Ratchet (WFC)
| 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 from the Prime continuity family.
The Autobots' medical officer, Ratchet has a dry wit, often giving his wounded comrades a hard time for taking hits he somehow avoids. With the Energon supplies becoming less and less, he works to find new ways to make do, and he'd really prefer if the Autobots didn't risk injury (or worse) to protect humans. He'd also prefer the humans weren't brought back to Autobot Central Command but since he is unfamiliar with human tech, he needs Rafael Esquivel to help him out. However, for all his views on humans, deep down Ratchet admires what the tiny fleshies bring to the fight.
Fiction
Exodus: The Official History of the War for Cybertron
Ratchet made his name during the Praxian stalemate. He and Bumblebee fought in a few battles together, during which he taught the younger Autobot how to apply first aid. He repaired his throat after Megatron destroyed it in revenge for ejecting the AllSpark into space, enabling Bumblebee to speak from time to time.
After Megatron invaded Iacon and took the Plasma Energy Chamber, Ratchet welded Ironhide's face and stabilized Omega Supreme's condition. When Optimus Prime asked Ratchet if Omega was ready to fight again, the offended medic responded that if Optimus wanted Omega to fight after the Seekers blew him out of the sky, Dark Energon-infused gladiators attacked him and Megatron tore out the Chamber out of his chest, then he wanted another surgeon. Optimus knew he had to apologize but was too preoccupied with rescuing Sentinel Prime.
When the Autobots left Cybertron on the Ark, Ratchet informed Optimus and Ultra Magnus that Omega was repaired and ready to distract Trypticon. Exodus: The Official History of the War for Cybertron
Prime comic
Ratchet was stationed at the Autobot base on Earth, opening the Ground bridge for Optimus to retrieve Arcee and Cliffjumper. He reattached her arm after Starscream had blown it off. Transformers: Prime (comic)
Prime cartoon
- Voice actor: Jeffrey Combs
Three years after the last reported Decepticon activity on Earth, Ratchet was still marooned on the planet with his fellow Autobots. While he was driving through a snowy area elsewhere, Optimus Prime contacted him and told him to return to their abandoned missile silo headquarters near Jasper, Nevada. Cliffjumper had engaged in battle with several Decepticon drones, and he needed backup. However, by the time the Autobots arrived on the scene via a ground bridge portal, it was too late. Cliffjumper was nowhere to be found, and the Decepticons had fled in their spaceship. Ratchet's scanners confirmed what they all feared: Cliffjumper's life signal had been extinguished. After the Autobots gave their respects for their fallen friend, Ratchet confided in Optimus that "helping humans will only result in more tragedy."
After an altercation with the Decepticons inadvertently revealed the Autobots to three human children, Optimus Prime asked that Arcee and Bumblebee retrieve the children from school so that he could begin placing them under the Autobots' surveillance. After the children arrived, Ratchet quickly grew annoyed with their questions. Darkness Rising, Part 1 During a visit by Agent Fowler, Ratchet was further irritated when Bulkhead crushed a piece of his equipment while explaining something to the human.
Shortly after, Ratchet detected Cliffjumper's signal again. The rest of the Autobots raced off to mount a rescue, leaving him to play babysitter to the three kids, much to his disappointment. As he struggled with the computer system, Raf helped him get rid of some system bugs. The other Autobots returned, but without Cliffjumper, and when Arcee began feeling dizzy, Ratchet found a small Dark Energon contamination on her wrist. The work of analyzing the sample handily allowed him to sidestep being assigned to watch over Jack Darby. While moving the sample around the lab, he inadvertently dripped some on the equipment Bulkhead had broken and, unnoticed by Ratchet, it came to life... Darkness Rising, Part 2
Ratchet struggled with the tool for a minute or so before Optimus Prime arrived and blasted it. Though Optimus realized that Megatron's plan was to raise an army of the undead, Ratchet didn't know of any sources of Cybertronian corpses. When the rest of the other Autobots returned to base, Optimus and Ratchet immediately left on a mission to a remote location. Optimus explained that during the war, both sides had hidden energon on other worlds, and the cache on Earth became the site of the largest battle off Cybertron. They reached the graveyard, but so did Megatron, who mocked Ratchet before using a sliver of Dark Energon to create his undead army. Darkness Rising, Part 3
Though horrified at what Megatron had done, the pair began fighting off the zombies. Ratchet quickly found that the most effective way of dealing with them was by hacking them to bits, but exposure to the Dark Energon began to sap the Autobots' strength. At one point they both disappeared under piles of zombies until Optimus threw them off and dug out Ratchet. Though Ratchet's right arm was damaged, he fought on and eventually they ran out of zombies to smash. Megatron flew off before Optimus could deal with him, but Ratchet was left wondering what the Decepticons gloating about a main event meant. They returned to base, where Ratchet's damaged arm was bound while they found out the kids had become involved in a battle and Jack was ready to leave — Ratchet was all too happy to show him the door. Ratchet also examined some plans which Miko had obtained from the Decepticon ship, and realized they were for a space bridge component, and that Megatron intended to bring a zombie army through from Cybertron. Darkness Rising, Part 4
Ratchet did a search and located the terminus of the space bridge in Earth orbit. Optimus immediately took the rest of the Autobots there, leaving Ratchet to look after the base, kids, and Fowler. Once it was established that the Decepticon ship was damaged and unable to target the space bridge on Cybertron, Ratchet and the kids worked out that the Decepticons must have been using a radio dish array in Texas to do so. Ratchet reported that Fowler was still in no condition to alert the installation, so instead he bridged the three kids there to try and stop the Decepticons. Though their mission wasn't a success, Raf brought back schematics for the space bridge, which Ratchet was able to use to work out a means of destroying it. He instructed Arcee's team on sabotaging the space bridge, and bridged everyone back to base before the inevitable explosion. Darkness Rising, Part 5
Games
Transformers: War for Cybertron (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)
- Voice actor: Fred Tatasciore (English), Stefano Albertini (Italian)
During the Decepticons' siege of Iacon, Ratchet was assigned to Optimus, and helped him rescue a courier named Bumblebee, who informed Optimus that with the presumed death of Zeta Prime, the Council was putting him in command. The three of them headed back to the command center, receiving a message from Jetfire that the Aerialbots were being overwhelmed and needed support. It was decided that the planetary guns, disabled earlier by Megatron's forces, needed to be brought back online. Informing Jetfire that he was taking temporary command, Optimus took Ratchet and Bumblebee with him on the mission, though when Ratchet questioned the "temporary" part, Optimus brushed it aside.
When that mission was completed, they decided their next stop was the Decagon, in order to re-establish communications and coordinate Iacon's defense. Hitting serious resistance, including several Decepticon war machines and more than a few damaged lifts which Ratchet puzzled out a way around, they nonetheless prevailed with help from Jetfire and Ironhide, before reaching the Decagon itself, where they encountered the former Autobot Sky Commander, Starscream. They managed to defeat him as well and retook the Decagon.
After Optimus was named the new Prime, he went on a mission to free Cybertron's core of Megatron's Dark Energon corruption. In order to do so, however, he needed to open the Omega Gate, which would require freeing Omega Supreme from Decepticon captivity. Omega was still badly damaged from his battle with Megatron's forces, so Optimus called in Ratchet, whom Prime, Warpath, and Ironhide protected during his operation to repair Omega Supreme. After the Omega Gate was opened, Ratchet returned to base with Omega, as field repairs could only do so much.
When Trypticon fell to the surface from orbit, Ratchet organized the rescue effort. After Trypticon was defeated, he praised Optimus on his success, but was the price paid was costly - many Autobots were lost, and those remaining were now forced to abandon Cybertron while the planetary Core repaired the damage. Ratchet was one of those who stayed behind with Optimus to resist Megatron's schemes, and to build an Ark to carry them from their home when the time came. Transformers: War for Cybertron
Transformers: War for Cybertron — Autobots
Ratchet would go on to become a member of Optimus' inner circle. Ratchet greeted a new Autobot recruit who was being trained by Ironhide and Silverbolt during an invasion of the training facility. He often worked together with turncoat scientist Jetfire, usually in developing a way to stop the Dark Energon.
Ratchet participated in many of the war's campaigns with Optimus, and journeyed as far as Cybertron's very core with his leader. Upon saving the Core, Optimus ordered a mass evacuation of Cybertron's Autobot population. Ratchet was among the Autobots who defeated Megatron's secret weapon, the monstrous titan Trypticon. Upon Trypticon's defeat, Ratchet elected to remain behind on Cybertron with Optimus and a few other Autobots to protect the planet from Megatron's tyranny. Transformers: War for Cybertron — Autobots
Notes
- Transformers alumnus Michael Bell originally auditioned for the part of Ratchet in Transformers: Prime but ultimately lost the role to Jeffrey Combs.
