Roller


 * Roller is a component of Autobot leader Optimus Prime.

In robot mode, Optimus Prime splits into three components:


 * A sentient robot module, the Brain Center
 * A wheeled drone module known as Roller.
 * A Combat Deck.

Although Optimus Prime can function as three independent modules, injury to any one module is felt by the other two.

Roller is a small, cart-shaped device that Optimus Prime uses to slip unobtrusively behind enemy lines. He can maintain radio control over Roller at distances up to 1200 miles. Having Roller present somewhere is like being there himself.

Roller is a droid, able to function autonomously without Optimus's active oversight. But without Optimus, by far the most important of the three modules, Roller would not survive. Optimus shows great attachment and concern for Roller, who is left particularly vulnerable by the behind-the-scenes situations in which it specializes.

Pre-cartoon continuity
Several million years ago on Cybertron, when Optimus Prime was a mere transport and delivery worker known as Orion Pax, Roller was an industrial droid known as Barrelroller. He transformed into an electromagnetic lift handle that helped Orion in his warehouse work moving heavy cargo. When Orion was fatally wounded by Megatron and rebuilt by Alpha Trion as Optimus Prime, Barrelroller was rebuilt into the Roller we all know and love.

More than Meets the Eye
When Bumblebee and Sparkplug Witwicky were caught by Decepticons, and with the clock ticking on the bomb they planted, Optimus Prime sent Roller into the mine. When the bomb exploded, Optimus was nearly destroyed, but Roller emerged cheekily unscathed, prompting Jazz to observe "Roller's one tough little Autobot!"

Attack of the Autobots
Another of Megatron's schemes involved sabotaging the Autobots' recharging chamber with a personality destabilizer device, turning a good number of them, including Optimus Prime, "evil". When the unaffected Autobots attempted to restore Prime back to normal, he split into his three components. Both Roller and the Combat Deck attempted to take the Autobots out, but Hound was able to nail them both with attitude exchangers and stop their attacks.

The Autobot Run
The Autobots were stuck in vehicle mode by the evil Transfixatron. With Ironhide in the claws of Megatron's car-crushing machine, only Roller could save the day! Roller led the Decepticons on a merry chase, allowing Optimus to rescue Ironhide from the jaws of undignified death!