Rollbar is a supporting protagonist in the Transformers franchise.
He was voiced by Dan Gilvezan, who also voiced Bumblebee, Hot Spot and (in most appearances) Outback, along with Spider-Man in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Spider-Man 2099 in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Colossus in Pryde of the X-Men.
Biography[]
Cartoon[]
Rollbar's only appearance was in the series' final three-part miniseries "The Rebirth". He was among the Autobots stationed at Autobot City who defended it from an all-out Decepticon attack. When it became clear the Decepticons had stolen the Key to the Plasma Chamber, Rollbar was among the Autobots who accompanied Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus to Cybertron to continue the battle there.
Comics[]
Rollbar first appeared in Issue #30, as the leader of a unit of Autobots on Cybertron who raided a Decepticon fuel depot. Captured and taken to Decepticon leader Ratbat, they were informed that Decepticon Triple Changers Blitzwing, Octane and Astrotrain, plus their captive Blaster had been infected with Scraplets. Rollbar and the others were to go to Earth and destroy them to contain the infection, otherwise Ratbat would wipe out all life on the planet. Shortly after arriving, Rollbar and Wideload went to investigate evidence someone else had been infected and came across Goldbug. They were prepared to kill him until his human ally Charlie Wong revealed the Scraplets could be destroyed with water. Rollbar and the others returned to the crater that was the source of the infection and, with aid from the Decepticons and G.B. Blackrock, managed to destroy them.
In the following UK-exclusive story "Ladies' Night", Rollbar joined Blaster and Goldbug in experiencing Earth culture, viewing a TV news report about the fact Ultra Magnus had been discovered buried in lava. They investigated but, on discovering Soundwave and the Combaticons attempting to destroy Galvatron, who was buried as well, chose to leave them to it, even if it meant sacrificing Ultra Magnus. However, when human females Joy Meadows, Susan Hoffman and Cindy Newell decided to take on the Decepticons themselves, Rollbar and the other Throttlebots went back and drove off the Decepticons, stopping them detonating their explosives.
This led into US Issue #32, where Rollbar and the others were being pursued by the Combaticons. After a battle on a freeway, they were ambushed by the human anti-robot team RAAT, with Rollbar suffering damage. They took refuge in the lot of used car dealer Big Steve Ludwig and approached him for help. Instead, he disabled the Throttlebots and sold them out to RAAT, who removed them from the scene under cover of a battle between the Combaticons and Protectobots. They reappeared in Issue #37, where they remained prisoners of RAAT. With the Decepticons running riot as the result of the Earth Autobots leaving the planet and RAAT chief Forsythe refusing to believe there were two separate Transformers factions, the six Autobots were ordered executed as retaliation. Their bodies were crushed but RAAT agent Walter Barnett placed their brain modules in a group of toy cars. They went to Goldbug's old friend Buster Witwicky for help, but an attack by Ratbat and the Predacons saw Rollbar and the others separated from him and Buster. Instead, Barnett took them to join the military force preparing to attack the Decepticons' island base, where Rollbar convinced the humans to hold their fire when Fortress Maximus arrived on the scene with the Autobot Targetmasters.
At some point prior to Issue #50, Rollbar was retrieved and rebuilt into a new more powerful body. He was part of the joint Autobot-Decepticon team led by Grimlock and Scorponok who went to defend Tokyo from the Underbase-powered Starscream, only to be deactivated without even managing to transform.
