Soundwave (Transformers)
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Soundwave is the name of three fictional characters from the Transformers universes.
Contents |
[edit] Transformers: Generation 1 (1984)
| Transformers character | |
 Soundwave Box Art |
|
| Soundwave | |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Decepticon  |
| Sub-Group | Communications, later Action Master and Targetmaster |
| Function | Communicator |
| Partner | Buzzsaw Frenzy Ratbat Ravage Rumble Laserbeak |
| Motto | "Cries and screams are music to my ears." |
| Alternate Modes | Communications Tower Microcassette Recorder Stock Car Motorcycle Cybertronian Tank |
| Series | Transformers: Generation 1 Transformers: Generation 2 Machine Wars Transformers: Universe Transformers: Titanium |
| Voiced by | Frank Welker (English) Issei Masamune (Japanese) |
If his fellow Decepticons think that Soundwave (Radar in Canada, Memor in Italy; later known as Soundblaster in Japan) is listening, they keep their mouths shut. Despite his impenetrable exterior, Soundwave is a blackmailer through and through, an unrepentant opportunist who will eavesdrop in search of any information to improve his standing in Megatron's eyes. His comrades will usually pretend to like him in order to keep on his good side, but in reality, he doesn't care what his victims think of him, because he knows that he is indispensable to the Decepticon cause.
Soundwave can detect and jam radio transmissions all across the energy spectrum, a talent that makes him naturally suited to his position as Decepticon Communications Officer. Soundwave also possesses the ability to monitor electrical impulses within brain circuitry - in other words, he can read minds. Additionally, he has a photographic memory thanks to the vast data storage capacity of the magnetic disks in his chest compartment, and he is armed with a shoulder-mounted radiowave sensor and hand-held concussion blaster. Soundwave is also one of the physically strongest of all Transformers. He transforms, shrinking as he does so, into an Earthly tape deck, and in the tape compartment, which becomes his chest in robot mode, he stores the Decepticon spy cassettes Ravage, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Ratbat, Rumble, and Frenzy, who seem to exist in a quasi-symbiotic relationship with him.
[edit] Animated Series
In the original Transformers cartoon - his most prominent role in Transformers fiction - Soundwave was Megatron's right-hand man, frequently sent on important reconnaissance missions with his cassettes, and often playing a key role in many schemes against the Autobots. On Cybertron, he used his ability to transform into a roadside fixture to spy on the Autobot city of Iacon, learning of the Autobots' plan to search for energy on other worlds. Joining in Megatron's attack on their craft, the Ark, Soundwave fell to the same fate as the rest of the ship's occupants when the craft crashed on prehistoric Earth, entombing everyone within in stasis. Immediately after the Transformers awakened on Earth in 1984, Soundwave played an essential role in the generation of energon cubes and the formation of plans for a new space cruiser to return the Decepticons to Cybertron.
Later, he used his mind-reading talents to acquire an anti-matter formula for the Decepticons from the brain of Chip Chase.
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.
Although Soundwave rarely displayed much emotion, only infrequently exhibiting any traits that could be considered to be in line with his tech spec, 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 stupid, and kept his mouth shut when Megatron's body was subsequently ejected into space, and although he did suggest himself as a replacement leader ("Soundwave Superior, Constructicons Inferior."), he again loyally served him 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. Welker's voice is then very similar to the one he used for his role as Dr. Claw in the series Inspector Gadget [1]. In Japan, Soundwave's voice was performed by Issei Masamune. The Chinese dub, presumably lacking a vocoder, attempts to imitate Soundwave's original mechanical voice by having the actor "sing" the dialogue in different tones, resulting in an operatic performance which may strike non-Japanese viewers as comical.
[edit] Transformers: The Headmasters
Although Soundwave did not appear in the American cartoon series finale, the three-part The Rebirth, he returned to the forefront in the new Japanese-exclusive series, Transformers: Headmasters, which was created to take The Rebirth's place in the East. Reborn as Soundblaster, Soundwave's new toy incarnation was, like the series, available only in Japan.
In the opening cut and thrust of Headmasters, Soundwave and Blaster engaged in their final clash in the Arctic circle as the Autobots and Decepticons were in the process of searching for the missing Autobot Matrix of Leadership. The two opponents inflicted fatal damage to each other, and Soundwave's body exploded even as Blaster collapsed, but his 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, Soundwave served the same role as he had ever done under the leadership of Galvatron and later Scorponok, frequently embarking on spying missions with Ratbat.
[edit] Marvel Comics
Like much of the original 1984 cast of Decepticons, Soundwave played a much smaller role in the Marvel comic book series than he did in the cartoon. He quietly and efficiently served loyally, first under Megatron, 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 defence 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 US comic, Soundwave was colored purple instead of blue (presumably in an attempt to break up the large amount of blue coloration used in the comic, as it was often substituted in place of black and grey) 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 - colored in his correct blue hues - 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 the "Dinobot Hunt," and 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.
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. Notably, it was not explained how Soundwave was restored after his deactivation at the hands of Starscream - like other similarly-affected Transformers, he may have been revived with the transformation-paralysing fuel Nucleon.
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 timestream had resulted in their future being erased from the timeline, the final fate of the future Soundwave is unknown.
[edit] Generation 2
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 Gen 1 Decepticons, Soundwave seemed to return to a command position on Megatron's return to lead the Decepticons (killing Bludgeon in the process). He was aboard the Warworld when Jhiaxus' forces attacked, but managed to evacuate. His fate beyond this point is unknown.
[edit] Botcon Comics
Soundwave would also play a brief but important role in 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.
He also appeared in the Furman written Reaching the Omega Point, as one of the Transformers legends (alongside Optimus Prime, Megatron and Grimlock) who came to the aid of the forces of Optimus Primal against the Predacon/Unicron hybrid Shokaract, distracting him long enough for Primus to deal the fatal blow.
[edit] Dreamwave comics
In Dreamwave's 21st Century reimagining of the Generation 1 continuity, Soundwave was recruited to the Decepticons 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 bring the Matrix to 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 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 capture the Decepticons. The intent was for the Autobots to take their enemies back to Cybertron a new craft named the Ark II, but just as the ship cleared the atmosphere, it exploded, the victim of machinations by Shockwave, who did not want Prime and Megatron to return to Cybertron yet.
Soundwave's body crashed back to Earth in the Arctic, where he lay inactive for several years, until rogue military scientist Adam Rook, calling himself "Lazarus," recovered and reactivated him, putting him under his control with a program he had developed while studying the Transformers before their explosive departure. Several other Autobots and Decepticons fell to the same fate, and were to be sold on the black market - Soundwave himself was put on display by being sent to attack the Smitco Oil Refinery alongside several other Transformers - but when Megatron liberated himself, Soundwave was soon freed by his leader and assumed his position at his side.
When Shockwave arranged for the capture and extradition of Prime and Megatron's forces as war criminals, Soundwave was among the captives, but when Starscream jettisoned Megatron into space on the return trip to Cybertron, Soundwave made the best of a bad lot and teamed with Starscream to return to Earth and conquer it, being reunited with Ratbat in the process. Heading back to Earth with the Combaticons now added to their ranks, they attacked the Ark in hopes of acquring parts to make the Nemesis spaceworthy again, but Soundwave, Skywarp and Thundercracker were defeated and thrown in the Ark's brig. When the Combaticons laid into the vessel, they were freed.
It was not much later that the surviving Megatron made contact with Soundwave from space, and Soundwave was all too willing to return to his service, setting up Starscream to fall before Megatron when he returned. And return, Megatron did - but the bankruptcy and subsequent closure of Dreamwave left the rest of the story untold.
[edit] Devil's Due Comics
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 organization, COBRA when they discovered the Ark. Refitted by Destro, Soundwave was intended to become a battlefield communications station, but when he and the other Decepticons eventually broke free of their control he was damaged in a battle with the Autobots and his parts were captured by the US Government for study. From his databanks, the android SerpentO.R. downloaded information on the history of Cybertron, using it to further the Decepticon goal of conquest. It is indicated that his pre-Earth form was similar to his Dreamwave War Within form.
[edit] IDW Comics
With the licence for Transformers material passing to IDW Publishing, writer Simon Furman has noted in an interview that Soundwave is due to make his IDW debut in The Transformers: Escalation. Preview material available indicated that Soundwave has already been on Earth by the time of Escalation implying that he will not join Megatron's forces on Earth directly from Cybertron.[2]
There is also an upcoming Spotlight on Soundwave in March 2007. [3]
[edit] 2007 film
Almost from the moment the live-action Transformers movie was announced in 2004, producer Don Murphy and the production team made it clear they did not want to feature mass/size shifting in transformation, 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, or to include the character in the film at all. Early leaked movie scripts proposed that his alternate mode would be a helicopter, but animatics shown at the 2005 Comic Con were badly received. This led to a rethink, (with the eventual helicopter character named 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 movie, until they can "do him right."
[edit] Toys
- Generation 1 (1984)
- The original Soundwave toy (and his cassettes) began life as part of Takara's Microchange line, featuring household objects that transformed into accurately-scaled robots. Incorporated into the Transformers toyline 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 button), while the interaction level was maintained by his two guns, which turned into 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.
- It is generally thought that the head of the Soundwave toy was the inspiration for the design of the Decepticon symbol.
- Soundblaster (1987)
- A remould of the Soundwave toy exclusive to Japan, Soundblaster is cast in black plastic where Soundwave was blue, with an altered chest door, now made of translucent red plastic and able to hold two tapes 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 Maximus. Soundblaster was reissued in Japan in 2005, and it is currently thought that he may be reissued in the west in 2006 or 2007.
- Action Master (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.
- Go-Bot (1995)
- The Marvel Comics Generation 2 series concluded before it could feature the G2 toyline's new, distinctly different version of Soundwave from 1995 - a fluorescent yellow, blue and pink Ford Thunderbird Go-Bot, a redeco of an earlier figure named Gearhead. The figure was later recolored into W.A.R.S. for Transformers: Robots in Disguise.
- Laser Cycle (unreleased)
- 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. [4]
- Machine Wars (1997)
1997's Machine Wars toyline, released exclusively in KB Toy stores, featured Soundwave as a repaint of the 1992 European-exclusive figure, Stalker. The toy transforms into a missile tank and, colored in shades of black, grey 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 (unreleased)
With the conclusion of the Beast Machines toyline, the initial plan for a follow-up was through the futuristic Transtech series. Although the idea was scrapped in favor of Transformers: Armada, Toronto-based design studio Draxhall Jump produced several designs for characters, including Soundwave.
- Smallest Transformers (2003)
A shrunken interpretation of the original Soundwave toy, released exclusive to Japan, this version of Soundwave even came with its own Ravage, who was little bigger than a grain of rice.
- Transformers: Universe (2004)
A redeco of Soundwave's Machine Wars figure, this toy was rendered in shades of blue and yellow, perhaps to invoke the original character's color scheme. Packaged with Space Case, the lack of any supporting figure makes the identity of this figure undiscernible, but he may or may not be an alternate-universe incarnation of the original Soundwave.
- Transformers: Classics (2006)
A Toys R Us exclusive, it will be released on December 5, 2006, and is said to be 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 remolded to hold two cassette transformers as opposed to one. This alteration to the mold was originally made in japan for a transformers figure named soundblaster, who was an updated, new, and improved version of the original figure for that time.[5]
[edit] Other appearances
- Soundwave appears in an episode of Robot Chicken in which he transforms into a portable toilet.
- Soundwave appears in the Family Guy episode "The Courtship of Stewie's Father" as Peter's supervisor. In it, Soundwave is married to a woman named Dennise whom he met in a Christian chat room. [6]
- Soundwave appears in the Sealab 2021 episode "Hail, squishface" as a toy on an asian girl's cart, who sells Cpt. Murphy Gloop, from the show The Herculoids.
- Soundwave appears in short movie directed by Colin Miller and Irfan Nathod where he breakdances. This located at http://students.washington.edu/colin2/breakformers/Video_player_06.html.
[edit] Beast Wars
The next character to bear the name of Soundwave was released as part of the Beast Wars Mutants subline in 2000. However, although Beast Wars officially exists in the same continuity as a version of the G1 universe and its Soundwave, who made a brief cameo in the Beast Wars episode "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. In bat mode, his ultra-sensetive internal radar makes him ideal for stealthy aerial recon missions, while his alligator-mode jaws can fracture even the strongest known alloy, and his tail can generate circuit-disrupting seismic wave when pounded on the ground. Like the other Mutants, Soundwave is a dark, brooding character, amplified by his tendecy to be over-dramatic.
[edit] 3H comics
Soundwave and the other mutants (Transformers who transformed from one beast mode to another, with no robot modes) sought a cure for their mutant states from the Quintessons, but were found in contempt by the five-faced aliens, and destroyed in an attack by a swarm of Sharkticons.
[edit] IDW comics
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 of other newly-activated Predacons ventured through the swamp on a mission, the mutants attacked and destroyed Pincer, Retrax and Transquito while the others fled.
[edit] Toys
- Beast Wars Mutants (2000)
Although the Beast Wars toyline had concluded in 1998, this subline was released during the Beast Machines era. Although the figures lack robot modes, they all feature vestigal robotic components - such as Soundwave's robot head, concealed within his bat mouth. A redeco of the figure known as Leatherneck was intended for release in Transformers: Universe, but did not come to fruition.
[edit] Transformers: Cybertron
| Transformers character | |
 Cybertron Soundwave |
|
| Soundwave | |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Decepticon |
| Sub-Group | Voyagers Micros |
| Function | Information Staff |
| Partner | Laserbeak (Killer Condor) |
| Motto | "Audible rebellion is melody." |
| Alternate Modes | Planet X Stealth Jet (which resembles an F-117 Sealth Fighter jet) |
| Series | Transformers: Cybertron |
| Voiced by | Gary Chalk/Robert O. Smith (English) Taketora (Japanese) |
In Transformers: Cybertron, Soundwave is the second Transformer from the mysterious Planet X. He transforms into a stealth fightercraft and is partnered with a smaller robot called Laserbeak (Killer Condor in Japan). In the English dub of this series, he has a more "human-sounding" voice, though at the same time, like his G1 counterpart, he also has a synthesized robotic-sounding voice (the human sounding voice is more prominent however), which is counterbalanced by his tendency (in the English dub) to speak like a modern DJ - using terms like "He got served" and "Peace out, bots."
Soundwave is armed with two cannons, and can hide himself behind holograms when working in conjunction with Laserbeak.
[edit] Animated Series
Soundwave first makes his appearance, offering to lead Megatron and his minions to the planet Gigantion. However, after they arrived there, he abandoned them, 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 Megatron (now 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.
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 the only 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.
[edit] IDW Comics
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 Prime, Sentinel Maximus and Omega Prime after their defeat of Unicron's heralds, Nemesis Prime and Ramjet, and capture of the Dead Matrix. Dispatching Laserbeak to recover the Dead Matrix from its place in storage, Soundwave threw the talisman into the black hole that had been created by the collapse of Unicron, allowing the chaos-bringer's spark to escape and infiltrate the planet Yst, which he corrupted and transformed into his new body.
[edit] Toys
- Transformers: Cybertron (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 mutli-barrelled 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.
- A black repaint of Soundwave, predictably named Soundblaster, was released exclusively in Japan through Takaras "Toy's Dream Project" series. Whether or not he is the same character as Soundwave is unknown.
- Legends of Cybertron (2006)
- A Micro class Soundwave was released in the third wave of the Legends of Cybertron toy line. It came without Laserbeak.
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