Runabout (G1)
| This article is about the Generation 1 Decepticon. For the Animated Decepticon, see Runabout (Animated). |
- Runabout is a Decepticon Battlecharger from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Runabout is not the brains of the Battlechargers (they're both pretty much dim-bulbs), but he is much calmer and certainly more articulate[1] than Runamuck, and his presence helps keep the latter's cross-wired mind on task. That said, Runabout usually joins in with whatever mad ideas Runamuck comes up with, just to keep from being bored. Runabout is very susceptible to boredom.
Besides, Runabout loves a good wreck just as well as his crazy comrade, but it's not because he craves to create wreckage—he simply wishes to destroy, and enjoys the spectacle of chaos and big fiery explosions. To help create these he has a particle beam rifle that shoots a stream of heavy and energetic neutrons. Unfortunately, he craves destruction so much that it continually distracts him from his assigned duties.
Runabout is a little faster than Runamuck, with a 185 MPH top speed, but can only go about 550 miles. He is equally able to transform quickly, taking about .4 seconds to do so. Also like his partner, he is not averse to breaking windows or draping cylinder-wiping paper over the enemy base, or other puerile acts of vandalism. But he uses bigger words when doing so.
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
"Huh huh huh."
The Battlechargers were summoned to Earth from Cybertron by Megatron, who wanted a dramatic way to announce his challenge to Optimus Prime for a fight to the death. The two reckless Decepticons left and promptly ignored their orders, and instead began to raise a bit of random highway havoc. Encountering Prowl, the two dropped firetraps and wrecked piles of cars behind them. Unable to stop them quietly on his own terms, Prowl grew angry and... was halted by Optimus Prime, who was dismayed with his recklessness.[2] ...Perchance to Dream During a break in the mayhem, they rested in a parking lot and saw a defiant youngster expressing his disgust of family vacations through graffiti. His dad angrily escorted him back to the station wagon, and their holiday trip resumed. The Battlechargers, impressed by the boy's disregard for authority, began following the family on a road trip through the U.S., defacing any monuments they happened upon (such as Mt. Rushmore, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, and the Washington Monument). They wrote insults and jokes in a Cybertronian language, thus attracting the attention of RAAT, which had already captured thirteen Autobots.
RAAT caught up with them in Philadelphia, where Circuit Breaker engaged them in a battle that nearly killed the graffiti-inclined boy. They escaped, and took a break to learn English (not well, mind you) for their next stop, the Statue of Liberty. There they engaged Circuit Breaker once again, only this time, having been stripped of her command for her actions in their last encounter, she faced them in a giant machine jury-rigged from the Autobots RAAT had captured previously. The two hooligans met quick defeat at the hands of her makeshift gestalt, their charred bodies sent plunging into the harbor. Decepticon Graffiti!
For quite some time, the Battlechargers remained out of action (probably rusting under the sea). However, when Shockwave wanted to wrest control of the Earth-based Decepticons from Scorponok, the Battlechargers mysteriously returned and for unknown reasons joined his motley band of rebels. Surrender! They attacked Scorponok's New Jersey base, and a battle ensued. ...All This and Civil War 2 Just as the battle ended, the combatants were transported to Cybertron by Primus, who was gathering his Transformer children to stand against the demigod Unicron. The pair were in attendance as Primus spoke to the assembled Transformers through the body of Emirate Xaaron, though Runamuck was more concerned about some Autobots they'd recently angered as Runabout screwed his kibble back on. The Void! Runamuck was killed during the planet-rending battle, but Runabout survived and was strolling with Battletrap the next day when he was attacked and devoured by a Cybertronian Demon. On the Edge of Extinction!
Earthforce
As the Decepticon Civil War took a different path, Runabout and Runamuck were still working on the side of Shockwave and Starscream. In a fight with the Dinobots, Runabout got his hand stamped on by Grimlock while reaching for his weapon — very painful. He stayed behind after the battle in order to get revenge, and pulled a neutron cannon on Grimlock at close range. Grimlock seemed suitably impressed by the weapon, and suggested the Battlecharger take a step or two back for his own safety because of the recoil. Seemed like a sound suggestion to Runabout so he backed himself up... right over a cliff. Dumb 'Con. Two Steps Back!
When Megatron lost a global warming satellite to the Autobots, along with its poison gas canisters, Shockwave sent the Battlechargers out to retrieve it for his own purposes. They ran into Dead End and Drag Strip at the crash site, and got into a fight over who would take possession of the rocket and its contents. Little did they know the Autobot Prowl had already removed and neutralized the rocket's contents, making their tussle utterly pointless. Life in the Slow Lane Later, after the Decepticon factions unified, Runabout and Runamuck were seen attacking the Autobot Earthbase with the full Decepticon force, but they ultimately failed to gain any ground and retreated. Divide and Conquer!
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice actor: Roger Behr (English), Yoku Shioya (Japanese), Héctor Vieyra (Latin American)
In 2006, Runabout was guarding Trypticon's city mode on Chaar with Runamuck. They were attacked by Scourge and the ghost of Starscream, who wanted to steal one of Trypticon's eyes for Unicron. Starscream possessed Runabout, shot Runamuck, then ran into a wall, knocking Runabout unconscious. Runamuck, however, was able to sound an alarm, and Dirge, Thrust, and Astrotrain arrived to help. Scourge got Trypticon's eye, and Starscream possessed Astrotrain and escaped. Later, under Unicron's orders, Starscream returned to Chaar and took control of Trypticon, not knowing that Dirge, Thrust, and the Battlechargers were inside. Starscream used Trypticon to bring Unicron's head down Cybertron's surface, but Thrust sabotaged Trypticon from within before Starscream could connect Unicron to the planet. Starscream came out of Trypticon and demanded that Unicron give him a corporeal form so he could complete the connections. Just as Unicron did so, Autobot-planted explosives detonated and sent Unicron's head back into orbit. Starscream was also flung into outer space, where Galvatron began pursuing him. Trypticon (and the Decepticons inside him) were probably thrown into space as well. Although the Battlechargers never appeared again, Trypticon and the others did, so they most likely did survive. Ghost in the Machine
Young Corgi continuity
During a mission to destroy the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Battlechargers were faced with the Autobots Hot Rod, Slingshot and Skydive. While Runamuck, who was terrified of heights, stopped at the start of the bridge, Runabout chased after Hot Rod while shooting wildly. Unfortunately, the Autobot outmanoeuvred him, and Runabout was sent careening off the bridge and into the San Francisco Bay. The battle was televised on the news and recorded by the human Jeff Grey, who later ran into Hot Rod and discussed it with him. Battle Beneath the Ice
Dreamwave Generation 1 comics
In the early days of the war, around Optimus Prime and Megatron had their first battle, the Runabout and Runamuck duo joined Motormaster and Swindle in disabling Laserbeak and helping Starscream assume control over Megatron's plans. The War Within #4 About a million years later, Megatron was lost in a space bridge accident, and the Decepticons split into several splinter factions. The Battlechargers joined Starscream's faction of Predacons during this time, but were defeated at Tyger Pax by the united Autobot, Decepticon and Ultracon forces. The Age of Wrath
In modern times, the Battlechargers were working for Shockwave as assassins. In the Old Slave Trails, Runabout caught the double agent Sandstorm leading Optimus Prime to safety with the Autobot revolutionaries, and blasted a hole through the Triple Changer's chest. Moving in to eliminate Prime as well, Runabout was caught off-guard by Gnaw and was... gnawed on for a while. Cold War
Somehow he pulled himself back together, and hooked up with Runamuck again after Shockwave's fall. Dodging Autobot patrols while looking for a working CR chamber to fully repair themselves, the Battlechargers found one of Shockwave's abandoned laboratories, and accidentally unleashed the electrum-enhanced clone warrior, Sunstorm. The clone's ambient radiation considerably weakened Runabout. Then he incinerated Runabout's head. That didn't help either. Night of the Combaticons
Runabout was later found, offline but alive, by the Protectobots. First Aid started repairing him and Runamuck as they were taken into custody. Black Sunshine
IDW comics continuity
Runabout was part of a Decepticon insurgent cell that has operated covertly on Earth for at least four years, working to destabilise Earth's governing organisations and create global anarchy. He, Runamuck and Thundercracker were assigned by Starscream to intercept the human Stoker and retrieve his SM-40 palmtop PC, containing data on their Nebraska operation. Infiltration #0 The team caught up with and killed Stoker outside Phoenix, AZ, by which time Verity Carlo had already stolen the SM-40. The Battlechargers' attempts to retrieve it from Verity and Ratchet blew their cover: they appeared in full public view both in primary mode and in a secondary alternate mode, where the panels of their sports-car disguises split apart to reveal weapons and ram-plates. While pursuing Ratchet, both Battlechargers were run off the road by a semi-trailer. Infiltration #2
Whoa. My life was cool.
Runabout moved to Latveria with the rest of the Decepticons to spark a war between the nations of Latveria and Symkaria using the Psycho-Prism. When the Avengers infiltrated their base, Runabout abducted one of their number, Spider-Man. Man and Machine, Part One Runabout and his teammates, turbocharged by Spider-Man's radioactive blood, attacked the allied Autobots and Avengers in mirror response mode. Man and Machine, Part Two Runabout was subsequently blasted by the newly-arrived Iron Man and sliced up by Wolverine. Man and Machine, Part Three The badly-damaged Runabout subsequently fled via an emergency warp-out. Man and Machine, Part Four
Unfortunately, Runabout was brutally off-lined when the Reapers attacked the Decepticon command bunker in Oregon. He was electrocuted until he exploded, upsetting Runamuck, who was soon decapitated and then had his errant head crushed by a large boulder. Devastation #6
Wings Universe
Runabout and Runamuck were present during the battle that led to the destruction of Menasor and Defensor. Generation 2: Redux At some other time, the pair were hanging out with the equally-delinquent pair of Jetstorm and Deluge when a giant Autobot and his Quintesson cohort wandered into their territory. While Jetstorm and Deluge jumped the Autobot, Runabout and Runamuck tortured the Quintesson. The Decepticons misjudged the strength of their victims, and a short moment later all four Decepticons were defeated, left brutally embarrassed. The Coming Storm: Part 1
Toys
Generation 1
- Runabout (Battlecharger, 1986)
- Accessories: High-energy particle beam rifle
- Runabout transforms into a Lotus Turbo Esprit sports car. An autotransformer, he uses a pull-back motor to propel him forward in both car and robot modes, though starting in car mode triggers his transformation to robot after he rolls forward a short distance. His mold is very similar to his partner Runamuck, but it is highly unlikely one is actually a retool of the other since they had simultaneous production.
Timelines
- Runabout (Deluxe, 2012)
- Accessories: Pistol, 2 side-pipes/shoulder-cannons
- Runabout is a new-head retooling of Generations Wheeljack (itself a retool of Turbo Tracks), transforming into a sports car of made-up model, though it kind of resembles a Chevy Corvette with a heavily-modified front end. He can also assume a third "flying car" mode by folding down the car doors and flipping out wing extensions. his pistol can be hand-held, or become a shoulder-mounted gun through the use of the c joint clip on its back. His two side-pipes can attach to the c joint bars on his upper body as well to form shoulder-mounted cannons, or be held in his hands by the barrels as wrenches.
- Runabout is 1 of 3 2012 Transformers Collectors' Club exclusive figures (the other being Shattered Glass Drift).
- This mold (with the new head) was also used to make the Club's 2012 "membership freebie" Runamuck.
Notes
- Runabout was the inspiration for the Cybertron homage toy Runamuck (trademark issues explain away the name-shift).
- In Hasbro's 1986 Pre-Toy Fair catalog, a Runabout toy in robot mode (minus arm decals) is used to represent Runamuck's robot mode. The toy, however, is holding Runamuck's gun. Hmm....
Foreign names
- Japanese: Runabout (ラナバウト Ranabauto)
- French: Rôdo (Canada)
- Italian: Diablo
- Russian: Podryvnik (Подрывник, "Miner")
References
- ↑ But not more articulated.
- ↑ This story may not have happened in the Marvel continuity proper, as it occurs in a dream sequence within a story that leads into the incompatible Earthforce storyline.
