Roller (IDW)

This article is about the pre-war policeman Autobot. For G1 Optimus Prime's drone unit, see Roller (G1). For a list of other meanings, see Roller (disambiguation).

Roller is a Transformer from the IDW (2005) portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Juice Box Hero.

Roller was a good friend to Orion Pax and Ratchet in the pre-war days. He served alongside Pax in the police force until... something happened to him.

He's known for being one chatty chappy! Despite his friendly nature and his incredible strength (he's one of the mighty Point One Percenters), he's not that confident in his abilities. He'll focus on what others can do that he can't, rather than what he can.

Fiction

IDW 2005 continuity

First appearance: More than Meets the Eye #9 (mentioned); #10 (on-panel)

Ehhh, I'll do it later.

Roller was one of Orion Pax's fellow officers at Rodion, a gifted investigator and a trusted ally with a fondness for TV. Patternism Roller was on secondment at Tesk when his fellow officers Springarm and Wheelarch were killed by Kroma and the Senate's thugs. Metastasis

Following Orion's defeat of Sonic and Boom in the Dead End, he had Roller send in a containment trailer to arrest them. Post Hoc Roller later helped Orion by locating the Relinquishment Clinic closest to his location and bringing Senator Shockwave into protective custody. Patternism

He was a bit worried about Orion's attachment to Shockwave, having investigated the Senator and found that he had befriended and modified other people besides him, but only got Orion angry at him by sharing this information. Roller remained at the police station to protect Shockwave while Orion was breaking into the Primal Basilica, but was defeated by Kroma's cronies when they broke into the place in search for the Senator. Orion tried to save them both, but Kroma convinced Shockwave to surrender himself by holding Roller hostage.

Ratchet recalled these events as "the last time the three of us [himself, Pax and Roller] were together" An Intimate Beheading as Pax, Roller, and the Outliers had to go on the run after that and Ratchet remained behind to look after his patients. All Our Parlous Yesterdays The last conversation the two would have would be Roller mentioning they'd find it hard to stay in touch and Ratchet, unable to bring himself to say goodbye, making noncommittal noises. Our Steps Will Always Rhyme

The fugitives would find themselves constantly fighting Sentinel Prime's Elite Guard. The incredible abilities of the outliers made Roller feel useless, despite his considerable power: he knew Orion Pax kept him on the team because they were friends and didn't think that was enough. To give himself an edge, he began taking the circuit speeder C32.

RECTANGLE CAR NYOOOOOOM

In 1st cycle 502, Roller and the gang were fighting to protect a spark hot spot in Alyon from being taken or exterminated by Sentinel. They were joined by members of the Lost Light crew of four million years later, who claimed that Zeta had sent them to help. From this group, Rung tested Roller's carton of Kremzeek and realised it contained C32, questioning about his habit. Roller admitted to his insecurity, saying "not everyone is born special"—even though, as Rung noted, he had been. In the final battle to save the sparks, as the Elite Guard bombarded them, Roller refused to let Orion Pax risk his life to harvest sparks and did it himself, saying he needed this. Roller was badly wounded in the process, driving Pax to a rage.

Dude, circuit speeders give you one hell of a hangover...

Roller was missing in the aftermath of the battle, and Pax ordered his crew to look for him. Unfortunately, after the visitors altered the short term memories of Pax's crew, everyone forgot he was missing... All Our Parlous Yesterdays

...so it was handy for him a different time traveler, Censere, had brought him to the future as part of his mission to save Cybertronians on his list of the Disappeared! As travel using a single time case was hazardous, Roller was placed in stasis within the Necroworld, millions of years later, and disguised with holograms to appear as an organic being. Do Not Go Gentle Unaware of this, Optimus would name his drone module after his old friend.

Many years later, a Roller was considered for an exploring mission that went to Wheelie. Better hope they didn't think a presumed dead guy was better than you, Wheelie! Spotlight: Wheelie

During Team Rodimus's battle with the Decepticon Justice Division on the Necroworld, a groggy Roller woke up with his fellow rescuees to find himself in a weird place with a green stranger and an emotional Ratchet hugging him. He'd also found the time case, and watched quietly as a long-running drama involving Megatron played out in front of him. Afterwards one such stranger, Velocity, introduced herself to him Do Not Go Gentle and Rewind began to introduce him to others the next day. One other, titchy tiny Tailgate, amused him by picking him up and carrying him around.

In English, please?

Poor Roller got drafted into "Team Rodimus" and brought on an experimental quantum leap warp back to Cybertron. He proudly confirmed with GPS they were in Central Iacon, only for them to learn they'd accidentally crossed to the Cybertron of a parallel universe! Some Other Cybertron To his confusion, everyone but him seemed to know what was up with this universe and Rewind's answer was no help. A team of rebels, the Anti-Vocationist League, showed up to free them but, as a dismayed Roller said, they were rubbish. When Rodimus decided they should break free and help, Roller took commands from Megatron on the best way to take out functionaries. Anomie Along with everyone else, he witnessed the sanctuary of Adaptica, the fake-out of Rung's alternate mode, A World Misplaced and the arrival of a battle-prepped Luna 2 come to devour said sanctuary (Embarrassingly, the last one after he congratulated the locals for getting their moon back). Bad Moon Rising

While defending Adaptica alongside Megatron, Roller told him he reminded him of his good friend Orion Pax, hey, I think you met him once. The two of them discussed where Pax must be in this world and Roller, dismayed, had to admit that all signs pointed to dead or missing; certainly, he wasn't picking up when Roller called his personal frequency. As Luna 2 began to erase the city, Roller was sent to order an evacuation of the defence force. Modes of Production Roller and the others use the weaponized Luna 2 to teleport back to Necroworld, where Brainstorm had prepared the means to return them to their proper reality. This Machine Kills Fascists Roller joined the former crew of the Lost Light as they prepared to continue their quest by modifying a dead Decepticon named Skip into a workable space craft. After Megatron

Skip was a tight fit for all of Rodimus's crew, particularly a Heavyweight-class like Roller. He tried to stretch out and sleep in vehicle mode, only for Rewind and Chromedome to sneak inside for...canoodling. Things got mildly worse when the mass displacement override shut down and the ship began shrinking, ultimately killing everyone on board. Sardines

So, after they died, Roller and the group found themselves in the Afterspark. As you do. Roller was delighted to reconnect with Springarm, a fellow officer from Rodion who died over four million years ago. Roller had always felt guilty about not being around when Kroma attacked the precinct, killing Springarm and Wheelarch and leaving Orion Pax to fend for himself. But Springarm forgave him, bringing Roller a step closer towards accepting ascension into the Matrix. Metastasis It was eventually discovered that the Afterspark was not what it seemed, however. They were actually on Cyberutopia, in fact a euthanasia clinic of a world designed to guide the terminally ill into peacefully accepting death. Their friends and loved ones were holomatter-based projections, which soon faded away. You Are Here

Roller happy at last :)

Things only got worse when Roller and company were attacked by the crew of the Lost Light, reduced to feral Sparkeaters by Getaway and Scorponok on behalf of a mysterious figure called the Grand Architect. Roller joined an assault team that entered the Lost Light to defeat their adversaries. A Dance Before Dying They were forced into battling Red Scraplets in the oil reservoir, but fortunately survived thanks to Whirl's affinity to the creatures. Lūstrāre After Getaway was killed and Scorponok seen off, the entire cast regrouped aboard the Lost Light before being captured by the Grand Architect. Farsickness

He was with everyone else when the Functionist Council's false effigy of Primus entered the universe through the rift in space The Return of the King and watched over Flame to make sure he didn't try something funky. The Unremembering Together with Chromedome and Rewind, Roller was dispatched to Port Residua to open a Matrix and help shut down the Functionist Council. A Spark Among Embers

Unite Warriors

He saw me wanderin', hatin'.

In Japanese Generation 1 continuity, Roller the full-size Transformer and Roller the buggy drone are one and the same individual. For full details of Roller's exploits in that continuity, see the above-linked article.

Roller was Optimus Prime's long-time partner until the Autobot leader's death in the Battle of Autobot City, which left an unfortunate Roller stranded between dimensions. Over time, his memories faded, until all that remained was an implacable desire to visit revenge upon Optimus Prime. Eventually, Roller was plucked back into his home dimension in a new humanoid body by Unicron, who sought vengeful warriors to serve as components of the "Grand Galvatron" combiner.

Grand Galvatron proceeded to attack Cybertron, and after the combiner was forcibly separated, Roller was nearly able to prevent the resurrection of Optimus Prime. However, in the battle against Unicron that followed, Roller decided to put aside his anger and fight alongside his old partner. After helping form Grand Galvatron for an all-out assault on Unicron, Roller then served as an arm with which Optimus Maximus landed the final blow against the Chaos Bringer.

In the battle's aftermath, Roller's memories returned and his anger disappeared, but he soon learned that Optimus's new lease on life would last just seven days. When his old partner passed away again, Roller volunteered to watch over his remains until Prime could be revived once more, so that they would never again have to part ways. After a decade-long vigil, Optimus Prime's body was abducted under Roller's watch, prompting him to join the Battlestars to track it down. Roller subsequently sacrificed his life in battle to ensure his friend's remains were recovered, and although his humanoid body was destroyed, the faithful Autobot was subsequently resurrected alongside Optimus Prime, sporting a new Microcarrier form.

Toys

Generations

The other Roller. No, the other other Roller.

• Optimus Prime & Bumblebee (Multi-pack, 2013-09-28)
  • Japanese ID number: TG24
  • Accessories: Ion Blaster

The Japanese release of Generations Legends Class Roller redecoes him in metallic blue. He comes in a TakaraTomy four-pack with Optimus Prime, as well as Bumblebee and Blazemaster. Though he isn't designed to look like IDW Roller, his bio describes him as a partner of Orion Pax in the Cybertron police force, so...

Unite Warriors

Comic-accuracy? Never heard of it.

• Grand Galvatron (2016-04-30)
  • ID number: UW-06

A redeco of Combiner Wars Rook (the first release of this mold in Japan), "Wandering Roller" features a color scheme based on his appearance in IDW comics. His vehicle mode, meanwhile, homages the original Roller.

As a Deluxe Class Combiner Wars mold, he can combine to form the leg or arm of any combiner from Combiner Wars or Unite Warriors combiner, but is usually associated with Grand Galvatron, as mentioned above.

He was released as part of a Grand Galvatron giftset along with Tactician Cyclonus, Ghost Starscream, Curse Armada Thrust, and Zombie War Breakdown.

Combiner Wars mold: Rook
Version 1: Hasbro: Combiner Wars Protectobot Rook Fun Publications: Combiner Wars Impactor Predacon Tarantulas TakaraTomy: Unite Warriors UW-06 Wandering Roller Version 2: Hasbro: Combiner Wars Swindle Swindle (Generation 2) Autobot Hound TakaraTomy: Unite Warriors UW-07 Swindle UW-EX Hound UW-EX Greejeeber Version 3: TakaraTomy: Unite Warriors UW-08 Nosecone

Notes

80% legs

• James Roberts confirmed that Roller was a separate person from the other Roller in an interview. This was partly to mess with us by having someone so different from the Roller we knew, partly to suggest that Optimus named his drone after someone, and partly to give Orion Pax a friend who's no longer around so we'll wonder "whatever happened to Roller?!". (Ratchet's mention of "the last time" was to make us think Roller was going to die, to build tension; Roberts laments he now can't have Roller, Ratchet, and Pax hang out post-"Shadowplay".)
• In the same interview, Roberts and Milne say Roller was drawn so big because he transforms into a Cybertronian paddy wagon.
• For some time, a popular speculation among the readership of More than Meets the Eye was that Roller was the secret identity of Tarn. Issue #36 subsequently dropped an absurd number of teases in support of this theory, which were revealed as nothing more than cheeky red herrings when Tarn was unmasked in issue #55. Furthering the joke, the reveal of Roller as alive and intact, also in that issue, came on the page immediately after Velocity asks about the DJD leader's identity (and immediately before Tarn's real unmasking).