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Shockwave (Transformers)
Encyclopedia
Shockwave is the name of several fictional character
s in the various Transformers
series. Throughout his incarnations, he is usually distinguished by a laser cannon
in lieu of one of his hands and his distinctive face, which is featureless save a single robotic eye. Due to issues with Hasbro
's trademark
of the name Shockwave, some products were also released under the name Shockblast.
Unlike most early Transformers Shockwave was not modified into an Earthly form, and retains his Cybertron alternate mode—a 35-foot-long ray gun. He possesses the power of flight in both modes, and commands the totality of the electromagnetic spectrum
allowing him to emit beams of energy in a wide variety of forms. His high energy output makes him particularly fuel inefficient, but radioactive fuel sources stored in the reactor in his chest can help Shockwave to overcome this problem. Although his logical brain center is usually an advantage, human adversaries often pose more of a difficulty to Shockwave, as more intuitive and emotional thought processes often confound him.
While the animated series established Shockwave as fanatically loyal to Megatron, Shockwave's original bio and most fiction since have described him as coldly and patiently looking for ways to overthrow Megatron, not for personal power (as Starscream
would) but simply because it was logical for him to do so. Shockwave concluded that he should rule so that no emotion should prevent the Decepticons from conquering the universe. This was retained in most comic books, where Shockwave became leader of the Decepticons.
Unusually for a 1985 (second year) toy, Shockwave was part of Transformers fiction from the first year, appearing in both the original cartoon pilot
and 4-issue comic book miniseries.
the character of Shockwave was inspired by Spock
from the Star Trek
series.
Wired Magazine once nominated him as one of the 12 most ridiculous Transformers of all time.
Shockwave's characterization in the animated series is based on an early profile written for the character which presented him to be the guardian of Cybertron, with no desires beyond that station. His toy's tech spec and Transformers Universe profile, however, wrote of a character who sought to overthrow Megatron and rule the Decepticons because he views it as the logical thing to do. This was the version of the character who impressed fans with his appearance in Marvel's
Transformers comic book series. Also, unlike his cartoon incarnation, in which he was depicted as an easily beatable foe, his comic incarnation was very powerful.
Here, Shockwave was part of the Decepticon unit that pursued the Ark, but he held back from actually attacking the craft, remaining on the Decepticons' own space cruiser and following the Ark down to prehistoric Earth when it crashed. His guiding systems disrupted by his travel through Earth's atmosphere, Shockwave touched down in Antarctica, specifically, in the Savage Land
, whose dinosaur inhabitants the Ark used as a basis to reconstruct five Autobots to battle Shockwave. These "Dinobots
" engaged Shockwave, but he slyly outmaneuvered them, and managed to trap them in a tar pit
one by one by picking them off from a safe distance with his superior fire power. A stalemate was reached when the last strike by the Dinobots before sinking into the pit saw them bury Shockwave under a landslide, where he remained for four million years.
In 1984, Shockwave was reawakened by an Autobot probe dispatched from the Ark. He quickly struck the weakened Autobots, who had just defeated Megatron's forces. Deactivating them all and stringing them up in the Ark, which he took for his own base, Shockwave brought the Decepticons back online to serve him, and was soon challenged for leadership by a wounded Megatron, whom he soundly defeated and brought under his heel. As Decepticon commander, Shockwave commandeered the Blackrock Aerospace Plant, using its resources to construct new Transformers, which he then gave life using the Creation Matrix
, siphoned from Optimus Prime. However, Prime was able to transfer the Matrix into Buster Witwicky's mind, preventing Shockwave from giving life to his newest creation, Jetfire
. Shockwave instead programmed Jetfire to acquire Buster, but Buster was able to reprogram and give life to Jetfire and took Shockwave out of the game long enough to recover Optimus Prime's severed head. Prime then battled Shockwave and hurled him into a swamp.
Shockwave was able to extricate himself in short order, and attempted a series of failed plans, such as draining sonic energy from a rock concert and attempting to control Bumblebee
. When Megatron resurfaced, he and Shockwave clashed again, but settled into a brief period of shared leadership until Shockwave fell victim to an Autobot trap, and saw the logic in Megatron's accusations of failure, ceding command to him. However, in the UK comic Shockwave did not stand for this for long, and he soon sent the Predacons in to assassinate both Optimus and Megatron, failing after Megatron teleported himself and Prime to Cybertron and only just managing to cover his tracks without Megatron knowing it was him. When Megatron began to descend into paranoid insanity after the death of Optimus Prime, Shockwave attempted to take advantage of the situation by arranging a staged attack by the Predacons (in the U.K. comic, the dialogue was rewritten to say that due to his insanity, Megatron had forgotten his original battle with them). Megatron defeated them even in their combined mode of Predaking, but when Shockwave revealed that he had duplicated his mind to disc to guide the Predacons during their hunt, Megatron's deranged mind (accurately) began to believe that this was how Optimus Prime had survived. Desperate and insane, Megatron apparently killed himself by blowing up the spacebridge while he was on it, once again allowing Shockwave to take leadership. However, he soon faced various objections courtesy of Ratbat
, the local Decepticon commander on Cybertron, who criticized his operations for being too fuel-inefficient. Arriving on Earth to oversee Shockwave's work, Ratbat encountered Buster Witwicky, whom he captured and brought to the Decepticons' mobile island base. With the Autobot Headmasters
in pursuit, Shockwave transformed the island into its rocket mode and blasted off, but in a space-bound battle with Fortress Maximus
, Shockwave was defeated and sent hurtling into Earth's atmosphere, where he seemingly burned up.
Although this would be all that the U.S. comics would see of Shockwave for some time, this was not the case for its sister title, the U.K.-based Transformers comic, which reprinted the American stories with their own original material intertwined. In previous UK stories, Shockwave had run afoul of the future Decepticon leader, Galvatron
, who was attempting to disrupt his leadership in the present to ensure the loyalty of his army in the future. After his battle with Fortress Maximus, Shockwave was revealed to have survived his fall back to Earth and returned to the Decepticons' original castle base, where he had the Seacons
acquire the body of what was apparently Megatron (but would, in actuality, be later revealed as a clone), which he brainwashed into doing his bidding in order to pit him against Galvatron. When he was visited by the other future Decepticons, Cyclonus
and Scourge
and learned that in their future, they would kill him, he unleashed Megatron upon them, who killed Cyclonus. Shockwave then turned Megatron upon Galvatron, but rather than destroy him, he saw a potential partner in Galvatron, and they teamed up to battle Autobots and Decepticons from both the present and future in the "Time Wars", as a rift in the space-time continuum bore down on them. Shockwave, however, had become a prisoner of his own logic - to seal the rift it was necessary to return Cyclonus's body to it, thereby saving everyone, including himself. A logical action. However, to do so would be to condemn himself to death in the future by Cyclonus and Scourge's hands. Illogical. Unable to cope with the paradox, Shockwave went insane, but was saved by Ravage
, who pointed out that, equipped with knowledge of his death, he could prevent it. His mind restored, Shockwave returned Cyclonus's body to the rift, after Galvatron and Scourge were consumed by it, and sealed it shut with an X-ray
blast. The day had been saved, but Optimus Prime promised him that the next time they met, it would be as enemies.
A short time later, Shockwave went on to make his return to the pages of the U.S. comic, as he established a small splinter cell of Decepticons, consisting of himself, Starscream
, Mindwipe
, Triggerhappy
, Ravage
, Runabout
and Runamuck
. Declaring civil war against the current Decepticon Earth commander, Scorponok
, Shockwave battled him in New Jersey
, only for the conflict to be interrupted when all the Transformers were transported back to Cybertron by their deity, Primus
to battle Unicron
. Awestruck by the chaos-bringer, even Shockwave's vast data-grid could not compute a logical course of action, and he and Starscream hijacked the Ark and fled the planet shortly after Unicron's defeat. However, the Dinobots had previously treated the Transformers stored in the Ark's stasis pods with the life-restoring fuel, Nucleon
- and among those Transformers was the true Megatron, who battled with Galvatron, who had also stowed away on board the craft. Galvatron came to his senses in time, realizing that if Megatron was killed, he could cease to exist, and hid as Shockwave arrived to kill a weakened and disorientated Megatron. Galvatron intervened, but in an attempt to break the cycle of violence that seemingly bound him and Megatron, Autobot medic Ratchet
crashed the Ark into Earth. Shockwave was last seen in pain as Megatron and Galvatron advanced on him just before the ship crashed. His fate remains unknown. He did not appear again in either the remainder of the US Generation 1 comics or the subsequent Generation 2 comics.
In the Earthforce sequence of UK comic stories, both Shockwave and Megatron were running separate Decepticon cells on Earth, fighting both Autobot and each other. (It was never really explained where the Earthforce stories fit into continuity, though many believe it takes place vaguely between the original comics and the G2 run) It was clear that unless they were united, the Decepticons could not ever defeat the Autobots, and so Soundwave & Starscream organized a coup of both cells and reunified them as a single army. Shockwave and Megatron were forced to team up to retake control.
The second wave of Decepticon Headmasters would appear in the U.K. Marvel comic issue #234, "Prime's Rib!" This story is set in the near future, 1995, where Optimus Prime
, Jazz
and Hot Rod
introduce the latest Autobot, Arcee
, to the human feminists. She was met with displeasure by the humans, being called a token female and disliked for her pink color. They were then attacked by Shockwave, Fangry, Horri-Bull and Squeezeplay, who thought the Autobot would be unveiling a new weapon. The Autobots fought off the Decepticons, who escaped, but nothing seemed to please the human feminists.
In the U.K. comic stories set after the Transformers movie, it is revealed Shockwave survived the attack from Unicron and took command of the Decepticons in 2006 and, as Rodimus Prime was focused on finding Galvatron, was able to conquer half of Cybertron from under the Autobots. Part of his rule involved keeping Cyclonus & Scourge from ever being in a position to usurp him, even arranging for them to botch Death's Head
's hit on Prime so he would kill them - this failed when Unicron sent them, backed up by a mind-controlled Death's Head, to assassinate him and take control of the Decepticons. Death's Head eventually killed Shockwave after a grueling battle, promising to avenge him even as he blew him apart.
and the Ark, Shockwave was instructed to stay behind and guard Cybertron
in Megatron's absence. Swearing that Cybertron would remain as Megatron left it, Shockwave performed his duty to the letter for four million years, after Megatron and the other Transformers were entombed in stasis on Earth.
So accurately did Shockwave carry out his task, however, that no advances were achieved in the war, and the deadlock slowly caused what little supplies of energy the planet had to dwindle. In the Earth year 1984, Shockwave again attempted to make contact with the lost Megatron - only this time, he received a reply. The Transformers on Earth had been awakened, and immediately, Shockwave and Megatron co-created the Space Bridge
, an inter-galactic transport system, with which to send energon cubes made from Earth's energy to the depleted planet. In the first tests of the spacebridge, Megatron was transported to Cybertron himself, but Shockwave soon returned him so that further transport runs could be conducted.
Spacebridge technology was taken to its ultimate extreme in "The Ultimate Doom" when Shockwave and Megatron co-ordinated the transportation of Cybertron itself into the Solar System via the use of a colossal spacebridge.
In "Countdown to Extinction", when Starscream arrives on Cybertron (together with Doctor Arkeville) and proclaims himself the new leader of the Decepticons instead of the "late" Megatron, Shockwave does not believe him and tries to call up Megatron again and again. Starscream forbids him to do this and even fires at his computer terminal, but then he becomes too busy with preparing to receive the energy of the Earth's annihilation. Meanwhile Shockwave succeeds in getting through to Megatron at last and in warning him of the explosive device installed by Starscream in the Arkeville's laboratory, so that Megatron and Optimus Prime
have time to prevent the explosion and to save the Earth.
Shockwave briefly came to Earth and joined Megatron's troops in episode #23 "The Autobot Run", but returned to Cybertron shortly thereafter. (this was later confirmed an animation error.)
In 1985, Shockwave contended with the power of the Dinobots
when they splintered off from the Autobots and came to Cybertron in "Desertion of the Dinobots", episodes #37-38. With the aid of his guards, Shockwave was able to overpower them and put them to work in the Cybertronian pits, but failed to prevent the escape of Spike Witwicky and his girlfriend, Carly, when they pursued the Dinobots to the planet and were able to effect their release.
Soon after in episode #53 "The Search for Alpha Trion", Shockwave discovered that a guerrilla team of Female Autobots had been raiding his Energon stores for years, and successfully tracked them back to their hidden base, arranging the capture of Elita One. Optimus Prime and several of his warriors came to Cybertron to aid their female allies, and Elita One herself blasted Shockwave out of the battle. Subsequently, Shockwave located the key to Vector Sigma
for Megatron (and in a cut scene, battled and seriously damaged Omega Supreme
). Spying on the Autobots, he then discovered the key's hidden power to transform organics into technomatter.
When the Combaticons
invaded Cybertron, Shockwave attempted to fend them off, but was turned against his sentinel drones when Bruticus seized him in gun mode and opened fire on them with him, before launching him off into space, where he crashed into Starscream. Shockwave and Starscream returned to the planet, but were captured and imprisoned. They both were discharged when Megatron and Optimus Prime's forces arrived to stop Bruticus' rampage.
Over the next twenty years, Megatron turned his attention away from Earth, and succeeded in fully conquering Cybertron. In 2005, however, the planet came under attack by Unicron
, and Shockwave attempted to mobilize the Decepticons against the threat. The script for The Transformers: The Movie
explicitly details Shockwave's death as Unicron crushes his command tower with him in it, rips it off the planet, and tears it to shreds, and although this was not shown in the finished film, Shockwave was not seen again following the movie (although several incorrectly colored versions of Shockwave—presumably intended to be generic Decepticons—were seen in some third-season episodes of the TV series, most notably Five Faces of Darkness Parts 1-5). The IDW Publishing
adaptation of the movie has Shockwave lead the Decepticons against Unicron, only to be blown in half by the Chaos-Bringer's eye beams.
In Shockwave's first appearance, in "More Than Meets the Eye", Part One, he has two hands. By his next appearance, in the first episode of the ongoing series, "Transport to Oblivion", his left hand has been replaced with a gun barrel, matching his toy appearance (although notably the toy's box art itself incorrectly presented the gun barrel as being on his right arm).
' 21st century re-imagining of G1. As a major player in the Decepticon army in Cybertron's past, he led the main attack on the Autobots' stronghold shortly after the appointment of Optimus Prime
, and personally destroyed two Omega Sentinels
with one blast in space gun mode. There was also tension between him and Starscream
about who would lead the Decepticons after Megatron's supposed death, which eventually led to the creation of multiple splinter factions within both the Autobots and Decepticons. While Starscream created his own faction, the "Predacons", Shockwave led the Decepticons through the "Dark Ages" of Cybertron, during which his logic allowed him to put aside differences with Jetfire
and the Autobots in order to defeat the greater evil of The Fallen
. As the Dark Ages came to an end, Shockwave was ready to sign a peace treaty with Ratbat
's Ultracons
and the Autobots, but the return of Megatron derailed the plan, though the Quintesson
-created clones he brought back to the planet with him greatly intrigued Shockwave.
Shockwave was left behind on Cybertron while Megatron's forces pursued Optimus Prime and were subsequently lost on Earth for four million years, and became Decepticon leader on the planet. He began experimenting with cloning, and through studies of Astrotrain
and Blitzwing
, began to conceive the idea of a Transformer with multiple alternate modes. Eventually, however, Shockwave and all the other Transformers on Cybertron succumbed to stasis lock as the planet's energy ran out, and it entered a hibernation phase known as the "Great Shutdown." During this period of inactivity, 3,000 years ago, Unicron
's herald Scourge
located the planet, and reactivated Shockwave for study purposes. However, when Shockwave was attacked by a swarm of Sharkticon
s, Scourge intervened, and after saving him, was shot by Shockwave, who then proceeded to study him, learning much of the function and purpose of Transformers and Cybertron from the secrets within Scourge.
Shockwave steadily worked to restore Cybertron, reactivating its population and solving their energy needs, ending the war and unifying the planet. He also continued his experiments into multiple transformations, yielding the unstable Duocons
, and then successfully mastering the process with Triple Changer
s. Capturing Alpha Trion
, Shockwave sought to unlock the full secrets of Vector Sigma
, having already learned of the mysterious significance of Earth to the Transformer race. In preparation for the invasion of the planet, Shockwave subliminally influenced the population of Cybertron to become more violent, and prevented the return of Optimus Prime and Megatron aboard the Ark II by having a human agent blow it up.
In 2003, Shockwave made his move, heading to Earth with his Triple Changer troops and capturing Megatron and Optimus's forces, planning to try the two leaders as war criminals. Megatron was jettisoned into space by Starscream, while Prime's escape from his clutches led him to fall in with a rebel group, and then to confront Shockwave himself, only to be defeated by the Decepticon, who ripped the Matrix from him. Using the Matrix to activate Vector Sigma, Shockwave downloaded the compressed contents of the mega-computer into his network, but before he had an opportunity to view the data, he was pulled into a battle with Ultra Magnus
. In the course of the fight, the fuel line to his cannon was severed, and the resulting explosion destroyed his citadel and knocked him into a chasm.
While the rest of Cybertron believed Shockwave to be deceased, he had actually survived the explosion and gone underground in the wastelands of Cybertron with Astrotrain, Blitzwing, and the Seekers Thrust
, Dirge
, and Ramjet
. He continued his experimentation, resulting in Sixshot
. Soon after, however, Megatron returned to Cybertron and bested Shockwave, taking him to Earth where he did the same to Starscream. But now, the three players were assembled, each knowing certain dark secrets of Cybertron's past. Unfortunately, Dreamwave's bankruptcy and subsequently closure at the start of 2005 means that currently, this story remains unresolved.
Shockwave also appeared in several other Dreamwave miniseries, including Transformers/G.I. Joe ( where he was given a World War II
artillery cannon alternate mode) and the Micromasters series. In this series, set after The War Within but before the Great Shutdown, Shockwave is in command of the Cybertron Decepticons, with Scorponok
and Ratbat
serving under him. Later in the series a low-on-fuel Shockwave is defeated by the Micromaster
Skystalker and decapitated. Whether this mini-series is in continuity with the main Generation One series is unclear.
. In this Shockwave had taken control of the Decepticon army after Megatron's disappearance and conquered Cybertron, forcing the Autobots underground. However, this all changed when Cobra Commander
hacked into Teletraan III with the aim of creating a wormhole to Cybertron where he could steal more Transformer technology. G.I. Joe attempted to interfere and they, along with Cobra and Cobra Commander's personal transport Starscream
were all transported to Cybertron. Shockwave arrived with his troops (including Cyclonus
, Scourge
, Dirge
, Thrust
and Ramjet
) and attempted to eliminate them. However a squad of Autobots led by Ultra Magnus
stop them, keeping the Decepticons out by erecting a shield generator. While the Joes and Cobra forces attempted to locate several time-displaced Transformers (including Optimus Prime
), Shockwave's forces battered at the shield and eventually overwhelmed it, capturing most of the humans and Teletran 3 and wounding Ratchet
in the process. The humans were able to sneak in and undo the blocks on the time-displacement equipment, allowing the last Transformers to return - the Dinobots
, reconfigured into their now-familiar dinosaur modes. They wiped out most of Shockwave's forces and severely damaged Shockwave. As Starscream tried to weasel his way out of being killed by Shockwave for his part in the fiasco, both were instead eliminated when Cobra Commander activated his "parting gift" to the traitorous Starscream - 45 pounds of plastic explosives.
Despite the character being notoriously difficult to kill, it seems Shockwave did indeed perish in the explosion. In the third crossover a group of Autobots and G.I. Joes returning to Cybertron via the Spacebridge are attacked by Cannabilizers - old and damaged Transformers after spare parts. One of these clearly has Shockwave's gun arm.
comics published in the Official Transformers Collectors Club magazine is set in the Marvel Comics continuity, but in a timeline where the events of Generation 2 did not occur. Shockwave's severed but still living head appears among Megatron's troops.
, who have begun to issue their own Transformers series. The Transformers: Evolutions: Hearts of Steel
, an alternate reality set during America's Industrial Revolution
, features Shockwave reconfigured as a Confederate-style Ironclad. He is the first Transformer to reveal himself to the humans, transforming from boat mode at the end of issue #1. Although he only briefly appeared after this in issue #2, showing Tobias Muldoon the Decepticon base, he was presumably destroyed when Bumblebee
and John Henry
managed to send the entire Decepticon rail convoy into a chasm.
In the main IDW Transformers universe, Generation One Shockwave made his first appearance in the first issue of The Transformers: Spotlight. In this single-issue story, Shockwave sees the coming state of Cybertron (which, as The Transformers: Stormbringer
would show, would turn out to be accurate). Launching energon missiles into space, one crashes on Earth with Shockwave looking on this as an experiment in progress. However, he was interrupted by the Dynobots
, seeking revenge for a past defeat involving Shockwave stealing their energon cache. They adopted the forms of extinct dinosaurs to combat the high energon levels of the planet. Despite the ferocity of the Dynobots' assault he was still able to defeat them all. However, Grimlock
, anticipating possible defeat, programmed their ship to fire upon their location if they did not return, burying them all in lava, until a human archeology team discovered them many years later. In The Transformers: Escalation
it was revealed the bodies of both Shockwave and the Dynobots had been uncovered by the mysterious defense organization Skywatch.
Shockwave's actions here serve as a prequel to other story lines: the rich energon seams Shockwave plants here are discovered by Starscream
's infiltration unit, leading to the events of Infiltration, while Megatron, at the story's close, assigns Bludgeon
to seal off Shockwave's research, implying that this is how he gains the knowledge he has in Stormbringer.
It is hinted in the Spotlight that Shockwave at one point cut himself off from his emotions.
Shockwave is subsequently reactivated by Skywatch to locate and nullify Laserbeak, Ravage, and the Dinobots whom Skywatch have lost control of. Soundwaves help is obtained to break a code that Skywatch have planned to detonate a bomb in Shockwaves head if he does not do Skywatch's bidding. Upon locating the Dinobots Shockwave firstly engages and defeats Scorponok in battle, and then turns his attentions to Grimlock. However Soundwave correctly encrypts Skywatch's codes enabling Shockwave to disengage the Bomb, at this point Shockwave disengages the battle with Grimlock and walks away, only for Grimlock to detonate a bomb burying them both in rubble. Shockwave is subsequently captured and imprisoned by Ultra Magnus
In the recent mini series Last Stand of the Wreckers it was revealed that when the sadisic renegade Decepticon known as Overlord took control of the Autobot pirson "The Last Resort" he freed Shockwave and gave him a hand picked crew of Decepticons in return for Shockwae disabling the safe guards he had implanted in him under Megatron's orders, just as he had done to Overlord's fellow Phase Six Decepticons Sixshot and Black Shadow
Following his escape Shockwave joined up with the Decepticons currently faltering under Starscream's weak and ineffective leadership. He claims to be working on repairing the Space Bridge though Megatron, still on life support following his battle with Optimus Prime, suspects that he is not being completely truthful
toy line, which featured classic characters re-interpreted with modern vehicular alternate modes. Although the American toys offered no supporting fiction, the storyline included with the Japanese version of the line, Binaltech, detailed the story of Shockwave's rebirth in this unusual new form.
When the time-displaced Decepticon agent, Ravage
, used the time machine called the Kronosphere to alter the time line (branching off the Binaltech/Alternators storyline from the continuity of the G1 animated series), the chaos that ensued resulted in the destruction of Shockwave's body. With Ravage's aid, his mind was installed into a stolen Autobot "Binaltech" body, equipped with a prototype "Transmuter" device, which, when interfaced with Shockwave's personality component, allowed the chassis to "transmute" itself into Shockwave's recognizable physical form, including his cyclopean visage and gun-arm. He wields a Turbo Rifle which can also serve as a power booster for his gun-arm, and can project up to five holographic duplicates of himself anywhere on the planet (an ability mentioned in the series bible for the original animated series, but never put to use until episode 4).
Episode, Ice Ice Megas, the robots of the Cerilian Army resemble Shockwave in almost every way, except color and alt mode. All of the were voiced by Jeff Bennett
.
In an episode of Robot Chicken
, Shockwave finds Soundwave in eBay and asks Megatron if he buys it now.
Transformers Collectors Edition game.
by Hasbro. Hasbro's original design for the figure cast him in shades of purple and gray, although they later abandoned this in favor of a green and gray scheme for their figure; the animated series, however, had gone into production before this last-minute change, resulting in the cartoon incarnation of the character being rendered in the purple and gray scheme. Accordingly, in the interest of show-accuracy, Takara release their figure in this color scheme, rather than the altered Hasbro one - happily, these colors fit suitably well with his Japanese name in hearkening back to the purple-and-gray G1 Shockwave, although it is unclear whether or not this was intentional, though unlikely since Shockwave was known as Laserwave in the Japanese dub of the G1 cartoon.
Hugely egotistical, cold, ruthless, and a genius, Shockblast is sometimes loyal to Megatron but occasionally acts like Starscream and seeks to overthrow his master. Shockblast's capacity for ruthlessness exceeds even that of Megatron which makes his personality a cross between his leaders and Starscream's. However despite that, Starscream himself even under Megatron's control seems to respect Shockblast. The power-hungry Shockblast transforms into an orbital Satellite and a ground-based assault vehicle (although in the animated series, he only transformed into the former). He has an unspecified history with Tidal Wave
, who distrusts him (the Japanese dub of the series indicated that this was because Shockblast was part of Tidal Wave's platoon, and turned on his fellow Decepticons after the Autobots were defeated).
Shockblast immediately rankled under Megatron's leadership, and was attacked by Wing Dagger when he led a new attack on Cybertron. Tidal Wave was ordered to aid him, but Shockblast had already collapsed an Energon Tower and dragged Wing Dagger under it, killing him, and accidentally injuring Tidal Wave. Both victims were soon reborn, however - Tidal Wave as Mirage
, and Wing Dagger as the powerful Wing Saber
. While Wing Saber merged with Optimus Prime as the Autobots ventured into Unicron, Shockblast defied Megatron's orders, lying and claiming he was under attack while sneaking off and preparing to make a power play. When Megatron faced off against Optimus Prime in the middle of an Energon reaction that had torn a fissure in space, Shockblast leaped into the middle, only to be hit by a chunk of debris and sent spiraling through the fissure, into a new region of space where Alpha Q had recreated the planets destroyed by Unicron.
Separated from the other Decepticons, Shockblast was confronted by the Autobots on Iron Planet and was defeated and captured by Wing Saber, and chained and guarded by Inferno
. Megatron and the other Decepticons soon arrived to rescue him and Megatron warned him of the price of defiance. This did not stop Shockblast from attempting to seize power again, however - and in his next move, he succeeded, seating himself in Megatron's throne within Unicron, planning to take the chaos-bringer's power for his own. However, he got more power than he bargained for, as Unicron's essence possessed him, warping his body and driving him into an insane rage. Battling with Optimus Prime on Blizzard Planet, Shockblast was destroyed when Unicron's massive arm plunged down through the planet's atmosphere and crushed him, completely extinguishing his Spark.
Shockblast's place in the Decepticons was soon filled by his own younger and equally treacherous brother, Six Shot
.
attempted to break into an Autobot island facility as Shockblast scrambled the security system with an electromagnetic pulse from orbit, they were caught and battled with Bulkhead and Towline who had some unexpected help—Omega Supreme
, who soundly defeated all the Decepticons present.
The name of Shockwave would make an unexpected reappearance in the fourth mini-comic, as one of Megatron's troops. On Earth Megatron, with the aid of Snowcat
, Shockwave, Mirage
and Demolisher, cornered Optimus Prime and a wounded Hot Shot
. Optimus nobly refused to give up. The other Autobot reinforcements were over ten minutes away and the two Autobots looked done for when Wing Saber
arrived. Making a powerlinx link with Optimus Prime, Prime soundly defeated all the Decepticons, even Megatron, and forced them to flee. The Autobots then arrived and Optimus thanked Wing Saber for his help.
series in 2005. Packaged with Tankor
, a Mini-Con Autobot, Shockwave himself is of Decepticon allegiance and a member of the Sky Attack Team. Left free to pursue his own interests on Earth following the departure of the two other Transformer factions, Shockwave has spent the last decade working for various dictators and tyrants around the world. Who he signs up with is based on how likely he is to be able to cause devastation and death - because there's nothing he loves more than seeing a city go up in flames, and knowing he lit the fire.
Shockwave appears among the rebel Mini-Con forces who side with Megatron and attempt to sabotage the Mini-Con evacuation from one of Cybertron's moons.
published in issue #15 of the Transformers Collectors Club Magazine, the original lineup pitched for the Decepticons in the live action Transformers film was Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave
, Ravage
, Laserbeak
, Rumble
, Skywarp
and Shockwave. However, Shockwave was left out of the original film as the lineup eventually ended up as Megatron, Starscream, Scorponok
, Frenzy
, Barricade
, Bonecrusher
, Blackout
(who replaced Soundwave) and Brawl
(misnamed Devastator
).
He does appear in the third film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Orginally at some point, actor David Warner
was originally being considered for the role in the film, but in the end, the part was given to Frank Welker
, who also does the voice of Soundwave
. This also marked the second time that he is voiced by an actor who voiced Megatron, The Joker
and Batman
, with Corey Burton
previously voicing all three. Bay had commented that Shockwave was going to be portrayed as a "little bit more vicious" than Megatron. His armoury includes a massive cannon and wrist blade. He commands a Cybertronian Driller that he acquired during the prequel comics.
Shockwave's design in the film retains most of his original design from his Generation 1 incarnation, most noticeable in his head, arm cannon and color scheme.
Bryan Alexander of the Chicago Sun Times rated Shockwave 3rd of the top 12 most sinister movie villains in film for summer of 2011, being topped only by the Red Skull
and Lord Voldemort
.
crash to Earth. Shockwave leaves Astrotrain and observes a group of Decepticons working for Starscream as they confront the Autobots. He traces the radioactive trail left by Starscream's minion Divebomb back to Starscream's base in junkyard of the outskirts of Mexico City
. After blasting his way past Ruination
and Deadlift, Shockwave tells Starscream that Megatron requires his services. Shockwave then sends Starscream to recover the drone called Brains
.
He is responsible for the Tunguska event
.
. He is a Triple Changer
with a robot, gun turret and AH-64 Apache
helicopter modes and is a boss for the Autobots later in the game, where he must fight Optimus Prime. In the game, Shockwave delays Optimus Prime from rescuing Bumblebee when Bumblebee is captured by Sector 7. Physically, he is taller than Optimus Prime. Shockwave, however, appears to submit to Starscream, instead of the other way around like his G1 incarnation. He also appears in the Autobot Cybertron mission in the console versions of the game.
In the PSP
version of the game, he is a playable character. He first appears with partner Thundercracker
while trying to protect Blackout
and Scorponok
in Qatar. He next appears in the Arctic dig site, where he, Thundercracker and fellow Decepticon Dreadwing
, try to find Megatron. They first destroy the Autobot transmitter satellites, then go inside the site. They are also attacked by several drones. They do not find Megatron and realize there is a satellite about to launch. The Autobot drones decide to blow up the place, but Thundercracker and Shockwave make it out, leaving Dreadwing to perish in the explosion. Then they go to the launch site, attempting to transmit a signal in the satellite for Decepticon drones to approach them. Shockwave distracts the armed forces while Thundercracker places the signal. They succeed, and Shockwave is rescued by Thundercracker. Shockwave meets with Blackout and Scorponok, but does not find their army and they have not heard from Thundercracker (Unknown to them, Autobot Ironhide
already killed Thundercracker and Autobots Hound
and Trailbreaker
disrupted the signal). At the end of the game, after the Autobots succeed in destroying most of the Decepticons and bringing peace to Earth, Shockwave and Starscream retreat to Cybertron. Starscream and Shockwave argue about leadership now that Megatron is dead. They decide to go to war, with players assuming the role of Starscream. Starscream successfully destroys Shockwave and his followers.
In the Nintendo DS
versions of the game (both Autobots and Decepticons) features all Chopper vehicle modes that transform into a Bot complete with Shockwave's head.
Shockwave appears as the final boss in the Transformers: Dark of the Moon
console game, set before the events of the film. Megatron sets out to free him from captivity in a Russian facility, destroying the cryo tanks keeping him frozen. Shockwave began to thaw as Optimus found him, and the Driller attacked until Shockwave was active. However he was still sluggish, and this proved to be an advantage to Optimus, who attacked the power coils on his back powering his cannon, forcing Shockwave to take cover in the Driller. After Optimus drove off the Driller again, Shockwave began fighting Optimus and several Autobot soldiers, taking the smaller robots with ease until Optimus used his flight-pack mode to finish the one-eyed Decepticon. Luckily for Shockwave, the Driller returned and whisked him away. Arriving in Africa where Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave were waiting. Megatron welcolmed back his best assassin, and ordered him to head to Chernobyl as part of Operation: Pillar.
where Devastator is trying to suck up The Twins.
On June 10, 2010, Bay said to USA Today
that Shockwave would be one of the main antagonists in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
He appears in the beginning of the film when Optimus Prime went on a mission to Chernobyl with his ally human soldiers. They discovered a fuel cell from The Ark that had incredible radiation levels. At this moment Shockwave's Driller appears and immediately begins destroying the base and killing soldiers in the process. It then proceeds to take the fuel and bursts out of the base with Optimus Prime following. The fight then takes to the land where the Driller knocks off Optimus' trailer, separating him from his weapons. However, Prime was still able to gain access to it after cutting off one of its tentacle-like limbs. At this moment Shockwave appears out of the beast saying "Optimus" but he quickly withdraws. He later appears during the final battle, where the Driller once again knocks over Optimus's trailer, and is fired at by the Wreckers so that the trailer could be retrieved. After noticing falling furniture from a building that has Sam and others in, he sends the Driller to collapse the building holding Sam, Carly, Epps and other soldiers. After tipping the building over Optimus Prime flies in with his FlightTech and is able to kill the Driller, cutting off its main head by flying through the section that connects it to the body. Angered by what happened to his pet, Shockwave shoots at Optimus with a burst-missile - causing him to get tangled and stuck in wires on a crane. After the Wreckers free Optimus, the humans launch a coordinated assault on Shockwave. He is blinded by a parachute and the humans attack Shockwave at the same time, damaging his head causing his eye to dangle by its wires. Optimus then flies in who Shockwave fires at but Optimus dodges the shot and punches through Shockwave's torso using bladed knuckles and proceeds to kill him by ripping his eye out. Optimus then uses Shockwave's arm cannon to blast the space bridge control pillar, temporarily halting Cybertron from transporting into Earth's atmosphere.
.
, but an interaction with Sari Sumdac
's key ended up transporting Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Sari to Transtech
Cybertron
, where they met Flareup
and were detained by Shockwave. Bumblebee teamed up with Beast Wars Megatron to free his comrades, but then had to stop him from taking the key for himself. Afterwards the Autobots and Sari returned to their own dimension.
Transtech Shockwave appeared in story Transcendent, where he kidnapped Breakaway for Transtech Megatron. After Shockwave discovered that certain systems in Breakaway were unique and might be useful Megatron requested permission from Transtech Ratbat to take the Autobot apart, even it may kill him. When Alpha Trion's forces raided the lab to free Skyfall Megatron opposed them, but they escaped to another dimension.
. His actual alt-mode is heavily based on the tank mode of Transformers Armadas Megatron. Corey Burton reprises the English-accented, David Warner-inspired
voice for the character, but when Shockwave is in the disguise of Longarm, he speaks in an American accent. Furthermore, while this Shockwave's voice sounds identical to that of his G1 self, Longarm's voice sounds much younger than Shockwave himself. Corey Burton revealed Shockwave's inclusion in Season 2 arose from a between scenes conversation he had with the production team, regarding how little the original Shockwave actually had to do.
aptitude test is Bulkhead, leading Megatron to capture the Autobot. When the rest of the earth Autobots try to rescue Bulkhead, they are captured themselves, and Shockwave appears on a screen to taunt Bumblebee with the truth of his double agent
status, and the fact that he had an innocent Autobot (Wasp) imprisoned (this later led to Wasp becoming Waspinator).
After the "A Bridge Too Close" two-parter, he gained a more prominent role in Season 3, and returned in the season three premiere event "Transwarped". Appearing in his Longarm guise, he was waiting for Megatron's arrival until Blurr
returned to Cybertron with information regarding Megatron's communications with the double agent. Once aware that no one else on Cybertron knows the truth yet, Shockwave attacks him and manages to use the base's walls to crush him, taking the remains to Cliffjumper for disposal before being contacted by Megatron. When Ultra Magnus planned on making contact with the earth Autobots, Shockwave uses his guise to convince him to have all communication with them relayed through him, to keep his identity a secret, which is further endangered when the council begins to realize there's a spy in their team.
He next appeared in Where is thy Sting?,infuriated that Jazz, Sentinel Prime, Jetfire and Jetstorm were heading to Earth while after Wasp and attempting to get them to turn back, with Ultra Magnus "calming" him to let his group proceed with their mission. Fearing that his cover will be blown and unable to contact Megatron, Shockwave left a message for him that he would take matters into his own hands. At the episode's conclusion, once word of the truth came to Cybertron, Ironhide attempted to take him into prison, only to find the gravely injured Ultra Magnus lying on the floor, as Shockwave nearly assassinated him and stole his hammer before taking his leave into the long abandoned underground passage ways to hide out.
He appeared as the main antagonist in "This is Why I Hate Machines". When Megatron arrived to Cybertron in Omega Supreme, Shockwave began setting up a scheme to acquire the activation codes to Omega Supreme from the original Autobot who possessed them, Arcee. His plans were slowed down when Ratchet and Captain Fanzone arrived on Cybertron and try to protect Arcee from the clutches of Shockwave. Because of this, Shockwave battled Ratchet several times through the episode, utilizing the stolen Magnus Hammer as his primary weapon. After taking care of the Autobot, he encounters his "old boss", Ultra Magnus and attempts to put him out of commission. He would have succeeded if Ratchet had not intervened. Though he lost Magnus' hammer in the fight, Shockwave escapes with Arcee, resuming his natural purple
color scheme upon joining Megatron's group officially.
In the third season finale (which also acted as the series' finale), Shockwave kept Arcee in an operating chamber, where he hooked her up to several wires. Once he received news that Megatron was going to make Omega Supreme clones, Shockwave once again used his Longarm disguise in an attempt to trick Arcee into giving Megatron Omega's activation codes, so that the three Omega clones could be brought online. When the attempt failed, Shockwave took the codes forcefully. However, the codes were missing an essential security patch, requiring Shockwave to set up a bypass, leaving Lugnut to control the clones remotely from Omega. Shockwave later encountered Ratchet, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Sari
, who had come to save Arcee, and engaged Bumblebee and Bulkhead in battle. Bulkead managed to catch him off guard, punching him to the ground and knocking away his cannon. Forgetting his color scheme, Shockwave took on his Longarm guise in a vain and desperate ploy to gain mercy. Bulkhead and Bumblebee were not fooled however and destroyed the cannon. Shockwave makes a final appearance in the show when he gets taken to Cybertron as a prisoner along with Megatron and Lugnut.
stronghold in Kaon city.
, and creating the combiner technology - first the Combaticons
who formed Bruticus Maximus and perfected it with the Constructicons
who formed Devastator
(named after the Devastator Winds).
Mentioned in Transformers: Exiles
.
in the 2010 video game Transformers: War for Cybertron
. While voiced by Steven Blum
in the game, Shockwave was voiced by Corey Burton in the GameStop
TV promo. Players can unlock him on the PlayStation 3
and Xbox 360
versions by entering a unique code supplied by GameStop (U.S.) and Blockbuster Video (UK). He is also unlockable on the Nintendo DS
version and part of the first DLC pack
on the PC version.
In the TV promo, Megatron leaves Shockwave in charge while he is away. Shockwave revels in this, then orders Soundwave to transform into boombox mode and play "The Touch
" while shooting several Autobots. Starscream (who is nearby) asks "Why this song?", to which Shockwave replies, "When your hit percentage exceeds mine, you may choose the soundtrack."
Shockwave will appear in Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
. Shockwave opens a space bridge to search the universe for powerful forces, etc, finds dinosaurs on Earth. Later he will apply these forms to bots on Cybertron, Grimlock
being one of them. Shockwave later tries to control the new Dinobots, but cannot.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s in the various Transformers
Transformers
A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling.Transformer may also refer to:* ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, an Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet computer manufacturer by Asus...
series. Throughout his incarnations, he is usually distinguished by a laser cannon
Raygun
Rayguns are a type of fictional directed-energy weapon. They have various alternate names: ray gun, death ray, beam gun, blaster, laser gun, phaser, etc. They are a well-known feature of science fiction; for such stories they typically have the general function of guns...
in lieu of one of his hands and his distinctive face, which is featureless save a single robotic eye. Due to issues with Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
's trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
of the name Shockwave, some products were also released under the name Shockblast.
Transformers: Generation 1
As the Decepticons' military operations commander, Shockwave's power is second only to Megatron, and even that is disputed. His actions are carried out with the cold, brutal clarity and perfection one would expect of a purely mechanical being—his way is not that of blood lust, like so many other Decepticons, but rather that of a scientist attempting to solve a problem. And that problem is: how can he use his abilities to most effectively eliminate the greatest number of enemies? Unfortunately for the Autobots, it is rare that Shockwave does not find an answer.Unlike most early Transformers Shockwave was not modified into an Earthly form, and retains his Cybertron alternate mode—a 35-foot-long ray gun. He possesses the power of flight in both modes, and commands the totality of the electromagnetic spectrum
Electromagnetic spectrum
The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object....
allowing him to emit beams of energy in a wide variety of forms. His high energy output makes him particularly fuel inefficient, but radioactive fuel sources stored in the reactor in his chest can help Shockwave to overcome this problem. Although his logical brain center is usually an advantage, human adversaries often pose more of a difficulty to Shockwave, as more intuitive and emotional thought processes often confound him.
While the animated series established Shockwave as fanatically loyal to Megatron, Shockwave's original bio and most fiction since have described him as coldly and patiently looking for ways to overthrow Megatron, not for personal power (as Starscream
Starscream (Transformers)
Starscream is a fictional character in the Transformers franchise. He is one of the most prolific characters in the Transformers fictional work, appearing in almost all incarnations of the story. Starscream is usually portrayed with the same characterization...
would) but simply because it was logical for him to do so. Shockwave concluded that he should rule so that no emotion should prevent the Decepticons from conquering the universe. This was retained in most comic books, where Shockwave became leader of the Decepticons.
Unusually for a 1985 (second year) toy, Shockwave was part of Transformers fiction from the first year, appearing in both the original cartoon pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
and 4-issue comic book miniseries.
Development
According to writer Bob BudianskyBob 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:...
the character of Shockwave was inspired by Spock
Spock
Spock is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, Spock also appears in the animated Star Trek series, two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, seven of the Star Trek feature films, and numerous Star Trek...
from the Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
series.
Reception
.Wired Magazine once nominated him as one of the 12 most ridiculous Transformers of all time.
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
Transformers comic book series. Also, unlike his cartoon incarnation, in which he was depicted as an easily beatable foe, his comic incarnation was very powerful.
Here, Shockwave was part of the Decepticon unit that pursued the Ark, but he held back from actually attacking the craft, remaining on the Decepticons' own space cruiser and following the Ark down to prehistoric Earth when it crashed. His guiding systems disrupted by his travel through Earth's atmosphere, Shockwave touched down in Antarctica, specifically, in the Savage Land
Savage Land
The Savage Land is a hidden prehistoric land within the fictional Marvel Comics Universe. It is a tropical preserve hidden in Antarctica. It was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in X-Men #10...
, whose dinosaur inhabitants the Ark used as a basis to reconstruct five Autobots to battle Shockwave. These "Dinobots
Dinobots
Dinobots is the name of several teams of characters in the fictional Transformers Universe. The groups are made up of several robots, each of whose transformed mode is that of a dinosaur or similar prehistoric animal. They are called Dinotrons in the Japanese version; and ' in the Japanese dub of...
" engaged Shockwave, but he slyly outmaneuvered them, and managed to trap them in a tar pit
Tar pit
A tar pit, or more accurately known as an asphalt pit or asphalt lake, is a geological occurrence where subterranean bitumen leaks to the surface, creating a large area of natural asphalt.-Known tar pits:...
one by one by picking them off from a safe distance with his superior fire power. A stalemate was reached when the last strike by the Dinobots before sinking into the pit saw them bury Shockwave under a landslide, where he remained for four million years.
In 1984, Shockwave was reawakened by an Autobot probe dispatched from the Ark. He quickly struck the weakened Autobots, who had just defeated Megatron's forces. Deactivating them all and stringing them up in the Ark, which he took for his own base, Shockwave brought the Decepticons back online to serve him, and was soon challenged for leadership by a wounded Megatron, whom he soundly defeated and brought under his heel. As Decepticon commander, Shockwave commandeered the Blackrock Aerospace Plant, using its resources to construct new Transformers, which he then gave life using the Creation Matrix
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...
, siphoned from Optimus Prime. However, Prime was able to transfer the Matrix into Buster Witwicky's mind, preventing Shockwave from giving life to his newest creation, Jetfire
Jetfire
Jetfire is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers universes. He is nearly always depicted as an Autobot with jet or space shuttle alternate mode.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
. Shockwave instead programmed Jetfire to acquire Buster, but Buster was able to reprogram and give life to Jetfire and took Shockwave out of the game long enough to recover Optimus Prime's severed head. Prime then battled Shockwave and hurled him into a swamp.
Shockwave was able to extricate himself in short order, and attempted a series of failed plans, such as draining sonic energy from a rock concert and attempting to control Bumblebee
Bumblebee (Transformers)
Bumblebee is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes. In most incarnations, Bumblebee is a small, yellow Autobot with the altmode of a compact car.- Transformers: Generation 1 :...
. When Megatron resurfaced, he and Shockwave clashed again, but settled into a brief period of shared leadership until Shockwave fell victim to an Autobot trap, and saw the logic in Megatron's accusations of failure, ceding command to him. However, in the UK comic Shockwave did not stand for this for long, and he soon sent the Predacons in to assassinate both Optimus and Megatron, failing after Megatron teleported himself and Prime to Cybertron and only just managing to cover his tracks without Megatron knowing it was him. When Megatron began to descend into paranoid insanity after the death of Optimus Prime, Shockwave attempted to take advantage of the situation by arranging a staged attack by the Predacons (in the U.K. comic, the dialogue was rewritten to say that due to his insanity, Megatron had forgotten his original battle with them). Megatron defeated them even in their combined mode of Predaking, but when Shockwave revealed that he had duplicated his mind to disc to guide the Predacons during their hunt, Megatron's deranged mind (accurately) began to believe that this was how Optimus Prime had survived. Desperate and insane, Megatron apparently killed himself by blowing up the spacebridge while he was on it, once again allowing Shockwave to take leadership. However, he soon faced various objections courtesy of Ratbat
Ratbat
Ratbat is the name of several fictional characters who appeared in various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:As is the case with many Transformers characters, the various continuities in which Ratbat has appeared have portrayed him widely differently in terms of size, personality,...
, the local Decepticon commander on Cybertron, who criticized his operations for being too fuel-inefficient. Arriving on Earth to oversee Shockwave's work, Ratbat encountered Buster Witwicky, whom he captured and brought to the Decepticons' mobile island base. With the Autobot Headmasters
Headmaster (Transformers)
Headmasters are a sub-group of characters from the Transformers meta-series, distinguished by their ability to detach their heads when transforming into their alternate modes, with the heads then transforming themselves into a humanoid form...
in pursuit, Shockwave transformed the island into its rocket mode and blasted off, but in a space-bound battle with Fortress Maximus
Fortress Maximus
Fortress Maximus is the name of several fictional characters from several of the various Transformers universes. Fortress Maximus appeared in the season 4 finale of the US Transformers animated series voiced by Stephen Keener. He was one of the stars of the Japanese Transformers: Headmasters...
, Shockwave was defeated and sent hurtling into Earth's atmosphere, where he seemingly burned up.
Although this would be all that the U.S. comics would see of Shockwave for some time, this was not the case for its sister title, the U.K.-based Transformers comic, which reprinted the American stories with their own original material intertwined. In previous UK stories, Shockwave had run afoul of the future Decepticon leader, Galvatron
Galvatron
Galvatron is the name of several fictional Transformers, most often the recreated version of Megatron, the Decepticon leader. He was voiced by Leonard Nimoy in the 1986 Transformers movie, and then by Frank Welker in season 3 and 4 of the animated television series. Since then, other Transformers...
, who was attempting to disrupt his leadership in the present to ensure the loyalty of his army in the future. After his battle with Fortress Maximus, Shockwave was revealed to have survived his fall back to Earth and returned to the Decepticons' original castle base, where he had the Seacons
Seacons
This article is about the Transformers characters the Seacons. For the shopping mall, see Seacon Square. For the 1961 Worldcon in Seattle, Washington, Seacon, see 19th World Science Fiction Convention...
acquire the body of what was apparently Megatron (but would, in actuality, be later revealed as a clone), which he brainwashed into doing his bidding in order to pit him against Galvatron. When he was visited by the other future Decepticons, Cyclonus
Cyclonus
Cyclonus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:The tech spec from the box art of the Cyclonus toy describes him as a compassionless Decepticon air warrior and saboteur...
and Scourge
Scourge (Transformers)
Scourge is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers series. He first appeared as one of the central villains in the 1986 film The Transformers, voiced by Stan Jones. He also regularly appeared in the animated Transformers series and Transformers comic books. Since then other...
and learned that in their future, they would kill him, he unleashed Megatron upon them, who killed Cyclonus. Shockwave then turned Megatron upon Galvatron, but rather than destroy him, he saw a potential partner in Galvatron, and they teamed up to battle Autobots and Decepticons from both the present and future in the "Time Wars", as a rift in the space-time continuum bore down on them. Shockwave, however, had become a prisoner of his own logic - to seal the rift it was necessary to return Cyclonus's body to it, thereby saving everyone, including himself. A logical action. However, to do so would be to condemn himself to death in the future by Cyclonus and Scourge's hands. Illogical. Unable to cope with the paradox, Shockwave went insane, but was saved by Ravage
Ravage (Transformers)
Ravage is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. Due to the inability to trademark the common word "ravage", he is sometimes called Battle Ravage, Command Ravage or Tripredacus Agent...
, who pointed out that, equipped with knowledge of his death, he could prevent it. His mind restored, Shockwave returned Cyclonus's body to the rift, after Galvatron and Scourge were consumed by it, and sealed it shut with an X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
blast. The day had been saved, but Optimus Prime promised him that the next time they met, it would be as enemies.
A short time later, Shockwave went on to make his return to the pages of the U.S. comic, as he established a small splinter cell of Decepticons, consisting of himself, Starscream
Starscream (Transformers)
Starscream is a fictional character in the Transformers franchise. He is one of the most prolific characters in the Transformers fictional work, appearing in almost all incarnations of the story. Starscream is usually portrayed with the same characterization...
, Mindwipe
Mindwipe (Transformers)
Mindwipe is the name of two fictional characters in the Transformers toy line and fictional series by Hasbro. Both are Decepticons.-Transformers: Generation 1:Mindwipe is a Decepticon Headmaster who transforms into a bat....
, Triggerhappy
Triggerhappy (Transformers)
Triggerhappy is a fictional character from the various Transformers series. He appeared in season 4 of the Transformers animated series voiced by Charlie Adler...
, Ravage
Ravage (Transformers)
Ravage is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. Due to the inability to trademark the common word "ravage", he is sometimes called Battle Ravage, Command Ravage or Tripredacus Agent...
, Runabout
Runabout (Transformers)
-Transformers: Generation 1:The first Runabout formed one half of the Battlecharger duo with Runamuck. Runabout is not the brains of the Battlechargers, but he is much calmer and certainly more articulate than Runamuck, and his presence helps keep the latter's cross-wired mind on task...
and Runamuck
Runamuck (Transformers)
Runamuck is the name of three fictional characters in the various Transformers series. All three are violent Decepticons who turn into cars. In the original Transformers animated series Runabout was voiced by Roger Behr.- Transformers: Generation 1 :...
. Declaring civil war against the current Decepticon Earth commander, Scorponok
Scorponok
Scorponok is the name shared by several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are Decepticons that turn into Scorpoins.- Transformers: Generation 1:...
, Shockwave battled him in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, only for the conflict to be interrupted when all the Transformers were transported back to Cybertron by their deity, Primus
Primus (Transformers)
Primus is the "benevolent" godlike entity in the fictional Transformers comic universe who fought against the Chaos-Bringer Unicron. The Lord of the Light, Primus is the being who created the Transformers to help him defeat Unicron.-Primus and Unicron:...
to battle Unicron
Unicron
Unicron is a fictional character from the Transformers universe and toyline. Created by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie as the film's main antagonist. Unicron is a prodigiously large robot whose scale reaches planetary proportions, and he is also...
. Awestruck by the chaos-bringer, even Shockwave's vast data-grid could not compute a logical course of action, and he and Starscream hijacked the Ark and fled the planet shortly after Unicron's defeat. However, the Dinobots had previously treated the Transformers stored in the Ark's stasis pods with the life-restoring fuel, Nucleon
Nucleon (Transformers)
Nucleon is a power source in the fictional Transformers universe. It was introduced during the beginning of the Action Masters toyline in 1990. The Action Masters were composed of small-scale 3¾" Transformers, a mixture of pre-exisitng characters, who were designed to closely resemble their...
- and among those Transformers was the true Megatron, who battled with Galvatron, who had also stowed away on board the craft. Galvatron came to his senses in time, realizing that if Megatron was killed, he could cease to exist, and hid as Shockwave arrived to kill a weakened and disorientated Megatron. Galvatron intervened, but in an attempt to break the cycle of violence that seemingly bound him and Megatron, Autobot medic Ratchet
Ratchet (Transformers)
Ratchet is the name of several characters in the Transformers universes. According to the original creator of the Transformers names, Bob Budiansky, Ratchet was named after the character of Nurse Ratched from the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The name Ratchet is almost always portrayed as...
crashed the Ark into Earth. Shockwave was last seen in pain as Megatron and Galvatron advanced on him just before the ship crashed. His fate remains unknown. He did not appear again in either the remainder of the US Generation 1 comics or the subsequent Generation 2 comics.
In the Earthforce sequence of UK comic stories, both Shockwave and Megatron were running separate Decepticon cells on Earth, fighting both Autobot and each other. (It was never really explained where the Earthforce stories fit into continuity, though many believe it takes place vaguely between the original comics and the G2 run) It was clear that unless they were united, the Decepticons could not ever defeat the Autobots, and so Soundwave & Starscream organized a coup of both cells and reunified them as a single army. Shockwave and Megatron were forced to team up to retake control.
The second wave of Decepticon Headmasters would appear in the U.K. Marvel comic issue #234, "Prime's Rib!" This story is set in the near future, 1995, where 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...
, Jazz
Jazz (Transformers)
Jazz is the name of a fictional character from the various Transformers universes. He is usually portrayed as a music loving robot and talks with a slang accent. He is also a good friend of Optimus Prime's...
and Hot Rod
Rodimus
Rodimus is the name of a fictional character from the various Transformers universes. Rodimus is a young Autobot and succesor to Optimus Prime. He was formerly known as Hot Rod, but was reformatted as Rodimus Prime by the Matrix of Leadership and became the leader of the Autobots...
introduce the latest Autobot, Arcee
Arcee
Arcee is the name of a fictional character in the Transformers franchise. She is a female Autobot, usually pink in color. Being the most famous of the Female Transformers, she has two primary forms...
, to the human feminists. She was met with displeasure by the humans, being called a token female and disliked for her pink color. They were then attacked by Shockwave, Fangry, Horri-Bull and Squeezeplay, who thought the Autobot would be unveiling a new weapon. The Autobots fought off the Decepticons, who escaped, but nothing seemed to please the human feminists.
In the U.K. comic stories set after the Transformers movie, it is revealed Shockwave survived the attack from Unicron and took command of the Decepticons in 2006 and, as Rodimus Prime was focused on finding Galvatron, was able to conquer half of Cybertron from under the Autobots. Part of his rule involved keeping Cyclonus & Scourge from ever being in a position to usurp him, even arranging for them to botch Death's Head
Death's Head
Death's Head is a fictional comic book character, a robotic bounty hunter appearing in the books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Simon Furman and artist Geoff Senior for the company's Marvel UK imprint...
's hit on Prime so he would kill them - this failed when Unicron sent them, backed up by a mind-controlled Death's Head, to assassinate him and take control of the Decepticons. Death's Head eventually killed Shockwave after a grueling battle, promising to avenge him even as he blew him apart.
Animated series
Though a major character in the Marvel comics, Shockwave was minor character in the cartoon, only making rare appearances, and rather than being presented as a powerful Decepticon he was depicted as a weak and easily beatable foe. When Megatron prepared to lead his troops in pursuit of Optimus PrimeOptimus 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 the Ark, Shockwave was instructed to stay behind and guard Cybertron
Cybertron
Cybertron is a fictional planet, the homeworld of the Transformers in the various fictional incarnations of the metaseries and toyline by Hasbro. In the Japanese series, the planet is referred to as "Cybertron" pronounced as セイバートロン Seibātoron...
in Megatron's absence. Swearing that Cybertron would remain as Megatron left it, Shockwave performed his duty to the letter for four million years, after Megatron and the other Transformers were entombed in stasis on Earth.
So accurately did Shockwave carry out his task, however, that no advances were achieved in the war, and the deadlock slowly caused what little supplies of energy the planet had to dwindle. In the Earth year 1984, Shockwave again attempted to make contact with the lost Megatron - only this time, he received a reply. The Transformers on Earth had been awakened, and immediately, Shockwave and Megatron co-created the Space Bridge
Space Bridge
In Marvel Comics' Transformers comic and cartoon, the Space Bridge is a device used by the Decepticons to travel between different planets, usually between Cybertron and Earth.-Generation One:...
, an inter-galactic transport system, with which to send energon cubes made from Earth's energy to the depleted planet. In the first tests of the spacebridge, Megatron was transported to Cybertron himself, but Shockwave soon returned him so that further transport runs could be conducted.
Spacebridge technology was taken to its ultimate extreme in "The Ultimate Doom" when Shockwave and Megatron co-ordinated the transportation of Cybertron itself into the Solar System via the use of a colossal spacebridge.
In "Countdown to Extinction", when Starscream arrives on Cybertron (together with Doctor Arkeville) and proclaims himself the new leader of the Decepticons instead of the "late" Megatron, Shockwave does not believe him and tries to call up Megatron again and again. Starscream forbids him to do this and even fires at his computer terminal, but then he becomes too busy with preparing to receive the energy of the Earth's annihilation. Meanwhile Shockwave succeeds in getting through to Megatron at last and in warning him of the explosive device installed by Starscream in the Arkeville's laboratory, so that Megatron and 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...
have time to prevent the explosion and to save the Earth.
Shockwave briefly came to Earth and joined Megatron's troops in episode #23 "The Autobot Run", but returned to Cybertron shortly thereafter. (this was later confirmed an animation error.)
In 1985, Shockwave contended with the power of the Dinobots
Dinobots
Dinobots is the name of several teams of characters in the fictional Transformers Universe. The groups are made up of several robots, each of whose transformed mode is that of a dinosaur or similar prehistoric animal. They are called Dinotrons in the Japanese version; and ' in the Japanese dub of...
when they splintered off from the Autobots and came to Cybertron in "Desertion of the Dinobots", episodes #37-38. With the aid of his guards, Shockwave was able to overpower them and put them to work in the Cybertronian pits, but failed to prevent the escape of Spike Witwicky and his girlfriend, Carly, when they pursued the Dinobots to the planet and were able to effect their release.
Soon after in episode #53 "The Search for Alpha Trion", Shockwave discovered that a guerrilla team of Female Autobots had been raiding his Energon stores for years, and successfully tracked them back to their hidden base, arranging the capture of Elita One. Optimus Prime and several of his warriors came to Cybertron to aid their female allies, and Elita One herself blasted Shockwave out of the battle. Subsequently, Shockwave located the key to Vector Sigma
Vector Sigma
In the fictional universe of the first Transformers animated series, Vector Sigma is the "mega-computer" that gives sentience to non-sentient robots, and is used by the Quintessons to endow their robotic creations with the true life that eventually leads to their rebellion...
for Megatron (and in a cut scene, battled and seriously damaged Omega Supreme
Omega Supreme
Omega Supreme is the name of a fictional character from the Transformers franchise. He is always an Autobot and is often depicted as a gigantic transformer with vast strength and/or overwhelming firepower.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
). Spying on the Autobots, he then discovered the key's hidden power to transform organics into technomatter.
When the Combaticons
Combaticons
The Combaticons are a group of Decepticon military vehicles in the assorted fictional universes of the Transformers.- Transformers: Generation 1 :...
invaded Cybertron, Shockwave attempted to fend them off, but was turned against his sentinel drones when Bruticus seized him in gun mode and opened fire on them with him, before launching him off into space, where he crashed into Starscream. Shockwave and Starscream returned to the planet, but were captured and imprisoned. They both were discharged when Megatron and Optimus Prime's forces arrived to stop Bruticus' rampage.
Over the next twenty years, Megatron turned his attention away from Earth, and succeeded in fully conquering Cybertron. In 2005, however, the planet came under attack by Unicron
Unicron
Unicron is a fictional character from the Transformers universe and toyline. Created by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie as the film's main antagonist. Unicron is a prodigiously large robot whose scale reaches planetary proportions, and he is also...
, and Shockwave attempted to mobilize the Decepticons against the threat. The script for The Transformers: The Movie
The Transformers: The Movie
The Transformers: The Movie is a 1986 animated feature film based on the animated series of the same name. It was released in North America on August 8, 1986 and in the UK on December 5, 1986....
explicitly details Shockwave's death as Unicron crushes his command tower with him in it, rips it off the planet, and tears it to shreds, and although this was not shown in the finished film, Shockwave was not seen again following the movie (although several incorrectly colored versions of Shockwave—presumably intended to be generic Decepticons—were seen in some third-season episodes of the TV series, most notably Five Faces of Darkness Parts 1-5). The 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...
adaptation of the movie has Shockwave lead the Decepticons against Unicron, only to be blown in half by the Chaos-Bringer's eye beams.
In Shockwave's first appearance, in "More Than Meets the Eye", Part One, he has two hands. By his next appearance, in the first episode of the ongoing series, "Transport to Oblivion", his left hand has been replaced with a gun barrel, matching his toy appearance (although notably the toy's box art itself incorrectly presented the gun barrel as being on his right arm).
Dreamwave Productions
Shockwave was a major character in the Dreamwave ProductionsDreamwave Productions
Dreamwave Productions was a Canadian art design studio and comic book publisher founded in 1996 and is best known for their multiple Transformers comic book series...
' 21st century re-imagining of G1. As a major player in the Decepticon army in Cybertron's past, he led the main attack on the Autobots' stronghold shortly after the appointment of 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 personally destroyed two Omega Sentinels
Omega Supreme
Omega Supreme is the name of a fictional character from the Transformers franchise. He is always an Autobot and is often depicted as a gigantic transformer with vast strength and/or overwhelming firepower.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
with one blast in space gun mode. There was also tension between him and Starscream
Starscream (Transformers)
Starscream is a fictional character in the Transformers franchise. He is one of the most prolific characters in the Transformers fictional work, appearing in almost all incarnations of the story. Starscream is usually portrayed with the same characterization...
about who would lead the Decepticons after Megatron's supposed death, which eventually led to the creation of multiple splinter factions within both the Autobots and Decepticons. While Starscream created his own faction, the "Predacons", Shockwave led the Decepticons through the "Dark Ages" of Cybertron, during which his logic allowed him to put aside differences with Jetfire
Jetfire
Jetfire is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers universes. He is nearly always depicted as an Autobot with jet or space shuttle alternate mode.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
and the Autobots in order to defeat the greater evil of The Fallen
Fallen (Transformers)
The Fallen is a fictional character in the Transformers universes. According to Hasbro, he was formerly known as Megatronus Prime, and is a multiversal singularity, meaning that while he exists across the multiverse, he has no alternate-universe counterpart.-Character history:Although the Fallen's...
. As the Dark Ages came to an end, Shockwave was ready to sign a peace treaty with Ratbat
Ratbat
Ratbat is the name of several fictional characters who appeared in various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:As is the case with many Transformers characters, the various continuities in which Ratbat has appeared have portrayed him widely differently in terms of size, personality,...
's Ultracons
Ultracons
right|thumb|Ratbat and his Ultracons Ransack and Venom.The Ultracons are a fictional subfaction of Decepticon Transformers commanded by Ratbat in the Dreamwave comics.-History:...
and the Autobots, but the return of Megatron derailed the plan, though the Quintesson
Quintessons
Quintessons are fictional aliens from the Transformers universe. Within the TV series, they are the creators of the Transformers, although in most other fictional universes featuring the Transformers, they have no such status...
-created clones he brought back to the planet with him greatly intrigued Shockwave.
Shockwave was left behind on Cybertron while Megatron's forces pursued Optimus Prime and were subsequently lost on Earth for four million years, and became Decepticon leader on the planet. He began experimenting with cloning, and through studies of Astrotrain
Astrotrain
Astrotrain is the name of three fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are Decepticons who can assume the form of a space shuttle.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
and Blitzwing
Blitzwing
Blitzwing is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers series. He is always depicted as a Decepticon with two alternate forms, that of a jet and that of a tank...
, began to conceive the idea of a Transformer with multiple alternate modes. Eventually, however, Shockwave and all the other Transformers on Cybertron succumbed to stasis lock as the planet's energy ran out, and it entered a hibernation phase known as the "Great Shutdown." During this period of inactivity, 3,000 years ago, Unicron
Unicron
Unicron is a fictional character from the Transformers universe and toyline. Created by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie as the film's main antagonist. Unicron is a prodigiously large robot whose scale reaches planetary proportions, and he is also...
's herald Scourge
Scourge (Transformers)
Scourge is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers series. He first appeared as one of the central villains in the 1986 film The Transformers, voiced by Stan Jones. He also regularly appeared in the animated Transformers series and Transformers comic books. Since then other...
located the planet, and reactivated Shockwave for study purposes. However, when Shockwave was attacked by a swarm of Sharkticon
Sharkticon
-Transformers: Generation One:The ravenous Sharkticons, the most famous and deadly of the Quintessons' slaves, are rotund robots capable of transforming into ferocious, amphibious creatures...
s, Scourge intervened, and after saving him, was shot by Shockwave, who then proceeded to study him, learning much of the function and purpose of Transformers and Cybertron from the secrets within Scourge.
Shockwave steadily worked to restore Cybertron, reactivating its population and solving their energy needs, ending the war and unifying the planet. He also continued his experiments into multiple transformations, yielding the unstable Duocons
Duocons
The Duocons are a sub-group of Decepticons from the fictional Transformers universe.-Profiles:The Duocons sub-group is particularly small, consisting of only two members, Battletrap and Flywheels...
, and then successfully mastering the process with Triple Changer
Triple Changer
Triple Changers are Transformers that can transform from robot into two different alternative modes.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
s. Capturing Alpha Trion
Alpha Trion
Alpha Trion is a fictional character in the various Transformers universes. Alpha Trion is one of the Thirteen Primes, thus all his portrayals are considered to be the same individual. He is generally depicted as an ancient mechanoid with a link to Optimus Prime...
, Shockwave sought to unlock the full secrets of Vector Sigma
Vector Sigma
In the fictional universe of the first Transformers animated series, Vector Sigma is the "mega-computer" that gives sentience to non-sentient robots, and is used by the Quintessons to endow their robotic creations with the true life that eventually leads to their rebellion...
, having already learned of the mysterious significance of Earth to the Transformer race. In preparation for the invasion of the planet, Shockwave subliminally influenced the population of Cybertron to become more violent, and prevented the return of Optimus Prime and Megatron aboard the Ark II by having a human agent blow it up.
In 2003, Shockwave made his move, heading to Earth with his Triple Changer troops and capturing Megatron and Optimus's forces, planning to try the two leaders as war criminals. Megatron was jettisoned into space by Starscream, while Prime's escape from his clutches led him to fall in with a rebel group, and then to confront Shockwave himself, only to be defeated by the Decepticon, who ripped the Matrix from him. Using the Matrix to activate Vector Sigma, Shockwave downloaded the compressed contents of the mega-computer into his network, but before he had an opportunity to view the data, he was pulled into a battle with Ultra Magnus
Ultra Magnus
Ultra Magnus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers storylines.-Transformers: Generation 1:The greatest Transformer of them all. A commander could want no finer a soldier than Ultra Magnus...
. In the course of the fight, the fuel line to his cannon was severed, and the resulting explosion destroyed his citadel and knocked him into a chasm.
While the rest of Cybertron believed Shockwave to be deceased, he had actually survived the explosion and gone underground in the wastelands of Cybertron with Astrotrain, Blitzwing, and the Seekers Thrust
Thrust (Transformers)
Thrust is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. The original character was an evil red Decepticon jet, with most of the following character using the name Thrust being a variation on that concept...
, Dirge
Dirge (Transformers)
Dirge is the name of several different fictional characters from the Transformers series. He was first introduced in 1985 as a villain in the Transformers series, appearing in the comic book by Marvel Comics and voiced by Bud Davis in the animated television series. Since then the name Dirge was...
, and Ramjet
Ramjet (Transformers)
Ramjet is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All have been Decepticon aligned characters who turn into jets, usually white.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
. He continued his experimentation, resulting in Sixshot
Sixshot
Sixshot is the name of two fictional characters from the various Transformers series. Introduced in 1987, Sixshot appeared in the last few episodes of the original US Transformers animated series, voiced by Neil Ross. His defining gimmick was that he had six different forms, not two like a normal...
. Soon after, however, Megatron returned to Cybertron and bested Shockwave, taking him to Earth where he did the same to Starscream. But now, the three players were assembled, each knowing certain dark secrets of Cybertron's past. Unfortunately, Dreamwave's bankruptcy and subsequently closure at the start of 2005 means that currently, this story remains unresolved.
Shockwave also appeared in several other Dreamwave miniseries, including Transformers/G.I. Joe ( where he was given a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
artillery cannon alternate mode) and the Micromasters series. In this series, set after The War Within but before the Great Shutdown, Shockwave is in command of the Cybertron Decepticons, with Scorponok
Scorponok
Scorponok is the name shared by several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are Decepticons that turn into Scorpoins.- Transformers: Generation 1:...
and Ratbat
Ratbat
Ratbat is the name of several fictional characters who appeared in various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:As is the case with many Transformers characters, the various continuities in which Ratbat has appeared have portrayed him widely differently in terms of size, personality,...
serving under him. Later in the series a low-on-fuel Shockwave is defeated by the Micromaster
Micromasters
Micromasters is a Transformers subline composed of small figures that came packaged in groups and with bases that interacted with the figures. They were sold at the peak of Galoob's Micro Machines craze and were packaged in groups of four just like Micro Machines...
Skystalker and decapitated. Whether this mini-series is in continuity with the main Generation One series is unclear.
Devil's Due Publishing
Shockwave was also the principal antagonist in the second G.I. Joe vs the Transformers series from Devil's Due PublishingDevil's Due Publishing
Devil's Due Publishing is an independent comic book publishers in the United States. Based in Chicago, Illinois, DDP is best known for its wide selection of genres, including licensed and original creator-owned properties that populate its monthly comic book series and graphic novels.Though...
. In this Shockwave had taken control of the Decepticon army after Megatron's disappearance and conquered Cybertron, forcing the Autobots underground. However, this all changed when Cobra Commander
Cobra Commander
Cobra Commander is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe franchise. He appears in the toyline, animated series , comic books, video games, and movie as the usual principal antagonist. He is the supreme leader of the terrorist organization Cobra, and archnemesis of the Joes...
hacked into Teletraan III with the aim of creating a wormhole to Cybertron where he could steal more Transformer technology. G.I. Joe attempted to interfere and they, along with Cobra and Cobra Commander's personal transport Starscream
Starscream (Transformers)
Starscream is a fictional character in the Transformers franchise. He is one of the most prolific characters in the Transformers fictional work, appearing in almost all incarnations of the story. Starscream is usually portrayed with the same characterization...
were all transported to Cybertron. Shockwave arrived with his troops (including Cyclonus
Cyclonus
Cyclonus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:The tech spec from the box art of the Cyclonus toy describes him as a compassionless Decepticon air warrior and saboteur...
, Scourge
Scourge (Transformers)
Scourge is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers series. He first appeared as one of the central villains in the 1986 film The Transformers, voiced by Stan Jones. He also regularly appeared in the animated Transformers series and Transformers comic books. Since then other...
, Dirge
Dirge (Transformers)
Dirge is the name of several different fictional characters from the Transformers series. He was first introduced in 1985 as a villain in the Transformers series, appearing in the comic book by Marvel Comics and voiced by Bud Davis in the animated television series. Since then the name Dirge was...
, Thrust
Thrust (Transformers)
Thrust is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. The original character was an evil red Decepticon jet, with most of the following character using the name Thrust being a variation on that concept...
and Ramjet
Ramjet (Transformers)
Ramjet is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All have been Decepticon aligned characters who turn into jets, usually white.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
) and attempted to eliminate them. However a squad of Autobots led by Ultra Magnus
Ultra Magnus
Ultra Magnus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers storylines.-Transformers: Generation 1:The greatest Transformer of them all. A commander could want no finer a soldier than Ultra Magnus...
stop them, keeping the Decepticons out by erecting a shield generator. While the Joes and Cobra forces attempted to locate several time-displaced Transformers (including 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...
), Shockwave's forces battered at the shield and eventually overwhelmed it, capturing most of the humans and Teletran 3 and wounding Ratchet
Ratchet (Transformers)
Ratchet is the name of several characters in the Transformers universes. According to the original creator of the Transformers names, Bob Budiansky, Ratchet was named after the character of Nurse Ratched from the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The name Ratchet is almost always portrayed as...
in the process. The humans were able to sneak in and undo the blocks on the time-displacement equipment, allowing the last Transformers to return - the Dinobots
Dinobots
Dinobots is the name of several teams of characters in the fictional Transformers Universe. The groups are made up of several robots, each of whose transformed mode is that of a dinosaur or similar prehistoric animal. They are called Dinotrons in the Japanese version; and ' in the Japanese dub of...
, reconfigured into their now-familiar dinosaur modes. They wiped out most of Shockwave's forces and severely damaged Shockwave. As Starscream tried to weasel his way out of being killed by Shockwave for his part in the fiasco, both were instead eliminated when Cobra Commander activated his "parting gift" to the traitorous Starscream - 45 pounds of plastic explosives.
Despite the character being notoriously difficult to kill, it seems Shockwave did indeed perish in the explosion. In the third crossover a group of Autobots and G.I. Joes returning to Cybertron via the Spacebridge are attacked by Cannabilizers - old and damaged Transformers after spare parts. One of these clearly has Shockwave's gun arm.
Fun Publications
The Transformers ClassicsTransformers Classics
Transformers Classics is a line of Transformers toys based on and resembling the first generation characters introduced in the 1980s. The toy line was created to fill the gap in Transformers product releases between the end of the Transformers: Cybertron series and the start of 2007 live-action...
comics published in the Official Transformers Collectors Club magazine is set in the Marvel Comics continuity, but in a timeline where the events of Generation 2 did not occur. Shockwave's severed but still living head appears among Megatron's troops.
Fun Publications
Shockwave was among Megatron's troops when Megatron defeated Deathsaurus in combat for leadership of the Decepticons and when Megatron attacked Iacon with his new weapon, Devastator.IDW Publishing
Since the Dreamwave bankruptcy, the Transformers license has been acquired by IDW PublishingIDW 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...
, who have begun to issue their own Transformers series. The Transformers: Evolutions: Hearts of Steel
The Transformers: Evolutions
The Transformers: Evolutions is the title of what was intended to be several comic book miniseries published by IDW Publishing, following the same idea of DC Comics' Elseworlds series. Each series was to create an alternative reality: a continuity in a different time era during which the...
, an alternate reality set during America's Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, features Shockwave reconfigured as a Confederate-style Ironclad. He is the first Transformer to reveal himself to the humans, transforming from boat mode at the end of issue #1. Although he only briefly appeared after this in issue #2, showing Tobias Muldoon the Decepticon base, he was presumably destroyed when Bumblebee
Bumblebee (Transformers)
Bumblebee is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes. In most incarnations, Bumblebee is a small, yellow Autobot with the altmode of a compact car.- Transformers: Generation 1 :...
and John Henry
John Henry (folklore)
John Henry is an American folk hero and tall tale. Henry worked as a "steel-driver"—a man tasked with hammering and chiseling rock in the construction of tunnels for railroad tracks. In the legend, John Henry's prowess as a steel-driver was measured in a race against a steam powered hammer,...
managed to send the entire Decepticon rail convoy into a chasm.
In the main IDW Transformers universe, Generation One Shockwave made his first appearance in the first issue of The Transformers: Spotlight. In this single-issue story, Shockwave sees the coming state of Cybertron (which, as 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...
would show, would turn out to be accurate). Launching energon missiles into space, one crashes on Earth with Shockwave looking on this as an experiment in progress. However, he was interrupted by the Dynobots
Dinobots
Dinobots is the name of several teams of characters in the fictional Transformers Universe. The groups are made up of several robots, each of whose transformed mode is that of a dinosaur or similar prehistoric animal. They are called Dinotrons in the Japanese version; and ' in the Japanese dub of...
, seeking revenge for a past defeat involving Shockwave stealing their energon cache. They adopted the forms of extinct dinosaurs to combat the high energon levels of the planet. Despite the ferocity of the Dynobots' assault he was still able to defeat them all. However, Grimlock
Grimlock
Grimlock is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. He is usually portrayed as a tough leader who turns into a mechanical dinosaur...
, anticipating possible defeat, programmed their ship to fire upon their location if they did not return, burying them all in lava, until a human archeology team discovered them many years later. In The Transformers: Escalation
The Transformers: Escalation
The Transformers: Escalation is a six-issue comic book mini-series, published by IDW Publishing, based on the Transformers and following on from The Transformers: Infiltration. The series launched in November 2006 and ended in April 2007....
it was revealed the bodies of both Shockwave and the Dynobots had been uncovered by the mysterious defense organization Skywatch.
Shockwave's actions here serve as a prequel to other story lines: the rich energon seams Shockwave plants here are discovered by Starscream
Starscream (Transformers)
Starscream is a fictional character in the Transformers franchise. He is one of the most prolific characters in the Transformers fictional work, appearing in almost all incarnations of the story. Starscream is usually portrayed with the same characterization...
's infiltration unit, leading to the events of Infiltration, while Megatron, at the story's close, assigns Bludgeon
Bludgeon (Transformers)
Bludgeon is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. For trademark reasons, he is now marketed by Hasbro as Decepticon Bludgeon. They are all Decepticon warriors who turn into tanks.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
to seal off Shockwave's research, implying that this is how he gains the knowledge he has in Stormbringer.
It is hinted in the Spotlight that Shockwave at one point cut himself off from his emotions.
Shockwave is subsequently reactivated by Skywatch to locate and nullify Laserbeak, Ravage, and the Dinobots whom Skywatch have lost control of. Soundwaves help is obtained to break a code that Skywatch have planned to detonate a bomb in Shockwaves head if he does not do Skywatch's bidding. Upon locating the Dinobots Shockwave firstly engages and defeats Scorponok in battle, and then turns his attentions to Grimlock. However Soundwave correctly encrypts Skywatch's codes enabling Shockwave to disengage the Bomb, at this point Shockwave disengages the battle with Grimlock and walks away, only for Grimlock to detonate a bomb burying them both in rubble. Shockwave is subsequently captured and imprisoned by Ultra Magnus
In the recent mini series Last Stand of the Wreckers it was revealed that when the sadisic renegade Decepticon known as Overlord took control of the Autobot pirson "The Last Resort" he freed Shockwave and gave him a hand picked crew of Decepticons in return for Shockwae disabling the safe guards he had implanted in him under Megatron's orders, just as he had done to Overlord's fellow Phase Six Decepticons Sixshot and Black Shadow
Following his escape Shockwave joined up with the Decepticons currently faltering under Starscream's weak and ineffective leadership. He claims to be working on repairing the Space Bridge though Megatron, still on life support following his battle with Optimus Prime, suspects that he is not being completely truthful
Transformers: Alternators
Shockwave staged a comeback in 2005's Transformers: AlternatorsTransformers: Alternators
is a toyline of the Transformers series produced by Hasbro in North America, Europe and Takara in Japan, the primary selling point of which is the use of 1:24 scale, accurate real-world vehicle modes officially licensed from car manufacturers...
toy line, which featured classic characters re-interpreted with modern vehicular alternate modes. Although the American toys offered no supporting fiction, the storyline included with the Japanese version of the line, Binaltech, detailed the story of Shockwave's rebirth in this unusual new form.
When the time-displaced Decepticon agent, Ravage
Ravage (Transformers)
Ravage is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. Due to the inability to trademark the common word "ravage", he is sometimes called Battle Ravage, Command Ravage or Tripredacus Agent...
, used the time machine called the Kronosphere to alter the time line (branching off the Binaltech/Alternators storyline from the continuity of the G1 animated series), the chaos that ensued resulted in the destruction of Shockwave's body. With Ravage's aid, his mind was installed into a stolen Autobot "Binaltech" body, equipped with a prototype "Transmuter" device, which, when interfaced with Shockwave's personality component, allowed the chassis to "transmute" itself into Shockwave's recognizable physical form, including his cyclopean visage and gun-arm. He wields a Turbo Rifle which can also serve as a power booster for his gun-arm, and can project up to five holographic duplicates of himself anywhere on the planet (an ability mentioned in the series bible for the original animated series, but never put to use until episode 4).
Other Media
In the Megas XLRMegas XLR
Megas XLR is an American animated television series that aired on the Toonami block on Cartoon Network and is produced by Cartoon Network Studios. It was created by Jody Schaeffer and George Krstic...
Episode, Ice Ice Megas, the robots of the Cerilian Army resemble Shockwave in almost every way, except color and alt mode. All of the were voiced by Jeff Bennett
Jeff Bennett
Jeffrey Glenn "Jeff" Bennett is an American voice actor and musician, listed "among the top names in the voice-over field", best known as the voice of Johnny Bravo in the series of the same name...
.
In an episode of Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken is an American stop motion animated television series created and executive produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. Green provides many voices for the show...
, Shockwave finds Soundwave in eBay and asks Megatron if he buys it now.
Toys
- Generation 1 Shockwave (1985)
- The Shockwave toy transforms from a robot into a ray gun that can be wielded in a "role play" fashion, featuring electronic laser noises and lights. The toy itself was one of the first Transformers figures not derived from the Japanese DiacloneDiacloneDiaclone was a toyline by Takara Toys launched in 1980. It consisted of transforming vehicles and robots piloted by miniature, magnet-shoed figures spun off from the prior Microman toy line that were in turn called an Inch-Man....
or MicromanMicromanis a line of toys manufactured by Takara from 1974 to the present. Microman toys were originally imported to the United States by Mego Corporation as Micronauts until the company went bankrupt in 1982...
toy lines, instead coming from a company named ToyCo, which had produced the toy under the name "Astro Magnum". It is believed this was the only toy that ToyCo made. Unlike Shockwave, Astro Magnum was gray with a red eye, and a standard trigger design (changed to a flat trigger for Shockwave, perhaps due to the "phallic" position it adopted in robot mode). Also unusual is that, prior to Shockwave's release by HasbroHasbroHasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
, Radio ShackRadioShackRadioShack Corporation is an American franchise of electronics retail stores in the United States, as well as parts of Europe, South America and Africa. As of 2008, RadioShack reported net sales and operating revenues of $4.81 billion. The headquarters of RadioShack is located in Downtown...
sold the gray version in the US (often referred to as "Shackwave" by fans). However, it is debated as to whether or not the Radio Shack release was a licensed ToyCo release or a bootleg. Notably, unlike other early Transformers figures not made by Takara such as Jetfire or Omega Supreme, Shockwave was the only non-Takara toy that was actually marketed and sold as part of the Transformers line in Japan. - In the 1980's, Transformers was such a success that Hasbro wanted to get as much products out on the shelves with the Transformers name on it as possible. Since they were running out of old Takara molds to use, they obtained licences to use the molds of other companies' robot toys in the Transformers line. Shockwave, Jetfire, Omega Supreme, Sky Lynx, Roadbuster, Whirl, Chop Shop, Venom, Barrage and Ransack were among those molds. With the licences to those toys now expired, Hasbro and Takara no longer have legal rights to those figures and cannot reissue them it was believed. However, hope of a reissue by Takara of Shockwave increased when Omega Supreme was announced as part of the Takara Encore line for release in May 2008 in Japan.
- This toy was used to represent Shockwave when he appeared in the Robot ChickenRobot ChickenRobot Chicken is an American stop motion animated television series created and executive produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. Green provides many voices for the show...
episode "Werewolf vs. Unicorn".
- In recent years bootleg versions of the Shockwave figure based on the original G1 toy mold have appeared in the Chinese market. However, this new toys are grey colored and lack the transparent chest plate piece, which is evident as the toy's chest kept the holes where the plate was attached. Also the head of the robot was changed to a more antropomorphic version with red eyes and a mouth piece.
- Generation 1 Action Master Shockwave (1990)
- A second toy incarnation of Shockwave was sold in 1991, as part of the non-transforming "Action Masters" sub-line. He was accompanied by a transforming "terror droid" partner named Fistfight - a loathsome little creature who enjoys dissecting late-model cars - who transforms into a long-range lightning rifle that Shockwave can wield. Although many other Action Masters had appeared in the Marvel Comics continuity, Action Master Shockwave did not.
- Alternators Shockblast (2005)
- Due to trademark problems with Shockwave's name (lost to toy company Lanard Toys), the new incarnation of Shockwave created for Alternators was released under the "Shockblast" moniker (although the toy itself paid homage to the original name by including a license plate that read "SHKWAV"). The figure transforms into a Strato Blue Mazdaspeed II Mazda RX-8Mazda RX-8The Mazda RX-8 is a sports car manufactured by Mazda Motor Corporation. It first appeared in 2001 at the North American International Auto Show. It is the successor to the RX-7 and, like its predecessors in the RX range, it is powered by a Wankel engine. The RX-8 began North American sales in the...
with Shockwave's familiar head and gun arm, and also wields a rifle that transforms in the car mode's muffler.- Robot Heroes
- A small PVC non-transforming version of Generation 1 Shockwave, released in a two-pack with Grimlock.
- WST Robots Military Operations Commander (2010)
- An unlicensed figure produced by Justitoys recreates Shockwave in the style of the Smallest Transformers line. Comes with a gray fist for G1 Bruticus to hold the toy in gun mode.
Other merchandise
Megatron, Shockwave and Ravage are the three Decepticon figures available to play in the MonopolyMonopoly (game)
Marvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. The misspelling was said to be introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence to Parker...
Transformers Collectors Edition game.
Transformers: Armada
"Shockwave" was the name Takara used for the character called Tidal WaveTidal Wave (Transformers)
Tidal Wave is the name of a fictional character from Transformers: Armada and Transformers: Energon. He is a Decepticon, and at one point of the Energon series, he was rebuilt as Mirage....
by Hasbro. Hasbro's original design for the figure cast him in shades of purple and gray, although they later abandoned this in favor of a green and gray scheme for their figure; the animated series, however, had gone into production before this last-minute change, resulting in the cartoon incarnation of the character being rendered in the purple and gray scheme. Accordingly, in the interest of show-accuracy, Takara release their figure in this color scheme, rather than the altered Hasbro one - happily, these colors fit suitably well with his Japanese name in hearkening back to the purple-and-gray G1 Shockwave, although it is unclear whether or not this was intentional, though unlikely since Shockwave was known as Laserwave in the Japanese dub of the G1 cartoon.
Transformers: Energon
Although the assorted Transformers series which followed the original often paid homage to many popular characters by naming new characters after them, or sculpting them to share their likeness, Shockwave was without a homage in the US for over a decade—it would not be until the midst of 2004's Transformers: Energon line that Shockwave received this honor in the form of Shockblast. Hasbro had since lost the trademark to the name "Shockwave" to Lanard Toys (as noted above), and compensated as best they could through use of this altered name. As previously noted, in Japan, Takara still retained the rights to their original name, hence there, Shockblast was still named Laserwave.Hugely egotistical, cold, ruthless, and a genius, Shockblast is sometimes loyal to Megatron but occasionally acts like Starscream and seeks to overthrow his master. Shockblast's capacity for ruthlessness exceeds even that of Megatron which makes his personality a cross between his leaders and Starscream's. However despite that, Starscream himself even under Megatron's control seems to respect Shockblast. The power-hungry Shockblast transforms into an orbital Satellite and a ground-based assault vehicle (although in the animated series, he only transformed into the former). He has an unspecified history with Tidal Wave
Tidal Wave (Transformers)
Tidal Wave is the name of a fictional character from Transformers: Armada and Transformers: Energon. He is a Decepticon, and at one point of the Energon series, he was rebuilt as Mirage....
, who distrusts him (the Japanese dub of the series indicated that this was because Shockblast was part of Tidal Wave's platoon, and turned on his fellow Decepticons after the Autobots were defeated).
Animated series
Considered to be one of the most dangerous and deadly Decepticons, Shockblast was captured by the Autobots and imprisoned on Cybertron. In the Earth year 2020, when Megatron attacked Cybertron with Unicron, he instructed some Decepticon agents on the planet to liberate Shockblast. Shockblast, however, had already begun to effect his own escape amidst the chaos Megatron's attack was causing, and broke free of his restraints just as a Decepticon agent arrived at his cell, and was killed by Shockblast simply because he had no need of him. In making his escape, Shockblast killed one of his guards, Padlock, causing his other jailer, Wing Dagger, to swear revenge.Shockblast immediately rankled under Megatron's leadership, and was attacked by Wing Dagger when he led a new attack on Cybertron. Tidal Wave was ordered to aid him, but Shockblast had already collapsed an Energon Tower and dragged Wing Dagger under it, killing him, and accidentally injuring Tidal Wave. Both victims were soon reborn, however - Tidal Wave as Mirage
Mirage (Transformers)
Mirage is any of several distinct fictional characters in the various Transformers series. Mirage is one of the single most re-used names in the Transformers series, and is almost entirely synonymous with characters possessing Formula One racing car alternate modes.-Transformers Generation 1:Some...
, and Wing Dagger as the powerful Wing Saber
Wing Saber
Wing Saber is the name of a fictional character in the Transformers series. He is an Autobot who becomes a jet and can combine with Optimus Prime.-Transformers: Energon:...
. While Wing Saber merged with Optimus Prime as the Autobots ventured into Unicron, Shockblast defied Megatron's orders, lying and claiming he was under attack while sneaking off and preparing to make a power play. When Megatron faced off against Optimus Prime in the middle of an Energon reaction that had torn a fissure in space, Shockblast leaped into the middle, only to be hit by a chunk of debris and sent spiraling through the fissure, into a new region of space where Alpha Q had recreated the planets destroyed by Unicron.
Separated from the other Decepticons, Shockblast was confronted by the Autobots on Iron Planet and was defeated and captured by Wing Saber, and chained and guarded by Inferno
Inferno (Transformers)
Inferno is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes. Despite having different alternate modes, the character name has been most associated with the form of a fire engine.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
. Megatron and the other Decepticons soon arrived to rescue him and Megatron warned him of the price of defiance. This did not stop Shockblast from attempting to seize power again, however - and in his next move, he succeeded, seating himself in Megatron's throne within Unicron, planning to take the chaos-bringer's power for his own. However, he got more power than he bargained for, as Unicron's essence possessed him, warping his body and driving him into an insane rage. Battling with Optimus Prime on Blizzard Planet, Shockblast was destroyed when Unicron's massive arm plunged down through the planet's atmosphere and crushed him, completely extinguishing his Spark.
Shockblast's place in the Decepticons was soon filled by his own younger and equally treacherous brother, Six Shot
Sixshot
Sixshot is the name of two fictional characters from the various Transformers series. Introduced in 1987, Sixshot appeared in the last few episodes of the original US Transformers animated series, voiced by Neil Ross. His defining gimmick was that he had six different forms, not two like a normal...
.
Pack-in mini-comics
Shockblast would make his only comics appearance in the third promotional mini-comic packaged with Transformers: Energon toys. When Slugslinger and SharkticonSharkticon
-Transformers: Generation One:The ravenous Sharkticons, the most famous and deadly of the Quintessons' slaves, are rotund robots capable of transforming into ferocious, amphibious creatures...
attempted to break into an Autobot island facility as Shockblast scrambled the security system with an electromagnetic pulse from orbit, they were caught and battled with Bulkhead and Towline who had some unexpected help—Omega Supreme
Omega Supreme
Omega Supreme is the name of a fictional character from the Transformers franchise. He is always an Autobot and is often depicted as a gigantic transformer with vast strength and/or overwhelming firepower.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
, who soundly defeated all the Decepticons present.
The name of Shockwave would make an unexpected reappearance in the fourth mini-comic, as one of Megatron's troops. On Earth Megatron, with the aid of Snowcat
Cyclonus
Cyclonus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:The tech spec from the box art of the Cyclonus toy describes him as a compassionless Decepticon air warrior and saboteur...
, Shockwave, Mirage
Mirage (Transformers)
Mirage is any of several distinct fictional characters in the various Transformers series. Mirage is one of the single most re-used names in the Transformers series, and is almost entirely synonymous with characters possessing Formula One racing car alternate modes.-Transformers Generation 1:Some...
and Demolisher, cornered Optimus Prime and a wounded Hot Shot
Hot Shot (Transformers)
Hot Shot is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are young Autobot cars.-Transformers: Robots in Disguise:In Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Hot Shot is the leader of the Spy Changer team....
. Optimus nobly refused to give up. The other Autobot reinforcements were over ten minutes away and the two Autobots looked done for when Wing Saber
Wing Saber
Wing Saber is the name of a fictional character in the Transformers series. He is an Autobot who becomes a jet and can combine with Optimus Prime.-Transformers: Energon:...
arrived. Making a powerlinx link with Optimus Prime, Prime soundly defeated all the Decepticons, even Megatron, and forced them to flee. The Autobots then arrived and Optimus thanked Wing Saber for his help.
Toys
- Energon Shockblast (2004)
- Designed mainly to be a visual homage to the original Shockwave, the Shockblast figure is designed for its robot mode – it features Shockwave's traditional one-eyed head, and a large gun-barrel arm. Consequently, however, its two vehicle modes are something of an ad-hoc jumble of parts. By sliding forward the level on his gun-arm in any mode, the panels on the gun fan out, exposing gold-chromed solar-panel-like decals beneath, and the arm launches a missile with an electronic blasting sound effect.
- Shockblast was later repainted into his brother, Six Shot.
Transformers: Cybertron
The Shockwave name returned to the Transformers toy line in the US as part of the Transformers: CybertronTransformers: Cybertron
Transformers: Cybertron, known in Japan originally as , is the 2005-2007 Transformers toy line and animated series, another co-production between Hasbro and Takara...
series in 2005. Packaged with Tankor
Tankor
Tankor is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:This version of Tankor, initially called Octane, is the Decepticons' fueler, in charge of storing and distributing fuel among Decepticons with vehicle modes. He is characterized as...
, a Mini-Con Autobot, Shockwave himself is of Decepticon allegiance and a member of the Sky Attack Team. Left free to pursue his own interests on Earth following the departure of the two other Transformer factions, Shockwave has spent the last decade working for various dictators and tyrants around the world. Who he signs up with is based on how likely he is to be able to cause devastation and death - because there's nothing he loves more than seeing a city go up in flames, and knowing he lit the fire.
Fun Publications
In Balancing Act by Fun PublicationsFun Publications
Fun Publications is a publishing company that runs the Transformers Collectors Club and G.I. Joe Collectors Club under licensefrom Hasbro. Besides releasing comics, Fun Publications releases exclusive toys and runs conventions for their clubs....
Shockwave appears among the rebel Mini-Con forces who side with Megatron and attempt to sabotage the Mini-Con evacuation from one of Cybertron's moons.
Toys
- Cybertron
- Shockwave was a recolor of the Transformers: ArmadaTransformers: ArmadaTransformers: Armada, known in Japan as , is a Transformers animated series, comic series and toy line which ran from 2002–2003. It was originally scheduled for 2001, however was delayed until early-2002...
Mini-ConMini-ConMini-Cons are a human-sized race and faction of power-enhancing transforming robots in the Transformers: Armada universe and its sequels, one of the assorted universes in Transformers fiction...
TerradiveTerradive-Transformers: Generation 2:The first Transformer with the name Terradive was a Decepticon who was able to transform into a black A-7 Corsair II aircraft. Terradive was part of the Skyscorchers sub-group and his function is that of an Advance Fighter. He was a simple basic toy and had no gimmicks...
. Shockwave and Tankor were sold together on a card, as well as being included with the Decepticon MudflapMudflap (Transformers)-Transformers: Cybertron:Mudflap transforms into a construction crane. In the Japanese version of the series; Transformers: Galaxy Force, the character is called Demolishor....
as a promotional item at Target stores in 2006.
Transformers
According to an interview with producer Tom DeSantoTom DeSanto
Tom DeSanto is an American film producer and screenwriter. DeSanto is best known for his work with long time friend Bryan Singer, especially with his contributions to the first two X-Men movies.-Education:...
published in issue #15 of the Transformers Collectors Club Magazine, the original lineup pitched for the Decepticons in the live action Transformers film was Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave
Soundwave (Transformers)
Soundwave is the name of several characters in the various series Transformers series. His most famous disguise is that of a microcassette recorder and has an iconic voice done by a vocoder.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
, Ravage
Ravage (Transformers)
Ravage is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. Due to the inability to trademark the common word "ravage", he is sometimes called Battle Ravage, Command Ravage or Tripredacus Agent...
, Laserbeak
Laserbeak
Laserbeak is the name given to several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. He is almost always a mechanical bird, and is partnered with Soundwave.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
, Rumble
Rumble (Transformers)
Rumble is a fictional character in the Transformers universes. In order to trademark the name, Hasbro referred to the Alternators character as Decepticon Rumble.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
, Skywarp
Skywarp
Skywarp is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers toy line. He is usually depicted as a black or purple Decepticon jet with teleportation powers.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
and Shockwave. However, Shockwave was left out of the original film as the lineup eventually ended up as Megatron, Starscream, Scorponok
Scorponok
Scorponok is the name shared by several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are Decepticons that turn into Scorpoins.- Transformers: Generation 1:...
, Frenzy
Frenzy (Transformers)
Frenzy is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. Wired Magazine once nominated him as one 12 most ridiculous Transformers of all time.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
, Barricade
Barricade (Transformers)
Barricade is the name of four fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:Barricade first featured in 1990 as part of a Decepticon race track patrol team, his vehicle mode being a Formula One racing car....
, Bonecrusher
Bonecrusher (Transformers)
Bonecrusher is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:Bonecrusher is a member of the Constructicons. He is a brawler by nature and specialises in demolitions work...
, Blackout
Blackout (Transformers)
Blackout is the name of several different fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:Blackout was one of a team of two Micromaster Combiners. They came with a Gepard air defense vehicle that could transform to a base...
(who replaced Soundwave) and Brawl
Brawl (Transformers)
Brawl is the name given to several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. He is sometimes called "Decepticon Brawl" in the toy line for trademark purposes.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
(misnamed Devastator
Devastator (Transformers)
Devastator is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. For legal-political reasons, Hasbro now adds a modifier to the character's name on newer toy packages, such as Constructicon Devastator....
).
He does appear in the third film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Orginally at some point, actor David Warner
David Warner (actor)
David Warner is an English actor who is known for playing both romantic leads and sinister or villainous characters, both in film and animation...
was originally being considered for the role in the film, but in the end, the part was given to Frank Welker
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
, who also does the voice of Soundwave
Soundwave (Transformers)
Soundwave is the name of several characters in the various series Transformers series. His most famous disguise is that of a microcassette recorder and has an iconic voice done by a vocoder.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
. This also marked the second time that he is voiced by an actor who voiced Megatron, The Joker
Joker (comics)
The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin...
and Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, with Corey Burton
Corey Burton
Corey Burton is an American voice actor, perhaps best known as Count Dooku, Ziro the Hutt and Cad Bane in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Brainiac in the DC animated universe and Spike Witwicky and Shockwave in the Transformers universe...
previously voicing all three. Bay had commented that Shockwave was going to be portrayed as a "little bit more vicious" than Megatron. His armoury includes a massive cannon and wrist blade. He commands a Cybertronian Driller that he acquired during the prequel comics.
Shockwave's design in the film retains most of his original design from his Generation 1 incarnation, most noticeable in his head, arm cannon and color scheme.
Development
Film concept art of Sentinel Prime by artist Josh Nizzi named the chatacter who would become Shockwave as "Blitzwing".Reception
In 2007 USA today polled people as to which Transformer they want to appear in the next Transformers film. Shockwave came in tied for fifth with Ultra Magnus.Bryan Alexander of the Chicago Sun Times rated Shockwave 3rd of the top 12 most sinister movie villains in film for summer of 2011, being topped only by the Red Skull
Red Skull
The Red Skull is a name shared by several fictional characters, all supervillains from the Marvel Comics universe. All incarnations of the character are enemies of Captain America, other superheroes, and the United States in general....
and Lord Voldemort
Lord Voldemort
Lord Voldemort is the main antagonist of the Harry Potter series written by British author J. K. Rowling. Voldemort first appeared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was released in 1997...
.
IDW Publishing
Longarm and Salvage are rescuing human workers at an oil plant disaster in Dallian, China when the Decepticons Shockwave and AstrotrainAstrotrain
Astrotrain is the name of three fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are Decepticons who can assume the form of a space shuttle.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
crash to Earth. Shockwave leaves Astrotrain and observes a group of Decepticons working for Starscream as they confront the Autobots. He traces the radioactive trail left by Starscream's minion Divebomb back to Starscream's base in junkyard of the outskirts of Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. After blasting his way past Ruination
Ruination
Ruination is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Robots in Disguise:Ruination is the combined form of the Decepticon Commandos.-Animated series:...
and Deadlift, Shockwave tells Starscream that Megatron requires his services. Shockwave then sends Starscream to recover the drone called Brains
Brains (Transformers)
-Transformers: Dark of the Moon:Brains is a drone, formerly known as the Brain Unit.-IDW Publishing:The drone calling itself Brains ran away from the Decepticons and runs into Bumblebee and Sam Witwicky in Philadelphia.-Books:...
.
He is responsible for the Tunguska event
Tunguska event
The Tunguska event, or Tunguska blast or Tunguska explosion, was an enormously powerful explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, at about 7:14 a.m...
.
Video games
Shockwave does appear, however, in the tie-in Transformers: The GameTransformers: The Game
Transformers: The Game is the name of multiple versions of a video game based on the 2007 live action film Transformers, all of which were released in North America in June 2007. Home console and PC versions were developed by Traveller's Tales for the PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3 and...
. He is a Triple Changer
Triple Changer
Triple Changers are Transformers that can transform from robot into two different alternative modes.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
with a robot, gun turret and AH-64 Apache
AH-64 Apache
The Boeing AH-64 Apache is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement, and a tandem cockpit for a two-man crew. The Apache was developed as Model 77 by Hughes Helicopters for the United States Army's Advanced Attack Helicopter program to replace the...
helicopter modes and is a boss for the Autobots later in the game, where he must fight Optimus Prime. In the game, Shockwave delays Optimus Prime from rescuing Bumblebee when Bumblebee is captured by Sector 7. Physically, he is taller than Optimus Prime. Shockwave, however, appears to submit to Starscream, instead of the other way around like his G1 incarnation. He also appears in the Autobot Cybertron mission in the console versions of the game.
In the PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
version of the game, he is a playable character. He first appears with partner Thundercracker
Thundercracker
Thundercracker is the name given to multiple fictional characters in the Transformers universes. Thundercracker is almost always depicted as a blue color Decepticon who turns into a jet fighter.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
while trying to protect Blackout
Blackout (Transformers)
Blackout is the name of several different fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:Blackout was one of a team of two Micromaster Combiners. They came with a Gepard air defense vehicle that could transform to a base...
and Scorponok
Scorponok
Scorponok is the name shared by several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are Decepticons that turn into Scorpoins.- Transformers: Generation 1:...
in Qatar. He next appears in the Arctic dig site, where he, Thundercracker and fellow Decepticon Dreadwing
Dreadwing
Dreadwing is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:“Dreadwing” is the name of the combined form of the two Decepticon Powermasters, Dreadwind and Darkwing, released separately in 1988.The two Decepticons had very distinct...
, try to find Megatron. They first destroy the Autobot transmitter satellites, then go inside the site. They are also attacked by several drones. They do not find Megatron and realize there is a satellite about to launch. The Autobot drones decide to blow up the place, but Thundercracker and Shockwave make it out, leaving Dreadwing to perish in the explosion. Then they go to the launch site, attempting to transmit a signal in the satellite for Decepticon drones to approach them. Shockwave distracts the armed forces while Thundercracker places the signal. They succeed, and Shockwave is rescued by Thundercracker. Shockwave meets with Blackout and Scorponok, but does not find their army and they have not heard from Thundercracker (Unknown to them, Autobot Ironhide
Ironhide
Ironhide is the name of several different fictional characters in the Transformers universes. According to the original creator of the Transformers names, Bob Budiansky, Ironhide was named after the television series Ironside.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
already killed Thundercracker and Autobots Hound
Hound (Transformers)
Hound is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes. He is sometimes referred to as Autobot Hound for trademark purposes.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
and Trailbreaker
Trailbreaker
Trailbreaker is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers toy line and animated television series. Due to trademark issues, newer toys of the character are named Trailcutter.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
disrupted the signal). At the end of the game, after the Autobots succeed in destroying most of the Decepticons and bringing peace to Earth, Shockwave and Starscream retreat to Cybertron. Starscream and Shockwave argue about leadership now that Megatron is dead. They decide to go to war, with players assuming the role of Starscream. Starscream successfully destroys Shockwave and his followers.
In the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
versions of the game (both Autobots and Decepticons) features all Chopper vehicle modes that transform into a Bot complete with Shockwave's head.
Shockwave appears as the final boss in the Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (video game)
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a third-person shooter video game which was released on June 14, 2011 in North America. The game is a tie-in and prequel to the film of the same name. Transformers: Dark of the Moon was first revealed on February 12, 2011 along the release of the trailer for the game...
console game, set before the events of the film. Megatron sets out to free him from captivity in a Russian facility, destroying the cryo tanks keeping him frozen. Shockwave began to thaw as Optimus found him, and the Driller attacked until Shockwave was active. However he was still sluggish, and this proved to be an advantage to Optimus, who attacked the power coils on his back powering his cannon, forcing Shockwave to take cover in the Driller. After Optimus drove off the Driller again, Shockwave began fighting Optimus and several Autobot soldiers, taking the smaller robots with ease until Optimus used his flight-pack mode to finish the one-eyed Decepticon. Luckily for Shockwave, the Driller returned and whisked him away. Arriving in Africa where Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave were waiting. Megatron welcolmed back his best assassin, and ordered him to head to Chernobyl as part of Operation: Pillar.
Movie plot
Shockwave is seen on the front page of a newspaper that is hanging from the pipe in the scene in EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
where Devastator is trying to suck up The Twins.
On June 10, 2010, Bay said to USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
that Shockwave would be one of the main antagonists in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
He appears in the beginning of the film when Optimus Prime went on a mission to Chernobyl with his ally human soldiers. They discovered a fuel cell from The Ark that had incredible radiation levels. At this moment Shockwave's Driller appears and immediately begins destroying the base and killing soldiers in the process. It then proceeds to take the fuel and bursts out of the base with Optimus Prime following. The fight then takes to the land where the Driller knocks off Optimus' trailer, separating him from his weapons. However, Prime was still able to gain access to it after cutting off one of its tentacle-like limbs. At this moment Shockwave appears out of the beast saying "Optimus" but he quickly withdraws. He later appears during the final battle, where the Driller once again knocks over Optimus's trailer, and is fired at by the Wreckers so that the trailer could be retrieved. After noticing falling furniture from a building that has Sam and others in, he sends the Driller to collapse the building holding Sam, Carly, Epps and other soldiers. After tipping the building over Optimus Prime flies in with his FlightTech and is able to kill the Driller, cutting off its main head by flying through the section that connects it to the body. Angered by what happened to his pet, Shockwave shoots at Optimus with a burst-missile - causing him to get tangled and stuck in wires on a crane. After the Wreckers free Optimus, the humans launch a coordinated assault on Shockwave. He is blinded by a parachute and the humans attack Shockwave at the same time, damaging his head causing his eye to dangle by its wires. Optimus then flies in who Shockwave fires at but Optimus dodges the shot and punches through Shockwave's torso using bladed knuckles and proceeds to kill him by ripping his eye out. Optimus then uses Shockwave's arm cannon to blast the space bridge control pillar, temporarily halting Cybertron from transporting into Earth's atmosphere.
Books
Shockwave appears as a character in the book Transformers: Dark of the Moon The Junior NovelTransformers: Dark of the Moon The Junior Novel
Transformers: Dark of the Moon: The Junior Novel is an adaptation of the 2011 film Transformers: Dark of the Moon written by Michael Kelly. For younger readers the violence featured in the movie is scaled down considerably and the book features a different ending than the one seen in the film to...
.
Toys
- Dark of the Moon Burger King Flip Out Shockwave (2011)
- A BK Kids meal toy available at Burger KingBurger KingBurger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
restaurants in the U.S. The toy consists of a detailed head that opens to reveal a small robot body, giving the overall figure a Bobblehead look. It also has a small flashlight that emits the Decepticon symbol at the push of a button.- Dark of the Moon Voyager Class Shockwave (2011)
- A new mold for Shockwave, which transforms into a Cybertronian self propelled cannon.
- Dark of the Moon Cyberverse Shockwave Fusion Tank (2011)
- A gift set that includes Commander Class Shockwave and a Cybertronian tank that can transform into a mobile fortress or a fusion cannon.
Transformers: Timelines
Transtech Shockwave received a full-page biography in issue #22 of the Transformers Collectors Club Magazine. He used to work for the renegade Decepticon Jhiaxus as a scientist, but after Jhiaxus was destroyed was brought in by Megatron as a prisoner. Initially put on trial for war crimes he was freed by Megatron, who argued to Sentinel Prime that Shockwave's mind would be an invaluable asset to them. Shockwave is a morally ambiguous Transtech with few actual weapons, in favor of a great number of in-built tools he uses for his craft.Fun Publications
Shockwave appeared in the 2008 BotCon voice actor play Bee in the City, voiced by Chris Ho also known as Vangelus. In this story Professor Sumdac attempted to create a teleportation system to get the Autobots to CybertronCybertron
Cybertron is a fictional planet, the homeworld of the Transformers in the various fictional incarnations of the metaseries and toyline by Hasbro. In the Japanese series, the planet is referred to as "Cybertron" pronounced as セイバートロン Seibātoron...
, but an interaction with Sari Sumdac
Sari Sumdac
Sari Sumdac is a fictional character in the Transformers Animated cartoon series.-Transformers Animated:The eight-year old adopted daughter of Dr. Isaac Sumdac, Sari lived a sheltered life until she befriends the Autobots after they saved her upon their reawakening.She is the primary source of...
's key ended up transporting Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Sari to Transtech
Transtech
Transtech is an unreleased line of toys under the Transformers umbrella.-History:After the Beast Machines line ended, Hasbro planned a follow-up series called Transtech. The Transtech concept was a line intended to take Transformers to their most futuristic looking bodies and more plausible designs...
Cybertron
Cybertron
Cybertron is a fictional planet, the homeworld of the Transformers in the various fictional incarnations of the metaseries and toyline by Hasbro. In the Japanese series, the planet is referred to as "Cybertron" pronounced as セイバートロン Seibātoron...
, where they met Flareup
Flareup (Transformers)
Flareup is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. The name Flareup was adopted by Hasbro's legal department when they were unable to okay the use of Firestar.-Transformers: Timelines:...
and were detained by Shockwave. Bumblebee teamed up with Beast Wars Megatron to free his comrades, but then had to stop him from taking the key for himself. Afterwards the Autobots and Sari returned to their own dimension.
Transtech Shockwave appeared in story Transcendent, where he kidnapped Breakaway for Transtech Megatron. After Shockwave discovered that certain systems in Breakaway were unique and might be useful Megatron requested permission from Transtech Ratbat to take the Autobot apart, even it may kill him. When Alpha Trion's forces raided the lab to free Skyfall Megatron opposed them, but they escaped to another dimension.
Transformers Animated
This incarnation of Shockwave has the ability to change his body, using this power to assume the guise of Longarm in order to creep up the Autobot ranks and serve Megatron incognito. To further his guise, changing his actual G1 color scheme to a gray pattern, Shockwave provides his Longarm guise with an alt-mode like that of a burly rough terrain craneCrane (machine)
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...
. His actual alt-mode is heavily based on the tank mode of Transformers Armadas Megatron. Corey Burton reprises the English-accented, David Warner-inspired
David Warner (actor)
David Warner is an English actor who is known for playing both romantic leads and sinister or villainous characters, both in film and animation...
voice for the character, but when Shockwave is in the disguise of Longarm, he speaks in an American accent. Furthermore, while this Shockwave's voice sounds identical to that of his G1 self, Longarm's voice sounds much younger than Shockwave himself. Corey Burton revealed Shockwave's inclusion in Season 2 arose from a between scenes conversation he had with the production team, regarding how little the original Shockwave actually had to do.
Animated series
During Autobot training, his double-agent status was almost discovered by Bumblebee. But thanks to Bumblebee believing the spy to be Wasp, Shockwave managed to plant the evidence to have Wasp as his scapegoat. After successfully graduating from training, Longarm is eventually promoted to Prime rank, and made intel commander of Cybertron, allowing him full access to Autobot files, which he passes onto Megatron, who has him ensure Cybertron is left helpless as part of his master plan. In the two-part "A Bridge Too Close" episode, Shockwave informs Megatron that the Autobot who got the highest scores in the Space BridgeSpace Bridge
In Marvel Comics' Transformers comic and cartoon, the Space Bridge is a device used by the Decepticons to travel between different planets, usually between Cybertron and Earth.-Generation One:...
aptitude test is Bulkhead, leading Megatron to capture the Autobot. When the rest of the earth Autobots try to rescue Bulkhead, they are captured themselves, and Shockwave appears on a screen to taunt Bumblebee with the truth of his double agent
Double agent
A double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They...
status, and the fact that he had an innocent Autobot (Wasp) imprisoned (this later led to Wasp becoming Waspinator).
After the "A Bridge Too Close" two-parter, he gained a more prominent role in Season 3, and returned in the season three premiere event "Transwarped". Appearing in his Longarm guise, he was waiting for Megatron's arrival until Blurr
Blurr
Blurr is the name given to five different fictional characters in the Transformers universes. He frequently appears as a blue Autobot who transforms into a swift car...
returned to Cybertron with information regarding Megatron's communications with the double agent. Once aware that no one else on Cybertron knows the truth yet, Shockwave attacks him and manages to use the base's walls to crush him, taking the remains to Cliffjumper for disposal before being contacted by Megatron. When Ultra Magnus planned on making contact with the earth Autobots, Shockwave uses his guise to convince him to have all communication with them relayed through him, to keep his identity a secret, which is further endangered when the council begins to realize there's a spy in their team.
He next appeared in Where is thy Sting?,infuriated that Jazz, Sentinel Prime, Jetfire and Jetstorm were heading to Earth while after Wasp and attempting to get them to turn back, with Ultra Magnus "calming" him to let his group proceed with their mission. Fearing that his cover will be blown and unable to contact Megatron, Shockwave left a message for him that he would take matters into his own hands. At the episode's conclusion, once word of the truth came to Cybertron, Ironhide attempted to take him into prison, only to find the gravely injured Ultra Magnus lying on the floor, as Shockwave nearly assassinated him and stole his hammer before taking his leave into the long abandoned underground passage ways to hide out.
He appeared as the main antagonist in "This is Why I Hate Machines". When Megatron arrived to Cybertron in Omega Supreme, Shockwave began setting up a scheme to acquire the activation codes to Omega Supreme from the original Autobot who possessed them, Arcee. His plans were slowed down when Ratchet and Captain Fanzone arrived on Cybertron and try to protect Arcee from the clutches of Shockwave. Because of this, Shockwave battled Ratchet several times through the episode, utilizing the stolen Magnus Hammer as his primary weapon. After taking care of the Autobot, he encounters his "old boss", Ultra Magnus and attempts to put him out of commission. He would have succeeded if Ratchet had not intervened. Though he lost Magnus' hammer in the fight, Shockwave escapes with Arcee, resuming his natural purple
Purple
Purple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue, and is classified as a secondary color as the colors are required to create the shade....
color scheme upon joining Megatron's group officially.
In the third season finale (which also acted as the series' finale), Shockwave kept Arcee in an operating chamber, where he hooked her up to several wires. Once he received news that Megatron was going to make Omega Supreme clones, Shockwave once again used his Longarm disguise in an attempt to trick Arcee into giving Megatron Omega's activation codes, so that the three Omega clones could be brought online. When the attempt failed, Shockwave took the codes forcefully. However, the codes were missing an essential security patch, requiring Shockwave to set up a bypass, leaving Lugnut to control the clones remotely from Omega. Shockwave later encountered Ratchet, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Sari
Sari Sumdac
Sari Sumdac is a fictional character in the Transformers Animated cartoon series.-Transformers Animated:The eight-year old adopted daughter of Dr. Isaac Sumdac, Sari lived a sheltered life until she befriends the Autobots after they saved her upon their reawakening.She is the primary source of...
, who had come to save Arcee, and engaged Bumblebee and Bulkhead in battle. Bulkead managed to catch him off guard, punching him to the ground and knocking away his cannon. Forgetting his color scheme, Shockwave took on his Longarm guise in a vain and desperate ploy to gain mercy. Bulkhead and Bumblebee were not fooled however and destroyed the cannon. Shockwave makes a final appearance in the show when he gets taken to Cybertron as a prisoner along with Megatron and Lugnut.
Fun Publications
After the events of the animated series Shockwave was placed in detention at the TrypticonTrypticon
Trypticon is a fictional character in the Transformers toyline.-Transformers: Generation 1:Trypticon is the Decepticons' principal command base. He has three modes: a city, a mobile battle station, and a Tyrannosaurus rex. In each mode, he has a variety of weapons...
stronghold in Kaon city.
Toys
- Animated Voyager Shockwave (2008)
- In keeping with his depiction on the show, Shockwave features four distinct modes; his normal robot mode and a shorter, stockier Longarm robot mode, each with its own alternate mode - a Cybertronian tank and crane, respectively. His faction insignia can be flipped between Autobot and Decepticon.
- Animated Voyager Shockwave with Activators Bumblebee (2009)
- This figure is similar to the normal Animated Shockwave except in his season 3 finale color scheme. He is currently exclusive to TargetTarget CorporationTarget Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
being packed along with Activators Bumblebee. Like his original Animated action figure, this toy can assume the guise of Longarm and his vehicle mode as well. The purple Longarm (robot mode only) made his first appearance in the final episode of season 3. However, while the Longarm toy itself has gold eyes, his eyes still remain traditional Autobot blue in the cartoon.- Animated TA-14 Voyager Decepticon Shockwave (Takara Tomy) (2010)
- The 2010 Japan release version by Takara TomyTakara Tomyis a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the March 2006 merger of two companies: Tomy and long-time rival, Takara...
is virtually identical to the Hasbro version, with the exception of a purple Decepticon emblem and a red Autobot emblem on his chest.- Animated TA-45 Voyager Decepticon Shockwave Original Version (Takara Tomy) (2010, not yet released)
- The Japan release version of purple Shockwave by Takara TomyTakara Tomyis a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the March 2006 merger of two companies: Tomy and long-time rival, Takara...
is scheduled for release on October 2010.
Transformers: Prime
Shockwave started out as Megatron's pet "mad scientist" during his days as a gladiator.Books
Appears in the novel Transformers: Exodus. Shockwave is responsible for creating the InsecticonsInsecticons
Insecticons is the name given to a sub-group of fictional characters in the Transformers Universes, referred to as Insectrons in the Japanese version. The name was also used for several fictional characters in the Transformers Universes...
, and creating the combiner technology - first the Combaticons
Combaticons
The Combaticons are a group of Decepticon military vehicles in the assorted fictional universes of the Transformers.- Transformers: Generation 1 :...
who formed Bruticus Maximus and perfected it with the Constructicons
Constructicons
right|thumb|Scavenger, Bonecrusher, Longhaul, Scrapper & Mixmaster - five of the original six Constructicons The Constructicons are a group of fictional characters from the various Transformers continuities...
who formed Devastator
Devastator (Transformers)
Devastator is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. For legal-political reasons, Hasbro now adds a modifier to the character's name on newer toy packages, such as Constructicon Devastator....
(named after the Devastator Winds).
Mentioned in Transformers: Exiles
Transformers: Exiles
Transformers: Exiles is a fantasy-adventure novel by Alexander C. Irvine. Transformers: Exiles is the sequel to Transformers: Exodus – The Official History of the War for Cybertron, and is a possible prequel to Transformers: Prime.-Synopsis:...
.
Video games
Shockwave appears as Megatron's second-in-commandSecond-in-command
The Second-in-Command is the deputy commander of any British Army or Royal Marines unit, from battalion or regiment downwards. He or she is thus the equivalent of an Executive Officer in the United States Army...
in the 2010 video game Transformers: War for Cybertron
Transformers: War for Cybertron
Transformers: War for Cybertron is a third-person shooter video game developed by High Moon Studios and published by Activision. It was released in North America on June 22, 2010 and in PAL regions on June 25, 2010 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Two portable versions were released for the...
. While voiced by Steven Blum
Steven Blum
Steven Jay Blum is an American voice actor known primarily for his work in anime dubs and video games, using his distinctive deep voice. Among his credits include the voice of Spike Spiegel of the anime series Cowboy Bebop and Mugen of the anime series Samurai Champloo...
in the game, Shockwave was voiced by Corey Burton in the GameStop
GameStop
GameStop Corporation is an American video game and entertainment software retailer. The company, whose headquarters is in Grapevine, Texas, United States, operates 6,500 retail stores throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New...
TV promo. Players can unlock him on the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
versions by entering a unique code supplied by GameStop (U.S.) and Blockbuster Video (UK). He is also unlockable on the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
version and part of the first DLC pack
Downloadable content
Downloadable content is official additional content for a video game distributed through the Internet. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from a single in-game outfit to an entirely new, extensive storyline, similarly to an expansion pack. As such, DLC may add new game modes,...
on the PC version.
In the TV promo, Megatron leaves Shockwave in charge while he is away. Shockwave revels in this, then orders Soundwave to transform into boombox mode and play "The Touch
The Touch (Stan Bush song)
"The Touch" is a rock song by American singer and guitarist Stan Bush. The song prominently features in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie, and appears on the soundtrack album released the following year. It was also released as a double A-side with "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Dare to Be...
" while shooting several Autobots. Starscream (who is nearby) asks "Why this song?", to which Shockwave replies, "When your hit percentage exceeds mine, you may choose the soundtrack."
Shockwave will appear in Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is a third-person shooter video game developed by High Moon Studios and published by Activision. The game follows the events of Transformers: War for Cybertron as the Autobots struggle to defeat their Decepticon foes in battle for their home planet of Cybertron...
. Shockwave opens a space bridge to search the universe for powerful forces, etc, finds dinosaurs on Earth. Later he will apply these forms to bots on Cybertron, Grimlock
Grimlock
Grimlock is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. He is usually portrayed as a tough leader who turns into a mechanical dinosaur...
being one of them. Shockwave later tries to control the new Dinobots, but cannot.