Thunderwing (G1)

The name or term "Thunderwing" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Thunderwing (disambiguation).

This article is a featured article, and considered to be one of the most informative on this wiki.

Thunderwing is a Decepticon from the Generation 1 continuity family.

And we are dutifully impressed.

In a better world, Thunderwing would be the ideal Decepticon leader. He's fearless, ruthless, and immensely powerful, while uncommonly concerned about the welfare of his fellow Decepticons. For this mindset, Thunderwing gets a high approval rating from his peers, but, sadly, this is not the whole story.

Thunderwing's vice is, simply, obsession. When his mind sets its sights on a who or what that furthers his goals, he will stop at nothing to achieve victory. Slowly but surely, his esteem for his colleagues is replaced by single-mindedness, until finally Thunderwing awakens from his haze, potentially victorious, but either abandoned or surrounded by the bodies of the few friends who tried valiantly to snap him out of it. In these dark moments, the usually noble Thunderwing is as two-faced as any halfwit Decepticon.

But what separates Thunderwing from the rest is his sheer power. His Pretender shell is likely the most powerful ever built, and it forms impenetrable armor around his robot body. Every inch is covered in weaponry, from the electrostatic guns in his shoulders, to the hoses in his chest that emit dangerous gases, to even the rarely-used metal-eating laser beam that fires out of his forehead. In addition to this built-in arsenal, he carries around his signature cyclone cannon, the power of which is increased 50% by the powerpack his shell houses on its back. In jet mode, Thunderwing can unleash a never-ending torrent of plasma charges.

Because of all this, Thunderwing is almost always successful in hunting down his obsessions, though at regrettable costs.

French-Canadian name: Aérofoudre ("Aerolightning")

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

A handful of Transformers are born with a natural affinity to the Creation Matrix. Though these special few are usually Autobots, Thunderwing was an exception. Thunderwing felt that the Matrix called to him, and believed that he would become the first Decepticon to possess it. Deadly Obsession

Early on in the war, he served at Fort Scyk. He became a protege of Fort commander Megadeath, who saw and encouraged the burning ambition within the lad, grooming Thunderwing as an asset and potential general for when he'd make a bid for leadership. For his part, Thunderwing thought Megadeath was utterly mental but also that he'd be his ticket to the top. He later soured on Megadeath when he viciously tortured the Magnificent Six, which Thunderwing felt was ill-fitting for such valiant enemies, and then Megadeath let himself and the whole of Stanix get nuked to slag anyway. The Magnificent Six!

Thunderwing is a Pretender? The hell you say!

Four million years later, with a vacuum in Decepticon high command, a driven Thunderwing rose quickly from relative obscurity to a command position in the ranks. He made a bid for full leadership of the Decepticons to the High Council, and they decided to test him with a hunting mission: Three Autobot prisoners were released on Earth, and Thunderwing was charged with chasing down and executing them on his own. While Playback and Horsepower did fall before his cyclone cannon, the last runner, Hosehead, was saved by his fellow Autobots Nightbeat and Siren. The Headmasters exploded the fuel core in Playback's corpse at close range to Thunderwing, nearly cooking him alive inside his own impenetrable Pretender shell. Shrieking in agony, Thunderwing plunged into the nearby surf. The Big Shutdown!

This is exactly how cable news pundits are hired.

Thunderwing eventually rose from the waters, his still-cooling shell juxtaposed with the growing intensity of his rage at being beaten. Thunderwing lashed out at everything around him and very nearly destroyed a ship of his fellow Decepticons who had been sent to find him. As a duly appointed officer of the Decepticon High Council, Ruckus was sent to inform Thunderwing that his bid for leadership was not being rejected outright, but was still under review, and the Councilors had asked that he return to Cybertron. Instead, Thunderwing violently conscripted Ruckus and his team into joining him for an assault on the Ark in order to get revenge on Hosehead and his ilk. Rage! Thunderwing single-handedly blasted his way into the Ark and confronted Optimus Prime directly before Ruckus convinced him to save the fight for another day. Returning to Cybertron, Thunderwing was surprised to learn that the Decepticon High Council was impressed by his initiative and the strength of his vendetta, and so granted him full leadership of the Decepticons of Cybertron. Assault on the Ark!

One of Thunderwing's first actions on taking over Decepticon leadership was to abolish neutral territories, making places such as Maccadam's Old Oil House Decepticon-only establishments. Out to Lunch! Despite these movements, Lord Thunderwing became displeased with the growing success of the newly-rebuilt Jazz, Grimlock, and Bumblebee and their raiding of Decepticon fuel depositories. Fearing the Autobot resistance movement was gaining momentum, he ordered Bludgeon, Octopunch and Stranglehold, the Mayhem Attack Squad, to find and kill the Autobot Pretenders. Yesterday's Heroes!

This is probably the closest look we'll get at Thunderwing's unpublished character model. José Delbo was a copier.

When the Mayhem Attack Squad failed, Thunderwing became curious when teams of Autobots were subsequently ordered to search an area of space. Trailing a team on Pz-Zazz which included (again) Nightbeat, Hosehead, and Siren, he waited until the right moment to blast and capture them. Bird of Prey! As Thunderwing's Decepticons began trailing another team of Autobots on Cheyne (Backstreet, Dogfight, and Override), he subjected the captured first group to his Mind Leech machine. He learned from these torture sessions that the Autobots were scouring the universe for the lost Creation Matrix. Unfortunately, the second group was no closer to finding the Matrix either, and he left them to their own devices. Kings of the Wild Frontier. His obsession with finding the Creation Matrix caused some concerns for the Decepticons under his command, and he even began attacking his own troops when accused of taking his personal quest too far. These outbursts began coming to a head when he found traces of Matrix energy in a sea monster on Pequod. Ruckus made the mistake of questioning his leader's growing obsession, and Thunderwing backhanded him into some equipment (unknowingly shorting out the Mind Leech which held their captive Autobots immobile). While his troops battled the Autobots searching there, he used his affinity for the Matrix to mind-link with the sea monster. Discovering that the Matrix was on Cameron's third moon, VsQs, he abandoned the battle, much to the growing frustration of his troops. Deadly Obsession

Obsessed much?

As it happened, between the revival of the Klud and the arrival of Thunderwing, the Creation Matrix had become warped. Thunderwing fought intensely with Bumblebee, Jazz, and Grimlock on VsQs, and they were overwhelmed not only by his vastly superior might, but by the strength of his desire to possess the Matrix. However, he and his troops were subdued by a Matrix Spawn, a darkly-evolved creature contaminated by the Matrix, allowing Bumblebee and the other Autobots to grab the Matrix and head for their ship. But when the Autobot shuttlecraft later arrived within the Ark, it was Thunderwing who emerged, in full possession of the Creation Matrix, enshrouded in its energies. Dark Creation

We are power incarnate! We are unstoppable! We are a really short Deluxe Class toy!

On board the Ark, Thunderwing savagely beat Optimus Prime, the latter of whom was afraid to return the violence in kind, in fear that the Matrix would be destroyed and their race would be doomed against Unicron. Waves of Autobots stormed against Thunderwing, ending in Landmine and others being killed or critically wounded. Quickly, the increasingly-evil Matrix took over Thunderwing, overpowering his thoughts and controlling his actions. After turning his power on his own troops, he had one final moment of clarity at what he had become, but it was too late. He was consumed. Nightbeat, Siren, and Hosehead, who Thunderwing had captured earlier, had escaped their constraints, and after releasing the bay doors, Thunderwing was harpooned to the shuttlecraft. The shuttle self-destructed and Thunderwing and the Creation Matrix were seemingly lost. All Fall Down

Thunderwing displays that, yes, he has an alt mode just before showing up to die again.

The Matrix, however, was made of sterner stuff, and after some time reactivated alongside Thunderwing's body and the Autobot shuttlecraft on Earth's Moon. Out of Time! As time passed, and though only the "barest spark remained," it healed Thunderwing's body, eventually allowing it to transform and escape the Moon. It (they) now hungered for revenge! The Void!

Thunderwing, completely controlled by the Creation Matrix, arrived on Cybertron just as Unicron had attacked. Through Thunderwing, the Matrix continued to manifest as a frightening demon, which blasted Unicron and buried its tendrils within him. Though Unicron was momentarily stunned, once the Matrix revealed that it was now attempting to be a force of Evil, Unicron ripped the manifestation apart. Unicron has no equal in the arena of evil. Thunderwing's body fell in tatters, and the Matrix casing dropped to the planet below. On the Edge of Extinction!

Dreamwave Armada comic

They weren't even trying to color me right!

Versions of Thunderwing, Scourge, Bludgeon, Dirge, and Galvatron from various devoured universes were sent by their master, Unicron, to prepare another universe for his coming. Porting into Decepticon Command Headquarters on Cybertron, Galvatron left Thunderwing and the others on Cybertron to accomplish their task. Worlds Collide, Part 1 Though they destroyed all of the Decepticons in their headquarters and established a network of space bridge portals, this universe's Megatron was not amongst their victims. Worlds Collide, Part 2

Traveling to Earth's Decepticon headquarters (but leaving Bludgeon behind on Cybertron to guard the portal), they found it momentarily abandoned, so Thunderwing suggested they hunt down this universe's Thrust to learn Megatron's location. Worlds Collide, Part 3 However, Thrust knew nothing, and they quickly returned to Decepticon Earth headquarters when Thunderwing detected that their space bridge nexus on Cybertron had been breached. Ultimately, Thunderwing and the other servants of Unicron were destroyed when this universe's Jetfire detonated a bomb in Cybertron's Decepticon Command Headquarters, incinerating them all. Worlds Collide, Part 4

IDW comics continuity

Moral of Stormbringer: Pretenders ruined Transformers.

Seven hundred years ago, during the height of the Autobot-Decepticon war on Cybertron, Thunderwing was a Decepticon scientist who alerted both sides to the damage that the ongoing conflict was doing to their planet and the resultant danger of an impending catastrophic event. According to Bludgeon, his warnings were ignored, even by Jetfire.

Y'know, Thunderwing, Al Gore was content with just making a slide show.

Subsequently, Thunderwing took action on his own, subjecting himself to a "polydermal grafting" process of his own design, one that had previously been summarily rejected by Megatron as "unnatural" and "ill-conceived". This process of grafting tissue culled from living subjects onto a Transformer to create an armored symbiotic carapace somehow also appears to have made him the avatar of the very apocalypse he had warned against. The process drove Thunderwing insane but made him invulnerable; even the combined might of the Autobots and Decepticons couldn't stop him. In the end, he was swallowed whole by Cybertron itself, leaving the planet completely uninhabitable. Stormbringer #1

When Shockwave went missing, Megatron assigned Bludgeon to dig into his research and find out what he'd been doing. An indeterminate time later, Thunderwing's resting place was discovered by a group of Decepticons led by Bludgeon, who planned to continue where Thunderwing left off. Spotlight: Soundwave The project was completed in the present day, using a combination of "Ultra-Energon" (culled from Shockwave's research) and a set of imprinted commands. Stormbringer #2 Thunderwing was thus resurrected and immediately departed for Nebulos, following Bludgeon's plans to sacrifice that world to restore Cybertron somehow. There, Thunderwing was engaged by the Decepticon Infiltration team in place, which did not want to see Nebulos completely destroyed. After Thunderwing totaled Crankcase, Ruckus, Skullcruncher, and Roadgrabber, the survivors, Dreadwind, Darkwing, and Thrust, abandoned the planet, leaving Thunderwing alone. However, after the destruction of Bludgeon's control harness, Thunderwing changed course—back towards Cybertron. Stormbringer #3

"Ultra mode" puts all that wing kibble to use!

There, he was attacked by Optimus Prime, the Wreckers, the Predacons, and reprogrammed Centurion drones. Jetfire revealed that enough punishment would eventually cause Thunderwing to drain most of his Energon reserves. However, Thunderwing revealed a third "Ultra" robot configuration. Thanks to the Wreckers, the Decepticons, the instability of Ultra Energon, and a speech/salvo combination from Optimus Prime, he was stopped dead in his tracks. His inanimate form was taken into custody by the Autobots. Stormbringer #4

Galvatron would later steal Thunderwing's body from Hound's detail of Autobots, in service of his master in the Dead Universe. Spotlight: Galvatron Since the Dead Universe Transformers can only spend a limited amount of time in the land of the living, they programmed Thunderwing to guard the cave entrance to the Nega-Core on planet Corata-Vaz. He easily batted away Hound's crew and Ultra Magnus, but did not pursue them, as his programming seemed to keep him on a leash that only includes the cave entrance. It did, however, allow Cyclonus the time he needed to escape. Spotlight: Cyclonus

The Wreckers later attempted to penetrate Thunderwing's defenses and reach the Nega-Core, but apparently had no more success than Ultra Magnus and company. Spotlight: Hardhead

Jetfire came up with the idea to try and take control of Thunderwing using Bludgeon's (apparently repaired) control harness. This alerted Jhiaxus, who activated Bludgeon (now under his control) to put a stop to it. Spotlight: Doubledealer

While Jetfire managed to halt Thunderwing in his tracks for a brief time, a visit from the Jhiaxus-controlled Bludgeon forced Jetfire to focus on other, more pressing issues. While the Wreckers were successful in disabling the Nega-Core, Thunderwing once again began to advance on them. Spotlight: Sideswipe

Due to the truncated nature of the Revelation mini-series, the end result of this battle was not shown, but as all of the Wreckers appeared later on, Thunderwing was presumably disabled along with the other guardians when Jhiaxus was defeated.

Wings of Honor

Thunderwing was captured by the Combaticons after being cornered and making an unsuccessful attempt to defend himself with what turned out to be a dud bomb. The Coming Storm: Part 3

Toys

Generation 1

You passed this up when you saw it in the stores. Then Furman had to come along.

• Thunderwing (Mega Pretender, 1989)
  • Accessories: Pretender shell, 2 large blasters, small laser gun

Thunderwing's inner robot transforms into a rather simple Cybertronic shuttlecraft. His Pretender shell also transforms into a starship mode of its own. The inner vehicle can be attached underneath the nose of the larger vehicle to create a combined starship mode. The inner robot is relatively generic in appearance (as with most Pretenders) while his outer Pretender shell resembles an alien warrior with Japanese Oni influences. The inner robot carries a small laser, while the shell is armed with two large blasters. All three of his guns can be mounted on his shell's vehicle mode. The large laser cannons can be mounted on the jet two different ways, either perpendicular or parallel to the wing undersides.

Unlike fellow Mega Pretenders Crossblades or Vroom, parts do not need to be removed and rearranged in order for Thunderwing to achieve any of his modes.

This mold was retooled to make Black Shadow.

• More information on Thunderwing at TFU.info

Generations

Matrix obsession sold separately.

• Thunderwing (Deluxe, 2010)

Part of the fifth wave of Generations Deluxe class toys, Thunderwing transforms from a jet into a robot that looks like the original Thunderwing toy's Pretender shell. The nose of the jet can detach and become a separate aerial drone, while the two missile launchers can detach from the wings and become handheld weapons or clip together into one massive gun. Thunderwing's colors seem to be inspired by his color scheme in the latter end of the Marvel run, considering his green arms.

At BotCon 2010, the Hasbro design team noted that they had wanted to make the aerial drone unit transform into a robot but were unable to do so (presumably for budget reasons, though they didn't go into that detail).

Thunderwing's instructions depict him with Black Shadow's head and chest, revealing a potential (and its release as of yet unconfirmed) retool before it was officially announced.

Notes

Like that cannon he always carries around? Too bad, the toy ain't got it.

• Thunderwing only transformed out of his humanoid shell mode once in the entire United States run of the Marvel Comics series. Even then, it was into his non-combined shell-only jet mode, leaving no hint that he had an inner robot mode at all. The only time we see his inner robot mode is in his first appearance, the Marvel United Kingdom story, "The Big Shutdown!".
• Thunderwing's Marvel Comics appearances give him a four-barreled hand weapon that's completely fabricated, as it's not based on any of the toy's three guns. As with the melee weapons Bludgeon, Stranglehold, and Octopunch use in the comic, his four-barreled cannon likely originated from his unpublished character model.Of course, you can sorta have this gun with the Gernerations toy.
• A phenomenon seen often in the Marvel United States material, Thunderwing suffered from color scheme shift. At first, he appears in colors that approximate his toy's layout as best as the printing process allowed. Suddenly, in his biggest, most memorable appearances in #65 and #66, much of his blacks, grays, and blues were replaced by light greens. As a side effect of this phenomenon, since covers are colored in advance of the interiors, #66's cover featured a blue-armed Thunderwing with a green-armed Thunderwing inside.

Early Thunderwing was faaaabulous!

• Hasbro photography of Thunderwing shows some plastic color differences from the final product. His shell's arms are the same purple as his guns instead of gray, and his inner robot's thighs are that purple as well, instead of the final toy's black. Black paint is applied to the shell's thighs differently, and the inner robot's forearms seem to be painted light gray. Additionally, the smaller robot is incapable of toting either of the larger guns in jet mode, as the peghole isn't large enough.
• Speaking of pegholes, both of Thunderwing's large guns have 5mm posts with holes in the center that can function very much like Powerlinxable pegs, which means one can store Mini-Cons on them, if one so desires.
• Fitting with Don Figueroa's method of making all of his robot designs able to be easily turned into toys (until recently, anyways), IDW Thunderwing's Ultra Mode is telegraphed by his kibble. An image in the Stormbringer's trade paperback's sketch section shows exactly how he transforms into it.