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Rattrap is a Maximal in the Beast Era portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Rattrap-S1

"We're all gonna die."

It's not so much that Rattrap is a coward... he just doesn't want to die. He's seen enough battles to know the score, so he's not afraid to tell his commanding officer to shove it if he's not fond of the odds. He prefers to sneak around unseen, in gutters or trenches or trash barges or what have you -- whatever keeps him out of harm's way. He shouldn't be so worried. When he does encounter conflict, he deals with it masterfully with the arsenal of guns and bombs he keeps on himself at all times. He feels naked without them.

It's hard to like Rattrap, especially if you're his commanding officer. He's sarcastic, irreverent, and rude. Plus he smells (why he smells is a mystery). He's also not the most trusting or forgiving sort, so he's not the best choice to take on a diplomatic run. He'd sooner shoot a Predacon or Decepticon than talk to him.


Italian name: Rattilus
Japanese name: Rattle


Fiction

Animated continuity

Timelines

Timelines-rattrap

I'm here until someone insists on replacing me with interior art!

Beast Wars

Voice actor: Scott McNeil (US), Kappei Yamaguchi (Japan)

Rattrap was a crewmember of the exploration ship Axalon when captain Optimus Primal got word that the Predacon criminal Megatron had stolen the Golden Disk and a ship with transwarp capabilities. The Axalon was the closest vessel that also possessed a transwarp drive, so Rattrap's ship was sent to engage them. After following the Predacons through a transwarp portal and appearing above a mysterious planet, both ships were damaged in the ensuing space battle, and before both ships crashed into the planet's surface below, the stasis pods carrying the rest of Rattrap's crew were ejected into orbit.

The planet was rich with energon -- so much so that prolonged exposure would short out their bodies, so the Maximals and Predacons were forced to take organic forms from the local creatures. Rattrap took the form of a rat. Rattrap was annoyed to be on an unknown planet with a young, inexperienced captain, and so he continually second-guessed Optimus Primal's command decisions. This made him few friends. Rattrap especially disliked Primal's decision to allow the Predacon Dinobot to join their team. Rattrap distrusted Dinobot and insulted him at every turn. Dinobot wantonly returned in kind, dressing down the "vermin."

File:Rattrapbw.jpg

"I know, I know - shut up Rattrap."

Dinobot and Rattrap's arguements quickly turned from irritation and chaos in the Maximal ranks to being the complete norm. After the Axalon crash-lands back on Earth due to the Predacon attack, Rattrap begins to insult Dinobot, claiming he was almost home on Cybertron. Optimus Primal remarks, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Soon, Rattrap and Dinobot were surprised to find they were actually friends, their constant ribbing at each other becoming a strange companionship. This love-hate relationship was disrupted when Dinobot temporarily returned to the Predacon side. Dinobot's heroic sacrifice to save the future, however, truly moved Rattrap, and he honestly misses his friend. Code of Hero

Beast Machines

Voice actor: Scott McNeil (US), Katsuhei Yamaguchi (Japan)

Gary Coleman on a Segway.

After the Beast Wars ended, the Maximals finally made it back to Cybertron, only to find Tankor drones scanning every trace of the planet. When they notice the Maximals, they shot containers holding a transformation virus gas at them, devolving them back into their organic beast forms and erasing any prior memory of the event. Eventually Rattrap joined up with Cheetor, Blackarachnia and Optimus Primal, who led them to the Oracle which reformatted them into their techno-organic bodies. It took a while for Rattrap to learn to transform again. He even used a counter-viruss Megatron designed for transforming, but it made Rattrap lose control of his transformations. When Botanica joined the Maximals, Rattrap fell in love with her, and she fell in love with him, all the way through the end of the war. Sadly, Rattrap never used his legs in the series, showing him only as a wheeling robot.

Universe

Rattrap legs

Legs! Precious, beautiful legs!

Rattrap was among the Maximals gathered at Memorial Spaceport to welcome the wayward Autobots Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Trailbreaker, Roulette and Shadow Striker back to Cybertron approximately one year after the reformatting of Cybertron, and bore witness to their abduction by Unicron. Later, he was attacked on Cybertron by Blackarachnia, who had also been abducted and corrupted by the chaos-bringer, but was saved by the recently-resurrected Depth Charge.

Beast Wars Metals manga

11rattrap

This is why Japan shouldn't touch the fiction. No, really, thanks, guys. We've got it.

(Note: though it picks up after the first season, the Beast Wars Metals manga is not in-continuity with the television series.)

While Rattrap retained much of his sarcastic, obnoxious-nature in the Japanese dub of the TV series, he was played quite a bit younger or more childishly irritating.

To piggy-back on the popularity of the Pokemon phenomenon of the late '90s, or perhaps just to parody it, Rattrap's beast mode was redesigned to heavily resemble Pikachu for the Beast Wars Metals manga. While many characters received "humorous" redesigns for the manga, Rattrap's remains the most reviled.

Beast Wars Transmetals games

Legends anthology

Toys

Beast Wars

  • Rattrap (Basic, 1996/1997)
Japanese ID number: C-5, VS-5
Part of the first wave of Beast Wars product, Rattrap transforms from a large rat to robot mode with a spring-action one-step transformation. His beast mode "shell" halves each hide a part of his handgun.
In Japan, the initial releases of Rattrap were identical to the Hasbro version, and were made available both as an individual and in a two-pack with Terrorsaur. At the very end of the Japanese Beast Wars line (early 1997), several toys were given altered decos to make them more show-like. For Rattrap, this mainly meant his robot-mode head got a humongous glob of shiny-copper paint (that didn't really match his copper plastic in tone). It is unknown if this version was also available as a two-pack.
This mold was also used to make Packrat.
  • Rattrap (Deluxe Transmetal, 1998/1999)
Japanese ID number: C-43
Part of the second wave of Deluxe Transmetals, Rattrap transforms from semi-organic robot to a robotic rat. He has a third "beast-vehicle" form, folding his hind feet up into the extending rear wheels, flipping up his front legs, and pulling out a pair of exhaust pipes (eyuw, the smell!). His beast-mode tail becomes a whip for robot mode. Despite the show's portrayal, his hubcaps are not removable, nor does he have a handgun. Transmetal Rattrap is one of several toys notable for being subject to severe chrome-flaking over time.
There is a minor variant to this toy: about midway through the production run, a small "catch" was added to the neck's swivel joint to lock his robot head in place in robot mode. This retooled version was then used for all subsequent releases of the toy.
For the Japanese Beast Wars Metals release, the chrome was given a much more maroon tone, among other minor deco changes. Also, the "RATTRAP" tampograph on his beast-mode back was changed to "CYBERTRON" with the Maximal faction symbol.
  • Rattrap (Deluxe Transmetal, 1999)
The first store-exclusive Transformer in the Beast Wars line, Transmetal Rattrap was given a deep blue color scheme and was only available at Wal-Mart stores.
This toy was later retconned into a Transmetal form for Packrat.
  • Metals Rattle Special Version (Pack-in Deluxe, 1999)
The Deluxe Transmetal Rattrap toy was given a white and orange deco, and packed in with a 500-piece Beast Wars Metals jigsaw puzzle from Central Hobby.
  • Rattrap (Deluxe Transmetal, 2000)
As part of the second "Fox Kids" Transmetals series, this version of Rattrap was one of the last releases in the original retail Beast Wars line. The toy got a more primary red color scheme, with bright gray robot-bits and deep blue chrome.
This toy was released in Japan as part of a convention-exclusive set (without changes) along with the "Fox Kids" Transmetals Airazor and Cheetor. (Which covention is unknown at this time.)
  • Rattrap (10th Anniversary, 2006)
Part of the second wave of Beast Wars 10th Anniversary product, the Transmetal Rattrap toy was given a slight deco modification, mainly a brighter gray plus a Maximal sigil on his chest. He came with the right arm to the "build-a-bot" Trans-Mutate, plus a DVD of the episode "A Better Mousetrap".

Beast Machines

  • Rattrap (Mega, 2001/2005)
Japanese ID number: BR-03
The last release in Beast Machines before that change to the "Battle for the Spark" packaging (reportedly Rattrap was delayed for redesign purposes), Rattrap transforms into a large technorganic rat. In beast mode, turning his tail moves his head and ears. In robot mode, he has a flip-down visor and moving jaw. His robot legs can also fold up so he can use his wheels, which also have flip-out blades. His beast tail becomes a hand-held whip.
This toy was later released as part of the Takara-exclusive Beast Wars Returns line, made available only at Japanese Toys "R" Us stores. So far, it appears that there are no notable differences between the Hasbro and Takara versions aside from packaging.
  • Rattrap (Happy Meal, 2000)
Part of the Beast Machines McDonald's Happy Meal promotion, Rattrap transforms into a technorganic rat modeled more after the cartoon model than the toy. As such, his robot mode does not have normal legs, only extendable wheels.
  • Rattrap (Kids' meal, 2000)
The McDonald's Happy Meal Rattrap was also released in Australia through the Red Rooster restaurant rai- uh, chain. Like the other three pieces used, it came in four color schemes: the original colors (with opaques replacing the transparents), a reversed red-with-green, a deep blue with very light blue, and a light blue with deep blue. These versions of the mould were retooled from the original, removing almost all arm articulation (and a step in the transformation) and reducing the number of parts and plastic colours used by the toy.

Timelines

  • Dawn of Future's Past (Multi-pack, 2006)
"Axalon Rattrap" is a redeco of Cybertron Ransack, transforming into a Cybertronic motorcycle. Plugging a Cyber Planet Key --or in this set's case, a Golden Disc Key-- into the rear portion of his bike mode flips out a pair of non-firing guns. This assembly detaches to form a hand-held blaster in robot mode. It's also worth noting that this is the only version of the Cybertron Ransack mold to have the "correct" rear wheel assembly postion. He has his own "Golden Disc Key" to activate his gun.
Rattrap came in a boxed 5-pack with "Axalon" versions of Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Rhinox and "Darksyde" Dinobot. This set was also made available as a bagged set in more limited numbers.

Merchandise

Trivia

Concept-Rattrap

Handi-capable!

  • In an extremely strange precursor of things to come in Beast Machines, Mainframe's original concept for Rattrap during Beast Wars was to capitalize on the exposed "brain" of the toy and make Rattrap a deeply flawed character. Originally, Rattrap's scanning and transformation technology was to fail, leaving him basically half-formed, with an exposed brain, wiring, "veins", an assymetrical body, arms of uneven lengths, and malformed organic sections in robot mode. On top of all that, he was hooked up to a "colostomy bag-like heating cable" to stress his need for life support. Rattrap's overall story arc would have been, of course, about him accepting and overcoming his near fatal flaws. This approach was entirely nixed by the limits of CGI in rendering convincing organic innards at the time... and the fact that his model would have been massively far off from the actual toy probably also factored into it. However, the idea of a defective transformer was later revisited in season 2 with the introduction of Transmutate.
  • On Transmetal Wal-Mart Rattrap/Packrat: According to 3H, they were on the phone discussing exclusives with their at-the-time Hasbro contact, when he (the Hasbro guy) realized that the not-yet-released blue Wal-Mart Rattrap could have been named Packrat. However, it was a few days too late to make the change without a massive production delay. Had he simply been looking at the right wall of his office a few days earlier, which had the Packrat/Fractyl box-set on it...


External Links


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