Ratchet (WFC)
From Transformers Wiki
| 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 Aligned 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 Outpost Omega One but since he is unfamiliar with human tech, he needs Raf Esquivel to help him out. However, for all his views on humans, deep down Ratchet admires what the tiny fleshies bring to the fight. Maybe he'll even warm up to them.
Optimus Prime's best friend, and de facto second-in-command, you'd be hard-pressed to find another Autobot who loves his leader as much as he does. Yet this is not to say Ratchet has blind faith in him; Ratchet resents Optimus' lack of action over the years regarding ending the war and many missed chances to kill Megatron. He's as flawed as any normal being would be, and a huge vice is his Cybertronian pride. At least once, it's nearly cost him the life of a friend. Furthermore, his grief for his destroyed home world is what drives him. He didn't take the loss of Cybertron very well, and would do almost anything to get it back some day.
He works with the Mini-Con R.A., and has recently struck up a partnership with the taciturn Undertone. He is also Medix's uncle.
Fiction
The Covenant of Primus
Ratchet emerged from the Well of All Sparks before the Age of Wrath. In his youth, Ratchet left his primitive village behind, and embarked on a pilgrimage to the newly founded city of Iacon. There, he applied as a student to Iacon's medical units, and learned medical science from the then-current chief of surgery Remedy. Over time, Ratchet slowly climbed the ranks, and eventually became a junior medic in one of Iacon's many medical clinics.
One day, Ratchet was interrupted from his studies by the arrival of Coldwelder, a working-class Energon miner who claimed to have been abducted and experimented on by aliens. Ratchet was skeptical of his claims, but ordered his intern Crankhandle to help run a diagnostic on the frightened victim. While examining his patient with his colleague Cogwheel, Ratchet discovered a probe of unknown origin had indeed been planted in Coldwelder's cranium. Ratchet was more than happy to let Cogwheel deal with the fallout of this strange discovery but felt guilty afterwards for passing the matter off to her to deal with.
Much later, the outbreak of the Great War, Ratchet chose to join the Autobots under Optimus Prime. After the Autobot scout Bumblebee was grievously wounded by Megatron, Ratchet attempted to patch up Bumblebee. Although the medic was able to repair Bumblebee's leg, he was unable to save his voice box, rendering Bumblebee mute.
After the great exodus from Cybertron, Ratchet was one of the handful of Autobots who travelled to Earth. Transformers: The Covenant of Primus
Aligned novels
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
On board the Ark, Ratchet figured out that the hologram projected by the Matrix was a star map, and pointed out the "you are here" symbol. He then wondered why it was in the Matrix in the first place, thus getting into a minor skirmish with Perceptor about whether or not the Matrix was sentient/magical. When the Autobots figured out where exactly they were, Ratchet marvelled at the fact that anyone came that far.
Ratchet was on the second landing party to Velocitron with "Hound", Sideswipe, and Prowl. He commented that a Velocitronian's only limit to racing a million times was how often they could be put back together. He "answered" Optimus' question about whether the Velocitronians would surrender their identity to survivve by saying it was a gloomy question. He was participant in meetings with Optimus, Jazz, and Silverbolt, and later Hound. He was also working on repairing the Space bridge near Velocitron, and acting as Bumblebee's translator.
Ratchet was the first to leap into action and ask what happened when 777 sabotaged the Ark, and the engines exploded. But they got it repaired, and left Velocitron. Ratchet wanted to just hurry up and go through the Space Bridge, since he didn't fix it for nothing. When they went through, they were at Junkion. Ratchet commented that another Space Bridge in the area hadn't been used since before its records began. But it was working. Apparently, he never would have guessed that Bots built the Space Bridge. He, not unlike Perceptor, suggested that they make additional repairs on the planet.
Ratchet was on the first landing team to Junkion, with Optimus, Hound, and Ironhide. They all died. Or at least, they would have, if Optimus hadn't shown off the Matrix to the Junkions who were scavenging them, starting with Ratchet. He was the one who figured out that Wreck-Gar wanted to know what the Matrix was. He noticed that Hound was gone. Hmm... but he was distracted when he had to tell a random Junkion that it couldn't have his leg.
Optimus noted to himself that even though Ratchet had Corrostop, he didn't want an outbreak of Cosmic Rust.
Ratchet correctly assumed that Wreck-Gar thought Optimus was making up the stuff about the Matrix and the AllSpark so that he'd feel bad and help them.
Once more, when 777's second bomb exploded, Ratchet was the first to give a verbal reaction. He scanned for Sparks on the Ark, but had too much interference to get an accurate reading. The best he could come up with was "Lots of survivors." He, Jazz, Clocker, and Mainspring were the damage assessment team. He and Ironhide were also put in charge for when Optimus went to the tomb of Solus Prime. Before that, though, he examined Optimus after the Matrix told him to jump into a furnace (seriously).
He analyzed the body of the Junkion named Shearbolt to determine that he died before Prowl talked to him, leading to the realization that their traitor was a Shifter. He then had the unpleasant task of explaining to Wreck-Gar that a Shifter was responsible.
Ratchet told Optimus about the distress signal from Blurr about how Velocitron was now at full-out war.
When the Decepticons arrived on Junkion, Ratchet helped his colleagues give Optimus a status report. But that was overshadowed by the Blades of Time all coming together. Ratchet and Optimus simultaneously realized that it was a gateway. He escaped what was left of Junkion with the rest of the Autobots on the Ark. Exiles
Ratchet was one of Optimus Prime's senior advisors on the Ark when the Matrix led them to Aquatron. Although the planet seemed like a godsend, Optimus confided in his old friend and physician that he felt adrift from the Matrix, a deep disconnect down to his spark that told him something was wrong with him or the Matrix. Ratchet joined the main Autobot force when it touched down on the planet, making contact with the Curator and his Aquatronians. When Optimus experienced an unexplained seizure, the Autobots were forced to bring him to Doctor Xeros at an Aquatronian medical facility. Although Ratchet monitored the doctor's treatment, he failed to recognize the deep scans their hosts were performing on the Prime and his Matrix.
The Curator was revealed as a Quintesson with a grudge millions of years old against the Cybertronians, and Ratchet was among the Autobots who were captured and forced to face trial on ridiculous trumped up charges. The Autobots and Decepticons escaped during the trial and met up with their comrades aboard the Ark and Nemesis to fend off the Sharkticon hordes and ultimately escape the planet. Retribution
Ask Vector Prime
In Uniend 610.23 Zeta, Ask Vector Prime Ratchet was present for a meeting amongst Optimus Prime's most trusted lieutenants about Alpha Trion's plan to launch the AllSpark into space to keep it from Megatron, and then took part in the Battle at Tyger Pax. Bumblebee at Tyger Pax
Cartoon continuity
IDW Prime comic
Ratchet was stationed at the Autobot base on Earth, opening the GroundBridge for Optimus to retrieve Arcee and Cliffjumper. He reattached her arm after Starscream had blown it off. Transformers: Prime
Prime cartoon
- Voice actor: Jeffrey Combs (English), Nobuo Tobita (Japanese), Sun Ye (Chinese, Season 1), Shen Lei (Chinese, Season 2 & 3), José María Carrero (Castilian Spanish), Jon Ciriano (Castilian Spanish, "Predacons Rising"), Seong-yong Ha (Korean), Claudio Moneta (Italian), Jan Spitzer (German), Mario Arvizu (Latin American Spanish), Jarosław Boberek (Polish), Luiz Antônio Lobue (Brazilian Portuguse), Jari Salo (Finnish), Peppino Capotondi (French)
Ratchet served during the war for Cybertron, where he "proved [his] mettle". Triage After Bumblebee was captured at Tyger Pax, Ratchet was the field medic who put him back together, but was unable to repair his voice box. Operation Bumblebee, Part 1 At some point after Team Prime arrived on Earth, Ratchet modified Agent Fowler's jet, allowing him to fly without a flight suit. Grill
Ratchet was on patrol in a snowy region when news came in that Cliffjumper was battling a platoon of Decepticons solo. Ratchet and the other Autobots returned to base to GroundBridge to his location, but they were too late: Cliffjumper was nowhere to be found, and Ratchet confirmed that his lifesigns had ceased. It was Ratchet's belief that continuing to operate on Earth and aid humans would only result in more tragedy, and as such, it was no surprise that he vehemently objected to the Autobots becoming protectors for Jack Darby, Miko Nakadai and Raf Esquivel soon after—though the kids' incessant questions didn't help their case, either. Darkness Rising, Part 1 Ratchet's mood was not improved when Bulkhead accidentally crushed an important piece of lab equipment, and things got even worse when he was instructed to stay at base and watch the children while the other Autobots investigated the reappearance of Cliffjumper's lifesign. He did, however, start to see the value in the kids' presence when Raf helped him in his continuing struggle to master the inferior human computer systems the Autobot base ran on. Darkness Rising, Part 2
The other Autobots returned from their mission with the news that Cliffjumper had been revived by the Decepticons as a zombie, and when Arcee began feeling dizzy, Ratchet examined her and discovered a trace of the mysterious substance that had reanimated Cliffjumper. While examining it, Ratchet inadvertently dripped some on the equipment Bulkhead had broken, transforming it into a vicious little monster. Darkness Rising, Part 2 Optimus Prime helped him destroy it, and both realized that they were dealing with Dark Energon. Realizing that Megatron planned to raise an undead army, Optimus took Ratchet to the site of an ancient Transformer battle on Earth, but they arrived too late to prevent Megatron from using Dark Energon to raise the buried corpses of the warriors as a legion of Terrorcons. Darkness Rising, Part 3 Ratchet quickly deduced that the best way to stop them was dismemberment, and he and Prime managed to cut down the entire army despite the debilitating effects of the Dark Energon. Ratchet sustained a wounded arm in the battle, and Megatron was able to escape. Returning to base, Ratchet examined some plans that Miko had obtained from the Decepticons in his absence, and speculated that the villains were building a space bridge so they could use Dark Energon to raise a zombie army on Cybertron and bring them to Earth. Darkness Rising, Part 4 Given his injuries, Ratchet stayed behind at the base to man the GroundBridge, sending the other Autobots to the orbiting space bridge for battle, and the kids to the Giant Sized Array radio telescope in Texas to cut off the Decepticons' targeting systems. While the kids failed in their endeavour, they did succeed in obtaining schematics for the space bridge, which Ratchet used to determine 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
Ratchet was initially dismayed to learn that the kids were working on their school science projects in the Autobot base, but changed his tune in short order and actually turned down combat duty to stay and help them. Unfortunately for the kids, he completely took over their projects, building a large volcano for Raf, a model of Cybertron for Miko, and an advanced engine for Jack. None of the projects went down well at school, much to Ratchet's disappointment. Masters & Students
Ratchet found another reason to be grateful to have the kids around when a Scraplet infestation in the base left the GroundBridge disabled, and Ratchet at the mercy of the metal-eating monsters. Jack used a fire extinguisher to freeze the creatures, saving Ratchet's life, but the medic remained too badly wounded to effect repairs to the GroundBridge, and had to entrust the job to the humans. They succeeded, and Ratchet was able to patch up himself and his fellow Autobots. Scrapheap Problems with the GroundBridge lingered, however, and Ratchet continued working on it during a visit by Bulkhead's old buddy Wheeljack, while trying to ignore the distractions caused by the other Autobots partying and Wheeljack and Bulkhead Lobbing. The delays caused by Ratchet's repairs resulted in "Wheeljack" being exposed as a Decepticon imposter. Unfortunately this also meant that when the real Wheeljack turned up, Ratchet was subjected to another round of partying. Con Job
Ratchet continued to play the role of tech support over the Autobots next few missions. He remained in the base to monitor the Autobot convoy as they transported the Dynamic Nuclear Generation System across country, alerting them to an incoming Decepticon attack and—under protest—working with Raf to GroundBride Miko and Jack onto a moving track so they could stop the forces of MECH from stealing the device.When Ratchet and Optimus Prime investigated a crashed Autobot vessel, they discovered that it was a plague ship carrying deceased victims of Cybonic plague, a pathogen created by Megatron himself. Optimus contracted the disease, which was beyond even Ratchet's ability to cure. In search of a treatment, he GroundBridged Arcee and Bumblebee to the Nemesis so they could obtain the cure from Megatron's mind via cortical psychic patch, a controversial procedure banned by Autobots but in which Ratchet was well-versed. While watching the link, Ratchet recorded the hologram of the plague antidote Megatron showed to Bumblebee, and was able later to produce a cure for Optimus. Sick Mind
Due to his experience with Dark Energon, Ratchet—much to his own surprise—was tapped to take Arcee's place when the Autobots deployed to confront Starscream. He was attempting to use the evil substance to revive Skyquake. Discovering that the kids had followed them through the GroundBridge, Ratchet ordered them to head back through to base, only for a Decepticon GroundBridge to manifest at the same time, causing a disruption that hurled the children into a parallel dimension. Deducing what had happened, Ratchet was able to recreate the original feedback loop and create a portal the kids could escape through. Shadowzone Ratchet also went into the field on the Autobots' next mission: After patching up Bulkhead following a skirmish with Breakdown in which the 'Con was captured by MECH, Ratchet joined the effort to rescue the Decepticon. Following an Energon signature but finding only Breakdown's plucked-out eye, Ratchet attempted to extract images from the eye to help in the Autobots' search, but it turned out to be a MECH booby-trap, and the team only narrowly avoided the bomb explosion that resulted. They later tracked down Bulkhead in time to rescue him from Starscream and Breakdown. Operation: Breakdown
Ratchet was at the Autobot base when Jack and Arcee brought Jack's mother June Darby in to introduce her to everyone. Crisscross When June next visited the base, the on-edge medic assumed her car was a Decepticon, though he didn't object to June, a nurse, respectfully calling him "doctor". While in conversation with June, Ratchet detected a magnetic anomaly and dispatched Bulkhead and Arcee to find it; when they returned magnetically stuck together, he realized they were dealing with a polarity gauntlet. Bulkhead and Arcee were eventually able to retrieve the device and present it to Ratchet back at base. Metal Attraction Ratchet's tech expertise came to the fore again when he detected the activation of a crashed Decepticon ship's computer system: when Bumblebee and Arcee returned from investigating with two frozen comrades and the pieces of the Decepticon weapon responsible, Ratchet was able to repair the weapon and use it to restore Prime and Bulkhead. Partners
While most of the other Autobots went out to retrieve a Cybertronian data cylinder, Ratchet stayed at base to monitor them and annoy Bulkhead and Miko by interrupting their monster truck footage. After Bulkhead was called out to the field, Ratchet assigned Miko cleaning duties, only for her to rush off to the battlefield and inadvertently cause the contents of the cylinder to be downloaded into Bulkhead's brain. Ratchet initially gave Bulkhead a clean bill of health, but when Bulkhead started painting complex formulae, Ratchet made two discoveries: one, that the formulae were for Synthetic Energon, and two, that the data was slowly destroying Bulkhead's mind. After much of the formula had been transcribed, the data was beamed out of Bulkhead into space, leaving him comatose. Ratchet's suggestion that a familiar sound might rouse the Autobot led Miko to wake Bulkhead with her guitar playing. T.M.I. Working from Bulkhead's incomplete formula, Ratchet appeared to succeed in synthesizing a batch of the Synthetic Energon, and used himself as a guinea pig. Supercharged by the new substance at the expense of his mental stability, Ratchet was made strong enough to trash an entire squad of Vehicons on his own and to throw Bulkhead through a wall while sparring. When he went too far in interrogating a Decepticon Miner under the auspices of being more "proactive", Optimus was forced to confine him to base. Escaping, Ratchet went to confront Megatron on his own, infiltrating the Decepticons' Energon mine and making short work of Breakdown. Unfortunately, Megatron proved more formidable than expected, and Ratchet was seriously injured and left for Knock Out to extract a sample of Synthetic Energon from. Drained of the SynthEn and its effects, Ratchet managed to raise enough strength to fight back and destroy the sample, and was then rescued by the other Autobots and taken back to base for treatment. Ratchet apologized for his behavior, though at least they'd gained a supply of real energon from the mine out of it. Stronger, Faster
When Optimus became interested in a prophecy from the Covenant of Primus, Ratchet worked out that the planetary alignment mentioned was mere days away. Shortly after, Raf was injured during a mission to stop the Decepticons from gathering space bridge components. Ratchet's lack of knowledge of human physiology left him unable to treat the boy, so June Darby was called in to help. Ratchet refused to allow Raf to be taken to a hospital, as human doctors wouldn't have any experience with Energon contamination, but it became apparent that this wasn't what was ailing Raf. He had been infected with Dark Energon. Ratchet took the risk of applying an infusion of regular Energon to neutralize the Dark, and Raf recovered. One Shall Fall Immediately thereafter, Ratchet joined Arcee and Bulkhead in rescuing Optimus from a battle with Megatron, then set about analyzing a series of natural disasters that began across the Earth, deducing that the tremors were the heartbeat of Unicron, slumbering within the Earth and threatening to destroy it with his awakening. One Shall Rise, Part 1 When Megatron approached the Autobots with the proposition of an alliance to stop Unicron from destroying the planet, Ratchet scoffed at the notion. He grew increasing incredulous to the idea that he would GroundBridge the others into the Earth's very core, following co-ordinates provided by Megatron, so the Optimus could use the Matrix of Leadership to deactivate Unicron, but was nonetheless forced to go along with the plan when Optimus accepted Megatron's offer. One Shall Rise, Part 2
Remaining behind in the base with the kids and unable to contact the Autobots in the planet's depths, Ratchet passed the time telling the humans about the old days when Optimus was known as Orion Pax, and was shocked to discover that Optimus had entrusted Jack with the Key to Vector Sigma before departing. A final tremor that Ratchet shielded the kids from heralded Autobot victory within the planet, but when Ratchet GroundBridged the others back, they reported that Optimus had lost his memories and left with Megatron. One Shall Rise, Part 3
Ratchet reasoned that Optimus's amnesia must have been a result of emptying the Matrix, and that the solution involved the Key to Vector Sigma. He started tinkering with the GroundBridge to try and find a way to reach Cybertron, though when frustrations boiled over at their lack of success in getting Optimus back, Jack suggested they might use the Decepticon space bridge instead. Orion Pax, Part 1 Thought he continued his tinkering with the GroundBridge, Ratchet was demoralized after the first test with Raf's radio-controlled car resulted in the destruction of the toy. The real breakthrough came when Ratchet was able to trade Starscream medical attention for information on the location of the space bridge. Once Ratchet and the others secured the bridge, they sent Jack and Arcee through. Orion Pax, Part 2 Ratchet, Bulkhead and Bumblebee monitored Jack's progress from the Earth end of the space bridge. When Megatron arrived to take back control, Ratchet and the others were tossed around like rag dolls by the Decepticon leader. Luckily for them their plan worked out, and Ratchet and the others returned to base with Optimus Prime restored. Orion Pax, Part 3
Optimus and Ratchet followed an ancient signal and tangled with Megatron in the process of retrieving the Spark Extractor. After another altercation, Ratchet discovered that Bumblebee's T-cog was missing. Ratchet was therefore forced to pick Raf up after school, and told the boy the story of how Bumblebee's voice box was damaged. Operation Bumblebee, Part 1 Guilty at his inability to do anything, Ratchet offered his own T-cog and, after talking Optimus into letting him do it, selected Arcee to perform the procedure. When he woke up, it was to find that the operation had been aborted, and Bumblebee had gone after MECH. Bumblebee returned with his lost cog, though in a damaged state, and Ratchet was able to repair it enough to restore Bumblebee's ability to transform. Operation Bumblebee, Part 2
Ratchet patched up Wheeljack after the Wrecker returned to Earth and was involved in a scrap with Dreadwing. Loose Cannons Receiving another coded signal, Ratchet and Bulkhead again found Starscream in need of medical attention. They were able to get information from him about Airachnid's status and the presence of an Insecticon on Earth. Crossfire When Fowler was attacked by a truck that resembled Optimus, Ratchet tracked Optimus's signal to confirm the offender wasn't their leader. They soon established that the truck in question was a MECH-created clone of Optimus, and Ratchet patched up the Autobots after they defeated Silas and Nemesis Prime. Nemesis Prime Ratchet dispatched Optimus, Bumblebee and Arcee to investigate underground activity, and they returned with Airachnid in stasis lock. Armada
Optimus's attempt to attack the Nemesis with the Spark Extractor failed, Ratchet returned the stasis-locked team to base and GroundBridged Fowler and the kids aboard the ship. With his guidance, they were able to shut down the intelligence guiding the ship, and he even stepped aboard himself to retrieve Jack and the transfer drive full of Project Iacon data. Flying Mind
When Optimus decided they would need to secure all four relics at once, Ratchet pointed out that they were short-manned as it was. Tunnel Vision He was unimpressed when Optimus decided that Wheeljack would be called in to help him on his part of the mission since he was a capable warrior. Triangulation Ratchet disapproved of Wheeljack's behavior as they set off in the Jackhammer, particularly being called "Doc". He also was far from impressed with his methods when attacking Soundwave and Laserbeak before they crashed landed. When they noticed the downed Laserbeak nearby, he struck on the idea of implanting a virus into the disabled Laserbeak, which would upload the Iacon database to the Autobots. With Raf's help, Ratchet managed to do so while Wheeljack kept Soundwave occupied, and managed to keep out of sight when Soundwave arrived to retrieve his pet. He attempted to convince Wheeljack to return to base for repairs, and thanked him for his back-up. When he returned to base, he found the virus was downloading the Iacon database into the Autobots' mainframe, but his joy was short-lived, as Bulkhead came flying through the GroundBridge with a smoking back Triage after being shot by Hardshell Toxicity
Ratchet worked frantically to stabilize Bulkhead and, with the help of the other Autobots, managed to succeed, though Bulkhead remained comatose. Hurt He continued to oversee Bulkhead's recovery, though when Miko started getting too rough with the patient, he insisted on Bulkhead taking a break. Out of the Past When Raf found a report of a Cybertronian escape pod, Optimus took a team including Ratchet to investigate. Ratchet was almost slagged by an Insecticon, but newcomer Smokescreen arrived and helped them win. Back at base, Ratchet was left in charge when Optimus went out to retrieve some Red Energon, and Smokescreen talked him into letting the new Autobot go to Optimus's aid with the phase shifter. New Recruit
Bulkhead continued to try to pressure Ratchet into letting him go back out on missions. Ratchet finally gave in during a mission to protect a military base, though rather than sending him to the base, Ratchet sent him to protect Raf, who was hacking into a Project Damocles satellite. The Human Factor
Ratchet chastised Smokescreen when the latter broke cover to scare a human driver. After Optimus Prime opined that Smokescreen needed a human to teach him local customs and rules, Ratchet grumbled in disgust at the idea of yet another human being included in their ranks, to the uncomfortable silence of the other Autobots. Shortly thereafter, Ratchet detected a homing beacon from an Iacon relic and a team led by Optimus was sent to investigate in China. However, a second signal was then detected elsewhere, and with Optimus's team unreachable, Smokescreen was sent in their steed. After discovering that the Decepticons have found the legendary Star Saber, Smokescreen was captured and Jack was pursued by Insecticons, but not before he managed to notify Ratchet of their findings, who GroundBridges to Optimus' position to fill him in. After the Autobots returned to base with their new prize, Ratchet sent Jack home at the request of a very angry Arcee and witnessed Optimus Prime enter a trance while communing through the Star Saber with Alpha Trion. Legacy
Ratchet was happy at the news they would soon be able to return home to Cybertron, and when the other Autobots realized they would have to leave their human friends behind, Ratchet suggested they could sent texts. While he worked on a way for Optimus to properly wield the Star Saber, the weapon was later destroyed in battle against Megatron, though Ratchet reminded the other Autobots that Optimus didn't need a sword to be a great warrior. Alpha/Omega Ratchet found himself busy repairing the other Autobots after a number of failed missions to retrieve Omega Keys and monitored Optimus's work decoding coordinates, though it turned out that the final set were a picture of Smokescreen. Hard Knocks
With Smokescreen a prisoner on the Decepticon warship, Ratchet was unable to track him, but once he freed himself, Ratchet provided a GroundBridge back to base. A short time later they were contacted by Starscream, who offered the final key they needed in exchange for the replacement of his T-Cog. Unfortunately it was a trap, and while Optimus, Ratchet and Bulkhead were examining the corpse of one of Starscream's clones, the real Starscream made off with the Omega Keys. Inside Job
Ratchet was surprised to learn that Optimus had kept the existence of the Omega Lock a secret from everyone. After Optimus modified the GroundBridge into a space bridge, he sent the other Autobots to Cybertron and monitored their progress, though he had to field a phone call from Jack asking why no one had picked the kids up. Regeneration He had to field a further call from June Darby, and a power surge that disrupted the base computers. When the Autobots finally returned, it was with the news that the Omega Lock had been destroyed, much to Ratchet's shock. When the Decepticons attacked the base, the Autobots were forced to abandon it, and Ratchet GroundBridged to a location elsewhere in the US. Darkest Hour
Despondent, Ratchet hid in a scrap yard outside Woodland Park. He was caught on camera, enabling Bumblebee and Raf to track him down, but they were at first unable to convince him to help them fight back. After experiencing a change of heart, he followed them to the Harbinger to help get the ship working. Scattered He was able to get the ship's GroundBridge working and used the Decepticon frequencies to contact Fowler. The trio were shortly after joined by most of the other surviving Autobots, accompanied by the newly arrived Ultra Magnus. Prey
Ratchet utilized the GroundBridge and communications systems to lure the Decepticons away from Darkmount, with the help of the kids. He monitored the Autobot attack on the fortress from the Harbinger, and was thus able to detect the incoming Optimus Prime, shortly before their leader turned up to save the day. The Autobots later assembled at a human military base, and Ratchet assured Smokescreen that he'd made the right choice in repairing Optimus with the Forge. Rebellion As the others salvaged technology from their old base, Ratchet set about getting it working in their new one and was able to make the GroundBridge functional again. He also restarted his work on Synthetic Energon, though he warned Optimus not to expect too much. Project Predacon
Upon Wheeljack's return to base after a failed mission, Ratchet asked him to accompany Arcee on another errand, lest Ratchet be forced to abandon his work and venture out of his comfort zone. Though Ratchet was later willing to go out to fetch yet another Predacon bone from a museum (albeit grudgingly), agent Fowler informed him that this was unnecessary, as he was more than capable of retrieving it himself. Things went wrong once more, unfortunately, and the Decepticons acquired the fossil once more. Plus One
While he continued his work, he also had to take time out to repair the other Autobots, such as when Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack came off second-best against Predaking. Evolution He did his best to replace Magnus's hand, but was only able to manage a claw. When the Decepticons began stealing technology, the Autobots captured Soundwave, but were unable to make him talk. Ratchet decided he would have to open the Decepticon up to examine his hard drives directly, but Soundwave merely erased the drives and crashed himself. A Decepticon attack on the Solaris particle collider led Ratchet to believe that the Decepticons intended to repair the Omega Lock, but while the ramifications were still sinking in, Laserbeak reactivated Soundwave with new orders to capture Ratchet. Minus One Ratchet awoke on the Nemesis and was subjected to a cortical psychic patch. Once the Decepticons realized that he had not completed the Synthetic Energon formula, Megatron revealed to him the reason why he had been captured. The threat of harm to the other Autobots was not enough, but when Megatron explained that the Synth-En was needed to restore Cybertron, and showed off the Omega Lock they'd restored, he reluctantly agreed to help. Persuasion
Predaking: "But I am the last dragon!"
With the help of Decepticon engineering, Ratchet completed the formula, but rather than hand Megatron the power to recreate Cybertron, he attempted to destroy it and escape. Unfortunately he was stopped by Megatron, who handed him over to Predaking as a plaything. Though Predaking was keen to avenge his lost species, Ratchet revealed what he'd overheard—that Megatron had allowed the Autobots to find Shockwave's lab. During Predaking's resulting rampage, Ratchet dropped the warship's shields and made contact with the other Autobots to let them know Megatron was planning to cyberform Earth. Synthesis Ratchet made his way to the Omega Lock control room, where he did his best to keep Shockwave occupied. He and the others present witnessed Bumblebee kill Megatron, and he was overjoyed to discover that Bumblebee's voice box had been restored as the result of exposure to the Omega Lock. The Autobot took control of the warship and used the Omega Lock to restore Cybertron, however Ratchet opted to remain on Earth to help the humans. Deadlock
Ratchet was called to Cybertron to tend to Ultra Magnus, after the Wrecker was wrecked by some new Predacons. When Unicron arrived on the planet using Megatron's body, Ratchet was able to use the ship's sensors to pinpoint Unicron's location, and reveal that the dark god was raising an army of undead Predacons with which to destroy Primus. He was kept out of the battle to save Cybertron, but was present when Optimus sacrificed himself to restore the AllSpark to Cybertron. Predacons Rising
Titan Prime comic
In the lower levels of Outpost Omega One, Ratchet constructed a training room he dubbed the Safe, though the inferior Earth materials he was forced to use meant it wasn't as good as it could be. Indeed, Bulkhead began tearing his way merrily through it, only to uncover something Ratchet hadn't found—a nuclear missile which promptly activated. Ratchet and Raf were assigned to deal with the bomb, however as Raf was the expert on Earth technology, Ratchet deferred to him. Luckily Raf managed to reverse the bomb's timer, and Fowler arrived with some scientists to take care of the rest. After Bulkhead apologized to Ratchet for smashing up the room, Ratchet suggested he and Raf design a new Safe. The Safe and the Failsafe
Optimus took the Autobots and the kids on a trip to Valley of Fire State Park. When Raf impressed the others with his knowledge and worried it made himself sound geeky, Ratchet proclaimed himself Autobot geek and proud. War Story
Ratchet alerted the others to the fact that Fowler was about to arrive at the base, and indeed, Fowler walked in moments later with the news that the Decepticons had hijacked a nuclear ship near Antarctica. When Optimus, Bumblebee and Ratchet arrived at the ship, they found the crew were unconscious. Ratchet wondered what could have done that, but he was answered moments later by Starscream, who knocked him out with a sonic lance. By the time Ratchet recovered, the fight was over, and as they returned to the base, he said he'd be fine so long as he stayed away from any ice. Unfortunately in their absence, the others had turned the base into an ice skating ring, and as soon as he stepped through the GroundBridge, Ratchet ended up flat on his back. Ice Breaker
As Raf was playing Invasionauts II at the base, Ratchet observed that the alien robots he was fighting in the game looked a lot like Autobots. After the game hypnotised Raf into operating the GroundBridge and letting in Vehicons, Ratchet initially blamed Bulkhead, but helped hold off the Decepticons until Raf recovered and reconfigured the bridge to suck the Vehicons back in. Tinker, Tailor, Gamer, Spy!
Upon hearing that several schools in Jasper County had mysteriously exploded, Jack came to suspect something was afoot. Ratchet approved of the way Jack was starting to sound as paranoid as him. School Is... Out!
After the President of the United States was kidnapped by Starscream, Ratchet and the Autobots tracked the Decepticon to the Grand Canyon. Ratchet and Bulkhead protected Air Force One while the others rescued the President. All the President's 'Bots!
When he lost contact with Optimus Prime while their leader was exploring a scrap-metal facility in Zhejiang Province, China, Ratchet dispatched Bulkhead and Arcee to help, but was forced to drop them ten kilometers from the target due to interference. The Mind Trap! Ratchet was forced to GroundBridge Agent Novo to China after the MECH operative took Miko hostage. To make up for it, he discovered a way to track Miko's phone, pointing the other Autobots to the location of MECH's base. The Novo Incident
After deploying Optimus's team to the Deep Driller oil platform, Ratchet monitored the situation from base, and was amused by the sight of Prime and the others being defeated by a bunch of humans in robotic battle suits. Mad Dogs & Autobots Ratchet operated the GroundBridge so the other Autobots could take the kids onto the Nemesis to search for Bulkhead, who had been abducted after a solo mission. The Battle for Bulkhead During a battle in The Wave, Bumblebee was injured by a sniper, so Ratchet patched him up and sent him back to base with Raf. When the Autobots later returned to base, Ratchet was surprised to find the pair had trashed the place. The Evil Shred
Agent Fowler managed to intercept a Decepticon broadcast, which alerted Ratchet and the rest of the Autobots to the Decepticons' next plot; the desecration of the Statue of Liberty. But as Liberty Island, now occupied by the Decepticons, was too small to launch a full frontal assault against, Ratchet stayed behind while Optimus and Bumblebee led a stealth operation against Megatron's troops. Protecting the Lady
Ratchet's Joke Page
At some point Ratchet got a medical degree and began treating human patients. Issue 4.8
Eaglemoss Prime comic
Rescue Bots cartoon
When three of the Rescue Bots were stricken down with a mysterious virus, Optimus consulted Ratchet, who suggested that one of the antidotes from the Rescue Bots' ship would cure it. Bumblebee to the Rescue Ratchet later gave the Rescue Bots energon transfusions after they used up their own supply powering the Mayor Luskey Dome. Today and Forever
2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon
- Voice actor: Jeffrey Combs (English), Takehito Koyasu (Japanese), Shen Lei (Chinese), Claudio Moneta (Italian), Peppino Capotondi (French), Olivier Francart (French, Enemy of My Enemy & Freedom Fighters), Víctor Hugo Aguilar (Latin American-Spanish), Jan Spitzer (German, first voice), Stefan Bergel (German, second voice), Roberto Garcia (Brazilian Portuguese)
Ratchet remained on Cybertron after Prime's sacrifice and the rebirth of Cybertron, Decepticon Island (Part 1) with a statue of him built in his honor. Pilot (Part 1) However, Ratchet was blacklisted by the new High Council for being a supporter of Optimus Prime, Enemy of My Enemy and was assigned the job of hunting down any remaining war criminals. Knowing that this was effectively a banishment, and that protesting would only land him in prison, Ratchet reluctantly accepted. Partnered with the Mini-Con Undertone, he tracked down and captured rogue Decepticons.
Ratchet eventually tracked a Decepticon to Earth, where he ran across Clampdown. Shortly afterwards, he encountered Bumblebee and the rest of the Bee Team, including a reborn Optimus Prime. Making his way back to the scrapyard base, he explained the circumstances of his mission to the team, only to be interrupted by the arrival of Toolbox, an escaped Mini-Con. Along with the other Autobots, he decided to take part in the raid on the Decepticon base. He also privately counseled Optimus about whether or not the former Autobot leader should re-take command. The team slipped into the base by masquerading as Grimlock's captives, although they were eventually spotted and surrounded by Steeljaw's new army of Decepticon fugitives. Decepticon Island (Part 1)
Thanks to Windblade providing the team with a distraction, the Autobots were able to make a break for it and slip away from Steeljaw's troops. They then split up into smaller teams, and Ratchet found himself fighting alongside Drift and his Mini-Con students against Overload to free Windblade from a stasis pod. Ratchet was overpowered by the hulking Decepticon and thrown into another nearby pod, although Jetstorm and Slipstream managed to escape when Drift was similarly imprisoned.Ratchet and Undertone then escaped with the other Autobots after Bumblebee and Optimus detonated a stasis bomb inside the ship, freezing all those still within. In the aftermath, Ratchet and Undertone decided to return to Cybertron with Windblade to help Optimus investigate Cybertron's government. Decepticon Island (Part 2)
During a visit to the remains of Outpost Omega One, Grimlock stepped on an old armor buffer discarded by Ratchet, and mistook it for a mine. History Lessons
While investigating the High Council, Ratchet was also studying ShadowZone particles. After one of the particles registered on Earth, indicating something traveled from the ShadowZone to Earth. He informed Optimus of his discovery, who promptly headed to Earth to investigate.Collateral Damage
Ratchet was able to fit Prime Force One with a more advanced cloaking device, shortly before he accompanied Optimus and the rest of the team to Earth to recruit Bumblebee's team. While the Bee Team traveled to Cybertron, Optimus, Jazz, Ratchet, Windblade and Bulkhead remained on Earth temporarily. They soon found action when a signal led them to the steel mill that had just been burgled by a Cybertronian advance force. Within, they found a list of items pointing to the fact the advance force was building a space bridge receiver, and also a bomb which promptly exploded. Enemy of My EnemyIDW Robots in Disguise comic
While struggling to get his team to work together, Bumblebee recalled happier times when he was part of Team Prime with Ratchet. Robots in Disguise #1
Rescue Bots Academy cartoon
- Voice actor: Todd Perlmutter (English)
Ratchet's nephew Medix speculated that he might be the new teacher at the Rescue Bot Training Academy. The other recruits were both excited and impressed upon learning of Medix's famous relative. Tyrannosaurus Wrecked
Ratchet developed the Aptitude Analyzer, which after putting the recruits through a series of tests, he was able to use to match them all with appropriate mentors. Back to School He additionally designed a new set of rescue simulations for the recruits, which he delivered to them personally. After Grimlock and Hoist recovered a crashed spaceship, Ratchet set about accessing the cargo in its vault. Mission Dinobot Ratchet developed some echo-location goggles. The demonstration of this new tech was hampered by the fact Medix had brought a live bat with him. Medix Steps Up To The Bat After extracting the vault from the crashed spaceship, Ratchet had trouble opening it and let the recruits try. This led to him becoming trapped in an ancient sim until the recruits were able to rescue him. Once the vault opened, Ratchet found it contained an ancient artifact. The Vault Of The Primes
Ratchet attended the opening of the Museum of Future Tech Art in Griffin Rock. Museum Mystery He had Perceptor check the artifact recovered from the vault to confirm it was the Sparksayer. After the relic bestowed new rescue tools on the recruits, he had them run through a sim exercise to test them. Power Up And Energize After Medix accidentally activated Ratchet's diagnostic tools, resulting in chaos across the academy, the young bot confessed everything to his uncle. Good Advice
Though the Mul-T-Cogs also found in the vault were inactive, Ratchet was able to get Hot Shot to use his cog to activate them. Ratchet cautioned Hot Shot that the devices would need testing before use, but Hot Shot got the other recruits to try them anyway, resulting in Hot Shot having to drain his own cog to restore the other recruits' ability to transform. Fortunately Ratchet was able to come up with a solution that had the other recruits reactivate Hot Shot's cog using theirs. Small Cogs
Ratchet set the recruits up with access to the Rescue Network in their quarters, warning Whirl to be careful what she put online. When it later turned out she'd uploaded an embarrassing video of Hot Shot, he revealed that the system wasn't properly online yet, so the video hadn't been seen far and wide. Bot Blog During Whirl's Wizard of Oz inspired dream, Ratchet appeared in the form of a squirrel. Wizard Of Botz
Ratchet was among the observers as the recruits undertook their final test of year two. He later attended the party aboard Citadel Secundus, and was put into stasis lock when an asteroid hit the Titan and created an anti-energon field. Space Party He and the rest of the teaching staff were revived after Secundus was landed safely on Earth, and attended the recruits' graduation ceremony. Crash Of The Titan
Japanese continuity
Go! toy bio
Ratchet was captured by the Decepticons and exposed to Dark Energon, becoming Hunter Ratchet. Go! Hunter Ratchet toy bio
Tales of the Beast Hunters
After Bumblebee and Wheeljack ran into trouble in the asteroid belt, Optimus had Ratchet overload the GroundBridge so that he could come to their aid. Despite protesting, Ratchet succeeded in bridging Optimus to the derelict ship the others were on. Tales of the Beast Hunters Chapter 5 Once the team successfully returned with mysterious Cybertronian weapons, Ratchet was put to work in his lab trying to make them function. Tales of the Beast Hunters Chapter 7 Smokescreen managed to retrieve some data discs from Shockwave's lab, which Ratchet found contained information on Shockwave's cloning process and the weapons Bumblebee had retrieved. Tales of the Beast Hunters Chapter 13 He eventually managed to unlock the secrets of the weapons and power them up. Tales of the Beast Hunters Chapter 17 When Bumblebee recovered from the earlier mission, Ratchet assigned him to light duties patrolling with Prowl. Tales of the Beast Hunters Chapter 23
Full of Fire!
Ratchet constructed a number of new Beast Hunters weapons for Team Prime, including a Dragonshredder Drill for himself. He, Bumblebee and Bulkhead went out into a New Mexico desert with Optimus Prime to test the weapons, and were attacked there by no less than six Predacons. Ratchet quickly brought all of the weapons online, and they proved capable of making the Autobots more than a match for the Predacons. Full of Fire!
Transformers: The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe
Pursuing the AllSpark after it had been launched into space, Ratchet was one of the many Autobots that found their way to Earth. There, he participated in a great battle within a human settlement against the Decepticons. The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe
Commercial appearances
- After having already been weirded out after Bulkhead broke into a scat in the middle of a carol, The Hub Carolers (First spot) Ratchet was dismayed as the Joker, a criminal, stole the chorus of "Jingle Bells" as it was being performed by a group of carolers. This group included other Transformers, ponies, and an underage baker. The Hub Carolers (Second spot)
- Fowler summoned the Autobots for a vague special mission. When Ratchet inquired if they were to receive back-up, Fowler informed them that Batman had agreed to team up with them. Mission: Impossibly Awesome Marathon
- Ratchet presented Bumblebee and Optimus with new secret weapons that the two of them used to mow down legions of Vehicons. Weaponizers Commercial
- Ratchet took Bumblebee through a tour of the Autobots' armory which culminated in Ratchet presenting Optimus Maximus. The two of them then rode the mech into battle, plowing through ranks of Vehicons. Optimus Maximus commercial
Games
Transformers: War for Cybertron (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)
- Voice actor: Fred Tatasciore (English), Vladimir Antonik (Russian), Stefano Albertini (Italian), Philippe Dumond (French), Roberto Cuadrado (Spain-Spanish), Piotr Urbaniak (Polish)
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. He boosted the signal of a message from the captive Zeta Prime and cautioned Optimus not to act as it was clearly a trap.
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 began destroying fleeing Autobot ships on Megatron's order, Ratchet declared the Decepticon leader completely insane. Once Trypticon fell to the surface from orbit, Ratchet organized the rescue effort. After Trypticon was defeated, he praised Optimus on his success, but 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
"I HAVE NO IDEA!"
When the Decepticons started poking around an Autobot base, Ratchet tracked their search patterns and instructed a rookie on where to go to find whatever it was they were looking for. Ratchet was in the control room to greet the rookie on arrival, and hand him over to Air Raid for basic training. Unfortunately the Decepticons destroyed the rookie and found the intel they were after. Following Zeta Prime's capture, the Autobot leader managed to contact Ironhide and Ratchet, but the data links powering the communications grid were severed. Ratchet greeted another rookie, who managed to repair the data links.
Ratchet would go on to become a member of Optimus' inner circle. Following the retaking of Iacon, he reported that the Data-net was back online and Zeta Prime could contact them again. He later worked with Jetfire to analyse core samples, and discovered that the core would be healing itself if it weren't for the influence of the Dark Energon corruptors. Optimus's team successfully freed the core, but the planet was no longer able to sustain them. When Ratchet asked what they'd do, Optimus responded that their new mission was to leave the planet. Ratchet was among the Autobots who defeated Megatron's secret weapon, the monstrous titan Trypticon. Upon Trypticon's defeat, Ratchet left the planet along with Optimus's team. War for Cybertron - Autobots/Decepticons
Transformers: Cybertron Adventures
Ratchet attempted to aid and evacuate survivors from an orbital blast form Megatron's new weapon, Trypticon, when the Decepticon leader tracked him down. After exchanging gunfire, Ratchet was forced onto a ledge, and Megatron tauntingly kicked him off. The Autobot survived the fall, but was pinned down by debris. Fortunately Sideswipe was in the area and came to the rescue. As the two made their trek back to Iacon, Ratchet informed Sideswipe that he had information about the Decepticon superweapon that needed to get to Optimus right away... Transformers: Cybertron Adventures
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
- Voice actor: Fred Tatasciore (English)
Ratchet was deeply hurt by the torment of having to watch his home planet power down around him. He recorded several audio logs in order to acknowledge and reflect on the cause of the planet's slow demise, hoping that a future generation would never have to endure such a sight. Ratchet came to fear the very likely reality that the Transformers' war would not end when "all were one" - but rather, due to their own extinction from lack of Energon. It was this need for Energon that forced the Autobots to begin to siphon power from Trypticon's inert, but still alive body; a gruesome last resort that shook Ratchet to his core, praying that there was some justification to be found for the Autobots' desperate act.
During the preparations for the Ark's launch, Ratchet worked with Optimus Prime, Perceptor, and the other Autobots to recover the energon necessary for lift-off. In addition, he and Optimus tended to a wounded Silverbolt. Grimlock later identified a space bridge for the Autobots to use to escape Cybertron, but upon its' destruction, Ratchet reported that it was becoming unstable and they needed to launch as soon as possible. Thanks to the sacrifice of Metroplex, they were able to do so immediately, but they came under attack by the Nemesis. When cornered while trying to treat Bumblebee during the initial assault, Ratchet slyly used a flashing beacon to disorient the Decepticons while feigning submission. Ratchet guided Bumblebee through the Ark until he found the dueling Optimus and Megatron. Fall of Cybertron
Transformers: Prime - The Game
- Voice actor: Jeffrey Combs (English), Philippe Dumond (French), José María Carrero (Castilian Spanish)
When Team Prime mobilized to untether the Dark Energon meteor that the Decepticons were towing into orbit via the Nemesis, Ratchet per usual stayed behind to run the GroundBridge. When the meteor fell to Earth, taking Team Prime with it, Ratchet left the human allies to man the Bridge in order to retrieve Optimus Prime, who was the only Autobot whose energy signature they were able to locate... before Ratchet teleported out, at least.
Ratchet found Prime next to the largest surviving chunk of the meteorite, which also contained the colossus Thunderwing. The giant awoke, and quickly swatted Ratchet away with its one free arm. Ratchet made his way bac kto the ruins where Optimus and Thunderwing had landed, but the Nemesis had also arrived and began raining plasma fire into the area to subdue Thunderwing. Optimus and Ratchet bolted for a GroundBridge portal opened by Arcee (as she had luckily fallen close to Jasper and was able to make it back to the base on-wheel), but stray cannon-fire sent Ratchet flying away once again. The timed portal closed without him, and left Ratchet to be captured by the Decepticons.
On board the Nemesis, Ratchet was forced to repair the giant Thunderwing, as the Decepticons had also kidnapped Miko and Raf and used them as hostages. Ratchet, indignant as always, performed just enough work to look like he was doing what he was told, but spent more time seeking out a weak point in the monster. When Megatron returned with the final major component to bringing Thunderwing back to full power, Ratchet looked to be out of options... until the Decepticon leader was momentarily distracted by the return of Starscream, who himself was being held hostage by Bulkhead. Ratchet took the chance to bolt from his cell and lock Megatron in, making his way through the security system and hordes of Vehicons to free Miko and Raf.
Once the humans were free, they took a service elevator up to the main communications hub of the Nemesis in order to get word out to the other Autobots, and hopefully use the Decepticon SpaceBridge to escape. After taking out numerous Vehicons, the three made it to the main comm hub, only to find Soundwave at the controls. Raf patched into the room's defense systems to briefly drop energy shielding on four computer towers, allowing Ratchet to destroy them and drop the force field that surrounded the main comm console. Forced to fight one-on-one, Soundwave made clever use of the Space bridge to warp in and out of the control room, but eventually found himself bested by the veteran Autobot and was forced to retreat. Now in control, Ratchet was able to communicate with the other Autobots who had infiltrated the Nemesis, and successfully warped them off the ship as it collapsed due to the damage Thunderwing had caused in his escape.
Back at the base, Ratchet informed the others that he could develop a siphon that could drain at least some of Thunderwing's Dark Energon, hopefully weakening the beast enough to allow them to destroy him. He stayed behind to work on the device as Bumblebee, Arcee and Bulkhead mobilized near a Dark Energon volcano that Thunderwing was headed towards. Ratchet was forced to bring the incomplete device with him to the volcano upon Thunderwing's arrival. He informed the other Autobots that due to the short amount of time he had to work on it, the siphon would only be truly effective if it was practically inside Thunderwing. Things looked hopeless until stowaways Miko and Jack piped up, Miko showing the Autobots a cell phone picture of a break in Thunderwing's chest armor that Ratchet had never repaired... a break just big enough for a human to fit into. Though reluctant to put the humans at risk, Ratchet handed over the siphon to Jack, who rode Arcee to the beast, and successfully installed the siphon, allowing Optimus Prime to finish Thunderwing once and for all. Transformers: Prime - The Game
In this game, Ratchet oddly does not have his blades. Instead, when he enters his "upgrade" mode, he deploys a massive wrench from his left wrist socket (seriously, it's as big as his forearm!) which he uses to clobber opponents. This is also the only time we see Prime-cartoon-era Ratchet employ a blaster for combat.
Hunt the Beasts online game
Ratchet enlisted you for a top secret mission; you were to infiltrate Shockwave's lab and retrieve data on Shockwave's experiments, the Predacons. Ratchet instructed you to scour the lab for the data, and report back to him immediately upon its discovery. Throughout your investigation, Ratchet would aid you to overcome many obstacles with his instructions, such as how to rewire the controls to a busted lift, or turn on the Energon stabilization protocols. Once the data on the Predacons has been gathered, Ratchet informed you that the Autobots would prepare for the looming threat of the Predacons with new weapons called "Beast Gear." He then uploaded data on the Autobots to keep you informed on their Predacon-battling capabilities, and thanked you for your service. Hunt the Beasts
Transformers Prime: Terrorcon Defense
Ratchet discovered a way to send Autonomous Defense Turrets through the Ground Bridge. He shipped these out to the battle whenever other Autobots in combat situations requested them. He also walked through the other Autobots through their missions while he stayed behind at Autobot headquarters, coordinating their efforts. He would also occasionally send Energon to the Autobots in the field when he detected an incoming threat that was particularly imposing. Terrorcon Defense
Transformers Prime: Pulsar Defense
When the Decepticons constructed an Energon Drain in an asteroid field, Ratchet and the Autobots countered it by building a Pulsar Dish from debris. While the dish was under construction, Ratchet could help out by repairing damage dealt to the dish by the Decepticons. Transformers Prime: Pulsar Defense
Transformers Universe
Prowl revealed that Ratchet built the groundbridge in High Grand. Transformers Universe Autobot tutorial
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark
Console
Rise of the Dark Spark (console)
Transformers: Robots in Disguise mobile game
| Version | Unlock Cost (Energon) | Unlock Cost (Ultra Sparks) |
|---|---|---|
| Legion | 1500 | 30 |
| One-Step | 2000 | 40 |
| Warrior | 4000 | 80 |
When Crown City was overrun by Decepticons as a result of a stasis pod modified to clone an army, the Autobots were forced to battle them throughout the city and surrounding landscape. They eventually found that Steeljaw and another Decepticon had constructed a space bridge and defeated the pair. Robots in Disguise mobile game
Toys
Prime
Cyberverse
- Autobot Ratchet (Cyberverse Legion, 2012)
- Part of the first wave of Prime: Cyberverse Legion Class toys, "Autobot Ratchet" is a small, simple toy that transforms into an emergency vehicle. He comes with a translucent battle blade weapon based on his in-show blades, which can peg via its numerous 3mm posts onto his robot hands, arms/vehicle sides, and robot back/vehicle roof.
- Early versions of the mold oddly lacked an actual face, but a running change finally gave him one.
- He was also released in Japan in the first wav of Prime: EZ Collection single-pack figures, with no notable changes. This release uses the corrected has-face mold.
- Ratchet's blade, in the same color, is also used by Cyberverse Cliffjumper and Dark of the Moon Mirage, while different-color versions are used by Quickblade Bumblebee and Knock Out.
- Autobot Set (Multi-pack, 2012)
- ID number: EZ-SP1
- Release date: November 24, 2012
- Accessories: Battle blade
- Ratchet was also available in a six-pack of figures, released in the seventh wave of EZ Collection (the same day as wave 9 of regular Prime product). While broadly similar to the individual release, this version uses metallic red plastic, and his silver paint is slightly darker. He continues to have a face.
- This version of Ratchet was only available in a TakaraTomy EZ Collection six-pack with similarly-minimally-changed versions of Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Optimus Prime, Arcee, and Wheeljack.
Robots in Disguise
- Autobot Ratchet (Deluxe, 2012)
- Series / Number: 1 / 006
- TakaraTomy release date: March 31, 2012
- TakaraTomy ID number: AM-04
- Accessories: "Dual Battle Blades" (Hasbro only), "R.A." Arms Micron (TakaraTomy only)
- Part of the second wave of Hasbro's Prime: Robots in Disguise Deluxe Class toys, this larger-scale version of Ratchet once again transforms into a medical emergency response vehicle. He has a "dramatic head reveal" gimmick, with his robot mode head being spring-loaded to pop up once his "backpack" is pulled down. He features 5mm peg-holes for his hands, a pair on his front bumpers/shins, and a pair on his vehicle roof.
- He comes with a pair of battle blades that can mount/be held via 5mm post, and his hands can be swung down at the wrist to give the appearance of the blades sprouting out of his wrists, as seen in the cartoon. The blades can mount into the peg-holes on his front bumper, creating a "battle mode", and the blades can store on tabs underneath his vehicle.
- One must be wary of his knee joints, as they're made of a soft plastic and have the potential of snapping off. The ball joint at the leg also has a tendency to snap off and break, so caution is advised when is it as well.
- His instructions depict an alternate head apparently intended for an ultimately-unreleased Gears, though this head design was later used as the basis for Prime Swerve.
- The Japanese release of Ratchet, part of the very first assortment of TakaraTomy Prime toys, omits an incredible number of paint operations, replacing them with customer-applied foil stickers. (On the other hand, this does give him his "lifeline" decoration missing from the Hasbro version.) As part of the "Arms Micron" gimmick, six 5mm peg-hole attachment points have been glued onto him (as opposed to having existing parts specifically retooled to include them like many other toys in the line) on his vehicle mode roof, doors, and side-panels, which respectively end up on his legs, forearms, and shoulders. The Hasbro version's twin blades have been replaced by the Arms Micron, R.A., who transforms into a considerably larger version of one of the blades. Thankfully, he can still work as a "wrist-mounted" weapon.
- This mold was redecoed into Transformers (2014) Protectobot First Aid, and retooled into BotCon 2014 Cannonball. Plus there's the nonexistent Gears retool that was planned but dropped.
Beast Hunters
- Autobot Ratchet (Deluxe, 2013)
- Series / Number: 2 / 010
- Accessories: "Dragonshredder Drill"
- Known designers: Andrew Scribner (deco artist)
- Part of the third wave of Prime: Beast Hunters Deluxe Class toys, "Autobot Ratchet" is a redeco and extensive retool of the Robots in Disguise Deluxe Class Autobot Ratchet toy, transforming into a heavily modified rescue vehicle that's covered with spikes, features an exposed engine block on its hood, and has a sculpted rocket booster at the back. He retains the peg-holes at the usual places, and gains additional peg-holes at the back and near the rear wheels. He now comes with the "Dragonshredder Drill", which spins when the plunger to the side is pushed, and mounts via 5mm post. The halves of the drill can be pulled open to reveal a quad-barreled cannon inside.
- His head and chest greatly resemble Beast Wars Dinobot II, while his "Dragonshredder Drill" is reminiscent of the original Dinobot toy's Cyber-slash tail weapon.
- His instructions include the thirteenth chapter of the Tales of the Beast Hunters series.
- This toy is also the basis for the fiction-only "Alone Together" version of Jawbreaker.
Kre-O
- Autobot Command Center (2013)
- The Kre-O Autobot Command Center set comes with a Ratchet Kreon, with paint details based on Prime Ratchet.
- The set also comes with Prime-style Kreons of Bumblebee, Arcee, Shockwave, and "mystery figure" Knock Out, plus a brick-built Rippersnapper beast and Optimus Prime truck.
- Gladiator Ratchet (Kreon Warrior, 2015)
- Set number: B0945
- Collection: 1
- Accessories: Stand-plate, tech sword, tower shield
- Part of the first wave of Kre-O "Kreon Warriors", Ratchet has been re-imagined as a Roman-style Gladiator. His legs feature peg-on non-spinning wheels resembling wooden chariot wheels.
- Like all the Kreons released that year (at normal retail at least), he uses the new 2015-tooling Kreon body, which basically involves small construction changes on every part below the head, making them largely incompatible with the prior Kreon parts (heads still work fine), but the new tooling adds some extra functionality and structural support.
- The Kreon Warriors were only released in Canada, Australia, and various Asian markets. The individual bags had also abandoned any kind of coding that identified the contents. This means getting the one you want from an unopened bag involves either trying to feel out the unique parts, or just buying the whole dang case.
- Pirate Ratchet (Kreon Warrior, 2015)
- Set number: B0945
- Series: 1
- Accessories: Stand-plate, clip-on cannon, flag
- Also part of the first wave of Kreon Warriors, Pirate Ratchet is a bit more of a commandant-style bot, with his chest-windshield replaced by a sailing ship's captain's cabin window. His flag is supposed to peg onto the top of his hat, but wow is that silly. The "flame" on his clip-on old-timey cannon piece serves double-duty as a hat-plume.
- All the aggravation of the blind-bagged, non-US distribution above applies to this one as well.
Go!
- Hunter Ratchet (Deluxe, 2013)
- ID number: G19
- Release date: August 31, 2013
- Accessories: Drill
- Part of the fourth wave of TakaraTomy Transformers Go! toys, Hunter Ratchet is a olive-green, black, and translucent-red redeco of the Beast Hunters Deluxe Class Ratchet toy, rather than a show-colored version like all the other returning Autobots. This new color scheme, with accompanying Decepticon insignia, represents Ratchet after he was captured by the Decepticons, and forcibly exposed to Dark Energon, thus mutating him into a Decepticon. Grim!
- This toy was repurposed as Green Megatron in Generations Selects Special Comic.
Robots in Disguise (2015)
- Autobot Ratchet (Legion, 2016)
- Robots in Disguise Legion Class Ratchet is a retooling of Legion Class Strongarm, sporting a new head and torso. Curiously, these new parts are based on his Prime character model, rather than his new on-screen Robots in Disguise design. Unlike Strongarm, Ratchet has no retooled indent on his left arm.
- His scannable Autobot insignia is on his drivers-side door in vehicle mode, becoming his left arm in robot mode. At the time of the figure's release, the insignia incorrectly unlocked a randomised power-up or amount of currency rather than the playable Legion Ratchet.
- His included instructions are different from Strongarm's: the instructions depict that you should fold the legs first before rearranging the arms while converting to vehicle mode.
- This figure has been released twice: first in the original Robots in Disguise packaging design, and then again in the Mini-Con Weaponizers subline imprint packaging refresh.
- Autobot Ratchet (One-Step Changer, 2016)
- Part of the eighth wave of One-Step Changers toys, and wave 2 of "Mini-Con Weaponizers" product, Ratchet is heavy retool of the second One-Step Changer Strongarm mold, changing from ambulance to robot in a single step... and then a few smaller ones to finish the job.
- Due to how the legs are molded, Ratchet cannot ride on Stomp & Chomp Grimlock.
- Ratchet's scannable Autobot insignia is centered on his vehicle front, accessible while still in-package.
- Autobot Ratchet (Warrior, 2016)
- TakaraTomy ID Number: TAV59
- TakaraTomy release date: October 29, 2016
- Accessories: 2 pistols
- Released in the eighth wave of Robots in Disguise Warrior Class toys, Ratchet is a hefty retool of Warrior Class Strongarm, giving him an entirely new ambulance alternate mode and a significantly altered robot mode. He includes a pair of 5 mm pistol accessories.
- His scannable Autobot insignia is on his robot-mode chestplate, accessible while still in-package.
- Ratchet shipped only in the eighth wave, not carrying over into future cases like most every other toy in most series. Making matters worse, this wave apparently only saw release in the United States and Canada.
- The TakaraTomy release of Ratchet, released in the twentieth wave of Adventure product, features a more extensive paint job with additional show-accurate details, and features a different insignia sticker compatible to the Transformers Chronicle app. Unfortunately, both versions have a severely bland vehicle mode that looks less like an ambulance and more like a stock truck.
- Autobots vs Clampdown (Multi-pack, 2016)
- ID Number: TAV49
- Release date: May 31, 2016
- In Japan, the EZ Collection version of Ratchet features a deco somewhat closer to his animated appearances.
- He was only available in a four-pack of figures, released in the fifteenth wave of Adventure product (five months before TakaraTomy would release the Deluxe Ratchet above). This set also included Clampdown, Drift, and Optimus Prime.
- Like the rest of the Adventure EZ Collection sets, some online retailers like Amazon Japan were still selling it two years later, typically at greatly reduced prices, with some going as far as 70% off.
Rescue Bots Academy
- Autobot Ratchet (Rescan-class, 2021)
- Rescue Bots Academy Ratchet is a new-head retool of the 2016 Rescan Medix toy. He transforms into an ambulance in a single step when his roof is slid down.
- This mold was given a different head as Rescue Bots Academy Medix to more closely match his appearance in that show.
Studio Series
- Gamer Edition Autobot Ratchet (Voyager Class, 2024)
- Game: War for Cybertron
- Hasbro ID number: +09
- Accessories: Energon repair ray, battle axe, "Iacon Attack" backdrop
- Known designers: Evan Brooks (Hasbro), Takashi Kunihiro (TakaraTomy)[1]
- Part of the 4th wave of Studio Series Gamer Edition Voyagers, Autobot Ratchet is based on his appearance in the War for Cybertron video game and transforms into a Cybertronian emergency vehicle.
- He comes with an Energon Repair Ray, as well as a 2-part battle axe. The axe (blade only) and Energon Repair Ray can be stored on his back, as well as on the roof of the vehicle mode.
- In a neat design trick, when Ratchet is using the Gamer Edition arm gimmick, his unused arm can be stored inside his backpack and hidden. His Energon Repair Ray also features a proper 5mm peg, allowing it to be handheld as well as elbow-mounted.
Merchandise
Mcdonald's
- Ratchet (Happy Meal, 2012)
- McNumber: 7
- Happy Meal Ratchet is a non-transformable emergency vehicle! Pushing on the back of his roof reveals the base of a cannon, and pressing the Autobot symbol on the roof causes the short barrel of the cannon to pop out. Ratchet (not "Autobot Ratchet", despite claim of trademark!) also comes with a sheet of stickers to complete his deco. Since the cannon gimmick and the "mCODE" coupon use up both sides of the usual instructions sheet, the sticker placement instructions are printed on the back of the sticker sheet itself. Efficient, but not terribly user-friendly!
Kinder Surprise
- Transformers: Prime (2014)
- Only available inside a blindpacked chocolate egg as part of Kinder's Transformers: Prime series, this buildable Ratchet mini-figure consists of a generic "cog" onto which his limbs and armor can be clipped to construct him. He has articulation on his shoulders and upper legs.
Thrilling 30
- Ratchet (Collectible Figurine, 2014)
- Series / Number: 1 / #8
- Accessories: Collector's base
- A super-deformed Ratchet was released among the blindpacked Thrilling 30 Collectible Figurines by Goldie Marketing. He comes with a base to help him stand, a collector's card that doubles as a puzzle piece, and a checklist.
- Collectible Figurines (5-pack, 2014)
- Series: 1
- Accessories: 5 collector's bases
- The same Ratchet figurine was also available in a 5-pack alongside Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream and Bulkhead.
Eaglemoss cards
Notes
- Ratchet's model is usable in War for Cybertron multiplayer as the Medic Rig-type chassis for Leader-class characters. His parts are also available in Fall of Cybertron, now classified as Mercenary-type components for Destroyer-class characters.
- Transformers alumnus Michael Bell originally auditioned for the part of Ratchet in Transformers: Prime, but ultimately lost the role to Jeffrey Combs.
- His license plate number in "Stronger, Faster" is "449 EPQ".
- Ratchet's body parts are available to use in the Hub website's Vector Sigma Bot Builder online game. Normally, you cannot configure a generic 'bot using all Ratchet parts, but you can see what one would look like at right through the magic of Photoshop.
- Ratchet's evergreen design in Rescue Bots Academy strongly resembles Cyberverse Ratchet. The two also have voices similar to Animated Ratchet.
- The Go! Hunter Ratchet toy had a cameo in the e-HOBBY comic "Cybertron Magna Convoy", but Hayato Sakamoto later retconned in the Generations Selects Special Comic finale that the appearance of the toy was in fact a new body for Generation 1 Megatron, as hard as it may be to believe.
- The Prime Ratchet design is so popular that it has influenced various new incarnations of Generation 1 Ratchet. The Prime design was recycled wholecloth for the X-Files crossover comic, strongly influenced his 2016 IDW redesign, and even briefly appeared as Ratchet's alt-mode in Lost Light #19.
- Ratchet's Go! toy also partly inspired the homage-laden Generation 1 character Oil Slick.
Arms Up Modes
In the Japanese Prime toyline, Ratchet has several powered-up modes when given various Arms Microns in certain configurations:
- Destroy Mode (デストロイモード Desutoroi Mōdo)
- Arms Microns: B.B., C.L., O.P., R.A.
- Ratchet's rather uncharacteristically-named "Destroy Mode", as seen on his box-back photo, uses a combined-weapon made up of R.A. and B.B. in his right hand, O.P. on his left arm, and C.L. on his left leg.
- Sekkensenrenzan Mode (接近戦連斬モード Sekkensenrenzan Mōdo)
- Arms Microns: C.L., Gora, O.P. (x2), R.A. (x2)
- Meaning "Close-combat Multi-slash Mode", and revealed in the "Cybertron Satellite" segment from "Infiltration Transformation! Battleship Nemesis", this "Anti-Terrorcon" mode is... just brutal. He's got an R.A. on each forearm, with an O.P. attached to the back of each, with Gora (?) on his right leg, and C.L. on his left.
- Stealth Mode (ステルスモード Suterusu Mōdo)
- Arms Microns: R.A. (x4!), Zori (x2)
- Four R.A.s are joined to create a super-large shuriken-like weapon that stores on Ratchet's back. A pair of Zoris hang from Ratchet's shoulders, with the claw-tails hanging down to create a "cloak of invisibility". This mode is for "stealthily backing up Optimus Prime and the others", according to the TakaraTomy developer video where it premiered, hosted by TakaraTomy designer Hironori Kobayashi.
- There is also a variant configuration, Defense Mode, which opens up the panels on Ratchet's arms and moves the Zoris to the "wrist-mounted blade" positions, which cross in an "X" in front of Ratchet as a stealth shield.
- Kobayashi also made custom carbon-black stickers for Ratchet's shoulders and chest, and in the video shows viewers how to customize their own stickers.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Ratchet (ラチェット Rachetto)
- Hungarian: Racsni (Rescue Bots Academy, "Ratchet")
- Mandarin: Jiùhùchē (救护车, "Ambulance")
- Russian: Ratchet (War for Cybertron, Рэтчет), Khrapovik (Храповик, "Ratchet")
- Character stubs missing fiction
- Character stubs missing video games
- Character stubs missing toys
- Council members
- Cyberverse
- Fall of Cybertron Autobots
- Go! Decepticons
- Hall of Fame characters
- Kre-O Autobots
- Kreons
- Medics
- Prime Autobots
- Rescue Bots Academy Autobots
- Robots in Disguise (2015) Autobots
- Scientists
- Studio Series Autobots
- War for Cybertron Autobots
- Transformers Universe game Autobots
- McDonald's exclusives