Wheelie served as a minor antagonist turned in supporting protagonist in the second film, continued as a supporting protagonist in the third film, and a minor character in the fifth film.
“I want that Shard. Gimme the Shard, I’m gonna die without that Shard!”
Wheelie to Mikaela.
Biography
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Wheelie was sent by Soundwave to retrieve an AllSpark shard, currently in Mikaela's possession. He followed her back to her garage, where he attempted to retrieve the shard from Mikaela's safe. However, the noise Wheelie made while trying to avoid mousetraps and other objects in his way blew his cover.
Mikaela picked Wheelie up with tongs and burned his left eye with a blowtorch before questioning him about why he was there. Wheelie explained that he needed to bring the AllSpark shard to the Decepticons, or he'd be terminated, begging mercy of Mikaela. Despite his pleas, Mikaela simply claimed to be his "worst nightmare" before stuffing him in a toolbox and taking him with her to Princeton University.
Mikaela later let Wheelie out of the box in Seymour Simmons's deli and questioned him about the Language of the Primes, promising not to torch his other eye if he complied. Wheelie identified the language, and explained that while he could not read it, he could lead the group to a Seeker who could.
Wheelie and the humans then went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum to use Sam's AllSpark fragment to awaken Jetfire, a dormant Seeker hidden there as an SR-71 Blackbird. As the revived Seeker made his way outside, he inquired on the state of the civil war, and informed the group that he had defected years earlier. Wheelie was shocked by Jetfire's discussion of how he defected from the Decepticons to the Autobots, a thought which had never occurred to him, and decided he too would defect to the Autobots, humping Mikaela's leg in joy. Sam objected, but Mikaela noted Wheelie was faithful, though this did not stop Sam from punting Wheelie.
Wheelie in Revenge of the Fallen
Wheelie was taken by Jetfire's space bridge to Jordan, and from there he travelled with the humans and Autobots to the Pyramids of Egypt. He was present in when Bumblebee was stopped by the Egyptian checkpoint officers. They arrived in Cairo, where he presumably decided to stay safely while everyone else searched for the Tomb of the Primes.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Three years later, Wheelie, along with his new friend Brains, moved in with Sam and Carly Spencer, where they spent most of their time going through Carly's underwear or watching Star Trek reruns. Wheelie and Brains had a deep friendship, as shown by their constant companionship and their agreement on Sam's last girlfriend being mean. However neither were exactly happy with their living arrangements, living in a box outside of the apartment itself, and had a dog for a neighbor. Wheelie complained about his living conditions, and said he wasn't so sure about moving in with Carly permanently.
They went with their human housemates to the N.E.S.T. base to reveal information to the Autobots, however their offer of help was turned down by Charlotte Mearing. Wheelie later noted that they were disrespected greatly, and decided they were safer with Bumblebee at Sam and Carly's. However when the Autobots were forced to leave Earth by the human authorities, both Wheelie and Brains were captured and shoved into a small cage. They begged for help from Sam, warning him the whole thing was a Decepticons trap. The duo, along with the other Autobots, survived by hiding in one of the booster rockets when Starscream destroyed the Xantium shortly after take-off.
Wheelie and Brains hijack a Decepticon mothership
Wheelie and Brains came to the aid of Sam, Epps and the human race in Chicago. Wheelie told them that he and the other Autobots would always help humanity and they soon marched off to battle, riding Leadfoot into the city. Unfortunately, Wheelie and Brains were left behind by the Wreckers when they were done distracting Shockwave, having fallen off while they were firing.
As they wandered through the streets hopelessly, mumbling about the lack of support, they discovered a crashed Decepticon ship. They rode it up to one of the massive Decepticon "mother ships" hovering over Chicago that was controlling several smaller ships like the one they hijacked. Wheelie and Brains overrode the ship's controls, dropping several of the small fighters, as well as some of the Decepticon crew, onto the battlefield, causing a distraction just at the right second. This also allowed the Autobots to gain an essential lead in the battle, proving the duo's worth in the end. Wheelie and Brains seemingly perished as the massive ship crashed into a large body of water below.
Transformers: The Last Knight
Wheelie survived the events of the Chicago war and the subsequent years of Transformer hunting and joined the Autobots in hiding at Cade Yeager's scrapyard. His days were spent checking out "hot" vehicles online and chatting with Jimmy. When Cade returned to find Daytrader hanging around, Wheelie happily informed him that it was because Jimmy had let him in in exchange for an alien gun. Wheelie asked Jimmy to say he wanted the alien blaster, because it had a big deal, but Jimmy seized the small bot but was stopped from doing anything further by Cade.
Later, he watched as Izabella attached a salvaged Decepticon arm to replace Squeeks' missing one. When he commented on Sweeeks being an ugly little bot (talk about calling the kettle black), said bot then flicked him away. When the Decepticons and the TRF discovered their refuge, he evacuated to a nearby town with the humans and Autobots. He stayed close to Cade when he rigged traps for the Decepticons but became overcome with fear at seeing Megatron in person again and asked Cade if it was alright to "bail", though not before freaking out at seeing the knights talisman attach itself to Cade.
Gallery
To see more images go to: Wheelie/Gallery
Trivia
- In the novelization of Dark of the Moon, Wheelie and Brains survived the crash and swam to shore.
- Wheelie was a bit different in earlier drafts of the Revenge of the Fallen script. Originally, he was named "Wheels", and was a much more primitive little creature, speaking in a broken, simplistic dialogue which was out of place with the fast-talking Italian accent he ultimately wound up with in the finished film. This version of the character appeared in the film novelization and the IDW comic adaptation, since they were both based on the script; furthermore, Simon Furman strangely kept using this portrayal of the character in Titan's UK comic several months after the film had come out before knocking it off about a year-and-a-half later.
- Wheelie is the third Transformer to have wheels as their feet, first being Bonecrusher, and the second being Sideswipe.
- Despite changing sides in the Revenge of the Fallen, Wheelie still sports an embossed Decepticon symbol on his back in his subsequent appearances.
- Seeing Mikaela for the first time, Wheelie describes her as "hot" but "not too bright." Interesting that a sentient machine would find a human sexually attractive.