Autobot Ratchet

Status: Released

Release Date: June 2008 (June 2008)

Wave: Animated Deluxe Wave 2

MSRP: $9.99

Size Class: Deluxe

Suggested Age: 5+

Assortment Number: 83462

Product Number: 83622

UPC/Barcode Number: 653569293675

DPCI Number: 087-06-0024

Autobot Ratchet

VEHICLE MODE
Ratchet is once again an ambulance (as opposed to his move incarnation’s Hummer alt-mode), as befitting his role as a medic. He looks good in this mode, with no blatantly obvious robot parts showing, and everything fits together nicely. One minor annoyance is that while the windshield and light bar are translucent blue, the windows on the doors are instead painted. It’s not a big deal, but it does detract slightly from the figure’s appearance. He also lacks a place to store his “medical tool” accessories, though there is an unofficial alternative; flipping down his feet off the back end of the ambulance allows you to put two accessories in each foot. They fit quite snugly, but don’t require any excessive force to get them to fit. It is a fairly unobtrusive way to keep the accessories with the figure, though I wish there was a more discreet way. Still, minor grievances aside, Ratchet has a very solid alt-mode, and is spot-on to the show. I give it an 8/10.

ROBOT MODE
Transformation is relatively simply, and has a simple but fun bit of automorph at the end that makes Ratchet’s head pop up from his chest. A neat little touch is that while the light bar does not split and end up on his shoulders, the shoulders have pseudo-light bars on them to stay true to the animation model. It’s a nice touch.
Like so many Animated figures, Ratchet is a near perfect replica of his on-screen model. He simply oozes character, especially with his head-sculpt. He has all the little nicks on his face, as well as the broken crest. Admittedly, he does have a bit of a...depressing expression. It seems like the designers were going for grumpy look, but didn’t quite get it. It hardly detracts from the figure, however.
Articulation is fairly good, but with a few drawbacks. First of all, the panels on his shoulders can get in the way of some poses. Second, the flip-out magnet gimmick is triggered whenever his arms are bent at a 90 degree angle, making it impossible for him to hold some poses without his magnets being out. The magnets are quite fun, admittedly, even if they’re not 100% show-accurate, but it can be irritating to have them flip out when you don’t want them to. As for the legs, he has a fairly standard series of joints: universal joints at the hips, a thigh swivel, and forwards and backwards movement at the knees. Because of his transformation, he has an extra joint on his knees that allows you to make him knock-kneed, if you so desire. Unfortunately, there are two incredibly aggravating problems that interfere with his legs’ posability. First of all, the forward and backwards movement on the hip joint is INCREDIBLY tight. So when you try to move his legs forwards or backwards, they’ll pop off at they thigh swivel, unless you grab him at the thigh joint and move it from there. The legs pop back on easily enough, but it becomes tiresome after a while.
The second issue is his balance. He does have a bit of a backpack, but it’s not too heavy. No, the real issue lies with his feet. First of all, his heel spurs have trouble getting clearance from the back of his legs. Second, even if you do get them to touch the ground, they are far too small and too loose to support him. Thus, getting Ratchet to stand is a frustrating affair. Once you figure out how to get most of his weight on the front of the feet, it becomes easier, but still annoying.
But where Ratchet shines is not in his ability to stand there looking cool, but his playability. He comes with all those goofy “medical tools”, and attaching them to him and fooling around with them is a great deal of fun. He comes with a wrench, a screwdriver, something that sort of resembles a scalpel, and a hammer. The ones that aren’t being used can be stored on his back, though all four can fit there. The accessories are a great deal of fun, and really help to make up for his balance issues. All in all, I’d give his robot mode a decent 7/10.

Overall, Ratchet is a fun toy. His posing issues can be irritating, but once you manage to get him standing, he looks great and, as I said before, oozes character. He makes a great addition to the Animated Autobots. If you don’t mind the posing issues, then I’d highly recommend him. I give Ratchet an overall score of 7.5/10.

Voice Actor: Corey Burton

Cartoon Overview
Short-tempered, grizzled and seemingly older than the ALLSPARK itself, RATCHET is the team’s medic and OPTIMUS PRIME’s occasional drill sergeant/second-in-command. He’s an expert healer, but his bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired. Spend two minutes with RATCHET and you instantly get the sense that this bot’s seen it all. RATCHET largely keeps his past to himself, dishing out tantalizing tidbits when he feels the “kids” can handle, or NEED to handle, some of the truth.

Ratchet suffers from a large amount of stress and trauma from his war days. In particular what haunts him is a past encounter with the bounty hunter Lockdown. It was Lockdown who broke the crest on Ratchet's head, and who tore out that panel on Ratchet's forearm. Most traumatizing was what Ratchet was forced to do that day - he had been assigned to rescue Arcee, an Autobot intelligence officer who had vital codes. Lockdown got to them, though, and they were brought onto Lockdown's ship to be interrogated by Megatron himself. Faced with giving the Decepticons vital information, Ratchet at Arcee's request used an EMP generator to wipe Arcee's memory. Years later when encountering Lockdown again, Ratchet finally managed to overcome some of the guilt when he rescued Optimus Prime from a similar situation, and in the process became closer to Prime, and began to share some of the stories of his past.

Ratchet's veteran status also causes him to fear for Sari. Having lost plenty of friends in the war (such as Arcee and Omega Supreme) he does not want to lose any more, hence he works with Sari to repair Omega (the spaceship) and help the Autobots leave Earth before more Decepticons arrive. He does not say this at first, maintaining his gruff exterior, which causes Sari to dislike him, but when Ratchet finally explains it to her, he makes a connection with Sari and the two understand each other better. (The fact Ratchet is deeply pained over the loss of Arcee, an Autobot he barly had a chance to get to know, tells you a lot about the kind of Autobot that he is - for all his gruff exterior, he is the kind of compassionate soul who probably sees the faces of every last patient who he couldn't save every time he closes his eyes. With a personality like this and having lived and seen as many wounded as he has, anyone would be a little gruff and bitter).

In Megatron Rising, under Optimus' orders Ratchet took Sari's key away from her, and was en route to the Autobot's ship to defend it and the Allspark when he was attacked by Blitzwing and Lugnut. He was easily defeated and lost his right arm in the battle, along with the key. He still managed to make it to the ship and get it airborne, where he rescued Sari and defeated left Blackarachnia in a freefall. After the Ark was shot down, Ratchet, along with Bumblebee and Prowl took on the Decepticon Blitzwing. With Bumblebee, Ratchet generated an EMP that knocked Blitzwing offline until Prowl managed to figure out Blitzwing's weakness and exploit it.

Following the shattering of the Allspark, humans did not trust the Transformers as much as they once did, now aware of the existence of evil Transformers. Optimus Prime decided that Ratchet's gruff manner needed to be toned down (as witnessed by his lack of bedside manner when driving a pregnant Carly to hospital) in order to smooth matters over, and assigned Ratchet to Bumblebee in Garbage In, Garbage Out, so they could learn form each other. This assignment was complicated by the appearance of a robot made from bits of junk and garbage by the Allspark. This robot, named Wreck Gar, was highly unstable, and Ratchet's bad attitude nearly spelled doom for the city, because the impressionable Junkion took every mean thing Ratchet said to heart and ended up nearly steering a barge infected with out of control nanobots into the city. However, when Ratchet apologized, Wreck Gar sacrificed himself to save the day (well, he's still a torso in the bottom of the river talking to fish, but it's less dramatic that way).

Ratchet's experience is mentioned again in A Fistful of Energon. He mentions how he has seen "young bots" get their hands on a new upgrade and suddenly forget their weaknesses, caught up in their new powers. Perhaps this is why he did not reinstall his EMP after he got it back from Lockdown.

In "Transwarped" Ratchet began to feel his age and even feel unneeded, especially when Sari with her key could do his job of fixing Bulkhead and making a broken piece of Spacebridge equipment work. In spite of this, Ratchet found himself reminded of his importance to the team when Sari went out of control and wounded Bumblebee. This time, the Key was no help - even after it was pulled out of Sari, it was drained of its energy. Bumblebee had to be fixed the old fashioned way - proving that without the macguffin, Ratchet is indispensable, and will remain so repairing the Autobots now that the Key is no longer available as a means of repairing damage.

In "A Bridge Too Close" and "Transwarped" more of Ratchet's past is brought to light. Following the events shown in flashback in "The Thrill of the Hunt", it was revealed that Arcee had planted a failsafe on Ratchet so that in the event she lost the codes she was carrying (the Omega Supreme activation codes) Ratchet would receive them. Because Omega Supreme had been designed to have a simple processor, he required a mentor to guide him. Because Arcee, the intended candidate for the job, had been mindwiped, Ratchet became Omega's partner and mentor. This caused Ratchet great pain - as a 'bot dedicated to preserving lives, he had to guide a gigantic sentient weapon of mass destruction. A particularly poignant scene from Transwarped showed Ratchet, in a flashback, picked his way through the devastation of a major battle to find a damaged Omega Supreme, who Ratchet put into emergency suspended stasis after he transformed one last time.

This is why Ratchet always felt for the Ark more than any other member of Optimus Prime's team, and also why Ratchet was assigned to Optimus Prime's crew in the first place - he was taking care of his good friend. On reactivating Omega in "A Bridge Too Close", the second season finale, Ratchet's history and connection to Omega Supreme were merely hinted at with statements like "I won't let you go offline again!" It pained Ratchet greatly in that episode when Omega sacrificed himself to shut down Megatron's spacebridge. It also pained Ratchet to be forced to fight against Omega Supreme, now under the control of Megatron and Starscream, during "Transwarped". Even so, Ratchet bravely tried to defeat Omega with his EMP generator, to little effect.
("Endgame Part 1" would confirm that Ratchet came with the ship when Optimus Prime was assigned to captain it).

Ratchet also plays a major role in figuring out what was going on in Human Error. One Christmas morning, after drinking some bad “oil nog” tainted by Soundwave, Ratchet and the other Autobots awakened to find that they had become 100% human. In spite of all his knowledge and expertise, Ratchet failed to come up with any rational explanation for what was going on. However it soon became clear that the Autobots were trapped in a virtual reality created by Soundwave, while he took control of their bodies. He eventually escaped, but only after Sari and a rag tag group of “substitute Autobots” – made up of Wreck-Gar, Scrapper and Snarl – fought four on six with the Autobots and Soundwave. Ratchet was eventually taken down by Snarl once Soundwave’s control started to falter. The whole experience taught Ratchet and the other Autobots about what it was to be human, and indeed, about what Christmas truly means.

Ratchet next appeared (and took centre stage) in "This is Why I Hate Machines". Attempting to locate Omega Supreme, he accidentally opened a Spacebridge to Cybertron, which Captain Fanzone was promptly sucked into. Ratchet went through after him, and after discovering that many of Cybertron's meeting places (such as his favorite watering hole, Maccadam's Old Oil House) were closed and a curfew was in place, he had a confrontation with Sentinel Prime and the Elite Guard, which led to the discovery of Omega Supreme in robot mode above Cybertron.

Unwilling to just go along with Sentinel Prime, or be arrested on the flimsiest grounds of treason, Ratchet and Captain Fanzone go on the run in tunnels beneath Cybertron sealed since the Great War, only to find Shockwave. Shockwave, armed with the Magnus Hammer, initially defeats Ratchet, and reveals that his new goal is to acquire Omega Supreme's activation codes from the original source - Arcee. Ratchet then races across Cybertron, taking Fanzone's advice and seeking out black market information broker Rattletrap to get the access codes to the Autobot Central Infirmary, to get there before Shockwave. Unfortunately, Rattletrap's codes did not work, but Jazz showed up and provided working codes, revealing that he at least was on Ratchet's side. This was, unfortunately, precisely what Shockwave wanted. After Ratchet went to Arcee, Shockwave showed up to kidnap her having let Ratchet do all the hard work. Ratchet tried his best to stop Shockwave - battling him a second time, this time managing to wrestle the Magnus Hammer out of Shockwave's hands. He also in the process saved the life of Ultra Magnus, who was being treated in the same facility. However, Shockwave managed to kidnap Arcee, no thanks to Sentinel Prime who showed up after Ratchet had saved Ultra Magnus, and seeing Ratchet standing with the Magnus Hammer near Ultra Magnus made the illogical assumption that Ratchet was out to kill Ultra Magnus.

Fortunately, this misunderstanding was cleared up, although Ratchet and Sentinel Prime will never be on good terms, thanks to Ratchet refusing to give up the Magnus Hammer to anyone other than Ultra Magnus, and instead taking the Magnus Hammer back to Earth with him.

In "Endgame Part 1", Ratchet helped with the preparations for the coming final battle by assisting in the construction of a flight pack for Optimus Prime. He also tried to convince Optimus Prime to take up the Magnus Hammer, although Optimus was very reluctant to do so. In Part 2, Ratchet took part in the mission to the moon to recover Omega Supreme and disrupt Megatron's control over his trio of Omega clones. Ratchet was finally able to rescue Arcee and with Sari's help was able to restore her memory. Ratchet then helped Arcee to transfer her Activation Codes for Omega Supreme into Omega, reawakening him and breaking Lugnut's control over the clones. (This led to Lugnut's defeat, with Omega Supreme back online, Lugnut was unceremoniously ejected out of Omega Supreme).

After the three Omega Supreme clones were finally defeated, Ratchet and the other Autobots mourned the loss of Prowl - which was cut brutally short by the reappearance of Megatron. Ratchet grabbed the Magnus Hammer and passed it to Optimus Prime, allowing Optimus to take down Megatron once and for all.

Ratchet along with the other Autobots returned to Cybertron a hero for his role in the final defeat of Megatron.

Powers and Abilities

Ratchet's primary ability are the magnets built into his arms. He can use them to attract or repel most metallic objects with incredible precision. He can also use them with Bumblebee's Stingers to create a powerful team EMP pulse attack. The magnets have a few other uses - during Transwarped, it is revealed that Ratchet's magnets were intended to be used to operate on damaged Transformers, manipulating components within a patient without having to open them up. The magnets have a further function in conjunction with Ratchet's former partner Omega Supreme, where they acted as a form of "key" or "interface" with his systems, allowing Ratchet to exert a form of control over him.

Ratchet also once possessed an EMP generator, intended to induce stasis lock in his patients so that they would not feel pain. However he lost this particular ability to Lockdown. After Thrill of the Hunt, he got his EMP back, but chose not to reinstall it, although he made use of it again occasionally during Season 3 (in "Transwarped" and "This is Why I Hate Machines" to cite two occasions). Prowl also used the EMP in A Fistful of Energon.

Vehicle Mode Appearance: Tactical Medical Response Vehicle.

IDW Overview The Arrival #1 fills in some of Ratchet's first impressions on Sari - he is confused as to why the Allspark bestowed its power upon Sari in the form of her key. He is grateful that it was able to save Prowl, though, and that they at least crash landed somewhere that provided shielding for the Allspark's energy signature (Lake Erie's water masked the signal). In the main strip of The Arrival #3, Ratchet demonstrates an ability to use his magnetic powers to knit together severed cables of a suspension bridge (all the while, grumbling about "what is it with this crew and bridges?") He then helps Prime in a double team that finally puts a stop to Stiletto's rampage. The Arrival #3 also features a backup story that fills in a little of Ratchet's past in the Great War. Sent to the Hydrax Plateau bu Autobot High Command to search for survivors of a Decepticon chemical attack, Ratchet witnessed first hand the effects of a Cyber-Oxident compound the Decepticons were using (called "Cosmic Rust" by some of the Autobot troops, though Ratchet heartily disliked the moniker calling it cute, too cute for the horror it caused, reducing Transformer bodies to dust). Ratchet was also disgusted by the Decepticons unleashing such a horror on their own men as well as the Autobots, as well as the orders from Autobot command to leave a wounded Decepticon to his fate. Ratchet just could not do that though, and working with the Decepticon, Oil Slick, he managed to develop a way to reverse the effects of the Cosmic Rust. Bad news for Ratchet, though, was that Oil Slick was using the Autobot's naivete to save his own life. Oil Slick was the one who had developed the Cosmic Rust and released it on the Autobots along with his own men, but he'd made a fatal mistake and ended up infected with his own plague. Thanks to Ratchet, he now lived to fight another day and develop another chemical weapon. Annoyed that he could have been so stupid, Ratchet none the less takes stock in having learned something about Decepticons that day, as well as having a way to counter Oil Slick's cosmic rust. (This tale must take place before the flashback sequences shown in the TV episode Thrill of the Hunt, because Ratchet is shown throughout with an undamaged crest as well as a reference being made to him having his EMP generator, which he would eventually lose to Lockdown). In The Arrival #4, Ratchet identified the fatal flaw behind Porter C. Powell's Bulkhead SUVs which ultimately led to Bulkhead and Sari tricking Powell into confessing on video that the vehicles were unsafe.

IDW Appearances Animated The Arrival Part 1 Animated The Arrival Part 2 Animated The Arrival Part 3 Animated The Arrival Part 4

Notes
Bio as posted on the Hasbro Transformers Animated website

He is short-tempered, grizzled, and seemingly older than the ALLSPARK itself. RATCHET is the team’s medic and drill sergeant, and acts as OPTIMUS PRIME'S second in command. He is an expert healer but a little rough around the edges. Spend some time with RATCHET and you will instantly understand that he has seen it all.

ROBOT MODE POWER: "Magnets"
RATCHET'S primary power is his magnetic abilities. Two magnetic prongs that extend from his arms, they attract and repel any metallic matter or create a strong force field. RATCHET can manipulate, control, destroy, rip apart, or re-assemble anything metal with his powers. RATCHET also serves as the team’s gadget guy.


Official Cartoon Network Press Release Bio

Short-tempered, grizzled and seemingly older than the ALLSPARK itself, RATCHET is the team’s medic and OPTIMUS PRIME’s occasional drill sergeant/second-in-command. He’s an expert healer, but his bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired. Spend two minutes with RATCHET and you instantly get the sense that this bot’s seen it all. RATCHET largely keeps his past to himself, dishing out tantalizing tidbits when he feels the “kids” can handle, or NEED to handle, some of the truth.

Robot Mode Power: RATCHET has magnetic powers. He can attract and repel any metallic matter or create magnetic force fields. He also uses these powers as the team’s medic, reshaping metal and circuitry, patching up any of the AUTOBOTS in the field. His talents also make him the team’s gadget-head. He can configure any tech they need and even perform robot/vehicle upgrades for all the AUTOBOTS.


Other Comic Information

Titan UK

Ratchet is with the other Autobots when they are captured by Starscream, and he is also there when the Quake-Maker attacks New Detroit.

When Afterburn, newly recruited to Optimus Prime's team, is sent with Ratchet, Bumblebee and Sari to Dinobot Island to tackle a rampaging Snarl and Swoop, Ratchet is charged and hurt badly by Snarl. He explains that Snarl has taken one of Ratchet's critical components, a termination inhibitor, which means even Sari with her key cannot heal Ratchet.
However, after healing the Dinobots and recovering the component, Ratchet appears fine and healthy. He reveals that the whole thing with the component was a test for Afterburn, to see if he had "what it takes". He reveals that the "termination inhibitor" was actually just a thermos of oil that he carries around with him in case he gets thirsty.

Appearances

Titan UK Transformers #17
Titan UK Transformers Animated Comic #1 - Burnout
Titan UK Transformers Animated Comic #2 - Ratchet & Grimlock are dead?!

Contributors: Tony_Bacala, Tim Formas, Sol Fury, aksmth, chaosbringer_00

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