Wedge (RBA)
| The name or term "Wedge" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Wedge (disambiguation). |
- Wedge the Construction-Bot is an Autobot from the Rescue Bots Academy portion of the Aligned continuity family.
Wedge is pretty sure he's the best of the new Rescue Bot recruits and will jump at the chance to prove it. This has resulted in something of a rivalry stewing between him and Hot Shot, and if there's any criticism to be made of his fellow recruits, Wedge will be the one to make it, though he'll usually regret it soon after. Despite being an arrogant member of his class, Wedge shares Blades' fanboy attitude towards Autobot legend Bumblebee, and perhaps in a few attempts to follow in the former scout's footsteps, he shares Bee's sense of responsibility, such as properly recycling trash instead of careless disposal.
Fiction
Rescue Bots Academy cartoon
- Voice actor: Mason Hensley (English), Jacopo Calatroni (Italian)
Wedge won a rescue competition to earn himself a spot studying at the Rescue Bot Training Center on Earth. He started an instant rivalry with Hot Shot when the latter was assigned to the team of new recruits by Optimus Prime. Once Hot Shot screwed up the first rescue drill, Wedge challenged him to a simple stacking contest and easily won. Recruits Part I Hot Shot went on to win an obstacle course race against Wedge and revealed that Optimus had given him the ability to use three alternate modes, though Wedge was still unimpressed, beliving it was the bot and not their abilities that made for a good rescuer. Nonetheless when Hot Shot later realized that the jet mode he was stuck with for the day was useless for the cave rescue exercise they'd been assigned, Wedge joined the others in encouraging him not to give up. Recruits Part II Wedge and the other recruits got to meet Blades when the copter-bot was brought in to help tutor Hot Shot in the art of flying, and later took part in a forest fire rescue. The Secret of Flight
Following a particularly tricky rescue, Hoist constructed new tools for everyone, including power drivers for Wedge. The first test didn't go well, but Wedge and the others enlisted Boulder to give Hoist some encouragement and help perfect the tools. If at First... After Hot Shot was assigned to look after Tough Luck Chuck when the test robot was damaged, Wedge and Hoist found Chuck roaming the training center. He slipped through their fingers as well and got through the GroundBridge, forcing the recruits to search for him in Milford. Tough Luck Chuck Bored by Chase's class on police codes, Wedge and the other recruits persuaded Chase to let them try to do a practice rescue, and ended up being rescued themselves by Whirl when they got stuck in the snow. Whirl'd View When the recruits didn't understand why Boulder was having them plant flowers, the Rescue Bot set them a task which taught them that all parts of nature are important. Plan Bee
Aiming to get the response time of the group down, Wedge borrowed the trigger for the rescue alarm and ran a series of drills, annoying his fellow recruits and eventually resulting in him ending up trapped in one of the launch tubes. He returned the alarm to Heatwave. The Bot Who Cried Rescue The recruits had to contend with a runaway rock sculpture of Hot Shot's head when he decided to carve it into a mountain alongside the likenesses of the Rescue Bots. Mount Botmore Hot Shot and Wedge ended up disregarding Hoist when their fellow recruit was put in charge of a rescue mission, and as a result, their own efforts almost ended up in disaster. Mission Inaudible After completing a simulated rescue, despite a glitch occuring, the recruits took part in a real rescue in Griffin Rock which was only successful because the glitch gave Medix an idea to complete it safely. Glitch
During a ride on the Sigma, Wedge realized there were only four command chairs and told the others that meant that one of the five recruits wouldn't graduate. The team went on to botch a volcano rescue drill after staying up all night worrying, until Heatwave told them they'd assumed wrong. Five into Four When Whirl was filming footage for a recruitment video, Wedge attempted to give a demonstration of Hero Hall, only to be swamped by a tidal wave. He and the others later helped whip the footage into a usable state. Rescue Promo After a botched rescue had the recruits blaming each other, Heatwave assigned them to cleaning duties. Hot Shot sneaked out to do a rescue, and as a result, the rest of the recruits had to go help him when he hit trouble. Blame Game Wedge and the other recruits set up a surprise rescue mission for Medix, who didn't get the appeal of surprises. Unfortunately the mission did not go well, and the other recruits promised to stop with the surprises. Medix Surprise
The recruits got to try out some TX3000s on loan to the rescue center, and even used them during an actual rescue. The TX3000 They had to round up a lost flock of sheep, but were hampered by Hoist malfunctioning. Little Bot Peep When there was a rumour there would be a guest at the academy, Wedge assumed it would be Bumblebee, however it turned out to be Wes, a Teen Pioneer. Wedge avoided spending time with Wes, believing he didn't have much to offer as a rescuer, until he discovered he was Wes's favorite Rescue Bot. Driving a Wedge Boulder accompanied the recruits to the planet Parvus where they rescued the last surviving Galax. The Big, Small Rescue
“Well, it offends me. Turn it off.”
Wedge challenged Hot Shot to a competition, putting his Heroes of Cybertron cards on the line as a prize. When Hot Shot won the construction challenge, Wedge was demoralized, believing there was no way he'd win the Cube challenge, however his friends encouraged him to try, and he indeed won. The two bots decided to keep it as a tie, and Hoist presented them with custom cards. Battle of the Bots When an alien rock went missing, Wedge cast suspicion on Hot Shot, but the rock turned out to be a small alien, which the recruits then had to round up so it could be sent home. About a Rock The recruits tried to keep secret the fact a dog had followed them home after the last rescue, only to discover that the dog was actually trying to alert them to the fact they'd missed someone who needed rescuing. Dog Stray Afternoon Wedge took part in the rescue of Dr Hart from a rogue iceberg. After Hot Shot realized that he didn't need the Rubber Duck Cody had loaned him, Wedge still thought it prudent to bring the duck with them on the next rescue. Lucky Ducky
Whirl tried to get Wedge and the other recruits into cheerleading, but it wasn't until they employed the skills they'd learned during a rescue that they were enthusiastic about it. Go Team, Go! When Boulder assigned the recruits the task of familiarizing themselves with smartphones, they became addicted to the devices and began neglecting their chores and rescue work. Screen Time During a field trip to the museum in Milford, Wedge and the other bots helped Whirl apprehend a thief who'd turned up to burgle the place. Fright at the Museum
When the Sigma returned to base without the teachers, the recruits had to take the ship and go to their rescue, though not without Hot Shot and Wedge fighting over who was temporary captain. Space Case Wedge excelled at collecting trash, resulting in Boulder placing him in charge for an undersea trash collection mission, during which the recruits had to rescue Medix from a shark. All at Sea Wedge and the other recruits had to deal with an out-of-control Scrub-A-Dubber after inserting too many power cells into it. All Washed Up When Heatwave suggested the recruits try their hands at teaching, Wedge attempted to demonstrate first aid on Chuck, only for Chuck to run off. Who's Teaching Who?
An attempt to rescue a balloon from a tree turned into a major disaster when the recruits went in without a plan. Balloon Up A Tree A fantasy simulation saw the recruits trying to corral a dragon, until they worked out that the dragon was actually trying to help. The Mystery of Dragon Mountain Yet another sim turned into chaos thanks to Hot Shot combining it with his game, forcing the recruits to deal with giant hedgehogs. Hack Attack Wedge and the other recruits found their rescues complicated by Medix's attempts to loosen up after they suggested he was a stick in the mud. Life of the Party
The recruits were keen to be taught by new teacher Grimlock but discovered Hoist was afraid of Dinobots. Tyrannosaurus Wrecked A trip to Dino Island hit a snag when a dinosaur escaped back through the GroundBridge, disabling it in the process so Grimlock and the recruits had to make their own way back to the academy. Dino Hard Chase assigned the recruits a stealth mission and Wedge and Medix paired up to hunt through Griffin Rock for Chuck. Unfortunately before they could find him, they were caught by Chase. Buddy Cop Another mission saw the recruits having to rescue penguins from an island the hard way after an electrical storm knocked out their tools and even their ability to transform. Escape from Penguin Island
During a series of search and rescue missions, Wedge and the others were surprised to learn Hoist had cheated on one of the tests. All that Glitters During a mission to retrieve a downed satellite, Wedge had to interfere with Dig Fest to stop an out of control vehicle. Though the other recruits thought he'd succumbed to lure of fame when he agreed to take part in the show, in reality he'd spotted the satellite in the middle of the arena and used the show as a way to get close enough to grab it. Dig Fest Wedge's attempts to duplicate Bumblebee's heroic rescue feats in the simulator were less than successful. When Cody introduced the recruits to the concept of Halloween, Wedge donned a Bumblebee costume to go trick or treating, however after realizing that he couldn't do things the same way Bumblebee did, he took part in a rescue using his own skills. Trick or Treat
Medix's confusion over a television commercial meant that the recruits had to mount a hasty coverup so he wouldn't blow their secret to all of Milford. Monster Savings Wedge and the others got a tune stuck in their heads, impairing their performance on a training exercise. They managed to forget the tune, but this caused problems on a mission to the planet Herboo, as it was the code needed for the Virtual Sonic Fence Hoist needed to use to stop the karknoid beetle. Tune Out A trip to survey a geyser field saw the recruits having to deal with a swarm of Scraplets. Metal Munchers
Wedge was equal parts thrilled and flustered when Bumblebee visited the academy for a teaching session. Determined to impress his hero, Wedge skipped out on the maintenance work Bumblebee was having them do and followed Bumblebee to Griffin Rock where he completely failed to achieve anything heroic. What's worse, without maintenance he suffered major failures during a later sim exercise and had to do the maintenance anyway. Bee Prepared When Whirl's failed attempts to do a maneuver led her to try to seek out the Wise One, the other recruits went after her and became trapped in a ravine, requiring her to rescue them using the maneuver she had been trying to perfect. Whirl's Wise-Bot Quest Wedge's conscientious recycling efforts were not duplicated by the other recruits, who simply threw all their recycling out. This resulted in a giant ball of junk threatening the satellite they were trying to fix and Wedge had to alter its course. He later enthusiastically joined his fellow recruits in sorting the trash. Flying Hunk-A-Junk
Wedge and Medix were unsuccessful in directing a blindfolded Hot Shot through an obstacle course. A subsequent mission deep undersea forced the recruits to rely on each other as they rescued an automated drone from deep sea wildlife. Into the Depths Wedge was repairing roads with Hot Shot when the latter was distracted by dogs at a nearby farm. The pair were forced to mount a search when the dogs ran off as a result of Hoist's new comm system. Milford Goes To The Dogs The recruits struggled to complete a rescue sim until Hot Shot realized they'd been trying to stop the disaster instead of saving the people. The Ice Wave
As graduation drew closer, the recruits successful competed against their teachers in a relay race carrying a pretend rescue victim. When Hot Shot opted to abandon his Rescue Bot training and return to Cybertron to compete in the Cube finals, Wedge slipped a group picture of the recruits into his luggage. Best Bots Forever Part 1 The remaining recruits decided to tune in to the final using the space bridge to boost the holo-emitter screen. Unfortunately this led to the creation of a slowly growing energon bubble which engulfed the academy. It was only when Hot Shot returned that the recruits were able to burst the bubble. Best Bots Forever Part 2
Toys
Rescue Bots Academy
- Wedge the Construction-Bot (2018)
- The first toy of Wedge is a redeco and slight retool of Arctic Rescue Boulder with a new head. He also omits the Graham Burns and Windchill accessories.
- Wedge the Construction-Bot (2019)
- Previewed at Toy Fair 2019[1], Wedge is sized similarly to the previous Megabots line, and at about 11 inches tall is in scale with the previously released helicopter-mode Whirl and car-mode Medix, transforming into a payloader in a couple of "Easy 2 Do Conversion" steps. He features a "punching" gimmick in his left arm.
- Like the other 11-inch Academy toys, Wedge's transformation pattern appears to be functionally an up-sized version of a previous figure: in this case, Boulder's bulldozer-mode toys.
- Academy Rescue Team (2019)
- First revealed at Toy Fair 2019[1], "Academy Rescue Team" Wedge is a redeco of the cement mixer version of Salvage, sporting a new head. He comes in a set of four, similar to the previous "Griffin Rock Rescue Team", with Whirl (retool of VTOL jet version of Blades), Hot Shot (retool of Rock Rescue Team Bumblebee) and Hoist (retool of Rescan Hoist).
- Command Centre Wedge (2019)
- First revealed via online listings, this version of Wedge comes with a tow-along trailer that turns into a training center with a robotic drilling arm and a holographic target practice system and mountain, complete with monitor. Wedge himself is rescan sized and turns into a payloader.
Notes
- Rescue Bots Academy Wedge is heavily based off 2001 Robots in Disguise Wedge.
- Wedge's prototype model had headlights on the cab and no Rescue Bot insignia.
