Ro-Tor (RID)
| The name or term "Ro-Tor" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Ro-Tor (disambiguation). |
- Ro-Tor is a Decepticon from the Robots in Disguise continuity family.
Sneering from his place in the sky, Ro-Tor literally and figuratively looks down on everyone else. Smarmy and arrogant, he enjoys sniping the largely ground-based Autobots with both words and plasma fire, almost as much as he enjoys taking a nice, hot, open-air bath with a good view. He forms half of the Decepticon Commandos' air force, though he'd probably say he's the only good part of it.
- Japanese name: Hepter (ヘプター Heptā)
Fiction
Robots in Disguise cartoon
- Voice actor: Neil Kaplan (English), Masao Harada (Japanese)
Ro-Tor was originally one of a group of Autobots led by Scourge, who travelled to Earth in a protoform state. Their ship crashed, and years later was dug up by a group of Predacons under Megatron's leadership. Taken to McKinley Army Base, the Predacons scanned army vehicles as Megatron infused them with his spark energy. Dark Scream had Ro-Tor's protoform scan a helicopter, to give their forces some air support. Though the newly born-Decepticons were ready to fight, Megatron ordered them to retreat so they could re-power. The Decepticons The new troops' first mission was to destroy a dam, allowing Ro-Tor to utilise his sting blades. They planted pulsar bombs on Sherman Dam, however when Sky-Byte took control of the bombs, preventing them from firing, the ground-based Commandos blasted a hole in the dam and ended up grappling with the freed Autobot Brothers. Ro-Tor and Movor attempted to provide air support, but were attacked by the newly-arrived Team Bullet Train. When the trains formed Rail Racer, the Commandos responded by forming Ruination, however the combined power of the Autobots was too much for them and they were forced to retreat. Commandos
The Commandos unsuccessfully fought against the Spy Changers on Montrose Island Volcano after which they substituted Movor for a real space shuttle, shooting the Decepticon into orbit so he could try to find the Autobots' secret base. Although Ro-Tor was pleased at the brilliance of the plan, they had little success. Eventually Movor sent the Commandos to Pier 7B, where the Autobots sprung a trap. Things went downhill from there. Attack from Outer Space
The next cunning plan was to try to make the Autobots think that the Decepticons were defecting. The Autobot Brothers tested them by forcing them to do various menial tasks, which they threw themselves into in an attempt to lull the Autobots into a false sense of security. Ro-Tor went along with the plan, announcing happily he could sweep the forest all day long, and that beautifying Metro City was hugely rewarding. His efforts were all for naught, as Scourge lost his temper at the last minute, giving the game away and resulting in Optimus Prime chasing the Decepticons off. The Test The Decepticons later interrupted one of Sky-Byte's plans, and Ro-Tor was able to snatch a disk which appeared to be a map to the Global Space Bridge system. Unfortunately when they used it, it turned out to be a map of the local sewer system, and the Decepticons found themselves on the business end of Optimus's blizzard storm. Wedge's Short Fuse
When once again, X-Brawn slipped through the Decepticons' fingers using the Global Space Bridge, Ro-Tor was able to track Grimlock, one of the Build Team, to the space bridge control center. The Decepticons broke into the center and Scourge sabotaged it to send the Autobots to random locations. Soon Ro-Tor was trashing a rail bridge somewhere Metro City, in an attempt to lure the Autobots into using the space bridge. It wasn't long before the Build Team realised what had happened, defeated the Commandos and repaired the space bridge. Landfill Later the Decepticons attempted to intercept Optimus Prime, who they believed was taking the O-Parts to Sky-Byte, however even combining into Ruination didn't help them and the Autobot leader was barely slowed down. Sky-Byte Saves the Day
After their raid on the East Power Station was foiled by the Build Team, the Commandos resolved to get their revenge on the Autobots. To this end, they started attacking construction sites in an attempt to goad the Build Team into fighting them. Eventually they drew the Build Team out and engaged them in combat. Heavy Load was able to pin Ro-Tor to the ground, however Mega-Octane took Wedge hostage, turning the battle in the Decepticons' favour. At least until Landfill led Ruination into an oil-filled cavern and ignited it, blasting the Commandos into the ocean. A Test of Metal
A later raid on an oil refinery went better—while the Autobot Brothers did turn up, they were prevented from stopping the Decepticons by the arrival of Ultra Magnus. Still, the Decepticons only got a portion of the fuel and, at Megatron's orders, set up a trap for the Autobot Brothers. Instead they got Ultra Magnus, whose fighting skills outclassed theirs. Even forming Ruination didn't help, and the Decepticons were forced into a retreat with the arrival of Optimus Prime. Ultra Magnus Back in the Megastar, they watched the fight between Optimus and Ultra Magnus, as Movor spied on it from orbit. Though Optimus lost, he was taken by the other Autobots to an island to recuperate, and Megatron and his troops went there to finish the job. Despite the Commandos forming Ruination, they were no match for Omega Prime, the combined form of Optimus and Ultra Magnus, and retreated hastily. Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion!
During a meeting between Sky-Byte and Ultra Magnus, Ro-Tor fired a net at the Autobot Brothers, and missed. Luckily Rollbar was able to pick up the slack and capture the three Autobots, but you can bet Ro-Tor was hearing about it for a long while afterward. With the Autobot Brothers captive, the Decepticons and Megatron were able to inflict some punishment on Optimus and Rail Racer, who were unable to fight back. Unfortunately Ultra Magnus rescued the three brothers, and Megatron's forces were soon in retreat once again. The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus Scourge attempted to get Ultra Magnus to join him in destroying Optimus, but Magnus turned him down, resulting in the Decepticons springing a trap on the Autobot. Though Side Burn and Prowl attempted to help Magnus, the renegade Autobot promptly left them to it, and they were little match for Ruination. Of course, the arrival of Optimus and return of Magnus turned things pretty firmly back in the Autobots' favour, and the Decepticons retreated once again. Power to Burn!
More information was gleaned from the captured Doctor Onishi's mind—there were strange ruins beneath Metro City which emanated powerful energy. The Decepticons set out to find the ruins and promptly ran into the Spy Changers. While Armorhide and Rollbar were left to take care of them, the rest of the Decepticons went on and ran into Railspike and Rapid Run in a subway tunnel. Movor and Ro-Tor stayed to keep them pinned down while Scourge and Mega-Octane continued on, however Ultra Magnus turned up and accidentally flooded the tunnel. The two Decepticons found themselves being washed away along with Team Bullet Train, eventually being flushed into the cavern containing the ruins where they were reunited with the other Decepticons. They combined into Ruination to fight the Autobots while Scourge headed for the ruins, unleashing Fortress Maximus. Fortress Maximus Chased off by Fortress Maximus's defense systems, the Commandos formed Ruination to keep Rail Racer busy while Scourge made a second attempt to access Maximus. Koji Gets His Wish
With the hunt for the O-Parts on, the Decepticons confronted the Autobot Brothers and Build Team, who had found an O-Part, and demanded they hand it over. The Autobots promptly disappeared through the Global Space Bridge, starting a game of cat and mouse. The Decepticons eventually cornered them in Egypt, however Sky-Byte's bungling made recovering the O-Parts impossible. A Friendly Contest Spying from space, Movor spotted the Autobots in the Sahara Desert, and Megatron and the Decepticons arrived in time to attack Side Burn. Venturing into the subterranean ruins, they found the Autobots had located the Orb of Sigma, and the Decepticons fought them while Megatron went for the Orb. Ultimately they were unsuccessful and, with the loss of Megatron, the Decepticons retreated back to the Megastar. Peril from the Past
Without Megatron's leadership, the Decepticons had a lot more freedom to do what they wanted. They tracked the Autobots to an old temple, where they were able to snatch Cerebros, the key to controlling Fortress Maximus, away with the help of the Predacons. Rollbar and Ro-Tor were able to locate Maximus himself in Metro City and, despite the Autobots attempting to defend the giant, Scourge was able to use Cerebros to activate him. The Commandos combined into Ruination during the following battle, however Scourge's lack of ability to contol Maximus and the return of Megatron as Galvatron resulted in the Decepticons retreating. Maximus Emerges
A second attempt in the desert to control Maximus, with Ruination providing backup, didn't go any better The Human Element and during a third attempt, Scourge's treachery was revealed to Galvatron. Mistaken Identity This resulted in Galvatron forcibly reprogramming all of the Decepticons to obey his will, and putting them under the command of Sky-Byte for an assault on Autobot headquarters. Pursuing the fleeing Optimus Prime, the Decepticons and Predacons were led into a trap, though the arrival of the Megastar and Fortress Maximus rendered them superfluous anyway. They watched as Maximus defeated the Megastar, and Galvatron fell lifeless to the ground. Surprise Attack! Galvatron was not out, however, and the Decepticons defended him while he drained energy from Fortress Maximus. He sent Ruination and Scourge into the Global Space Bridge after the retreating Autobots, before himself flooding the tunnel with lava by rupturing the tunnel wall. Galvatron's Revenge They survived the lava, only to be swiftly defeated by the Autobot forces. After Galvatron's defeat, they were shipped off to the asteroid prison colony with Galvatron and the Predacons. The Final Battle
Universe
Toys
Robots in Disguise
- Ro-Tor (Basic, 2000, 2001)
- Japanese ID number: D-009
- A redeco of the Generation 1 Vortex toy, Ro-Tor transforms into a Kaman Aerospace SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopter. He has a pair of large, non-firing cannons that clip onto the back end of his copter mode, plus a pistol that becomes a nose-mounted gun. As the toy uses the Scramble City style of connection, he can form any limb to any combination of similar robots, though naturally, he normally forms a limb to the combined robot Ruination.
- He was first released as part of the Takara Car Robots line in 2000. In 2001, Hasbro released the toy as part of the Robots in Disguise series. There are quite a few differences between the two versions. The Takara Hepter uses metallic blue plastic with a bright white "underbelly" paint spray, plus has the old Combatron symbol. The Hasbro version uses a darker, matte blue plastic, drops the white, adds red arrow marks to the sides of the copter mode, plus uses the Decepticon sigil.
- This mold was also used to make Target Hawk.
- Valdigus (Multi-pack, 2000)
- Japanese ID number: D-011
- In Japan, Ro-Tor/Hepter was also made available as part of a complete team multi-pack with his teammates Armorhide, Mega-Octane, Movor, and Rollbar. All toys were identical to their individual Japanese releases, but the set only came with a bio card for the combined form.
- Ruination (Ultra, 2003)
- The entire Commando team was redecoed in various shades of gray with "urban camo" patterns as part of a Wal-Mart exclusive gift set, oddly released well after the end of the Robots in Disguise line.
Universe
- Ruination (Ultra, 2004)
- The entire Ruination team was redecoed again to make another Wal-Mart exclusive set, this time with a unified "desert camo" theme under the Universe banner. It came out at the same time as five other Wal-Mart Transformers exclusives, which led to a glut. Ruination seemed a particularly slow mover in this batch.
Trivia
- Ro-Tor has the most He-Manny/Go-Bottish name in Transformersdom.
- Hasbro stock photography of Ro-Tor shows red paint applications on his rotor blades that are not on the final product.
- Like his previous G1 incarnation, Vortex, Ro-Tor's rotor can be removed. Only this time, it renders his name utterly pointless.
