Ransack (Cybertron)

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Ransack is a Velocitronian Decepticon from the Cybertron portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

"Wow, what a great audience!"

Ransack is the brains of the Decepticon front on the Speed Planet... but that's not saying very much at all, since Crumplezone is dumb as a bag of hammers and Dirt Boss is so fixated on grinding Override into the dirt he doesn't care about anything else. In fact, Ransack is pretty dumb in his own way, but his gift for motor-mouthed, sneaky weaseling borders on genius.

He's a coward, a sneak, a luckless loser, and small-time chiseler who's had his optics opened to a far greater form of evil and power previously unimagined, yet completely lacks the intelligence to attain it. Sometimes it seems Megatron only tolerates him because his antics keep the Autobots distracted. If he has a good point to him, it's that he and Crumplezone seem to actually be friends, even though Ransack clearly takes advantage of his huge partner's bulk to lend muscle to his schemes, or as cover when said schemes almost invariably end up in the gutter.

The only time Ransack acts alone is... in his act. Yes, Ransack has tried stand-up comedy. He dreams of one day becoming a star, but his attempts have been met with little success. Not even his grab for the Velocitronian entertainment industry has caught the eye of Override, his secret crush. Of course, she finds him to be little more than an obnoxious troublemaking moron and is totally oblivious to his "affections".

Fiction

Cybertron cartoon

Voice actor: Louis Chirillo (English), Sam Vincent (English, "Showdown"), Hiroaki Hirata (Japanese), Jhonny Torres (Latin-American Spanish), José María Carrero (Castilian Spanish), Marko Ahde (Finnish), Janusz Wituch (Polish), Johan Svensson (Swedish), Romain Redler (French), Sascha Draeger (German)

At some point in time, Ransack had entered a relationship with a "cute little scooter," only for him to dump her later on. When Megatron approached him and Crumplezone, they assumed he was related to her, and had come to retaliate for Ransack's callous behavior. After being corrected for their assumption, Megatron quickly cowed the duo into servitude, demanding they act as his guides on the Speed Planet. Landmine

Under Megatron's command, they sought out clues to the planet's Cyber Planet Key, first terrorizing Brakedown and Clocker in order to beat the info out of them. Space When that failed (due to Hot Shot and Red Alert interfering) Ransack and Crumplezone ran back to Megatron. They two goons cheered their boss on as he raced both Override and Hot Shot for information on the Planet Cup, correctly suspected by the Decepticon leader to be the artifact he desired. But as he drove, Megatron found himself unable to handle the hairpin turns on the racetrack. He began to fall behind, so his stooges decided to shift the odds in his favor by blasting Hot Shot. Megatron didn't win nonetheless, and Override chased off Ransack and Crumplezone for interfering with her race. Rush

Megatron introduced Ransack and Crumplezone to Starscream, who "borrowed" the pair to test their capabilities. The three of them tracked down Red Alert to a junkyard, and ambushed him there. The Autobot's reflexes proved too quick for either Ransack or Crumplezone to nail him, and when Red Alert retaliated, he sent them both flying off over the horizon. Speed Ransack and Crumplezone next met with Megatron with some news: the Planet Cup would take place soon, and if they managed to win this race, they would be simply handed Velocitron's Cyber Planet Key. All they needed to do is cheat their way to victory. Megatron approved of the duo's plan before taking off to attend to other business, though he was sure to blast them a bit first, lest they get any ideas about betraying him. Collapse

Using force and bullying tactics, Ransack and Crumplezone convinced Dirt Boss to join the Decepticons and help them in their task. Search Ransack first tricked Dirt Boss into racing Hot Shot, under the pretense that Override had agreed to race one-on-one whoever would come out the winner. Crumplezone soon grew bored of watching the race, and suggested to his partner they simply skip the middle-man and blast Hot Shot themselves. Ransack offered no objections, and they absconded to a cliff next to the racetrack, raining down lasers towards the road. Hot Shot fought back, and was joined by Optimus Prime, Vector Prime, and Landmine just in time to avoid getting offed. Ransack and Crumplezone later spied on Optimus talking with Override, trying to convince her to give up the Cyber Planet Key and receiving the answer she gave everyone else: the only way to get the trophy was to win the World Cup. Ransack and Crumplezone contacted Megatron about this, and their boss told him not to bore him with minor details; they were to report on whoever won the race and otherwise leave him to his own work. Hero

"Aw, man! All my friends are watchin'!"

As planned, Crumplezone and Ransack snuck around, trying to manipulate their way through the competition. During the first heat, they first attacked the Autobots directly, distracting them long enough to keep ahead of the group. Though the duo cut an entire bridge out of the track to prevent their opponents from completing the circuit, all contestants managed to arrive at the finish line, running them over in the process. Race Despite their cheating, both Ransack and Crumplezone were allowed to participate in the race's second heat. Thanks to his narrow alternate mode, Ransack managed to easily pass other racers during the track's narrow stretch, and took the lead. Taking advantage of the great distance between him and the other racers, Ransack switch some road signs, sending everyone else but Crumplezone down a detour. The others caught onto the ruse soon enough though, and overtook the Decepticons again. Detour While the other competitors practiced in-between races, Ransack and Crumplezone spied on Override... by disguising themselves as trees overlooking her racetrack from the otherwise empty bleachers. Despite these "brilliant" disguises, the pair failed to yield any useful information. Savage The next segment of the race took the competitors through desert dunes. Ransack and Crumplezone came upon Dirt Boss attacking Override during this course, and for once opted to help their ally. Due to their poor aim they wound up blasting Dirt Boss, sending the monster truck into a rage. Dirt Boss's tantrum landed him into a sand trap, and both Crumplezone and Ransack decided it would be best to abandon him there. Sand Both Ransack and Crumplezone were chosen to compete in the final leg of the race, a vast, twisting track deep inside the planet. Despite outfitting themselves with some bouncy springs and nitrous injectors to circumvent the more difficult segments of the track, they blew all their power very early in the race and were left eating dust by Hot Shot and Override. They decided to attempt to just flat-out steal the Planet Cup, and naturally failed. As second attempt at stealing the trophy met with equal failure, despite the duo returning with Megatron and the rest of the Decepticons as back-up. Champion

After their failure to capture the Speed Planet's Cyber Planet Key, Ransack and Crumplezone joined Megatron's forces off-planet attempting to collect the other Cyber Planet Keys. They battled Vector Prime, Optimus, and Leobreaker when they arrived on Jungle Planet, but were quickly thrashed by the later two's "Savage Claw" mode. Ice Optimus then met with Scourge and tried to convince Jungle Planet's leader to hand over his Cyber Planet Key through diplomacy. Ransack and Crumplezone, watching from the sidelines, talked smack about Optimus during the meeting... until the Autobot asked them to repeat themselves to his face. They slinked away in response. Reconvening at Scourge's temple, the Decepticons and their allies were joined by Backstop, who delivered a message: Optimus had finally accepted Scourge's and was ready to meet him in battle. Honor

Megatron sent the Decepticons to delay Optimus. Ransack and Crumplezone harassed Override who challenged them to a race. So eager to prove themselves, the two failed to notice that Override had not left the start line. The Decepticons regrouped after Optimus had defeated Scourge and claimed the Key. Primal To claim the Cyber Key, Megatron ordered the Decepticons after the Autobots. With Crumplezone, Ransack faced off against Override and Hot Shot again, managing to claim their box. When he opened it however, he was greeted by a spring-loaded fist instead of a Cyber Key. Trust

Returning to the fire dimension, the Decepticons began bickering before Starscream made the Planet Map point towards the third Cyber Key, sending the Decepticons after their prize. When the Map began acting up, Crumplezone eagerly crowded Ransack, the two-wheeler contemptuously shoved his friend, saving Crumplezone from being sealed inside an impenetrable sphere, a trap that Starscream had laid. Though the Decepticons initially tried to punch their way out, Trap they soon got bored of that and began sulking. Retreat

Once freed, Ransack joined his boss on the return to Earth, fighting against both the Autobots and the Decepticons under Starscream's command. The battlefield quickly shifted to Cybertron, where Ransack narrowly avoided becoming lunch for a swarm of Scrapmetal... his pal Crumplezone was not so lucky, however. Crumplezone was revived by Megatron shortly after, and the grateful duo continued to follow Megatron, all the way to Gigantion the Giant Planet. There... they suffered humiliating defeat after humiliating defeat, pretty much. For a brief moment they had a shot at actually achieving something for Megatron by kidnapping the Mini-Con Jolt, but were outsmarted by Coby Hansen and his new Cobybot, then subsequently blasted through a few layers of Gigantion by Optimus Prime using Metroplex's colossal axe "Sparkdrinker", which was really overkill.

The very definition of "can't catch a break".

When Megatron-then-Galvatron finally obtained the Omega Lock and all four Cyber Planet Keys, they followed him back to Cybertron and the edge of the Unicron Singularity. There, when threatened by hundreds of Transformers from across the colony worlds, Galvatron used the powers of the Omega Lock to make his lackeys gigantic and incredibly powerful. Ransack was thrilled for about five seconds, until he realized he was still the smallest of the crew, and that even at his new size, he was no bigger than the Transformers from Gigantion, who decided to gang up on him, of course.End

After Galvatron's plans to accelerate the growth of the Unicron Singularity failed, Ransack and the other now-normal-sized Decepticons left Galvatron, realizing that he had had no intention of sparing their lives from the cataclysm should he have succeeded. They re-appeared on the displaced Jungle Planet, as the citizens and Autobots were trying to prevent one of the massive planetary engines that was returning the world to its rightful place from falling over. Surprising everyone, they helped right the engine, having decided to try being good guys and being on the winning side for a change.Unfinished

Ransack, Crumplezone, and Thunderblast journeyed together across each of the colony worlds, trying to find a place to fit in. Ultimately failing, on Earth they cobbled together a makeshift rocket and headed for the stars, shanghaiing Thundercracker before they left, eager to become the New Decepticon Army.

The rocket crashed on Mars, to comedic effect. Beginning

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Galaxy Force manga

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Cybertron toy bios

Ransack got a new paint job in order to be a spy. However, the intense pressure of the job agitated his twitchy nature. Galvatron was displeased with how much Ransack consequently ran his vocal processor. Ransack GTS toy bio

TransTech

A version of Ransack (with police markings) was part of the Offworlder Zone Security Administration and aided his fellow police officers in arresting Megatron, Battletrap, and Stepper. Cybertron's Most Wanted

Spacewarp's Log

Ransack, Thunderblast, and Crumplezone were found by Spacewarp acting as goons for hire on Spensifax D (or A) when the pirate was trying to steal a Reciprocating Inverted Subspace Knife. Ransack decided to turn her in, though, much to Thunderblast's chagrin. After Spacewarp got away with the RISK, Thunderblast returned and patched things up with him and Crumplezone. Spacewarp's Log (1), 2015/10/28

Precursor World

A Warrior of the Seven Lights resembling a white Ransack was a member of the White Order. He was nearby on the White Planet when his commander White Gallant Convoy was warned of the fall of the Blue Order and the threat of the interdimensional warlord Ultra Megatron Omega by the Primus Vanguard's eponymous supreme leader. God Neptune comic 1

Games

Roll Out

During Optimus Prime's search for the Cyber Planet Key of Velocitron, the hooligans Ransack, Crumplezone, and Dirt Boss tried vainly to stand in his way. Roll Out

Toys

Cybertron

Featuring "Alien Crotch Rocket" mode. (Hasbro version pictured)

• Ransack (Scout Class, 2005)

• Takara ID number: GD-05
• Takara release date: January 20, 2005
• Accessories: Twin-barreled blaster, Speed Planet Cyber Key
• Cyber Key Code: sc92
• Known designers: Eric Siebenaler (Hasbro), Takio Ejima (TakaraTomy)

Cybertron Ransack is a Scout-class toy, transforming into a Velocitronian-style motorcycle with transparent wheels. By inserting a Cyber Key into the cycle mode's back end, a pair of non-firing guns flip out to form thrusters. This assembly becomes his hand-held blaster-weapon in robot mode.

"Gasket" was first released in the second wave of Takara Galaxy Force product. "Ransack" was later released in the first wave of Cybertron Scouts, but with a rather significant reduction in paint operations from the Takara version. Most immediately-noticeable is the complete lack of painted border on his Cyber Key (though it did gain a Cyber Key Code on the back), but Ransack is also missing several bits of gold paint on his forearms and blaster-barrels, as well as the black paint on his heels (shown in Hasbro stock photography). Ransack did, however, gain a small Decepticon symbol on the base of his blaster that Gasket lacks.

A persistent assembly error for this mold involves the rear wheel; it's installed upside-down, causing the wheel to not sit flush with the rest of the bike, which ends up leaning forward somewhat. See "Notes" for more details.

This mold was also used to make the BotCon 2006 exclusive Axalon Rattrap (the one use of the mold where the above assembly error was fixed), and it was also used as the model for Quickslinger and pre-beast mode Tarantulas in "Theft of the Golden Disk".

• More information on Ransack at TFU.info

Still funnier than the Police Academy movies.

• Gasket Patrol Type (Scout, 2005)

• ID number: EX-08
• Release date: October 7, 2005
• Accessories: Twin-barreled blaster, Speed Planet Cyber Key

In Japan, a special police-deco version of Ransack (complete with "Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department" text on his gun) was made available as a Toys"R"Us exclusive on October 7th 2005, given as a free gift with the purchase of 4000 yen (approximately $35 USD) worth of Transformers product.

• More information on Gasket Police-Type at TFU.info

The "stealth" paint job is no more effective than his normal paint job, but he seems to think it works.

• Ransack GTS (Scout class, 2006)

• Accessories: Twin-barreled blaster, Speed Planet Cyber Key
• Cyber Key Code: s2w5

Released in the eighth wave of Cybertron Scouts, Ransack was redecoed for the "Primus Unleashed" portion of Cybertron in a "stealth" paint job in primarily black and yellow. This coloration was made available only in the Hasbro line and bears a resemblance to the canceled Generation 2 Laser Cycle version of Jazz.

This time, his Cyber Key has the silver border.

This toy was repurposed into Shattered Glass Groove.

• More information on Ransack GTS at TFU.info

Universe (2008)

This seems like a lot of trouble to go through just for Ransack...

• Warriors From Three Worlds (Multi-pack, 2009)

• Accessories: Twin-barreled blaster, Speed Planet Cyber Key
• Cyber Key Code: s2w5

This pack of three Scout class figures contains the Cybertron Ransack GTS, Repugnus, and Scattorshot figures. All three toys are identical to their original releases, except for a small, discreet size-class code tampograph.

This three-pack has been sighted at Family Dollar and Walgreens stores in the United States, in Sainsburys stores in the United Kingdom, in Canadian Tire stores in (where else?) Canada for the 2009 holiday period, and at Kmart in New Zealand and Australia in the latter half of 2010. In late 2010 it reappeared in the United States at Toys"R"Us stores.

Merchandise

Attacktix

WAR FORK

• Ransack (Booster, 2006)

Just like his cartoon counterpart, Attacktix Ransack is good mates with his pal Crumplezone. Ransack's "Recover" special power allows him to stand up as long as you have a Crumplezone piece in-play.

Ransack's weapon is a unique Prodder attack. You can use it as a standard prodder, triggering it to knock an opponent down. You can also position the prongs on an opponent and turn them to throw them. This attack is a compromise on what Hasbro had planned as a corkscrew attack.

• More information on Attacktix Ransack at TFU.info

Notes

Note the position of the rear wheel struts.

• The development line-art shown on Hasbro's Cyber Key Code website showed the intended assembly of Ransack's rear wheel struts. As mentioned above, on all releases of Ransack [Gasket], the rear wheel struts were swapped. This change raises his rear end up higher in cycle mode but slightly improves Ransack's robot mode by giving more clearance for arm articulation. Whether this change was intentional or an example of misassembly is not clear, but the Hasbro version of the mold did compensate for the change by retooling his wheel struts to prevent the rear wheel from rubbing against the back end.
  • Some fans have swapped the rear wheel struts themselves, as it is only a metal pin keeping them attached to the main body of the cycle. However, this does take a bit of force, plus carries the risk of damage to the strut pieces, which use a softer type of plastic.
  • The BotCon 2006 "Axalon" Rattrap redeco of the mold swapped the struts back to match the original line-art.
• Ransack's English-language vocal characterization appears to have been patterned after David Lander's portrayal of Andrew "Squiggy" Squigman in Laverne & Shirley.
• Ransack's robot mode CGI model appears in the viewscreen of the Hasbro version of the Real Gear Robots toy Spy Shot 6.
• Ransack appears on a Transformers: Cybertron wallpaper on Monkeybar TV... Yet he's with the Autobots.
• Ransack and Crumplezone had preliminary names of "George" and "Lenny" respectively, a literary allusion to Of Mice and Men.^[1]

Foreign names

• Japanese: Gasket (ガスケット Gasuketto)
• Hungarian: Fosztogató ("Looter")
• Korean: Gasket (가스켓 Gaseukes)

See also

You look familiar...

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Versions of Ransack have appeared in other continuity families, including:

• Ransack, the Decepticon from Transformers Animated.
• Ransack, the Velocitronian from the Aligned continuity family.
• Ransack, the Velocitronian from the Generation 1 continuity family.

For more information, see Ransack (disambiguation).

References