Ransack (ROTF)
From Transformers Wiki
| The name or term "Ransack" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Ransack (disambiguation). |
- Ransack is a Decepticon from the Revenge of the Fallen portion of the movie continuity family.
Early in the development of flight technology on Cybertron, countless ages ago in the era of the Dynasty of Primes, the great Seeker Ransack was a pioneer. One of the first flying aces, blasting opponent after opponent out of the sky, his ruthlessness was feared by all!
These days, though, he's old and outdated. Some Decepticons like Divebomb remember his glory days and idolise the man, but the current Decepticon high command merely see him as a means to an end and many young Autobots are unaware who he is. But Ransack is still resourceful and he still remains active, waiting patiently for the day when his beloved master will call for him once more.
| “ | I'm a Seeker. Far, far older than either of you... a whole other, superior order of Cybertronian lifeform! Have some respect! | ” |
Contents |
Fiction
Titan movie comics
One of The Fallen's agents on Earth, Ransack hadn't heard directly from the Fallen in a long time. Turnabout In his time on Earth, he had discovered the Tomb of the Primes, location of the lost Matrix of Leadership... but, recognising no other commander besides the Fallen, he stayed on Earth for decades and wouldn't give the information to anyone but his master. Back-to-Back He also shows some knowledge of someone who switched sides. Turnabout
He eventually received an order from his master via Soundwave: murder Skids and Mudflap before they could warn the other Autobots of the Decepticon's upcoming plans. First bombing the interstate they were driving on, he went on to pursue them into the countryside, soon strafing them in an open field. A proud Seeker and servant of his lord, he got a bit pissed at these young whippersnappers dissing his alternate mode and was likely more pissed off when they temporarily disabled him with dirt.
Recovering quickly, and helped by their lack of energon, he soon had them ran to ground and was about to execute them. At that moment, Bumblebee arrived and sent him running. Ransack warned that in the long run, he'd be the winner... Dogfight!
Later, Soundwave would try to get the location of the Tomb from the Seeker. Ransack, not trusting him, refused to give the information to someone who wasn't the Fallen. The twins, at this point pretending to have defected, hunted him down for Soundwave, and Ransack was glad for the chance to finish them off. Skids ended the fight quickly by lying they had been sent by the Fallen to bring him back in, with Mudflap adding the Fallen was incapacitated; having not heard from his master in a long time and wanting to come in from the cold, Ransack was easily conned into standing down.
Unfortunately for him, that's when Grindor attacked, blowing his wings out and taking him prisoner! Turnabout
Dragged to the Decepticon base on Phobos, Mars, Ransack found himself questioned by Soundwave, i.e. punched in the effing face and yelled at to talk. He still refused to speak, and instead began to insult Soundwave for being a mere cog in the Fallen's machine, unable to grasp the true plan; Starscream quickly stepped in to stop the angry officer from killing the Seeker, noting it wouldn't go well if the Fallen found out they'd killed one of his Seekers. Ransack was just left amused by the squabbling and Starscream's threats of 'loosening' him up. He knew from their actions that the Fallen was genuinely incapacitated and that, because of this, the Decepticons thought they had freedom of action and were pursuing their own agenda. This freedom was an illusion, and they'd learn that soon enough...
His chance came when Skids and Mudflap attacked the Phobos base. The instant Starscream was distracted, Ransack shot him in the back and fled into space. He roared that he was going to inform the Fallen of just what the Decepticons had been up to... there'd be nowhere for them to hide after that! Soundwave and Starscream hurriedly chased after him, desperate to make sure he wouldn't be able to talk.
Since the two errant generals were still working for the Fallen and the Tomb was undiscovered later on, I guess they did make sure he didn't talk...! Back-to-Back
Revenge of the Fallen novel
When Jetfire transported Sam Witwicky's group through a transspacial portal to Egypt, the energy discharge caught the attention of Ransack, who followed them through his own portal. Ransack flew towards the group until his engine sputtered out and he crashed in front of Jetfire. Ransack then transformed and started to pick a fight with Jetfire, calling him a yellow-bellied traitor. Taking the "yellow" comment the wrong way, Bumblebee wanted to intervene, but Sam convinced him that the dispute was between the two of them and they shouldn't get involved.
Declaring that they were going to settle things right there and then, Ransack took a shot at Jetfire...which bounced off him, causing no damage. Jetfire abruptly ended the conflict by stomping Ransack to death.
Jetfire later identified himself and Ransack as Seekers. Revenge of the Fallen
Toy bios
Divebomb altered his form to resemble Ransack's, in honour of the veteran. He immediately regretted it. Divebomb (ROTF)
IDW movie comics
At some undetermined point while he was on Earth, Ransack fell into the clutches of the mysterious human organization known as the Initiative, who had developed a means to control Transformers. Kept on ice in the Initiative's base, Ransack was thawed out in 2010 and sent into action to down the helicopter carrying Theodore Galloway and his men before they could intrude on the Initiative's attempt to harvest residual AllSpark energy from Hoover Dam. Remotely controlled by Initiative operative Woolf, Ransack struck while most of the Autobots were out escorting the captured Soundwave in New Mexico, destroying Captain Cox's helicopter and shooting down Galloway's. Nefarious #3 He transformed into robot mode to finish the job on the ground, but was soon interrupted by Skids and Mudflap, who had been dispatched to Galloway's aid. They kept Ransack busy until a NEST unit arrived to finish the Seeker off rather definitively by blowing him out of the sky. Nefarious #4
Toys
Revenge of the Fallen
- Ransack (Scout Class, 2009)
- Japanese ID number: RD-09
- Known designers: Eric Siebenaler (Hasbro)
- Ransack is part of the second wave of Revenge of the Fallen Scout Class figures. He transforms into a German Albatros D.III biplane. This means he's really awesome. He has a non-firing weapon on each arm and totally metal details around the very large Decepticon insignias on his wings. His official battle mode may be designed to give him mechanically-aided robot-mode flight capabilities.
- The ball joints on his shoulders are especially loose, and the pegs that hold his hands in place in vehicle mode (as well as the joints in his elbows) are much stronger. As such, his arms are going to pop off about 90% of the time while converting the figure.
- On his card art, Ransack's legs are backwards (the tailfin should be his left leg). Meanwhile, the front art mirrors the biplane image, swapping which side his weapons are on. Whoops.
- Ransack's mold was also used to make Revenge of the Fallen Divebomb, and was planned to be used for the cancelled Blue Maximus.
Notes
- Ransack is based on a concept design created during production of Revenge of the Fallen, which existed in both a Ford Model T variant[1] and the biplane variant used for the toy. In a featurette on Revenge of the Fallen's home video release, a scale chart is visible that includes the biplane design among the film's Decepticons, with a height of 12 feet.
- Ransack's Generation 2 counterpart also has a propeller-driven airplane alternate mode, though it's a single-wing fighter. The name Ransack has thus been used for both WWI-era and WWII-era Transformer planes.
- Ransack is not named in the novelization, but he is described as an elderly biplane with Decepticon insignias on his wings.
- In his second and third Titan appearance, he was coloured green and black in robot mode... and then gained his toy colours in plane mode?
- While his bio doesn't say he's a Seeker, both the novelization and Titan Magazines have made him one. Also, in the movie, a picture Agent Simmons produces of a presumed Seeker contains a biplane.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Ransack (ランサック Ransakku)
