Ratchet (G1)
| This article is about the Generation 1 Autobot ambulance. For the Universe Autobot emergency-response SUV, see Ratchet (TFU). |
Ratchet is the Autobots' Chief Medical Officer. If something's broke, he can fix it. Ratchet is known for his irreverent bedside manner; he loves having a good time, and his party-loving nature has given him a dry wit. He attaches little importance to his job, though this does not detract from the quality of his work, and believes he is expendable. Optimus Prime has trouble convincing Ratchet that this is far from the truth.
Fiction
Marvel Comic Continuity
Shortly after arriving on Earth, Sparkplug Witwicky suffered a heart attack, so Ratchet drove Sparkplug and his son Buster to the hospital. It was during this leave that Shockwave freed himself from his four million year sleep and completely wiped out the fuel-deprived Autobot forces with one blast.
Ratchet soon discovered, to his horror, that he was the last Autobot still functional on Earth, up against the entire Decepticon army. Covertly invading the Ark, he discovered that even the mighty Optimus Prime had fallen. However, Prime's head, though detached, still functioned, and the Autobot Commander told Ratchet that he must rise up to meet this challenge. Ratchet did not believe he could; he was not a warrior but a healer.
Still, Ratchet tried. Shockwave had returned in full strength and deposed the mighty Megatron. In his weakened state, Megatron could not hope to defeat Shockwave and reclaim his leadership, but Ratchet approached him with a possible solution. Ratchet knew how Shockwave had fallen 4 million years ago, and struck a deal -- if Ratchet could defeat Shockwave, Megatron would relinguish Decepticon control of the Ark and its wrecked Autobot inhabitants.
Ratchet journeyed to the Savage Land, where the Dinobots had fought Shockwave to a stalemate, leaving all dormant in a tarpit prison. He dug up the Dinobots and repaired them. Soon after, he met with Megatron on a snowy ski slope, and announced that he had fulfilled his half of the bargain. Shockwave was defeated. Megatron, of course, went back on his part of the deal and threatened to kill Ratchet. Ratchet declared that he knew all along Megatron would not hold his end of the bargain, admitted that he had not, in fact, defeated Shockwave. The Dinobots sprung up out of the snow surrounding Megatron, and fought him, but did not succeed. Megatron now stood alone, triumphant, mocking Ratchet and his lack of a warrior's edge. With nothing to lose, Ratchet charged Megatron, but he was ineffectual. However, the charge had loosened the ground on which Megatron stood, and the Decepticon leader fell off the cliffside and disappeared.
Wrath of Guardian
The Mechanic
When an Underbase-powered Starscream decimated the Earthbound Autobot forces, Ratchet was left with the monumental task of repairing them. During a period of work-induced stress, he began to hallucinate visions of his patients attacking him and accusing him of being worthless. It was during this time that the Decepticon [Sports Car Patrol], posing as Autobots, offered to help transport Ratchet to Cybertron, where he could have access to new medical technology that had been created during his 4 million-year absence on Earth. He and three of the Sports Car Patrol took the bodies of Grimlock, Jazz, and Goldbug with him, though Ratchet was curious why Blackjack stayed behind on the Ark. Ratchet's concerns were answered when, upon arrival on Cybertron, he saw the believed-to-be-deceased Megatron standing before him, who had orchestrated the entire scheme.
Megatron brought Ratchet the remains of Starscream. He demanded Ratchet repair him while Blackjack held the Ark and its medical bay inhabitants hostage. Ratchet agreed, and he used Pretender technology to repair Starscream while secretly repairing Grimlock, Jazz, and Goldbug as well. After Pretender Starscream was sent to Earth, Megatron sought out Ratchet to kill him. Ratchet sprung his surprise on Megatron, but Megatron and his Micromasters were too powerful for them. The Pretenders and Micromasters' battle wandered outside the Decepticon base, and Ratchet was left alone. Sacrificing his life, Ratchet warped the bombs Blackjack had put on the Ark into the Decepticon base in an attempt to kill both he and Megatron. Megatron tried to escape through the warp portal, but Ratchet tackled him, and the base exploded.
Optimus Prime was devastated by the loss of Ratchet. He assigned the detective Nightbeat to investigate Ratchet's death, who hypothesized that Ratchet could possibly still be alive. There was an initial blast which could have knocked Ratchet into the portal and into Unspace, a netherworld between the warp portal's starting and ending points. A probe was sent to retrieve him, and it succeeded -- but it also brought back Megatron, who was fused with Ratchet as a single, monstrous being. The Ratchet/Megatron creature rampaged through the Ark, wounding several Autobots, but Optimus Prime would not let them harm it. This put Optimus Prime in an awkward position -- was the life of Ratchet worth the possible loss of his other troops? The creature fought his way into the engine rooms and began tearing stuf apart, and Prime's choice was made for him. The creature must be stopped. Prime fought Ratchet/Megatron to a standstill, and, alarmingly, the part that was Ratchet took control, and pulled Prime's gun to his own forehead, pleading for the Autobot Commander to put him out of his misery.
In an unpopular decision, Optimus Prime ordered Fixit to separate Megatron and Ratchet, even if it meant saving Megatron. Bonded at a molecular level, neither could survive without the other, even when separated.
Cartoon Continuity
Voice actor: Don Messick, Wally Burr (US), x (Japan)
Timelines
Years after the Decepticon and Autobot Wars have ended, Ratchet and five other Autobots are sent to Ceti Alpha Seven to destroy General Deathsaurus' Insecticon clone lab and stop his planned Decepticon uprising. After a team of four (consisting of Fallback, Chromia, Flare-up, and Ricochet) fail, Ratchet and Ironhide follow to help. After battling swarms of Virulent Clones and Buzzclaw, they finally meet up with Deathsaurus himself. Ironhide stays to fight the general, and Ratchet separates to find their fallen friends. Ratchet manages to gather the fallen and escape as the clone lab is destroyed.
Dreamwave Generation 1 Comics
IDW Generation 1 Comics
The Autobots and Decepticons had waged a secret, hidden war successfully on Earth for many years. This all changed when, during an undercover mission, Ratchet revealed himself to three humans -- Verity Carlo, Hunter O'Nion, and Jimmy Pink -- in the course of saving their lives. This action subjected Ratchet to the wrath of Prowl for breaking procedure, who threatened disciplinary action. Ratchet defended his breach of protocol, citing his pledge to safeguard all life. He was seemingly alone in his convinctions, until Bumblebee agreed to help him and the humans investigate an abandoned Decepticon bunker in Nebraska.
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