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Lockdown (Animated)

2012-07-12T06:22:06Z

125.237.142.87: /* Animated cartoon */

{{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|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]]

Ratchet (Animated)

2012-07-12T06:07:41Z

125.237.142.87: /* Animated cartoon */

{{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|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]]

Ratchet (Animated)

2012-07-12T06:05:51Z

125.237.142.87: /* Animated cartoon */

{{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:Human Error Part 1 Automen.jpg|thumb|right|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|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]]