Shockwave (WFC)

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

Shockwave is a Decepticon from the Aligned continuity family.

"When your hit percentage exceeds mine, YOU may choose the soundtrack!"

Shockwave was a member of the scientist caste in the industrial city of Kaon. In a reversal of the usual order, he was swayed by the ambitions of the former mining caste member turned gladiator Megatron. Serving as Megatron's "pet mad scientist" and second-in-command, he saw to the fighter's armament during his rise to prominence, all the while fantasizing on the prospect of mass producing such warriors. Thankfully, Megatron's more practical nature reined in Shockwave as the movement which became the Decepticons finally moved out of the shadows.

Fiction

Exodus

Shockwave was a scientist who lived on the fringes of Cybertronian society, admitting to Orion Pax he knew little of Iacon. He was one of the scientists whose innovations allowed the mass production of stressed-crystal material used to build Crystal City. There he began his combiner experiments, creating Bruticus Maximus, whose lack of intelligence in combined form made him a danger to friend and foe, and he was put in stasis lock. Shockwave moved to Kaon, becoming a surgeon for the gladiators, where he met Megatronus. He continued his combination experiments with the three Insecticons, whom Megatronus bested in combat: it was in this match that the crowd chanted a shorter name for the gladiator, Megatron. Megatron recognized two things about Shockwave: that he was bereft of any morality or ethics, and that while he was his most loyal ally, he would turn on him one day.

We three 'Cons of Kaon are...

During the Autobot-Decepticon war, Shockwave perfected his experiments with the Constructicons, creating a Devastator which was unleashed on Crystal City. Shockwave set up a laboratory in the ruins but was ordered to take command of the newly conquered city state Tarn. Autobot sympathizers became fodder for experiments, while Shockwave's forces conquered Vos. He quelled dissent in both cities by requesting Vos' Air Commanders photon missile strike Tarn, for which he claimed the Autobots were responsible, and then had a photon missile strike (of supposedly unknown origin) ordered on Vos, killing the Air Commanders whose true loyalty lay with Starscream.

When the Decepticons captured Trypticon Station, Shockwave oversaw two of Starscream's scientists ingest Dark Energon: the powerful result activated a security gyro-inhibitor charge which rendered Shockwave unconscious. Shockwave later subjected the two subjects to a deprivation study, and found it necessary to muzzle them as the duo agonized as a result of Dark Energon's absence in their bodies. Shockwave also used the Sparks of those killed in the capture to turn Trypticon into a Decepticon, able to spawn drones and Minicons in its corridors.

Shockwave remained on Cybertron in command of the Decepticons, while Megatron left with his elite soldiers on the Nemesis to pursue the Autobot Ark. Shockwave promised Megatron that Cybertron would remain as he left it, the notion of which Megatron chastised. He ordered Shockwave to rebuild Cybertron and enslave the remaining Autobots. Transformers: Exodus

Exiles

Transformers: Exiles

Games

Transformers: War for Cybertron (Xbox 360/PS3)

Voice actor: Steve Blum

Well done. Here come the test results: "You are a horrible person." That's what it says: a horrible person. We weren't even testing for that.

Shockwave is an pre-order exclusive downloadable content character for use in multiplayer modes, and is not playable in the War for Cybertron storyline campaign. Using a preorder code to unlock him will allow the player to use Shockwave in Escalation mode, and makes his chassis available for customizing an online multiplayer character for Decepticon scientists. His chassis is labelled as "Retaliator". Shockwave was later made available alongside the other preorder-exclusive characters in the Transformers: War for Cybertron Map and Character Pack. He was available for the XBox 360 and PS3 versions of the game, but not for the PC version.

Transformers: War for Cybertron

Transformers: War for Cybertron - Decepticons (DS)

Voice actor: Steve Blum

Shockwave is an unlockable character for the Nintendo DS version of War for Cybertron. On the Decepticon version he can replace any of the other Decepticons in the campaign mode. He can be unlocked by beating Purification 6 in Arena Mode.

Shockwave was at the Energon Purification zone when the Decepticons had used it for their stores of Energon. Shockwave challenged Megatron and his troops to a fight, saying if they beat him, he'd join their ranks. Shockwave was indeed defeated, and somewhat reluctantly joined the Decepticon ranks. Transformers: War for Cybertron

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

Voice actor: Richard McGonagle

Shockwave was tasked with finding deadly new alternate forms that the Decepticons could use to further their goals. As he observed the universe, a small blue planet populated by large reptilian creatures caught his eye. Inspired by this, he forcibly reformatted Grimlock(WFC) and his Lightning Strike Coalition into the Dinobots. He has also become interested in the Insecticon swarms that have taken over much of Cybertron since the poisoning of Cybertron's core.

Notes

• In the map of Cybertron from the "Binder of Revelation" included in Transformers Vault, Shockwave came from Tarn, which explains why he took control of it during the war.
• Shockwave is usable in both the Autobot and Decepticon versions of the War for Cybertron games for the DS. He is used only for multiplayer, bonus missions and Arena mode in the Autobot version and used in Multiplayer, Arena mode, and campaign in the Decepticon version.
• In the XBOX 360/PS3 versions of War for Cybertron, Shockwave's left arm is his Plasma Cannon. But in the DS version, it's his RIGHT arm.
• A Gamestop commercial describes Shockwave as second-in-command of the Decepticons, and Starscream is never officially referred to as such.
• For said commercial, Shockwave was voiced by Corey Burton, voice actor of Generation 1 and Animated Shockwaves. He later lamented over a forum post that the performance was so rushed and the "gag" nature so out of character, that it hardly even sounded like him:
  • "Two different sessions; and while they were awfully nice to work with, I have to say that the gag line was written and directed completely off-character. Since it was all supposed to be pretty "camp" anyway, and it had to be wedged-into a space that wasn't even there in the initial cut, I just went along with it. Figured it's just a silly bit of hype, that wasn't worth taking seriously enough to fuss over."
• The aforementioned commercial also indicates, that evidently Shockwave is a fan of Stan Bush.
• According to his Transformers Hall of Fame bio, Shockwave's emotions sometimes get the better of him, leading to irrational behavior. He also hopes that one day his work will let him reformat all Cybertronians to a new form of existence- and ideally become ruler of Cybertron in the process. Looks like Megatron's hunch wasn't far off...
• Although Shockwave is a Jet in the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game, he's a ground vehicle in the DS Version