Rung (G1)

Rung is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.

"Tell me again about your mother."

The Autobots have this, you know, psy-ops specialist. He's red, right? Orangey-red? And tiny? Basically defenseless? Does anyone remember his name? It's something like... Ring? Rong? Rang? Dang. It's on the tip of my tongue. He files these reports, you know, for Autopedia? He's written entries for each Autobot, from Red Alert to Impactor to Red Alert again. As part of his duties, he performs the mental assessments of potential Wreckers-to-be. He's very important. He's got... these huge eyebrows. You gotta know who this is describing, right? Collects and builds model spacecraft? Seriously. What's his name?

Oh, right! Rung! Thanks.

Or maybe Wrung. Who knows, really.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: Last Stand of the Wreckers #1 (prose); The Transformers #22 (comic)

The popular depictions of Primus and the Guiding Hand that would later surface in Cybertron's history bore little resemblance to the genuine articles.

The robot who would become known as Primus was supposedly the first Transformer to come into existence, bearing the unique serial number of "000000001". The Unremembering One legend states that the original Cybertronian first learned that he could transform twelve million years ago, in the land that would one day become Rivets Field in Iacon. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It

In many ways, Primus was no different from the rest of the Cybertronian race that would one day come into existence, but was marked by several unique traits that no other Cybertronian displayed: he possessed supernatural durability, able to recover from even the most grievous injuries; Rules of Disengagement more importantly, however, he was able to manufacture photonic crystals, which were able to indefinitely store the energies of a spark. The Unremembering He was soon followed by a quartet of robots like himself, and together they would be remembered in mythology as the "Guiding Hand", each remembered as embodying an aspect of the Cybertronian race: Mortilus, death; Epistemus, knowledge; Solomus, wisdom; and Adaptus, change. You, Me, and Other Revelations The Unremembering

Behold the power of the Guiding Hand! Adaptus uses deadly laser blasts! Mortilus wields the Power Cosmic! Primus... has a stick!

Before long, hot spots ignited across Cybertron, giving rise to the planet's first generation. The Unremembering Supposedly, Primus delivered his Prime Pastoral on the site that would one day become the Crystal City, and consorted with the Titans Metrotitan, Metroplex and Chela. Origin Myths Primus's many titles included the "Celestial Architect" and the "Mechanica Divine", Metastasis and the Primal Sacrament attributed the famous verse "Survive and Thrive" to Primus. Anomie

At some point in the past, Primus used his unique alternate mode to weld together dozens of photonic crystals, creating the artifact that would come to be deified as the Matrix of Leadership, which would in time, fall into the care of the Knights of Cybertron. You Are Here The Guiding Hand ruled benevolently for some time, even transforming the planet into a utopia, but tensions arose when Adaptus, worrying that their way of life would only lead to stagnation, sought to wage war against the races of the universe so as to encourage the evolution of their own species. Primus and the other members of the Hand refused, and so the treacherous Adaptus battled his former comrades in the event that would be remembered as the "God War", deploying a legion of experimental horrors from his base on Cybertron's first moon. The Unremembering The God War

When it became clear that Adaptus could not win against his brothers, he retreated to his lunar base and readied a massive electromagnetic blast that would leave the population of Cybertron confused and disoriented so that he could flee aboard his retrofitted moon. Primus sought to absorb as much of the blast as he could bear; while he was able to survive the brunt of the attack, he was only partially successful: Adaptus had indeed corrupted the memories of Cybertron's population, introducing the malady known as "information creep" to the Cybertronian species, and the fallout from his heroic sacrifice would render Primus himself "permanently forgettable", his memories of his original identity now garbled beyond repair, and ensuring that nobody on Cybertron would be able to clearly remember him. The Unremembering The robot that had once been Primus faded into the background of Cybertronian civilization, a quiet 'bot who began to study the science of psychiatry. Historia Having some subconscious inkling that he was different from his fellow Cybertronians, the amnesiac mechanoid was pushed to psychiatry partially by a motive to understand himself. The Unremembering

Legends of Primus's existence persisted, however; in many religious sects, Primus would become remembered as a mighty warrior-god, "the clenched fist that became the Guiding Hand", Anomie by literally dividing his own essence into their being. Those same legends would come to demonize Mortilus as the evil member of the Guiding Hand, and the nature of Primus's final sacrifice became distorted by information creep—many would claim that, when the rest of the Guiding Hand had been trapped and deceived into giving up their divine forms, Primus had struck down Mortilus in their final battle, and the wounded god survived only by becoming the life-giving supercomputer Vector Sigma. You, Me, and Other Revelations The God War

A different version of the Primus myth hewed closer to the classic interpretation of the character.

Another story remembered Primus as the first Cybertronian, who supposedly duelled his dreaded "opposite" in a war that predated the universe itself; in this permutation of the myth, Primus triumphed and became Cybertron itself. Last Stand Still another version of the myth claimed that Primus had created Cybertron at the dawn of time. Crisis Intervention

Eventually, the Knights of Cybertron left their homeworld, taking the Matrix with them, and in the absence of the Guiding Hand or their original acolytes, Cybertronian civilization descended into barbarism. You Are Here The Crucible

What became of the real Primus in this era is unknown; his influence was still felt, however, by the various primitive tribes that sprung up across Cybertron. One such group, an alliance of Primes, commissioned the construction of the Crystal City to honor the ground where he had once stood. This would prove convenient for "Onyx Prime", who painted a new flag to symbolize the alliance of the Thirteen and dubbed it the "First Face", claiming that it had been based off Metrotitan's description of the countenance of Primus. Origin Myths In time, however, a more secular culture would grip Cybertron, and fewer and fewer individuals came to see Primus and the other members of the Guiding Hand as concrete deities. All Our Parlous Yesterdays Chaos Theory Part 2 Future Glories Lost

Some seven million years ago, the bot that had once been "Primus" re-emerged as Rung of the Pious Pools, Little Victories a humble, unassuming psychiatrist who was content to remain in the background. Rung had indeed forgotten everything about his origins—even interpreting his serial number upside down, leading him and everyone around him to believe that he was number 100000000. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It Rung himself assumed that he remained so forgettable because of his mode attachment, leaving everyone to get used to him. Signal to Noise Kup counted him as one of his oldest friends. Zero Point

They see me rolling...

Early into his new life, Rung was known to have lived in the Vinvissius Canals for a time, but left his home behind before they were redeveloped into the Vinvissisus Heights. Do Not Go Gentle Modes of Production As Nova Prime took the reins of Cybertronian civilization after the First Cybertronian Civil War and began his campaign of Expansion, he required a massive population boom to maintain a sizeable interstellar colonization force. Rung somehow found himself pressed into the task of manufacturing enough photonic crystals to house the vast amount of sparks "bled" from the Matrix of Leadership during the event known as the "Silver Harvest". The Divided Self Modes of Production

At some point afterwards, Rung forgot that he had been responsible for the creation of so many sparks, and, like most Cybertronians, came to believe that the crystals were artificially made. Modes of Production During Cybertron's Golden Age, Rung became an officially licensed psychiatrist, How to Say Goodbye and Mean It opening a clinic in the city of Rodion, Stet and by six million years ago his "Rungian analysis" therapy was already in common parlance. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It Though Rung was originally slated to join the crew of the Ark-1, he was recalled at the last second, as the Senate allegedly needed him. Speak, Memory: Part 1 Rung was subsequently employed by the Senate as a patho-psychologist alongside Froid. Although Froid claimed that they were friends, they endured a heated rivalry, clashing over the proper use of personality adjustment treatments Births, Deaths, and Interventions and eventually culminating in Froid stealing a classification system of personality types from Rung, which he selfishly renamed the "Froidian Classification System". The Sensuous Frame Speak, Memory: Part 1

During the subsequent reign of Nominus Prime, Rung ran afoul of the Functionist Council. As nobody, not even Rung himself, could identify the purpose of his strange, seemingly-useless alternate mode, his mere existence threatened to undermine the tenets of functionism, which held that every Cybertronian's alternate mode served a clear purpose within the Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy. After repeated, rigorous testing, even the Council found themselves stumped as to what Rung's purpose could be and so they neatly sidestepped the problem by creating a new entry in the Taxonomy, specifically for Rung's alternate mode: they classified him as an "ornament", and forced to wear a false wheel on his back to "reassure" other Cybertronians that he possessed a useful altmode. Little Victories

In 4th Cycle 499, Rung was returning to his wellbeing clinic when a time-traveling Brainstorm attacked him with electric knuckledusters, knocking the psychiatrist unconscious. Stet

In 51st Cycle 500, Rung traveled to Croteus 12 after a secret Senate session amended the law to require two signatures on requests for personality adjustments. His arrival interrupted the use of the procedure on the exiled revolutionary Megatron, which had been approved by Froid. However, before Rung could assess whether he would countersign the operation, an underground energy surge prompted a complete evacuation of the facility. Births, Deaths, and Interventions

Shortly before the start of the Great War, Red Alert became one of Rung's patients. He'd stay one of Rung's patients for six centuries, his paranoia so bad it took ninety-seven sessions before he let Rung see his face, two hundred eighty-eight sessions before he told Rung his real name, and three hundred thirty-two sessions before he stopped recording their conversations. How Ratchet Got His Hands Back

Once Zeta Prime rose to power, Rung served as a psychotherapist under the new Autobot regime. He provided literature and adjustment assistance to bots undergoing body augmentation or retrofitting, including the New Senate operative Orion Pax. Omega's Conundrum

During his time as an Autobot, Rung lend his psychiatric talents aboard a variety of starships, including the Ark-6, and picked up a hobby of building models of every ship he'd served aboard. However, while aboard one of these ships—the Fateful Archetype—Rung got too close to a patient, was subsequently found to be guilty of malpractice by tribunal, and ultimately disbarred... but when that ship crashed, Rung's supernatural durability meant that he was the only survivor. Speak, Memory: Part 1 The Unremembering

Feeling that the verdict had been in error, Rung would continue to practice medicine; when he revealed the truth to Froid, the other psychiatrist eagerly used this dark secret as leverage against his rival. Their already strained relationship now officially severed, the last time that the two spoke was just after Froid used "his" system of personality classification to help law enforcement capture the infamous mass-murderer Sunder. Speak, Memory: Part 1 Froid disappeared afterwards while helping to transport Sunder to Garrus 6, and Rung was left to assume that his old friend had died. Signal to Noise Speak, Memory: Part 1

After Zeta's death and the outbreak of the Great War, Rung was present during a battle that saw Metroplex and Trypticon clash. Primacy #4 With his therapies now firmly out of vogue, and his reputation damaged, Rung opted to leave Cybertron entirely at some point before the planet was rendered permanently uninhabitable by the war. Speak, Memory: Part 1 Long after the apparent deaths of most of his rivals, Rung would write papers but never distribute them. Signal to Noise At some point during the Great War, Rung would first diagnose the personality disorder known as "Primus apotheosis". Journey's End

In the present day, Rung was stationed aboard the Kimia Facility, where he performed a psychological evaluation of Impactor before his trial for unlawful executions. He ended up being physically assaulted and threatened with extreme violence if he tried 'putting ideas' in Impactor's head, but managed to calm the situation down. In the end, Rung was left questioning whether Autobot High Command shared the blame for Impactor's crimes for turning a blind eye to the robot's growing psychopathy. Impactor's Autopedia entry

Rung later performed a pre-mission psych-screening on new Wreckers Rotorstorm, Ironfist, Pyro, and Guzzle to estimate if they were suited to be put on the Garrus-9 case. Rung was unimpressed by Rotorstorm's unrelenting bragging and joking, and found himself cutting through the charade when he mentioned Simanzi. Taking note of his dual personality, Rung declared him cleared for mission. Rotorstorm's Autopedia entry With Pyro, he diagnosed the robot as an extreme sufferer of Primus apotheosis and noted with sadness that the robot was suppressing his own engaging personality for a copy of another's. He cleared Pyro with reservations, noting that apotheosis sufferers were known for sacrificing themselves. Pyro's Autopedia entry With Guzzle, he cleared the 'bot as having personality flaws but no real psychological flaws, though he was unnerved by his disturbing habit of playing with his gun's safety. Guzzle's Autopedia entry

When screening Ironfist, he was impressed by his enthusiasm and knowledge, but not so much by his actual combat experience and mentality. Rung advised against Ironfist's participation, but retracted his negative conclusion when he received 'unsolicited advice' from an undisclosed party. Ironfist's Autopedia entry

At least Rung's right there to treat any outbreaks of claustrophobia.

Rung treated the shell-shocked Autobot Flattop. He discovered Flattop was a survivor of the Babu Yar atrocity, but that was not his immediate problem. What pushed him over the edge this time was an encounter with the Shimmer. Rung tried to give rational explanations for the appearance of Shimmer, but Flattop died right there in his office. Bullets

Kup, one of Rung's oldest friends, asked him to examine Springer after a zero point affliction had left him in a coma. Believing that certain emotional triggers could cause Springer's subconscious to force his spark across the zero point, Rung asked Roadbuster to read Wreckers: Declassified datalogs to him in hopes that the memories would have some effect. Zero Point

Rung was among the survivors of Cyclonus's attack on Kimia Facility. He and the others drifted in a cramped escape pod for some time until they were rescued by Arcee. Kings Genesis

This large panel is the source of 80% of Transformers-related shipping on Tumblr.

After Cybertron was reborn in the wake of the D-Void's defeat, Rung joined Rodimus's crew on the Lost Light in search for the Knights of Cybertron. Before he could get on the ship, his arm was detached by a wildly flying Cyclonus. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It As the Lost Light took off, its quantum engines malfunctioned, causing a catastrophic explosion and splitting the ship into two identical copies in different parts of the galaxy: one on-course and one wildly off-course. Due to Rung's unique origins, however, he was not duplicated along with the rest of the crew. The on-course ship, unaware of the quantum event that had taken place, took his absence to mean that he had been lost in the explosion. The Road Not Taken^[1]

Aboard the off-course Lost Light, Rung had his arm repaired in Ratchet's care before he was choked by an irrational and unresponsive Whirl. The psychiatrist managed to get him to release his grip when he reminded Whirl that he would go back to prison, forever, if he didn't stay in line. When Skids joined the crew, Rung informed him of their quest. Hangers On Rung later had a close call with a Sparkeater, but was saved by Skids. Rodimus used the two to lure the Sparkeater—drawn by Rung's spark, the brightest on the ship—so he could defeat it. The Chaos of Warm Things

As a result of his almost never using it, the nature of Rung's alternate mode became the subject of a 100 shanix wager between Swerve and Tailgate. An early blow in this "war" came when Swerve repeatedly threw a hand grenade at the back of Rung's head, hoping to trigger an involuntary mode change. Little Victories

Red Alert, previously thought cured, returned to therapy shortly after the launch of the Lost Light. Rung was concerned that all the progress they had made on Red Alert's rampant paranoia over the years was coming undone. Red Alert informed Rung that he was hearing noises coming from a crack in the floor of the Sparkeater's chamber. He gave him a recording of the noise which Rung vaguely recognized as a voice, albeit tremendously slowed-down. When they sped the sound up, the words "kill...me" could be identified. How Ratchet Got His Hands Back His paranoia ratcheted up again, Red Alert confessed to Rung his fear of being an unactivated sleeper agent. Though Rung had his doubts, he indulged his patient, instructing him on to create "continuity errors" in his memory that would activate should any latent brainwashing be triggered. Last Light

"Wait! I'm starting to come down with Stockholm syndrome... handsome!"

Rung held a session with the newly returned Fortress Maximus, whose mental state had been called into question after he had suffered torture and humiliation at the hands of Overlord for three years. Rung urged him to open up and explore his trauma, to no avail. Maximus later snapped and went on a rampage across the Lost Light, gunning down Autobots that reminded him of Overlord. Rung was in the middle of a session with Whirl when Max broke in and took them both hostage. Rung was bound to his chair and Whirl was overpowered and pinned to the ground. Rung tried to reason with Maximus, while simultaneously recording and broadcasting what was happening in his office through the microphone in his thumb. When Maximus noticed it, he tore Rung's thumb off.

As the situation dragged on, Rung continued to try and break through to Maximus. Max kept dodging the issue, pinning the reason for his actions on Prowl's delay in sending help to Garrus-9, instead of acknowledging that Overlord was at the root of his psychosis. Maximus then confronted Whirl, who told Maximus about his life. Rung expressed wonder at this, as there were details that Whirl told Maximus that he had never told Rung. Whirl replied that Rung had never threatened any of his friends, to Rung's visible surprise. When a holo-image of Overlord torturing him was projected into the room by Rewind, Maximus froze up and crumbled to his knees. Rung tenderly comforted him and the hostage situation appeared to be at an end. Unfortunately, a shot from Swerve meant to disable Fortress Maximus instead hit Rung in the head. A memorial service was later held for Rung, which Rodimus presided over. Interiors

While the shot would have killed any normal Transformer, Rung's unique physiology meant that both his spark and brain module had survived, and the medical staff believed he might pull through: something Ratchet said was akin to a miracle. Later, after a visit by Skids and a horrified Swerve, Red Alert came to see the comatose psychiatrist. Believing that Rung's near-death was a result of the recording he had played to Rung, the paranoid security officer said he couldn't tell anyone else the truth he'd discovered—the voice was Overlord's, the sadistic Decepticon "strung up and sedated" in the bowels of the Lost Light. Expecting to be killed himself, he left a data slug of his findings in Rung's hand and said goodbye. Unfortunately, a Diagnostic Drone had recorded Red Alert's confession, and summoned a mysterious figure who removed the slug... Rules of Disengagement After the Lost Light's encounter with the Titan Metrotitan, Swerve explained his religious interpretation of events to the comatose Rung. You, Me, and Other Revelations

After Rung's head was rebuilt, it took hours of patient work from First Aid to get Rung to be able to distinguish between people and objects. Then it took Swerve talking for 147 hours straight to get Rung to move again (placing a finger over Swerve's mouth). With Rung still locked into the fog of his own thoughts, Signal to Noise Rewind decided that they could help repair the psychiatrist's brain by telling him a story: hearing stories required the brain to use its cognitive functions. He assembled a group of Autobots who'd all been part of interlinked events and tried to use the story to kick-start Rung's brain. And then he tried again. Patternism Not knowing when to try a different tack and intending to finally talk to Rung about Dominus Ambus No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases, he then tried a third time with a group of 'Bots who had been involved in a chain of events during the Clampdown and prompted them to talk about it. Post Hoc

Rewind checked Rung again during the story later and still found no mental signs in him Patternism and he still showed no signs when the story was finished. Seeing that Rewind was on the wrong track, Skids tried a simpler idea, drawing from the sheer number of connections the psychiatrist had made during his lifespan without leaving an impact on many. He deliberately got his name wrong several times in front of him, and an irritated Rung immediately said his name was "Rung. Forever." An Intimate Beheading

How much is the bill?

After being fully repaired and helping Brainstorm develop holomatter avatars that could reflect an Autobot's inner psyche, Rung went down to Hedonia for shore leave with Swerve, Skids, Tailgate, Rewind and Cyclonus, Whirl, and Ultra Magnus, who just tagged along. The group spent the evening between a bar Cybertronian Homesick Blues and a gift shop, where the sight of a memory stick caused the psychiatrist to remember his last conversation with Red Alert. Signal to Noise

After a violent outburst from Cyclonus saw the group leave the bar, Rung helped bring an unconscious Ultra Magnus back to the shuttle. Cybertronian Homesick Blues Back aboard the Lost Light, Rung shared Red Alert's concerns with Rodimus, but the ship's captain claimed to have greater priorities than immediately investigating. Signal to Noise

Maybe he turns into a PlayStation Move.

As part of the ongoing bet, Tailgate attempted to have Rung transform as part of an "alt-mode party", although the psychiatrist wound up simply bemused. When the Vis Vitalis contacted the Lost Light, Rung was excited at the prospect of meeting its captain, the superlative Thunderclash. However, the famous Autobot wound up held at gunpoint by his First Officer Paddox, who had been revealed as an Ammonite spy. Rung was instrumental in saving the day, allowing Swerve to wield his "ornamental" alt mode as a blunt instrument with which to bludgeon the aggressor. Rung was also interviewed by Rewind, as part of the documentary the archivist was producing. Little Victories

Rung visited Fortress Maximus in the ship's brig, where he forgave the ex-warden for the events surrounding the psychiatrist's near-death. Their moment was interrupted, however, by an alarm signaling Overlord's escape into the ship. In the battle that followed, Rung mostly watched helplessly from the sidelines. Under Cold Blue Stars

After Overlord's defeat, Rodimus was left despondent and angry, and made angrier when Rung, correctly, realised his problem was that others had stopped Overlord and not him. At the funerals, Rung's stern, silent glance got Rodimus to admit that others, including the poor, dead Rewind, had saved the day. The Gloaming Speaking truth to power got Rung drafted for a mission to the legendary Luna 1, in pursuit of the missing Ultra Magnus: Rodimus needed someone who was willing to say things he didn't want to hear. After reaching the moon's surface, the group encountered a newly ignited hot spot, but they were quickly chased away by a gang of mercenaries The Fecund Moon in the employ of Chief Justice Tyrest.

The group was charged with "crimes against creation", and shoved into a cell with a guy called Minimus Ambus. Rung swiftly picked up that Ambus had the same mannerisms, nervous tics, and speech patterns as Ultra Magnus. Keeping his suspicions to himself at first, Rung tested his theory by wearing his Autobot badge at an angle and deliberately making a mess. Before long, Ambus relented and confirmed his identity, House of Ambus explaining that "Ultra Magnus" was an identity passed down through the ages. Confused by the charges against the Lost Light crew, Ambus left to confront Tyrest, whilst Skids, Swerve, and Getaway were dumped into the cell. The Divided Self

Getaway revealed that he and the amnesiac Skids had been dispatched by Prowl to alter the unstable Tyrest's memories, and used his escapology skills to break the entire group out. Rung and the others confronted Tyrest, his deranged plan to kill all cold-constructed Transformers and reach Cyberutopia revealed. Immobilizing the Lost Lighters, the Chief Justice activated his universal killswitch, Arm the Lonely but was defeated by Tailgate and Minimus Ambus. Whilst Rodimus and Perceptor used the Matrix of Leadership to disable the killswitch, Rung comforted First Aid, who had been goaded into killing Tyrest's accomplice Pharma. When a final order from Tyrest brought his Legislator robots back to accost Rung and the others, Tailgate saved the day by amending the law at the Chief Justice's computer console. This Calamitous Life In the aftermath of the battle, Rung met with Fortress Maximus in Swerve's, and the ex-warden revealed that he had been offered the role of Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord by Rodimus and Ultra Magnus. The Sound of Breaking Glass

With goggles that thick, he could be a Digimon protagonist.

When Orion Pax and the crew of the Skyroller came aboard the Lost Light, Rung was present for the 'welcome aboard' party at Swerve's. Black Metal Shortly afterwards, the ship quantum jumped beneath the seas of Hydrophena in search of Metroplex, and Rung was one of the crew members who disembarked to battle the Ammonites who set upon the Lost Light. The psychiatrist was able to split apart one "Minicon" combiner by striking its weak spot, but was immediately shoulder-barged by another. Into the Abyss Eventually the ship's crew was able to rescue Metroplex and jump the Metrotitan and the Lost Light back to Cybertron. Rung was among the crew who met up with the contingent of Autobots and Decepticons fighting against Shockwave's machinations. Finis Temporis With the scientist's Necrotitan defeated by Metroplex, the psychiatrist and several other Autobots took some time to relax at Swerve's, where Rung watched the bar's owner freak out over Blurr's presence. The Becoming

The festivities were cut short, however, by the materialization of seventy billion Ammonites in the planet's skies, and Rung mostly spent the battle that followed looking on in horror. Black Planet After the dust settled, Rung was present to see Optimus Prime and Megatron stand side by side, the Decepticon leader having declared his new faction during the climactic confrontation with Shockwave. ...And the Damage Done

Nightbeat's wondering why Raiz drew it differently.

In the days that followed, Rung was in the crowd on Luna 2 observing Megatron stand trial for his crimes during the war. By the trial's resolution, Megatron was declared co-captain of the Lost Light, and six months later, after the ship had resumed its quest, the former Decepticon attended a therapy session with the Autobot psychiatrist. Megatron spent much of the session evading Rung's inquiries, at one point changing the subject to the first time he encountered the psychotherapist, at Maccadam's Old Oil House in 4th Cycle 496. Unable to remember this incident, Rung took the opportunity to segue into discussing a first-edition copy of Megatron's original autobiography, Towards Peace, that he had been given by new crew member Nautica. Of interest was a dedication to 'Terminus' that the ex-Decepticon removed from all subsequent copies. The session was then interrupted by a brief black-out, and Megatron took the chance to end the meeting. As he left, Megatron revealed that Terminus was somebody who taught him "not to get attached". Towards Peace

Later that day, Nightbeat examined a schematic of Rung's enigmatic alt-mode, Words Hang in the Air whilst the psychiatrist himself attended a screening of the Earth film Zulu at Swerve's. The event was interrupted, however, when the Lost Light began disappearing piece by piece, and Rung escaped onto a shuttle. Predestination: A Beginner's Guide When those bots who were aboard when the ship first launched started disappearing, Rung was presumably not among them, as the disappearances were the result the ship's initial quantum jump that had caused it and its passengers to duplicate. Eventually, the Lost Light and its crew were restored and its duplicate vanished. The Road Not Taken

Not long after the ship's reappearance, Rung was at Swerve's when Brainstorm activated an electro-sensitive poison, knocking everybody who'd been drinking from the spiked engex vats unconscious. As a teetotaler, Rung merely wound up buried under a pile of his collapsed crewmates. The Custom-Made Now When Brainstorm, apparently revealed as a Decepticon, travelled back in time, Rung was recruited to the team pursuing the engineer into the past. Materializing in Alyon in 1st Cycle 502, the group encountered a team of insurgents and outliers, led by Orion Pax, trying to protect a hot spot from Senate forces. Whilst the two teams rested, Rung was startled to discover that Roller was taking circuit speeders to keep up with his Outlier teammates, and warned of their health risks. After helping save the hot spot's newborn sparks, the Lost Light team followed Brainstorm further into the past, All Our Parlous Yesterdays to 4th Cycle 501, during the Clampdown.

"Hey, I didn't order that!"

Rung was assigned to survey Maccadam's New Oil House in Rodion, where he passed the time building a model of the Lost Light. Unbeknownst to him, he was observed by both Brainstorm, who realized that he had been pursued into the past, Stet and Quark and Nightbeat, who bickered over whether the psychiatrist was a Senate spy or just a billy-no-mates. Post Hoc After Brainstorm time-jumped again, Rung's crewmates regrouped at Maccadam's to be sent even further into the past, to 4th Cycle 499. When the group split up, Rung was in the contingent that stayed at the bar, and was dispatched to fetch a curly straw for Tailgate. In doing so, however, he spilled a Senate cadet's drink. Stet After refusing to clean up the spill, the poor 'bot was tossed across the bar, right onto Impactor and Megatron's table. Chaos Theory Part 1 A bar fight quickly ensued, away from which Rodimus dragged the unconscious Rung. Stet

Having realized that Brainstorm intended to kill Megatron, Rung and the Lost Lighters pursued the engineer back to 1st Cycle 012, where the Decepticon-to-be had just been created in a cold construction facility. After Brainstorm was hit with a "grenado", Rung checked the facility's computer's and found that the rogue engineer had already wiped Megatron's batch code, and then spent ten minutes pointing his gun at the newborn. When Brainstorm pulled a pistol again, Rung was able to talk him down, realizing that the engineer was still conflicted. A short time later, the crew used Rodimus's "time phone" to send a warning message for their past selves, and Rung chipped in with instructions to not visit Delphi (though the message failed to reach its intended recipients). After the group returned to the present day, Rung visited Perceptor, who revealed that their actions in the past were predestined, already part of established history, and that tampering with the time machine might have lead to a multitude of alternate realities being created. Predestination: An Expert's Guide

Some time later, Rung was part of the group sent to investigate the holographic planet "Swearth" while trying to rescue a comatose Swerve, using his holomatter avatar. After enduring several wacky escapades, it was Rung who discovered that the three "roommates" who shared an apartment were, in fact, three diametrically opposed aspects of Swerve's psyche, and uniting them allowed a depressed Swerve's consciousness to reassert itself. The One Where They Go to Earth

Let's face it, Rung isn't Roberts' self-insert; he's ours.

As well as helping on the Lost Light, Rung continued to provide therapy to Fortress Maximus, who had left the Lost Light to continue enforcing the Tyrest Accord. After an encounter with the Scavengers, Maximus confided in him how he'd been thrown to discover some Decepticons had been a bunch of damaged guys and not complete monsters. Rung gently steered him towards changing his ultraviolent approach, noting that many Decepticons in the postwar galaxy were like that. Animals

While assisting Skids with reclaiming his lost memories, Rung was surprised to find Froid (who was supposed to be dead) visiting the Lost Light! His rival wrangled a private chat with his "old friend" and began to mock, cajole, intimidate, and outright blackmail Rung to hand over all his patient notes. Even the threat of revealing he shouldn't be practicing therapy anymore wouldn't break Rung. Instead, Rung ran a sting and asked if he could 'help' with anything else while quietly alerting Skids to show up loaded for bastard. Unfortunately, it turned out Froid wanted the patient information as a way of feeding his "prisoner": monstrous serial killer and memory-eating mnemosurgeon, Sunder the Tetraxian Ripper!

Aaaaaand this panel is the source of the other 20%.

Sunder remotely accessed Rung's memories of the patients and broke out to have this all-you-can-eat buffet of repressed memories, starting with Skids. Speak, Memory: Part 1 Rung had been recording the event and transmitted everything to Megatron, who declared the ship on lockdown. As Sunder prowled the ship, attacking anyone who hadn't locked themselves away, Rung was carrying Skids in a search for Chromedome, hoping the mnemosurgeon could stop the guy's memory surge. Froid tagged along and was brutally assaulted by Sunder before Thunderclash and Megatron could drive him back; when the monster proved too much, Rung saved Megatron with his ship collection, all capable of flight and shooting!

Once the Ripper was finally stopped, Rung resigned as therapist: the transmission meant Megatron knew he had been struck off. When the captain tried to talk him out of this, Rung snapped that defending his immoral actions was equivalent to deeming his profession as unimportant. Speak, Memory! (Part 2) Sunder's brief mental attack would have an unexpected effect on the ex-psychiatrist: the mnemosurgical nature of Sunder's powers partially nullified the effects of information creep and reawakened Rung's old memories, giving him subconscious "inklings" of his original identity and purpose. The Unremembering

The crew found a shrinking 'time window' in Swerve's that could allow you to look back in its past. Rung and Chromedome both went to look back at Rewind's attempt to fix his brain-damaged self, and Rung would have to gently remind Chromedome when it was time to go. No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases

At some point after Megatron joined the crew of the ship, Rung had been asked by Getaway if he'd be willing to mutiny against the new co-captain, his mind then wiped via nudge gun when he refused. When Getaway and the mutineers made their move, they tricked Rung into leaving the ship with the other Megatron 'loyalists': a transmission was sent from the Necrobot's planet to draw them in. (A dying Necrobot, corrupting it in the hope of scaring people away, made it terrify them; Rung heard something he refused to discuss) The group followed the transmission to the planet and came under immediate, violent attack from the Decepticon Justice Division and Deathsaurus before learning the Lost Light was abandoning them. How Bright Their Frail Deeds The Autobots holed up in the Necrobot's old house and Rung helped Rodimus run through their assets.

A cursory search of the structure revealed what appeared to be dozens of slumbering organics and the long-range teleporter by which the Necrobot performed his duties, but using the latter meant abandoning the former. Rung listened with weariness as Brainstorm argued for abandoning the organics, as they could do far more good for the world if they escaped but, after Megatron spoke in favour of staying, Rung stayed to protect the helpless. While preparing for battle, he and the others realized Ten had been trying to alert them that they could create a forcefield. The Sun in Flight After Nightbeat put in a polite request to begged Minimus Ambus to be allowed to investigate the hollow planet, Minimus agreed so long as Nightbeat had an escort. Nightbeat chose Rung for his total lack of fighting skills. Rung was not amused. Despite the two promising to be back by sunset, they weren't, At Close of Day prompting Rodimus and Drift to question what became of them after the D.J.D. had been defeated.

Rung was very close to raising his voice at Nightbeat when the two finally breached the last layer of the "crust" to find the hollow insides where Nightbeat concluded that the intense gravitational forces were playing havoc with their internal clocks... which Rung couldn't care less about, since an examination of the landscape, particularly an inverted pattern of the Vinvissius Canals, led him to wonder if Necroworld was the mould into which Cybertron was poured. Then a geobomb showed up to ruin the moment. Do Not Go Gentle

Three weeks after the mutiny, the crew's last messages, including Rung's, were received by several parties on Earth and Cybertron. Rung begged them to dismantle him if he died in alternate mode and "put [him] beyond use". How Bright Their Frail Deeds

When Sentinel Prime tried to take over his mind, Red Alert used Rung's image as his inner voice to override the brainwashing. Last Light

While the geobomb appeared to be a dud, it took the crew some time to learn that the entire Necroworld had been shunted into a a parallel universe. Some Other Cybertron Modes of Production Brainstorm teleported the pair back to the surface, where Rung asked to see Skids, unaware that Skids had sacrificed his life to help empower the other members of the crew against the Decepticons. The trauma of the sight of his friend's corpse caused Rung to involuntarily create a photonic crystal—and this reaction reawakened some more of his memories. While grappling with his renewed feelings of uselessness with Nightbeat, Rung confessed that he had a muddled recollection that he used to "make things", including the crystals.Modes of Production

When Brainstorm had worked out a way back to their reality, Ratchet, who had encountered, and subsequently witnessed the fate of, Rung's parallel universe-counterpart embraced the psychologist when he and the others returned, minus Megatron. This Machine Kills Fascists Rewind and Chromedome later took Rung aside to tell him the fate of his alternate self, and how he'd served as an inspiration for billions, much to the psychologist's shock and surprise. After Megatron

Part of the group that left Necroworld aboard Skip, After Megatron Rung tucked himself away in alternate mode to deal with the limited space. When Skip began to contract and tensions mounted, Rung reverted to robot mode. Sardines

Salvation, surprisingly, came from Ten, who dramatically spoke up and told the crew how to access the Warren, a nexus of time/space tunnels that could take them to a Mederi facility. Mid-transit however, Skip's mass displacement gave out and the crew were forced to bail out. They'd come within spitting distance of the original Mederi however, and the moon repaired their damaged bodies and created an illusory world for them to inhabit as the planetary euthanasia clinic eliminated them one by one: presenting itself as the "Afterspark", the Lost Light crew would "ascend" one by one into the next life, in reality dying as the moon killed them. Nightbeat ascended after claiming to realize what Rung's alternate mode was really for, pointing out that it couldn't be manufacturing photonic crystals, since Rung didn't have to transform to do so. Before they were all killed, however, Rodimus's group discovered the truth of where they were, and learnt that Mederi was the mythical Cyberutopia, the Knights of Cybertron having fallen victim to the same trap that had nearly killed them. As the crew took stock, they were soon beset by the mutineers, now transformed into ravenous sparkeaters. Metastasis You Are Here

When the mutated crew attacked, Rung lost an arm to Jackpot before being saved by Thunderclash. While a small detachment went to board the Lost Light, the rest of the group barricaded themselves inside Ward Zero so the medics could find a cure to the sparkwater virus. A Dance Before Dying As they worked, Rung was drawn to the telepaths and their chanting, having memories of his past stirred up when the organics began "saying" Adaptus's sigil before counting down from one thousand. When the countdown concluded, a massive tear in the Warren opened above the moon. Lūstrāre

As everyone scrambled to evacuate, Rung stopped Rewind from touching a geobomb that had been teleported in before the Lost Light launched only to find that the ship could not match the rift's gravitational pull. Brought to the Benzene Cluster, the group was taken prisoner by the forces of the Grand Architect. While in the cell, Rung felt that the Magnificence – in reality Epistemus – was calling to him, involuntarily transforming when he looked into its pupil. From the confines of their prison, the crew watched as the Architect's God Gun opened a tear between realities, and the Functionist Council began to invade their universe. Farsickness

When the Functionist Council made their way through, their version of Cybertron now remade into a massive effigy of "Primus", their forces immediately went to war with the Architect's. Megatron then came to the crew's rescue, via blasting the hull of the Worldsweeper they were trapped in, only for the Architect to seal the breach before everyone could be freed. Those who remained confronted the Architect, who claimed to be Adaptus. Though the claim was met with skepticism by all, the Architect verified it by identifying Tyrest as the new identity of Solomus and that Rung himself... was Primus! The Return of the King

Being recognized and named subsequently undid the information creep; Rung now fully remembered his past, explaining that he'd been reading his serial number upside down. After demonstrating his self-healing abilities, Rung explained the truth behind the God War before Solomus attacked Adaptus, resulting in both their deaths. Back aboard the Lost Light, Epistemus proposed Rung create three duplicates of the Matrix of Leadership so that Rossum's Trinity could be exploited to bring down the Functionist Primus. The crew overruled the suggestion however, noting the trapped civilians that would be condemned to death. Instead, a group brainstorm led to the idea of creating twelve Matrices, which would be opened at each of Cybertron's twelve hot spots so as to overload Vector Sigma. As the Omega Guardians who controlled the device lashed out, Nickel smashed the Magnificence between her hands, and Chromedome and Rewind dragged Rung away so he could put their plan into action. The Unremembering

Though able to manufacture the twelve Matrices, Rung was fully aware the exertion would kill him. Telling Chromedome and Rewind that they should be more forgiving to each other, Rung accepted his fate, taking a moment to recall his time with Skids before deleting his patient files. Once the last Matrix was produced, Rung's body exploded into inert sentio metallico, only his removed glasses remaining. When the Matrices were opened, they indeed overloaded Vector Sigma with the excess energy being shunted to Luna 1 where it reignited the hot spot to reveal a final message from the psychologist: "Don't Forget Me." A Spark Among Embers

Shortly afterwards, during the final battle for Earth against the forces of Unicron, Soundwave glimpsed Rung's spirit as he used the Enigma of Combination to send the strength of the dead to bolster Optimus Prime during his battle against Unicron's creator in Infraspace. Ceremony

Despite the best efforts of the Lost Light crew, Adaptus's information creep had proven too strong and Rung was once again forgotten; when Chromedome and Rewind explored the ship shortly afterwards, they were confused by the sight of Rung's old office. However, Rung's legacy would live on in another way: over the years, the generation birthed from his sacrifice, the Lunarians, would take after their creator, with a remarkably high ratio of Point One Percenters and a tendency to fade into the background of any given situation. How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2

The Functionist Universe

We told you he was an ornament.

In the Functionist Universe, where the Functionist Council had overthrown the Senate and seized control of Cybertron, Primus and the other members of the Guiding Hand were used to justify the various atrocities that the Functionist Council carried out in their religious pursuit of the perfect society: in the words of Twelve-of-Twelve, if something was essential, Primus would've created a Cybertronian that turned into it. Anomie A square in Iacon boasted a building sized statue of the mythological Primus, "SURVIVE AND THRIVE" inscribed under it. A World Misplaced

The Functionist Council were unaware that they had imprisoned the real Primus: still unable to discern the purpose of Rung's alternate mode, the Council kept him chained up in the Cog, and assigned Quark to try and figure out what purpose he could possibly serve. Predestination: An Expert's Guide As a result of his unique position in a purely functionist society, a cult sprang up around him; Cybertronians who followed him defied the Council by modifying their bodies to better resemble the "Useless One". The Custom-Made Now In the meantime, Six-of-Twelve, who had taken possession of Nominus Prime's Matrix of Leadership, came to believe that Primus was speaking to him, telling him to arm Cybertron for a coming war. A World Misplaced

His is the drill that will pierce the heavens.

After two million years of torture and experimentation, it was the humble janitor Sweep who finally figured out his purpose after finding the photonic crystals Rung had unconsciously produced while under stress. Modes of Production One-of-Twelve was not pleased, labelling Rung a threat to the Functionist Council and the unholy spawn of Mortilus. One-of-Twelve greeted the "Useless One" and pulled a gun to his head. Rung warned him that if he took the shot, the totalitarian regime would be destroyed and then proceeded to goad him into firing, Predestination: An Expert's Guide so as to become a martyr for the Anti-Vocationist League. One-of-Twelve didn't take the bait and kept Rung under lock and key until the Council could spin his talent to their advantage.

Despite their initial controversy, the Council soon found a way to turn this sequence of events to their favor: deciding that Rung's existence represented Primus's endorsement of cold construction, the Council decided that their own function was to spread their doctrine across the galaxy by annihilating every non-Cybertronian species, who served no function in the eyes of Primus. Modes of Production

A year later, the Functionist Council announced Revelation Day, a public event where the Council would publicly reveal Rung's "true" alternate mode and his purpose. Anomie Fitting him with a 'drill' made of photonic crystals and holomatter treads, and forcing him to undergo a torturous mass-displacement procedure, the Council revealed Rung's "alternate mode" to the public: supposedly, he turned into a colossal mining tank, one that would drill through the ununtrium wall that surrounded Vector Sigma since the war against the Senate. A World Misplaced By claiming that Rung had done so, the Council would be free to use his photonic crystals to jump-start the population boom required to raise an army in service of their plans, while misleading the public to believe that Vector Sigma would once again produce new sparks. Modes of Production

Rung was teleported to Vector Sigma's chamber but left to the side in his alternate mode. Ratchet managed to return Rung to robot mode (causing the holo-matter treads to disappear and the "drill" to shatter) and he immediately told Ratchet to follow his instructions, Bad Moon Rising by pretending to hold him hostage so that Six-of-Twelve would release Rodimus. Rung laid into the Council by mocking their own now-useless alternate mode - the Key to Vector Sigma, made redundant by using a drill to gain access - dubbing them the real "Useless Ones" before teleporting the group away.

Materializing in Iacon, Rung directed the group to steal the Cog which he intended to ram into Luna 2 to destroy them both. Along the way, Rung explained his history and the true intentions of the Functionist Council; when the Cog arrived over Adaptica, Rung locked in a collision course only for Rodimus to insist they save Luna 2 for its teleporter. Rung refused and said that Rodimus would have to fight him for Luna 2. Modes of Production

A single punch across the jaw was all it took for Rodimus to win the "fight" and gain control of the Cog. While Rewind scolded his captain, Rodimus came to his senses and ordered everyone else to evacuate while he and Rung crashed the Cog into Luna 2; however, The Cog was accidentally shot down by Terminus. Emerging from the wreckage, Rung decided to enact his backup plan over Ratchet's protests to his health.

To the shock of all, Rung used the mass displacement generator the Functionists had forcibly installed in him to grow to humungous size (far surpassing even the Titans) to punch Luna 2 out of the sky. The moon simply turned its guns on Rung and killed him, sending him back to the ground at normal size and in pieces. Megatron and Terminus briefly paused to comment on Rung before they continued to the teleporter. This Machine Kills Fascists His fate and role as an inspiration to billions was told by Rewind and Chromedome to the Rung of their timeline. After Megatron

Once they'd lost Luna 2, the Council built planetary engines onto Cybertron and used their homeworld as their cosmic weapon. When the planet's lack of maneuverability proved an issue, they engineered a robot mode cast in the likeness of the mythological Primus. The Return of the King

Kre-O online comic

(Doc Brown sound)

Rung directed a crane hauling a load of energy blocks into Scramble City when the Constructicons attacked. A New Menace! The Giant Soldier Devastator Appears!

Prime Wars Trilogy marketing material

In his official capacity as Autobot Psy-Ops Specialist, Rung wrote up a number of pre-mission psych screening reports for his faction's participants in the Combiner Wars. Generations Combiner Wars pack-in comic bios

Transformers Facebook page

Rung managed to get his own TV show, Rung Up with Rung, in which he analyzed a weekly Cybertronian guest.

War for Cybertron Trilogy marketing material

During the war for Cybertron, Rung was a Ground Command Artillery Private. Siege and Earthrise toy packaging

Generations Selects Special Comic

Rung was one of many man-made Selector robots produced on a future Earth using Angolmois Energy. In 2050, Rung realized his kind were little more than slaves and petitioned Megatron of the Cybertron Alliance for assistance, comparing the plight of the Selectors to the ancient Cybertronians who overthrew their Quintesson creators. Not long afterwards, the Decepticons assisted Rung and the other Selectors as they rose up against humanity. Volcanicus comic 1

After the Dinobots showed up to wreck everybody else on behalf of humanity, Optimus Prime noted that they were programmed to never take a life. Rung was furious over this revelation and stated that this meant that, in the end, the Dinobots were slaves to the Autobots, a perspective which distressed Optimus. After forming Volcaticon and receiving the Technobots' intelligence, Grimlock promised to the Selectors that he would use his intellect to find a peaceful solution to the rebellion. However, the Quintessons, now allied with humans, interrupted any possibility of talks by dropping corrosive gas bombs onto the battlefield, affecting Rung and those around him. Volcanicus comic 2 In the ensuing chaos, Rung made his way to the Mother Computer's underground chamber, where he witnessed the Quintesson Judge murder Spike Witwicky and herald the eruption of Angolmois Energy from within the Earth. Abominus comic 1

Touched by Spike's defiance of the Quintessons and love for the Selectors, Rung came to his aid, carrying him to a storage closet where Spike transformed himself into Neo Autobot X. Working with Spike, Rung managed to defeat the Quintesson Judge by using his alternate mode to insert an energon enema into its anti-gravity beam, telling the Judge that the children of Earth had decided to work together. Still defiant, the Judge mocked that the Angolmois Energy reacted to any darkness, including that found in mankind. As more chaos continued to mount, Spike proposed that Earth should be abandoned, lest mankind continue to aggravate the Angolmois. Though Rung agreed to help, he reminded Spike that the Selectors ran on Angolmois Energy. Abominus comic 2

When Megatron Omega's Angolmois rampage grew ever more chaotic, Rung bore witness to the arrival of Lio Convoy, granting him some of his own Angolmois Energy to transform the Maximal into the Green Lion. After the crisis had passed, both humanity and the Selectors came to consider Earth's supply of Angolmois Energy too dangerous, leaving the planet together and in peace. When Rung expressed worry about the Angolmois Energy that was powering his kind, Spike assured his friend that if humanity and the Selectors could exist in peace, then it was nothing to worry about. Finale

Velocitron Speedia 500

Tailgate and Swerve are so close to remembering this guy's name.

Rung was one of many spectators for the Speedia 500 race on Velocitron, standing next to Tailgate and Swerve. Velocitron Speedia 500 Part 2

Games

Transformers: Earth Wars

Rung was introduced to Earth Wars as a M.E.D.I.C. bot. Rung can be equipped to another bot to boost shielding. Transformers: Earth Wars

Transformers Roleplaying Game

Rung was the Autobot's chief psy-ops specialist. While he was highly effective at helping Cybertronians process their various traumas, his unusual implement alternate mode raised questions about his own past. Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook

Toys

War for Cybertron: Siege

The one true Tiny God.

• Rung (Battle Master, 2019)

• Hasbro ID number: WFC-S45
• TakaraTomy name: Autobot Rung
• TakaraTomy ID number: SG-40
• TakaraTomy release date: January 25, 2020
• Accessories: 2 "Fire Blast effects"

Released as part of the 4th wave of the Siege Battle Masters assortment, Rung transforms from a robot into a "cerebral circuit scanner" loosely based on his Matrix-creating alternate mode from IDW's comics (specifically, as it was drawn by James Raiz). He comes with two translucent blue "Fire Blast" effects parts.

Rung is the only humanoid Siege Battle Master that cannot detach his weapon barrel and attach it to 3mm ports on his arms, as his weapon "barrel" is his legs and his arms have no 3 mm connection points. He also cannot detach his backpack due to it being pinned in place rather than simply being held in a detachable plastic joint.

Painted samples at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 depict Rung with different blast effects, patterned after arcs of lightning. These were eventually used in Rung's War for Cybertron Trilogy redeco (below), albeit in pink.

War for Cybertron: Earthrise

YOU SEE THIS SCRAP YOU THINK I HAVE TIME TO REFILL YOUR PRESCRIPTION?!?

• Rung (Battle Master, 2020)

• ID number: WFC-E14
• Accessories: 2 "Fire Blasts"

Rung later received a package refresh in the second wave of Earthrise, one of a handful of Siege toys used to "bridge" the two lines. This version has a slightly lighter orange hue on the unpaintable polyamide plastic.

Like all Earthrise toys, the cardboard back of the Earthrise version of Rung's package includes an exclusive cut-out collectible piece of a larger star map. Unlike most larger toy size classes, this piece does not include a named location. Sadly, if you already bought Rung in Siege but you want to collect the whole Earthrise star map, you'll have to buy another one. Or at least the package.

War for Cybertron Trilogy

Red Rung... Red Rung...

• Spoiler Pack (Leader Unboxing, 2020)

• TakaraTomy ID number: WFC-08
• TakaraTomy release date: December 10, 2020
• Accessories: 2 "Fire Blast effects"
• Known designers: AJ Piejko-Brown (packaging)

Promoting the Siege season of the Netflix War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon, this set contains "Battlefield Rung", a translucent pink redeco of Siege Rung with new "Fire Blast" effects patterned after arcs of lightning, previously seen with SDCC 2019 samples of Siege Rung (above).

It is noteworthy that Rung has a striking resemblance to the Alpha Trion Protocols.

He was only available in a "Spoiler Pack" set with the lavishly-decoed War for Cybertron Trilogy Ultra Magnus, and a tub of compound in which a buyer can dig into to reveal some soft-plastic energon cubes. The Cybertronian text on the package reads "BATTLEFIELD RUNG", while the 'spoiler' text inside features a Decepticon-themed quote: "I ULTRA MAGNUS / IN GOOD FAITH / HEREBY SURRENDER / TO YOU" and an Autobot-themed one: "THIS CAN ONLY / MEAN ONE THING / ULTRA MAGNUS IS DEAD".

This set was a shared exclusive between online retailers and Walmart in Canada and the USA, and was a TakaraTomy Mall exclusive in Japan. The Japanese release is packaged in a standard windowed box. The set also found its way into numerous discount retailers, often at a steep deduction to its price tag.

Fictional toys

Quite articulated for a G1 dude.

• Rung
  • Accessories: Data Journal, "ARK-1" Model, Tech Specs Decoder

In some time-lost continuity, Swerve tried to figure out a Rung toy. Its features included moveable eyebrows to alter the robot's expression, and a "Listening Mode". Little Victories

Notes

• A psychoanalyst named Rung was referenced in the unofficial Transformers novel Eugenesis, written by James Roberts.
• The name "Rung" is a reference to Carl Jung, founder of analytical psychology.^[2] The mention of "Rungian analysis" in More Than Meets the Eye #1 is a further play on this, as is his rivalry with Froid (Freud).
• Rung's longest suffering patient was Bluestreak.
• Alex Milne modeled Rung's appearance on actors Brent Spiner and David Hyde Pierce.^[3]
• Rung's Holomatter avatar is named Mary Sue, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the literary term of the same name and a wink at fans who consider Rung to be Roberts's own alter-ego.
• According to James Roberts' notes in The MTMTE Notebooks, Rung was not always intended to be Primus. Other ideas included a sentient swarm of Scraplets, a Duocon with an insane half, or the in-universe equivalent of a G1 toy, with an 'embarrassingly simple' alt mode.
• In More Than Meets the Eye #48 we learn Rung collects models of ships he's served on. His collection has all the Arks from 1 to 9, as we know from More Than Meets the Eye #22.
• As with all non-toy Kreons, Rung is made entirely from pre-existing parts. It isn't particularly clear but it seems as though he's using Ironhide's helmet.
• An unexplored subplot would have revealed that Rung had been shadowplayed into forgetting his ability to create photonic crystals; it would have also been revealed that said ability was the reason the Senate had him removed from the Ark's roster.^[4]

Foreign names

• Japanese: Rung (ラング Rangu)
• Korean: Rung (렁 Reong)
• Mandarin: Rung (荣格 Rónggé)^[5]

References

External links

• Rung concept art at Alex Milne's deviantART
• More Rung design art, featuring an unused alternate mode concept