Transformers - Generation 1

He did not appear in an episode of any Transformers cartoon. His only appearance in fiction was in the Marvel comic but more so than his fellow Triggercons; Ruckus being the most interesting of the three. Although he was shown to love fighting, writer Simon Furman

Simon Furman

Simon Christopher Francis Furman is a comic book writer, particularly associated with of a number of notable Transformers comics for Marvel UK, Marvel US, Dreamwave, and most recently, IDW...

 also provided extra characteristic traits to his personality - that of a single-minded warrior who lived to destroy, lacking any sort of grand ambition of his own with a weakness of speaking his mind in even the most inappropriate of situations. This trait was most likely developed upon from the story in which Ruckus made his first appearance - U.S. #48 The Flames of Boltax; written by Bob Budiansky

Bob Budiansky

Bob Budiansky is an American comic book writer, editor, and penciller, best known for his work on Marvel's Transformers comic. He also created the Marvel character Sleepwalker and wrote all 33 issues of that comic.-Career:...

 where his character was limited to only one line and a response from Megatron.

Ruckus' Marvel and Dreamwave Bios have provided more information on him: here he was revealed to have been little more than an unimportant courier in Megatron's service - until the day he managed to warn his Decepticon brethren of an Autobot ambush using his vocal chips - the only part of him that still functioned. A delighted Megatron had him rebuilt into a much larger body, which in turn led to Ruckus becoming one of the bravest and brashest Decepticons around.

Marvel Comics

Ruckus and his fellow Triggercons made their first appearance in a flashback to the early days of the war on Cybertron, where they were recruited by Megatron to follow Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime is a fictional character from the Transformers franchise. Prime is the leader of the autobots, a faction of transforming robots from the planet Cybertron. The autobots are constantly waging war against a rival faction of transforming robots called Decepticons...

 and discover his plans with Circuitmaster Boltax. On discovering Prime with the Underbase the Decepticons attacked, but were forced to retreat when the Underbase was launched by Prime to avoid the Decepticons capturing its power for themselves.

Much later, after the disappearance of the Ark

Ark (Transformers)

The Ark is an Autobot spacecraft in the Transformers Universe. It has appeared as a central fixture of the Transformers storyline ever since its creation, as the Autobots main method of transport to Earth and as a base once they arrive....

 and the recommencement of the war on Earth Ruckus and the other Triggercons were under the command of the Triumverate, a trio of lazy and incompetent Decepticons who were more interested in gladiator games than winning the war with the Autobots. Ruckus and the others waited for the opportunity to rebel and seized their chance when Megatron (actually a Straxus

Straxus

Lord Straxus is a fictional character from the Transformers series. A toy based on his Marvel comic appearance was released in 2010 under the name Darkmount.-Marvel Comics:Straxus was the Decepticon governor of a province of Cybertron known as Polyhex...

 created clone of the original) arrived and bested the Triumverate's warriors, saving him from an assassination attempt. Unfortunately for them, Megatron's first commands to them were to find more competent minions. Subsequently Ruckus, now commanding a group of Decepticons, was dispatched to Earth to find the missing Thunderwing

Thunderwing

Thunderwing is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers series. Introduced in 1989, he was a major villain in the Marvel Comics Transformers series. Although Thunderwing was created after the US Transformers television series ended, the character of Black Shadow did appear in...

. Thunderwing then forcibly took command of the group and led them into a suicide mission against the Ark, much to Ruckus' displeasure. He managed to talk Thunderwing out of it though.

Returning to Cybertron and forced into an uneasy alliance with the Autobot Pretenders

Pretenders (Transformers)

Pretenders is a subline within the Transformers toy line, introduced in 1988. The concept behind the toy was that the Transformers were capable of disguising their robotic forms through the use of synthetic organic outer shells.-Cloudburst:...

 to battle subterranean demons, in the U.S. comics Ruckus fell under Thunderwing's command again to pursue the quest for the Autobot Matrix of Leadership

Autobot Matrix of Leadership

The Matrix of Leadership or Creation Matrix in the fictional Transformers universes is the Autobot talisman of legend, passed down from leader to leader. It consisted of an oval-shaped container, holding a glowing crystal. To open the Matrix is to release an unpredictable wave of power from the...

. However he rapidly grew uneasy about his superior's increasing mental instability. Openly voicing his displeasure on several occasions, he was usually punished for it, on one occasion being consigned to guard duty on the Decepticon battleship, inadvertently letting Autobot captives escape. Having seen Thunderwing's insanity first hand, the Ruckus-led Decepticons did nothing to aid him in his final battle with the Autobots. Ruckus then surrendered to the Autobots. He was not seen again.

Ruckus appeared among the Decepticons under the command of Galvatron in the alternate future story "Aspects of Evil 2" from Marvel U.K. Transformers #224. In this story Rodimus Prime remembered how Galvatron, Crankcase, Ruckus and Windsweeper killed Blurr and then attacked Rodimus Prime, Kup, Arcee and the Battle Patrol. Enraged, Rodimus nearly Galvatron, but to keep the Matrix from being contaminated by hatred he relented. Oddly the Micromaster Battle Patrol was depicted as being full sized Autobots in this story.

IDW Publishing

Ruckus appeared in IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...

's The Transformers: Stormbringer

The Transformers: Stormbringer

The Transformers: Stormbringer is a comic book mini-series, published by IDW Publishing.The series debuted in July, 2006 and is set during the same time frame as The Transformers: Infiltration...

 mini-series as part of the Decepticon infiltration cell on Nebulos. When Thunderwing

Thunderwing

Thunderwing is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers series. Introduced in 1989, he was a major villain in the Marvel Comics Transformers series. Although Thunderwing was created after the US Transformers television series ended, the character of Black Shadow did appear in...

 attacked, the Decepticons reluctantly decided to assist the locals in fighting him - but Ruckus was one of the first casualties as Thunderwing crushed him beneath his foot.

Fun Publications

Ruckus appears in the story Cheap Shots. In this story Nightbeat's crew are hired by a sentient ship named Amory to relocate her pilot. After investigating they find the whole job is a trap set by the Decepticon Ruckus, now leading the Mayhem Attack Squad. Ruckus is holding the pilot hostage, but Slag cuts Ruckus' arm off and recovers the pilot, for which Amory pays them.

Toys

• Generation 1 Ruckus

Ruckus's only appearance was during the toyline's fifth year.