Ravage (Transformers)

Transformers: Generation 1/Beast Wars

In 2011, Ravage was named the fifth-best upgrade in Beast Wars history by Topless Robot.

Animated series

In the episode "More Than Meets The Eye Part 1", upon the Transformers' awakening on Earth in 1984, Ravage was first deployed to dissuade humans from investigating a Decepticon attack on a power plant. Later, when Soundwave infiltrated the Autobots' headquarters, Ravage inserted himself into Teletraan I's cassette drive in order to access data on natural resources which Soundwave recorded, but while Soundwave escaped, Ravage was captured by the Autobots and later used in an attempt to tricking Megatron into a trap. Autobots Hound and Mirage spoke loudly of a nearby rocket base and the fuel it housed, deliberately allowing Ravage to overhear them and purposefully dropping the key to the cage he was held in so that he might escape and pass the information on to Megatron, allowing the Autobots to ambush him. Ravage acted according to plan, reporting to Megatron (this being the strange instance in which he appeared to speak, as he relayed information in a voice belonging to no other character from his cassette mode), but Megatron realized the trick at work, and successfully fooled the Autobots and acquired the energy required.

Among Ravage's most notable misadventures were his time-traveling in "A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court" to medieval England alongside Starscream, Ramjet and Rumble, and his displacement in "Child's Play" to an alien world populated by giants, where a regular housecat hunted him down like a mouse.

Ravage was among the Decepticons who attacked Autobot City in the Earth year 2005, disabling an Autobot communications array alongside Rumble, Frenzy and Ratbat, then battling their Autobot cassette counterparts. In 2006, the episode "Call of the Primitives", Ravage was among the "Primitive" Transformers amassed by the ex-assistant of the ancient genius, Primacron in order to combat his energy-draining creation Tornedron. Alongside Ratbat, Steeljaw and Ramhorn, Ravage was defeated and had his energy drained by Tornedron in the form of a tiger, but was later restored when Grimlock defeated the monster.

Following the conclusion of Generation 1, Ravage later made an appearance in the sequel series Beast Wars, having been reprogrammed and rebuilt into a Predacon. Here he became a covert agent loyal to the Tripredacus Council who was dispatched to prehistoric Earth to eliminate Megatron and insure that word of his survival never reached the Maximals. He was aided in this endeavor by Tarantulas, who was revealed to be a member of the Predacon secret police. Employing an advanced prototype ship that shared his capacity for Active camouflage, he briefly aided Optimus Primal's crew of Maximals in capturing Megatron. However, after learning that the original Megatron had left a message on the Voyager Golden Record that Predacon Megatron had discovered and decoded, Ravage freed Megatron and threw in his lot with his fellow Predacons. However, he soon met his demise at the hands of the Maximals, with his discarded head being the last trace of him seen on screen.

Books

Ravage appeared in the 1984 sticker and story book The Revenge of the Decepticons written by Suzanne Weyn and published by Marvel Books. The character also appeared in the Transformers audiobooks Autobots' Lightning Strike and Autobots Fight Back. In both books he was called a mechanical hound.

Ravage was among the Transformers who briefly fell under the control of the terrorist, Lazarus. Bumblebee, Frenzy, Grimlock, Laserbeak, Prowl, Ravage, Soundwave and Starscream were forced at attack the Smitco oil refinery in the Arctic to display their power for sale to the highest bidder. Ravage would only appear once more, being activated by Soundwave in order to hunt down a mysterious intruder, but was deactivated instead by the intruder—who turned out to be Starscream.

Devil's Due Publishing

In the first G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers crossover from Devil's Due Publishing, Ravage, along with Soundwave and the other cassettes were recovered from the Ark and used as weapons by the terrorist Cobra Organization. Attacking an energy center to gain the fuels needed to create energon the attack force met G.I. Joe, who were able to fend them off. Ravage nearly killed several of the Joes after they had decapitated Laserbeak. Later, after the Transformers had broken free, Ravage attempted to stop Optimus Prime from renewing himself in energon, but was crushed by the Autobot leader. Unlike the intelligent and speech-capable portrayal of the Marvel comics version, this Ravage was more in line with the cartoon version—a feral but mostly mindless animal.

Fun Publications

The Beast Wars version of Ravage later appeared in BotCon's Beast Wars: Primeval Dawn storyline, having been revived by Tarantulas in his Transmetal 2 form. BotCon 2016 would later be revealed to feature another incarnation of Predacon Ravage as part of the "Rise of Predacus" box set.

IDW Publishing

Beast Wars: The Gathering by IDW Publishing featured a storyline in which Ravage contacted Magmatron with information on prehistoric Earth to aid in his plans to create a Predacon army from the Axalon's protoforms. Following the events of "The Agenda", the three-part episode in which he appeared in the series, his remains were discovered by Magmatron's crew, and his Spark was placed into a blank protoform. As in Fun Publications he appeared as a Transmetal 2, but remained in Beast Mode throughout the arc and its successor, Beast Wars: The Ascending. In the latter Ravage took command of Magmatron's forces following Magmatron's apparent demise and led the campaign against a force of Maximals. Unexpectedly, Magmatron later contacted him and implored him to form a temporary alliance with the Maximals in order to deal with the greater threat of Shokaract.

Binaltech

The Binaltech series saw a version of the Generation 1 Ravage given a new body and reprogrammed with personality data from the Beast Wars Ravage; this later resulted in the creation of an alternate timeline.

Toys

Generation 1 Ravage (1984)

Packaged with fellow mini-cassette Rumble, the Ravage toy originated in Takara's Microman line, featuring household objects that transformed into small, in-scale robots. Armed with two chromed missiles that insert into the spool holes in his rear end, he can be stored in the chest door of the Soundwave toy. Ravage was later reissued with Soundblaster in Japan in 2004, and at the same time, was redecoed in blue as Howlback as an exclusive for the online retailer eHobby.

Beast Wars Deluxe Tripredacus Agent (2001)

Another toy was a repaint of Transmetal II Cheetor available exclusively at Wal-Mart in 2001. Called only "Tripredacus Agent", the toy's biography made it clear that he was Ravage, and furthermore established that he was also the original Tripredacus Agent toy, retroactively establishing it as a Ravage figure. Notably, for this toy's appearance in the IDW comics, artist Don Figueroa did not completely render the "official" robot mode of the figure (as the BotCon comics did). Instead, he designed an alternate robot head to give Ravage his distinctive feline head, in line with his appearance in the Beast Wars animated series. It is possible to transform the toy into this mode, although it consists solely of standing the beast mode on its hind legs.

Smallest Transformers Soundwave with Jaguar (2004)

A micro-sized Ravage comes with the 2-inch Soundwave toy in the Smallest Transformers line. Though this is the smallest Ravage toy ever made, its robot mode does not remotely resemble the character; rather, it looks more like a jigsaw puzzle piece with legs.

Alternators Battle Ravage (2005)

A retooling of the Alternators/Binaltech Tracks figure with a new feline head, Ravage transforms into a black Chevrolet Corvette Convertible. His engine transforms into a hand-held gun, and is also armed with twin wrist-mounted blasters. As a retooling of Tracks, he possesses some of that character's defining features, include two over-the-shoulder rocket launchers. Because of problems with name licensing, the toy was known as Battle Ravage during its circulation. On the DVD release of the 2007 live-action Transformers film, an Easter Egg video featured a mock commercial of "Bay Bot," which was Battle Ravage fitted with a sculpt of director Michael Bay's head.

Alternators Ravage (2007)

Later, another Ravage Alternator was released, this time with his vehicle mode being that of a Jaguar XK that transforms into Ravage's traditional non-humanoid feline mode (and, unlike the original, received the proper character name of Ravage).

Classics Battle Ravage (2007)

Packaged along with Classic Laserbeak as partners to Classic Soundwave, this toy named Battle Ravage is nearly identical to the original Generation 1 Ravage. A Toys R Us store exclusive.

Universe Deluxe Autobot Hound with Ravage (2008)

A fully poseable Ravage figure that transforms into a cassette tape comes with the Universe Deluxe Hound figure.

Henkei! Henkei! C-13 Deluxe Hound with Jaguar (2008)

The Japanese version of the Universe Deluxe figure by Takara Tomy sports a darker shade of green with additional yellow stripes and a chrome front bumper. In addition, Ravage is repainted with the gray parts in a much darker shade to the point where it is almost completely black.

Device Label Jaguar/Ravage (2009)

A Ravage figure that transforms into a 2GB USB flash drive. Also available as Tigatron or Cheetor/Cheetus.

Masterpiece Jaguar/Ravage (2013)

Rise of Predacus Tripredacus Agent Ravage (2016)

A remold/recolor of "Combiner Wars" Breakdown that features a panther head in robot mode and a black paint scheme, but otherwise bears little resemblance to Ravage.

Other merchandise

Megatron, Shockwave and Ravage are the three Decepticon figures available to play in the Monopoly Transformers Collectors Edition game.

Toys

Energon Basic Battle Ravage (2004)

Although the toy itself bears little resemblance to the original Ravage, it is not without any homages—specifically, one of its two shoulder mounted cannons is designed after the original Megatron's fusion cannon. This gun can be combined with the figure's other weapon—a spring-loaded missile launcher—in a variety of combinations, and the jaguar's tail can disconnect to become a flail weapon that the robot can hold.

Transformers Cinematic Universe

Ravage and his partner Soundwave appear in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the 2009 sequel to the film. He has a beast-like robot mode that resembles a cross between a cyclopean jaguar and the Nexu from Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. His alternate mode is an entry pod-boat that is launched by Soundwave from orbit to the Earth.

According to the biography and statistics published on the Hasbro web site Ravage is 4 feet tall and his main weapon is his shadow cloak.

Movie plot

Ravage is launched to Earth by Soundwave with the objective to steal an Allspark shard. He lands in the ocean near the NEST HQ in Diego Garica, and quickly jumps the fence. He searches the area, coming to a ventilation pipe that leads to the Allspark shard room. He disgorges thousands of what appear to be ball bearings down the pipe. These tiny transformers known as the Microcons, combine into a razor-thin robot (named Reedman) which acquires the shard, and escapes the base. Ravage covers their retreat as he heads to the Constructicons before accompanying them to revive Megatron. Ravage also deploys Scalpel when they find Megatron. Ravage appears at the final battle, when Bumblebee is amidst the fight with Rampage. Ravage jumps onto Bumblebee's back and attacks him violently. Bumblebee grabs Ravage and rips out his tail, pulling out his spine with it, killing him. Bumblebee is seen using the tail as a whip briefly against Rampage.

Toys

A black, red and chrome silver redeco of the Deluxe figure available through mail order.

Transformers Deluxe Sea Attack Ravage (2010)

A gray/black redeco of the 2009 Deluxe Ravage figure.

Transformers Rampage Among the Ruins Deluxe Ravage (2010)

A Toys "R" Us exclusive gift set featuring a redeco of Deluxe Cannon Bumblebee, a red/gold redeco of Deluxe Rampage and a silver/brown redeco of Deluxe Ravage.

Transformers The Ravage Infiltration Legends Ravage (released)

A Target exclusive gift set featuring Deluxe Autobot Flak, Scout Rollbar (a gray urban camouflage redeco of Dune Runner) and a silver/black redeco of Legends Ravage, along with three N.E.S.T. soldier figurines.

Transformers: Timelines

The Shattered Glass Mirror Universe version of Ravage had a biography printed in issue #26 of the Transformers Collectors Club magazine. He is an incredibly cute and talkative saboteur who likes social networking and text messaging, an inversion of the original Ravage's sneakiness.

Fun Publications

Ravage appears in the story Eye in the Sky. Cliffjumper, Crasher, Frenzy, Heatwave, Ravage and Soundwave are sent on a mission to Burpleson Air Force Base to stop the Autobots from controlling the GODS defense system. Heatwave uses his powers to convince the GODS transmitter to fire the weapon on itself and stop the Autobots from taking control. Ravage also appears in "Recordicons," a comic by David Willis published in the Transformers Collectors' Club magazine.

During one story, he has an encounter with his future self (a double of Transmetal Tigatron).

Toys

Timelines Deluxe Turbomaster with Ravage (2010)

A BotCon 2010 exclusive figure. Turbomaster is a yellow redeco of Universe Deluxe Hound, while the included Ravage figure is redecoed in white and blue (a reference to Transmetal Tigatron, who was a repaint of Metals Ravage).

Books

Appears as one of Soundwave's Mini-Cons in the novel Transformers: Exodus.