Ratchet/Cartoon continuity

Ratchet. The friendly robot doctor from your favorite childhood TV series.

The Transformers cartoon
Ratchet served as chief medical officer of the Ark on its mission to seek out new energy sources to fuel the Autobot struggle against the Decepticons. When the Ark was boarded by the crew of the Nemesis, Ratchet 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 the out-of-control Ark crashed into a volcano on a primitive planet.

Four million years later, the volcano erupted, activating Teletraan I to rebuild the Autobots and Decepticons. Ratchet was rebuilt into a human-scaled ambulance. After Hound and Cliffjumper's failed scouting mission ended in a counterattack by Laserbeak, Ratchet arrived with Hauler to pull the damaged Hound out of a ravine. Once he finished repairing Hound, Ratchet was part of the battlegroup sent to stop the Decepticons stealing the oil from an off-shore oil rig. However, he did not fare well in this battle.

After the Autobots saved their new human friends, Spike and Sparkplug Witwicky, from the oil rig fire, Ratchet repaired Huffer's damaged arm in the repair bay outside the Ark. When Optimus Prime was caught in the explosion of the ruby crystal mines of Burma, Ratchet helped the Autobot leader recover, but evidently his skills as a medic were not required, as Prime was totally fine after transforming back into robot mode. Soon afterwards, Ironhide was shot by Skywarp, so Ratchet carried the old-timer back to base for repairs.

During an ill-fated Autobot attempt to defend the local solar power plant, Starscream managed to shoot the guns out of Ratchet and Prowl's hands. Smarting from the concussion blast, Ratchet called for the Autobots to fall back. However, Ironhide once again managed to get himself damaged while saving Optimus Prime. Ironhide objected to Ratchet and Sparkplug's diagnosis of his damage, but Ratchet warned him against backtalk or the medic would short out Ironhide's mouth circuit. To prevent further argument, he shut down Ironhide, cutting off the warrior in mid-sentence. After the Autobots were led into a trap by a reprogrammed Bumblebee, Ratchet discovered the tampering done by the Decepticons and restored the little Autobot.

Ratchet patched up the Autobots quick smart after they were caught in an explosion at a hi-tech lab. Of course, he immediately afterwards had to alert them to incoming Decepticons, and probably had to put them back together again after the ensuing battle. With Optimus critically injured after a Decepticon attack, Ratchet and Wheeljack worked to repair their leader, only for Laserbeak to sneak into the base and inflict more damage on Optimus. Ratchet and Wheeljack continued to work, eventually succeeding in saving Prime's life using a Cosmitron retrieved from Cybertron by Chip Chase and a team of Autobots.

A group of Autobots including Ratchet enjoyed hijinks in the snow when abnormal weather conditions were caused by the Decepticons tapping a crystal in the Arctic. The Autobots went to the Arctic, where Ratchet was part of Ironhide's team, which was separated from the main Autobot force and captured by the Decepticons. After the group faked their own destruction, Ratchet repaired Skyfire, who had been shot by Starscream after refusing to terminate the Autobots. Inspired by the discovery of dinosaur bones, Ratchet and Wheeljack designed and built the Dinobots. Unfortunately the new warriors were difficult to control, and Ratchet was soon patching up Teletraan I. After the rest of the Autobots fell foul of the Decepticons, Wheeljack had the idea of reactivating the Dinobots, and he and Ratchet installed new brain modules, allowing the Dinobots to be successfully used in battle.

Ratchet was one of the Autobots who went to Peru when the Decepticons discovered the Crystal of Power there, and built a cannon to utilise it. Ratchet was on hand for the impact of Meteorini Chipperoni and Optimus subsequently ordered him and Wheeljack to construct two more Dinobots to bolster the Autobots' ranks. Once Swoop and Snarl were constructed, Ratchet and Wheeljack held a demonstration. The two new additions quickly proved themselves and were dispatched to aid Optimus Prime, who'd run afoul of the other three Dinobots after Megatron turned them against the Autobots. By the time Ratchet and the other Autobots got there, Optimus had persuaded Grimlock to defect back.

Following a rescue mission to retrieve Sparkplug from the Decepticon base, Ratchet was again repairing the Autobots when Sparkplug started trying to repair him, despite him being undamaged. Sparkplug then started working on Prime, despite Ratchet pointing out that Prime had already been fixed. Sparkplug was under the control of the Decepticons, and had sabotaged the Autobots weapons and Teletraan I, so the Decepticons could attack. After the attack was repelled, Ratchet repaired Teletraan I, which alerted the Autobots to the giant space bridge which the Decepticons were building. The Autobots rolled out, but were unable to prevent Cybertron being dragged into Earth's orbit.

Retreating to headquarters, the Autobots sent out the Dinobots to battle the disasters caused by the nearby Cybertron. The volcano which the Ark was embedded in became active, erupting and spewing Ratchet, Windcharger and Huffer into the air, necessitating a rescue on the part of Skyfire. Ratchet surfed with Optimus Prime and the others to where the Decepticons were building a generator, though they were unable to prevent the Decepticons getting away with a shuttle full of energon and saved a bunch of humans instead.

Once Cybertron was blasted out of orbit, Ratchet and the other Autobots set about repairing the devastation it had wrought on Earth. They were subsequently occupied preventing Starscream's plan to destroy the planet using an Exponential Generator. After Megatron challenged Optimus to a one-on-one duel, the Autobots watched in horror as the Autobot leader was defeated. They later discovered that Megatron had cheated, rendering the results of the contest void, and allowed them to legally blast the Decepticons into a lava-filled crevasse.

After Spike was injured during a battle with the Decepticons, Ratchet carried their injured human friend to the metro hospital. While Spike's mind was transferred into the Autobot X experimental body Sparkplug had made earlier, Ratchet repaired the battle-damaged Bumblebee, but was forced to cut short his repairs after Spike went on a rampage in his new body. After Spike's mind was returned to his real body, Ratchet theorised that he could probably fix the problems in the mind-transfer process, but thought it was better left alone. When Megatron captured Gears and unwittingly threatened the destruction of the Earth with his Solar Needle, Ratchet totally fly-kicked Thundercracker. After the Decepticons retreated, Ratchet and Wheeljack argued over which wire they had to disconnect to stabilize the Sun. However, nobody seemed to notice that he and Gears sounded exactly the same.

Part of a mission to New York City to investigate the disappearance of the Empire State Building, Ratchet joined Spike, Hound, Bumblebee and Mirage in entering the city via the sewers in an attempt to recover Optimus Prime. When they finally found their leader, he had been disassembled by Hook, and Ratchet had a heck of a job putting him back together again, including having to wrangle an alligaticon. During a battle on the streets of the city, Ratchet and Ironhide ended up in the Decepticon's new skyscraper, and were again able to rescue Prime from a nasty fall.

Ratchet was one of the Autobots affected by Megatron's personality destabilizer device and was compelled to attempt to get some blueprints from Doctor Harding. After being de-evilled by one of Sparkplug's attitude exchangers, Ratchet and Optimus jumped aboard a rocket in mid-air and Ratchet detached a solar satellite even as the rocket blasted towards space. The pair were able to get the satellite into space on Skyfire's back. Afterwards, Ratchet and Sparkplug realised they had to repair all of the jets the Autobots had trashed while under Decepticon control. He patched up Mirage after another battle, and told the other Autobot to rest, but Mirage instead rushed off to prove he wasn't a traitor as Cliffjumper had suggested. After Mirage led the Autobots into a trap, Ratchet found one of Bombshell's cerebro-shells on Mirage's forehead. After the inevitable battle, Ratchet patched Mirage up once more.

Ratchet attended the demonstration of Wheeljack's latest invention, the Immobilizer. It didn't go well, with Wheeljack being accidentally immobilized and the Decepticons stealing his device. Wheeljack was loaded into the back of Ratchet's ambulance mode, and they returned to base where Ratchet repaired Ironhide, telling him to STFU when he blamed himself for the attack. The Autobots were eventually able to get the Immobilizer back. Ratchet was one of those who didn't take part in a charity race and was thus spared from being affected by the Decepticon's Transfixatron ray and captured. He and Wheeljack constructed an anti-transfixation grenade and mounted an attack with a small group to rescue the other Autobots. Afterwards, Ratcher realised that he was going to be repairing for days.

He took part in the defence of Washington, D.C. against the combined forces of the Decepticons and Sub-Atlanticans. Ordered to guard Nightbird, he an Wheeljack cracked jokes at the robot's expense, until Optimus told them off. They were unable to prevent the robot's capture by the Decepticons and returned to base, where Ratchet repaired Brawn. A stealth attack by the reprogrammed ninja resulted in the loss of power to the base, and Ratchet soon discovered that the World Energy Chip had been stolen.

Ratchet, like the other Autobots, was taken in by Megatron's Optimus Prime clone, at least until Windcharger revealed the truth. He also took part in an attempt to stop one of Megatron's plans using Devastator, and helped Wheeljack whipped up an antidote to prevent the Insecticons exploding after they consumed the Nova Power Core. After another Dinobot rampage at Autobot Headquarters, Ratchet sighed and started the repairs once again. The Dinobots were subsequently banished to Dinobot Island, no doubt to his relief. With Sparkplug's help, repairs were soon complete. When Teletraan I detected a disturbance near the library Spike was visiting, Ratchet reassured Sparkplug as the rest of the Autobots rolled out.

When Megatron found the Heart of Cybertron, Ratchet was among the group of Autobots who were first to feel his wrath and had to limp back to base. While Perceptor put a bizarre plan into operation, Ratchet and Wheeljack set up a forcefield to hold back the Decepticon leader until Perceptor's plan could succeed. Ratchet attended the Autobot Day celebration, during which Megatron managed to frame the Autobots. The Autobots were subsequently banished from Earth. They almost perished in the Sun, but made it back to Earth in time to overthrow the Decepticons.

After the Dinobots were damaged in a Decepticon attack, Ratchet repaired them, only for them to desert the Autobot forces. There's gratitude for you. A short time later, the Autobots were all disabled by Cybertonium depletion. With Spike and Carly's help, the Dinobot retrieved more Cybertonium from Cybertron, and the Autobots were able to repair themselves. Ratchet was among the Autobots who turned up too late to prevent Megatron from stealing the Voltronic Galaxer. After the Decepticons used it to jam Earth's radio signals, Ratchet helped some humans who'd become trapped in a blizzard. He was also part of the group who coated themselves in electrum to defeat the Decepticons.

While defending New York against Decepticons drones, Ratchet realised that the drones didn't have brains, meaning they were remote controlled. Once Blaster had broadcast a jamming signal, the Autobots were able to attack the Decepticon base in the Pine Barrens. Ratchet, Wheeljack and Hoist joined Sparkplug and Raoul in turning the drones back into cars. After Optimus Prime's team of Autobots went missing, Ratchet and the others attempted fruitlessly to find out where they'd gone. Ratchet also took part in the operation to rescue Cosmos from a horde of Morphobots. He was one of the first Autobots to be disabled by Kremzeek, which didn't bode well for the Autobots' chances of getting repaired.

After Optimus beat Lord Chumley's death traps, Ratchet and the other Autobots provided Prime with reinforcements. He and Wheeljack picked up Powerglide after the Autobot plane was defeated by the Coneheads. Ratchet started patching him up, but Powerglide refused further treatment until he could rescue Astoria, the spunky heiress he'd been charged with protecting. Once Astoria was safe, Powerglide returned for more repairs, and Ratchet joined in mocking him for his apparent romantic feelings for the girl.

Although Ratchet was puzzled by Megatron's sudden interest in stealing cars, Optimus knew what the Decepticons were up to, and led a team, including Ratchet, to Cybertron. There, they found Alpha Trion badly damaged. Once Ratchet and Wheeljack had repaired him, he explained that Megatron had taken the Key to Vector Sigma, and the Autobots journeyed underground. Encountering Centurions left by Megatron to guard the way, Ratchet and Wheeljack repaired Maintenance drones to send against them in battle. Unfortunately they reached Vector Sigma too late, and Optimus ordered that some shuttles be rebuilt into the Aerialbots. The Autobots returned to Earth with the new additions, and Omega Supreme promptly blew up on landing, resulting in Ratchet, Wheeljack and Sparkplug working feverishly to save the giant Autobot's life and repair his body. They ultimately succeeded.

The Aerialbots, much to Ratchet's disgust, seemed to admire the Decepticon Seekers. When the Autobot team was plunged millions of years back in time Ratchet worked with Wheeljack to repair the Decepticon time machine to get them back. They managed to, but wouldn't tell Ratchet what had happened, leaving the story telling to Optimus. Ratchet helped apply corrostop to the Statue of Liberty, and was later affected by the Cosmic Rust that Megatron brought back from space.

After Jazz and Cliffjumper were kidnapped by Starscream and the Combaticons to provide energy absorbers, the Autobots launched an attack while the Combaticons were busy fighting Megatron's forces. Ratchet and Grapple managed to rescue the two prisoners during the distraction. Ratchet was also a part of the team which came to the Aerialbots' aid, after they fell into a trap laid by the Combaticons. During another of Megatron's plans, the Autobots captured the Stunticons, and Ratchet customised some of the Autobots using camouflage paint to disguise them as the Decepticon team. Somehow this worked, and after Megatron's plan was foiled, Ratchet and the rest of the Autobots provided reinforcements.