Wingthing (G1)

This article is about Soundwave's Action Master partner from Generation 1. For Soundwave's keytar buddy from Animated, see Wingthing (Animated).

Wingthing is a Decepticon Action Master partner from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Soundwave and his bat partner. No, the other bat partner.

Wingthing is one of the many, many animal-friends of Soundwave. Via a high-precision personality emulator, Wingthing is programmed to share his master's penchant for cruelty, and gleefully follows his every command, indulging Soundwave's manipulative desires. And much like his master, Wingthing is hated by pretty much every other Decepticon for it.

Fiction

Regeneration One

Soundwave dispatched Wingthing to alert the other Decepticon cells on Cybertron that the time to begin the next phase of their plan had come. Destiny, Part Three He and Soundwave watched as the Autobots deployed Omega Supreme against Bludgeon's Blitz Engines with satisfaction, knowing that they had a counter ready to be deployed. Destiny, Part Four

Following Soundwave's defeat and the Dark Matrix creature's rise, Wingthing was converted into a shadow-leech alongside Soundwave, Howlback, Slugfest, Squawktalk, Beastbox, and Overkill. Their combined form menaced Ravage before he was rescued by Shockwave and Starscream. King of Shadows The shadow-leeches ceased to be a threat once Rodimus Prime defeated the Dark Matrix creature. The War to End All Wars, Part 5

IDW Generation 1 continuity

After the Simanzi Massacre, Wingthing was part of a Decepticon hygiene team that picked up prisoners for Grindcore. He perched on Skyquake's forearm. Speak, Memory: Part 1

Games

Angry Birds Transformers

Wingthing appears as a wearable accessory in the game.

Angry Birds Transformers

Toys

Generation 1

Someday he hopes he can trade in that dumb cannon mode for a sweet rectangle mode!

• Soundwave with Wingthing (Action Master, 1990)

Wingthing is a robotic bat. Pushing down on his tail flips his head and a chunk of his inner body around via a spring-loaded mechanism, revealing a (non-firing) blaster. Folding his wings up forms his "concussion cannon" mode, which can be used by any regular Action Master figure. His gun barrel can be extended by attaching the handgun from any carded Action Master. (Thanks to Soundwave's inaccurate instructions, the photo at right uses Treadshot's handgun.)

• More information on Wingthing (and Soundwave) at TFU.info

Encore

His dream has come true.

• Soundblaster (2012)
  • ID number: 21
  • Accessories: 2 concussion cannons, clear cassette case

Encore Wingthing is an orange, yellow, and black redeco of Ratbat, included with Encore Soundblaster and Enemy. Wingthing, unlike the majority of Decepticon Mini-Cassettes, doesn't feature silver or gold weapons. Instead, his are a metallic charcoal color. As was the case with the other cassettes previously released with Soundblaster, Wingthing sports a different sticker in place of his cassette spool image; an image of Fortress Maximus which reveals the city-bot's weak spots when viewed through Soundblaster's clear-red chest door (in the same way Tech Spec decoders work).

Masterpiece

Still does not convert into a weapon.

• Cassettebots VS Cassettetrons (12-2017)
  • Japanese ID number: MP-15/16E
  • Accessories: unknown

Issued in a limited edition "Encore" set available from TakaraTomy Mall, along with Stripes, Nightstalker, and Enemy, Wingthing is a redeco of Masterpiece Ratbat.

Notes

Should probably see a dermatologist.

• In Dreamwave's More Than Meets The Eye profile series, every Action Master partner robot profiled was retroactively given the "Targetmaster" classification, though the partners to characters who had previous, non-Action Master toys (like Soundwave) were omitted from the books' lineup. However, the across-the-board application of the Targetmaster term for those that did appear makes a pretty clear inference that all of the Action Master partner-bots are Targetmasters... at least, as far as the Dreamwave universe is concerned.
• An early photo as well as the packaging art of Encore Wingthing was more brown in color and had an entirely black head (with gold eyes in the art) and ears.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Wingthing (ウィングシング Wingushingu)