Rack'n'Ruin (G1)
- Rack'n'Ruin are two Autobots from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Rack'n'Ruin are two Transformers who were surgically combined in a desperate attempt to save their lives. Previously, they turned into "Cybertronian mini-jets", but the operation rendered this impossible. Members of the elite group of Autobot shock troops known as the Wreckers, Rack'n'Ruin employ an unusual style of melee combat.
Fiction
Marvel Comics UK continuity
Rack n' Ruin trained diligently with the other Wreckers in preparation for Operation: Volcano. While others doubted the mission after it was clear Ultra Magnus would likely not be able to participate, Rack'n'Ruin remained silent. But after some soul-searching, the other Wreckers decided to not give up on the mission, and Rack'n'Ruin were present when they resumed their training. Target: 2006 part 4
Following the aborted Operation: Volcano, the Wreckers leader Impactor was killed and rookie Springer took his place. Some time later, Rack'n'Ruin stood with the Wreckers in the new Autobase in Kalis when a nuclear reactor exploded and hordes of zombie Transformers began pouring out of Cybertron's lower levels. Rack'n'Ruin were captured and imprisoned with the other Wreckers and Xaaron in Flame's underground base. Legion of the Lost! The Wreckers all managed to escape their cell, and after Rack'n'Ruin helped their fellow Wreckers fight through armies of Flame's zombie hordes, their undead former leader, Impactor, sacrificed himself to save all of Cybertron. Rack'n'Ruin joined the others in remembering Impactor's two heroic deaths. Meltdown!
"Galvatron."
Soon the time-traveling Galvatron who wandered Earth had attracted the attention of the Wreckers. After Rack'n'Ruin and the others memorized the stats of their foe, they warped themselves down to Earth to face him... and right into the middle of a heavily populated Earth city. Though Springer worried that this had totally compromised their mission, as they didn't want to inflict any casualties on the innocent humans, the Wreckers nonetheless threw themselves at Galvatron. Rack'n'Ruin in particular were able to surprise their target, who underestimated the odd-looking pair, by putting an impressive wound dead-center in Galvatron's chest. Eventually, to stave off further collateral damage, the Wreckers called off their attack. Wrecking Havoc
"His particle accelerator cannon."
However, this only delayed the inevitable. Galvatron's presence in the present day had started to unravel the space-time continuum. Rack'n'Ruin and the rest of the Wreckers reluctantly teamed up with the Decepticons' counterpart organization, the Mayhem Attack Squad, to counter Galvatron.
Quickly, Galvatron began depleting the Wreckers' ranks. When Sandstorm fell, Rack'n'Ruin implored Roadbuster to not fixate on revenge and stick to their job. They retreated into the Mayhem Attack Squad's ship long enough to retrieve an untested Pathblaster cannon. Although the cannon removed a sizable chunk from Galvatron's head, Rack'n'Ruin were unable to warn Roadbuster that the cannon was unstable, and their friend was engulfed in the subsequent explosion.
The increasingly warped Galvatron began tearing through the Wreckers with a renewed vigor. Rack'n'Ruin was one of the first to fall, destroyed by Galvatron's arm cannon. Time Wars
IDW comics continuity
According to official paperwork, Rack 'n' Ruin was part of the Wreckers when they had their final battle on Pova against their longtime rivals, the Decepticon attack squad known as Squadron X. At first, Rack 'n' Ruin was pinned in the trenches along with the other flightless Wreckers, but a desperate gambit by leader Impactor and his second-in-command Springer turned the tide. However, after Squadron X was rounded up and put in inhibitor harnesses, they somehow escaped. Impactor ordered Squadron X put down for good, and after one last legendary battle, Rack 'n' Ruin stood with the Wreckers above the bodies of their late enemies.
The real events, currently unknown, were covered up, and Impactor was incarcerated for crimes unknown.
The Wreckers fanboy/historian Ironfist insists their name should always be treated as a plural noun.
Last Stand of the Wreckers #4
Notes
- In their first appearance during "Target: 2006", they are referred to as "Rack and Ruin" but subsequent appearances pep this up to Rack'n'Ruin. Their name was parsed in Last Stand of the Wreckers #4 as "Rack 'n' Ruin."
- Their "origin" and their original alt-modes were given in "The Facts", a booklet that came with UK issue #200.
