Packrat

Packrat is a Maximal from the Beast Wars portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

A two-bit thief with a conviction record six parsecs long!

Packrat is sneaky and generally untrustworthy. A renowned thief and narcissist, he's also a glory hound. Not only does he want to steal things, he wants the world to know about it and sing his praises. If he weren't so effective on the battlefield, he wouldn't be as tolerated by the other Maximals. That, and he tends to cause the Predacons more damage than his so-called colleagues. However, his overdeveloped self-interest may be his undoing—if he won't look after his teammates, why should they return the favor?^[1]

Fiction

3H comics

Voice actor: Scott McNeil (English)

Packrat will steal any MacGuffin. Even Furmanite. Especially Furmanite.

Back on Cybertron, Packrat was a no-good thief with a long record and ran afoul of the lawbot Devcon. Eventually he was busted, locked in a stasis pod, and shipped offworld in the Axalon for his crimes. Betrayal He'd end up stuck in the Beast Wars in a stinking rat body as a result.

Packrat was spying on the Predacon scientist Fractyl, overhearing his development of energon armor, and vowed to steal it from him. If he was successful, Packrat surmised, he would finally earn the respect he craved from Optimus Primal and the other Maximals—and get rid of his hated beast altmode.

Packrat refused to allow Devcon be the least-liked Wrecker.

Packrat escaped with the energon armor and tore through any Predacons in his way, handily blowing away Inferno with his newly enhanced powers. However, the armor was unstable and threatened to erupt in a cataclysmic explosion, destroying Packrat and any nearby. Rhinox convinced Packrat he would earn the respect he craved if he simply gave up the armor, saving himself and the others. Packrat conceded, and also helped out Fractyl by making it look like the peaceful Predacon had fought the Maximals off when Megatron arrived on the scene. Ground Zero

Packrat and Onyx Primal were in Predacon territory investigating a fallen meteorite when they stumbled across a Predacon "plot device". They fought over the artifact amongst themselves but were immediately attacked by Vice Grip and Fractyl. After Onyx Primal stashed the artifact in a rock crevice, a shadowy figure stole it and vanished.

The Predacons continued their attack, but Silverbolt and Rattrap appeared overhead to rescue the Maximals, even though they were mere "repaints". Vice Grip and Fractyl's defeat was followed by Optimus Primal's arrival. Packrat and Onyx Primal argued over whose fault it was the artifact was lost.

Ultimately, they blamed Megatron. Visitations

After the Beast Wars, the Earth-bound Packrat, now a Transmetal, witnessed Airazor and Tigatron's sparks return to Earth, and fly off to be granted new bodies of their own. Primeval Dawn II Afterwards, he followed Primal Prime and his band to Cybertron, where they found a planet overrun by Vehicons. Joining the ranks of the depleted Wreckers, he stole Nightscream's Deployers as the legendary task force was given marching orders from the Oracle itself. He and the Wreckers fought through an army of Vehicons to get to an old Autobot shuttle and escaped the planet, only to be smacked around by a Vehicon-form Devcon once they were away. Departure

When the aft of the shuttle was sabotaged with a plasma bomb explosion, Packrat suggested they hit the emergency release and ditch the damaged portion, even though Sonar, Spittor, and the Deployers were back there. Primal Prime, of course, dismissed the option, but Packrat, fearing for his own safety, hit the emergency release anyway, sentencing the separated crew members to their deaths. The Wreckers were quickly at Packrat's throat, but Primal Prime ordered the thief off his bridge and into containment.

Primal Prime directed the Wreckers to Archa Nine, the ninth planet in the Archa system, where they found a primitive people who worshipped the Divine Light, an object of great power. Later, when no one was watching, Packrat attempted to steal the object, but the Wrecker Cyclonus (who was secretly working for Cryotek) followed him, killed Packrat, and took the Divine Light for himself. Betrayal

2006 IDW Beast Wars continuity

Packrat has once encountered a rare substance, with which he experimented upon himself to make his exo-structure resistant to Energon overload. Beast Wars Sourcebook #3

Beast Wars: Uprising

Packrat was part of Cryotek's crew, the Minions of Unicron. During a heist with Escargon and Trans-Mutate, Packrat and Escargon kicked Trans-Mutate off their getaway vehicle to act as distraction for the police. Perception

When the Minions were forcibly absorbed into the Darksyders, Packrat hesitantly accepted his new boss, Megatron. His first job was to locate and acquire a working stasis pod. Packrat decided to target the ships at the Hydrax spaceport as a likely source of pods. He fleeced a cargo hauler named Powerhug at cards to get the Maximal in his debt. Then, Packrat clung to the underside of Powerhug to gain entry to the spaceport. He found a pod on board the Alchemor and maneuvered his find into the waste port and then out to the Rust Sea. Not All Megatrons

On a freelance mission, Packrat raided the Museum of Decepticon Heritage in Kaon. In addition to getting his sticky digits on a number of lucrative items, he also acquired the Stone of Sky Warp requested by his buyers. Cultural Appropriation

After the Vehicon Apocalypse, Packrat was scrounging for loot in the ruins of Proximax when he came across Tarantulas in an MCSF holding facility. He brought the former-PSP spider-bot before Megatron, who incorporated the scientist into his senior staff. Derailment

TransTech

On one reality's prehistoric Earth, Packrat was salvaging the relics of the concluded Beast Wars. He returned to the Maximal base one day when Thrustinator appeared, not showing up on Sentinel's sensors. Thrustinator offered to take Packrat to a Cybertron, but Packrat declined in favor of staying for the ultimate haul: the Ark. As Heinrad had determined Packrat to be a reality-destabilizing anomaly, Thrustinator forcibly disabled Packrat and took him through a multiversal portal to Axiom Nexus. Collections

Packrat managed to land himself the number four spot on "Cybertron's most wanted" list for his thieving ways. Stungun nearly caught him in Sector Vurnest 23, but Packrat gave the pursuing officer the slip. Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/06/12 He was later bumped down to number five on the "most wanted" list when the triple changer Battletrap became a higher priority for the local police force. Cybertron's Most Wanted

Packrat was eventually caught and put in the offworlder maximum security prison. When C-81 and his goons were locked up as well, Packrat goaded his cellmate Oilmaster to pick a fight with them. Packrat then came along and "talked down" Oilmaster in order to befriend the new arrivals. Scrounging about in the detritus within their cell, Packrat found a magne-current amplifier and concocted an escape plan. It is unknown whether or not Packrat's plan of shutting down their cell with the amplifier worked, as power went out for the entirety of Axiom Nexus moments after it was enacted.

Packrat used his animal instincts to lead the group out of the maze-like prison, and used one of his bombs to blast them an exit. When Cybertron's most wanted then exited the building, they found the entire city powered down. Taking advantage of the cover of darkness, they headed down into the city's tunnel network. There, they encountered the source of the power outage; a hive of Waruder invaders nestled deep underground. Finding themselves woefully outnumbered, the Cybertronians ran from the invaders. Packrat clung onto Battletrap's alternate modes for most of the chase. His attempt to bomb their pursuers only managed to draw more attention to themselves, but thankfully reinforcements soon arrived in the form of General Optimus Prime, Sergeant Hound, Lift-Ticket, and Burn Out. The lot of them fought side by side against the Waruders, but nonetheless found themselves overpowered. The fighting only came to an end when C-81 managed to grab hold of the Waruders' leader, and forced him to negotiate. The Waruder invasion was thwarted, and Packrat and his new pals were allowed to "slip away" as thanks for their part in the adventure. Though the rest of the group was happy to simply walk away, Packrat couldn't resist to urge to nab one of the cops' credit sticks, much to his teammates' disgruntlement. Cybertron's Most Wanted

Of Masters and Mayhem

Fractyl once knew "an information thief" who was part of a ring obsessed with breaking Shockwave's firewalls. Thanks to his experience with the thief's digital heists, Fractyl was able to break the encryption on the files from the lab where the Wreckers found Toxitron. Deadly Aim

2005 IDW continuity

Packrat was one of Onyx Prime's Maximals. When the Maximals invaded Cybertron, Packrat was one of the many warriors who wound up battling Arcee. Unforgivable

Games

Transformers Roleplaying Game

Packrat was a Maximal with a rat alternate mode. Technorganic Secrets

Toys

Beast Wars

If he's got solid gold paws, why's he gotta steal anything?

• Fractyl & Packrat (Multi-pack, 1997)

• Accessories: 2-part "Sonic Disruptor" pistol

Beast Wars Packrat is a blue, white, and gold redeco of the original Basic Class Rattrap, transforming into a large organic rat with a spring-loaded one-step transformation to robot mode, activated by pulling up his rat tail. His "Sonic Disruptor" pistol splits into two parts to store in his beast mode kibble. His blue plastic was given a sparkly sheen to simulate the "energon armor" effect from the accompanying "Ground Zero" comic book.

He was sold exclusively at BotCon 1997, packaged in a 2-pack with Fractyl.

• More information on Packrat at TFU.info

So what if he stole Rattrap's toy? He's a thief!

• Rattrap (Deluxe Transmetal, 1999)

• Accessories: Tail-whip

The first store-exclusive in the Beast Wars line, this version of Transmetal Rattrap was given a deep blue color scheme. He transforms from a 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. His beast mode tail becomes a whip for robot mode.

He was only available at Walmart stores, even having the Walmart logo emblazoned on the bubble as part of the design.

• More information on Walmart Rattrap at TFU.info

Timelines

The loot! The warrant!

• Cybertron's Most Wanted (Box set, 2015)

• Accessories: 2 blasters, demolition charge

Timelines "Maximal Packrat" is a redeco of Generations: Thrilling 30 Deluxe Class Rattrap. He has two blasters which can combine to form a larger rifle, and his left forearm opens to reveal a demolition charge which Rattrap used in "A Better Mousetrap", and Packrat used in "Cybertron's Most Wanted". The blaster can be stored securely in a slot between the robot's back and the backpack to simulate Packrat reaching behind his head to draw it. Additionally, he is jointed so that he can be standing upright in rat mode, much like Rattrap did in the television show, and extra fur-textured plastic is placed at the back of his neck so that it can close up the gap when his rat head is facing downwards. His tail is rubberized with a wire running through it, allowing it to be posed. Though, like most Deluxe Class Generations toys, he is tooled to have lightpiped eyes, his eyes are painted over in red.

As a redeco of Rattrap, the design flaw of an overly tight transformation joint in the shins still plagues this version of the mold.

Packrat was available exclusively in a BotCon 2015 five-figure box set, packaged with Shattered Glass Stepper, Battletrap, Megatron, and Oilmaster.

• More information on Packrat at TFU.info

Notes

• Scott McNeil's portrayal of Packrat in the "Visitations" script-reading was based on Ed Norton, the Honeymooners character played by Art Carney, to go along with Garry Chalk's Jackie Gleason-inspired voice for Onyx Primal. This was reportedly a spur-of-the-moment decision, arrived at about a minute before the presentation started.
• 3H members indicated that the story of how Fractyl (and the other non-show characters who appeared in "Visitations" and "Critical Mass") arrived on ancient Earth and why they weren't seen in the show would be later told, but this never happened. In The Wreckers #2, Devcon denigrates Packrat as "trash" likely to have been shipped off-planet in a stasis pod because he was a low-life back home. Packrat's conversion into a Transmetal body post-quantum surge agrees with this suggestion.
• Packrat's Transmetal form from the Wreckers comics was based entirely on the Wal-Mart exclusive version of Transmetal Rattrap. According to 3H staff, the blue coloration of the toy was a coincidence, and that their Hasbro contact who had okayed the exclusives realized that the toy could have been officially "Transmetal Packrat" very shortly after it was too late to make the change. So while there is no technically, clinically official Transmetal Packrat toy, many fans follow the Wreckers comics' repurposing of it.
• Revenge of the Fallen Nightbeat was originally conceived as an homage to Packrat, but marketing felt the name wouldn't appeal enough to kids.
• The original plan for the Packrat in "Cybertron's Most Wanted" was that he was a copy of the original 3H story Packrat; spacetime shockwaves from "Invasion" split him into two Packrats, à la Riker being duplicated in Star Trek, and years of solitude from being unknown and abandoned left him bitter. This was deemed too convoluted to fit into the story.^[2]
• Beast Wars: Uprising Packrat's design is based on the Prime Deluxe Class Rumble figure, as is that of Beast Wars: Uprising Rattrap.

References

External links

• Packrat's BotCon: Beyond profile on the BotCon Online archives