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Ratbat (G1)

2008-05-24T01:16:49Z

99.164.122.35: /* American cartoon continuity */

:''Ratbat is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:ratbat.jpg|320px|thumb|right|Listen to them - children of the night. What spreadsheets they make.]]

Cold-blooded and obsessed with efficiency, '''Ratbat's''' primary concern is looking out for himself. He treats his responsibilities, whether as a fuel auditor or as leader of Decepticons, as a business. In his book, everything comes down to profit and loss.

In his role as fuel scout, Ratbat carries sensors that allow him to detect and evaluate the quality of fuels of various types, from primitive hydrocarbons to [[energon]]. He can process any number of these different fuels to power himself.

Although obsessed with efficiency, like any good CEO, Ratbat allows himself a small indulgence: He enjoys sinking his fangs into the fuel tanks of Terran automobiles, the more expensive the better. He enjoys nothing more than savoring high-test gasoline siphoned from a hapless yuppie's Mercedes or BMW.

Ratbat is also the best [[Decepticon leader]] ever. True, that's what [[Megatron (G1)|every]] [[Starscream (G1)|other]] [[Shockwave (G1)|leader]] says, but he's got the victories to back it up.

''Italian name:'' '''Stridek'''<br>
''French-Canadian name:'' '''Vampiro''' <br>
''Hungarian name'': '''Féreg''' (yep, means Worm)

==Fiction==
===American cartoon continuity===
====Madman Transformers comic====
[[Image:Madman_comic_HotRod_runsover_tapes.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Dracula is my damn son.]]

Ratbat was one of several tapes that accompanied Soundwave when they were spying on the construction of [[Autobot City]]. Soundwave had managed to record a meeting between [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]] where the two Autobots leaders discussed hiding the [[Autobot Matrix of Leadership]] in a bunker at the building site. Ratbat was deployed along with [[Overkill]], [[Slugfest]], [[Beastbox]] and [[Squawktalk]] to oversee the retrieval of the powerful Autobot artifact. As Ratbat happily reported the minimal usage of fuel in the successful operation, the Autobot [[Hot Rod]] rammed [[Squawkbox]] and [[Slugfest]], scaring the crap out of the bat. {{Storylink|Madman Transformers Comic}}

{{Note|Despite the fact that this comic is set firmly within the cartoon continuity of ''Generation 1'', Ratbat's sole line of dialogue (and the fact that he speaks at all) is based on Ratbat's various comic book appearances, and not his beast-like cartoon depiction.}}
{{-}}

====''Generation 1'' cartoon====
:''Voice actor:'' [[Frank Welker]] (US), [[Hōchū Ōtsuka|Yoshitada Ōtsuka]] (Japan)

[[Image:RatbatTV.jpg|150px|thumb|right| Squeak! Squeak I tell you! Squeak!]]

Ratbat was among several cassettes deployed by Soundwave during [[Battle of Autobot City]] in an effort to stop [[Blaster]] broadcasting a distress signal to [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]]. After successfully destroying the transmitter, the cassettes broke into the glass dome of the communications tower and attacked [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] until Blaster deployed his own cassette squad. Ratbat was then attacked by [[Ramhorn]]. {{Storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}}

While the Decepticons were searching space for [[isodryte]] to repair their weaponry, Soundwave ejected Ratbat to hunt for the mineral in an asteroid field. Although the scout was successful in his mission, the isodryte deposit he discovered was already being mined by the Autobots, leading to the inevitable conflict. {{storylink|Webworld}}

[[Image:CallofthePrimitives_Ratbat_TornedronTiger.jpg|thumb|left|150px|The paws that refreshes.]]

When [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] hired the [[Skuxxoid]] and [[Slizardo]] to attack the Autobots with [[anti-electron]]s, the spying Ratbat recorded their failure and raced back to [[Chaar]] to inform Galvatron, replaying his footage of the Autobots' recovery for the two would-be saboteurs to see. {{storylink|Grimlock's New Brain}}

During a battle on [[Earth]]'s [[Moon (moon)|Moon]], Ratbat was among several "[[primitive]]" Transformers called away by a mysterious being known as [[Oracle (G1)|Primacron's assistant]] to do battle with [[Primacron]]'s creation, [[Tornedron]]. As the primitives made their escape from the seemingly unstoppable creature, Ratbat was grabbed by Tornedron's tiger form and eaten. {{Storylink|Call of the Primitives}} He got better, though, and was later around to overhear the Autobots' conversation with [[Jessica Morgan]] about the discovery of the [[spark|lifeless]] body of [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]]. However, this resulted in most of the Decepticons being infected with the [[Hate Plague]]. Some days, a bat can't win. {{storylink|The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1}}
{{-}}

===Japanese cartoon continuity===
====''Scramble City''====

Detecting some strange electromagnetic emanations coming from a mountain range, [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] had [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] deploy Ratbat, [[Ravage]] and [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] to investigate. When they met resistance from [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] and his own cassette warriors, it became apparent that the mountain concealed an [[Autobot]] operation. While Ravage and Laserbeak occupied [[Ramhorn]] and [[Steeljaw]], Ratbat was able to evade laser fire from Blaster and penetrated the mountain, discovering that it housed the construction site for the Autobots' [[Metroplex (G1)|Scramble City]]. {{storylink|Scramble City}}

====''The Headmasters''====

In the year 2011, as [[Vector Sigma]] was in the process of destabilizing, Soundwave and his cassettes invaded [[Autobot City]] in an attempt to learn what the Autobots' strategy for resolving the situation was. While listening in on the Autobots' discussion, which involved locating the missing [[Matrix of Leadership]], Ratbat was detected by Blaster, leading to a battle between the two communications officers. Soundwave and his troops fled, but the battle was renewed soon after in the Arctic, where both combatants ultimately destroyed each other. Ratbat, Laserbeak and [[Buzzsaw (G1)|Buzzsaw]] gathered up the broken fragments of Soundwave's body and made an airborne esape. {{storylink|The Mystery of Planet Master}} Subsequently, the information Ratbat had gathered on the Autobots' search was replayed for Galvatron. {{storylink|A Dream is Born, Double Prime}}

Thanks to the super-science of planet [[Master (Headmasters)|Master]], Decepticon Headmaster leader [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] was able to use the fragments of Soundwave's body Ratbat and the others had recovered to restore him to life as Soundblaster. He was joyfully recieved by Ratbat and the other cassettes, who soon found themselves again battling Blaster - likewise reborn as Twincast - and his cassettes while Soundblaster attacked Cybertron with the Decepticon's new [[Madmachine]]. {{storylink|Operation Cassette}}

When a shadowy figure figure began blackmailing different nations around the world, Ratbat snuck into Autobot City to observe the Autobots' response. He was, however, spotted by [[Trainbot]] leader [[Shouki]] in the reflection in his glass of [[energon]], and fled. {{storylink|Terror! The Six Shadows}}
{{-}}

===Marvel Comics continuity===
{{noteukonly}}
[[Image:Ratbatfortmax.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Ratbat breaks through the Cassetticon glass ceiling.]]

Ratbat was one of the many Decepticons left on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], where he rose to the critical post of fuel auditor. With a drive towards extreme efficiency, he would rarely countenance unnecessary risks. ''He was one of the key figures in [[Straxus|Lord Straxus' court]], and so when Straxus' attempted possession of [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] saw Straxus dead and Megatron mentally unstable, Ratbat was able to exploit it. He got the troops to follow him and had Megatron, [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus]] and [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]] sent to Earth'' {{storylink|Resurrection!}}, and Ratbat emerged as the most powerful Decepticon in [[Polyhex]]. {{Storylink|King of the Hill!}}

Ratbat grew increasingly dissatisfied with the inefficient use of fuel by the Decepticons based on Earth under the command of [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] and developed schemes to improve the planet's output. He dispatched hypnotizing machines with the hope of taking over the minds of many humans and using them to deliver fuel at minimum cost to the Decepticons, but this plan was disrupted by the intervention of the Autobots' ally [[Buster Witwicky]]. {{Storylink|Buster Witwicky and the Car Wash of Doom}}

Ratbat allied with the Earthbound Decepticons but remained dissatisfied with the leadership of Shockwave. When the Earthbound Autobots briefly left the planet in the [[Ark]], Ratbat was at the forefront of a new Decepticon reign of terror and kidnapped Buster Witwicky, taking him to the Decepticons' island base. {{Storylink|Toy Soldiers!}}

[[Image:Ratbatcratercritters.jpg|left|thumb|175px|"That... that's your fist, Astrotrain."]]
When the Autobot [[Targetmaster]]s besieged the base, the Decepticons were forced to flee by deploying its rocket facility. In the process of departure, Shockwave was shot down in space and seen heading towards Earth, apparently dying, and Ratbat declared it would be inefficient to rescue him and so, instead seized command of the Decepticons for himself. {{Storylink|The Desert Island of Space!}}

Of all the leaders of the Decepticons on Earth few came closer to outright victory than Ratbat. He followed the Autobots under [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] when they set out to unite with those under [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] and launched an all-out attack that resulted in huge casualties and the Autobots being briefly stranded on the Moon. {{Storylink|Totaled!}}

Later, Ratbat promoted the newly recovered [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] to the position of second-in-command and set out to learn the truth about the legendary [[Underbase]], which could seemingly make a Transformer supremely powerful. {{Storylink|Club Con!}} Ratbat was determined to attain its power for himself but this ambition was shared by Starscream. The latter lured the separate Decepticon faction led by [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] to a meeting with Ratbat's forces, which soon resulted in conflict between the two, allowing Starscream to seek the Underbase for himself. {{Storylink|Cold War!}} Both Decepticon factions allied with the Autobots in fighting against Starscream, suffering huge casualties in the process. However, both Ratbat and Scorponok independently suspected that the Autobot leader [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] had plans to seize the power of the Underbase for himself, and they set out to stop them. Seconds later, Ratbat was dead, shot in the back by Scorponok. {{Storylink|Dark Star!}}
{{-}}

===Blackthorne Comics continuity===
[[Image:Ratbat_blackthorne.png|thumb|Ratbat watches over his loyal pet Galvatron]]

Ratbat was a sentient entity capable of talking, but pretended to be an obedient mute animal in order to get out of doing any real work. He ended up as the mentally unstable [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron's]] witless pet and sole confidant. This embarrasses him but rather that than do work!

[[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] worried about Galvatron's unhealthy attachment to Ratbat. When [[Searchlight (G1)|Searchlight]] foiled Ratbat's search for mysterious [[energon]]-producing aliens by causing Galvatron to step on him accidentally using [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]], Galvatron stopped fighting to rush to Ratbat's side, distraught over his actions. {{storylink|The Test}}

For reasons known only to Ratbat, he was later showing off his sentience and joining in on Decepticon raids. It's almost as if he was being written inconsistently... {{storylink|Transformers in 3D issue 2}}

{{Note|Blackthorne Ratbat appeared to have the ability to change size from his parrot-like perch on Galvatron's shoulder (at right) to a [[:image:Ratbat_blackthorne2.png|giant bat]] large enough for a Throttlebot to ride on.) This fits in with his abilities as described in his expanded Marvel comics profile.<br>
'''Another Note:''' Blackthorne's Ratbat was absolutely adorable. He is love.}}

===Dreamwave comics continuity===
[[Image:ratbatwarwithin.jpg|left|thumb|If Ratbat turned into a jet, why did they call him Ratbat?]]

Millions of years ago, before the Transformers crash-landed on Earth, Ratbat was the leader of a sub-faction of Decepticons called the [[Ultracons]] during the time when [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] had disappeared. During the Dark Ages, Ratbat made several efforts to secure the [[Tagan Heights]], which held forty percent of Cybertron's industrial capability. However, his efforts were constantly thwarted by [[Springer]] and the [[Wreckers]]. {{Storylink|The War Within: The Dark Ages}}

Eventually, he became so frustrated that he openly violated the [[Crisis Intervention Accords]] and managed to sway the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]]s over to the Ultracons, unleashing [[Devastator]] on the Heights. However, the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobot]]s arrived and formed [[Defensor]]. Their duel resulted in the destruction of a good deal of the Tagan Heights, and Ratbat was forced to retreat. Megatron's return saw the Ultracons reintegrated into the Decepticons. {{storylink|The War Within: The Age of Wrath}} At this point in time, Ratbat possessed his original Cybertronian form, able to transform from robot mode to jet. However, at a later date, after the Great Shutdown, when Shockwave established control of the planet, many Transformers, including Ratbat, had their bodies reformatted into Earth-themed modes, leading to Ratbat's bat/tape body. It was noted that he was not pleased with its unimposing nature compared to his original structure.

When next we saw Ratbat, he had been freed by Starscream from imprisonment and was given to Soundwave as a servant/gift, implying a past connection for which Soundwave would want recompense. It is entirely possible that Shockwave may have viewed Ratbat as a threat to his control of the planet and deliberately gave him a weak body and imprisoned him to keep him out of the way. {{storylink|Countdown to Extinction (comic issue)|Countdown to Extinction}}

{{-}}

===Devil's Due ''G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers'' comics continuity===
Ratbat was one of the many Transformers recovered from the crashed ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'' by [[Cobra]]. He was repaired and retrofitted by [[Doctor Mindbender]], who proudly displayed him, Soundwave, and his fellow Mini-Cassettes to [[Destro]]. {{storylink|G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers issue 2|G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #2}} Ratbat was released by Soundwave, along with [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]], [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]], [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]], and [[Ravage]], during an attack on the [[SPS Center]]. Ratbat was felled by the combined fire of [[Rock'n'Roll]], [[Roadblock (G.I. Joe)|Roadblock]], and [[Bazooka (G.I. Joe)|Bazooka]]. His body was taken into custody by [[G.I. Joe]]. {{storylink|G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers issue 3|G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #3}}
{{-}}

===IDW comics continuity===
{{ongoing}}
[[Image:Senator ratbat.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Vote Ratbat. A name you can trust.]]

Millions of years ago, before the war, Ratbat was a member of the [[Senate]] and possessed a fairly impressive humanoid form with wing-like capes and a bat head-like helmet. His professed role was "the application of wisdom through judgment," whatever that means, but, in practicality, he simply monitored news feeds and manipulated events (including stoking conflicts) to create the most profit for himself. He was responsible for the automation of Cybertron's Energon mines, a move which prompted the miner known as [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] to rebel and flee underground.

Interested by Megatron's early [[gladiatorial combat|gladiatorial exploits]], he sent his servant [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] to offer Megatron a wide variety of advanced weaponry. He was either trying to get in on the fight racket and increase the violence for profit, or was deliberately trying to create greater instability (also for profit). (It's not that clear which - he starts up after hearing how much money the fights make, but in later issues says how instability is good for business). {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 2}}

When Megatron's forces bloomed from underground fightclub to planet-destabilizing army, Ratbat realized that he'd made a mistake and Megatron was going too far. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3}}

[[Image:Ratbatdevastation.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Always on playlist: "Batdance"]]
After Megatron decisively won his first battle against [[Sentinel Prime]] and the Decepticons were established, Ratbat decided to view this as a job opportunity and simply transfer himself (and all of Kaon's city funding and government data) to [[Iacon]] and a more lucrative position. Unfortunately for him, he was betrayed by Soundwave, who thought Ratbat would be a "valuable resource" for the Decepticons. His [[Spark]] was removed and transferred into a cassette body which is assumed to have his familiar robot-bat alternate mode. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 4}}

Millions of years later, in the present day, Ratbat appears to have come WAY down in the world and serves as a scout for the Decepticons. Now on Earth, he appears to change into some sort of consumer electronic device of the portable CD player variety. {{storylink|Devastation issue 1}}

{{-}}

==Toys==
===Generation 1===
*'''Ratbat / Frenzy''' (Cassette 2-pack, 1986)

[[Image:G1Ratbat_toy.jpg|thumb|right|150px|I'm a cassette... I'm a bat... I'm adorable!]]

: Ratbat transforms from a robot bat into a microcassette that can fit in the chest compartment of the [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] and [[Blaster]] molds. He was released in a two-pack with [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] in 1986 in the US and European markets. The toy had either gold or silver weapons and painted or sticker cassette detail. It is unknown if the color of the weapons corresponded the the detailing types.

: It is worth noting that Ratbat's tiny "ears" are among the more easily lost parts in the original [[Generation 1]] line.

*'''Ratbat''' (Cassettron, 1986/1987)
: ''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-61''', '''D-107'''

: In Japan, Ratbat was released as an individual toy. He came with a clear-plastic cassette storage case, like all other Japanese releases of the cassettes. It is unknown what weapon/tape-detail variants were available in Japan.

===Universe (2008)===
*'''Springer v. Ratbat''' (Voyager Deluxe Comic 2-Pack, 2008)
:*''Accessories:'' Two swords, key
[[Image:Universe 2008 Ratbat toy.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Batman always needed a space ship]]
:A Target exclusive redeco of ''Cybertron'' [[Sideways#Cybertron|Sideways]], Ratbat is a purple alien spacefighter with Cyber Planet Key-activated faction-switching ability (switching from Decepticon to Ultracon) and pop-out blades built into his battle shield.
{{-}}

==Trivia==
* While Ratbat in the original cartoon was a voiceless beast who was ordered around by Soundwave, in the Marvel Comics stories, Ratbat was an independent, intelligent character who could speak and held a prestigious rank, even commanding the Earthbound Decepticons for a period, despite transforming into an tiny audio cassette. Both of the "postmodern" continuities established by [[Dreamwave Productions]] and [[IDW Publishing]] have tried to harmonize these two disparate roles by portraying Ratbat as a previously-important individual who was humbled and forced into a lowly form. Remember, kids, if you're not humanoid, you can't possibly have held a real rank. There must be ''some explanation''.

==External links==
*[http://www.tfu.info/1986/Decepticon/Ratbat/ratbat.htm Ratbat at TFU.info]
*[http://www.ntfa.net/universe/english/index.php?act=view&char=Ratbat Ratbat's Universe profile at NTFA.net]

[[Category: Classics characters]]
[[Category: Decepticons]]
[[Category: Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category: Headmasters characters]]
[[Category: Mini-Cassettes]]
[[Category: Politicians]]
[[Category: Target exclusives]]
[[Category: Ultracons]]
[[Category: Universe (2008)]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>

Fortress Maximus (G1)

2008-05-24T01:13:26Z

99.164.122.35: /* American cartoon continuity */

{{disambig3|Fortress Maximus}}

:''Fortress Maximus is an [[Autobot]] [[Headmaster]] in the [[Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:FortMax1.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Link called. He wants the [[Master Sword]] back.]]

Despite his great power, size, and rank, '''Fortress Maximus''' is a weary and reluctant warrior. Fighting is against his pacifist nature, even for the most noble of causes. Over time, the endless conflict on Cybertron has worn him down, to the point that he's willing to walk away from the war entirely to preserve himself and his ideals.

Fortress Maximus is big. ''How'' big generally depends on the continuity, but often as not he's binary-bonded to a smaller robot named [[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]] who forms his head; Cerebros's own head is formed by [[Spike Witwicky|Spike]].

{{note|Fortress Maximus is one of those fun characters whose English and Japanese incarnations were very different. See individual fiction entries below for continuity specific profiles.}}

:''Japanese name:'' '''Cerebros''' (see below)
:''French-Canadian name:'' '''Forteresse Maximus'''
:''Cracked-out English-Malay dub name:'' '''Spaceship Bruce''' (starship mode only)

:''Chinese name (Taiwan):'' '''Fort''' / '''Ford''' / '''Furmon'''

==Fiction==
===Marvel Comics continuity===
====Generation 1====
Fortress Maximus was an architect in his early career, designing and even constructing many works on Cybertron. When the war came, he reluctantly turned his talents to fighting.

During the long absence of [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]], [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], and their respective troops from [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], unit commander Fortress Maximus became so sick of the war that he decided to leave it. He didn't care if it made him a coward or not, he simply believed that the war would go on regardless of whether or not he was in it. Taking a number of Autobots with him, he retreated to the peaceful planet of [[Nebulos]].

[[Image:Fortmaxgiveshead.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Dibs on the off-color jokes!]]

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before mistakes were made and Maximus's group found themselves at odds with the local [[human]] populace. Maximus 'proved' their peaceful intentions by marching up to the Nebulan capital, and discarding the group's weapons. When that didn't work, he did the next logical thing and pulled his head off. Four other Autobots also resorted to this grotesque stunt before [[Galen]], head of the Nebulan [[World Watchers]], was convinced they weren't a threat. {{storylink|Ring of Hate!}}

When the Decepticons followed the Autobots to Nebulos, Galen himself ended up becoming the head of Fortress Maximus to help defend the peace and his world, as both the Nebulan and Autobot underwent the [[binary-bonding]] process to become a [[Headmaster]]. {{storylink|Broken Glass!}} Fortress Maximus remained the leader of the Nebulan Autobots for the rest of their battles there, eventually abandoning the planet to support his stranded comrades on Earth. {{storylink|Brothers in Armor!}} During the transport, Fortress Maximus underwent a number of treatments to alter his size considerably, increasing himself from a city-sized behemoth to a slightly ''larger'' city-sized behemoth. With these changes, he could save a lot of time in combat by simply stepping on Decepticons instead of having to actually fight them.

Of course, with his larger scale, Fortress Maximus needed a new head (Galen still being stuck at roughly human-size). For this reason, another Autobot, [[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]], was added to serve as a secondary stage between Galen and Maximus. As the head of Cerebros, Galen could transform Cerebros into the larger head of Fortress Maximus.

Arriving on Earth, Fortress Maximus led his fellow Headmasters to Mount St. Hilary, source of the Autobot distress call that had drawn them to Earth. After recovering the damaged [[Bumblebee (G1)|Goldbug]], the group encountered [[Spike Witwicky|Spike]], who had come in search of his missing younger brother [[Buster Witwicky]]. Spike asked for the Autobots' help in finding his brother, but Fortress Maximus was more interested in their primary mission of locating the Autobots of Earth, and led his troops off to follow the fuel trail of the missing ''Ark.''

Scorponok's crew soon followed Maximus to Earth, however, and to the same cave. When Spike replayed Goldbug's distress message, Fortress Maximus and company returned to the cave, apologizing to Spike for his failure to consider the danger he had brought to Earth's natives by leading the Decepticons there.

In the ensuing battle, Spike retreated further into the volcano's caves to seek shelter. Scorponok followed, seeking a hostage; Fortress Maximus pursued him. As the caves narrowed down, Maximus was forced to send Cerebros onward, and eventually Galen himself had to leave Cerebros to cross a fragile rock bridge. Scorponok used the distraction to blast rocks down on Galen, killing him. As the Decepticon leader left, laughing, Galen passed on his control helmet to Spike, allowing the Earthen to assume control of Fortress Maximus and drive the Decepticons off. {{storylink|Trial by Fire!}}

Spike soon underwent the full binary bonding process and became the leader of the ''Steelhaven'''s crew of Autobots. {{storylink|The Desert Island of Space!}}

[[Image:Fortmaxboat.jpg|right|250px|thumb|This is the last of three times you see his battle station mode, so don't blink.]]
Spike and Fortress Maximus would go on to have a very tumultuous relationship, fighting both the Decepticons and, at times, each other, as Spike constantly expressed his displeasure at being the large Autobot's partner. Once his brother Buster was finally rescued, Spike tried to go go his own way and resume his life, but time and time again the Decepticons would pose some sort of threat to the planet so immense that he would have to join with Fortress Maximus to combat it. {{storylink|The Man in the Machine!}}

After the other Autobots and Decepticons left Earth to battle Unicron, Spike and Fortress Maximus remained on Earth to safeguard the planet. Thus, when the remains of the [[Ark]] fell from orbit and crashed in the northern tundra of Canada, and [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] emerged from the wreckage to wreak havoc, it fell to Fortress Maximus to stop him. After putting aside their differences, Spike and Fortress Maximus managed to unite in thought and deed, and defeat the crazed Decepticon. {{storylink|The Last Autobot?}}

====Generation 2====

It was ultimately [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] who would prove to be the undoing of this giant warrior: when the reborn and reconditioned Decepticon leader stole the Ark and used it as his personal flagship, Spike and Maximus took it upon themselves to stop him. Brutally beaten in combat with an upgraded and super-charged Megatron, the pair dragged themselves to the heart of the ship and threw themselves into the anti-matter containment unit at the core of its power supply, killing both of them. To add further insult to their sacrifice, it was a complete waste of effort: every other Transformer who was on board, including Megatron, managed to survive the destruction of the ship and lived to fight another day.
{{storylink|All or Nothing!}}

===American cartoon continuity===
:''Voice Actor:'' [[Stephen Keener]]

[[Image:Fortressmaximusg1rebirth.jpg|left|thumb|175px|stay out of my damn jaAm Primus said.]]

When the [[Hive]] of [[Nebulos]] had developed the massive [[Transformer]] [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] in 2007, Spike found that his only available resources to combat the threat were the Hive's older technology and the pacifist Autobot Cerebros. Spike used the technology to create an Autobot giant, at the same time re-engineering Cerebros to become the new robot's head, and to take Spike himself as his own head (Cerebros seemed to get little say in these matters). The giant, named Fortress Maximus, blasted off for Cybertron, where he expectedly fought (and won) against Scorponok. After Maximus/Cerebros and Spike saved Cybertron and [[Earth]] from the Hive and the Decepticons, [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] sent them back to Nebulos as its guardians.

It is unclear if Fortress Maximus had any sentience of his own; he did speak once in his own voice. But for the most part, even Cerebros's will seemed to be pushed aside so Spike could run the whole thing himself. {{storylink|The Rebirth, Part 3}}

{{-}}

===Japanese animated continuity===
{{note|Fortress Maximus' head unit is named '''Fortress''', the name of the combined smaller Master robot and the larger [[transtector]] vehicle/robot body. When separated from his transtector, Fortress is called '''Celebros'''.}}
====Kiss Players====
A [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]] from another time inspired the creation of a new Fortress Maximus when he crashed onto [[Master]].{{storylink|Kiss Players (fiction)|Kiss Players}}

====''The Headmasters''====
:''Voice Actor:'' [[Ikuya Sawaki]]

{{charstub}}

[[Image:G1FortressMaximus HMstockfootage.jpg|right|thumb|150px|"...But it's the pelvic [[Thrust|thruuuuuust]] / that really drives you in-sa-a-a-ane / Let's do the Time Warp again!"]]

Headmasters were human-sized Transformers who had long ago left [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] and established themselves on the planet [[Master]]. To better survive there, they built larger bodies for themselves; they could then transform to become the heads of these more powerful forms.

[[Image:FortMax_THM.jpg|left|thumb|150px|The Ginsu Head, slices and dices, makes thousands of julienned Decepticons.]]

The leader of the Autobot faction on Master was named [[Fortress]]. Fortress took the Headmaster process one step further. Not only did he combine with a larger robot, but that robot could in turn enlarge and become the head of another, ''much'' larger robot, the robot form of the Battleship ''Maximus'', thus forming the mighty Fortress Maximus.

Fortress would sometimes run the battleship while sitting on the bridge transformed into a giant head. He also had [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] as a secretary.

{{-}}

====''Super-God Masterforce''====
Fortress was seen briefly and indistinctly as he introduced his brother, [[Grand Maximus]].

===Dreamwave comics continuity===
A gargantuan Fortress Maximus was first seen in a [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]-induced vision of future [[Nebulos]] by Optimus Prime.

Later in the same era, a more normal-sized Fortress Maximus was a co-leader of the Autobot forces on Cybertron, along with Ultra Magnus. As Cybertron's resources ran low, they struggled to hold the Autobot army together. {{storylink|Micromasters (comic)}}

===IDW comics continuity===

Fortress Maximus is the warden in charge of [[Garrus 9]], an Autobot-run penitentiary where both Autobot and Decepticon prisoners are kept in containment. As the ultimate imprisonment, each inmate is reduced down to their [[spark]] and [[laser core]] alone, held inanimate in a storage center known as "The Rig" until such a time as Fort Max deems to rebuild and release them, if ever.

When [[Blaster]] announced his return to the airwaves as "The Voice", Fortress Maximus was one of many Autobots shown hearing his message. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blaster}}

After [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] encountered the [[Monstructor]] [[combiner]]s on [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]'s asteroid bunker, he sent them to Garrus 9 with [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]] and the [[Technobot]]s, hoping the science team could help the six recover from [[Jhiaxus]]'s experimentations. Fortress Maximus was dubious of the possible results, but allowed Jetfire and his team to run their tests at Garrus 9. Things changed for the worse, however, once word of the gestalt technology got out, and agents of the [[Decepticon Secret Service]] came to claim the remarkable new tech for themselves. Faced with an incredible amount of orbital bombardment and ground warfare, Fortress Maximus and his defensive crew were at serious risk of being overrun.

In order to maintain control of his base, Max reactivated the only Autobot inmate classified as Threat Level-9...[[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]]. Knowing Arcee had strong feelings about Jhiaxus and his work from personal experience, Fortress Maximus felt confident she would do anything to prevent the Decepticons from laying claim to the "[[Pretender Monster|Monstructor Six]]". In case he was wrong, though, Fort Max made it clear to Arcee she was lowjacked with synchronized G-forces that would crush her spark if she stepped out of line. Despite Arcee's help, the [[Combaticon]]s still managed to make off with the gestalt robots. Despite his better judgment, Fortress Maximus allowed Jetfire to convince him that Arcee was the best available to track and intercept the Secret Service ships and retrieve or destroy the gestalt robots. {{storylink|Spotlight: Arcee}}

{{note|Though thickly-built, Fortress Maximus is a normal-sized Transformer in IDW continuity.}}

==Toys==
===Generation 1===
*'''Fortress Maximus''' (Headmaster Base, 1987)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''C-114'''
**''Accessories:'' Spike Headmaster unit, Cerebros large Headmaster unit, Gasket, Grommet, Photon Rifle, Dual Laser Cannon, Cerebros's Mini Laser Rifle, Cog's Laser rifle, Radar Scope, Master Sword (Japanese release only), Cerebros's sword (Japanese release only)

[[Image:G1FortressMaximus_toy.jpg|thumb|right|250px|If I hear somebody ask "how's the weather up there" one more time, [[Primus]] help him...]]

: Fortress Maximus is, by far, the largest Transformers toy ever produced. In robot mode it stands 22" (or 56 cm) tall, nearly 8" (20 cm) taller than its in-fiction rival Scorponok. The original retail price was over $100USD. Taking into account ongoing trends in toy pricing and retail shelf space jockeying, it is highly doubtful any other Transformers even close to this size would ever be made again.

: The toy has multiple alt mode configurations, transforming into a relatively compact "city" mode, and also a secondary mode described in the US instruction as a "battle station." That mode was rebranded as a starship for the Japanese instructions, and is the "default" mode for Fortress Maximus in the ''Headmasters'' animated series. Additionally, the 1987 Hasbro toy catalog features a mis-transformed Fortress Maximus in a mode referred to as an "impenetrable fortress," essentially consisting of his city mode with the legs splayed outwards.

: In all modes, Maximus has a wide array of pop-out (non-firing) guns and gimmicks. Its left leg hides a small prison cell, plus has a swing-out cannon/helipad. Its right leg has a small storage compartment. Its torso has a gear-activated spinner for the detachable radar array accessory, a "control socket" for [[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]]' "communications tower" mode, and a working elevator that can lift small toys up to its central ramp to be launched in its altmodes. (The crank for this elevator ends up in a very unfortunate position in robot mode.) Each arm had a long ramp on the back with sliding launchers for small vehicles.

: Its robot-mode head is formed by Cerebros, who does not actually need Spike to attach to the upper body. It came with both Headmaster units, plus the Gasket and Grommet mini-vehicles.

: The Japanese release of Fortress Maximus came with a pair of swords; one for Fortress, a ''large'' one for Maximus. It is currently unknown if the swords were originally planned for the [[Hasbro]] version but dropped for price or [[for safety reasons|safety concerns]], or if they were a [[Takara]]-initiated addition to their release of the toy.

: This mold was used to make ''[[Masterforce (franchise)|Masterforce]]'' [[Grand Maximus]], ''[[Robots in Disguise (franchise)|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Brave Maximus]], and ''[[Robot Masters]]''' "[[Cybertron Base]]".

{{-}}

* '''Fortress Maximus''' (TF Jr, 1987)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''C-114'''
**Accessories:'' Fortress Headmaster unit, Photon Rifle

[[Image:G1_FortressMaximus_Jnr_toy.jpg|thumb|left|150px|''We represent the Lollybot guild'']]

: A smaller rendering of the character, scaled down to regular Transformer size, and with only one head. Fortress Maximus Jnr. could only transform from his starship mode to his robot mode, as his legs lack the joints to fold into city mode. Much of his detail and accessories have been simplified into stickers, such as his shin cannons. He comes with only one weapon, his large blue photon rifle.

:This toy was also available in a leaders three-pack with Chromedome and [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Convoy Jnr.]]

{{-}}

===Merchandise===
* Fortress Maximus was a larger "build-a-bot" from the third "Act" of the [[Super Collection Figure]] PVC line; one piece of it was packaged in each of the six clear pieces in a case of twelve. Like the regular PVCs, it was available both in full-color or colorless-clear versions.

* The Fortress Maximus PVC was revisited for [[Hasbro]]'s [[Heroes of Cybertron]] line, again as a pack-in, one part in each of the six releases of wave four. This version was cast entirely in clear-blue plastic then painted over, save a small spot on his head to give him a "light-pipe" glowing-eyes effect.
:* Torso : [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]]
:* Head & sword: [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]]
:* Left arm: [[Powermaster]] [[Overlord|Gigatron]]
:* Right arm: [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]]
:* Left leg: [[Jazz|Autobot Jazz]]
:* Right leg : Autobot Espionage Team ([[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] & Spike)

==Trivia==
* 'Fortress Maximus' was likely a considered name for the character that eventually became [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] in [[Generation 1]]. The [[Marvel]] comic adaptation of the [[The Transformers: The Movie (1986)|1986 Movie]] even refers to [[Autobot City]] as ''Fortress Maximus'' in a caption.

* Fortress Maximus was the first toy to be released with a bona-fide Earthling figure. All of the other Headmasters' companions were from Nebulos. (Although Maximus's on-package [[bio]] refers to 'the Nebulan leader, Spike', the general consensus is that it was supposed to be the popular figure from TV and other media, who is almost certainly an Earthling.)

* When Spike transforms to join Fortress Maximus for the last time in the ''Generation 2'' book, Cerebros is not shown, and Spike transforms directly into Fortress Maximus's head. Maximus is shown to be no larger than Megatron. In real-life terms, it's an obvious series of art errors; in the context of the story, one might wonder if Maximus was reduced back to his original, smaller, size. It seems improbable, considering that Spike had been retired for years by that point.

* Fortress Maximus has the distinction of having one of the most well known Transformers [[knockoff|bootleg]] versions in existence. While Cerebros has been omitted, the Spike figure is the same, and the body has been scaled down to match, effectively making the body compatible with any other Headmaster head. It also fetches absurd prices for a bootleg.

* In America, Fortress Maximus is seven distinct flavors of awesome, while in Japan he is only 3 kinds of awesome.

==External links==
*[http://www.tfu.info/1987/Autobot/FortressMaximus/fortressmaximus.htm Fortress Maximus at TFU.info]

[[Category: Autobot leaders]]
[[Category: Autobots]]
[[Category:Autobot bases]]
[[Category: Cities]]
[[Category: Generation 1 locations]]
[[Category: Headmasters]]
[[Category: Headmasters characters]]
[[Category: Starships]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>

Fortress Maximus (G1)

2008-05-24T01:11:23Z

99.164.122.35: /* American cartoon continuity */

{{disambig3|Fortress Maximus}}

:''Fortress Maximus is an [[Autobot]] [[Headmaster]] in the [[Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:FortMax1.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Link called. He wants the [[Master Sword]] back.]]

Despite his great power, size, and rank, '''Fortress Maximus''' is a weary and reluctant warrior. Fighting is against his pacifist nature, even for the most noble of causes. Over time, the endless conflict on Cybertron has worn him down, to the point that he's willing to walk away from the war entirely to preserve himself and his ideals.

Fortress Maximus is big. ''How'' big generally depends on the continuity, but often as not he's binary-bonded to a smaller robot named [[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]] who forms his head; Cerebros's own head is formed by [[Spike Witwicky|Spike]].

{{note|Fortress Maximus is one of those fun characters whose English and Japanese incarnations were very different. See individual fiction entries below for continuity specific profiles.}}

:''Japanese name:'' '''Cerebros''' (see below)
:''French-Canadian name:'' '''Forteresse Maximus'''
:''Cracked-out English-Malay dub name:'' '''Spaceship Bruce''' (starship mode only)

:''Chinese name (Taiwan):'' '''Fort''' / '''Ford''' / '''Furmon'''

==Fiction==
===Marvel Comics continuity===
====Generation 1====
Fortress Maximus was an architect in his early career, designing and even constructing many works on Cybertron. When the war came, he reluctantly turned his talents to fighting.

During the long absence of [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]], [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], and their respective troops from [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], unit commander Fortress Maximus became so sick of the war that he decided to leave it. He didn't care if it made him a coward or not, he simply believed that the war would go on regardless of whether or not he was in it. Taking a number of Autobots with him, he retreated to the peaceful planet of [[Nebulos]].

[[Image:Fortmaxgiveshead.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Dibs on the off-color jokes!]]

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before mistakes were made and Maximus's group found themselves at odds with the local [[human]] populace. Maximus 'proved' their peaceful intentions by marching up to the Nebulan capital, and discarding the group's weapons. When that didn't work, he did the next logical thing and pulled his head off. Four other Autobots also resorted to this grotesque stunt before [[Galen]], head of the Nebulan [[World Watchers]], was convinced they weren't a threat. {{storylink|Ring of Hate!}}

When the Decepticons followed the Autobots to Nebulos, Galen himself ended up becoming the head of Fortress Maximus to help defend the peace and his world, as both the Nebulan and Autobot underwent the [[binary-bonding]] process to become a [[Headmaster]]. {{storylink|Broken Glass!}} Fortress Maximus remained the leader of the Nebulan Autobots for the rest of their battles there, eventually abandoning the planet to support his stranded comrades on Earth. {{storylink|Brothers in Armor!}} During the transport, Fortress Maximus underwent a number of treatments to alter his size considerably, increasing himself from a city-sized behemoth to a slightly ''larger'' city-sized behemoth. With these changes, he could save a lot of time in combat by simply stepping on Decepticons instead of having to actually fight them.

Of course, with his larger scale, Fortress Maximus needed a new head (Galen still being stuck at roughly human-size). For this reason, another Autobot, [[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]], was added to serve as a secondary stage between Galen and Maximus. As the head of Cerebros, Galen could transform Cerebros into the larger head of Fortress Maximus.

Arriving on Earth, Fortress Maximus led his fellow Headmasters to Mount St. Hilary, source of the Autobot distress call that had drawn them to Earth. After recovering the damaged [[Bumblebee (G1)|Goldbug]], the group encountered [[Spike Witwicky|Spike]], who had come in search of his missing younger brother [[Buster Witwicky]]. Spike asked for the Autobots' help in finding his brother, but Fortress Maximus was more interested in their primary mission of locating the Autobots of Earth, and led his troops off to follow the fuel trail of the missing ''Ark.''

Scorponok's crew soon followed Maximus to Earth, however, and to the same cave. When Spike replayed Goldbug's distress message, Fortress Maximus and company returned to the cave, apologizing to Spike for his failure to consider the danger he had brought to Earth's natives by leading the Decepticons there.

In the ensuing battle, Spike retreated further into the volcano's caves to seek shelter. Scorponok followed, seeking a hostage; Fortress Maximus pursued him. As the caves narrowed down, Maximus was forced to send Cerebros onward, and eventually Galen himself had to leave Cerebros to cross a fragile rock bridge. Scorponok used the distraction to blast rocks down on Galen, killing him. As the Decepticon leader left, laughing, Galen passed on his control helmet to Spike, allowing the Earthen to assume control of Fortress Maximus and drive the Decepticons off. {{storylink|Trial by Fire!}}

Spike soon underwent the full binary bonding process and became the leader of the ''Steelhaven'''s crew of Autobots. {{storylink|The Desert Island of Space!}}

[[Image:Fortmaxboat.jpg|right|250px|thumb|This is the last of three times you see his battle station mode, so don't blink.]]
Spike and Fortress Maximus would go on to have a very tumultuous relationship, fighting both the Decepticons and, at times, each other, as Spike constantly expressed his displeasure at being the large Autobot's partner. Once his brother Buster was finally rescued, Spike tried to go go his own way and resume his life, but time and time again the Decepticons would pose some sort of threat to the planet so immense that he would have to join with Fortress Maximus to combat it. {{storylink|The Man in the Machine!}}

After the other Autobots and Decepticons left Earth to battle Unicron, Spike and Fortress Maximus remained on Earth to safeguard the planet. Thus, when the remains of the [[Ark]] fell from orbit and crashed in the northern tundra of Canada, and [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] emerged from the wreckage to wreak havoc, it fell to Fortress Maximus to stop him. After putting aside their differences, Spike and Fortress Maximus managed to unite in thought and deed, and defeat the crazed Decepticon. {{storylink|The Last Autobot?}}

====Generation 2====

It was ultimately [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] who would prove to be the undoing of this giant warrior: when the reborn and reconditioned Decepticon leader stole the Ark and used it as his personal flagship, Spike and Maximus took it upon themselves to stop him. Brutally beaten in combat with an upgraded and super-charged Megatron, the pair dragged themselves to the heart of the ship and threw themselves into the anti-matter containment unit at the core of its power supply, killing both of them. To add further insult to their sacrifice, it was a complete waste of effort: every other Transformer who was on board, including Megatron, managed to survive the destruction of the ship and lived to fight another day.
{{storylink|All or Nothing!}}

===American cartoon continuity===
:''Voice Actor:'' [[Stephen Keener]]

[[Image:Fortressmaximusg1rebirth.jpg|left|thumb|175px|stay out of my damn jAmm.]]

When the [[Hive]] of [[Nebulos]] had developed the massive [[Transformer]] [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] in 2007, Spike found that his only available resources to combat the threat were the Hive's older technology and the pacifist Autobot Cerebros. Spike used the technology to create an Autobot giant, at the same time re-engineering Cerebros to become the new robot's head, and to take Spike himself as his own head (Cerebros seemed to get little say in these matters). The giant, named Fortress Maximus, blasted off for Cybertron, where he expectedly fought (and won) against Scorponok. After Maximus/Cerebros and Spike saved Cybertron and [[Earth]] from the Hive and the Decepticons, [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] sent them back to Nebulos as its guardians.

It is unclear if Fortress Maximus had any sentience of his own; he did speak once in his own voice. But for the most part, even Cerebros's will seemed to be pushed aside so Spike could run the whole thing himself. {{storylink|The Rebirth, Part 3}}

{{-}}

===Japanese animated continuity===
{{note|Fortress Maximus' head unit is named '''Fortress''', the name of the combined smaller Master robot and the larger [[transtector]] vehicle/robot body. When separated from his transtector, Fortress is called '''Celebros'''.}}
====Kiss Players====
A [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]] from another time inspired the creation of a new Fortress Maximus when he crashed onto [[Master]].{{storylink|Kiss Players (fiction)|Kiss Players}}

====''The Headmasters''====
:''Voice Actor:'' [[Ikuya Sawaki]]

{{charstub}}

[[Image:G1FortressMaximus HMstockfootage.jpg|right|thumb|150px|"...But it's the pelvic [[Thrust|thruuuuuust]] / that really drives you in-sa-a-a-ane / Let's do the Time Warp again!"]]

Headmasters were human-sized Transformers who had long ago left [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] and established themselves on the planet [[Master]]. To better survive there, they built larger bodies for themselves; they could then transform to become the heads of these more powerful forms.

[[Image:FortMax_THM.jpg|left|thumb|150px|The Ginsu Head, slices and dices, makes thousands of julienned Decepticons.]]

The leader of the Autobot faction on Master was named [[Fortress]]. Fortress took the Headmaster process one step further. Not only did he combine with a larger robot, but that robot could in turn enlarge and become the head of another, ''much'' larger robot, the robot form of the Battleship ''Maximus'', thus forming the mighty Fortress Maximus.

Fortress would sometimes run the battleship while sitting on the bridge transformed into a giant head. He also had [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] as a secretary.

{{-}}

====''Super-God Masterforce''====
Fortress was seen briefly and indistinctly as he introduced his brother, [[Grand Maximus]].

===Dreamwave comics continuity===
A gargantuan Fortress Maximus was first seen in a [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]-induced vision of future [[Nebulos]] by Optimus Prime.

Later in the same era, a more normal-sized Fortress Maximus was a co-leader of the Autobot forces on Cybertron, along with Ultra Magnus. As Cybertron's resources ran low, they struggled to hold the Autobot army together. {{storylink|Micromasters (comic)}}

===IDW comics continuity===

Fortress Maximus is the warden in charge of [[Garrus 9]], an Autobot-run penitentiary where both Autobot and Decepticon prisoners are kept in containment. As the ultimate imprisonment, each inmate is reduced down to their [[spark]] and [[laser core]] alone, held inanimate in a storage center known as "The Rig" until such a time as Fort Max deems to rebuild and release them, if ever.

When [[Blaster]] announced his return to the airwaves as "The Voice", Fortress Maximus was one of many Autobots shown hearing his message. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blaster}}

After [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] encountered the [[Monstructor]] [[combiner]]s on [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]'s asteroid bunker, he sent them to Garrus 9 with [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]] and the [[Technobot]]s, hoping the science team could help the six recover from [[Jhiaxus]]'s experimentations. Fortress Maximus was dubious of the possible results, but allowed Jetfire and his team to run their tests at Garrus 9. Things changed for the worse, however, once word of the gestalt technology got out, and agents of the [[Decepticon Secret Service]] came to claim the remarkable new tech for themselves. Faced with an incredible amount of orbital bombardment and ground warfare, Fortress Maximus and his defensive crew were at serious risk of being overrun.

In order to maintain control of his base, Max reactivated the only Autobot inmate classified as Threat Level-9...[[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]]. Knowing Arcee had strong feelings about Jhiaxus and his work from personal experience, Fortress Maximus felt confident she would do anything to prevent the Decepticons from laying claim to the "[[Pretender Monster|Monstructor Six]]". In case he was wrong, though, Fort Max made it clear to Arcee she was lowjacked with synchronized G-forces that would crush her spark if she stepped out of line. Despite Arcee's help, the [[Combaticon]]s still managed to make off with the gestalt robots. Despite his better judgment, Fortress Maximus allowed Jetfire to convince him that Arcee was the best available to track and intercept the Secret Service ships and retrieve or destroy the gestalt robots. {{storylink|Spotlight: Arcee}}

{{note|Though thickly-built, Fortress Maximus is a normal-sized Transformer in IDW continuity.}}

==Toys==
===Generation 1===
*'''Fortress Maximus''' (Headmaster Base, 1987)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''C-114'''
**''Accessories:'' Spike Headmaster unit, Cerebros large Headmaster unit, Gasket, Grommet, Photon Rifle, Dual Laser Cannon, Cerebros's Mini Laser Rifle, Cog's Laser rifle, Radar Scope, Master Sword (Japanese release only), Cerebros's sword (Japanese release only)

[[Image:G1FortressMaximus_toy.jpg|thumb|right|250px|If I hear somebody ask "how's the weather up there" one more time, [[Primus]] help him...]]

: Fortress Maximus is, by far, the largest Transformers toy ever produced. In robot mode it stands 22" (or 56 cm) tall, nearly 8" (20 cm) taller than its in-fiction rival Scorponok. The original retail price was over $100USD. Taking into account ongoing trends in toy pricing and retail shelf space jockeying, it is highly doubtful any other Transformers even close to this size would ever be made again.

: The toy has multiple alt mode configurations, transforming into a relatively compact "city" mode, and also a secondary mode described in the US instruction as a "battle station." That mode was rebranded as a starship for the Japanese instructions, and is the "default" mode for Fortress Maximus in the ''Headmasters'' animated series. Additionally, the 1987 Hasbro toy catalog features a mis-transformed Fortress Maximus in a mode referred to as an "impenetrable fortress," essentially consisting of his city mode with the legs splayed outwards.

: In all modes, Maximus has a wide array of pop-out (non-firing) guns and gimmicks. Its left leg hides a small prison cell, plus has a swing-out cannon/helipad. Its right leg has a small storage compartment. Its torso has a gear-activated spinner for the detachable radar array accessory, a "control socket" for [[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]]' "communications tower" mode, and a working elevator that can lift small toys up to its central ramp to be launched in its altmodes. (The crank for this elevator ends up in a very unfortunate position in robot mode.) Each arm had a long ramp on the back with sliding launchers for small vehicles.

: Its robot-mode head is formed by Cerebros, who does not actually need Spike to attach to the upper body. It came with both Headmaster units, plus the Gasket and Grommet mini-vehicles.

: The Japanese release of Fortress Maximus came with a pair of swords; one for Fortress, a ''large'' one for Maximus. It is currently unknown if the swords were originally planned for the [[Hasbro]] version but dropped for price or [[for safety reasons|safety concerns]], or if they were a [[Takara]]-initiated addition to their release of the toy.

: This mold was used to make ''[[Masterforce (franchise)|Masterforce]]'' [[Grand Maximus]], ''[[Robots in Disguise (franchise)|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Brave Maximus]], and ''[[Robot Masters]]''' "[[Cybertron Base]]".

{{-}}

* '''Fortress Maximus''' (TF Jr, 1987)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''C-114'''
**Accessories:'' Fortress Headmaster unit, Photon Rifle

[[Image:G1_FortressMaximus_Jnr_toy.jpg|thumb|left|150px|''We represent the Lollybot guild'']]

: A smaller rendering of the character, scaled down to regular Transformer size, and with only one head. Fortress Maximus Jnr. could only transform from his starship mode to his robot mode, as his legs lack the joints to fold into city mode. Much of his detail and accessories have been simplified into stickers, such as his shin cannons. He comes with only one weapon, his large blue photon rifle.

:This toy was also available in a leaders three-pack with Chromedome and [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Convoy Jnr.]]

{{-}}

===Merchandise===
* Fortress Maximus was a larger "build-a-bot" from the third "Act" of the [[Super Collection Figure]] PVC line; one piece of it was packaged in each of the six clear pieces in a case of twelve. Like the regular PVCs, it was available both in full-color or colorless-clear versions.

* The Fortress Maximus PVC was revisited for [[Hasbro]]'s [[Heroes of Cybertron]] line, again as a pack-in, one part in each of the six releases of wave four. This version was cast entirely in clear-blue plastic then painted over, save a small spot on his head to give him a "light-pipe" glowing-eyes effect.
:* Torso : [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]]
:* Head & sword: [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]]
:* Left arm: [[Powermaster]] [[Overlord|Gigatron]]
:* Right arm: [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]]
:* Left leg: [[Jazz|Autobot Jazz]]
:* Right leg : Autobot Espionage Team ([[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] & Spike)

==Trivia==
* 'Fortress Maximus' was likely a considered name for the character that eventually became [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] in [[Generation 1]]. The [[Marvel]] comic adaptation of the [[The Transformers: The Movie (1986)|1986 Movie]] even refers to [[Autobot City]] as ''Fortress Maximus'' in a caption.

* Fortress Maximus was the first toy to be released with a bona-fide Earthling figure. All of the other Headmasters' companions were from Nebulos. (Although Maximus's on-package [[bio]] refers to 'the Nebulan leader, Spike', the general consensus is that it was supposed to be the popular figure from TV and other media, who is almost certainly an Earthling.)

* When Spike transforms to join Fortress Maximus for the last time in the ''Generation 2'' book, Cerebros is not shown, and Spike transforms directly into Fortress Maximus's head. Maximus is shown to be no larger than Megatron. In real-life terms, it's an obvious series of art errors; in the context of the story, one might wonder if Maximus was reduced back to his original, smaller, size. It seems improbable, considering that Spike had been retired for years by that point.

* Fortress Maximus has the distinction of having one of the most well known Transformers [[knockoff|bootleg]] versions in existence. While Cerebros has been omitted, the Spike figure is the same, and the body has been scaled down to match, effectively making the body compatible with any other Headmaster head. It also fetches absurd prices for a bootleg.

* In America, Fortress Maximus is seven distinct flavors of awesome, while in Japan he is only 3 kinds of awesome.

==External links==
*[http://www.tfu.info/1987/Autobot/FortressMaximus/fortressmaximus.htm Fortress Maximus at TFU.info]

[[Category: Autobot leaders]]
[[Category: Autobots]]
[[Category:Autobot bases]]
[[Category: Cities]]
[[Category: Generation 1 locations]]
[[Category: Headmasters]]
[[Category: Headmasters characters]]
[[Category: Starships]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>

Decepticlone

2008-05-23T22:05:27Z

99.164.122.35:

:''Decepticlones are the common enemies in the [[Transformers (PS2)]] video game.''
[[Image:AttackOfTheClones.jpg|left|thumb|320px|Marching in the street, dragging iron feet...]]

The '''Decepticlones''' follow a simple directive: Destroy all [[Autobot]]s, no matter the cost. Their exact origin is unrevealed, though its assumed they are rapidly constructed on assembly lines.

Decepticlones are largely autonomous and display no sentience, though some models have a higher degree of artificial intelligence and combat skill, attempting to evade enemy attacks or use stealth in their approach. Also, most Decepticlones show no signs of transformation capability. Due to their sheer number, they have allowed [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]] to nearly conquer all of [[Cybertron_(planet)|Cybertron]], and have overrun many locations once dispatched to [[Earth]].
{{-}}

==Decepticlone Classes==
[[Image:CloneArmy.png|right|thumbnail|Begun, this Clone War has.]]
[[Image:Decepticlone-Screen1.jpg|right|thumbnail|A Command Unit and several Medium Units. Not shown: the Cameraman Unit that took the picture]]
Decepticlones come in a wide variety of bodyforms, with varying abililties and intelligence levels.

*[[Light Unit]]
*[[Medium Unit]]
*[[Heavy Unit]]
*[[Command Unit]]
*[[Guerilla Unit]]
*[[Rollarm Unit]]
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[[Category: Mass-produced Transformers]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>

Galvatron (G1)

2008-05-23T11:51:12Z

99.164.122.35: /* American animated continuity */

{{disambig3|Galvatron}}

:''Galvatron is a [[Decepticon]] in the [[Generation 1]] continuity family.''

[[Image:Galvatrong1.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Bwaaaaah! Kneepad of Dooooom!]]

'''Galvatron''' is a force of nature. Born from the machinations of [[Unicron]] himself, Galvatron is a focal point of power and madness given form. He is blind to all but his lust for power; his whims and desires can be sacrificed in a moment's rage. Not even his own subordinates are safe. Though he is not beyond the capacity for long-term goals, it is his unpredictability and his casual disregard for any and all life that strike such horror in friend and foe alike. Truly, the [[Decepticon leader]] is without any sense of empathy.

Galvatron was once [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], but was reborn from his death throes in a Faustian pact with Unicron. He retains the memories and spark of Megatron, but his personality was significantly altered after the near-death experience, massive physical upgrade, and reprogramming. And all that was ''before'' he went insane. The cause and extent of Galvatron's madness varies between different continuities, as does his physical power. Sometimes he's depicted as almost invincible.
{{quote|Come out, Autobot! We all must die sometime.|Galvatron hunting [[Hot Rod]]|''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''}}

==Fiction==
===American animated continuity===
====Generation 1 cartoon====
:''Voice actors:'' [[Leonard Nimoy]], [[Frank Welker]] (US); [[Seizō Katō]] (Japan); [[Gert Wiedenhofen]], [[Manfred Erdmann]](Movie), [[Thomas Rauscher]](G2 Redub) (German)

[[Image:Tftm1986c.jpg|left|thumb|He had more energon than meets the eye.]]
In 2005, after being mortally wounded by [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] during the [[Battle of Autobot City]], [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] was left to float aimlessly through space after being punted out of the overloaded Astrotrain by Starscream, who finally decided to take advantage of his near-death state to take command. He was summoned by [[Unicron]], who offered him a new body, a warship and new troops to command, so long as he destroyed the [[Autobot]] [[Matrix of Leadership]]. Megatron reluctantly accepted and was upgraded into '''Galvatron''', a more fearsome and powerful warrior.

Galvatron quickly retook command of the Decepticons after killing the traitorous [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] in the middle of his coronation as the Decepticons' new leader. He then went to Earth and attacked [[Autobot City]] full-force. [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]] led him away from Earth, and Galvatron chased him to the [[Junkion (planet)|Planet of Junk]], where he defeated Magnus and took the Matrix, intending to use it against Unicron.

Galvatron could not open the Matrix, however, and as punishment for his treachery, Unicron swallowed him whole. Inside Unicron's belly, he met up with [[Hot Rod]]. Though he initially suggested an alliance with the young Autobot against the mutual threat of his master, the Chaos Bringer mentally tortured Galvatron for his attempted treachery and then forced him to attack Hot Rod. Hot Rod eventually managed to wrest the Matrix away from Galvatron and open it, leading to his transformation into Rodimus Prime. Flush with new power, Rodimus hurled Galvatron from inside Unicron and into deep space. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}}

[[Image:GalvatronTVMag1.jpg|right|200px|thumb|He has a weird tendency to aim at his own troops.]]

But this would not be the end of Galvatron.

The weakened Decepticons were subsequently routed by the Autobots and forced off of Cybertron, relocating to the burned-out world of [[Chaar]]. After eking out a living there in energy-deprived squalor for some time, they were visited by [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] and [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]], who'd finally decided to return the Decepticons to glory by seeking out the lost Galvatron. They found him sunk in a lava pit on the distant planet [[Thrull]] and managed to free him. However, the effects of the "plasma bath" irrevocably altered Galvatron's sanity chips, rendering him omnicidally insane. Upon regaining his freedom, he thrashed Cyclonus and Scourge and sundered Thrull. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2}}

Galvatron led the Decepticons on many wacky adventures against the Autobots throughout 2006, though his insanity would usually lead to each mission ending in failure. (He loved shooting his own troops, for instance.) At one point, his derangement became so severe, the perpetually loyal Cyclonus was left little choice but to dupe Galvatron into taking therapy sessions (albeit by force) on [[Torkulon]], the therapy planet. After nearly murdering an attendant during a word-association session and somehow building a gun in an arts and crafts class, Galvatron was deemed incurable by conventional methods. The doctors attempted to use living extensions of the planet to give him a lobotomy (much to Cyclonus's disapproval), but Galvatron broke free and murdered the sentient organic core of Torkulon. After that, he razed the entire planet's civilization, leaving them so broken it would take centuries to rebuild. {{storylink|Webworld}}

However, despite his insanity, he teamed up with the resurrected Optimus Prime to stop the [[Hate Plague]]. Galvatron wound up becoming infected by the plague and attempted to kill an unconscious Optimus Prime with a axe. Optimus woke up in the nick of time and opened the Matrix directly in Galvatron's face. The wisdom of the Matrix not only cured the universe of the Hate Plague, it cured Galvatron's madness as well. Grateful, Galvatron sanely declared, "There will be no war today, Optimus. You have earned Galvatron's respect," and called a brief truce. {{storylink|The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2}}

In 2007, Galvatron called off the truce and led an assault on Autobot City, searching for the Key to the [[Plasma Energy Chamber]]. Although seemingly lucid during this period, he formulated what was perhaps his most genocidal and unbalanced scheme ever: Having converted Cybertron into a galactic dreadnought, Galvatron maneuvered it into Earth's orbit, planning to release the Plasma Energy Chamber's payload into Earth's sun, Sol. The resulting supernova would wipe both Earth and Cybertron off the face of the galaxy, presumably leaving Galvatron to gain mastery over everything left. Grudgingly teamed with the Transformer-[[Nebulan]] hybrid [[Scorponok (G1)|Lord Zarak]], Galvatron was eventually defeated and sent tumbling through space, ushering Cybertron into a new Golden Age. After regaining control, Galvatron vowed to collect energy from disparate corners of the galaxy and return to Cybertron: "We will attack other planets, we will suck them dry! We will build a planet a hundred times more powerful than Cybertron, and I will rule the galaxy!" Scorponok made it clear he questioned Galvatron's leadership, however. {{storylink|The Rebirth, Part 3}}

===Japanese animated continuity===

{{Note|The events of the American animated continuity occur in this timeline as above, except that the events following ''The Transformers: The Movie'' are pushed back to 2010 (creating a five-year gap between Galvatron's creation and his return), and the events of "The Rebirth" do not occur. The Japanese animated continuity subsequently adds several new adventures into the timeline, both during the Generation 1 cartoon and after it, as detailed below.}}

====''Kiss Players''====

After being hurled out of Unicron and into space by Rodimus Prime, Galvatron's flight path was disrupted by the [[Sparkbot]]s, a trio of Unicron's servants who were already working to resurrect their master. The Decepticon leader crash-landed on the planet [[Earth]], obliterating the city of [[Tokyo]]. This catastrophic loss of life destroyed [[human]]-[[Transformer]] relations and led to the formation of the [[Earth Defense Command]], a governmental organization which drove Transformers from the face of the planet. Appropriating Galvatron's remains, the EDC reverse-engineered a fleet of human-operated "[[Autrooper]]" Transformers to perform this task.

As 2006 settled in, Galvatron's impact was revealed to have had an even greater effect than anyone had expected: The blast caused by his impact had scattered his Unicron-empowered cells throughout the planet's atmosphere. When his cells came into contact with other objects and animals, they fused with them, creating an army of monstrous creatures referred to as "[[Legion]]". This disastrous event also created the means to defend the world against Legion, however: When Galvatron's cells came into contact with human beings, these humans gained the ability to fuse with other entities containing his cells. With their Autroopers being the perfect candidates for this "[[ParasiTech]]" fusion process, the EDC began recruiting and training these "[[Kiss Players]]" as combat squads to battle the Legion.

Seeking to uncover the ulterior motives of EDC Commander [[Hitoshizuku Amaō]], Kiss Players [[Marissa Faireborne]], [[Shaoshao Li]] and [[Atari Hitotonari]] discovered the remains of Galvatron beneath the EDC headquarters. Amaō's plan to use the Legions to resurrect her daughter, who had died in Galvatron's impact, was foiled when all the Legions and Autroopers fused with Galvatron's corpse, restoring his cells and reconstituting his body. Galvatron's body was shot back into space, where it went on to crash on Thrull. {{storylink|Kiss Players (fiction)|Kiss Players}}

====''The Transformers'' manga====

Galvatron had plenty of devious schemes up his sleeve throughout 2010, opening with the nutty idea of a spaceship that ate other spaceships, which Rodimus Prime promptly blew up. {{storylink|The Transformers issue 1}} Galvatron went back to his roots for his next scheme, creating a clone army of Megatrons that he dubbed the "[[Megatron Military]]". Galvatron disguised himself as one of the Megatrons and controlled them remotely, making them an effective fighting force that the Autobots had trouble dealing with, until his disguise was penetrated and his control over the robots broken. {{storylink|The Transformers issue 2}}

Other plans included an attack on Autobot City with [[Trypticon]] {{storylink|The Transformers issue 3}} and an attempt to steal the Prime Energy of the planet [[Feminia]] {{storylink|The Transformers issue 5}}. On one notable occasion, Galvatron challenged Rodimus Prime to a one-on-one duel in order to lure him into a trap set up in partnership with the Quintessons. In the middle of the fight, the Quintessons' newest creation, an Optimus Prime/Megatron hybrid robot known as [[Guiltor]], arrived to attack Rodimus, but Galvatron was shocked when Guiltor turned on him as well. Rodimus and Galvatron called a truce long enough for them to team up and destroy Guiltor, who, it was revealed, had been possessed by Starscream's ghost. {{storylink|The Transformers issue 4}}

====''Big War'' manga====

Later in 2010, Galvatron kidnapped [[Dalton]], a brilliant scientist from the planet [[Elan]], but Dalton refused to work with the Decepticons and lent his aid to the Autobots instead, upgrading the [[Technobot]]s so they could defeat the [[Terrorcon (G1)|Terrorcons]]. {{storylink|Big War issue 1}} {{storylink|Big War issue 2}}

After the resurrection of Optimus Prime and the curing of the Hate Plague, Galvatron hastily broke his vow that there would be no war, and he, Cyclonus and Scourge battled Prime, Hot Rod and [[Kup]] in space, only to be defeated. {{storylink|Big War issue 3}}

====''The Headmasters'' anime====

In 2011, a side effect of releasing the Matrix's energy to cure the Hate Plague was revealed when the mega-computer [[Vector Sigma]] began to destabilize. Seeking to exploit this imbalance, Galvatron attacked Cybertron, his forces now bolstered by the addition of new [[Headmaster]] warriors from the planet [[Master (Headmasters)|Master]]. {{storylink|Four Warriors Come Out Of The Sky}} The arrival of a team of Autobot Headmasters repelled the invasion, but it was then revealed that the Matrix was hidden somewhere on Earth, recharging, and the race began to acquire it and use it to gain control over Vector Sigma. {{storylink|The Mystery of Planet Master}} Hot Rod ultimately succeeded in obtaining the Matrix and becoming Rodimus Prime again, and he and Optimus Prime joined forces to defeat Galvatron. Though beaten in battle, Galvatron did at least take solace in the fact that Optimus Prime once again met his end {{storylink|A Dream is Born, Double Prime}}

After several further schemes involving an [[Madmachine|electro-magnetic weapon]] and a [[Metamorpho|metal-warping meteorite]], Galvatron set his sights on [[Cybertonuron]], a powerful new alloy being developed by Vector Sigma. The Decepticon Headmaster leader, [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]], advocated the destruction of the alloy to prevent the Autobots from obtaining it, but when Galvatron refused to consider the notion, Scorponok took matters into his own hands and had powerful bombs planted in Vector Sigma's chamber. {{storylink|Cybertron is in Grave Danger, Part 2}} Scorponok told Galvatron what he had done, and the enraged Decepticon leader ran into the chamber to try and stop the explosion, only to be caught in the blast. Cybertron was reduced to a burnt-out husk, and Galvatron was left missing in action. {{storylink|Cybertron is in Grave Danger, Part 1}}

[[Image:Galvacron.jpg|thumb|left|Galvatron's been getting into the energon goodies jar. Fatty!!!]]
Galvatron was thought dead for some time, and during his absence, Scorponok proclaimed himself new Decepticon leader, only for Galvatron to turn up alive and well during his coronation. {{storylink|Return of the Immortal Emperor}} Galvatron retook command of the Decepticons and began a devious plot, taking the Decepticons on an series of interplanetary raids that saw them steal energy from numerous different worlds. Returning to Earth with a massive stockpile of [[energon]], Galvatron confided to his most trusted warrior, [[Sixshot]], that he intended to use the energon as part of a process that would transform Earth into a new, all-powerful, Unicron-like body for him, dubbed "[[Grand Galvatron]]". Additionally, he explained that this process would require only the best components from his most powerful warriors, making it quite clear that he intended to sacrifice Sixshot and the other Decepticons for this insane ambition. Aghast, Sixshot betrayed Galvatron to Scorponok as quickly as possible, leaving the Decepticon leader alone to battle the Autobot Headmasters in Alaska. Thankfully for the Autobots, their double-agent [[Punch]] had eavesdropped on Galvatron and Sixshot's conversation, during which Galvatron had revealed that his head was his weakest point. With this information to aid them, the Headmasters entered [[Head Formation]] and laid Galvatron low, collapsing an iceberg on top of him and entombing him in ice. {{storylink|The Emperor of Destruction Vanishes on an Iceberg}}

Galvatron would remain buried in the ice for over fifteen years, until he was resurrected by [[Dark Nova]] as the new and improved [[Megatron (G1)#Battlestars: Return of Convoy|Super Megatron]].

====''15 Go! Go!'' manga====
[[Image:TGGGalvatron.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Crazy AND toy-accurate.]]
At some point after 2025, when Optimus Prime had been restored to life once more as Star Convoy, the mobile computer [[Teletraan 15]] traveled forward in time from 2005 to this era as part of a mission gather data to rebuild [[Teletraan I]]'s damaged databanks. During her visit, as Star Convoy and Hot Rod prepared to battle Ultra Megatron, a [[transwarp]] wormhole suddenly opened above the combatants, and a massive blast shot emerged from it and struck Hot Rod. Badly damaged, Hot Rod could barely warn his commander as Galvatron, appearing from some unknown spot in space and time, descended through the portal. Tearing Teletraan 15's arm off, Galvatron gripped the limb in his [[teeth]] as he maniacally throttled Hot Rod. Teletraan 15 passed out and woke up some time later with the outcome of the battle unknown, though she remained haunted by images of the crazed Decepticon clutching her limp and helpless friend. {{storylink|15 Go! Go!}}

{{-}}

===Scramble City Toys===

{{note|This fifteen-minute, stop-motion, extended toy advert retells the story of the original ''[[Scramble City]]'' OVA with the addition of Galvatron. Created before the Japanese production staff were aware that Galvatron was a recreated Megatron, this OVA features the infamous gaffe that presents Galvatron and Megatron as separate characters. It ain't in continuity with jack, yo.}}

During a massive brawl between the Autobot and Decepticon [[combiner]]s, Megatron took the upper hand. To counter this, Optimus Prime ordered [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] to enter the fray. Metroplex rolled onto the scene and towered over his enemies, with City Commander Ultra Magnus in tow. Not to be outdone, Megatron ordered his ''own'' [[City Commander]] to enter battle. Beaming down from the sky on a ball of light, the silent and menacing Galvatron stormed the battle. Transforming into cannon mode, Galvatron fired a blast of energy at Ultra Magnus, who quickly transformed to robot mode and engaged his foe in hand-to-hand combat. As the fight seemed evenly matched, City Commander Galvatron's ''city'' finally arrived to tip the odds: [[Trypticon]]! {{storylink|Scramble City Toys}}

===Marvel Comics continuity===

{{noteukonly}}

''There were multiple Galvatrons from various alternate futures who often time-jumped to give the Autobots trouble. There are between 2 and 5 different Galvatrons; the exact number remaining inconclusive.''

====''Galvatron I''====

''After being scolded by [[Unicron]] in 2006, Galvatron was ordered to attack Earth and destroy the [[Matrix]] He ordered "Decepticons, to Earth!" but what he REALLY meant was Earth...1986!''

''Time-jumping from the year 2006 and freeing himself from Unicron's control, Galvatron intended to create a device that would be powerful enough to destroy Unicron in 2006. Galvatron brought Cyclonus and Scourge with himself, and as an effect of time-travel, replaced three Autobots ([[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], and [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]]) in the timeline. Galvatron began construction of a massive laser cannon which he would then hide on Earth and unleash on an unsuspecting Unicron when the time was right.''

''The Autobots and Decepticons weren't having any of that and briefly formed an alliance to stop the three Decepticons of the future. The plan wasn't going very well until [[Hot Rod]], [[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] and [[Kup]] came from the future to help. Present-day Ultra Magnus also arrived to help and heroically kept Galvatron occupied as the Autobots and Decepticons set-up a trap.''

''Galvatron mopped the floor with [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]] and returned to his laser cannon. He then ran into what he thought was [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] (but, in fact, was an unconscious [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] in disguise), and in a fit of anger, blew him up. After a second he realized that if he destroyed Starscream in the past, how could he have destroyed him in the future? Figuring that he was in an alternate past, and thus, no action taken then would affect his future, Galvatron and his troops returned to their proper time. The Autobots and Decepticons subsequently destroyed the laser cannon and called off the truce. {{storylink|Target 2006}}''

''Sometime later, Galvatron returned from the future (again following the destruction of [[Unicron]]). This time, he planned to stay in the past. In an initial confrontation with the Autobots and Decepticons of the present-era, Galvatron mopped the floor with both sides, establishing himself as a severe threat to all Transformers on Earth. {{storylink|Fallen Angel}} In the coming weeks, Galvatron constructed a massive magma tap as a means of gaining power for himself. He intended to siphon the energy of an erupting volcano to become as powerful as a god. His plans were interrupted by Ultra Magnus, [[Goldbug]], and several Autobots who had travelled back from Galvatron's own era to capture him. [[Rodimus Prime]] attempted to manipulate Galvatron's time-jump device to send them all back to the future, but when he and the other Autobots slingshoted back to 2008, Galvatron inexplicably remained behind. It ultimately fell on Ultra Magnus to stop Galvatron alone. In a desperate move, the Autobot flung them into the volcano, and the two of them became trapped under molten lava. {{storylink|Vicious Circle!}}''

''Galvatron eventually escaped and planned to take control of the Decepticons away from [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]]. He opened his plan by menacingly approaching the Decepticon base, compeling Shockwave to attack and try to drive off the futuristic Decepticon. Instead, after easily wading through Shockwave's defenses, Galvatron cunningly announced that he had been coming in peace, but Shockwave's unprovoked assault had made an enemy out of him. He did this to sow discord among the Decepticon ranks, who now blamed Shockwave for gaining them a powerful new enemy. {{storylink|Enemy Action!}} This prompted Shockwave to concoct a plan to use [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] as a weapon against Galvatron. {{Storylink|Salvage!}}''

''Galvatron’s time-traveling (along with that of the other Autobots and Decepticons) eventually caused a rift in time and space that threatened both the present and the future, opening a timestorm at both ends of the timeline that consumed the planet [[Quintessa]] in 2008. {{Storylink|Space Pirates!}}''

''[[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] unleashed his [[Straxus|brainwashed Megatron]] on Galvatron, in the hopes of eliminating one or both of his rivals. Unfortunately, Galvatron managed to appeal to the suppressed personality within Megatron, and the two joined forces. {{Storylink|Altered Image!}} Megatron and Galvatron forged an alliance and launched an assault against the combined forces of the present-day Autobot and Decepticons, the future Autobots and Decepticons, and the [[Wreckers]] and [[Mayhem Attack Squad]]. By this stage, Galvatron was consumed by madness and was able to overcome all resistance. Even severe injury and single combat with Powermaster Optimus Prime failed to stop him completely. His threat was only truly ended when the time rift itself lashed out at Galvatron ripping him apart.''

====''Galvatron II''====
''See [[Galvatron II]]''

====Other versions of Galvatron====

*''In an alternate future, a geriatric Rodimus Prime recounted tales of his exploits to a curious youth from his deathbed. He said that the Time Wars had changed the timeline so that Galvatron never went back in time, and had conquered Cybertron instead. He was last seen in a flashback to Unicron's third coming in the year 2010 (of that timeline).'' {{storylink|Aspects of Evil!}}

*''In the [[Earthforce]] timeline, a Galvatron claiming to be a different Galvatron from the original one snuck into the Autobot crypt and implanted devices that would read the memories of various dead Autobots. He accidentally revived them from the dead, and Wheeljack was able to imprison him in a "sleep mode". Within this sleep mode, Galvatron was forced to forever relive his worst nightmare (being dismembered by [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus Prime]]) over and over and over again... {{storylink|Perchance to Dream}} It is unknown if this is meant to be [[Galvatron II]], the Aspects of Evil Galvatron, or a whole new version.''

===Dreamwave ''Armada'' comic===
An alternate version of Galvatron appeared briefly as one of [[Unicron]]'s heralds, along with [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]], [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]], [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]], and [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]]. He rather impassively stated that he had killed "many" Megatrons in other alternate realities. However, he was ultimately destroyed by this timeline's native [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]] with the power of the [[Dark Saber]].

===IDW comics continuity===
{{note|Uniquely, the IDWverse Galvatron is a completely, totally, honestly, (no kidding) entirely separate character from Megatron, and actually predates him.}}

{{ongoing}}
Galvatron was a crew member on the first ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'', launched during Cybertron's [[Golden Age]]. However, he and the ship were lost to an anomaly found in the [[Benzuli Expanse]], and he then became the herald for what he referred to as the [[Dead Universe]]. Galvatron is in fact ''undead'' [http://idwpublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3893], with [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] blowing off part of his head only for Galvatron to immediately get up again. Returning to Cybertron soon after [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]]'s [[Stormbringer (comics)|resurrection and defeat]], Galvatron succeeded in seizing the huge [[Pretender]]'s remains. While on that mission, by merely ''touching'' [[Leadfoot]] he caused him to ''immediately die''. {{Storylink|Spotlight: Galvatron}} {{storylink|Devastation issue 6}}

After [[Sixshot]]'s deployment to [[Earth]], [[Nova Prime|Nemesis Prime]] sent Galvatron there as well to make sure nothing would forestall their second coming. {{Storylink|Devastation issue 3}} From a hidden vantage point, Galvatron observed the Decepticons' desperate fight against the powerful alien army known as the Reapers. As Nemesis Prime's plans required Earth to survive, at least for a while, Galvatron took steps to prevent the Reapers from taking over and laying waste to the planet. Approaching the Reapers' leader, Deathbringer, Galvatron unleashed the power of death that was his to command, turning the Reaper into living decay who spread death and disintegration to his fellow Reapers on contact. This turned the tide of battle considerably, and the Decepticons won the day. Galvatron then returned to the Dead Universe to await new orders. However, Nemesis Prime remarked to [[Jhiaxus]] that he suspects that Galvatron has his own plans... {{Storylink|Devastation issue 6}}

==Controversy over identity==
[[Image:MarvelUK-202.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Yeah, this'll ''really'' help with the whole insanity thing.]]
{{quote|Well, they were the same guy.|[[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]]'s thoughts on the subject|"[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1]]"}}
Some fans believe Galvatron is a psychologically distinct and discontinuous entity from Megatron, almost, or equally, as much as [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] and [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]], who demonstrate no continuity of memory or personality with their former Decepticon selves. This remains a topic of heated debate in some circles, in spite of a fairly unambiguous canon.

===Generation 1 cartoon===

In the G1 animated continuity, Galvatron evidently still self-identifies as being the same person as Megatron, albeit with greater power and a new name. Although not making a point of revealing this former identity to his troops at large (perhaps to cast off the potential stigma of being a "defeated"/successfully deposed leader), Galvatron makes his sense of self clear when Starscream asks "Megatron? Is that you?" to which he replies, "Here's a hint," before obliterating him.<ref>Some fans claim the "Here's a hint" line is a point in favor of Galvatron ''not'' being Megatron, instead of the far more likely intended affirmation, since Megatron "would never kill Starscream." However most fans would probably agree that Starscream had simply never pissed off Megatron enough to actually kill him before.</ref> Later in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie (1986)|The Transformers: The Movie]]'' when Galvatron is poised to crush [[Hot Rod]]'s neck, he boasts: "First Prime, then Ultra Magnus, and now you. It's a pity you Autobots die so easily, or I might have a sense of satisfaction." Again, Galvatron is obviously speaking with no sense of discontinuity of identity or personality as he refers to past and current acts as both Megatron and Galvatron without qualification or distinction.

While some might contrast this statement, however, with his earlier line, "I, Galvatron, shall crush you, just as Megatron crushed Prime,", interpreting that such a statement implies a disconnect from his former life, this too can easily be explained by Galvatron's apparent reluctance to allow his troops know that he used to be Megatron. While Galvatron would have fully expected the knowledge imparted in the later statement to Hot Rod to die with the callow youth, the declaration to Ultra Magnus was made in public, with his troops (and, potentially, other Autobots in earshot) present.

During season three, however, Galvatron makes little or no further references to his past life as Megatron, though this could be a side effect of lying in a pool of lava for several months and his increasing insanity. Upon meeting the resurrected Optimus Prime in ''The Return of Optimus Prime'', Galvatron behaves as though simply picking up where he left off with his old nemesis from his Megatron days, as does Prime, saying that he knows Galvatron "all too well." This indicates that the Autobot leader is capable of recognising his former adversary despite the change in name and appearance. Furthermore, in ''Five Faces of Darkness'', Astrotrain states that Megatron and Galvatron are "the same guy," implying that during Galvatron's absence, the other Decepticons (or, at the very least, Astrotrain) figured out what was going on.

Despite all that, a memorial of Megatron can be seen prominently in the [[Decepticon Crypt]], implying that the Decepticons who built it considered Megatron to be dead. This could possibly be explained by presuming the Decepticons built the marker before Galvatron returned and seized command, though their window of opportunity to do so was rather slim. {{storylink|Starscream's Ghost}}

===Japanese fiction===

[[Image:EarlyGalvatronTVMagazine1.jpg|left|250px|thumb|I hope you enjoyed that jump-kick, Magnus, because it's a ''very'' long way down.]]

Early advertisements for the Galvatron toy presented the character as an altogether separate being from Megatron, and in some cases, even being Megatron's ''underling''. The second [[Scramble City]] OVA was a remake of the original animated version, albeit including the Galvatron toy for promotion. Galvatron appears to fight his nemesis, Ultra Magnus, as Megatron barks orders from the background. This is likely due to Takara wishing to advertise the toy as quickly as possible, without full knowledge of the character's history. To maintain Galvatron's mystique, he was given the function of "City Commander", with no indication that he was an upgraded Megatron. Continuing this trend of unintentional disassociation, very early promotional artwork featured in ''[[TV Magazine]]'' and ''[[Comic Bom Bom]]'' also presented Galvatron as a separate character.

However, this era was very short-lived. In all official Japanese fiction, including the [[manga]] and the Japanese-exclusive cartoons, Galvatron is locked in as an upgrade of Megatron. A [[retcon]] was created by writer [[Hirofumi Ichikawa]] for [[E-Hobby]] in order to explain away the bizarreness of some of these early [[story page]]s, detailing that the Galvatron seen there was actually a dimension-traveling [[Galvatron II]].

===Marvel Comics===

In the US and UK Marvel comics, the various time-hopping Galvatrons all demonstrate an awareness of having previously been Megatron with no strong indicators of a break in psychological identification. Indeed, at one point, a Galvatron says outright, "Like Megatron? No—I AM Megatron!" The closest that these Galvatrons come to identity crisis are incidents in which a time-displaced Galvatron is confronted by Megatrons (or copies thereof) and does battle with his former self. Although in these instances Galvatron experiences trains of thought that suggest he sees Megatron as a separate being and/or the source of his madness that needs to be destroyed, it should be noted that these are not the musings of a calm, rational mind. In these instances, Galvatron is in the grips of a psychotic episode, which he generally snaps out of by realising that he and his opponent are indeed the same person.

A possible explanation for why (any version of) Galvatron retains psychological continuity with Megatron while his fellow Unicron-creations do not may be that [[Thundercracker]], et al. were apparently already dead or in total stasis lock at the time of their reformatting, and thus it is widely speculated that only their bodies were used to create Cyclonus and company. Whether this indicates that they retained their sparks and merely suffered total mind-wipes (either as the result of recent death or by Unicron's doing), or if Unicron actually infused their reformatted bodies with new life-forces is unknown. (On the other hand, none of the other Unicron-created Decepticons have faced their past selves or deeds the way Galvatron has.) Megatron, by comparison, was clearly alive and awake at the time of his reformatting and struck a bargain with Unicron for "a new body", a deal which implied that his mind would remain his own.

==Toys==
===Generation 1===
* '''Galvatron''' (Decepticon, 1986/1987)
: ''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-62'''

[[Image:G1_Galvatron_toy.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Nobody minds '''his''' [[neon]] orange barrel.]]

: Galvatron transforms into a Cybertronic treaded field artillery unit with an alternate hand-held gun mode. Using a 9-volt battery, he has a light-up barrel in cannon or gun mode, light-up eyes in robot mode, and variable electronic warbly noises in any mode. Galvatron is notable as one of the most well-articulated toys in the ''Generation 1'' line, with ratcheting shoulders and hips, as well as swivel waist, elbows, mid-biceps, knees, and ankle joints. He was also armed with a small, black laser rifle.

{{-}}

* '''Galvatron''' (Decepticon, 2005)
: ''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-62-S'''

[[Image:G1_Reissue_Galvatron.jpg|thumb|left|150px|WHO CHANGED MY COLORS?! NGAAAAA!!!!]]

: The original Galvatron toy was much later [[redeco]]ed and re-released by [[Takara]] into a sort-of more show-like appearance, being primarily purple instead of gray. His face mold was also slightly [[retool]]ed, and he was given new sound effects, including speech clips (in Japanese, naturally). He also came with a Matrix on a chain to be worn around his neck, as in the movie. It also used two AA batteries, rather than the previous 9-volt.

: This toy was later released as the [[e-Hobby]]-exclusive [[Galvatron II]].

{{-}}

===Titanium Series===
*'''Galvatron''' (3-inch Robot Masters, 2006)
[[Image:TitaniumGalvatron.jpg|thumb|right|100px|"This pose is too crazy, even for ME!!!"]]
: ''Titanium'' Galvatron is a 3-inch-tall, non-transforming, die-cast metal figurine. He is based heavily on his cartoon model and has articulation in his neck, waist, shoulders, and wrists. His orange cannon is also removable from his arm.

{{-}}

===Universe===
*'''Galvatron''' (Deluxe, 2008)
[[Image:Galvatronuniversetoy.jpg|thumb|left|250px|A purple Galvatron in [[Classics (2006)|Marvel Comics continuity]]?! Whaaa?]]
:Galvatron transforms into a tank reminiscent of the [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/israel/merkava.htm Israel Weapons Industries Merkava] main battle tank. The tank shows very little purple on its hull, presumably to keep it a reasonably realistic representation of a real-life tank. The tank likewise has a giant translucent orange laser cannon that can fire a translucent orange missile, also keeping in the spirit of realistic alt-modes. Upon transforming to robot mode, it looks much more like the violently insane Decepticon leader we all know and love, and shows larger areas of metallic purple.

{{comingsoontoy}}

==Merchandise==
*A Galvatron watch was released in the 1980s in Japan. It was subsequently rereleased in 1990s by Takara as merchandise for the [[Generation 2]] line in the USA. The watch featured Galvatron's torso with a clock in his chest. It included a mechanism whereby when a lever was pushed, the tiny Galvatron torso "transformed" into a full tiny Galvatron figure complete with legs, standing up on the watch band. The figure cannot be removed from the watch, but the arms do rotate.
{{-}}
[[Image:SHBMGalv1.jpg|left|150px|thumb|I can't transform? This is YOUR fault, [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]]!]]
[[Image:SHBMGalv2.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Clearly crazy.]]
* [[Super Hybrid Model]] Galvatron was the exclusive toy for [[BotCon]] Japan 1997. It is a vinyl figure about 8" tall, styled after his [[Studio OX]]-modified animation model; of the original intended SHBM roster, this is the only one to have ever been officially released. This figure was initially available in two versions: "standard" purple and a translucent orange "lava bath" version limited to 100 pieces. In subsequent years, at least two more versions of this figure would be released for online sale: one that replaced the orange paint on the cannon barrel with an orange molded plastic piece, and another that replaced the entire purple body coloration with royal blue.
{{-}}

[[Image:PVCGalvyMetalChase.jpg|right|150px|thumb|PVC in this case means Probably Very Crazy.]]
* Galvatron was part of the second "Act" of Takara's [[Super Collection Figure]]s, a soft-plastic PVC of his cartoon model in both full-color and all-clear plastics, one each per case of twelve. A metallic-painted version of this figure was one of the chase items in act 6. The SCF Galvatron was later released as part of the [[Heroes of Cybertron]] series, cast entirely in clear-red plastic then painted over (giving it a lightpipe-like glowing eye effect). He was only available in the third wave of the line.

[[Image:MycloneGalv.jpg|left|150px|thumb|He will kill you with adorability.]]
* [[MyClone]] Galvatron: standard and lava "chase" versions in a superdeformed style.

{{-}}

==Trivia==
* A Galvatron [[Action Master]] was planned at one point, but apparently went no further than a concept sketch. It is only vaguely similar to Galvatron's normal appearance and may possibly have been a "powered up" Galvatron of some sort.

[[Image:Megalvatron.jpg|right|thumb|150px|This toy IS a time paradox.]]
* A triple changer was proposed which would switch between a very awkward Galvatron, Megatron, and a Walther P-38 handgun with added futuristic silencer and laser sight. It is notable that the strange "Reverse Megatron" design has a mild resemblance to the also unproduced Galvatron Action Master, especially in the chest design.

* Galvatron's toy bio was apparently written with the intention of him being a new character who coexisted with Megatron; he has a rank of 9 and the function "City Commander," with no mention of him having once been Megatron. Given the omission of similar details from Rodimus Prime's bio, it is likely that this was done to avoid spoiling the surprise of Galvatron's origin in the movie.

* The Galvatron toy's gun mode's only fictional appearances were in the UK comics, which featured it as a shrunken, human-scaled weapon, and a form that he assumed merely so that he could easily be conveyed by other parties, but never wielded as a weapon. It was also referenced in Dreamwave's ''[[More Than Meets the Eye]]'' profile of Galvatron, which [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] describes as a weapon "none are worthy to wield."

* Galvatron's toy bio states that his cannon is a "laser which emits chemically produced direct-current electricity." While this is a rather strange thing for a laser to do, it is a neat pun on his name. A ''galvanic cell'', named after Luigi Galvani, is a certain type of chemical voltage source. Though Galvatron's toy's batteries are not galvanic cells, they do produce DC electricity chemically, making his toy one of the more fiction-accurate in the Generation 1 line.

* In the Generation 1 [[manga]], [[Makoto|Makoto's watch]] has a transforming Galvatron wristwatch that was first available in Japan during the 1980s. However, at the time of the story, Galvatron did not yet exist in-continuity. The circumstances behind this are best not thought about.

* When asked about Galvatron's design in an interview, [[Floro Dery]]'s reply was, "But about Galvatron, my inspiration for him are those 'stupid people'."<ref>[http://transformersph.blogspot.com/2007/06/interview-with-floro-dery.html TransFormers Philippines: Interview With Floro Dery]</ref> ...Ooookay.

* Galvatron's design went through at least seven versions, with the final version being a simplified version of one depicting Galvatron as having mostly exposed mechanical components.<ref>[http://hometown.aol.com/kuest12/grp.html The Making of the Transformers Visual Universe: Galvatron, Rodimus Prime]</ref>

* Just as Megatron's fusion cannon was sometimes shown in commercials to have a handle, Galvatron's cannon had a trigger on at least one occasion (during "[[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2]]"). Galvatron apparently doesn't need to ''use'' the trigger, however, several times in season three, he behaved as if he was, holding his cannon with his fist vertically, rather than horizontally, while having one finger in front of the others... go figure.

==External links==
* [http://www.tfu.info/1986/Decepticon/Galvatron/galvatron.htm Galvatron at TFU.info]
* [http://www.ntfa.net/universe/english/index.php?act=view&char=Galvatron Galvatron's Universe profile at NTFA.net]
*[http://www.tf.to2k.co.uk/fiction/whogalvatron.html ''Who Was Galvatron?'' at Transformers Omniverse]

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

[[Category: Classics characters]]
[[Category: Decepticons]]
[[Category: Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category: Dimension hoppers]]
[[Category: Generation 1 characters]]
[[Category: Headmasters characters]]
[[Category: Kiss Players characters]]
[[Category: MyClone]]
[[Category: Rulers of Cybertron]]
[[Category: Titanium Series]]
[[Category: Unicron-related characters]]
[[Category: Universe (2008)]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>

Sky-Byte (RID)

2008-05-23T11:47:05Z

99.164.122.35: /* Fiction */

{{picsneeded}}
:''Sky-Byte is a [[Predacon (RID)|Predacon]] from the [[Robots in Disguise (franchise)|Robots in Disguise]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:SkyByteAnime.jpg|thumb|300px|Who's the greatest shark around?]]

Deep within '''Sky-Byte''' beats the [[spark]] of a poet, a scholar, a brilliant and cultured military general who can command armies capable of conquering worlds. But without aptitude and patience that means jack squat, and Sky-Byte lacks both. Still he soldiers on, for he is driven... by a desperate need for approval. He ''needs'' the blessings of his commander [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]] quite possibly more than he needs [[energon]]. And Megatron, being Megatron, doesn't dole out praise much, so Sky-Byte tries harder and harder, getting more and more desperate.

This drive is the root of all his problems. He's actually quite intelligent and physically powerful, but he pushes himself to extremes to impress his leader. When he's in control of a situation, he's a deadly effective foe. But as soon as the situation begins to slip even the smallest bit, he starts to panic, and usually ends up doing something to mess things up and lose the upper hand, which makes him panic ''more'', so he overreacts, and gets in ''more'' trouble, etc. etc. etc. It doesn't help that while he's ruthless towards [[Autobot]]s, [[human]]s seem quite safe from his ire... maybe he sees a little something of himself in these underdogs. After all, they developed his new favorite form of expression, the haiku. And they ''do'' seem rather impressed by him...

Sky-Byte is in charge of the Predacon lackeys [[Dark Scream]], [[Gas Skunk]] and [[Slapper (RID)|Slapper]], not that they give him any modicum of respect. In fact, they're more likely to try and shuffle the blame for their failures onto the shark, a gambit that's actually moderately successful, since Sky-Byte is so very ''good'' at making things worse for himself. He has a hate-hate relationship with the new [[Decepticon]]s, especially [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]], who he sees (rightly) as being a huge threat to his position as Megatron's second-in-command.

:''Poor frustrated shark.''
::''Megatron is a dumbass.''
:::''Why do you bother?''

:''Japanese name:'' '''Gelshark'''

==Fiction==
===''Robots in Disguise''===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Peter Spellos]] (English), [[Konta]] (Japanese)
[[Image:Rid7.jpg|left|thumb|a sharkticon wannaby.]]
As Megatron is dressing-down the Predacon trio for their latest failure, Sky-Byte suddenly appears—demonstrating a skill for either invisibility or teleportation that he will never display again.{{storylink|An Explosive Situation}} He later shows the power and skill to go one-on-one with [[Optimus Prime (RID)|Optimus Prime]] and almost win, as well as a newfound love for poetry. {{storylink|The Hunt for Black Pyramid}}

Sky-Byte soon finds himself going from feared warrior and commander of dangerous missions to... commander of missions that are flawed from the jump, with Megatron openly getting annoyed with his failures. {{storylink|Tow-Line Goes Haywire}} Despite these indignities, he's still viewed as "sneaky, clever and dangerous" by the Autobots {{storylink|Hope for the Future}}.

And then Scourge and the Decepticons turn up. Serious, militaristic and {mostly) ''competent'' villains, they replace the Predacons in Megatron's eyes. Sky-Byte becomes desperate to get his old status back, attempting to ruin Decepticon plans and usurp them for himself {{storylink|Commandos}} and even try to bump off Scourge in battle {{storylink|Volcano}}. The Decepticons, for their part, mock him. Soon, Megatron stopped telling Sky-Byte about his plans. {{storylink|The Test}}

Sky-Byte's self-esteem is soon non-existent (especially after an Online Fish Personality test tells him he's a jellyfish) and he becomes desperate to gain Megatron's approval - but every attempt he makes to discredit Scourge ends disastrously and his attempt to carry out his own evil plot serves just to ruin one of Megatron's plans {{storylink|The Fish Test}}.

Eventually, to get attention, Sky-Byte leads the Predacons in the attempted destruction of a new tower. This plan would've worked except the Autobots, thinking the humans in the tower were the Predacon's hostages, asked what demands he wanted met for their safey. Wanting to seem like he knew what he was doing, Sky-Byte made up a random demand on the spot that by sheer chance was interpreted as a demand for [[O-Parts]]. He'd achieved accidental success - only to accidentally take out the tower's last support and be forced to ''stop'' it collapsing so he'd still have his hostages. This single-minded desire to keep the tower up was interpreted by the hostages and TV news crews as the Predacons trying to save them for altruistic reasons, and when the hostages started to cheer him on, Sky-Byte gave his all to keep them safe out of an increasingly genuine desire to save them ("my hostages need me!"). It was only hours after the tower was saved and the Predacons were nursing their damaged backs that they remembered about getting the O-Parts... {{storylink|Sky-Byte Saves the Day}}

These accidental heroism, plus his generally comic persona during events [[Koji]] and his friends witness, lead the children to become very fond of Sky-Byte, following him and pestering him for autographs. A proud Predacon, Sky-Byte is bewildered by this attention. He briefly thinks of using it as a way to get his haikus published... {{storylink|Ultra Magnus (episode)}}

Sky-Byte took [[Doctor Onishi|Dr. Onishi]] out of the Predacon base to help him search for [[Fortress Maximus]], in an attempted to be the first to find it. In the process, he ran into Koji who appealed to him to help him rescue his father or at least to pass on a birthday present - the Predacon actually felt bad for him and was reduced to a blubbering wreck by Koji's appeal, but was mortified to find the boy didn't believe he was a threatening villain anymore. Sky-Byte later became so preoccupied with battle that he tosses Dr. Onishi to Koji, leading the youth to believe Sky-Byte deliberately rescued his father out of the goodness of his heart. The Autobots believe this too and apologize to Sky-Byte for fighting him (after they've already blown the tar out of him). {{storylink|Koji Gets His Wish}}

To make matters worse, Sky-Byte's cunning plans to beat both Autobot & Decepticon to the O-Parts only caused the Autobots to ''gain'' them all {{storylink|A Friendly Contest}}, and he later saved Koji's life and was horrified at the idea Galvatron would find out. {{storylink|The Human Element}} Later on, while talking to himself he would admit to having a friendship with Koji, though it was nothing to getting into Galvatron's good books and he still attempted to kidnap the boy to help control Fortress Maximus. (Being Sky-Byte, he grabbed the wrong person) {{storylink|Mistaken Identity}}

Eventually Sky-Byte's loyalty paid off - when Scourge's treachery was revealed, Galvatron remarked the Predacons had always been trustworthy and gave Sky-Byte command of the Decepticons. He even managed to locate the Autobot base by following Koji, but in the process led everyone into an Autobot trap. The array of Autobot firepower caused him to cower behind rocks crying for his "blankie". {{storylink|Surprise Attack}}

[[Image:Skybyte_happy_at_last.jpg|thumb|right|No, not the final scene from Free Willy]]

During the final battle, Sky-Byte was almost killed when he led the Predacons into the Global Space Bridge after the Decepticons - not realising Megatron intended to kill them. Sky-Byte was left on his own, {{storylink|Galvatron's Revenge}} and escaped certain death just in time to be ordered to hold off the entire Autobot army. This did not go well for him, oh no. Following Autobot victory, every Decepticon and Predacon was rounded up to be incarcerated, but the Autobots hadn't captured Sky-Byte (if they'd forgotten about him or he was hiding well is unknown). He was left to spend the rest of his life on Earth, a fate the other Predacons seem to view as worse than death, though his own attitude as he swims off into the sunset singing suggests he feels quite differently... {{storylink|The Final Battle}}
{{-}}

===Dreamwave Summer Special comic===
Sky-Byte and Scourge were sent on a joint mission, although they did nothing but bicker until Optimus and Ultra Magnus showed up. While Scourge battled them, Sky-Byte took advantage and made off with the goods, leaving Scourge with a haiku to keep him thinking.

===Fun Publications comic===
Sky-Byte somehow ends up at [[Axiom Nexus]] and is "processed". {{storylink|Transcendent: Part 1}}

==Toys==
===Robots in Disguise===
*'''Sky-Byte''' (Mega, 2000/2001)
**''Japanese ID Number'': '''D-005'''
**''Accessories'': Launcher, 2 missiles

: An extensive [[redeco]] of the [[Transmetal|Transmetal 2]] [[Maximal]] [[Cybershark]], Sky-Byte transforms into a large monstrous bio-mechanical great white shark. His tail has a gear-system that spins the fins like a propeller when a wheel in his side is turned (this system becomes his right arm, forming a spinning claw weapon). He also has a double spring-loaded missile launcher concealed in his shark mouth that doubles as a hand weapon.

: First available as part of the ''Car Robots'' line in Japan, there are no noteworthy differences between the [[Takara]] and [[Hasbro]] versions.

{{-}}
==External links==
* [http://www.tfu.info/2001/Predacon/SkyByte/skybyte.htm Sky-Byte at TFU.info]

[[Category: Entertainers]]
[[Category: Japanese-original characters]]
[[Category: Predacons]]
[[Category: Robots in Disguise characters]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>

Shockwave (G1)

2008-05-23T11:43:51Z

99.164.122.35: /* Marvel Comics continuity */

{{disambig3|Shockwave}}
:''Shockwave is a [[Decepticon]] in the [[Generation One]] [[continuity family]]. He was also briefly known as '''Shockblast'''.''

[[Image:Shockwavearealldead.jpg||thumb|right|300px|Transformers images don't GET much more awesome than this.]]

'''Shockwave''' has been referred to as "a computer on legs." This is not far from the truth. Logic rules Shockwave's thought processes and is the source of his every inspiration. He sees emotion as a weakness and a distraction. His cold and calculating ''modus operandi'' is supported by his frightening and exceptionally powerful form.

Shockwave is possibly even more powerful than [[Megatron_(G1)|Megatron]], to whom he appears to be loyal. Perhaps logic may one day dictate that the time to replace Megatron's flawed, emotion-fueled rule is at hand. After all, the only logical choice for [[Decepticon leader]] would be Shockwave himself.

{{quote|Ultimately, I serve only one master... pure logic!|Shockwave on his true loyalties|"[[Spotlight: Shockwave]]"}}

:''Italian name'': '''Brutal'''<br>
:''Japanese name'': '''Laserwave'''<br>
:''French-Canadian name'': '''Onde de Choc'''<br>
:''Hungarian name'': '''Sokkoló'''
:''Russian name'': '''Vzrivala''' (Взрывала, Blaster)

==Fiction==
===Marvel Comics continuity===
{{note|Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.}}

After the Autobots had successfully destroyed the asteroids threatening [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], Megatron and the other Decepticons attacked the [[Ark]] while Shockwave remained behind on [[Nemesis|their ship]] to pilot it. When the Ark subsequently crashed on [[Earth]], deactivating all those within, Shockwave followed the ship down, but a malfunction in his guidance systems caused him to land half a world away, in the tropical Antarctic jungle known as the [[Savage Land]]. The Ark's dying computer detected his presence there and reactivated five Autobots, rebuilding them in the shapes of the Savage Land's native dinosaurs. {{storylink|The Last Stand}} These "[[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]]" battled Shockwave, a battle that ended in permanent stalemate when [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] brought down the mountain that Shockwave stood upon, knocking all the combatants into a tar pit. {{storylink|Repeat Performance}}

[[Image:Megatrong1marvelhumiliation.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Early on, Shockwave establishes the pecking order.]]
In 1984, when the rest of the Transformers aboard the Ark were awakened by a volcanic eruption, the Autobots attempted to track down their five missing comrades. A sensor drone tracked them to the Savage Land, but inadvertently wound up reactivating Shockwave, who headed straight for [[Oregon]]. He arrived just as the Autobots had claimed victory over the Decepticons, and his explosive entry saw all the weakened combatants knocked off-line. {{storylink|The Last Stand!}} Rounding up the bodies, Shockwave took control of the Ark, strung up the Autobots, decapitated [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and restored his fellow Decepticons back to health. This came as something of a rude shock to Megatron, who awoke to find that Shockwave had decided it was only logical for him to take over leadership of the Decepticons in light of Megatron's failure. {{storylink|The New Order}} After Shockwave attacked the offshore oil-drilling platform of tycoon [[G.B. Blackrock]] to secure it as a secondary base of operations (consequently crippling [[Josie Beller]] and leading to her transformation into [[Circuit Breaker]]), a weakened Megatron engaged him in combat for leadership, but was soundly defeated, and grudgingly vowed to serve Shockwave. {{storylink|The Worse of Two Evils!}}

Under Shockwave's command, the Decepticons took control of the [[Blackrock Aerospace Planet]], and used its facilities to create the bodies of the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]]s, which were then brought to life with the power of the [[Creation Matrix]] drained from Prime's head. {{storylink|The Next Best Thing to Being There!}} However, when Shockwave discovered that he could not bring his next creation, [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]], to life, he deduced that Prime had transferred the Matrix into the mind of the human, [[Buster Witwicky]]. Shockwave programmed Jetfire to capture Buster, but the boy was able to use the power of the Matrix to bring the robot under his own control to turn the tables on the Decepticons. {{storylink|Brainstorm!}} Under Buster's control, Jetfire knocked out Shockwave and Optimus Prime was reunited with his body, leading to a climactic battle between Shockwave and Prime, which ended when the Decepticon leader was buried in a swamp. {{storylink|Prime Time!}}

''Finally extricating himself from the swamp after being trapped for several months,'' Shockwave returned to leadership of the Decepticons with some new ill-fated plans involving stealing sonic energy from a rock concert {{storylink|Rock and Roll-Out!}} and attempting to exploit [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] as a weak link in the Autobot forces {{storylink|Plight of the Bumblebee!}}.

[[Image:ShockwaveSecondGeneration1.jpg |right|200px|thumb|what the fuck]]

''When [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] and [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] built Buster a mechanoid battle suit, the human test-drove it by attacking [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]]. Shockwave responded to the attack, only to be briefly blinded when a desperate Buster flung a handful of sand into his optic sensor. The darkness this brought about revived memories of his four-million-year burial and his humiliating swamp submergence, and an enraged, barely-sane Shockwave disregarded logic in a desire for revenge that saw him pursue Buster throughout the night. As the new day dawned, Busted made one final attack with all the suit's power, which destroyed it but merely injured Shockwave. Seizing the boy in his hand, Shockwave was about to crush the life from him when the Autobot forces arrived to rescue him.'' {{storylink|Robot Buster}} ''His rationality returning, Shockwave realized that Buster could potentially be a powerful tool to use against the Autobots, and had the Constructicons attempt to abduct him, but during the battle, [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] discovered that the Matrix had planted in Buster's mind a vision for the future of the Transformer race.'' {{storylink|Devastation Derby}} ''Shockwave watched intently as Soundwave tapped into Buster's dreams, and witnessed a vision of [[combiner]] Transformers battling. Little did he know that Soundwave was also beaming the vision to Megatron (now operating independent of Shockwave), who decided that it was time for him to retake Decepticon leadership. Shockwave and Megatron battled once more, but with Megatron at full health, the fight was much more evenly matched and drawn-out, and was even televised by the Decepticons' unwilling human ally, [[Donny Finkleberg|Robot Master]]. To prevent the Decepticons from being made to look like fools, Soundwave demanded they cease fighting and consent to a joint leadership. Begrudgingly, both agreed.'' {{storylink|Second Generation}}

This joint leadership did not last long. Leaving Shockwave in charge of the Decepticon's Wyoming coal mine base, Megatron led a team of Decepticons to attack the Autobot base, only for the majority of their number to be deactivated and captured by [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]. At the same time, however, the Autobots attacked the Decepticon base to draw out [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]], to learn more about the combiner process. With the day having firmly been won by the Autobots on both fronts, Megatron argued that although he may have charged into a trap, Shockwave had been ineffective enough to do nothing, and had allowed a trap to spring up around him. Bowing to the logic of this argument, Shockwave stepped down and allowed Megatron to resume sole command. {{storylink|Command Performances!}}

''Shockwave's movements were unknown for the brief time that followed this embarrassment. He was absent from the Decepticons' base when the time-traveling future Decepticon [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] arrived from 2006 and temporarily disposed of Megatron, but returned not long thereafter. Wondering where everyone was, he was met by [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] and Frenzy, who had escaped their confinement in the Autobot base, but then, abruptly, all three were mass-displaced into [[limbo]] when three future Autobots traveled back in time to thwart Galvatron's plans.'' {{storylink|Target 2006}} ''In limbo, Shockwave and his two companions battled alongside the similarly-displaced Optimus Prime, [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] and Ratchet against the deadly illusions created by the dimension's native lifeforms, before returning to their natural place in space and time when the time-travellers returned to their point of origin.'' {{storylink|Distant Thunder!}}

''It was not long before Shockwave began scheming to return to the position of leader, and when Megatron summoned the Decepticon hunters the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]] to Earth to stalk Optimus Prime, he saw his opportunity. Conspiring with them, Shockwave arranged for the team to turn on Megatron during the hunt, depriving him of his weapons, expecting that he would have no chance against Prime one-on-one. {{storylink|Prey!}} When Megatron did not return, Shockwave believed him dead, but in truth, he had escaped to Cybertron - though this was of little concern to the cyclopean schemer, who took up the mantle of leadership in his absence again. It was not long after this that Galvatron returned, having traveled back from the future once more, and now dancing dangerously on the edge of sanity. Fearing the threat Galvatron might pose to his own leadership, Shockwave had the Decepticons aid the Dinobots in battling him, and Galvatron departed rather than fight his own future troops. {{storylink|Fallen Angel!}} Shortly thereafter, Megatron returned from Cybertron with a case of amnesia, sparing Shockwave any retribution for his actions.'' {{storylink|Resurrection!}}

Not long afterwards, Optimus Prime perished in a video game duel with Megatron, but the Decepticon leader grew progressively more paranoid, fearing his foe had survived. Apparently attempting to shock Megatron back to his senses, Shockwave had the Predacons come to Earth and force him into a combat situation, implanting a copy of his personality program in the team so that he could "be part" of the battle from a safe distance. Events culminated in Megatron's apparent death when, having fully plunged into insanity, he blew the space bridge up while standing on it. Once again, Shockwave was leader. {{storylink|Gone But Not Forgotten!}}

Shockwave established regular contact with Cybertron Decepticon commander [[Ratbat]], {{storylink|King of the Hill!}} ''and had the [[Seacon]]s sent from Cybertron so that they could use their aquatic abilities to help fortify the Decepticons' new artificial mobile island base. It was while they were performing this task that Galvatron returned, advancing on the island, much to Shockwave's distress. He ordered the Seacons to attack, but Galvatron tore through both them and the base walls - he had, he claimed, come in peace, but that Shockwave's attack had made an enemy of him, putting all Decepticons in danger. This of course, was a complete lie, but it turned the Decepticons against Shockwave, thereby disrupting the one-eyed warrior's command.'' {{storylink|Enemy Action!}}

After interfering in a scheme of Ratbat's, Buster Witwicky was captured by the Decepticons and brought to their island, which Shockwave then transformed into spaceship mode and took to the fringes of Earth's atmosphere. Autobot [[Headmaster]] leader [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] pursued the craft and battled Shockwave in the void of space, where he defeated him and sent him tumbling back through Earth's atmosphere in free-fall. {{storylink|The Desert Island of Space!}} ''Although thought dead by many, Shockwave in actuality survived and returned to the Decepticons' original fortress base, where he concentrated on resolving the threat posed by Galvatron. Seeking to use the missing Megatron as a weapon against him, Shockwave had the small number of Decepticons still under his control recover a [[Straxus|clone of the departed leader]] from the Thames river, which he and [[Snaptrap (G1)|Snaptrap]] repaired and brainwashed using the [[psycho-probe]].'' {{storylink|Salvage!}} ''Around the same time, Galvatron's fellow time-travelers [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] and [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] had joined up with Shockwave's Decepticons, but, chaffing in his service, Cyclonus wound up accidentally blurting out that they would be responsible for killing him in the future of 2008. Seeking to preserve his continued existence, Shockwave unleashed the Megatron clone upon them, resulting in the death of Cyclonus. Satisfied with the clone's performance, he dispatched him against Galvatron. {{storylink|Dry Run!}} The battle had an unexpected conclusion, however, when "Megatron" found a kindred spirit in Galvatron and actually joined forces with him. {{storylink|Altered Image!}}

''This unfortunate chain of events led to Shockwave losing his grip on sanity. Unable to logically fathom the situation, he slipped into despondency, stringing up the remains of Cyclonus on the walls of his castle as a twisted trophy. What Shockwave did not realize, however, was that the repeated time-travel and the death of Cyclonus had caused a rift in space-time that threatened the stability of reality. Hoping to restore the balance by returning all time-travelers to their proper place in time, Scourge attempted to reclaim Cyclonus's body, but was shot down by Shockwave for his trouble. At Scourge's urging, [[Ravage]] was able to present events logically enough to Shockwave to restore some semblance of coherency to his thoughts, and Shockwave himself deposited Cyclonus's remains in the rift, and sealed it with an x-ray blast.'' {{storylink|Time Wars}}

It would be some time before Shockwave next resurfaced, emerging from sea on the coast of Blackpool, England, and killing a human who had seen him. {{storylink|Dark Creation}} Seeking to established his own faction of Decepticons, he saved [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] from Circuit Breaker {{storylink|The Human Factor!}}, and the pair, along with [[Ravage]], recruited those who had grown disenfranchised with the leadership of the current Decepticon Earth commander, [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]]. {{storylink|Eye of the Storm!}} The small group staged an attack on Scorponok's New Jersey base, and Scorponok and Shockwave battled in the waters around Manhattan before being interrupted by the super-team, the [[Neo-Knights]]. {{storylink|...All This and Civil War 2}} Shockwave used the ensuing confusing to implicate the Autobots in an attack on the human team, but was later recognized by Circuit Breaker as the robot responsible for crippling her, and was blown out of the sky by her powers. {{storylink|Out of Time!}} Abruptly, the battle was ended when the Transformers were all teleported to Cybertron to face the threat of [[Unicron]], but even Shockwave's data grid could not compute the vastness of the threat the chaos-bringer posed. {{storylink|On the Edge of Extinction!}}

After Unicron was destroyed, Shockwave teamed up with Starscream once more to find the remains of the Autobots' Ark, which had crashed during the battle. {{storylink|Still Life!}} The pair succeeded in getting the craft airborne again, but were unaware that the numerous damaged Transformers in the ship's stasis pods had been reactivated with [[nucleon]] - Megatron among them - and that an alternate future version of [[Galvatron II|Galvatron]] was also on board. {{storylink|Exodus! (issue)|Exodus!}} Conflict erupted when Megatron and Galvatron met, but the sight of Shockwave saw the two Decepticons team up against him. To put an end to things once and for all, the revived Ratchet sent the Ark crashing to Earth. {{storylink|A Savage Circle}} There was no indication that Shockwave survived, suggesting that his evil had once and for all been put to rest.

====Marvel UK future timelines====

''In the alternate future timeline of [[Earth-120185]], Shockwave attacked the unveiling of the first female Autobot [[Arcee]] in 1995 with [[Fangry]], [[Squeezeplay]] and [[Horri-Bull]]. When Arcee quickly disabled his men, though, Shockwave took off and left them to fend for themselves.'' {{storylink|Prime's Rib!}} ''Years later, in 2004, he staged an attack on the opening day of [[Autobot City]], but was defeated by the extremely illogical actions of [[Hot Rod]], who threw him down a mountain, and jumped along with him for the ride.'' {{storylink|Aspects of Evil!}}''

''After Decepticon commander [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] disappeared following Unicron's attack on Cybertron in 2006, the new Autobot leader [[Rodimus Prime]] devoted his forces to searching the galaxy and making sure the Decepticon was truly dead. This diverted attention allowed Shockwave to assume leadership of the Decepticons in the chaos that followed, and he consolidated them into a strong force on Cybertron that ultimately resulted in a stalemate between the factions by 2008. {{storylink|Wanted - Galvatron Dead or Alive}} Knowing that the freelance peacekeeping agent named [[Death's Head]] had a grudge against Rodimus Prime, Shockwave had [[Blot]] hire him for 10,000 [[shanix]] to hunt down and exterminate the Autobot, providing him with secret entry into Cybertron and information about Prime's movements. At the same time, Shockwave allowed Scourge and Cyclonus, Galvatron's former top two lackeys, to brazenly go after Rodimus Prime themselves. Seeing the powerful duo as a potential threat to his position, Shockwave hoped that by tossing these various parties into the mix together, at least some of his problems would turn out dead. {{storylink|Headhunt}}''

''Unfortunately for Shockwave's plans, it was then that Unicron's influence was felt again, as he mind-controlled Cyclonus, Scourge and Death's Head into trying to assassinate Shockwave. Death's Head used the supposedly deactivated bodies of the duo to gain access to Shockwave's audience chamber, and then left his "comrades" to seal the doors while he chased down the Decepticon leader. After a hard fought battle, Shockwave was ultimately destroyed, his body blown to pieces and his memory module crushed between Death's Head's fingers, ensuring that he could never return. Still, the hunter was sickened by being forced to kill against his will, and Death's Head promised Shockwave's corpse that he would eventually avenge them both. {{storylink|The Legacy of Unicron!}}''

====Earthforce====
{{earthforcefiction}}

''Reality unfolds in many ways, across many dimensions. In one such dimension, it was not Scorponok that Shockwave challenged for leadership in the [[Decepticon Civil War]], but a returning Megatron, and the two of them built their armies up for a renewed battle for control over the Earth. Upon hearing the [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] had somehow restored his Dinobots to life without the Creation Matrix, Shockwave and his soldiers attempted to force the secret out of the Dinobots. They failed, miserably. {{storylink|Two Steps Back!}}''

''Unable to gain an advantage over Megatron, Shockwave was forced to suggest an [[Enclave]], a truce whereby the Decepticons could meet and hopefully overcome their differences as they had in the past, for the mutual goal of destruction of the Autobots. Certainly, the Autobots had something to say about that, and they rigged a scenario so that Megatron was tricked into thinking Shockwave had sent an assassin sniper to kill him during the meeting. A brawl broke out, and any chance at peace was chucked out the window, along with several dismembered body parts. {{storylink|The Bad Guy's Ball!}}''

''Thanks to a [[Soundwave (G1)|secret informer]] inside Megatron's camp, Shockwave was able to surprise his rival at the site of an energon delivery, and he and the [[Triple Changer]]s overpowered Megatron and tossed him over a cliff, claiming his energon as their own. {{storylink|Secrets}} Turnabout's fair play, however, and Shockwave's own lieutenant Starscream tipped off Megatron about when Shockwave would be alone and open for attack. What's worse, Starscream and Shockwave took advantage of their leaders' absence to stage a coup, and so Shockwave and Megatron were left on the run from Earthforce while their troops abandoned them to their fates. {{storylink|Internal Affairs!}}''

''Shockwave and Megatron subsequently organized a hit on Starscream, using a series of cheap assassins to trick Starscream into assuming Soundwave wanted to wipe him out and assume sole command of the Decepticons. {{storylink|Assassins}} They then attacked their betrayers personally when it didn't go to plan, but were countered by the Earthforce, who needed Starscream alive to help heal [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]], afflicted with [[Corrodia Gravis]]. Even with the help of [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]'s [[Mayhem Attack Squad]], Megatron and Shockwave were forced to retreat. {{storylink|The Lesser Evil!}}''

====Fun Publications====
Megatron decided to keep Shockwave alive in spite of past betrayals because of the use of his logical skills. However, he decided to prevent further betrayals by keeping him only as a head hooked to some sort of life support. Megatron queries him on information regarding [[Bug Bite]], Shockwave tells him all he knows, but when he requests computer access for more information, Megatron refuses and closes up the chamber. {{storylink|Games of Deception}}

===Cartoon continuity===
:''Voice Actor:'' [[Corey Burton]] (US), [[Yutaka Shimaka]] (Japan)

[[Image:Shockwave Hands.jpg|thumb|left|Megatron, Help! Starscream stole the ladder, and I can't get down from here!]]
Shockwave was a highly ranked Decepticon. Fanatically loyal to Megatron, Shockwave was entrusted stewardship of Cybertron by Megatron when the latter left to intercept an Autobot mission surveying for new forms of energy. Neither Decepticon suspected that Megatron's absence (and Shockwave's command) would last four million years. Little changed on Cybertron during those years, although Shockwave apparently lost his left hand and replaced it with a laser cannon. {{storylink|More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1}}

[[Image:ShockwaveDesertionOfTheDinobots1.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Shockwave bought himself on eBay!]]

He oversaw all the Decepticon activity on Cybertron, rarely leaving the planet. His keen scientific mind resulted in several incredible devices, including the [[space bridge]] and a [[Kronosphere|time machine]]. Despite spending his time on Cybertron, Shockwave was not out of the conflict. He directed Cybertron's security forces when a group of Autobots returned to Cybertron after the planet was moved in Earth's orbit. {{storylink|The Ultimate Doom, Part 3}} He also sent [[Cybertonium]] to the dying Decepticons, though the experience was rather unpleasant, as the Dinobots reduced him to the role of chew toy, and he was outsmarted by two [[Spike Witwicky|miserable]] [[Carly|glitches]]. {{storylink|Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2}} More embarrassing was the fact that [[Female Autobots]] under [[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]] had been stealing [[Energon]] right out from under his nose (or what ever he has for a nose), while he had believed them all to be dead. {{storylink|The Search for Alpha Trion}}

By 2005, Megatron had returned to Cybertron and conquered the planet, leading Shockwave to lay down his guardianship of the planet and rejoin Megatron's inner circle. Though absent for the [[Battle of Autobot City]], he was present for Starscream's coronation, and subsequent destruction by [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]], the reformatted version of Megatron. With Galvatron indisposed, Shockwave commanded the Decepticon forces during [[Unicron]]'s attack on Cybertron, and is believed to have been killed in the ensuing battle. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie (1986)|Transformers: The Movie}}

[[Image:Shockwave5Faces.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Shockwave didn't die. He just got a new paint job.]]

{{note|Though Shockwave's death was written into the movie's script, it did not make it into the released film. However, IDW's [[Transformers: The Animated Movie #4|20th Anniversary comic adaptation]] did include Shockwave's death. Shockwave's model did show up in season 3 episodes as possible animation errors.}}
{{-}}

===Dreamwave comics continuity===

[[Image:Shockwavedwtww1.jpg|right|thumb|175px|Dreamwave is all his fault.]]

As a major player in the Decepticon army in Cybertron's past, Shockwave led the main attack on the Autobots' stronghold shortly after the appointment of Optimus Prime, and personally destroyed two [[guardian robot]]s with one blast in space gun mode. {{storylink|The War Within}}

After Megatron's apparent death in an early space bridge test, the Decepticon faction splintered, with [[Air Commander]] [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] creating the "[[Predacon (War Within)|Predacons]]" and High Auditor [[Ratbat]] the [[Ultracon]]s, while Shockwave lead the Decepticons through the "[[Dark Age]]s" of Cybertron. During this period, his logic allowed him to put aside differences with Jetfire and the Autobots in order to defeat the greater evil of the [[Fallen]]. Meeting up with Jetfire to discuss the upsurge in violence, the two were attacked by the [[Chaos Trinity]], and Shockwave was taken down. Recovered by the newly built [[Trypticon]], Shockwave organized a counter strike against the three mystics that included Trypticon, [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]], [[Ravage]], the [[Insecticon]]s, and the [[Seeker]]s. Exactly how logic dictated that Shockwave bring an entire army to deal with three rogue Decepticons is unknown. Grimlock's [[Lightning Strike Coalition]] arrived, saying that they had a stake in this, and Shockwave agreed to a temporary ceasefire. After the Fallen was defeated, Shockwave and [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] agreed to seal the [[Well of All Sparks]] with six coded barriers for each faction. They were to remain in place until Cybertron was united. Or, as Shockwave put it, [['Til all are one|until all are one]]. {{storylink|The War Within: The Dark Ages}} As the Dark Ages came to an end, Shockwave was ready to sign a peace treaty with Ratbat's Ultracons and the Autobots, but the return of Megatron derailed the plan. Shockwave was tasked with reverse engineering the [[Quintesson]]-created clones he brought back to the planet with him, which suffered difficulties due to Megatron's refusal to divulge their origin, but greatly intrigued Shockwave. {{storylink|The War Within: Age of Wrath}}

Shockwave was left behind on Cybertron while Megatron's forces pursued Optimus Prime and were subsequently lost on Earth for four million years, and became Decepticon leader on the planet. He began experimenting with cloning, and through studies of [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] and [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]], began to conceive the idea of a Transformer with multiple alternate modes. Cybertron, however, was steadily growing lower and lower on energy, and in an attempt to create new energy-conservative Transformers, Shockwave allied with the Autobots for a pooling of resources that created the [[Micromaster]]s. {{storylink|Destined For Nothing}} This came back to bite him, however, when the Decepticon Micromaster [[Skystalker]] attempted to overthrow his command, knocking him offline and decapitating him to use in a grotesque puppet show, giving orders to the other Decepticons by holding Shockwave's severed noggin up to a video screen. {{storylink|Victims of the Revolution}} When Skystalker was defeated, Shockwave was repaired, but eventually, he and all the other Transformers on Cybertron succumbed to stasis as the planet's energy ran out, and it entered a hibernation phase known as the "[[Great Shutdown]]."

3000 years ago, Unicron's herald Scourge located the dead planet, and reactivated Shockwave for study purposes. {{storylink|Generation 1 #0}} However, when Shockwave was attacked by a swarm of [[Sharkticon]]s, Scourge intervened and saved him, {{storylink|Cold War}} only to be shot in the back by the Decepticon and captured. Dissecting and studying Scourge, Shockwave learned many secrets about the function and purpose of Transformers and Cybertron from the secrets hidden within him. Using that knowledge, Shockwave steadily worked to restore Cybertron, reactivating its population and solving their energy needs, ending the war and unifying the planet. He also continued his experiments into multiple transformations, yielding the unstable [[Duocon]]s, and then successfully mastering the process with [[Triple Changer]]s. Capturing [[Alpha Trion]], Shockwave sought to unlock the full secrets of [[Vector Sigma]], having already learned of the mysterious significance of Earth to the Transformer race. {{storylink|Revelation}} In preparation for the invasion of the planet, Shockwave subliminally influenced the population of Cybertron to become more violent, {{storylink|Passive Aggression}} and prevented the return of Optimus Prime and Megatron aboard the Ark II by having a [[Robert Hallo|human agent]] blow it up. {{storylink|Revelation}}

[[Image:Shockwavedwwarandpeace.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Deja vu all over again.]]
In 2003, Shockwave made his move, heading to Earth with his Triple Changer troops and capturing Megatron and Optimus's forces, planning to try the two leaders as war criminals. Megatron was jettisoned into space by Starscream, {{storylink|New World Order}} while Prime escaped from his clutches and fell in with a rebel group. {{storylink|Cold War}} Mobilizing the planet's Autobots, Prime led an attack on Shockwave's citadel, and confronted Shockwave himself, only to be defeated by the Decepticon, who ripped the Matrix from him. Using the Matrix to activate Vector Sigma, Shockwave downloaded the compressed contents of the mega-computer into his network, but before he had an opportunity to view the data, he was pulled into a battle with [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]]. In the course of the fight, the fuel line to his cannon was severed, and the resulting explosion destroyed his citadel and knocked him into a chasm. {{storylink|Revelation}}

While the rest of Cybertron believed Shockwave to be deceased, he had actually survived the explosion and gone underground in the wastelands of Cybertron. {{storylink|Lost and Found}} In addition to re-establishing communications with the [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticons]] on Earth (who had been operating there as an advance squad preparing the way for his invasion), {{storylink|Extermination}} Shockwave continued his experimentation, resulting in the creation of [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]]. Soon after, however, Megatron returned to Cybertron and bested Shockwave, {{storylink|Lost and Found}} taking him to Earth where he did the same to Starscream. But now, the three players were assembled, each knowing certain dark secrets of Cybertron's past... {{storylink|The Route of All Evil}}

{{note|...and then Dreamwave went out of business. Dag, yo.}}

===Devil's Due ''G.I. Joe vs. Transformers'' comics continuity===

[[Image:Shockwave-ddp2-2b1.jpg|thumb|right|There are so many ways to make him look awesome.]]

In the absence of Megatron, Shockwave had assumed command of the Decepticons on Cybertron, and had successfully driven the Autobots into an underground resistance movement. When a number of GI Joe and COBRA troops, along with the captive Starscream, accidentally arrived on Cybertron via an overloaded wormhole gate, Shockwave and his troops immediately surrounded them. The same wormhole malfunction blasted a number of Transformers off of Cybertron and into random points of Earth's past, a temporal anomaly that threatened to scour the Earth's face with fire if the Transformers were not brought back.

Ultra Magnus and Perceptor arrived and were able to hold off the Decepticons for a time with a force field, while teams of humans were time-ported away to retrieve the missing Transformers and end the anomaly. Magnus's force field power ran out before all the teams had returned, and Shockwave had his troops capture the Autobots. He took personal pleasure in blasting Ratchet when he was returned through the gate.

Revealing that he had intended all along for the humans to discover the wormhole gate technology, Shockwave set the gate to continue operating but blocked the last remaining group from returning -- thus condemning Earth to destruction, easy pickings for conquest. Fortunately for Earth, two members of the GI Joe team were able to reactivate the gate, allowing the newly-created Dinobots to return to Cybertron. The Dinobots' power quickly drove Shockwave's Decepticons into retreat.

Regrouping on the other side of the planet, Shockwave had the long-missing Starscream brought before him. As Starscream attempted to explain his way out of being seen as a traitor, a recording of Cobra Commander's voice suddenly began to play, explaining that he had lined Starscream's hull with explosives. Shockwave leapt to try and stop the process, but the entire building exploded, apparently taking the two Decepticons with it.

With Shockwave's defeat, peace returned to Cybertron, and the Decepticons were driven back to a region known as the Gladiator Zone.

===Dreamwave ''Transformers/G.I. Joe'' comics continuity===
[[Image:Shockwavetfjoetrenches.jpg|thumb|100px|First guy to call him "Big Bertha" gets it in the face.]]
As one of the Decepticons who crashed to [[Earth]] in the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'' millions of years ago, Shockwave was retrieved by [[Cobra]] and pressed into service, taking on the alternate form of a massive artillery cannon. Chafing under the leadership of [[Cobra Commander]], he was ordered to transform and destroy the [[Autobot]] [[Superion]]. {{storylink|Trenches}} Although he did so, he was forced to fire sixteen consecutive times, despite needing to repair himself after every shot. The resulting strain on his structure irrevocably damaged him, and Cobra Commander refused to allow [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] to use the power of the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] to restore him. {{storylink|The Iron Fist}}

===IDW comics continuity===

Shockwave was a Decepticon scientist on Cybertron six hundred thousand [[meta-cycles]] ago. He predicted the eventual destruction of Cybertron as a result of the Great War, and theorized that the war would spread across the galaxy. In anticipation of this, he seeded several worlds with an altered form of energon (this is possibly the [[Ore-13]] later found by Starscream). After a long period of indeterminable length, at the beginning of the Ice Age on Earth, the Energon had become unstable, requiring Shockwave to place dampening devices across the worlds he'd seeded.

[[Image:Shockwaveg1idw.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Shockwave began to have second thoughts over his choice of manicurists.]]

Before departing Cybertron, he was ordered to deal with an Energon raid by the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dynobot]]s (by destroying the energon and severely injuring the team of misfits). Vowing revenge, they followed him when he left the planet.

Earth was the first world he visited to plant the devices on. Before he could leave though, his ship was destroyed and the Dynobots teleported down to attack him. The concept of the Dynobots illogical behavior based off vengeance, along with the sheer force of their attack, left him off balance at first. Unable to win through logic, he developed thought patterns based off rage. This more brutal, violent Shockwave decimated the Dynobots, burning off the organic coatings shielding them from the planet's high energon fields, forcing them into [[stasis lock]]. Deactivating his new 'rage' program for further study, Shockwave was prevented by leaving the planet by a dead man's switch on the Dynobots' ship. A massive beam of energy plowed into the ground, causing a volcanic eruption which consumed Shockwave and the Dynobots. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}}

Megatron became suspicious of Shockwave's absence and assigned [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] to search through Shockwave's files. {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}} Bludgeon's findings later inspired him in part to reattempt [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]]'s mad plot which had, in the meantime, left their planet uninhabitable. {{storylink|Stormbringer (comics)|Stormbringer}}

In 2006, a [[Professor Goring|human archaeological team]] uncovered Shockwave's body, which a few months later was obtained (along with the Dynobots' bodies) by an organization named [[Skywatch]]. {{storylink|Escalation issue 5}}

===IDW ''[[Hearts of Steel]]'' continuity===
Shockwave recruits inventor [[Tobias Muldoon]] to the Decepticon side (by pretending to be a friend to humanity). {{Storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 1}} As a huge ship, he does not participate in the [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]]'s attempted attack on New York, and thus may have survived the story unharmed. Clever bot. His 19th century altmode is an ironclad warship.

{{-}}

==Toys==
===Generation 1===
*'''Shockwave''' (Decepticon, 1985)
:*''Japanese ID number'': '''49'''
:*''Accessories'': "Magnetic impulse defuser" barrel

[[Image:G1Shockwave_toy.jpg|right|thumb|You can try to play Duck Hunt with him all day long, but it just doesn't work.]]

: Shockwave transforms into a large Cybertronian handgun. He has light and sound electronics activated by his gun-mode trigger and powered by a 9-volt bettery. The sound effects can be switched between two (fairly generic) blaster-sound frequencies with a small toggle on his battery pack.

{{note|The rubber hose covering the wires connecting his torso and arm's electronics is particularly prone to dry-rotting. Be careful.}}

{{-}}
*'''Shockwave with Fistfight''' (Action Master, 1990)
**''Accessories'': Double-barreled "Turbo Rifle"

[[Image:ActionMaster_Shockwave.jpg|left|thumb|80px|"I shall call him Mini-Me."]]

: As an [[Action Master]], Shockwave is a non-transforming action figure who combines elements of his cartoon model and original toy, with a few more details. He is compatible with any other Action Master weapon or vehicle. He came with his small robot partner [[Fistfight]], who combines with Shockwave's handgun to form a "Lightning Gun" cannon.

: Reportedly, early "test market" releases came with a rubber hose that connects from his gun-arm to his back, like the original toy. There are holes in the toy's gun-arm and backpack; the black hoses found in many old ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' toys can fit in the holes.

{{-}}
===Alternators===
*'''Shockblast''' (Alternator, 2004)
:*''Alternator ID number:'' '''12'''
:*''Japanese ID number:'' '''BT-13'''
:*''Accessories'': Muffler-blaster

[[Image:AlternatorsShockblast_toy.jpg|right|thumb|Guns akimbo.]]

: A [[retool]]ing of the "[[Jazz|Meister]]" Alternator, "Shockblast" transforms into a 1:24-scale Mazdaspeed-modified RX-8 sports car. He features working car doors, hood, and trunk. His muffler unfolds to become a hand-held blaster; the mounting peg for car-mode actually pegs into the hole son his forearms by the elbow joints quite snugly, letting you mount the blaster there if you wish. While the box has the name "Shockblast", the car's actual license plate is "SHKWAV".

: Aside from the new head, color change and the laser cannon replacing his left hand, other differences between Shockblast and Meister are that Shockblast has new front and rear fenders, doors, side skirts and a spoiler.

: The original [[Jazz|Meister]] mold was also used to make the [[Autrooper]] and [[Zoom-Zoom]].

{{-}}
===Attacktix===
*'''Shockwave'''
{{comingsoontoy}}

{{-}}
==Merchandise==
*'''Shockwave''' (Bust, 2003)
[[Image:Shockwave_bust.jpg|left|thumb|130px|Shockwave reminisces back to when he had two hands.]]

: In 2003, [[Hard Hero]] released a large polystone bust of Shockwave, based upon his ''Generation 1'' cartoon appearance. This was released in two versions, the regular as shown in the picture and a limited edition 'metallic' version limited to 500 pieces worldwide.

*'''Shockwave''' (Mini statue, 2004)
[[Image:Shockwaveministatue.jpg|right|thumb|100px|Meet me in the bank....its going down..]]

: Diamond Comics Distributors also released a small, six-inch polystone statue of Shockwave made by Palisades, based upon [[Pat Lee]]'s rendition of the character in [[Dreamwave]]'s Transformers comic books.

*'''Grimlock & Shockwave''' (Robot Heroes, 2007)

[[Image:Robot_Hero_Shockwave.jpg|left|thumb|130px|He's logical ''and'' cute.]]
: The most adorablest Shockwave ever, ''[[Robot Heroes]]'' Shockwave is a stumpy PVC figurine that combines toy and animation model details into a single package. He has limited articulation (neck and shoulder swivels only), but he's so cute it doesn't matter. He was available in a two-pack with a similarly lovable version of [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]].

{{-}}

==Trivia==
[[Image:Generations-CybertronBattle.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Aha! I have your Lucky Charms now, Starscream!]]
* Although Shockwave was depicted in the 1984 episodes of the original cartoon series, he did not receive a toy release until 1985. Unlike the bulk of early Transformers that drew their molds from [[Takara]]'s ''[[Diaclone]]'' and ''[[Microchange]]'' toys, Shockwave's original form was first produced by ToyCo. As such, similar non-Transformer toys using the same mold were released in 1985, including a gray version called "Astro Magnum" and a Radio Shack exclusive called "Galactic Man". A minor but amusing difference between the Radio Shack version, humorously called "Shackwave" by fans, and the [[Hasbro]] version, is that Shockwave's inconveniently placed trigger was remolded and appears less...inconvenient.

* A Cybertronian battle scene in ''[[Comic Bom Bom]]'' (reprinted in ''[[Transformers Generations]]'') depicts Shockwave not in purple, but in the original grey color scheme of the Astro Magnum/Galactic Man toy.

[[Image:Starbrigade.jpg|right|thumb|125px|Product and colors (and franchise) may vary.]]

* In the cartoon, Shockwave was once shown having two hands {{storylink|More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1}}.

* In "Desertion of Dinobots" part 1, Shockwave was wielding a miniature version... of himself. Or perhaps he is being wielded in gun mode by a gigantic version of himself. Who knows?

*In the Japanese dub of the Generation 1 cartoon, Shockwave's personality was altered from the American interpretation. Instead of being a monotone slave to logic he was presented like a grizzled old man with a loud, raspy voice and a very short temper.

* One of the earliest pictured versions of Action Master Shockwave features some awkward proportions and Fistfight with reversed colors. Another oddity of this version is that Shockwave's right hand is sculpted in an open position.

* A silhouette of Action Master Shockwave's card art appears on the back of the [[G.I. Joe]] Star Brigade packaging... as [[Hawk (G.I. Joe)|Hawk]]!

* Shockwave is, of course, the basis for the ''[[Energon (franchise)|Energon]]'' Decepticon [[homage]] character [[Shockblast (Energon)|Shockblast]].

* Shockwave bears the rather strange distinction of receiving a number of particularly high quality [[knockoff|knockoffs]], all of which known retain the electronics and some even having odd [[Wikipedia:Flash Gordon|Flash Gordon]]esque [[retool]]s.

* Shockwave has two hands on the cover of ''G.I. Joe and the Transformers'' #3.{{storylink|Ashes, Ashes...}}

{{-}}

==External links==
*[http://www.tfu.info/1985/Decepticon/Shockwave/shockwave.htm Shockwave at TFU.info]

*[http://www.ntfa.net/universe/english/index.php?act=view&char=Shockwave Shockwave's Universe profile at NTFA.net]

[[Category: Action Masters]]
[[Category: Alternators]]
[[Category: Attacktix]]
[[Category: Decepticons]]
[[Category: Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category: Generation 1 characters]]
[[Category: Robot Heroes]]
[[Category: Rulers of Cybertron]]
[[Category: Scientists]]
[[Category: Strategists]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>

Shockwave (G1)

2008-05-23T11:42:41Z

99.164.122.35: /* Fiction */

{{disambig3|Shockwave}}
:''Shockwave is a [[Decepticon]] in the [[Generation One]] [[continuity family]]. He was also briefly known as '''Shockblast'''.''

[[Image:Shockwavearealldead.jpg||thumb|right|300px|Transformers images don't GET much more awesome than this.]]

'''Shockwave''' has been referred to as "a computer on legs." This is not far from the truth. Logic rules Shockwave's thought processes and is the source of his every inspiration. He sees emotion as a weakness and a distraction. His cold and calculating ''modus operandi'' is supported by his frightening and exceptionally powerful form.

Shockwave is possibly even more powerful than [[Megatron_(G1)|Megatron]], to whom he appears to be loyal. Perhaps logic may one day dictate that the time to replace Megatron's flawed, emotion-fueled rule is at hand. After all, the only logical choice for [[Decepticon leader]] would be Shockwave himself.

{{quote|Ultimately, I serve only one master... pure logic!|Shockwave on his true loyalties|"[[Spotlight: Shockwave]]"}}

:''Italian name'': '''Brutal'''<br>
:''Japanese name'': '''Laserwave'''<br>
:''French-Canadian name'': '''Onde de Choc'''<br>
:''Hungarian name'': '''Sokkoló'''
:''Russian name'': '''Vzrivala''' (Взрывала, Blaster)

==Fiction==
===Marvel Comics continuity===
{{note|Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.}}

After the Autobots had successfully destroyed the asteroids threatening [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], Megatron and the other Decepticons attacked the [[Ark]] while Shockwave remained behind on [[Nemesis|their ship]] to pilot it. When the Ark subsequently crashed on [[Earth]], deactivating all those within, Shockwave followed the ship down, but a malfunction in his guidance systems caused him to land half a world away, in the tropical Antarctic jungle known as the [[Savage Land]]. The Ark's dying computer detected his presence there and reactivated five Autobots, rebuilding them in the shapes of the Savage Land's native dinosaurs. {{storylink|The Last Stand}} These "[[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]]" battled Shockwave, a battle that ended in permanent stalemate when [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] brought down the mountain that Shockwave stood upon, knocking all the combatants into a tar pit. {{storylink|Repeat Performance}}

[[Image:Megatrong1marvelhumiliation.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Early on, Shockwave establishes the pecking order.]]
In 1984, when the rest of the Transformers aboard the Ark were awakened by a volcanic eruption, the Autobots attempted to track down their five missing comrades. A sensor drone tracked them to the Savage Land, but inadvertently wound up reactivating Shockwave, who headed straight for [[Oregon]]. He arrived just as the Autobots had claimed victory over the Decepticons, and his explosive entry saw all the weakened combatants knocked off-line. {{storylink|The Last Stand!}} Rounding up the bodies, Shockwave took control of the Ark, strung up the Autobots, decapitated [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and restored his fellow Decepticons back to health. This came as something of a rude shock to Megatron, who awoke to find that Shockwave had decided it was only logical for him to take over leadership of the Decepticons in light of Megatron's failure. {{storylink|The New Order}} After Shockwave attacked the offshore oil-drilling platform of tycoon [[G.B. Blackrock]] to secure it as a secondary base of operations (consequently crippling [[Josie Beller]] and leading to her transformation into [[Circuit Breaker]]), a weakened Megatron engaged him in combat for leadership, but was soundly defeated, and grudgingly vowed to serve Shockwave. {{storylink|The Worse of Two Evils!}}

Under Shockwave's command, the Decepticons took control of the [[Blackrock Aerospace Planet]], and used its facilities to create the bodies of the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]]s, which were then brought to life with the power of the [[Creation Matrix]] drained from Prime's head. {{storylink|The Next Best Thing to Being There!}} However, when Shockwave discovered that he could not bring his next creation, [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]], to life, he deduced that Prime had transferred the Matrix into the mind of the human, [[Buster Witwicky]]. Shockwave programmed Jetfire to capture Buster, but the boy was able to use the power of the Matrix to bring the robot under his own control to turn the tables on the Decepticons. {{storylink|Brainstorm!}} Under Buster's control, Jetfire knocked out Shockwave and Optimus Prime was reunited with his body, leading to a climactic battle between Shockwave and Prime, which ended when the Decepticon leader was buried in a swamp. {{storylink|Prime Time!}}

''Finally extricating himself from the swamp after being trapped for several months,'' Shockwave returned to leadership of the Decepticons with some new ill-fated plans involving stealing sonic energy from a rock concert {{storylink|Rock and Roll-Out!}} and attempting to exploit [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] as a weak link in the Autobot forces {{storylink|Plight of the Bumblebee!}}.

[[Image:ShockwaveSecondGeneration1.jpg |right|200px|thumb|wtf]]

''When [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] and [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] built Buster a mechanoid battle suit, the human test-drove it by attacking [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]]. Shockwave responded to the attack, only to be briefly blinded when a desperate Buster flung a handful of sand into his optic sensor. The darkness this brought about revived memories of his four-million-year burial and his humiliating swamp submergence, and an enraged, barely-sane Shockwave disregarded logic in a desire for revenge that saw him pursue Buster throughout the night. As the new day dawned, Busted made one final attack with all the suit's power, which destroyed it but merely injured Shockwave. Seizing the boy in his hand, Shockwave was about to crush the life from him when the Autobot forces arrived to rescue him.'' {{storylink|Robot Buster}} ''His rationality returning, Shockwave realized that Buster could potentially be a powerful tool to use against the Autobots, and had the Constructicons attempt to abduct him, but during the battle, [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] discovered that the Matrix had planted in Buster's mind a vision for the future of the Transformer race.'' {{storylink|Devastation Derby}} ''Shockwave watched intently as Soundwave tapped into Buster's dreams, and witnessed a vision of [[combiner]] Transformers battling. Little did he know that Soundwave was also beaming the vision to Megatron (now operating independent of Shockwave), who decided that it was time for him to retake Decepticon leadership. Shockwave and Megatron battled once more, but with Megatron at full health, the fight was much more evenly matched and drawn-out, and was even televised by the Decepticons' unwilling human ally, [[Donny Finkleberg|Robot Master]]. To prevent the Decepticons from being made to look like fools, Soundwave demanded they cease fighting and consent to a joint leadership. Begrudgingly, both agreed.'' {{storylink|Second Generation}}

This joint leadership did not last long. Leaving Shockwave in charge of the Decepticon's Wyoming coal mine base, Megatron led a team of Decepticons to attack the Autobot base, only for the majority of their number to be deactivated and captured by [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]. At the same time, however, the Autobots attacked the Decepticon base to draw out [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]], to learn more about the combiner process. With the day having firmly been won by the Autobots on both fronts, Megatron argued that although he may have charged into a trap, Shockwave had been ineffective enough to do nothing, and had allowed a trap to spring up around him. Bowing to the logic of this argument, Shockwave stepped down and allowed Megatron to resume sole command. {{storylink|Command Performances!}}

''Shockwave's movements were unknown for the brief time that followed this embarrassment. He was absent from the Decepticons' base when the time-traveling future Decepticon [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] arrived from 2006 and temporarily disposed of Megatron, but returned not long thereafter. Wondering where everyone was, he was met by [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] and Frenzy, who had escaped their confinement in the Autobot base, but then, abruptly, all three were mass-displaced into [[limbo]] when three future Autobots traveled back in time to thwart Galvatron's plans.'' {{storylink|Target 2006}} ''In limbo, Shockwave and his two companions battled alongside the similarly-displaced Optimus Prime, [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] and Ratchet against the deadly illusions created by the dimension's native lifeforms, before returning to their natural place in space and time when the time-travellers returned to their point of origin.'' {{storylink|Distant Thunder!}}

''It was not long before Shockwave began scheming to return to the position of leader, and when Megatron summoned the Decepticon hunters the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]] to Earth to stalk Optimus Prime, he saw his opportunity. Conspiring with them, Shockwave arranged for the team to turn on Megatron during the hunt, depriving him of his weapons, expecting that he would have no chance against Prime one-on-one. {{storylink|Prey!}} When Megatron did not return, Shockwave believed him dead, but in truth, he had escaped to Cybertron - though this was of little concern to the cyclopean schemer, who took up the mantle of leadership in his absence again. It was not long after this that Galvatron returned, having traveled back from the future once more, and now dancing dangerously on the edge of sanity. Fearing the threat Galvatron might pose to his own leadership, Shockwave had the Decepticons aid the Dinobots in battling him, and Galvatron departed rather than fight his own future troops. {{storylink|Fallen Angel!}} Shortly thereafter, Megatron returned from Cybertron with a case of amnesia, sparing Shockwave any retribution for his actions.'' {{storylink|Resurrection!}}

Not long afterwards, Optimus Prime perished in a video game duel with Megatron, but the Decepticon leader grew progressively more paranoid, fearing his foe had survived. Apparently attempting to shock Megatron back to his senses, Shockwave had the Predacons come to Earth and force him into a combat situation, implanting a copy of his personality program in the team so that he could "be part" of the battle from a safe distance. Events culminated in Megatron's apparent death when, having fully plunged into insanity, he blew the space bridge up while standing on it. Once again, Shockwave was leader. {{storylink|Gone But Not Forgotten!}}

Shockwave established regular contact with Cybertron Decepticon commander [[Ratbat]], {{storylink|King of the Hill!}} ''and had the [[Seacon]]s sent from Cybertron so that they could use their aquatic abilities to help fortify the Decepticons' new artificial mobile island base. It was while they were performing this task that Galvatron returned, advancing on the island, much to Shockwave's distress. He ordered the Seacons to attack, but Galvatron tore through both them and the base walls - he had, he claimed, come in peace, but that Shockwave's attack had made an enemy of him, putting all Decepticons in danger. This of course, was a complete lie, but it turned the Decepticons against Shockwave, thereby disrupting the one-eyed warrior's command.'' {{storylink|Enemy Action!}}

After interfering in a scheme of Ratbat's, Buster Witwicky was captured by the Decepticons and brought to their island, which Shockwave then transformed into spaceship mode and took to the fringes of Earth's atmosphere. Autobot [[Headmaster]] leader [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] pursued the craft and battled Shockwave in the void of space, where he defeated him and sent him tumbling back through Earth's atmosphere in free-fall. {{storylink|The Desert Island of Space!}} ''Although thought dead by many, Shockwave in actuality survived and returned to the Decepticons' original fortress base, where he concentrated on resolving the threat posed by Galvatron. Seeking to use the missing Megatron as a weapon against him, Shockwave had the small number of Decepticons still under his control recover a [[Straxus|clone of the departed leader]] from the Thames river, which he and [[Snaptrap (G1)|Snaptrap]] repaired and brainwashed using the [[psycho-probe]].'' {{storylink|Salvage!}} ''Around the same time, Galvatron's fellow time-travelers [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] and [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] had joined up with Shockwave's Decepticons, but, chaffing in his service, Cyclonus wound up accidentally blurting out that they would be responsible for killing him in the future of 2008. Seeking to preserve his continued existence, Shockwave unleashed the Megatron clone upon them, resulting in the death of Cyclonus. Satisfied with the clone's performance, he dispatched him against Galvatron. {{storylink|Dry Run!}} The battle had an unexpected conclusion, however, when "Megatron" found a kindred spirit in Galvatron and actually joined forces with him. {{storylink|Altered Image!}}

''This unfortunate chain of events led to Shockwave losing his grip on sanity. Unable to logically fathom the situation, he slipped into despondency, stringing up the remains of Cyclonus on the walls of his castle as a twisted trophy. What Shockwave did not realize, however, was that the repeated time-travel and the death of Cyclonus had caused a rift in space-time that threatened the stability of reality. Hoping to restore the balance by returning all time-travelers to their proper place in time, Scourge attempted to reclaim Cyclonus's body, but was shot down by Shockwave for his trouble. At Scourge's urging, [[Ravage]] was able to present events logically enough to Shockwave to restore some semblance of coherency to his thoughts, and Shockwave himself deposited Cyclonus's remains in the rift, and sealed it with an x-ray blast.'' {{storylink|Time Wars}}

It would be some time before Shockwave next resurfaced, emerging from sea on the coast of Blackpool, England, and killing a human who had seen him. {{storylink|Dark Creation}} Seeking to established his own faction of Decepticons, he saved [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] from Circuit Breaker {{storylink|The Human Factor!}}, and the pair, along with [[Ravage]], recruited those who had grown disenfranchised with the leadership of the current Decepticon Earth commander, [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]]. {{storylink|Eye of the Storm!}} The small group staged an attack on Scorponok's New Jersey base, and Scorponok and Shockwave battled in the waters around Manhattan before being interrupted by the super-team, the [[Neo-Knights]]. {{storylink|...All This and Civil War 2}} Shockwave used the ensuing confusing to implicate the Autobots in an attack on the human team, but was later recognized by Circuit Breaker as the robot responsible for crippling her, and was blown out of the sky by her powers. {{storylink|Out of Time!}} Abruptly, the battle was ended when the Transformers were all teleported to Cybertron to face the threat of [[Unicron]], but even Shockwave's data grid could not compute the vastness of the threat the chaos-bringer posed. {{storylink|On the Edge of Extinction!}}

After Unicron was destroyed, Shockwave teamed up with Starscream once more to find the remains of the Autobots' Ark, which had crashed during the battle. {{storylink|Still Life!}} The pair succeeded in getting the craft airborne again, but were unaware that the numerous damaged Transformers in the ship's stasis pods had been reactivated with [[nucleon]] - Megatron among them - and that an alternate future version of [[Galvatron II|Galvatron]] was also on board. {{storylink|Exodus! (issue)|Exodus!}} Conflict erupted when Megatron and Galvatron met, but the sight of Shockwave saw the two Decepticons team up against him. To put an end to things once and for all, the revived Ratchet sent the Ark crashing to Earth. {{storylink|A Savage Circle}} There was no indication that Shockwave survived, suggesting that his evil had once and for all been put to rest.

====Marvel UK future timelines====

''In the alternate future timeline of [[Earth-120185]], Shockwave attacked the unveiling of the first female Autobot [[Arcee]] in 1995 with [[Fangry]], [[Squeezeplay]] and [[Horri-Bull]]. When Arcee quickly disabled his men, though, Shockwave took off and left them to fend for themselves.'' {{storylink|Prime's Rib!}} ''Years later, in 2004, he staged an attack on the opening day of [[Autobot City]], but was defeated by the extremely illogical actions of [[Hot Rod]], who threw him down a mountain, and jumped along with him for the ride.'' {{storylink|Aspects of Evil!}}''

''After Decepticon commander [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] disappeared following Unicron's attack on Cybertron in 2006, the new Autobot leader [[Rodimus Prime]] devoted his forces to searching the galaxy and making sure the Decepticon was truly dead. This diverted attention allowed Shockwave to assume leadership of the Decepticons in the chaos that followed, and he consolidated them into a strong force on Cybertron that ultimately resulted in a stalemate between the factions by 2008. {{storylink|Wanted - Galvatron Dead or Alive}} Knowing that the freelance peacekeeping agent named [[Death's Head]] had a grudge against Rodimus Prime, Shockwave had [[Blot]] hire him for 10,000 [[shanix]] to hunt down and exterminate the Autobot, providing him with secret entry into Cybertron and information about Prime's movements. At the same time, Shockwave allowed Scourge and Cyclonus, Galvatron's former top two lackeys, to brazenly go after Rodimus Prime themselves. Seeing the powerful duo as a potential threat to his position, Shockwave hoped that by tossing these various parties into the mix together, at least some of his problems would turn out dead. {{storylink|Headhunt}}''

''Unfortunately for Shockwave's plans, it was then that Unicron's influence was felt again, as he mind-controlled Cyclonus, Scourge and Death's Head into trying to assassinate Shockwave. Death's Head used the supposedly deactivated bodies of the duo to gain access to Shockwave's audience chamber, and then left his "comrades" to seal the doors while he chased down the Decepticon leader. After a hard fought battle, Shockwave was ultimately destroyed, his body blown to pieces and his memory module crushed between Death's Head's fingers, ensuring that he could never return. Still, the hunter was sickened by being forced to kill against his will, and Death's Head promised Shockwave's corpse that he would eventually avenge them both. {{storylink|The Legacy of Unicron!}}''

====Earthforce====
{{earthforcefiction}}

''Reality unfolds in many ways, across many dimensions. In one such dimension, it was not Scorponok that Shockwave challenged for leadership in the [[Decepticon Civil War]], but a returning Megatron, and the two of them built their armies up for a renewed battle for control over the Earth. Upon hearing the [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] had somehow restored his Dinobots to life without the Creation Matrix, Shockwave and his soldiers attempted to force the secret out of the Dinobots. They failed, miserably. {{storylink|Two Steps Back!}}''

''Unable to gain an advantage over Megatron, Shockwave was forced to suggest an [[Enclave]], a truce whereby the Decepticons could meet and hopefully overcome their differences as they had in the past, for the mutual goal of destruction of the Autobots. Certainly, the Autobots had something to say about that, and they rigged a scenario so that Megatron was tricked into thinking Shockwave had sent an assassin sniper to kill him during the meeting. A brawl broke out, and any chance at peace was chucked out the window, along with several dismembered body parts. {{storylink|The Bad Guy's Ball!}}''

''Thanks to a [[Soundwave (G1)|secret informer]] inside Megatron's camp, Shockwave was able to surprise his rival at the site of an energon delivery, and he and the [[Triple Changer]]s overpowered Megatron and tossed him over a cliff, claiming his energon as their own. {{storylink|Secrets}} Turnabout's fair play, however, and Shockwave's own lieutenant Starscream tipped off Megatron about when Shockwave would be alone and open for attack. What's worse, Starscream and Shockwave took advantage of their leaders' absence to stage a coup, and so Shockwave and Megatron were left on the run from Earthforce while their troops abandoned them to their fates. {{storylink|Internal Affairs!}}''

''Shockwave and Megatron subsequently organized a hit on Starscream, using a series of cheap assassins to trick Starscream into assuming Soundwave wanted to wipe him out and assume sole command of the Decepticons. {{storylink|Assassins}} They then attacked their betrayers personally when it didn't go to plan, but were countered by the Earthforce, who needed Starscream alive to help heal [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]], afflicted with [[Corrodia Gravis]]. Even with the help of [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]'s [[Mayhem Attack Squad]], Megatron and Shockwave were forced to retreat. {{storylink|The Lesser Evil!}}''

====Fun Publications====
Megatron decided to keep Shockwave alive in spite of past betrayals because of the use of his logical skills. However, he decided to prevent further betrayals by keeping him only as a head hooked to some sort of life support. Megatron queries him on information regarding [[Bug Bite]], Shockwave tells him all he knows, but when he requests computer access for more information, Megatron refuses and closes up the chamber. {{storylink|Games of Deception}}

===Cartoon continuity===
:''Voice Actor:'' [[Corey Burton]] (US), [[Yutaka Shimaka]] (Japan)

[[Image:Shockwave Hands.jpg|thumb|left|Megatron, Help! Starscream stole the ladder, and I can't get down from here!]]
Shockwave was a highly ranked Decepticon. Fanatically loyal to Megatron, Shockwave was entrusted stewardship of Cybertron by Megatron when the latter left to intercept an Autobot mission surveying for new forms of energy. Neither Decepticon suspected that Megatron's absence (and Shockwave's command) would last four million years. Little changed on Cybertron during those years, although Shockwave apparently lost his left hand and replaced it with a laser cannon. {{storylink|More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1}}

[[Image:ShockwaveDesertionOfTheDinobots1.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Shockwave bought himself on eBay!]]

He oversaw all the Decepticon activity on Cybertron, rarely leaving the planet. His keen scientific mind resulted in several incredible devices, including the [[space bridge]] and a [[Kronosphere|time machine]]. Despite spending his time on Cybertron, Shockwave was not out of the conflict. He directed Cybertron's security forces when a group of Autobots returned to Cybertron after the planet was moved in Earth's orbit. {{storylink|The Ultimate Doom, Part 3}} He also sent [[Cybertonium]] to the dying Decepticons, though the experience was rather unpleasant, as the Dinobots reduced him to the role of chew toy, and he was outsmarted by two [[Spike Witwicky|miserable]] [[Carly|glitches]]. {{storylink|Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2}} More embarrassing was the fact that [[Female Autobots]] under [[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]] had been stealing [[Energon]] right out from under his nose (or what ever he has for a nose), while he had believed them all to be dead. {{storylink|The Search for Alpha Trion}}

By 2005, Megatron had returned to Cybertron and conquered the planet, leading Shockwave to lay down his guardianship of the planet and rejoin Megatron's inner circle. Though absent for the [[Battle of Autobot City]], he was present for Starscream's coronation, and subsequent destruction by [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]], the reformatted version of Megatron. With Galvatron indisposed, Shockwave commanded the Decepticon forces during [[Unicron]]'s attack on Cybertron, and is believed to have been killed in the ensuing battle. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie (1986)|Transformers: The Movie}}

[[Image:Shockwave5Faces.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Shockwave didn't die. He just got a new paint job.]]

{{note|Though Shockwave's death was written into the movie's script, it did not make it into the released film. However, IDW's [[Transformers: The Animated Movie #4|20th Anniversary comic adaptation]] did include Shockwave's death. Shockwave's model did show up in season 3 episodes as possible animation errors.}}
{{-}}

===Dreamwave comics continuity===

[[Image:Shockwavedwtww1.jpg|right|thumb|175px|Dreamwave is all his fault.]]

As a major player in the Decepticon army in Cybertron's past, Shockwave led the main attack on the Autobots' stronghold shortly after the appointment of Optimus Prime, and personally destroyed two [[guardian robot]]s with one blast in space gun mode. {{storylink|The War Within}}

After Megatron's apparent death in an early space bridge test, the Decepticon faction splintered, with [[Air Commander]] [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] creating the "[[Predacon (War Within)|Predacons]]" and High Auditor [[Ratbat]] the [[Ultracon]]s, while Shockwave lead the Decepticons through the "[[Dark Age]]s" of Cybertron. During this period, his logic allowed him to put aside differences with Jetfire and the Autobots in order to defeat the greater evil of the [[Fallen]]. Meeting up with Jetfire to discuss the upsurge in violence, the two were attacked by the [[Chaos Trinity]], and Shockwave was taken down. Recovered by the newly built [[Trypticon]], Shockwave organized a counter strike against the three mystics that included Trypticon, [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]], [[Ravage]], the [[Insecticon]]s, and the [[Seeker]]s. Exactly how logic dictated that Shockwave bring an entire army to deal with three rogue Decepticons is unknown. Grimlock's [[Lightning Strike Coalition]] arrived, saying that they had a stake in this, and Shockwave agreed to a temporary ceasefire. After the Fallen was defeated, Shockwave and [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] agreed to seal the [[Well of All Sparks]] with six coded barriers for each faction. They were to remain in place until Cybertron was united. Or, as Shockwave put it, [['Til all are one|until all are one]]. {{storylink|The War Within: The Dark Ages}} As the Dark Ages came to an end, Shockwave was ready to sign a peace treaty with Ratbat's Ultracons and the Autobots, but the return of Megatron derailed the plan. Shockwave was tasked with reverse engineering the [[Quintesson]]-created clones he brought back to the planet with him, which suffered difficulties due to Megatron's refusal to divulge their origin, but greatly intrigued Shockwave. {{storylink|The War Within: Age of Wrath}}

Shockwave was left behind on Cybertron while Megatron's forces pursued Optimus Prime and were subsequently lost on Earth for four million years, and became Decepticon leader on the planet. He began experimenting with cloning, and through studies of [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] and [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]], began to conceive the idea of a Transformer with multiple alternate modes. Cybertron, however, was steadily growing lower and lower on energy, and in an attempt to create new energy-conservative Transformers, Shockwave allied with the Autobots for a pooling of resources that created the [[Micromaster]]s. {{storylink|Destined For Nothing}} This came back to bite him, however, when the Decepticon Micromaster [[Skystalker]] attempted to overthrow his command, knocking him offline and decapitating him to use in a grotesque puppet show, giving orders to the other Decepticons by holding Shockwave's severed noggin up to a video screen. {{storylink|Victims of the Revolution}} When Skystalker was defeated, Shockwave was repaired, but eventually, he and all the other Transformers on Cybertron succumbed to stasis as the planet's energy ran out, and it entered a hibernation phase known as the "[[Great Shutdown]]."

3000 years ago, Unicron's herald Scourge located the dead planet, and reactivated Shockwave for study purposes. {{storylink|Generation 1 #0}} However, when Shockwave was attacked by a swarm of [[Sharkticon]]s, Scourge intervened and saved him, {{storylink|Cold War}} only to be shot in the back by the Decepticon and captured. Dissecting and studying Scourge, Shockwave learned many secrets about the function and purpose of Transformers and Cybertron from the secrets hidden within him. Using that knowledge, Shockwave steadily worked to restore Cybertron, reactivating its population and solving their energy needs, ending the war and unifying the planet. He also continued his experiments into multiple transformations, yielding the unstable [[Duocon]]s, and then successfully mastering the process with [[Triple Changer]]s. Capturing [[Alpha Trion]], Shockwave sought to unlock the full secrets of [[Vector Sigma]], having already learned of the mysterious significance of Earth to the Transformer race. {{storylink|Revelation}} In preparation for the invasion of the planet, Shockwave subliminally influenced the population of Cybertron to become more violent, {{storylink|Passive Aggression}} and prevented the return of Optimus Prime and Megatron aboard the Ark II by having a [[Robert Hallo|human agent]] blow it up. {{storylink|Revelation}}

[[Image:Shockwavedwwarandpeace.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Deja vu all over again.]]
In 2003, Shockwave made his move, heading to Earth with his Triple Changer troops and capturing Megatron and Optimus's forces, planning to try the two leaders as war criminals. Megatron was jettisoned into space by Starscream, {{storylink|New World Order}} while Prime escaped from his clutches and fell in with a rebel group. {{storylink|Cold War}} Mobilizing the planet's Autobots, Prime led an attack on Shockwave's citadel, and confronted Shockwave himself, only to be defeated by the Decepticon, who ripped the Matrix from him. Using the Matrix to activate Vector Sigma, Shockwave downloaded the compressed contents of the mega-computer into his network, but before he had an opportunity to view the data, he was pulled into a battle with [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]]. In the course of the fight, the fuel line to his cannon was severed, and the resulting explosion destroyed his citadel and knocked him into a chasm. {{storylink|Revelation}}

While the rest of Cybertron believed Shockwave to be deceased, he had actually survived the explosion and gone underground in the wastelands of Cybertron. {{storylink|Lost and Found}} In addition to re-establishing communications with the [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticons]] on Earth (who had been operating there as an advance squad preparing the way for his invasion), {{storylink|Extermination}} Shockwave continued his experimentation, resulting in the creation of [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]]. Soon after, however, Megatron returned to Cybertron and bested Shockwave, {{storylink|Lost and Found}} taking him to Earth where he did the same to Starscream. But now, the three players were assembled, each knowing certain dark secrets of Cybertron's past... {{storylink|The Route of All Evil}}

{{note|...and then Dreamwave went out of business. Dag, yo.}}

===Devil's Due ''G.I. Joe vs. Transformers'' comics continuity===

[[Image:Shockwave-ddp2-2b1.jpg|thumb|right|There are so many ways to make him look awesome.]]

In the absence of Megatron, Shockwave had assumed command of the Decepticons on Cybertron, and had successfully driven the Autobots into an underground resistance movement. When a number of GI Joe and COBRA troops, along with the captive Starscream, accidentally arrived on Cybertron via an overloaded wormhole gate, Shockwave and his troops immediately surrounded them. The same wormhole malfunction blasted a number of Transformers off of Cybertron and into random points of Earth's past, a temporal anomaly that threatened to scour the Earth's face with fire if the Transformers were not brought back.

Ultra Magnus and Perceptor arrived and were able to hold off the Decepticons for a time with a force field, while teams of humans were time-ported away to retrieve the missing Transformers and end the anomaly. Magnus's force field power ran out before all the teams had returned, and Shockwave had his troops capture the Autobots. He took personal pleasure in blasting Ratchet when he was returned through the gate.

Revealing that he had intended all along for the humans to discover the wormhole gate technology, Shockwave set the gate to continue operating but blocked the last remaining group from returning -- thus condemning Earth to destruction, easy pickings for conquest. Fortunately for Earth, two members of the GI Joe team were able to reactivate the gate, allowing the newly-created Dinobots to return to Cybertron. The Dinobots' power quickly drove Shockwave's Decepticons into retreat.

Regrouping on the other side of the planet, Shockwave had the long-missing Starscream brought before him. As Starscream attempted to explain his way out of being seen as a traitor, a recording of Cobra Commander's voice suddenly began to play, explaining that he had lined Starscream's hull with explosives. Shockwave leapt to try and stop the process, but the entire building exploded, apparently taking the two Decepticons with it.

With Shockwave's defeat, peace returned to Cybertron, and the Decepticons were driven back to a region known as the Gladiator Zone.

===Dreamwave ''Transformers/G.I. Joe'' comics continuity===
[[Image:Shockwavetfjoetrenches.jpg|thumb|100px|First guy to call him "Big Bertha" gets it in the face.]]
As one of the Decepticons who crashed to [[Earth]] in the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'' millions of years ago, Shockwave was retrieved by [[Cobra]] and pressed into service, taking on the alternate form of a massive artillery cannon. Chafing under the leadership of [[Cobra Commander]], he was ordered to transform and destroy the [[Autobot]] [[Superion]]. {{storylink|Trenches}} Although he did so, he was forced to fire sixteen consecutive times, despite needing to repair himself after every shot. The resulting strain on his structure irrevocably damaged him, and Cobra Commander refused to allow [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] to use the power of the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] to restore him. {{storylink|The Iron Fist}}

===IDW comics continuity===

Shockwave was a Decepticon scientist on Cybertron six hundred thousand [[meta-cycles]] ago. He predicted the eventual destruction of Cybertron as a result of the Great War, and theorized that the war would spread across the galaxy. In anticipation of this, he seeded several worlds with an altered form of energon (this is possibly the [[Ore-13]] later found by Starscream). After a long period of indeterminable length, at the beginning of the Ice Age on Earth, the Energon had become unstable, requiring Shockwave to place dampening devices across the worlds he'd seeded.

[[Image:Shockwaveg1idw.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Shockwave began to have second thoughts over his choice of manicurists.]]

Before departing Cybertron, he was ordered to deal with an Energon raid by the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dynobot]]s (by destroying the energon and severely injuring the team of misfits). Vowing revenge, they followed him when he left the planet.

Earth was the first world he visited to plant the devices on. Before he could leave though, his ship was destroyed and the Dynobots teleported down to attack him. The concept of the Dynobots illogical behavior based off vengeance, along with the sheer force of their attack, left him off balance at first. Unable to win through logic, he developed thought patterns based off rage. This more brutal, violent Shockwave decimated the Dynobots, burning off the organic coatings shielding them from the planet's high energon fields, forcing them into [[stasis lock]]. Deactivating his new 'rage' program for further study, Shockwave was prevented by leaving the planet by a dead man's switch on the Dynobots' ship. A massive beam of energy plowed into the ground, causing a volcanic eruption which consumed Shockwave and the Dynobots. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}}

Megatron became suspicious of Shockwave's absence and assigned [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] to search through Shockwave's files. {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}} Bludgeon's findings later inspired him in part to reattempt [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]]'s mad plot which had, in the meantime, left their planet uninhabitable. {{storylink|Stormbringer (comics)|Stormbringer}}

In 2006, a [[Professor Goring|human archaeological team]] uncovered Shockwave's body, which a few months later was obtained (along with the Dynobots' bodies) by an organization named [[Skywatch]]. {{storylink|Escalation issue 5}}

===IDW ''[[Hearts of Steel]]'' continuity===
Shockwave recruits inventor [[Tobias Muldoon]] to the Decepticon side (by pretending to be a friend to humanity). {{Storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 1}} As a huge ship, he does not participate in the [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]]'s attempted attack on New York, and thus may have survived the story unharmed. Clever bot. His 19th century altmode is an ironclad warship.

{{-}}

==Toys==
===Generation 1===
*'''Shockwave''' (Decepticon, 1985)
:*''Japanese ID number'': '''49'''
:*''Accessories'': "Magnetic impulse defuser" barrel

[[Image:G1Shockwave_toy.jpg|right|thumb|You can try to play Duck Hunt with him all day long, but it just doesn't work.]]

: Shockwave transforms into a large Cybertronian handgun. He has light and sound electronics activated by his gun-mode trigger and powered by a 9-volt bettery. The sound effects can be switched between two (fairly generic) blaster-sound frequencies with a small toggle on his battery pack.

{{note|The rubber hose covering the wires connecting his torso and arm's electronics is particularly prone to dry-rotting. Be careful.}}

{{-}}
*'''Shockwave with Fistfight''' (Action Master, 1990)
**''Accessories'': Double-barreled "Turbo Rifle"

[[Image:ActionMaster_Shockwave.jpg|left|thumb|80px|"I shall call him Mini-Me."]]

: As an [[Action Master]], Shockwave is a non-transforming action figure who combines elements of his cartoon model and original toy, with a few more details. He is compatible with any other Action Master weapon or vehicle. He came with his small robot partner [[Fistfight]], who combines with Shockwave's handgun to form a "Lightning Gun" cannon.

: Reportedly, early "test market" releases came with a rubber hose that connects from his gun-arm to his back, like the original toy. There are holes in the toy's gun-arm and backpack; the black hoses found in many old ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' toys can fit in the holes.

{{-}}
===Alternators===
*'''Shockblast''' (Alternator, 2004)
:*''Alternator ID number:'' '''12'''
:*''Japanese ID number:'' '''BT-13'''
:*''Accessories'': Muffler-blaster

[[Image:AlternatorsShockblast_toy.jpg|right|thumb|Guns akimbo.]]

: A [[retool]]ing of the "[[Jazz|Meister]]" Alternator, "Shockblast" transforms into a 1:24-scale Mazdaspeed-modified RX-8 sports car. He features working car doors, hood, and trunk. His muffler unfolds to become a hand-held blaster; the mounting peg for car-mode actually pegs into the hole son his forearms by the elbow joints quite snugly, letting you mount the blaster there if you wish. While the box has the name "Shockblast", the car's actual license plate is "SHKWAV".

: Aside from the new head, color change and the laser cannon replacing his left hand, other differences between Shockblast and Meister are that Shockblast has new front and rear fenders, doors, side skirts and a spoiler.

: The original [[Jazz|Meister]] mold was also used to make the [[Autrooper]] and [[Zoom-Zoom]].

{{-}}
===Attacktix===
*'''Shockwave'''
{{comingsoontoy}}

{{-}}
==Merchandise==
*'''Shockwave''' (Bust, 2003)
[[Image:Shockwave_bust.jpg|left|thumb|130px|Shockwave reminisces back to when he had two hands.]]

: In 2003, [[Hard Hero]] released a large polystone bust of Shockwave, based upon his ''Generation 1'' cartoon appearance. This was released in two versions, the regular as shown in the picture and a limited edition 'metallic' version limited to 500 pieces worldwide.

*'''Shockwave''' (Mini statue, 2004)
[[Image:Shockwaveministatue.jpg|right|thumb|100px|Meet me in the bank....its going down..]]

: Diamond Comics Distributors also released a small, six-inch polystone statue of Shockwave made by Palisades, based upon [[Pat Lee]]'s rendition of the character in [[Dreamwave]]'s Transformers comic books.

*'''Grimlock & Shockwave''' (Robot Heroes, 2007)

[[Image:Robot_Hero_Shockwave.jpg|left|thumb|130px|He's logical ''and'' cute.]]
: The most adorablest Shockwave ever, ''[[Robot Heroes]]'' Shockwave is a stumpy PVC figurine that combines toy and animation model details into a single package. He has limited articulation (neck and shoulder swivels only), but he's so cute it doesn't matter. He was available in a two-pack with a similarly lovable version of [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]].

{{-}}

==Trivia==
[[Image:Generations-CybertronBattle.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Aha! I have your Lucky Charms now, Starscream!]]
* Although Shockwave was depicted in the 1984 episodes of the original cartoon series, he did not receive a toy release until 1985. Unlike the bulk of early Transformers that drew their molds from [[Takara]]'s ''[[Diaclone]]'' and ''[[Microchange]]'' toys, Shockwave's original form was first produced by ToyCo. As such, similar non-Transformer toys using the same mold were released in 1985, including a gray version called "Astro Magnum" and a Radio Shack exclusive called "Galactic Man". A minor but amusing difference between the Radio Shack version, humorously called "Shackwave" by fans, and the [[Hasbro]] version, is that Shockwave's inconveniently placed trigger was remolded and appears less...inconvenient.

* A Cybertronian battle scene in ''[[Comic Bom Bom]]'' (reprinted in ''[[Transformers Generations]]'') depicts Shockwave not in purple, but in the original grey color scheme of the Astro Magnum/Galactic Man toy.

[[Image:Starbrigade.jpg|right|thumb|125px|Product and colors (and franchise) may vary.]]

* In the cartoon, Shockwave was once shown having two hands {{storylink|More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1}}.

* In "Desertion of Dinobots" part 1, Shockwave was wielding a miniature version... of himself. Or perhaps he is being wielded in gun mode by a gigantic version of himself. Who knows?

*In the Japanese dub of the Generation 1 cartoon, Shockwave's personality was altered from the American interpretation. Instead of being a monotone slave to logic he was presented like a grizzled old man with a loud, raspy voice and a very short temper.

* One of the earliest pictured versions of Action Master Shockwave features some awkward proportions and Fistfight with reversed colors. Another oddity of this version is that Shockwave's right hand is sculpted in an open position.

* A silhouette of Action Master Shockwave's card art appears on the back of the [[G.I. Joe]] Star Brigade packaging... as [[Hawk (G.I. Joe)|Hawk]]!

* Shockwave is, of course, the basis for the ''[[Energon (franchise)|Energon]]'' Decepticon [[homage]] character [[Shockblast (Energon)|Shockblast]].

* Shockwave bears the rather strange distinction of receiving a number of particularly high quality [[knockoff|knockoffs]], all of which known retain the electronics and some even having odd [[Wikipedia:Flash Gordon|Flash Gordon]]esque [[retool]]s.

* Shockwave has two hands on the cover of ''G.I. Joe and the Transformers'' #3.{{storylink|Ashes, Ashes...}}

{{-}}

==External links==
*[http://www.tfu.info/1985/Decepticon/Shockwave/shockwave.htm Shockwave at TFU.info]

*[http://www.ntfa.net/universe/english/index.php?act=view&char=Shockwave Shockwave's Universe profile at NTFA.net]

[[Category: Action Masters]]
[[Category: Alternators]]
[[Category: Attacktix]]
[[Category: Decepticons]]
[[Category: Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category: Generation 1 characters]]
[[Category: Robot Heroes]]
[[Category: Rulers of Cybertron]]
[[Category: Scientists]]
[[Category: Strategists]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>