Rumble (G1)


 * Rumble is a Decepticon in the Generation 1 continuity family.



The label 'brat punk' isn't completely inaccurate. Rumble is your basic street punk. Small, but always acting tough as a cover. Quick tempered and of a generally mean disposition, he follows Megatron eagerly. Rumble has a tendency to toss out a taunting rhyme at his enemies and is, according to Brawn, a "jerk".

As the Decepticon demolitions expert, Rumble loves nothing more than to break things apart. His arms can transform into powerful piledrivers that, when pounded against the ground, can cause earthquakes, usually with fissures. He can be easily overpowered in a one-on-one match, though the real challenge, however, is actually getting to him first.

Italian name: Tremot

Marvel Comics continuity
(Events in italics occur in UK-only stories.)

Rumble's achievements in the comic amounted to not being able to see humans because they were too small, and getting his chassis handed to him by Omega Supreme. It took him a very long time to get better.

Animated continuity

 * Voice Actor: Frank Welker (English), Keiichi Nanba (Japanese -- See note below.)

(In the Japanese dub, the lesser-seen red Decepticon cassette, or our Frenzy, was indicated to be Rumble to more accurately reflect his toy colors.)

Rumble was one of the original Decepticon raiding party that crashed into Earth four million years ago aboard the Ark. Reawakened in 1984, he was reformatted into an audio cassette that fit snugly into Soundwave's chest compartment. Despite his small size (he was usually shown to be about the height of a tall human), he seemed to be on equal footing with most other Decepticons. No doubt this was due to his seismic power, which was used quite often (including once by Megatron when he had borrowed Rumble's power chip rectifier). A common Decepticon tactic was to use Rumble to use his earth-shaking abilities to agitate hydroelectric power sources, as the Decepticons did at Sherman Dam and Great Falls.

Assisted by his diminutive stature, Rumble was also responsible for stealing some of the cars that would later become the Stunticons.

Rumble was effectively doubled by his bodytype-brother Frenzy. Both had identical voices, personalities and abilities, though Rumble appeared alone more often than not.

Fairly prominent in Seasons One and Two, his appearances dwindled after the start of Season Three.

Generation 1

 * Rumble
 * Japanese ID number: 17, D-102
 * Rumble was part of the first wave of Transformers toys releaed in 1984. Using the same mold as a Microchange Microcassette Robo Micro, he was packaged with Ravage by Hasbro in 1984-1986, and with Soundwave by Takara from 1985-1986, and by himself in 1987.

Alternators

 * Rumble (Alternator, 2006)
 * Alternator ID number: 24 (misprint, should be 25)




 * For Alternators, Rumble transforms into a 1:24-scale licensed 2006 Honda Civic Si, with opening doors, hood, etc. Additionally, instead of traditional hands, Rumble features spring-loaded piledrivers that release from his arms.  Accessories include two back-mounted weapons, one of which doubles as his engine in car mode and the other which fits into his trunk.


 * Originally intended for normal retail release in the US, he and wave-mate Ravage got relegated to being Wal-Mart exclusives, released in late March of 2007. Both were available at normal retail in various European markets. He and Ravage are notable for being the first Decepticon Alternators to be entirely new molds, rather than an Autobot mold reworked to be someone else. At this time, they are also notable for possibly being the final Alternators toys.


 * Rumble's seats are mis-assembled, keeping them from reclining completely in car mode. To fix this, unscrew each seat from the bottom of the car, swap them, and then rescrew.

Trivia

 * On the G1 TV series, Rumble was represented with the colors of Frenzy's toy - that is, dark and medium blue, rather than red and black (and vice versa). This led to some confusion (and later, controversy) amongst fans. (See RIBFIR.)