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 portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
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 Generation 1 continuity
Roller was one of Orion Pax's fellow officers at Rodion, a gifted investigator and a trusted ally with a fondness for TV. 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.
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.
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
Notes
- 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")[1]
- In the same interview, Roberts and Milne say Roller was drawn so big because he transforms into a Cybertronian police paddy wagon.
- For some time, the popular speculation among the readership of MTMTE was that Roller had been rebuilt into Tarn. MTMTE #36 dropped a number of clues to further this theory before the actual revelation in issue #55, which revealed these to be nothing more than red herrings. James Roberts cheekily had Roller reveal himself as still alive and intact on the page right after Velocity asked who Tarn really was and just before the actual unmasking.
