Ratchet (Animated)
| The name or term "Ratchet" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Ratchet (disambiguation). |
- Ratchet is an Autobot in the Transformers Animated continuity family.
Before the Great Wars, Ratchet was a civilian mechanic, and one of the best on all of Cybertron. But war is hell, and Ratchet learned that all too well. It left him bitter and cynical. After the war, he got himself placed in a dead end position of repairing space bridges, seeing it as a chance to get away from what he had experienced. And in his experience, "hero" is another word for casualty, because that's what most of the heroes ended up being. Still, he knows one when he sees it, and Optimus Prime definately is one.
His special power is based on magnetism; he can move metal-based objects and create shields. He enjoys grumbling about almost everything, being sarcastic, and having war flashbacks, just like any old man.
He's not Kup. Honestly.
Fiction
Animated cartoon
- Voice actor: Corey Burton (English), Horst Lampe (German)
Ratchet suffered constant flashbacks of a mission during the war in which he was sent by Ultra Magnus to recover Autobot intelligence officer Arcee, who was carrying important security codes in her memory. Shortly after finding her, the pair were captured by the Decepticon-affiliated bounty hunter Lockdown. The hunter made a habit of collecting the powers of defeated enemies as trophies and did so with Ratchet's medical EMP device. Before he could attach it, Arcee was able to pass the device to Ratchet and begged him to use it on herself to wipe the codes and preserve their safety. In the ensuing skirmish with Lockdown, the device accidentally produced a wider blast, erasing Arcee's entire memory. The Thrill of the Hunt
During a routine repair assignment with Optimus Prime's crew, Ratchet was with the group when they found the AllSpark. His first reaction upon seeing it was to urge the others to throw it through the space bridge. However, events soon overtook them when Megatron arrived and tried to claim the AllSpark. The Autobots took their ship through the space bridge, where Prime defeated Megatron, and the crew was forced to go into stasis to avoid a crash landing on Earth.
Awakening fifty years later, the Autobots went to help battle a renegade nanomachine construct, while Rathcet studied a specimen on the ship. Learning that it was vulnerable in its command centers, Ratchet sent a kill program to the Autobots to place in the monster. His program worked.
Ratchet had the most difficulty getting used to Earth's customs, as the humans kept interrupting his stasis naps to put parking tickets on them. Transform and Roll Out! To make things more complicated, those annoying camera bots followed them everywhere. Always watching, waiting...Home Is Where the Spark Is
In the present, Lockdown captured Optimus Prime and intended to hand him over to the vengeful remaining Decepticons for the bounty offered against him. The Autobots attempted a rescue, with Ratchet initially absent due to haunting flashbacks over his last encounter with the bounty hunter. He was forced to intervene after Lockdown eliminated Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Prowl. Ratchet was able to free his commanding officer and retrieve his EMP device, using it to send Lockdown's ship crashing back to Earth. After reinstalling Prime's stolen gadgets, the veteran finally opened up to the younger soldier. The Thrill of the Hunt
When the Decepticons Blitzwing and Lugnut arrived on Earth, the Autobots were quickly bested by the duo. Prime realized that the AllSpark was no longer safe on the planet, and decided that they should leave Earth and return to Cybertron. Sari was not pleased by this, but Ratchet's response was a gruff "grow up". When Optimus asked Sari to help, Ratchet was displeased with the thought of working with a "protoform", but Optimus silenced them by making it an order. Once aboard the ship, Sari accidently opened an airlock, nearly flooding the ship, then admitted that she had tried to sabotage the ship, not wanting them to leave. In a moment of empathy, Ratchet told her the Autobots didn't want to leave—they had to, or else the Decepticons would wipe out the humans, including Sari, and Ratchet couldn't live with himself if that happened. With the help of a now willing Sari, Ratchet brought the ship's weapons back online, defeating Lugnut and Blitzwing. Lost and Found
After receiving a report on increased Decepticon activity from Teletran 1, Optimus ordered Ratchet to forcibly remove the Allspark key from Sari's possession, as it was no longer safe in the hands of a dumb stubby. Ratchet was hesitant to take the object from the girl, but followed his superior's orders with a gruff, professional "Yessir." After Sari fled the base in tears, Optimus then told Ratchet to get the key to the Autobots' ship, under Lake Erie, in order to protect the AllSpark from the Decepticons. Unfortunately, the medibot was intercepted by Decepticons Blitzwing and Lugnut, who demanded that he hand over the key. He stoically refused, challenging them to take it from his "cold, offline servo." Blitzwing complied by blasting Ratchet and the surrounding scenery with an ice beam. He switched to Random Blitzwing, made a smart remark, and wrenched the key (and the arm holding it) from Ratchet.
Despite this handicap, the mechanic was able to break free from his icy prison, report the key's theft to Optimus, single-handedly bring the ship online (pun intended), and still participate later in the final battle against Megatron and his forces. If nothing else, Ratchet sure is determined. That or senile. Megatron Rising - Part 1
While helping to dispose of garbage in the city, Ratchet's crotchety attitude became such a problem that Optimus asked Sari and Bumblebee to help him work on developing a more positive attitude. His experience in helping a young coulpe who were in the process of making a protoform did not help with his attitude, and things got even worse when Wreck-Gar came alone spouting that he was an Autobot. Telling the newly sentient Transformer that he was only good for garbage, Wreck-Gar left to deliver garbage to the people of Detroit. Unfortunately, Wreck-Gar also had a sample of Sumdac Systems' new and improved naobots. Fearing what the AllSpark infused nanites might do, Ratchet apologized to Wreck-Gar, saying that he could be whatever he wanted, including a hero. Wreck-Gar did become a hero—after vaccuming up the microbots, they exploded, causing Wreck-Gar to fall into the river. Ratchet assumed he was dead. When Porter C. Powell said that Ratchet had ruined his presentation, Ratchet forced him and Mayor Edsel to make a compromise, or join Wreck-Gar in the river. They came to an agreement, and Ratchet assumed that the bystanders were cheering for him, leaving Ratchet with the assumption that he did have people skills. Bumblebee stared dumbstruck as Sari hung her head in exasperation. Garbage In, Garbage Out
Toys
Animated
- Autobot Ratchet (Deluxe, 2008)
This toy is fairly accurate to the show model, right down to the chopped-off head-crest horn and the dents in the chin. It also features a veritable arsenal of fixit tools for Ratchet to hold, so you too can experience the glee of having the old coot savagely beat someone with a servo-wrench. Most notably, the "war wound" on his arm is actually a socket into which one may peg the EMP generator included with the deluxe Lockdown toy.
- Autobot Ratchet (Activators, 2008)
Trivia
- He's not Kup.
- The "war wound" on his left arm (seen in his main picture, above) was briefly gone after "The Thrill of the Hunt", apparently representing the replacement of his arm-mounted EMP generator. However, it has since returned in several instances. The "real world" reason is probably the animators sticking to the original animation model. Within story context, he could be leaving off the EMP generator so he continues to remember (on behalf of those who can't) how he originally lost it.
- The Autobot medical officer was originally conceived as a female robot named Red Alert.[1] The reason for the rather drastic change is unrevealed although it may have something to do with his slightly more vigorous relative as was the case with that yellow speedster.
- He can pinch with his magnet things.
