Ratchet (DC Universe)

**Ratchet** (ラチェット, *Rachetto*), also nicknamed as **Ratch** (ラチ, *Rachi*), is both a fictional character and protagonist from the *DC* series. He is known as the Chief Medical Officer and Scientist of the Autobots. Before the Great Wars, he was a civilian mechanic, and one of the best on all of Cybertron. But war is nothing but hell, and Ratchet learned that all too well. It left him both bitter and cynical. With the Energon supplies becoming less and less, he works to find new ways to make do, and recommends if the Autobots didn't risk injury. And in his experience, "hero" is another word for casualty, because that's what most of all the other heroes ended up being. Still, he knows one when he sees it, and Optimus Prime definitely is one.

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 enjoys grumbling about almost everything, being sarcastic, and having war flashbacks, just like any old man. He'd also *really* prefer the Autobots didn't brought the humans back with them, but since *he* is unfamiliar with human tech, he needs a help out from them too. 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.

After volunteering himself to one of the Ministry of Science's combiner projects, Ratchet can combine with the substitute Protectobots to form the left arm of the gestalt form known as Defensor.

"*Broken? I'm here to fix ya.*"

—Ratchet.

## Appearance & Biography

*Voice actor*: Jeffrey Combs (English), Nobuo Tobita (Japanese), Not Known (French), Claudio Moneta (Italian), Not Known (Dutch), Shen Lei (Chinese), Jari Salo (Finnish), Jan Spitzer (German), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hungarian), Seong-yong Ha (Korean), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Polish), Hercules Fernando (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Vladimir Antonik (Russian), Not Known (Poland), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Thai), Guillermo Romano (American Spanish), Luiz Lobue (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (European Spanish), Mario Arvizu (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish), José Carrero (Spain-Spanish)

### Biography

Ratchet is the Autobots' Chief Medical Officer. Although not a might warrior when compared to the likes of Optimus Prime or Ironhide, Ratchet still often finds himself in the center of battle. His dry wit helps him through it all and he is always there after the battle to patch up his friends. As you would expect, he gives his wounded comrades a hard time for talking hits that a Medical Officers somehow managed to avoid.

### Appearance

#### Vehicle Mode

His vehicle mode on Cybertron was a Cybertronian Van. When arriving to Earth, he adapts the Earth vehicle mode of a modified Earth ambulance.

* Hair Color: Not Known
* Skin Color: Not Known
* Eye Color: Blue
* Age: Not Known
* Birthday: Not Known
* Height: Not Known
* Weight: Not Known

## Personality

Ratchet was older than most of the other Autobots which meant that he was more wiser. He was rather cranky at times and would often lash out at his fellow teammates if they did something that annoyed him, this was mostly due from the annoyance in general and the loss of Cybertron which he loved greatly, which he would do almost anything to revive his home planet, even joining the Decepticons in reviving Cybertron back to life.

Despite this, he cared a great deal for his fellow Autobots as he often repaired them and gave them advise; Initially he was not exactly fond of humans but as time progressed he came to accept them and became their friend. Ratchet did not appear to enjoy parties or celebrations even, as a scientist however he enjoyed working on various scientific endeavours. Ratchet always looked out for his team, which they all viewed him as the best medical officer, scientist, and friend they had on their team.

## Relationships

### Friends/Allies

* Autobots
	+ Arcee
	+ Cliffjumper
	+ Bumblebee
	+ Ironhide
	+ Windblade
	+ Smokescreen
	+ Alpha Trion
	+ Prowl
	+ Jazz
	+ Warpath
	+ Blurr
	+ Chromia
	+ Perceptor
	+ Dynasty of Primes
		- Zeta Prime
		- Optimus Prime
	+ Wreckers
		- Ultra Magnus
		- Bulkhead
		- Wheeljack
	+ Computron
		- Quickshot
		- Afterburner
		- Lightspeed
		- Nosecone
		- Strafe
	+ Volcanicus
		- Grimlock
		- Swoop
		- Snarl
		- Sludge
		- Slug
	+ Defensor
		- Hot Spot
		- First Aid
		- Blades
		- Streetwise
		- Groove
	+ Superion
		- Silverbolt
		- Air Raid
		- Fireflight
		- Skydive
		- Slingshot
	+ Victorion
		- Pyra Magna
		- Jumpstream
		- Dust Up
		- Stormclash
		- Skyburst
		- Rust Dust
	+ Fortress Maximus
	+ Emissary
* Justice League
	+ Superman
	+ Batman
	+ Wonder Woman
* Teen Titans
	+ Robin/Nightwing

### Enemies

* Decepticons
	+ Megatron
	+ Shockwave
	+ Blitzwing
	+ Lugnut
	+ Knock Out
	+ Soundwave
		- Frenzy
		- Rumble
		- Laserbeak
		- Buzzsaw
		- Ravage
	+ Lockdown
	+ Dreadwing
	+ Megatronus Prime
	+ Overlord
	+ Shadow Striker
	+ Airachnid
	+ Seekers
		- Starscream
		- Thundercracker
		- Skywarp
		- Acid Storm
		- Slipstream
	+ Insecticons
		- Sharpshot
		- Kickback
		- Hardshell
	+ Devastator
		- Dirt Boss
		- Scrapper
		- Mixmaster
		- Scavenger
		- Long Haul
		- Bonecrusher
		- Hook
	+ Predaking
		- Razorclaw
		- Tantrum
		- Divebomb
		- Headstrong
		- Saberclaw
	+ Menasor
		- Motormaster
		- Breakdown
		- Wildrider
		- Dead End
		- Drag Strip
* Scraplets
* Unicron

## Powers and Abilities

### Weapons

*Main article:* *Ratchet's Scanner* and *Ratchet's Defibrillators*
His main "weapons" are two electromagnets that can extend from his forearms. With them, he can move metal-based objects, levitate downward from high heights, manipulate or tear apart metallic objects in midair, or create magnetic shields. More recently, he won his electromagnetic pulse generator back from Lockdown the bounty hunter, a device capable of knocking out a Transformer.

Ratchet also carries a Neutron Assault Rifle and an Energon Repair Ray.

## History

### Past

#### Battles of Cybertron

##### Trypticon Incident

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 Sentinel Prime, the Council was putting him in command. The three of them headed back to the command center, receiving a message from Jetfire and Jetstorm 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, Warpath, 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 Sentinel Prime and cautioned Optimus not to act as it was clearly a trap.

After Zeta was named the new Prime, Ratchet was sent by on a mission to attempt 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 Optimus and Sideswipe was in the area and came to the rescue. As the three made their trek back to Iacon, Ratchet informed Optimus and Sideswipe that he had information about the Decepticon superweapon that needed to get to Zeta Prime right away...

, he praised Optimus and Zeta on their success, but the price paid was costly - many Autobots were lost, and those remaining were now forced to abandon Cybertron while the council repaired the damage done to the planetary Core. Ratchet was one of those who stayed behind with Zeta to resist Megatron's schemes, and to build an *Ark* to carry them from their home when the time came.

##### During the War

Millions of years ago, Ratchet arrived at Hydrax Plateau looking for survivors of a Decepticon chemical attack, which had slaughtered soldiers from both sides. The only survivor was a Decepticon named Oil Slick. Against orders, Ratchet tried to save his life. Oil Slick, however, revealed he had the formula for an antidote to the chemical, known to the grunts as "cosmic rust", but he lacked the equipment to create it. Ratchet warily agreed to help, and as they worked, tried to learn a little bit more about who was fighting. Once the cure was complete, Ratchet used it on Oil Slick, who promptly revealed he had created the cosmic rust, didn't care if his own soldiers got killed, and infected Ratchet before driving off. However, Ratchet had managed to snag some of the antidote, so he used a little on himself and took the rest back to headquarters for mass production, regretfully realizing he'd learned a little bit about a good deception that day.

Some time later, Ratchet was sent by Zeta Prime on a wartime mission to recover Autobot intelligence officer Flip Sides, who was carrying important security codes in her memory core. Shortly after he found her, the pair were captured by the Decepticon-affiliated bounty hunter Lockdown. The hunter made a habit of collecting the powers of defeated enemies as trophies and did so with Ratchet's medical EMP device. Before he could attach it, Flip Sides was able to pass the device to Ratchet, and she begged him to use it on her to wipe the codes and preserve their safety. In the ensuing skirmish with Lockdown, the device accidentally produced a wider blast, erasing Flip Sides' entire memory. Ratchet would have flashbacks of the incident for centuries to come.

At a certain point, Ratchet was ordered by Ultra Magnus to perform open processor surgery on Flip Sides to retrieve the access codes. As the operation began, Flip Sides uploaded the codes into Ratchet's processor, so he was conducted to a secret hangar and introduced to Project Omega a.k.a. the Omega Sentinels. Perceptor, along with Highbrow and Ultra Magnus, explained that the Sentinels are to be the Autobots' last line of defense against the Decepticons in the future and that the codes that Flip Sides was carrying were for activation codes for the Sentinel: Omega Supreme. Flip Sides was supposed to be Omega's mentor to imprint upon and take orders from, but now Ratchet had inherited her role in the future. Hearing that Sentinels were Guardians that had been built with a simple processor in order to carry out their duties with no remorse nor hesitation, Ratchet refused to teach Omega to be a weapon of mass destruction once his redesign is complete and instead chose to instruct him to be an Autobot.

##### Preparing Departure

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 shook Ratchet to his core, praying that there was some justification to be found for the Autobots' desperate act.

Ratchet was assigned as chief medical officer of the Ark on its mission to seek out new energy sources to fuel the Autobot struggle against the Decepticons. 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. Grimlock later identified a way for the Autobots to use to escape Cybertron, but upon the Cybertron-bounded Decepticons made one final attack and the Ark, Ratchet reported that they needed to launch as soon as possible.

Thanks, 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 Optimus and Bumblebee through the *Ark* until he found the dueling Zeta and Megatron. Ratchet then attempted to defend his ship by attacking Soundwave, but was thrown into a computer console for his trouble. Ratchet and the other Transformers were forced into emergency stasis lock when both out-of-control ships had soon crashed into a primitive planet; The *Ark* into a volcano and the *Nemesis* into the ocean.

## External links

* Ratchet *Wikipedia*
* Ratchet *Teletraan 1: The Transformers Database*
* Ratchet *Transformers Wiki*