Rollbar


 * Rollbar is an Autobot Throttlebot.

Rollbar always gives 110%. He's neither very strong nor very fast, but he's got heart, and a vast arsenal of corny, macho cliches to pepper his speech. Though the other Throttlebots are inclined to roll their optical sensors when he starts laying the Cybertronian bullslag on too thickly, his gung-ho attitude has earned the respect of them all, and when the higher-ranking veteran Bumblebee is not around, Rollbar is the acting leader of his very democratic team.

Rollbar makes good use of his low power in vehicle mode. He is a rubber-tired acrobat, able to jump like a cybergoat and run like a turbodeer. This is fortunate; he has little or no firepower, and if caught out has little choice but to run away. He does have radiation and chemical sensors to assist his tracking missions, and audio-video equipment to record his findings, or perhaps the big game.

Rollbar may not have what it takes to make the big plays, but he's still an opponent to be reckoned with. You have to give him that much credit.

The Cure!
On Cybertron, Rollbar was the leader of the Throttlebots, a group of five Autobots who stole fuel from the Decepticons. On one such mission, they were ambushed by an entire squadron of Decepticons, including a massive Titanium-class Destruction Drone. When the drone offered to spare their lives if they surrendered, Rollbar figured that was the best offer he was likely to get.

The captive Autobots were brought before Ratbat, who ordered them to travel to Earth and end a Scraplets infection there — not, as Rollbar guessed, by delivering a cure, but rather by destroying all the infected Transformers with canisters of acid. If they failed, Ratbat threatened to destroy all life on Earth (just how he was going to do this remains unknown).

The Throttlebots quickly found their primary target, a crashed Decepticon freighter and its occupants, the Decepticon Triple Changers and their prisoner Blaster. However, tire tracks heading away from the wreck made them realize that at least one other infected Transformer could be at large. Delaying their attack, Rollbar took Wide Load to track down the wayward Transformer.

At a gas station, they caught up with their quarry: the Autobot Bumblebee, who was by that time massively infested with Scraplets. Reluctantly, Rollbar and Wideload attempted to destroy Goldbug, but he eluded them long enough for his human friend, Charlie Fong, to demonstrate the Scraplets cure he'd just discovered: water. Relieved, Rollbar and Wideload apologized and explained their urgent mission.

The three Autobots soon returned to the wreckage site, along with two tanker trucks full of water. Before they got the chance to use them, however, the Scraplets in the crash site merged into a single massive creature. Water proved ineffective against it, and the weaponless Throttlebots were unable to fight it effectively until Goldbug sprayed the Decepticons with the water, allowing them to bring their firepower to bear against the creature, disabling it long enough for Blaster to destroy it.

The Transformers cartoon

 * Voice actor: Dan Gilvezan (English), Kunihiko Yasui (Japanese)

While the other Throttlebots first saw combat during the Hate Plague crisis, Rollbar had to wait (and missed all the fun with the Hate Plague) until the brief truce between the Autobots and Decepticons expired. Rollbar participated in the defense of Autobot City from a massive Decepticon raid, and then fought alongside his fellow Throttlebots on Cybertron.

MUX continuity
Rollbar is currently stationed at Metroplex.

Foreign names

 * Japanese: Rollbar (ロールバー Rōrubā)
 * French: Cabriole (Canada, "Caper")
 * Italian: Trollbot