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Soundwave (Transformers)
Encyclopedia
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
.
recorder, and his distinctive, monotone, computerized voice.
Soundwave can detect and jam
radio
transmissions all across the energy spectrum, a talent that makes him naturally suited to his position as Decepticon Communications Officer. Additionally, he has a photographic memory thanks to the vast data storage capacity of the magnetic disks in his chest compartment, and he is armed with a shoulder-mounted radio wave sensor and hand-held concussion blaster. Soundwave is physically strong compared to most Transformers. He transforms, shrinking as he does so, into an Earthly microcassette
deck
, and in the tape compartment, which becomes his chest in robot mode, he stores the Decepticon spy cassettes, Ravage
, Laserbeak
, Buzzsaw, Ratbat
, Rumble
, Frenzy
, Slugfest
, and Overkill
who are under his command in the original television series. Squawktalk, and Beastbox were the final two cassettes under Soundwave's control in the US toyline, but never appeared in animation.
Soundwave's cassettes are quick to serve and defend Soundwave in a crisis, and generally relate to him as servants or even pets. However, when his cassette Ratbat
became leader of the Decepticons in the Marvel comics series
, Soundwave shifted his trademark loyalty from Megatron to him. In the Dreamwave comics, Ratbat led the Ultracons
faction, while Soundwave remained with the Decepticons led by Shockwave
, although this was before Ratbat became a cassette. In the IDW comics, Soundwave was in fact a personal assistant to the Senator, Ratbat, but his true loyalty lay with Megatron. When the time came for him and Starscream to massacre the Senate, he enslaved Ratbat with the smaller and weaker body of a cassette.
book series than he did in the cartoon. He quietly and efficiently served loyally, first under Megatron (even sending Ravage
and the Insecticons
to derail talks between the Autobots and Ronald Reagan
at one point in the 1985 Transformers UK annual), then under Shockwave, attacking an aerospace construction plant whose facilities were used to build the Constructicons
, who then built a massive radio dish that Soundwave used to beam a message back to Cybertron.
Continuing to operate under Shockwave, Soundwave then moved to serving Ratbat, and co-led the defense of Buenos Aires
against the Underbase-empowered Starscream alongside Fortress Maximus
, only to wind up deactivated by the villain.
Unlike many of the others deactivated by Starscream, Soundwave would appear again, under Scorponok
's command. Throughout the U.S.
comic, Soundwave was colored purple instead of blue and frequently appeared with a mouth.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic in the UK, a sister title to the American series was also in production. It reprinted the American stories, but it was released weekly, as opposed to monthly. It soon began to run out of material to reprint, opting to create its own original stories which deftly weaved in and out of the ongoing American storyline. Under writer Simon Furman
, Soundwave—coloured blue—was a fairly major player, portrayed in a manner much more consistent with his profile—that of a manipulator and blackmailer, reading others' minds and using their secrets to his own ends, always working towards his own goals.
When Megatron and Shockwave were both briefly believed deceased, he assumed leadership of the Decepticons during Optimus Prime
's Crisis of Command and then the Dinobot Hunt; manipulating events to weaken the Autobot leadership and cause maximum casualties. When the two commanders returned and vied for the single leadership, he turned the situation to his own advantage by working both sides of the field, reporting to both commanders without either knowing. He also enjoyed a rare victory in this period when he, Dirge
and Kickback took over a NASA
complex, attempting to contact Cybertron with the facility's deep space radio equipment. The Autobots arrived, but a series of miscommunications between Prowl
and Jetfire
resulted in the transmission being sent, allowing the Decepticons to claim victory.
Towards the end of the UK series, a break-away storyline began which separated from the regular ongoing American continuity, covering the exploits of the proactive Autobot Earthforce. In these stories, Soundwave's selling of Decepticon secrets to both the Autobots and Shockwave's group of Decepticons resulted in Wildrider getting blamed for his actions, and Soundwave silently allowed him to be killed rather than be discovered. After Starscream was successfully able to remove Megatron and Shockwave from power, he and Soundwave entered into joint leadership of the Decepticons.
Issue #279 of the Marvel UK Transformers comic featured a story called "Divide and Conquor!" where Soundwave lead the bulk of the Decepticon forces on Earth against the Autobot Earthforce headquarters while Starscream attacked an oil tanker. Sent into battle by Prowl, the Dinobots routed the main Decepticon forces while Springer lead the Autobot Survivors, Broadside, Inferno, Skids, and Carnivac to defeat Starscream.
Soundwave also attained the leadership position in the future world of 2008, following the death of Shockwave (who had seized power when Galvatron travelled back in time). Soundwave led his era's Decepticons back to 1989 to participate in the Time Wars when the fabric of reality began to crumble, but before as the conflict came to a head they fled back to their own time. Since it was later established that the damage done to the time stream may have resulted in their future being erased from the timeline, the final fate of the future Soundwave is unknown.
Soundwave returned to the pages of the US Transformers comic books for the relaunch of the series as Transformers: Generation 2
. He participated in the Decepticon attack on Earth, and oversaw the reconstruction of the damaged Darkwing
into a new, more powerful form.
Like many of the other Generation 1 Decepticons, Soundwave seemed to return to a command position on Megatron's return to lead the Decepticons (killing Bludgeon
in the process).
Soundwave made an appearance in the Decepticon forces under the command of Megatron in issue #7 of the Marvel Generation 2 comic series, in a story called "New Dawn." Megatron lead his Decepticons against Jhiaxus
' second generation Cybertronians near the moon of Tykos. The Decepticons were defeated and Megatron left injured, presumed dead, but swearing revenge.
He was aboard the Warworld when Jhiaxus
' forces attacked, but managed to evacuate. His fate beyond this point is unknown.
Soundwave would also play a brief but important role in the text-only novel, Alignment, writer Simon Furman
's take on what happened after the Transformers: Generation 2
comic series ended. He was the one who recovered Megatron's broken body after his duel with Galvatron
. Subsequently he was the ringleader of the conspirators (along with Ravage, Ramjet
and Direwolf) who gave some of their spark energy
to resurrect Megatron in a more powerful body, allowing him to defeat the forces of the Liege Maximo. After Megatron's execution of the entire Decepticon High Council, save Shrapnel, Soundwave once again acted as Megatron's second in command and coordinated the strike against the Maximo with Ultra Magnus. His fate beyond this is unknown, save for a brief cameo in Beast Machines
.
In the original Transformers
cartoon—his most prominent role in Transformers fiction—Soundwave was Megatron's right-hand robot, frequently sent on important reconnaissance
missions with his cassettes, and often playing a key role in many schemes against the Autobot
s. On Cybertron
, he used his ability to transform into a roadside fixture to spy on the Autobot city of Iacon, learning of the Autobots' plan to search for energy on other worlds. Joining in Megatron's attack on the Autobots' craft (known as the Ark
in the Marvel comics series at the time), Soundwave fell to the same fate as the rest of the ship's occupants when the craft crashed on prehistoric Earth, entombing everyone within in stasis. Immediately after the Transformers awakened on Earth in 1984, Soundwave played an essential role in the generation of energon cubes and the formation of plans for a new space cruiser to return the Decepticons to Cybertron.
Later, he used his mind-reading talents to acquire an antimatter
formula for the Decepticons from the brain of Chip Chase. He and his cassette minions were often on spying missions against the Autobots.
One of Soundwave's most notable misadventures came in 1985, when, operating a plan conceived by Starscream
, he brainwashed humans with ultrasonic
vibrations, leading to a confrontation with his Autobot Communications Officer counterpart, Blaster
, and to a lasting rivalry between the two.
Soundwave rarely displayed much emotion, infrequently exhibiting any traits that could be considered to be in line with his tech spec. However, he showed distress when one of his cassettes were hurt in battle, and he always came across as extremely loyal to Megatron, even going so far as to recover his body after being left for dead at the Battle of Autobot City in 2005. But while Soundwave was loyal, he was far from outspoken, and kept silent when Megatron's body was subsequently ejected into space, and although he did suggest himself as a replacement leader ("Soundwave: superior. Constructicons: inferior."), Soundwave again loyally served Megatron when he was recreated as Galvatron
.
In the year 2006, although operating in a less prominent capacity for most of the time, Soundwave played a prominent role in Galvatron's attempt to learn the secret of a sonic weapon on the planet Eurythma, where sound and music were the way of life, leaving Soundwave entranced by the planet's perfect melodies. Recording each piece of the harmony that formed the devastating sonic effect, Soundwave was defeated when the Eurythmans countered the harmony with white noise, and was again pulled into a confrontation with Blaster, who erased his recordings.
Soundwave was performed by Frank Welker
, whose voice was heavily modulated by a vocoder
to achieve Soundwave's distinctive, metallic monotone
. However, Welker's voice was left unmodulated at certain points during the episodes "Roll for It" and "Webworld" due to production errors.
Although Soundwave only appeared as a background character in the American cartoon series finale, the three-part The Rebirth, he returned to the forefront in the new Japanese-exclusive series, Transformers: The Headmasters
, which was created to replace The Rebirth. Reborn as Soundblaster (New Soundwave in the English
version and Vizar in Italy) Soundwave's new toy incarnation was, like the series, available only in Japan
.
In the year 2011, Soundwave and Blaster's rivalry had increased dramatically. In the opening cut and thrust of Headmasters, Soundwave and Blaster engaged in their final clash in the Arctic Circle
as the Autobots and Decepticons were in the process of searching for the missing Autobot Matrix of Leadership. The two opponents inflicted fatal damage to each other, and Soundwave's body exploded even as Blaster collapsed. Soundwave's fragments were recovered by his cassettes. Using reconstructive technology from the planet Master, the leader of the Decepticon Headmasters, Zarak
successfully rebuilt and resurrected Soundwave as Soundblaster—essentially identical to his former self, except for his predominantly black color scheme. As Soundblaster, he served the same role as he had as Soundwave under the leadership of Galvatron and later Scorponok, frequently embarking on spying missions with Ratbat.
He also had a father-son relationship with the cassettes, as it was hinted on his resurrection as 'Soundblaster'.
A flashback in episode 5 of Beast Machines
, "Forbidden Fruit", showed Generation 1 Soundwave (or a close likeness of him) being gunned down while helping the Maximal Nightscream
escape the Vehicon
tank drones
.
, Megatron and Grimlock
) who came to the aid of the forces of Optimus Primal
against the Predacon
/Unicron
hybrid Shokaract, distracting him long enough for Primus
to deal the fatal blow.
's 21st century re-imagining of the Generation 1 continuity, Soundwave was recruited to the Decepticons 9 million years ago through Megatron's underground gladiatorial games, and made head of communications. When a new Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, was chosen, Soundwave was sent along with the Insecticons
and Ravage
, to attempt to kill him and recover the Matrix for Megatron, but they failed, forcing Megatron to confront Optimus personally.
Even in the face of failures such as this, and later the loss of Megatron in an early space bridge experiment, Soundwave's loyalty to the Decepticon cause never wavered, as he remained true to the faction under Shockwave's leadership.
As in most other continuities, the story continues in the traditional manner, with Soundwave a member of the Nemesis crew who attacked the Ark
and was sent into stasis when the craft crashed on Earth, awakening again in 1984. After years of fighting on Earth, eventually the combined forces of the Autobots and their human allies were able to defeat and capture the Decepticons. The intent was for the Autobots to take their enemies back to Cybertron aboard a new craft named the Ark II, but just as the ship cleared the atmosphere, it exploded, the victim of machinations by Shockwave, who did not want Prime and Megatron to return to Cybertron yet.
Soundwave's body crashed back to Earth in the Arctic
, where he lay inactive for several years, until rogue military scientist Adam Rook, calling himself "Lazarus," recovered and reactivated him, putting him under his control with a program he had developed while studying the Transformers before their explosive departure. Several other Autobots and Decepticons fell to the same fate, and were to be sold on the black market—Soundwave himself was put on display by being sent to attack the Smitco Oil Refinery alongside several other Transformers—but when Megatron liberated himself, Soundwave was soon freed by his leader and assumed his position at his side.
When Shockwave arranged for the capture and extradition of Prime and Megatron's forces as war criminal
s, Soundwave was among the captives, but when Starscream jettisoned Megatron into space on the return trip to Cybertron, Soundwave made the best of a bad lot and teamed with Starscream to return to Earth and conquer it, being reunited with Ratbat
in the process. Heading back to Earth in a kidnapped Sky Lynx
and with the Combaticons
now added to their ranks, the Decepticons attacked the Ark in hopes of acquiring parts to make the Nemesis spaceworthy again, however Soundwave, Skywarp
and Thundercracker
were defeated and thrown in the Arks brig. When the Combaticons, combined as Bruticus, laid into the vessel, they were freed.
It was not much later that the surviving Megatron made contact with Soundwave from space, and Soundwave was all too willing to return to his service, setting up Starscream to fall before Megatron when he returned. And return, Megatron did—but the bankruptcy and subsequent closure of Dreamwave left the rest of the story untold.
. Transforming into a radio, he was deactivated at the series' close by Grimlock
. Although Dreamwave's collapse precluded the completion of the second series, released art and information revealed that Soundwave would have been involved in the conclusion of that series.
, when they discovered the Ark. Refitted by Destro
, Soundwave was intended to become a battlefield communications station, but when he and the other Decepticons eventually broke free of their control he was damaged in a battle with the Autobots and his parts were captured by the US Government for study. From his data banks, the android SerpentO.R.
downloaded information on the history of Cybertron, using it to further the Decepticon goal of conquest. It is indicated that his pre-Earth form was similar to his Dreamwave War Within form.
on Earth, reformatted himself into a new form and now leads Astrotrain
, Laserbeak, Ramjet, Ravage, Skywarp
, Soundwave, Starscream
and the Constructicons
. Optimus Prime
has also returned to Earth commanding Bumblebee
, Cliffjumper
, Grimlock
, Jetfire
, Mirage
and Rodimus
(formerly Hot Rod). When the Cybertronians Skyfall
and Landquake
arrive on Earth unexpectedly Megatron attempts to destroy them, but Optimus Prime and his Autobots are able to drive Megatron away.
Generation One universe was in the prequel miniseries, The Transformers: Megatron Origin
. In the story, Soundwave works for Senator Ratbat
, who takes an interest in the rising gladiator, Megatron. Ratbat sends Soundwave to offer weaponry to Megatron and his followers. Soundwave also assists Megatron with the interrogation of Autobot soldier, Bumper. Soundwave is later jailed along with Megatron and other when Sentinel Prime
's forces capture them, but is released by Ratbat. When Megatron's plan is sprung, Soundwave helps Starscream massacre the Autobot Senate. He later confronts Ratbat and forcibly extracts his Spark for implantaion in one of his Cassette bodies. Soundwave's alternate mode appears to be a communication vehicle with tank treads.
Sometime later, Soundwave was part of the conference of scientists called by Thunderwing
in The Transformers: Stormbringer
, where he refuses to accept Thunderwing's findings that Cybertron was dying. In around the same time period he had Beachcomber captured and implanted with a cerebro-shell, having the unwilling traitor eject his opposite number Blaster
into space (in Spotlight Blaster) in order to demoralize the Autobots prior to a Decepticon offensive.
Soundwave's story was later continued in his own Spotlight one-shot, where he was a self-serving and duplicitous Decepticon internal affairs
agent. Soundwave was dispatched by Megatron to keep an eye on Bludgeon's
investigation of Shockwave
's lab. However, he kept quiet about Bludgeon's obsession with the Regenesis project, thinking he could turn it to his advantage. Following him to Earth in 1984, Soundwave monitored Bludgeon's attempts to harvest Ultra Energon and confronted him after he'd acquired it. Horrified to discover they were not planning to use it in a power-play but instead to reanimate Thunderwing
(who previously devastated Cybertron), Soundwave attempted to stop them but was trapped in stasis-lock in cassette player mode. It was revealed in the epilogue that two young humans considered buying him at a pawn shop in 2007.
In The Transformers: Escalation
#1, Optimus stated there was evidence that Soundwave had been present in Earth's history. Despite this, he did not reappear until issue #4 of The Transformers: Devastation
, where, still trapped in cassette player mode, he interfered with Skywatch's control of Laserbeak and Ravage.
in the out-of-continuity The Transformers: Evolutions
tale "Hearts of Steel". He appeared as one of Starscream's lieutenants. He was presumably destroyed when John Henry
and Bumblebee
diverted the Decepticon train convoy into a chasm
.
, called "Frank the Halls." In the story Optimus Prime and his Autobots (Bumblebee, Jazz and Wheeljack) battle Megatron and his Decepticons (Soundwave and Starscream) when Optimus runs out of gas. Optimus becomes enraged at the price of gas, steals the fuel from the annoying hybrid Autobot Prius Maximus, then joins the Decepticons in destroying the city.
Soundwave appears in the Robot Chicken
episode "Toy Meets Girl" voiced by Seth Green
. He is portrayed as having retired from the Decepticon Army and obtained honest employment as a transformable portable toilet
. Frank Welker
reprises his role of Soundwave (as well as Megatron but not Rumble) when he appears again in another Robot Chicken episode "Werewolf vs. Unicorn" where in the current years it's revealed that because the audio cassette tape and cassette players have long become obsolete and therefore no longer widely used, that his spy tactics now do not work (the people who discovered him in the skit were laughing at his mixtape
which was Rumble
being killed by them puling his tape out). He is later found by Megatron and Shockwave
to be on sale on eBay
with options to place a bid for 500 dollars or "Buy it now" for 1000 dollars, whereupon Shockwave exclaims "Request permission to buy it now!" The Commemorative Soundwave figure was used in "Werewolf vs. Unicorn."
Soundwave made a cameo appearance in the Family Guy
episode "The Courtship of Stewie's Father
" as Peter's
new supervisor. In it, Soundwave releases a framed photograph from his cassette deck cavity, of himself and a human woman named Denise, who Soundwave proclaims is his wife, whom he met in a Christian
chat room
.
Soundwave appears in the Sealab 2021
episode "Hail, Squishface" as a toy on an Asian girl's cart, who sells Capt. Murphy Gloop, from the show The Herculoids
.
A music video featuring Soundwave and a robot similar to Rumble and Frenzy named Lazer (though purely white in colour) breakdancing has surfaced throughout the Internet since 2000. The video contains audio clips from both the animated series and The Transformers: The Movie alongside music.
In 2007, shortly before the release of the live-action Transformers film, Soundwave appeared in the viral comedy short "Soundwave: The Touch."
Also in the 2009 film, Revenge Of The Fallen (ROTF), he appears to be a satellite which can hack in to the us satellite,to retrieve information and also can tell the "Decepticons" where to move to next, which route to take and when to attack /"Move In" as shown in the film. But, he can also turn into a Jet character in the earlier films such as "Transformers: Generation 1".
As a Mutant, this Soundwave transforms from bat to alligator, with no robot mode. Due to his in-built radar in bat mode, and crushing jaws in alligator mode, he excels at a variety of missions. However, due to his situation, Soundwave is a dark and bitter character. He has an ultra-sensitive internal radar in bat mode, and in alligator mode, his tail can send seismic shockwaves through the ground.
's Beast Wars: The Gathering
miniseries. Activated on Earth by Magmatron
and a group of Predacons from the future, Soundwave and the mutants emerged from their stasis pods and took up residence in a swamp that they quickly made their own. When a group newly-activated Predacons
led by Transquito ventured through the swamp on a mission they were attacked by the Mutants. Poison Bite attacked Retrax, Soundwave attacked Powerpinch and Icebird attacked Transquito. Deciding the swamp was not worth their lives, Scourge
and Insecticon
fled. However, in "The Ascending" it is revealed that Powerpinch, Transquito and Retrax survived.
IDW's Beast Wars Sourcebook
series identifies the mutant Soundwave as a former warrior who may have been a veteran of the Great War, though the details are ambiguous at best. Sourcebook #4 states that Soundwave became an actor/entertainer after the ratification of the Pax Cybertronia, developing a "dramatic flair in everything from his movements to his speech paterns".
s.
, Soundwave is the second Transformer from the mysterious Planet X. He transforms into a Planet X Jet and is partnered with a smaller robot called Laserbeak
(Killer Condor in Japan). In the English dub of this series, he has a synthesized voice, albeit more human than his G1 counterpart, which is counterbalanced by his tendency to speak like a modern disc jockey
—using terms like "He got served" and "Peace out, bots" and calling the battlefield, "The Floor."
The package bio for Soundwave mentions that Planet X itself may be a total deception, and that it is actually a term the agents use to refer to their service to Unicron
. Although he and Sideways are the survivors of a dead civilization, they actually serve Unicron throughout space and time as his heralds in taking over new worlds to replace his loss of previous forms.
Soundwave is armed with two cannons, and can hide himself behind holograms when working in conjunction with Laserbeak.
Shortly after they arrived on Gigantion and there Megatron was upgraded into Galvatron, Soundwave abandoned the Decepticons, and joined up with his counterpart, Sideways. During a battle with the Autobot Cybertron Defense Team, he revealed the history of his world, and how they desired the Cyber Planet Keys to get revenge on the inhabitants of Gigantion.
Later, he and Sideways attempted to intervene in the epic battle between Galvatron and Starscream in order to claim the Planet Keys and Omega Lock, only to be sent into another universe by the distortion caused by the two fighters' conflict.
However, Soundwave would appear later, when Starscream reached out to Galvatron across dimensions, seemingly trapped along with him and Sideways. However, Starscream seemed to have returned by the series' end, which meant that the same possibility existed for both Sideways and Soundwave.
Soundwave is the only major transformer in the series who never summons his Cyber Key. In his toy version, his Cyber Key opens his chest compartment to store Laserbeak or one of his two cannons. In his first appearance to the Autobots, Soundwave demonstrates the ability to do this without the aid of a Cyber Key.
G1 Soundwave makes a cameo appearance in the animated series as a blue boombox that Sideways used to hear music.
, Sentinel Maximus and Omega Prime
after their defeat of Unicron's heralds, Nemesis Prime
and Ramjet
, and capture of the Dead Matrix. Dispatching Laserbeak to recover the Dead Matrix from its place in storage, Soundwave threw the talisman into the black hole that had been created by the collapse of Unicron, allowing the Chaos Bringer's Spark
to escape and infiltrate the planet Yst, which he corrupted and transformed into his new body. Soundwave would link up with his master, and watch the unfolding carnage of a Mini-Con
civil war. However, when Unicron chose that moment to attack, Soundwave was attacked by several Mini-Cons, including Scythe and Perceptor
. Unable to hit the smaller Mini-Cons, Soundwave fled with Unicron when Primus
awoke.
Transformers movie was announced in 2004, producer Don Murphy
and the production team made it clear they did not want to feature mass/size shifting in transformation (excluding the Allspark), due to concerns over realism. With this process an inherent part of Soundwave's tape deck alternate mode, there was some discussion over whether or not to change it due to its obsolescence, or to include the character in the film at all. It was announced by Hasbro at SDCC 2004 that movie Soundwave would be a helicopter. Early leaked movie scripts proposed that his alternate mode would be a helicopter
, but animatics shown at the 2005 Comic Con were poorly received. This led to a rethink, with the eventual helicopter character rechristened as Vortex
, then finally Blackout. 2006 script reviews named Soundwave as a spying boombox
on Air Force One
, able to transform into a small robot, but eventually, this character was amended to being Frenzy, with Don Murphy
stating that Soundwave will be reserved for a future sequel, until they can "do him right". When the film was released on DVD a special on-line content from Best Buy showed early animation footage of Blackout as a blue helicopter with a head that resembled Soundwave.
In a USA Today
online fan poll, Soundwave was one of the 10 Transformers that the fans wanted in the sequel, winning with 20% of the votes.
Soundwave appears in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
. Soundwave is a satellite in the film, and he is also a Triple changer as he has the form of a Cybertronian jet as well. Soundwave is not seen in his robot form in the film. Frank Welker reprised his voicing role, and used his Doctor Claw voice from Inspector Gadget
, which, when run through a vocoder, gives Soundwave his unique voice from the original animated series. The lack of this vocoder in the 2009 film left the voice sounding more like Doctor Claw
than the original Soundwave. He has his minion Ravage to his bidding in the film.
Soundwave also appears in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, this time transforming into a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and with Laserbeak to serve him. He has two sonic cannons that resenbles a UZI.
His Hasbro Battle Bio states that he is 22 feet tall and that his main weapon is a sonic cannon which can only be used in the atmosphere, as sound waves will not travel in vacuum.
was commanding, and that all of its crew were missing by the time Megatron noticed the emergency signal emitting from the ship while he was chasing the Allspark.
Soundwave first appeared in issue #2 of Transformers: Alliance where he arrived at the crash site of the Nemesis on Mars. There he found Dreadwing
's head, as well as the body of Frenzy, then contacted Starscream and told him to rally to his signal. Starscream was surprised to hear from Soundwave, as he had been believed dead for years. Soundwave deployed a number of his forces on Earth, leaving others on his ship.
In Tales of the Fallen #5 Soundwave, still in orbit after the events of the 2009 film, notices someone has reactivated Ravage.
Soundwave appears in Transformers: Nefarious #1, set months after the events of the 2009 film. Bumblebee, Breakaway, Jolt, Knock Out and Dune Runner are sent to investigate spark fragments detected at Kingdom Petrochemicals. Arriving first Breakaway is warned by Soundwave to leave, but unwilling to give in the Autobot is swiftly defeated. Bumblebee and his team fire on Soundwave, who escapes. In "Nefarious" #2, Soundwave sent Dirt Boss, Reverb
, and Brakedown
to Wendover, Utah to find an "Initiative" facility. Soundwave then contacted Ravage in order to discover how he was resurrected. Then, he proceeded to assist Reverb, Dirt Boss, and Brakedown, in a fight with the Autobots. After a battle with Optimus Prime, Soundwave convinces the Autobot leader to join forces temporarily, in order to find "the Initiative".
about Mikaela Banes possessing a shard of the Allspark and orders him to retrieve it. Docking onto a satellite and hacking it, Soundwave intercepts information on the location of Megatron's corpse and the Allspark shard. He deploy his servant Ravage
to retrieve the shard and sent the Constructicons
to rendezevous at Megatron's resting place. After the death of Optimus Prime, Soundwave carried out Megatron's orders to prepare the Decepticons for the invasion of Earth. While coordinating attacks, Soundwave located Sam Witwicky's parents in Paris
, France, and called Judy Witwicky via her cell phone. He demanded she tell him where Sam was, but Judy did not take him seriously, believing him to be a pervert caller, and hung up. He later intercepted calls from the Egyptian government on Sam's location, and informed the other Decepticons. Soundwave did not take part in the last battle, although Ravage did and was killed by Bumblebee.
In Dark of the Moon, Soundwave is revealed to have been on Earth since the 1970's. He discovered the Autobot ship, the Ark
on the Moon, and recruited various human servants from the U.S. and Russian space agencies to prevent further exploration of it following the initial Moon landings, while he ordered several Decepticons to steal some of the pillars onboard and hide under the moon's surface. In the modern day he appears at Megatron's base in Africa
, where he and Laserbeak
report the Autobot's recovery of Sentinel Prime
and some of the pillars from the crashed Ark. Megatron praises Soundwave's initiative in the decades-long plan and orders him and Laserbeak to kill their human allies. The only human they don't kill, Dylan Gould, has Soundwave disguise himself as Sam's girlfriend's car in order to get close to the Autobots. He reveals himself and captures Carly once the two humans learn of Gould's alliance with the Decepticons, and threatens her in order to convince Sam to discover the Autobot's plans. During the battle in Chicago
, Soundwave and Barricade
lead several Decepticons in capturing some of the Autobots. Gould convinces Soundwave not to take prisoners, and Soundwave orders the others to execute their 'trophies'. Once Que
is dead, Soundwave prepares to kill Bumblebee himself, but a Decepticon ship hijacked by Wheelie and Brains
drops fighters near Soundwave, distracting him as the Autobots began fighting back. Bumblebee attacks Soundwave, and kills him by blasting his head off.
In the Nintendo DS
game Revenge of the Fallen: Decepticons, Grindor, Sideways, Soundwave and Starscream greet a new Decepticon protoform and send him on a mission. Soundwave directs the new protoform to survive on Earth.
In the downloadable content pack for the Xbox 360 and PS3, Soundwave is confirmed a playable character. He is probably based on the Deluxe toy.
In Transformers: War for Cybertron
, Decepticon drones have similar appearance to Revenge of the Fallen′s Soundwave, while their Soundwave is extremely similar appearance G1 Soundwave.
In Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Stealth Force Edition for the Wii and 3DS Soundwave is a playable character with an SUV alt. mode.
, who specializes in sonic interference. Whilst his robot mode still retains elements of his original tapedeck incarnation, more so in his toy form, his alt-mode is now a loudspeaker
-equipped Scion xB
. He also possesses two supporters: Laserbeak, who transforms into an electric guitar
he uses for a sonic boom attack, and Ratbat, which becomes a keytar
for use in sonic hypnosis. His voice, now provided by Jeff Bennett in the United States and Nobuo Tobita
in Japan, once again requires a vocoder
to create Soundwave's trademark robotic monotone voice.
got for her birthday, built by Megatron as a part of a plan to take advantage of Sari's careless and repeated use of her powerful Allspark key to continuously upgrade the toy until it serves as a suitable body for Megatron to host. However, the excessive usage of the key to give Soundwave niftier, more entertaining functions, wrought a side-effect Megatron had not anticipated; Soundwave was developing almost Cybertron
ian sophistication at an alarmingly increasing rate due to the unique, almost sentient, energy-signature of the Allspark Key. Within no time, Soundwave's central processor was altered by the Allspark Key's last surge, causing him to become self-aware, refusing to take orders from Sari (or any other human) any more. It was by observing the common labor-robots in the city that he concluded that not only robots are superior to humans in every way, but that it's illogical that robots are forced to succumb to their human masters, and it should be the other way around. By then, Megatron introduced himself to Soundwave through televisions in a nearby electronics store as his creator "of sorts" to impose unto him his plan to crush the Autobot
s. At first, Soundwave declared this illogical to fight robot-kind until Megatron insisted that they were traitors that upheld the human race's slavery of all robot-kind, convincing Soundwave to ultimately side with the Decepticons with the intent to overthrow all humans and obliterate the robots that protect them. He used his technology-manipulating speakers to summon all nearby labor-robots to merge onto him, converting into a Transformer as he then uses his sophisticated stereo-system to spark a robot-revolution against their "human-oppressors." All automated forms of public transportation stopped and the city's labor robots jumped the Autobot
s when they appeared on the scene. After failing to convince Bulkhead
into joining him and killing Sari in the name of all robot-kind, it appeared that Bulkhead destroyed Soundwave with a single blow of his powerful wrecking-ball arm, shattering his body into hundreds of pieces. However, unbeknown to the Autobot, his core survived, in the form of a small, almost-invisible media player.
Soundwave regenerated by Christmas
time as ex-Sumdac Systems Vice President Porter C. Powell, who had acquired Soundwave's original patents while he was in charge of the company, was distributing multiple Soundwave toys during the Christmas season. Soundwave managed to reprogram some of the toys, using one of them to spike the Autobots' oil nog
. With the Autobots now sedated and out of commission, Soundwave proceeded to take them to the basement where he attempted to brainwash them into taking on his ideology as Decepticon
s by placing them in a virtual
program in human form. However, the plan was briefly halted by the attempted intervention of Sari as well as the Autobots learning the truth of where they are. Soundwave had a backup plan, using Laserbeak to force Sari into a retreat, then using Ratbat in keytar mode to complete the Autobots reformat. Soundwave succeeded in placing the Autobots under his control, and used the numerous toy replicas of himself to take control of the humans in Detroit. However, since Sari was techno-organic, she was immune to the mind-control waves. Soundwave was defeated when Sari recruited the help of Scrapper, Snarl and Wreck-Gar to fight the brainwashed Autobots, and was smashed apart along with Ratbat by Optimus using Laserbeak's guitar mode as a makeshift axe. Though Soundwave's core still remained intact, it was seemingly turned off by Sari before being rescued by Laserbeak. It is unknown what became of Soundwave after that.
. He helps in the attack on the Autobot's Ark launching platform, working with Buzzsaw.
Soundwave makes a cameo in the fiction Dungeons & Dinobots, a text based story. When the Autobots are gaining the advantage in an attack on the Arch-Ayr fuel dump he calls in the Mayhem Suppression Squad to help the Decepticons.
Soundwave appears in the story Do Over. He is among the crew of the Nemesis, which follows the Autobot's Ark
to Earth. When the ship is damaged in battle with the Ark he escapes in a stasis pod to Earth.
Soundwave is spotlighted in the story The Desert Heat!. In this story, having crashed to Earth in an escape pod, Heatwave recovers Soundwave and helps his fellow Decepticon get back online and assume an Earth-style alternate mode.
Soundwave appears in the story Eye in the Sky. Cliffjumper, Crasher, Frenzy, Heatwave, Ravage and Soundwave are sent on a mission to Burpleson Air Force Base to stop the Autobots from controlling the GODS defense system. Heatwave uses his powers to convince the GODS transmitter to fire the weapon on itself and stop the Autobots from taking control.
Soundwave is spotlighted in the story Blitzwing Bop. The Elite Guardsman Thunderwing intercepts a radio signal from Earth which mentions Soundwave. Finding Soundwave is wanted for a minor offense from long ago he heads to Earth. Thunderwing finds Soundwave involved in a battle the Autobot Blaster
for the possession of the malfunctinging Decepticon Blitzwing
. Although not interested in the dispute, Soundwave convinces Thunderwing that Soundwave cannot leave Earth for trial on Cybertron until his commanding officer can be notified, and the only way to get Starscream online is to rescue Blitzwing. Thunderwing is still unwilling to takes sides in the battle against Blaster, merely following the Decepticon, but Soundwave tricks Blaster into mentioning a crime he committed on Cybertron while Thunderwing is in nearby. Thunderwing immediately goes into arrest mode and tries to capture Blaster, but Blaster escapes in a malfunctioning Stellar Spanner. With Starscream back online Soundwave confesses to his minor crimes and Thunderwing passes a sentence of community service on him.
Soundwave's Earth mode resembles a redeco of the toy used for Universe Ironhide with a new head mold.
Soundwave is one of the main group of Decepticons in the 2010 computer animated series Transformers: Prime
. Soundwave does not speak with his own voice in this series, instead recording archive audio from others and repeating it. An interview with producer Jeff Kline indicates that he does so only by choice.
Soundwave appears in the novel Transformers: Exodus. He commanded the Mini-Con
s Ravage
, Rumble
, Frenzy
and Laserbeak
.
as a playable character in the last three chapters of the Decepticon campaign. While Shockwave is established as Megatron's second-in-command
, Soundwave is shown acting as Megatron's right hand during the campaign in Shockwave's absence.
Soundwave assists Megatron and Breakdown into infiltrating Iacon, defeating Zeta Prime, and hunting down Omega Supreme. He is also a boss in the Autobot campaign, being the warden of Kaon Prison in the Decepticons' capital city and using his tape cassettes Frenzy, Rumble and Laserbeak to attack. The Autobots manage to defeat him, but not before he delivers a fatal blow to Zeta Prime, absorbing what remained of his life force energy in order to regenerate his own strength, and then manages to escape before Optimus can finish him.
Aside from transforming into a Cybertronian truck, Soundwave can also turn into a boombox
, as shown right before his boss battle, in the game's ending credits and a GameStop
promotional commercial for the game featuring Shockwave. In this mode, he plays the Stan Bush
songs "The Touch
" and "Till All Are One".
, Starscream sends a pair of Decepticons to attack her. Later, in the Decepticon headquarters Soundwave detects a signal from deep space. Starscream orders the opening of the Space Bridge, and Megatron returns. Later, Soundwave deploys Ratbat at Starscream's orders to capture Fowler. He is later assigned to highjack Earth bond radio telescope array to location of Cybertron, as part Megatron's plan to use their Space Bridge to transport Dark Energon to Cybertron. However the Autobot's young human allies figure out the Decepticon's have highjacked the array and go to the array to shut it down. The young computer wiz Raf hacks into the array computer system, Soundwave attacks them. He cuts the array's main line locking the dishes in place. While preparing to leave, the Autobots human ally Miko takes a picture of Soundwave with her cell phone, Soundwave responds to this by taking a picture of Jack, Miko, and Raf (possibly with the intention of passing it along with information of their connection with the Autobots onto his fellow Decepticons). Soundwave appears in following episodes as the Decepticons' communications officer, picking up signals and occasionally going out into the field, though not in combat.
Soundwave is well aware of Starscream's treachery against Megatron, and has on several occasions saved Megatron from his treacherous lieutanant. In Masters & Students Soundwave sent his minion Laserbeak to make sure that Starscream retrieved the incacipated Megatron rather than killing him; and in Sick Mind when Starscream and Knock Out conspire to euthanize the comatose Megatron, Soundwave at first appears to consider agreeing with the two, but points out the cord of Bumblebee's cortical psychic patch Bumblebee is hooked up to, and orders Megatron be put back online so that he will not have fallen by an Autobot's hand. In Rock Bottom Megatron reveals he is aware of Starscream's ongoing treachery due to Soundwave having constant video surveillance on the traitor. In One Shall Rise, Part 3, Soundwave denies Airachnid's decision to abandon Megatron and lead the Decepticons away from Earth, and attacks her with Laserbeak until she submits.
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. His most famous disguise is that of a microcassette recorder and has an iconic voice done by a vocoder
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
.
Transformers: Generation 1
Soundwave is one of the most recognizable characters from the original Transformers line due to his unique alternate mode, a microcassetteMicrocassette
A Microcassette is an audio storage medium introduced by Olympus in 1969. It uses the same width of magnetic tape as the Compact Cassette but in a much smaller container. By using thinner tape and half or a quarter the tape speed, microcassettes can offer comparable recording time to the compact...
recorder, and his distinctive, monotone, computerized voice.
Soundwave can detect and jam
Radio jamming
Radio jamming is the transmission of radio signals that disrupt communications by decreasing the signal to noise ratio. Unintentional jamming occurs when an operator transmits on a busy frequency without first checking whether it is in use, or without being able to hear stations using the frequency...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
transmissions all across the energy spectrum, a talent that makes him naturally suited to his position as Decepticon Communications Officer. Additionally, he has a photographic memory thanks to the vast data storage capacity of the magnetic disks in his chest compartment, and he is armed with a shoulder-mounted radio wave sensor and hand-held concussion blaster. Soundwave is physically strong compared to most Transformers. He transforms, shrinking as he does so, into an Earthly microcassette
Microcassette
A Microcassette is an audio storage medium introduced by Olympus in 1969. It uses the same width of magnetic tape as the Compact Cassette but in a much smaller container. By using thinner tape and half or a quarter the tape speed, microcassettes can offer comparable recording time to the compact...
deck
Cassette deck
A cassette deck is a type of tape recorder for playing or recording audio compact cassettes. A deck was formerly distinguished from a recorder as being part of a stereo component system, while a recorder had a self-contained power amplifier...
, and in the tape compartment, which becomes his chest in robot mode, he stores the Decepticon spy cassettes, 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:...
, Buzzsaw, 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,...
, 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:...
, 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:...
, Slugfest
Slugfest (Transformers)
-Transformers: Generation 1:Slugfest is one of the cassette minions of Soundwave. He is slow and stupid. He is armed with two solar powered vibro cannons.-Reception:...
, and Overkill
Overkill (Transformers)
Overkill is a fictional character in the various Transformers universes. He is one of the Decepticon Mini-Cassettes.-Transformers: Generation 1:Overkill is a Decepticon.-Animated series:...
who are under his command in the original television series. Squawktalk, and Beastbox were the final two cassettes under Soundwave's control in the US toyline, but never appeared in animation.
Soundwave's cassettes are quick to serve and defend Soundwave in a crisis, and generally relate to him as servants or even pets. However, when his cassette Ratbat
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,...
became leader of the Decepticons in the Marvel comics series
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...
, Soundwave shifted his trademark loyalty from Megatron to him. In the Dreamwave comics, Ratbat led the 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:...
faction, while Soundwave remained with the Decepticons led by Shockwave
Shockwave (Transformers)
Shockwave is the name of several fictional characters 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...
, although this was before Ratbat became a cassette. In the IDW comics, Soundwave was in fact a personal assistant to the Senator, Ratbat, but his true loyalty lay with Megatron. When the time came for him and Starscream to massacre the Senate, he enslaved Ratbat with the smaller and weaker body of a cassette.
Reception
According to X-Entertainment Soundwave was the 8th top Transformers figure of all time.Marvel Comics
Like much of the original 1984 cast of Decepticons, Soundwave played a much smaller role in the MarvelMarvel 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...
book series than he did in the cartoon. He quietly and efficiently served loyally, first under Megatron (even sending 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...
and the Insecticons
Insecticons
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...
to derail talks between the Autobots and Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
at one point in the 1985 Transformers UK annual), then under Shockwave, attacking an aerospace construction plant whose facilities were used to build the Constructicons
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 then built a massive radio dish that Soundwave used to beam a message back to Cybertron.
Continuing to operate under Shockwave, Soundwave then moved to serving Ratbat, and co-led the defense of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
against the Underbase-empowered Starscream alongside 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...
, only to wind up deactivated by the villain.
Unlike many of the others deactivated by Starscream, Soundwave would appear again, under 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:...
's command. Throughout the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic, Soundwave was colored purple instead of blue and frequently appeared with a mouth.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic in the UK, a sister title to the American series was also in production. It reprinted the American stories, but it was released weekly, as opposed to monthly. It soon began to run out of material to reprint, opting to create its own original stories which deftly weaved in and out of the ongoing American storyline. Under writer Simon Furman
Simon Furman
Simon Christopher Francis Furman is a comic book writer, particularly associated with of a number of notable Transformers comics for Marvel UK, Marvel US, Dreamwave, and most recently, IDW...
, Soundwave—coloured blue—was a fairly major player, portrayed in a manner much more consistent with his profile—that of a manipulator and blackmailer, reading others' minds and using their secrets to his own ends, always working towards his own goals.
When Megatron and Shockwave were both briefly believed deceased, he assumed leadership of the Decepticons during Optimus Prime
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...
's Crisis of Command and then the Dinobot Hunt; manipulating events to weaken the Autobot leadership and cause maximum casualties. When the two commanders returned and vied for the single leadership, he turned the situation to his own advantage by working both sides of the field, reporting to both commanders without either knowing. He also enjoyed a rare victory in this period when he, Dirge
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 Kickback took over a NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
complex, attempting to contact Cybertron with the facility's deep space radio equipment. The Autobots arrived, but a series of miscommunications between Prowl
Prowl (Transformers)
Prowl is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers series. "Prowl" is one of the most re-used American names in the assorted Transformers series, and its use has become almost synonymous with Autobots who possess a police car alternate mode...
and 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:...
resulted in the transmission being sent, allowing the Decepticons to claim victory.
Towards the end of the UK series, a break-away storyline began which separated from the regular ongoing American continuity, covering the exploits of the proactive Autobot Earthforce. In these stories, Soundwave's selling of Decepticon secrets to both the Autobots and Shockwave's group of Decepticons resulted in Wildrider getting blamed for his actions, and Soundwave silently allowed him to be killed rather than be discovered. After Starscream was successfully able to remove Megatron and Shockwave from power, he and Soundwave entered into joint leadership of the Decepticons.
Issue #279 of the Marvel UK Transformers comic featured a story called "Divide and Conquor!" where Soundwave lead the bulk of the Decepticon forces on Earth against the Autobot Earthforce headquarters while Starscream attacked an oil tanker. Sent into battle by Prowl, the Dinobots routed the main Decepticon forces while Springer lead the Autobot Survivors, Broadside, Inferno, Skids, and Carnivac to defeat Starscream.
Soundwave also attained the leadership position in the future world of 2008, following the death of Shockwave (who had seized power when Galvatron travelled back in time). Soundwave led his era's Decepticons back to 1989 to participate in the Time Wars when the fabric of reality began to crumble, but before as the conflict came to a head they fled back to their own time. Since it was later established that the damage done to the time stream may have resulted in their future being erased from the timeline, the final fate of the future Soundwave is unknown.
Soundwave returned to the pages of the US Transformers comic books for the relaunch of the series as Transformers: Generation 2
Transformers: Generation 2
Transformers: Generation 2 is the name used to refer to a Transformers toy line, television series and comic book series which ran from 1993-1995...
. He participated in the Decepticon attack on Earth, and oversaw the reconstruction of the damaged Darkwing
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...
into a new, more powerful form.
Like many of the other Generation 1 Decepticons, Soundwave seemed to return to a command position on Megatron's return to lead the Decepticons (killing Bludgeon
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:...
in the process).
Soundwave made an appearance in the Decepticon forces under the command of Megatron in issue #7 of the Marvel Generation 2 comic series, in a story called "New Dawn." Megatron lead his Decepticons against Jhiaxus
Jhiaxus
Jhiaxus is a fictional character in the Transformers universes. He is an evil Decepticon jet.-Transformers: Generation 2:Unlike most of the notable characters in the Transformers comics, Jhiaxus is not based on a toy...
' second generation Cybertronians near the moon of Tykos. The Decepticons were defeated and Megatron left injured, presumed dead, but swearing revenge.
He was aboard the Warworld when Jhiaxus
Jhiaxus
Jhiaxus is a fictional character in the Transformers universes. He is an evil Decepticon jet.-Transformers: Generation 2:Unlike most of the notable characters in the Transformers comics, Jhiaxus is not based on a toy...
' forces attacked, but managed to evacuate. His fate beyond this point is unknown.
Soundwave would also play a brief but important role in the text-only novel, Alignment, writer Simon Furman
Simon Furman
Simon Christopher Francis Furman is a comic book writer, particularly associated with of a number of notable Transformers comics for Marvel UK, Marvel US, Dreamwave, and most recently, IDW...
's take on what happened after the Transformers: Generation 2
Transformers: Generation 2
Transformers: Generation 2 is the name used to refer to a Transformers toy line, television series and comic book series which ran from 1993-1995...
comic series ended. He was the one who recovered Megatron's broken body after his duel with 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...
. Subsequently he was the ringleader of the conspirators (along with Ravage, 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 Direwolf) who gave some of their spark energy
Spark (Transformers)
Spark can refer to several objects in the fictional Transformers universe. A spark is usually the "soul" of a Transformer. It is also the name of several Transformers characters. An AllSpark is a term for two different objects within the Transformers media franchise. In the Beast Machines...
to resurrect Megatron in a more powerful body, allowing him to defeat the forces of the Liege Maximo. After Megatron's execution of the entire Decepticon High Council, save Shrapnel, Soundwave once again acted as Megatron's second in command and coordinated the strike against the Maximo with Ultra Magnus. His fate beyond this is unknown, save for a brief cameo in Beast Machines
Beast Machines
Beast Machines is an animated television series produced by Mainframe Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. Hasbro has the full distribution rights to the show as of 2011. It was a direct sequel to Beast Wars taking place within the continuity of the original Transformers series...
.
Animated series
The Transformers (TV series)
The Transformers is an animated television series depicting a war among giant robots who could transform into vehicles, other objects and animal-like forms. Written and recorded in America, the series was animated in Japan and South Korea...
cartoon—his most prominent role in Transformers fiction—Soundwave was Megatron's right-hand robot, frequently sent on important reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
missions with his cassettes, and often playing a key role in many schemes against the Autobot
Autobot
Autobot, a faction of sentient robots from the planet Cybertron, are usually the main protagonists in the fictional universe of the Transformers, a collection of various toys, graphic novels, paperback books, cartoons and movies first introduced in 1984. In all but one Transformer story, the...
s. On 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...
, he used his ability to transform into a roadside fixture to spy on the Autobot city of Iacon, learning of the Autobots' plan to search for energy on other worlds. Joining in Megatron's attack on the Autobots' craft (known as the Ark
Ark (Transformers)
The Ark is an Autobot spacecraft in the Transformers Universe. It has appeared as a central fixture of the Transformers storyline ever since its creation, as the Autobots main method of transport to Earth and as a base once they arrive....
in the Marvel comics series at the time), Soundwave fell to the same fate as the rest of the ship's occupants when the craft crashed on prehistoric Earth, entombing everyone within in stasis. Immediately after the Transformers awakened on Earth in 1984, Soundwave played an essential role in the generation of energon cubes and the formation of plans for a new space cruiser to return the Decepticons to Cybertron.
Later, he used his mind-reading talents to acquire an antimatter
Antimatter
In particle physics, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the antiparticle to matter, where antimatter is composed of antiparticles in the same way that normal matter is composed of particles...
formula for the Decepticons from the brain of Chip Chase. He and his cassette minions were often on spying missions against the Autobots.
One of Soundwave's most notable misadventures came in 1985, when, operating a plan conceived by Starscream
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...
, he brainwashed humans with ultrasonic
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is cyclic sound pressure with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is thus not separated from "normal" sound based on differences in physical properties, only the fact that humans cannot hear it. Although this limit varies from person to person, it is...
vibrations, leading to a confrontation with his Autobot Communications Officer counterpart, Blaster
Blaster (Transformers)
Blaster is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers television and comic series based on the popular toy line produced by Takara Tomy and Hasbro. Due to trademark reasons, he is sometimes called Autobot Blaster...
, and to a lasting rivalry between the two.
Soundwave rarely displayed much emotion, infrequently exhibiting any traits that could be considered to be in line with his tech spec. However, he showed distress when one of his cassettes were hurt in battle, and he always came across as extremely loyal to Megatron, even going so far as to recover his body after being left for dead at the Battle of Autobot City in 2005. But while Soundwave was loyal, he was far from outspoken, and kept silent when Megatron's body was subsequently ejected into space, and although he did suggest himself as a replacement leader ("Soundwave: superior. Constructicons: inferior."), Soundwave again loyally served Megatron when he was recreated as Galvatron
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...
.
In the year 2006, although operating in a less prominent capacity for most of the time, Soundwave played a prominent role in Galvatron's attempt to learn the secret of a sonic weapon on the planet Eurythma, where sound and music were the way of life, leaving Soundwave entranced by the planet's perfect melodies. Recording each piece of the harmony that formed the devastating sonic effect, Soundwave was defeated when the Eurythmans countered the harmony with white noise, and was again pulled into a confrontation with Blaster, who erased his recordings.
Soundwave was performed by Frank Welker
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:...
, whose voice was heavily modulated by a vocoder
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
to achieve Soundwave's distinctive, metallic monotone
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
. However, Welker's voice was left unmodulated at certain points during the episodes "Roll for It" and "Webworld" due to production errors.
Although Soundwave only appeared as a background character in the American cartoon series finale, the three-part The Rebirth, he returned to the forefront in the new Japanese-exclusive series, Transformers: The Headmasters
Transformers: The Headmasters
is a Japanese anime television series.-Development:Inititally, Takara, the Japanese producers of the Transformers toyline, imported the American Transformers cartoon series from 1985 to 1986...
, which was created to replace The Rebirth. Reborn as Soundblaster (New Soundwave in the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
version and Vizar in Italy) Soundwave's new toy incarnation was, like the series, available only in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
In the year 2011, Soundwave and Blaster's rivalry had increased dramatically. In the opening cut and thrust of Headmasters, Soundwave and Blaster engaged in their final clash in the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
as the Autobots and Decepticons were in the process of searching for the missing Autobot Matrix of Leadership. The two opponents inflicted fatal damage to each other, and Soundwave's body exploded even as Blaster collapsed. Soundwave's fragments were recovered by his cassettes. Using reconstructive technology from the planet Master, the leader of the Decepticon Headmasters, Zarak
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:...
successfully rebuilt and resurrected Soundwave as Soundblaster—essentially identical to his former self, except for his predominantly black color scheme. As Soundblaster, he served the same role as he had as Soundwave under the leadership of Galvatron and later Scorponok, frequently embarking on spying missions with Ratbat.
He also had a father-son relationship with the cassettes, as it was hinted on his resurrection as 'Soundblaster'.
A flashback in episode 5 of Beast Machines
Beast Machines
Beast Machines is an animated television series produced by Mainframe Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. Hasbro has the full distribution rights to the show as of 2011. It was a direct sequel to Beast Wars taking place within the continuity of the original Transformers series...
, "Forbidden Fruit", showed Generation 1 Soundwave (or a close likeness of him) being gunned down while helping the Maximal Nightscream
Nightscream
Nightscream is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes.-Beast Machines:Nightscream is a young Maximal and a member of the cast of Beast Machines. He turns into a bat....
escape the Vehicon
Vehicon
Vehicons are a faction in the fictional Transformers, appearing in the animated cartoon series Beast Machines. However, most Vehicons are non-sentient drones, controlled entirely by the will of Megatron or their respective general.-History:...
tank drones
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...
.
Books
Soundwave appeared in the following books:- The 1984 sticker and story book Return to Cybertron written by Suzanne WeynSuzanne WeynSuzanne Weyn is an American author. She primarily writes children's and young adult science fiction and fantasy novels. she has written over fifty novels and short stories, and is best known for The Bar Code Tattoo and The Bar Code Rebellion books...
and published by Marvel BooksMarvel BooksMarvel Books refers to prose books licensed by Marvel Entertainment or its division in the 1980s that published coloring books and sticker books...
. Oddly he was mistakenly depicted as an Autobot. - The 1985 Find Your Fate Junior book called Dinobots Strike Back by Casey Todd.
- The 1985 Find Your Fate Junior book called Battle Drive by Barbara Siegel and Scott Siegel.
- The 1985 Transformers audio books Autobots' Lightning Strike, Megatron's Fight For Power, Autobots Fight Back, Laserbeak's Fury and Satellite of Doom, as well as Galvatron's Air Attack from the 1986 series.
- The 1985 audio story Sun Raid.
- The 1986 story and coloring book The Lost Treasure of Cybertron by Marvel Books.
3H Enterprises
He also appeared in the Furman written Reaching the Omega Point, as one of the Transformers legends (alongside 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...
, Megatron and 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...
) who came to the aid of the forces of Optimus Primal
Optimus Primal
Optimus Primal is a fictional character from the Transformers toyline, and the leader of the Maximal forces and the main protagonist in the Beast Wars television series. He is sometimes called Optimal Optimus...
against the Predacon
Predacon (Transformers)
The Predacons usually refer to the name of several fictional Decepticon-like teams led by Megatron, however Transformers: Armada, Predacon is the name of a single character.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
/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...
hybrid Shokaract, distracting him long enough for 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 deal the fatal blow.
Dreamwave Productions
In DreamwaveDreamwave 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...
's 21st century re-imagining of the Generation 1 continuity, Soundwave was recruited to the Decepticons 9 million years ago through Megatron's underground gladiatorial games, and made head of communications. When a new Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, was chosen, Soundwave was sent along with the Insecticons
Insecticons
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 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...
, to attempt to kill him and recover the Matrix for Megatron, but they failed, forcing Megatron to confront Optimus personally.
Even in the face of failures such as this, and later the loss of Megatron in an early space bridge experiment, Soundwave's loyalty to the Decepticon cause never wavered, as he remained true to the faction under Shockwave's leadership.
As in most other continuities, the story continues in the traditional manner, with Soundwave a member of the Nemesis crew who attacked the Ark
Ark (Transformers)
The Ark is an Autobot spacecraft in the Transformers Universe. It has appeared as a central fixture of the Transformers storyline ever since its creation, as the Autobots main method of transport to Earth and as a base once they arrive....
and was sent into stasis when the craft crashed on Earth, awakening again in 1984. After years of fighting on Earth, eventually the combined forces of the Autobots and their human allies were able to defeat and capture the Decepticons. The intent was for the Autobots to take their enemies back to Cybertron aboard a new craft named the Ark II, but just as the ship cleared the atmosphere, it exploded, the victim of machinations by Shockwave, who did not want Prime and Megatron to return to Cybertron yet.
Soundwave's body crashed back to Earth in the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
, where he lay inactive for several years, until rogue military scientist Adam Rook, calling himself "Lazarus," recovered and reactivated him, putting him under his control with a program he had developed while studying the Transformers before their explosive departure. Several other Autobots and Decepticons fell to the same fate, and were to be sold on the black market—Soundwave himself was put on display by being sent to attack the Smitco Oil Refinery alongside several other Transformers—but when Megatron liberated himself, Soundwave was soon freed by his leader and assumed his position at his side.
When Shockwave arranged for the capture and extradition of Prime and Megatron's forces as war criminal
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
s, Soundwave was among the captives, but when Starscream jettisoned Megatron into space on the return trip to Cybertron, Soundwave made the best of a bad lot and teamed with Starscream to return to Earth and conquer it, being reunited with Ratbat
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,...
in the process. Heading back to Earth in a kidnapped Sky Lynx
Sky Lynx
Sky Lynx is the name of several different characters in the fictional Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:Sky Lynx consists of two separate components: a space shuttle that can transform into a bird-like creature , and a ground transport vehicle,...
and with the Combaticons
Combaticons
The Combaticons are a group of Decepticon military vehicles in the assorted fictional universes of the Transformers.- Transformers: Generation 1 :...
now added to their ranks, the Decepticons attacked the Ark in hopes of acquiring parts to make the Nemesis spaceworthy again, however Soundwave, 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 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:...
were defeated and thrown in the Arks brig. When the Combaticons, combined as Bruticus, laid into the vessel, they were freed.
It was not much later that the surviving Megatron made contact with Soundwave from space, and Soundwave was all too willing to return to his service, setting up Starscream to fall before Megatron when he returned. And return, Megatron did—but the bankruptcy and subsequent closure of Dreamwave left the rest of the story untold.
Transformers/G.I. Joe
Soundwave also appeared in the Dreamwave Transformers/G.I. Joe series as one of the Decepticons uncovered by Cobra at the start of the Second World WarWorld 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...
. Transforming into a radio, he was deactivated at the series' close by 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...
. Although Dreamwave's collapse precluded the completion of the second series, released art and information revealed that Soundwave would have been involved in the conclusion of that series.
Devil's Due Publishing
In Devil's Due's run of G.I. Joe vs. The Transformers comic book miniseries, Soundwave was among the Transformers captured by the ruthless terrorist Cobra OrganizationCobra Organization
Cobra Command, commonly referred to as Cobra, is the fictional nemesis of the G.I. Joe team in the Hasbro action figure toylines G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6, as well as their related media....
, when they discovered the Ark. Refitted by Destro
Destro
Laird James McCullen Destro XXIV, usually referred to simply as Destro, is a fictional villain from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line of military-themed toys from Hasbro. He is portrayed by Christopher Eccleston in the 2009 live-action film, G.I...
, Soundwave was intended to become a battlefield communications station, but when he and the other Decepticons eventually broke free of their control he was damaged in a battle with the Autobots and his parts were captured by the US Government for study. From his data banks, the android SerpentO.R.
Serpentor
Serpentor is a fictional character from G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, a line of military-themed toys created by Hasbro. The character was introduced in 1986 as a toy with an air chariot and included in the animated series that same year.-Toys:...
downloaded information on the history of Cybertron, using it to further the Decepticon goal of conquest. It is indicated that his pre-Earth form was similar to his Dreamwave War Within form.
Fun Publications
Based on the Transformers Classics toy line, the Timelines 2007 story is set 15 years after the end of the Marvel Comics story (ignoring all events of the Marvel UK and Generation 2 comics). Megatron survived the crash of the ArkArk (Transformers)
The Ark is an Autobot spacecraft in the Transformers Universe. It has appeared as a central fixture of the Transformers storyline ever since its creation, as the Autobots main method of transport to Earth and as a base once they arrive....
on Earth, reformatted himself into a new form and now leads 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:...
, Laserbeak, Ramjet, Ravage, 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:...
, Soundwave, 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...
and 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...
. 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...
has also returned to Earth commanding 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 :...
, Cliffjumper
Cliffjumper
Cliffjumper is the name of several characters from the Transformers line of toys. His name is usually associated with an Autobot whose toys are often red repaints of Bumblebee toys.- Transformers: Generation 1 :...
, 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...
, 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:...
, 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 Rodimus
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...
(formerly Hot Rod). When the Cybertronians Skyfall
Skyfall (Transformers)
Skyfall is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. In some cases the name Skyfall is used as a substitute for Skyjack.-Transformers Generation 1:...
and Landquake
Landquake
Landquake is the name to two different fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Energon:In the animated series, Landmine was evolved by Primus into a new form. In Japan, this was an upgrade which was reflected in the show, where he was called Landmine Supermode. ...
arrive on Earth unexpectedly Megatron attempts to destroy them, but Optimus Prime and his Autobots are able to drive Megatron away.
Fun Publications
Soundwave 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
Soundwave's first chronological appearance in the rebooted 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...
Generation One universe was in the prequel miniseries, The Transformers: Megatron Origin
The Transformers: Megatron Origin
The Transformers: Megatron Origin is a comic book limited series by IDW Publishing exploring the origin of Megatron in its rebooted G1 universe...
. In the story, Soundwave works for Senator 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,...
, who takes an interest in the rising gladiator, Megatron. Ratbat sends Soundwave to offer weaponry to Megatron and his followers. Soundwave also assists Megatron with the interrogation of Autobot soldier, Bumper. Soundwave is later jailed along with Megatron and other when Sentinel Prime
Sentinel Prime
Sentinel Prime is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers series. First mention of Sentinel Prime was in issue #65 of the US Marvel Comics Transformers series, where he was mentioned to hold the Autobot Matrix of Leadership before Optimus Prime. Sentinel Prime has since...
's forces capture them, but is released by Ratbat. When Megatron's plan is sprung, Soundwave helps Starscream massacre the Autobot Senate. He later confronts Ratbat and forcibly extracts his Spark for implantaion in one of his Cassette bodies. Soundwave's alternate mode appears to be a communication vehicle with tank treads.
Sometime later, Soundwave was part of the conference of scientists called by Thunderwing
Thunderwing
Thunderwing is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers series. Introduced in 1989, he was a major villain in the Marvel Comics Transformers series. Although Thunderwing was created after the US Transformers television series ended, the character of Black Shadow did appear in...
in 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...
, where he refuses to accept Thunderwing's findings that Cybertron was dying. In around the same time period he had Beachcomber captured and implanted with a cerebro-shell, having the unwilling traitor eject his opposite number Blaster
Blaster (Transformers)
Blaster is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers television and comic series based on the popular toy line produced by Takara Tomy and Hasbro. Due to trademark reasons, he is sometimes called Autobot Blaster...
into space (in Spotlight Blaster) in order to demoralize the Autobots prior to a Decepticon offensive.
Soundwave's story was later continued in his own Spotlight one-shot, where he was a self-serving and duplicitous Decepticon internal affairs
Internal affairs (law enforcement)
The internal affairs division of a law enforcement agency investigates incidents and plausible suspicions of lawbreaking and professional misconduct attributed to officers on the force...
agent. Soundwave was dispatched by Megatron to keep an eye on Bludgeon's
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:...
investigation of Shockwave
Shockwave (Transformers)
Shockwave is the name of several fictional characters 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...
's lab. However, he kept quiet about Bludgeon's obsession with the Regenesis project, thinking he could turn it to his advantage. Following him to Earth in 1984, Soundwave monitored Bludgeon's attempts to harvest Ultra Energon and confronted him after he'd acquired it. Horrified to discover they were not planning to use it in a power-play but instead to reanimate Thunderwing
Thunderwing
Thunderwing is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers series. Introduced in 1989, he was a major villain in the Marvel Comics Transformers series. Although Thunderwing was created after the US Transformers television series ended, the character of Black Shadow did appear in...
(who previously devastated Cybertron), Soundwave attempted to stop them but was trapped in stasis-lock in cassette player mode. It was revealed in the epilogue that two young humans considered buying him at a pawn shop in 2007.
In The Transformers: Escalation
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....
#1, Optimus stated there was evidence that Soundwave had been present in Earth's history. Despite this, he did not reappear until issue #4 of The Transformers: Devastation
The Transformers: Devastation
The Transformers: Devastation is a six-issue comic book miniseries, published by IDW Publishing, based on the Transformers and following on from The Transformers: Escalation. Issue 1 of Devastation was released on October 3, 2007, with issue 2 following on the 24th of October and was published...
, where, still trapped in cassette player mode, he interfered with Skywatch's control of Laserbeak and Ravage.
Hearts of Steel
Soundwave also appeared as one of the Decepticon forces, serving under StarscreamStarscream (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...
in the out-of-continuity The Transformers: Evolutions
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...
tale "Hearts of Steel". He appeared as one of Starscream's lieutenants. He was presumably destroyed when 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,...
and 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 :...
diverted the Decepticon train convoy into a chasm
Rift
In geology, a rift or chasm is a place where the Earth's crust and lithosphere are being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics....
.
Video games
Soundwave appears in the 2010 video game Transformers: The War For Cybertron. He is a playable character in the last three chapters of the Decepticon campaign. He assists Megatron and Breakdown into infiltrating Iacon, defeating Zeta Prime, and hunting down Omega Supreme. He is also a boss in the Autobot campaign, using his tape cassettes Frenzy, Rumble and Laserbeak to attack. The Autobots manage to defeat him, but not before he delivers a fatal blast to Zeta Prime and then manages to escape.Other appearances
A parody of the Generation 1 Transformers was aired in the December 23rd 2008 episode of Frank TVFrank TV
Frank TV was a sketch comedy show starring Frank Caliendo, Mike MacRae, and Freddy Lockhart. Frank was the host of the show and performed in sketches in full makeup as characters he impersonated. Frank joked he "wanted the show to be called The Chappelle Show, but the lawyers wouldn't allow it"...
, called "Frank the Halls." In the story Optimus Prime and his Autobots (Bumblebee, Jazz and Wheeljack) battle Megatron and his Decepticons (Soundwave and Starscream) when Optimus runs out of gas. Optimus becomes enraged at the price of gas, steals the fuel from the annoying hybrid Autobot Prius Maximus, then joins the Decepticons in destroying the city.
Soundwave appears in the 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...
episode "Toy Meets Girl" voiced by Seth Green
Seth Green
Seth Benjamin Green is an American actor, comedian, voice actor, and television producer. He is well known for his role as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Dr. Evil's son Scott in the Austin Powers series of comedy films, Mitch Miller in That '70s Show, and the voice of Chris...
. He is portrayed as having retired from the Decepticon Army and obtained honest employment as a transformable portable toilet
Portable toilet
Portable toilet are simple portable enclosures containing a chemical toilet which are typically used as a temporary toilet for construction sites and large gatherings and events. Most of the portable toilets have black open-front-U-shaped toilet seat with cover...
. 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:...
reprises his role of Soundwave (as well as Megatron but not Rumble) when he appears again in another Robot Chicken episode "Werewolf vs. Unicorn" where in the current years it's revealed that because the audio cassette tape and cassette players have long become obsolete and therefore no longer widely used, that his spy tactics now do not work (the people who discovered him in the skit were laughing at his mixtape
Mixtape
A Mix Tape or Mixed Tape is a compilation of songs recorded in a specific order, traditionally onto an audio Compact Cassette.A Mix Tape, which usually reflects the musical tastes of its compiler, can range from a casually selected list of favorite songs, to a conceptual mix of songs linked by a...
which was 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:...
being killed by them puling his tape out). He is later found by Megatron and Shockwave
Shockwave (Transformers)
Shockwave is the name of several fictional characters 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...
to be on sale on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
with options to place a bid for 500 dollars or "Buy it now" for 1000 dollars, whereupon Shockwave exclaims "Request permission to buy it now!" The Commemorative Soundwave figure was used in "Werewolf vs. Unicorn."
Soundwave made a cameo appearance in the Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
episode "The Courtship of Stewie's Father
The Courtship of Stewie's Father
"The Courtship of Stewie's Father" is the sixteenth episode of season four of Family Guy, which originally aired on November 20, 2005. The title of the episode parodies the title of the classic TV series The Courtship of Eddie's Father. The episode sees Peter attempt to bond with his youngest son,...
" as Peter's
Peter Griffin
Peter Griffin is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the patriarch of the Griffin family. He is voiced by cartoonist Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998....
new supervisor. In it, Soundwave releases a framed photograph from his cassette deck cavity, of himself and a human woman named Denise, who Soundwave proclaims is his wife, whom he met in a Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
chat room
Chat room
The term chat room, or chatroom, is primarily used by mass media to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing...
.
Soundwave appears in the Sealab 2021
Sealab 2021
Sealab 2021 is an American animated television series. It was shown on Cartoon Network's adult-oriented programming block, Adult Swim. It premiered on November 23, 2000 and the final episode aired on April 25, 2005...
episode "Hail, Squishface" as a toy on an Asian girl's cart, who sells Capt. Murphy Gloop, from the show The Herculoids
The Herculoids
The Herculoids is a Saturday morning animated television series that was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The show debuted on September 9, 1967 on CBS...
.
A music video featuring Soundwave and a robot similar to Rumble and Frenzy named Lazer (though purely white in colour) breakdancing has surfaced throughout the Internet since 2000. The video contains audio clips from both the animated series and The Transformers: The Movie alongside music.
In 2007, shortly before the release of the live-action Transformers film, Soundwave appeared in the viral comedy short "Soundwave: The Touch."
Also in the 2009 film, Revenge Of The Fallen (ROTF), he appears to be a satellite which can hack in to the us satellite,to retrieve information and also can tell the "Decepticons" where to move to next, which route to take and when to attack /"Move In" as shown in the film. But, he can also turn into a Jet character in the earlier films such as "Transformers: Generation 1".
Toys
- Generation 1 Soundwave (1984)
- The original Soundwave toy (and his cassettes) began life as part of TakaraTakaraTakara Co., Ltd. was a Japanese toy company founded in 1955, that merged with another prominent Japanese toy company, Tomy Co., Ltd., on March 1, 2006 to form Takara Tomy, also known in English as TOMY Company Ltd....
's Micro ChangeMicro ChangeTakara Toys' 1982 Micro Change series of toys were part of the 1980 New Microman toy line and were small household objects that could transform into vehicles or artificially intelligent robot characters that fought alongside their 10-centimeter tall alien cyborg Microman creators against the evil...
line, designed by Satoshi Koizumi, featuring household objects that transformed into accurately-scaled robots. Incorporated into the Transformers toy line by Hasbro, the figure was packaged with Buzzsaw in the US, and with Rumble in Japan (also including a set of non-functional headphones). The tapes could fit into Soundwave's opening chest door (released by a push of his shoulder-mounted "eject" button), while the interaction level was maintained by his two guns, which turned into AA-sized batteries that could store in a compartment in his back. Cassette tapes that could interact with Soundwave were released regularly until 1988. The Soundwave toy was reissued in Japan in 2004, and in the U.S. in 2006 using the Soundblaster mold.- Generation 1 Soundblaster (1987)
- A re-mold of the Soundwave toy exclusive to Japan, Soundblaster is cast in black plastic where Soundwave was blue, with a retooled chest door, now made of translucent red plastic and able to hold two cassettes at once. Soundblaster came with a variant edition of Buzzsaw, who had a special sticker on his body that, when viewed through Soundblaster's door, would reveal the weak spots of Fortress MaximusFortress MaximusFortress 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...
. Soundblaster was reissued in Japan in 2005.- Generation 1 Action Master Soundwave (1990)
- The non-transforming Action Master incarnation of Soundwave came packaged with a transforming partner named Wingthing, who could become a gun for Soundwave to wield.
- Generation 2 Go-Bot Soundwave (1995)
- The Marvel Comics Generation 2 series concluded before it could feature the Generation 2 toy line's new, distinctly different version of Soundwave from 1995 - a fluorescent yellow, blue and pink Ford ThunderbirdFord ThunderbirdThe Thunderbird , is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States over eleven model generations from 1955 through 2005...
stock car Go-Bot, a re-deco of an earlier figure named Gearhead. The figure was later recolored into W.A.R.S. for Transformers: Robots in DisguiseTransformers: Robots in DisguiseTransformers: Robots in Disguise, known in Japan as , is a Japanese anime television series and serves as a self-contained universe separate from any of the other existing Transformers universes...
.- Generation 2
- Plans existed to repaint the Laser Cycle, Road Pig, into a version of Soundwave featuring his classic color scheme, but the figure was never released.
- Machine Wars Soundwave (1997)
- 1997's Machine WarsMachine WarsMachine Wars was a short-lived toy series in the Transformers toyline, introduced in 1997. The series was initially exclusive to KB Toys and its subsidiaries, although overstock/unsold surplus eventually appeared at other retailers....
toy line, released exclusively in KB Toy stores, featured Soundwave as a repaint of the 1992 European and Canadian exclusive figure, Stalker. The toy transforms into a missile tank and, colored in shades of black, gray and maroon, resembled Soundwave only through a similar head sculpt, and a shoulder-mounted weapon, in this case, an electron rocket. His tech spec, however, was clearly based on that of the original Soundwave toy's, with an additional mention of a new nickname for this version of the character: "The Terror Tank."- Transtech Soundwave (unreleased)
- With the conclusion of the Beast MachinesBeast MachinesBeast Machines is an animated television series produced by Mainframe Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. Hasbro has the full distribution rights to the show as of 2011. It was a direct sequel to Beast Wars taking place within the continuity of the original Transformers series...
toy line, the initial plan for a follow-up was through the futuristic TranstechTranstechTranstech 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...
series. Although the idea was scrapped in favor of 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...
, TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
-based design studio Draxhall Jump produced several designs for characters, including Soundwave.- Smallest Transformers Soundwave with Jaguar (2003)
- Part of the first wave of the Japan-only Smallest Transformers toy line. Despite the small size (roughly 2 inches in robot height), the toy is virtually faithful to the original G1 toy in design and transformation. Soundwave also comes with a micro cassette that transforms into Ravage.
- In 2006, this toy was to be released with a redeco of Energon Megatron as a 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...
exclusive in the U.S., but plans to release the toy were canceled.- Universe
- A redeco of Soundwave's Machine Wars figure, this toy was rendered in shades of blue and yellow, and packaged with fellow Decepticon Space Case.
- Classics Commemorative Soundwave (2007)
- A Toys "R" Us exclusive is said to be near identical to the original toy. This however has one difference from that of the 1984 figure, being that the chest compartment (tape deck door) has been re-molded to hold two cassette Transformers as opposed to one. This version of Soundwave is actually a 'reverse repaint' of the Japanese-exclusive Soundblaster, himself a retooling of the original Soundwave. Commemorative Soundwave includes both Ravage and Laserbeak, two cassettes seen prominently in the original series.
- Titanium 6 inch Soundwave with Laserbeak (2007)
- Two versions of Generation 1 Soundwave were released in the Transformers: TitaniumTransformers: TitaniumTransformers: Titanium is a sub-line of toys debuted in 2006 from Hasbro as an expansion of their existing Star Wars: Titanium line of die cast action figures....
toy line. One was a 3-inch non-transforming version in robot mode. The other is a transformable 6-inch version that transforms into a cassette deck. Both Soundwave's feature die cast metal and plastic parts, and the 6-inch version also includes a transformable Laserbeak. It is also rumored that the larger version would be repainted and released as Soundblaster along with Ravage.- Attacktix Soundwave (2007)
- Series 2 of the Transformers Attacktix figures included a Generation 1 Soundwave figure.
- Music Label Soundwave (2007)
- An MP3 player designed to look like the Generation 1 Soundwave figure. MiniSDSecure DigitalSecure Digital is a non-volatile memory card format developed by the SD Card Association for use in portable devices. The SD technology is used by more than 400 brands across dozens of product categories and more than 8,000 models, and is considered the de-facto industry standard.Secure Digital...
cards fit inside his chest compartment, and comes with the shoulder gun, blaster, and alternate hands for holding the gun, making fists, and his "eject" finger. Uses 1 AAA battery. Despite the claim on the box, it can use at least up to a 2 GB memory card and play songs over 128kbit/s. In robot mode, he is the same size as Titanium Soundwave, though in "Cassette" mode he is longer and slightly taller. There are also headphones that are sold separately designed to look like Soundwave's minions RumbleRumble (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:...
and FrenzyFrenzy (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:...
. - Soundwave is available in three colors: Sonic White, Spark Blue (which closely resembles his original G1 incarnation) and Blaster Black (an homage to Soundblaster).
- This figure was voted the 43rd top toy released in the last 10 years by ToyFare Magazine.
- Transformers Encore Reissue Soundwave (2007)
- A Release by Takara Tomy in Japan. Is nearly identical to the original 1984 toy. Unlike the original 1984 release that was packaged with Buzzsaw, the Encore figure was packaged with Laserbeak.
- Mighty Muggs Soundwave (2008)
- A Mighty MuggsMighty MuggsMighty Muggs are a vinyl–plastic collectible toy series made by Hasbro. The toys resemble super deformed versions of characters from the following franchises: Star Wars, Marvel Comics, Indiana Jones, G.I. Joe, and Transformers. There is a line of smaller figures, called Mini Muggs, as well as blank...
doll of Soundwave with gun.- Universe 25th Anniversary Soundwave (2009)
- A San Diego Comic-Con International exclusive reissue of the original G1 Soundwave figure that comes with Buzzsaw, Laserbeak, Ravage and Ratbat.
- Classics Deluxe Soundwave (unreleased)
- Although no new mold was released for Classics Soundwave (they instead reused the Takara Soundblaster mold), a design for a new Soundwave toy that turned into a SUV was considered. This design seems to have inspired Animated Soundwave.
Beast Wars
A character named Soundwave—but with no relation to the original character—was released as part of the Beast Wars Mutants sub-line in 2000. However, although Beast Wars officially exists in the same continuity as a version of the Generation 1 universe and its Soundwave (who made a brief cameo in the Beast Wars episode The Agenda, Part III), this character has no connection to the original Decepticon.As a Mutant, this Soundwave transforms from bat to alligator, with no robot mode. Due to his in-built radar in bat mode, and crushing jaws in alligator mode, he excels at a variety of missions. However, due to his situation, Soundwave is a dark and bitter character. He has an ultra-sensitive internal radar in bat mode, and in alligator mode, his tail can send seismic shockwaves through the ground.
IDW Publishing
This version of Soundwave also appeared in 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...
's Beast Wars: The Gathering
Beast Wars: The Gathering
Beast Wars: The Gathering is a four-issue comic book mini-series, published by IDW Publishing. The series was launched with #1 in February 2006 and ended with #4 in May. It has since been republished as a trade paperback....
miniseries. Activated on Earth by Magmatron
Magmatron
Magmatron is a Transformers character who first appeared in the Japanese Beast Wars Neo series, was later released in the American Beast Machines Dinobots toy line, and most recently in official Beast Wars comic continuity.-Beast Wars Neo:...
and a group of Predacons from the future, Soundwave and the mutants emerged from their stasis pods and took up residence in a swamp that they quickly made their own. When a group newly-activated Predacons
Predacon (Transformers)
The Predacons usually refer to the name of several fictional Decepticon-like teams led by Megatron, however Transformers: Armada, Predacon is the name of a single character.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
led by Transquito ventured through the swamp on a mission they were attacked by the Mutants. Poison Bite attacked Retrax, Soundwave attacked Powerpinch and Icebird attacked Transquito. Deciding the swamp was not worth their lives, 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 Insecticon
Insecticon
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...
fled. However, in "The Ascending" it is revealed that Powerpinch, Transquito and Retrax survived.
IDW's Beast Wars Sourcebook
Beast Wars Sourcebook
Beast Wars Sourcebook is a Transformers comic book. It was created by Simon Furman and Ben Yee and is 48 pages long. It features highlighted technology, worlds and characters. Three artists contributed to the book: Don Figueroa, Nick Roche and Rob Ruffolo....
series identifies the mutant Soundwave as a former warrior who may have been a veteran of the Great War, though the details are ambiguous at best. Sourcebook #4 states that Soundwave became an actor/entertainer after the ratification of the Pax Cybertronia, developing a "dramatic flair in everything from his movements to his speech paterns".
3H Enterprises
In Transformers: Universe - The Wreckers the Mutants traveled to Cybertron and sought the guidance of the Oracle computer, seeking a cure for their condition. What they did not know is that the Oracle was under the influence of the Quintessons. The Mutants were sent to the outer Orion Cluster. Once there they were captured by the Quintessons, found in contempt by the five-faced aliens, and destroyed in an attack by a swarm of 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...
s.
Toys
- Beast Wars Deluxe Mutant Soundwave (2000)
- Although the Beast Wars toy line had concluded in 1998, this sub-line was released during the Beast MachinesBeast MachinesBeast Machines is an animated television series produced by Mainframe Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. Hasbro has the full distribution rights to the show as of 2011. It was a direct sequel to Beast Wars taking place within the continuity of the original Transformers series...
era. Although the figures lack robot modes, they all feature vestigial robotic components—such as Soundwave's robot head, concealed within his bat mouth. A re-deco of the figure known as Leatherneck was intended for release in Transformers: Universe, but did not come to fruition. - This figure was based on drawings 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...
designer Tim BradleyTim Bradley (toy designer)Tim Bradley is a toy designer for Hasbro. He designed a number of toys in the Transformers toy line.Tim is also the author and illustrator of children's books...
.
Transformers: Cybertron
In 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...
, Soundwave is the second Transformer from the mysterious Planet X. He transforms into a Planet X Jet and is partnered with a smaller robot called Laserbeak
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:...
(Killer Condor in Japan). In the English dub of this series, he has a synthesized voice, albeit more human than his G1 counterpart, which is counterbalanced by his tendency to speak like a modern disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
—using terms like "He got served" and "Peace out, bots" and calling the battlefield, "The Floor."
The package bio for Soundwave mentions that Planet X itself may be a total deception, and that it is actually a term the agents use to refer to their service to Unicron
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...
. Although he and Sideways are the survivors of a dead civilization, they actually serve Unicron throughout space and time as his heralds in taking over new worlds to replace his loss of previous forms.
Soundwave is armed with two cannons, and can hide himself behind holograms when working in conjunction with Laserbeak.
Animated series
Soundwave first makes his appearance in the episode Titan, offering to lead Megatron and his minions to the planet Gigantion, however in a scene featuring Sideways and Starscream aboard the Atlantis a purple cassette player with the Decepticon symbol is on board playing music to ease the tension between the two evil robots. It is not clear if this is Soundwave or not, but it is interesting that he appeared in "Titan" just a few episodes later. In his first encounter with the Autobots he fought Optimus Prime and Wing Saber in their Sonic Wing mode and was able to hold his own in combat until Megatron was defeated by Metroplex and the Decepticons retreated.Shortly after they arrived on Gigantion and there Megatron was upgraded into Galvatron, Soundwave abandoned the Decepticons, and joined up with his counterpart, Sideways. During a battle with the Autobot Cybertron Defense Team, he revealed the history of his world, and how they desired the Cyber Planet Keys to get revenge on the inhabitants of Gigantion.
Later, he and Sideways attempted to intervene in the epic battle between Galvatron and Starscream in order to claim the Planet Keys and Omega Lock, only to be sent into another universe by the distortion caused by the two fighters' conflict.
However, Soundwave would appear later, when Starscream reached out to Galvatron across dimensions, seemingly trapped along with him and Sideways. However, Starscream seemed to have returned by the series' end, which meant that the same possibility existed for both Sideways and Soundwave.
Soundwave is the only major transformer in the series who never summons his Cyber Key. In his toy version, his Cyber Key opens his chest compartment to store Laserbeak or one of his two cannons. In his first appearance to the Autobots, Soundwave demonstrates the ability to do this without the aid of a Cyber Key.
G1 Soundwave makes a cameo appearance in the animated series as a blue boombox that Sideways used to hear music.
Fun Publications
The Cybertron incarnation of Soundwave was among the characters to appear in the comic strip published exclusively through the Transformers Collectors Club, arriving on the planet itself to observe Vector PrimeVector Prime (Transformers)
Vector Prime is a fictional character from the Transformers: Cybertron toyline, animated series and comics. In fiction he is an ancient Autobot, one of the first ever created, with powers over time and space, and turns into a spaceship...
, Sentinel Maximus and Omega Prime
Omega Prime
Omega Prime is a fictional character from the Transformers toyline. He is the combined form of Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus.-Transformers: Robots in Disguise:...
after their defeat of Unicron's heralds, Nemesis Prime
Nemesis Prime
Nemesis Prime is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers storyline. He is often depicted as an evil incarnation of Optimus Prime.-Transformers: Armada:...
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 capture of the Dead Matrix. Dispatching Laserbeak to recover the Dead Matrix from its place in storage, Soundwave threw the talisman into the black hole that had been created by the collapse of Unicron, allowing the Chaos Bringer's Spark
Spark (Transformers)
Spark can refer to several objects in the fictional Transformers universe. A spark is usually the "soul" of a Transformer. It is also the name of several Transformers characters. An AllSpark is a term for two different objects within the Transformers media franchise. In the Beast Machines...
to escape and infiltrate the planet Yst, which he corrupted and transformed into his new body. Soundwave would link up with his master, and watch the unfolding carnage of a Mini-Con
Mini-Con
Mini-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...
civil war. However, when Unicron chose that moment to attack, Soundwave was attacked by several Mini-Cons, including Scythe and Perceptor
Perceptor
Perceptor is the name of several different fictional characters in the Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:Perceptor transforms into a microscope ....
. Unable to hit the smaller Mini-Cons, Soundwave fled with Unicron when 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:...
awoke.
Toys
- Cybertron Voyager Soundwave (2005)
- The first actual homage to the original Soundwave in modern times, the Cybertron toy transforms not into a tape deck, but a sleek alien stealth fighter. Beyond this, however, the nods to the original character are many, from his head design, his multi-barreled shoulder cannon to his opening chest door, activated by his Cyber Key. Soundwave comes with a new incarnation of Laserbeak, who transforms into a battery bomb that can store within Soundwave's chest compartment. This toy was recolored into Universe BlasterBlaster (Transformers)Blaster is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers television and comic series based on the popular toy line produced by Takara Tomy and Hasbro. Due to trademark reasons, he is sometimes called Autobot Blaster...
. This toy was based on a F-117 NighthawkF-117 NighthawkThe Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk was a single-seat, twin-engine stealth ground-attack aircraft formerly operated by the United States Air Force . The F-117A's first flight was in 1981, and it achieved initial operating capability status in October 1983...
.- Galaxy Force Voyager Soundblaster
- A black repaint of Soundwave, predictably named Soundblaster, was released exclusively in Japan through Takara's "Toy's Dream Project" series. However this Soundblaster is a separate character from Soundwave.
- Cybertron Legends Soundwave (2006)
- A Micro class Soundwave was released in the third wave of the Legends of Cybertron toy line. It came without Laserbeak. In 2007 a Target store exclusive value pack of four Voyager class Cybertron toy was released. It included Jetfire, Megatron, Optimus Prime and Soundwave. All identical to their original releases.
Transformers
Almost from the moment the live actionLive action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
Transformers movie was announced in 2004, producer Don Murphy
Don Murphy
Don Murphy is an American film producer who produced Natural Born Killers and many other films, including Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.-Personal background:...
and the production team made it clear they did not want to feature mass/size shifting in transformation (excluding the Allspark), due to concerns over realism. With this process an inherent part of Soundwave's tape deck alternate mode, there was some discussion over whether or not to change it due to its obsolescence, or to include the character in the film at all. It was announced by Hasbro at SDCC 2004 that movie Soundwave would be a helicopter. Early leaked movie scripts proposed that his alternate mode would be a helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
, but animatics shown at the 2005 Comic Con were poorly received. This led to a rethink, with the eventual helicopter character rechristened as Vortex
Vortex (Transformers)
-Transformers: Generation 1:Vortex is the most out-and-out sadistic of the Combaticons, and functions as their interrogator. A favorite tactic of his is to trap Autobots in the huge wind funnels he creates in helicopter mode until they tell him what he wants to know. He combines with fellow...
, then finally Blackout. 2006 script reviews named Soundwave as a spying boombox
Boombox
Boombox is a colloquial expression for a portable cassette or CD player. Other terms known are ghetto blaster, jambox, or radio-cassette. It is a device capable of receiving radio stations and playing recorded music , usually at relatively high volume...
on Air Force One
Air Force One
Air Force One is the official air traffic control call sign of any United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States. In common parlance the term refers to those Air Force aircraft whose primary mission is to transport the president; however, any U.S. Air Force aircraft...
, able to transform into a small robot, but eventually, this character was amended to being Frenzy, with Don Murphy
Don Murphy
Don Murphy is an American film producer who produced Natural Born Killers and many other films, including Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.-Personal background:...
stating that Soundwave will be reserved for a future sequel, until they can "do him right". When the film was released on DVD a special on-line content from Best Buy showed early animation footage of Blackout as a blue helicopter with a head that resembled Soundwave.
In a 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...
online fan poll, Soundwave was one of the 10 Transformers that the fans wanted in the sequel, winning with 20% of the votes.
Soundwave appears in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 American science fiction-action film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to the 2007 film Transformers and the second installment in the live-action Transformers series...
. Soundwave is a satellite in the film, and he is also a Triple changer as he has the form of a Cybertronian jet as well. Soundwave is not seen in his robot form in the film. Frank Welker reprised his voicing role, and used his Doctor Claw voice from Inspector Gadget
Inspector Gadget
Inspector Gadget is an animated television series that revolves around the adventures of a clumsy, simple-witted cyborg detective named Inspector Gadget – a human being with various bionic gadgets built into his body. Gadget's arch-nemesis is Dr...
, which, when run through a vocoder, gives Soundwave his unique voice from the original animated series. The lack of this vocoder in the 2009 film left the voice sounding more like Doctor Claw
Inspector Gadget
Inspector Gadget is an animated television series that revolves around the adventures of a clumsy, simple-witted cyborg detective named Inspector Gadget – a human being with various bionic gadgets built into his body. Gadget's arch-nemesis is Dr...
than the original Soundwave. He has his minion Ravage to his bidding in the film.
Soundwave also appears in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, this time transforming into a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and with Laserbeak to serve him. He has two sonic cannons that resenbles a UZI.
His Hasbro Battle Bio states that he is 22 feet tall and that his main weapon is a sonic cannon which can only be used in the atmosphere, as sound waves will not travel in vacuum.
IDW Publishing
In issue #4 of Transformers: Defiance, it is revealed that the reason for Soundwave to have believed to have been dead is because he was on the Decepticons ship that The FallenFallen (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...
was commanding, and that all of its crew were missing by the time Megatron noticed the emergency signal emitting from the ship while he was chasing the Allspark.
Soundwave first appeared in issue #2 of Transformers: Alliance where he arrived at the crash site of the Nemesis on Mars. There he found Dreadwing
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...
's head, as well as the body of Frenzy, then contacted Starscream and told him to rally to his signal. Starscream was surprised to hear from Soundwave, as he had been believed dead for years. Soundwave deployed a number of his forces on Earth, leaving others on his ship.
In Tales of the Fallen #5 Soundwave, still in orbit after the events of the 2009 film, notices someone has reactivated Ravage.
Soundwave appears in Transformers: Nefarious #1, set months after the events of the 2009 film. Bumblebee, Breakaway, Jolt, Knock Out and Dune Runner are sent to investigate spark fragments detected at Kingdom Petrochemicals. Arriving first Breakaway is warned by Soundwave to leave, but unwilling to give in the Autobot is swiftly defeated. Bumblebee and his team fire on Soundwave, who escapes. In "Nefarious" #2, Soundwave sent Dirt Boss, Reverb
Reverb (Transformers)
Reverb is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Cybertron:Reverb is a member of the Mini-Con Team.-Animated series:...
, and Brakedown
Brakedown
Brakedown is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers: Cybertron series. They should not be confused with Breakdown, a Decepticon from the Generation 1 toy line and fiction, who was a member of the Stunticons....
to Wendover, Utah to find an "Initiative" facility. Soundwave then contacted Ravage in order to discover how he was resurrected. Then, he proceeded to assist Reverb, Dirt Boss, and Brakedown, in a fight with the Autobots. After a battle with Optimus Prime, Soundwave convinces the Autobot leader to join forces temporarily, in order to find "the Initiative".
Movie plots
In Revenge of the Fallen, Soundwave spends his time hovering above Earth in orbit. He receives a message from WheelieWheelie (Transformers)
Wheelie is the name of two different fictional characters in the Transformers series.-Generation 1:The first Wheelie is a young Autobot who turns into a car. He has a distinctive style of speech, in which he rhymes his sentences while speaking in a high pitched voice, making him sound like a child....
about Mikaela Banes possessing a shard of the Allspark and orders him to retrieve it. Docking onto a satellite and hacking it, Soundwave intercepts information on the location of Megatron's corpse and the Allspark shard. He deploy his servant 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...
to retrieve the shard and sent 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...
to rendezevous at Megatron's resting place. After the death of Optimus Prime, Soundwave carried out Megatron's orders to prepare the Decepticons for the invasion of Earth. While coordinating attacks, Soundwave located Sam Witwicky's parents in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France, and called Judy Witwicky via her cell phone. He demanded she tell him where Sam was, but Judy did not take him seriously, believing him to be a pervert caller, and hung up. He later intercepted calls from the Egyptian government on Sam's location, and informed the other Decepticons. Soundwave did not take part in the last battle, although Ravage did and was killed by Bumblebee.
In Dark of the Moon, Soundwave is revealed to have been on Earth since the 1970's. He discovered the Autobot ship, the Ark
Ark (Transformers)
The Ark is an Autobot spacecraft in the Transformers Universe. It has appeared as a central fixture of the Transformers storyline ever since its creation, as the Autobots main method of transport to Earth and as a base once they arrive....
on the Moon, and recruited various human servants from the U.S. and Russian space agencies to prevent further exploration of it following the initial Moon landings, while he ordered several Decepticons to steal some of the pillars onboard and hide under the moon's surface. In the modern day he appears at Megatron's base in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, where he and 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:...
report the Autobot's recovery of Sentinel Prime
Sentinel Prime
Sentinel Prime is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers series. First mention of Sentinel Prime was in issue #65 of the US Marvel Comics Transformers series, where he was mentioned to hold the Autobot Matrix of Leadership before Optimus Prime. Sentinel Prime has since...
and some of the pillars from the crashed Ark. Megatron praises Soundwave's initiative in the decades-long plan and orders him and Laserbeak to kill their human allies. The only human they don't kill, Dylan Gould, has Soundwave disguise himself as Sam's girlfriend's car in order to get close to the Autobots. He reveals himself and captures Carly once the two humans learn of Gould's alliance with the Decepticons, and threatens her in order to convince Sam to discover the Autobot's plans. During the battle in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Soundwave and 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....
lead several Decepticons in capturing some of the Autobots. Gould convinces Soundwave not to take prisoners, and Soundwave orders the others to execute their 'trophies'. Once Que
Wheeljack
Wheeljack is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:Wheeljack is the mechanical engineer and scientist of the Autobots in the Transformers television and comic series based on the popular toy line produced by Takara and Hasbro. His...
is dead, Soundwave prepares to kill Bumblebee himself, but a Decepticon ship hijacked by Wheelie and 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:...
drops fighters near Soundwave, distracting him as the Autobots began fighting back. Bumblebee attacks Soundwave, and kills him by blasting his head off.
Cyber Missions
In Cyber Missions #1, Soundwave successfully infiltrates the NEST command base (in his satellite mode, oddly), which is guarded by Bumblebee. Soundwave transforms and smashes the screen projecting Optimus Prime and engages the Autobot. Bumblebee fires a shot, but Soundwave sends it back to Bumblebee as a sonic boom. Bumblebee then fires several more rounds with Soundwave frantically trying to absorb all the bullets, but is finally blown backwards. In Cyber Missions #2, Bumblebee trapped Soundwave in a vacuum-sealed electromagnetic bubble, rendering his abilities useless.Video games
Like the movie, Soundwave coordinates the mission to the playable Decepticon. His voice is now a similar Vocoder fashion of his G1 counterpart.In the Nintendo DS
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...
game Revenge of the Fallen: Decepticons, Grindor, Sideways, Soundwave and Starscream greet a new Decepticon protoform and send him on a mission. Soundwave directs the new protoform to survive on Earth.
In the downloadable content pack for the Xbox 360 and PS3, Soundwave is confirmed a playable character. He is probably based on the Deluxe toy.
In 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...
, Decepticon drones have similar appearance to Revenge of the Fallen′s Soundwave, while their Soundwave is extremely similar appearance G1 Soundwave.
In Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Stealth Force Edition for the Wii and 3DS Soundwave is a playable character with an SUV alt. mode.
Books
In the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen coloring book Soundwave is depicted hacking into a military satellite.Toys
- Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Soundwave (2009)
- A Triple ChangerTriple ChangerTriple Changers are Transformers that can transform from robot into two different alternative modes.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
that transforms from Cybertronian battleship to satellite and robot. - The toy stands 12.5 centimeters tall in robot mode.
- Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Soundwave G1 redeco (2009)
- A redeco of Soundwave in blue and gray, resembling his G1 colors. Bundled with Voyager The FallenFallen (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...
and Voyager Megatron (2007 version) in the Toys "R" Us exclusive Gathering at the Nemesis gift set.- Revenge of the Fallen RPMs Soundwave (2009)
- A non-transformable diecast car the size of Hot WheelsHot WheelsHot Wheels is a brand of die cast toy car, introduced by American toymaker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1996, when Mattel acquired rights to the Matchbox brand from Tyco.-Models:...
or Matchbox cars. This Scion xBScion xBThe Scion xB is a vehicle made by Toyota for the United States market and sold under their youth-oriented Scion brand. It is a box-shaped, 5-door compact hatchback.-First generation :...
-derived vehicle depicts Soundwave's alternate Earth mode, based on that of his Transformers Animated incarnation. An illustration of his robot mode is molded on the undercarriage.- Revenge of the Fallen
- A new Legends mold of Soundwave, which transforms into a satellite.
- Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Black Soundwave (unreleased)
- A Chara Hobby exclusive in Japan, this figure is a black redeco of Soundwave.
- Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe N.E.S.T Infiltration Soundwave (2010)
- A blue and red redeco of the original Deluxe Soundwave from the film. Will be included in a N.E.S.T. Battle two-pack with a redecorated Bumblebee sporting a N.E.S.T. symbol on the driver and passenger side doors.
- Transformers Speed Stars Soundwave (2010)
- A reissue of the RPMs Soundwave diecast car.
- Transformers Speed Stars Stealth Force Soundwave (2010)
- A non-transforming Scion xB (designed similarly to the Speed Stars diecast car) that mechanically opens its panels and reveals hidden weapons at the slide of the roof.
- Dark of the Moon Burger King Flip Out Soundwave (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 parts that glow in the dark.- Dark of the Moon Cyberverse Legion Bumblebee vs. Soundwave (2011)
- A Walmart exclusive Legion (formerly Legends) set featuring a gold redeco of Bumblebee and a purple redeco of Soundwave - both originally released in the Revenge of the Fallen line. Also included in this set is an orange redeco of Universe Legends RodimusRodimusRodimus 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...
.- Dark of the Moon Deluxe Class Soundwave (not yet released)
- An all-new Deluxe mold of Soundwave, which transforms into a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.
- Dark of the Moon Human Alliance Soundwave with Laserbeak and Mr. Gould (2011)
- A new Human Alliance figure of Soundwave with Laserbeak and a 2-inch Dylan Gould driver figure. Soundwave's license plate reads, "SUPERIOR" - a reference to his catch phrase, "Soundwave superior," from The Transformers: The MovieThe Transformers: The MovieThe 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....
. Laserbeak transforms into a blaster with a mounting point for any human figure. As with the Deluxe figure, this figure is officially licensed from Mercedes-BenzMercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
.- Dark of the Moon Cyberverse Legion Soundwave (not yet released)
- A brand new Legion mold of Soundwave that transforms into a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.
Transformers Animated
Soundwave appears in Transformers Animated as a modular music-based DecepticonDecepticon
The Decepticons are usually depicted as the antagonists in the fictional universes of the Transformers stoyline and related comics and cartoons, and the enemies of the Autobots and the University of California Davis Aggies...
, who specializes in sonic interference. Whilst his robot mode still retains elements of his original tapedeck incarnation, more so in his toy form, his alt-mode is now a loudspeaker
Loudspeaker
A loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer that produces sound in response to an electrical audio signal input. Non-electrical loudspeakers were developed as accessories to telephone systems, but electronic amplification by vacuum tube made loudspeakers more generally useful...
-equipped Scion xB
Scion xB
The Scion xB is a vehicle made by Toyota for the United States market and sold under their youth-oriented Scion brand. It is a box-shaped, 5-door compact hatchback.-First generation :...
. He also possesses two supporters: Laserbeak, who transforms into an electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
he uses for a sonic boom attack, and Ratbat, which becomes a keytar
Keytar
A keytar is a relatively lightweight keyboard that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement compared to conventional keyboards, which are placed on stands...
for use in sonic hypnosis. His voice, now provided by Jeff Bennett in the United States and Nobuo Tobita
Nobuo Tobita
is a Japanese seiyū from Mito. He is represented by Arts Vision.He is most known for the roles of Kamille Bidan , Albert Heinrich/004 , and Sueo Maruo...
in Japan, once again requires a vocoder
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
to create Soundwave's trademark robotic monotone voice.
Animated series
Soundwave was originally a simple robotic toy that SariSari 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...
got for her birthday, built by Megatron as a part of a plan to take advantage of Sari's careless and repeated use of her powerful Allspark key to continuously upgrade the toy until it serves as a suitable body for Megatron to host. However, the excessive usage of the key to give Soundwave niftier, more entertaining functions, wrought a side-effect Megatron had not anticipated; Soundwave was developing almost 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...
ian sophistication at an alarmingly increasing rate due to the unique, almost sentient, energy-signature of the Allspark Key. Within no time, Soundwave's central processor was altered by the Allspark Key's last surge, causing him to become self-aware, refusing to take orders from Sari (or any other human) any more. It was by observing the common labor-robots in the city that he concluded that not only robots are superior to humans in every way, but that it's illogical that robots are forced to succumb to their human masters, and it should be the other way around. By then, Megatron introduced himself to Soundwave through televisions in a nearby electronics store as his creator "of sorts" to impose unto him his plan to crush the Autobot
Autobot
Autobot, a faction of sentient robots from the planet Cybertron, are usually the main protagonists in the fictional universe of the Transformers, a collection of various toys, graphic novels, paperback books, cartoons and movies first introduced in 1984. In all but one Transformer story, the...
s. At first, Soundwave declared this illogical to fight robot-kind until Megatron insisted that they were traitors that upheld the human race's slavery of all robot-kind, convincing Soundwave to ultimately side with the Decepticons with the intent to overthrow all humans and obliterate the robots that protect them. He used his technology-manipulating speakers to summon all nearby labor-robots to merge onto him, converting into a Transformer as he then uses his sophisticated stereo-system to spark a robot-revolution against their "human-oppressors." All automated forms of public transportation stopped and the city's labor robots jumped the Autobot
Autobot
Autobot, a faction of sentient robots from the planet Cybertron, are usually the main protagonists in the fictional universe of the Transformers, a collection of various toys, graphic novels, paperback books, cartoons and movies first introduced in 1984. In all but one Transformer story, the...
s when they appeared on the scene. After failing to convince Bulkhead
Bulkhead (Transformers)
Bulkhead is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All incarnations of Bulkhead are Autobots and are green in color. He was introduced in Transformers: Energon as a Mega Vehicle and later redebuted in Transformers: Animated as a completely new character...
into joining him and killing Sari in the name of all robot-kind, it appeared that Bulkhead destroyed Soundwave with a single blow of his powerful wrecking-ball arm, shattering his body into hundreds of pieces. However, unbeknown to the Autobot, his core survived, in the form of a small, almost-invisible media player.
Soundwave regenerated by Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
time as ex-Sumdac Systems Vice President Porter C. Powell, who had acquired Soundwave's original patents while he was in charge of the company, was distributing multiple Soundwave toys during the Christmas season. Soundwave managed to reprogram some of the toys, using one of them to spike the Autobots' oil nog
Eggnog
Eggnog, or egg nog, is a sweetened dairy-based beverage traditionally made with milk and/or cream, sugar, beaten eggs , and liquor...
. With the Autobots now sedated and out of commission, Soundwave proceeded to take them to the basement where he attempted to brainwash them into taking on his ideology as Decepticon
Decepticon
The Decepticons are usually depicted as the antagonists in the fictional universes of the Transformers stoyline and related comics and cartoons, and the enemies of the Autobots and the University of California Davis Aggies...
s by placing them in a virtual
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
program in human form. However, the plan was briefly halted by the attempted intervention of Sari as well as the Autobots learning the truth of where they are. Soundwave had a backup plan, using Laserbeak to force Sari into a retreat, then using Ratbat in keytar mode to complete the Autobots reformat. Soundwave succeeded in placing the Autobots under his control, and used the numerous toy replicas of himself to take control of the humans in Detroit. However, since Sari was techno-organic, she was immune to the mind-control waves. Soundwave was defeated when Sari recruited the help of Scrapper, Snarl and Wreck-Gar to fight the brainwashed Autobots, and was smashed apart along with Ratbat by Optimus using Laserbeak's guitar mode as a makeshift axe. Though Soundwave's core still remained intact, it was seemingly turned off by Sari before being rescued by Laserbeak. It is unknown what became of Soundwave after that.
Toys
- Animated Deluxe Soundwave with Laserbeak (2008)
- A Deluxe sized figure that transforms into a Scion xBScion xBThe Scion xB is a vehicle made by Toyota for the United States market and sold under their youth-oriented Scion brand. It is a box-shaped, 5-door compact hatchback.-First generation :...
-like vehicle. Soundwave's bio describes his alternate mode as an SUV, although the Scion xB is actually a station wagon that resembles a small minivanMinivanMinivan is a type of van designed for personal use. Minivans are typically either two-box or one box designs for maximum interior volume – and are taller than a sedan, hatchback, or a station wagon....
. Its most notable feature is that one of his "minions", Laserbeak, is present in the form of a Flying V-styleGibson Flying V-External links:*, , , , and , from the Gibson website*, a June 2001 article from Guitar Collector magazine*, a tribute site that lists all models and re-issues and most notable players**...
electric guitar that transforms into a bird. It can also be attached to the top of his vehicle mode or held like a guitar in robot mode. His upper torso has the look of an old cassette player door, set up as a nod to his G1 toy.- Animated Deluxe Electrostatic Soundwave with Ratbat (2009)
- A gray/red redeco of Soundwave, which resembles G1 Soundblaster. Ratbat comes with this figure and transforms into a keytarKeytarA keytar is a relatively lightweight keyboard that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement compared to conventional keyboards, which are placed on stands...
.- Animated Activators Soundwave (2009)
- A Scout-sized figure with near-instant transformation at the push of a button.
- Animated TA-16 Deluxe Soundwave (Takara Tomy) (2010)
- The 2010 Japan release version of Deluxe Soundwave 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...
sports a metallic dark blue finish, as opposed to the matte finish of the Hasbro version.. Also bundled with TA-03 Voyager Ironhide (Bulkhead).- Animated TA-25 Activators Soundblaster (Takara Tomy) (2010)
- A gray/red redeco of Activators Soundwave. Available only in Japan.
- Animated TA-47 Deluxe Electrostatic Soundwave (Takara Tomy) (2010)
- The Japan release version of Electrostatic Soundwave.
Transformers: Timelines
This Soundwave is an alternate good version of the Generation 1 character from the BotCon exclusive "Shattered Glass" comic, in which the Decepticons are on the side of good and the Autobots on the side of evil. His appearance is based on the white music label Soundwave MP3 player, while Buzzsaw seems to be based on Steeljaw in appearance.Fun Publications
Soundwave first appears as a member of Megatron's forces in the Transformers: Timelines story "Shattered Glass" story 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....
. He helps in the attack on the Autobot's Ark launching platform, working with Buzzsaw.
Soundwave makes a cameo in the fiction Dungeons & Dinobots, a text based story. When the Autobots are gaining the advantage in an attack on the Arch-Ayr fuel dump he calls in the Mayhem Suppression Squad to help the Decepticons.
Soundwave appears in the story Do Over. He is among the crew of the Nemesis, which follows the Autobot's Ark
Ark (Transformers)
The Ark is an Autobot spacecraft in the Transformers Universe. It has appeared as a central fixture of the Transformers storyline ever since its creation, as the Autobots main method of transport to Earth and as a base once they arrive....
to Earth. When the ship is damaged in battle with the Ark he escapes in a stasis pod to Earth.
Soundwave is spotlighted in the story The Desert Heat!. In this story, having crashed to Earth in an escape pod, Heatwave recovers Soundwave and helps his fellow Decepticon get back online and assume an Earth-style alternate mode.
Soundwave appears in the story Eye in the Sky. Cliffjumper, Crasher, Frenzy, Heatwave, Ravage and Soundwave are sent on a mission to Burpleson Air Force Base to stop the Autobots from controlling the GODS defense system. Heatwave uses his powers to convince the GODS transmitter to fire the weapon on itself and stop the Autobots from taking control.
Soundwave is spotlighted in the story Blitzwing Bop. The Elite Guardsman Thunderwing intercepts a radio signal from Earth which mentions Soundwave. Finding Soundwave is wanted for a minor offense from long ago he heads to Earth. Thunderwing finds Soundwave involved in a battle the Autobot Blaster
Blaster (Transformers)
Blaster is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers television and comic series based on the popular toy line produced by Takara Tomy and Hasbro. Due to trademark reasons, he is sometimes called Autobot Blaster...
for the possession of the malfunctinging Decepticon 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...
. Although not interested in the dispute, Soundwave convinces Thunderwing that Soundwave cannot leave Earth for trial on Cybertron until his commanding officer can be notified, and the only way to get Starscream online is to rescue Blitzwing. Thunderwing is still unwilling to takes sides in the battle against Blaster, merely following the Decepticon, but Soundwave tricks Blaster into mentioning a crime he committed on Cybertron while Thunderwing is in nearby. Thunderwing immediately goes into arrest mode and tries to capture Blaster, but Blaster escapes in a malfunctioning Stellar Spanner. With Starscream back online Soundwave confesses to his minor crimes and Thunderwing passes a sentence of community service on him.
Toys
Although no official toy exists for this version of Soundwave, the White Music Label Soundwave matches his colors almost exactly, save for the Decepticon symbol on his chest. On the toy the symbol is silver, but in the comic book it's red.Soundwave's Earth mode resembles a redeco of the toy used for Universe Ironhide with a new head mold.
Transformers: Prime
Soundwave was a gladiator around the same time as Megatron. He has many pet Mini-Cons who work for him.Soundwave is one of the main group of Decepticons in the 2010 computer animated series Transformers: Prime
Transformers: Prime
Transformers: Prime, also known as Transformers: Prime –The Animated Series, is an American computer-animated television series based on the Transformers toy franchise by Hasbro. It airs on the The Hub in the United States...
. Soundwave does not speak with his own voice in this series, instead recording archive audio from others and repeating it. An interview with producer Jeff Kline indicates that he does so only by choice.
Books
Soundwave appears in the short story Bumblebee at Tyger Pax By Alex Irvine.Soundwave appears in the novel Transformers: Exodus. He commanded the Mini-Con
Mini-Con
Mini-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...
s 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...
, 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:...
, 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:...
and 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:...
.
Video games
Soundwave appears in the 2010 video game Transformers: War for CybertronTransformers: 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...
as a playable character in the last three chapters of the Decepticon campaign. While Shockwave is established as Megatron's second-in-command
Second-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...
, Soundwave is shown acting as Megatron's right hand during the campaign in Shockwave's absence.
Soundwave assists Megatron and Breakdown into infiltrating Iacon, defeating Zeta Prime, and hunting down Omega Supreme. He is also a boss in the Autobot campaign, being the warden of Kaon Prison in the Decepticons' capital city and using his tape cassettes Frenzy, Rumble and Laserbeak to attack. The Autobots manage to defeat him, but not before he delivers a fatal blow to Zeta Prime, absorbing what remained of his life force energy in order to regenerate his own strength, and then manages to escape before Optimus can finish him.
Aside from transforming into a Cybertronian truck, Soundwave can also turn into a boombox
Boombox
Boombox is a colloquial expression for a portable cassette or CD player. Other terms known are ghetto blaster, jambox, or radio-cassette. It is a device capable of receiving radio stations and playing recorded music , usually at relatively high volume...
, as shown right before his boss battle, in the game's ending credits and a 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...
promotional commercial for the game featuring Shockwave. In this mode, he plays the Stan Bush
Stan Bush
Stan Bush is an American singer-songwriter and musician whose most notable work includes the songs "Dare" and "The Touch" from the soundtrack to the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie, and "She's Got the Power", featured in the American voice dub of the animated series Sailor Moon...
songs "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...
" and "Till All Are One".
Prime series
When Soundwave detects the presence of the autobot ArceeArcee
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...
, Starscream sends a pair of Decepticons to attack her. Later, in the Decepticon headquarters Soundwave detects a signal from deep space. Starscream orders the opening of the Space Bridge, and Megatron returns. Later, Soundwave deploys Ratbat at Starscream's orders to capture Fowler. He is later assigned to highjack Earth bond radio telescope array to location of Cybertron, as part Megatron's plan to use their Space Bridge to transport Dark Energon to Cybertron. However the Autobot's young human allies figure out the Decepticon's have highjacked the array and go to the array to shut it down. The young computer wiz Raf hacks into the array computer system, Soundwave attacks them. He cuts the array's main line locking the dishes in place. While preparing to leave, the Autobots human ally Miko takes a picture of Soundwave with her cell phone, Soundwave responds to this by taking a picture of Jack, Miko, and Raf (possibly with the intention of passing it along with information of their connection with the Autobots onto his fellow Decepticons). Soundwave appears in following episodes as the Decepticons' communications officer, picking up signals and occasionally going out into the field, though not in combat.
Soundwave is well aware of Starscream's treachery against Megatron, and has on several occasions saved Megatron from his treacherous lieutanant. In Masters & Students Soundwave sent his minion Laserbeak to make sure that Starscream retrieved the incacipated Megatron rather than killing him; and in Sick Mind when Starscream and Knock Out conspire to euthanize the comatose Megatron, Soundwave at first appears to consider agreeing with the two, but points out the cord of Bumblebee's cortical psychic patch Bumblebee is hooked up to, and orders Megatron be put back online so that he will not have fallen by an Autobot's hand. In Rock Bottom Megatron reveals he is aware of Starscream's ongoing treachery due to Soundwave having constant video surveillance on the traitor. In One Shall Rise, Part 3, Soundwave denies Airachnid's decision to abandon Megatron and lead the Decepticons away from Earth, and attacks her with Laserbeak until she submits.
Toys
- Generations
- A new mold, based on his appearance on War for Cybertron.
- United UN05 Deluxe Soundwave Cybertron Mode (2010)
- The Japanese version of the Generations figure 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 in a metallic repaint.- Prime