Name: Ravage
Allegiance: Decepticons
Function: Saboteur
Sub-group: Cassette
Timeline: Generation 1
Today's Autobots are tomorrow's scrap metal.
Profile:
The sinister, snarling Ravage is one of Soundwave's most feared enforcers. He is a ruthless hunter who works best when hunting alone and under the cover of darkness, stalking enemies with lethal, murderous intent. Part of what makes Ravage so deadly is that his foes tend to underestimate him. He is surprisingly intelligent, often taking opponents off guard with unexpected and innovative strategies that bely his bestial form. Even the majority of the Decepticons underestimate Ravage's intelligence, given he mostly remains quiet and aloof at headquarters, only occasionally growling at someone who irritates him. But Megatron fully appreciates Ravage's intelligence, as well as his absolute dedication to the Decepticon ideology. Even moreso than Soundwave, Ravage is a hardline Decepticon loyalist who believes in serving Megatron without question, with every pulse of his spark. From the first moment Ravage's audio receptors heard Megatron's speeches, he was committed to following Megatron wherever he led - abandoning his previous, frail master to an ignomius fate to follow the Decepticon cause. His belief in the Decepticon ideology and his personal loyalty to Megatron has only grown with time, to the point he is fanatically loyal to Megatron, and trusted enough to be permitted to operate autonomously, following his own instincts. Because Ravage prefers to work alone, the majority of the Decepticons have no idea where he is when he is on a mission, only that he is fulfilling his deadly calling stalking some unfortunate Autobot victim. His incredible, lethal skills and absolute tenacity are widely respected by Decepticons, and feared by Autobots everywhere, who know to always check the shadows for this deadly jaguar.
Cassette mode:
Author notes:
In my mind, Ravage is defined by two things, both of which I've tried to capture here: his alternate form (particularly how he was a devastating, snarling cat bot in the cartoon) and his incredible loyalty, especially his personal loyalty to Megatron which comes out in the IDW comics and in his Beast Wars incarnation. In my eyes, the Beast Wars incarnation is the fate of Ravage - the endgame for him.
I also have a fondness for Ravage's original origin story. In the Marvel UK annual story "State Games" (the same story that set up Megatron as a former gladiator) we're told Ravage joined Megatron after foresaking his previous master, a frail Autobot overlord. I've aluded to this backstory here, with the reference to Ravage abandoning his frail master. In my mind, in this version the frail master would have been a senator rather than an overlord, to fit with the origin of Megatron and the Decepticons codified in the early 2010s by Transformers Prime and IDW.
Toys of Transformers Generation 1 Ravage
Transformers Masterpiece Ravage
This Masterpiece version of Ravage is a tiny marvel of engineering. I can't believe how well Takara-Tomy managed to make a little boxy shape like a cassette unfold into such a perfectly formed jaguar. It is the best rendition of Ravage at this scale, with some great poseability. Unfortunately the size means Ravage is a little fragile - I noticed a few cracks while editing these photos. It's a pity, because he's otherwise a perfect rendition of Ravage.
More information on Transformers Masterpiece Ravage at TFW2005
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Transformers Masterpiece toys in my collection.
