Rapido

Rapido is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.

He is the most interesting bot in the world.

Rapido outranks you. He outranks everybody. Even Optimus Prime, even though he humbly retains the job of "Platoon Commander" of the Axelerators.

Suave, unflappable and endlessly clever, Rapido uses his tactical genius and incredible land-speed to bring the Autobots ever closer to final victory over the Decepticons. His plans are amazingly complex, plotted down to the smallest detail. Even when things are rough, he keeps his cool and works out a plan to turn things around again.

As part of the Power Core Combiner program, he operates under the code name Racemaster. When combined with his four specialized Drones, both his physical and processing speed are boosted, giving him the ability to analyze any situation and react in a split-second, making it seem like he's predicting the future.

How do you say? Ah yes, puramente magnifico! Meaning you can fight with style!Rapido's G2 Redux bio

Fiction

Dreamwave Generation One comics

Even Decepticons list him as their emergency contact number.

Rapido, standing beside Aero Raid and Windbreaker, was among a crowd of unhappy Autobots who made Prowl look really stupid when the latter tried to make a speech. Skyfire

Wings Universe

He once held the Matrix, only to give it back.

Rapido was created in one of Earth's Cyberfactories as part of a new generation; specifically, he was "born" in Madrid, Spain. He spent some time in international racing before a new Decepticon threat called him to combat duty. [Rapido's bio card]

During a battle outside of the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, Rapido ordered a fall back after Pyro was captured. Minutes later, when Scorch and Streetwise tried to take over, Rapido balked at being treated like a child, despite only being a minor in Earth years. When Scorch objected to his formulating a rescue plan, Rapido reminded him that he technically outranked all Autobots on Earth in emergency situation, as authorized by Optimus Prime himself.

Eventually the Autobots went on the counterattack to stop the Decepticons from seizing the power of the Collider and to save Pyro. While most the Autobots kept the Decepticons busy, Rapido took Meanstreak and Streetwise to the back entrance. While his low-yield photo missiles were unable to crack the door, Streetwise's knock caused it to tumble. Once inside they met with a duo of Sharkticon guards and attempted to use the universal greeting to quell them. When this proved fruitless, Rapido transformed and crashed the guards through the door they were guarding, right into the room where Pyro was being held!

The rescue team began getting pummeled by the Forestonite-infused Decepticons. Rapido shot his missiles to free Pyro, evening the odds a little. When Breakdown saw this, he shot the rest of the Forestonite, resulting in its gaseous form filling the building and powering up all the Transformers within. Rapido found he now had the power of super speed, and used it to outrun Sky-Byte's missiles, leading them into the main skirmish and having them hit Cindersaur instead. When the Decepticons retreated, Rapido attended to the humans and later enjoyed a drink of energon. Generation 2: Redux

He, Pyro and Sizzle were briefed by Ultra Magnus on a break-in at Quantum Laboratories, and given the task of finding whoever was responsible. A Flash Forward, Part 2

United EX story

He’s a racer, not a fighter, but he’s also a fighter, so don’t get any ideas.

A young Autobot created on Earth, "Racemaster" was trained by a previous Autobot commander while stationed in Spain. He was assigned a set of specialized Drones as part of the Power Core Combiners program, and sent on a transport mission, where he began to chafe under having to maintain the highway speed limit. He began to wonder what had happened to the missing Choppermaster, and quickly realized that if the Decepticons had gotten their hands on his comrade's Drones, odds were he was the next target.

His flash of insight saved him from a hail of missiles launched by Combatmaster, who had set up the purloined Drones along the road in an ambush. Combatmaster demanded the surrender of the Autobot Drones, but a sudden burst of super-speed from both Racemaster and his convoy had them quickly and safely beyond the Decepticon's range. Weapons of a New Generation

Regeneration One

This section covers fiction that is ongoing. It will be added to as the story progresses. If it isn't current, you can help by updating it.

Plot details for Natural Selection, Part 3 follow. Spoilers have expired, you may remove this tag

Twenty-odd years after the end of hostilities between the Autobots and the Decepticons, Rapido was seen as having fallen victim to Scorponok's Gene Key Natural Selection #3

Toys

Generation 1

He once punched a Quintesson wizard. You heard me.

• Rapido (Axelerator, 1993)
  • Accessories: Engine-block rifle

Rapido transforms into a somewhat abstracted Peugeot Quasar concept car. His chrome-silver, rear-mounted engine block becomes his robot-mode blaster weapon. Rapido's toy is primarily distinguished by his head being too recessed actually to see over his robot mode chest. It is also gang-molded with Turbofire.

He was initially released in the European market in 1993, during the transitional time when the Transformers toys took on the new Generation 2 sigils, but the packaging lacked the "Generation 2" line-name.

• More information at Rapido at TFU.info

Generation 2

• Rapido (Small Car/Axelerator, 1993/1994)
  • Accessories: Engine-block rifle

Released concurrently with the European "Generation 1" Rapido, the US version is almost identical to the European toy, save the pink clear-plastic being replaced with smoky-black. Rapido was re-released in the European Generation 2 line the following year, retaining his clear-pink plastics.

Block Town

Years ago, he built a city out of blocks. Today, over six hundred thousand people live and work there.

• Gasoline Station Set (Block Town, 1996)
  • Accessories: Engine-block rifle, gas pump brick set

Rapido's mold was one of several intended to be used in the post-Generation 2 Takara Block Town line. To be redecoed in black with blue robot parts, he was to come with the "Gasoline Station Set", a building-block gas pump that could be rebuilt into a battle station of some form. This set ultimately never came to release. In 2005, a supposed Takara "release" schedule listed the Block Town sets among several other future items coming out. Only the Galaxy Force items on that list saw release, however (and some only as store exclusives to boot).

Dammit!!!

Given that Rapido's Japanese name was revealed on a BotCon Japan-exclusive poster to be "Rapid Engine" - a poster that also showed Windbreaker's Japanese name as being "Carzap", which was what the Block Town Windbreaker redeco showed up as in Transformers Generations - it's likely that the Block Town Rapido was going to be named "Rapid Engine" as well.

Your bargaining posture is highly dubious. Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

Timelines

File:Timelinestoy-BC2010Rapido.jpg

He can speak Spanish... in Mini-Con binary.

• Rapido and Cindersaur (Souvenir set, 2010)
  • Accessories: "Axelerator cannon"

Exclusive to BotCon 2010, Rapido is a new-head retool of the 2008 Universe series Silverstreak toy, transforming into a modified Nissan 350Z. He features twin non-removable and non-firing "rocket launchers" that can swing over his robot-mode shoulders. His fold-out rifle stores in the car mode's undersides. He was available only in an at-show souvenir set with Cindersaur, limited to 1500 pieces.

This mold was also used to make Universe Prowl and Smokescreen, as well as fellow BotCon 2010 exclusive Timelines Streetstar.

• More information on Rapido at TFU.info

United EX

• Racemaster Prime Mode (10-20-2012)
  • ID number: EX 05
  • Accessories: Agile Drone, Depressa Drone, Rapide Drone, Schnell Drone

Racemaster (レースマスター rēsumasutā) is a redeco of the Power Core Combiners Double Clutch toy, transforming into a muscle car of undetermined model. He also has a "Prime Mode" where he becomes the torso of a super robot, capable of using any auto-transforming Power Core Combiner drone-machine molds for limbs.

He comes with four color-coordinated automobile drone-limbs, redecos of the Rallybots. Each one has a square socket for a Power Core Combiner connection; when attached via the blue plugs on a Commander figure, the vehicles automatically transform into a super-robot limb, and snaps back to vehicle mode when disconnected. Each drone also has a fold-out Mini-Con Powerlinx plug. Despite the universal connector, each drone can only form one limb type (but can be swapped from left to right):

• Schnell Drone [Drag Racer] — Leg (Racemaster's right)
• Rapide Drone [Race Car] — Arm (Racemaster's right)
• Depressea Drone [Street Racer] — Leg (Racemaster's left)
• Agile Drone [Tuner] — Arm (Racemaster's left)

The Rapide Drone and Agile Drone molds were also used to make two Stunticons.

Notes

I don't always download beer. But when I do, I prefer DOS EXEs.

• "Rapido" means "rapid" or "fast" in Spanish and Italian.
• Like all of the toys carried over from the European line for Generation 2, Rapido got entirely new artwork for his US release (shown at the top of this article). His original artwork was considerably less scary than that of his fellow Axelerators.
• Regarding him outranking "everybody"... that's a slight exaggeration, but not by much. In the 1993 US line, only Rapido and Grimlock had a "10" Rank in their Tech Specs; the Optimus Prime toy released that year had a mere "9". Speedstream also had a 10, but as he was never released in the US, few fans knew about it back then and thus the Aquaspeeder leader got to miss out on the joke.
• Though Rapido was never released in Japan, he did gain a Japanese name via a BotCon Japan 1997 exclusive poster, which featured bios for all of the new Generation 2 characters released in the US who weren't part of the Japanese line: the Axelerators, the Skyscorchers, Rotor Force, four of the Go-Bots and the Color Changers.
• For BotCon 2010, his character was based somewhat on "The Most Interesting Man in the World" from the Dos Equis beer commercials. His bio card from the convention was written entirely in Spanish, because this was an awesome thing to do. After the convention, Fun Publications put up an English version. His dialogue throughout Redux is peppered with European-Spanish words and phrases, a trait carried over into his United EX incarnation.
• The names of the Drones for his United EX incarnation are all European-language words meaning "fast".

Foreign names

• Japanese: Rapid Engine (ラピッドエンジン Rapiddo Enjin)
• Italian: Sirius