Opposite of yours I would say animated first but for some reason he just always came off more to me as Kup
Prime, a combination of his design and his personality. Plus I like his voice actor. I also like the design of G1 & WFC Ratchet.
It's a toss up for me between Animated and Prime since those Ratchets are nearly identical. But if I'm forced to choose one, I'll go with Animated Ratchet since he came first.
Marvel G1. It started with a perfectly in-character Ratchet (fun-loving, jovial and good natured) and then, as losses and casualties started piling up, he started giving in to despair and stress, and it culminated with one of the most shocking moments ever (the Ratchet/Megatron mutation). Sunbow G1 and the version from the Bay movies come close. Sunbow G1 Ratchet was very close to the Marvel one, but without the whole stress and despair arc. So yeah, he always was the jovial, good-natured and quipping medic. Bay movies Ratchet... I mainly liked him because of his voice. Robert Foxworth has a pretty great voice and his performance is really good, though I do feel he could have made a better Nightbeat. Animated Ratchet just felt off. I never was a fan of grumpy old man Ratchet (I feel a character like Siren or Smokescreen would have fit that archetype), but TFA Ratchet handled it better than TFP by showing us a bit of how Ratchet ended up this way, the problem is that there never was a sign of a jovial or fun-loving personality. TFP Ratchet was just TFA Ratchet, but without showing the past, making him even more unrelatable. Plus, if it weren't for TFP Arcee, Ratchet would have been the most unlikeable character of the core cast. 2015 RiD had a much better characterization of Ratchet, making him a lot more jolly and relaxed, which is closer to how I like Ratchet to be. However, like Robert Foxworth, even though Jeffrey Combs delivers a good warm and fatherly performance in 2015 RiD, I felt his voice sounded more fitting for a certain detective. Cyberverse... haven't seen the whole thing yet, but so far, Ratchet hasn't done much.
TFA, his story with Omega is so sad. Ratchet was probably his only friend in an army that used him as a weapon, and he always remembered him even when he was in stasis as a ship. Their relationship resonated with me more than his and Arcee's, I have to say, but they both open a window to the events that prove Ratchet isn't as bitter as he seems, but just jaded and a victim of loss and war. I do think TFP Ratchet was the most solid character in his show too, slowly developing an appreciation for Earth and humanity, and even being the only Autobot to not return to Cybertron (until he was needed) when he always made it clear his biggest desire throughout the series was to restore his homeworld and leave Earth. The one thing TFP didn't fuck up. Armada Red Alert is cool, and his Japanese name was Ratchet, so I'll put him in third. For a medic in a war, G1 Ratchet has an impressively positive, jovial attitude, and that's something to be commended for. Still haven't read the Marvel comics, so I can't comment on him.
