Ravage (G1)/2005 IDW continuity

No sleep. Scratch my butt.

Sleek, silent, stealthy...Ravage is one of the greatest infiltrators in the Decepticon ranks, and dedicated to their cause. As a constructed cold beast Cybertronian, Ravage suffered unfair treatment and stereotyping since his creation. Despite this, his sympathy for the outlier Soundwave led them to forge a friendship to last millennia. Only Megatron perhaps commanded greater loyalty from the Decepticon spy, and Ravage sincerely tried to understand Megatron's motives when he stepped down from the Decepticons. Even with his many good qualities, though, Ravage is a merciless killer with little love for Autobots of any kind. He is not a kitty. Do not pet him.

First appearance: Spotlight: Soundwave

Fiction

Before the war, Ravage of Stanix Some Other Cybertron and his pals Laserbeak and Buzzsaw were constructed cold in animal forms for an unspecified purpose. Beast-form Cybertronians were looked down upon in their Functionist society, so Ravage and the others were left with thankless jobs like grudgingly running errands for the Senate. One day they ran into a lost and confused 'bot named Soundwave, who was suffering from his inability to control his unique mind-reading powers. Sensing that Soundwave had the smell of an alright guy, Ravage shared his own experience with controlling over-sensitive senses (namely his nose) and taught him that the secret was finding something to focus on. The thankful drifter joined them, and the four lived on the streets together until they were approached by Senator Ratbat, who employed Soundwave and had his partners modified into cassettes that could hide within him. Soundwaves

When Ratbat learned of the rise of gladiatorial champion Megatron, Soundwave was sent to negotiate with him on the corrupt Senator's behalf. Soundwave detected two spies, Bumper and Fastback, watching their secret meeting and had Ravage, Laserbeak, and Buzzsaw capture and bring them to Megatron. Megatron Origin #2 During this time, Soundwave learned that unlike the Functionists, Megatron saw Ravage and the birds as equals rather than animals and only wished to create a society without oppression. Moved by his resolve, Soundwave and his partners joined his revolutionary Decepticon movement. Soundwaves Ravage was caught spraying some pro-Decepticon graffiti on a wall by Outback, and the cop proceeded to administer a beating that was interrupted when Orion Pax and Ironhide arrived on the scene. Post

Ravage was caught on tape sabotaging an industrial sector in the name of the Decepticon movement. Megatron Origin #3 As part of a plan devised by Soundwave, the Decepticons lured the Senate to Kaon, where Ravage and the others aided Starscream in assassinating them. Megatron Origin #4 When Orion Pax, Prowl, and Jetfire were investigating Hefter's murder, they went to question Soundwave and Ravage kept a close optic on them. Behind My Bleeding Back Ravage later served as a sentry for a terrorism experiment being run by Soundwave, Shockwave, and Ferak. When the police arrived, he was stomped on by Orion Pax himself and had to drag Ferak away as the Decepticons made their retreat. Ghost Stories

Ravage used Eviscerate! Hound and Bumblebee fainted!

After the war broke out, Soundwave ended up on the run from a team of Autobots and let out out Ravage to fight off Bumblebee and Hound. Ravage defeated the two pursuers, but was brought down by Hound in the process. Frenzy later asked Soundwave if they should go back for him, but the opportunity never came up. The Hunt for Soundwave During one battle, Ravage was helping Soundwave against the Autobots when Ironhide left him feeling a little...run down. The Iron Age Ravage fought alongside Soundwave and Megatron in the battle that ultimately saw Metroplex uproot and depart Cybertron. Hello Cruel World At some point in time, Ravage fought against the Dynobots alongside Soundwave and Runamuck. They were thoroughly trounced for their efforts. Spotlight: Grimlock

On Earth

Ravage, your puns bite! Get it?

Millions of years later, when Bludgeon was ordered by Megatron to investigate the disappearance of Shockwave, Megatron in turn ordered Soundwave to secretly keep an eye on him. Soundwave took Ravage and Laserbeak with him, and eventually followed Bludgeon and his accomplices to Earth, where Ravage took on the form of a cassette tape in the year 1984. Soundwave observed as a cassette tape player, he sent Ravage and Laserbeak to follow the human facsimiles constructed by Bludgeon to do his enigmatic work. Ultimately, the trail brought the three to Bludgeon's volcanic lair under Mount St. Helens. When Soundwave realized that Bludgeon's group intended to reawaken Thunderwing, Soundwave, Ravage, and Laserbeak desperately attacked, but Ravage was impaled by Bludgeon's sword. He was later buried by a volcanic eruption, but dug out a year later by the human organization Skywatch. Spotlight: Soundwave

Years later in 2007, he was chained up in the Skywatch headquarters along with Laserbeak and reprogrammed to seek out the other Transformers. Escalation #6 On his first mission out with Laserbeak, however, the pair's signal from Skywatch was blocked by Soundwave. Devastation #1 Devastation #4

Ravage sought out Soundwave in the bedroom of young Jimmy, bursting through his household wall. Soundwave had been stuck in his small tape-player altmode for 25 years, so the assistance of Laserbeak was required to haul his small form away. Ravage regrouped with them both at the base of Mount St. Helens, but it was taking all of Soundwave's fast-dwindling energy to keep blocking Skywatch's mind control signals. Fortunately, they had an ally in Shockwave. Maximum Dinobots #4 Soundwave and Shockwave struck a deal which would lead to Soundwave being freed from his altmode prison, leaving Ravage and Laserbeak to be found by Skywatch as part of the plan. As soon as Soundwave could transform again, the two cassettes killed their captors and reunited with him. Maximum Dinobots #5

I'll give you dog, pal!

A year later, Ravage helped defeat the Autobot regiment on Earth, making way for Decepticon conquest of the planet. All Hail Megatron #7 After a failed human counter-attack in New York City, Ravage went after the pilot Andy Reid so as to prevent him reporting back to his commander. He had the military human and a civilian pinned, when a second human male threw an explosive at him. It detonated on his face, distracting him long enough for the humans to escape. This annoyed him only slightly less than the fact Andy kept calling him a dog. All Hail Megatron #2

After the Decepticons' defeat, they abandoned Earth, leaving Ravage and others behind. Spike Witwicky headed a military regiment to hunt down surviving Transformers and found Ravage in an abandoned building. Ravage attacked Spike but got blasted for his efforts. At least he put Spike in the hospital, though. The Man of Steel

Ravage presumably spent the next couple of years in Skywatch custody, until the Decepticons finally returned to Earth and freed their captured comrades. He was among the troops who were eager to watch another duel between Megatron and Optimus Prime. Enemy Mine A short time later, Megatron used the space bridge technology built into his new body to summon the Decepticon army to Cybertron, where Ravage pounced on Sideswipe and had a scuffle with Bob. The Decepticons were then mind-controlled by Galvatron into forming the "Deceptigod". Kings

Post-War

Following the defeat of Galvatron, Ravage and the other weakened Decepticons were outfitted with I/D chips and imprisoned by the Autobots. They were, however, let out to serve as crowd control during a NAIL riot. The Death of Optimus Prime Ravage was present when Ratbat protested against the treatment of the Decepticons. The Autonomy Lesson After the I/D chips were overridden by Shockwave and Soundwave, Ravage was present when Skywarp teleported back to the Decepticon prison and informed everyone that Horri-Bull had been executed. The World & Everything in It Shockwave would charge Ravage and the Reflector trio with the task of stealing Turmoil's ship from Autobot custody. Night and the City

As he returned to Shockwave to assure him that nobody had seen him sneak Reflector into the ship, Ravage was distracted by a strange smell. He was about to leave to track down and kill Dirge when that smell turned out to be that of Arcee, who stabbed him in the neck before defeating and capturing the rest of Shockwave's allies. The End of the Beginning of the World They were taken to the Black Room where they were repaired and upgraded into new forms by Prowl, who was under Decepticon control. The Verge Ravage then helped capture Bumblebee and Metalhawk on behalf of a returning Megatron. Before the Dawn He proceeded to participate in the battle over Cybertron, Plan for Everything but the Decepticons lost and were exiled into the wilderness. Heavy Is the Head As a cold constructed Transformer, Ravage was a victim of Chief Justice Tyrest's universal killswitch and came close to dying, causing Soundwave much distress. Arm the Lonely

Learning that Shockwave had abandoned them during the battle, Soundwave apologized to Ravage for having him work with the deserter and gathered the Decepticons for an attack on his location. Or at least that's what he wanted to do, but the other 'cons refused because of their recent failures and the Triple Changers even attacked him, causing Ravage and the others to protect him. Shockpoint Aided only by his loyal cassettes, Soundwave left to confront Shockwave at his Crystal City base. During the course of battle, Ravage leapt to Soundwave's rescue and took a lethal shot from Shockwave, only to be instantly revived and repaired by the Ore-14 infused in the city. Realizing there was no point in fighting a battle that neither side could lose, the group retreated to try again in recruiting the help from their fellow Decepticons. Soundwaves

After convincing the Decepticons, Soundwave led them in an attack on Shockwave's Necrotitan only to end up in conflict with Bumblebee's Autobots. Black Metal Ravage was defeated before witnessing the Titan unleash a deadly energy wave that caused casualties on both sides, Winners & Losers after which he was in favor of teaming up and destroying the giant. Into the Abyss Instead, Soundwave and Bumblebee took the fight to Shockwave himself, but the mad scientist summoned the Necrotitan to his side, injuring Ravage who had to be carried to safety. Finest Hour

The defeated Decepticons and Autobots retreated back to Iacon to protect it from the advancing Titan. No Exit A recovered Ravage participated in the battle, but ran away when he smelled an energon leak that would cause a nearby building to explode. Burning Bright He joined in the celebrations after the Necrotitan was brought down by Metroplex, but the fun soon came to an end when he noticed the stars were disappearing—blocked out by an army of Ammonites sent by Shockwave. The Becoming Soundwave and the cassettes intended to help defeat Shockwave in his lair, but stayed behind to fight the Ammonites so as to not overload Skywarp's teleportation powers. Black Planet Shockwave was finally defeated thanks to Megatron, giving Ravage some hope that the Autobots would hail him as a hero, only for Soundwave to find out that their leader had betrayed them and become an Autobot. ...And the Damage Done

On the Lost Light

Soundwave dispatched Ravage to spy on Megatron and confirm if his change of heart was genuine, and if so was the case, assassinate him. His first move was to test Megatron by freeing a group of captive Decepticons and having them storm their leader's trial, but Megatron rejected the chance to escape. slaughterhouse Ravage went on to sneak onto the Lost Light when Megatron became its co-captain, coming along on its journey and constantly spying on his former leader, including his psychiatric evaluation by Rung. Towards Peace When the Lost Light disappeared completely, Ravage stowed away in the Rodpod. During a standoff in between the tense crew, caused by power failures and crew disappearances, Hound spied Ravage. The cat-bot jumped at him only to be shot unconscious by Megatron, when the lights failed again. Ravage was, however, fully conscious and was chirolinguistically ordered by Megatron to keep still and play dead. Twenty Plus One

When the crew of the Rodpod found the wreckage of another Lost Light, Ravage was brought along to sniff out the crew and, after enduring some patronizing from Nautica who mistook him for a pet, located the remains of Minimus Ambus. Suspecting a future version of himself for the destruction, Megatron had himself locked in a cupboard with Ravage who, angry and disappointed, confronted him on his betrayal. Megatron admitted he'd switched sides because he'd grown to see himself as a monster, saddening Ravage who still saw him as the embodiment of the Decepticon cause, but their heart-to-heart was then interrupted by the discovery of more bodies. Realizing the Decepticon Justice Division was responsible, the two regrouped with the others, where Ravage sniffed out a still living Rewind. slaughterhouse Once the alternate Lost Light was dealt with and their own version restored to reality, Ravage offered to return to the other Decepticons, but Megatron gave him a counter-offer to join his crew instead, asking if he truly wished to remain with the Decepticons after having seen the D.J.D.'s dirty work. The Road Not Taken It seemed Ravage took up Megatron with his offer, as he was in Megatron's quarters with the former Decepticon leader as he quietly regarded his Rodimus Star, Predestination: An Expert's Guide and soon covertly fetched one of Brainstorm's briefcases for Megatron. Our Steps Will Always Rhyme

Ravage began interacting more with the crew, and visited Swerve's for a drink with Bluestreak. He would go aboard the Vis Vitalis (presumably as part of Thunderclash's "pre-wake"), but fled in horror from the invisible creatures infesting the ship, screaming that they "won't stop looking at [him]." The Sensuous Frame He recovered soon enough to help Getaway and Nightbeat fend off an attack from the strange creatures that were watching him before. The group met up with some of the other members of the crew, but were overrun by the ticks and Ravage was knocked out The Frail Gaze

Ravage accompanied Megatron to the Necroworld, where he questioned the point of the excursion. His response was that he had no intention of rushing to his fate head on, rather to have more time. He accompanied him to his statue where Megatron was given a visual representation of the billions of deaths he was responsible for. The Not Knowing

While having a drink in his usual spot as "Visages", Ravage had a light shone in his face by Getaway showing off his Ravage Detector. Later, he was having a snooze in Megatron's quarters when he woke up to find Tailgate standing over Megatron, apparently about to perform mnemosurgery on him. Ravage's alarmed cry woke Megatron up, but before anything else could happen Cyclonus burst into the room, knocking Ravage out as he did. The Lopsided Triangle

After some of the crew examined a time portal in Swerve's, Ravage prowled about the edge of the room, before sitting down near Nautica, who offered him an energon goodie. No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases At some point, he attended the ship's movie night with Megatron to watch a film about the fall of Sentinel Prime and the rise of the Decepticons. The Last Autobot

When several members of the crew were subject to a psychic attack, Ravage joined the away team to discover the source. On arrival, it turned out they'd reached the Necrobot's planet. Ravage talked with Megatron about having returned there. Almost immediately after, everyone came under attack, and the Rodpod was destroyed just before it got to the Necrobot's citadel. Inside, Ravage told Megatron he'd seen one of the ships attacking them crash, and volunteered to investigate. Once he did, he found out their attackers, when Tarn appeared to take pot-shots at him. How Bright Their Frail Deeds Once the D.J.D. retreated, as part of their usual script, everyone tried finding a way out. Nightbeat discovered a teleport chamber and suggested using it, with Brainstorm making a speech on the subject of totally saving a lot more organics if they just got out alive, which Ravage listened to. But no-one, Ravage included, took the option of leaving. In lieu of a better option, Swerve suggested finding the D.J.D.'s ship and stealing it. Ravage offered to do that, since he'd be able to find their ship by scent. Before leaving, he gave Megatron a communicator and asked him to talk to Tarn. He quickly found the D.J.D.'s base camp, which regrettably had everything but a ship. He'd also been followed by Ten, having known the 'bot had been following him the whole time, wanting to help. Ravage told him he could help, if he just stood up... at which point the D.J.D. spotted him and attacked, allowing Ravage to sneak into their base and borrow another ship he could smell, The Sun in Flight which belonged to Ratchet and Drift, who'd arrived on the planet shortly after everyone else. Taking their ship, Ravage managed to save the two, and Ten, from the D.J.D. and headed back towards the fortress. Or more accurately, made a controlled crash near it. A short time later, Megatron returned from his "talk" with Tarn with a huge hole in his chest. An aghast Ravage followed as he was carried inside by Ratchet and Rodimus. Your Fierce Tears

Tarn is more of a dog person.

With only twenty minutes left before the D.J.D. attack, Megatron returned, much to Ravage's visible joy, up until he declared he wouldn't fight. As he walked off, Ravage shouted after him how ashamed he was of him. At Close of Day He took part in the battle against the D.J.D. and found himself once again the focus of Tarn's attention, the D.J.D.'s commander chasing after him, catching him, and then tearing him in half, something Megatron witnessed. This proved enough to provoke Megatron into taking up arms again, the Decepticon leader cutting a swath through the attacking forces, before picking up Ravage, and telling Rodimus to get him to safety. Once inside, Velocity tried attending to his wounds. Rage, Rage

Any chance Shockwave's been planting ores on the Necroworld?

As everyone watched, Megatron generated a force-field to protect himself from Tarn and Overlord's attack. It was Ravage who told them he'd taken Trailbreaker's forcefield generators from the Autobot's corpse. When Brainstorm questioned how that could work, Ravage told him Megatron was smarter than everyone else (along with taking a shot at Brainstorm's intelligence while he was at it). Despite doctor's orders to rest, Ravage continued filling everyone in on what Megatron had been up to for months. When Whirl came into the room asking why he'd found his own arm lying about, Ravage realized Megatron had finally found a way to siphon antimatter. As everyone else was confused, Ravage told them that was just how far ahead Megatron planned. But when Megatron was returned to the fortress via Rodimus using the last of Brainstorm's briefcases, Ravage's health started rapidly declining. With his last ounce of strength, Ravage brushed a paw against the Decepticon symbol on Megatron's chest and uttered "don't change back". With that, Ravage died. Innumerable light-years away, Soundwave felt him die.Do Not Go Gentle

After the battle with the D.J.D. Megatron and Terminus relaxed near Ravage's statue. Before departing, Megatron said one last goodbye to his "dear friend". Some Other Cybertron When Soundwave sacrificed his own life to help defeat Unicron, the last thing he saw was a vision of Ravage and many other spirits of the dead welcoming him into the Afterspark. Ceremony

Notes

• Ravage was a character whom Barber and Roberts both wanted at the outset of their books.^[1]

References