Rung (G1)
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| This article is about the Generation 1 Autobot. For the Animated Autobot, see Rung (Animated). |
- Rung is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.
The Autobots have this, you know, psy-ops specialist. He's red, right? Orangey-red? And tiny? Basically defenseless? Does anyone remember his name? It's something like... Ring? Rong? Rang? Dang. It's on the tip of my tongue. He files these reports, you know, for Autopedia? He's written entries for each Autobot, from Red Alert to Impactor to Red Alert again. As part of his duties, he performs the mental assessments of potential Wreckers-to-be. He's very important. He's got... these huge eyebrows. You gotta know who this is describing, right? Collects and builds model spacecraft? Seriously. What's his name?
Oh, right! Rung! Thanks.
Or maybe Wrung. Who knows, really.
Also he's Primus
Fiction
IDW Generation 1 continuity
- First Appearance: Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers #1 (in text material); Transformers vol. 1 #22 (on-panel)
Rong of the Pious Pools (sic) Little Victories may be a quiet, unassuming guy in the background but he's managed to meet almost every post-war surviving Autobot you care to name! Rewind has called him a historical constant. An Intimate Beheading He thinks his backgrounder status is because he's always kept his original design, leaving everyone to get used to him; that and those gits in rival disciplines damaging his reputation as a psychiatrist. Signal to Noise
Unclear if he's exactly seven or six million years old anymore and sporting the "impressive" serial code of 100000000, Rung's precise age is unknown. In his youth, he lived near the Vinvissius Canals, before they were eventually redeveloped into the Vinvissisus Heights. Do Not Go Gentle Modes of Production Rung was established in his field as early as the launch of the Ark-1, with his eponymous "Rungian analysis" being in common parlance. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It He's OLD. He's so old he's one of the oldest friends of Kup and Kup is WELL OLD. Zero Point
Back when he was first created, he made the photonic crystals needed for cold construction reproduction. He forgot this some time after he moved into psychotherapy and the world assumed the crystals were artificially made. Modes of Production The Functionist Council were unaware of this and so Rung presented them a unique problem: no-one, not even Rung himself anymore, knew the purpose of his altmode and this threatened to undermine their entire philosophy and the Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy itself! So poor old Rung was subjected to repeated and rigorous tests and in the meantime, to "reassure" other Cybertronians, he was forced to wear a false wheel on his back to fake an alt mode. Eventually, even the Functionists found themselves stumped as to what Rung's purpose could be and so the problem was neatly sidestepped by creating a new entry in the Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy specifically for Rung's altmode: they classified him as an "ornament". Little Victories
He was called back from serving on the Ark-1 at the last second, as the Senate allegedly needed him. Speak, Memory: Part 1 He was subsequently employed by the Senate as a patho-psychologist, equal in rank to his professional rival Froid. Births, Deaths, and Interventions They were once such good friends that Rung felt able to tell his fellow psychotherapist his deepest, darkest secret: the fact that Rung had been disbarred by practising medicine by a tribunal on the ship Fateful Archetype, after they'd learned he'd become too close to a patient, but that the entire crew save for himself had died in a crash and nobody knew. Speak, Memory: Part 1 Unfortunately, over time, their professional rivalry superseded their friendship. They clashed over the proper use of personality adjustment treatment Births, Deaths, and Interventions and in later times, Froid actually stole the Froidian Classification System of personality types from Rung. The dark secret he knew was always held over Rung. The Sensuous Frame Speak, Memory: Part 1
Some time in his life, he picked up a hobby of making models of every ship he'd been part of. Speak, Memory: Part 1
In 4th Cycle 499, Rung was returning to his wellbeing clinic when a time-traveling Brainstorm attacked him with electric knuckledusters, knocking the psychiatrist unconscious. Stet
In 51st Cycle 500, Rung travelled to Croteus 12 after a secret Senate session amended the law to require two signatures on requests for personality adjustments. His arrival interrupted the use of the procedure on the exiled revolutionary Megatron, which had been approved by Froid. However, before Rung could assess whether he would countersign the operation, an underground energy surge prompted a complete evacuation of the facility. Births, Deaths, and Interventions
Once Zeta Prime rose to power, Rung served as a psychotherapist under the new Autobot regime. He provided literature and adjustment assistance to bots undergoing body augmentation or retrofitting, including the New Senate operative Orion Pax. Omega's Conundrum After Zeta's death and the outbreak of full-scale war, Rung was present during a battle that saw Metroplex and Trypticon clash. Primacy #4
As the war continued, Red Alert became one of Rung's patients. He'd stay one of Rung's patients for six centuries, his paranoia so bad it took ninety-seven sessions before he let Rung see his face, two hundred eighty-eight sessions before he told Rung his real name, and three hundred thirty-two sessions before he stopped recording their conversations. How Ratchet Got His Hands Back
Rung did a psychological evaluation of Impactor before his trial for unlawful executions. He ended up being physically assaulted and threatened with extreme violence if he tried 'putting ideas' in Impactor's head, but managed to calm the situation down. In the end, Rung was left questioning whether Autobot High Command shared the blame for Impactor's crimes for turning a blind eye to the robot's growing psychopathy. Impactor's Autopedia entry
Over time, Froid and other rivals inflicted irreparable damage on Rung's reputation. Long after their deaths, Rung would write papers but never distribute them. Signal to Noise With his reputation wrecked, Rung left Cybertron. Speak, Memory: Part 1
Rung later performed a pre-mission psych-screening on new Wreckers Rotorstorm, Ironfist, Pyro, and Guzzle to estimate if they were suited to be put on the Garrus-9 case. Rung was unimpressed by Rotorstorm's unrelenting bragging and joking, and found himself cutting through the charade when he mentioned Simanzi. Taking note of his dual personality, Rung declared him cleared for mission. Rotorstorm's Autopedia entry With Pyro, he diagnosed the robot as an extreme sufferer of Primus apotheosis and noted with sadness that the robot was suppressing his own engaging personality for a copy of another's. He cleared Pyro with reservations, noting that apotheosis sufferers were known for sacrificing themselves. Pyro's Autopedia entry With Guzzle, he cleared the 'bot as having personality flaws but no real psychological flaws, though he was unnerved by his disturbing habit of playing with his gun's safety. Guzzle's Autopedia entry
When screening Ironfist, he was impressed by his enthusiasm and knowledge, but not so much by his actual combat experience and mentality. Rung advised against Ironfist's participation, but retracted his negative conclusion when he received 'unsolicited advice' from an undisclosed party. Ironfist's Autopedia entry
Rung treated the shell-shocked Autobot Flattop. He discovered Flattop was a survivor of the Babu Yar atrocity, but that was not his immediate problem. What pushed him over the edge this time was an encounter with the Shimmer. Rung tried to give rational explanations for the appearance of Shimmer, but Flattop died right there in his office. Bullets
Kup, one of Rung's oldest friends, asked him to examine Springer after a zero point affliction had left him in a coma. Believing that certain emotional triggers could cause Springer's subconscious to force his spark across the zero point, Rung asked Roadbuster to read Wreckers: Declassified datalogs to him in hopes that the memories would have some effect. Zero Point
Rung was among the survivors of Cyclonus's attack on Kimia Facility. He and the others drifted in a cramped escape pod for some time until they were rescued by Arcee. Kings Genesis
After Cybertron was reborn in the wake of the D-Void's defeat, Rung joined Rodimus's crew on the Lost Light in search for the Knights of Cybertron. Before he could get on the ship, his arm was detached by a wildly flying Cyclonus. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It After getting his arm repaired in Ratchet's care, Rung was choked by an irrational and unresponsive Whirl. The psychiatrist managed to get him to release his grip when he reminded Whirl that he would go back to prison, forever, if he didn't stay in line. When Skids joined the crew, Rung informed him of their quest. Hangers On Rung later had a close call with a Sparkeater, but was saved by Skids. Rodimus used the two to lure the Sparkeater so he could defeat it. The Chaos of Warm Things
As a result of his almost never using it, the nature of Rung's alternate mode became the subject of a 100 shanix wager between Swerve and Tailgate. A early blow in this "war" came when Swerve repeatedly threw a hand grenade at the back of Rung's head, hoping to trigger an involuntary mode change. Little Victories
Red Alert, previously thought cured, returned to therapy shortly after the launch of the Lost Light. Rung was concerned that all the progress they had made on Red Alert's rampant paranoia over the years was coming undone. Red Alert informed Rung that he was hearing noises coming from a crack in the floor of the Sparkeater's chamber. He gave him a recording of the noise which Rung vaguely recognized as a voice, albeit tremendously slowed-down. When they sped the sound up, the words "kill...me" could be identified. How Ratchet Got His Hands Back
Rung held a session with the newly returned Fortress Maximus, whose mental state had been called into question after he had suffered torture and humiliation at the hands of Overlord for three years. Rung urged him to open up and explore his trauma, to no avail. Maximus later snapped and went on a rampage across the Lost Light, gunning down Autobots that reminded him of Overlord. Rung was in the middle of a session with Whirl when Max broke in and took them both hostage. Rung was bound to his chair and Whirl was overpowered and pinned to the ground. Rung tried to reason with Maximus, while simultaneously recording and broadcasting what was happening in his office through the microphone in his thumb. When Maximus noticed it, he tore Rung's thumb off.
As the situation dragged on, Rung continued to try and break through to Maximus. Max kept dodging the issue, pinning the reason for his actions on Prowl's delay in sending help to Garrus-9, instead of acknowledging that Overlord was at the root of his psychosis. Maximus then confronted Whirl, who told Maximus about his life. Rung expressed wonder at this, as there were details that Whirl told Maximus that he had never told Rung. Whirl replied that Rung had never threatened any of his friends, to Rung's visible surprise. When a holo-image of Overlord torturing him was projected into the room by Rewind, Maximus froze up and crumbled to his knees. Rung tenderly comforted him and the hostage situation appeared to be at an end. Unfortunately, a shot from Swerve meant to disable Fortress Maximus instead hit Rung in the head. A memorial service was later held for Rung, which Rodimus presided over. Interiors
Surprisingly, Rung's spark and brain module survived and the medical staff believed he might pull through: something Ratchet said was akin to a miracle. Later, after a visit by Skids and a horrified Swerve, Red Alert came to see the comatose psychiatrist. Believing that Rung's near-death was a result of the recording he had played to Rung, the paranoid security officer said he couldn't tell anyone else the truth he'd discovered — the voice was Overlord's, the sadistic Decepticon "strung up and sedated" in the bowels of the Lost Light. Expecting to be killed himself, he left a data slug of his findings in Rung's hand and said goodbye. Unfortunately, a Diagnostic Drone had recorded Red Alert's confession, and summoned a mysterious figure who removed the slug... Rules of Disengagement After the Lost Light's encounter with a Metrotitan, Swerve explained his religious interpretation of events to the comatose Rung. You, Me, and Other Revelations
After Rung's head was rebuilt, it took hours of patient work from First Aid to get Rung to be able to distinguish between people and objects. Then it took Swerve talking for 147 hours straight to get Rung to move again (placing a finger over Swerve's mouth). With Rung still locked into the fog of his own thoughts, Signal to Noise Rewind decided that they could help repair the psychiatrist's brain by telling him a story: hearing stories required the brain to use its cognitive functions. He assembled a group of Autobots who'd all been part of interlinked events and tried to use the story to kick-start Rung's brain. And then he tried again. Patternism Not knowing when to try a different tack and intending to finally talk to Rung about Dominus Ambus No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases, he then tried a third time with a group of 'Bots who had been involved in a chain of events during the Clampdown and prompted them to talk about it. Post Hoc Rewind checked Rung again during the story later and still found no mental signs in him Patternism and he still showed no signs when the story was finished. Seeing that Rewind was on the wrong track, Skids tried a simpler idea, drawing from the sheer number of connections the psychiatrist had made during his lifespan without leaving an impact on many. He deliberately got his name wrong several times in front of him, and an irritated Rung immediately said his name was "Rung. Forever." An Intimate Beheading
After being fully repaired and helping Brainstorm develop holomatter avatars that could reflect an Autobot's inner psyche, he went down to Hedonia for shore leave with Swerve, Skids, Tailgate, Rewind and Cyclonus, Whirl, and Ultra Magnus, who just tagged along. The group spent the evening between a bar Cybertronian Homesick Blues and a gift shop, where the sight of a memory stick caused the psychiatrist to remember his last conversation with Red Alert. Signal to Noise After a violent outburst from Cyclonus saw the group leave the bar, Rung helped bring an unconscious Ultra Magnus back to the shuttle. Cybertronian Homesick Blues Back aboard the Lost Light, Rung shared Red Alert's concerns with Rodimus, but the ship's captain claimed to have greater priorities than immediately investigating. Signal to Noise
As part of the ongoing bet, Tailgate attempted to have Rung transform as part of an "alt-mode party", although the psychiatrist wound up simply bemused. When the Vis Vitalis contacted the Lost Light, Rung was excited at the prospect of meeting its captain, the superlative Thunderclash. However, the famous Autobot wound up held at gunpoint by his First Officer Paddox, who had been revealed as an Ammonite spy. Rung was instrumental in saving the day, allowing Swerve to wield his "ornamental" alt mode as a blunt instrument with which to bludgeon the aggressor. Rung was also interviewed by Rewind, as part of the documentary the archivist was producing. Little Victories
Rung visited Fortress Maximus in the ship's brig, where he forgave the ex-warden for the events surrounding the psychiatrist's near-death. Their moment was interrupted, however, by an alarm signaling Overlord's escape into the ship. In the battle that followed, Rung mostly watched helplessly from the sidelines. Under Cold Blue Stars
After Overlord's defeat, Rodimus was left despondent and angry, and made angrier when Rung, correctly, realised his problem was that others had stopped Overlord and not him. At the funerals, Rung's stern, silent glance got Rodimus to admit that others, including the poor, dead Rewind, had saved the day. The Gloaming Speaking truth to power got Rung drafted for a mission to the legendary Luna 1, in pursuit of the missing Ultra Magnus: Rodimus needed someone who was willing to say things he didn't want to hear. After reaching the moon's surface, the group encountered a newly ignited hot spot, but they were quickly chased away by a gang of mercenaries The Fecund Moon in the employ of Chief Justice Tyrest.
The group was charged with "crimes against creation", and shoved into a cell with a guy called Minimus Ambus. Rung swiftly picked up that Ambus had the same mannerisms, nervous tics, and speech patterns as Ultra Magnus. Keeping his suspicions to himself at first, Rung tested his theory by wearing his Autobot badge at an angle and deliberately making a mess. Before long, Ambus relented and confirmed his identity, House of Ambus explaining that "Ultra Magnus" was an identity passed down through the ages. Confused by the charges against the Lost Light crew, Ambus left to confront Tyrest, whilst Skids, Swerve, and Getaway were dumped into the cell. The Divided Self
Getaway revealed that he and the amnesiac Skids had been dispatched by Prowl to alter the unstable Tyrest's memories, and used his escapology skills to break the entire group out. Rung and the others confronted Tyrest, his deranged plan to kill all cold-constructed Transformers and reach Cyberutopia revealed. Immobilizing the Lost Lighters, the Chief Justice activated his universal killswitch, Arm the Lonely but was defeated by Tailgate and Minimus Ambus. Whilst Rodimus and Perceptor used the Matrix of Leadership to disable the killswitch, Rung comforted First Aid, who had been goaded into killing Tyrest's accomplice Pharma. When a final order from Tyrest brought his Legislator robots back to accost Rung and the others, Tailgate saved the day by amending the law at the Chief Justice's computer console. This Calamitous Life In the aftermath of the battle, Rung met with Fortress Maximus in Swerve's, and the ex-warden revealed that he had been offered the role of Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord by Rodimus and Ultra Magnus. The Sound of Breaking Glass
When Orion Pax and the crew of the Skyroller came aboard the Lost Light, Rung was present for the 'welcome aboard' party at Swerve's. Black Metal Shortly afterwards, the ship quantum jumped beneath the seas of Hydrophena in search of Metroplex, and Rung was one of the crew members who disembarked to battle the Ammonites who set upon the Lost Light. The psychiatrist was able to split apart one "Minicon" combiner by striking its weak spot, but was immediately shoulder-barged by another. Into the Abyss Eventually the ship's crew was able to rescue Metroplex and jump the Metrotitan and the Lost Light back to Cybertron. Rung was among the crew who met up with the contingent of Autobots and Decepticons fighting against Shockwave's machinations. Finis Temporis With the scientist's Necrotitan defeated by Metroplex, the psychiatrist and several other Autobots took some time to relax at Swerve's, where Rung watched the bar's owner freak out over Blurr's presence. The Becoming
The festivities were cut short, however, by the materialization of seventy billion Ammonites in the planet's skies, and Rung mostly spent the battle that followed looking on in horror. Black Planet After the dust settled, Rung was present to see Optimus Prime and Megatron stand side-by-side, the Decepticon leader having declared his new faction during the climactic confrontation with Shockwave. ...And the Damage Done
In the days that followed, Rung was in the crowd on Luna 2 observing Megatron stand trial for his crimes during the war. By the trial's resolution, Megatron was declared co-captain of the Lost Light, and six months later, after the ship had resumed its quest, the former Decepticon attended a therapy session with the Autobot psychiatrist. Megatron spent much of the session evading Rung's inquiries, at one point changing the subject to the first time he encountered the psychotherapist, at Maccadam's Old Oil House in 4th Cycle 496. Unable to remember this incident, Rung took the opportunity to segue into discussing a first-edition copy of Megatron's original autobiography, Towards Peace, that he had been given by new crew member Nautica. Of interest was a dedication to 'Terminus' that the ex-Decepticon removed from all subsequent copies. The session was then interrupted by a brief black-out, and Megatron took the chance to end the meeting. As he left, Megatron revealed that Terminus was somebody who taught him "not to get attached." Towards Peace Later that day, Nightbeat examined a schematic of Rung's enigmatic alt-mode, Words Hang in the Air whilst the psychiatrist himself attended a screening of the Earth film Zulu at Swerve's. The event was interrupted, however, when the Lost Light began disappearing piece by piece, and Rung escaped onto a shuttle. Predestination: A Beginner's Guide Eventually Rung and every other original crew member disappeared, with the remaining Lost Lighters discovering that the ship's initial quantum jump had caused it and its passengers to duplicate. The other ship's Rung, they learned, was "lost" during the explosive jump. Eventually, the Lost Light and its crew were restored and its duplicate vanished. The Road Not Taken
Not long after the ship's reappearance, Rung was at Swerve's when Brainstorm activated an electro-sensitive poison, knocking everybody who'd been drinking from the spiked engex vats unconscious. As a teetotaler, Rung merely wound up buried under a pile of his collapsed crewmates. The Custom-Made Now When Brainstorm, apparently revealed as a Decepticon, travelled back in time, Rung was recruited to the team pursuing the engineer into the past. Materializing in Alyon in 1st Cycle 502, the group encountered a team of insurgents and Outliers, led by Orion Pax, trying to protect a hot spot from Senate forces. Whilst the two teams rested, Rung was startled to discover that Roller was taking circuit speeders to keep up with his Outlier teammates, and warned of their health risks. After helping save the hot spot's newborn sparks, the Lost Light team followed Brainstorm further into the past, All Our Parlous Yesterdays to 4th Cycle 501, during the Clampdown.
Rung was assigned to survey Maccadam's New Oil House in Rodion, where he passed the time building a model of the Lost Light. Unbeknownst to him, he was observed by both Brainstorm, who realized that he had been pursued into the past, Stet and Quark and Nightbeat, who bickered over whether the psychiatrist was a Senate spy or just a billy-no-mates. Post Hoc After Brainstorm time-jumped again, Rung's crewmates regrouped at Maccadam's to be sent even further into the past, to 4th Cycle 499. When the group split up, Rung was in the contingent that stayed at the bar, and was dispatched to fetch a curly straw for Tailgate. In doing so, however, he spilled a Senate cadet's drink. Stet After refusing to clean up the spill, the poor 'bot was tossed across the bar, right onto Impactor and Megatron's table. Chaos Theory Part 1 A barfight quickly ensued, away from which Rodimus dragged the unconscious Rung. Stet
Having realized that Brainstorm intended to kill Megatron, Rung and the Lost Lighters pursued the engineer back to 1st Cycle 012, where the Decepticon-to-be had just been created in a cold construction facility. After Brainstorm was hit with a "grenado", Rung checked the facility's computer's and found that the rogue engineer had already wiped Megatron's batch code, and then spent ten minutes pointing his gun at the newborn. When Brainstorm pulled a pistol again, Rung was able to talk him down, realizing that the engineer was still conflicted. A short time later, the crew used Rodimus's "time phone" to send a warning message for their past selves, and Rung chipped in with instructions to not visit Delphi (though the message failed to reach its intended recipients). After the group returned to the present day, Rung visited Perceptor, who revealed that their actions in the past were pre-destined, already part of established history, and that tampering with the time machine might have lead to a multitude of alternate realities being created. Predestination: An Expert's Guide
As well as helping on the Lost Light, Rung was remotely providing aid to Fortress Maximus. The new enforcer of the Tyrest Accord admitted to him how he'd been thrown to discover some Decepticons had been a bunch of damaged guys and not complete monsters. Rung gently steered him towards changing his ultraviolent approach, as many Decepticons may be like that now. Animals
While assisting Skids with reclaiming his lost memories, Rung was surprised to find Froid (who was supposed to be dead) visiting the Lost Light!
His rival wrangled a private chat with his "old friend" and began to mock, cajole, intimidate, and outright blackmail Rung to hand over all his patient notes. Even the threat of revealing he shouldn't be practicing therapy anymore wouldn't break Rung. Instead, Rung ran a sting and asked if he could 'help' with anything else while quietly alerting Skids to show up loaded for bastard. Unfortunately, it turned out Froid wanted the patient information as a way of feeding his "prisoner": monstrous serial killer and memory-eating mnemosurgeon, Sunder the Tetraxian Ripper!
Sunder remotely accessed Rung's memories of the patients and broke out to have this all-you-can-eat buffet of repressed memories, starting with Skids. Speak, Memory: Part 1 Rung had been recording the event and transmitted everything to Megatron, who declared the ship on lockdown. As Sunder prowled the ship, attacking anyone who hadn't locked themselves away, Rung was carrying Skids in a search for Chromedome, hoping the mnemosurgeon could stop the guy's memory surge. Froid tagged along and was brutally killed by Sunder before Thunderclash and Megatron could drive him back; when the monster proved too much, Rung saved Megatron with his ship collection, all capable of flight and shooting!
Once the Ripper was finally stopped, Rung resigned as therapist: the transmission meant Megatron knew he had been struck off. When the captain tried to talk him out of this, Rung snapped that the only way you could defend what he'd done is if you thought his work was unimportant.Speak, Memory! (Part 2)
The crew found a shrinking 'time window' in Swerve's that could allow you to look back in its past. Rung and Chromedome both went to look back at Rewind's attempt to fix his brain-damaged self, and Rung would have to gently remind Chromedome when it was time to go. No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases
Rung had been asked (and his mind wiped) by Getaway if he'd be willing to mutiny against Megatron. As he wasn't, the mutiny tricked Rung into leaving the ship with the other Megatron 'loyalists': a transmission was sent from the Necrobot's planet to draw them in. (A dying Necrobot, corrupting it in the hope of scaring people away, made it terrify them; Rung heard something he refused to discuss) The group followed the transmission to the planet and came under immediate, violent attack from the Decepticon Justice Division and Deathsaurus before learning the Lost Light was abandoning them. How Bright Their Frail Deeds The Autobots holed up in the Necrobot's old house and Rung helped Rodimus run through their assets. Which were none.
Others found there were dozens of slumbering organics underneath the base and that there was a long-range teleporter, but using the latter meant abandoning the former. Rung listened with weariness as Brainstorm argued for abandoning the organics as they could do far more good for the world if they escaped but, after Megatron spoke in favour of staying, Rung stayed to protect the helpless. While preparing for battle, he and the others realized Ten had been trying to alert them they could create a forcefield. The Sun in Flight After Nightbeat put in a polite request to begged Minimus Ambus to be allowed to investigate the hollow planet, Minimus agreed so long as Nightbeat had an escort. Nightbeat chose Rung for his total lack of fighting skills. Rung was not amused. Despite the two promising to be back by sunset, they weren't, At Close of Day prompting Rodimus and Drift to question what became of them after the D.J.D. had been defeated.
Rung was very close to raising his voice at Nightbeat when the two finally breached the last layer of the "crust" to find the hollow insides where Nightbeat concluded that the intense gravitational forces were playing havoc with their internal clocks...which Rung couldn't care less about since an examination of the landscape, particularly an inverted pattern of the Vinvissius Canals, led him to the conclusion that Necroworld was the mould into which Cybertron was poured. Then a geobomb showed up to ruin the moment. Do Not Go Gentle
Three weeks after the mutiny, the crew's last messages, including Rung's, were received by several parties on Earth and Cybertron. Rung begged them to dismantle him if he died in alt mode and "put me beyond use." How Bright Their Frail Deeds
When Sentinel Prime tried to take over his mind, Red Alert used Rung's image as his inner voice to override the brainwashing. Last Light
The geobomb had not killed anyone and just appeared to have itself out. It would be a while before anyone learned they'd been shunted into a parallel universe. Some Other Cybertron Modes of Production Brainstorm teleported the two (nearly!) back to the surface where Rung asked to see Skids. Ratchet brought him to Skids' corpse. The trauma of the sight causing Rung to involuntarily create a photonic crystal Some Other Cybertron and thus reawakened his old memories of his true purpose. Nightbeat then asked to speak to Rung about the former psychiatrist's issues and feelings of uselessness. Rung confessed that information creep had caused him to forget a good chunk of his past and what he was for. Rung showed Nightbeat the crystals he'd produced much to the detective's shock. Modes of Production When Brainstorm had worked out a way back to their reality, Ratchet embraced Rung due to the fate of the psychologist's alternate self. This Machine Kills Fascists Rewind and Chromedome later took Rung aside to tell him the fate of his alternate self and how he'd served as an inspiration for billions much to the psychologist's shock and surprise. After Megatron
Part of the group that left Necroworld aboard Skip, After Megatron Rung tucked himself away in alternate mode to deal with the limited space. When Skip began to contract and tensions mounted, Rung reverted back to robot mode. Sardines
The Functionist Universe
In a divergent timeline, no one could figure out the exact purpose of Rung's alternate mode, so he was locked up in The Cog and regularly tortured for two million years by the scientist Quark to try and discern the mystery. Predestination: An Expert's Guide His unique position in a purely functionist society caused a cult to develop around him. He was hailed as the "Useless One", with his "followers" openly defying the government and being met with a reminder of the status quo. The Custom-Made Now Eventually while he was cleaning Rung's cell Sweep (a janitor, not a scientist) figured out his purpose, Predestination: An Expert's Guide by finding the photonic crystals Rung had unconsciously produced. Modes of Production One-of-Twelve was not pleased, labelling Rung a threat to the Functionist Council and the spawn of Mortilus. One-of-Twelve greeted the "Useless One" (which Rung commented was ironic given that One-of-Twelve's alternate mode needed eleven others to form and was useless itself) and pulled a gun to his head. Rung warned him that if he took the shot, the Functionist world would be destroyed and then proceeded to goad him into firing, Predestination: An Expert's Guide so as to become a martyr for the Anti-Vocationist League. One-of-Twelve didn't take the bait and hid Rung for a year to try and work out how to spin this. Six-of-Twelve viewed Rung's purpose as endorsement of cold construction and further testing by One-of-Twelve showed that Rung could produce crystals against his will. Modes of Production
A year later, the Functionist Council announced Revelation Day: at the end of the countdown, they'd disprove this whole "Useless One" anti-functionist talk by revealing exactly what Rung was for. Anomie
Supposedly Rung turned into a colossal mining tank with a very conspicuous crystalline drill, something which Team Rodimus found suspicious. According to Six-of-Twelve, the point of Rung's alternate mode was to drill through the ununtrium wall that surrounded Vector Sigma. A World Misplaced Rung was teleported to Vector Sigma's chamber but left to the side in his alternate mode. Ratchet managed to return Rung to robot mode (causing the holo-matter treads to disappear and the "drill" to shatter) and he immediately told Ratchet to follow his instructions, Bad Moon Rising by pretending to hold him hostage so that Six-of-Twelve would release Rodimus. Before the group teleported away, Rung laid into the Council by mocking their own useless alternate mode and saying that all of them were the real "Useless Ones". Materializing in Iacon, Rung directed the group to steal the Cog which he intended to ram into Luna 2 to destroy them both. Before that however, Rodimus demanded an explanation of Rung's true purpose and why the Functionists wanted him. Rung reluctantly displayed his ability to produce photonic crystals and explained the Functionists viewed that as Primus endorsing the cold construction process. As such, they wanted to draw more Sparks from Vector Sigma and store them in Rung's crystals to create an army of Cybertronians to purify the galaxy of alien life. When the Cog arrived at Adaptica, Rung locked in a collision course only for Rodimus to insist they save Luna 2 for its teleporter. Rung refused and said that Rodimus would have to fight him for Luna 2. Modes of Production
A single punch across the jaw was all it took for Rodimus to win the "fight" and gain control of the Cog. While Rewind scolded his captain, Rodimus came to his senses and ordered everyone else to evacuate while he and Rung crashed the Cog into Luna 2; however, The Cog was accidentally shot down by Terminus. Emerging from the wreckage, Rung decided to enact his backup plan over Ratchet's protests to his health. To the shock of all, Rung used the mass displacement generator the Functionists had forcibly installed in him to grow to humungous size (far surpassing even the Titans) to punch Luna 2 out of the sky. The moon simply turned its guns on Rung and killed him, sending him back to the ground at normal size and in pieces. Megatron and Terminus briefly paused to comment on Rung before they continued to the teleporter. Rung's fate prompted Ratchet to hug the Rung of his own timeline when they reunited. This Machine Kills Fascists His fate and role as an inspiration to billions was told by Rewind and Chromedome to the Rung of their timeline. After Megatron
Kre-O online manga
Rung directed a crane hauling a load of energy blocks into Scramble City when the Constructicons attacked. A New Menace! The Giant Soldier Devastator Appears!
Transformers Facebook page
Rung managed to get his own TV show, Rung Up with Rung, in which he analyzed a weekly Cybertronian guest.
Toys
Fictional toys
- Rung
- Accessories: Data Journal, "ARK-1" Model, Tech Specs Decoder
- In some time-lost continuity, Swerve tried to figure out a Rung toy. Its features included moveable eyebrows to alter the robot's expression, and a "Listening Mode". Little Victories
Notes
- A psychoanalyst named Rung was referenced in the unofficial Transformers novel Eugenesis, written by James Roberts.
- The name "Rung" is a reference to Carl Jung, founder of analytical psychology.[1] The mention of "Rungian analysis" in More Than Meets the Eye #1 is a further play on this.
- Rung's longest suffering patient was Bluestreak.
- Alex Milne modeled Rung's appearance on actors Brent Spiner and David Hyde-Pierce.[2]
- While fans thought that James Roberts had been implying Rung was, well, more than meets the eye since the earliest stories, Roberts clarified the issue in 2015 by explicitly pointing out that there is nothing special about Rung whatsoever, and that we should not pay any attention to Rung, his various quirks, or any of his future adventures.[3] Would James Roberts lie to us? No! So ignore as coincidence that as well as his great age, the notable serial number, and the mystery of what he turned into, there were minor things like:
- The Sparkeater apparently seeks him out as having the brightest Spark on the ship in More Than Meets the Eye #3.
- He somehow manages to stay (mostly) out of harm's way throughout millions of years of war and remain in like-new condition, as commented on by Ratchet in More Than Meets the Eye #2, and rather miraculously survives having his head destroyed in later issues.
- He is mentioned as having been "lost" in the explosion that created a quantum duplicate of the Lost Light—a curious choice of words.
- When facing death, he requests to have his body torn apart and "put beyond use", "just in case", indicating he's aware something's up.
- In his many Roberts-penned appearances, Rung tends to avoid being identified by his name while he's around others and conscious. In his comic appearances, his name is mispronounced or he's only described, only able to be named by others when they're not in his vicinity or when he's unconscious. In prose stories, others can name him directly while he's around. Rung's dismay at being unidentified and his general inability to be noticed likely tie in to the promo image for More Than Meets the Eye #1, where Rung was identified as wanting "to be remembered." Later books tone this back somewhat, with Rung being more frequently referred to by name after Megatron joins the crew.
- Rung's Holomatter avatar is named Mary Sue, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the literary term of the same name and a wink at fans who consider Rung to be Roberts's own alter-ego.
- In More Than Meets the Eye #48 we learn Rung collects models of ships he's served on. His collection has all the Arks from 1 to 9, as we know from More Than Meets the Eye #22.
- As with all non-toy Kreons, Rung is made entirely from pre-existing parts. It isn't particularly clear but it seems as though he's using Ironhide's helmet.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Rung (ラング Rangu)
References
- ↑ TFW2005.com interview with James Roberts
- ↑ Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye vol. 2 Alex Milne interview
- ↑ James Roberts Q&A panel at TFCon 2015
