiction between "[[The Thrill of the Hunt]]" and "[['Bots of Science]]", as both stories depict Ratchet's right-hand chevron being broken off - by Lockdown's haymaker in the former and Oil Slick's roundhouse in the latter. This could be a continuity error, or it could be the case that Ratchet had his chevron broken on one occasion, repaired it, and then after it was broken a ''second'' time he allowed it to remain broken. It would certainly appear that the comic story took place before the Lockdown encounter, since Ratchet still has his EMP generator in ''Bots of Science''. Curiously though, Ratchet's chevron is shown to already have some kind of crack or weld-line running across it prior to Oil Slick's kick, which could indicate that it was already on the verge of breaking.
* The toys of ''Animated'' Ratchet, [[Ratchet (G1)|Generation 1 Ratchet]] and [[Ratchet (Movie)|Movie Ratchet]] are caught in a web of cross-referencing [[Redeco|redecos]]:
** In 2008, the original Generation 1 Ratchet mold got a green redeco as "Ratchet Emergency Green" in obvious reference to his yellowy-green [[Ratchet (Movie)|movie cousin]].
** About the same time, two of movie Ratchet's toys got a red and white ambulance redeco as "Rescue Ratchet" to ape [[Ratchet (G1)|Generation 1 Ratchet]].
** ''Animated'' Ratchet, his original design already referencing both predecessors with Generation 1 Ratchet's chevron and coloring and movie Ratchet's squiggly EEG symbol, had a further homage to the latter with a yellow redeco as (another) "Rescue Ratchet". You'd think they'd all be too busy patching up wounded 'bots to get so much personal detailing done.
* He can pinch with his magnet-clamps.
* He has microscope lenses which can be activated in either eye.
* His windshield chest can act as an image projector in robot mode.{{storylink|This Is Why I Hate Machines}}
* In the Japanese dub, he apparently speaks with a [[Wikipedia:Kagoshima|Kagoshima]] dialect.
* Seriously, he's not [[Kup (Animated)|Kup]].
* Ratchet wears the [[256-OZU-004]] body-type.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Ratchet''' (ラチェット ''Rachetto'')
*''Russian:'' '''Chrapovick''' (Храповик, "Ratchet")

==External links==
* [http://www.tfu.info/2008/Autobot/Ratchet/ratchet.htm Ratchet at TFU.info]

[[Category:Animated Autobots]]
[[Category:Fast food exclusives]]
[[Category:Hall of Fame]]
[[Category:Medics]]
[[Category:Elderly Transformers]]

Megatron (Animated)

2012-07-15T08:44:45Z

118.209.252.155: /* Toys */

{{factions|decepticon|hofsilver}}{{disambig3|Megatron}}
:''Megatron is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:Megatronanimated.jpg|300px|thumb|An insult to G1, we swear!]]
If you were to ask '''Megatron''' to describe himself in one word, he'd probably go with "heroic". He sees himself as a freedom fighter, [[Decepticon leader#Animated|leading]] the Decepticons out of the days of "[[Autobot]] tyranny". The fact he's hoping to replace that with Decepticon tyranny isn't really a concern. A fanatic at [[spark]], he revels in every Autobot who suffers at Decepticon hands and doesn't register humans as anything more than "collateral damage."

Megatron demands loyalty from the Decepticons, loyalty he gains by his awe-inspiring power. With the combined threat of a sharp mind, his [[fusion cannon]], a pair of deadly swords and simple brute strength, there aren't many who'd dare cross him. Still, he has no problem manhandling troops as a gentle reminder.

The loss of his body and former power was only a minor setback for him, as Megatron proved a master manipulator. He effortlessly duped [[Isaac Sumdac]] into helping him—and once Megatron was restored to full power, he turned the tables on his old captor.

He is extremely intolerant of treachery and deals with [[Starscream (Animated)|said treacherous bots]] with a vicious no-nonsense efficiency, [[Megatron (G1)|unlike other Decepticon leaders]]. He is also a shrewd strategist who effortlessly [[Scrapper (Animated)|wraps]] [[Mixmaster (Animated)|others]] around his fingers.

{{bigquote|Decepticons... ''transform and rise up!''|Megatron puts a new twist on [[Roll out|an old saying]]|"[[Megatron Rising - Part 2]]"}}

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
{{Idw-tfa}}
:''Voice actor:'' [[Corey Burton]] (English), [[Norio Wakamoto]] (Japanese), [[Jan Spitzer]] (German), [[Mirosław Neinert]] (Polish), [[Raffaele Farina]] (Italian), [[Afonso Amajones]] (Portuguese), [[Mario Santander]] (Latin American Spanish, season 1 and 2), [[Alexander Páez]] (Latin American Spanish, season 3), [[Song Junseok]] (Korean)

[[Image:Megatron Cybertron.jpg|left|thumb|Pointier than thou.]]
''Eons ago, Megatron overthrew the [[Decepticon|Decepticon]] leader [[Megazarak (Animated)|Megazarak]] and took control of the faction for himself. He gave speeches and wrote manifestos calling for the Decepticons to rise up and take control of both Cybertron and the [[AllSpark]] from the Autobots. Finally, on the [[Cycle of Infamy]], he took the Decepticons from mere rhetoric to outright war.''

''The Decepticons overran Autobot space but the Autobots under [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] had one major advantage—[[space bridge]] technology, which allowed them to move about the galaxy more easily. The Decepticon advance ground to a halt.'' {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II}} However, Megatron's forces continued to fight on until the Autobots sent the AllSpark through the space bridge to random coordinates. Realizing that the AllSpark was the key to defeating the Autobots, Megatron abandoned the Cybertron theater and began searching the galaxy aboard his massive flagship, the ''[[Nemesis (Animated)|Nemesis]]''. {{storylink|Transform and Roll Out}} ''With the war going badly after this, Megatron tried a last-ditch attempt with the [[False Calm]] and sent his troops at sub-light speeds to Cybertron. During the [[Battle for Iacon]], Megatron destroyed [[Gamma Supreme]]. Ultimately, the attack failed and the Decepticons were finally forced to agree to an armistice and exile.'' {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II}}

[[Image:TFA TARO Decepticons attention.JPG|175px|thumb|He's not planning on shaking Prime's hand...he's going to tear it off.]] However, Megatron continued to search for the AllSpark. Four million years later, the ''Nemesis's'' crew discovered a [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|small Autobot repair vessel]] after detecting the AllSpark. When [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] volunteered to attack, Megatron saw his ambitions all too clearly, and pointedly remarked that he wasn't about to let four million solar cycles of searching for the AllSpark end with Starscream getting his greasy wings on it. No, Megatron would strike the Autobot ship and take the AllSpark himself. Just prior to his departure, Starscream approached him again, ostensibly to wish him luck, but actually to place an overload device on his leader's back. This device went off just as Megatron's fusion cannon was about to breach the hull of the Autobots' ship. The Autobot crew managed to steer the now-failing ship through an asteroid field and into a nearby [[space bridge]].

With the ship now plummeting through the Earth's atmosphere, a wounded Megatron still managed to thrash the crew soundly and nearly claimed the AllSpark. Quick thinking on the part of [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] sent the Decepticon leader out the cargo hatch and into free fall. Megatron [[Megatron (Movie)|fell from the sky]] and crashed in Paw Paw, Michigan, where his head (and later, a hand) was found by a young [[Isaac Sumdac]].

Over the next fifty years, Sumdac built a robotics empire by reverse-engineering Megatron's components, while, Megatron's inert head remained secretly in Sumdac's private lab, the source of the human's engineering genius and also a secret shame. Megatron's severed hand was there as well, used by Sumdac as a piece of furniture. {{storylink|Transform and Roll Out}}

[[Image:AniMegsHead-TransformAndRollout.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Hey Megatron, don't lose your... oh.]]
After the Autobots re-awoke, [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] used her [[AllSpark Key]] to sneak into her father's lab. He stopped her from seeing anything it contained, but the AllSpark energy from the Key was absorbed by Megatron's head, reawakening his spark and bringing him back online. Confused and disoriented, he automatically brought up video footage of Starscream and the Autobots, footage in which Starscream admitted to his treachery. Furious both at Starscream's betrayal and the fact he didn't have the hands to reach out and take the AllSpark which was finally within his grasp, he released a burst of energy which activated a small drone Dr. Sumdac had been working on. Megatron thus realized he could control the extremely primitive (by his standards) technology around him. Learning Sari was going to spend the night at the Autobot base, he secreted his drone into her backpack. Once she arrived, Megatron sent the drone to look for the AllSpark, but his search was fruitless. He decided to try a simpler method: Kill the Autobots and extract the data from their lifeless corpses. Interfacing with the factory's assembly line, he attacked. As the Autobots fought back, he decided to cut out the middleman and knocked a hole in a fuel tank. [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] realized the factory was working via motion sensors and managed to get close to the control panel. To counter him, Megatron simply took over the factory arms and snatched up Prowl. However, he failed to stop [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]], due to the primitive tools he was forced to use. With his plans foiled, Megatron was out of patience, refusing to work through these worthless proxy machines. He needed a body, which meant it was time to provide some more advanced technology to Sumdac... {{storylink|Home Is Where the Spark Is}}

Megatron soon revealed to Isaac that he still functioned and, when Isaac guessed he was a friend of the Autobots, Megatron played along. He persuaded Isaac to keep his existence secret until Isaac had built him a new body, as then the Autobots would be more forgiving of how Isaac had reverse-engineered their friend. Megatron then helped construct the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]], deliberately programming them to go on a rampage and building fire-breath into them as a prototype for a planned army of drones. When they were defeated, Megatron despaired he might never gain a new body, but upon discovering they'd been turned into sentient Transformers, he quickly convinced them that cars, trucks and "[[Autobot|car robots]]" were evil beings that ate the fossil fuels supposedly derived from dinosaurs.

During their second rampage, Isaac realized Megatron had deliberately built weapons into the Dinobots. The tyrant feigned shame, saying he'd added experimental features out of a desire to have a body again. Isaac promised not to tell the Autobots and that Megatron would have a body again one day... {{storylink|Blast from the Past}}

[[Image:TFA Nanosec Sumdac Megatron chill.JPG|right|200px|thumb|Rub it in, why don't you?]]
Soon, Dr. Sumdac began attempting to build him some new servos, but these proved inadequate. Megatron revealed that his body would need [[Destronium]] to work, but Isaac responded there was only a small amount available and that it would have to be delivered across town in less than 10 minutes or it would become unstable. Taking notice of an experimental turbo suit Sumdac's labs were developing (with flaws that possibly precluded Isaac considering it as a solution), Megatron manipulated computer systems so the suit was delivered to small-time hood [[Nanosec|Nino Sexton]]. Once Sexton began using the suit to commit crimes too quickly to be stopped, Megatron contacted him with an offer of much money out of Dr. Sumdac's private account if Sexton used the suit to steal and deliver the Destronium. Between Autobot interference and the suit aging him prematurely, Sexton failed. Worse, the Destronium was energized to a critical level, risking an explosion that would destroy [[Detroit]]. The Autobots barely managed to send the Destronium sample into the upper atmosphere before it exploded, and they were left to wonder why a human had tried to steal it in the first place. {{storylink|Nanosec (episode)|Nanosec}}

After Megatron learned of the power of Sari's AllSpark Key and the careless nature in which she used it, he attempted to trick her into assisting him. He designed [[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]], a musical toy that was secretly meant to grow more powerful every time Sari used the Key upon it, until eventually it would be a suitable robotic body for Megatron himself. When the Key instead brought Soundwave to independent life, Megatron changed his plan and, with convincing logic, recruited Soundwave as a Decepticon warrior. {{storylink|Sound and Fury}}

When [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] and [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] arrived on Earth, Megatron, remembering Starscream's betrayal, was hesitant to act. After witnessing a battle between his soldiers and the Autobots, Megatron concluded that Blitzwing was too unstable, but Lugnut was genuinely loyal. He contacted Lugnut only, instructing him to locate the AllSpark, which would help restore him. Later, he also informed Lugnut about the Key. Unfortunately, Lugnut and Blitzwing were defeated and damaged by the Autobots, severing Lugnut's link with Megatron—and Megatron's only link to the outside world. {{storylink|Lost and Found (episode)|Lost and Found}}

[[Image:Sumdac megatron%27s body.jpg|200px|left|thumb|Yeah, it's a fixer-upper.]]
Although Megatron himself was not mentally involved, his headless body was infected with [[space barnacle]]s, causing the barnacles to mutate into a semi-sentient form. After absorbing two mining bots and attacking a [[Sparkplug (Animated human)|miner]], it was defeated by Bumblebee and Prowl. Later, the body was discovered (minus space barnacles) by Isaac Sumdac and most likely brought back to his laboratory. Sumdac remarked that Megatron would be ''very'' pleased with the find... {{storylink|Nature Calls}}

[[Image:MegRisingRebuilt.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Don't call it a comeback; I've been here for years.]] Sumdac attempted to rebuild Megatron, but progress was slowed by a power failure. Frustrated, Megatron again contacted Lugnut and ordered him to bring him the AllSpark Key. This communication triggered Starscream's curiosity, and the treacherous jet located Megatron. Starscream didn't have time to <s>finish his speech</s> slay Megatron before he was distracted by the Autobots—and Megatron used that distraction to take Starscream by surprise and eject him from the lab. When Blitzwing and Lugnut arrived with the Key, Megatron revealed his true identity to his human "friend". Sumdac, seized by the mechanical hand he had so long used as a chair, could only watch and wail in horror as the Decepticon tyrant used the power of the AllSpark to reconstruct himself, more powerful than ever. Finally restored, he burst through the roof of [[Sumdac Tower]], to the horror of the Autobots and Starscream, ready to unleash his vengeance on all of them. {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 1}}

[[Image:PayThePiper.JPG|200px|left|thumb|"Will anyone else attempt to fill his shoes?"]] Megatron's revenge was quick and brutal. Trashing the Autobots in short order, he called his Decepticons to him. As Starscream bootlicked, Megatron powered up his fusion cannon to destroy the one responsible for his defeat—then used the AllSpark Key to send a painful power surge through Starscream, extinguishing the traitor's spark and reinforcing his authority over Blitzwing and Lugnut. He commanded them to "transform and rise up," and the three Decepticons took to the sky, using the Key to track the AllSpark.

[[Image:Megatron Rising 2 All Spark Megs boom.jpg|right|200px|thumb|This is not good...]] Finding it aboard the Autobots' ship, the Decepticons caused the ship to crash on [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]], where Megatron proceeded to beat the [[Slag (slang)|slag]] out of Optimus Prime. Getting into the ship, Megatron removed the AllSpark from its casing and placed it in his chest, preparing to devastate Earth before conquering Cybertron. However, Professor Sumdac used his knowledge of Megatron's circuitry to disrupt his equilibrium sensors, causing Megatron to drop the AllSpark Key. Optimus Prime used the Key to force a surge of power through the AllSpark within Megatron, causing it to explode and disperse its energy.

And yet, it was not a total loss for Megatron; despite the damage, he escaped and managed to abduct Sumdac. Once again, their fates were intertwined, only this time Sumdac was Megatron's prisoner. {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 2}}

Establishing a base deep underground in a mine, Megatron quickly adjusted his plans after the loss of the AllSpark. During his battle aboard the Autobot ship, he had managed to download a partial [[space bridge]] schematic from their computers. He planned to use the space bridge to teleport himself, Lugnut, and Blitzwing to Cybertron, then conquer the planet from within. To facilitate this plan, Megatron used the captive Professor Sumdac to reverse-engineer the space bridge and fill in the "gaps" within the schematics. However, when a service bot suddenly malfunctioned, it was revealed that a shard of the AllSpark was embedded within it. This gave Megatron hope that the AllSpark was not destroyed, but dispersed throughout the city of Detroit. {{storylink|The Elite Guard}}

[[Image:Swordscream.JPG|200px|left|thumb|Yes, Starscream, and we'll keep doing it until you get it right!]]
Finding out about the AllSpark fragments, however, didn't seem to result in any changes in his plans. Megatron received word from a spy that the Decepticons had begun making random assaults on the Autobots. He realized that they needed to make a concentrated effort in order to secure his victory. He had Lugnut and Blitzwing steal a tachyon transmitter from the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]] so he could send his message, but was interrupted during his transmission by a revived Starscream. After quickly beating him to a pulp, Megatron relayed his commands to the spacefaring 'Cons, only to be repeatedly attacked by a seemingly invincible Starscream. The renegade even attempted to draw Megatron out with an AllSpark fragment. Megatron emerged victorious every time and was informed by his spy that all was going as planned: With his [[Decepticon Uprisings|forces now drawing the Autobots away from Cybertron]], Megatron could attack a weakened Cybertron from within as soon as his space bridge was completed. {{storylink|Mission Accomplished}}

Later, while at the Decepticon base, Lugnut detected an AllSpark energy signal emanating from Detroit. Megatron quickly dispatched Lugnut to retrieve the AllSpark shard before the Autobots could. Lugnut proceeded to praise his master's "grand and glorious plan", but Megatron, fed up with the adulation to the point of involuntary optic-twitching, curtly commanded his enforcer to get going. {{storylink|Garbage In, Garbage Out}}

[[Image:RiseoftheConstructicons-Megatron%27sprivateblend.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Gentlemen, to evil.]]
When Lugnut and Blitzwing brought the [[Constructicon (Animated)|Constructobots]] back to base, Megatron saw the advantage of keeping them alive, and he invited them to have a look at his space bridge schematics. Impressed by their knowledge, he decided to put them to work stealing supplies. After an encounter with [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]], the Constructobots became convinced of "the funny guy's" less-than-noble intentions, and they returned to the mine to confront him. Megatron calmly slammed them both against a rock face and asked them to explain. He feigned shock and brought them in to discuss things over his own private oil blend. Megatron showed himself to be a bit of an oil connoisseur, possessing stylish little goblets for it made of twisted oil drums, as well as a secret stash of top-quality oil and a chamber to drink it in. Megatron spoke of the glories they could achieve as Constructicons: the adulation, the statues in their honor...the barrels of oil they could down. Ever the shrewd worker, it didn't take much for him to convince them to join up, and he promptly sent them to the Autobot base to retrieve the AllSpark fragments. {{storylink|Rise of the Constructicons}}

[[Image:Rise Constructicons Megatron what.jpg|200px|left|thumb|Constructicons say WHAAAAAT?]]
When Starscream escaped from the Elite Guard's ship, Megatron received [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]]'s alert to the Autobots thanks to the stolen tachyon transmitter. Megatron had placed a bounty on the traitor, and [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] (with the unknowing aid of Prowl) pretty much took the opportunity to bring him to the Decepticon leader. Lockdown contacted Megatron to confirm that he had captured a purple-ish "Starscream" (who was acting quite odd and cowardly) and agreed to meet at an abandoned warehouse for the exchange. As "Starscream" was brought to Megatron, Prowl, who was hiding on a rafter high above, accidentally scuffed a small bolt, which grabbed the Decepticons' attention. Not too long after, the Autobots appeared with another, different-colored Starscream. Megatron intercepted Lockdown's escape and announced confusedly that no one was to leave until they found out which was the true Starscream. However, it turned out that both Starscreams were clones with bombs in their [[spark]] chambers designed to destroy Megatron and the Autobots in one go. Quickly thinking up a plan, Megatron and the other Decepticons transformed and escaped forcibly through the ceiling. However, Prowl used the upgrades given to him by Lockdown to send the [[Starscream clone (Animated)|clones]] into the air, not too far from the fleeing Decepticons, when the bombs exploded. It is unknown if they were wounded, but Megatron later raised the bounty on Starscream—insisting on the ''real'' one this time. {{storylink|A Fistful of Energon}}

He was later contacted by [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]], who attempted to sell him a new weapon. Nothing came of this, as Swindle was defeated before the deal could be closed. {{storylink|SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy}} Megatron also made some ''"secret"'' transmissions to his [[Shockwave (Animated)|double agent]] on Cybertron in order to settle his new plans for the coming Autobot-Decepticon war. {{storylink|Autoboot Camp}}

[[Image:TFA ABTC1 Megatron Sumdac Hostage.jpg|right|200px|thumb|"Did I tell you about the time I killed the cult leader?"]]
Megatron's plans finally seemed on the verge of fruition when Sumdac and the Constructicons completed the space bridge. However, some vital technical aspects made it inoperable. In order to remedy this, Megatron contacted Shockwave to learn who was Cybertron's leading [[Space bridge technician]], which turned out to be the Autobot Bulkhead. Not wishing to leave Doctor Sumdac alone to sabotage the Constructicons' efforts, Megatron took him along as a hostage while he went to capture Bulkhead. Once he had the big Autobot in custody, Megatron threatened to use the [[Headmaster (Animated)|Headmaster]] unit on him if he didn't help make the space bridge operational. To Megatron's satisfaction, Bulkhead agreed and finished the project. Just as the machine was activated, both the Autobots and Starscream and his clone army attacked. {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part I}}

The three-way free-for-all ironically forced Megatron and Optimus Prime to team up temporarily, but this quickly ended when Megatron used Prime's body as a shield against one of Starscream's clone's attacks. Despite putting up a decent resistance, Megatron was overwhelmed and held down by two of the Starscream clones. As the original Starscream gloated, he was head-jacked by Isaac Sumdac in the Headmaster unit. Sumdac prepared to fight Megatron himself, but Megatron simply used his strength to throw the two Starscream clones at him, knocking off the Headmaster unit and proving himself the victor. With Starscream incapacitated, the clones sided with Megatron. He then made his own victory speech to his soldiers, declaring he would send Optimus Prime through the bridge to test it. However, the Autobots got some [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|reinforcements]]. Megatron quickly ordered the majority of his forces to deal with this new menace while the Constructicons cleared the space bridge area of rubble. Grabbing Optimus, Megatron threw him into the portal, but was frustrated when Prowl freed his leader in the nick of time, at which point the bridge shut down. Bulkhead declared the power source wasn't strong enough to maintain the link for long, so Megatron grabbed Starscream's AllSpark-powered head to maintain the gateway. However, this provided too much power, sending the space bridge portal out of control. An enraged Megatron decided to terminate Optimus Prime, only for Optimus to slap [[stasis cuffs]] on him, causing him to lose his grip and fall into the portal.

[[Image:TFA ABTC2 Megatron Screamer End.jpg|200px|left|thumb|"Stop staring at me!"]]
With the overload having deleted the space bridge's receiving coordinates, the defeated Megatron was transported to some unknown sector of space. Still immobilized by the stasis cuffs, Megatron's only companion was now Starscream's head, which a cruel twist of Fate had deposited right next to him. Forced to remain face to face with his traitorous ex-lieutenant, Megatron could only trade verbal blows. A most cruel fate, indeed. {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part II}}

After their bickering subsided, Starscream began trying to free Megatron from the stasis cuffs, but having no body was a hindrance. Megatron was only freed when Starscream revealed a previously unseen weapon from his mouth. Before they could react, Omega Supreme appeared, offline. Getting aboard him, Megatron was captured by Omega, but was able to convince the simple processor possessing behemoth to take him to Cybertron to face a war crimes tribunal. However, Omega Supreme's attempt to transwarp to Cybertron left them somewhere else in space, but did drain Omega for the time being. Initially disgusted that he was trapped aboard the cause of the Decepticons defeat, as well without his weapons and only Starscream for company, Megatron soon realized that if he could reprogram Omega to serve him, he would be a great advantage.

Managing to hotwire the Autobot with the stasis cuffs and Starscream's AllSpark charged head, Megatron contacted Shockwave to give him a status report on the Earth space bridge. However, the situation was worse than Megatron realized: not only was the space bridge network shut down, but the Earth Autobots could expose Shockwave at any moment. Although Omega Supreme provided an advantage that could end both problems, Megatron decided that the space bridge invasion plan was a failure, and issued a fleet wide stand down order. Heading to Earth, Megatron attempted to use Omega to destroy the Autobots (even though he couldn't remember their names). However, Prowl and Optimus Prime managed to board Omega and sever Megatron's control over him. Unfortunately, Starscream managed to gain control over Omega Supreme, capturing Megatron again. Ever the manipulator, Megatron convinced Starscream that his time would be better spent conquering Cybertron. However, the Autobots managed to install the [[plasma dynamic thruster]] from Megatron's space bridge into Omega Supreme, sending Omega and the two Decepticons aboard warping through space randomly. {{storylink|TransWarped}}

[[Image:TFAni Decepticon Air Lugnut Megatron.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Don't you just hate it when fanboys keep following you?]]
Later, as Lugnut was floating through space following his half-successful escape from the Elite Guard flagship, Omega Supreme transwarped to directly in front of him and he smashed into the bridge window. When Starscream asked Megatron if they were picking up hitchhickers, Megatron simply slapped his head of its position. That was for asking stupid questions.. {{storylink|Decepticon Air}}

Soon thereafter, Megatron gained control of Omega Supreme's transforming mechanism, and by detaching the plasma dynamic thruster was also able to direct their transwarp jumps; however, he could not get the weapons online without the proper access codes. Megatron brought the ship to Cybertron, where they could do little but float helplessly in the air; Megatron reasoned—correctly—that the Autobots would not dare fire on their own most famous weapon (though [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel "Magnus"]] sure wanted to). Megatron ordered Shockwave to hurry up his search for the access codes; once Shockwave successfully abducted Arcee and boarded the ship, they transwarped into Earth orbit right before Sentinel opened fire. Megatron welcomed Shockwave aboard as his "most loyal" servant, to the great concern of Lugnut. {{storylink|This Is Why I Hate Machines}}

Now on the moon, Megatron commanded Shockwave to extract the access codes from Arcee's mind. When Starscream re-attached his head to another clone body, Megatron pursued him and destroyed all the remaining clones, teasing Starscream for having always thought on a small scale. Megatron's ultimate plans for the protoforms aboard the ''Nemesis'' was to use them to create his own clone fleet of Omega Supremes—based on the personality template of his ''truly'' most loyal minion, Lugnut. That part of the plan went just fine, but Shockwave was still unable to get Arcee to do his bidding—perhaps because although she was fooled by his Longarm Prime persona, she saw the evil Megatron standing right behind him and refused to cooperate. After a few technical bypasses put Lugnut in mental command of the "[[Lugnut Supreme]]" fleet, Megatron ordered his new weapons to test their skills by destroying the Earthbound Autobots. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}}

[[Image:TFA-Endgame-PanAcrossEveryone.jpg|left|thumb|240px|...No Comment]]
Observing from within one of the Lugnut Supremes, Megatron's first target for destruction was his former prison, Sumdac Tower. But when the tower's forcefield proved impenetrable and Optimus Prime was able to destroy one of the Lugnut Supremes and severely damage the other two by using the [[Magnus Hammer]], Megatron settled on a new plan: destroying everything that wasn't him. He flew cover over the advancing Lugnut Supremes, directly engaging Optimus Prime (at first mistaken for [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], then dismissed as a [[knockoff|"cheap imitation"]]) so Prime would not again be able to use the Magnus Hammer on the giants. As their combat raged on, Megatron was at last able to remember Optimus Prime's name, to Prime's bitter enjoyment. The two were later trapped within a prison of Allspark energy—meant to seal in the timebomb that Starscream had secretly placed in one of the Lugnut Supremes and Megatron reasoned that even if he himself had to die, he could at least kill Prime first. But Prowl's ghost was having none of that, and Megatron soon found himself left alone to be blown up. Though massively damaged, he survived this and turned to attack the Autobots once more. He was quickly defeated by Optimus Prime, and when Megatron then invited Prime to kill him, Prime retorted that that would be "the easy way out," which Megatron did not deserve. Megatron was placed in [[stasis cuffs]] and arrested, then brought back to Cybertron and displayed as a prisoner before the cheering Autobot masses. {{storylink|Endgame, Part II}}

''If [[Cyclonus (Animated)|Cyclonus]] is to be believed, Megatron would have become '''Galvatron''' in the future and kill [[Oil Slick (Animated)|Oil Slick]].'' {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II}}

===''Quest for the AllSpark''===
Megatron took to hanging around online using the alias "Meg A. Tron". Masquerading thusly, he was able to recruit the unwitting help of [[Heinz Von Furstwartz|Professor Heinz Von Furstwartz]] in his scheme to sow confusion amongst the Autobots and get hold of the AllSpark. He was also able to take control of Detroit's legion of robot workers, forcing the Autobots to enact an elaborate plan to keep the AllSpark safe. {{storylink|Quest for the AllSpark}}

===Titan Magazines===
[[Image:MegatronTitan23.jpg|right|180px|thumb|"NIXON'S BAAACK!"]]

Apart from showing interest in the activities of [[Quake-Maker]], {{storylink|Animated Comic issue 1|Burnout!}} Megatron seemed idle... but what the Autobots were unaware of was that he'd constructed a Spark-less drone unit, [[Afterburn]], as a prototype of a future army, and then sent Afterburn off to spy on the Autobots.

He not only received repeated communications from his spy, but gained directions to the Autobot base! Megatron entered with explosive results {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 23|Divebomb}} and then ''killed'' Afterburn while rubbing [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]]'s nose in it. He proceeded to summon the other Decepticons and thrash most of the Autobots with ease, making some really bad puns along the way, only stopped when [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] secretly got him buried under a crane. Starscream then "saved" him, making Megatron think he'd turned over a new leaf and thus giving him temporary command until he got better. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 24|Megatron's Revenge}}

{{-}}
===Animated shorts===
[[Image:MockMegs-bunny.jpg|thumb|left|200px|If only [[Cyclonus (Animated)|he]] was around to see this]]
While Megatron gave an inspirational speech to his Decepticons (which seemed to be very similar to [[Mission Accomplished|another message]] he'd sent out), Starscream proceeded to make fun of him behind his back—making faces, giving Megatron bunny ears, and shaking his butt at his leader. Megatron was suspicious of Starscream's actions, but each time he turned to look, his lieutenant was standing there innocently, doing nothing unseemly. Megatron apparently decided to let it go, as did the other Decepticons (even Lugnut), until he finally caught Starscream in mid-heckle and dealt with him by blasting him through a wall. {{storylink|Starscream Heckles Megatron}}
{{-}}

===''The Cool'' comic===
[[Image:TheCoolMegatronChokesPrime01.jpg|thumb|300px|right|All aboard the Crazy Train! ''Toot! Toot!'']]

Stumbling across Optimus Prime's band of Autobots, who had recently discovered the long-lost Allspark, Megatron pursued the Space Bridge repair crew relentlessly, even after they lost the rest of Megatron's band of Decepticons by going through a Space Bridge gate. Having invaded the Autobot's ship, he beat down the entirety of its crew, save for their leader. Though already having all-but lost an arm in combat when he confronted Optimus, Megatron engaged in vicious melee combat, gloating all-the-while that the Universe would be under his possession when the Allspark would be in his possession. Defiantly, Optimus managed to expulse Megatron from the ship's cargo bay door as the vessel was plummeting though the Earth's atmosphere, reducing the mighty Decepticon to a smoldering head, to be discovered by a young boy...{{storylink|The Cool Extra issue 3}}

At some point, [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] double-crossed Megatron and attempted to kill him. Unbeknownst to anyone, Megatron's head survived his destruction and had hooked into [[Detroit]]'s closed-circuit video surveillance system. Following the dispersion of the [[AllSpark]] (and Starscream's apparent demise), Megatron became intrigued by [[Sari Sumdac|Sari's]] [[AllSpark Key|key]] after she used it to bring [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] back to life. Interests piqued, Megatron declared the time was right to initiate the next phase of his operation. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 2}}

Megatron eventually got his hands on the key and used its power to revive himself. After killing Starscream, Megatron engaged Optimus Prime in a sword-to-axe duel. The outcome of that fight is unknown, though apparently the Autobots survived the day. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 5}}

Megatron later hired [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] to capture the (somehow still alive) Starscream. Lockdown mistakenly captured [[Clone number 3370318|Clone #3370318]], instead, while the Autobots captured [[Clone number 2716057|Clone #2716057]]. Megatron was met with both clones at his meeting place in a warehouse and demanded to know why there were ''two'' Starscreams. When the clones turned out to be bombs, Megatron attempted to flee in helicopter mode, only to be chased down by the explosives after [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] attached a pair of rockets to them. Megatron screamed in confusion as he was caught in the explosion. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 6}}

With the [[space bridge#Animated cartoon|Space Bridge]] nearly completed, Megatron was caught off-guard by a surprise attack from Optimus Prime and the Autobots. Clashing sword with Prime's axe, Megatron arrogantly told the Autobot he could never win, though his efforts were amusing. Megatron was then met by a second surprise: an attack by Starscream and his [[Starscream clone (Animated)|Clone Army]]. Megatron was forced to fight side by side with Optimus, but quickly dissolved the partnership when he use Prime as a shield to block one of [[Slipstream (Animated)|Slipstream]]'s shots. Dropping Prime's smoking body, Megatron informed all listening that the universe belonged to him. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 7}}

Megatron then installed the severed head of Starscream into the Space Bridge in order to power it with his AllSpark fragment. The fragment proved ''too'' powerful and caused the Space Bridge to overload. Optimus, recovered, took Megatron's distraction as an opportunity to defeat the villain once and for all. Slapping a pair of stasis cuffs on him, Optimus kicked Megatron in the jaw and sent him hurtling into the vortex. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 8}}

Megatron found himself warped to the same coordinates as Starscream's head and Omega Supreme. Megatron attempted to use Starscream's [[spark]] to jumpstart Omega Supreme, but the plan backfired and Starscream took control of Omega's systems. Starscream sized Megatron in his giant hand and, taunting him, returned to [[Earth]] for vengeance against the Autobots. Megatron would not be so easily defeated, however, and breaking free, teamed with Optimus Prime to sever Starscream's connection to Omega. That dealt with, Megatron and Optimus then agreed to end their rivalry with a final battle. Flying off into the sky, the enemies clashed sword with hammer. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 9}}

Megatron found himself outmatched by Optimus's Wingblade and Magnus Hammer, however, and chose to even the odds by blasting his foe with his fusion cannon, powered by Starscream's AllSpark fragment! The blast blew Optimus to pieces, but just to be sure, Megatron impaled his foe through the [[spark]] chamber with his sword, anyway. Optimus refused to be beaten and absorbed the power of the AllSpark fragment into himself... somehow. Repaired and now apparently invincible, Prime mopped the floor with Megatron. The defeated [[Emperor of Destruction]] was then carted back to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in shackles. {{storylink|The Cool Episode Final}}

==Games==
===Transformers Animated: The Game===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Corey Burton]] (English)
[[Image:TFAnimated Game Megatron.jpg|thumb|left|126px|Helmet design provided by Lego.]]
After completing a space bridge terminal in his hidden mine base on [[Earth]], Megatron began to prepare to attack Cybertron. He hired [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] to collect [[AllSpark]] fragments to power his Space Bridge and obtained enough to do so, however while he was in the process of powering it up, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]]'s team found the base and attacked him. Though he boasted he could beat them easily without the use of weapons, they used an electromagnet to defeat him, and he was forced to escape by transwarping to Cybertron.

There, he was able to take control of some of the planet's defense systems, driving the Autobots away from the Space Bridge Nexus, and sent out a message ordering his forces to take control of the Space Bridges around the rim of the galaxy. [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] soon reported that they'd captured more than a dozen Space Bridges. Before Megatron could take control of the nexus, Optimus's team caught up with him. Commandeering some of the defense systems, they managed to defeat him. Growling that the Decepticons would rise again, Megatron transwarped out to parts unknown. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The Game}}

===Transformers Battle Universe===

At the edge of time, when the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] needed a new host, Megatron was among several warriors (and [[Megatron]]s) summoned from the multiverse to battle for control of the prize. {{storylink|Transformers Battle Universe}}

{{--}}

==Toys==
===Animated===
[[Image:TFAnimated Deluxe BattleBegins Megatron toy.jpg|250px|thumb|SPAAAACE ROOOAAACH!]]
*'''Optimus Prime vs. Megatron: The Battle Begins''' (Entertainment Pack, 2008)
**''Accessories'': Missile

: Transforms into a sleek spacecraft with, er, VTOL turbofans (presumably designed to show some lineage with his eventual helicopter mode. It's best if you don't think about it too hard). Megatron's signature fusion cannon forms the central chassis and cockpit section of the spacecraft (officially, a "Fusion Fighter"); his sword sections mount on the sides of the cannon for storage, though the blade is unremovable and effectively useless. Like the [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Prime]] figure he comes with, he features a punching gimmick, having a spring-loaded waist that snaps back when twisted. Unfortunately, Megatron's balljoint hips and the swivel joints between his thighs and knees are rather loose, making it difficult to pose the figure in such a way that he stands on his own. The figure features a silver color scheme and battle damage paint applications. Also included was [[Transformers Animated (cartoon)/home video#Pack-in disc|a DVD]] featuring the first episode of ''Transformers Animated''.

:The design makes it tricky to tell which end of his Fusion Fighter is the front and which is the back.

:This toy was also released in a 2-pack with Prowl as a Wal*Mart [[exclusive]] (see below).

:If you want to be pedantic about it, the battle implied by the battle-pack pairing is technically a timeline impossibility, insofar as it depicts Cybertron Mode Megatron versus Earth Mode Optimus. It is also [[scale]]d incorrectly, as Megatron was shown as being notably larger than Optimus in "[[Transform and Roll Out]]".

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Decepticon/BattleBeginsMegatron/megatron.htm More information on "The Battle Begins" Megatron at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|VoyagerCybMode}}

[[Image:Animated megatron voyager.jpg|250px|thumb|Curse you, Earth's atmosphere!]]
*'''CYBERTRON Mode Megatron''' (Voyager, 2008)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''TA-06'''
**''Accessories'': Missile

: A larger, bulkier, more detailed, and more gimmick-laden iteration of the same character design used in the deluxe-scaled versus pack toy. Note that while both modes of both toys look very similar, they have different transformation mechanisms and are not a simple upscaling/downscaling of each other. Where the deluxe version is straight silver, this version has a pearl-gray paint scheme. The figure features an [[automorph]] gimmick in the chest, which closes like a clamshell in transforming to robot mode. A second automorph gimmick is built into the energon blades on the cannon, swinging them into place to form a polearm. Red translucent plastic is heavily used throughout the figure, including in the light piping for the head and the missile for the spring-loaded cannon. Even his ''fingers'' are made of energon, it seems.

:This toy apparently had a safety modification done late on in the design process (late enough that it doesn't show up on the instructions), possibly as a result of drop test failure. The strut that holds his fusion cannon has been reinforced, and as a result, his cannon cannot be mounted flush against his arm. It is also noted that his cannon easily pops off.

:As with the smaller figure above, it's not obvious exactly what end is the front of his spaceship mode. Neither orientation really matches up to the version seen in the show, which had the fusion cannon mounted in a way that's impossible with both toys.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Decepticon/VoyagerMegatron/megatron.htm More information on Cybertron Mode Megatron at TFU.info]''
{{-}}{{anchor|Leader}}

[[Image:Animated megatron leader.jpg|250px|thumb|"I kill you till you're dead!"]]
*'''Megatron''' (Leader, 2008)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''TA-26'''
**''Accessories'' Missile, 2 rotor-swords

: Megatron's "Earth" robot mode bears a significant resemblance to Generation 1 [[Megatron (G1)#The Battlestars|Super Megatron]] from the ''Battlestars'' storyline, and thus, in turn, to his original G1 body. His alt-mode is a dual-rotored helicopter design, somewhat like an [[Incinerator (Movie)|Osprey]] [[Obsidian|helicopter]] or the [[Cobra]] Mamba. Its rotors form double-bladed swords. The fusion cannon is attached to the left arm out of the box, but it can be detached and put on either arm. It has wheels for use in vehicle mode, and if it is removed, then (undocumented) landing gear can be deployed to make up for the loss. Interestingly, it seems the alt-mode was originally intended to allow for the removal of the cannon without removal of the bottom half of the fuselage. With a fair amount of force the cannon can be popped off (and will reattach), but the cannon mount/fuselage lower half does not provide the front landing gear with sufficient clearance to fully extend. The toy has a [[Gimmick|voice chip]], activated by pressing the Decepticon symbol on his chest. If used in robot mode it says one of three quotes: "Crush the Autobots!", "Where is the AllSpark?", and (glorious) evil laughter. In helicopter mode it makes the sound of the rotors warming up, spinning, and powering down. When the cockpit is moved during transformation the classic G1/Animated [[Transformation#The noise|transformation noise]] is heard. It is compatible with the [[Headmaster (Animated)|Headmaster]] toy, but it does not change his quotes.

: The instructions leave a couple of things out. First, the shoulders should be pushed backwards/upwards for vehicle mode. This lowers the wings down and aligns the front of the engines with the back. Second, the barrel of the cannon can be rotated 180 degrees (at a separate pivot from the one at its base) for robot mode, to better match how it looks in the cartoon, with the red stripes facing his arm. Considering how padded the instructions are to mask the relatively simple transformation (two whole steps just to move the rear landing gear), leaving all this out is quite a feat. Bad Hasbro.

:There is no doubt whatsoever as to which end is the front and which is the back of his vehicle mode.

: The TakaraTomy version of the toy features a metallic silver and red paint job, and replaces the English voice clips with typically hammy Japanese ones by [[Norio Wakamoto]]: "I am Megatron" in Japanese and "Megatron, transform!" and "Fusion Cannon!" in [[Engrish]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Decepticon/Megatron/megatron.htm More information on Leader Megatron at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|McDonalds}}

*'''Megatron''' (McDonald's Happy Meal Toys, 2008)

:This is a very simple representation of Megatron in his Earth form. It transforms by rotating the head, lying face down and flipping the arms onto the back. The robot mode seems to have taken priority in the design process, since the vehicle mode looks like his robot mode lying down. Megatron does not come with his signature arm cannon.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Decepticon/McMegatron/megatron.htm More information on McDonald's Megatron at TFU.info]''

[[Image:TFA_McD_Megatron_Jumpstarter.jpg|right|250px|thumb|]]
*'''Megatron''' (McDonald's Happy Meal toys, 2008)

:This is a very simplistic version of Megatron, he converts from non-articulated robot mode to a "folded" robot with three wheels (which is a very non-show-accurate alt-mode). Like the G1 [[Jumpstarter|Jumpstarters]] toys he features a pull-back motor in vehicle mode that propels him forward on smooth surfaces; after a short run the latch that keeps his spring-loaded legs releases, causing him to flip forward and into upright robot mode.
:Like the rest of his assortment, this Megatron was only available in Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela.

{{-}}{{anchor|Activator}}

[[Image:Megatronanimatedactivator.jpg|250px|thumb|"Transform and shrink down!"]]
*'''Megatron''' (Activators, 2008)

:Part of the fourth wave of [[Activators]], this version of Megatron is a very simplified, roughly-Basic-sized version of his Earth mode. His spring-loaded transformation from vehicle to robot mode is activated by a single switch on the back of his copter mode.

:Despite having a cannon on the bottom of his vehicle mode, he does not possess one on either arm in robot mode.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Decepticon/ActMegatron/megatron.htm More information on Activators Megatron at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|AnimatedSuperCollection}}
*'''Animated Super Collection Vol. 1''' (multipack, 2010)

: Released in October 2010 in Japan, the "Animated Super Collection Vol. 1" giftset contained slight redecos of Activators Megatron, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]], [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] and [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]].

{{-}}{{anchor|ShadowBlade}}

[[Image:SBAniMegs..jpg|200px|thumb|I defy the Unicron Trilogy. Defy it, I say!]]
*'''Shadow Blade Megatron''' (Leader, 2008)

: A [[Black repaint|black]], grey and purple redeco of Megatron's leader class mold with a slight remolding to the tail... that's NOT called [[Megatron (Armada)/toys|Galvatron]]. YeabuhWHA?

:Surprisingly for a Hasbro produced redeco, Shadow Blade Megatron is cast entirely in black plastic with the exception of his translucent parts. His nose is not painted, so whenever his lights light up...his nose glows red.

: Many units of this figure have a slight molding problem that prevents him from actually moving his face when the Decepticon insignia is pressed. However, as many units are also unaffected, this may have been an inconsistent problem or corrected by a running change.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2009/Decepticon/SBMegatron/megatron.htm More information on Shadow Blade Megatron at TFU.info]''

{{-}}
{{anchor|FightOfStart}}
*'''Fight of Start''' (Deluxe 2-pack, 2010)
**''Accessories'': Missile
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''VS-F'''

:For its Japanese release, "Battle Begins" Megatron was given a shinier metallic paint job (sans battle damage) and white-bordered Decepticon symbols, like the majority of the TakaraTomy ''Animated'' toys. The figure was only available in a 2-pack with a redecoed version of the Deluxe-scale CYBERTRON Mode Optimus Prime.

:The title of this set in Japanese is "hajimari no taiketsu" - which amounts to "the battle begins" when translated, but the back of the box chooses to render the phrase as "Fight of Start". [[Engrish|Oh well...]]

{{-}}{{anchor|GoldVersion}}
[[Image:AniDXMegsGoldVersion.jpg|thumb|250px| All that glitters is gold.]]
*'''Megatron Gold Version''' (Deluxe, 2011)
**''Accessories'': Missile

:A gold-chromed version of the Deluxe-class Battle Begins Megatron, Megatron Gold Version was made available to residents of Japan via a lottery. There were several ways to enter the drawing for him: one could clip out and send in a barcode from a single standard ''Animated'' toy or a single standard ''Autobot Alliance'' live action film series toy (or four EZ Collection barcodes), '''or''' send in 5 Sega Transformers trading cards, '''or''' cut out and send in the appropriate portion of the character cards included with volumes 4 or 5 of Paramount of Japan's ''Animated'' DVDs or the "[[Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Transformers: Revenge]] Greatest Hits" DVD. The entry period of the drawing was November 1st, 2010 to January 16th, 2011.

:Megatron Gold Version was limited to 1,000 pieces.

{{-}}

[[Image:MarauderMegatron.jpg|200px|thumb|Tonight, I dine on turtle soup!]]
*'''Marauder Megatron'''
**''Accessories:'' Missiles

:A mold of Megatron as a [[Triple Changer]] in the canceled fourth season. He has a jet mode and a tank mode, and his robot mode head has a muzzle-like plate over the mouth in a homage to ''[[Beast Machines (cartoon)|Beast Machines]]'' [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]. [[Derrick J. Wyatt]] also based the design on [[Super Megatron|Super and Ultra Megatron]].[http://www.formspring.me/DerrickJWyatt/q/878717866]

{{canceledtoy}}
{{--}}

==Notes==
[[Image:AnimatedMegatronMovieHat.jpg|150px|thumb|They moonlight as lawn darts.]]

[[Image:AnimatedMegatronAltmode.jpg|150px|thumb|"''That's'' a ship?!" "Who cares, as long as it flies."]]

[[Image:AniMegsKatana.jpg|thumb|150px|Where is my [[fusion cannon]]?! All Megatrons should have them! ALL OF THEM, I TELL YOU!!!]]

* Megatron's pre-Earth head has a rather pointed resemblance to the somewhat early head of 2007 movie's [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]], which went unused in the actual movie but appeared on loads of promotional materials and merchandise. Also in common with Movie Megatron, ''Animated'' Megatron lay inert for many years while his technology was [[Sector Seven|reverse-engineered by humans]].

* He is, additionally, [[Megatron (BW)|not the only Megatron]] to spend time as [[Grand Mal|a giant, disembodied head]].

* Megatron's cannon makes the same sound as his [[Megatron (G1)|Generation 1 counterpart]]'s weapon, except with additional effects mixed in to make it actually sound like a laser cannon and not a blender.

* Megatron's outer space alt mode, shown for all of 20 seconds, has ''two'' toy molds devoted to it. Though these "Cybertron mode" toys resemble each other, neither looks anything like the alt mode of the pre-Earth Megatron seen on the show.

* Megatron is the only one of the original 5 Decepticons in ''Animated'' actually to have a Cybertronian vehicle mode design. Although the others have different robot mode kibble before they scan their Earth modes, none of them had an alt-mode created. Having a toy helps. (This is in contrast to the Autobots, who all had Cybertronian-modes designed for them from the start, even if we didn't see them in the first episode.)

* Sumdac found Megatron's head intact in its original Cybertronian mode. The head housed in his lab, however, is essentially a damaged version of his Earth-mode head. Presumably, this change is the result of Sumdac's destructive tinkering and research over the fifty years Megatron was in stasis lock.

* According to ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac|The Allspark Almanac]]'', Megatron's Earth mode cockpit seats five.

* When he was a disembodied head, Megatron had a pupil in his right eye, similar to the Autobots. Once he regained his body, this never appeared again.

* An early image of Megatron's Earth body had slight differences from the finished product, most notably the lack of a fusion cannon and the presence of a katana instead of his twin swords. This image originally appeared as part of an Amazon.com listing for [[Transformers Animated Volume 2|volume 2]] of [[IDW Publishing]]'s screenshot-based ''[[Transformers Animated (IDW Publishing)|Transformers Animated]]'' adaption series.

* In the initial planning phases of the never-greenlit fourth season, Megatron would have broken out of prison on Cybertron and become a [[Triple Changer]], as detailed in the ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The Allspark Almanac II]]''.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Megatron''' (メガトロン ''Megatoron'')

[[Category:Animated Decepticons]]
[[Category:Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category:Emperors]]
[[Category:Engineers]]
[[Category:Fast food exclusives]]
[[Category:Hall of Fame]]

Lockdown (Animated)

2012-07-15T08:42:59Z

118.209.252.155: /* Animated */

{{factions|{{factions/icons|custom=Rubsign inactive.png|cLink=Decepticon|cPretty=Decepticon}}|{{factions/icons|custom=Rubsign inactive.png|cLink=Autobot|cPretty=Autobot}}}}

{{disambig3|Lockdown}}

:''Lockdown is a bounty hunter commonly allied with the [[Decepticon]]s from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:Tfalockdowna.jpg|right|250px|thumb|"Not bad, for a human."]]

Driven by the thrill of the chase, '''Lockdown''' is a bounty hunter by choice and a Decepticon only by necessity. He's got no real loyalty towards [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], but the Decepticons always pay on time, better than the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]], and allow him access to the systems upgrades he craves. Besides that, he's such a nasty piece of work that it's just easier for him to be a 'Con.

Lockdown has a grisly habit of collecting "trophies" from his victims for his own use. He has attached a number of parts that appear to be stolen, such as his hook, chainsaw weapons, and parts of his left leg. His collection of stolen gadgets include quick-hardening cement spray, smoke bombs, and [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]'s EMP generator. The [[Autobot]]s consider his actions appalling, while [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] views his mercenary ways an insult to the Decepticon cause, but Lockdown doesn't care. As long as Megatron and the Decepticon leadership will give him his upgrades, Lockdown will get the job done.

{{quote|I'm not that good with names and faces, but I never forget a trophy.|Lockdown, "[[The Thrill of the Hunt]]"}}

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
{{Idw-tfa}}
:''Voice actor:'' [[Lance Henriksen]] (English), [[Akio Ōtsuka]] (Japanese), [[Kaspar Eichel]] (German), [[Pietro Ubaldi]] (Italian, "The Thrill of the Hunt" only), [[Marco Balbi]] (Italian, second voice)

Lockdown was a student in [[Yoketron (Animated)|Yoketron]]'s [[Cyber-Ninja Corps]], and one of the greater students at that. However, during the Great War he somehow brought shame on the Corps and was booted out and became a bounty hunter instead. His first act as a bounty hunter was to lead a Decepticon attack on Yoketron's training center and to steal the protoforms kept in storage. During the attack, he killed his former teacher and took his helmet. {{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}}

[[Image:TFA Thrill Hunt Lockdown Optimus.JPG|right|200px|thumb|"Hnn. No cavities. Figures."]]

One of his other wartime jobs was to bring an [[Arcee (Animated)|intelligence officer]] who carried vital information in for questioning. He encountered [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]], broke off one of the Autobot's forehead chevrons and stole his [[Electromagnetic pulse|EMP]] generator, turning the healing tool into a weapon. During said encounter, Lockdown's right arm was destroyed when he launched it at Ratchet, causing him to replace it with a decidedly more menacing one (namely, the hook seen above). He was also indirectly responsible for Arcee losing her memory. {{storylink|The Thrill of the Hunt}}

On modern-day Earth, Lockdown was hired by [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] to bring in the Autobot presumed responsible for [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]'s death ''and was allowed to name his price—specifically, Lugnut's [[Punch of Kill Everything]]. Tracking the ''[[Nemesis (Animated)|Nemesis]]'' to the location of its crash on the moon, Lockdown, through use of the security footage, determined that a repair crew led by [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] was responsible. Realizing he was not alone, he soon found himself face to face with [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]], who had her own reasons for being there. Being suspicious of her motives, Lockdown confronted her, only to be knocked out cold by Blackarachnia's [[cyber venom]]. Coming to and seeing her gone, he dismissed this and moved on to capture his real target'', {{storylink|A Few Loose Strands}} Optimus Prime. He captured Prime using the EMP generator and, impressed by Prime's own personal modifications, stole his axe and forcibly removed Optimus's grapplers, something that traumatized him later on. When the Autobots came to rescue Prime, Lockdown made short work of [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]]. [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]], on the other hand, proved a bigger challenge, but Lockdown came out on top (after having a tire mark smudged on his face). He was about to leave in [[Death's Head (Animated)|his ship]] with his new trophies, when Ratchet, who had been suffering from war flashbacks, came on the scene and soundly thrashed him, partially because the stolen EMP generator didn't work on Ratchet himself. Pinning Lockdown, Ratchet painfully removed both Prime's grapplers and his own EMP generator. Lockdown was forced to watch as Ratchet crippled his ship and escaped with a weakened Optimus. {{storylink|The Thrill of the Hunt}}

After arriving on the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]], Blitzwing remarked that the Decepticons hadn't heard anything from Lockdown since he contacted Blitzwing. Mentioning Lockdown's name made Lugnut get a little bent out of shape. {{storylink|Lost and Found (episode)|Lost and Found}}

[[Image:AFistfulofEnergon-Lockdowninponcho.jpg|left|200px|thumb|The robot with no name.]]

As it turns out, Lockdown survived the crash and his ship was repaired. Learning of a large bounty on [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]], Lockdown headed back to Earth, expecting a serious fight to take him down. It turned out that Prowl managed to take down Starscream for him. During a fight over the Decepticon, they realized that Starscream had escaped. Heading to Earth on his ship, he discovered Prowl had stowed away. Prowl offered to help Lockdown, and the bounty hunter offered a suit of armor to assist.

[[Image:AFistfulofEnergon-Lockdownwithhelmet.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Why, yes Prowl, I have all this Samurai armor that not only fits you and matches your color scheme, but can also turn into a sidecar that attaches to your vehicle mode!<br><br>Oh, and by the way, I killed your sensei.]]

Upon landing on Earth, Lockdown and Prowl discovered Starscream ([[Clone number 3370318|both purple and more cowardly than usual]]) and Prowl managed to take him down. Lockdown contacted Megatron to set up a meet, but Prowl wanted to turn him over to the Elite Guard. Lockdown subdued Prowl and took Starscream. At the warehouse, the Autobots arrived with [[Clone number 2716057|''another'' Starscream]]. Lockdown tried to take his leave, but Megatron commanded him to stay. Then the two Starscreams revealed that they were clones with bombs in their chests. Lockdown managed to get away in the chaos, then contacted Prowl with an offer of a partnership. Prowl rejected his offer, saying that all the mods were for weak processors, and warned Lockdown never to contact him again, or he'd turn him over to the Elite Guard. {{storylink|A Fistful of Energon}}

At some point after he left Earth, Lockdown traded information to [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] in exchange for weapons. {{storylink|SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy}}

He later came back to Earth, hired by [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] to capture Decepticons for him so he could look good. Lockdown happily complied until [[Ramjet (Animated)|one of the prisoners]] made a better deal, causing Lockdown to happily turn on the Autobots. He was able to defeat Prowl through his ninja skills and trickery, taking him away to steal his jump-jets and holo-projector so he could replicate the armour Prowl once wore. Shockingly, putting one of the heroes next to a load of kit that said hero could use ''backfired'', and Lockdown found himself fighting a stronger Prowl—especially once the Autobot realised Lockdown had been the one to murder Yoketron.

While beaten, Lockdown was able to escape once again. {{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}}
{{--}}

===Toy bios===
[[Image:Blazinglockdownpackageart.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Don't touch that please, your primitive intellect wouldn't understand alloys and compositions and things with... molecular structures.]]
In the past, Lockdown stole an "active camo" mod from a member of the Autobot [[Elite Guard]]. As it renders him nearly invisible, he uses it to do reconnaissance on his targets, learning everything he needs to know about them before striking. Unfortunately, it shorts out in the rain. {{storylink|#Stealth|Stealth Lockdown}}

Lockdown realizes that half the game is psychological, no matter what that game is. If it's bounty hunting, and you have to paint yourself blue with skeletons and a missing optic to give your target a case of the glitches, well, sometimes it's what you have to do. They'll certainly know he's ''coming''—and that nothing is going to stop him. {{storylink|#Bandit|Bandit Lockdown}}

At some point, Lockdown was exposed to exotic energy that supercharged his systems, causing his body to give off a fiery glow. This enhancement went so far as to change his mode of operations; he no longer seeks payment for his actions, and instead simply lives to see the terror coming from the Autobots he destroys. With his chainsaw and a body that now gives off so much heat that it can melt or burn through whatever he comes in contact with, that's a ''lot'' of terror... for however long the condition lasts. {{storylink|#Blazing|Blazing Lockdown}}
{{-}}

===''Web of Deception''===
Blackarachnia hired Lockdown to get her revenge on Optimus Prime, sending the bounty hunter to [[Archa Seven]] to pick up one of the [[Archa Seven arachnid|giant spiders]] there and bring it back to Earth. Using [[Sparkseeker]] EMP torpedoes, he was able to abduct Optimus Prime right off the [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Autobot ship]] and tie him to a bomb next to the spider as part of Blackarachnia's plan. A short time later the rest of the Autobots caused problems for him, and he opted to leave them to it. {{storylink|Web of Deception}}

{{Note|As "Web of Deception" is a multipath adventure, some accounts of the events may vary. In one particular version of events, Lockdown got a better offer from a safari hunter in the [[Kvi Cluster]] and captured Blackarachnia instead.}}

===''The Cool'' comics===
[[Image:The CoolLockdownAndRatchet01.jpg|thumb|left|200px|I'm the dog, the big bad dog...]]

Upon arriving on [[Earth]], Lockdown joined [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] and [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] in attacking [[Detroit]]. Transforming from vehicle to robot mode, he faced off against [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] in an attempt to seize the [[AllSpark]]. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 1}}

Lockdown later joined up with Prowl (giving him a set of power-boosting armor) in hunting down what he thought was Starscream. Lockdown then doublecrossed Prowl when the Autobot began to have doubts and hauled the bounty off to Megatron by himself. The Starscream he had captured turned out to be nothing more than a clone, rigged to explode by the ''real'' Starscream. Prowl launched the clone into the sky, where it detonated harmlessly, though Lockdown disappeared in the confusion. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 6}}

{{-}}

==Games==
===Transformers Animated: The Game===
:''Voice actor'': [[Lance Henriksen]] (English)
[[Image:TFAnimated Game Lockdown.jpg|thumb|right|139px]]
Lockdown was hired by [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] to find [[AllSpark]] fragments in exchange for some sweet upgrades. Lockdown, always the consummate professional, delivered the goods. He later lucked into some more fragments, which had been gathered by [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]], and swiped them from the Autobot. Bumblebee furiously chased him along [[Detroit]]'s streets, bumping into him until he had to reboot and the Autobot pinched the fragments back. To add insult to injury, Lockdown was subsequently hunted down and captured by [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]]. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The Game}}
{{--}}

==Toys==
===Animated===
[[Image:Deluxe Lockdown.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Arrr, matey...]]
*'''Lockdown''' (Deluxe, 2008)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''TA-08'''
**''Accessories'': Hook attachment, engine block/EMP generator
: Part of the first wave of ''[[Transformers Animated (toyline)|Transformers Animated]]'' Deluxes, Lockdown transforms into an amalgam of a 1980s Corvette and a 1960s Cougar, with lots of spikes and a cow-catcher on his bumper. He looks freaking terrifying. In car mode, pressing down on his engine block/EMP generator flips out twin cannon barrels. A hook can also be flipped from the center of his bumper.

: In robot mode, the entire engine block/center hood assembly pops off to form a "replacement" hook-hand gauntlet that can be used on either arm (though for [[character model|animation model]] accuracy, it would go on his right arm). The engine block can be removed and attached to the [[Ratchet (Animated)|deluxe Ratchet's]] left arm via the "war wound" socket. There was much rejoicing. But it cannot be attached to [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]]'s arm. Despite being "normal" size in car mode for a Deluxe, due to his transformation, he towers over most Deluxes in robot mode.

: His wrists are susceptible to breaking off if too much pressure is applied when trying to force his wrists into a more natural "straight down" position, so don't do it. The earliest releases of the toy had issues with the EMP generator; it was hard to trigger the barrel release, plus it didn't lock onto Ratchet's arm too well. Later releases fixed these issues.

: Lockdown is slightly mistransformed in the picture to the right: his legs are not properly extended. Doing so would allow the panels at the top of his legs to fold into his legs and face down, not forward. Also, his shoulder panels should be flipped up. These steps make for a more cartoon-accurate toy.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Decepticon/Lockdown/lockdown.htm More information on Lockdown at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|Activator}}
[[Image:Activators Lockdown.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Bounty-hunting goodness, now in pocket size.]]
*'''Lockdown''' (Activators, 2008)

:Part of the second wave of [[Activators]], this very simplified Scout-class version of Lockdown features a button-activated auto-transformation from vehicle to robot. He lacks the right-arm hook attachment. He's also really squat, even for an Activators toy.

: The cardback refers to his car mode as a "Prowler", for what it's worth.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Decepticon/ActLockdown/lockdown.htm More information on Activators Lockdown at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|AnimatedSuperCollection}}
*'''Animated Super Collection Vol. 1''' (multipack, 2010)

: Released in October 2010 in Japan, the "Animated Super Collection Vol. 1" giftset contained slight redecos of Activators Lockdown, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]], [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] and [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]].

{{-}}{{anchor|Stealth}}
[[Image:Ani-toy StealthLockdown.JPG|right|250px|thumb|"No doubt you want a Starscream redeco instead of this. Hnn, figures."]]
*'''Stealth Lockdown''' (3-pack, 2008)
**''Accessories'': Hook attachment, engine block/EMP generator

: Part of a Target-[[exclusive]] multi-pack, this version of the original Deluxe toy is mostly smoky-clear plastic with light gray [[Plastic|PVC]] plastic for joint tolerances, and only a small amount of [[paint applications]]. He retains his gimmicks, but it is currently unknown if his wrists have the same breakage issues as the normal version.

: He comes with the [[Legends Class|Legends-class]] versions of [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]]. These two are ''almost'' identical to their individually carded mass-retail versions, having silver [[Faction symbol|faction symbols]] instead of red.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Decepticon/StealthLockdown/lockdown.htm More information on Stealth Lockdown at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|Bandit}}
[[Image:BanditLockdown.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Ooga booga!]]
*'''Bandit Lockdown''' (Activators, 2008)

: Part of the fourth wave of Activators, Lockdown gets a creeeeeepy black and blue redeco with skeletons on the hood, somewhat evoking ''[[Cybertron (franchise)|Cybertron]]'''s skeleton-bedecked pirate [[Cannonball (Cybertron)|Cannonball]]. He even has a blacked-out left optic! Arr! Pity he lacks the hook-hand, or the whole pirate thing would be complete.

: The cardback refers to his car mode as a "Bandit Prowler." Whatever that means.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Decepticon/BanditLockdown/lockdown.htm More information on Bandit Lockdown at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|Blazing}}
[[Image:Blazing Lockdown.jpg|right|250px|thumb|This is what happens when he takes "trophies" from a Ford Pinto.]]
*'''Blazing Lockdown''' (Deluxe, 2008)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''TA-46'''
**''Accessories'': Chainsaw attachment, engine block/EMP generator

: Part of the fifth wave of ''Animated'' Deluxes, this fiery-themed [[redeco]] and [[Retool|retooling]] of the original Lockdown toy replaces the hook in his hood-attachment with his chainsaw weapon, which is removable, but cannot flip back out of sight like the hook can. He retains all of the [[Gimmick|gimmickry]] from the previous versions of the mold. Due to the fact that the motor block can go on either hand, it is possible to place the hook on the right hand and the chainsaw on the left one on the deluxe figure, thus recreating the flashback scene seen in "[[The Thrill of the Hunt]]".

: Blazing Lockdown was retooled into [[BotCon 2011]] [[Wildrider (Animated)|Wildrider]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2009/Decepticon/Lockdown/lockdown.htm More information on Blazing Lockdown at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|BumperBattler}}
[[Image:Ani-toy BumperBattlers Lockdown.JPG|right|300px|thumb|Lockdown on his day off]]
*'''Lockdown''' (Bumper Battlers, 2009)

: Part of the fourth wave of [[Bumper Battlers]] toys, this ''extremely'' simplified toy features electronic sounds when the Decepticon symbol on his hood is pressed. Pressing in on his bumper flips up the roof of the car, revealing his robot mode.

{{-}}

==Notes==
* According to [[Derrick J. Wyatt|Derrick Wyatt]]'s blog, his original concept for Lockdown was as a freakish [[Frankenstein's monster|Frankenstein-like monster]]. It was altered to better fit Lockdown's more business-like nature.<ref>http://derrickjwyatt.blogspot.com/2008/05/evolution-of-lockdown.html</ref> Lockdown's final model is "reminiscent of skull like head and an undertaker's tux"{{sic}} —hey, he even has coat-tails!<ref>https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21975298&postID=2803441425110630377&isPopup=true</ref>

* Meanwhile, Wyatt has explicitly said that Lockdown is ''not'' based on [[Death's Head (G1)|Death's Head]]. The older bounty hunter's name was, however, later used for [[Death's Head (Animated)|Lockdown's starship]].

* The [[Character model|cartoon model]] for Lockdown shows an amusing [[homage]] to the older [[toy]]s. Instead of the ordinary Decepticon symbol seen on the toy, the animated version's chest carries what appears to be a [[rubsign]], presumably to symbolize the character's lack of allegiance to any faction.

* Lockdown's allegiance, in fact, seems to be more than meets the eye. Lockdown has stated outright that he isn't a Decepticon—and according to Derrick Wyatt, no Decepticon ever trained at [[Cyber-Ninja Dojo|Master Yoketron's dojo]].<ref>http://twitter.com/DerrickJWyatt/status/1420346893</ref> Combined with the fact that his concept design featured a stolen part whose Decepticon symbol had been ''crossed out'', the evidence strongly points to Lockdown as having been a former ''Autobot''. Lockdown's profile in ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac|The AllSpark Almanac]]'' also supports this: Prowl "writes" that he suspects Lockdown to have been an Autobot, based on his size, powers, and car-based altmode. In [[The Stunti-Con Job]], [[Wildrider (Animated)|Wildrider]] is seen with the same body-type as Lockdown, and all of the Stunticons were said to have taken on Autobot shells for their mission, further pointing to Lockdown being a former Autobot.

* According to the Decepticon character descriptions sent out in the original [[Cartoon Network]] press release for ''Transformers Animated'', Lockdown "can go into a ''[[Predator (alien)|Predator]]''-like stealth mode for brief periods". Thus far, he has never been shown to ''do'' this in fiction, although the idea seems to have been the basis for the Stealth Lockdown toy—whose bio further cemented the ''Predator'' connection by saying his "active camo shorts out in rain".

[[Image:StealthLockdownOriginal.jpg|thumb|250px|No, I'm not a Takara exclusive.]]
* Speaking of the Stealth Lockdown toy, it appears to have been changed a bit between concept and release. The version of the toy depicted on the back of the box's packaging is completely transparent, as opposed to the final toy's translucent-but-smokey coloration.

* In his [[The Thrill of the Hunt|debut episode]], Lockdown's original arm (the one currently outfitted with his hook) came equipped with a rocket powered fist. This weapon has not been seen since, neither on the show nor in toy form.

* His toy's vehicle mode is adorable yet terrifying. Like if ''[[wikipedia:Cars (film)|Cars]]'' had a serial-killer character.

* Despite having lost the EMP generator, Lockdown retains the external engine it comprises in his vehicle mode, as seen in "[[A Fistful of Energon]]". Perhaps he found a substitute or a replacement?

* The interior of Lockdown's vehicle mode sports a chain-steering wheel and a skull on the gear stick. Now that's hardcore. The skull gear stick was even immortalized in toy form: It's molded on the interior of the Bumper Battles figure.

* Lockdown was responsible for breaking off Ratchet's right-hand chevron, but it would appear that [['Bots of Science|he wasn't the first]].

* Although it initially seemed that Lockdown had not [[Scanning|scanned]] a local Earth altmode, he was shown doing so [[The Arrival issue 4|in a comic]] immediately prior to the events shown in "[[The Thrill of the Hunt]]". This is slightly confusing though, since the Great War flashbacks in "Thrill" do seem to show Lockdown using the same muscle car altmode he would later adopt Earthside—but to be fair, the scene was quite dark. He must have just scanned an extremely similar new form. Shrug.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Lockdown''' (ロックダウン ''Rokkudaun'')

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Animated Autobots]]
[[Category:Animated Decepticons]]
[[Category:Bounty hunters]]