Ro-Tor (RID)

Ro-Tor is a Decepticon Commando originally from the Robots in Disguise continuity family.

"The samurai of sincerity!"

Sneering from his place in the sky, Ro-Tor literally and figuratively looks down on everyone else. Smarmy and arrogant, he enjoys sniping at the largely ground-based Autobots with both words and plasma fire. Capable of near-silent flight and incredible maneuverability, he loves a good sneak attack. In robot mode, he can use both rotor blades as deadly cutting weapons; the rotor on his back detaches to become a massive shuriken, while the attached blade on his right arm gives him an extra edge in up-close melee combat. He forms half of the Decepticon Commandos' air force, though he'd probably say he's the only good part of it... a position the ground forces are quite likely to agree with.

In his downtimes, he enjoys taking a nice, hot, open-air bath with a good view.

Fiction

Cartoon continuity

2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon

Voice actor: Neil Kaplan (English), Masao Harada (Japanese), Alexandr Novikov (Russian, till Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion!), Vladimir Gerasimov (Russian, from Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion!), José Luis Orozco (Latin-American Spanish)

Ro-Tor was originally one of a group of Autobots led by Scourge, who traveled to Earth in a protoform state. Their ship crashed, and years later was dug up by a group of Predacons under Megatron's leadership. Taken to McKinley Army Base, the Predacons scanned army vehicles as Megatron infused them with his spark energy. Dark Scream had Ro-Tor's protoform scan a helicopter, to give their forces some air support. Though the newly born-Decepticons were ready to fight, Megatron ordered them to retreat so they could re-power. The Decepticons The new troops' first mission was to destroy a dam, allowing Ro-Tor to utilise his sting blades. They planted pulsar bombs on Sherman Dam, however when Sky-Byte took control of the bombs, preventing them from firing, the ground-based Commandos blasted a hole in the dam and ended up grappling with the freed Autobot Brothers. Ro-Tor and Movor attempted to provide air support, but were attacked by the newly arrived Team Bullet Train. When the trains formed Rail Racer, the Commandos responded by forming Ruination, however the combined power of the Autobots was too much for them and they were forced to retreat. Commandos

The Commandos unsuccessfully fought against the Spychangers on Montrose Island Volcano after which they substituted Movor for a real space shuttle, shooting the Decepticon into orbit so he could try to find the Autobots' secret base. Although Ro-Tor was pleased at the brilliance of the plan, they had little success. Eventually Movor sent the Commandos to Pier 7B, where the Autobots sprung a trap. Things went downhill from there. Attack from Outer Space

Toy accurate and helpful around the house!

The next cunning plan was to try to make the Autobots think that the Decepticons were defecting. The Autobot Brothers tested them by forcing them to do various menial tasks, which they threw themselves into in an attempt to lull the Autobots into a false sense of security. Ro-Tor went along with the plan, announcing happily he could sweep the forest all day long, and that beautifying Metro City was hugely rewarding. His efforts were all for naught, as Scourge lost his temper at the last minute, giving the game away and resulting in Optimus Prime chasing the Decepticons off. The Test The Decepticons later interrupted one of Sky-Byte's plans, and Ro-Tor was able to snatch a disk which appeared to be a map to the Global Space Bridge system. Unfortunately when they used it, it turned out to be a map of the local sewer system, and the Decepticons found themselves on the business end of Optimus's blizzard storm. Wedge's Short Fuse

When once again, X-Brawn slipped through the Decepticons' fingers using the Global Space Bridge, Ro-Tor was able to track Grimlock, one of the Build Team, to the space bridge control center. The Decepticons broke into the center and Scourge sabotaged it to send the Autobots to random locations. Soon Ro-Tor was trashing a rail bridge somewhere Metro City, in an attempt to lure the Autobots into using the space bridge. It wasn't long before the Build Team realised what had happened, defeated the Commandos and repaired the space bridge. Landfill Later the Decepticons attempted to intercept Optimus Prime, who they believed was taking the O-Parts to Sky-Byte, however even combining into Ruination didn't help them and the Autobot leader was barely slowed down. Sky-Byte Saves the Day

This happens in lots of anime, but the offending chest is usually much softer.

After their raid on the East Power Station was foiled by the Build Team, the Commandos resolved to get their revenge on the Autobots. To this end, they started attacking construction sites in an attempt to goad the Build Team into fighting them. Eventually they drew the Build Team out and engaged them in combat. Heavy Load was able to pin Ro-Tor to the ground, however Mega-Octane took Wedge hostage, turning the battle in the Decepticons' favour. At least until Landfill led Ruination into an oil-filled cavern and ignited it, blasting the Commandos into the ocean. A Test of Metal

A later raid on an oil refinery went better—while the Autobot Brothers did turn up, they were prevented from stopping the Decepticons by the arrival of Ultra Magnus. Still, the Decepticons only got a portion of the fuel and, at Megatron's orders, set up a trap for the Autobot Brothers. Instead they got Ultra Magnus, whose fighting skills outclassed theirs. Even forming Ruination didn't help, and the Decepticons were forced into a retreat with the arrival of Optimus Prime. Ultra Magnus Back in the Megastar, they watched the fight between Optimus and Ultra Magnus, as Movor spied on it from orbit. Though Optimus lost, he was taken by the other Autobots to an island to recuperate, and Megatron and his troops went there to finish the job. Despite the Commandos forming Ruination, they were no match for Omega Prime, the combined form of Optimus and Ultra Magnus, and retreated hastily. Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion!

During a meeting between Sky-Byte and Ultra Magnus, Ro-Tor fired a net at the Autobot Brothers, and missed. Luckily Rollbar was able to pick up the slack and capture the three Autobots, but you can bet Ro-Tor was hearing about it for a long while afterward. With the Autobot Brothers captive, the Decepticons and Megatron were able to inflict some punishment on Optimus and Rail Racer, who were unable to fight back. Unfortunately Ultra Magnus rescued the three brothers, and Megatron's forces were soon in retreat once again. The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus Ro-Tor joined Scourge, Sky-Byte, Megatron, and the rest of the Commandos in watching archival footage of Ultra Magnus in order to get a better understanding of their newly arrived enemy. Mystery of the Ultra Magnus Scourge attempted to get Ultra Magnus to join him in destroying Optimus, but Magnus turned him down, resulting in the Decepticons springing a trap on the Autobot. Though Side Burn and Prowl attempted to help Magnus, the renegade Autobot promptly left them to it, and they were little match for Ruination. Of course, the arrival of Optimus and return of Magnus turned things pretty firmly back in the Autobots' favour, and the Decepticons retreated once again. Power to Burn!

More information was gleaned from the captured Doctor Onishi's mind—there were strange ruins beneath Metro City which emanated powerful energy. The Decepticons set out to find the ruins and promptly ran into the Spychangers. While Armorhide and Rollbar were left to take care of them, the rest of the Decepticons went on and ran into Railspike and Rapid Run in a subway tunnel. Movor and Ro-Tor stayed to keep them pinned down while Scourge and Mega-Octane continued on, however Ultra Magnus turned up and accidentally flooded the tunnel. The two Decepticons found themselves being washed away along with Team Bullet Train, eventually being flushed into the cavern containing the ruins where they were reunited with the other Decepticons. They combined into Ruination to fight the Autobots while Scourge headed for the ruins, unleashing Fortress Maximus. Fortress Maximus Chased off by Fortress Maximus's defense systems, the Commandos formed Ruination to keep Rail Racer busy while Scourge made a second attempt to access Maximus. Koji Gets His Wish

"Movor is such a dork he... He's behind me isn't he?"

With the hunt for the O-Parts on, the Decepticons confronted the Autobot Brothers and Build Team, who had found an O-Part, and demanded they hand it over. The Autobots promptly disappeared through the Global Space Bridge, starting a game of cat and mouse. The Decepticons eventually cornered them in Egypt, however Sky-Byte's bungling made recovering the O-Parts impossible. A Friendly Contest Spying from space, Movor spotted the Autobots in the Sahara Desert, and Megatron and the Decepticons arrived in time to attack Side Burn. Venturing into the subterranean ruins, they found the Autobots had located the Orb of Sigma, and the Decepticons fought them while Megatron went for the Orb. Ultimately they were unsuccessful and, with the loss of Megatron, the Decepticons retreated back to the Megastar. Peril from the Past

Without Megatron's leadership, the Decepticons had a lot more freedom to do what they wanted. They tracked the Autobots to an old temple, where they were able to snatch Cerebros, the key to controlling Fortress Maximus, away with the help of the Predacons. Rollbar and Ro-Tor were able to locate Maximus himself in Metro City and, despite the Autobots attempting to defend the giant, Scourge was able to use Cerebros to activate him. The Commandos combined into Ruination during the following battle, however Scourge's lack of ability to control Maximus and the return of Megatron as Galvatron resulted in the Decepticons retreating. Maximus Emerges

A second attempt in the desert to control Maximus, with Ruination providing backup, didn't go any better The Human Element and during a third attempt, Scourge's treachery was revealed to Galvatron. Mistaken Identity This resulted in Galvatron forcibly reprogramming all of the Decepticons to obey his will, and putting them under the command of Sky-Byte for an assault on Autobot headquarters. Pursuing the fleeing Optimus Prime, the Decepticons and Predacons were led into a trap, though the arrival of the Megastar and Fortress Maximus rendered them superfluous anyway. They watched as Maximus defeated the Megastar, and Galvatron fell lifeless to the ground. Surprise Attack! Galvatron was not out, however, and the Decepticons defended him while he drained energy from Fortress Maximus. He sent Ruination and Scourge into the Global Space Bridge after the retreating Autobots, before himself flooding the tunnel with lava by rupturing the tunnel wall. Galvatron's Revenge They survived the lava, only to be swiftly defeated by the Autobot forces. After Galvatron's defeat, they were shipped off to the asteroid prison colony with Galvatron and the Predacons. The Final Battle

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Unite Warriors

Following their capture, Ro-Tor and the other combining Combatrons were brought to a future Cybertron and sentenced to be reverted into protoforms to cleanse them of their evil programming and, to their horror, identities. They were brought to safety by the Unicron of 2021, who transported them into the past and granted them new bodies in exchange for helping him attach his disembodied head to the planet's surface. During the battle with the local Autobot forces, Ro-Tor cut through enemy ranks with his "Hepter Cross", a rotor attack that flung energy blades all over the place. Upon connecting Unicron's head to the planet, the Combatrons learned that the dark god had no intention of letting them go free, but rather planned to change this past and undo the future they hailed from! In order to avoid being erased from existence, the team combined into Ruination and turned on Unicron. Ruination Chapter, Part One After Unicron was defeated thanks to the efforts of Ruination and other combiners, the Combatrons returned to the future with Scourge and Sky-Byte, seeking to rescue their leader Gigatron. Ruination Chapter, Part Two

Stopping by Earth, the group occupied a bathhouse to discuss their strategy while enjoying a bath. Movor, Ro-Tor and Sky-Byte were embarrassed to find Kelly peeking at them. Strategy Meeting in an Earth Bath?!

Legends comic

They recovered the starship they'd once arrived on Earth with and used it to attack Neo Brave Maximus where Gigatron was being held. To the Combatrons' shock, however, Gigatron had turned to the side of good and drained Scourge of his evil essence. LGEX Scourge Prologue

Ro-Tor and the remaining Combatrons fled to the Legends World. The militant and determined Scourge, now dedicated to the Autobot cause, pursued the Combatrons. One by one, the Combatrons were captured and forcibly reformatted like Scourge to serve the Dimensional Patrol. Dark Ai escaped their dragnet, prompting Scourge and the Dimensional Patrol to insist on staying in the Legends World indefinitely, to the chagrin of its inhabitants. The Axalon Trading Company helped Dark Ai restore Scourge based on a copy of his original personality in order to get rid of the occupying armed forces. When Scourge was restored, he went on to restore Ro-Tor and the others as well. Bonus Edition Vol. EX

Scourge and the other Combatrons continued traveling together with Dark Ai, seeking their own destiny. Epiloge

Universe comic

The Ro-Tor of Viron 704.31 Epsilon came under the command of Megazarak after the death of Megatron. However, the Commandos, Constructicons, and Megabolt were abducted by Unicron for the Universe War. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/30

As part of Ruination, Ro-Tor was sent by Unicron along with Reptilion, Sunstorm, and Perceptor to intercept some extra-dimensionals Unicron wanted for the Cauldron. Ruination's group was successfully fought off by the Children of Primus. Voice Actor Drama

Ask Vector Prime

Bio Ranger Iga selected a Viron Ruination from Greengard to be one of his Thirteen Great Demon Generals. Presumably Ro-Tor was part of this Ruination. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/27

Beast Wars: Uprising

During the Grand Uprising, Ro-Tor and his team of Resistance Commandos volunteered for augmentation into K-Class living bombs. Deemed only a last resort, the Commandos were retrofitted to transform into massively destructive weapons of annihilation, with the core bombs inside them linked to their very sparks. At maximum detonation, a K-Class could effectively end the world.

The Resistance enjoyed stellar cycles of victory that made any use of the K-Class troopers seem unrealistic. That all changed with the Vehicons. These anti-spark drones assimilated other proto-formers on contact, spreading their nano-plague exponentially. Two Resistance city-states had already fallen before High Command learned of the third. Ro-Tor and three fellow Commandos (Jeepers, Dangar, and Movor) were selected to cauterize the infection, wiping the cities off the map before the plague spread. Movor missed his target, however, and the Vehicons of Protihex survived.

Lio Convoy marched the entire army of the Resistance on Iacon, hoping to force the Builder Assembly to surrender and deactivate the Vehicons. When the Vehicons turned on their masters and began assimilating Builders as well, however, any hope of stopping the Vehicon Apocalypse seemed lost. Out of options, Lio Convoy summoned Ro-Tor and prepped him for detonation, a desperate action designed to destroy the planet before the Vehicons could spread to other worlds. At a Level 10, Ro-Tor would tear a hole through the heart of Cybertron itself.

Before he could be activated, however, Eject and Riker arrived from the Builders with intel on the Vehicons and their staging ground in the Grand Mal of Nova Cronum. In defiance of a reluctant Lio Convoy, Ro-Tor insisted they take advantage of this chance, rather than allow himself to be used to destroy his homeworld. Lio Convoy was chagrined, and agreed to make for Nova Cronum with Ro-Tor and a small team at his side.

The Resistance made for the Grand Mal, with Ro-Tor joining Lio Convoy on the mission as a last resort. Furthermore, he insisted Lio Convoy reset him to Level 2, ensuring he could not be used as a world-killer anymore. A small commando unit infiltrated the fortress and separated. As Lio Convoy slipped away with Blackarachnia to confront Galva Convoy, creator of the Vehicons, Ro-Tor went with Razorbeast and Apexus to cause a distraction and lure the Vehicon hordes away from their commanders. Lio Convoy defeated Galva Convoy, at great personal cost, but the wizard behind the curtain peeked out, and Lord Imperious Delirious seized control of the Grand Mal when his puppet had fallen. Blackarachnia sent the last of the commandos to carry the prone Lio Convoy to safety while she and Ro-Tor made their way towards engineering. Ro-Tor intended to use his K-Class mode to destroy the engineering section, but his sacrifice was stopped by the Ex-Bot called Rampage. Having his own score to settle with Delirious, Rampage ripped the core bomb out of Ro-Tor and tore open his own chest, affixing the bomb to his spark. Rampage insisted on no more sacrifices, and urged Ro-Tor and Blackarachnia to the exits. Quickly. The Point One Percenter detonated the core bomb, allowing Ro-Tor to live on. Derailment

Velocitron Speedia 500

Ro-Tor was one of many spectators for the Speedia 500 race on Velocitron. Velocitron Speedia 500 Part 2

Games

Transformers Roleplaying Game

Ro-Tor was a member of the Commandos. Decepticon Directive

Toys

Robots in Disguise (2001)

Car Robots Hepter

Robots in Disguise Ro-Tor

• Hepter (2000)
• Ro-Tor (Basic Class, 2001)

• Takara ID number: D-009
• Takara release date: July ??, 2000
• Accessories: Left & right vehicle cannons, pistol

A redeco of the "Generation 1" Vortex toy, Robots in Disguise Ro-Tor transforms into a Kaman Aerospace SH-2 Seasprite helicopter. He has a pair of large, non-firing cannons that clip onto the back end of his copter mode, plus a pistol that becomes a nose-mounted gun. While his rotor blade assembly is removable, there's not really much of anything he can do with it once popped off. As the toy uses the "Scramble City" style of connection, he can form any limb to any combination of similar robots, though naturally, he normally forms a limb to the combined robot Ruination; as the left arm in the more-common "Flight Mission" mode, or the right leg for "Land Mission" mode.

He was first released in the fifth assortment of Takara's Car Robots line in 2000 as "Hepter".

In 2001, Hasbro released the toy in the third wave of Robots in Disguise "Basic" toys as "Ro-Tor", with a host of deco changes. The Takara Hepter's metallic blue plastic was replaced with a flatter, richer dark-blue. Ro-Tor lost Hepter's white "underbelly" paint spray, added red arrow-markings to the vehicle sides, and replaced the "Anti-Cybertron" symbol with the Decepticon emblem. Hasbro's stock photography shows red paint on the ends of the large rotor blades, but these were ultimately lacking in the final product.

• More information on Ro-Tor at TFU.info

• Baldigus (Multi-pack, July 2000)

• ID number: D-011
• Release date: July ??, 2000
• Accessories: Left & right vehicle cannons, pistol

In Japan, Ro-Tor/Hepter was also made available as part of a complete team multi-pack with his teammates Dangar, Dolrailer, Greejeeber, and Shuttler. All toys were identical to their individual Japanese releases, but the set only came with a bio card for the combined form.

Sonokong also released this gift set in Korean markets with no differences other than the packaging.

• Ruination (Ultra Class multi-pack, 2003)

• Takara release date: September 26, 2003
• Accessories: Left & right vehicle cannons, pistol

The entire Commando team was redecoed in various shades of gray with "urban camo" patterns as part of a Walmart-exclusive gift set, with an extensive number of robot mode paint applications. This set was oddly released well after the end of the normal Robots in Disguise line in packaging that was in the style of the then-running Armada toyline.

This set was made available in Japan as a "USA Edition" release, available only to retailers participating in Toy's Dream Project's "Toy Card" program. This release uses the same packaging as the Hasbro version, only with some added stickers for "USA Edition" branding and other legal information.

• More information on Walmart Ro-Tor at TFU.info

Universe (2003)

• Ruination (Ultra Class multi-pack, 2004)

• Accessories: Left & right vehicle cannons, pistol

The entire Ruination team was redecoed again to make another Walmart exclusive set, this time with a unified "desert camo" theme under the Universe banner. It came out at the same time as five other Walmart Transformers exclusives, which led to a glut. Ruination seemed a particularly slow mover in this batch.

• More information on Universe Ro-Tor at TFU.info

Unite Warriors

• Baldigus (Giftset, 2017)

• ID number: UW-EX
• Release date: March 31, 2017
• Accessories: Chaingun, pistol

Unite Warriors Hepter is a redeco of Combiner Wars Deluxe Class Vortex (makes sense!), transforming into a helicopter that resembles an Aerospatiale Dauphin, though this release uses the four-bladed rotor retool from Vortex's Unite Warriors release rather than the Hasbro version's two-bladed rotor. Along with the mold's standard chaingun, he also comes with a redeco of Unite Warriors Mixmaster's gun.

As a Combiner Wars Deluxe-sized figure mold, he can combine with any compatible Voyager Class torso to form a super-robot limb, though once again he is meant to combine with his box-set-mates Dangar, Dolrailer, Greejeeber, and Shuttler to form Baldigus.

Reportedly, some samples of this toy come with two left arms, so it's bit of a crapshoot if you want a perfect Hepter.

Notes

• Ro-Tor has the most He-Manny/GoBotty name in Transformersdom.
• When providing Ro-Tor's English dub voice, actor Neil Kaplan sounds like he's doing an impression of Jerry Houser.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Hepter (ヘプター Heputā), Ro-Tor (ローター Rōtā)
• Korean: Hepter (헵터 Hepteo)