Ravage (G1)


 * Ravage was a Decepticon Mini-Cassette, then a Predacon, and then a Decepticon again in the Generation 1 and Beast Era and then Generation 1 continuity families. It's all very confusing. Oh, and he is sometimes known as Shadow Panther and some other times as Black Panther Man.



No Decepticon has a stronger loyalty to Megatron than Ravage. One of Soundwave's most reliable spies, Ravage believes unwaveringly in the Decepticon cause, and Megatron embodies that cause. To better serve Megatron and the Decepticons, Ravage has become the most efficient and deadly war machine under his command. He hides himself in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike with grim accuracy. His name is synonymous with stealth. His survivors are few.

Ravage's only weakness is bright light, which can temporarily blind him. Perhaps his absolute loyalty to Megatron can blind him as well.

Sometimes he's a talker, other times he just growls or hisses at anything that isn't Megatron or Soundwave. "Decepticons forever!"

- Ravage


 * Nickname: Cat
 * Japanese name: Jaguar
 * French-Canadian name: Saboteur
 * Hungarian name: Romboló ("Ravager")
 * Italian name: Iena ("Hyena")
 * Portuguese name (Portugal comics): Raiva
 * Portuguese name (Brazil comics): Selvagem
 * Spanish name: Destructor
 * Chinese name (Taiwan): Pò-hùai (破壞, "Destroy") / Robin (in Beast Wars)
 * Chinese name (China): Jiqi Gou (機器狗, "Mechanical Dog")

Fiction
According to the UK book Dinobot War, Ravage's cassette tape mode is disguised as the soundtrack to Cats.

Marvel Comics continuity


''Ravage was a loyal bodyguard for the Overlords, the Autobots that once ruled all of Cybertron, for generations. He witnessed as their planet-wide rule crumbled into a loose collection of feuding city-states. Like ancient Rome, the last Overlord barely managed to hold together the autocracy through the gladiatorial games, which allowed the city-states to vent their frustrations over low fuel supplies on each other in scripted, controlled conflicts. A war broke out between Vos and Tarn, however, and Ravage and his partner Nightstalker attempted to escort the Overlord to safety. Joined by the gladiators Megatron and Optimus Prime, their journey was perilous. The Overlord was now an enfeebled mechanoid who required constant re-energization to survive, and constantly slowed them down. After Prime raced ahead to get help, Nightstalker self-destructed himself in a final loyal act to defend the Overlord, leaving the ruler alone with Megatron and Ravage. Though the Overlord was near death, Ravage refused to give the Overlord any of his energy, instead allying himself with Megatron, whom he believed would be the future ruler of Cybertron. ''

As a member of Megatron's Decepticons, Ravage attempted to hijack the Ark four million years ago, only to fail and fall into deactivation sleep until 1984. The detonation of the volcano, Mount St. Hilary, reactivated the Autobots and Decepticons, unleashing their war on Earth. The two factions soon found themselves battling on the site of a drive-in movie theatre, where Ravage was able to distract Hound from determining the location of Bumblebee, who had gone missing. The Decepticons found themselves in need of energy, so Megatron ordered Ravage to investigate Harrison Nuclear Power Plant. Jumping into one of the plant worker's cassette recorders, he learned not only of the energy-harnessing technology of this new world, but that its primary inhabitants were not the vehicles they transformed into, but their weird organic operators! Ravage and the other Decepticons immediately attacked Harrison Nuclear and claimed it for themselves. Afterwards, Ravage concealed himself within the boom box of "O", the friend of Buster Witwicky, and learned that Buster had allied himself with the Autobots. He quickly returned to Megatron to report this information, and the Decepticons launched another attack, this time on Buster's neighborhood. Ravage jumped Mirage, and the reluctant Autobot wrestled with the Decepticon until Ravage was knocked away by Brawn. The Decepticons retreated after kidnapping Buster's father, Sparkplug Witwicky. Ravage returned with his comrades to the Decepticons' new base, constructed out of materials salvaged from Harrison Nuclear, and coerced Sparkplug into converting Earth fuel into a substance they could use. Soon, their base was infiltrated by Gears and the amazing Spider-Man, and although the latter was as fast and agile as Ravage, the former put Ravage out of the fight with a punch.

''Shortly into their stay on Earth, the ever-treacherous Starscream attempted to build up support against Megatron by demanding action when Megatron cautioned patience, knowing his fellow Decepticons were getting restless for battle. Fearing that an outright execution of Starscream would turn popular opinion against him, Megatron asked Ravage to spy on the Seeker and find him an excuse to get rid of Starscream. Ravage was discovered, though, and critically injured by Starscream during their fight. Ravage managed to crawl home across the desert, however, and reported the betrayal to Megatron.''

''Having dishonored himself by attacking his fellow Decepticon, Starscream was forced to engage in a trial by combat with the Autobot Brawn, who had fallen into a similar situation by unrelated circumstances. After defeating Brawn in combat and flying back to Decepticon headquarters to declare his victory, Starscream was shot down by the vengeful Ravage on Megatron's orders. Ravage reported the Autobots were responsible for the attack, and thus Megatron was able to galvanize the Decepticons for battle himself, effectively stealing Starscream's thunder and punishing the mutineer in the process.''

''As the Decepticons assaulted the Ark, Ravage fought against the magnetic Autobot Windcharger, employing his own electromagnetic shield to protect himself from his opponent's powers. When Optimus Prime attempted to awaken the ship's computer Auntie during the battle, however, she awoke in a scrambled state and turned against all the Transformers, using magnetic force to hold all the combatants against her hull...except for Ravage and Windcharger. Forced to work together for the benefit of both their armies, they managed to deactivate Auntie. ''

Megatron ordered Ravage to sneak into the Ark and provide him with news of the Autobots' fuel situation. Fortunately for the Decepticons, the Autobots had failed to find a source of fuel, so the time came to strike. During the Decepticons' immediate attack on the Ark, Ravage singled out Mirage, intent on finishing the job he had begun earlier. Ravage ignored Mirage's pleas for a peaceful discussion and removed Mirage's arm with his teeth. Mirage's resolve against the Decepticons strengthened, he blasted Ravage, removing him fully from the rest of the battle. The chance arrival of Shockwave was all that allowed ultimate Decepticon victory, and Ravage, his deposed leader Megatron, and several others were nursed back to full operating status. Though Megatron rebelled against his usurper, he failed, and Shockwave paraded Megatron's beaten form in front of Ravage and the other Decepticons.

Ravage accompanied several other Decepticons, under the command of Soundwave, in an assault on the Autobots after they had been duped by a bogus Optimus Prime under Shockwave's control. Ravage, the impostor Prime, and the other Decepticons made short work of the Autobots until the real Prime was restored. The Autobot commander turned the tide easily and Ravage and the other Decepticons were defeated.

''While eavesdropping on the Autobots' arguments over whether or not to use the Creation Matrix to build an army of powerful superwarriors, Ravage's presence aboard the Ark was detected. The Decepticon spy made a run for it, but was caught in a web by Mirage and Hound. Ravage, however, is nearly impossible to kept locked up, and so he was able to quickly escape. Optimus Prime ordered Bumblebee to track him down, but Ravage's capture was part of a larger scheme, and he led Bumblebee right into a trap. ''



While sitting in their alternate modes inside a Portland, Oregon, electronics store, Soundwave, Ravage, and Laserbeak awaited news of Megatron's location during their former leader's disappearance. After his fuel-deprived body froze in nearby Powder River Basin, they left the store and brought fuel to Megatron. Here they successfully fought the American military and found a new ally, Donny Finkleberg, who claimed to control the Transformers as the supervillain Robot-Master. Megatron re-established his Decepticons in the basin, at the protests of Shockwave, while Ravage was given the duty of watching over Finkleberg. However, during a sudden Autobot attack, Ravage was distracted and Finkleberg was able to escape. Ravage tracked the human, despite Finkleberg's discarding of most of his smell by exchanging clothes, but after getting into a confrontation with the Autobot named Skids, Ravage was sent tumbling down a mine shaft and rendered inoperative on impact.

''Three years later, Ravage was awakened by a series of earth tremors, set off by the time storm raging throughout the universe. Finding much had changed since his deactivation, Ravage stumbled into the underground bunker of none other than "Megatron" and Galvatron. Initially siding with his old leader(s?), during a battle with the Wreckers, Ravage was surprised to learn that the presence of Galvatron and Scourge in the present was the source of the time storm. Though he was blasted by Carnivac (who had temporarily teamed up with the Wreckers), Ravage abandoned the battle and sought out the reclusive Shockwave. Shockwave was nearly catatonic over the irrationality of the time paradox that threatened to destroy them all, but Ravage managed to use logic to convince his former leader to come to his senses. At Ravage's suggestion, Shockwave gave up the body of Cyclonus, tossing it into the timestorm, which ended the threat to the present and future. ''

''In the aftermath, he hooked up with Megatron and they returned to Cybertron to seek new fortunes. In the Decepticon capital city of Helex, though, they found Autobots wandering around unmolested, and the area free of Decepticon supervision. After deposing the inadequate Triumverate, Megatron established a new beachhead for his conquests, with Ravage by his side. Before long, though, Ravage's Megatron was destroyed by the original Megatron, who revealed that the Megatron from Time Wars was a reconstruction of Lord Straxus. ''

Ravage eventually resurfaced on Earth, working with Starscream and Shockwave in an auxiliary Decepticon army, planning to overthrow then-leader Scorponok. After recruiting more of Scorponok's disgruntled soldiers, including Triggerhappy and Mindwipe, Ravage returned with his fellow insurgents to an underwater headquarters to plan their attack. As Scorponok began to forge a very unpopular alliance with the Autobots due to the threat of Unicron's coming, Ravage and the other Decepticon insurgents attacked the Decepticon base in New Jersey. Scorponok survived, and as he emerged from the wreckage, he swatted Ravage aside easily.

Their coup was interrupted when Primus summoned all the Transformers of Earth to Cybertron to do battle with Unicron. Ravage and the other teleported Transformers witnessed Primus, speaking through the body of Emirate Xaaron, tell the history of their supernatural war with the Dark God. Ravage was last seen fleeing, along with several others, immediately after Unicron's approach.

Marvel UK future timelines
''In 2003, Ravage was on a routine mission to infiltrate the Ark when he came across Ultra Magnus's huge new plans for a transforming fortress known as Autobot City: Earth. Upon hearing that Kup would be transporting a simulation tape of the City's blueprints to all the human leaders of Earth, Ravage skittered off to inform his Stunticon comrades so that they could intercept the information in transit.''

''Five years later, Ravage was seen on the field of battle with Soundwave, when the Decepticon commander desperately radioed the Autobots for assistance against their Quintesson attackers. ''

Earthforce


''Ravage remained on the side of Shockwave and Starscream during the Decepticon Civil War, fighting against his longtime commanders, Megatron and Soundwave. During a fight with the Dinobots, Ravage was faced off against Slag. Not...exactly...equal. Poor kitty ended up taking the horns to the hind quarters before the Decepticons retreated. ''

''Ravage was seen at the Enclave, when the two Decepticon factions met to discuss peace and common goals. Someone brought him a saucer of milk. Awwwwwww. ''

''Sometime later, the Decepticon factions managed to combine under the joint leadership of Soundwave and Starscream. Ravage began operating out of Soundwave's chest compartment again, just like old times. ''

American cartoon continuity

 * Voice Actor: Frank Welker (US) Yutaka Shimaka (Japanese, when speaking)



One of the original team of Decepticons that accompanied Megatron on the attack of the Ark spacecraft, Ravage was reformatted by Teletraan I as an audiocassette to better blend in for operations based on Earth. Ravage served loyally as a Decepticon spy. He was one of the first Transformers to have been encountered by a human, as workers investigating a destroyed power station fell afoul of Ravage who pounced upon them and frightened them away.

Shortly thereafter, Ravage accompanied Soundwave on an infiltration mission to gather data from Teletraan 1. Though Soundwave was discovered, Ravage was captured in an energy net and held captive. The Decepticon spy figured into a disinformation plot hatched by the Autobots, who purposely leaked the presence of a rocket fuel depository in the outlying desert. In truth, there was no rocket base -- Autobot Hound projected a holographic illusion in the hopes of luring the Decepticons into a trap. The Autobots allowed Ravage to escape and report back to Megatron, who easily saw through the ruse.

During Megatron's gladiatorial match with Optimus Prime, Ravage was let out to watch his master battle their nemesis. Soundwave also petted him. This would be cute if it wasn't creepy.

During one of the Decepticons' many trips to South America, Ravage got to meet up with a real jaguar. Despite his resemblance, the non-robotic jaguar did not take kindly to Ravage's presence and engaged him in a "cat-fight". Ravage used his rocket boosters to scare away his living look-alike. During Megatron's attempt to convince the humans that the Decepticons were good and the Autobots were evil, Ravage was dispatched to track down Spike Witwicky when the human searched for evidence that would exonerate the Autobots. Cornering the flesh creature in a studio control room, Ravage had a door closed on him, was electrocuted by a control panel, and had a shelf filled with video cassettes pushed onto him. To make Ravage feel better, Soundwave took Ravage along with the other cassettes to a teen dance party, where Ravage was a big hit with the ladies.

Some time later, Ravage, along with Starscream, Thrust, and Soundwave, was transported to a planet with massive inhabitants, along with a group of Autobots, in a space bridge accident. The first creature they encountered, Aron, thought the Decepticons were toys. Ravage attempted to escape, but Aron's cat Nitro chased after Ravage like a mouse (how embarrassing). Aron put him with his pet hamster, Blooper, in his cage. Instead of immediately asserting his dominance by killing the beast, Ravage went and ran on the creature's exercise wheel. When captured by scientists, they attempted to dissect the Transformers, but Ravage was able to pick his locks and free the Decepticons, who hijacked the Autobots light beam to head back to Earth...and landed in a lake filled with alligators. That was a very bad day for Ravage.

Binaltech
At some point in time after 1985, but before 2005, Ravage was captured by the EDC and kept as a prisoner. He was then kept stasis-locked in cassette-mode inserted in his future/past self's tapedeck, in order to provide his body with a "Life Essence Nucleus", as part of the I.I.I's "X-9 Revival Plan". The present's Ravage remains unaware of his time-tossed doppleganger.

Dreamwave comics continuity
Ravage, with a much more arboreal alt mode, was part of the second assassination team Megatron sent after the new Autobot leader Optimus Prime. Ravage got savaged.

Millions of years later, Ravage was a member of a team of Transformers controlled by Lazarus and sent to destroy an oil refinery. Ravage, always loyal to Soundwave, seemed to switch to Shockwave's side when they traveled to Cybertron. Unfortunately for him, he tried to tackle Starscream and got a mouthful of energy blast.

IDW Generation 1 continuity
Ravage can talk. Seriously. Long ago on Cybertron, he helped Soundwave expose some spies for Megatron and later became a terrorist in the pre-Decepticon movement.

Much later, on Earth in 1984, Ravage, along with fellow cassette Laserbeak, helped Soundwave attack Bludgeon's group before Bludgeon impaled him with his sword. He was later buried by a volcanic eruption, but dug out a year later by a mysterious group of humans. He was chained up in the Skywatch headquarters along with Laserbeak and reprogrammed to seek out the other Transformers. Needless to say, Ravage was not in a good mood.

On his first mission out with Laserbeak, however, the pair's signal from Skywatch was blocked by Soundwave.

Ravage went after the pilot Andy 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 then the fact Andy kept calling him a dog.

IDW Hearts of Steel continuity
Starscream sent Ravage to kill Tobias Muldoon, who had deserted the Decepticons when he learned they were evil. Ravage tracked him to Stanford Merriweather's house in San Francisco and crashed into the household, startling Muldoon, Merriweather, Merriweather's daughter Kitty, and Mark Twain.

He then pretty much got his ass kicked by Mark Twain, who took advantage of Ravage being momentarily trapped in rubble to flick a cigar at him, thus igniting a gas leak. The explosion flung Ravage into the bay, never to be seen again.

Ravage is a "clockwork puma" and does not transform in the course of the story.

Toy Bio

 *  Metals Jaguar
 * The process of becoming a Predacon has cost Ravage some of his early Decepticon memories. His ability to become invisible is called Reflect Shade. His orders are to rid the planet Energois of Transformers.


 * Tripredacus Agent
 * This lone assassin may look like a Maximal, but his irradiated spark is that of a Predacon. He was saved (and presumably rebuilt into a Transmetal 2) by the Vok. He can hide his energy signature, thanks to his unusual spark. In his history as a Predacon, he has adopted many names to better suit his covert line of work. His weapon is a low-radiation proton bomb launcher. As he loves the dark, the light is his weakness.

Timelines: Dawn of Future's Past
Ravage is mentioned as being recruited along with fellow Mini-Cassettes Laserbeak and Buzzsaw by the Predacon Divebomb, but for some reason left them soon afterwards to become an operative for the Tripredacus Council.

Beast Wars cartoon

 * Voice Actor: Lee Tockar (English), Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese), Daois Cabezudo (Portuguese)



Ravage is one of the few Decepticon warriors who was granted amnesty at the end of the Great War and reformatted into a Predacon, complete with classy Russian accent. He was sent by the Tripredacus Council to capture Megatron, clean up any messes he might have made, and deal with the rest of the beast warriors. (Whether this translated to "kill them all" in the minds of the Tripredacus Council is unclear, but that was apparently Ravage's intent.) Ravage made the trip to prehistoric Earth in a specially modified stealth Transwarp Cruiser. He successfully contacted the Maximals and allied with them to capture Megatron. Due to the stealth capabilities of his ship, and the fact that Tarantulas was also an agent of the council, Ravage and the Maximals easily captured Megatron and imprisoned him.

Megatron, however, had one more card to play. He knew that Ravage wasn't going to let any of the Beast warriors live, and also knew he had the one thing that would turn Ravage to his side. Using a fragment from the Golden Disk, Megatron showed Ravage something which shocked him—a message from Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons. As a safeguard against potential defeat, Megatron left instructions for the descendants of the Decepticons to use transwarp technology to return to prehistoric Earth. Although the message cut out before it was finished, Megatron's plan worked: Ravage, moved by the sight of his former master, released Megatron. After Megatron explained the rest of the message, Ravage joined the Predacons and turned on the Maximals. Megatron and Ravage attacked Cheetor and Optimus, at which point he transformed into his old mini-cassette alt-mode, jumped into the tape player on his ship, and started playing wicked guitar solos.

His latest treachery was short-lived. During the assault on the Axalon, Rattrap infiltrated his ship and caused an explosion that destroyed the vessel and Ravage himself. As the inferno headed toward the bridge, Ravage raised a fist and shouted, "Decepticons forever!" to whomever heard or cared.

His head, seemingly all that remained of him, was knocked into the water below the Axalon by one of Tarantulas' spider-drones.

IDW Beast Wars comics


While Ravage is considered by many to be loyal only to himself, his primary loyalty is actually to Megatron and the dream of Decepticon conquest. He views himself as carrying on where Megatron left off, scheming and operating constantly to end Cybertron's peace and bring back a conquering empire. Any plot and rebellion, you'll find Ravage there.

Also, he has psycho blasters, guns that give you seizures. Don't mess with Ravage.

Magmatron recovered Ravage's heavily-damaged torso, which still contained his spark. He then inserted the spark into a blank protoform, and Ravage was reborn. In his Transmetal 2 body, he and his fellow Predacons, under the command of Magmatron, sought out Razorbeast's band of Maximals. Viewing from a safe distance, Ravage ordered his soldiers to engage. Additional Maximal forces arrived, however, and Ravage's forces were defeated. Ravage retreated into the wilderness.

Subsequently, Ravage would utilize all the Predacons under his command in a desperate attack as a diversion while he crept into the Maximal base to steal the chronal phase facilitators left behind by Magmatron. He was confronted by Razorbeast, who guessed incorrectly that Ravage intended to use them to board the Autobot shuttle and return to Cybertron. Ravage corrected him by stating that he intended to free Megatron and eradicate the Maximal forces. His ambitions, however, were thwarted by Snarl who caught him off guard and gave Razorbeast the opportunity to knock Ravage offline.

It is not certain if Ravage's intentions for Megatron were another ruse or if he was actually out of his kitty mind regarding the tactical feasibility of this endeavor.

However, what WAS a ruse was Ravage being offline — as soon as he had been tied up by Razorbeast, the Maximal commander had to leave to help on the battlefield - upon which Ravage stopped playing dead and broke loose rather easily, managing to obtain the chronal displacement bands that Razorbeast had put him right next to after pointing them out. (A tactical genius, that Razorbeast.) However, upon activating the bands, Ravage was pulled into Chronospace by the trapped Magmatron, who warned him of the apocalypse that was to come, and ordered him to form a truce with the Maximals to fight this menace. And after hearing the warning, Ravage heeded the sage advice, sneaking out of the base while chronically displaced and re-emerging to the sight of several gun barrels from Lio Convoy, Razorbeast, and the Pack. However, just as he explained the situation, Rartorata emerged from nowhere and turned Razorbeast into a Princess Mononoke homage.



After introducing himself to Lio Convoy, Ravage agreed with him on a truce until they dealt with the menace of Shokaract. Commandeering his Predacons, Ravage's forces defeated Rartorata and Ravage extracted a sample of Angolmois energy from the Blendtron. When he told Lio Convoy to abandon the Angolmois-infected Razorbeast, the Pack's leader warned him that if he made light of his friend's peril again, he'd personally de-spark him. Ravage boarded the Pack's ship and returned to Cybertron with them, on the way analyzing the Angolmois capsule, to come up with an vaccine. However, as he explained, none of them were qualified scientists for the task. After arriving on Cybertron, Shokaract blasted the Maximal ship out of the sky.

Ravage survived the crash, along with the Pack, and visited Magmatron again. Magmatron told Ravage to chronally-displace Shokaract so he could "enlighten him". He then showed unusual concern for Razorbeast's Maximals, asking how they were doing. Ravage then returned to the battle and hit Shokaract's heralds with a grenade at an opportune moment. After Shokaract's suicide, Ravage found Magmatron returned and they all lived happily ever after.

Until Megatron returned.

Primeval Dawn comics
An undead Vok-infested Tarantulas revived Ravage into another body to help boost his forces. The remnants of Ravage's previous body were recycled by the Vok to re-create Tigatron.

Binaltech
The Government-run Intelligence and Information Institute (or Triple-I) unearthed a mysterious black box during an archaeological dig. After years of probing, the container, dubbed "Schrödinger's Box" by the group's scientists, was revealed to be the flight recorder of the Predacon Ravage's stealth ship, containing a copy of the feline's personality and memory engrams, deposited into his vessel before his final blaze of glory. When the scientists found a way to communicate with this personality, it offered them its knowledge of future events in exchange for a new body. Triple-I agreed, and used a fake Binaltech project (filled under the pretense of "technological synthesis tests") to provide their part of the bargain. However, to truly bring the new Ravage to life, Triple-I stole the present-day Ravage - who had been captured by the Earth Defense Command and stasis-locked into his cassette mode - and implanted him into the new Ravage, thereby 'fusing' the old and new Ravages into one.

This new Ravage, however, had no intention of fulfilling his end of the bargain and, after eliminating his benefactors and learning to his shock that history did not change in his faction's favor, decided to rectify his mistake. First on his agenda was his former commander, Megatron; stealing an Autobot shuttle, he located and repaired the Kronosphere and - during a decisive battle between Megatron's and Optimus Prime's forces that would have normally ended with the Autobots being forced off of Cybertron and into their moon bases - turned the weapon on his own faction, trapping Megatron and his crew in a space-time rift. This alteration in the timeline served two purposes: first, it would give the Autobots the chance to retake Cybertron, which would then lead to them having to face off against the oncoming Unicron alone, severely weakening them in the process. The second, and more important, purpose was to keep Megatron alive and in good mental health (relatively speaking), thus preventing him from becoming the insane Galvatron, and allowing him to lead the Decepticons to victory over the battle-weary Autobots. Ravage also Transmuted Shockwave into a new Binaltech body of his own, so he could lead the remaining Decepticons in Megatron's absence, and secretly derailed many of the Autobots' supply missions, further weakening them for their battle with the Chaos Bringer.

Unfortunately for him, the Autobot named Overdrive became aware of Ravage's meddling in history, thanks to his acute sensitivity of the timestream, and - with the help of Wheeljack - captured the wayward Decepticon and forced a confession out of him. Ravage, however, was not without a trump card, revealing that his alterations might prevent the deaths of many of the Autobots destined to die in the normal timeline (which, as a distinction between the two, was dubbed 'Prime Time' by Wheeljack, Ravage's altered timeline being called 'Ravage Time'), though in the grand scheme of things, only Optimus could not be considered expendable, as he contained the one thing that could bring down Unicron (the Autobot Matrix of Leadership). By the time of his capture, however, Unicron had already been sighted on a collision course with Cybertron and, despite the temptation of preventing future deaths among his ranks, Optimus decided Ravage's plans to be too dangerous to allow to come to fruition. To that end, he roped Ultra Magnus into helping him fly to Unicron in a preemptive strike against the monstrous threat, while the other Autobots (left in the command of Skids), were to initiate "Operation: Distant Thunder", which involved sending a copy of Wheeljack's memories of what Ravage confessed to them, back in time to a point prior to the Decepticon panther's meddling, via the energies located on Dinobot Island. If "Operation: Distant Thunder" worked as planned, Ravage's plans would be foiled, and any tremors in the timeline he caused would be smoothed over by "Project Body Shop" (aka, the Binaltech project). However, just as Skids gave the signal to transmit the memory engrams, the Autobot base was rocked by an entire fleet of Decepticons. The Autobots just barely managed to hold off the fleet, ensuring that "Operation: Distant Thunder" was a success (though a black Optimus Prime ended up separating the Binaltech timeline from the original, as supposedly the Binaltech-bodied Transformers have a higher purpose in the grand scheme of things). Whatever happened to Ravage is not known.

15 Go! Go!


After a mystery assailant badly damaged Teletraan I, destroying vital data, the thinly-disguised (actually not-at-all-disguised) "Black Panther Man" stationed on the artificial Earth satellite Nana ordered the mobile computers Teletraan 10 and Teletraan 15 to travel through time collecting data on Transformers of the past and future.

Although his plan was indeed to repair Teletraan I's databanks, Ravage had his own intentions for the information. He had traveled back from the future to the year 2005 in an attempt to use the "bio and tech specs" data stored inside the computer to manipulate the future and create a timeline free of "unnecessary conflict". When he was foiled by the unknown saboteur, he infiltrated the Autobots as Black Panther Man and created the Information Control Center on Nana in order to control the recovery effort.

The bumbling Teletraan 15 (and eventually Teletraan 10 as well) resisted, escaping back in time using Ravage's Transwarp cruiser and becoming the very saboteur that caused her mission to begin. Though annoyed that his scheme had been thwarted, Ravage expressed pride in the independence of his underlings and graciously ejected them into space—a survivable situation for the pair and their Kiss Player cassette friends.

Kids Stuff Read-Along book
Ravage immediately recognized what a hydro electric station was, a method of generating power used on Cybertron "way way back in the mists of time," when Transformers were not much more advanced in science than humans are now.

This suggests that Ravage is among the oldest of the Decepticons (even Megatron only feigned familiarity with this form of technology), or that he's a serious student of ancient energy generation techniques.

Generation 1

 * Ravage / Rumble (Cassette, 1984/1998/1986/1987)
 * Japanese ID number: 19, D-59, D-104
 * Accessories: Left & right missiles, tape case ('85 Takara only)




 * The first Ravage toy transforms from a robotic jaguar (or whatever) into a microcassette. In cassette mode, he can fit into the tape compartments of the Soundwave and Blaster toys.  For his Hasbro release, he was sold on a card along with Rumble in 1984-1986, and as an individual by Takara from 1985-1987; the '85 version came with an extra clear-plastic tape-case, but later releases omitted the accessory.


 * This mold was later used to make Glit and Howlback.


 * Soundblaster (Transformers Collection, 2005)
 * Japanese ID number: 18
 * Accessories: Left & right missiles, tape case




 * The Transformers Collection reissue of Soundblaster (the rebuilt form of Soundwave from the Japanese Headmasters series) came with bonus "Cassettrons" Jaguar (Ravage) and Buzzsaw. Both came with their own extra tape-cases, and had small stickers depicting the "weak points" of Fortress Maximus when viewed through the clear-red chest of Soundblaster's tape door.


 * Soundwave (Decepticon, 2007)
 * Accessories: Left & right missiles


 * Hasbro's Classics-themed reissue of Soundwave is a redeco of the Transformers Collection Soundblaster, coming with the double-tape door and both Ravage and Laserbeak as pack-ins.

Beast Wars

 * Tripredacus Agent (Deluxe, 1996)
 * Japanese ID number: D-7
 * Accessories: Tail-gun, water-shooting gun




 * This originally Japanese toy, named Shadow Panther, is a redeco of the original Cheetor toy in black, silver, and yellow, transforming into a generic big feline. His tail/flanks separate to form a non-firing blaster, while his underbelly forms a water-shooting "gut gun" that can be used in either mode.


 * Much later, this toy was offered through Hasbro's online collector service under the name "Tripredacus Agent", with an online bio indicating he was the same character as Ravage (then called "Tripredacus Agent" due to trademark issues).


 * This mold was also used to make Tigatron, and was planned to be used for the canceled Universe toy Nightprowler.


 * Jaguar (Deluxe, 1999)
 * Japanese ID number: X-9
 * Accessories: Tail-whip, left & right pistol barrels




 * Beast Wars Metals Jaguar is a heavy retooling of Transmetal Cheetor, just as Ravage's robot mode CG model in the show is an altered Transmetal Cheetor. He transforms into a robotic big cat, with flip-out thrusters for a third "flight" mode (not, as in the episode, into a cassette tape that plays wicked 1980s style electric guitar, for obvious reasons). His forearms each have a spring-loaded flip out pistol stub, which can be extended with add-on barrels that clip to his rear legs in beast mode.  His tail also can detach to form a whip-weapon, but he doesn't hold it very well.


 * This mold was used to make BotCon 2001's version of Tigatron. The original version was used to make Armada Cheetor, and as the basis for the non-toy character Cataclysm.


 * Tripredacus Agent (Deluxe, 2001)
 * Accessories: Launcher, missile, tail-flail


 * This Wal-Mart exclusive is a redeco of wait, can you guess? Transmetal 2 Cheetor, in black, silver, and gold, transforming into a monstrous techno-organic (but not technorganic) big cat. He has a spring-loaded missile launcher on his cat-mode back that can be removed and used as a hand-held weapon, plus his tail detaches to form a hand-held flail.  His left forearm has a flip-up blaster-shield (of dubious usefulness), while flipping up a panel on his right-rear leg reveals his spark crystal.

Smallest Transforming Transformers

 * Soundwave (2003)
 * Japanese ID number: GTF 05




 * The Smallest Transforming Transformers version of Soundwave comes with a teeeeeny version of Ravage, which does actually transform into a microcassette that fits in the tape-case door. Smallest Ravage may very well be the actual smallest functioning Transformers toy made.

Alternators

 * Battle Ravage (2004)
 * Alternator ID number: 11
 * Japanese ID number: BT-11
 * Accessories: Engine-blaster


 * A retooling of Alternators Tracks, "Battle" Ravage transforms (trademark struggles) into a 1:24-scale licensed replica of the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Convertible, with opening doors, hood, trunk, plus a "realistic" driver/passenger compartment. Each robot-mode forearm contains slide-out (non-firing) double blasters. A part of his engine forms a double-barreled hand-held blaster.


 * The Tracks hardtop version of this mold was also used to make Alternators Swerve, whereas the convertible version originally used for Ravage was used as the basis for the one-of-a-kind BayBot.


 * The Japanese Binaltech version of the toy is notable for sporting the American name "Ravage" rather than the established Japanese name, "Jaguar".


 * Ravage (Alternator, 2007)
 * Alternator ID number: 26




 * The second version of Alternators Ravage transforms into a 1:24-scale licensed Jaguar XK (appropriately enough), with all the normal bells and whistles inherent in the line (opening doors, seats, etc). This is a toy of many "firsts". Not only is it the first Alternators character with two distinctly-different toys, it's one of the first two Decepticon Alternators with an original mold (alongside Rumble). And, it's the first Alternators character to have a non-humanoid "robot" mode, as its non-car form is now a quadrupedal big cat.


 * After Ravage had been released in various European markets, his and Rumble's releases in the US were questionable for a while. Ultimately, they were shuffled to be Wal-Mart exclusives, set in an endcap display alongside the Classics Constructicon exclusive gift-set in March/April of 2007... in some stores. In others, they were crammed in the normal aisle with everything else. Assuming they even showed up at all.


 * On this note, Ravage has a Great Britain license plate, regardless of which country the toy was purchased in. The steering wheel, however, is on the left, as in the U.S. I say, meow.

Universe (2008)
Surprisingly enough, the new-mold toy of Hound for the 25th anniversary of the Transformers brand features a similarly new-mold toy of Ravage, which can be placed in cassette mode in the back bed of Hound's vehicle form. This cassette will not be able to fit inside the original Soundwave toy due to depth issues, but will fit in the deeper chest cavities of G1 Soundblaster and Twincast. As a result, the toy is similarly compatible with Classics release of Soundwave's toy, which due to issues with the original molds used the expanded tape bay mold from Soundblaster. Owing to the placement of the holes in his cassette form and the aforementioned thickness issue, Universe Ravage won't fit into the "tape cases" included with the Classics reissue Soundwave. His panther mode is much more three-dimensional than his G1 version, but at the cost of a much smaller head and tail, and also reduced articulation. He has no add-on parts; instead, he has teeny, tiny rocket boosters molded onto his hips.
 * Autobot Hound with Ravage (Deluxe, 2008)

Unreleased

 * A Titanium Series version of the Cybertron Heroes "Soundblaster", a redeco of the Cybertron Heroes Soundwave, was supposed to come with a tiny Ravage cassette/jaguar, as opposed to the original toy's tiny Laserbeak. However, this and serveral other toys from the series were canceled.

Wallet

 * Ravage Wallet


 * Released in 1984 as one of the earliest Transformers merchandise items, this vinyl wallet featured a holographic image that changed from Ravage's package art to the Decepticon version of the Generation 1 Transformers logo.

Decoy

 * Ravage (Decoy, 1986)
 * Decoy ID number: 49


 * Coming packaged at random on carded Transformers toys during 1986, this is a soft-rubber version of Ravage in his jaguar mode. He --like all Decepticon Decoys-- was available in both purple and red, with the red version being considerably rarer.  These are not erasers!

Robot Heroes

 * Optimus Prime vs Ravage (Robot Heroes 2-pack, 2007)


 * Released in 2007 as a Robot Heroes vs. pack with Optimus Prime. Ravage is adowable!

3D Battle-Card

 * Ravage (3D Battle-Card, 2007)
 * Card ID number:
 * A 23-point "uncommon" character in the 3D Battle-Card Game's "Energon Wars" expansion, Ravage "transforms" into a black cat. He uses the same parts layout as Cheetor, Rampage and Optimus Primal.

Trivia

 * Ravage's original packaging art is by far the most-copied depiction of any Transformer. It was, of course, adapted for his Transformers Universe profile, but was also used (twice) in 1985's "back-of-the-box" battle scene, and was copied in licensed coloring books and storybooks; the pose also showed up repeatedly in the Marvel Comics. In "Time Wars Part 2" (Marvel UK #200), artist Robin Smith copied the art multiple times across several subsequent panels. And it was, of course, recolored for Howlback's card-art.  Yikes.
 * Reportedly, Hasbro wanted to bring Ravage's Jaguar X-9 figure over to the States as part of the Beast Wars 10th Anniversary line, but they couldn't find the mold. Bummer.
 * According to the Young Corgi book Dinobot War, Ravage's cassette mode is labelled as the soundtrack to the musical Cats.
 * In the Japanese dub of the Generation 1 cartoon, all of Frank Welker's various growling and snarling sounds for Ravage were maintained and not redubbed with a Japanese voice actor (though Yutaka Shimaka did speak as Ravage during the character's one lone instance of dialogue in "More Than Meets the Eye, Part 3"). Frank Welker was not credited in the Japanese version, either. Jerks.