Ambulon

Ambulon is an Autobot from the 2005 IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

"Poor Kenny Ambulon, he was too young to die and be taken away from us."
"Dude, you're the one who cut him in half with a chainsaw."

Ambulon is the ward manager stationed at Delphi. He's known to be easily offended, and his fellow Delphi medic First Aid notes that he can be "a real gearstick sometimes." The gaps in his uneven paintwork reveal evidence of an earlier, buried portion of his life. Hint: He used to be purple.

Ambulon doesn't really have a complete alt mode—he turns into a leg. Just a leg. This unfortunate alternate mode is all that remains from his former life, where he was used as a guinea pig for a botched combiner experiment.

Ambulon: From the verb "to ambulate," meaning "to walk about." It's a stupid name...

...but all the best names are taken.Ambulon and Ratchet, "How Ratchet Got His Hands Back"

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: "Bullets" (text story); More than Meets the Eye #4 (depicted on-panel)

"These legs are almost as nice as me. Almost."

The robot who would come to be known as "Ambulon" was originally a Decepticon M.T.O. created for an offensive whose name started with "Operation Split Infin—". The Not Knowing He eventually became a test subject for the Decepticon Combicon project, and was modified to transform into a right leg. How Ratchet Got His Hands Back While the other four Combicons enjoyed their new lot in life, Ambulon chafed under his humiliating new alternate mode; No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases circa 2002, he abandoned the Decepticons and joined the Autobots, partaking in the Act of Affiliation. You, Me, and Other Revelations

Ten years after his defection, Ambulon and his team of paramedics were on duty on Delphi when Dogfight's squad arrived at Delphi after a skirmish with the Decepticon Justice Division. A soldier named Schema had taken serious fire and was Ambulon's primary concern while staff medic First Aid examined Dogfight, Backstreet and Dodger for less-serious injuries. When First Aid began touching all their insignias, Ambulon looked up from Schema long enough to tell Dogfight's crew that was just the medic's personal quirk. Bullets

When the Red Rust virus was unleashed, Pharma, First Aid, and Ambulon rushed to treat the infected. They were later accompanied by Ratchet, Pipes, and Drift and while First Aid was bringing them up to speed, Ambulon worked on the wounded Backstreet. Later on, when Ratchet, Pharma, and Ambulon were exploring Delphi, they were cornered by the Genericons, who had escaped during the outbreak of the virus. They were rescued by an angry Fortress Maximus Life After the Big Bang who made short work of the Genericons.

"I'm coming, Baby Legs! I'm... Regular... Legs!"

Pharma blamed Ambulon for the Red Rust incident, since he had been a Decepticon, but it was soon revealed that Pharma was behind this. Pharma shot the life support machine and fled through a tunnel in a CR chamber, which had the medics scramble to save the failing patients. After Delphi's infected were cured with the vaccine, Ambulon left aboard the Lost Light with other survivors. How Ratchet Got His Hands Back Although Ambulon hoped to keep his embarrassing alternate mode a secret from the rest of the crew, a curious Swerve bonked him on the back of the neck, forcing him into his leg mode. No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases

Ambulon was working in the Lost Light's medical bay when he, along with nearly everyone on board of the Lost Light, was frozen in place due to one of Brainstorm's experimental weapons accidentally going off. After he recovered, he was awarded a Rodimus Star "for exceptional endurance in the face of adversity." The Reluctant Specialist

"Okay, so, ten out of ten for style, but minus several million for good thinking, okay?"

Following Fortress Maximus's psychotic episode on board the Lost Light (during which he shot five of the crew and held Rung and Whirl hostage), Ambulon, along with First Aid and Ratchet, was instrumental in saving Rung's life after he was accidentally shot in the head by Swerve. Rules of Disengagement When a number of offline Autobots suddenly awoke and squeezed their audio sensors, Ambulon was assigned to watch over them in the medibay. You, Me, and Other Revelations When Red Alert's deactivated body was retrieved and put on life support, Ambulon assisted First Aid in investigating. Patternism

Ambulon took care of Rewind following the injuries he'd sustained on Temptoria. Before & After During Overlord's rampage on the Lost Light, Ambulon crashed a Mobile Autobot Repair Bay into him. It...lost the Lost Light a M.A.R.B. Under Cold Blue Stars Rewind, a casualty of the battle, stitched together a final message for Chromedome using footage from his database, including a recording of Ambulon saying "apart". The Gloaming

Following the disappearance of Ultra Magnus from the medibay, Ambulon was questioned as to where the medibot had been at the time. The Fecund Moon Along with First Aid, Ambulon gave a pretty good effort in fighting off the Legislators when they invaded the Lost Light. House of Ambus

Sorry guys, but it looks like I gotta "split"

The ship was soon overrun, and both 'bots found themselves teleported to Pharma's new lab on Luna 1. Unfortunately for Ambulon, he was to play a part in a med-bot contest between Pharma and Ratchet, a contest precipitated by Ambulon being horrifically sawn in half, lengthwise. The Divided Self He did not survive the experience, but Ratchet made good use of Ambulon's senseless death: by fashioning a cannon from Ambulon's bisected remains, Ratchet was able to destroy the Legislator assigned to oversee the operation. Arm the Lonely Upon Pharma's capture by the crew, his callously flippant attitude about his murder of Ambulon proved to be last straw for First Aid, who blew the traitor's head off. This Calamitous Life Following their adventure on Luna 1, Ambulon's corpse was returned to the Lost Light; at some point over the next few years, his body was repaired and returned to its original condition before it was interred within the ship's morgue. Journey's End

Before he left the Lost Light aboard the O Fortuna, Tailgate gave First Aid a leaving present that contained a photograph of the ship's medical staff—himself, Ratchet, the Diagnostic Drone, and Ambulon. The One Where They Go to Earth

Much later, on Luna 1, Red Alert erroneously remembered Ambulon as being in the queue to join the Lost Light's launch. Last Light

Following Getaway's mutiny, the Protectobots returned to the Lost Light to learn that the escapologist had seized control of the ship. Full Circle Unable to form Defensor without the recently deceased Rook, the team raided the morgue for Ambulon's body and used his leg mode as a suitable stand-in. Though Defensor attempted to overpower Getaway's forces, he was easily defeated by Star Saber. Journey's End

During the final battle for Earth, Soundwave glimpsed Ambulon's spirit as the Decepticon used the Enigma of Combination to assist Optimus Prime against Unicron. Ceremony

Kre-O online manga

When Predaking attacked Autobot City, Ambulon stood next to Optimus Prime in facing the giant Decepticon. Behemoth Combination! But They're Cute? The Predacon Unit

TransTech

A Fixit in Axiom Nexus knew of Ambulon and did not want to share his solitary alternate mode. Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/05/28

2019 IDW continuity

Ambulon was among the Ascenticons who accepted branding with the new symbol of their movement. The Change In Your Nature Part One

Notes

• According to James Roberts, "Ambulon" was not his original name, but he sticks to it because someone else we know goes by that name too.
• Also according to James Roberts, Ambulon is the only name he's ever had.
• Ambulon's leg mode appears to have a Combiner Wars-style peg. What should be noted is that while Combiner Wars toys in leg mode connect with the combiner torso by the knee, Ambulon's joint is at the hip.
• Kre-O Ambulon uses Ratchet's helmet.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Ambulon (アンビュロン Anbyuron)