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Electricity and Magnetism | Demountable Transformer | Demountable... a3bs.com | Electricity and Magnetism | Demountable Transformer | Demountable... 3bscientific.co.uk |
This article is about characters from Transformers. For other uses, see Soundwave.
Soundwave is a fictional character from the Transformers universes.
[edit] Transformers: Generation 1
Soundwave is one of the most recognizable characters from the original Transformers line due to his unique alternate mode, a microcassette recorder, and his distinctive, monotone, computerized voice.[1] Soundwave can detect and jam radio transmissions all across the energy spectrum, a talent that makes him naturally suited to his position as Decepticon Communications Officer. Soundwave also possesses the ability to monitor electrical impulses within brain circuitry - i.e. he can read minds. Additionally, he has a photographic memory thanks to the vast data storage capacity of the magnetic disks in his chest compartment, and he is armed with a shoulder-mounted radio wave sensor and hand-held concussion blaster. Soundwave is physically strong compared to most Transformers. He transforms, shrinking as he does so, into an Earthly microcassette deck, and in the tape compartment, which becomes his chest in robot mode, he stores the Decepticon spy cassettes. Ravage, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Ratbat, Rumble, Frenzy, Slugfest, Overkill, Squawktalk, and Beastbox are under his command in the original television series.[2] Soundwave's cassettes are quick to serve and defend Soundwave in a crisis, and generally relate to him as servants or even pets. However, when his cassette Ratbat became leader of the Decepticons in the Marvel comics series, Soundwave shifted his trademark loyalty from Megatron to him. In the Dreamwave comics, Ratbat led the Ultracons faction, while Soundwave remained with the Decepticons led by Shockwave, although this was before Ratbat became a cassette. In the IDW comics, Soundwave was in fact a personal assistant to the Senator, Ratbat, but his true loyalty lay with Megatron. When the time came for him and Starscream to massacre the Senate, he enslaved Ratbat with the smaller and weaker body of a cassette. [edit] Marvel ComicsLike much of the original 1984 cast of Decepticons, Soundwave played a much smaller role in the Marvel book series than he did in the cartoon. He quietly and efficiently served loyally, first under Megatron (even sending Ravage and the Insecticons to derail talks between the Autobots and Ronald Reagan at one point in the 1985 Transformers UK annual), then under Shockwave, attacking an aerospace construction plant whose facilities were used to build the Constructicons, who then built a massive radio dish that Soundwave used to beam a message back to Cybertron. Continuing to operate under Shockwave, Soundwave then moved to serving Ratbat, and co-led the defense of Buenos Aires against the Underbase-empowered Starscream alongside Fortress Maximus, only to wind up deactivated by the villain. Unlike many of the others deactivated by Starscream, Soundwave would appear again, under Scorponok's command. Throughout the U.S. comic, Soundwave was colored purple instead of blue (presumably in an attempt to break up the large amount of blue coloration used in the comic, as it was often substituted in place of black and gray) and frequently appeared with a mouth. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic in the UK, a sister title to the American series was also in production. It reprinted the American stories, but it was released weekly, as opposed to monthly. It soon began to run out of material to reprint, opting to create its own original stories which deftly weaved in and out of the ongoing American storyline. Under writer Simon Furman, Soundwave — coloured blue — was a fairly major player, portrayed in a manner much more consistent with his profile — that of a manipulator and blackmailer, reading others' minds and using their secrets to his own ends, always working towards his own goals. When Megatron and Shockwave were both briefly believed deceased, he assumed leadership of the Decepticons during Optimus Prime's Crisis of Command and then the Dinobot Hunt; manipulating events to weaken the Autobot leadership and cause maximum casualties. When the two commanders returned and vied for the single leadership, he turned the situation to his own advantage by working both sides of the field, reporting to both commanders without either knowing. He also enjoyed a rare victory in this period when he, Dirge and Kickback took over a NASA complex, attempting to contact Cybertron with the facility's deep space radio equipment. The Autobots arrived, but a series of miscommunications between Prowl and Jetfire resulted in the transmission being sent, allowing the Decepticons to claim victory. Towards the end of the UK series, a break-away storyline began which separated from the regular ongoing American continuity, covering the exploits of the proactive Autobot Earthforce. In these stories, Soundwave's selling of Decepticon secrets to both the Autobots and Shockwave's group of Decepticons resulted in Wildrider getting blamed for his actions, and Soundwave silently allowed him to be killed rather than be discovered. After Starscream was successfully able to remove Megatron and Shockwave from power, he and Soundwave entered into joint leadership of the Decepticons. Issue #279 of the Marvel UK Transformers comic featured a story called "Divide and Conquor!" where Soundwave lead the bulk of the Decepticon forces on Earth against the Autobot Earthforce headquarters while Starscream attacked an oil tanker. Sent into battle by Prowl, the Dinobots routed the main Decepticon forces while Springer lead the Autobot Survivors, Broadside, Inferno, Skids, and Carnivac to defeat Starscream. Soundwave also attained the leadership position in the future world of 2008, following the death of Shockwave (who had seized power when Galvatron travelled back in time). Soundwave led his era's Decepticons back to 1989 to participate in the Time Wars when the fabric of reality began to crumble, but before as the conflict came to a head they fled back to their own time. Since it was later established that the damage done to the time stream may have resulted in their future being erased from the timeline, the final fate of the future Soundwave is unknown. [edit] Transformers: Generation 2Soundwave returned to the pages of the U.S. Transformers comic books for the relaunch of the series as Transformers: Generation 2. He participated in the Decepticon attack on Earth, and oversaw the reconstruction of the damaged Darkwing into a new, more powerful form. Like many of the other Generation 1 Decepticons, Soundwave seemed to return to a command position on Megatron's return to lead the Decepticons (killing Bludgeon in the process). Soundwave made an appearance in the Decepticon forces under the command of Megatron in issue #7 of the Marvel Generation 2 comic series, in a story called "New Dawn." Megatron lead his Decepticons against Jhiaxus' second generation Cybertronians near the moon of Tykos. The Decepticons were defeated and Megatron left injured, presumed dead, but swearing revenge.[3] He was aboard the Warworld when Jhiaxus' forces attacked, but managed to evacuate. His fate beyond this point is unknown. [edit] Transformers: AlignmentSoundwave would also play a brief but important role in the text-only novel, Alignment, writer Simon Furman's take on what happened after the Transformers: Generation 2 comic series ended. He was the one who recovered Megatron's broken body after his duel with Galvatron. Subsequently he was the ringleader of the conspirators (along with Ravage, Ramjet and Direwolf) who gave some of their spark energy to resurrect Megatron in a more powerful body, allowing him to defeat the forces of the Liege Maximo. After Megatron's execution of the entire Decepticon High Council, save Shrapnel, Soundwave once again acted as Megatron's second in command and coordinated the strike against the Maximo with Ultra Magnus. His fate beyond this is unknown, save for a brief cameo in Beast Machines. [edit] Animated series In the original Transformers cartoon — his most prominent role in Transformers fiction — Soundwave was Megatron's right-hand robot, frequently sent on important reconnaissance missions with his cassettes, and often playing a key role in many schemes against the Autobots. On Cybertron, he used his ability to transform into a roadside fixture to spy on the Autobot city of Iacon, learning of the Autobots' plan to search for energy on other worlds. Joining in Megatron's attack on the Autobots' craft, the Ark, Soundwave fell to the same fate as the rest of the ship's occupants when the craft crashed on prehistoric Earth, entombing everyone within in stasis. Immediately after the Transformers awakened on Earth in 1984, Soundwave played an essential role in the generation of energon cubes and the formation of plans for a new space cruiser to return the Decepticons to Cybertron. Later, he used his mind-reading talents to acquire an antimatter formula for the Decepticons from the brain of Chip Chase. He and his cassette minions were often on spying missions against the Autobots. One of Soundwave's most notable misadventures came in 1985, when, operating a plan conceived by Starscream, he brainwashed humans with ultrasonic vibrations, leading to a confrontation with his Autobot Communications Officer counterpart, Blaster, and to a lasting rivalry between the two. Soundwave rarely displayed much emotion, infrequently exhibiting any traits that could be considered to be in line with his tech spec. However, he showed distress when one of his cassettes were hurt in battle, and he always came across as extremely loyal to Megatron, even going so far as to recover his body after being left for dead at the Battle of Autobot City in 2005. But while Soundwave was loyal, he was far from outspoken, and kept silent when Megatron's body was subsequently ejected into space, and although he did suggest himself as a replacement leader ("Soundwave: superior. Constructicons: inferior."), Soundwave again loyally served Megatron when he was recreated as Galvatron. In the year 2006, although operating in a less prominent capacity for most of the time, Soundwave played a prominent role in Galvatron's attempt to learn the secret of a sonic weapon on the planet Eurythma, where sound and music were the way of life, leaving Soundwave entranced by the planet's perfect melodies. Recording each piece of the harmony that formed the devastating sonic effect, Soundwave was defeated when the Eurythmans countered the harmony with white noise, and was again pulled into a confrontation with Blaster, who erased his recordings. Soundwave was performed by Frank Welker, whose voice was heavily modulated by a vocoder to achieve Soundwave's distinctive, metallic monotone. However, Welker's voice was left unmodulated at certain points during the episodes "Roll for It" and "Webworld" due to production errors. [edit] Transformers: The Headmasters Although Soundwave only appeared as a background character in the American cartoon series finale, the three-part The Rebirth, he returned to the forefront in the new Japanese-exclusive series, Transformers: The Headmasters, which was created to replace The Rebirth. Reborn as Soundblaster (New Soundwave in the English version and Vizar in Italy) Soundwave's new toy incarnation was, like the series, available only in Japan. In the opening cut and thrust of Headmasters, Soundwave and Blaster engaged in their final clash in the Arctic Circle as the Autobots and Decepticons were in the process of searching for the missing Autobot Matrix of Leadership. The two opponents inflicted fatal damage to each other, and Soundwave's body exploded even as Blaster collapsed. Soundwave's fragments were recovered by his cassettes. Using reconstructive technology from the planet Master, the leader of the Decepticon Headmasters, Zarak successfully rebuilt and resurrected Soundwave as Soundblaster — essentially identical to his former self, except for his predominantly black color scheme. As Soundblaster, he served the same role as he had as Soundwave under the leadership of Galvatron and later Scorponok, frequently embarking on spying missions with Ratbat. He also had a father-son relationship with the cassettes, as it was hinted on his resurrection as 'Soundblaster' A flashback in episode 5 of Beast Machines, "Forbidden Fruit", showed the G1 Soundwave (or a close likeness of him) being gunned down and presumably killed while helping the Maximal Nightscream escape the Vehicon tank drones. [edit] Books Soundwave appeared in the following books:
[edit] 3H EnterprisesHe also appeared in the Furman written Reaching the Omega Point, as one of the Transformers legends (alongside Optimus Prime, Megatron and Grimlock) who came to the aid of the forces of Optimus Primal against the Predacon/Unicron hybrid Shokaract, distracting him long enough for Primus to deal the fatal blow. [edit] Dreamwave ProductionsIn Dreamwave's 21st century re-imagining of the Generation 1 continuity, Soundwave was recruited to the Decepticons 9 million years ago through Megatron's underground gladiatorial games, and made head of communications. When a new Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, was chosen, Soundwave was sent along with the Insecticons and Ravage, to attempt to kill him and recover the Matrix for Megatron, but they failed, forcing Megatron to confront Optimus personally. Even in the face of failures such as this, and later the loss of Megatron in an early space bridge experiment, Soundwave's loyalty to the Decepticon cause never wavered, as he remained true to the faction under Shockwave's leadership.  As in most other continuities, the story continues in the traditional manner, with Soundwave a member of the Nemesis crew who attacked the Ark and was sent into stasis when the craft crashed on Earth, awakening again in 1984. After years of fighting on Earth, eventually the combined forces of the Autobots and their human allies were able to defeat and capture the Decepticons. The intent was for the Autobots to take their enemies back to Cybertron aboard a new craft named the Ark II, but just as the ship cleared the atmosphere, it exploded, the victim of machinations by Shockwave, who did not want Prime and Megatron to return to Cybertron yet. Soundwave's body crashed back to Earth in the Arctic, where he lay inactive for several years, until rogue military scientist Adam Rook, calling himself "Lazarus," recovered and reactivated him, putting him under his control with a program he had developed while studying the Transformers before their explosive departure. Several other Autobots and Decepticons fell to the same fate, and were to be sold on the black market — Soundwave himself was put on display by being sent to attack the Smitco Oil Refinery alongside several other Transformers — but when Megatron liberated himself, Soundwave was soon freed by his leader and assumed his position at his side. When Shockwave arranged for the capture and extradition of Prime and Megatron's forces as war criminals, Soundwave was among the captives, but when Starscream jettisoned Megatron into space on the return trip to Cybertron, Soundwave made the best of a bad lot and teamed with Starscream to return to Earth and conquer it, being reunited with Ratbat in the process. Heading back to Earth in a kidnapped Sky Lynx and with the Combaticons now added to their ranks, the Decepticons attacked the Ark in hopes of acquiring parts to make the Nemesis spaceworthy again, however Soundwave, Skywarp and Thundercracker were defeated and thrown in the Ark's brig. When the Combaticons, combined as Bruticus, laid into the vessel, they were freed. It was not much later that the surviving Megatron made contact with Soundwave from space, and Soundwave was all too willing to return to his service, setting up Starscream to fall before Megatron when he returned. And return, Megatron did — but the bankruptcy and subsequent closure of Dreamwave left the rest of the story untold. [edit] Transformers/G.I. JoeSoundwave also appeared in the Dreamwave Transformers/G.I. Joe series as one of the Decepticons uncovered by Cobra at the start of the Second World War. Transforming into a radio, he was deactivated at the series' close by Grimlock. Although Dreamwave's collapse precluded the completion of the second series, released art and information revealed that Soundwave would have been involved in the conclusion of that series.[7] [edit] Devil's Due PublishingIn Devil's Due's run of G.I. Joe vs. The Transformers comic book miniseries, Soundwave was among the Transformers captured by the ruthless terrorist organization, Cobra when they discovered the Ark. Refitted by Destro, Soundwave was intended to become a battlefield communications station, but when he and the other Decepticons eventually broke free of their control he was damaged in a battle with the Autobots and his parts were captured by the US Government for study. From his data banks, the android SerpentO.R. downloaded information on the history of Cybertron, using it to further the Decepticon goal of conquest. It is indicated that his pre-Earth form was similar to his Dreamwave War Within form. [edit] Fun PublicationsBased on the Transformers Classics toy line, the Timelines 2007 story is set 15 years after the end of the Marvel Comics story (ignoring all events of the Marvel U.K. and Generation 2 comics). Megatron survived the crash of the Ark on Earth, reformatted himself into a new form and now leads Astrotrain, Laserbeak, Ramjet, Ravage, Skywarp, Soundwave, Starscream and the Constructicons. Optimus Prime has also returned to Earth commanding Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Grimlock, Jetfire, Mirage and Rodimus (formerly Hot Rod). When the Cybertronians Skyfall and Landquake arrive on Earth unexpectedly Megatron attempts to destroy them, but Optimus Prime and his Autobots are able to drive Megatron away. [edit] IDW PublishingSoundwave's first chronological appearance in the rebooted IDW Publishing Generation One universe was in the prequel miniseries, The Transformers: Megatron Origin. In the story, Soundwave works for Senator Ratbat, who takes an interest in the rising gladiator, Megatron. Ratbat sends Soundwave to offer weaponry to Megatron and his followers. Soundwave also assists Megatron with the interrogation of Autobot soldier, Bumper. Soundwave is later jailed along with Megatron and other when Sentinel Prime's forces capture them, but is released by Ratbat. When Megatron's plan is sprung, Soundwave helps Starscream massacre the Autobot Senate. He later confronts Ratbat and forcibly extracts his Spark for implantaion in one of his Cassette bodies. Soundwave's alternate mode appears to be a communication vehicle with tank treads. Sometime later, Soundwave was part of the conference of scientists called by Thunderwing in the The Transformers: Stormbringer, where he refuses to accept Thunderwing's findings that Cybertron was dying. In around the same time period he had Beachcomber captured and implanted with a cerebro-shell, having the unwilling traitor eject his opposite number Blaster into space (in Spotlight Blaster) in order to demoralize the Autobots prior to a Decepticon offensive. Soundwave's story was later continued in his own Spotlight one-shot, where he was a self-serving and duplicitous Decepticon internal affairs agent. Soundwave was dispatched by Megatron to keep an eye on Bludgeon's investigation of Shockwave's lab. However, he kept quiet about Bludgeon's obsession with the Regenesis project, thinking he could turn it to his advantage. Following him to Earth in 1984, Soundwave monitored Bludgeon's attempts to harvest Ultra Energon and confronted him after he'd acquired it. Horrified to discover they were not planning to use it in a power-play but instead to reanimate Thunderwing (who previously devastated Cybertron), Soundwave attempted to stop them but was trapped in stasis-lock in cassette player mode. It was revealed in the epilogue that two young humans considered buying him at a pawn shop in 2007. In The Transformers: Escalation #1, Optimus stated there was evidence that Soundwave had been present in Earth's history. Despite this, he didn't reappear until issue #4 of The Transformers: Devastation, where, still trapped in cassette player mode, he interfered with Skywatch's control of Laserbeak and Ravage, presumably calling them to free him. [edit] Hearts of SteelSoundwave also appeared as one of the Decepticon forces, serving under Starscream in the out-of-continuity The Transformers: Evolutions tale "Hearts of Steel". He appeared as one of Starscream's lieutenants. He was presumably destroyed when John Henry and Bumblebee diverted the Decepticon train convoy into a chasm. [edit] Video gamesSoundwave appears in the 2010 video game Transformers: The War For Cybertron. [edit] Other appearancesA parody of the Generation 1 Transformers was aired in the December 23rd 2008 episode of Frank TV, called "Frank the Halls." In the story Optimus Prime and his Autobots (Bumblebee, Jazz and Wheeljack) battle Megatron and his Decepticons (Soundwave and Starscream) when Optimus runs out of gas. Optimus becomes enraged at the price of gas, steals the fuel from the annoying hybrid Autobot Prius Maximus, then joins the Decepticons in destroying the city.[8] Soundwave appears in the Robot Chicken episode "Toy Meets Girl" voiced by Seth Green. He is portrayed as having retired from the Decepticon Army and obtained honest employment as a transformable portable toilet. Frank Welker reprises his role of Soundwave (as well as Megatron but not Rumble) when he appears again in another Robot Chicken episode "Werewolf vs. Unicorn" where in the current years it's revealed that because the audio cassette tape and cassette players have long become obsolete and therefore no longer widely used, that his spy tactics now don't work (the people who discovered him in the skit were laughing at his mixtape which was Rumble in his black and red colors being killed by them puling his tape out). He is later found by Megatron and Shockwave to be on sale on eBay with options to place a bid for 500 dollars or "Buy it now" for 1000 dollars, whereupon Shockwave exclaims "Request permission to buy it now!" The Commemorative Soundwave figure was used in "Werewolf vs. Unicorn." Soundwave made a cameo appearance in the Family Guy episode "The Courtship of Stewie's Father" as Peter's new supervisor. In it, Soundwave releases a framed photograph from his cassette deck cavity, of himself and a human woman named Denise, who Soundwave proclaims is his wife, whom he met in a Christian chat room.[9] Soundwave appears in the Sealab 2021 episode "Hail, Squishface" as a toy on an Asian girl's cart, who sells Capt. Murphy Gloop, from the show The Herculoids. A music video featuring Soundwave and a robot similar to Rumble and Frenzy named Lazer (though purely white in colour) breakdancing has surfaced throughout the Internet since 2000. The video contains audio clips from both the animated series and The Transformers: The Movie alongside music. In 2007, shortly before the release of the live-action Transformers film, Soundwave appeared in the viral comedy short "Soundwave: The Touch." [edit] Toys
[edit] Beast Wars
A character named Soundwave — but with no relation to the original character — was released as part of the Beast Wars Mutants sub-line in 2000. However, although Beast Wars officially exists in the same continuity as a version of the Generation 1 universe and its Soundwave (who made a brief cameo in the Beast Wars episode The Agenda, Part III), this character has no connection to the original Decepticon. As a Mutant, this Soundwave transforms from bat to alligator, with no robot mode. Due to his in-built radar in bat mode, and crushing jaws in alligator mode, he excels at a variety of missions. However, due to his situation, Soundwave is a dark and bitter character. He has an ultra-sensitive internal radar in bat mode, and in alligator mode, his tail can send seismic shockwaves through the ground. [edit] Animated seriesSoundwave's stasis pod was presumably among those who were launched into orbit around prehistoric Earth in the Beast Wars series pilot. [edit] IDW PublishingThis version of Soundwave also appeared in IDW Publishing's Beast Wars: The Gathering miniseries. Activated on Earth by Magmatron and a group of Predacons from the future, Soundwave and the mutants emerged from their stasis pods and took up residence in a swamp that they quickly made their own. When a group newly-activated Predacons led by Transquito ventured through the swamp on a mission they were attacked by the Mutants. Poison Bite attacked Retrax, Soundwave attacked Powerpinch and Icebird attacked Transquito. Deciding the swamp wasn't worth their lives, Scourge and Insecticon fled. However, in "The Ascending" it is revealed that Powerpinch, Transquito and Retrax survived. As Powerpinch was thrown back at the predacons presumably he was carried off, Transquito must have evaded Icebird's attack and managed to escape, and Retrax probably escaped by beating off, or possibly killing, Poison bite. IDW's Beast Wars Sourcebook series identifies the mutant Soundwave as a former warrior who may have been a veteran of the Great War, though the details are ambiguous at best. Sourcebook #4 states that Soundwave became an actor/entertainer after the ratification of the Pax Cybertronia, developing a "dramatic flair in everything from his movements to his speech paterns". [edit] 3H Enterprises In Transformers: Universe - The Wreckers the Mutants traveled to Cybertron and sought the guidance of the Oracle computer, seeking a cure for their condition. What they didn't know is that the Oracle was under the influence of the Quintessons. The Mutants were sent to the outer Orion Cluster. Once there they were captured by the Quintessons, found in contempt by the five-faced aliens, and destroyed in an attack by a swarm of Sharkticons. [edit] Toys
[edit] Transformers: Cybertron
In Transformers: Cybertron, Soundwave is the second Transformer from the mysterious Planet X. He transforms into a Planet X Jet and is partnered with a smaller robot called Laserbeak (Killer Condor in Japan). In the English dub of this series, he has a synthesized voice, albeit more human than his G1 counterpart, which is counterbalanced by his tendency to speak like a modern disc jockey — using terms like "He got served" and "Peace out, bots" and calling the battlefield, "The Floor." The package bio for Soundwave mentions that Planet X itself may be a total deception, and that it is actually a term the agents use to refer to their service to Unicron. Although he and Sideways are the survivors of a dead civilization, they actually serve Unicron throughout space and time as his heralds in taking over new worlds to replace his loss of previous forms. Soundwave is armed with two cannons, and can hide himself behind holograms when working in conjunction with Laserbeak. [edit] Animated seriesSoundwave first makes his appearance in the episode Titan, offering to lead Megatron and his minions to the planet Gigantion, however in a scene featuring Sidways and Starscream aboard the Atlantis a purple cassette player with the Decepticon symbol is on board playing music to ease the tension between the two evil robots. It is not clear if this is Soundwave or not, but it is interesting that he appeared in "Titan" just a few episodes later. In his first encounter with the Autobots he fought Optimus Prime and Wing Saber in their Sonic Wing mode and was able to hold his own in combat until Megatron was defeated by Metroplex and the Decepticons retreated. Shortly after they arrived on Gigantion and there Megatron was upgraded into Galvatron, Soundwave abandoned the Decepticons, and joined up with his counterpart, Sideways. During a battle with the Autobot Cybertron Defense Team, he revealed the history of his world, and how they desired the Cyber Planet Keys to get revenge on the inhabitants of Gigantion. Later, he and Sideways attempted to intervene in the epic battle between Galvatron and Starscream in order to claim the Planet Keys and Omega Lock, only to be sent into another universe by the distortion caused by the two fighters' conflict. However, Soundwave would appear later, when Starscream reached out to Galvatron across dimensions, seemingly trapped along with him and Sideways. However, Starscream seemed to have returned by the series' end, which meant that the same possibility existed for both Sideways and Soundwave. Soundwave is the only major transformer in the series who never summons his Cyber Key. In his toy version, his Cyber Key opens his chest compartment to store Laserbeak or one of his two cannons. In his first appearance to the Autobots, Soundwave demonstrates the ability to do this without the aid of a Cyber Key. G1 Soundwave makes a cameo appearance in the animated series as a blue boombox that Sideways used to hear music. [edit] Fun PublicationsThe Cybertron incarnation of Soundwave was among the characters to appear in the comic strip published exclusively through the Transformers Collectors Club, arriving on the planet itself to observe Vector Prime, Sentinel Maximus and Omega Prime after their defeat of Unicron's heralds, Nemesis Prime and Ramjet, and capture of the Dead Matrix. Dispatching Laserbeak to recover the Dead Matrix from its place in storage, Soundwave threw the talisman into the black hole that had been created by the collapse of Unicron, allowing the Chaos Bringer's Spark to escape and infiltrate the planet Yst, which he corrupted and transformed into his new body. Soundwave would link up with his master, and watch the unfolding carnage of a Mini-Con civil war. However, when Unicron chose that moment to attack, Soundwave was attacked by several Mini-Cons, including Scythe and Perceptor. Unable to hit the smaller Mini-Cons, Soundwave fled with Unicron when Primus awoke. [edit] Toys
[edit] Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen
Almost from the moment the live action Transformers movie was announced in 2004, producer Don Murphy and the production team made it clear they did not want to feature mass/size shifting in transformation (excluding the Allspark), due to concerns over realism. With this process an inherent part of Soundwave's tape deck alternate mode, there was some discussion over whether or not to change it due to its obsolescence, or to include the character in the film at all. It was announced by Hasbro at SDCC 2004 that movie Soundwave would be a helicopter.[18]  Early leaked movie scripts proposed that his alternate mode would be a helicopter, but animatics shown at the 2005 Comic Con were poorly received. This led to a rethink, with the eventual helicopter character rechristened as Vortex, then finally Blackout. 2006 script reviews named Soundwave as a spying boombox on Air Force One, able to transform into a small robot, but eventually, this character was amended to being Frenzy, with Don Murphy stating that Soundwave will be reserved for a future sequel, until they can "do him right". In a USA Today online fan poll, Soundwave was one of the 10 Transformers that the fans wanted in the sequel, winning with 20% of the votes.[19] When the film was released on DVD a special on-line content from Best Buy showed early animation footage of Blackout as a blue helicopter with a head that resembled Soundwave. Frank Welker uses his Doctor Claw voice from Inspector Gadget, which when run through a vocoder gives Soundwave his unique voice from the original animated series. The lack of this vocoder in the 2009 film left the voice sounding more like Doctor Claw than the original Soundwave. His Hasbro Battle Bio states that he is 22 feet tall and that his main weapon is a sonic cannon which can only be used in the atmosphere. [edit] IDW Publishing In issue #4 of Transformers: Defiance, it is revealed that the reason for Soundwave to have believed to have been dead is because he was on the Decepticons ship that The Fallen was commanding, and that all of its crew were missing by the time Megatron noticed the emergency signal emitting from the ship while he was chasing the Allspark. Soundwave first appeared in issue #2 of Transformers: Alliance where he arrived at the crash site of the Nemesis on Mars. There he found Dreadwing's head, as well as the body of Frenzy, then contacted Starscream and told him to rally to his signal. Starscream was surprised to hear from Soundwave, as he had been believed dead for years. Soundwave deployed a number of his forces on Earth, leaving others on his ship. At San Diego Comic-Con 2009, Soundwave and his minion Ravage were mentioned to have major roles in the upcoming sequel comic mini-series Transformers: Nefarious. [edit] Movie plot In Revenge of the Fallen, Soundwave spends his time hovering above Earth in orbit. Docking onto a satellite and hacking it, Soundwave intercepts information on the location of Megatron's corpse and the Allspark shard, deploying Ravage to retrieve the shard. After the death of Optimus Prime, Soundwave carries out Megatron's order to mobilize the Decepticons. Later coordinating attacks, Soundwave locates Sam Witwicky's parents in Paris, France, and even calls Judy Witwicky on her cell phone. He does not participate in the final battle, although Ravage does and is killed by Bumblebee. Soundwave is one of three Decepticons (besides Megatron and Starscream) confirmed to survive the film. [edit] Video gamesLike the movie, Soundwave coordinates the mission to the playable Decepticon. His voice is now a similar Vocoder fashion of his G1 counterpart. In the Nintendo DS game Revenge of the Fallen: Decepticons Grindor, Sideways, Soundwave and Starscream greet a new Decepticon protoform and send him on a mission. Soundwave directs the new protoform to survive on Earth. In the downloadable content pack for the X-Box 360 and PS3, Soundwave is confirmed a playable character. He will be in Generation 1 colours as opposed to the movie colours. [edit] BooksIn the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen coloring book Soundwave is depicted hacking into a military satellite.[20] [edit] Toys
[edit] Transformers: Animated
Soundwave appears in Transformers: Animated as a modular music-based Decepticon, who specializes in sonic interference. Whilst his robot mode still retains elements of his original tapedeck incarnation, more so in his toy form, his alt-mode is now a loudspeaker-equipped Scion xB. He also possesses two supporters: Laserbeak, who transforms into an electric guitar he uses for a sonic boom attack, and Ratbat, which becomes a keytar for use in sonic hypnosis. His voice, now provided by Jeff Bennett, once again employs a vocoder to emulate Soundwave's trademark robotic monotone voice. [edit] Animated seriesSoundwave was originally a simple robotic toy that Sari got for her birthday, built by Megatron as a part of a plan to take advantage of Sari's careless and repeated use of her powerful Allspark key to continuously upgrade the toy until it serves as a suitable body for Megatron to host. However, the excessive usage of the key to give Soundwave niftier, more entertaining functions, wrought a side-effect Megatron had not anticipated; Soundwave was developing almost Cybertronian sophistication at an alarmingly increasing rate due to the unique, almost sentient, energy-signature of the Allspark Key. Within no time, Soundwave's central processor was altered by the Allspark Key's last surge, causing him to become self-aware, refusing to take orders from Sari (or any other human) any more. It was by observing the common labor-robots in the city that he concluded that not only robots are superior to humans in every way, but that it's illogical that robots are forced to succumb to their human masters, and it should be the other way around. By then, Megatron introduced himself to Soundwave through televisions in a nearby electronics store as his creator "of sorts" to impose unto him his plan to crush the Autobots. At first, Soundwave declared this illogical to fight robot-kind until Megatron insisted that they were traitors that upheld the human race's slavery of all robot-kind, convincing Soundwave to ultimately side with the Decepticons with the intent to overthrow all humans and obliterate the robots that protect them. He used his technology-manipulating speakers to summon all nearby labor-robots to merge with him, melting and morphing his simple robot-form into a massive, near-Cybertronian-class robot mode. Transforming into his vehicle mode, he used his sophisticated sound-system to initiate a robot-revolution against their human-oppressors. All automated forms of public transportation stopped and the city's labor robots jumped the Autobots when they appeared on the scene. After failing to convince Bulkhead into joining him and killing Sari in the name of all robot-kind, it appeared that Bulkhead destroyed Soundwave with a single blow of his powerful wrecking-ball arm, shattering his body into hundreds of pieces. However, his core survived, in the form of a small, nearly-invisible media player. Soundwave regenerated by the holidays as ex-Sumdac Systems Vice President Porter C. Powell, who had acquired Soundwave's original patents while he was in charge of the company, was distributing multiple Soundwave toys during the Christmas season. Soundwave managed to reprogram some of the toys, using one of them to spike the Autobots' oil nog. With the Autobots now out of commission, Soundwave proceeded to take them to the basement where he attempted to brainwash them into taking on his ideology as Decepticons by placing them in a virtual program in human form. However, the plan was briefly halted by the attempted intervention of Sari as well as the Autobots learning the truth of where they are. Soundwave had a backup plan, using Laserbeak to force Sari into a retreat, then using Ratbat in keytar mode to complete the Autobots reformat. Soundwave succeeded in placing the Autobots under his control, and used the numerous toy replicas of himself to take control of the humans in Detroit. However, since Sari was techno-organic, she was immune to the mind-control waves. Soundwave was defeated when Sari recruited the help of Scrapper, Snarl and Wreck-Gar to fight the brainwashed Autobots, and was smashed apart along with Ratbat by Optimus using Laserbeak's guitar mode as a makeshift axe. Though Soundwave's core still remained intact, it was seemingly turned off by Sari before being rescued by Laserbeak. [edit] Toys
[edit] Transformers: Timelines
This Soundwave is an alternate version good of the Generation 1 character from the BotCon exclusive "Shattered Glass" comic, in which the Decepticons are on the side of good and the Autobots on the side of evil. His appearance is based on the white music label Soundwave MP3 player, while Buzzsaw seems to be based on Steeljaw in appearance. Presumably like all Decepticons of his world, he is heroic and opposed to the evil Autobots. Soundwave's manner of speech is very different from that of his Generation 1 counterpart, sounding more like Human surfer or something. "Fear not, Mega-Dude! This is Soundwave, rockin’ the radio from Darkmount, and I bring you joyous tidings!" His speech seems to be inspired by Generation 1 Blaster. [edit] Fun PublicationsSoundwave appears as a member of Megatron's forces in the Transformers: Timelines story "Shattered Glass" story by Fun Publications. He helps in the attack on the Autobot's Ark launching platform, working with Buzzsaw. Soundwave appears in the fiction Dungeons & Dinobots, a text based story from Fun Publications. When the Autobots are gaining the advantage in an attack on the Arch-Ayr fuel dump he calls in the Mayhem Suppression Squad to help the Decepticons. Soundwave appears in the story Do Over by Fun Publications. He is among the crew of the Nemesis, which follows the Autobot's Ark to Earth. When the ship is damaged in battle with the Ark he escapes in a stasis pod to Earth. Soundwave is spotlighted in the story The Desert Heat!. In this story, having crashed to Earth in an escape pod, Heatwave recovers Soundwave and helps his fellow Decepticon get back online and assume an Earth-style alternate mode.[27] Soundwave appears in the story Eye in the Sky. Cliffjumper, Crasher, Frenzy, Heatwave, Ravage and Soundwave are sent on a mission to Burpleson Air Force Base to stop the Autobots from controlling the GODS defense system. Heatwave uses his powers to convince the GODS transmitter to fire the weapon on itself and stop the Autobots from taking control. Soundwave is spotlighted in the story Blitzwing Bop. The Elite Guardsman Thunderwing intercepts a radio signal from Earth which mentions Soundwave. Finding Soundwave is wanted for a minor offense from long ago he heads to Earth. Thunderwing finds Soundwave involved in a battle the AutobotBlaster for the possession of the malfunctinging Decepticon Blitzwing. Although not interested in the dispute, Soundwave convinces Thunderwing that Soundwave cannot leave Earth for trial on Cybertron until his commanding officer can be notified, and the only way to get Starscream online it to rescue Blitzwing. Thunderwing is still unwilling to takes sides in the battle against Blaster, merely following the Decepticon, but Soundwave tricks Blaster into mentioning a crime he committed on Cybertron while Thunderwing is in nearby. Thunderwing immediately goes into arrest mode and tries to capture Blaster, but Blaster escapes in a malfunctioning Stellar Spanner. With Starscream back online Soundwave confesses to his minor crimes and Thunderwing passes a sentence of community service on him. [edit] ToysAlthough no official toy exists for this version of Soundwave, the White Music Label Soundwave matches his colors almost exactly, save for the Decepticon symbol on his chest. On the toy the symbol is silver, but in the comic book it's red. Soundwave's Earth mode resembles a redeco of the toy used for Universe Ironhide with a new head mold. [edit] References
[edit] External links
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