Which device connects to ground to protect against surges?

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When protecting equipment from voltage surges, you want a path that safely shunts the transient energy to earth so the system voltage stays within safe limits. A lightning arrestor is built for this purpose. It sits between the line and ground and provides a low-impedance route for surge currents—like those from lightning or switching—so the surge is diverted away from equipment and into the ground. The other devices don’t perform this function: a transformer changes voltage levels, a fuse opens the circuit during overcurrent, and a capacitor stores energy or helps filter voltage but does not serve as a dedicated surge-to-ground path.