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 continuity
Marvel 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
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 Emirate 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 transport 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 along with Twin Twist who viscously beheaded. Time Wars
Regeneration One
Template:Noterg1 Rack'n'Ruin are members of the Wreckers. In 2012, twenty-one years after the apparent end of the Great War and reoccupation of Cybertron, they joined Kup and the rest of the team in going AWOL to investigate the "loose ends" of the conflict on other planets such as Earth and Nebulos.
Unfortunately, on the team's very first stop, they were apparently blown out of the sky by Megatron over a devastated Earth. Loose Ends, Part 1
IDW comics continuity
While Rack was still his own dude, the Wreckers' 11th iteration battled Black Shadow and suffered three casualties. Rules of Disengagement
Some time after joining the Wreckers, Rack 'n' Ruin confessed to Impactor about their "tragic" prognosis, indicating some lingering medical problem. Bullets
Rack 'n' Ruin were part of the Wreckers when they had their final battle on Pova against their longtime rivals, the Decepticon attack squad known as Squadron X. According to official paperwork, Rack 'n' Ruin were 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. Last Stand of the Wreckers #4
The reality of the conflict was much uglier than the story that was released to the public. After Impactor turned the tide by shooting through an unwilling Springer, Squadron X was rounded up and put in inhibitor harnesses. However, once Prowl learned the Wreckers were on Pova, he ordered Squadron X's release, as a neutrality agreement forbade the Autobots from bringing their war onto Povian soil. Rack 'n' Ruin turned a blind eye when the obsessed Impactor executed Squadron X. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5
Though Rack 'n' Ruin and the other Wreckers felt Impactor had done the right thing, they didn't want to be thrown into Garrus-9 alongside him. To make sure Springer wouldn't think of them as accomplices and testify against them, they all agreed to lie to him that they were against the murders and asked him to be their new leader.
By this point, Rack 'n' Ruin's health was, apparently, deteriorating. Zero Point
Rack 'n' Ruin died some time afterward, presumably before the resurrection of Thunderwing. The impact this has on Wrecker fatality stats depends on whether RnR count as one or two Transformers. Dead Men's Boots
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." Oy!
- Their "origin" and their original alt-modes were given in "Transformers: The Facts", a booklet that came with UK issue #200.
- According to the Transformers: Mosaic story Dead Men's Boots, Rack 'n' Ruin were killed at some point during IDW continuity. This was made canon when the Mosaic was included in the Last Stand of the Wreckers TPB without the typical Mosaic disclaimer.
- Until "Rules of Disengagement", neither Rack nor Ruin had appeared without the other. This solo appearance for Rack (identified in the script[1]) was the first time either had been individually referred to by name. For the record, Rack is the one with the anvil.
External links
References
- ↑ James Roberts, IDW forum: A while back I was PM'd by Ironhide/Paul, who asked me for some information on the Wreckers who showed up in the flashback on Page 1 of issue 7. I promised to post something on this forum. Here's the relevant extract from the script: 2 / Flashback. BLACK SHADOW fights the Wreckers (an old version of the team) at close quarters: tight, dirty and violent. He rips CREST’s head off and blasts PISTON through the chest, killing him. Also in shot are VALVE, HYPERION, IMPACTOR and RACK, all trying to get a piece of him. But it’s clear that Black Shadow owns this fight. Crest has been mentioned but not seen before, but should be readily identifiable by a big old crest on his chest. Valve is a spark brother to Springarm and Wheelarch, so should look like them. Piston is all-new. Hyperion was glimpsed in MTMTE issue 2.
